Immovable Faith
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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.
The death of Stephen was a big deal. He was one of the leaders who served the people diligently. For that reason, he was well known and loved. His death and the persecution that followed caused many of the followers of Christ to scatter around the area. Many had reason to fear for their lives and leave Jesus all together. Yet as we read in verse 4, those who were scattered went about preaching the word. There are a few things I want to pay close attention to today.
We will have a workable definition of persecution today so that we stay on the same page. Clearly the persecution we face in America is not the same as the persecution the early church faced or many christians face around the world.
Persecution is to annoy or trouble persistently.
First, there is a spiritual and natural response to persecution.
The persecution of the people was severe enough to cause a scattering of the people. In other words many of them felt the best thing for them to do in order to be safe was to leave Jerusalem and the areas around there. Remember Jerusalem isn’t just a city, this is a holy place as it is home to the temple. This is prime ground for worship and it still is to this day. The followers of Christ made quite an impression as many Jews were converting to folllowing Jesus as well. The conversions escalated the response from the priesthood who felt alarmed at this new way to worship God. The priesthood was having followers of Christ arrested and in some cases killed.
The persecution of the church only helped it to thrive and grow just as crucifying Jesus only helped Him to live. Jesus gave the apostles the task of being His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The birthing ground for the Christian faith is Jerusalem. But God never intended it to stay there.
Let’s talk about this first point of the day, a spiritual and natural response to persecution. The way it’s stated would suggest that there is a difference between the two. However, there is not. It would not be wise to separate the two because both are actually work together. Everything happens in the spirit before it happens in the natural. We see this example in creation. God spoke, who is spirit, and so it was in the natural.
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.
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.
Naturally we see the people leaving the area due to the extent of the oppression. What informs our actions is what we know and how we apply it. Stated in one word, wisdom. Wisdom is given to followers of Christ to aid us in our decision making. Without godly wisdom we would be fools.
With godly wisdom we make decisions that do us good and advance the Kingdom of God.
The people scattering is both a spiritual and natural response to the persecution. Naturally their geographical location changes yet spiritually they stay focused on what Jesus commissioned them to do. Witness to the ends of the earth.
The second part I wanted to pay attention to is the people. The scripture is clear that the apostles were not the ones who scattered as verse one indicates, the people scattered, “except the apostles”. It was numbers of people who came to faith and were taught by the apostles preaching the gospel throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Clearly they had a sense of urgency and responsibility to preach the gospel of Christ.
The Spirit of God was at work in the hearts of the people, encouraging them to be a witness. They understood the spread of the gospel was not limited to only those who led the worship. This was a far departure from their jewish backgrounds. Now everyone who had been saved and filled with the spirit could share the gospel of Christ with anyone who would listen.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to be blessing to someone else. Follow the conviction from the Spirit to be a witness.
Third, people are blessed by the preaching of the gospel.
We know the scripture says the gospel is the power unto salvation for those who believe it. The Jew first and the greek. The chapter goes on to summarize the different types of people who are reached by the gospel, Simon the magician and the Ethiopian Eunuch. These brothers couldn’t be more different.
Simon was a showman and about his money. It is difficult to receive Jesus when your heart is after something else. This shows as Simon asks if he can buy the power the apostles display in the people being filled with the spirit of God. He is rebuked and told to repent, which we never see him do. He only asks the apostles to pray for him.
Then the Ethiopian who has a heart toward God. He is over heard reading Isaiah yet he states that he needs help understanding it. There are many people just like this Ethiopian. They just need help understanding. There aren’t enough pastors and deacons to reach all of these people. This is where ever member comes into play.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
What is one of the circumstances leading to Simon and the Ethiopian hearing the gospel. It was persecution. Yet the church did not allow the persecution to cause their faith in what they were called to do waver. They displayed immovable faith.
Do you believe God’s will for you is to be His witness? Do you trust that He has equipped you for the task? I believe He has. We simply must trust Him, study diligently, and pray earnestly.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
