Persecution is an opportunity!
”So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone” (Acts 11:19).
“Faith of our fathers! Living still In spite of dungeon, fire and sword; O how our hearts beat high with joy Whenever we hear God’s glorious Word … Faith of our fathers! We will love Both friend and foe in all our strife; And preach thee, too, as love knows how By kindly words and virtuous life” (Hymn “Faith our fathers”, verses 1 and 3).
We cannot but admit that it is God’s grace and love that we Christians are able to keep our faith even in persecution because we cannot do so with our own strength and power. That’s why we cannot help but be glad when we think about our faith that God has kept. Furthermore, when the believers love even their enemies and preach with kindly words and virtuous life even in their persecution are the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. Not only that it is impossible for our power and ability to keep faith in persecution, but also it is impossible for our power and ability to preach this faith to those who persecute us. Nevertheless, when we see the Almighty God makes us to preach this faith with joy, we cannot but admit that this is clearly the work of the Holy Spirit. This amazing work of the Holy Spirit in spreading the gospel even through the martyrdom of the believers expends the Kingdom of God throughout the world - from Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth! (Acts 1:8).
In Acts 11:19, the Bible talks about the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen. (1) The first thing that happened was the people who were scattered went about preaching the word (8:4). Philip, one of those scattered people, went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed Christ to the people, so that the crowd would hear the words of Philip and watch the miraculous signs and wonders of his work, and many heavily demonized and paralyzed people were healed. As a result, there was much rejoicing in that city (vv. 5-8). When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John to Samaria and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (vv. 14-15). And they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord as they started back to Jerusalem and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans (v. 25). When an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza” (v. 26), Philip obeyed and met an Ethiopian eunuch (v. 27) and beginning from the Scripture Isaiah 53:7, 8 which the eunuch was reading Philip preached Jesus to him (v. 35) and then baptized him (v. 38). After the Holy Spirit snatched Philip away (v. 39) and he was found himself at Azotus (v. 40). As he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea (v. 40). (2) The second thing that happened was that Saul was converted, saved and called to be an apostle to the Gentiles on the way to Damascus (Ch. 9). When I think about this, I think that the Holy Spirit God has sovereignly worked in Saul’s life to have 4 meetings: (1) Meeting with the resurrected Jesus (vv. 1-9), (2) Meeting with a disciple named Ananias in Damascus (vv. 10-19), (3) Meeting with Barnabas (vv. 26-27) and (4) Meeting with the apostles of Jerusalem (v. 28). Through these meetings, the Holy Spirit was raising Saul as the apostle to the Gentiles. (3) Then the third thing that happened due to the persecution after the Stephen’s death was the Holy Spirit fell upon (v. 44) Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort (v. 1), his relatives and close friends (v. 24) when they heart the Peter’s sermon (vv. 36-43). (4) Then the fourth thing that happened, from Acts 11:19 to 26, was establishment of the Gentile church, that is Antioch Church. The Holy Spirit scattered the early Church members through the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen, made them to preach the gospel, made Saul to be the apostle of the Gentiles, made Cornelius to hear the gospel, and built the Gentile church, the Antioch church. When we look at this, persecution is an opportunity to scatter and to spread the gospel, to raise a leader, to expand the kingdom of God, and to build a church. Especially when I meditated on Acts 11:19-26, I came to think about four kinds of opportunities persecution can be:
First, persecution is an opportunity to scatter and to spread Jesus and His gospel.
Look at Acts 11:19-20: “So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus.” Because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen the early church members were scattered across the region and spoke the word to no one except to Jews alone (v. 19). But some of them went to Antioch and preached the Lord Jesus to the Greeks (v. 20). We need to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ as we scatter through the persecution rather than fighting and sinning in the church. We must preach the gospel to foreigners rather than just to the Korean people. Even if we cannot speak their languages, we must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to them in the language of God's love. We need to broaden the scope of the preaching of the gospel. May the Holy Spirit enlarge the area of preaching the gospel even through persecution.
Second, persecution is a great opportunity to experience God's presence.
Look at Acts 11:21 – “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.” Because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen, the early church members were scattered and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. When some of them came to Antioch, they spread the gospel to the Gentiles and the amazing thing was that the hand of the Lord was with them and a large number believed and tuned to the Lord. I personally think that crisis in our lives is an opportunity. And one of the opportunities is to experience God's presence. Especially when I want to give up because of hardship and adversity, I experience the God’s presence that the God’s right hand grabs my hand and lifts it up so that I can move on toward the goal that God has given me. At that time I truly believe that the crisis of life is one of the best opportunities to experience the presence of the Lord. When the early Church members were suffering, they preached the gospel and experienced the presence of God. They experienced the amazing power and glory of God by seeing many people believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and turned to God. May we be able to experience the God’s presence even through crisis and to see the power and glory of God.
Third, persecution is a good opportunity for team ministry.
Look at Acts 11:22 and 25-26: “The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. … And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen, the early church believers were scattered, preached the gospel, expend the areas of preaching the gospel and experience the presence of the Lord. The large number believed in Jesus and turned to the Lord. When this news reached the ears of the Jerusalem church, they sent Barnabas, “a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” off to Antioch (vv. 22, 24). And the Holy Spirit worked among the preachers of the Antioch church, Barnabas and Jerusalem church to be one team in evangelizing the Antioch and nurturing the Antioch church believers. The Holy Spirit worked in Barnabas so he brought Saul from Tarsus to Antioch and for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers (vv. 25-26). As a result, considerable numbers were brought to the Lord (v. 23) and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (v. 26). Maybe we are all too comfortable to do team ministry. Because we, who are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the church and in the mission field, cannot serve the Lord and our neighbors with one heart and one will, the evangelism ministry isn’t good as Paul and Apollos (1 Corinthians 3: 5-9). What is the problem? Why can’t we cope with team ministry properly? Isn’t it because of our arrogance? Why are we arrogant? Is it because there is no trouble or persecution? Maybe we need persecution like the early church believers so that the Holy Spirit uses it to bring us together with one heart and one will so that we may faithfully minister with the Lord’s heart in reaching out to those dying souls and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to them.
Fourth and last, persecution is a good opportunity to build His church.
Look at Acts 11:26 – “… and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” The Lord used the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen to scatter and to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ even to the people in Antioch so that the Antioch church was established. As Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, the Lord builds His church in His own way. What should we do when we see the Lord builds His church even through persecution? Should we stop participating in the Lord’s ministry of building His church because of the persecution like the Israelites in the Prophet Haggai's days and run to our own houses and dwell in our paneled houses? (Hag. 1:4, 9) Maybe we need to have a sense of crisis even through persecution. Therefore, we must actively participate in the Lord’s ministry in building His church by the Holy Spirit and serve diligently and faithfully for His glory. I hope and pray that the Lord builds His church as He has promised (Mt. 16:18).