The last time we were in our series in the Book of Acts, we saw that Stephen died as a martyr for Jesus Christ. Stephen preached a message just before he died. His message was God’s final invitation to Israel. If Israel rejected the message, God would turn elsewhere to root and ground His church. Israel DID reject the message; in fact, Israel killed Stephen and launched a savage persecution against the church.
But God overruled and used the persecution as a means to scatter the church all across the world. Just as Jesus had instructed; Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth were now going to hear the gospel.
It seems as though the point to all this is that God used it all to launch the great evangelistic thrust of the gospel around the world. The persecution actually and literally scattered the believers all over the world. Let’s see where tonight takes us.
READ v. 1. Let’s note 4 things about this one verse.
1. The persecution was launched by Saul of Tarsus. It says he gave approval. That means to give full consent, to willingly approve with pleasure what is being done. Saul was literally well-pleased with Stephen’s death.
There was this fury that had been building up inside Saul against the church. He felt that the preaching of Christ threatened his religion, which was Judaism. Saul was the leader in persecuting the church. He was the most infuriated against the church. It appears as though he was a leader among the religionists. We can assume that by what Paul wrote in Gal. 1: 13-14. READ.
2. The second thing to note about v.1 is that the persecution was launched quickly, on the very day of Stephen’s death. Saul wanted to act quickly in wiping out the church. The believers were frightened and on the run. He had to strike immediately to catch them before they could escape.
3. The third thing to note was that the persecution was launched in fury and in violence. It refers to it as a “great persecution.” The idea formed from the original Greek writings was that Saul hotly pursued and hunted down the believers. He was bent on violence, determined to stamp out the church.
4. The 4th thing to note is that the church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Did you notice that the apostles remained behind? Why? Because:
• They had been given some freedom by the authorities on the advice of Gamaliel. READ Acts 5: 34-40.
• The apostles were highly esteemed by the public at large. On other occasions the authorities feared to have them arrested, lest their arrest cause an uprising among the people. READ Acts 4:21.
• The apostles stayed behind also because they were courageous men, and they had learned to wait upon the Lord for instructions. Maybe they were braving the storm until the Lord told them otherwise.
This much we DO know. If the apostles had fled Jerusalem, there would have been no stabilizing person at the church, no leader holding the church together. Remember: the only organized church in existence was the church in Jerusalem. The believers, although they were in prison and scattered, still needed a church to look toward. If the apostles had fled, the church in Jerusalem would have been completely destroyed.
There would be no place to look toward for help and directions. The apostles were the hub, the focus, the leaders to which the earliest believers looked for guidance. In the eyes of the earliest believers, the apostles were desperately needed.
The Jerusalem church was the only church the believers knew. So the apostles had to stay there. They had to hold the church together. No matter where the believers had scattered, they knew that the church was still existing through its courageous leaders.
READ v. 2. It was the godly who cared for the murdered. The godly must have been some of Stephen’s friends and fellow synagogue worshippers who hadn’t embraced the faith of Christ yet, but still cared for Stephen. They were deeply disturbed over his death; they mourned deeply for him. Notice here how God used Stephen’s burial to continue the witness. His witness was publicly honored. He died what might be called a hero’s death.
READ v. 3. So the church was severely persecuted as Saul had both men and women put in prison. Saul began to destroy the church. The literal term was to wipe it out of existence. The Greek word used gives the picture of a wild beast ravaging and tearing to bits some carcass. The Greek verb used is also a continuous action verb. He kept on ravaging and destroying. He was, as he later confessed, gripped with an “obsession against them.” Read Acts 26:11.
Here is what Saul was doing:
- He stormed the homes of believers, breaking down the doors, fiercely searching for believers from house to house. Think of how you would feel today if at any minute you knew someone could break down your front door, seize you and haul you off to prison for what you believe.
- He arrested all he could find and dragged them using whatever force necessary to arrest and subdue them. The picture is that of forcibly dragging them from their homes through the city streets.
- He arrested women as well as men. Women were considered unimportant and insignificant in Saul’s day. Yet the fierceness and savagery of Saul was so set on destroying the church that he went after the women as well. His crime against women was to be an offense Saul could never forget. READ Acts 9:2 & 22:4.
- He stormed one synagogue to another and punished the believers who were present. He actually tried to force them to blaspheme the name of Christ. READ Acts 26:11. I wonder how many of us would come to church if we knew at any minute a militia of men could burst through our doors and drag us off to prison.
- He even went to foreign cities persecuting all he could track down.
- He brought many to their death and gave his vote for the death penalty of many others.
Saul was a mean individual. But we have to take note of the mercy and grace of God and how they are fully demonstrated in Paul’s life. That should show us that God’s mercy is available to all of us, no matter how terribly we have sinned. There is hope, forgiveness, and a ministry for any of us, no matter who we are or what we have done—if we will repent and surrender ourselves to the Lord Jesus, to follow and obey Him
READ v. 4. The lay believers who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching Christ. Note that they were scattered like seed. God was using the evil of the world to spread His followers and message all over the world.
They didn’t hide in secrecy. They preached the Word wherever they went. The Greek word used here was “euaggelizo” from which we get our word “evangelize.”
So that’s our passage for tonight. Before we close I want to share 3 thoughts about tonight’s passage:
1. It was the believers, the regular every day church goers who scattered the Word. The pattern was set. Most preaching and witnessing was to be done by the lay believers. We, too, are to scatter the seed wherever we are, wherever duty or circumstances place us.
2. The result of the persecution is the spread of the gospel. God uses persecution of us, the staunch and faithful believers, He uses the dispersion of believers when necessary, to demonstrate the reality of salvation. God’s presence is in the believer’s heart and life. Though we might be persecuted for what we believe and how we live, our endurance clearly shows that God is alive and dwells within us. It demonstrates that God really exists and saves men, infusing them with both the hope and power to live forever.
3. The last thought is that persecution may range from simple abuse to violence. It might take place at work, at home, at school, at play, or even at church. But no matter what form or where it occurs, God will use it to bear witness to Himself—if we will be faithful and endure.
