[Manna - May 17]
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. John 16:2
THE persecutions of today are more refined than in
any previous period.
The faithful today are not stoned
with literal stones or shot with literal arrows or literally
beheaded, but it is still true that the wicked shoot
out arrows at the righteous, "even bitter words," and
many because of faithfulness are reproved and slandered
and cut off from fellowship—"beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus."
Let all such emulate Stephen, the
first Christian martyr.
Let their testimonies be given
with radiant faces like his.
Let their eyes of faith perceive
Jesus at the right hand of the Majesty on High as
their Advocate and Deliverer.
Let their words be with
moderation as were Stephen's, and let it be true of
them, as written of him, "full of grace and power" and
"filled with the Holy Spirit." Z.'97-57 R2109:6