Stephen is stoned to death after seeing heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7:55-58a

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.” Acts 7:55-58a

Stephen saw the wrath, anger, and vengeance of the Jewish leaders and knew they had murderous intent towards him as they were extremely offended that he was preaching in the name of Jesus Christ and they “…gnashed at him with their teeth…” [Acts 7:54]. Stephen and knew they were about to stone him to death. Those hostile attitudes of the Jewish rulers come by living by the flesh and fighting against the Spirit, which is to oppose Jesus Christ and Christianity.

Instead of apologizing for speaking the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, Stephen turned his face towards heaven and focused on the glory of God, and saw our Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Stephen declared to the murderous Jewish leaders and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”. At that point, the Jewish leaders began to stone Stephen. The Jewish leaders considered it blaspheme to put Jesus on the same level as God, in the same place as God, to be standing as God’s “right hand man”. That is why they felt the same murderous intent towards our Lord Jesus, who said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John 1:51

Today’s culture see it as being terribly wrong to put the Christ, Jesus, in the same place as the beast who claims the body as its possession by giving people what to speak, do, think, and feel. The beast gives breath/ life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people, the beast “…was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Revelations 13:15 Click for a post on the image of the beast.

Stephen saw the Christ, Jesus, standing because He was ready to receive Stephen into eternal life…Stephen’s name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The Jewish leaders led Stephen out of the city to stone him to death. The Jewish people had a custom that stoning people should not be done within the borders of Jerusalem. That is why Stephen was taken outside the city to be stoned. Our Lord Jesus was also crucified outside the city gate, as quoted, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” Hebrews 13:12

Today’s culture, which is global, has a similar policy of not having “blood on their hands” by “stoning” people within the gates of their own culture. People who are suffering affliction, harassment, and persecution are those considered to be outside the social network of their culture. The persecuted are we who see the present global government and its global culture as the government and culture of the beast. We choose to believe the warnings of the Bible, to acknowledge God as our Creator, acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and our Lord, and welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit to be part of who we are.

---

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11