Acts 8 - Part A

You can't penetrate this world with its ideologies and its aberrant value systems and its satanic outlook without expecting to have some kind of blowback, some kind of persecution. All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Visit our resource to help you remember the sacrifice of Christian martyrs who came before you. We are witnessing an escalation in Christian persecution like we have rarely seen since the first century. Many people don't realize that today thousands of Christians are dying cruel deaths throughout much of the world. The New Book of Christian Martyrs commemorates these modern day heroes highlighting key martyrs of past centuries and featuring stories of contemporary martyrs around the world. The new book of Christian martyrs comes as our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to keep messages like this one today on the air for you and others, equipping you to know God's word and follow His will with courage and strength.

Now let's turn to Acts 8 as we join Skip for today's teaching. Acts 8, Acts 6, verse 9, says, I have been a deacon, a servant, in the church of Jerusalem. His name was Stephen, and he stood before the Jewish council in Jerusalem and was able with incredible precision to outline the history of the nation of Israel, the Jewish nation, and to prove that he was not against God, he was not against the law, and he was not against Moses, but that he was very successful in the very for God, for the law, and went right along with Moses, and cleverly, by the power of the Spirit, drew out parallels of Moses, Joseph, and how Jesus was so similar. Not only was He similar to those two people that I mentioned, but the treatment of those two people by the nation was very, very similar to the treatment of Israel, of Jesus.

And it didn't go well. It was an incredibly Spirit-filled sermon, but the audience that day didn't like His preaching and they killed Him. We saw how the story ended, but we also saw that toward the very end of chapter 7, the chapter closes by introducing us to a character that will take prominent position the rest of the book, and that is Saul. They laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul, Saul of Tarsus, who becomes Paul the apostle. Now chapter 8 opens with that same person. It ends with Saul. It opens the next chapter with Saul. Chapter 9 will give us a little bit more, and we'll see his conversion in chapter 9. And the rest of the book of Acts is going to highlight how not only did God get a hold of Saul of Tarsus and change him into the great apostle, but how the gospel then went from Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. That's Acts chapter 1 verse 8.

That's the outline of the book. How the gospel that began at the heart of Judaism managed to make its way to the heart of the earth, which was Rome, because Rome was controlling effectively the world at that time. Saul of Tarsus, Paul the apostle, called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews in Philippians 3.

We might have a chance to kind of refresh our memory there. A Hebrew of Hebrews, that is a Hebrew speaking born of Hebrew parents. He was a super Jew. I mean he was a radical rabbi. He knew scripture.

He knew the oral law. He was very zealous for the traditions of his fathers, as we will see in this chapter and in the next chapter. But where this is leading, what Luke is doing is leading us to the pinnacle of this man's life which is his conversion on the Damascus road in Acts chapter 9. It is perhaps the high point of the book. At least it's one of the high points of the book. To be fair, it's one of the high points in church history.

In fact, it's so important that it is mentioned no less than three times in this book alone, the book of Acts. So it becomes monumental, it becomes pivotal for the rest of church history, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. And I'm telling you all this because it answers the question, that would be a fair question to ask at the death of Stephen. So imagine you as a young believer so excited at this young man with such promising gifts named Stephen.

And you're listening to him and you're thinking, this guy's going to go far. He's going to be used mightily of God. He has years of ministry left. The Lord has invested so much knowledge into him. But then when he breathes his last outside of the city of Jerusalem, to look at his dead lifeless body, you would think, Lord, why? First of all, why would a God of love allow such suffering for one of his children who is so faithful to represent him? And then to allow his life to be ended so prematurely at such a young age.

What a waste. That's because you don't know the rest of the story. Augustine said, we owe Paul to the prayer of Stephen. Once we see how greatly Saul of Tarsus was affected by the death of Stephen and the prayer of Stephen as he looked toward heaven and saw Jesus at the right hand of the Father standing up, welcoming Stephen into heaven. And then praying, Lord, don't lay this sin to their charge. That must have greatly affected Saul. So greatly that on the Damascus road, I believe that is what the Lord meant when he said, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.

Goads of conviction. His heart was pricked, torn up. He had never seen anyone die like this. He'd seen plenty of people die. He lived in the Roman Empire, but he had never seen anyone die like that.

He didn't know it was possible to die with such a heart of love and an innocent outlook. And I think that just stuck inside of him and he wrestled with it. And I think you see a man under conviction wrestling with those goads in the next two chapters until his conversion.

Having said that, you've heard me explain before that living with somebody who is under conviction is very difficult. If you have a spouse or you have a son or you a daughter or a parent who is not saved and they see you with your Bible and they see you with your smiles and they see your joy and your purpose and your meaning, you bug them. You are like sandpaper, man. You are like somebody picking at the scab.

They've got no piece of heart and they are fighting and they're wrestling and they can lash out and they can say things and do things that are unbecoming. And it all begins with the stoning of Stephen and continues on into chapter 8. So verse 1, Now Saul was consenting to his death, kill him, kill him, throw another rock, take his life away, consenting, amen-ing to it. At that time a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. Please notice that the godly believers, the first Christian brothers and sisters, when Stephen was killed didn't go, oh well, praise God, he's in heaven, let's just rejoice. They wept. They made great lamentation. They were grieving deeply. And I bring that to your attention because it bothers me when I hear Christians sort of minimalize somebody who has passed from earth into heaven.

Of course they've gone into heaven, of course it's glorious, of course we all want to go there. But have a little consideration for the people who will miss their life's partner or their son or daughter or parent. We're not weeping for the person who is in heaven, we're not going, oh they're in heaven, what a shame.

No, it's great for them, we're not them and we're not there. So that is what Paul meant in Thessalonians when he said, we sorrow but not like those who have no hope. Oh yeah, we have hope but we still sorrow. There's still grief. There is a good grief. And so it is fitting for them to make great lamentation over him. But here's something I want you to note. Acts chapter 1, 8 and Acts chapter 8, 1.

They go hand in hand. If you take the scripture seriously and decide to take the gospel to the end of the world, you can experience persecution. So Acts chapter 1 verse 8 gives the outline of the book, the commission of Jesus to go from Jerusalem, this city, Judea, the county, Samaria, the next region and eventually to the uttermost parts of the earth, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. That's Acts 1, 8.

If you do Acts 1, 8, expect Acts 8, 1. A great persecution broke out against the church. You can't penetrate this world with its ideologies and its aberrant value systems and its satanic outlook without expecting to have some kind of blowback, some kind of persecution. All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. So Acts 1, 8 will guarantee Acts 8, 1. A great persecution broke out against the church. Now we are actually beginning to see how Acts chapter 1 verse 8 is going to be fulfilled. And it is going to be fulfilled by persecution.

Jesus did say Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, but hey, it's all happening in Jerusalem. It's a great place to hang out. It's exciting here. I mean the church is growing. There's thousands and thousands of people. There's healings taking place. A couple just dropped dead in church, Ananias and Sapphira. I mean there's always something new and novel going on. What's going to happen next?

Now things are multiplying even. But the Lord doesn't want them all to stay in Jerusalem. He wants them in Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. It seems that nobody's going.

Oh yeah, I know He said that. Well someday we'll do that. Well now they're doing it. How are they doing it? Why are they doing it? Because of the persecution. So it says at that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. That's what Jesus told them to do. They hadn't done it yet.

Now they're doing it. So the persecution brings the dissemination of the believers which will cause the expansion of the kingdom. Because in Judea, in Samaria, and those who go to the uttermost parts of the earth, they're going to be telling the story, sharing the gospel. So it is the persecution that the Lord is using as a catalyst to get them out. The apostles are staying back evidently to give leadership to the church until something is going to happen in Samaria which will cause a couple of them to go out and follow up.

But for now they're at home, staying in Jerusalem. Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. Jesus said that the gospel is like seed that is sown in soil. And if it's sown in the soil of good hearts, it brings forth fruit, 30, 60, and 100 full. But people are the seed bearers.

And so think of seed being thrown out on the field and then scattered by the wind. And as the winds of persecution are blowing through Jerusalem, the seed bearers, the seed of the gospel through their mouth will go everywhere. Now here's the great thing about the gospel, you just have to let it out. You know, there is a place to defend it and sometimes we're so afraid to just simply share our faith because we think, man, they're going to ask me some question I can't answer so I'll just zip it and not say anything. But I've made some astonishing discoveries. I've walked into situations where I've just simply shared a few words of the gospel and just sort of let it take effect. And I've been amazed.

What it can do on its own without my help or my defense is like, wow. Case in point, for years, people in the West were trying to determine how many Christians were in mainland China. We figured there were about 800,000 before the Cultural Revolution of the 1940s, 800,000.

The church at that point in that revolution went underground, they were greatly persecuted and those of us in the West who observed it, church historians and theologians got awfully worried that the church is being killed, they're going underground, they're not even believing anymore so we thought it's going to dwindle down. We wonder now how many Christians are left once that curtain lifts, once there's freedom and how many Christian believers will actually be in China after that great wave of persecution and scattering and so forth. And we made an astonishing discovery. When that curtain finally lifted and we were able to look inside, the best estimates is that there were, after the persecution, between 50 million to 100 million believers in China after that great Cultural Revolution that forced them underground and persecuted them. Fascinating.

Fascinating. The gospel worked, it spread, it penetrated. So in the midst of great persecution, God has a great plan, we're seeing that. As for Saul, verse 3, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Havoc is a word that was used in antiquity in this language to speak of a wild boar rampaging through a garden or an army sweeping through a city and devastating it.

Havoc, just disarray, not caring about the outcome. I did mention a moment ago, Philippians 3, and we have been looking at that on our weekend messages, but let me just refresh what it says in Philippians 3. Paul, giving his background, his pedigree, circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, concerning the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Now he says that to his shame, but at one time he thought that was on his resume. I'm going to put that on my resume. I'm so zealous, I will persecute people who aren't of my religion.

I'll go after them. Concerning zeal, I was so zealous, I persecuted the church. Concerning the righteousness which is of the law, blameless. So Saul of Tarsus is an agent of the devil at this point before his conversion to persecute the church.

Okay, think back to what we have read so far in the book of Acts. Here's a phrase you'll remember. And they were all together and had all things in common. Remember that?

It says that twice. They were all together and they had all things in common. Things were pretty good in the church in Jerusalem. It was comfortable. It must have been very exciting. It's the place to be until Saul comes on the scene making havoc of the church concerning zeal, persecuting the church.

So let's see what happens. He committed them to prison, verse 4, and those who were scattered went everywhere. What are they doing? Preaching the word. That's the seed of the gospel. These are the seed bearers. The winds of persecution are blowing them to these other regions that were part of the plan of Jesus from the beginning.

They were scattered. They went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

For unclean spirits crying out with loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. Stephen was one of the seven deacons in the Jerusalem church, one of the seven servants who served the tables when there was that complaint with those group of gals. Stephen was one of them. Another one of them was Philip. Philip starts out as a servant. By the time we get to Acts chapter 21, he will already have a title. Here's his title, Philip the Evangelist. Philip the Evangelist. He will be known as that. Now he's just known as one of the servants on the ministry team in Jerusalem.

So everybody gets scattered. He's one of them. He goes to Samaria and preaches the word to them. Now Jesus went to Samaria, right? John chapter 4.

Do you remember how it opened? It said, but he needed to go through Samaria, which is a funny line. If you know the geography, it's like John is telling a joke because nobody needed to go through Samaria. Nobody needed to go through Samaria. Samaria was off the charts.

It was up in the hills, difficult to get to. The Jews had alternate routes when they wanted to go from north to south. Nobody went through Samaria, not only because it was isolated, but because there was animosity. Way back in the 10th century BC, I'm going to give you a little nutshell history. 10th century BC, there was a split in the monarchy. You know, there was Saul and David and Solomon and then Rehoboam. There was a split in that monarchy so that 10 tribes went north with the capital at Samaria and two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, stayed down south with the capital Jerusalem. The kingdom split north and south, Israel, Judah, Hatfields, and McCoys.

There was this long-standing family feud, animosity. As time went on, an empire in the northeast arose called Assyria. They took over the world. The Assyrians swept down into that 10 northern tribal areas, Samaria, and took the 10 northern tribes captive with them to Assyria. It was a practice of the Assyrians to repopulate areas that they took over by placing people from other regions that they had taken over into those areas. So now the 10 northern tribal area, the 10 tribes of Israel, were now populated, though there were a few poor farmers left. They kept them in the land because it wouldn't cause trouble and it would keep the land going. They essentially repopulated it with non-Jewish people, Gentile people, from other locations they had taken over. They were in the land.

So what happens? Well, when you need to find sons and daughters for partners, marriage partners for sons and daughters who are going to marry who's available, they intermarried with those people groups from those different regions and developed a group known as the Samaritans. God's will cannot be thwarted. The gospel of Jesus cannot be stopped. That's Skip Heideck with a message from the series Expound Acts. Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. We hope you've been encouraged in your daily walk with Christ by today's program, and we want to invite you to give a gift to keep these biblical teachings on the air to encourage others in their journey. And when you give today, you can help grow the ministry of Connect with Skip Heideck to broadcast into more major US cities and connect more people to the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. To give today, go to connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate, or call 800-922-1888. Again that's 800-922-1888.

Thank you. Tomorrow on Connect with Skip Heideck, Pastor Skip shares a message about being faithful. Now there's a principle, and the principle is that of faithfulness. Jesus talked about being faithful in little. If you're faithful in little, you'll be entrusted with much, and you'll be faithful with much because you're tested on the little.

Some people fail right here. Oh no, no, no, no, I can't do the little stuff. God has called me to bigger things. And God never will call you to bigger things unless you're faithful with the small things. That's his principle. You start small. You work your way through it, and you let the Lord humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, and in due time he will raise you up. Connect with Skip Heideck is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.