"Persecution and Joy" (Acts 8:1-8)

Transcript:

Hear now the word of the Lord. 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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

And as you're taking your seats, let's join our hearts together this morning in prayer. Gracious heavenly Father, as we turn our attention to your word this morning, we need your help. We need your Holy Spirit. And we pray that your Holy Spirit will give us hearts to understand, eyes to see and ears to hear everything contained in the good news of the gospel of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we read about the fallout and about the responses of the rise of persecution against your church, we continue to pray for areas where the Church is hotly persecuted today for their strength, for their comfort, and that you would continue to sovereignly work out all of the evil that is poured out against your people.

And we pray also that you would prepare us for the day if and when that comes, when persecution reaches our doorstep. We pray this in the name of our king, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, last week we studied the story of the martyrdom of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. And this story is picking up right exactly there when it said, and Saul approved of his execution, that's talking about the execution of Stephen.

Now, Stephen was the first to be killed for his faithful witness to Jesus, but he will not be the last. Now, we talked about last week how that passage, and particularly Stephen's vision of Jesus Christ, the son of man, standing at the right hand of the Father, how that helps to prepare us for persecution if and when it comes to us. Because even if we do not have that vision, we do have the same promise that Jesus Christ continues to reign. But in this morning's passage, we see persecution continue to expand through the church. And one notable thing that we should note about this passage Is that we are not given another image, another vision of Jesus Christ, the Son of man, reigning from heaven.

And if we don't have that vision here, or if we are not promised that vision in our own lives, when suffering may come, how do we know that Jesus Christ, the Son of man, is still in control? How do we know that he is still reigning? How do we know that that was not just a blip, a moment in time, a passing reality? How do we know, especially when things seem to devolve increasingly out of control, that Jesus Christ is still sovereign? Well, in the Scriptures as well as in our own lives, we really can only read God's providence backwards.

It would be very nice in some ways, we think if on the front end we knew exactly how God was going to plan everything that was coming into our life. We might be able to look at some of the particularly bitter pills that we have to swallow with a little bit more joy if that were the case. But we can't do it that way. One of the stories that Stephen brought up in his defense speech was the story of Joseph. The story of Joseph was a story of a man who suffered much at the hands of his brothers, his fellow Israelites.

And when his brothers, who had sold him into slavery at the beginning of the story, which started a great descent down into greater and greater sufferings, into Joseph's life, then at the end of the story, come to Joseph and ask him to forgive them for what they have done. Joseph, who now possesses all the power, doesn't hesitate to forgive them. He could hurt them, but he doesn't hesitate to forgive them. Why? Because he had come to see.

He had come to understand as he looked backwards at God's providential work in his life, that what they had meant for evil, God had intended for good. That what they did against him to sell him into slavery, to start extraordinary suffering in his life ultimately resulted in God saving the world through him by putting him as a second in command in Egypt to save the world from the famine that spread over all of Canaan and Egypt. Well, here we are seeing a similar path for God's work to redeem suffering, to work through suffering, particularly the suffering of persecution. And the theme from this passage this morning is that what the world intends persecution, God intends for joy. What the world intends for persecution, God intends for joy.

That's the shift, that's the scope, that's the path that this passage takes. So, two parts to this passage this morning. First, arising persecution, arising persecution, and then second, arising joy. What begins in persecution ends in joy. So we'll start with the arising persecution in verses one through three.

Now, verse one starts with a statement about Saul, and Saul approved of his execution. Now, this is the second explicit thing that we read about Saul previously. Back in chapter six, verse 58, just a couple of verses ago, we read that the witnesses who were executing Stephen laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Now, Saul was probably involved in Stephen's execution in an official role. If they were laying down their garments as they went to execute Stephen at the feet of Saul, that means Saul probably had an official role there.

But there is also what comes before this that tells us that Saul probably had an unofficial role in what happened here. Saul was a man from Tarsus, in the region of Cilicia. And the synagogue where Stephen had gotten into so much trouble that eventually landed him before the Sanhedrin that eventually led to his death. That synagogue, we read, was filled with people from all over the world, especially from Cilicia. So this was probably Saul's synagogue.

And then Paul, we read in chapter 6, verse 58, was had an official role where they were laying their garments at his feet. And now we read that not only this, but Saul formally approved of the execution of Stephen. What one commentator, F.F. bruce, writes, is that Saul was exceptionally farsighted and realized as clearly as Stephen did the fundamental incompatibility between the old order and the new. And so for a time, for right now, that is going to lead him to fiercely oppose this new order, Christianity.

But in time, he will just as fiercely oppose any kind of incursions of the Gospel by the old order, by the law and the legalism of Judaism. Well, in verse one, still, as we come to the second part of it, we read, there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. Now, this word arose is important here because we're going to come back to it later. In this passage, the word arose is the famous words that you might hear from different King James Version translations of the Bible. And there came to pass in those days, and there came to pass, and here and there came to pass a great persecution.

Now, Saul has an official role in this persecution, but you notice how slowly Luke is introducing us to Saul. He's just dripping a little information at a time. And so sol is kept in the background of this persecution here. Now, but we read that what came to pass, what arose here was a great persecution. And what we need to notice is the way this persecution has grown.

In the Book of Acts, we talked about this A little bit last week, but now we really need to see the full flow, the full scope of this. What happens in persecution is that the enemies of God's people start by testing boundaries. In chapter four, when they arrested Peter and John, they let them off with a warning in chapter four, verse 21. That was the extent of the persecution at that moment. But then the next time the apostles were arrested in chapter five, they were released not by death, but they were released with a beating.

They kept their lives, but they took a beating. In chapter five, verse 40, a flogging. Well, now, as the boundaries have been tested, the violence increasingly grows. And Stephen in Chapter 60, was executed. He was put to death for his faith.

And now that the bloodshed has really started to flow, now it gives great range to the bloodshed. And now we see a growth, particularly into this great persecution that arises against the Church. But as the rage of the world and the persecution against the Church arose to the unrestrained ravaging of the Church of God, God's enemies are not able to stamp out Christianity. That's the extraordinary thing about this passage. In fact, the more and the tighter that they try to squeeze the Church, the more the Church eventually grows, as we will see.

Notice then what happens. We read that a great persecution against the Church happened in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. As one commentator, Polkhill, points out, this word for scattered is a word related to the scattering of seeds. It's a word related to seeds and the sowing of seeds, that kind of a thing. And what he says is there's a great irony here, because as the Church is scattered, it's not like they are scattered and brought into chaos.

It's that they're scattered like someone who's sowing seeds. As the Church is scattered, seeds are being sown. And those are going to grow up to a great harvest of new souls brought to faith in Jesus Christ, except for the apostles. Notice here that the apostles stay behind. Here in verse one, there is a particular duty that we see here of leaders to stay behind, not to flee.

The leaders of Jesus Christ's Church are to be the first in and the last out from the fire. And so they are remaining behind, faithfully continuing to minister the Gospel of Jesus in Judea. Well, in verse two, we shift, and now we're not so much talking about the persecution that is growing, but now we kind of shift to another topic where we read about the sorrow of the Church over Stephen, the fact that the Church is emboldened and scattered and the gospel is being spread through. What's happening here does not mean that they are being cavalier about life, that they are flippant about life. It does not mean that they have romanticized suffering.

This was a faithful believer in their midst who was persecuted and put to death, and they treat him with appropriate honor. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. And in the lamentation of the church, we see a reflection of the Lord's view of what has happened here. Stephen is a man worthy of great honor. But as we are told in that wonderful verse in Psalm 116, verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Well, we started with persecution. Then we moved to Stephen's burial. And then in verse three, we come back again to the persecution. And this is probably meant to show the connection between what happened to Stephen and the rest of the persecution that is arising in the church. And now in verse three, again, as information about Saul has been dripped little by little, now we see the full picture.

But Saul, he is the leader. He is the one driving this persecution. But Saul was ravaging the church. And as Lenski writes, this word for ravaging is the word of a wild animal who is bringing devastation on something. This is the bull in a china shop.

Saul is ravaging the church, and he's entering house after house. Another commentator, Peterson, points out this language, house after house echoes something we saw back in Acts, chapter two about how the church was breaking bread from house to house. That's not quite how our English version translates it, but the Greek is very similar, that in house after house, the community was built up as they were breaking bread together. And now, just as systematically, Saul is dismanting that community, dismantling that community life in the words of Peterson. So what we are seeing here again is Saul growing from the shadows of the synagogue to the man who held the garments at the trial, to the man who approved the execution of Stephen, to now the leader of a new range of devastation in the church.

This is a dark day in the history of the church. And the tip of the spear of this is this man named. And we have to keep this in mind, because this will make it all the more glorious when the Lord Jesus calls this persecutor of the church to be the primary apostle to bring the word of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. But on this dark day, on this dark day in the history of the church, what we are seeing here is the great evil of persecution. We should not romanticize or trivialize persecution.

There is a good reason that there is a great lamentation held over this. And this means that we need to continue to lament the persecution that is happening today. It's far off. These are people we do not know in countries that we have never visited. And yet these are fellow believers whose blood is being spilled because they are faithful to bear witness to our common Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But in the midst of this, we also should not despair. We shouldn't romanticize or trivialize persecution. But we also should not despair or wring our hands or worry what's going to happen if persecution comes to us. Because the tremendous thing this passage does, it shows us so clearly that Jesus Christ remains in control even as persecution comes against his own body, his own church. What the wicked intend for evil, God intends for good and for our joy.

This brings us to the second section. We saw arising persecution, now we see arising joy. Verse four is wonderful. Now those who were scattered, there's that word for the scattering of seed again went about preaching the word. Well, this further connects, this idea of scattering of the word really connects back to an idea that Jesus proposed in his parable of the sower.

He talked about a sower going out and scattering seed. And then In Luke chapter 8, verse 11, he wanted to be very clear, what is the seed? The seed is the word of God. Well, now we have the preached word, the word of God that is being scattered by the scatter scattering of believers who are going about. And everywhere they go they are preaching the word of God, the word about Jesus.

And notice here in verse five where they go. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Before we talk about Philip, what's important to see here is that in God's providence he was using persecution to drive his church to bring the gospel to a place that very likely they had mixed feelings of going toward. The Jewish hatred of the Samaritans was very well known, especially from a number of stories we read in the Gospel accounts of Jesus. Because the Jews saw Samaritans as half breeds Israelites who in the exile of the Assyrians, they had been shipped different places Gentiles had been shipped in.

And they all began to intermarry with one another. And so these were intermingled with the Gentiles. They were no longer pure blooded Israelites. And so that's what these Samaritans came about. And so the Jews did not like them.

But the church of Jesus Christ is compelled now to go to them to bring the gospel of Jesus. Now we should remember that they aren't the first to go to Samaria. There are a couple of stories where Jesus himself ministers in Samaria, although very briefly, most famous being the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four. And then from her they go to the Samaritans and Jesus spends a couple of days there ministering to them. And they begin to believe in Jesus, not just on her word, but because of their personal interaction with Jesus.

There's also a story in Luke chapter 17 where lepers, some who were Galileans and some who were Samaritans, are healed by Jesus. Jesus is passing through Samaria. We'll actually look at that Thanksgiving morning. That's the sermon text for Thanksgiving morning. So Jesus did minister some in Samaria, but not much now, however, as persecution is arising against the church, it's coming to pass.

Now the church is driven into this new area and Philip is going to be the main leader of the ministry in Samaria. Now Philip, we know From Acts chapter 6, verse 5, was one of the seven, one of the original deacons who had been appointed in the church to care for the Hellenistic widows. There was a major issue and they appointed deacons to take care of this work of ministry, this mercy ministry that needed to be taken care of so that the apostles could give their attention to prayer and to the preaching of the word. But what Philip does here goes far beyond the office of a deacon. We read that he doesn't go into Samaria and establish a table waiting ministry.

What's he doing here? He's preaching the gospel. Now, much later in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 21, verse 8, he is going to be called an evangelist. One of the Philip, one of the seven, was evangelist in the church. Now evangelist is not simply a nice description for someone who is good and gifted at evangelism.

This was an actual office in the early church that was particularly connected to the apostles. We read In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11 that Jesus Christ gave officers to his church. He gave apostles, he gave prophets, he gave evangelists, and he gave the pastor teachers. Teachers. Well, the evangelist office.

These were again assistants to the apostles. Generally, when we see the work of evangelists in the New Testament, what they are doing is coming behind apostles to sort of put in order the ministry that had been started by the apostles. The apostles go to new areas, they'd preach the gospel. It was something like a holy hurricane rolling through. And then when they went on to the next Place.

Place. These evangelists would come behind and help to establish those fledgling Christians into formal churches. And so we see Paul telling Timothy, do the work of an evangelist. Timothy was an evangelist. We see Titus being sent to Crete.

Stay there until you put what remains in order. And then in the letters we see Paul, this is why I sent to you Epaphroditus, this is why I sent to you Uticacus. All of these people coming behind him to put together whatever remains that needs to become in order in these places where Paul had first gone. Now we will know in the next passage that we look at next week, Lord willing, in Acts, chapter 8, verse 14, that Philip is still operating under the authority of the apostles. Because we read in chapter 8, verse 14.

Now, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Philip is not coming behind the apostles. The apostles are still in Jerusalem. Philip is going ahead, and he's the tip of the spear on this evangelistic ministry. But when it starts to take sufficient root, then the apostles come and.

And they particularly bring the Holy Spirit to come upon Samaria to extend the ministry of the Holy Spirit beyond Jerusalem and Judea into Samaria before the gospel. And the Holy Spirit goes to the ends of the earth later in the Book of Acts. Well, what does Philip do then as he begins to preach the Gospel? Well, read in verse six. Now the crowns, with one accord or with one spirit, paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

What were his signs? 1, verse 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. It's important to see that what Philip does in Samaria follows the pattern of Jesus in Galilee, which was north of Samaria when Jesus began his ministry.

He was preaching the word of the kingdom of God. And he was also authenticating or confirming or showing the reliability of what he was preaching by performing signs, especially casting out unclean spirits and healing various bodily afflictions and sicknesses. And what did the disciples do in Judea when they begin the ministry there, especially after the day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts? Again, they're casting out unclean spirits and they are healing bodily afflictions. You remember the lame man who leaped for joy when Peter brought the gospel to him.

What we are seeing is the way the word of God, the gospel of Jesus breaks into new areas and it does by the Word and by deed, the ongoing way, of course this works out in the way of the church is the leadership of elders who oversee the ministry of the Word in the church and by deacons who oversee the ministry of deeds in the church. And again, Philip, a deacon, he is preaching the Gospel, but he's also caring for those mercy ministry needs as the good deacon that he was also appointed to serve. So reading here then in verse 8, but after all of these signs happened, we read, so there was much joy in that city. Now our English translation hides this a little bit, but this is the same word that was used back in verse one and Saul or and there arose on that day a great persecution, or there came to pass on that day a great persecution. And now at the end we read there arose or there came to pass much joy in that city.

And the way that Luke is telling this story, he's putting this word of what arose as bookends of the passage. What began in one way ends in another. What began in persecution ends in joy. What the world meant for evil, God meant for good. And what these persecutors meant to harm the church, God intended for their joy.

The application of this passage is be emboldened, be emboldened by God's sovereign providential power. Now again here we do not see the extraordinary once given vision that Stephen received when he was made to be a martyr on that day he was filled with the Holy Spirit and he looked up into heaven and the heavens opened and he saw Jesus the Son of man, standing at the right hand of the Father in heaven. We do not have that vision repeated, but we do see the evidence that Jesus the Son of man is still reigning in heaven. Because what the enemies of God are doing to rage against the Church only serves to expand the spread of the gospel of King Jesus, moving from one area into a wider region into Samaria to fulfill Jesus instructions to his apostles in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. But you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

This is where it is starting to move in that direction. Now again, the persecution of God's people does not begin in the book of Acts. It doesn't even begin with the head of the church, Jesus Christ. It begins in the Old Testament. It begins in the very first book of the Old Testament in the story of Joseph.

Again, Stephen himself brought out the story of Joseph in his own defense. He says, just like you, my Israelite brethren, are persecuting me. So also the Israelite brethren persecuted their brother Joseph. Joseph's brother sold him into slavery. But God made him savior of the world in the midst of a famine.

So at the end of his life, he's able to look back and see God's sovereign providence. Genesis 50, verse 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. And how much more true was this in what happened to Jesus when Jesus went to the cross?

Wicked men meant evil against Jesus. But what did God do there? God intended that as the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. First the Jew and then the Samaritan, and then the Gentile. What we are seeing here is the work of God's providence.

If you were here in the evening service last week, we studied the belgic confession in Article Chapter 13 on Providence. And it says this. This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance, but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father. He watches over us with Fatherly care, keeping all creatures, that includes human beings, under his control, so that not one of the hairs on our heads, for they are all numbered, nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father. In this thought we rest, knowing that he holds in check the devils and all our enemies who cannot hurt us without his permission and will.

If you do not know Jesus Christ today, what I want you to see is the gospel is a story of coming to rest in power that is beyond us. To come to Jesus Christ is to find refuge for your soul in the One who went into the belly of the beast and the One who came out of heaven, who, for us and for our salvation, took upon a human nature, so that the one who is God of God, who could not suffer, gained a nature, human nature, by which he could suffer and suffer and bear up under the full wrath of God for your sins and mine, so that by dying on the cross in our place, because of what we have done, he, the spotless, sinless Savior, could extend to you salvation. So that as you look to Jesus through faith, as you trust him as your refuge, understand that you find safety in him through the forgiveness of sins. But then in a life that extends, where you become invincible, not in your strength, hear me. And that does not mean that you cannot suffer in this life, but you become invincible because not a hair can fall from your head, except for the will of your Father, who loves you, who is caring for you, who is working all things together for your good and for his glory.

And this is what gives us unspeakable comfort. So that in this thought we rest Maybe you're a sports fan, and maybe you've watched a game that your favorite team has won in the past. Maybe you watched Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Or for me, I'm a Nebraska fan. I have to look way back into the 90s.

But 1994 national championship, a game that went back and forth up and down where we were losing for a lot of that game. And when I was watching, and I remember as a child watching and being so anxious, in such pain over what was going to happen to my beloved Cornhuskers. But eventually they won. So the today, when I watch the recording, and I do from time to time, that was great. When you see the opponent gaining the upper hand, you can just smile.

They're going to overcome even this. Brothers and sisters, we will overcome even this. Not because of us, not because of our invincibility, but because our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Jesus Christ suffered and died, and he overcame so that he cannot die again. And he has the keys to death and Hades, giving life eternally to all those who look to him in faith.

This life is a far more important game with infinitely and eternally greater stakes. Are you trusting in Jesus this morning? And wherever the Lord scatters you, do you have a settled conviction in your heart that you can go there boldly preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ wherever He sends you? Because when your mind, and not only your mind, but your heart, the settled conviction of your heart grasps and relies upon God's providence. Again, you become invincible.

Not your own strength, cleverness and resources to get you through, but because your gracious heavenly Father is watching over you with fatherly care. It's unspeakable comfort in this thought. We rest as you interact this week with all those surrounding you with your family, maybe over the thanksgiving table, with your friends, with your neighbors, with your co workers.

How would you handle those conversations if you were able to stand tall, knowing that you were invincible in Christ, that no matter what someone does against you, even taking your life, they cannot ultimately prevail against you, you will overcome even that in Christ Jesus. Be bold. Your Father in heaven and the Son of Man who is at his right hand, can transform even the greatest evil into joy. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would give us unspeakable comfort in unshakable hope, in the invincibility.

Not of us, we are so frail, but in Jesus Christ, who has received all authority in heaven and on earth and who promises that he will go with us even to the end of the age. It's to him we look, and in him we trust. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.