Let It Rip

01.31.12

Acts 7.2 2 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran... NASB

In Luke, Jesus told His disciples, “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.” (Luke 21.12-15 NASB) Now here, in Acts 7, Stephen, one of the seven appointed in Acts 6, has been dragged before the Jewish Council to bear witness to the truth of God’s word.

In Acts 7, I don’t think Stephen had time to rehearse his speech. When the High Priest demanded an answer (v. 1) Stephen just opened his mouth and let it rip. His point was that Israel, despite the mercy and grace of God to befriend them down through the centuries since Abraham, had always resisted the grace of God and gone their own way. Man does not – in his nature – want to be ruled by a God. And Stephen made his point.

The outcome was that Stephen was stoned to death. I can’t imagine stoning except to think that it must hurt; and the hurt must magnify to the point where you cannot defend yourself and thus succumb to the ‘beating’ of the rocks being thrown at you. How can you defend yourself from an enraged mob of men whose sole goal is to pound you into bloody pulp by pummeling you with stones? Had they had God Himself on the ground they would have attempted to pummel Him into a bloody mass as well. Such is the anger of men against God.

The question is will we speak? This world (i.e. all that is opposed to God) cannot handle the truth because they are afraid of it. They are afraid because their lives center on punishment in that they recognize the wrongs of sin (either outwardly or inwardly) and they are afraid of its consequences: somehow, some way, someone must pay for the wrongs – and it might just be them. That’s why men go to such lengths to factor God out of the equation. If God is gone then so is responsibility and accountability.

And so, God confronts us with the truth. God is not cruel or mean-spirited; He simply would like to show us the way out of this mess through fearless love where punishment is gone…taken by Someone else so we don’t have to go through it. But the fear of fear is just too great for some to overcome; and then here come the rocks.

We will all find ourselves at some point where we will have to defend the truth we hold to if we hold to the truth. But Jesus tells us, don’t think about that beforehand. Just trust Me when it comes; I’ll tell you what to say that will be appropriate for the moment. Jesus’ advice to us is walk with Him and when the time comes just open your mouth and let it rip. He doesn’t say it won’t come without pain, but it will evoke a response. And He will be our Guide.