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. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Acts 7:57-58

Jesus warned His disciples that we will be hated by the world, even as the world hated Him (John 15:18). Stephen experienced that reality in a most absolute sense. He was brutally martyred.

We have had the incredible privilege of living in a time and place in which Christianity has not only been accepted, but respected—even by the unbelieving world around us. That is rapidly changing, my friends. Our culture is revving up its engine of hatred for Christ, the gospel—and yes, for Christ’s people, the Church. While we are not delighted by this development, we ought not be surprised by it. And we must not let it shake our faith. Jesus said it would be so. The acceptance we are used to is the exception. The opposition we appear to be heading into is the norm.

And don’t miss that even though Stephen’s defense of Christ and the gospel was brilliantly compelling, they “stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him.” Understand that the lost and those Christ-haters on “the Left” hate the truth so much that they not only refuse to hear it, they are incapable of understanding it! (1 Corinthians 2:14).

So let us speak the truth of Christ and the gospel, and rather than being surprised at the reaction of the world, let us pray for them (especially our lost loved ones). For unless the Holy Spirit regenerates them, they can only “stop their ears,” and hate Jesus and those who love Him.