The Church & Persecution

“THE CHURCH & PERSECUTION” Acts 8:1-4

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY

FBCF – 7/8/20

Jon Daniels

Coronavirus – lots of talk about how it spreads & how to prevent it from spreading faster & wider.

Acts 8 – the “virus” of the Gospel is gaining momentum & spreading faster & farther. And with that growing momentum comes growing opposition & persecution

- Already seen Stephen stoned to death in ch. 7

- Stephen’s message was God’s final invitation to Israel. If Israel rejected the message, then God would turn elsewhere to root & ground His Church.

- Tragically, Israel did reject the message – the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Messiah that Israel had long looked for.

- When they killed Stephen, they launched a savage persecution against the young Church to try & destroy it & stop the spread of the Gospel.

- They thought that if they could just stop the spread of this “idea” about this Jesus, then these new converts would just go away.

- But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is much more than just an idea! Rom. 1:16 – It is the “power of God to salvation for EVERYONE who believes.”

- “power” – dynamis – It’s God’s “dynamite” & with it, He breaks down & blows away sin’s barriers. He blows the bars off the sin’s prison cells & sets the prisoners free to salvation & eternal life!

The time has come on God’s calendar for the Church to move out & begin spreading the Good News of Jesus all over the known world at that time in Judea & Samaria, just as Jesus had commanded in Acts 1:8. The Church would not be stopped! But that didn’t stop some from trying to stop it.

THE RISE OF PERSECUTION

Acts 7:58b – “…And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”

This is the first time we see Saul of Tarsus mentioned. This is the man who, as we see in Acts 13:9, was also known as Paul.

- Many think that, on the road to Damascus, Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul, as He did Simon to Peter in Matt. 16:18-19. That’s not true.

- It was common in that day for people to have dual names.

- When the unsaved Jewish Saul was busy persecuting the Church, he used the Hebrew name, Saul

- When he got saved & became “the apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), it made sense for him to begin using the Roman name, Paul, as he traveled farther & farther into the Gentile world.

But as we see here in Acts 7:58b & 8:1a, the unsaved Saul was a ruthless, vicious enemy & persecutor of Christians. He certainly was a major leader – maybe THE major leader in the rise of violence & persecution against the early Church.

- “approved” in v. 1, means he gave his full consent to Stephen’s execution & martyrdom. He willingly approved it – approved it w/ pleasure – was happy to approve it & gleefully watched it happen – he applauded it.

- Paul was inflamed w/ fury against the Church.

The persecution started quickly, on the very day of Stephen’s death – v. 1b – “And there arose THAT DAY…”

- Saul needed to strike quickly.

- The Christians were afraid & on the run, & he had to move fast to catch them before they could escape.

The persecution was “great” – not “great” in a positive way, but “great” in that it was a large outbreak against the believers.

- Gk word for “great” – mega – a “mega” time of persecution – numerous, large, loud, widespread

- Phillips – “On that very day a great storm of persecution burst upon the Church in Jerusalem.”

v. 2 – Even as the fires of persecution were heating up, some “devout” (God-fearing) men buried Stephen, grieving & mourning greatly over his death.

THE RAVAGING OF PERSECUTION

Saul pressed on in his persecution in an intensely damaging way.

- He was “ravaging” the Church. What a graphic word! The Gk word means “injuring severely; destroying; annihilate.” Other translations:

o CEB – “wreak havoc”

o ASV – “laid waste”

o NIV – “began to destroy”

- He went on a rampage. The picture is that of a wild beast ravaging & tearing a carcass to bits. And the verb tense means that he kept on ravaging & wreaking havoc upon the Church.

- He stormed into people’s homes, dragging men & women off & throwing them into prison.

Reminds me of persecution that’s happening right now all over the world.

- In China where the police storm into churches & drag people off to jail & tear crosses off of steeples.

- Laos – Couple of weeks ago, 2 Christian families driven out of their villages b/c they declared their faith in Jesus