Acts 9:1

Introduction

Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,”

For the last several weeks, we have not mentioned in great detail what was happening in Jerusalem. Only, what was happening in Jerusalem opened the door to the globalization of the Gospel. Three examples of the globalization of the Gospel occur in Acts 8: The church was scattered abroad preaching the word, The Samaritans received the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a Gentile Ethiopian Eunuch was converted to Jesus.

Acts 9:1 opens a new scene for us. In opening this new scene, we are reminded what was taking place in Jerusalem. Even though God was blessing other people groups with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the saints in Jerusalem were still being persecuted at the highest level.

Acts 9:1 connects us back to Acts 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

This morning I want us to see 3 points with Acts 8:3 and 9:1

The purpose of Saul making havoc of the church at Jerusalem

Acts 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

Havoc

The word means “to soil.” That is, to make unclean.

The famed Greek scholar A. T. Robertson says the word “havoc” means to dishonor, defile, devastate, and ruin. All four concepts fit Saul’s intention with the church at Jerusalem and explains the world’s system approach to authentic Christianity.

Dishonor - To dishonor something is to disgrace something. Saul’s intention was to bring disgrace to an institution that projects grace. He wanted to destroy the mission of the church. The persecution that we read of in the New Testament and the Fox Book of Martyrs speaks of wicked people wanting to destroy the movement of grace.

Grace is a fundamental and existential threat to society. In politics, populism on the left or right pose threats to the establishments power and control. Populism says, “we do not need you.” Similarly, grace is a threat to the religious establishments power and control over people. Every movement is religious whether it is humanism, atheism, Black Lives Matter, pro-choice or pro-life, and pluralism. Grace says that we do not need your rules to be accepted by God. The religious leaders hated Jesus becasue His message, compassion, and miracles reduced their power and influence over the people. Disintegrated their man-made rules to be accepted by God.

Rules the Sanhedrin came up with for the Sabbath Day was their holy grail. These rules epitomized the control they had over the people. Jesus was destroying these rules and thereby their control over the people. Matthew 12 Jesus picked corn in a field and healed a man on the Sabbath Day. Both of these activities were against man-made Sabbath Day rules. The result of these seditious acts was their hatred for Him and desire to destroy Him. Matthew 12:14 “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.”

Defile - Saul creating havoc within the church with the purpose of defiling them. To corrupt the organization. Satan’s desire has always been to spoil what God has made whole. He wants to spoil God’s word, family, government and the Lord’s churches.

In Acts 26 Paul stood before King Agrippa to answer charges brought about by the Jews. Judaism was a protected religion within the Roman Empire. Early on, the Romans viewed Christianity as a sect within Judaism; therefore, had protection. However, the Jews wanted Rome to rule Christianity was not a sect within Judaism and to be outlawed. As Paul defends Christianity he speaks of what he did to persecute Christians before his conversion. Acts 26:11 “And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.”

He wanted to defile them by compelling them to blaspheme. “To blaspheme the name of Jesus by denying that he was the Messiah, and by admitting that he was an impostor.” The way Acts 26:11 reads and in conjunction with:

Acts 22:4 “And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”

Acts 26:10 “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.”

He did not have much success. Any society is oriented in a way that desires to compel us to blaspheme God!

Devastate - To devastate means to reduce order to chaos. Remember some of the protest that erupted into chaos. The images we saw on TV or read on line were heartbreaking. There was no regard for law enforcement, other people’s lives, and private property. In not too much of a different way, Saul wanted to devastate the church at Jerusalem. No regard for pastoral authority, other people’s lives in the church or their property.

Ruin - “Ruin” means “to make desolate.” Saul wanted people to abandon the faith and return to Judaism. Once back into Judaism, they are under control. Ultimately, this is the purpose of persecution - to bring people and keep people under control.

Destructiveness of persecution

Acts 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”

Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,”

“Havoc” is in the middle voice. The middle voice means that not only is the subject in the verse doing the action but he is being affected by the action.

Sinful activity affects the person committing the sin. An example is Pharoah hardening his heart towards God that negatively affected his life. Pharoah hardening his heart destroyed his life. The continuance of sin further damages us as people. This is why God’s people must regularly confess and repent from sin!

1 Peter 2:11 “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”

Sinful activity is not a war for lost people. Their souls yearn for sinful activity. Instead, sinful activity feeds an uncontrollable monster within. Saul’s persecution against Christians fed the monster within him to yearn for more action against the truth and people of truth.

Consider 3 aspects from Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,”

Breathing out - The threatening and slaughtering of saints became the very breath that Saul breathed. He breathed on the remaining disciples of Jesus the murder that he had already breathed in from the death of others. RS: “violence and murder are the atmosphere he breaths. He lives on death. Hatred sustains him.” KH: Saul was “a bloody, implacable, bloody man…He was a callous, self-righteous, bigoted murderer set on a full-scale inquistition.” The purpose of his life was to eradicate Christianity from the Jews.

Threatening - The word means “a menace.”

There is a saying - I do not make threats, I make guarantees or promises.

The idea is more than someone making threats against others. A menace to society is a person that has become a danger to people around him. Saul had become a danger to the Christians around him.

The “threatening” that Luke had in mind was an existential threat to Christianity.

We can see how the intensity of hatred for Christianity grew over time.

Acts 4:17 “But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.”

The threatenings led to whipping and whipping led to imprisonment and death.

Slaughter - “Slaughter” means “murder.

Context of the word:

Mark 15:7 “And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.”

Romans 1:29 “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,”

The reason it was a slaughter was scores of Christians were put to death.

Acts 22:4 “And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.”

Acts 26:10 “Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.”

People being threatened and slaughtered

Acts 9:1 “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,”

The disciples of the Lord

Disciples is a learner or student. The ones being threatened and killed were those who learned and grew in their relationship with Jesus.

The disciples of Jesus were referred to as “those ‘who belonged to the way.’”

Many New Testament Churches were not much larger than ours. The difference between them and us may their commitment to one another and Lord.

“Lord” is the supreme person. People that were learning and growing from Jesus, the supreme existence were being threatened and slaughtered.

A disciple of the Lord is not JUST someone who follows the teaching of Jesus but is a person who loves Jesus supremely.

Luke 14:25–33 KJV 1900

And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

You need to love Jesus more than any other person

You need to love Jesus more than your own life - Cross = shame

Parable about counting the cost

Conclusion

What is our response?

We should not look for opportunities to be persecuted; we should look for opportunities to serve our Lord.

We cannot effectively serve the Lord if we are not learning from Jesus and growing in Him.

We need to view Jesus as supreme

The world will hate us

We need to pray for our enemies. Matthew 5:43-44 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

When Jesus gave the command to love and pray for our enemies he knew it would one day require praying for Islamic extremist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda who murder his Bride. Jesus was saying that when we think of those people, we no longer even see them as enemies. As John MacArthur explains, “we are not to be enemies of those who may be enemies to us. From their perspective, we are their enemies; but from our perspective, they should be our neighbors.”

How to pray for our enemies

We need to pray for their conversion

Some do not pray becasue they do not believe God will save them

Some do not pray because they do not want them saved.

We need to pray their evil may be restrained

Proverbs 24:17 “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, And let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:”

We need to pray for divine justice - In asking that divine justice be done, we should be careful to guard our motives. Praying for divine justice can be a way to circumvent our duty to love our enemy. While we must leave vengeance to God, we must not forget what is commanded of us.

Romans 12:19-21 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”