Boldness Before Others

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul.
–Matthew 10:28

If you’ve ever watched a courtroom drama, then you know that an attorney’s closing argument is key. In Acts 7, Stephen acted as his own defense attorney before the religious leaders. He refuted the charges against him, then he offered his closing argument: “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it” (vv. 51–53).

I love Stephen’s boldness. Even though Stephen was in the hot seat, he didn’t back down. He knew these men could take his life, but they couldn’t take his soul. As Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

How did the religious leaders react to Stephen’s bold closing argument? Acts 7:54 says, “When they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.” Just as they did in Acts 5 when questioning the apostles, the religious leaders responded to the truth of God’s Word with rebellion instead of repentance. As Charles Spurgeon said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay.” God’s Word softens some people’s hearts to the forgiveness Christ offers but hardens other people’s hearts in their rebellion against God.

The religious leaders were enraged. But Stephen still did not back down. Look at Acts 7:55–56: “Being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently 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 up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’” Stephen’s gaze was fixed not on the men in front of him who could kill his body but on the Son of Man who had saved his soul for eternity. Stephen focused on Jesus, and it gave him boldness before other people.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “The First Christian Martyr,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Lesson of the Almond Tree” (sermon), April 7, 1881, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, Ontario, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-lesson-of-the-almond-tree.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.