When Life Is Treated As "cheap!" Series

“Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

“And Saul approved of his execution.

“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” [1]

Christians can be ferocious, merciless, even vicious, despite the cautionary words penned by Paul. We who follow the Master are well advised to recall that Paul has written, “Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God” [1 CORINTHIANS 4:5]. We act as if we know the end of a surprising number of individuals, especially when those individuals are not favoured. And we are willing to pronounce our opinion quite freely. It has been said, and said quite well, “We will be surprised by who is in Heaven, when are at last ushered into those celestial precincts. We will be even more surprised by who isn’t present in Heaven.” We imbibe this censorious attitude from the world, and it tags along when we come into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Few sins appear more heinous to us than taking the life of a fellow human. Murdering an individual, taking the life of another human being without justification, is about as bad as it can get. We may possibly be willing to make a few exceptions, but they are exceptions and never enjoy divine approval. Yet, the impact on the life of one who has taken the life of another person can be life-altering. People who have taken the life of another person in war or while defending themselves or their family are never able to escape the sense of revulsion that they were responsible for the death of another. Though they may have been justified in their action, taking the life of another will ensure that they will either be haunted by what has been done, or they will manage to sear their conscience so they can partition what was done so that it no longer disturbs them.

It is vital to state at the outset that there is good news for those who may be haunted by such violence—God is able not only to forgive, but to give peace to those tormented by such violence. In fact, only in the Lord can one hope to find peace for the troubled soul. We know because we have a powerful example in the life of Paul.

ASSAULT AGAINST THE FAITHFUL — “Now when [the Jewish mob] heard these things [i.e. the defence Stephen presented] they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” [ACTS 7:54-60].

It is distressingly easy for saints living in the western world to be unaware of the cost of walking with Christ in many parts of our world. Christians in many parts of Africa, fellow believers throughout the Middle East and even in many parts of Asia, brothers and sisters in parts of South America, are often called to pay an awful price for their faith in the Risen Saviour.