Saul ravages the church!

Saul ravages the Church

“And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

On Sunday, January 8, 1956, on the shore of a lonely river deep in the Ecuadorian jungle, primitive Auca Indiana murdered five missionaries. News of the massacre shocked the world.

To some, their deaths seemed a senseless tragedy.

Many people decried the promising missionary careers they were cut short, others the five young wives bereft of their husbands, and also the many children left fatherless.

Those with deeper spiritual insight saw things differently.

Nate Smith who was of the five people killed that day; he had written these words earlier but the power of his point resonates even more after his death.

As we weigh the future and seek the will of God, does it seem right that we should hazard our lives for just a few savages? As we ask ourselves this question, we realize that it is not the call of the needy thousands; rather it is the simple suggestion of God’s prophetic Word that says there shall be some from every tribe, tongue and nation in His presence in the last day. And because of this in our hearts we feel that it is pleasing to Him that we should interest ourselves in making an opening into the Auca homeland for Christ.

At first glance, Stephen’ death may almost seem pointless. Here was yet another promising career cut short.

He was a powerful, miraculous preacher, with a deep knowledge of the Old Testament. Such was the godly character of his life that he was one of the seven chosen by the church to oversee its daily affairs of the body. Why was it necessary that one so gifted have such a brief ministry? Only God knows!

Further, his ministry seemed to have ended in failure. But this is not true; he was not a heretic but a hero of the faith.

His death also triggered the first persecution against the entire church. That persecution, spearheaded by Saul of Tarsus, scattered the Jerusalem fellowship.

Such a skewed view of Stephen’s death, however, betrays a lack of understanding of the way the Holy Spirit works. The persecution, which seemed to be a negative, was in reality a positive factor.

It was in this scattering that the Church of Christ Jesus grew even the more. These persecutions led to the first great missionary outreach by this early church.

Satan’s attempt to stamp out the church’s fire merely scattered the embers and started new fires around the world. In the words of the early church Father Tertullian, the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the church.

The church’s first missionary effort, beginning in this chapter, was foreshadowed in chapter 5, when people from the cities near Jerusalem brought their sick fro the apostles to heal (5:16).

Stephen’s outreach to the Hellenistic Jews, those from foreign lands, was a step toward world evangelism. Now in chapter 8, the church is seen reaching out to Judea, Samaria, and even to a Gentile. They were carrying out their Lord’s mandate to in

, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

This chapter marks another turning point. Jerusalem, which has dominated the story up to this point, begins to settle into the background, illustrating the truth that opportunity ignored is opportunity lost. The church there continued, but the explosive days of apostolic miracles and exponential growth faded. God was call for an expansion beyond Jerusalem, for the Gospel was been unleashed through God’s power!

Paul wrote in , “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Victor Hugo once said “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time as come.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is much more than an idea. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation! The church of Jesus Christ was on the move because of persecution, the salt was being shaken out of the Jerusalem saltshaker to be spread over all Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost places in the world.

Let us pray…

Saul ravages the church… by persecution and scattering it.

, “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

The persecution the church had faced up to this point had been directed at the apostles and their associates who were proclaiming the risen Jesus. Peter and John had encountered opposition from the Jewish authorizes, and Stephen had died a martyr’s death. As of yet, however, no persecution had been aimed at the members of the church. That was about to change quickly.

On the very day of Stephen’s death, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem. A Hellenistic Jew led the persecution, ignited by the murder of Stephen.

His name was Saul of Tarsus; he is he one that the text refers to as it says he approved of Stephen’s execution. Saul of Tarsus was born in approximately AD 5 in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia (in modern-day Turkey). He was born to Jewish parents who possessed Roman citizenship, a coveted privilege that their son would also possess.

In about AD 10, Saul’s family moved to Jerusalem. Sometime between AD 15—20 Saul began his studies of the Hebrew Scriptures in the city of Jerusalem under Rabbi Gamaliel. It was under Gamaliel that Saul would begin an in-depth study of the Law with the famous rabbi. There has been some debate over whether Saul was raised in Jerusalem or in his birthplace of Tarsus, but a straightforward reading of his own comments indicate that Jerusalem was his boyhood home (). We know that Paul’s sister’s son was in Jerusalem after Paul’s conversion (), which lends weight to the idea that Paul’s entire family had moved to Jerusalem when he was young. Saul was present for the trial of Stephen—a trial that resulted in Stephen becoming the first Christian martyr. The historian Luke tells us that Stephen’s executioners laid their garments at the feet of Saul, who was in full approval of the mob’s murderous actions. Saul later ravaged the church, entering the homes of believers and committing them to prison.

Saul was a brilliant student of the revered rabbi Gamaliel. Saul was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of his contemporaries and among his countrymen. He was known for being more zealous for the traditions of his ancestors.

Look at how he describes himself in

, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

Ironically, this same Saul who consented to Stephen’s death would later suffer far more for the cause of Christ than did Stephen. The very first physical persecution Stephen encountered killed him, while Saul after he became Paul would repeatedly suffer for the name and the cause of Christ.

, “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

Paul’s ministry was in many ways parallels that of Stephen. Stephen preached Christ in the synagogues, so did Paul.

The Jewish people rejected Stephen’s message, as they did Paul’s. Stephen was accused of speaking against Moses, the law, and the temple, so was Paul. The Sanhedrin tried them both and both died a martyr.

Yet, when Paul was still Saul he led a great persecution against the church of Christ Jesus. His goal was to break the church in half and them break in half again. The predictions of Jesus Christ were ringing true in Saul’s time.

, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Because of the persecution, the believers were being scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Though the Jerusalem church continued to function, Saul was able to break up the church and force many members to flee. So what does it mean that Saul broke up the church?

, “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.”

The passage suggests that many of those who fled were primarily Hellenists Jews. It is only natural that the Hellenists of which Stephen was would bear the brunt of the persecution.

From this time on the church we see that the church in Jerusalem was made up of mostly Hebrews. But yet, in the midst of the storm we see that our God is working out His plan though Saul is ravaging the church be scattering it. God is using the scattering to seed His mission field so that He will receive a harvest.

"How did Jesus expect His disciples to react under persecution? (In He said), "Rejoice and be glad!" We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever, nor sulk like a child, nor lick our wound in self-pity like a dog, nor just grin a bear it like a Stoic, still less pretend we enjoy it like a masochist. What then? We are to rejoice as a Christian should and even "leap for joy" ()."

- John Stott

Saul ravages the church… but devout men made great lamentations.

, “Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.”

Like faithful watchmen, the apostles remained at their posts. They remained in the city out of devotion to their Lord and the desire to shepherd the flock in Jerusalem. An additional reason for their faithfulness appears in verse 2, Jerusalem is still a mission field.

Now the text tells us that the devout men who buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him, may not have been believers. Luke uses the term devout elsewhere to speak of pious Jews. Perhaps they were close friends of Stephen’s from the Hellenist synagogue he attended. We also recognize that the Mishnah forbade their loud lamentations. The Mishnah was a collection of oral laws compiled by Rabbi Judah, which formed the basic part of the Talmud. So in this case their crying over the death of an executed criminal, from the Jews perspective—amounted to a public protest of Stephen’s death. These actions would have placed their lives at risk as well. These men cried out because they understood that an illegal act had occurred. What was that illegal act? It was the killing of Stephen. The difference in Stephen’s case was that Stephen did not have an extensive history of antagonizing the Jewish religious leaders. Stephen was a relative unknown, and his stoning likely did not attract any attention from Rome.

The crowd who actually killed Stephen could always be blamed for taking matters into their own hands, without the official sanction of the Sanhedrin. This was give the Jewish leadership to deny their involved. And, given Pilate’s growing political weakness, there was little chance he would respond to an incident of mob justice, from the Jews, against a Jew. Beyond that, Stephen’s sermon seems to have so infuriated the crowd that it’s possible nobody was thinking logically at all. The long and short of it is that the Jewish religious leaders did not have the legal right to exact the death penalty. However, Rome’s interest in enforcing that rule was subject to many factors, not the least of which was whether or not the incident was—in Rome’s view—worth pursuing. The stoning of Stephen by the Jews was technically illegal, but the Romans had no vested interest in the matter, and the temple leaders in Jerusalem rightly felt that Rome would not respond. So these men felt that have no other recourse but to cry out to God. The question becomes is there purpose, promise, and power in crying out to God?

, “Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.”

Crying out to God brings us out of oppression and relieves our affliction, so there is purpose in crying to the God!

, “And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”

Crying out to God can result in being saved from the hands of our enemies, so there is a promise in crying in crying out to God!

, “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?”

Crying out to God will give us justice and the power to stand until God delivers us! So there is power in crying out to God!

These devout men believed and relied on these truths in spite of the danger they faced as Saul ravaged the church.

Saul ravages the church… by dragging men and women to prison.

, “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

Meanwhile, the storm of persecution continued unabated, as Saul began ravaging the church. Saul armed with “authority from the chief priests began entering house after house in search of Christians. Dragging off men and women alike, he would put them in prison. Not content to harass the saints in Jerusalem, he put them in prison.

, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.”

Saul’s anti-Christian zeal motivated him not only to arrest and imprison male Christians (the “ringleaders”) but to lock up female believers as well.

The account of Saul resumes from 8:3. Saul’s papers from the high priest may have been official extradition documents or letters of introduction to the synagogues at Damascus. It is not known how Christianity had come to Damascus—perhaps through converts at Pentecost or by some of those “scattered” following Stephen’s martyrdom. This is the first time in Acts that Christians are described as belonging to the Way, they were called the Way, because of , Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Gk. hodos, “road, highway, way of life”), meaning either the way of salvation (16:17; cf. Jesus’ teachings in ; ) or the true way of life in relation to God (cf. ; cf. , ; ). The expression also occurs at , ; ; , .

Saul went all in, when it came to persecuting and ravaging the Church: and only a direct confrontation with the Lord Jesus Christ would be able to persuade him otherwise. The effects of Saul’s persecution were devastating. The word used here by Luke is “ Lumainomai (ravaging) it appears only here in the New Testament. It means to “destroy” or “to ruin.” In was used to describe the destruction of a city.

Saul literally tore the church apart—an act that would haunt him for the rest of his life so that he felt utterly unworthy to be called an apostle. Saul after he became Paul and was saved said these words in

, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Elisabeth Elliot, widow of another of the martyrs, Jim Elliot, once shared these words regard the massacre that took the lives of her husband and four other men.

To the world at large this was a sad waste of five young lives. But God has His plan and purpose in all things. There were those whose lives were changed by what happened on that horrible day. In Brazil, a group of Auca Indians at a mission station deep in the Mato Grosso, upon hearing the news, dropped to their knees and cried out to God for forgiveness their lack of concern for fellow Indians who did not know of Jesus Christ. In Rome, an American official wrote to one of the widows, “I knew your husband. He was to me the ideal of what a Christian should be.”

An Air Force Major stationed in England, with hours of jet flying, immediately began making plans to join the Missionary Aviation Fellowship after he heard of the death of those five men by the hands of the Auca Indians they were trying to bring to Christ.

A missionary in Africa wrote: “ Our work will never be the same. We knew two of the men. Their lives have left a mark on our.”

You my brothers and sisters persecution of the Christian church no matter how vicious, never leads to defeat. It only leads to the spreading of the gospel of Christ Jesus. Jesus said, I will build my Church and the gates of hell is not prevail against it!