Acts Of The Apostles (11 Of 39)

Now we are going to study about how that affected the church.

When some people who belong to church die, it does not have much of an impact on God's work, because they did not love the Lord, or His church.

But when a man like Stephen dies, it leaves a vacuum for some time.

Look at verse 2, we read, "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made GREAT LAMENTATION OVER HIM."

Let’s look at-

I. THE SITUATION

WHAT KIND OF A SITUATION WAS IT?

A. IT WAS INTENSE

Verses 1-2, "And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.”

The Christian church was growing by leaps and bounds, and Saul envisioned thousands of people leaving Judaism to follow Jesus, and since he was convinced God was not pleased with this, he wanted to wipe out Christianity, before Christianity wiped out Judaism.

Illus: In May of 1991, Washington, D.C., was experiencing some unrest. The news broadcasts reported that each night young people were on the streets with baseball bats, knocking out the windows of stores, and looting them. It was a very tense time in the U. S. Capital.

As bad as that was, it did not compare to the tension in the cities, where Saul and the other enemies of Christianity WERE BEATING, JAILING, AND MURDERING PEOPLE, simply because they had placed their faith in the Son of God to save them from their sins, and were following His teachings.

The murder of Stephen, seemed to make those who were against the people who followed Christ, blood thirsty.

At first they were trying to stop a MAN from spreading the gospel, but now they were trying to stop the CHURCH.

This was a time of great INTENSITY for the church. But look at something else-

B. IT WAS INVASIVE

Verse 3, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."

Yes, Saul, at this time, before his conversion, being a very devout Jew, felt that Christianity was a threat to Judaism.

As a result, he was one of the chief persecutors of the church.

The Bible tells us he brought "wide destruction" to the followers of Christ. But look at something else-

C. IT WAS INCLUSIVE

Verse 31, "…entering into EVERY HOUSE...”

The Bible makes a point of letting us know that Paul did not leave anyone out.

You might think that some of these people could have been his friends.

That did not matter. He went into “... every house...”

D. IT WAS IMPARTIAL

Verse 3c, "...haling men a women..."

Paul did not even show any favoritism to the ladies. As far as he was concerned, Christian women were as big a threat as Christian men.

E. IT WAS INCARCERATING

Verse, 3d, "...and committed them to prison.”

The Bible makes it clear, that Saul felt that these Christians would no longer be a threat to Judaism, if they were confined behind bars. He was determined to put every follower of Christ that he could find, behind bars. Perhaps, he thought that might deter the ones who had not been captured.

We looked at THE SITUATION, but now let us look at-

II. THE SCATTERING

Verse 4, "Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. "

The persecution was so great it caused the saints of God to flee for their lives.

But God can bring good out of any situation, when His people let Him.

It is amazing, how He takes what looks like a terrible mistake, and turns it into something good.

Illus: Occasionally we see a television news story of people who take junk and they turn it into some useful item.

The devil tried to wreck the church of Christ, but God turned the persecution around and made it serve His purpose.

HOW DID HE USE THIS TO SERVE HIS PURPOSE?

As already stated, the severe persecution caused many of the Christians to flee the area, - "Therefore they that were scattered abroad... "

As they SCATTERED, so did the Word of God.

Saul may have thought the beatings, stoning, and arrests would stop Christianity, but almost two thousand years have passed since then, and Christianity is still alive and well, on planet earth.

The leaders in the synagogue treated Christianity as a dreadful disease that had to be isolated, and destroyed, but God used that persecution to spread the news of His Son.

Look at verse 4 again, we read, “…they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.”