I. Jesus Warned Us! of what we can expect. Let s consider what he said. He said, firstly, A. The World Will Not Love Us!

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1 When the Bible speaks of end times, when is it referring to? Are we in those end times now? If we are, how long can we expect them to last? How will the end times end? If we re not there yet, when will they start? How should we understand and apply the many things the Bible teaches us that relate to the future? I ask these questions this morning, not to be controversial, but to identify one of the issues we grapple with, as those who take seriously the Bible s instructions and seek to apply them to our lives. The Bible is a collection of books, written by many different authors, over a significant period of time. Its writings reflect different styles, different purposes and different audiences. We honour it as God s word. He inspired those who wrote it. His Spirit inspires us as we read it today. It s in the understanding and especially the application that we sometimes struggle. How do we take the principles Jesus taught his first century Jewish followers, and apply them to our discipleship in the twenty-first century? What can we learn from life in the early church that can speak to the complexities of church life in our times? It s important that we get this right! Or as right as we possibly can. Our reading from Acts this morning marks the beginning of a time of intense persecution for the early church. What can we learn from this? Are there any similarities between the pressure cooker existence of the early church in Jerusalem and the still laid-back Aussie culture of a country church today? Have we encountered any part of the persecution Jesus predicted, and the early church experienced? Or is that all still to come for us? Lots of questions this morning as we consider the church under fire! I certainly don t promise to answer them all! Let s turn to our readings, and as we note the progress of the early church, and the era of persecution that begins here, we remember that Jesus predicted this. Was this just a warning for those first century disciples, knowing the climate that was ahead for them? Some of the specifics don t seem to apply to us; I m not too worried about being put out of the synagogue! But much of what Jesus said sounds quite general, and relevant to his people and his church down through the ages. Right back then, on the night before they crucified him, I. Jesus Warned Us! of what we can expect. Let s consider what he said. He said, firstly, A. The World Will Not Love Us! Perhaps we re surprised when we encounter this. Jesus reminds us that if the world hates us, it hated him first. 1

2 Now, I have a problem with Christians who are obnoxious, opinionated and downright rude at times, who then claim that people don t like them because they re Christians! People don t like them because they re obnoxious, opinionated and rude! I m offended when people who claim to follow Jesus behave in ways that totally contradict that claim. We don t go looking for criticism in order to claim persecution! Jesus reminds us he chose us out of the world. We re called to be different. We are different! Jesus tells us we re to be like salt and light in the world around us, making an impact because of our difference. For all the calls for tolerance we hear these days, some in the world can be quite intolerant when they encounter that difference in us. Jesus tells us we can expect to come under fire because B. We Identify With Him. I ve been reading a book called They Like Jesus But Not the Church. It s an interesting book! According to its author, the church these days is on the nose, especially with young people. That doesn t surprise us. If we look at the publicity the church attracts these days, especially through the media, almost all of it is bad! It seems we re opposed to almost everything that looks like progress, and our ministers are money-grubbers or paedophiles! The author claims, on the other hand, young people like Jesus! And I m glad; but I m sceptical! I guess, given the way the church sometimes behaves, and is often portrayed, Jesus will always compare favourably. But I wonder how well those who claim to prefer Jesus to his church actually know him. It s quite fashionable now for even non-christians to enlist Jesus support for their favourite cause. Jesus never criticises, never judges, and he doesn t try to tell us how we should live. (According to them!) He loves everybody and he tolerates everything! Unlike the nasty hypocrites who claim to follow him today! But I wonder if people today are really so different from those in Jesus own times. They loved him back then, too, when he healed their diseases and fed them with bread and fish; but they quickly turned away when he called them to take up their cross and follow him. They welcomed him with enthusiastic hosannas, when he rode into Jerusalem, as a king, on a donkey. But within days they crucified him. We love Jesus; but he s no pushover! And we cannot separate his kindness and compassion, his love and friendship, from his call to obedience and sacrifice. We call ourselves Christians. We identify with him; and he identifies with us. 2

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. 1 He said, If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first! 2 And to help us understand why this should be so, he said, C. They Do Not Know... They do not know the one who sent me. 3 They have not known the Father or me. 4 On the cross, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. 5 We don t need to create a God we can love from our own imaginations; we don t need a selective understanding of Jesus to love and follow. Nothing we could come up with would come anywhere near our God, and his Son who so perfectly reveals him. Here is the irony, the tragedy of those who dislike us because of our association with Jesus. If they only came to know him, as we know him, as he really is; then they too would love him, and admire him, and worship him as we do. And we would be friends! When we consider the place of persecution in the life of the church, Jesus warned us, and II. History Shows Us what the church can expect. The religious leaders hounded Jesus throughout his brief ministry on earth. We ve already seen these same men arrest the apostles, throw them into gaol, and order them to be flogged. None of this slowed the early church s momentum. Now we see what Jesus foretold taken to a new level martyrdom. And we note here, A. Stephen was the First; the first of many who would forfeit their lives defending the gospel, and Jesus who brought the gospel to us. Such a good man! We met him last week when the people chose him as one of seven deacons supervising the distribution of food to their widows. He was indeed a man full of the Spirit and wisdom; he radiated the love of God through good works and signs and wonders 1 Isaiah 53:3 2 John 15:19 3 John 15:21 4 John 16:3 5 Luke 23:34 3

4 among the people he served. And he spoke out for Jesus, whenever the opportunity came. They charged him with blasphemy, and like Jesus before him, hauled him before the Sanhedrin. Most of Acts 7 records Stephen s powerful testimony before these hostile men. And because, under pressure, Stephen showed courage and a God-given capacity to take them on and challenge their sinfulness; they dragged him out and stoned him. Stephen was the first; the first of many thousands, who chose to die rather than be silent. We also note that B. Saul was an Instigator of this violent trend that started with the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem, but later swept the Roman empire. We know his story, but we sometimes forget that this passionate hero of the early church, who was himself hounded by Jewish and pagan leaders throughout his ministry, first comes to our attention as a persecutor of the early Christians. The mob who stoned Stephen, took off their coats, and laid them at Saul s feet. And we re given a glimpse into the deceptive nature of the human heart. Young Saul was passionate, he was zealous for God and his kingdom and sincere in what was almost an obsession to serve him. But he was sincerely wrong. Luke, later to become his friend and travelling companion, tells us Saul began to destroy the church, hunting down those he suspected of following Jesus, and throwing them into prison. Have I said before that the Book of Acts is a story of transformation? What a triumph of God s grace over human sinfulness we find in the life of Saul (or Paul as we know him now). Following the assassination of Stephen, the early church entered a time of C. Widespread Persecution. It started as a Jewish thing. But as the church grew, the politics of the Roman Empire came into play. If the Jews didn t like the Christians emphasis on Jesus, the Romans couldn t handle criticism of their multitude of gods. Roman emperors saw themselves as gods and weren t impressed with the insolence of Christians who refused to worship them or their images. Roman emperors tended not to last long, and the persecution fluctuated, depending on who was emperor, and how sane, or mad, he happened to be. In 64 AD, in the Apostle Paul s time, Nero held parties in the grounds of his palace, driving around in his chariot amongst fires where Christians were burned at the stake. 4

5 Diocletian wasn t mad, like Nero; he was conservative and a traditionalist. He just wanted to see Rome s traditional religions preserved. By his time, in the early 300s, an estimated 6 million Christians made up about one tenth of the Empire s population. Diocletian set about systematically reducing that number. Christians were forbidden to hold religious assemblies. Their property was seized, many were executed. This was not an easy time to be a Christian! Jesus said, I have chosen you out of the world. That s why the world hates you. I don t have time, or the stomach, to take you through a summary of the persecution of Christians from Diocletian to more recent times. I have on my bookshelf a copy of the classis Foxe s Book of Martyrs, first published in I ve read it once. I doubt I ll read it again! I heard somewhere that more Christians died for their faith in the twentieth century than the sum total of all martyrs in the nineteen centuries before it. We ve chosen the winning side. The Bible assures us of this. It never promises us it s going to be easy! What about us, and our times? Let s consider III. Opposition Today. Our quick glance at the early church in Acts, and early church history shows us we in Wangaratta today have it comparatively easy. Not so in other parts of the world, where we note, A. Physical Persecution Continues Here s a report of the situation in Syria, from a BarnabasFund update, out this month: Right now Aleppo, the largest city of Syria, is embattled on four fronts, and expected to fall. Hassake has suffered severe attack in recent days and three-quarters of its population has fled. Even the capital Damascus is in danger. All three cities had significant Christian communities, but where are they today? Facing the prospect of death, kidnapping or forced conversion to Islam, a new wave of Christians has left their homes to seek safety they know not where. This is our world, in our times. And that s just one report, from one country. In the Sudan, eastern Europe, parts of Asia, in many places all around our world, this is not an easy time to be a Christian. We should pray, and pray more than we do for our brothers and sisters who face real, physical, sometimes life-threatening persecution, because they are Christians. Let s also note, 5

6 B. Persecution Takes Many Forms. I don t want to broaden too much our understanding of persecution, or in any way diminish the physical suffering of so many today. But persecution can be more subtle as well. Do we feel the climate changing? It seems, in recent years, the heat has been turned up, society has become more resistant, more hostile to Christianity and Christians. The label Christian in some circles, is synonymous with soft in the head and is used dismissively; of course you would think that. You re a Christian! While we re constantly urged to be more tolerant and respectful of those who are different, it feels like our beliefs, the things we hold dear, our very identity as Christians are ridiculed and treated disrespectfully. Recent trends in the use of social media are alarming. (Or so I m told!) Comments and reactions are virtually instant and can spread like wildfire; and because contributors can remain anonymous, such things as courtesy, decency, fairness and truth are easily lost. Will social media become the new colosseum for persecuting Christians? Has it already started? Some of us feel a bit uneasy as we look to the future. We look back there s probably a bit of nostalgia there to a time when Christians and our faith were treated more kindly. These days, it feels more aggressive, more hateful. What will it be like in the coming days; for our children, our grandchildren as they seek to express their faith in this changing climate? While Stephen s experience is quite daunting, we find encouragement there as well. As he boldly challenged the religious leaders, and especially as he faced his imminent death, Stephen is given an extra measure of C. Grace and Strength. Read his testimony to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7. Such a clear witness, a powerful witness to God s care and provision for his people. Such confident trust in God s ability to sustain Stephen in his moment of testing. These religious leaders may hold the power of life and death over Stephen physically, but ultimately his future was untouchable in the hands of Jesus, his Saviour and friend. It seems easy for me to say this, among friends, in the relative safety and security of this setting. God sustained Stephen, in the midst of his enemies. With his feet still on earth, and his enemies about to stone him, God gave Stephen a glimpse into eternity. Luke describes it like this: But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. 6 6 Acts 7:56 6

7 I don t know how I would speak to those throwing stones at me. Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And then, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. 7 Grace under fire. This is God s provision for his people. My grace is sufficient, was God s answer to Paul in his time of distress, My strength is made perfect in weakness. 8 I still have so many unanswered questions relating to end times, but I do know this: Jesus has promised to be with those who follow him, right to the very end of this age. Whatever we find ourselves facing, we will never face alone. Just as Jesus was there in Stephen s time of testing, he will be there for us, always. He s still standing at the right hand of God. The writer of one of our lovely old hymns describes so well what is before us: I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship, when at his bidding, every storm is stilled, Or who can say how great the celebration when all the hearts of men with love are filled. But, this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture, and many million human voices sing, And earth to heaven, and heaven to earth will answer: at last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King! 9 7 Acts 7:59, Corinthians 12:9 9 I Cannot Tell W. Y. Fullerton, , A New Song 440 7