SINGING TO THE LORD

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple…Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. Psalm 27:4, 6

Brother Zhang, a young medical doctor and preacher in Zhejiang, China, refused to join the government Three Self Patriotic Church. He was arrested and spent eighteen years in prison eating poor food, being beaten and drowning in the stench of cellmates. He shares this testimony:

“The eighteen years were a tremendous spiritual challenge, which brought great blessings I never before thought possible in my life. Prison officials ordered me to empty the camp night-soil pit, the prison’s cesspool. While I had little experience of physical labor, its hardship and suffering did not frighten me. Although most of the other prisoners dreaded night-soil pit duty as the most difficult task in prison, I accepted this assignment without complaint. 

The Power of Love

Love never fails. —1 Corinthians 13:8

The power of love is what it achieves. Stephen demonstrated the immense power of love when he prayed for the people stoning him: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). This is what God wanted—this display of love.

Stephen, who almost certainly was Paul's role model, is one of the most outstanding people in the Bible. I cannot express how much I admire him. And then I examine his mastery of the Old Testament (Acts 7) and observe how he put his opponents in the succession of the disobedient in ancient history: "You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (v. 51). Although no one was immediately converted, never had one spoken with such power.

The whole time he spoke, the pure love of God flowed through him and from him. The proof of this was his concern for them, not himself, when they were stoning him. He, therefore, fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." It was a virtual reenactment of Jesus' prayer on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).