"Stiffnecked !"

 

Acts 7:51-60 "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the HOLY GHOST: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the JUST ONE: of WHOM ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him (Stephen) with their teeth. But he, being full of the HOLY GHOST, looked up steadfastly into Heaven, and saw the glory of GOD, and JESUS standing on the right hand of GOD, 

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the SON of MAN standing on the right hand of GOD. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon GOD, and saying, LORD JESUS, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, LORD, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (died)."

     For those preaching a "gospel" of self-esteem and "the power of positive thinking," the sermon of Stephen, the first martyr in the church age, would not be viewed in a favorable light. After the Apostle Peter's message on the Day of Pentecost, it did not take long until persecution arose against the believers. It seemed to come in waves, ever increasing in intensity and crashing down upon the fledgling church. The third of those periods of concentrated wrath upon CHRIST's body, the church, begins in Acts 6:9, pictured below, when Stephen, one of the men appointed to assist with distributing provisions to the widows in the church and described as "a man full of faith and of the HOLY GHOST" (Acts 6:5 pictured above), was brought before the Jewish council by wicked men giving false accusations.

     As Stephen's trial began, the high priest asked him a question (v.1 "Are these things so ?"), which opened the door for his sermon about the unbelief of GOD's chosen nation. In Acts 7, Stephen unfolds the history of Israel, skillfully weaving the account and bringing it to a thundering conclusion, accusing them of resisting the HOLY SPIRIT just as had the generations before them. His message should have melted their hearts of stone and drawn them to repentance toward GOD and faith toward JESUS CHRIST, yet it only infuriated them as Stephen accused them of being "stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears" and of "always resist[ing] the HOLY GHOST" just as their fathers had (v.51). His indictment was true. They were a stiffnecked people as GOD HIMSELF had said on numerous occasions, and it caused them to refuse and crucify their MESSIAH. Let us be sure that we do not have this same "stiffnecked" and rebellious spirit within. JED

Your servant in CHRIST,

Julie
Copyright, FEATURE: A Daily Bible Study Guide.

Used  with  permission.    www.featoday.org

https://www.fivestarchristianministries.com/salvation