Acts 7- Courage for Christ

In Acts 7 we see the murder of Stephen.  Stephen was one of the Church's first deacons and a man filled with the Holy Spirit.  In Acts Chapter 7 he went to trial.  In Stephen's trial he showed no fear and spoke truth through the power of the Holy Spirit.  That truth got him killed because it was offensive and convicting to those that heard it.  Stephen was the Church's first martyr.

Stephen was the first of many martyrs in the first church.  Stephen was the first of the martyrs in the Church in general.  Martyrdom has not gone away.  Just because we here in the United States talk about persecution like it's being made fun of, doesn't mean that that is the reality throughout the world.

Read this story from a past National Review article:

"Afghan Christian, Shoib Assadullah, was arrested on October 21, 2010, for giving a copy of the New Testament to a man, and is being held in Mazar-e-Sharif. No Afghan lawyer has agreed to defend him, and (he) will probably face charges of apostasy, a crime that is punishable by death under the government’s version of sharia. As the State Department’s 2010 International Religious Freedom Report notes, religious freedom in Afghanistan has diminished “particularly for Christian groups and individuals.”


For all I know this man was killed for sharing a copy of the New Testament.


The same author wrote a follow-up article to update another Afghan man who had been arrested for his faith:


"The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which, together with the U.S. Embassy, has been active on the case, is reporting that Said Musa, the Afghan man facing a death sentence for having become a Christian has now been released and is safely in another country."


Sadly Musa is the exception in countries like Afghanistan.


Persecution.org writes that the Iraqi Christian Community is facing ethnic cleansing from Muslim Terrorist and is in danger of disappearing from the planet.  Due to persecution their numbers have declined by about one million since 2003.  You Tube Iraqi Christians: Facing Extinction.  You will be shocked.


So, we are left with the question: "Could I suffer and die for my Savior?"  But I think we are left with something else.  I know that all of these martyrs were not poor saps.  I think the reason they died is because they recognized the beauty of their Savior in a way maybe I haven't.  They love God so much that they would die for the one who died for them.  So, instead of asking, "Could I die for Christ like them?' ask "Do I live for Christ like them?"  Do I see my God as He truly is?  Do I risk anything to follow my Lord?


Stephen and other martyrs were not fools.  Stephen saw the glory of God before he died and accepted death gladly and was even able to forgive his murderers.  Only an all powerful God like mine could render that response.  


See our God as He is and live courageously for Christ today.