Persistence in Persecution

Introduction:

How would we react to persecution?

This is not a trivial question, but it is one that invites self-examination about why we worship God through Jesus.

How little difficulty would it take to make us live outside the truth?

Luke wants his readers to realize that what happened to Stephen changed everything.

It marks a clear line of before and after.

It also brought Saul into prominence.

He will show how everyone reacted in the aftermath of Stephen’s execution.

This requires discernment.

What does true piety look like?

Saul Leads the Persecution

Luke refers to Saul three times in short order.

Acts 7:58

Acts 8:1

Acts 8:3

He approved of what happened to Stephen.

This probably means more than he was happy about it.

He thought this was the correct course of action toward Stephen and the others who agreed with him about Jesus.

This gets shown by his later actions.

Luke frames Saul the persecutor from the perspective of the great persecution that occurred in Jerusalem.

This did not happen only on a day, but the time of Stephen’s death marked the beginning of changed circumstances for those identified with Jesus as Christ.

We see evidence of the change in the dispersal of the believers from the city.

They spread out into the regions of Judaea and Samaria (more on this below).

Luke’s wording suggests they did not go beyond those two regions, at least for now.

The apostles did not leave the city.

Luke’s point does not appear to be that only the twelve remained, but the majority left but none of the apostles did. They remained where the intensity was the greatest.

Saul’s became destructive to the church.

He enters houses.

He dragged men and women and was placing them in jail.

Paul speaks of his own activities in Acts 26:9-11.

1 Cor. 15:9

Gal. 1:13, 22

Phil. 3:6

1 Tim. 1:13

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 20.24 λυμαίνομαι

20.24 λυμαίνομαιa: to cause injury or harm by maltreatment—‘to injure severely, to maltreat.’ Σαῦλος δὲ ἐλυμαίνετο τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ‘Saul then was causing great harm to the church’

Introduction (Part 2):

We have to reacquaint ourselves to living in an unflattened world.

Not everything is about physical, material culture.

From a biblical perspective, we live in a world of spiritual conflict.

Discerning between true spirituality and faux spirituality remains a challenge.

For the first time, we see believers, without Jesus, outside of Jerusalem.

Our two questions from Part 1 remain:

How would we react in the face of persecution.

What does true spirituality/devotion look like?

Persistence in the Face of Persecution

The apostles, as mentioned above, did not leave the city.

They faced the intensity of the persecution.

Devout men buried Stephen and made great grief over him.

The Mishnah Sanhedrin

6:6 A When the flesh had rotted, they [then do] collect the bones and bury them in their appropriate place.

B And the relatives [of the felon] come and inquire after the welfare of the judges and of the witnesses,

C as if to say, “We have nothing against you, for you judged honestly.”

D And they did not go into mourning.

E But they observe a private grief, for grief is only in the heart.

Philip Preaches after Persecution

Luke’s earlier observations already raise the question about how the people would react following the persecution.

Would this end everything?

He has also alluded to some of the diaspora going to Samaria.

Philip will now become the focal point in the narrative.

Those who dispersed, however, passed while heralding the word.

He was preaching the Messiah.

The crowds in Samaria paid attention to what he was saying:

when they were hearing

when they were seeing

Philip imitated Jesus:

Many of those having unclean spirits were coming out shouting with a loud sound.

Many paralytics and lame were healed.

This all produced great joy in the city.

We should wonder why.

What does true piety look like?

Zealous persecution?

Persistent preaching and continuing to live in the truth even in the face of persecution?

Simon Leads Spiritual Opposition

We should reacquaint ourselves with the reality of spiritual conflict.

We encounter the demonic when we are confronted with untruth and sensuality.

Philip’s audience in Samaria (we do not know which city) already had someone present whom they respected.

They called him “The Great” or “The Great Power of God.”

They believed him to be the embodiment of the power of God.

He had worked what is referred to here as “magic.”

For a long time, he had mesmerized the people of Samaria.

Philip’s preaching intrigued Simon.

Was a genuine believer?

This question will demand revisiting later.