The In-Between Years - Part 43

The In-Between Years — Part 43

Last week we finished up the beautiful and tragic story of Stephen, the first martyr of the church. One minute he was preaching a risen Christ to his fellow Greek-speaking Jews and the next he was falsely accused of blaspheming Moses, the the Law, and the Temple. He soon found himself standing before the Sanhedrin. Instead of answering the charges he preached, retelling the Jews’ story through the lens of Jesus. Here’s how it ended…

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 7:58–60 (ESV)

Stephen lived like Jesus and died like Jesus, didn’t he? I’m not sure we could spend too much time here, but in the interest of moving on in our series we’ll keep going and start chapter 8 this morning…

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.  Acts 8:1–3 (ESV)

The sad story of Stephen gets even sadder. Once the Jewish leaders launched an all out attack and Christ-followers, they couldn’t get enough of it, particularly when it came to one fellow. Luke introduces us to him almost as an aside in chapter 7. You saw it already just now but let’s put it back up…

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.  Acts 7:58 (ESV)

Saul. The guy who held the garments for those stoning Stephen.  What’s up with that? Ancient Jewish clothing was great for day-to-day general stuff, but it was constrictive when it came to getting active. In order to cast stones the men would have taken off their outer garment. Thing was, the outer garment was one of ancient peoples most prized possessions (Jesus talked preached on worrying about what you wear). You couldn’t just lay it down, somebody might take it, so you entrusted it to someone trustworthy, someone no one would mess with. That… was Saul.

So who is Saul?

We actually know a lot about him…

He was a Jew hailing from Tarsus, an ancient city located on what today is the southern coast of Turkey. He was a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin and a devout Pharisee trained under the famous Rabbi Gamaliel. We’ve actually heard of that guy; he’s the elder who talked his fellow council members out of killing Peter and the apostles for preaching Jesus. I’m not sure why he didn’t help Stephen. Maybe by that time he was no longer around.

Saul was a man skilled in the Law, zealous for his faith, and a rising star among the Jewish elite in Jerusalem. He became the perfect leader of a wave of persecution that began the day Stephen died.

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.  Acts 8:1 (ESV)

And…

3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.  Acts 8:3 (ESV)

Remember, at that time the entire church — all believers — lived in Jerusalem. That’s where Jesus told the first 120 disciples to wait for the Spirit. That’s where the Spirit came down on Pentecost when the church was born and thousands were saved. That’s where the gospel spread and multiplied so much so that as many as 10,000 in a city of maybe 40,000 became Christ-followers. 

But when Stephen was brutally stoned and the persecution wave began, almost all of those believers fled, or at least the Greek-speaking Jews who had followed Christ like Stephen did. They resettled throughout the area of Judea and Samaria, leaving the apostles in Jerusalem.

You would have most likely ran too if Saul had come after you. Under the authority of the High Priest and the Sanhedrin he “ravaged” the church in Jerusalem. That word translated as “ravage" in the Greek means to “injure, damage, spoil, ruin, destroy.”[1] It was used to describe “wild beasts, such as lions, bears, and leopards tearing at raw flesh” in other ancient writings.[2]

He tried to destroy the church by tearing into its heart: the gathering together as Jesus’ followers in homes. Back in those days and for about 200 years after the church didn’t meet in buildings, it met in peoples’ homes. Saul used intel to sniff out where Christians congregated and raided one house church after another putting both men and women in prison. Putting women in prison wasn’t common. That most likely had to do with the fact Jesus and the early church elevated the status and value of women (brothers and sisters).

And when Saul was satisfied he’d crushed the church in Jerusalem he set his sights farther out…

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.  Acts 9:1–2 (ESV)

The barrage of persecution that began with Stephen and continued at the hand of Saul was horrible. But it may surprise you to know, it provided opportunity for God to demonstrate his power and providence.

To see this we have to go back to the beginning of Acts. Just before Jesus ascended to the Father, he said this to those 120 disciples who would become the church..

8 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.”  Acts 1:8 (ESV)

I told how you that verse is the key to understanding the book of Acts. You should have it marked in your Bibles. Jesus gave a promise — that they would receive power when the Spirit came (Pentecost) and with that power they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the end of the earth. This gives us the phases of gospels spread recorded in Acts (or as I call it: God’s witness projection plan).

Phase I - Jerusalem.

Phase II - Judea and Samaria

Phase III - the end of the earth

After the birth of the church in Acts 2 and all the way through the end of chapter 7, where has all that’s happened taken place, with the saving of thousands, the miracles of healing, the ministries to widows and others in need, and with the manifold witness of a risen Christ?

Jerusalem. Phase I is a go. But where did Jesus say this would happen? Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the end of the earth. Do you see the problem? What about phases II and III?

Things were going great with phase I, they just weren’t moving beyond it. Stay with me. Persecution came with Stephen’s martyrdom and the Jerusalem church was scattered. Where were they scattered to?

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.  Acts 8:1 (ESV) 

Judea and Samaria. What did those scattered do? Acts 8:4…

4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.  Acts 8:4 (ESV)

Ah, phase II begins. Do you see what God did there? God used the very thing and the very person meant to shut down the gospel’s spread to actually spread the gospel and begin phase II of his witness projection plan! One pastor said this…

 Jesus had told the disciples over and over again the gospel is not just for Jerusalem. It’s not just for the Jews. It’s for all people, but they hadn’t left. Jesus had said, “I want you to go to Samaria. I want you to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. I want you to go to different cultures, different places.” They hadn’t gone. Now God uses the death of Stephen and the persecution that comes to just push them out.

Therefore, Stephen’s death leads to an explosion of resurrection life.[3]

I call that providential override. Whatever evil throws at God he just uses to accomplish his will. This is exactly what we saw with Joseph. You remember his story…

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.  Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

Providential override. In the same way God used Stephen’s death and Saul’s blood-thirst to accomplish his wise and perfect will, to engage the church in phase II of his plan in Acts 1:8. But, oh there is more. Back to that verse…

8 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.”  Acts 1:8 (ESV) 

Phase one is complete. Phase two begins. But guess who God uses to launch phase 3 (the biggest and most far reaching phase)? Saul. You probably know him as Paul. The guy who wrote most of the NT.

Soon we will see Saul get saved and become the Christ-follower better know as Paul. God chooses him to be his missionary to the Gentiles, taking the good news of Jesus living the life we should have lived and the dying the death we should have died to the ends of the earth (something still happening today). God uses all that zeal, that passion, that drive for his good.

Paul thinks back to all this in his letters…

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.  Galatians 1:11–24 (ESV)

Or in Phil 3:5-9

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old, and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. 6 And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God. 7 But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. 8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ.  Philippians 3:5–9 (CEV)

The man who breathed threats and murder against the Jesus’ disciples is the same man who said “Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Providential override.

And now we are ready to look at the beginning of phase II of God’s plan to spread his kingdom message as recorded in Acts and we’ll do that next time. But before we go did you know…

Conclusion: The greatest example of God’s providential override is what happened at the cross? Satan and the forces of evil were behind the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus (just like they were the arrest and stoning of Stephen).  When Jesus died those dark forces thought they had won. But God had in fact defeated the devil with the the very thing the devil though he had defeated God with.

God wants to exercise his providential override in your life. He wants to save you from yourself, your sin, your past, your present, whatever, and use it for good.

If God can do that with Joseph’s situation, and Stephen’s death and the church’s persecution, and Jesus’ crucifixion, there’s nothing in your life he can’t work together for good.

It begins by taking him up on his offer in Romans 10.13…

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Romans 10:13 (ESV)