One of the most popular tropes in literature is the Enemies to Lovers trope. An example of this is in the movie You’ve Got Mail. The small bookshop owner learns to understand and care for the financier, who is opening the giant store that will ultimately run her out of business. Not a “meet-cute” but a situation where people shouldn’t like each other, but somehow ultimately get together.
In the book of Acts, we don’t have this kind of drama, but something even more unlikely. We see the greatest enemy of the church become its boldest advocate. Saul, who hated the Christian movement and was trying to stamp it out, would end up giving his life for it. Here’s how the story goes as we look at two men, one an early follower of Jesus and the next the most unlikely convert.
The first is Stephen. In Acts chapter 6, we see he is chosen to serve by the apostles. In 6:3, it says, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom”. Then in verse 5 it says, “they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Philip and he were set apart for their duty, so that the apostles could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word. In the limited account, it seems Stephen was faithful in his ministry, but he also was known for something else.
In verses 8-13, we read, “And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those…rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law.”
Stephen’s ministry started off well, but almost immediately, he was opposed and they came hard against him. They lied and, because they couldn’t overcome his arguments, they set up false witnesses against him. They arranged a trial to convict him, but they gave him a chance to speak. This dear brother Stephen stands up in front of a hostile crowd and has a chance to defend himself, and he launches into a sermon in chapter 7.
At first, you might think Stephen is very wise. He spends a long opening giving a history lesson about God and the people of God, connecting with them by documenting God’s relationship with His followers, things they would appreciate and agree with. Then he gets to his main point, the point of application in verse 51 of chapter 7.
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
This is the condemnation of God to a hostile crowd. He doesn’t even get to the point of naming Jesus, the whole thing Stephen was building up to, because he tells the truth about the response of the people to the Word of God delivered through the prophets. As you might expect, the response isn’t so warm. We read in verse 54: “Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him”.
Stephen keeps right on going, declaring a vision of Jesus (the Son of Man, a title Jesus regularly used for Himself), standing at the right hand of God. This was the last straw for the crowd. 57 and 58 say, “But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.”
As he is dying. As one stone after another is pounding against him, but before he passes into eternity, Stephen proclaims to Saul and all the others there, ““Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
He fell asleep into the arms of God, walking into eternity. His short, bright ministry brought to a violent end at the hands of those he was calling to repentance and belief in Jesus.
As you might have caught at the end there, this story leads us to our second person of interest, Saul. As we turn the page and begin chapter 8, Luke wants us to know a bit more about this new character on the scene. Luke writes in chapter 8:1-3 – “And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
So the immediate outcome of Stephen’s martyrdom was negative. It emboldened the enemies of Christ, especially Saul. God used this angry, fierce man to push people out throughout the region. The Gospel was spreading by persecution. Not exactly the church planting or church growth strategy any of us want to come up with.
In the next chapter, we see Saul again, continuing his zealous violence against the followers of Jesus in chapter 9:1-2 – “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
Men and women, families who wanted to follow the Way, meaning the way of Jesus, brought to prison by a man with murderous intent. Saul approved of Stephen’s execution. Saul was ravaging the church. Saul was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. This is the man Jesus would choose to be his next faithful follower.
I hope you know about Saul’s conversion. You find it in chapter 9 and if you continue to read the book of Acts, you will see Paul’s own testimony about it delivered to rulers and kings multiple times.
Jesus Himself appears to Saul and asks him, “why are you persecuting me?” In Saul’s mind, everything he was doing was in service of God. His violence was an act of doctrinal worship to declare his zealous love for God as he sought to purify the land by stamping out these heretics.
It is not uncommon to find the same thing in work among those who do not know God today. Christians are often martyred by those who think they are doing a service to God by bringing violence against them.
Saul believed the direct revelation of Jesus to be true and God leads him to Ananias, who is terrified to meet such an opponent of the church, but the angel says of Saul in chapter 9:15-16, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
As Saul believes, he boldly preaches in Damascus until he got a taste of his own medicine. In verse 23 – “the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.”
He escapes to Jerusalem, and the disciples are initially afraid of him there as well, but in the end, we read in the following, starting in verse 28, “So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”
Did you hear that? This is what they wanted from the beginning. The church had peace, was built up and multiplied as they walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
The story of Paul will continue throughout the rest of Acts, as he is the central figure in carrying the message of Jesus to many people. What you won’t find is the record of his death, but church historians agree that Saul, also known as Paul, would be put to death in Rome, but not until he had written many letters to the churches, which makes up a big chunk of the New Testament.
These two men, Stephen and Saul, both had their role to play in what God would do to spread His message around the world. One was murdered almost immediately after he began. The other would travel across many places, sharing with thousands of people, before his own life was taken from him and he was also martyred. Many of those names you read about in your New Testament were put to death for their message.
They believed it with such conviction that they were willing to give everything for it. Here we see one who was a committed follower of Jesus from the beginning, the other perhaps the greatest enemy of the church.
This good Gospel that we preach is the only hope for all people. The only hope for Muslims. The only hope for all enemies of God. Sinners of all sorts. Sinners like us. Sinners like the despised among us. The people around us who, if we’re honest with ourselves, we wouldn’t know how to react if they walked through the doors of our church. The illegal immigrant. The cartel members. Radical Muslims.
So we go out to preach to them this Gospel, which Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness; but unto us which are being saved it is the power of God.”
We preach it to all nations, not knowing who will find it foolish and who will receive it as the power of God to salvation. All people must hear and people like me and you are God’s chosen vehicle to deliver it to them. People like Stephen and people like Saul.
This is the Gospel, as we read in Romans 5:8-11 – by Paul’s own hand.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
The enemies of God are made right with God, gloriously saved by the life of Christ and we rejoice together in this unifying hope. It is because of this good Gospel that we rejoice. This good Gospel that allowed Stephen to forgive Saul even as he was passing from this earth and that same Stephen to welcome him into the Kingdom when his own life was taken for the cause of Christ.
These men and the early followers of Jesus believed it was worth it. It is worth it. For 25 years overseas, through everything, we’ve found it worth it. I hope you find it worth enough to seek the Sauls in your own community. There are enemies of God who have yet to be reconciled to Him in your community, just like there are around the world. Will you be a Stephen so those Sauls might hear the Good News of the Gospel and move from being enemies of God to brothers and sisters in Christ?
Seeing God 
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