Hell Breaks Loose

Acts 8:1-3

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

It has often been said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Saul was once present at the death of Stephen. It is at this place that Saul witnessed his first recorded violence towards God's people. Here he held the men's coats as they stoned an early disciple named Stephen. You might be wondering who these men were. If you remember prior, Stephen had been discussing these things with certain of the Jews. In Acts 7:47-53 he referred to Jesus as the one greater than Solomon. Yes, the ministry of Solomon was indeed remembered for the good he had done. What he did was told of him forever in his remembrance; so also, was the woman' story told who anointed Jesus' feet of Matthew 26:13. Suddenly they were filled with brutality and rage at his words. They were even the same religious leaders who once put Jesus to death.

It is important to see that violence plus agreement equaled a monster just like them. From this, the same spirit of violence entered Saul as in Luke 22:3. It should be seen that the spirit which entered came by way of the people's responsibility for what had happened. We call this collective guilt of both doing nothing and harming the poor and defenseless among them. Clearly Saul had witnessed the evil spirit entering them as in Genesis 4:7. So also, he gave consent and by his silence became guilty. I know Psalm 116:15 says there is great joy in Heaven at the death of the saints. God is always happy to usher his people into eternity with a "well done thou good and faithful servant" as in Matthew 25:21. But this is consent of another sort entirely. For what came from it is not good. Satan works to support the desires of men and the purpose of God both at the same time. This finds them all in a rather strange sort of situation. It is at this time that great persecution broke out for all except the apostles. By some way they were all spared from the trial. It should be seen that even now God kept Saul. See, God knew who he would become – Paul the apostle of Christ. Even in the madness of it all, God was not taken by surprise as some are.

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

When the demonic had finished with the righteous man, he was ushered into the presence of the Savior. Stephen might have lost his life in this world, but in God's he gained much. The lamentation over Stephen should be seen here. How often have I stood over the bed of many who gave their life up in the service of the devil and themselves. Only they found it was too late for them without an act of God. The men's intent was to kill his life. For it, the spirit would also take theirs. When the demonic was finished with the guilty, it would be for their total destruction. It would stop at nothing less even as with the strong man of Mark 5:2 who wandered among the tombs. Nothing could have been done without their consent. But once it was given, it would be forever too late without an act of God. When all is said and done there will be much weeping in that house.

For even what had been done cried out against them; so also, the blood of Abel spoke to God in Hebrews 12:24 from the ground. When you are dealing with evil spirits, you must first speak to the person about Jesus Christ. It might be a little consent, but nonetheless it must be obtained because of James 5:14-16. The afflicted must invite him into the situation to do his work. Thusly, no one else casts out Satan but the acts of God in Matthew 12:28. The house divided against itself, rarely stands. This is why John 1:12 speaks of the power given those that received him to become the sons of God. How many of you know that in all the weeping and wailing, the early church was calling on the name of the Lord. See, this is why you should not be surprised when you start to follow Christ then face a bad time. These are generational spirits at work here; trust me, they do not like to be disturbed. But how many of you know that God is even greater than all of these. Hold on to hope. Better days are coming, just you wait.

As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and hauling men and women committed them to prison.

So also, God kept them. Saul only broke in, entered, and hauled them off to prison. So much of a nuisance did he make of himself, that the text called it havoc. I would imagine so he did, hauling them from their homes as they tried to serve the Lord. If you remember in Matthew 8:20, the Son of Man had no place to lay his head. Saul professes to dislike this same man. One might ask the question why then he is bent on revealing this same Jesus. In everything he said and did, Saul spoke of him unto the early believers. He may not have intended to, but he so did indeed. This testing here served a couple purposes. It revealed who truly believed on the Lord from the ones who did not. So, it also protected the early believers from those who wished their hurt. This was a time of great persecution from more than just Saul. There is something to be seen here in this text. Indeed, the provision of God for his people is truly wonderful. How kind it was of Saul to merely take the believers to prison.

In those places of the time there were hots and a cot waiting. Jails of that day were not unlike those of ours today. Only then, no one would dare to harm them for they were kept under the jailor's care. But Saul meant not to be kind. Nevertheless, because God also surrounded him, he was. Had Saul killed any of them, their blood would have been laid to his charge. In this would his spirit of destruction be made complete. So, God kept him from having his conscience branded with a hot iron of Satan as in 1 Timothy 4:2. You might be wondering why this matters so. Because in every place that Saul wandered, God would repay the favor as we will soon see. So also, some believers must have felt the havoc upon their faith. Some of you may wonder 'how could God allow such a thing to happen?' Oh, my friends, you must be new here. Did you not know he specializes in turning evil into good. We have seen it time and time again having been here awhile now. Before he is through, we will yet see it once more.