Sermon Tone Analysis
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INTRODUCTION
A few days ago was Thanksgiving.
What a great spread of food and time with family.
A great day to spend in thanks to God for the abundant blessings of friends, family, and His provision in our lives.
Among the blessings we get to celebrate, our salvation is at the top of the list.
Jesus the Christ… God in the flesh… lived among His own creation.
He showed God’s love through unconditional kindness and sacrifice.
Yet, despite His concern for others, many people hated Him because He did not conform to their standards and expectations.
He was not the Messiah they thought they needed.
So they had Him killed.
And the hatred and violence did not stop there.
Anyone associated with Him, who would not stop preaching in His name, felt the wrath of the crowds as well.
Read Acts 8:1-8
The Beginning Of Mass Christian Persecution (v.
1-3)
And Saul approved of his execution.
Saul guarded the garments of those killing Stephen, the first recorded martyr in the Bible.
This shows that he was not merely a passive bystander, but an active participant in the beginning of this great persecution against Christians.
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.
The martyrdom of Stephen was the spark that ignited the fuse for persecution against the church.
It exploded when Saul, among others, entered house after house and dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
These verses don’t really give justice to the depth of violence and hate that existed in this persecution.
Acts 22:4-5
I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness.
From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
Acts 26:9-11
I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And I did so in Jerusalem.
I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Paul’s zeal to carry out the orders given to him by the chief priests emphasized the official rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the Jewish people; but more importantly, it led to the gospel going out from Jerusalem.
The scattering of disciples from Jerusalem with the gospel would also lend itself to more persecution to come.
For instance, between A.D. 64 and 313, there were 10 great persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire.
So we take it that the gospel message did not stop spreading.
Disciples were faithfully sharing the good news.
And the rule seems to be that the more there is persecution against Christians, the more the gospel spreads
The Spread Of The Gospel (v.
4-7)
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
Even though Saul and the Jewish leaders violently opposed the preaching of the Word, God has sovereign control over all matters.
And there is no way to silence His Word in the world.
Acts 12:24 - after Herod was judged for not giving glory to God
But the word of God increased and multiplied.
Acts 19:20 - after many Ephesians burned their books about magical arts
So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Biblical disciples recognize the power of God’s Word and the importance of telling others about it, and no amount of persecution will silence them.
Acts 5:40-42
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
The easy thing to do when you meet resistance is to allow it to stop you.
In the case of the gospel ministry, resistance can be (not always) a sign that you are doing the right thing.
What a great opportunity it is to suffer for Christ!
Philippians 3:10
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Like Paul, are we seeking to know Christ and the power of his resurrection?
More imminently, are we seeking to share in his sufferings?
Jesus suffered greatly so that we could be saved.
Many disciples suffered greatly or were killed so that many more could hear the truth of the gospel.
Tertullian - early church father, c. 155-222
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
Basically he was saying that the spread and growth of the church happens quicker when people are willing to (and ultimately) give their lives for the sake of telling people the good news of Jesus Christ.
Despite the great persecution that the church faced in Jerusalem
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.
In John 4, we are told that after Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, he stayed a couple days with the Samaritans.
It was during this time that he taught them and some of them believed in him.
It is also at that time that Jesus tells his disciples to lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Now, probably about 4 years after Jesus was in Samaria, Philip is there preaching the gospel.
He is proclaiming that the same Jesus they experienced a few years before is indeed the Christ who has been raised from the dead.
The Result Of The Spread Of The Gospel (v.
8)
So there was much joy in that city.
The gospel, which is a message that promotes unity, hope, and salvation is a message which results in joy for those who embrace it.
In a world marred by hopelessness and pain, the gospel is a refreshing message to those being saved by it.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing
CONCLUSION
This past month, we have seen how we ought to be Thankful to God for:
Newness Of Life
The suffering and death of Jesus on the cross means our old self is good and dead and we have been delivered from the power of sin.
The resurrection of Jesus from the grave means we have been raised with Him to live a life with new passions and desires: as slaves of obedience for the sake of righteousness.
Trials In Christ
We live in a world that is passing away and where Satan influences people who are hostile toward God and do not desire the truth of the gospel.
As followers of Christ, we have been promised persecution if we choose to live a life of obedience.
It is with this knowledge that we must fix our eyes on Jesus and run the race that has been set before us.
A Message To Proclaim
Jesus lived, died, and was raised to life in order to provide deliverance from God’s judgment on sin.
Our salvation has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
We have been granted the privilege to proclaim this good news despite the resistance we face in the world.
PRAYER POINT:
Ethiopian Christians baptize former Somali Muslims in the backyard of a church building that was once a brothel.
Let’s pray with thanks to God for these new believers in Ethiopia and others like them who are won to Christ on the world’s most difficult and dangerous mission fields.
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