The Scattering
Acts 8:1-8
My favorite movies are those with plot twists at the end. When what happens at the end of a movie, you never saw coming at the beginning. And when the ending is revealed it's kind of like, "oh, everything makes sense now." I think the first time I vividly remember experiencing that phenomenon was at the end of Planet of the Apes. When astronaut George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston, who we suppose has been on some distant planet run by these ape-like humanoids is actually on planet earth in the future as he rides his horse on the beach only to discover this:
Or for you Star Wars fans, in The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader says, "Luke, I am your father." Nobody saw that coming.
As we return to our study of the book of Acts this morning we find ourselves in Acts chapter 8. Last week we saw that Stephen had given an absolutely brilliant, Holy Spirit inspired speech before the high Jewish court, the Sanhedrin. His speech not only answered their charges of blasphemy but revealed their idolatrous hearts. He held Jesus out to them as their only hope. At that, they rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and chapter 7 ends with them beating the life out of him with stones and boulders.
Our text today, chapter 8 vs. 1-8 starts with that sad, somber tone - but then ends in an amazing plot twist. Let's read our text for this morning:
1And 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. 2Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 4Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8So there was much joy in that city.
How do we go from verse 1 to verse 8? How do you go from the execution of Stephen which was the impetus to great persecution against the church in verse 1, to verse 8 when there was much joy in the city. How does that happen? How do you go from the killing of a godly man, the ravaging of the church in brutal persecution, to much joy. The long answer is what I'll seek to explain in this sermon. The short answer is one word: God. God does it. God takes the difficulties, the opposition, the hardships and persecution and turns them for his glory and our good.
This is how our God works. This is how he surprises us with his grace again and again. He takes what seems hopeless and turns it around. I would call this not a plot-twist, but a God-twist. God twists the expected outcome. Fierce persecution of the church resulting in much joy is simply the first God-twist in a Church history that is filled with stories like this. For 2000 years God's been doing this in and through his church; and we can expect him to continue doing this.
Illustration: In 1521 Martin Luther stood before a Roman Catholic council to answer the heresy charges against him. Luther proclaimed that salvation is by faith alone and did not require any kind of works like giving alms, paying penance, buying indulgences through the church or taking of the sacraments - that only through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross could someone be saved. This flew in the face of 16th Century Roman Catholic dogma.
Following the council an edict was given denouncing Luther; and a reward for his capture and arrest was given. Luther escaped capture and went into hiding for the next several years. What good can come from that persecution against a pure gospel. Here's what good came from it - the Luther Bible. The German speaking people did not have a Bible in their language. The Roman Church declared it was not only illegal, but immoral to have the Bible in any language other than the language of the church - Latin. Luther spent his time in exile translating the New Testament and then the Old Testament from their original languages into German. That was something you just didn't do. Luther's bold translation was a precursor to other languages - like English - receiving the Bible for the first time.
It's a God-twist just like we see here in Acts 8. Mark this - God's specialty is taking evil acts directed toward his people and turning them into something that advance his kingdom. Christian suffering is the primary means God uses to advance his gospel in the world.
There are four things this morning I want to note that explain the God-twist that happens from the Scattering of the early church from Jerusalem.
I. The PERSECUTION That Commenced
1And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem
This is the first time Luke has uses the word “persecution” in the book of Acts. Now to be sure, there was persecution that had already been experienced in the church. In chapter 4 Peter and John were brought before the council and strictly charged not to speak in Jesus name. So the first level of persecution they experienced was verbal.
In chapter 5 the level of persecution ratchets up a bit and in verse 17 they are arrested for preaching the gospel and thrown in prison. At the end of chapter 5 the persecution notches up to another level of intensity, and they’re beaten – receiving the same 39 lashes that Jesus had received before his crucifixion. You get to the end of chapter 7 and the most severe form of persecution – Stephen loses his life for his faith in Jesus.
As we get to chapter 8 and the text before us today, wholesale persecution has started against the church – and Stephen’s blistering testimony and subsequent execution was really the catalyst that brought this firestorm of persecution against the church. That’s implied in this text, but it’s confirmed in Acts 11: Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen… Acts 11:19 So really it was Stephen that sent them over the edge.
But one thing you don’t see people in the church doing is blaming Stephen. You don’t hear them saying things like, “If Stephen would have kept his big mouth shut, none of this would have happened.” I can imagine some people saying: "Stephen's speech was utterly uncalled for. There are other less inflammatory ways to defend the truth than to call the Sanhedrin 'stiff-necked people who always resist the Holy Spirit' (Acts 7:51). It's always hotheads like Stephen that get the church into trouble. Now look what he’s done - the whole city is against us. Look at the waste of life and property and time. Look at the families that are being broken up. Look at the homes being lost and the children being taken away from all their friends. Now we have to live like refugees and exiles in Judea and Samaria. Why didn't Stephen think before he spoke?"
But God’s version of the story in the book of Acts is nothing like that. Stephen is honored for his stand for truth; Stephen is commended to us as a man full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith, grace and power; Stephen is one who in this life got a glimpse of God’s glory right before his death; Stephen is one that our focal text today says 2Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him
He was given an honorable burial and devout, godly believers wept and mourned greatly over his death. Here's a point to ponder: Godly people don’t concern themselves over the loss of reputation or status; the loss of property or homes; or even the loss of their own life. In spite of threats of these kinds of losses, the godly in Christ Jesus continue to persevere in doing good and speaking truth.
Martin Luther who as I mentioned was well acquainted with persecution penned these words in his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” - Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.
Even though it was Stephen's bold, courageous testimony that commenced the intense firestorm of persecution they were now experiencing, they don't cast blame - they give honor. And that leads to the second thing to note:
II. The PERSON Who Caused It
Who was behind this intense persecution coming down upon the church? None other than Saul of Tarsus. 3But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
I want you to circle that word “ravaging” on your outline. It’s what we call in Greek a hapax legomenon. It’s a word that only appears once in a work – in this case, the entire Bible, and so from the immediate context it’s difficult to determine the meaning of the word. So we have to look at Greek writings outside the Bible to define it. In other works this word is used of a wild boar in a vineyard or a garden. Now if you’ve ever been around hogs – and I’ve been around a few in my day – you can imagine the kind of damage a boar can do in a garden. It’s also used of a wild animal ravaging and shredding apart its prey, or the total destruction of a city.
So that’s what’s happening here. Saul goes on this rampage to shred and rip apart and totally destroy the early church. He went into people’s personal homes and took whole families out that were suspected of being a part of this religious sect known as “the Way;” he beat them, dragged them off, threw them in prison, and confiscated their property. There was just no end to the ravaging. And his assaults were not confined to only men, he dragged off the women too.
Now we didn’t spend much time last week looking at Saul’s involvement in the stoning of Stephen. Some have portrayed him as just a bystander or onlooker who was watching the men’s coats as they martyred him. But I think he was much more involved than that. Notice the language Luke uses there: 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. Acts 7:58
Does that act of laying something at someone else’s feet sound familiar? We saw members of the church do that in Acts 4 – they were selling their possessions and laying the proceeds at the apostles’ feet.
This practice was an act of submission to authority; this was a way to recognize who’s in charge. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Saul was the primary instigator in the death of Stephen. And as they prepare to pelt him with rocks they lay their garments at his feet in an act of recognition as the authority in this event.
Then as the wholesale persecution of the church begins, Saul not only initiates it, he carry’s it out. Saul’s purpose in all of this was to completely decimate the church. He wanted to see any trace of the Jesus followers completely wiped off the face of the earth. His desire was to stomp it out from existence. But just the opposite happened. Just like when you attempt to stomp out a fire on the dry ground, the burning embers float up and land in a circle – and instead of stomping it out, you’ve spread it and made it bigger.
That’s what happens here. As Saul attempts to stomp out the church and their message about Jesus, the gospel spreads and the church continues to grow. So we’ve seen the PERSECUTION that COMMENCED; The PERSON that CAUSED it, thirdly notice…
III. The PROCLAMATION That Continued
So the persecution comes down hard, and the result is the scattering of the church. Whole families are displaced from their homes and they're forced to go to other parts of the region. But what did they do in the scattering? Did they go into hiding or go underground? No! Look at verse 4: 4Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
These are the ordinary, everyday members of the church. Verse 1 says everyone scattered except the apostles. They stayed in Jerusalem like faithful watchmen remaining at their posts in the very eye of the storm. But the people who were scattered – they weren’t apostles, they weren't the leaders of the church; they were just ordinary people.
The text says they went about preaching. Luke uses an important word here – circle that word “preaching.” It’s not the typical word that’s translated preach in the New Testament. That word is karusso – it means to herald forth, to publically proclaim – to preach. That’s not the word used here. What Luke says they were doing is euaggelizo. That’s a verb – the noun form is euaggelion – which is translated “gospel” in the NT. So literally, they went about gospeling the logos – the word. They went about proclaiming the good news, the gospel of Jesus from the LOGOS – the word.
I’ve talked about Martin Luther a couple times already today, here’s a quote that’s been attributed to him: “Christians are like manure. If you leave them in a pile they start to stink. If you spread them out, they make things grow.” Martin Luther (He was known for being crude and boorish)
These scattered ordinary Christians took the gospel of Jesus with them. Where they went, the mission went. We talk about being a church on mission. The mission field is wherever you find yourself. Start weaving the gospel message into everyday conversations.
Some of y’all are familiar with Matt Chandler – pastor of a massive church in Dallas, TX. In his personal testimony he tells about how when he was playing high school football, one day after practice in the locker room a teammate came up to him and said, “Hey Chandler, I need to tell you about Jesus sometime. We can do that now or later, you just let me know when that’s gonna be.” And God used that high school student’s personal witness to lead him to faith in Christ.
That’s what Christ has called all of us to as well. They were scattered and went about gospeling the word. Wherever they went, the mission went. Wherever they happened to find themselves, they just assumed, this must be God’s mission field for me today.
Here’s the deal – the darkness of verses 1-3 would not have resulted in the joy of verse 8 had the persecuted Christians kept silent. Now in verses 5-7, Luke zooms in to one of those faithful witnesses who had fled Jerusalem, a man by the name of Philip. He first introduced us to Philip back in chapter 6 as one of those 7 deacons that were selected by the church. Again, not an apostle, not an elder – a lay leader in the church. 5Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
Now as we’ve talked about before, we see these miraculous signs being performed – this time not by an apostle but by a lay-leader in the church. God provided these powerful signs and wonders as a means of authenticating the message they were proclaiming. And you may be here this morning and say, “Well sure – I’d be much more effective as an evangelist proclaiming the gospel if my witness was authenticated by miraculous signs and wonders.”
But God has given us a supernatural means of authenticating our message – it’s the way we live our lives under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Our message is authenticated by the way we treat the difficult neighbor; by the way we tip our server at the restaurant, by the way we respond to a bothersome boss; by the way we react to accusations or insults. Our message is authenticated when a watching world sees a Christian husband and wife interact with respect and kindness toward one another. Our message is authenticated powerfully when others see us go through hardships and trials and we come through with a stronger faith on the other side than when we started. Our witness is confirmed when even through difficulties you remain faithful to your church and faithful to other believers.
Don’t underestimate how different you might look in the workplace or at the ballfield when something unfair or unjust happens and you don’t respond with a fit of rage. That right there is what supernaturally authenticates the message we proclaim – the life-transforming gospel of Jesus.
So in spite of the persecution that was instigated by the person of Saul of Tarsus, the proclamation continued. And that leads to my fourth and final point this morning…
IV. The PURPOSE That Was Carried Out
Verse 1: …they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria
For those of you that have been with us in our study of the book of Acts since January, you’ll remember what the theme verse for this book is – it’s also the theme verse for our church this year. Acts 1:8, Jesus speaking to his followers before he leaves them: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
This is the commission – you’re going to go out and influence the concentric circles of geography. You’ll start here in the city of Jerusalem, then the plan is for you to go out. You get through chapter 1, they’re still in Jerusalem. Chapter 2, same thing. Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 – they’re still in Jerusalem. But Jesus said, “You WILL be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth.” So what it seems to suggest is that they hadn’t gone out on their own accord – even though the Lord said they were to go – so he uses the persecution to send them out. That’s why verse 1 says, …they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria Exactly where he told them they were going to go in chapter 1.
Finally, they start to take the message out. But it wasn’t until they were forced to leave Jerusalem because of the onslaught of Saul’s persecution against them. they actually started to carry out the purpose to which they were called. And because they carried the gospel to those outlying areas, verse 8 says - 8So there was much joy in that city.
God performed a God-twist. What started as severe, ravaging persecution had a twist to it - God saved people through their witness. God used persecution to advance his kingdom in the world through his people.
So What?
So what does this mean for us? How do we apply these truths to our lives as individuals and as a church? I want us to consider a personal application by asking ourselves this question: How would we respond to wholesale persecution?
Now in our country for the last 230 years Christians have been shielded from wholesale persecution. Yes, there have been pockets here and there of persecution - some individuals have experienced it, but there has not really been a government sponsored or sanctioned persecution against Christians in this country. We watch on TV or see it online as our brothers around the world are lined up on beaches and beheaded, or are forced into hiding because of their faith in Christ. But those forms of persecution are so foreign to us here in the states, it's almost as if they're not real.
But persecution against the church comes in different shapes and sizes. Now I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet, I don't have a crystal ball that I can tell the future. In fact, if you're a guest here you need to understand that what I'm about to do is not at all typical. I don't know that I've ever brought up a government issue or situation in a sermon like I'm about to do. I don't spend every waking hour watching Fox News; I'm not some deranged conspiracy theorist. But I am your pastor. A pastor is a shepherd. And I have a responsibility to care for and protect and warn the spiritual flock God has called me to lead when I sense impending danger.
Though we as Christian churches have been shielded from government sponsored persecution, this may not be the case for very much longer. Biblical truth has become very unpopular in our country. Unbelievers now have defined morality in their own terms, and anything that speaks against their defined morality; anything that says a particular lifestyle or action is immoral - that is now regarded as intolerant, bigoted hate speech. This includes Bible-believing and Bible-preaching churches.
Tuesday of this past week our United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legalization of homosexual marriage in all 50 states. It will go down as a monumental day in constitutional law.
Their decision on the case will not be made until June, but court observers and experts believe the 9 justices are split right down the middle, with Justice Kennedy likely making the deciding vote. In the course of the oral arguments, the justices questioned the attorneys on both sides of the issue. I want to share with you two of the questions that were asked and the response of the attorney representing the pro-same sex marriage position.
Chief Justice John Roberts: “Would a religious school that has married housing be required to afford such housing to same-sex couples?”
I want you to stop and consider for a moment the ramifications of this question - would a school, like Bryan College in Dayton, TN, or Lee University in Cleveland, or Covenant College on Lookout Mountain - all of which are conservative, evangelical colleges with student housing. If they have married student housing, would they be required to provide housing to same-sex couples even though that institution considers same-sex marriage to be in violation of biblical moral standards. In this question Justice Roberts is pointing to an eventual conflict that would occur.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, representing the Obama Administration and his Department of Justice, arguing in favor of nationwide gay marriage responded like this: “That is going to depend on how the States work out the balance between their civil rights laws… different states could strike different balances.”
First I want you to notice, he did not say "no" to the question. He says states would have to work out the balance of those civil rights laws. And if the balance reached in the civil rights laws of TN or GA or any other state are not to the liking of a same-sex couple, where do they appeal to? The Supreme Court.
The second question I want you to notice is one which was asked by Justice Samuel Alito. His question really hits closer to home for us: “Would a university or college have its tax-exempt status challenged if it opposed same-sex marriage?”
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli: “You know, I — I don’t think I can answer that question without knowing more specifics, but it’s certainly going to be an issue. I — I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is — it is going to be an issue.”
So the Solicitor General of the US Dept of Justice recognizes that if same-sex marriage becomes the law of the land, tax-exempt institutions that oppose same sex marriage could have their tax-exempt status revoked.
We, as a church, are a tax-exempt institution. We are a 501c3 non-profit religious charity. What happens if our tax-exempt status is revoked? Immediately we begin to pay property tax on this campus valued at between $1.5-$2 million. Contributions to this church are no longer tax deductible. No doubt our contributions would decrease significantly because of that. Our church along with many other churches could lose their properties, lose staff and would have to make hard choices like do we send money to missionaries overseas or keep the lights on.
Again, I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet. I can't predict what's going to happen or when it will happen. But I do know this. As Christians in America we have been shielded from the persecution that has been the normal experience of most Christians around the world through the centuries.
I don't tell you this to strike fear in you, or to get you to form a protest or public revolt. I tell you this to give you hope; I tell you this so you will walk in confidence and courage. Both in Scripture and throughout the last 2,000 years of church history, God has ALWAYS used persecution against his church to advance the spread of the gospel. Let's say because of the financial pressures and implications, we lost this property. Would LVBC still exist? Of course we would! LVBC is not a building, or a campus - we are a spiritual family. And we'd keep meeting in homes, and I dare say our commitment to each other and our commitment to the Lord would be strengthened. And Lord-willing if we were scattered from this place, we go on gospeling the word just like the first century Christians did.
This is how our God works; this is his specialty. God's specialty is taking evil acts directed toward his people and turning them into something that advances his kingdom. Christian suffering has always been and will continue to be the primary means God uses to advance his gospel in the world. So church, be encouraged by that.
It was January 8th in 1956, when five notable missionaries were massacred with spears in Ecuador by a tribe of people they had gone to reach with the gospel. Their names are Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and Ed McCulley. That tribe is known as Auca Indians. It appeared at the time to be the greatest missionary tragedy in the Modern Era.
They had just landed with a plane on a beach by a river in Ecuador only to have their lives immediately snuffed out. They were young, gifted, educated men with tremendous potential and usefulness ahead of them. These five men were in the prime of their lives, all in their late 20's and early 30's.
But the truth of the matter is this: it was anything but a tragedy. For these five men, it was immediate entrance into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And through their death, a missionary movement exploded, starting really with their wives.
Their wives and children went back to the exact same tribe that killed their husbands - not for revenge or justice, but to take the gospel to them. They lived with them and immersed themselves in their culture. Eventually that entire tribe of Auca Indians was evangelized with the gospel and a church was planted there. That church grew and flourished and stretched across tribal areas. Even the men that killed those five missionaries surrendered their lives to Christ. And in an amazing God-twist, two of Nate Saint's children - Kathy and Stephen - who were infants when their father was killed; they were baptized by the two men who killed their father. Who does that? God does that. He goes from a verse 1 to a verse 8.
Only heaven knows the many that were won to faith in Jesus through the death of those five missionaries. The same is true of Stephen. His death was a tragic loss - but his death launched the ravaging persecution against the church which resulted in the advancement of the gospel through God's people. I want to conclude with the words of Jesus:
10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12
Last Thought: Even if the future of the church in America looks like VERSES 1-3, God can still bring about VERSE 8.
