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by Sandy Shaw
Acts 8 opens with such solemn words. "Saul was there giving approval to his death." It was Saul of Tarsus who gave the signal for these men to kill this dear disciple of Jesus. Stephen was so filled with faith, compassion and love, and so able to minister in the power of The Holy Spirit. Stephen was so forgiving, but now he is dead.
Why O Jesus? Why such a short career, and these religious persecutors are permitted to go on doing their painful work? We are confronted with many questions at times. As a direct consequence of Stephen's mighty ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the service of his Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, he loses his life - stoned to death.
Imagine what the feelings must have been like in the Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Yesterday, there were seven appointed 'prayed over' men serving tables and looking after that problem which had arisen. Today there are only six! All of a sudden when they were gathering for worship someone was missing. The Church of Jesus Christ must have been shaken and stunned. Nobody expected this to happen. Immediately, a great persecution broke out against The Church. It was now becoming harder to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To remain faithful to Christ was gradually becoming more costly. Jesus had told them this would happen, and persecution shows you who is for real and who can be relied upon in difficult times.
When we go through hard days, when people not only laugh at you and ridicule you, but throw stones at you, how will we respond? It was this fierce violent wave of persecution, which got the Church on the move, and out of Jerusalem. God wanted them out and moving. Sometimes, things happen to us which are not good, but God can use them for good. This was not good. Persecution is never good, but the risen living Jesus uses it for good, to get the Gospel rippling out. Soon there would be consequences all over The Middle East. Saul of Tarsus was now seeking to destroy this movement of the living God. Saul was now out to destroy every single disciple of the Jesus Christ.
The word "destroy" here means - to cause havoc - like when a wild beast savages a person. The Church, the body of Christ, was being attacked by a man who was behaving like a wild animal. But even as Saul fought the living Son of God, the Father was using Saul to spread the Word of God - even before he was converted and born again. (That does not happen for a few weeks yet.)
There was no programme for action - no syllabus - no committee - no missionary society - but everywhere they went, these disciples of Jesus spoke about Jesus and the Cross and how God raised Jesus from the dead. They spoke about the real faith which they had. You had to have real faith to live as these people lived. You still have to have real faith. Do you?
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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