MONDAY November 27, 2023

A Man with a Mission

“So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”
Acts 22:19-21

The stilled crowd was intently listening to Paul’s conversion message. In giving his testimony, they witnessed how he struggled in conversation with the Lord over his desire to minister to them. The Lord had told him they would not listen, but Paul recalled the occasion when he was there when Stephen was boldly preaching the Gospel. The Jews reviled him. They were so angry at his words that they stoned him to death.

In the next part of his testimony, he voiced his opinion to the Lord. Surely the Jews would listen to him because he was in complete agreement with the Jewish council. He had the same conviction to see Stephen killed. “Listen, I was there holding his clothes consenting to his death!” Imagine that! Yet as Stephen was dying, Jesus, in heaven, stood to welcome His first martyr home. Previously, all of the Jews who had stoned Stephen witnessed his face shining like that of an angel (Acts 6:15; Acts 7).

Then Paul told the Jews how the Lord responded. He redirected his life completely. His God-given call was to give the Gospel message to the Gentiles. However, the Jews and Gentiles did not intermix. The Jews were God’s chosen people, and the Gentiles remained outside of the covenant God had made with them.

When they heard that Paul was given a mission from God to reach the Gentiles, they became angry. They thought, Gentiles have no part of salvation; they are outside of Israel’s commonwealth (Ephesians 2:12). They are pagans! But salvation is now accessible to all nations––it is for everyone. You only need to accept it.

And we all agree, our religion contains amazing revelation: He [Jesus] was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
~1 Timothy 3:16 NET~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!