Feeling Persecuted? Your Not Alone
Ballard Assembly Pastor Bob Briggs Acts 8:1-8 Lesson 19
I. Persecution is to be expected.
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered. Acts 8:1b
God has a way of moving His purpose forward. It is a sad day when people reject the Gospel of Christ since it is the desire of God that all will except the redemption offered through Jesus Christ.
The church was experiencing persecution here for the first time as a total body. Prior, it had been isolated to the apostles and Stephen, but now they all were experiencing the wrath of a godless society.
It is always good, when possible, to get the bog picture. Jesus told the disciples at His ascension in Acts 1:8 And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. How effective had they been outside of Jerusalem? From what we gather from the early writings, up until this point they were total ineffective. Instead of taking the message outside the walls of Jerusalem, people were coming in, hearing the Good News, accepting Christ and staying on. That is why they had this major problem with the Hellenistic Jews and the Hebraic Jews. The more people that came, the greater the need became and more steps were required to meet everyone’s needs.
A. Sometimes we need help to change our direction.
Why would Jesus allow His people to be persecuted and driven out of the city? It is the same as asking why do bad things happen to seemingly good people? Because sometimes we need help to change our direction, to get us into the big picture.
In Mark 5, Jesus had healed the demon possessed man and we pick up the conversation at verse 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
How many people would have been touched by the knowledge of Jesus if this man had got in the boat and continued to travel with Jesus? Well, as many as would have been touched by Jesus Himself. But with this man going to his hometown, more people were amazed, more than would have been if he had not.
We have an obligation to share the faith wherever we go. If the only Christianity you have is when you come to church, you are missing your purpose. You can go places I cannot go. You can talk to people I would not have the opportunity to talk with. And when you venture outside of the walls of this church and begin to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, people will be amazed and many will come to know Jesus as their personal Savior.
To help you with this, sometimes God has to change the direction of your life so you can catch the attention of others.
What caused the spread of Christianity? It can be followed back to this dispersing caused by the persecution brought about from the martyrdom of Stephen. Jesus said they would first take the message to Jerusalem, and situations provide them with the starter seeds for Judea and Samaria. If they had remained in Jerusalem they would have become ingrown, by dispersing they became the seed for all generations.
In this process, they learned a tough lesson. They had been comfortable in the Temple sharing Jesus with fellow Jews, but now that safety net had been taken away. They were no longer welcomed and with that they were not welcomed as Christian missionaries to Israel.
Things haven’t changed much since then. Christianity is tolerated in Israel but not embraced. Rabbi’s continually try to prevent organizations such as Jews for Jesus to grow and prosper among the Jewish community. A theme park recently opened back east where they show the Old and New Testament. The Jewish community is up in arms because they are so accurate in the presentation of the Old Testament, Jewish people are coming to the park and becoming exposed to Jesus Christ.
B. Sometimes it takes a health problem to change our direction.
Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Vs. 2
Funerals oftentimes are places where people are more open to hearing about Jesus. They have a concern for the one they lost and now are realizing life is not permanent on earth. Death and serious illness open the door to people’s hearts in many cases, but not all. It is at those times Christians can come alongside and weep with those who weep.
I have attended funerals where people make decisions to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. A couple of Laura’s uncles did that at her dad’s funeral. As we mourned the passing, we also rejoiced not only for the knowledge that dad was now in heaven, but that two more would be joining him when they passed into a heavenly eternity.
Many times we don’t understand the purpose of God when someone becomes ill and even dies. We do know that all of us will one day face the finality of life on earth so we will not want to miss the opportunity to make sure we and others are secure in the knowledge of where our address will be when that time comes. You can address all my mail to heaven on that day and I pray you can say the same yourself.
One translation states the devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. This was forbidden in the Jewish Mishna in the case of an executed criminal. It states “Open lamentation being inappropriate for one who has been stoned, burned, beheaded, or strangled under Sanhedrin judgement but allows mourning, for mourning has place in the heart alone.” In essence, the people who were lamenting loudly were voicing their protest to the death of Stephen as being unwarranted
II. Every Past Has Regrets
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Vs. 3
We later come to discuss the transformation of Saul into the Apostle Paul. I am sure on that day he had regrets for the things he did in his past such as we read here. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s purpose and design. It may not have been as earth shaking as Paul, but it was sin all the same. Isn’t it good to know that God can take the heartaches of our lives and bring healing and forgiveness when we ask His assistance.
Here we read the persecution grew as Saul, armed with authority from the priests according to Acts 26:10, is now going from house to house in search of Christians, dragging both men and women from their homes and placing them in prison. We later learn Saul’s anger toward Christians took him outside of Jerusalem to track them down as well.
The Greek word used here, destroy, or ravage, is used only here in the New Testament and in extrabiblical writings is used to describe the destruction of a city and mangling by a wild beast. Saul is literally tearing the church apart. It is no wonder throughout life he is haunted by this event.
III. Persecution develops New Ministries
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Vs. 4
Instead of fearing the persecution, those who had left Jerusalem proudly shared the news of Jesus everywhere they went. In Ballard 101 we teach people are the ministers and here we see the practicality of this principle.
Romans 10:13-15 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
And it says in Acts 4, they preached the word wherever they went. And so it should also be said of us here tonight. We have a message for the world, and we need to get the good news out.
A. The Gospel comes to Samaria.
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. Vs. 5
We are now introduced to the evangelist Philip. We have read his name in Acts 6:5 as one of the seven selected to wait tables on the widows. Now, outside the city of Jerusalem, he is on a missionary journey. In Acts 21:8 he is given the title evangelist, the only man in the Scripture to actually be given the title although we are all called to do the work of the evangelist.
Philip went to a city in Samaria identified by some commentators as the ancient capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel founded by Omri in 1 Kings 16:24. The Samaritans were not embraced by the Israelites, in fact, they had open hostility toward each other. When the Assryians had taken the city in 722 B.C., the people who lived there were resettled in other Assyrian cities and eventually the Jews married with the Gentiles and became known as Samaritans. 2 Kings 17:33 states this about them, They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.
Remember in John 4:44 Jesus announced his Messiahship to a Samaritan woman setting an example for all that He had come not only for the Jews but for all the world, for all sinners.
Philip, following in that example, is now sharing it in the city of Samaria.
B. The Holy Spirit prepares Fertile Soil
When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. Vs. 6-7
I am sure we would experience great joy if we saw the lamb walk and deliverance taking place among the people of Seattle. And you know, we will. And great joy will fill this city. I can hardly wait. It can begin to happen today.
All that was taking place was the responsibility of an obedient man, Philip, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, moving forward in ministry. His teaching resulted in mass evangelism authenticated by the signs and wonders he performed.
The same need for miracles which was prevalent in Philips day is still much in need today. People still need physical and spiritual healing. Demons have not taken a vacation and left earth for distant places. There is still a need for binding and loosing. And when we begin to operate in the realm of spiritual warfare, not only will we see the miraculous healing taking place along with deliverance, but most importantly, we will see people embracing the Cross of Christ and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior which is the best result we could have that will lead to the greatest party we will ever attend.
As we look over these passages tonight, we can see the plans of man, in this case Saul, or nothing when compared to the purposes of God. Saul, far from destroying Christianity by bring persecution, because the means God was using to scatter it to the corners of the world. And Philip, preaching Jesus Christ, unlocks the power of God on the city and the fires of revival have now been flamed.
It provides a great lesson, a masterful blueprint for the church today. Are you ready to venture outside the walls this week and put it into practice?
Feeling Persecuted? Your Not Alone
Ballard Assembly Pastor Bob Briggs Acts 8:1-8 Lesson 19
I. Persecution is to be _____________________________
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered. Acts 8:1b
And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
A. Sometimes we need _____________to change our _________________.
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18 ff.
B. Sometimes it takes a ______________ problem to change our _____________
Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Vs. 2
IV. Every _______________ Has ___________________
But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. Vs. 3
V. Persecution develops ___________________________
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Vs. 4
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:13-15
B. The Gospel comes to ___________________
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. Vs. 5
They feared the Lord and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile. 2 Kings 17:33
B. The Holy Spirit prepares ___________________________
When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. So there was great joy in that city. Vs. 6-7
