While the church is persecuted, they scatter, spreading the gospel (Acts 8:1-4)

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Do you think of perseverance? I am a student of history. Churchill shared:

An address at Harrow School, October 29, 1941: “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never give in.” Then he sat down.

—Winston Churchill[1]

How about another example:

David McCullough writes about John Adams:

John Adams, had work to do, a public trust to uphold. The science of government was his duty; the art of negotiation must take precedence. Then, in a prophetic paragraph that would be quoted for generations within the Adams family and beyond, he wrote:

“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.”[2]

We are looking at a passage in which Saul is still persecuting the church. Yet, the church is spreading the Gospel. They persevered.

My theme today is:

While the church is persecuted, they scatter, spreading the gospel.

  1. In Acts 8:1-3 we see the persecution.

Acts 8:1–3 (ESV)

Saul Ravages the Church

8 And 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. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

AND IT CAME TO PASS…

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” — Martin Luther

During a Sunday class the question was asked, “In your time of discouragement, what is your favourite Scripture?”

A young man said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” Psalm 23:1. A middle age woman said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” Psalm 46:1. Another woman said, “In this world you shall have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome this world” John 16:33-35.

Then old Mr. John who was 80 years old, with head of white hair and dark black skin, stood up and said with as much strength as he could muster, “It says, ‘And it came to pass…’ 85 times in the Bible.” The class started to laugh a little, thinking that old Mr. John’s lack of memory was getting the best of him.

When the snickering stopped, he said, “At 30, I lost my job with six hungry mouths and a wife to feed. I didn’t know how I would make it. At 40, my eldest son was killed overseas in the war. It knocked me down. At 50, my house burned to the ground. Nothing was saved out of the house. At 60, my wife of 40 years got cancer. It slowly ate away at her. We cried together many a night on our knees in prayer. At 65, she died. I still miss her today.

“The agony I went through in each of these situations was unbelievable. I wondered where was God. But each time I looked in the bible I saw one of those 85 verses that said, ‘And it came to pass’ I felt that God was telling me, my pain and my circumstances were also going to pass and that God would get me through it.”[3]

  1. How did we get to this passage?
  2. Two weeks ago, we talked about Stephen.
  3. In Acts 6, Stephen was chosen as a deacon.
  4. In Acts 6:8-15 Stephen is falsely accused.
  5. Then, in Acts 7, Stephen gives a powerful defense. It was so powerful that he was stoned to death.
  6. That brings us to Acts 8:1. They stoned him to death, and Saul approved of the execution.
  7. In the previous verses, we see that they laid their cloaks at Saul’s feet.
  8. Before we move on, verse 2 discusses people mourning over Stephen’s death. That is important. He was in heaven, but there is a time to mourn.
  9. So, Paul, called Saul, is introduced. Quite an introduction, right?
  10. We know Paul, don’t we?
  11. Sometimes, Bible writers will introduce someone who will be very important later on. Luke is doing that right here with Saul/Paul. In the next chapter, Saul will be saved. Why is he called Paul later?
  12. I believe Paul is a gentile name, and Saul is a Jewish name.
  13. He will be called to be an apostle to the Gentiles, so it seems that we mainly see his gentile name.
  14. The people scatter.

Look at verse 1: 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.

  1. The people scattered, but they scattered with the Gospel. Acts 8:1 uses a word for scattering seeds. So, the people scattered because of the persecution, but they planted seeds with the Gospel.
  2. This is the shot heard around the world, meaning that the early disciples spread the Gospel. God used this to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles and now to us. Praise God.
  3. Another thought:
  4. The apostles stayed in Jerusalem.
  5. Jerusalem was the home base. The leaders stay in the home base while the rest spread out.
  6. But they originally did not spread out to share the gospel.
  7. They spread out because of the persecution.
  8. Look again at verse 3: But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
  9. Saul is ravaging the church. He is going from house to house. He is dragging people off to put them in prison.
  10. The people are scattering with the gospel. But don’t miss this. This is the introduction to one of the greatest minds and evangelists of church history.
  11. Many years ago, I was serving as an associate pastor in Cincinnati. I was the coordinator of an interfaith clergy group. We came together to support an interfaith food and clothing shelter. This was interfaith, which means different religious groups were present. One day, a rabbi who taught at Hebrew-Union University spoke to our group. He said that Paul was the most influential man of the last 2000 years. So, here we have a rabbi, a non-believer, giving much credit to Paul. But this is how he is introduced.
  12. Paul is “ravaging” the church.
  13. Paul was like the terrorist.
  14. No one is too far for Jesus to save.
  15. In Acts 9, he will be saved.
  16. Several years ago, I read a New York Times article about how a former ISIS leader was now leading worship at a Canadian church. Wow! The writer could not figure out what changed this man. Sure, he could write about the events, but could not figure out what changed his heart. The Holy Spirit changes people. That happens with Paul.
  17. But for now, the church scatters.
  18. They scatter with the gospel.
  19. They later started the church of Antioch; we don’t know who started that church; it was not an apostle. It was a lay-driven movement. God brought it about because of persecution. The church of Antioch became a major sending church. In Acts 13:1-3, Paul and Barnabas are sent out from that church, but it seems that the church was started as a response to the persecution.
  20. They scatter with the gospel.

Close:

So, study and be ready to give an answer boldly as Stephen did. Plant seeds of the Gospel everywhere you go and mourn the death of Christian brothers and sisters. Lastly, be encouraged as God is at work.

Prayer

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 438.

[2] McCullough, David. John Adams (p. 286). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

[3] (From a sermon by Stephen Sheane, The Table of Shewbread, 5/25/2011)

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