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Who judges the thoughts and intents of the heart will deal with us both righteously and in
mercy.
#34. The Second Missionary Journey (16: 6 - 19: 20).
Paul and Silas, and the Philippian Jailor (16: 19 - 40).
pp. 141 - 146
In Acts 16: 16 we read that the damsel possessed by the spirit of Python "brought
her masters much gain by soothsaying". The word ergasia, "gain", occurs four times in
the Acts, and in each case we find it to be the motive behind the persecution of the
Apostle (Acts 16: 16, 19; 19: 24, 25). The flame of persecution, which was fanned by
the Evil One, was directed to one end--to destroy the testimony of the gospel. The kind
of instrument used to this end was immaterial so long as the end itself was achieved, and
so we find him using both Jews and Gentiles. At one time was Saul of Tarsus, a Hebrew
and a Pharisee, whose moral uprightness was such that he could write of that period of
his life: "touching the righteousness of the law, blameless." Saul would have scorned to
have followed the rabble, or to have been moved by the desire for gain; nevertheless he
persecuted the Church. The Jews, either by their religious leaders, or because of their
own fanatical adherence to the tradition of their fathers, persecuted the Church. But we
find that the Gentiles also persecuted the Church, moved by the fact that the Christian
faith, by supplanting their idolatries, robbed them of their gains, and at length, Rome, the
protector of the Apostle during the Acts, became the great persecutor of the Church under
the awful rule of Nero and his successors.
During the period covered by the first fifteen chapters of the Acts we read of
persecution arising from the following causes:
(1) The leaders of Israel were grieved because the apostles preached, through Jesus, the
resurrection of the dead (Acts 4:).
(2) The leaders of Israel were cut to the heart by Stephen's speech. They stoned him,
and another persecution was begun (Acts 7:, 8: 1).
(3) Saul of Tarsus, being troubled in his conscience (he was kicking against the goad at
his conversion, 9: 5) organized a great persecution of the Church (Acts 8:, 9:).
(4) The Jews being incensed at Saul's conversion and subsequent witness, took counsel
to kill him (Acts 9: 23, 29).
(5) Herod stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the Church. James was killed. Peter
was imprisoned. He saw that it pleased the Jews (Acts 12:).
(6) The Jews at Antioch, filled with envy at the evangelizing of the Gentiles, stirred up
opposition--and expelled the apostles (Acts 13:).
(7) The Jews from Antioch and Iconium (apparently from envy and hatred) followed
Paul to Lystra and stoned him, leaving him for dead (Acts 14:).
At Acts 16: we meet with the first Gentile persecution and another factor enters into
the situation: "They saw that the hope of their gain was gone." In a world composed as
it is of religious zeal and sordid greed, it is practically impossible to witness for the truth