The Joy of Living for a Greater Cause
Dawn Sermons in Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture reading: Acts 8:1-8
1 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.
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And 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.
7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.
What’s the worst possible thing that could happen to Zion Church?
In today’s passage, deacon Stephen has just been killed for his faith. And his execution kickstarts a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. So all the church members run to the surrounding regions. And Saul goes from house to house, putting Christians in prison.
All the progress they’ve made until now seem to come to a screeching halt.
If this happened to us at Zion, what would we do? How do we carry on? This sounds like a doomsday scenario, but there are churches going through this today in other parts of the world. And who knows, one day, you or I might be in another country, facing a similar situation.
But here what we see. The physical side of things looks bad. The Christians cannot gather. They’re being taken into prison. Their bright shining deacon Stephen is dead, and the disciples are now separated and on their own.
But the spiritual strength of the disciples now kicks in. All the sermons and prayers up to now. All the notes they took during bible study. These are now the most precious possessions they have.
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
And then the camera zooms in on Philip, who goes to Samaria and preaches the Gospel. And through him, signs and miracles happened. Demons were cast out and people were healed.
8 So there was much joy in that city.
There’s nothing said in this passage about the joy of the disciples. In fact, they were lamenting the injustice of Stephen’s death, the injustice the persecution, and the injustice of what Saul was doing to Christians everywhere.
But I want to build on what we spoke about last week about injustice. The Christian life is never about seeking personal justice, but never ceasing to give it.
As Christians, we’re called to focus on a cause that’s bigger than ourselves. The call to advance the gospel. To build up the church. To lead others to salvation.
And God leads us into situations where we have to let go of ourselves for the joy of others, in the same way Jesus let go of His life, so that we may have joy.
How much joy must’ve come to the city of Samaria. The joy of knowing Jesus, of discovering the freedom of the cross, knowing that justification and a right standing with God comes through faith alone. I’ve seen people’s eyes light up when they realize the truth. A switch flips in them.
God wants to give that joy to people out there. And sometimes, it requires suffering on the part of the saints. Like the devoted men who buried Stephen, we will have reasons to lament and grieve. But I hope our suffering never causes us to lose sight of the greater cause.
Now, was it a bad thing for Stephen to be stoned to death and the church to be persecuted? From one point of view, it’s a terrible thing. The murder of an innocent man. Hundreds of people displaced and put in prison.
But from another point of view, for the people in Samaria, it was the best thing that could happen. They received the Gospel because of it.
Is it a bad thing for an innocent man to be sold into slavery? Of course. But Joseph later confessed that the Lord meant it for good.
The Hebrew doesn’t say that the Lord turned it into good. The Lord didn’t take an evil thing and recycle it into a good thing. We must be clear on this, because this has to do with the character of God. He does not recycle bad events. In His omniscience and His omnipotence, He intends them, foreordains them, and He makes sure that they happen.
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Finally, was the crucifixion of Christ a bad thing or a good thing? It was the worst thing to ever happen in the history of the world. But would you have stopped Him? Would you have told God not to let it happen?
Jesus didn’t seek justice for Himself. Neither did Stephen. And as we’ll see later on in Acts, neither will Paul.
One thing to clarify. We may or may not face injustice. We may or may not face sufferings worth talking about.
But we’re not called to pursue suffering. We’re only called to pursue the mission.
There was a famous early church theologian in the 3rd century, named Origen. His father was going to be martyred for the faith. And he also wanted to be a martyr so badly that he almost joined his father. In the end, he didn’t go because his mother hid his clothes.
So if you don’t suffer while doing God’s work, there’s no need to feel bad or guilty about it. Just give thanks.
We can compare between Stephen and Philip. They were both deacons, appointed in Acts 6.
Their roles were to help with the daily distribution of food among the church members. But as you can see, neither of them limited their service to just that.
Like Stephen, Philip put in the time and effort to learn how to preach and teach the Gospel. And here, his effort bears fruit.
And by the time we reach Acts 21, Philip isn’t called Deacon Philip anymore. He’s settled in Caesarea, and he’s now called Philip the Evangelist.
8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.
There’s no description of hardship or suffering in Philip’s ministry. Only faithful service. And he was blessed with four faithful daughters. But Philip gave himself to for the cause of the Gospel.
So whether or not we face any persecution and hardship for the sake of the Gospel, I hope we will live for the greatest cause in the world.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
