Christianity's First Dispute

A more deadly threat to God’s church than Saul
Was already hard at work from within;
Satan knew this fight would require his all;
Each soul saved to heav’n’s lost to him and sin!
Judaism dies hard in Jewish hearts;
Some first believers could not let it go;
Heav’n giv’n free to Gentiles, just on faith, smarts
Those who, under Moses’ Law, labored so!
“You must keep the law, and be circumcized!”
Men from Judah told Antioch’s non-Jews,
On their own, without being authorized
By God or apostles, their private views!
Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed,
And the fight was on, o’er proper creed!

“Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: ‘Unless you are circumcized, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’ This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.” (Acts 15:1-2)

Jesus came to earth to launch the Kingdom of God to mankind, to gain its members from those who accepted Him as Lord. Until He came, all men were under condemnation for the sin of First Man Adam and their own sin. They belonged to Satan; Jesus came to offer them a way to save thenselves from hell, to go to heaven instead. If Jesus had not come and died for our sins, we would all still belong to Satan. The devil fought the infant church every step of the way; he fought it from without, like Saul’s persecution, and he fought it from within, with sharp schisms and disagreements between members; he’s still at it today.

Nearly all the first believers were Jewish, every one of which was a lifelong adherent of Judaism. They all labored under a complex set of laws from God, plus an intricate set of ticky-tacky rules made up by the Pharisees. It was hard work, ingrained, and many new Christians kept doing it after being saved by the free gift of God’s grace through faith. And they all failed to keep the laws well enough to earn admission to heaven. Some Jews were saved before Jesus came, but they were especially given grace by God, elected to heaven, for their obedience. Moses Law saved no one.

Some of these Jewish first believers were motivated by Satan to resent Gentiles, who were considered inferior, to be allowed to become Christian without having to work for the privilege, but by merely believing that Jesus was the long-promised Messiah from heaven. They became “Judaizers”; that is, they told every Gentile, on their own authority, that they must be circumcized and keep the Mosaic Law, and then to believe in Jesus Christ, to be saved. At their own expense, they followed Paul and others to new churches, teaching this false doctrine, and causing much confusion. Many souls were lost, after once believing, at the thought of bearing such a burden. Paul was plagued by Judaizers throughout his life, even in his home church at Antioch.

“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)

Saul Becomes Paul

In Zion Saul went first to Christian brothers,
But they trusted not that he now believed;
Barnabas vouched for him to the others,
Telling how Christ appeared and was received.
The twelve apostles accepted; Saul preached
Boldly to Jews in synagogues, but soon
Their hatred for him the boiling point reached;
Again he escaped by dark of the moon!
Back home to Tarsus; where the Spirit led
Deep inside Arabia for years;
The gospel into his quick mind was fed;
He was ready, when Barnabas appears!
He readily heeded the Antioch call---
Pharisee Saul was now apostle Paul!

“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that men made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Jerusalem, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.” (Galatians 1:11-18)

This was written by Paul in a letter to the churches he had established among the Gentiles in the region of Galatia. It is an account of his conversion when he was called by Jesus from heaven on the road to Damascus in the Book of Acts, Chapter 9. He is writing to chide them for allowing Judaizers to come into their fellowship and persuade them to become circumcized to become Christians saved by God. He emphasizes that when he first preached to them he was not teaching man-made doctrines but the actual truths revealed to him by Jesus from heaven. Since he had not been with Jesus any when He was on earth, he was establishing his credentials for being an apostle by telling his experience of Jesus’ appearance to him from heaven and his experience in Arabia, when the gospel was revealed directly to him by Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

There is some confusion about just when he went to Arabia. It is not mentioned by Luke, the author of Acts. Paul says he went to Arabia “immediately” upon being called; that is, before proceeding on to Damascus. This is not mentioned in the account in Acts. There can be no doubt that he did go to Arabia; if not, where did he get his detailed knowledge of the teachings of Jesus that proves to be more accurate even that that of those who accompanied Him for three years on earth? This is proof to me of the existence and workings of the Holy Spirit.

For several years after Jesus left the earth, His apostles and disciples preached only to Jews. A few Gentiles were converted by being present in Jerusalem or in the places where they preached; they were mostly required to be circumcized and to be taught Mosaic Law, and to believe in Jesus as well. Even after Peter was especially called to the home of Cornelius and received his household into the fellowship, the church at Jerusalem had a strong group of Judaizers that were prejudiced toward Gentiles. It seems to me that Paul was called by Jesus specifically to establish the equality of all races in Christianity.

It is well to note the helpful role played by Barnabas in Paul’s discipleship. He convinced the believers, including the apostles, to accept him and trust him on his first appearance in Jerusalem after accepting Jesus Christ. Then again, it was Barnabas who went from the church at Antioch to Tarsus to call him to that church to begin his ministry. If Paul had a home church, it was Antioch. They sent him out as a missionary to the Gentiles.

God Rescues Peter From Herod

Peter lay chained between two burly men,
Of sixteen assigned to guard him that night;
He knew what awaited at this night’s end---
Beheading, as was James, to the Jews’ delight!
He thought he dreamed, when the angel appeared,
Loosed his chains, and led him through two locked gates;
A block away, he awoke, freed and cleared;
The angel left, and he rejoined his mates!
King Herod, thwarted, killed the guards instead;
By persecuting Christians, he pleased the Jews;
And Peter was their chief; they wanted him dead;
But Christ needed him to spread the good news!
James was the first apostle to be slain
For Christ, but not before he preached in Spain!

“The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter in the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. … Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea what the angel was doing, what was really happening but thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of the street suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches, and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.’ “ (Acts 12:6-11)

This was the same Herod that participated in the crucifixion trial of Jesus. He was not a descendant of David, nor even a Jew, and he had no right to be king of Judea. He was in good with the Romans; however, the Jews did not like him. He began persecuting believers as a way to curry favor with the Jews. He had arrested and beheaded James, the apostle and brother of John, about 44 A.D. He also nabbed Peter and was planning the same for him, but Christ had a different plan for Peter.

The first apostle to become martyred for Jesus was James. He had gone to Spain about 40 A.D. and went up the Ebro River preaching the gospel. Tradition says that he had made only two converts and was despairing when he saw a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She told him not to be discouraged---that Spain would become a Christian nation. A shrine to her is located in Zaragoza, Spain, at the spot where James had the vision. He is said to be buried there, even though he was killed in Jerusalem.

Paul Chides Peter For Hypocrisy

The fellowship meal was anything but,
When Jews from James to Antioch arrived;
Jew and Gentile mingling was abruptly cut;
Separate tables were quickly contrived!
Even Peter, who had baptized Gentiles,
And justified it to Jewish brothers,
Drew away to rejoin Hebrew exiles,
Nursing race bias along with the others!
But Paul chided him, in front of church,
For hypocrisy; all Christians are one,
Whatever the race, that live on the earth,
So said the Savior, Jesus, God’s own Son!
Peter should have led believing others,
Not Pastor James, one of Jesus’ brothers!

Antioch, at this time, was a large city in Pisidia, located in present-day Turkey. There was a good-sized church there, a majority of which were Gentile believers. This was approximately 25 years after the crucifiction of Jesus. During the 38 years between Jesus’ death and resurrection ant the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus of Rome, the church at Jerusalem comprised mostly of Jews, considered itself leader and authoritative in matters of doctrine and policy over other churches. Councils were held there in which rules were decided and sent out to the churches for guidance. Since most of the disciples and apostles of Jesus were in Jerusalem, these rules were considered authentic. The Pastor of the Jerusalem church for most of this time was James, a brother of Jesus; he was not James, the apostle. Most of their decisions centered on what converted Gentiles had to do to become members, such as being circumcised and observing other Judaic practices. Paul, who was previously known as Saul, was called especially by Jesus to be an apostle to the Gentiles, and he was a fierce champion of salvation by God’s free grace, and not by good works. He fought the Judaizers and succeeded in keeping the old Jewish customs from being included in the process. He wrote:

“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, and when they arrived, he began to draw back and separated himself from the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (Galatians 2:11-13)

Paul insisted on the equality of all believers, which, of course, was taught by Jesus. He was chiefly responsible for setting the theology of Christianity straight; I think Jesus called him for that purpose, because He knew the uneducated apostles would fail in getting it accurate. If the Jerusalem church had had its way, the gospel of Christianity would have never been free of Judaistic trappings. By the way, Peter bore no grudge against Paul; he and the other apostles accepted him as authoritative on doctrinal matters. After all, half of the New Testament was written by Paul. Perhaps Pastor James did not wholeheartedly support Paul; in fact, some believe that he had a hand in having Paul arrested later, and eventually martyred. He accomplished what Christ called him to do, anyway.

Peter Called On The Carpet

Hearing that Peter had baptized Gentiles
Brought charges from brethren in the church
That he had eaten with those that defiles
And the cause of the Savior did besmirch!
He stood before them in his own defense,
And told them of the vision that occurred;
Gaining God’s Spirit was strong evidence
That gospel for Gentiles Jesus concurred!
This convinced them, and in surprised wonder,
They praised God, that He offered salvation
To Gentiles, who Jews had always thought under
Themselves, in the Lord’s consideration!
However, the battle was far from o’er,
As, at Antioch, Peter showed once more!

“he apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had recTeived the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, ‘You went into the house of uncircumcized men and ate with them.’ Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened. … ‘These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: So if God gave them the same gift he gave to us, who was I to oppose God?’ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’ “ (Acts 11:1-4;,12-18) [Brackets added]

“Even the Gentiles”? What a cruel blow! It is hard for me to realize just how poorly the Jews understood their own Bible (the Old Testament) or the words of Jesus. Nothing was ever said to them implying that Gentiles (which means all of us that are not Jewish) were not included in salvation, but here they are, years after Jesus died and went to heaven, surprised that the message Jesus told them to carry throughout the earth was meant for any other than Jews! This scripture speaks volumes to explain how Jews’ understanding of God’s words to them was misguided from the very beginning. And don’t think for a minute that Peter’s explanation of the Cornelius incident caused them to drop their prejudices toward Christian Gentiles. Many held on to the practices of Judaism and prejudices until they died. I wonder what modern-day (2010) Jews think about non-Jews. I do know there is a belief among them that all Jews will be saved. The Bible does predict that Jesus will pour out on Israel a new spirit of grace on His Second Coming (See Zechariah 12), and many will be saved. This is expected to take place after Christ destroys the armies besieging Jerusalem at Armageddon.

Peter Converts A Gentile (Acts 10)

A vision from heaven changed Peter’s mind
About sharing the gospel with Gentiles;
A sheet filled with beasts of every kind,
All of those that to the Hebrew defiles!
“Kill and eat, Peter,” the voice of Christ said;
“Surely not, Lord; I don’t eat beasts unclean!”
Replied Peter, horrified, and in dread;
“What I have cleznsed, call you not unclean!”
Spoke Jesus sharply, by way of teaching
Him saved Gentiles equal Jews in God’s sight;
Servants of Cornelius were beseeching
Peter to come and share the gospel light!
So Peter went inside a Gentile’s place,
And shared with him the good news of grace!

Israelites were told by God in the book of Leviticus not to eat of any animal that does not have cloven hoofs and chewed the cud, because they were “unclean”; these included the camel, rabbit and pig. So for the 1500 years before the coming of Jesus, they had avoided eating such beasts. These animals, however, were on the sheet in Peter’s vision. No wonder Peter was horrified! By “unclean” though, God did not mean it to be a sin to eat, but that it was not good hygene. It was not God’s intention that the Jews would become prejudiced against all other human beings when He chose the Israelites as the special people who would produce the Messiah; they had become “puffed up” on their own, to believe that other races were inferior to theirs. Since all the first believers in Jesus were Jewish, including the apostles, it was necessary for them to eliminate their prejudice toward Gentiles so that they would apply themselves equally diligently toward witnessing to other races. It is likely that Peter would have rejected the request of the Roman centurion from Caesarea to come and share the gospel with his household and friends. That is not at all what Jesus Christ expected out of any disciple. The description of this vision and Peter’s mission trip to the home of Cornelius is found in the Book of Acts Chapter 10.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)

Again, it’s Saul (Paul) to the rescue---to make the doctrine clear. All human beings, of whatever race, are equal in the Kingdom of God. No race is inferior to another. The first church in Jerusalem had a long difficult struggle in clarifying Christian doctrine, especially in eliminatiog the tendency of Jews to “look dow” on Gentiles, particularly those who were uncircumcixed. The treatment of women before Jesus came and equalized their status with men was woefully one-sided. They had no rights. A husband could divorce practically at will; they would not walk with their wives but several paces in front; they did not talk to them in public; their testimony was not acceptable in court. To this day there is some sort of stigma associated with the menstrual period. Slaves who became believers had equal status to their owner-believers. No wonder women and slaves flocked into the early churches!

Judaism Tries To Invade Christianity

Some disciples witnessed only to Jews
For several years, not clearly aware
That Jesus died for all, and the good news
Of redemption was for mankind to share!
Their puffed-up attitude towards Gentiles*
Was not in accord with Jesus; teaching;
They would walk many out-of-the-way miles
To avoid Gentiles, not even spealing!
When a non-Jew asked to be baptized,
He must a Judaic convert become;
By a rabbi he was first circumcized,
And then an adult bar mitzvah would come!
It took a clear thinker like Saul** to clense
The new sect of this false perverted sense!

*Gentiles = every non-Jew in the world; **Saul = Paul

The Israelites, God’s Chosen People, had strayed far from God’s teachings by the time Jesus, the Promised Messiah, came to earth 2000 years ago. Not only were they disobedient, idolatrous and wicked; they misinterpreted God’s meaning in just about everything He instructed them. Jesus devoted most of His first sermon (the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7) correcting the meanings they had been taught by the teachers of the Mosaic Law and Pharisees. These He had the greatest anger and scorn for. Read Matthew 23 for the scathing denunciation He gave them in the temple in Jerusalem. One denouncement, for example, reads:

“ ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.’ “ (Matthew 23:13)

Jesus blamed the religious leaders for Israel’s strayibg and their breaking the covenant relationship with God. One of their worst sins was that of considering Gentiles inferior to them. The Pharisees had inculcated the people with rules about not mingling with Gentiles; even after they became Christians, Jewish believers would sit at separate tables from Gentile Christians in dining at church. Another misinterpretation was the great importance they placed on keeping man-made rules--- keeping the rule was more important than showing love to others. For example, the Pharisees scolded Jesus about allowing His disciples to pull an ear of corn and eat the grains on the Sabbath, because they had a rule not to work on the Sabbath, keeping the rule was more important than feeding the hungry.

Since most or all of the first believers in Jesus were Jews, they had a terrible time shaking off these Pharisaical rules after becoming believers saved by grace. Many continued to observe the Judaistic customs, and some demanded that Gentile believers first convert to Judaism before being baptized. Saul (or Paul) knew that bringing Judaism into Christianity would fatally cripple the new faith. He fought the “Judaizers’ throughout his life and succeeded in making a clean break between the two religions.

Saul Escapes From Damascus

In Jewish Scripture Saul was well versed;
By it he proved that Jesus was God’s Son;
He preached with great effect to the Jews first,
Till the rabbi’s saw how many he won!
They condemned Saul for being a traitor;
Posted guards to catch him at ev’ry gate;
Plotted to kill their former crusader,
Rightly fearing his great threat to their fate!
But the brothers kept him safe out of sight;
In a basket they let him down the wall;
He escaped Damascus in dark of night,
Went to Zion* on believers to call!
This was not the last of Saul’s close escapes;
His life for Christ was filled with jams and scrapes!

*Zion = Jerusalem

There were (and are) about 340 prophecies in the Hebrew Bible concerning the coming, life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah (Christ). They tell He was born in Bethlehem, was raised in Nazareth, details of His life and ministry, and much more. Any Jew, had he looked at his own Scriptures objectively and compared them to the real, live Jesus of Nazareth, would have believed that He was the promised Messiah. When Saul was called directly by Jesus from heaven on the road to Damascus, and he actually considered what he knew of the life of Jesus in the light of his intimate knowledge of the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible), his beginning faith was confirmed by certainty. He knew just what to say to Jews, which Scripture to cite, to convince them that He really was the Son of God, despite the judgment placed upon them in Isaiah’s time that dulled their spiritual insight.

After he regained his sight and strength and convinced the believers in Damascus that his conversion was genuine, he began boldly preaching in the Jewish synagogues (See Acts 9:19-22). Seeing what great effect he had with members, the leaders, who thought he had come to arrest followers of Jesus, turned against him and plotted to kill him. Many Jews believed secretly, and Saul’s Christian friends learned of the plot and kept him hidden, until they were able to let him over the city wall in a basket at night.

Saul returned to Jerusalem, not as originally planned, eith arrested believers, but a believer himself. It was dangerous, since he was not trusted by believers in Jerusalem, because of his terrible persecution; nor was he trusted by the high priest of the Jews, for that official had heard of his conversion. He went there anyway, preenting himself first to the Christians. They would have nothing to do with him until Barnabas spoke up for him, knowing of his conversion and preaching in Damascus. Then Saul began preaching in the synagogues to Jews again, just as he had done in Damascus. Some of the synagogues were called Grecian, dating back to the conquest of Alexander the Great, and his attempt to make Greek the official language of all his empire. Saul and some Grecian Jews disputed to the point that, again, they plotted to kill him. Once more, his believing brethren spirited him out of Jerusalem to the Mediterranean Sea, where he was able to take a boat to his home in Tarsus.

The Conversion Of Saul

Saul started for Damascus, breathing fire,
Hoping to find Jesus-believers there;
He arrived, led, and with a new desire---
To teach the gospel of Christ ev’rywhere!
He saw Jesus, and became a new man,
A believer, the last apostle, saved;
Reversed course entire; witnessing began;
Freed from sin’s wages; forever unslaved!
With boldness he began Jesus to preach;
He who sought to kill those who loved that name;
Now the Jews plotted his life to breach;
Teacher to the apostles Saul became!
Saul was no ordinary, common Jew;
He and the Spirit made all doctrines true!

“He [Saul] went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether man or woman, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from hearven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ “ (Acts 9:1-6) [Brackets added]

Evidently the experience was significant enough for Saul that he instantly believed in Jesus. The bright light blinded him for three days. In Damascus he was taken to the home of a believer. Another, one Ananias, was told by God to go to him and lay his hands on him to cure his blindness. At first Ananias was afraid to go, but Jesus told him that Saul was to be His apostle to the Gentiles (all non-Jews) and to Israel.

The fledgling movement that is known today as Christianity was in need at that time of a man like Saul---a Pharisee, with extensive knowledge of Mosaic law; with his brilliance and wisdom. The apostles and most disciples were poor, uneducated, and confused by the intricacies of the new (not really new; this was God’s plan from the beginning of time; but it was different from the covenant He had made with Moses) plan of salvation. There was strong pressure from Jewish believers (which were most of them at the time) to require all non-Jews to be circumcised and to do other traditional requirements of Judaism. It was Saul (later known as Paul) who was strong enough to circumvent these mistaken beliefs. They were called “Judaizers” and the threat cropped up over and over. Paul wrote half of the New Testament of the Bible, established churches all over the eastern Mediteranean region, and taught them how to function.

Of course, the Jews now hated Saul(Paul) for his turnabout and planned to kill him in Damascus and Jerusalem. In the course of time they succeeded in having him arrested and imprisoned by the Romans. In 64 A. D. he was beheaded in a time of great persecution by the emperor Nero in Rome. He is buried where he was killed---at St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome, about two miles from the Vatican.

The Gospel Goes To Ethiopia

The good news of Christ continued to spread
On ev'ry day by chance and by intent;
To Gaza road went Phillip, angel-led,
To Ethiop's treasurer he was sent!
"Do you understand what you are reading?"
Phillip asked, of the Scripture in his hand;
"How can I? An explainer I'm needing?"
So Phillip taught Jesus Christ to the man!
He believed, and seeing water ahead,
"Why can't I be baptized right here today?"
The eunuch, filled with joy, eagerly said;
And so it was done, with no more delay!
In a thousand such ways, both far and near,
The gospel of Christ the known world did hear!

Why was a black man, the treasurer for Queen Candace of Ethiopia, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel? Because he was Jewish; when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, David and Bathsheba's son, and king of Israel, in the time of its greatest wealth, size and power, she took back with her a number of Jews who made their home in Ethiopia. This was almost a thousand years before the birth of Christ, 3000 years before our time today. There are a sizable number of Jews in that country today; many have migrated back to the modern nation of Israel. Obviously, the eunuch was descended from those Jews. Therefore, he became a convert to Christianity, and probably witnessed to his fellows in Ethiopia about the good news of Jesus and salvation by grace.

"Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip, 'Go south to the road---the desert road---that runs down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethioian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Phillip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.' Then Phillip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. 'Do you understand what you are reading?' Phillip asked. 'How can I,' he said, 'unless someone explains it to me?' So he invited Phillip to come up and sit with him." (Acts 8:26-31) [The eunuch was reading Isaiah 53:7-8.]

For a complete description of this incident, please read Acts 8:26-39. By this date, there were thousands of believers being scattered from Jerusalem to places both far and near. Desoite personal hardship, they were eager to tell others the stoy of Jesus and his resurrection. The story above is but one example of how the gospel was spread to nations throughout the known world, especially in the Roman Empire. Wherever they went, new churches were being established---Turkey, Malta, Greece, Egypt, Rome, etc. For a time, the apostles remained behind in Jerusalem, staying out of sight of Saul and other persecutors; however, they began making longer trips---James went to Spain, Thomas to India, etc. John went to Ephesus in Turkey, Peter to Antioch, also in Turkey. In the end, they were all slain---martyred---for the cause of Jesus Christ. John lived the longest, dying in a Roman prison on the Isle of Patmos in 103 A. D.

Phillip Preaches Christ In Samaria

Wonder of wonders, the gospel was preached
In Samaria with joyful success;
Erstwhile despised Jewish cousins were reached
By Deacon Phillip’s Spirit-filled witness!
Peter and John were sent to verify,
By laying-on hands, the Spirit to pass;
When soothsayer Simon offered to buy
The Spirit, with evil intent, for cash,
Peter denounced him: “God is not for sale!”
Once hated Samaritans were brothers
To Christian Jews on Jesus’ gospel trail,
As were the Gentiles, and all the others!
And so the first baby-steps were taken
To see that none on earth was forsaken!

“Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Phillip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Phillip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in the city.” (Acts 8:4-8) [Please read verses 4-25 of Chapter 8 in your Bible for the complete text.]

Samaria was part of the Holy Land between Galilee and Jerusalem. It was part of the original kingdom of Israel; however, when the ten northern tribes broke away in civil war, followed by capture by the Assyrians, the people left behind intermarried with Canaanites. Jews of the southern tribes despised them; they would go across the Jordan River to pass outside of Samaria. Jesus taught brotherly love and equality for all---Jew and Gentile, men and women, free and slave; He offered salvation to the whole world, not just the Jews of Judea. The old prejudices were very difficult for some Jewish Christians to ignore.

Simon was a magician who had become famous in Samaria by his tricks and wonders. He was astounded by Phillip’s miracles, and “believed” along with the others. Phillip’s power was that furnished him by the Holy Spirit. While many believed in Jesus as Lord, they did not receive the Spirit. Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to Samaria to verify the sincerity of belief in Jesus. They laid their hands on the heads of the converts, and the Holy Spirit indwelled each of them. Simon offered money to Peter in exchange for laying hands on him, so that he would be able to use the Spirit’s power to make profits for himself. Peter was indignant. He detected the intention of Simon’s heart and denounced him. I believe that many church members of our time are not true believers and will be turned away by God at the final judgment.

Persecution Of Believers By Judaism

The killing of Stephen signalled the start
Of persecution against the new sect;
Led by Saul, temple guards searched ev’ry part
Of town, jailing all those they could detect!
Believers scattered, abandoning home;
New churches sprang up wherever they went---
Antioch and Ephesus, Egypt, Rome,
In the Orient and the Occident!
The good news of Jesus’ living waters
And His resurrection spread like wildfire
In a dry and thirsty world of squatters
Doomed to live fore’er in the Lake of Fire*!
The more severe the harassment became,
The more widely believed grew Jesus’ name!

*Revelation 20:14-15

“On that day [the day Stephen died] a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. And Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” (Acts 8:1-3) [Brackets added]

A seemingly odd phenomenon has accompanied each great persecution of Christianity---the faith grows more during those terrible times than occurs in times of relative acceptance. Despite the tragedies and suffering of many believers in Jerusalem, new churches began to spring up in places where refugees went to start over. They carried the gospel with them and told others about Jesus. God must have known this would happen, not that He would incite persecution. Looking at humans from His viewpoint, those who make the decision to believe in Jesus Christ have made the most important decision possible for them to make; how long they live after trusting in Jesus is not as significant to Him after that. He loves His children, though, and heals their illnesses and gives them blessings; His heart, however, aches for those who are lost and who need to come to Christ.

This persecution marked the beginning of the rift between Judaism and Christianity, which widened and became permanent in the years that followed. Nevertheless, most believers at this time were Jews, and it was difficult to get them to drop their adherence to circumcision and other traditions and practices of Judaism; many continued to practice the old rituals and tried to add the doctrines of salvation through grace, not of works, to the works they had grown up with. The same Saul that led the persecution of the new believers eventually made an 180 degree turn, became a believer himself, and is largely responsible for the final cleavage

The First Martyr After Jesus

Toseh guilty of killing the Son of God,
The Sanhedrin, priestly Jewish oe’rseers,
Heard His tomb was bare, must have thought it odd,
The guards reporting no strange mischievers!
Then Peter and John, point-blank to their face,
Charged them with murdering their promised Sire,
Exposing to the whole world their disgrace,
Added fuel to Jud’ism’s growing fire!
Next, all apostles followed suit, and, last
In a cold, rebuking speech Stephen gave,
Reviewing their vile, idolatrous past,
Their anger burst---they stoned him to his grave!
Onlooking, and guarding their robes, stood Saul,
A young Pharisee, later known as Paul!

The twelve original apostles (Matthias took Judas Iscariot’s place after he betrayed Jesus and committed suicide) plus the first disciples were not bashful about accusing the Sanhedrin to its collective face of murdering the Son of God. To keep Jesus’ friends from “stealing” the body and then publicly claiming that Jesus was resurrected, guards were assigned to keep watch day and night on the cave-tomb where He lay/ They saw and heard nothing unusual, yet on Sunday, the third morning, the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. Beginning that day, Jesus appeared to His disciples and others, ate with them, and was seen by as many as 500 at one time for the next 40 days. He was in His resurrection body, with the nail and spear scars, which Thomas felt of. After giving his followers final instructions to wait in Jerusakem until the arrival of the Holy Spirit, He ascended to heaven, where He assumed His role as King and Lord; all authority on heaven and earth was given to Him.

The Sanhedrrin hurriedly announced a fabrication that the disciples had somehow stolen and secreted the body of Jesus, trying to allay the claims of believers that Jesus was resurrected. Nevertheless, there had to be many who suspected the truth---that Jesus was Who He said He was, for we are told in Acts 6:7 “large numbers of priests became believers” in Jesus Christ.

The apostles at first assumed they were still a part of Judaism; they met daily in Solomon’s Colonnade in the outer court of the temple in large groups, plus small group meetings in homes. At first there was no objection by the Sanhedrin. But when Peter and John healed the well-known man crippled from birth on the steps of the temple, they arrested and warned them not to speak in “that name”---meaning Jesus of Nazareth--- any more. Obeying God rather than men, the apostles kept right on teaching and healing in Jesus’ name. Their fame spread outside of Jerusalem, and many sick and lame were brought into the city and placed in the streets, in the hope that Peter’s shadow would fall on them and give them healing. All the apostles were arrested and questioned by the Sanhedring, scourged, and warned again not to teach in Jesus’ name.

By this time the Sanhedrin was boiling with rage. Still, the apostles kept on preaching the gospel. Deacons were appointed, and other laymen filled with the Holy Spirit were teaching and healing. Then came Stephen, one of the first seven deacons, who was arrested and brought before the whole Jewish council. He preached a cold, rebuking sermon, reviewing the disobedient and idolatrous history of Israel, accusing them of worshiping the temple as an idol more than they worshiped God. That was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, for their anger burst out; they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. A brilliant young Pharisee named Saul watched with approval the killing of Stephen and held the robes of the rock-throwers. His name became Paul later, and he was responsible for breaking Christianity away from Judaism, completely and forever. Please read Chapter 7 of the Book of Acts in the Bible, which quotes Stephen’s speech.

The Power Of The Holy Spirit

Despite the warning, Christians met each day,
Proclaiming Jesus the Christ; sick and lame
From far and near, were healed, where’er they lay,
By the apostles, all in Jesus’ name!
Their fame among the people grew and grew;
The apostles were jailed again by the priests;
The Sanhedrin puzzled o’er what to do,
At last scourged them, warned, and given release.
Cots and pallets of the sick filled the streets,
Hoping Peter’s shadow would pass and touch;
The Spirit powered many wondrous feats,
Enabling those first Christians to do much!
The same Spirit indwells Christians today---
“Dear Lord: Give us as great a faith as they!

“Then someone came and said, ‘Look! The men you put in jail
are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.’ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They didn’t use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty pf this man’s blood.’ Peter and the other apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead---whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins tor Israel. We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’ When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.” (Acts 5:25-33)

Then the Jewish leaders withdrew to discuss what they should do. A very wise elder named Gamaliel advised them to do nothing to the apostles.

“ ‘Therefore, in the present case I advise you leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is human in origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men, you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’ “ (Acts 5:38-39)

Truer words were never spoken. The mystery for us today is, after nearly 2000 years of growth and billions of believers in Jesus as the Christ, Judaism still stubbornly hangs to their refusal to accept Him as such. The Bible prophesies that when Jesus returns to earth, He will put a new heart in the Jews, they will turn to Him, and mourn their killing Him the first time He came.