PRAY FOR THOSE WHO DESPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU

Proclamation:

“While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’  When he said this, he fell asleep.”  Acts 7:59-60 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After being arrested for teaching and speaking about Jesus, The Christ, (Acts 6:12) Stephen spoke before the Sanhedrin council.  He recounted for them the life of Abraham, the father of the faithful, from the time when God appeared to Him and told him to leave his home country and go to the land that He would show him. (Acts 7:1-7)  He continued on with the lives of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. (Acts 7:8-19)  He told them about the birth and life of Moses, (Acts 7:20-44) and then he told them about Joshua, David, and Solomon. (Acts 7:45-47)  He ended by calling them “stiff-necked people” just like their ancestors and then said that they murdered Christ. (Acts 7:51-53)  The members of the Sanhedrin were furious with him.  They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. (Acts 7:54-58)  That was when he prayed the above prayer.

Application:

Jesus, The Christ, taught us that we should love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27 and Luke 6:35)  Some of us are not there yet and we are still working on this.  Stephen was a man full of God’s grace. (Acts 6:8)  He followed the teachings of Christ, even to the point of praying for them while they were stoning him to death. (Matthew 5:44)  We need to understand that if we choose to follow and speak up for Christ, the people of the world are not going to like us and may even hate us.  However, He said, “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven…” (Matthew 5:11-12)