I am reading through Act. Each chapter that I read really has made me think about the early church persecution. Chapter after chapter, example after example, of believers being mocked, stoned, and killed by those that were considered keepers of the Roman, or Jewish Law.
Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin in the fourth chapter only to be told never to speak the name of Christ. That didn’t stop them. In fact that church only grew larger.
Their prayer coming out of that situation was,
“Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David.
“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.”
… Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak out your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
They were then empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue preaching and teaching the words of Christ. However, it wasn’t long until again the apostles were thrown in jail. But this time an angel of the Lord showed up to rescue them. This angel opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Instead of running and hiding like cowards they followed the instructions of the angel and stood in the temple courts telling the people the full message of the new life that could be found only in Christ.
They were brought back to the prison by the officers and declared these words,
“We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead- whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Acts goes on to say that they left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Although these instances are vital to the understanding of the early church persecution I am blown away by the next example that Acts addresses. The stoning of Stephen. I guess it is because as I read his speech before the Sanhedrin I can’t imagine not believing it. He makes such a great case for Christ by using history and even presents it in story form. Very catchy from a marketing stand point.
Can you just imagine this part of the speech,
“You still-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him- you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it. “
What passion must have been behind these words. He knew what he was saying and I even think he realized the consequences. He didn’t care. He didn’t hold back. I imagine the room being so silent in those moments that followed that one could hear a needle drop on the floor. Stephens next words, “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” I think is what brought the evilness out of these men. Their hearts were made of such cold stone that they rushed at him screaming and yelling ready to take blood from yet another innocent believer.
I have such a hard time with this passage mostly because I often fall victim to the lie that humans can be naturally good. I forget that our nature is such that we never will be able to do anything good outside of being motivated by the triune God. When I read Stephen’s prayer while he was being stoned I am taken aback. As he is on his knees, rocks being beaten into his bruised flesh he cries out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
My whole body cries out for revenge. They just killed an innocent man. They brutally murdered him and he wants them to be forgiven. O no! There’s no way that they deserve to play the ignorant card.
But as I keep reading I see that standing amongst them is Saul. Saul the man that in just a few more chapters will change his name to Paul and become one of the most important figures in early church history. The man that will preach and teach the same words that he listened to Stephen preaching right before he approved his stoning. O what forgiveness can do! Stephen caught of glimpse of that I think when he was looking into the heavens and seeing Christ at the right hand side of the our most holy God! He knew his sin and knew that he didn’t deserve forgiveness so what was it to him to hold a grudge against those that didn’t know what they were doing. They were cold hearted and unable to see the truth.
I wonder if Paul used to cry himself to sleep realizing what he had done to Stephen and to hundreds of other Christian men and women. I understand more completely his words throughout Roman. He really did understand the power of the cross. The blood of forgiveness that was given to him even though he was so undeserving.
The purpose of Acts for the modern church is not so much for us to come to a better understand our history but rather for us to see the power and greatness of the cross. To see the continued story of what the blood of Christ can do in the lives of those that believe. The transformation of men and women that otherwise would have never had the chance to live this new life that Christ made available to them. I don’t believe that Acts is a finished book. Even today I am reminded of the persecution that goes on all around the world. The men and women that are preaching and teaching to people that have stone hearts because like Stephen they believe that these people could turn into Paul’s!
