Evil men may rage at God and His Church, but the Lord is able to bring His good purposes to pass, in spite of their enmity. See how the Lord did this through the great persecution of Saul in Jerusalem.
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“The Triumph of God Over Evil”
Acts 8:1-4
Psalm 76:10 “The wrath of man shall praise You.” That’s a very interesting statement. How in the world will the wrath of man bring praise to God? The answer lies in the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, including evil. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom.8:28).
Our text this morning will give us a real life illustration of this glorious truth!
You will recall in Acts chapter 7, that Stephen had become the first martyr of the Christian church. He had been stoned to death by the Jewish Council on the trumped up charge of blasphemy. When he stood before his accusers, he boldly declared that they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears and were always resisting the Holy Spirit. He said that the Jewish nation had habitually persecuted the prophets, and now had murdered the Righteous One, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said that they had received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.
Well, as you might imagine, this through them into such a rage, that they lost all rationality, and with one impulse rushed on him like a pack of wolves. However, in the midst of their rage and brutality, Stephen sees a heavenly vision of Jesus standing to receive him, and commits his spirit to the Lord, and askes Jesus to forgive his enemies. And then, finally, he enters the sleep of death.
That’s where we pick up the story this morning.
As we work our way through this short passage, I simply want you to see two things. The Evil of Man and the Triumph of God.
1. The Evil Of Man
Acts 8:1 “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.”
This indicates that Saul was more involved than just holding the coats of those stoning Stephen. He seems to be one of those that were pushing for the death penalty. I have a suspicion that Saul may have been one of those that Stephen debated in the synagogue of the Freedman (Acts 6:9), because we are told that that particular synagogue included people from Cilicia, which is where Tarsus was located. Remember, that Paul had a brilliant mind, and had been educated by the very best of Israel. Yet, even he couldn’t cope with the wisdom and the Spirit of Stephen. I wonder if because Stephen won the debate, that Saul felt personally humiliated, which led him to be part of that group that trumped up false charges against Stephen. Of course, this is conjecture, but it is interesting to consider.
Acts 8:3 “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
What approach did he take? He entered house after house. This tells us a couple of things. First, it tells us that this was not just a few isolated incidents. Saul was doing his dead level best to exterminate the church in Jerusalem, so he was going to all the houses where disciples met together. Saul was ravaging the church. This refers to wholesale and extensive damage and harm done to the church. No wonder Luke refers to this as a great persecution. It must have been a horrific time of suffering, grief, and anguish for thousands of believers to uproot themselves, leave their jobs and homes, and flee to another location.
Second, this tells us that the early Christians met in homes. They met from house to house. I’m sure it was at this time that these early Christians stopped meeting at Solomon’s Portico in the temple precincts. It was just too dangerous to hold public meetings like that. No, they went underground, meeting secretly. Whenever Saul got a lead on a home where believers were meeting, he would break in with his letter of authority from the high priest, and drag off not just the men, but also women to prison! So, what is the end result? Families are being split apart. In some families, the father has been imprisoned. In other families both parents are imprisoned. This would produce wives who were practically widows; and children who were practically orphans. Try to imagine the stress this would put on the mother whose husband was imprisoned to somehow eke out a living and take care of her children, while she is trying to visit and support her husband in prison.
Acts 9:1 “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 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.”
Notice, that he was not just breathing threats that these disciples would be imprisoned. He was breathing murder. See Saul’s extreme zeal. He saw these Christians as a threat to the true religion of God – Judaism. Because of his absolute devotion to Judaism, he felt he must stamp out Christianity.
Acts 22:4 “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness.”
Acts 26:9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”
Notice, that when these saints were being put to death, Saul cast his vote against them. That must mean that Saul was a member of the Council, the Sanhedrin, and that when it was time to vote whether one of these disciples of Jesus ought to be put to death, he was in full agreement.
Not only that, but Saul tried to make them blaspheme! And in raging fury he persecuted them even to foreign cities. Saul, was fanatical in his zeal to destroy the faith of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”
Throughout Paul’s entire life, he felt a sense of shame and regret for his persecution of the Christian church. Because of that, he felt he wasn’t fit to be an apostle.
Galatians 1:13, “For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.”
In all of this, it appears that Saul was the ringleader in this persecution. He took the lead and determined he would stamp out Christianity or die trying. And in all of this, he believed he was offering service to God!
John 16:2 “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.”
I’m sure that’s exactly how Saul felt, like he was offering service to God. Sadly, he was opposing God in his ignorance.
Some of those who were arrested were brought to the synagogues where they went through extensive questioning by the authorities. Saul even tried to make them blaspheme. He would put them on the witness stand and then demand that they answer the question, “Who do you believe Jesus of Nazareth is?” If they said, “He is the Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Savior of the world, the coming King”, he would cry “Blasphemy!” And as we saw in Stephen’s case, the penalty for blasphemy was death by stoning. When the Council took a vote as to whether these Christians were guilty of blasphemy and should be executed, Saul heartily cast his vote against them. In all likelihood, there were many other martyrs besides Stephen who died in this great persecution, probably by stoning.
Try to imagine what this was like for a believer at that time. The church must meet secretly, like they do today in China. Every time they meet there is the fear that the authorities may break into the home at any time and drag away some or all of them to prison, and execute others. Many have already been imprisoned, many families have been split up, many wives have become single parents, and many children have been left without parents, so that the other family members or the church had to take them in. There is weeping, grief, mayhem, and havoc. The suffering has become so intense that multitudes are packing up and leaving in the night, fleeing anywhere, just to get away from this awful persecution.
The actions of these persecutors was evil. They were inflicting pain and suffering on innocent people, whose only crime was to believe in and follow Jesus of Nazareth. They were guilty of heinous crimes, and one day God will render just retribution to those that are guilty of them. In 1 Thessalonians 2:16 Paul says that those Jews who persecuted the church “always filled up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.”
2. The Triumph Of God
In the book of Genesis we read the fascinating story of Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and ended up in Egypt. But God had other plans for Joseph. The Lord raised him up to be the second in command of the entire nation. Joseph was able to save his family from starvation, as well as multitudes of other people. At the very end of his life, Joseph would say, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20). Well, in the same way, Saul and the other Jewish persecutors meant evil against the church, but God meant it for good.
Acts 8:1,4 “And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”
What was the effect of the persecution? They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Verse 4 says that those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
A couple of things are really significant here. First, notice where these early disciples were scattered? It was into the regions of Judea and Samaria. Do those two regions ring any bells with you? Go back to Acts 1:8, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Now, this was the command of Jesus Christ before He ascended to heaven. They did really well at obeying the first part of that command. They had been His witnesses in Jerusalem. Acts 5:28 says that they had “filled Jerusalem with this teaching.” After they were flogged and released from jail, “every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). They did exactly what Jesus had told them to do in Jerusalem. However, that’s where it ended. They had done nothing about taking the gospel to Judea and Samaria and to the remotest part of the earth. Everything was so exciting there in Jerusalem. The fellowship was so rich. The apostles were working extraordinary miracles. Multitudes were being saved. Everything was going so well, that they just settled down and enjoyed what the Lord was doing. You might say they were stuck in their comfort zone.
But with this great persecution led by Saul, everything was turned upside down. Now, it is no longer comfortable to remain in Jerusalem. The disciples are fleeing Jerusalem, just to stay alive. So, if the baby chicks won’t leave the nest, the Mama bird will push them out. That’s what we have here. They would not obey Jesus’ command, so the Lord allows persecution to come in, in order to thrust them out. Now, they are doing exactly what the Lord had commanded them to do. They are being His witnesses in Judea and Samaria.
Notice also ordinary Christians were the ones who went about preaching the word (8:4). The apostles remained behind. The word for “preaching” is the verb form of “gospel.” Therefore, they were “gospelling” the word! They were speaking to all they came into contact with as they moved throughout Judea and Samaria. So much for the idea that preaching the gospel should only be done by the “clergy”! I would love to see the church where every member was actively and intentionally spreading the gospel.
Saul’s design in this great persecution was to exterminate the church. He wanted them to stop spreading their message about Jesus Christ. The result was just the opposite. All the believers went about spreading the gospel even more. What the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good.
Conclusion
So, what lessons can we learn from this story? I have 3 lessons and an exhortation.
- Men commit evil freely. They are not forced or coerced by God. God does not put a gun to their heads to do what they don’t want to do. When men commit their evil actions, they are doing what they want to do. Yet, in the end they accomplish God’s purposes.
- God holds men responsible for their evil actions and punishes them for it. Peter and Stephen have been hammering that home in message after message that they have preached to the religious leaders. They are guilty and accountable before God for murdering Jesus.
- God uses evil to accomplish His purposes. We need only look to the cross of Christ to establish this fact. What more evil act in all of human history than to kill the Son of God? Yet what has brought more blessing to humanity than the cross of Christ? God used the evil actions of men to accomplish His wise and righteous purposes. What God decreed in eternity, men will demand in time.
Exhortation: Take heart when you consider all the evil in the world, including persecution. America is getting closer and closer to a time when the church will suffer persecution. Should we be afraid of this? Absolutely not. It would actually be the best thing for the church. In Revelation 2 and 3, we have Christ’s 7 Letters to the 7 Churches. There are only 2 churches in which Jesus did not command them to repent. One of those churches was Smyrna, the suffering church. Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The church that is persecuted and suffers for Christ will be purified and purged. The wrath of man shall praise the Lord!
It is tempting to just despair when we contemplate all the horrific evil in this world. Yes it is evil, and it is blameworthy, and God will punish it. Yet, God is going to use all of it to accomplish His good ends. Eph.1:11 – “God works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Without this truth, we would have reason to despair. We would not be able to see any purpose in any of these evil acts. But take heart. God is doing something good that only eternity will reveal. One day all wrongs will be righted. One day, all the universe will see that God has triumph over evil by actually using it to accomplish His own ends!
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