Luke recounts how Philip rode along with this person and answered his questions concerning the Scripture he was reading. Much later Paul described his persecution of the church as being zealous for the traditions of his Fathers (Gal 1:14). Acts 9:26-27 says Christians feared his violence. Acts 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Guaranteed learning. This occurred in the town of Lydda and the people there believed in Jesus at the preaching and healing ministry of Peter. Luke now shifts the focus of his narrative from the work of Peter and the early church to the conversion of its chief antagonist leading the persecution against them, Saul of Tarsus.
Persecution happens because people don't really know God. 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. In the previous chapter, there is also an interesting incident that might remind us of Saul's conversion or his illumination on the road to Damascus. He had finished his education, and was about to enter on the public work of life. Step 3: The class teacher allows the pupils to give their own examples and he corrects them when the needs arise. In fact, this is more than implied in the language used—"committed them to prison, "— since it cannot be supposed that he would do this on his private responsibility. Persecution of the church by sauldre. Yet few men, young or old, have been so furious in persecution as was Saul of Tarsus; and the fact that he, so young, entered on the work of persecution in the maimer in which he did—"breathing out threatenings and slaughter"—is one of the things that strike us as most remarkable in his career. The conversion of Saul: Acts 9: 7- 22. Rather, we are told to expect persecution that comes from living righteously. In teaching the eunuch, Philip began in the book of Isaiah and showed how his prophecies pointed to Jesus. He dragged men and women out of one home after another and threw them into prison. Paul's Persecution of the Church. Verse (Click for Chapter). It is in the salvation of Saul that we are reminded of a second point: that God is after even persecutors like Saul.
In a special manner the principle has been settled in regard to Christianity, that it cannot be driven from the world by persecution. It is not difficult, therefore, to account for the fact of persecution as pertaining to the history of the world; it is not difficult to see how all these things were concentrated in such a mind as that of Saul of Tarsus. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. Did Paul violently persecute Christians. Persecution and Scattering of the Church. The death of Stephen brought great fear among believers in Jerusalem.
And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests? Philip in Samaria (8:4-40). The results of the imprisonment of Galileo are more than a compensation for all that he suffered. The church persecuted and scattered (Acts 8:1b-3) –. Strong's 5438: From phulasso; a guarding or, the act, the person; figuratively, the place, the condition, or, the time, literally or figuratively. Condemning religious discrimination. This made him to fall down. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 4), thus making war on all that is tender and delicate in domestic relations, and spreading everywhere the terror of his name. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.
King Saul says that he was from the least tribe, from the least family of that tribe in Israel, and yet God raised him up to be king. But the very nature of this process tends to make one young man liberal towards another; for he cannot deny to others the liberty he claims for himself—nor, in persecuting them, can he engage in a practical warfare with himself. Charming: Casting spells – Isaiah 19:3. Persecution of the church by saul series. And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. "] Sometimes the writers use an expression (i. receiving the Holy Spirit) that refers to one of these two things (indwelling or empowering) but the reader has to examine the text to know which he is referring to. His companions stood speechless with surprise because they heard the voice but did not see any body.
It is best to see Saul opposing the Apostolic teaching as a false and potentially dangerous teaching about the messiah. Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular. Matthew 5:10–12 ESV). Luke describes how Saul became stronger as their attacks grew more vicious.
Of himself or of someone else? " There are institutions sustained by law, which are founded on forms of belief; there are endowments which are identified with modes of faith; there are orders of men whose position and influence are dependent on the received articles of a creed; there are customs and usages connected with society that grow out of forms of doctrine; there is often a connexion between Religion and the State so close that to assail the one is construed as rebellion against the other. We may find something of interest in this fact itself. Εἰσπορευόμενος (eisporeuomenos). The return of Saul to Jerusalem: Acts. Who supervised the stoning of Stephen to death? And there are many other ways that we might think about that, particularly as we look through Galatians. This was not punishment or anger with Saul that God said he would suffer. I discuss the connections between Saul of Tarsus and King Saul. Persecution of the church by saul bass. When we look at the background of this section of Acts we see it happens amidst persecution. Peter's Post-Pentecost Ministry – Acts 3:1-4:37. Immediately, Ananias layed hand on him, something like a scale fell off his eyes, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and regained his sight. Thankfully, Jesus finally and literally stopped him in his tracks.
13Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. Not satisfied with persecuting Christians in the land of the Jews, he asked the high priest for a permission to go to the Syrian city of Damascus to search for Christians there and to take them bound to Jerusalem to be judged and martyred. This remark has additional force, if the matter in any way affects important interests, and especially if it is connected with religion, and involves our conscience and our immortal hopes. Note that the eunuch's initial response after hearing the gospel was to inquire about baptism. He "persecuted this way unto the death" (Acts 22:4). There is a similarity between these two characters, and within the book of Acts this is presented not just as persecuting the individual disciples but as persecuting Christ himself: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? " He tries to put him in harm's way, fighting the Philistines. He went from house to house, arresting men and women and putting them in jail. He "punished" that is, scourged them "in every synagogue "—in the very places of public worship; he used every effort to make them "blaspheme" or revile the sacred name of their Redeemer; he became "exceedingly mad against them, " and drove them from town to town—away from their own homes "to strange cities;" he was present when they were sentenced to death, and he "gave" his "voice against them" (Acts xxvi. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And there is something similar in the story of Saul of Tarsus: He is the least qualified, the least worthy to be an apostle, but God raises him in many ways to be the greatest of the apostles or a leader among the apostles. It is a very interesting and material inquiry in regard to the real progress which the world has made in morals, in liberty, in philosophy, in religion, —What has, on the whole, been the EFFECT of persecution on these great interests? What did the Jews do when they found out Saul was still preaching about Jesus? Strong's 1577: From a compound of ek and a derivative of kaleo; a calling out, i. a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation.
He is implacable in his pursuit of and his opposition to David. In Galatians 1, Paul says he was famously violent in persecuting Christians "beyond measure. " Acts 9:1-3 — Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Paul teaches that these abilities and powers would eventually disappear once the full revelation from God was recorded and preserved (I Corinthians 13:8-10). "This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. It matters if they had been drinking or doing drugs. And because of him, the gospel spread across southern Asia and southern Europe. Stephen is properly buried and the Apostles, not afraid of Saul, remain in Jerusalem because that is where the bulk of the church remains and where their work is centered. The fact that Saul pursued both women and men and not men alone indicates he was inflicting the most severe punishment whenever possible on whomever possible. D. all of the above. 8Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. Gamaliel reminded the Sanhedrin of previous revolutionary religious movements, the men who led them, and how their efforts came to nothing. Afterward, they publicly beat the apostles and sent them away, commanding them to stop preaching. THE CONVERSION OF SAUL (ACTS 9: 1 -19).
He engaged in this work under the influence of conscience, as a service which he felt he was bound to render to God, putting forth all his energies because he thought that he "ought to do many things"—these things— "contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth" (Acts xxvi. Stephen's burial completes the preceding narrative. Probably akin to haireomai; to trail. He approached the high priest. 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. 20But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! Are you willing to be a light in someone's life even if it might mean persecution? He got up and was baptized. This kind of persecution happens, not because they are mad at you, but rather the God they see in you. Scales covered his eyes.
Acts 22:3-4 "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.