What Really Happened?

After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.” Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark. But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work. Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care. Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there. [Acts 15.36-41] 

In 2015 and then in 2017 I wrote the following articles respectively: The Way I Am, and Validation. In reviewing these articles today, I find satisfaction that, in this situation between Paul and Barnabas, there is certainly more than meets the eye. In fact, all of today's One Year Chronological Bible reading contains tidbits of information that leave us only to speculate on what really happened in the early years of Christendom.

If we take our "religious glasses" off when reading today's OYCB reading, we can see that the early believers struggled with questions and problems just like we still do today. They were, in fact, just as human as we are today.

For all the questions and answers found in today's reading, believers should carefully consider more than just the 'day's events' to discern whether the conclusions reached were accurate or perhaps not so accurate. We must remember that the book of Acts is a history of the early Church, not a definitive rule book (unless otherwise specified in the text).

The point of today's OYCB reading is to keep spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ knowing full well that confusion and disagreements will arise. Again, all the characters in today's reading were indeed humans just like we are today. Even when we try to follow the Holy Spirit, humans still often make mistakes. But, in light of all this, we can definitely see that those who obeyed Jesus' demand to "go" were influential in the spread of Jesus' message. And, therein lies the story. Yes, there is drama, but, thank God, we have the story today!

Father, I am grateful today for the New Testament record of the development of Christianity even with all its ups and downs. Thank You that, throughout history, You have had passionate and dedicated followers who 'carried the torch' so that we might have the Light today. Thank You that we can see that these characters were, just like us today, subject to Jesus' demand to give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Him. May we be found so doing, even in all the human messiness it involves today. So be it.

The Sinful Nature Of Man Is To Care For Himself

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. [Galatians 6.8] 

What is the sinful nature of man? It can be described in one word: self.

Living under the Law is living unto self.

Yes, the Law was given for a season to serve a purpose. No uncertain blessings were attached to keeping the Law. They are found in Deuteronomy 28.1-14. Those blessings were a 'band aid' of sorts for the selfish sin of mankind set in motion in the Garden of Eden. Those blessings were temporal however with only earthly benefits. Those blessings did not touch eternity or offer eternal life.

Just like the Law, and perhaps foretelling the outcome of the Law, God gave Israel a snake on a stick to look upon and be healed:

Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!” So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed! [Numbers 21.4-9]

The problem with the snake on a stick though was that the people began to worship it. Later, during Hezekiah's reign, the snake on a stick, originally given by God, had to be destroyed:

He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan. Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. [2 Kings 18.3-5]

So it was with the Law. When people selfishly internalize blessings from God, even the most profound of those blessings becomes an idol.

Every blessing from God is designed for one purpose and to one end: to bring us to Christ. If however we selfishly fixate on the blessing and not on Christ, that blessing becomes an idol. The Law given on Mount Sinai was the perfect example of this. The snake on a stick was the perfect example of this. And today, man's industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology are perfect examples of this.

Living to satisfy our own sinful nature is living to enjoy God's blessings without fully acknowledging and serving Him as the ONLY Bless-er. The ONLY way to prove undivided trust in Him then is to get rid of any source of blessings but Him. Jesus said it like this:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

Jesus did not come to earth doing good and healing the sick as a "dispensation." He came as God's eternal solution to the idol-sin-problem of man. However, as close to Jesus as miracles were, are, and ever should be, if people pursue the miracles without pursuing Jesus, those miracles become an idol. We have seen both sides of this in the modern Church. Dispensationalists flock to blessings from finance, insurance, medicine and technology (saying they are from God, of course), and 'faith-people' flock to blessings "in Jesus' name" but also ultimately resort to finance, insurance, medicine and technology. All the while nobody is really getting miraculously healed (at least, very, very few are) and people, like Abraham, try to insist their alternate ways are God's Way (but they are not).

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. [Genesis 17.17-19]

The sinful nature of man always resorts to himself and his ways and is always self-preserving. There is ONLY ONE solution to this condition and His name if Jesus. And, there is ONLY ONE way to be "in Christ" and that is to give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Him - the "pursuit of life" be damned:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? [Matthew 16.25-26]

Today's idol industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology are all about hanging on to life. Just watch their TV commercials. Their appeal is exclusively to the selfish nature of man.

In contrast, God promises to care for those who make Him and His Kingdom their priority:

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. [Matthew 6.25-34] 

To be sure, the selfish nature of man has formulated all sorts of doctrines and theology to justify his idolatrous existence on the earth today. And, these self-justifying "doctrines and theology" indict the Church (the world has no need to justify its idols). 

The selfish sinful nature of man has all sorts of self-justifying explanations for every scripture referenced herein. The selfish nature of man will never take Matthew 16.24-26 literally. When it comes down to living or dying, the selfish nature of man always chooses to live - even if it means violating what they know Matthew 16.24-26 to mean... And then they say something brazenly arrogant: "God knows my heart..." as if that makes their idolatry okay - ignorantly unaware that that very phrase only further indicts them!

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [Jeremiah 17.9]

The sinful nature of man is to care for himself. 

Father, human reasoning would argue that we can't really be that bad... But I don't trust my human reasoning because it comes from my human heart. May my trust be only in Your Word - in Jesus. And, may I be found giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Him. So be it.

This Explains A LOT!

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” [Galatians 3.10-12] 

The very first rule of God's Law is to have or trust no other God but Him.

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3]

Jesus said:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

The common thread that forever links God's Law and God's Son is exclusivity of faith.

It should not be overlooked that the penalty for disobeying God's Law is defined in very understandable and relatable terms of earthly life. A thorough read of Deuteronomy 28 reveals all manner of earthly life rewards or earthly life deterrents regarding God's Law, obeying it or disobeying it respectively.

Based on Deuteronomy 28, it might be said that obeying God's Law is ultimately for the benefit of living. 

In contrast, Jesus went on to clarify the demands of Matthew 16.24 as follows:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? [Matthew 16.25-26]

Was it a mistake that Deuteronomy 28's blessings for obedience all only dealt with "life" on earth? There is not one mention of eternal life. Why? Because eternal life was never the goal of the Law!

If we can see it, the earthly-life blessings for obedience, listed in Deuteronomy 28 are all the result of man's effort to preserve himself. In this way, man's effort to hang on to - improve or preserve - his life is idolatry. Jesus was clear that such activity is engaged in at the terrifying cost of one's eternal soul.

To trust in God only yields earthly blessings. But, to trust in Christ (as the Only Way to God - John 14.6) yields eternal blessings. The difference between trusting in God and trusting in God through Jesus is eternity with Him. And, as a bonus of trusting Christ, the believer enjoys redemption from the earthly curses upon disobedience:

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]

To "have no other God but Me..." only for the goal of earthly life is to still be under a curse. It is, in fact, an effort "to hang on to your life" as Jesus put it that idolatrously (selfishly) gains "the whole world" at the cost of losing "your own soul."

This explains a LOT!

Father, I am so thankful for Jesus Christ today... May I be found giving up my own way (seeking to preserve earthly life), taking up my cross, and following Jesus - only Jesus. So be it.

The Genuine Message of Grace

But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. [Acts 14.3] 

This statement was made relative to Paul's and Barnabas' visit to Iconium. 

If the message of God's grace in Jesus Christ was true and confirmed by miraculous signs and wonders in Paul's day, what is wrong today?

To be certain, the message of grace has not lost its power.

Could it be then that the messengers have so personalized, spiritualized, and contemporized the original message of grace that the modern version of it has none of the power of the original?

We should not think for a moment that mankind does not personalize, spiritualize, and contemporize the message of grace. When this happens, and it does, idolatry is afoot and we see this very thing occur in Paul's and Barnabas' next town:

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them. [Acts 14.11-18]

So, has the modern Church adopted idolatry? Has the modern Church become so infiltrated with idols that the message is no longer the genuine message of grace? The answer to these questions is glaringly obvious in the overwhelming powerlessness of the modern Church. Miraculous sings and wonders are not the norm but the exception in today's Church and that means that the genuine message of grace is not the norm but the exception.

If the people of Lystra wandered from the message of grace in elevating Paul and Barnabas idolatrously, what does the Church today do to itself regarding the message of grace in elevating man's industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology to god-like status? Does not the Church today do just this very thing to praise these industries as "gifts from God" when, really, they are the shrewd inventions of man whose overriding goal is not the betterment of their customers but instead the retention of their customers! 

Does not the Church do this same thing with religious leaders? Does not the Church give them "rockstar" status and recognition - hanging on their every word while the Church is anemic and weak in their own personal devotion to God's Word and prayer? Answer" Yes, that is exactly what happens!

We know the genuine message of grace is being adhered to when miraculous signs and wonders are present. How do we know idolatry has distracted us from the genuine message of grace? There are limited or NO miraculous signs and wonders.

But, there is good news! There is a "litmus test" that is quite effective in identifying when the genuine message of grace is being presented: it is persecution of the messenger. Satan, masked by a plethora of idols, unleashes his worst against any messenger of the genuine message of grace. The only real exception to this truth is when people are so deeply involved with their idolatry that they callously dismiss the genuine message of grace as foolishness (along with its genuine messengers)...

Father, this message is an indictment upon the modern Church and it is an indictment upon me. Miraculous signs and wonders are all but non-existent in our day signaling that Your true message of grace is not being presented. Please just put a stop to all our excuses we make to ease our corporate conscience that all is well. Instead of personalizing, spiritualizing, and contemporizing the message of grace, may we instead be found giving up our own way, taking up our cross, and following Jesus. So be it.

You Are What You Eat (Scriptural?)

Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said. [Acts 11.1-3] 

Why, when Peter had the vision of the sheet and all manner of animals, were there all manner of animals in the sheet and not all manner of people, if indeed Peter was to understand that he was to take the Gospel to the Gentile people?

The thing that supposedly "defiled" Gentiles was what they ate! They were not subject to the laws of the Jews regarding what they ate and how they ate it within their homes. Consequently, they and their homes were seen by the Jews as defiled and were therefore off limits. It might have been said of the Gentiles, "You are what you eat."

We might do well here to consider what was accomplished by God's laws for the Jews regarding what they could or could not eat. While we might correctly assume that these laws had to do with holiness, we might also incorrectly assume that holiness was imparted by the actual food instead of by the distinction of obedience in what foods were eaten (and how they were eaten). God demands obedience. Obedience distinguished Israel as God's. Israel pointed the way to Messiah. Once Messiah came, the obedience that pointed to Him (laws about ceremonial foods) were no longer necessary. And so...

In addition to the vision that landed Peter in Cornelius' house, he had only to remember a conversation he himself had with Jesus regarding this very same topic of food:

Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” [Matthew 15.10-20]

The vision Peter had was proof positive that Peter (and the other disciples) had, in fact, not grasped what Jesus taught them earlier (Matthew 1.10-20). 

The fact that Peter "went" to Cornelius' house at the direction of the voice from heaven confirms Jesus' command to "go" in what we know as the Great Commission. Likewise, the gift of speaking with tongues, that was given to the Gentiles in Cornelius' house, confirmed that Gentiles also were called and equipped to go to all the world. And, with this in mind...

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28.18-20]

When Jesus' followers were commanded to "go" they were also commanded to "teach." And, what does teaching require? It requires something to come out of our mouths - out of our no longer defiled but regenerated hearts - the Good News of Jesus Christ.

If we can (or will) see it, Jesus' discussion in Matthew 15.10-20 and Peter's vision both confirm that we should not be paying attention to what we eat, but instead what we declare with our mouths that comes from our hearts. Concern for what we eat is self-centric - it is idolatrous. Concern for what we say is other-centric - it is the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Concern for what we eat is representative of everything people do in their own way to preserve their own lives.

Concern for what we say is representative of everything we do to take up our cross and follow Jesus - to "go" and have an explanation (the Gospel message) for why we are going.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

We must decide whether we "live" today because of what we eat or because of what we say. One "life" is carnal while the other "life" is spiritual. We should intentionally know and understand which one we are "living" for.

Father, as scattered as my words here may be, they make sense to me. I see that all my focus on "living" needs to be spiritual. May I be found giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Jesus. So be it.

To Follow Jesus Means To "Go"

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. [Acts 8.4]

It would appear we have read the book of Acts to the wrong end.

Many suppose that the will of God to spread His Word required persecution for that to take place. In this case, however, persecution was "Plan B." "Plan A" was given by Jesus before He ascended back to heaven:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28.18-20]

Wait, what?? Yes, the original plan was that the disciples wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit and then, once equipped with the Holy Spirit, to "go." It was never Jesus' plan for the disciples to just stay in Jerusalem.

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. [Acts 1.4]

The plan was that they would wait in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit and then leave Jerusalem. But, as the book of Acts records, they did not - at least not at first.

Here is a fact to consider: The reason Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem was so they could be equipped for what came next. Hint: an institutionalized 'feeding program' for the widows was not part of the original plan (but was, in fact, always the duty of every believer in God... Deuteronomy 10.18).

If, once the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were to "go," that should mean that the Holy Spirit would equip them with what they needed for the journey. And, that He did. The Holy Spirit equipped them with the gift of speaking in tongues which would have been absolutely essential for the believers to go to other people who spoke other languages!

But... it seems the Holy Spirit gift of speaking in tongues was received more as a novelty than a tool. This could explain why there remains so much confusion over that particular gift to this very day. The gift of tongues was never meant to be a miraculous sign that people were saved, but a practical tool for saved people who were sent! In this regard, the gift of tongues remains a valid and useful tool today for all who would obey Jesus and "go."

And this brings us back to Acts 8.4. The disciples did not "go" as directed (and equipped), so, "Plan B" went into effect: persecution that served to scatter them as originally planned.

If we will read the book of Acts for the history of the Church actually revealed therein (not reading every act necessarily as an endorsement), we might be surprised what we find relative to our own pursuit of God through Jesus today. But, we should be sure of this: what we find will never deviate from Jesus' non-negotiable requirement:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]

To follow Jesus means to "go." 

Father, may we humbles ourselves and take a fresh look at the history of the Church. Help us see that "institutionalization" was never Your plan. Help us see that our growth, as the Body of Christ, was never meant to be upward (as in the tower of Babel), but outward to all the world. May we be found giving up our own way, taking up our cross, and following Jesus. So be it.

Mad Enough To Murder (Resisting The Holy Spirit)

“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! [Acts 7.51] 

The tell-tale sign that the Holy Spirit is resisted is overwhelmingly powerless religion.

This is, by and large, the prevailing condition of the Church today: the Holy Spirit is resisted. Indeed there are occasional 'spots' of power here and there, but, for the most part, the Church is powerless. While there is much talk about the Holy Spirit, there is little actual evidence of the Holy Spirit as depicted in the Bible record. This problem of powerlessness must be seen for what it is based on Biblically-informed understanding: it is resisting the Holy Spirit. 

Of course, no 'Christian' group today would ever admit to resisting the Holy Spirit, but, when we understand what resisting the Holy Spirit actually is, we might find reason to rethink this position...

Quoting from Isaiah's writings, Jesus defined the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in Him and therefore in everyone who follows Him (John 14.12):

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” [Luke 4.18-19]

“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” [Luke 24.49 bold added] 

Elsewhere however, Jesus defined the powerless condition of those whose hearts are hardened - those who resist the Holy Spirit: 

For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]

The familiar terminology Jesus used, regarding 'deaf ears and blind eyes,' is the abridged albeit recurrent terminology of idolatry. In fact, it is repeated twice just in the Psalms:

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.1-8 bold added] 

The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have  mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 135.15-18 bold added] 

Embracing idolatry is, in fact, resisting the Holy Spirit. 

Embracing idols, because it is indeed resisting the Holy Spirit, is an eternal deal breaker for relationship with God:

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. “So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven—except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. [Matthew 12.30-32]

In Stephen's accusation (Acts 7.51 above), this is confirmed because he said, "That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!" The Old Testament writings are nothing if they are not a record of Israel's shameful and repeated affairs with idolatry: resisting the Holy Spirit power of God by embracing idols.

Because Jesus is the giver of the Holy Spirit...

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. [John 14.15-17]

...it is that much more important to understand the significance of following Jesus:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [John 14.6]

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24] 

To give up our own way is to yield only to the supernatural, unexplainable, power of the Holy Spirit (given by Jesus) turning away from every natural, explainable way of man. To take up our cross is a commitment "to the death" to demonstrate (like Jesus) only the Holy Spirit's power in our lives... accomplished only by following Jesus.

In Acts 7.51, Stephen effectively accused the people who were about the stone him of the same gross idolatry their ancestors were guilty of. The difference between Stephen and his murderers was the same difference between Jesus and His murderers: the undeniable miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit.

The best way to make a religious person mad enough to commit murder is to identify their powerlessness as the idolatry it is.

Father in heaven, my own powerlessness is a glaring indictment upon me. I accept that truth and confess it as sin. May the power of Your Holy Spirit rest upon and flow through me as He did Jesus. May I be found with no other agenda in this life but to give up my own way, take up my cross, and to follow Jesus. So be it.