Acts 7:51-60
Acts 7:51–60 (ASV)
51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; 53ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.
54Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. 57But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; 58and 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. 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Scripture Testimony Index stories for this passage
A thirteen year old girl is about to be killed alongside many others for their faith. But until she was abruptly beheaded, she confronted the Governor upon whose orders they were to be massacred, and utilized her last moments to make a strong case for her faith.
Maria made a bold stand for her faith in God, even when threatened with a gun, she insisted that she would not deny God. When the interrogator pulled the trigger, the gun did not fire. This became a powerful testimony throughout the prison.
An angry mob threatened to stone Jacob Chamberlain and his team to death if they would not leave their city. But Chamberlain boldly preached the Gospel and proved it to be the power of God to tame the heart. Like the Apostle Paul on Mars Hill, Chamberlain appealed to the people's own religious poetry and philosophy to show that only the One True God can cleanse their sins.
Stoyan's mother is caught by a jailer when she tried to smuggle a Bible to her husband at the torture facility he was being held. For this, she was threatened by the prison commander who boasted of the applause killing her entire family will bring him. But confidently, Stoyan's mum replied him, ". . . nothing you can do will separate us from the love that is in Jesus Christ!”
While in prison, Richard Wurmbrand was asked by one of his captors, “How long will you continue to keep your stupid religion? Boldly, he made a defence for his faith, giving reasons as to why he will rather remain a Christian.
In a scene much like the death of Stephen in the Book of Acts, a member of the Romanian Central Committee of the Communist Party heard an unexpected speech from a Christian being tortured to death, which eventually led the official to faith.
