Without Saul to create friction the church could grow in peace. He exhibits a measure of shame over the matter and is unlikely to be lying. The same glories of Jesus that we proclaim both in our actions and in our words at one moment might cause persecution, and another moment might, in the power of the Holy Spirit, cause glorious wonder at a God who saves in Jesus. Some of those who survived the persecution fled to places in Judea and Samaria. Much later Paul described his persecution of the church as being zealous for the traditions of his Fathers (Gal 1:14). Let us check with our outline to situate where we are in our study. In time, he became a great man of God, preaching the gospel everywhere he went. The High Priest executed Jesus unjustly but God raised Jesus from the dead, proving he was in fact the messiah.
He reminded them of how they killed the prophets who preached the coming of the Messiah, and he accused them of no longer obeying Moses' Law. He was highly regarded as a practitioner of the black arts. New International Version. In Damascus the number of Jews was very great; and as the Christians on the persecution of Stephen had been scattered abroad everywhere, it was possible, nay, probable, that some of them had fled to that city; and having fled there, it was possible, nay, probable, that they would spread their sentiments there as they had done in Jerusalem. They shouted at him and shook their fists, but Stephen stayed remarkably calm. 2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV). The Apostles (as we see here) also had the ability to transfer this empowerment to speak in tongues, heal, etc. Socrates was persecuted, and condemned to death, for teaching the same thing, and for (as was alleged) "corrupting the youth of Athens" by his views of religion.
Lord, you know that employee at my work hates all Christians, right? But, have you ever been in a situation where you could far more easily deny your faith rather than face the consequences of being known as a believer? This violence will continue as a persecution of the entire church, not only its leaders, ensues. Γυναῖκας (gynaikas). To bring Benjamin down to Egypt in the first place, Judah vouches for him and will stand for him. They are a part or themselves; are what they themselves are; are all that is now of value to them. A more likely motivation is the possible political and social problems caused by the preaching of a crucified messiah. Peter severely rebukes him and admonishes him to repent immediately for such a serious sin (to buy the blessing of God). This seems unlikely since there is no reference at all to Gentile mission by the Jerusalem Church until Acts 10. He was blind to who God was. Do not doubt that God can move in your life if he chose to move in the life of someone like Saul!
Strong's 3860: From para and didomi; to surrender, i. e yield up, intrust, transmit. 31So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. He also tortured them and had them put to death. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. Now, imagine if someone had told the Christians in Acts 8:3, who were being imprisoned, that this was part of God's plan. 59 They went on stoning Stephen… Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. Many of the Christians were killed. One day, some of the synagogue members confronted Stephen, who was performing "great wonders and signs among the people (9:8)" and introducing them to the gospel. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. It was no forced or unphilosophical utterance, when the Roman centurion said, in view of the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth, "Truly this was the Son of God. " This is why even though Philip himself could perform signs and wonders, he could not enable other disciples to do the same. To other disciples through the laying on of their hands. Saul was converted on his way to …………….
For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. " Imagery: Use of images from these practices for logos/decoration. We are not talking about persecution that comes from a lack of tact, lack of love, lack of care. "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Strong's 4951: To draw, drag, force away. We find our real strength is in Christ through persecution.
He fell instantly to the ground and heard Jesus speak to Him. The story of the tribes does not end. They are the result of all his experience, his studies, his observation in the world; they are what he has accumulated in his progress through life that is of special and permanent value. Old men are confirmed believers or unbelievers; and in them is concentrated no small part of the bigotry and illiberality of the world. Martin Hengel: "[porthein] has a very harsh ring and denotes violent action. In Galatians 1, Paul says he was famously violent in persecuting Christians "beyond measure. " And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. PERSECUTION OF THE EARLY BELIEVERS (Part C). He dragged men and women out of one home after another and threw them into prison.
Gamaliel reminded the Sanhedrin of previous revolutionary religious movements, the men who led them, and how their efforts came to nothing. In 1 Timothy 1:15 he says: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 27But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. If we look through the Old Testament, we see that King Saul is in many ways a paradigmatic persecutor. The argument over the necessity of baptism is not one that the early church had. Saul was their official leader in charge of this effort. The high priest gave Paul a letter of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus. Because of his position in the church, he was likely a target of Saul's. On the day of Stephen's death, Saul begins a persecution campaign without restraint or mercy.
Preaching prosperity without responsibility. Strong's 5438: From phulasso; a guarding or, the act, the person; figuratively, the place, the condition, or, the time, literally or figuratively. We don't know for sure why or how Philip picked Samaria, but we do know why he wasn't in Jerusalem—persecution. Pride, bigotry, obstinacy, envy, ignorance, may combine to induce them to look with distrust on new views, and to feel that such as advance those views are showing them personal disrespect, or doing them a personal wrong. Only the Apostles could do this and for this reason they came to help Philip and empower his converts to practice spiritual gifts. And yet God arrests him in his steps at various points, and there are very strange twists in that story. Last week we looked at Philip as he evangelized in Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch along the road. Saul was renamed Paul, and from thence, he began to preach that "Jesus is the son of God".
God gives him three days to ponder Jesus' question, "Why are you persecuting Me? " The Jews did not like the progress that James was making towards the growth of the Church. We might think about the connections between Saul and the character of Jonah or the character of Jeremiah, called when he was still in the womb. There is, first, the war of opinion; the conflict of sentiments; the tenacity with which men hold their views; and the feelings which are aroused when, from any cause those views are attacked.