Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8
The ways and wisdom of God are foolishness to the unsaved, but God hath revealed them to his chosen ones; yea the deep things of God. Oh, praise the Lord for the wisdom, knowledge, fellowship, and presence of the Lord who lives and walks with us continually.
Stephen was not an apostle, but he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost, and we all are commanded to be filled with the same power. He did great miracles among the people. When he so nobly defended the risen Christ, fearless of losing his life, his false accusers looked on his face and said it looked like the face of an angel.
The pure gospel, accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, cut them to the heart. They would not accept it, and they gnashed upon him with their teeth (Acts 7:54-56).
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Ghost, looked up and saw heaven. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God’s throne. He had a pure heart that saw God.
Saul had no vision of Christ. Yes, he was one of the best scholars of his day, and had a polished form of religion, but he would not believe Stephen’s vision. Saul simply stood there watching the stoning of Stephen. Visions, or visible demonstrations of the power of God could not be accepted by the scholar, only by the one filled with the Spirit. We need God’s wisdom, not man’s knowledge, to see His dreams and visions.
Lord, show me Your dreams
and visions. Amen.
