Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word. This week's question:

After the establishment of the church in Jerusalem, the apostles worked many miracles through the Holy Spirit that astonished the multitudes and many were being baptized, "And the word of the Lord kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7). But the high priest and the sect of the Sadducees [those that did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8) ], were filled with jealousy over these things and were determined to stop the spreading of this teaching of "in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18 & 5:17-18, 28).

That brings us to our question, "Who was stoned for saying he saw Jesus?". A disciple, "…full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people (Acts 6:8), but Jewish men of the synagogue called the "Freedmen" (Acts 6:9) rose up and argued with him "And yet they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induces men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.' And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and dragged him away, and brought him before the council. And they put forewarned false witnesses who said, 'This man incessantly speaks against this holy place, and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.' And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the council saw his face like the face of an angel." (Acts 6:10-15).

And then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?" (Acts 7:1), and beginning with God before Abraham , he gave an account of some of the history of the Old Testament and of Joseph when he was sold into slavery and taken to Egypt and of Moses who delivered the people out of the hand of Pharaoh, then of David and of his son Solomon who built the temple (Acts 7:2-50). Then he said, "'You men who are stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the Law as ordained by angels , and yet you did not keep it.' When they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears, and they rushed upon him with one impulse. And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!'" (Acts 7:51-59).

So there we have the answer to our question, as the man who saw Jesus at the right hand of God was "Stephen"!

May we have the same courage as Stephen to speak so boldly the truth even before those that might be ready to do us great harm. The Lord tells us, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus , the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and loose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;" (Hebrews 12:1-4). Let us consider Him who set the perfect example of life without sin, that author and perfecter of faith for life eternal (1 John 2:25).