The end of this incident is a warning to all who look on being "used by God", or "moving in the power of God" as an easy option, or a cheap thrill. The more we are filled with the Spirit the more Christlike we become, and the more we walk the path of Christ. Jesus made it perfectly clear that following Him entailed sharing in His sufferings. If the world rejected Christ, which it did, then it will reject those who are like Him.
The Sanhedrin were furious and flew into a rage. Stephen, did not react out of his human nature, but was filled with the Spirit. This had two effects. First, he was filled with great peace and awareness of the presence of God. Secondly, he called on God to forgive his persecutors. Stephen was truly experiencing the life of God.
The Sanhedrin just got madder and madder, and they stoned Stephen, with the approval of Saul.
Today we do not face the violent persecution in this country that Stephen faced, but we can still learn lessons. Some atheists are increasingly antagonistic towards Christianity. We should seek to react as Stephen did. This means we must not use worldly methods to "defeat" the atheists (2 Cor 10:4,5), though the Spirit may enable us from time to time to use incisive arguments against them. We do not need to fear, and we can safely let God take care of any judgement that needs to be taken care of. We should remain calm, and pray for their forgiveness. Maybe some Paul's will come out of atheist movements!
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