February 28, 2014

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   Stephen, the man so full of faith and the Holy Spirit's power, did spectacular miracles among the people. But one day some of the men from the Jewish cult of "The Freedmen" started an argument with him, and they were soon joined by Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria in Egypt, and the Turkish provinces of Cilicia, and Ausia. But none of them were able to stand against Stephen's wisdom and spirit.
   So they brought in some men to lie about him, claiming they had heard Stephen curse Moses, and even God. This accusation roused the crowds to fury against Stephen, and the Jewish leaders arrested him and brought him before the Council. The lying witnesses declared, "We have heard him say that this fellow Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple, and throw out all of Moses' laws." Then the High Priest asked him, "Are these accusations true?"
   [Stephen then gave a lengthy history of God's dealings with the nation of Israel and he ended with this:]
   "You stiff-necked heathen! Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? But your fathers did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One - the Messiah Whom you betrayed and murdered. Yes, and you deliberately destroyed God's Laws, though you received them from the hands of angels."
   The Jewish leaders were stung to fury by Stephen's accusation, and ground their teeth in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God's right hand. And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and Jesus the Messiah standing beside God, at His right hand!"
   Then they mobbed him, putting their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, and dragged him out of the city to stone him. The official witnesses - the executioners - took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Paul. And as the murderous stones came hurtling at him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" and with that, he died.

FEBRUARY 28 - SERIES D-7