It is imperative that men speak the truth, for “he that speaketh the truth sheweth forth righteousness,” and his lip “shall be established for ever.”
God has a calling on each man’s life. Furthermore, He enables men to fulfill their appointed work. Man, however, must be strong and DO the work.
Most people view sin as a private or earthy matter. Yet, every sin is against the Lord. In truth, men can sin against the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
On the day Stephen was martyred, a young man named Saul stood by and gave his consent to Stephen’s death. Apparently, that day greatly affected Saul.
A martyr is one who is killed for his faith. Only two individuals are specifically named as martyrs in scripture: Stephen and Antipas.
There are certain areas where the Lord shows some of His greatest care and concern. He takes great offence and moves swiftly in their defence when men abuse these areas. For instance, the Bible says that the Lord is jealous for His “holy name” (Ezekiel 39:25). Perhaps, with this in mind, the Lord said, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). The Bible also says that God is jealous for Jerusalem (Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 8:2), which is His land (Joel 2:18). When people abuse His name or His land, God takes these things particularly personally. Unfortunately, in these last days, men are increasingly abusing both His name and His land.
A man’s conscience resides within, yet its expression can be witnessed by others. Because of the testimony of his conscience, Paul rejoiced. According to scripture, that testimony was manifest to the world but especially among the people of God. Those who knew Paul knew that he served the Lord “in simplicity and godly sincerity.” He did not do everything right, but he exhibited a passion of heart to do right in all that he did. No doubt, this was a wonderful example to other believers who looked to Paul for guidance. They saw a man who sincerely loved the Lord and others and also gave every effort possible not to offend either.
Sin within a person’s life messes with man’s conscience. It begins by attacking man’s knowledge of God with the end goal of causing a complete rejection of God. Sinful man turns to many different devices in hopes of taking care of his sin-tainted conscience. He may seek to pacify his conscience by doing religious works. He also may try to forget that his conscience has been corrupted by a further turning toward the pleasures of sin. In both cases, he is left with a conscience in need of purging. Where can man turn to find the purging he so strongly desires? According to the Bible, only the blood of Jesus Christ can purge a man’s conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).
Many people are quite zealous of following the traditions of men. For instance, the apostle Paul was so exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers that he “persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4). This same act has been true throughout church history. History reveals that many saints of God were severely punished and even put to death for rejecting unscriptural traditions such as infant baptism. In some cases, babies were ripped from the arms of their mothers and cast into lakes and rivers. Others were tossed into arenas with lions for rejecting traditions choosing to hold up scripture. Why? Because men are zealous of their traditions and will persecute to keep their ways intact!
Rebellion is a willing conscious decision to refuse the instruction of another. The Lord describes this in Zechariah 7:11 when He said, “they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” This is a powerful illustration and picture! It almost seems like the Lord has a hand on the shoulder of the rebel but when faced with the Lord’s instruction, a rebel pulls away from the Lord’s gentle grasp. As he pulls away, the rebel turns his back and closes his ears to the Lord’s instruction. The Lord affirms this in Jeremiah 32:33 when He said, “they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.”
