"Bittersweet Blessing"

By Rob Bailes

How could a blessing be bitter and sweet?

When I read about the death of the apostle Stephen, there were two distinct characters that stood out in my mind. One of them was very bitter and one of them was a character with a very sweet spirit. When I say sweet, I don't mean in a feminine way, as is so often meant today. This is a characteristic of God, as something that is good and desirable. Have you ever had candy that had a bitterness but still had a sweetness as well? That's exactly what I see in the final events of Stephen's last hour of his life. Let's look at those final events together.

Stephen had a message to give to the Jews. His message was a reminder of the things that their fathers had done to the prophets and the Messiah. Their fathers had murdered those who had come to warn them and even the One who came to save them from the hopeless state of condemnation that bound them; by breaking the laws by which they were to live their lives. When anyone has committed an act of sin and they choose not to repent and make it right, the guilt and the bondage of satan has them held hostage until they do make it right. We often refer to this condition in a person's life as being bitter. They become very defensive and aggressive when anything is mentioned to remind them of their actions.

I remember a time in my life when I was much younger and I had made some decisions that were wrong and my father knew about this, but he would hesitate to bring it up because I was living on my own and wanted to do my own thing. A few years later after all of that had passed, my father brought it up again and he just wanted to talk about it and see what I had learned from that experience. To his surprise, I suddenly became angry and defensive. I found my heart beating very fast and my mind just feeling anger and trying to find some fault in my own father as a defence! How could I have gone from being a calm, peaceful person to such an angry, aggressive person in a split second? I couldn't even understand why myself!

After thinking about this alone for about an hour and sorting through what had just happened, I realized that although I had made changes in the way I lived, I hadn't ever really repented of what I had done in the past and because of this, there was a seed still growing in my heart. It was the seed of bitterness!
I often think of this growth like the potato plant. It is growing for months, but you don't see the fruit until you dig it up. My friend, we all have things in our lives that we would rather leave untouched and it really irritates us when some one digs or probes into our past, but it is at that moment when we realize that there is a real need for repentance. That buried bitterness and anger can drive us to do things that we will regret for the rest of our lives.

I had to go back and make things right with my father here on earth, but first, I had to get it right with my Father in Heaven. Oh, what a relief, to finally call out to my all forgiving and caring Heavenly Father and earthly father as well. They were both so pleased to see this change and I had received a peace within that I had not had before this time of repentence.

Let's read about the Jews reaction to Stephen's reminder of their father's sins,

Acts 7:54-58
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
55 But he(Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."
57 Then they(the people) cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

This kind of anger and aggression is found where the potatoes are ripe and ready for harvest! Those are the potatoes (fruit) of bitterness. The plants had been growing and above the surface everything looked fine and as our world keeps reminding everyone in this day that we live, it looks nice and "green". I agree with recycling and protecting the environment, but be careful when you see growth taking place where the fruit of the "green" or results are not visible!

These people didn't even want to hear the truth!

Look at verse fifty-seven above where it says they shouted and stopped their ears! They couldn't stand it! Just as I had jumped up and walked out of the room that day in a state of anger, they were angry and didn't want to hear Stephen's reminder. When Stephen said that he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God, this reminded the people that their ancestors had put Jesus to death and many had not ever repented of this. It was the fruit of bitterness that had been passed down to them by their fathers. The thing that I saw next was the sweetness of Stephen's spirit when he knelt down and cried(In the Greek-he screamed) with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!"

Acts 7:59-60
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. "
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." and when he had said this, he fell asleep.


Then God let Stephen sleep. The last words of this apostle were words of forgiveness. Stephen didn't want to leave this world with a bitter spirit towards those who were taking his very own life on that day. How many of us could shout out a request of forgiveness to God, for our attackers, while being pounded by rocks, by big rocks that are meant to kill us?

What are the things that you have experienced? How many times have we let the little things that someone has said or little bumps and bruises cause us to hold anger and bitterness in our hearts towards someone else? Oh, that we would be like Stephen, who in the midst of being bitten and being pounded by rocks thrown with such force as to break his very bones; spoke those sweet words that would penetrate the hearts of all who were there, including Saul. God knew that Stephen's cry for their forgiveness would melt the bands of bitterness in their hearts one day and God knew how Saul would one day repent and preach the Word of God around the world.

It didn't happen that day, as we find Saul going from house to house, taking men and women who believed in the Messiah and persecuting them (Acts 8:3), but the day came, not much later, when God brought Saul to his knees, to a place of repentence and changed his name to Paul(Acts 9:4).

You see, Stephen's death was the beginning of the spread of the message of hope and salvation outside of the walls of Jerusalem (Acts 8:4). Many were afraid and scattered abroad. The blessing was that many saw the love of God, due to Stephen's final words and his example, even to his death.

Acts 7:60 And he (Stephen) kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge". And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The bitterness rose up in the people, but God was victorious over all, whether they repented or not! Is there something that puts you on the defence today? If so, I encourage you to pray about this and make it right with God. You have so much to gain!

The Fruit of Life will replace the Fruit of bitterness, defensiveness and revenge in your life, as soon as you come to the place where you can confess the past and accept the forgiveness of God.

That place can be right here and right now! The only thing holding us back from making this decision right now is our own foolish pride and in the end, that is what satan will try to use to lead us to destruction.

If you remember anything from your past that is still something you avoid discussing, I encourage you today to turn it over to God; repent of your anger and hatred towards others; forgive so that you can begin to heal and God will do the rest for you.

You'll begin to see the Fruit of Life in your life like never before! A New Life awaits you today. Choose Life over bondage! Choose sweet over bitter! Choose love over hatred! God loves you and is waiting for this very moment to bless you with the presence of His sweet Spirit today.