A Holy Visit From God
Reading- Foxes Book of Martyrs- Stephen.
Stephen- first martyr of- Christian church- 34-36AD.
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. NASU
He ended up in a controversy with the Jews/arrested.
Stephen eloquently presented his case in Acts 7.
Act 7:54-58
Foxes Book of Martyrs makes this statement …
His words resonated with the kind of passion that flows from a simple man who has grasped a great idea, or has been grasped by a vision larger than himself. (Voice of Martyrs, Stephen)
Jesus Christ, the life that He lived, the miracles that He performed, the message that He taught,
had taken a hold of Stephen’s heart and mind.
Stephen saw the message of the Gospel in bigger terms than just what God wanted to do for Him.
He reached beyond his own personal needs to share w/others the opportunity to experience God’s grace
Too often we reduce the Gospel to what God wants to do for me, how can He fix me/my situation.
As with Stephen, God wants us to be so infused with Him, His Life, and His Word, that it takes a hold of us and results in a holy boldness that empowers us to live a godly life and to become Kingdom minded people. Gary Stebbins
In other words, God’s grace becomes so infused in us and reflected in the way we live, such that
we no longer live for ourselves, but for God.
Bridges of Peace seminar- western versus the Hebraic approach to life and the scriptures.
The western approach is to understand/reason it out.
The Hebraic mindset instead focuses on-
how do I do this, how do I live this out,
how do I apply this truth to my life.
Something had grabbed a hold of Stephen and made him willing to die for what he believed, or more
accurately, for the One in whom he believed.
God wants to take a hold of our heart in the same way.
He wants to visit with us in such a way to transform us to be the man or woman He created us to be.
Psa 139:13-16
God sees each of our lives- He saw my days and the purpose for which He has for me.
I am not here by accident, but by design.
God sent His Son to die for me so I might be able to live/fulfill the life that He ordained for me to live.
Jn 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. NASU
God so loved ME, that He sent His Son for ME, that I might not perish, that I might have eternal life.
As God visited w/Stephen and captured his heart, He wants to do the same for us.
Perhaps we can learn something from the Lord’s visitation to Jerusalem …
Lk 19:41-44
Destruction would come upon Jerusalem because they did not properly respond to God when He came.
What is the purpose of a visitation of God?
When God visits His people, He is comes for two primary purposes …
1. to destroy the works of the devil and
1Jn 3:8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.NLT
2. to build His Life/Kingdom into our lives
Jn 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. NASU
Visitation- to inspect or examine.
Visitation is a time not only when God comes to deliver/heal, but also to inspect and examine.
God’s ultimate goal for our lives is transformation.
God delights in delivering us from sin, sickness, disease, oppression.
Those deliverances are very real and an important part of the message of the Gospel.
Luke 19:37-38
There is a willingness in the heart of God to deliver, heal, work miracles, today, as well as then.
However the healing/deliverance are for a purpose.
The most important thing that God came to us for, is not physical preservation, but His presence.
Often Jesus ministered to the felt needs of the people.
But ultimately, He had their spiritual needs in mind.
When Jesus comes to our lives to deliver/heal, He will also examine our lives to see if we are
responding to Him w/increasing obedience.
2Pet 1:5-11
Our obedience creates a different future for us.
How we respond to God determines how God responds to us … ie. Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve set the course of their lives by how they responded to God’s instructions to them.
Consider the lame man by the pool of Bethesda …
Jn 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." NASU
Consider the woman caught in the act of adultery …
John 8:10-11
10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."] NASU
When God comes in and delivers/works a miracle in our lives, it is dangerous not to respond to the
transforming work of the HS.
Mtt 12:45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
When we cry for more of God we are crying for His Life/Kingdom to be established.
1 Pet 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? NASU
I want to be those who respond to the work of the HS, not among those who do not obey.
Eze 3:20 "If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. NLT
Sometimes God puts obstacles in our path to get us to turn to Him.
When God comes to establish His Kingdom in our lives, are we prepared to surrender our Kingdom?
Mt 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God* above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. NLT
As we allows God and the message of the Kingdom of God to capture our hearts, as it did Stephen’s,
it will lead us into a walk of obedience that will
lead to transformation in our lives that will
enable us to fulfill the purposes for which God created us.
The goal of a visitation from God is that we become the habitation of God. Francis Frangipane
