The Sanhedrin Strikes Back

Have you ever thought about the difference between a farmer and a cook?

A farmer raises the plants we look forward to eating. They spend weeks plowing soil, giving it nutrients, then planting seeds. They spend months pulling weeds and fighting off bugs as and pests they try to protect their plants. They spend months watching it grow, all the while putting it all on the line and hoping for the right temperatures, the right amount of sun, and the right amount of rain.

Then comes the harvest. More days and weeks of picking vegetables and grains and sorting it and cleaning it and tossing out what is unusable. Then they load it on to trucks and send it off to companies or markets to sell.

Then comes the meal. The cook spends a few hours, maybe a day at most, prepping the meal. They stick it in an oven or in a skillet or pot. Then in a few hours, they present the food for us to eat.

We, as consumers, sit down to eat. We look over the great food before us, and we bow our heads to pray. And we say, “Lord, bless the hands that prepared this meal.” Why? Because the cook is the star of our show. It’s our mom or our grandma or our dad or whomever that gets all the praise for the wonderful meal that was cooked.

But what about the farmer? We don’t often pray “Lord bless the farmer who nurtured this potato and kept the pests away and got it on the truck and to our table.” No, because we don’t know him or her. We do know grandma and she can make a mean mashed potato. So we thank God for her.

Here’s the thing. The farmer isn’t expecting our gratitude. His goal is not to feed one family but to feed the masses. He or she knows their goal is to provide food for a lot of people without being thanked or recognized.

That’s how it is when it comes to spreading the Gospel. It takes many of us talking about Jesus without getting much credit. It takes farmers and cooks to complete the meal. It takes all of us as believers to spread the message of Jesus. We all have a part to play.

As we get to Acts 8, we see that very thing in action. Stephen has just been killed for preaching Jesus. Yet, instead of silencing Christians, it only led to the Gospel spreading even farther than before.

READ Acts 8:1-8

Acts 8:1–8 ESV

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. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 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. 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. So there was much joy in that city.

I want to let you know that as we pick up the story here at the beginning of chapter 8, it’s in the immediate aftermath of Stephen’s death. From the second half of Acts 6 all the way until these first few verses of Acts 8, it all takes place on the same day.

What a difference a day makes. At the beginning of the day, Stephen is in the temple preaching Jesus and performing miracles. People are coming and being healed and being saved by the power of Jesus.

The crowds are excited to see this power and hear this message. I’m sure many are grateful for the healings he’s giving. All seemed to be going well.

Then comes the Synagogue of the Freedmen and their debates which went nowhere. Then came the lies, the accusations, the arrest, the trial, the conviction, and the execution of Stephen by stoning.

The same crowd that came and wanted to be healed. The same crowd that probably cheered over someone walking again turned on Stephen. They cheered on his death as he was pelted with stones. Some probably threw some rocks themselves.

It’s why I worry and fear about churches who compromise biblical truth to accept sin to fit in with our culture. Not only are they heretical in their teachings and unbiblical in what they preach, but the same crowd that cheers them now will one day turn against them.

That’s why it’s so important that we, as a body of believers, continue to lean upon scriptural convictions and continue to preach and teach according to God‘s word. Because ultimately the only one we’re here to please is the Lord Jesus Christ.

We’re not here to win a popularity contest or to attract the biggest crowd. We’re here to witness to the power of Jesus and tell people how Jesus can change their life. At the end of the day, I am here to please Jesus and not our culture and not the people around us because I know that only Jesus promises to be with us forever and ever and ever.

READ Isaiah 41:10

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jesus is always there. Even when things go wrong fast. And for Stephen and the early Christians, it all changed just like that. (Snap)

Look at what Luke says in the second part of verse one. “And there arose ON THAT DAY a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.”

But even in that, we will see the triumph of Jesus. Jesus uses his people to spread his message.

The Gospel spreads in times of persecution

In that day, a great persecution arose against the church. Saul, the same man who held the cloaks of the men who stoned Stephen, began to ravage the church

Luke used a term that relates to an animal attacking its prey. Saul seeks to rip the church apart. He wants to destroy it.

It says that he went house to house to pull out Christians. That means Saul was going from house church to house church, and as they were worshiping Jesus, he would take them out of their houses and put them under arrest.

And this persecution led to many of the Christians fleeing the city of Jerusalem. It says many were scattered except the apostles.

I think it’s easy to look at this passage and say why are the leaders staying behind? The apostles remained behind to continue to proclaim Jesus to the Jewish people. They stayed where persecution was the greatest.

And we know that it’s going to get worse. In just a few chapters, we will read that James is beheaded for sharing the Gospel and Peter is arrested with the same intent.

So first let’s recognize the courage and the boldness of the apostles to stay behind.

But let’s also recognize that as the people flee, Christians enter into places they had yet to enter. Places like Samaria.

Before this moment, Christianity largely existed in Jerusalem. After this moment, it went global. Finally Jesus’s word in Acts 1 are starting to take shape.

READ Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

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.”

God used a tragedy to spread the word of Jesus globally.

We don’t like persecution. I don’t think anyone sits around excited by the prospect of persecution. Yet, we see here that persecution causes the Gospel to thrive.

We tend to think the opposite of that. That when faced with great persecution, people leave the church and it declines. But the truth is when faced with persecution, the church usually thrives. And that’s not limited to the first century.

A group called International Christian Concern released their 2026 report. And in this report they noted that the church is thriving in places of great persecution.

In Iran, the house church movement is one of the fastest growing underground church movements in the world. This despite the fact that converts from Islam are arrested, jailed, and executed under blasphemy and national-security statutes.

In China, registered churches must promote Communism. So many congregations gather secretly in homes and online through encrypted services. All of this while being strictly monitored by the state.

In India, 13 of their 28 states have passed anti-conversion laws. More than 1,100 Christians in India have been driven from their homes and they have recorded 276 cases of physical or mental abuse.

"Yet,” researchers wrote, “amid repression, faith continues to grow." Christians are meeting in private homes, remote villages and even online and report increases in conversions and discipleship.

And in perhaps one of the most repressive places in the world, North Korea, small underground church networks operate "entirely in darkness," but they continue to hold services, conduct radio broadcasts and smuggle in materials.

In America, we don’t face that kind of persecution. I thank God for that. But it’s also a reminder to me that when I feel a vail of opposition, it should spurn me on to live out my faith even louder and stronger than before.

When we face persecution, we face an opportunity to stand up for Christ and spread the message of Jesus. I’ve told you before, opposition is not a reason to stop proclaiming Christ. It’s an opportunity to continue proclaiming Christ. Satan wants to stop the spread of the Gospel, but Jesus cannot be stopped.

We see that here in Acts 8. The persecution caused many to scatter, and as they did, they became seeds for the Gospel.

They talked about Jesus as they were going and as they were fleeing Jerusalem. They didn’t get scared and not talk about Jesus. They just kept talking about Jesus as they scattered out of the city.

The Apostles stayed behind. So these are regular, ordinary Christians.

The Gospel spreads when ordinary Christians talk about Jesus.

Previously, the Hellenist Jews complained that their widows did not receive fair treatment in the distribution of food. Now, it is the Hellenist Jews taking Jesus beyond the walls of Jerusalem.

Verse 4 and 5 use two different words in the Greek. In the King James Version, it interprets both words as “preach,” but they are not the same word. It’s why the ESV uses two different words: “preach” in verse 4 and “proclaim” in verse 5. But even that still confuses us as we read the passage.

The word used in verse 4 of the people preaching the Gospel as they are scattered is a word that can be translated as “gossip.” They gossiped about the Gospel.

You know what gossip is. Generally that’s a bad thing. It’s a sin to gossip about others. I want you to know that. We generally ignore that sin in the Bible, but gossiping is a sin and if you are a gossip, you need to repent of your sin and change your ways. Jesus isn’t happy about that.

But in this case, it’s the idea of someone telling others about Jesus. Like you would as you are gossiping. “Do you know what I heard about Jesus? He rose from the dead. He’s God in the flesh. He saved my life.” They are “gossiping” about Jesus and telling people what they know conversationally.

As believers in Jesus, we are all capable of conversationally telling people about Jesus. In fact, I would argue you are called to do that by Jesus. Not everyone is called out to preach Jesus. Some of you might be. I pray for that. But not everyone is called for the role of preaching. All our called to witness.

The Gospel spread far and wide because ordinary Christians talked about Jesus. Plain and simple. But it didn’t stop there.

In verse 5, we read that Philip went down to Samaria and proclaimed Christ to the people. The word uses there would best be interpreted “to herald.” Philip comes down and formally preaches to the Samaritan people. It’s what you think about when you hear or read the word “preach.”

He preaches message about Jesus to the Samaritan people. Philip’s missionary sojourn into Samaria marks the first time a city outside of Jerusalem saw a concentrated Christian effort.

The Samaritans were considered half-breeds by the Jewish people. When the Assyrians conquered Israel, they deported them and forced them to intermarry with pagan culture. These people became known as Samaritans.

They weren’t quite Jewish. They weren’t quite Gentile. And thus they became a bridge between the two people for Jesus. They received the Gospel and soon others, who were fully Gentile, would receive Christ.

Philip went where none of his contemporaries had gone. Only Jesus himself had previously ministered to the Samaritan people. But Philip faithfully went to preach to the Samaritans.

The Gospel spreads through faithful followers of Jesus

It’s noteworthy that just like in Jerusalem, God granted Philip great power to display his witness. Demons were driven out of people. Paralytic people were healed and able to walk again. First, it was just the apostles. Then Stephen. Now Philip.

The miracles didn’t save them. The Gospel did. The miracle enabled them to hear the message of Jesus. They heard that message and responded by repenting of their sin and trusting Christ as Savior and Lord.

The Gospel does not discriminate. There are no half-breeds. There are no Jews and Gentiles. They are only people in need of a savior to forgive their sins and welcome them into the kingdom of God.

What did the angels say at the birth of Jesus?

READ Luke 2:10

Luke 2:10 ESV

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

All the people included the Samaritans. It includes you. It includes me. And we see that because Philip was obedient to share the Gospel through his preaching.

READ Romans 10:14

Romans 10:14 ESV

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So here’s what we learn.

It takes all of us to spread the Gospel.

It takes going out of our comfort zone, out of our Jerusalem, out of our house to share the Gospel of Jesus. It takes ordinary regular Christians to do that. It takes us going out and talking about Jesus and inviting folks to new life in Jesus. And it takes pastors too. It takes people preaching the message of Jesus. It takes all of us.

What a great example for us here in Acts 8. As we go, we preach Christ. As we face crisis, we preach Christ. As we travel, we preach Christ.

Too many of us take a vacation from Jesus on vacation. We take a break from Jesus when we go to work. We leave Jesus behind when we go to school.

We are to talk about Jesus everywhere we go and with everyone we encounter.

Remember, back in Acts 1, we talked about the role Jesus has for us and his disciples. We are to be witnesses of Jesus and what he has done. That doesn’t mean you have to be an eloquent preacher or know everything there is to know about the Bible. It means you witness to what he has done in your life and you tell others that truth.

We are to be witnesses for Jesus wherever we go, no matter the reason for us going. A work trip. A vacation. A trip to the salon. A doctor visit. A walk around the block of our neighborhood.

Want a great way to spend 30 minutes this week? Go on a walk in your neighborhood. Pray as you pass each house. Pray for that family, for their problems, for an opportunity to meet them and get to know them, and ultimately for their salvation. You are getting exercise, which you doctor will like, and you are lifting up your neighbors to Jesus. If you want a bonus, bring your dogs with you. Then everyone is getting something out of it.

Talk to them as you pass them by. The other people walking or biking or grilling. Have a conversation with them. Don’t be afraid.

Just this past week I was out in my neighborhood. You know what I noticed? A lot of families and kids have moved into my neighborhood. A few years ago, that wasn’t the case. Now it is. I have a whole neighborhood full of families who need to hear the Gospel of Jesus.

I’ve told you before that parents of special needs families feel isolated and unable to worship as a family. What if we offered them a safe place to do that? They won’t know if we won’t go.

Let’s leave this Jerusalem and spread the Gospel as we go. Don’t complain about facing hardships. Use it to further the message of Jesus. Don’t worry about what you don’t know. Just gossip about Jesus. And as you go, invite them to hear the message of Jesus.

Because look at what it says about Samaria at the end. There was so much joy in that city.

What a comparison. The city of Jerusalem becomes chaotic as Christians are driven out. The city in Samaria has joy because the Gospel of Christ has come.

There is joy in knowing Jesus. There is joy in sharing Jesus. We have that joy. We are called to spread it.

Let’s pray.