This morning I felt directed to read from Acts, Chapter 9. This is the story of Paul's conversion. It is a great example of how the Lord intervened for His church, and made one who was the primary enemy of the church into one of its greatest Apostles. I am going to start with a few verses from Chapter 8, for they set the stage - Acts 8:1-4 NIV:
[1] "And Saul approved of their killing him.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. [2] Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. [3] But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
[4] Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went."
Saul (Paul) is the chief enemy of the church. He is literally hunting the church from home church to home church, and throwing those Christians he found into prison. This persecution follows the stoning of Stephen, who was one of the leaders of the church, one of the seven chosen to serve the growing church. I think it is interesting that Luke , the author or the Book of Acts, writes that Saul began to destroy the church. This is no slight persecution, but one of great significance. The Greek word, translated as 'destroy', is the Greek word Lumainomai. The Definition of the word is:
1) to affix a stigma to, to dishonour, spot, defile
2) to treat shamefully or with injury, to ravage, devastate, ruin
It is interesting that it appears this same thing is being accomplished here in America and in much of the western world, the Church is being affixed with a stigma and suffering dishonour and defilement. Christianity is being colored as biggoted, judgmental, hateful, hypocritical, stupid and self-righteous. Now, the truth is that there are congregations and individuals that fit many of these labels, but I belive that overall the characterization is untrue. There is a spirit at work tying to destroy the church, or at least its witness and significance. Instead of prisons, the church is being slandered and attacked in such a way as to make it irrelevant, and seen as a joke. It is being imprisoned in peoples minds and thoughts, being seen as worthless and irrelevant.
Continuing the story, Paul is apparently so successful in Jerusalem that he moves on to other cities to hunt down members of church. We continue with Luke's account in Acts 9:1-2 NIV:
[1] "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest [2] and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem."
We see later in this chapter how successful Saul was in his persecution, for people in the church everywhere were afraid of him (Acts 9:13-14). I think it safe to say that the church was greatly affected by this attack. They continued to preach the Gospel, as we see from Acts 8:4, but they were afraid. One has got to believe that the general populace was afraid to join the ranks of the church, at least in the areas where they were being persecuted.
One thing that Saul and the others who were persecuting the church did not count on, for they clearly didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah, or that He had risen from the dead, was that Jesus would intervene for His church. They thought they were wiping out some aberrant group who followed some guy that was now dead. Instead, Saul found out the truth, and was forever changed. This is described in following verses - Acts 9:3-19 NIV:
[3] As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. [4] He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
[5] “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. [6] “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
[7] The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. [8] Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. [9] For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
[10] In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
[11] The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. [12] In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
[13] “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. [14] And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
[15] But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. [16] I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
[17] Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord---Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here---has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [18] Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, [19] and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus."
Reading this account I am struck by a couple of things:
1) The Lord is fully able to defend His church. He is personally involved, and will always be personally involved. He is capable of intervening on His own when necessary.
2) There is no one who is outside the reach of the Lord, and no one who is too far gone to not experience salvation and forgiveness.
3) The Lord looks at people completely differently than we do, for He saw in Paul his future super-evangelist, everyone else saw him as the chief enemy of the church.
4) The spirit behind the attacks on the church, probably thought things were looking pretty good, until Jesus completely flipped Saul, and the persecution completely died off.
5) Persecution does not weaken the church, it actually causes it to strengthen and spread.
6) It is possible for the greatest enemy of the church to become the greatest proponent, even in a couple of days. Maybe we should be praying for massive conversions of those fomenting the attack on the church, in addition to praying for protection from their attacks.
7) The persecution actually caused the church to fulfill Jesus' command, for prior to the persecution much of the focus of the church was on Jerusalem, and afterwards it spread to all nations. (Matt 28:19 and Acts 1:8).
In summary, we don't need to fear the attacks on the church, but rather we need to recognize that Jesus is still with us always, even to the end of the age. (Matt 28:20). He truly does have all authority in Heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18) and is capable of stepping into this world to protect His bride, the Church. We are called to love one another (John 13:34), and even to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:44). Let us entrust ourselves to Jesus, the Lord over all. He will lead and guide and intervene as necessary.
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