Imagine standing firm in your beliefs, even as the world rises against you. That's the captivating story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church, whose unwavering faith set the stage for this episode's journey through the early church's tumultuous beginnings. We trace the church's growth and the conflicts it faced with traditional authorities as it forged its identity. You'll hear about the remarkable story of Stephen, full of faith and power, and how his dedication to serving God's people became a beacon of light during times of persecution. His legacy is a testament to the early Christian community's resilience, a community that sought to balance spirituality with the practicalities of their rapidly expanding fellowship.
Then, with a twist that could rival the most dramatic of tales, we recount the drastic transformation of Saul to Paul. From a persecutor to a pillar, Saul's encounter with the divine on the road to Damascus is a narrative that reshapes our understanding of faith's power to change lives. As he transitions from a man known for his zeal in opposition to the church to one who would pen much of the New Testament, we explore the implications of his conversion. It's a story that continues to inspire, showing us that faith can lead to profound change, even without seeing a physical manifestation of the divine. Join us as we immerse ourselves in these pivotal chapters of early Christian history and discover how they continue to echo through the ages.
Imagine standing firm in your beliefs, even as the world rises against you. That's the captivating story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church, whose unwavering faith set the stage for this episode's journey through the early church's tumultuous beginnings. We trace the church's growth and the conflicts it faced with traditional authorities as it forged its identity. You'll hear about the remarkable story of Stephen, full of faith and power, and how his dedication to serving God's people became a beacon of light during times of persecution. His legacy is a testament to the early Christian community's resilience, a community that sought to balance spirituality with the practicalities of their rapidly expanding fellowship.
Then, with a twist that could rival the most dramatic of tales, we recount the drastic transformation of Saul to Paul. From a persecutor to a pillar, Saul's encounter with the divine on the road to Damascus is a narrative that reshapes our understanding of faith's power to change lives. As he transitions from a man known for his zeal in opposition to the church to one who would pen much of the New Testament, we explore the implications of his conversion. It's a story that continues to inspire, showing us that faith can lead to profound change, even without seeing a physical manifestation of the divine. Join us as we immerse ourselves in these pivotal chapters of early Christian history and discover how they continue to echo through the ages.
Speaker 1:
Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, jj. So good to have each and every one of you here. It's been a great week. I hope you had a great week.
Speaker 1:
We've done some changes with our audio. I hope you like it better and better and better as we make the improvements. We thank each and every one of you for liking and sharing this podcast. You've been taking a few moments out of your day to walk with us and you could be watching or listening to any other podcast. You've taken a few moments to watch this or listen to this podcast, and so I really do appreciate it. I keep saying watching because eventually I'm getting in my mind here, eventually, that we will be going to a video format and we're in the process of doing a bunch of things and which is going to. It's kind of delayed and I I know I was already close to being ready, but that has been delayed. But we are going to continue in this format on this platform where you're listening to it. I heart radio, spotify, apple podcast, google podcast, other places like that. Thank you so much for liking, sharing and getting other people involved and just letting you know, letting this help you. It's helping me and I hope it helps you just a tiny bit as much as it's helping me. Quick shout out to our sponsors Two Bars and Lyricist who's helped us with this audio problem we were having in the early days Upgrading our equipment and Exquisite Creations. She's making swag and Tumblr. For us. I've been told I can't say cups because cups is the wrong thing. These are. And tumblers for us. I've been told I can't say cups Because cups is the wrong thing. These are actually tumblers. Yes, it's a. I want to say like a 25 ounce tumbler that she's making for this podcast and when we go video you can see it. I know a lot of our closest friends Already have the tumblers or want the tumblers and saying how nice they are. Thank you so much, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Today already have the tumblers or want the tumblers and saying how nice they are. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:
Today we are going to talk about something that I don't like talking about, and the reason I don't like talking about it is because the Bible says there's nothing new under the sun, but we like to talk about how wonderful the church was in the beginning and how wonderful everything was going and how many people were getting saved and how many people were coming to god and beginning to live right and getting the holy ghost, and and you know so forth and so on, and there we go. But what was happening was that there was also a church persecution. That began and the church persecution began and it's kind of weird or bad to try to talk about why it happened. We're just going to start from when the Bible starts talking about it. The Bible starts talking about a certain disciple or apostle by the name of Stephen. I don't say apostle, but he was a believer, he was a Christian. And Stephen was chosen because the church was growing so fast that, instead of it being just people walking around and talking on corners, they decided that they were going to, they were going to start talking and actually creating a situation where they were actually organizing the church. And this is where the problem started, because it was okay when you had the religious organization and you had the governmental organization and they were not threatened by a few people reaching on the corner or, you know, doing a miracle here and there, people getting the Holy Ghost but not having any way to follow that up. Now that the church started to organize, they begin to have a problem, because now you're cutting into their power structure and when corrupt people and evil people start seeing their power structure in trouble, you will see how terribly they react to it. And this is what happened here. They react to them and this is what happened Now.
Speaker 1:
Granted, even though the church was also growing so fast, so quickly, they also found a little bit of a challenge to do the praying and the fasting and everything they were doing at the beginning, because now we had responsibility. So they chose this guy by the name of Stephen. And the reason why they chose him the Bible says that he was full of faith and power. Oh and, by the way, before we get started into the scriptural reference, please understand we have a rule here. The rule is, if you talk about a scripture, always read a verse or two above, a verse or two below, but preferably the whole chapter. Why? Everybody together? Context is key, that's right. Context is key. So we're going to start with Acts, chapter 6, verse 8. And this is where everything started to pick up.
Speaker 1:
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Now, it wasn't the problem that he was doing miracles, because miracles already happened, you know, and it was when they saw that crucifying Jesus didn't stop the miracles, they again felt the same threat to their. When they saw that crucifying Jesus didn't stop the miracles, they again felt the same threat to their power that their version of Jesus brought to them. And I'll explain this. Because they did not. The people who were in the religious, like the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, all those people they did not. They didn't like Jesus because he was a threat to their power. They had limited amount of power and they didn't want anyone stealing, so they figured they'd get jesus crucified. That'll stop all that problem. All of a sudden now, now you have peter running around doing miracles even running around, and pretty soon a bunch of other apostles running around and doing miracles, and so this began to present a huge problem to their power structure.
Speaker 1:
Now, the thing about Stephen is he not only did what God wanted him to do, but he was looking for opportunities to serve. And this is something that hits JJ kind of in the heart, because a lot of times I'm like well, god, what do you want me to do, and a lot of us are like that. God, what do you want us to do? What do you want us, how do you want us to serve? Well, stephen wasn't like that. Stephen was actually out looking for new opportunities to serve, looking for new opportunities to serve, looking for new things to do, and wanted more, more, more, more, more involvement in the church and involvement in the kingdom of God. When you say church, you're thinking about the church in the corner, but in the kingdom of God, stephen wanted more to do. He wanted more responsibility, he wanted to just do. Because of that, when God sees the fervency of Stephen, he became so successful that he was also picked as a target of the church. Because God saw the fervency of Stephen and you know all the things that Stephen wanted to do from his heart. Not because he was looking for a position of power, he just wanted to serve, and he just wanted to serve the correct way. And so God began to move through him.
Speaker 1:
And now Stephen has now become an enemy of the establishment, the establishment religion, the establishment government. Remember, now we're still talking about Jews under control of the Roman government. This is where we are. So they literally took him. And the same setup that they did for Jesus, they did for Stephen Because, remember, it's work, so let's do this again. So, um, the enemies well, they took Stephen because he was an enemy of the church and so, basically, they put him on trial Acts 6 and 10. They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. So, in other words, stephen's opponents were no match for the wisdom that God gave him and the spirit of God. The same way, when Jesus was standing trial, they were no match for him either. And Jesus didn't fall for any of their traps. Stephen didn't fall for any of their traps either.
Speaker 1:
So what did they have to do? They had to literally get people, pay people to falsely testify. Now, I don't know how that affects you, but it affects me in such a way and I'll tell you why. We think in our minds because you know, we're decent people we think that if somebody says, hey, you're going to testify, or somebody is testifying, that that person must obviously be telling the truth. They may have been lying from the moment they got up yesterday morning to now. They might have been telling lies straight to nonstop. But as soon as you throw the word testify in there, then they must be telling the truth, and obviously this was not the case. They paid these people to lie. Now what should that strike a memory in your heart? Thou shall not bear false witness. So they are already being paid to sin, stephen, and against God, they're already being paid to sin.
Speaker 1:
So, even though these people were falsely Testifying against Stephen, they could not change his character. And this was. This is a, this is a kind of another dig at JJ. Because you lie on JJ, jj gets upset. I don't know about any of you out there listening. When you lie on JJ, jj gets upset. It is very difficult to offend me, but if you lie on me, I get offended. It's just how it is.
Speaker 1:
So the Jewish leaders, even though they couldn't, even though they got their liars and they paid them well, and the liars did what they were supposed to do, they still couldn't do anything. And actually they became alarmed when they saw Stephen's face shining and God moved on, stephen and Stephen started preaching about the way God dealt with Israel in the Old Testament, and he was preaching the truth that they could not contradict, even though they were lying on him and about him. So he finished up by proclaiming that his listeners had betrayed and slain the Son of God. So now he's bringing it all the way back to the exact same message that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost you wicked hands have slain Jesus Christ. So, in anger, they passed judgment on him, they brought him out of the city and they stoned him to death. So let's read about it Acts 6, 12-15. And they stirred up the people Now, they being the elders, the people who were holding the trial. They stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and caught him. So they lied on Stephen, got him all upset, came and grabbed Stephen, took him out and brought him to the council and they set up false witnesses.
Speaker 1:
This man sees not to speak the blasphemous words against the holy place and the law, but we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs with which Moses delivered. Wait a second, wait a second. Did Stephen say that part? And that's one thing that I have learned growing up and maturing that the best lie has a grain of truth to it, and so you take something that's not a. You take something that someone said, you add a lie to it and it becomes the best lie you've ever told. We see that every single day right now.
Speaker 1:
You and I, listening to to this podcast, have seen this and I'm not going to tell you where, but you've seen this happen. You may not know that you've seen this happen, but unless you listen to the original message that you're hearing and then hear the difference in the message, the difference in the message, then you will see that someone will take something that someone said. Person A will say a thing you went and slayed Jesus Christ. You killed Jesus Christ. He was the Son of God. And then the person that's telling you exactly what I just said will add something to it. But he's going to destroy this place and he's going to change our way of life, which is not anything what I just said, and you add to it. And the same way the devil did in the Garden of Eden. All the devil added was one word you shall not really die. Add to it, make the best lie you've ever heard, and people start believing it. So, in verse 15, and all that sat on, the council looked steadfastly on him and saw him as his face had been the face of an angel.
Speaker 1:
One of the elders now of the persecution was Saul. Now you will know Saul as Paul. We all know Saul as Paul. This is Saul of Tarsus and this was a witness that gave consent to kill Stephen. Now, this is not one of the witnesses that was lying. This is the other witnesses that were there at the trial, like sort of a jury. But Saul was actually in charge of persecuting the church and this is Saul's situation Is.
Speaker 1:
That also exposes a different level to this situation. See, the people at the top. They only cared about their power, their position, their holding on, their control of the people. But then the workers, who were really good at their job, like Saul was he cared about doing his job. He hey, listen, my boss said go ground them Christians up and bring them here. I will make the charge. This is just like having a good cop in a corrupt city. Hey, listen, it's my job. I'm sorry I got to do this. Brought him in. They said say yep, he said that before. He said this part right here. So I guess I mean it looks like everybody is saying agreement, this is what he said. So, yeah, he gotta go. So, as a result of this persecution, this truth that Stephen said spread into all Judea and Samaria and to everywhere else, because there were also people in attendance who went out and said, man, that was a kangaroo court. But did you see what? How Stephen looked and did you hear what he said? That dude that they killed really was Jesus.
Speaker 1:
Now, as a result of this trial, as a result of this trial, saul caught the attention of God. Now God knew about Saul, but Saul, god had a different plan for Saul. So chapter 9 of the book of Acts Describes the conversion of Saul, who became known as Paul. Now, remember, well, we'll read it Now. Saul, I'm sorry. Now Paul is now the key figure in the New Testament. He's going to go on to write so many letters, he's going to establish so many rules in the church and he's going to convert some of the things that we have read in the Old Testament into the New Testament. And it's not like he's changing anything, it's more like exposing everything. Okay, so Acts 8 and 3. And so Saul, he made havoc for the church, entering in every house, having men and women committed them to prison. This is still Saul. We haven't gotten to chapter 9 yet.
Speaker 1:
Chapter 8 is when the Bible is telling us, saul was that agent. He was Agent Smith. He was going everywhere he found a Christian because that was his job. His job was to find Christians and bring them. Now, nowhere in this did it say that Saul hated Christians and I know that sometimes we like to portray this, but the Bible doesn't really say that. You know, it was just Saul's job you go, find them, christians, and bring them here, okay. Okay, boss, I'm getting my paycheck every other Thursday. So that's what he did when he got them Christians and brought them to, brought them over to the Sanhedrin, and they tried them and many of them were executed.
Speaker 1:
So now Saul is on the way to Damascus, and on this way to Damascus, we all know the story. A bright light shone around Saul and he heard a voice. Now this was Saul, or now you're going to start calling him Paul. It was this encounter with Jesus and it fully persuaded that he was on the wrong path and to surrender to Jesus Acts 9, 2-9. And desire of him led us to Damascus, the synagogue that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, that they might bring them bound into Jerusalem. So this is now Paul's job, remember, he's going to Damascus and he's going to go pick up this letter. If he finds any of them, handcuff him and bring him to the tribe.
Speaker 1:
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there was a sound round about him, a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth and he heard a voice singing to him Saul, saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said who art thou, lord? Now, saul, right then, knew that he was talking to God. He knew he was talking to God Because, remember, he's working for the church, so he knows things like this could only be from God. There's no helicopter up there with those day bright spotlights on them. So he knew he was talking to god.
Speaker 1:
And the lord said I am jesus. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. He said lord, he just saying the son of god. He said lord, well now, if you say that Jesus is Lord, jesus is God manifesting the flesh. That makes no sense. So Jesus said I am Jesus, who thou persecutest. It is hard for you to kick against the bricks. And he's trembling, astonished, and said Lord, what would you have me to do? The same, lord, lord of everything, alpha and Omega. Jesus said arise, go into the city and it will be told. The same Lord, lord of everything, alpha and Omega, jesus, said Arise, go into the city and it will be told to thee what you must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing no voice but seeing nothing.
Speaker 1:
Now Paul was not by himself, paul was in a whole jump-out squad. He had a whole squad with him, a whole jump out squad. We had a whole squad with us. You know, like you have these special units in these police departments. They have what we call jump out and you know, you got five or six in the car and they roll down on you and they jump out on you because they know that you got drugs on you. But actually, how they know? They just know. So they jump out on you. But none how they know, they just know. So they jump out on you. But none of these people in the same car, in the same group, saw or heard anything. They heard the voice, but they didn't see anybody. They ain't looking around. What's going on? And Saul arose from the earth and his eyes were opened and he saw no man because he was blind. And they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus and he was three days without sight and neither did he eat nor drink.
Speaker 1:
Now the Bible is often, you know, kind of. I love the way the Bible is written. But it also doesn't tell me what happened to the rest of those chump-outs, we don't know. They just brought them here and dropped them off Like okay, man, you're on your own. We got to go finish rounding up those Christians so we'll catch you on the way back bro. But Paul was never the same. His life was never the same from that point on, was never the same. His life was never the same from that point on. And this really shows our conversion to Jesus, how our lives can change. We may not all see a light or hear Jesus speaking to us, talking about why we're persecuting Him, but our conversion, when we really start living for God, things will change for us. And it just so happens that and this is why I like the idea of Saul slash Paul Because again, nowhere in there did it say that he hated Christians I mean, he's obviously had heard a lot of them testify.
Speaker 1:
He's obviously heard a lot of them say the exact same thing, and it must have been something that was already working on in his mind in his heart, but it's his job. I'm going to go and do it, even though I might I don't know, I might be starting to believe this, because as soon as he saw that light, he said who art thou Lord? You know, he didn't say what's going on here. He didn't say Jehovah, he said who art thou Lord. So I mean there's a lot to be brought out from that point that we kind of glaze over and so understanding that persecution, and this is why the word of God is so lovely. And when we talk about the coming persecution of the church, there are people and I'm one of them who will even have a bit of joy because even though the church will be persecuted, some people will be saved as a result of that persecution.
Speaker 1:
Now, the kind of macabre part of it is that God did not come down in a miraculous way and save Stephen. Stephen did everything that was right. Stephen preached the word of God, he got responsibilities in the church, he was looking to serve, he was just looking to love God, but he was not rescued from the evil people who were lying. Now, that being said, we could also be in a position where we people could lie on us and God would not rescue us from that particular person. But that's okay, because we all know where Stephen went right, stephen went to heaven. So this is a really kind of a.
Speaker 1:
This is kind of not an underhanded lesson, but this is a lesson that Stephen should be teaching too. Yes, you can do everything right. Yes, you can live for God with fire and everything, and you can just, you can be just on fire preaching for God, but at that moment, if God doesn't save you, he is still God. If God doesn't save you from the liars, if God doesn't save you from being stoned to death which, by the way, you know, I've watched the stoning and it's not pretty. It's not like they're getting big boulders and you know you're out pretty quickly. No, this takes a long time. They're literally picking up hand-sized stones and hitting you in the face and it's pretty bad. So, and I would not, please don't go Googling that thing or searching on my behalf, but I'm just saying it's not a very pretty site, okay.
Speaker 1:
That being said, we're going to wrap it up today. The next one we're going to talk about is when Saul receives his sight and they change his name, all the things that he is going to do as a result of watching Stephen get killed, how that actually caused the church to actually explode in popularity. All right, and that being said, we're going to go ahead and wrap it up for today. Love each and every one of you. Thank you all so much for joining us. Have a great week. Don't forget to like share. Also, if you have any questions or comments, go ahead and send them to WalkWithMeBibleStudy at gmailcom. Walkwithmebiblestudy at gmailcom. Love you all. God bless you.