One Man's Mission

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.  Acts 8: 1b – 3

Note that Saul’s mission was to destroy the church. Can one man singlehandedly begin to destroy the church?  Yes, for Saul did.  How did he do this?  You must bear in mind that this was a time of great persecution for the ‘Baby’ Church of Jesus Christ. The disciples were all filled with the Spirit, having witnessed the truth that their Jesus was alive. They were preaching Jesus as Lord and Saviour. They were making disciples of every nation, disciples of Jesus. Now, those who believed in God, but not in Jesus, were dead against them.  In Jerusalem, the place of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, the persecution was great. Believers were scattered all over and Saul, one who was against anything Christian, including the Name of Jesus, took upon himself a mission of destroying the Church of Jesus. His intention was to stamp out any fellowships, meetings, or gatherings of believers.  Anyone who believed in Jesus as Risen Lord, King and Saviour, paid dearly for their belief.  Saul took up this cause and was he successful?

Let’s look at his strategies, his tactics at how he went about this mission.

He was Singular in his purpose. 

He never saw the mission as impossible and he kept a singular eye on it. He was singular even in terms of him not depending on others to share his vision or passion for that work. Note his tactics for that work. He did no mass campaigning. He did not get any big banners, nor billboards erected to promote his anti-Christian campaign.  He did not have flyer after flyer made either.  No, Saul patiently and tirelessly went from door to door, from house to house seeking out Christians. His passion of purpose was never compromised.

He was Stubborn in his purpose. 

Saul did not give up at all.  He never relented, wavered or doubted his work. He certainly never questioned himself whether or not he was doing what God wanted.  He knew God, and as a Pharisee of Pharisees, he was adamant in his zeal and understanding of the negative effects which that new teaching was having upon their law and upon their Jewish people.  Saul believed in what he was doing.  Whether others shared his passion or not, Saul did what he had to do and was stubborn about it.  As he went from house to house, he dragged the Christians out. He never gave them choices, whether they wanted to be imprisoned or not, he just took them away. In other words, he removed them from their homes, their places of abode.

He was Standardized in his purpose.

Saul had no favourites and showed no partiality.  As simple and as obvious as this may or may not be, Saul had one form of treatment for all believers. They were put in prison by him. It was not that some were given a chance and others dragged off to jail.  No! Whether male or female, Jew or Gentile, as long as one declared Jesus as Lord and Saviour, such a one was dragged off to prison. Saul was but one man, but with his stubborn, zeal, his singular mindedness and standardized methods, he was able to begin to destroy the Church. It took Jesus Himself, to come to Saul and stop him.  Can you see the point here?  What is there that is impossible for man to do, when he puts his mind to it?  Jesus never gave Saul this mission, yet Saul was so successful and was becoming so much more successful, that Jesus had to put an end to Saul’s mission.

Where are you in all of this? Can you be used by Jesus to build His Church? One man, Saul, was doing the work of destroying the Church.  Can you not do the work of building the Church up?  Of course you can and with singularity of purpose, stubbornness of belief and a standardized way of working, what will there be that is impossible to you?   Please look at this truth again.  We are told that Saul began to destroy the Church. Until Jesus stopped him, this one man, zealous and adamant, doing a big work against the Lord, was gaining victory after victory in the eyes of all.  He only stopped, when Jesus stopped him. 

You and I are being called to build, not to destroy the Church, but too often we become timid, doubting and weary in the work to which we have been called.  We look for easy ways to do it.  We don’t want to be alone in this work.   We seek men’s approval and are not stubborn and bold in our work for the Lord. Can one man really begin to destroy the Church?  Yes! Can one man really begin to build up the Church?  Yes! 

Holy Lord, give me the mind that will allow me to be singular, stubborn and standardized in the work to which You have called me. May I see possibility always, please.  Amen!