Preparing For Persecution XXIV

 The first recorded martyr of what would be countless martyrs throughout the history of the early church and beyond was a man named Stephen. History may have forgotten some of the names of those who gave their full measure for the name of Christ, but God has not forgotten a one. Every name, to the last, is remembered and cataloged, and their reward has already been set aside. There is nothing any principality, power, demon, or the devil himself can do to take away that reward or erase their names from the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Studying how persecution came about in the early church is worthwhile because although the enemy has refined his methods, his methods have not changed. When it comes to the attempted silencing of those who preach a risen Christ or those who would hold firm to the faith once delivered to the saints, he reacts in much the same fashion, hoping that the next generation of believers will be weaker or less committed than the previous one.

There’s no escalation from torture and death. That’s the end game for the enemy, and it’s the last hand he can play. His hope is that you don’t endure to the end. His hope is that somewhere along the way of escalation, you give up, cry, uncle, and retreat.

One of the most fascinating things about the early church that few notice today is the standard to which everyone who was tasked with ministering was held. When we dig down and see what Stephen’s function was within the body, we come to realize that there are no menial tasks in the kingdom, and the standard of faithfulness, maturity, and righteousness is the same across the board for everyone who is called to serve.

Perhaps the reason God is not moving among believers today as He was among the early church is because what was once the standard has been erased altogether, and individuals with divided loyalties would rather remain so than surrender their all to Christ that they might walk in the fullness of what belongs to those who are His by right.

Acts 6:1-6, “Now in those days, when the number of disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable that we should leave the world of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them.”

It didn’t take long for the grumbling to begin. Whenever the New Testament writers speak of grumblers among the brethren, they are speaking from experience. This time, it was the Hellenists, who were Greek-speaking Jews who had returned to Jerusalem. They, too, were believers, but they felt as though their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution and began to raise a fuss. It only took one voice to insist that they were being neglected because they spoke Greek and not Hebrew, and soon enough, it snowballed into a big enough problem wherein the twelve had to summon the multitude of the disciples and task them with choosing seven from among themselves which they could appoint to the task of serving the Hellenist widows.

The twelve understood the dangers of division among the brethren well enough to try to ameliorate the situation, but some people just can’t be placated, and they will continue with their invectives even when they are shown grace and deference.

To put it into context, the men who were singled out to serve widow women were supposed to meet the standard of being of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. These men were to be glorified waiters, yet these were the qualifications they were supposed to possess in order to be considered for the position.

If we were to use the same standard today, not for glorified waiters but for church elders, a good chunk of America’s pulpits would be left empty and void of leadership. Again, perhaps we should consider that we’ve lowered our standards while God has not rather than insist that God stopped being God and making Himself known to His children—just a thought.

Of the seven, two are mentioned again in the Book of Acts: Stephen and his martyrdom, and Philip, who went on to preach the gospel in Samaria and baptize the Ethiopian man whose chariot he outran on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

It doesn’t matter where you begin within the body. Wherever it is God needs you, whatever it is God calls you to, do it faithfully and to the best of your ability, because if you are given little and are faithful in it, you will be called to greater things.

The standard is the standard whether you’re serving tables, preaching the gospel, or being used to perform signs and wonders. The problem is that some start out being of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and falsely conclude that the greater the ministry God calls them to, the laxer they can become in their walk.

You begin with a good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and grow from there. You don’t decrease; you increase and build up your most holy faith as you see God's presence and power move in ways that leave you humbled and in awe. We must be daily refined, perfected, and made more vividly into the image of Christ, for that is the natural way of the believer whom God can use in greater and greater ways.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.