51 “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Sometimes harsh things get said about other people even in the Scriptures. Stephen is using some very pointed language in order to get his message across. They are about to repeat history again. They are about to kill a messenger of God’s truth, just as their predecessor had done with the Prophets in the Old Testament. So, Stephen holds nothing back. He wants his words to penetrate their souls. He wants them to be without excuse. He has recalled some of their collective history and how as a people they had previously missed the truth. Collectively they had killed the Prophets. Collectively they were guilty of their deaths. Stephen shifts to this sharp language in hopes that they will turn from their course of action and submit to the Lord. He senses their direction and he is trying to block their path with an appeal to their spirits. He tells them they are resisting the Holy Spirit. He tells them that they ‘always’ resist the Spirit. That is a powerful statement. They are in the habit of pushing against God’s work, even though they claim to be following God’s will. This is not a one-time resistance. They have repeatedly stood against the work of God, both in themselves and in others. They put up repeated roadblocks in an attempt to keep the Lord from changing the path they had decided He should follow. But the river of God’s moving cannot be resisted. He will accomplish His plan. No barrier is too high or strong for His power to overcome. Just as killing the Prophets did not stop God’s plan, so killing Stephen will not stop the movement of the Holy Spirit. He will move.
The Arnold Journey 