The Word Spread through Persecution

Introduction

On February 12, 1554, Jane Grey was 17 years old. She had been the queen of England for nine days, placed there by the political efforts of some of the Protestants in England who’d hoped she would maintain England’s path toward Reformation.

But Mary Tudor had returned from a sort of exile, and she had a stronger claim to the crown. Mary also had a deep commitment to the Roman Church, and she blamed Protestants for the ill-treatment of her mother, who was one of the unfortunate wives of King Henry the VIII.

Jane was sentenced to death for treason, and so too were many Protestants condemned to die under “Bloody Mary’s” reign… that’s how she earned the name. But before she died (maybe only hours before), Jane wrote a letter to her sister, which she sent along with an English translation of the Bible.

She said,

“I have sent you, my dear sister Katherine, a book. On the outside, it is not trimmed with gold, but inside it is worth more than precious jewels. It is the book, dear beloved sister, of the law of the Lord. It is His testament and last will, which He left to us poor sinners, and it will lead you to the path of eternal joy. If you read it with a good mind and follow it with an earnest desire, it will bring you to an immortal and everlasting life. It will teach you how to live and how do die.

If you study diligently this book, using it as a guide for your life, you will inherit great riches that the covetous will never take from you, the thief will never steal, and the moth will never destroy…

Desire, sister, to understand the law of the Lord your God. Live to die, that by death you may enter into eternal life, and then enjoy the life that Christ has gained for you by His death.

Don’t think that just because you are now young your life will be long, because young and old die as God wills. As for my death, rejoice as I do, my dear sister, and consider that I shall be delivered of this corruption and put on incorruption, for I am sure that I will…

Farewell, my beloved sister. Put your trust only in God, for He alone can help you.”

Why have Christians in times past spoken this way about deliverance and life in the face of torture and death?

Why do some Chinese Christians today write songs of joy, singing of their prison cell as being a door to life and freedom in Christ, even as they suffer under the boot-heel of tyrannical government leaders?

Today we are going to read about the first serious episode of persecution against Christians in the world. I’m going to start reading a little above our primary passage so that we’ll remember the context, and we will consider this whole situation together for a while.

May God grant us humility and wisdom, and may He instruct and compel us to live as Christ’s faithful witnesses… in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Scripture Reading

Acts 7:51-60 (ESV)

“51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?

And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Acts 8:1-4 (ESV)

“1 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.

2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

Main Point

Persecution (to one degree or another) is inevitable for faithful Christians, but this in no way hinders God’s plans or His word, which is manifest in the lives of His people.

Message

1) Real-life Persecution

Persecution levels had been rising

First, Peter and John were “arrested” for “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:1-2).

Then, Peter and John (leaders/pastors of the Christian church in Jerusalem) were intimidated by the civil and religious authorities (Acts 4:7) and ordered not “to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18).

Then, after the Christians in Jerusalem prayed for boldness to continue making disciples, Peter and the rest of the Apostles were arrested yet again (Acts 5:18).

An “angel of the Lord” miraculously freed them from prison, but they were arrested again and brought “before the [civil and religious] council” (Acts 5:19, 26, 27).

This time they were beaten for their disobedience, and they were charged yet again “not to speak in the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:40).

BUT, despite the ratcheting up of the persecution, we read in Acts 5:41-42 that “they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

“the Christ is Jesus” is shorthand for the gospel… (brief gospel explanation)

And in Acts 6:7 we see a sort of concluding statement to Luke’s opening section of the book of Acts.

“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem...”

Luke uses this kind of phrase at least 4 times in Acts (6:7, 9:31, 12:24, 19:20, and maybe 28:31) to summarize the great “increase” and growth of the “word of God” in a particular geographical area… seeming to follow Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8.

The next section begins: Stephen was specially targeted for persecution

The Apostles and other Christians were carrying on, preaching and teaching (i.e., making disciples), and Acts 6:8-9 tells us that there were some who “rose up” against Stephen specifically.

But they “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking,” so they “secretly instigated” some men who would accuse him (Acts 6:10-11).

This conspiracy is very similar to what Jesus faced when He was betrayed and arrested (Acts 6:11-14; cf. Matt. 26:3-4, 59-61).

Stephen didn’t defend himself, but instead called the entire storyline of Scripture as a witness against the civil and religious leaders of Jerusalem (Acts 7:1-53).

Stephen said, “As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” (Acts 7:51-52).

The climax of this whole episode is what we read along with our primary passage for today. The civil and religious leaders “stopped their ears and rushed together at [Stephen]. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him [to death]” (Acts 7:57-58).

Our passage today: After Stephen’s faithful stand, persecution amplified

v1 “there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem...”

v3 “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women committed them to prison.”

“Saul” seems to have been an authority of some sort among the persecutors.

One commentator said, “The fact that the witnesses laid their clothes at Saul’s feet (7:58) suggests that he was the acknowledged leader in the opposition to Stephen. Saul was from Cilicia (22:3), as were some of those who attacked Stephen (6:9). He could even have been one of those disputing with Stephen in the synagogue (cf. 6:10–14)” (Peterson, 275).

Whatever role “Saul” played in Stephen’s martyrdom, he was most certainly the leader of the persecution that followed.

The persecution was “great” (v1)

Superlative degree… severity, number, effect, or maybe all of the above.

Christian men and women were being “dragged off… to prison” (v3).

This would have created numerous negative effects… among them social instability, economic hardship, family dysfunction and disintegration, and civil and political ostracism.

It caused all the Christians “except the apostles” to flee Jerusalem (v1)

It’s interesting to note that Stephen was one of the “seven men of good repute” who were “appointed to [the] duty” of deaconing among the church in Jerusalem.

Remember that all seven were Hellenists (ethnically Jewish, but culturally and linguistically Greek/Hellenized). However, all the Apostles were thoroughly Jewish (Hebraic Jews).

This makes it possible (I think likely) that the greatest persecution was aimed at the Christians who were Hellenistic Jews.

As a matter of fact, this makes most sense to me in light of the influence the church in Jerusalem still had in Acts 15 (and on the matter of particular discussion there).

The church in Jerusalem was being “ravaged” or “made havock of” or “destroyed” (v3)

The rapidly growing megachurch (10,000+ members) in Jerusalem was being decimated.

This is a good reminder that God has not promised that any local church will avoid decline or death.

Jesus promised that His Church (i.e., His kingdom) would ultimately prevail and that it could not be stopped (Matt. 16:18); but local churches decline in number and even cease to exist entirely all the time.

Sometimes this is due to opposition, and sometimes it’s due to Christ’s own judgment against sin and error (Rev. 2-3)… and sometimes it’s simply due to geographic or population or economic shifts that aren’t necessarily sinful or hostile at all.

This is real-life persecution

The people in charge of the courts and the police were:

forbidding gospel preaching and teaching

threatening imprisonment and throwing Christians in jail

doling out capitol punishment for those who overtly condemned the persecutors’ actions

taking explicit aim at “ravaging” or “destroying” the local church

Brothers and sisters, what comes to your mind when you think about persecution?

I heard a Chinese pastor just last week (he’d fled to the United States some years ago)... he said that the persecution in China is worse today than it’s been in decades… and it’s getting worse.

In some places pastors are being imprisoned for lengthy periods (sometimes years), church buildings are being destroyed, and Christian literature (including the Bible) is banned. The Chinese Communist Party is aiming for the destruction of biblical Christianity in China.

According to “Voice of the Martyrs,” India as a country is “hostile” to Christianity. Some states in India are more aggressive than others, but the same features of persecution I mentioned in China are happening in India. [1]

Shouldn’t Christians in America be so very thankful that we are not experiencing this kind of persecution?

Do you think we are likely to see overt persecution in America in the near future?

If so, how are you preparing yourself to remain faithful? How are you preparing your children to live as faithful Christian adults in a hostile world?

What example do we see from the earliest Christians?

2) Exemplary Christian Witnesses

They prayed for boldness.

It’s not in our main passage, but this is part of the background.

After the first real sign of persecution, when Peter and John were arrested the first time, the church gathered to pray.

They prayed, “24 Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them... 29 look upon their threats [the threats of the civil and religious leaders] and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness...” (Acts 4:24-30).

They knew that God is the “Sovereign Lord,” who “planned” and “predestined” everything Jesus had suffered and all that they themselves were experiencing (Acts 4:24, 28).

They knew that they had been commissioned as Christ’s “witnesses” in the world (Acts 1:8), and that they had been given the only “word” (Acts 4:30) which can bring life from death, light from darkness, and love for God and for His people where there is present hatred for them.

So, they prayed for God’s help and power in order that they might continue to speak even though they had been threatened and warned not to do so.

What a wonderful example for us today!

We too must remember that God is the “Sovereign Lord” who ordains or “predestines” or decrees whatsoever comes to pass (see the Second London Confession, Ch. 3, Of God’s Decree).

We must remember that our circumstances are not accidental.

We must remember that we do not get to choose our generation, but God has chosen for us… We live in the exact time and place and culture which God has intended.

And we must remember that our commission is the same as these earliest Christians… We must live as faithful witnesses of Christ in the world, speaking the word of God and living according to its precepts.

Therefore, we must pray!

We cannot do any of this in our own power. We desperately need God’s help.

They did not go to war, but fled hostility to culturally familiar places.

They did not defend their property, their rights, or even their freedom.

It’s not explicit in our passage, but it is strongly implied that there was no attempt on the part of the Christians to take up arms to defend themselves.

The author of Hebrews commends Christians for “enduring a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated… [even] joyfully accepting the plundering of [their] property...” (Heb. 10:32-34).

Peter goes as far as to say that “when you do good and suffer for it [and] you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:20-21).

Brothers and sisters, do you expect persecution… to suffer for doing good and for honoring Christ?

How are you preparing to meet and to endure persecution if/when if comes for you? For your family? For your church?

I don’t think this means that we should not defend human life and dignity!

But I do think, as Americans (and indeed as sinners), we are probably far more likely to think in terms of protecting our property and freedoms than we are to think in terms of sacrificing our property and freedoms for the sake of a faithful Christian witness.

A good discussion topic over lunch today would be: “When would it be better for me or you to suffer loss for the sake of Christ when our property and/or our liberties are threatened (theft, government confiscation, financial penalties, prison, etc.)?”

Though these early Christians did not fight, they also didn’t hang around to be punching bags.

We read in v1, “they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria...”

Judea is the broader region surrounding and including Jerusalem (think Upshur county and Diana).

Samaria is the land north of Judea, and these two areas reflect the North/South split of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Though Judah and Samaria had many significant differences, both regions would have been culturally familiar to the Jewish Christians (even Hellenized ones) fleeing from Jerusalem.

It seems to me that Christians of every age are wise to consider how geography and/or culture and/or government might make Christian living more or less difficult for them.

We are instructed to pray that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2; cf. 1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:12)… that is without persecution and without major spectacle and without hindrance to our growth in godliness.

When thinking about a location or a career for their kids, why do Christians in America seem more concerned with job-opportunities and earning power than they seem concerned about the possible spiritual affects and limitations of a particular culture or geography?

The last time you moved from one place to another, you might have looked at schools, home prices, crime stats, or even voting patterns… But did you factor a nearby healthy church into your considerations?

When did you begin your search for a healthy church near your home? Before you settled on where to move? Before you moved? Or did you wait until after you had already gotten settled in the new community?

When you urge your kids or grandkids onto a certain career path, have you thought about how friendly (or how hostile) that career might be to them spiritually?

Is it easier or harder to be a faithful Christian as a doctor? A school teacher? A soldier? An administrator in a corporate office? A computer tech? A small business owner?

I want to offer a brief caveat (that deserves further exploration) to all that I’ve been saying here about avoiding persecution.

No one in their right mind wants to walk into persecution, but some of the biggest heroes of Christianity have been those Christian men and women who have purposefully left the comforts of home and given their lives in service to foreign peoples in foreign lands… and they have often suffered great persecution in order to bring the gospel to those who do not have it.

Maybe God is preparing someone or some family here this morning to pull up roots and sacrifice the American dream for the sake of evangelism and planting healthy churches in a hostile culture.

They remembered their commission to be Christian witnesses as they went.

v4 says, “now those who were scattered went about preaching the word”

This is exactly as Jesus had commanded.

Jesus commissioned His disciples to “make disciples of all nations [or “ethnicities”], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [Christ Himself] has commanded” (Matt. 28:19-20).

Or, again, as Luke recorded in Acts 1, “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” (Acts 1:8).

It’s important to note that this commission remains in place for all Christians everywhere and at all times.

Just as those early Christians understood their citizenship in Christ’s kingdom to include the office or role or job-description of “ambassador” (2 Cor. 5:17-20), so too is every Christian in every generation a pilgrim-ambassador from the true King of this world… until King Jesus returns to make all things new.

Friends, do you live as though Christ is really King?

Brothers and sisters, do you live chiefly as citizens of this world, or as pilgrim-ambassadors?

Notice also the central focus of their Christian witness: they “went about preaching the word” (v4).

First, let’s remember that this was exactly what they had been warned and threatened NOT to do by the civil and religious authorities.

This should serve as an example for us when we are confronted with government mandates and laws.

Many of the laws in our land are in complete agreement with Christian principles (private property, human dignity, religious freedom).

For these we should be exceedingly grateful.

Some of the laws in our land are not explicitly biblical, but they are also not burdensome for Christians to embrace (for example: the Bible doesn’t obviously speak to the minimum age at which someone can sign a legal contract or to the designation of voting precincts, but these laws are not generally burdensome).

We should happily submit to such laws, earning a reputation for being the best citizens.

Some laws in our land, however, do make legal allowances for those things God forbids (for example: abortion is murder, despite the fact that it’s legal in our nation; marriage was instituted by God as the lifelong union of one biological man and one biological woman, regardless of how American legislators may aim to redefine marriage).

In the face of such sinful laws, we should obey God’s law, we should personally urge those we know and love to obey God’s law, and we should use what political means we have to remedy such errors… even as we graciously love and live beside those who do not submit to God’s law.

And, friends, there may come a day when some American laws forbid what God commands or command what God forbids (this is what was happening in Acts).

When any worldly authority (politician, judge, police officer, parent, school teacher, employer) stands in direct opposition to God’s positive or negative command (“you must” or “you must not”), then we are obligated to humbly and courageously disobey that worldly authority (Acts 5:29).

There is much wisdom and humility required here, and we are helped tremendously by thinking these things through with fellow church members and pastors.

May God help us all as we consider the best way forward...

Second, let’s notice that God’s plan was exactly for those early Christians to spread the gospel in “all Judea and Samaria...” (Acts 1:8), and persecution was apparently part of God’s sovereign design to produce such rapid spread.

I won’t say much on this today, but it is no small matter that the heavily persecuted church in Jerusalem (in God’s providence) contributed to the prolific growth of Christianity throughout Judea and Samaria… and beyond (as we shall see).

There is a saying worth thinking about… “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

This should warn us against clinging too tightly or focusing too strongly on any one church or any one state or nation in the world.

Christ’s kingdom is far bigger than one local church and Christ’s universal Church infinity more significant than any worldly kingdom.

Conclusion

Friends, persecution (to one degree or another) is inevitable for faithful Christians, but this in no way hinders God’s plans or His word, which is manifest in the lives of His people.

While we’ve been able to enjoy a good bit of time in the US without overt and aggressive persecution against Christianity, this is not the norm in history, and God certainly hasn’t promised that we will avoid persecution altogether.

May God help us to adjust our expectations, and to wisely prepare ourselves to face whatever times may be ahead of us.

May God also help us to remember and to trust that His word is never hindered or damaged by persecution… His word and His kingdom is forever.

Endnotes

[1] See website information here https://www.persecution.com/globalprayerguide/india/?_source_code=WHPB20C

Bibliography

Calvin, John. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. Edited by Henry Beveridge. Translated by Christopher Fetherstone. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

Peterson, David G. The Acts of the Apostles. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.

Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.