PT-2 "Persecution" (Acts 8:1b-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/3/2017 9:54 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “Persecution”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 8:1b-3

            Message of the verses:  “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. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.”

            As I am reading, or listening, to the book of Ezekiel he talks about being a watchman on different occasions, and as we look at the end of verse one we see that the apostles were like watchmen, not leaving their posts in Jerusalem.  They desired to stay in the city because of their love for the Lord, and as we look at verse two we see that it is possible that those devout men that Luke is talking about may not have been believers, thus Jerusalem was still a mission field.  John MacArthur states that “Luke uses the term ‘devout’ elsewhere to speak of pious Jews (cf. Luke 2:25; Acts 2:5).  Perhaps they were friends of Stephen’s from the Hellenist synagogue he attended.  Their loud lamentation—forbidden by the Mishna in the case of an executed criminal—amounted to a public protest of Stephen’s death.  Despite its rejection by the leaders, there were still people like these whose hearts might be open to the gospel.  The apostles remained behind in part to continue their evangelistic efforts.”

            As we move onto the next verse (3) we see that the storm of persecution continued unabated because of what Saul was doing.  He really had a great deal of hatred for the believers, as he was even putting men and women in prison just because they believed in Jesus Christ.  Jesus says in John 16:2 “"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”  This prophecy is coming true at this time and has continued throughout church history. 

            MacArthur writes “The effects of Saul’s persecution were devastating.  Lumainomai (ravaging) appears only here in the New Testament.  It means ‘to destroy,’ ‘to ruin,’ or ‘to damage.’  In extrabiblical writings, it was used to describe the destruction of a city… In extra- biblical  writings, it was used to describe the destruction of a city…Saul literally tore the church apart—an act that would haunt him for the rest of his life so that he felt utterly unworthy to be called an apostle.”

            The persecution caused the scattering of the church but God would use it to bring glory to His name as while the church spread there was witnessing going on.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Prophets”

Today’s Bible question:  “Why was Joash hidden for six years before becoming king?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/3/2017 10:15 PM