And the witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ... Saul agreed with putting [Stephen] to death. (Acts 7:58, 8:1 HCSB)
Stephen was one of the first deacons of the church (Acts 6:5) as well as one of the church's early apologists. (Acts 6:9-10) An apologist is someone that offers a defense of something; in this case the claims of Christianity. He was accused of blasphemy--speaking offensively of God or sacred things. He did not back down. He delivered a powerful sermon and a rebuke of the corruption of the sacred by those charged with keeping and teaching the law of God. The result was his death by stoning. It was not a state sanctioned execution but a brutal murder by a mob.
Among those present was Saul of Tarsus. Participants of this mob laid their robes at Saul's feet. This was no small matter. The coat or cloak was of great value in Bible times since it often provided the only source of protection or shelter from the elements especially at night.
Whether Saul threw a stone or not, he was complicit in Stephen's murder. He admits this later. "And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving, and I guarded the clothes of those who killed him." (Acts 22:20) Saul also sought letters from the High Priest so he could bring all professing Christians to Jerusalem as prisoners. (Acts 9:1-2) By his own admission, Saul was the worst of all sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
Saul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus with the letters of arrest issued by the High Priest. In a miraculous conversion experience, Saul became a model missionary planting churches throughout the known world and he was the most prolific writer contributing to the New Testament. He was beaten, persecuted, arrested, shipwrecked, chased out of several towns, all for the same faith he once sought to destroy. Yet he continued to move forward.
There is no shortage of people that choose not to go to church claiming if they ever walked through the doors of a church that church would burst into flames. There are countless others that seek forgiveness but feel their sins are too great. "If you knew half of what I did...".
There is no sin that God cannot and will not forgive if you seek His forgiveness. If God is so great that He can speak the universe into existence out of nothing, He can forgive your sins. If God can redeem a nation of slaves and lead them safely across a great desert while the world's most powerful army pursues them, He can forgive your sins. If God can take on the form of a human being, suffer death by crucifixion and rise from the grave, He can forgive your sins. If God can take the least likely people and use them to forever change the world and build His church, He can forgive your sins and use you to do great things for Him, bring glory to His name, and advance His kingdom.
"My sins are too great," is the lamest excuse in all of human history. Put your past behind you. Seek God's forgiveness and start living a life of victory though Him and for Him.
