Tonight I want to ask a question that our text will answer. However, in order to build up the importance of asking this question, let me remind us of a few statements that we could make that are true.
1. God is always in control. (Psalm 115:3—“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever he pleases.”)
2. God’s plans cannot be thwarted or sidetracked. (Daniel 4:35—“And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’”)
3. God works everything together for good for those who are the called. (Romans 8:28—“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those are who called according to His purpose.”)
4. The reason for our existence is to reflect his glory in this world. (Isaiah 43:6-7—“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”)
Therefore, in light of these true statements, where is God when persecution and suffering break out among God’s people? Is he absent? Is he there, but trying to deal with a greater power that is doing something which he does not like but cannot control? Of course not.
If the above four statements are true, then we can conclude this truth as an answer to suffering, especially in the life of believers: God is present and working in the midst of persecution and suffering. And there are many times that his ultimate will is not to take it away. Rather, his purpose is to bring glory to God, to advance the purposes of his will, and to equip his people for ministry.
And if all that is true, then that must be true in our text tonight as well.
After the death of Stephen, Luke writes, “A great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles” (v. 1). Saul, who had witnessed Stephen’s death, was “ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison” (v. 3). And everyone but the apostles were leaving Jerusalem for Judea and Samaria.
So, where was God in all of this? He was working right in the midst of it for his ultimate plan and glory. Let me point out a few things that occur in this passage that will show God’s activity in the midst of what seems like chaos.
First of all,
We will read one chapter later that God calls Saul to himself, re-names him Paul, and sends him out as a missionary to the Gentiles. But listen exactly to what God tells Ananias that Paul will do. He says to Ananias in 9:15-16, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake."
God was calling Paul to himself in order that he might suffer and show Christ to the world. He was to “fill up the afflictions of Christ.” And by displaying the afflictions of Christ in his own suffering, he would draw glory and attention to his Lord. That is why God says that he must suffer “for My name’s sake.” It was for the sake of the glory of God.
But isn’t that ludicrous? I mean, who would have understood a call like that? We all know that there is a great probability of suffering as we heed to the call of God, but how many of us heard God’s call as, “Come here, let me show you how much you must suffer for my glory?” God would have to prepare someone to receive such a call. But that is exactly what he had done in Paul’s life.
It was no accident that Paul witnessed Stephen’s death and was a part in the persecution of many other Christians. God wanted him to know first-hand what it meant to “fill up the afflictions of Christ.” And no doubt, Paul knew how powerful of a message it was to watch a man call upon his Lord even as he was being stoned. So, even in the midst of Paul’s persecution of the church, God was working to prepare for himself a man who would write a great deal of the New Testament, would take the gospel to the Gentiles, and would be so passionately in love with God that he could tell the Israelites that he would wish himself accursed from Christ if only they would acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (Romans 9:1-5).
And God no doubt is working much the same in our suffering (no matter how great) to prepare many of us for the work that he has called us to. Remember the story of Joseph? God’s plan for his life was to have him in Egypt where he could rule and provide for his people as they came to him in the famine. But how did God get him there? He was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, put in prison, betrayed with a false promise, and then he is where God intended for him to be. And I am sure that Joseph was tempted often to think, “Where is God in the midst of everything?”
However, at the end of all this he tells his brothers, “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Why? He says, “In order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). Joseph said that God used all that suffering to bring about the present result where he could save many people’s lives. God was working in all that suffering to ready his servant for the purpose to which he had called him.
Could God be doing the same in many of us right now? Are we asking the questions like, “God, I thought that you called me to this, so what I am doing here?” or “God, how can I serve you now that this has happened?” If so, realize the providence of God and trust him. In the midst of all this persecution where Christians were wondering why God would allow Stephen to be killed and many others dragged into prison, God was raising up for himself one who would have the greatest zeal for completing the great commission of anyone who has ever lived.
A second way God was working in the midst of the suffering and persecution was
Remember, Jesus had told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Therefore, there were stages (if you will) in fulfilling this great commission. First, they were to preach the gospel in Jerusalem, which Luke assures us occurred as he records the Council exclaiming, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching” (Acts 5:28). Next, however, they were to go to Judea and Samaria and preach the gospel there. So how does God accomplish this? He does it by using suffering and persecution.
Verse 1 tells us, “And on that day [the day that Stephen was stoned] a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.” So what results from that? Luke writes, “And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” And what did they do there? Luke writes in verse 4, “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.”
Do you see how incredible God is? He uses the persecution as a tool to take the gospel into Judea and Samaria so that the second stage of the great commission is accomplished. Talk about man intending something for evil and God intending it for good!
When I read things like this in the Scripture, I wonder why I ever doubt the providence of God. How many times would Jesus say to me as I panic at the events in my life or get depressed at the slow development of things in my life, “O you of little faith!” God uses suffering as a tool in our lives to carry out his ultimate plan of taking the gospel to every nation in order that every tongue, tribe, and nation may join in his glory. I do not think there is any doubt that this great mission will not be completed without much suffering. So let us prepare our hearts and renew our minds to have great faith in the providential working of God that we may rejoice in it.
A third way that God uses suffering is
Luke writes in verses 5-6 that Philip went to Samaria preaching the gospel and performing great signs and wonders. And he writes in verse 7, “For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.”
Why had God allowed people to be born lame in Samaria? It was so that he could display his power in their lives. As Philip comes in and God heals people through him, men’s indifference to his teaching is shattered, he preaches the gospel, and men believe on Christ. So, God was using the suffering of the lame in order to display his power and call men to himself.
That is not the only place that there is a Scriptural reference regarding the lame and God's power being displayed. Jesus says of Lazarus in John 11:4, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” Lazarus got sick and died so that God could be glorified in raising him from the dead. Another example is in John 9. John writes, “And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him’” (John 9:1-3).
And I think that is the epitome of what we see occurring with the lame in Acts 5. God is displaying his works in them. Therefore, that is another way in which God might choose to work in suffering.
But let me also say something about that subject. We cannot assume that is the way in which God is going to work with all such suffering. Lazarus, for example, would get sick again, and he would die. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12, says that a “thorn in the flesh” was given to him. Now, I know that the text says that it was “a messenger of Satan,” but I believe that Paul was wise enough in understanding God’s sovereignty to know that God was not absent from working in that himself. That is obvious as Paul gives the reason why it was given to him. He says in verse 7, “And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh … to keep me from exalting myself!”
It was given to him to keep him humble. Why? God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” God gave Paul this thorn in the flesh so that Paul could be humble, God could pour out grace on him, and so that God could be glorified in his display of power in this weak vessel. So, there are definitely times that God gives suffering not so that he can display his power in healing, but so that he can display his power in the weakness of the servant.
Finally,
I find it ironic in this story that Luke can write about Stephen’s death, his burial, loud lamentation over him, and Saul ravaging the church while ending this passage writing, “And there was much rejoicing in that city” (verse 8), speaking of nearby Samaia.
But is it not true that without the backdrop of knowing what is occurring in Jerusalem we would not marvel as greatly at the power of God displayed in Judea and Samaria? I mean, the reason we wonder in amazement at God’s working to take the gospel to these regions is that it occurs out of a context of suffering. Therefore, suffering in this world should lead us to longing for the glory and joy of God.
Does that not occur in your heart as you read passages such as these? If you could read slow enough, then you would read of the death, burial, and lamentation over Stephen. You would read of this man named Saul ravaging the church. And then your heart would begin to long for God to vindicate his name and display his power over all of this. Finally, as you read of God using all of this to spread his people so that he might heal, cast out demons, and save men—all as a display of his power, your longing that had been birthed in your heart would now find itself bursting forth in praise to God for his greatness.
And I believe that is very much what God intends to occur in much suffering that comes into our lives. He uses it to create a longing in our hearts for his return so that our joy may be full. Paul writes in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
You can almost feel Paul’s longing for that day as you read those words. Who longs for God like that today? It would be difficult to find many of us who would. How many twenty, thirty, or even forty year-olds cry out for Christ’s return? We don’t. Instead, we are wanting God to tarry until we can live out our dreams of getting married, buying a house, getting our dream job, having kids, raising our kids, watching them get married, and having grandchildren. Then we will begin to long for the return of Christ.
That is not at all glorifying to God!
Our hearts need to be hearts that tell the world, “O that he would come today that my greatest longing and joy may be fulfilled in simply seeing his face.” Our hearts should be that being with Christ is far greater than anything we want in this world.
It should be as Paul’s as he writes in Philippians 1:23-24, “I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”
Paul did not confuse them on which was more appealing to his heart. He said that to depart and be with Christ was “very much better.” Is that the state of our hearts? If not, it could be that God would use suffering so that we could begin to long for him and tear ourselves away from this world. Such an act is a favor to anyone with an indifference toward God, for the greatest joy, even in this life, is found in our longing for and joy with God.
So, a final way that I will point out (though there are many others) that God could use suffering is to create a longing in our hearts for him.
May we, therefore, learn to rejoice in all things, acknowledging God’s presence and providence in all things. May we ask God how he wants to use us even in the midst of our suffering. And may our suffering be used in our lives to drive us to seeking that which is the greatest joy in the world—greater than health, wealth, houses, family, friends, and everything—God! And may we rejoice at being used of God to draw glory unto himself.
O may he grant us his grace in all things. Amen.