Come Follow Me: What we can learn from Stephen, the Martyr
In Acts chapters six and seven, we read the account of the martyr, Stephen. Stephen was one of the seven men chosen by the apostles to help assist the members of the church (equivalent to one of the presidents of the Seventy today). It seems that he spent most of his time serving and teaching in Jerusalem. While serving in Jerusalem he "did great wonders and miracles among the people". He also spoke with "wisdom and the spirit" in the synagogues with people of many different backgrounds and positions. He was sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and preaching to the people about the fulfillment of the Law of Moses. This was deemed blasphemous by the Jewish leaders at the time, and so he was put on trial by them (with false witnesses, just like the Savior), and then sentenced to death by stoning. In the church, we usually spend the most time talking about the vision that Stephen had right before his execution. As the Jewish leaders reviled and condemned...