Journal Acts 7 (all references are from the ESV; changes in punctuation and notes are mine)
Scripture: [Readers: Acts 7 must be read fully on your own. Summary follows…]
- The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…
- God removed him (Abraham) from his kindred…
- God spoke to this effect…
- “I will judge the nation they (Abraham’s offspring) serve…”, said God…
- God was with him (Joseph)…
- But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham…
- (Moses)…was beautiful in God’s sight…
- (Moses) supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his (Moses’) hand…
- (Moses) was amazed at the sight (of the burning bush) and as he drew near…came the voice of the Lord: I am the God of your fathers…
- This Moses…God sent as both ruler and redeemer…
- This Moses…who said…”God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers…
- But God turned away (from the idolatry of the Hebrew nation at the foot of the Sinai and beyond)…
Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says…
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?”
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit—as your fathers did, so do you. (heavily excerpted from Acts 7:2-53)
Observation: How was Stephen ready to present this at a moment of high stress? Was it a supernatural moment of words that were not his own? Or was it practicing, meditating, and practicing some more? Maybe a little of both?
Reading this section out loud took just shy of 8 minutes.
Application: This is about how I think about the Gospel.
If Stephen’s presentation, in the face of hostility and stress, having the authorities of the Temple and an antagonistic public present, gave the history and final denunciation, clearly summarized so that everyone understood and reacted (they ground their teeth and were enraged),
how do I store the Gospel in my mind and heart?
I have read this and thought, “God will give me a clear and powerful summary when I need it, just before I am martyred…” and then didn’t give it another thought.
But then I would miss the part of cherishing the Gospel.
Stephen appears to be reciting a story that he cherished, thought about deeply and often.
Do I cherish and think about the Gospel in a similar way? Does it take 8 minutes to recite the Gospel testimony beginning from before Time Began to the New Heaven and Earth, or is 20-30 seconds all I have in my heart?
Prayer: Father, slam me against the wall one more time, please. Convict my heart to pursue You with fierce resolve…
AMEN.
Ricky Two Shoes