Sermon Tone Analysis

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.