Everyone is Responsible
Acts 8:1b-4; 11:19-21
Everyone Is Responsible!
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
…Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
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arly in the history of the churches a grievous error was introduced – the churches were segregated. That division was heretical, separating the people of God into classes, an action foreign to the mind of God. Partitioning has been perpetuated until this very hour and day. In the view of those who promote this division a distinction is drawn between men gifted of God to conduct public ministry and believers who may be gifted in other, less visible ways. Today, we witness the fruit of this evil. The preacher in a modern congregation is separate from the people, and we speak of clergy and laity. All churches are affected by this error to greater or lesser degree. Even our own Baptist people, a people of the Book, are not immune to the evil of which I speak.
As result of the error of dividing the church, we witness a number of hurts derived from this singular evil. The error of an ecclesiastical hierarchy is one result of division within the churches. The concept that we require “princes of the church” is foreign to the New Testament, arising only late in history. The idea of a pontifical office resulted from the artificial division within the churches. The thought that a power clique was necessary would ring hollow in the ears of a saint in one of the New Testament churches. Perhaps the greatest injury resulting from separation of pulpit and pew is the reduction of worship to a spectator event. Today, we look upon the clergy as professionals serving within a kind of religious union. Indeed, the ministry is seen as something of a guild into which admission is guaranteed upon completion of a seminary education. Consequently, religious service becomes artificial. We look upon the clergy as professionals whom we pay to perform our religious obligations. The concept of a paid professional priesthood results from the artificial cleavage which was early introduced.
Each child of God, without exception, has received a gift from the Holy Spirit. At the time of salvation each believer – each saved individual – is equipped to build up saints within a particular Body and placed within that congregation where God would have him serve. Those gifts the Spirit distributed are to be exercised within the Body of Christ, the local church wherein He placed that believer. In the church, everyone is responsible to participate in the life of the church and to advance the cause of Christ. Thus, if any member of the Body fails to exercise the gifts received, all suffer.
In the texts which lie open before us this day we see an account of the persecution of the church which first began under a brilliant, enraged, Jewish theologue named Saul who hailed from Tarsus. What is valuable for us who are Christians at the close of the Twentieth Century is the observation of the response of the churches to that persecution. Join me in exploration of the account of the first great persecution, noticing especially those responses which will serve us yet to this day.
The First Truth is that Christians Share Alike in All Things — Christians are not rugged individualists of North American mythology. We Christians are united in a community, sharing all aspects of the Faith with fellow believers in the congregations wherein we are placed. Notice verse three of the text: Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison [Acts 8:3].
Why was Saul the destroyer was going from house to house? Simply put, he was going where the people were concentrated. There were no church buildings for nearly three hundred years after our Lord’s ascension. The first believers met in their homes; they had no church buildings in which to meet. Their meetings were models of simplicity (lost in our modern facilities). They met together to minister to one another. They sang hymns together. They read the Scriptures together. They ministered to each other. The preachers (prophets in the biblical sense of the word) expounded the Scriptures so that all would be built up. Always ministry was in the context of the house church, however. These believers shared their lives in the truest sense, even to the sharing of their houses.
That the early believers met in the houses of the membership is evident from even a casual reading of the Word. Consider the following verses; Greet also the church that meets at their house [Romans 16:5]; Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house [1 Corinthians 16:19]; Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house [Colossians 4:15]; To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home [Philemon 2].
Not only did these first saints meet in their homes, but also they were denoted especially for sharing with the Body what they possessed. Dr. Luke notes in Acts 4:32-35, All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. The early church was a fellowship, a koinonia of the truest sort.
I would not make a plea that we must share our possessions, though I would caution against withholding the same if we know a fellow believer to be in need. I would focus attention on the fact that these early saints were richer for holding the things of this life loosely. It is perhaps those commodities which are most easily overlooked and which they shared that we should focus on today. Too often we come together in this building, go through the motions we call worship, and leave frustrated because we have not experienced fellowship either with God or with brother Christians. The church building can be a most sterile environment if we are not careful to guard against such sterility.
There are aspects of sharing which are easily neglected or purposefully ignored which are vital to the health of the congregation and to the cause of Christ. Note that Members of the Body share persecution and hardship. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Did you imagine that the pressures resulting from a hostile world would fall unduly on the shoulders of those who are most easily identified as Christian spokesmen? Because the saints of God love one another deeply from the heart, they cannot but be identified as followers of Jesus. This is the promise of our Master: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another [John 13:35].
The Roman officials sent spies to investigate the early Christians. Tertullian wrote that when the spies reported to the Roman emperors, they said something like this: “These Christians are strange folk. They have no idols; but they speak of One who is absent and seem to expect His return momentarily. And, behold, how they love Him, and how they love one another!” That love was seen in no small measure in those early days in the fact that those first believers shared persecution and hardship.
Early in the history of the churches an unknown author wrote these words. Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathised with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions [Hebrews 10:32-34]. They shared hardship and persecution.
Members of the Body share responsibilities and labours. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went … Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. This is the second area of sharing which is too frequently overlooked or forgotten on purpose.
I am your pastor; my gifts lie in the area of teaching and prophecy. How desperately do I need the ministry of people gifted with faith – not faith which speaks but does nothing of consequence, but faith which encourages and strengthens others. How desperately do we all need among us those gifted to be generous, to be merciful, to wisely administer the work of the assembly, to tenderly care for the injuries of God’s people, to pray in faith and to instruct in righteousness. The work of the church is too great to rely on one person; all alike must share responsibilities and labours. How else will the world see Christ among us unless we reveal Him through our united labours?
Perhaps we need to be reminded that careful reading of the Word reveals that God’s ideal is a church which reflects the fullness of Christ the Lord. The Spirit of God places within each congregation whom He pleases, gifting each as He determines, though each is gifted for the common good. The intent of this divine action is clearly that together we will reveal to the watching world the character of Jesus. That is the import of these words: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it [1 Corinthians 12:27]. We are together the Body of Christ, and we must strive to reveal Him in His glory.
We will only reveal Christ in all His glory as we labour together and as we assume together the responsibility to advance His cause. Those who had been scattered (everyone except the preachers) preached the Word wherever they went. Those who had been scattered (everyone except the preachers) were … telling the message. Twice, Doctor Luke writes with great care to insure that we understand that all preached, that all witnessed.
The entire church, save the preachers, eujaggelizovmenoi, evangelised! It was a clear case of every member evangelism. The marching orders for believers is given by Jesus: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age [Matthew 28:19-20]. Each Christian must be a preacher; every Christian must be a witness; all must evangelise. To this we are called.
Members of the Body share rewards and commendations. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Job spoke volumes when he stated: Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him [Job 13:15]. God is worthy of our worship and our service because He is God. We serve Him, not for what we might receive, but because He is God and as God He is worthy of our best effort and fullest love. Yet it is true that God does not forget His people. There is always a reward reserved for those who serve the Lord God.
In the text, and in the experience of God’s people, the first reward is the knowledge that the Lord’s hand was with them. The presence of the Lord is the greatest reward we can ever receive. The Psalmist has written:
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken
[Psalm 16:8].
The presence of God is a reward, and in a few verses David stated:
You have made known to me the path of life
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand
[Psalm 16:11].
How we long for the Lord’s hand with us! Too long have we toiled in our own strength! Too long have we contented ourselves with the husks rejected by swine when all along there awaited us joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand. When we share in the responsibilities and the labours of His work, and when we share in the persecution and hardships experienced by His people, we are confident that we shall also share in the rewards and commendations He gives.
The scattered believers had as well this rich reward which is lacking in our experience: a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. If we have not many turning to the Faith, it is likely an evidence that we have not witnessed to many, for if we sow the seed we shall reap a harvest. This is the promise of God!
Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him
[Psalm 126:5-6].
We need the encouragement of the Word which promises: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up [Galatians 6:9]. Isn’t it about time we applied a biblical standard to our services, seeing added to the church daily those who were being saved? The rewards follow the faithful acceptance of the responsibility and the labour assigned by the Master.
Applications for Our Congregation — This is a message for the community of faith. You who do not know Christ will find the message of scant value except as it confronts you in your sin and calls you to repent and believe the message of life. You who make no commitment to the Body of Christ will be unaffected by the message until you commit yourselves to something greater than yourselves – the cause of Christ and His Body. Certainly I invite the lost to salvation in Christ and assuredly I invite the hesitant to identify with Christ in believer’s baptism as He has commanded, and unquestionably I call the reticent to place life and heart in the fellowship of the assembly; but the great applications of the message are for those who are both redeemed and committed to serving Christ through the fellowship of His church. The applications speak of that which we must become as members of the Body of Christ.
Every Member Must Determine to Serve With the Strength God Provides. This is the first great application. There is an awful pressure resident among us to treat our salvation in a casual manner, as though it was a form of fire insurance. Delivered from judgement, we are pressured to now live our lives as we will instead of discovering the will of the Master. I must not permit any Christian to think it possible to maintain control over life even while calling Christ “Lord”. If He is Lord, His mastery will be evident in our life. If He is Master, it will be seen in our submission to His will. The will of Christ is that we serve one another in love with the strength God gives.
We need to remember that Jesus came to serve [Matthew 20:28], even taking upon Himself the very nature of a servant [Philippians 2:7]. In the same way we are to be servants to one another [Mark 9:35]. Paul, writing in Galatians 5:13, commands believers: serve one another in love. Likewise, Peter, in his first letter, insists that each believer must use whatever gift … received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms [1 Peter 4:10].
Fellow saint, when God saved you He placed His Spirit within you and gifted you with a gift to be employed to His glory in building up your fellow saints. If you fail to exercise that gift you are guilty of spiritual prostitution, squandering the gift of God on your own desire instead of employing that gift as He intended. You are to do the work He assigned with vigour, and not in a haphazard fashion.
How arresting is the pronouncement of God through Jeremiah!
A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!
[Jeremiah 48:10]
How else shall we understand this except to realise that God views seriously our attitude toward performance of our duties? You who refuse to invest life and heart in service to Christ, what will you say when He calls you to account? You who treat His call with disdain, how will you answer when He reviews your life and service?
May I recommend that if you are a Christian you are responsible to make your life count; and the manner in which your life will count is as you invest life and heart in the work God has called you to perform. That work is easily discovered; it is the work for which He has gifted you and the work to which He has appointed each believer. The work for which He has gifted you is that unique work which you alone can perform among the people of God. If you fail to labour with the strength He provides, the Body is weakened and impoverished because of your failure. If you fail to perform your duties, the entire Body is injured because of your thoughtless, selfish attitude. The work to which He has appointed each believer is the work of fulfilling the Great Commission of discipling all and incorporating them into the fellowship of believers and there building them up through teaching the truths Christ commanded. If you are not building the Body you are destroying the work of Christ. Therefore, let every member know that we are responsible to labour where He places us to the praise of His glory.
Every Member Must Become a Witness to God’s Work in His or Her Life. Disciples witnessed to the grace of God wherever they were in the apostolic church. Preachers of my acquaintance are generally active in speaking of their Faith – some more so than others. I am glad, however, that when the early church was scattered by the persecution which arose around Stephen, that the preachers stayed in Jerusalem and that it was the laity so-called – everyone except the preachers – who were forced to leave the city. The witnessing which followed cannot be the result of professional activity; it was the simple testimony of men and women who could not be silent concerning Christ and the salvation which they had received through faith in Him.
You cannot read the Commission which Jesus gave without being struck by the fact that it is inclusive of each member of the Body. Listen to the Commission in its multiple forms as it is given throughout the Gospels and Acts. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age [Matthew 28:19-20]. Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned [Mark 16:15-16]. This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things [Luke 24:46-48]. Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” [John 20:21]. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth [Acts 1:8].
Do you believe Jesus died because of your sin and raised from the dead? You are commanded to be His witness. Have you received His salvation? You are commanded to be His witness. At issue is a basic understanding of our place in the world. We are not commanded to wait until we are polished as spokesmen of Christ, although it is a good thing to prepare ourselves to be effective in our witness. We are not commanded to obtain great knowledge concerning the underlying theology of salvation, although it is a good thing to obtain all the knowledge possible. We are commanded to speak of that which we know to be true, endeavouring to win as many as possible to faith in Christ.
Commanded to be silent concerning the death of Jesus and His resurrection, and commanded to be silent concerning the salvation which resides in Him as the Risen Lord of Glory, Peter and the other Apostles replied: We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him [Acts 5:29-32]. We are responsible to the Spirit Who dwells within to declare what we know to be true. Then, let us do what we must and be witnesses.
Every Member Must Become a Preacher, Trumpeting the Preached Word. Though each of us need not occupy a pulpit, nor need each of us find a street corner to occupy, the message of Christ declared from this pulpit must be multiplied throughout our land, being declared in each workplace represented within our congregation, being proclaimed in each home represented within this congregation, and being published through each voice represented among us. If we will apply the biblical model we will each declare Christ. If we will apply the biblical model, we will each become heralds of the Faith.
I suppose that most of us, if we are not careful, can focus on our pet thoughts: Don’t do this! Don’t do that! The Message of Christ is not “do” or “don’t” … it is “done”! The Message of Christ is “Live!” The world about us rushes toward a Christless Hell because we act as though we have no message to declare. The early church had a message; that message turned the world upside down. Our message has the same power … if it is declared. Among the people of God I hear a great deal concerning love, or I hear about program; I hear everything except Christ! Some seem to want to impress the preacher and they tell that they will invite someone to church someday. You wonder why they never come? Someday never comes. Give those about you a message of life!
Christ died for your sin. You caused the death of the Holy Son of God. He did not stay dead; death could not hold Him, for He broke the bands of death and raised from the tomb. The message of life is this: if you will trust Him, the Risen Lord of Life, He will forgive you of all sin, set you free from the power of sin and give you a new life.
Listen to the message Peter declared. Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.
Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways
[Acts 3:12-26].
Listen to the message of Paul. We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
“You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”
The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words:
“I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised
to David.” So it is stated elsewhere:
“You will not let your Holy One see decay.”
For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.
Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the Law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:
“Look, you scoffers,
wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe,
even if someone told you”
[Acts 13:32-41].
This is the message of Philip as he told the Ethiopian official the Good News about Jesus [Acts 8:32-39]. It is the message of Stephen as he calmly confronted the enraged mob of religious zealots [Acts 7:52-60]. This Good News about Jesus is a message worth telling and a message worth hearing. It is a message which will transform lives. The message of the Cross of Christ has transformed the lives of multitudes both in that day and in this day – if only it is declared! The first disciples were accused of turning the world upside down [Acts 17:6 NRSV]. That powerful message transformed lives, set captives free, enriched the impoverished, strengthened the feeble, destroyed empires, made good men out of evil men, purified the immoral, and glorified the God of Heaven and earth. That message is the same message which is entrusted to you and to me today.
What is your message? What do people hear when they are around you for just a short while? What do you communicate? Don’t tell me you don’t want to be judgmental. We are each judgmental whether we like it or not. You judge the quality of milk you drink. You judge the abilities of the mechanic who works on your car. You judge the wisdom of your physician with each diagnosis he renders. Each of us constantly judges. Declare the message of the Cross. You won’t be judgmental; the Cross itself will judge.
May I say that we have a great task entrusted to us, and our vision for this town must embrace fulfilling that task. Each member must determine to serve with the strength God provides. This means that each of us must discover what God has done in gifting him or her and them exercise that ministry to the glory of God. This means taking initiative and refusing to wait until invited. This means assuming responsibility for oneself and ceasing waiting on others. Each member must accept the responsibility to be a witness to the grace of God and the salvation of Christ. Each of us can determine that we will speak to one person each week to invite them to consider Christ and to be saved. Each of us can arm ourselves with a tract, with a Bible, and give that literature to someone with a prayer that God will bless our loving concern. Each member must study the Word to discover what God has said, and knowing the mind of God declare that mind so that the world about us will be without excuse. As must as lies within each of us, we must accept responsibility to insure that no one in our ken is ignorant of the call of God.
I give you a worthy vision for the church. It is a vision in which each member realises that God has gifted him or her and each knows what God has done in their life. It is a vision in which the members of this congregation are committed to one another and committed to Christ and willing to invest life and heart to see sinners saved. It is a vision in which we witness and pray and labour to see the building filled to the glory of God. We are not in competition with other congregations, but we will ask that God make them long to possess the same zeal He gives us. The vision I would promote is a vision in which we determine that we will each be responsible for our ministry and we will each labour to win the lost and we will each speak to others until no sinner in this town can claim ignorance of the call of God. May God bring this to pass. Amen.