The Great Persecution
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We approach today the scenes that immediately followed Stephen's death. Satan, encouraged by Stephen's martyrdom, thinks to press on with fire and with flood, with stoning and with sword to exterminate the Christians. Let us consider how his tactics prospered.
I. A GREAT PERSECUTION AROSE (Acts 8:1)
Prior to this time there had been persecution; Peter and James had been thrown into prison; Stephen had been stoned. Now, however, the persecution began to take on a more general nature. Everyone who named the Name of Christ was called on to suffer for Christ's sake. The persecution which had centered against the leaders was made to include all believers.
Paul wrote plainly, "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
Christ said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," and the Spirit, in His Letter to Timothy added, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
Does the interest of these words prevail in the twentieth century? Or, has the Church advanced so far in her conquest of the world, that the days of persecution are past?
We wot not.
The Church has ceased to suffer because the Church has grown worldly, The Church has set aside the offense of the Gospel. For a great part the Church and the world are walking together. However, where believers stand firm for the whole Gospel, and where they take their stand outside the camp, they still find themselves bearing reproach.
Persecution in some parts does not carry the same method; martyrdom has not prevailed, but persecution under the form of isolation, and segregation; persecution under the form of misrepresentation and insinuation does prevail. Saddest of all it is the religious world, it is the ecclesiastical hierarchy that heads the present-day persecution.
Christianity is grouped under separate and distinctive ecclesiastical systems, and practically all ministers are inveigled in one of those groups. Persecution is most keen within these groups, commonly known as denominations; and it becomes dominant when any one minister or church, refuses to fall in line with the leaders who exercise authority in those denominations.
Loyalty to the denomination, abject obedience to the authority of men, the hearty support of every program fostered by the Church, has supplanted loyalty to Christ, and obedience to the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
The individual believer can scarcely think for himself, or follow Christ as the Spirit leads. He must bend the knee to men, he must support human leadership.
If preacher or pew-holder dares to step aside from the denominational program, he is at once a speckled bird, unloyal and worthy of debasement. For the most part denominationalists have accepted the yoke of human authority and leadership, and they are allowing men, and not God, to direct their steps.
The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free is lost, and the preacher who is unwilling to wear the yoke of some distinctive denominational headship is destined to suffer for Christ's sake.
Stephen filled with the Holy Ghost and power, bucked the Sanhedrin; he cast off the fetters of synagogal authority; he refused to bow to the dictates of Judaistic authority; he would not wear the yoke of an ecclesiastical system that rejected Christ: as a result he was martyred for his faith; martyred for his loyalty to Christ; martyred because he spoke the truth; martyred because he exposed error.
II. A SCATTERING ABROAD OCCURRED (Acts 8:1, l.c)
Satan no doubt thought that, with cyclone effectiveness, he was sweeping the land clear of the Christians. Before the onrush of persecution the Christians were scattered in every direction, Satan, however, was deceived. Instead of depleting the Church, he increased it. As the wind carries firebrands helter-skelter, and each brand starts a new conflagration, so the saints scattered, were the saints increasingly effective. Wherever the Christians lighted, they started a new testimony for Christ. The Gospel spread with speed. New converts were made and new churches sprung up over night. The Gospel prevailed and the power of God was manifested.
Throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria the message of life and liberty was carried.
In all of this persecution, with its sequence of scattered saints, we cannot fail to see the hand of God working out His own will. God was using the wrath of man and the strategies of Satan to praise Him; God was forcing them to work His will.
The parting command of the Ascending Christ was, "every creature." The wall of partition had been broken down. It might remain "the Jew first," but not, "the Jew all the time." It might have been, "beginning at Jerusalem." but not, "stagnating at Jerusalem." Christ had said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
The import of this command failed to awaken any response in the hearts of the Apostles and the Church. They had begun in Jerusalem, and they were staying in Jerusalem.
We have this conviction that if the Church had immediately pressed out to the ends of the earth with their testimony, the persecution that was waged might not have been so sudden and so severe.
Thus, as we stand at the bier of the martyred Stephen, we cannot but feel that from his tomb the seeds of missionary endeavor sprang. Thus also we feel, that, in the persecution that followed, the seeds of missionary endeavor greatly multiplied.
Christians with Christ in their heart, and with the pulsings of a living testimony on their lips, being scattered themselves, scattered also their testimony.
Persecution became the "Missionary Board" of the early Church, thrusting out missionaries to unevangelized centers.
Persecution became the method by which God forced His people into obedience to His command.
Persecution became the power of God in carrying the message of God to Judaea and Samaria, and ultimately on to the ends of the earth.
Thank God, then, for the far-reaching ministry of Stephen's death. Like Samson, he slew more in his death, than in his life.
Thank God for the persecution that broke up homes, discommoded families, brought great financial loss, and sent saints fleeing in all directions. Mark the words of Acts 8:4, Then "they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the Word."
Of old, Joseph sold to the Ismaelites, was Joseph sent to Egypt as a missionary of God's grace and glory, and Joseph sent ahead to preserve his own father and seed. That of which Jacob said, "All these things are against me," was indeed, for him.
The little maid stolen away from her Jewish home by a marauding Syrian band, became the little maid who waited on Naaman's wife; became the little maid, a missionary of God's grace and glory to the leprous Naaman who was captain of the hosts of the king of Syria. The parents of the little maid were crushed with the news of their kidnapped child but God was working in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; God was pressing into service a missionary to a faraway land.
So also in the days of the persecution that followed the death of Stephen, God was using the testings and the troubles of those dark days to send out heralders of His grace. The heart of God reached beyond the sequestered streets of Jerusalem all men everywhere need to repent.
Let the Church learn its lesson. A missionary church is a God-owned and a God-honored church. Years ago the Baptists split on the missionary call to the Church. The anti-missionaries after the years, number if anything less than when the split occurred. The missionary Baptists have been increased many, many fold.
The church, or the individual, that wants the blessings of Heaven, must catch the spirit of the Master and carry the words of the Master to the end of the earth.
III. A GREAT SINNER WAS CONVICTED (Acts 9:5)
When God struck down the stalwart Saul, as with letters of authority he journeyed toward Damascus seeking to bind saints and bring them to Jerusalem, the Lord said to Saul, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." We come now to the goads which pricked Saul. Mark three striking statements that are before us.
1. "And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul." These are the words of Acts 7:58
2. "And Saul was consenting unto his death." These words are found in the opening of chapter eight.
3. "As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison," These words are in Acts 8:3
One would not easily detect any conviction for sin settling on the heart of the young persecutor, Saul of Tarsus. Yet, it must have been so. Saul may have hid any yearning and burning in his spirit from the Jewish Sanhedrin, and from the rabble; but, he did not hide his groanings from God. O Saul, it was hard, hard, hard, to hold out against the Lord.
What have we here? We are still following the results of Satan's strategies against the saints; we are still seeing how Satan outdid himself. Satan brought about the death of Stephen prominent in that stoning was the young man Saul, who guarded the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen. Satan knew Saul, knew his training at the feet of Gamaliel, knew his power with the Sanhedrin, knew his popularity in leadership. Satan felt that his interests were safe in the hands of Saul.
Beyond doubt Saul was a peer among persecutors. He hated the Christ and hated the Church. He was a vassal of evil men. His power and usefulness in Satan's cause was enhanced by the fact that concerning the Law, he was blameless. He was a youth who was extremely religious; he was an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was a "Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the Law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the Church; touching the righteousness which is in the Law, blameless."
Satan thought himself entrenched with so great a leader. Nothing suits the devil better than to link up, in his work against God, men who are, supposedly, sponsoring the things of God. Satan delights when he can get into the very citadel, and hold the keys of the tower in his own hands.
This, however, was one time that Satan ignominiously failed in his purpose. Saul was too sincere a man, too honest, too true, to be held by the evil one. To be sure his heart was as hard as adament; his eyes were blinded by religious prejudice; and for a while he verily thought that he was doing God's will. However, ultimately, he could hold out no more. Through the mist that covered his eyes the light began to shine. Let us see how it all came about.
First, there was the death of Stephen, Saul did more than guard the clothes of the men who stoned Stephen Saul saw a shining face, he beheld a forgiving spirit, and he caught the words of a tremendous testimony. There was something about Stephen that was so distinct, so different. His words seemed borne on the wings of a faith that was unwavering; they were carried by a power that was all-convincing. Saul knew this.
After Stephen's death, after the noise of the yelling mob had subsided, after the excitement of the hour, Saul was left with an arrow of conviction pricking his heart. Saul could not forget the triumphant death of God's martyr; he could not erase the memory of the vision that Stephen said he saw the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Saul could not forget the words that marked the collapse of Stephen's strength, the words were loud, and they would not grow faint in the memories of Saul Stephen had said, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."
Have you ever been to Rome? Have you stood mid the ruins of the old Coliseum? There, in the days of old, the helpless Christians were thrust out into a lion-infested arena. The great crowds that thronged the galleries looked down. The elite of Rome and of Italy and of the nations were there. The cultured and the educated, the members of the Roman Senate were there. They all looked down and saw helpless men and women, facing sure death without a tremor. They knew that the saints in the arena could have obtained their liberty and safety by uttering one word "we recant"; but no, they were willing rather to die. The throngs saw their faces shining as the faces of angels; they heard their prayers; caught their dying flights of faith.
Truly the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church. From the old Roman arena, from every martyr's funeral pyre, from the dying of Stephen men were born again the Christ of the martyrs became the Christ of some who saw the martyrs die.
Thus with Saul the goads began to prick. Saul sought to resist the pricks. He did no less than to increase his madness against the Church. First, he guarded the clothes of Stephen's persecutors; then, he consented to his death; then, he made havoc of the Church, rushing everywhere and dragging men and women to jail. In another sermon we will show the ultimate of all of this Saul's conversion on the Damascus road.
IV. A GREAT FIDELITY OF THE APOSTLES WAS SHOWN (Acts 8:1)
It is most significant. Hear the words of Acts 8:1, "They were all scattered abroad * * except the Apostles."
There are two considerations dominant here.
1. The fidelity of the Apostles. We remember how Peter had once quailed and trembled before the onrush of the enemy. Now Peter knew no fear, and showed no sign of retreat. We remember how the Apostles, as the mob came into Gethsemane, all forsook Christ and fled. Not so, now. The days of desertion were past.
The Apostles had a dauntless courage that held them fast. The ship might sink, but they would die with their hands on the helm. They would not take to the boats.
In this is much to strengthen our faith, The men who knew God were willing to pay for their trust, with their blood. Should not we be willing to do as much?
God needs men who will not swerve; men with iron in their blood; men who will be stone walls, and iron pillars.
2. The failure of the Apostles. We would not take one iota of glory from the vision of their courage, but we would not fail to observe the seeming lack of their obedience to the command of Christ. They were not willfully disobedient, they did not mean to lag behind.
God wanted the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem only until the coming of the Holy Spirit, then they were to press their way to Judaea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. This they did not do. The Spirit came, and still they tarried. The believers in Jerusalem were greatly multiplied, and still they tarried. Great funds of money were laid at the Apostles' feet, and still they tarried.
The fuller meaning of the rent veil; the deeper vision of "all nations," and "every creature," they failed to grasp.
There was a hanging on to the old Judaistic conception of Jew first, Jew second, and Jew all the time. The Apostles were trying to keep intact the middle wall of partition which the Lord had torn down. They failed to grasp that the Gentiles were now fellow citizens with the saints; they who once were afar off, had been made nigh by the Blood of the Cross.
When Christ died He brought the Gentiles into a new position by grace. They were no longer strangers and foreigners, but together with the believing Jews, they had access, by one Spirit, unto the Father.
Our last word for today is a plea that the churches of Christ may press on, never being content with another man's line of things made ready to their hands. The regions beyond, must ever be our goal.