Saul vs. Philip (Acts 8:1-8)

Saul vs. Philip

 

 

[Acts 8:1-8]

 

 

In Pastor Aidan Tozer's "Tozer speaks to students,” Chapter 1, titled "Spiritual Power," the following words are written: ‘A life lived in companionship with God can only clash with the world, because the ways of God and the ways of the world cannot walk together.  They intersect and cut across each other.  In this process, friction, hostility, conflict, and even persecution can arise.  However, the blessed Holy Spirit vehemently opposes the comfortable ways of the world.  We are living in a corrupt age.  In my view, Christianity today is comfortably coexisting with the easy ways of the world without friction.  The Holy Spirit says to the Christianity that is deeply asleep, Awaken now!.  How can we, as deeply asleep Christians, awaken spiritually?  We must live a life filled with the Holy Spirit and walk in a manner worthy of the Spirit's will.  The Holy Spirit is a holy being.  Therefore, whatever fills your mind should always be holy and pure.  He desires a clean sanctuary.  He wants to make His dwelling place glorious.  Jesus does not abide in a place that is not filled with light and beauty.  The Holy Spirit does not dwell in an impure and defiled temple (Tozer).  We must keep our character clean.  To do this, we must let go of anything that hinders our spiritual progress.

 

We meditated on the contrast between Stephen, a Spirit-filled Christian, and Saul, who persecuted Stephen, in Acts 7.  In today's passage, Acts 8, we encounter Saul, who was involved in the stoning of Stephen, and Philip, a Spirit-filled deacon.  One person lived in opposition to the Spirit and later experienced transformation on the road to Damascus, while the other person lived a life worthy of the Spirit and walked in the Spirit's will.  Today, as I meditate on Saul and Philip, I seek to receive the teaching that God desires to give us about what kind of saints we should be.

 

Saul was a fierce persecutor.

 

Look at Acts 8:1 - " And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria."  As we have already meditated in Acts 7, Stephen, a Spirit-filled deacon, was stoned to death by zealous Jews, and Saul made his first appearance.  Instead of placing Stephen's clothes, which were removed according to the legal customs of the time, at Saul's feet to show that his death was justified, the Jewish persecutors inexplicably placed their own clothes at Saul's feet.  This symbolic act acknowledged that their act of stoning Stephen was done with Saul's approval or instruction (Yoo).  However, in Acts 8:1, Luke records that Saul approved of Stephen’s execution.  Here, the noun "execution" is derived from the verb, meaning "to kill and remove."  This noun form is unique to the New Testament and appears only in this passage.  When Luke predominantly used this verb to describe an unjust death, it is clear that Stephen's death was unjust.  Yet, Saul considered Stephen's death justified.  Why did Saul consider Stephen's death justified?  The reason is that, from Saul's perspective as a Pharisee among the Pharisees who strictly adhered to Jewish doctrine, Jesus could not possibly be the Christ, the Messiah.  The gospel of Christ, which Stephen and the early church proclaimed, was incomprehensible to Saul.  He could not understand how Jesus, whom he considered cursed and crucified on the cross, could be the Christ, let alone the Savior.  Therefore, Saul considered Stephen's death justified, and he took the lead in persecuting the early church.  He went from house to house, entering homes, and dragging off both men and women to put them in prison (v. 3).  The fact that he seized women indicates the extreme cruelty of Saul (Park).

 

What happened as a result of this severe persecution led by Saul in the early Jerusalem church?

 

(1)    Devout believers mourned greatly.

 

Look at Acts 8:2 - "Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him."  Devout individuals, that is, Jewish believers who had accepted Jesus, had a customary practice of publicly mourning for someone who had been publicly executed.  They went against this custom by burying Stephen and mourning for him openly.  Thus, this severe persecution brought about great lamentation/sorrow.

 

(2)    Christian believers were imprisoned.

 

Look at Acts 8:3 - "But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison."  Like a wild beast, Saul went out searching for Christians, entering houses (possibly house churches), forcibly dragging out both men and women, and throwing them into prison.

 

(3)    All believers, apart from the apostles, were scattered from Jerusalem.

 

Look at Acts 8:1b - "...  And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."  Due to Saul and the persecutors of Christianity, all the saints, apart from the apostles, were dispersed from Jerusalem.  They were scattered not only throughout Judea and Samaria but even as far as the regions of Asia Minor (11:19).

 

                Within modern churches, there are individuals similar to Saul.  These individuals can be referred to as "legalistic believers."  They hold a skewed belief system and exhibit a fervent conviction and passion for their distorted beliefs.  Like Saul, they may possess knowledge of the Scriptures and a zealous spirit.  But it is not a correct understanding of the Scriptures, and their zeal is based on misguided knowledge, making them truly dangerous believers.  Those with a legalistic mindset may become prideful, thinking of themselves as righteous beings, especially if they believe they have fulfilled the rigorous demands of the law.  Legalists tend to believe that they can earn God's approval through their own efforts.  The most perilous aspect for legalists is that they miss the core of the gospel, which is that God unconditionally bestows salvation upon undeserving individuals.  Pastor David A. Seamands stated, ‘The hardest thing to give up in the Christian life is the feeling that somehow I can do it’ (Seamands).  Many churchgoers, even after receiving justification through God's unconditional grace, become ensnared in the belief that ongoing enjoyment of God's love and grace depends on how well they think they are performing in their faith.  They almost unconsciously transform God's love into a form of conditional love, basing it to some extent on human piety, and are driven by an obsession to contribute something to earn that love (Young-don Park).  Living solely by God's grace can deeply wound the prideful human ego that exalts its own righteousness.  The principle of relying solely on faith in God's grace seems too simple and easy, causing an inner resistance.  A. B. Simpson said to believers, ‘The greatest danger is not that they cannot do it, but that they will do it’ (Simpson).

 

Do we have such legalistic attitudes (or tendencies) within ourselves?  Therefore, even if we may not bring great persecution to the church like Saul, we should reflect on whether we are causing significant difficulties.  In the midst of this, we must repent before God, just as Paul confessed in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.  On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."

 

Philip was a man who brought great joy.

 

Look at Acts 8:8 - "So there was much joy in that city."  Due to the persecution led by Saul and the persecutors of the early Jerusalem church, the saints, apart from the apostles, were scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria (v. 1).  They traveled around, spreading the word of the Gospel (v. 4).  How amazing is God's providence in this!  On the very day that Stephen was martyred, the great persecution led to the scattering of the saints (v. 1), yet ultimately, the Lord used the dispersed early church to travel around and proclaim the gospel.  From this perspective, I believe that a church must be willing to scatter.  If we focus only on gathering and exerting our efforts for the growth of our local churches, it may not truly be considered genuine church growth.  The term 'scattered church' is a contradiction.  The church is a place to teach and to fellowship.  The church is a gathering place.  However, God expected the church to both gather and scatter.  And, as seen in the Book of Acts, God desires the church to scatter.  Spreading into the world is our mission.  It was only after the Jerusalem church was scattered due to persecution that they were able to preach the gospel to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Therefore, the scattering of the church is not a failure, but a progression (Internet).  Among those who traveled around spreading the gospel, we encounter Philip starting from Acts 8:5.  As we meditated on in Acts 6:5, Philip was one of the seven chosen to oversee the fair distribution of provisions to the widows.  He was a layman from Hellenistic background who engaged in enthusiastic evangelistic activities much like Stephen (Yoo).  At that time, due to religious and cultural prejudices against Samaria, not only Jewish believers but even the disciples of Jesus hesitated to venture into the region.  However, Philip went beyond the prevailing mindset of that era and went to the city of Samaria to preach the Gospel (Yoo).  What were the results of Philip's evangelistic work at that time?

 

(1)    The crowds listened eagerly to Philip's message and followed it wholeheartedly.

 

Look at Acts 8:6 - "And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did."  The focus here is not on the signs performed by Philip, but rather on the message of God that Philip proclaimed – the gospel of Christ.  The reason the people wholeheartedly followed Philip was because of the word of God he proclaimed, not just the signs.

 

(2)    Many miracles occurred.

 

Look at Acts 8:7 - " With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed."  Philip, like Jesus, cast out unclean spirits from people and also healed many who were paralyzed or lame.  The repetition of the word "many" in this verse emphasizes that the Lord demonstrated great power through Philip (v. 13).

 

(3)    There was great joy in the city of Samaria.

 

Look at Acts 8:8 – “So there was much joy in that city.”  Despite the great persecution (v. 1) and the resulting great sorrow (v. 2) due to Saul and the persecutors of the early church, the Lord ultimately allowed the Samarian believers to experience great joy through the great power demonstrated by Philip (v. 13).

 

                As I reflect on the passages from Isaiah 61:10 and 62:5, I am reminded of the reasons why we should rejoice.  Why should we obey the command to "rejoice always"?  Why do we have great joy?  It is because the Lord has clothed us with garments of salvation and has covered us with the robe of righteousness: "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isa. 61:10).  However, even more astonishing is the fact that the Lord rejoices over us with great joy (62:5). Look at Zephaniah 3:17: "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

 

Our God is the one who turns sorrow into joy (Ps. 30:11).  Although the early church saints experienced great sorrow due to the great persecution from individuals like Saul, ultimately, just as the Lord turned their great sorrow into great joy, He also turns our great sorrow into great joy.  Therefore, the confession that comes from those who taste this great joy given by the Lord is, "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God" (43:4).

 

 

 

 

 

 

With gratitude to the God who turns my sorrow into joy, I continue to live today, my joy, my hope, my life, my Lord and Savior,

 

 

 

 

James Kim

(With a heart filled with gratitude to God who turns my sorrow into joy)