Sermon Central
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Hand Of God In Gospel Work Series
Contributed by Rev. Dr. Andrew B Natarajan on Mar 22, 2026 (message contributor)
Summary: The early church had gone through persecution which made them to spread over. This became the reason to preach the gospel to the world. So, there was a progression in the Christianity.
Text: Acts 11:19-26
Theme: The Hand of God and the Gospel Work
Greetings: The Lord is good and His Loved endures forever!
Introduction:
The early church experienced the Spirit of God and the Hand of God in their daily routine life. The church had gone through the persecution but they never stopped the preaching of the good news, so the church had seen enormous growth in midst of Persecution, all because of the Hand of God was with them. In the Old Testament the phrase the Hand of the Lord meant two things. First, it spoke of God's power expressed in judgment (Exodus 9:33; Deuteronomy 2:15; Joshua 4:24; 1 Samuel 5:6; 7:13). It also referred to God's power expressed in blessing (Ezra 7:9; 8:18; Nehemiah 2:8, 18).
Today, I would like to leave with you three spiritual lessons we can learn from this passage, Persecution, Proclamation and Progression of the early Church with the sovereignty of the hand of God.
1. PERSECUTION by the State
The early Church Tertullian declared that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” certainly it rings true to the narrative of Acts.
After the stoning of Stephen to death (Acts 7), “a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). Those who were scattered “went from place to place, proclaiming the word” (Acts 8:4). The persecution of Acts 8 occurred about AD 35 and the events in Acts 10-11 about AD 43. The scattered Jews continued preaching the word (Acts 8:4b).
Persecution (more literally = "tribulation") (thlipsis comes from the word thlibo, which means to crush, press together, squash, compress, or squeeze; thláo means ‘to break’). The English word persecution expresses sheer, physical pressure on a man. But the word ‘Thlipsis’ is a strong term which does not refer to minor inconveniences, or mild discomfort but to real pains and great hardships. Medically thlipsis is used to refer the pulse (pressure).
Thlipsis conveys the idea of being squeezed or placed under pressure or crushed beneath a weight. On the breasts of the guilty heavy weights were placed and were pressed and crushed to death.
Thlipsis means of being under pressure and was used of squeezing olives in a press in order to extract the oil and of squeezing grapes to extract the juice.
The English word "tribulation" is derived from the Latin word tribulum. It is drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff. As believers experience the "tribulum" of tribulations, and depend on God’s grace, the trials purify us and rid us of the chaff.
Martin Luther who had gone through afflictions wrote "Whatever virtues tribulation finds us in, it develops more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind, wicked, easily angered, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him more carnal, weak, blind, wicked and irritable. On the other hand, if one is spiritual, strong, wise, pious, and gentle and humble, he will become more spiritual, powerful, wise, pious, gentle and humble."
The Japanese art of Kintsugi is an art of repairing the broken pottery of porcelain into a beautiful costly vessels by joining them with the powders mixed with gold, silver or platinum, and becomes a costly vessel. Likewise we are made up of a costly vessel in Christ.
What is your state today in Christ? Are you weak or strong through your sufferings, sicknesses and problems, failures or became stronger and stronger. Romans 8:35-39- who will separate us? What can separate us from the love of Christ?
2. PROCLAMATION of the Gospel:
The proclamation of the good news (euaggelizo: eu = good or well, aggéllo = proclaim or tell; means to announce good news concerning something).
Euaggelizo in its original sense could be used to refer to a declaration of any kind of good news, but in NT it refers especially to the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God and of salvation obtained through Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection. It was a spirit driven church, Christ-centred preaching.
Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Spirit guides the followers of Jesus to bear witness first in Jerusalem, when they are scattered by persecution, then in Judea and Samaria, and now to the ends of the earth, or throughout the Roman Empire.
The martyrdom of Stephen is the inception of the mission of the Gospel spreading to the Gentiles! (John 12:24). Philip proclaimed the gospel in Samaria and to an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:5-40). Paul explains in his letter to the Thessalonians "our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
