SERMON: THE GOSPEL GOES (ACTS 8:1-40)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 8:1b-8

 

Acts 8:1b On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

 

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

 

            -- in 1968, after two decades of oppressive Communist rule under the heavy hand of the Soviet regime, the people of Czechoslovakia longed for freedom – it seemed like opportunity was at hand when Alexander Dubcek was elected as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia – immediately, Dubcek initiated democratic reforms and a period of liberalization, known as the Prague Spring, began

– citizen civil rights and liberties were expanded – partial allowances for political democratization occurred – and the country began to decentralize the economy, making real changes in the ability of citizens to have economic freedom and progress

– restrictions on freedom of the press – on travel – and on free-speech were also loosened -- it appeared that Czechoslovakia was taking the first steps in changing from Communism to a liberal democracy

-- but the Soviet Union could not stand by and watch all of this happening to a country within the Iron Curtain – after negotiations with Dubcek failed to reverse the freedoms that were being instituted, the Soviets invaded to restore Soviet rule and Communist order to the state

-- on August 21, 1968, forces from five of the countries grouped in the Warsaw Pact invaded, and tanks flooded Prague’s streets – the people resisted where they could, but with the streets filled with Soviet soldiers, there was little they could do – and the roads leading west out of Czechoslovakia were filled with hundreds of cars fleeing the invasion

-- but on the road west of Czechoslovakia, there was a little blue Volkswagen Bug heading – not out of Czechoslovakia – but towards it – inside was a little-known Dutch evangelist – Brother Andrew – who had loaded down his car with Bibles and was making his way towards Prague

-- people stopped him and warned him not to go – “Don’t you know what’s going on in our country?” they asked – “Yes,” he said. “And that’s why I’m going” – he made it to the border, and the guards just ushered him in, not believing that anyone was willingly driving into a combat zone

-- Andrew made his way to Prague and located some church members there he knew from previous visits – they looked at him in amazement when they saw him – “Why are you here?” they asked. – “Because of the opportunity.” – “What opportunity? Our streets are filled with Russian soldiers” – “That is your opportunity”

-- “You don’t realize what is happening – because you refused to carry the gospel to your neighbors and those in the country next to you, God has sent them here for you to evangelize”

-- Andrew went out and began passing out Bibles to the Russian soldiers sitting in their tanks, telling them of the good news of Christ – over the course of the next few months, many of the Russians came to become believers – and the Russian army had to keep swapping soldiers out because of this

-- this true story demonstrates a great biblical truth that we are going to examine today – God allows persecution into our lives as a way to mature us in our faith and to spread the gospel message

-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series through the Book of Acts – last week, we finished the first part of this series – “A New Hope: The Beginning of the Church of Christ on Earth” – as we looked at the coming of the Holy Spirit and the empowerment of believers with a bold message, bold prayers, and bold hearts

-- today, we are starting the next section in our series – Unexpected Gospel Growth – which covers Acts 8 to Acts 12 – so, let’s look now at the start of Acts 8 and see what we can learn from this passage

 

II.  The Beginning of Persecution (Acts 8:1b-8)

            -- Acts 8:1b-3

 

Acts 8:1b On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

 

            -- last week, we ended our study in Acts with the death of Stephen, who is known as the first martyr in the Christian church

            -- Stephen had been arrested and brought to stand before the high priest and the Sanhedrin because he was accused of speaking blasphemy against the Temple and the religious traditions and practices of the Jews

            -- I didn’t point this out last week, but I found it highly interesting that these were the charges against Stephen – he wasn’t accused of blaspheming God – he wasn’t accused of being a heretic or introducing teachings that went against God’s word – the charges against him were that he spoke out about the Temple building and criticized the traditions and rituals that occurred there

            -- this concern by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin demonstrates that they had made an idol of the Temple and of their own rules and commands and practices – that it was more important to them to protect the Temple and their religious practices rather than standing up for God – for Whom the Temple was built in the first place

            -- and after Stephen pointed out in his long summary of God’s interactions with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the people of Israel that the whole point of God’s covenant with Israel – the whole point of the Temple and the religious practices – were to lead people to the Messiah

– he told them that the priests and the Jewish leaders had rejected the prophets and the message of God over and over again – and now, this current High Priest and this very Sanhedrin had rejected the promised Messiah – submitting Jesus to crucifixion at the hands of the Romans – and rejecting the very Word of God in the flesh

-- when they heard this, the members of the Sanhedrin closed their ears and rushed at Stephen and grabbed him up and took him outside the walls of the city, at which point they began to stone him to death

 

-- immediately following the death of Stephen, we read that a great persecution broke out against the church

– the High Priest and the Sanhedrin were so mad – so incensed – at what Stephen said – at his proclamation that Jesus was the Messiah and that the Jewish leaders had rejected Him just as their forefathers had rejected the prophets – that they began hunting down the members of the church of Christ in Jerusalem – which had been growing in number and influence since the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

-- men like Saul -- who we read about in verses 3 and 4—began to go from house to house seeking Christians – dragging them out and putting them in prison because of their belief in Jesus as the Messiah

-- the persecution was so intense, that the church scattered – and we read here in verse 1 that all of them – except for the apostles – fled Jerusalem and were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria

-- this brings up a couple of questions about the apostles – why didn’t the High Priest and the Sanhedrin seek them out and persecute them like they were doing everyone else in the church?

– I think they were left alone by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin because they were scared of them – they had brought Peter and John before them several times and commanded them not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus – and each time, Peter and John boldly stood up in front of them and said, “No – we are going to do what God tells us and not what man tells us” – and I think this defiance to their bullying kept the High Priest and the Sanhedrin from pursuing them further

-- but when the persecution broke out against the church, why didn’t the apostles leave on their own? – I think they knew they were where God wanted them to be – they didn’t have any great fear of the Sanhedrin – and Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship – if they were to be the leaders of this new movement in Judaism and lead the people to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, then they needed to be in the place where people were coming to worship God

-- also, remember that Jesus had told the apostles that He was going to come back to Jerusalem at the last days to establish His kingdom forever – and the apostles, as the leaders of the church, were going to wait faithfully there in Jerusalem for His return, regardless of the cost

 

-- verse 4

 

Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

 

-- why does God allow persecution against His church? – we see the answer right here – the people who were scattered because of persecution preached the word wherever they went

 

-- do you remember what Jesus said in our foundational verses for this study?

– in Acts 1:8, Jesus said, “But 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”

-- and in Matthew 28:18-20, we read, “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

            -- just like the people in Czechoslovakia, the Christians had not been moving and sharing the gospel as God intended – rather than going forth into all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, they had been content to just stay in Jerusalem and form a counter-cultural community of faith there

            -- but that wasn’t the mission – that wasn’t the command – that wasn’t the calling from Christ – He told them to stay in Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came on them, and then they would go forth to carry His word to other regions as His witnesses – making disciples and baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything He had commanded

            -- when we won’t move from our comfort zone – when we won’t get up off the pews and start doing what God has called us to do – God will sometimes make things very uncomfortable for us so that we’ll get up and go and do what He wants us to do

            -- sometimes, this takes the form of persecution – for the Bible and history demonstrate that persecution always leads to growth in the church – both in maturing the saints and in spreading the gospel

            -- notice where the persecuted believers from Jerusalem went as Saul and the others hunted them from house to house – they went to Judea and Samaria – just like Jesus had told them to do

            -- when they wouldn’t go on their own, He made them go by using persecution as a catalyst for their missionary journeys

            -- and, as they went, they were faithful witnesses, and preached the word wherever they were

            -- what about you? – do you preach the word wherever you go? – do you share God’s word with others as you work and go from place to place in your daily lives?

 

            -- verse 5-8

 

Acts 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

 

            -- one of the people who fled out of Jerusalem in response to the persecution was Philip – this was not Philip the Apostle, but Philip the evangelist – this Philip was one of the seven men whom the apostles appointed to help distribute food equally among the widows and the people in need – we read about that in Acts 6:1-7

            -- Philip was originally from Caesarea, a town along the Mediterranean coast of Israel in the region of Judea – now, if you look at a map and draw a straight line between Jerusalem and Caesarea, you’ll see the region of Samaria

            -- the Jews had a love-hate relationship with Samaria – as you probably remember from our study of the parable of the good Samaritan, the Samaritans were a mixed race – part Jew and part Gentile – and the people who lived there were the descendants of those that the Assyrians had brought back into the land after the northern ten tribes of Israel were exiled

            -- the Jews hated them because they were not pure Jews and because their religion was as mixed up as their genealogy and genetics – good Jews did not go into Samaria, and would go around Samaria just to keep from polluting themselves – we see that come into play in the parable of the good Samaritan and in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4

            -- we read here in these verses that Philip went down to a city in Samaria as he fled Jerusalem, preaching the coming of the Messiah to the people there – and Philip was not alone, for many of the Christians also fled into Samaria – which makes sense in the face of the persecution – because the Jews who were hunting them would avoid going into Samaria to chase them down – and so, Samaria became a safe place for them to stay

            -- so, it seems like Philip is there partially because of safety – it’s a way to hide from the Jews who are hunting down the church – but Philip is mostly there because it’s where God wanted him to be

            -- Jesus said that good news was going to be preached – not only in Judea – but also in Samaria – and I bet that none of the Jewish Christians wanted to go there – so, God moved them out of their comfort zone by allowing the persecution to come against them – and He led them right into the place where He wanted them to be – Samaria

            -- Philip was a godly man – and Philip was a faithful witness – and we see Philip preaching to the people of Samaria about Jesus – the Spirit was with him – and as Philip testified about Jesus and preached the good news of salvation and the forgiveness of sins through Christ – the Holy Spirit moved in him and through him with great signs and wonders

            -- demons fled at the word of God – impure spirits came out of many – and lots of people in that place were healed under the power of the Spirit made manifest through Philip

            -- so there was great joy in the city because salvation had come to them because of the persecution that the church faced in Jerusalem

            -- God sometimes allows persecution and hardships and trials into our lives to grow us as Christians – to mature us in our faith – and to lead us to the place where He wants us to be

            -- so, as the people were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, the word of God went with them – and people’s lives were changed forever

 

III.  The Gospel Goes Further (Acts 8:26-40)

            -- skip down to verse 26-29

 

Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

            -- after allowing persecution to come against the church, leading the Christians to scatter and spread the gospel as they went, God continued to lead the church to spread His word to others outside the city of Jerusalem

            -- Philip had enjoyed great evangelistic success in a town in Samaria, but God did not want Philip to settle down there and stay – His word needed to be shared with others, so He spoke to Philip through an angel and told him to go south to the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza

            -- Philip has been moving and operating based on faith since he fled the persecution in Jerusalem – and when God’s word came to him to go to this desert road – with no more instruction than that – Philip went

            -- what do we do when God tells us to move or to do something? – this entire year, we have been focused on hearing and doing the work of God through His Holy Spirit – on being attuned to His voice and moving when He speaks

            -- if we hear Him tell us to do something – if we hear the word, “Go” – our response should be like that of Philip – to just get up and go – not to wait for more instructions – not to wait for more information – but simply to get up in faith and go, trusting that what God is wanting will be made clear in the future

 

            -- when Philip started down the desert road with no direction or guidance about what he was to do, he happened to meet an Ethiopian eunuch who served in the court of the queen of the Ethiopians – the Spirit spoke to him and told him to go to that chariot and stay near it – and Philip did what the Lord said to do

            -- as we seek to do what God calls us to do – as we seek to discern His will and His direction in our lives and in this church – we must pay attention to those who we meet along the way – for it could be those people have been put in our path or brought into our lives for a specific purpose – it could be God put these people before us so that we might share the good news of Christ with them and lead them into a saving relationship with Him

            -- that is exactly what Philip does here

 

            -- verse 30-35

 

Acts 8:30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

 

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

 

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

 

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

    Who can speak of his descendants?

    For his life was taken from the earth.”

 

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

 

            -- even though we live in an age where there is more access to the Bible and biblical material than ever before, that doesn’t mean that people have a greater understanding of Scripture

            -- 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”

            -- Romans 10:14-16 says, “14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”

 

            -- the natural man – those who do not know the Lord – cannot understand spiritual things – the Bible tells us that their eyes have been blinded by Satan – and even though they may hear the word – even though they may read the word – the meaning is kept from them until it is revealed by the Spirit

            -- that is why the passage from Romans says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” – for it is through us – the church – that the Spirit speaks to those who are seeking

            -- it is through us that the world comes to hear and understand the truth of the gospel, as the Spirit moves their hearts and opens their ears to hear and understand

 

            -- that is what we are seeing here with Philip and the Ethiopian – the Ethiopian had a passing knowledge of the religion of the Jews – he had gone up to Jerusalem to worship in the temple – but he did not meet God in that place

            -- rather, he met God as the Spirit led Philip down a desert road and moved Philip to share the good news of Jesus with him – and the Spirit opened the ears of the eunuch and he was able to hear and understand the truth of God’s word and how the passage from Isaiah spoke of Jesus and His atoning death for all mankind

 

            -- when God leads us to someone in a divine appointment such as this, He will give us the spiritual insights and the words to speak to the other person – all we have to do is be faithful to what God is calling us to do – to trust in Him and the Spirit to speak through us, even if we aren’t sure of our ability to speak – and then to share our testimony and give witness to the truth of Jesus and His saving grace in our lives

            -- every day we should witness to others – if not with words, then with our lives – for people are watching to see what you do as much as they are to hear what you say

            -- speak truth and trust in the Spirit to use you as He did Philip here

 

            -- verse 36-40

 

Acts 8:36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

 

            -- as the Ethiopian heard and received the good news of Jesus, his heart was transformed and he desired to put his faith and trust in Jesus – in the Great Commission from Matthew 28, we are told to baptize those who we disciple – to baptize them means to bring them into the community of faith – baptism is a sign of their repentance from sins, their death to self, and their new birth in Christ into the Kingdom of Heaven

            -- hearing the good news, the Ethiopian wanted to fully immerse himself in his new faith – seeing water alongside the chariot, he ordered the chariot to stop and Philip baptized him – raising the Ethiopian eunuch from the water a new brother in faith and the newest member of the church

            -- beyond just the immediate personal salvation of the Ethiopian, this divine encounter with Philip served to further the spread of the gospel – as a member of Candice’s court in Ethiopia, the eunuch returned, rejoicing in his newly found faith in Jesus – and carried with him the word of God and the testimony of his faith

            -- we know this to be true because Irenaeus, an early church father, recorded in his writings that the eunuch was the first missionary to the Ethiopian people – and the historical record confirms that Ethiopia was one of the first areas outside the Holy Land that was reached with the gospel message – and Ethiopia has continued to be a major Christian country ever since the time of the apostles

– in fact, there are many who believe that the Ark of the Covenant was smuggled out of Israel and taken to the Ethiopian churches for safekeeping before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD

 

            -- when Philip had fulfilled his purpose with the Ethiopian eunuch, the Spirit took him away in some miraculous movement – Philip found himself in Azotus, a town along the Gaza Strip near the Mediterranean Sea – Azotus is called Ashdod in the Old Testament, and it was a major town of the Philistines during their battles with Israel back then

            -- as I said, Philip was from Caesarea, which was about 60 miles north of Azotus along the coast – so Philip left Azotus and continued on his way home – preaching and teaching in all the towns he passed through – sharing the good news with all – until he finally reached his home

 

IV.  Closing

            -- the Book of James is well known for it’s opening passage, where we read in James 1:2-4 that we should consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because we know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance – and that perseverance is given so that we might become mature and complete, not lacking in anything

            -- this is a hard passage for a lot of people, because none of us welcome trials and troubles in our lives – none of us wake up and pray, “Let persecution and trouble come”

            -- but as James points out here, trials and troubles of many kinds do come – but that doesn’t mean we have been forgotten by God – God allows these times into our lives to help us grow in grace and become mature and complete Christians – and He allows these times of persecution to come against the church to compel us to share the good news with others

 

            -- I opened this message with the story of Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles into Czechoslovakia during the Russian invasion of 1968 – this was not the only place he carried Bibles to during the height of the Soviet Union – he was constantly carrying Bibles in and trying to find Christians in those places to share the word with – he did the same thing in communist China

            -- but we had no idea whether he was making a difference or if this was just a drop of water in a land thirsting for the word of God

            -- when the Soviet Union broke up after Gorbachav, the opportunity for western missionaries and evangelists to enter the former Soviet Union with Bibles and with the word of God through their witness and testimony was made possible

            -- many missionaries went into that land where religion had been outlawed and Christians had been persecuted for decades – and no one knew what they would find

            -- Brother Andrew had successfully found pockets of Christians here and there – but we did not know if there were Christians in any number or not or just these small groups of believers scattered across the countries

 

            -- everyone was surprised to find a thriving and unified church in the remains of the Soviet Union and in China and in all the lands where Christianity had been persecuted

            -- the persecution and the trials and troubles the Christians had faced in these regions from the very beginning of Communism and Islam had not crushed the church – it had caused the church to grow – in numbers and in maturity

            -- the first missionaries into the former Soviet bloc found a strong church standing in these places, finally able to come out from their underground locations where they had met for decades – and even though they may not have had physical copies of the Bible or other religious materials – their faith was strong and their knowledge of the word of God was impressive

            -- this proves the truth of what the Bible and history have always taught -- persecution always causes the church to grow and to go and to do what God wants it to do

 

            -- do you know where the fastest growing church in the world is right now? – the church that is growing more in numbers and seeing more people come to Christ than any other? – Iran

            -- the persecution by the Iranian government has failed to crush Christianity, and more people are becoming Christians over there every day than any other country in the world

 

            -- so, what is our take-home message from today? – what is it that we should glean from the Scriptures today?

            -- I think there’s several lessons for us to take to heart

 

– first, God doesn’t want us to be passive – He didn’t call us to just come to church and sit here – He called us to go and make disciples and carry His word to the ends of the earth

 

-- second, if we are not doing what God has called us to do – if we are not using our spiritual gifts for the good of others as His word says – then God will allow troubles and tribulations into our lives to compel us to get up and go and do what He has commanded – just like He did with the church in Jerusalem

 

-- third, God will put the people in our paths that He wants us to minister to and share the gospel with – this is true for both us as individual Christians and as a community of faith in this place – whenever someone new crosses our path, we need to pray and ask God if this is someone He has placed there for us to share the gospel with – and we need to speak as the Spirit leads

-- look for these divine appointments – look for the people who need a touch from God – and minister to them as God leads you

 

-- finally, when I used to do a lot of one-on-one discipleship with people, there were three questions we asked of every disciple – first, are you saved? – second, what are you saved from? – and third, what are you saved for?

-- these are questions that all of us need to answer daily – especially that last one – what are we saved for – and are we doing that? – are we being obedient to the commands of Christ – and are we witnessing to others in His name through the power of the Spirit within us?

 

-- as I close now in prayer, I want us to take a moment to consider where we are in our walk with Christ

– if we are too comfortable, let us pray that God may shake us out of our comfort zone so that He might move through us

– if we are going through trials and troubles, let us pray to God for wisdom and insight that we might know how He is moving us and growing us during this time

– whatever it is that you need to do with God’s word, do it now as we close in prayer and end this service

 

Law versus Love

 

I was reading this week in 1 Timothy, when I ran across this passage concerning the law and its application to Christians:

1 Timothy 1:8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Taking this passage along with Paul’s teaching in Galatians about the purpose of the law confirms that the law was given for unbelievers, to convict them of their sin and to point them to the only true source of righteousness, Christ Jesus.  Unbelievers live under the law, which was written on their hearts in addition to being given to Israel through Moses, and it should be leading them to realize their inability to obey the law and their need for a Savior to fulfill it for them.

For believers, the law serves as a standard of living that conforms to God’s moral attributes and points believers towards holiness and holy living through Christ and the power of the Spirit within.  For believers, the law does not bind us, as it does unbelievers, but shows us that what we could not do on our own is now possible through Christ.

Dave Black echoed this thought in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians.  He wrote, “The basis of Christian ethics is clearly spelled out here. For Paul, Christian moral duty is above all pleasing God. We're not to think of our Christian duty as law but as love. Hence the Christian life is not primarily about obeying rules and regulations (though Paul does lay down quite a number of instructions in chapters 4-5). The Christian life is primarily a relationship. It's about pleasing a person. The God who made me, loves me, sent his Son to redeem me, adopted me into his family, and placed his Holy Spirit in me, is my loving Father -- and I want to please him. This is the essence of Christian holiness. Our greatest desire in life is not to please ourselves or to please others. It's to please our God.”

So, while the law is still important to us because it shows us what God demands, our righteousness and salvation are not based on the law nor on what we do.  Our righteousness and salvation are solely based on what Christ has done for us, as our atoning sacrifice who paid the price for our sins and fulfilled the law with His life.

The take home message for us, then, is to not strive to obey the law, but to seek to please our God.  To not just try to live righteous lives because the law says we must, but to live righteous lives because this is what pleases our Father.

SERMON: JUST LOOK UP (Acts 6:1-8:3)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 6:7-7:1

 

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

 

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

 

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

 

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 

Acts 7:1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

 

            -- this morning, we are finishing up our first major section in the Book of Acts that we called, “A New Hope – the Beginning of the Church of Christ on Earth”

– we began this study looking in detail at Christ’s promise in Acts 1:8 – “But 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” -- and the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20 – “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 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.”

            -- and over the last three weeks, we have explored how the Holy Spirit empowered the early believers and initiated the church of Christ on earth – we looked at some of the early opposition to the message of the gospel – both from those outside the church – the priests and the Sanhedrin and the leaders of the established religious community in Jerusalem – as well as from those within the church – like Ananias and Sapphira – who allowed their desires for wealth and recognition keep them from fully giving themselves to the truth of the gospel and faith in Jesus

            -- and we talked about how the Apostles and the disciples in the early church were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach bold messages of salvation, to pray bold prayers of faith, and to have bold hearts to stand up for the truth in the face of the religious leaders’ commands to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus

            -- now, as we are coming to the close of this section, the battlelines that we talked about last week are going to fully come into view – as those who are opposed to the truth of the gospel and the truth of Jesus Christ are going to actively begin persecuting the faithful in the church, beginning with Stephen

 

II.  Sharing the Truth (Acts 6:1-8:3)

            -- which brings up the question: what if you knew the truth about something, but when you tried to tell others about it, all they did was ignore you or argue with you about it? – what would you do?

            -- that’s the premise of the 2021 movie, “Don’t Look Up” – which is a fairly accurate satire about the culture in our social media world today – in this movie, Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Lawrence star as academic astronomers who discover a new comet heading straight to earth – based on their calculations, the comet will hit in about six months, and it will be an extinction-level event, meaning that the impact of the comet will destroy all life on the planet and kill everyone on earth

            -- they take their findings to NASA and to the President in the hopes that the Government can do something to divert or destroy the comet , but they are met with apathy and indifference – the administration says that news of the comet isn’t as important as the political issues currently trending on social media – so, they’re not going to waste any time on it

            -- eventually, the two astronomers turn to social media to spread the alarm, but most of the people on social media refuse to believe the comet is real or they say the threat is overhyped – the president sees the trends on social media, so the Government starts repeating the same points as the public, saying the comet isn’t real and even if it were, it isn’t a threat

– eventually, Dicaprio’s character goes on a talk show to criticize the president for downplaying the impending apocalypse and questioning humanity's indifference.

            -- by this time, the comet has come close enough to earth to be seen with the naked eye – the two astronomers try again to rally the public to force the government to do something – they believe that when the public is convinced that the comet is real, the government will have to act – and at this point, the people can easily see the truth for themselves – all they have to do is “Look up!” and they’ll see the comet heading for them

            -- when the president sees the astronomer’s efforts on social media, she doubles-down in her refusal to believe them or act on the truth that they shared with her – in response to Dicaprio and Lawrence’s characters pleas for the people to just look up, the president starts appearing in campaign rallies throughout the country, pushing a new message -- “Don’t look up!” -- passing out hats and t-shirts with that slogan on it

– this new message from the president gains traction, and people all over the country join in, with scenes of stadiums and crowds in the street chanting, “Don’t look up!” over and over

            -- all the while, the two astronomers keep pointing to the sky and are getting frustrated – they know the truth – they’re trying to tell other people about the truth – they keep saying, “Look up – it’s right there – you can see it for yourself” -- but no one will listen to them and all they face is hostility and anger

 

            -- Stephen obviously never saw the movie, “Don’t Look Up!” but he would certainly understand the frustration that the two astronomers felt as they tried to share a truth with the world in order to save them from a potential danger that they all faced

            -- here in this passage, we see Stephen trying to do the same thing and facing the same result

 

            -- look back at Acts 6:7-10

 

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

 

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

 

            -- here we see the early church mobilized through the power of the Holy Spirit to share the good news of salvation and the forgiveness of sins with the people of Jerusalem – Stephen, a man who is described here as being full of God’s grace and power – filled with the Spirit – was one of those in the church who actively shared the gospel with all those around him

            -- he had heard the truth of the gospel himself – and that truth was now in him – and he had a burden to share it with everyone else – to tell them the truth that he had found

            -- but anytime you try to share the truth with someone – especially the truth of the gospel and of Jesus Christ – you will face opposition – you will face those who refuse to believe and who will argue with you and disagree with everything you say – and that’s exactly what we see here

            -- when Stephen preached the message of Christ, he faced opposition from the members of a group of Jews who called themselves the Synagogue of the Freedman – these were probably former slaves from the Roman Empire who had been given their freedom and who had emigrated from Rome and other areas in the Roman Empire back to Israel

            -- but while they may have won freedom from captivity, they were still bound to sin and death in their hearts – for they held on to the chains of religion and tradition instead of receiving the good news of salvation that Stephen preached

            -- they argued with him – they stood against him – and when they could not refute the truth of what he was sharing, they resorted to lies and slander in order to discredit Stephen and the message he was sharing

 

            -- verse 11

 

Acts 6:11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

 

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 

Acts 7:1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

 

            -- making up lies about what Stephen had said, the members of this synagogue stirred up the people and the religious leaders against Stephen – Stephen was arrested and was brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling body for the nation of Israel

            -- Stephen stood there calmly before the group even as the synagogue members continued to share lies about what he had said – he had a peace about him – his face was like the face of an angel – because he knew the truth and he was convinced that if he just shared the truth, others would hear it and be convicted in their hearts, and come to believe it just like he had

            -- but, as we all know, that rarely works out

 

            -- there are several places in Scripture where God gives us a summary of His actions on behalf of the nation of Israel – most of these are found in the Old Testament – and we will see other instances in the Book of Acts where Peter and Paul recount a summary of what God has done through them – these are helpful to us because they give us a concise and succinct account of God’s covenants and plan of salvation

-- we see a similar passage here -- when the high priest asks Stephen in Acts 7:1, “Are these charges true?”, Stephen -- under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- shares the foundation of the faith of the Jewish people and builds upon it to point to the truth of Jesus as the promised Messiah

-- he begins by reminding the Sanhedrin of God’s calling of Abraham and the covenant that God established with him – that through Abraham, God would raise up a people to be His people – a people who would fill the earth and be as numerous as the stars in heaven – a people who would know the truth and share the truth with the entire world – a people through whom the promised Messiah would come

-- Stephen pointed out that God had been with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob throughout their lives – leading them and calling them to follow Him – to hear the truth, to know the truth, to believe the truth, to live in the truth

-- but jealousy and evil desires caused them to reject God’s messengers and the truth of God’s message over and over again

 

            -- look at verse 9-16

 

Acts 7:9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

 

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

 

            -- so, the first instance of the rejection of God and His plan for the nation of Israel occurred with the patriarchs – the twelve sons of Jacob from whom all Israel are descended

            -- Joseph was one of the twelve sons that Jacob – Israel – had – now Joseph was special, and Jacob knew it – he honored him above all the other sons and gave him the coat of many colors

-- Jacob was responding to something he saw in Joseph without even understanding it – because it soon became apparent that Joseph had been chosen by God to deliver the children of Israel from famine and plague – even while he was a young man, God gave Joseph visions and prophecies pointing to his exaltation above the other brothers – that through him they might be saved

            -- but the brothers were jealous of him and rejected him and the message from God – they sold Joseph as a slave into Egypt – but just as the visions and prophecies foretold, God was with him through it all – through his captivity as a slave – through his time in prison and in the pit – and then as prince over Egypt as he was exalted to the second highest position in the land

            -- making a way and a place for the nation of Israel to be saved from the famine that was in the Promised Land

 

            -- and Stephen points out in his message to the Sanhedrin that every time the nation of Israel was in trouble – every time they were in captivity or in danger – God would send a deliverer, just like Joseph – and every time, the people would reject him

 

-- look at verse 17-22

 

Acts 7:17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

 

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

 

-- skip down to verse 39-41

 

Acts 7:39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.

 

-- once again, the nation of Israel is in trouble – Joseph and all the patriarchs have passed away, and the kings of Egypt have forgotten them and forgotten how Joseph saved the people of Egypt through the famine by storing food to get them through the hard times

-- when the king of Egypt looks at the Israelites now, all he sees is a group of people who have grown numerous in the land and who have acquired for themselves vast wealth and property – he is afraid they will rise up against him, so he forces them into slavery and tries to stop the Israelites from growing in numbers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies

-- but God raises up a deliverer in Moses, who was sent to lead God’s people out of Egypt – to deliver them from captivity and bondage – to carry them to the Promised Land

             -- and, true to form, the people rejected Moses and the message from God – the first rejection of Moses occurred when he tried to help the people by killing an Egyptian overseer who was mistreating some Jewish slaves – and then they rejected him again, after he brought them out of Egypt and began leading them to the Promised Land

 

            -- and, so, Stephen reminds the Sanhedrin of all of this – of how God had called the people to love Him and to follow Him – to hear the truth and to live in it – through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- through Joseph – through Moses – through the tabernacle and the Law that was given at Sinai – and through the prophets, who pointed to the coming Messiah and the eternal fulfilment of salvation and eternal life through Him

            -- but despite hearing the truth and knowing the truth and having the truth with them – the people closed their ears and rejected God and those who shared the truth of God’s word with them – they chose their own way – their own traditions – their own rituals – above the plain truth of God’s word

            -- and now, he says – you’re doing it again!

 

            -- look at verse 51-53

 

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

 

            -- just like the astronomers in the movie, “Don’t Look Up,” Stephen has gotten frustrated with the response of the religious leaders and the Sanhedrin to the plain truth in front of them

– he and all the disciples have been going to the temple courts every day – preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus – teaching the people the truth of God’s word

-- but when they do that, they are faced with rejection and mockery – by the people and by the religious leaders themselves, who should know better, because they are the keepers of the truth – they are the ones who God has entrusted to lead Israel into the truth of the Promise

-- they are just like all their forefathers who rejected those who came before – Stephen calls them “stiff-necked” – unable to bend – to turn – to face the truth in front of them

-- he says their hearts and ears are still uncircumcised – while they may look holy on the outside – while they may be following all the rituals and traditions of faith – their hearts are far from the Lord – they are hypocrites who have seen the truth but refuse to accept it – hypocrites who should know that the rituals and the traditions were put in place to point them to the Messiah

-- and now that He has come – now that Jesus has come preaching the fulfillment of the Promise and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven – they refused to believe the message – they refused to believe the truth – and they have rejected the very Savior that God had sent to deliver the Israelites and the whole world from captivity to sin and death

 

-- verse 54

 

Acts 7:54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

 

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

 

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Acts 8:1a And Saul approved of their killing him.

 

– after pointing out how the Israelites had rejected God’s truth time after time, Stephen has just said, “You’re doing the same thing – except this time, you are rejecting the Righteous One who God sent to save you”

-- we read here that Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit – empowered by the truth of God – looks up and points to heaven and cries out, “Just look up – look up and see for yourself – I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”

-- and as the truth pours out of him – as the Holy Spirit speaks through him – the members of the Sanhedrin close their ears and gnash their teeth and rush at him – grabbing him and dragging him out of the temple and out of the city – and then they begin to stone him for what he has said

 

            -- look at the second part of Acts 8:1b-3

 

Acts 8:1b On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

 

            -- the truth was spoken – the truth was heard – and once again, the truth was rejected by the people and the religious leaders of Israel

            -- people don’t like it when you tell them they are wrong – when someone hears the truth and rejects it, they often act out against it – and that’s what is happening here as this section in the Book of Acts comes to a close

            -- we read that a great persecution begins to break out against the church and against all the believers in Jerusalem, as the people and the leaders reject the truth and choose to live their lie

            -- and this persecution marks the beginning of a new phase for the church, as God uses this for the good of the church and for the good of those who have heard the truth and believed the truth and who follow Him

 

III.  Closing

            -- in the movie, “A Few Good Men,” we see the famous argument between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in the court room as Cruise is seeking answers for the death of a marine at the hands of other marines

            -- after going back and forth for some time, Cruise’s character demands to be told the truth – he says, “I want the truth” – and Jack Nicholson replies, “You can’t handle the truth”

 

            -- that is the story of us – that’s the story of the men and women that we read about in the Bible – the men and women who couldn’t handle the truth of God – the men and women who couldn’t handle the message that God was giving them and who chose to blindly follow religious tradition and ritual above all else

            -- this is the reason why the patriarchs rejected Joseph – why the people of Israel rejected Moses – and why the priests and the Sanhedrin rejected Jesus

            -- they couldn’t handle the truth – they couldn’t stand to know that what they had been following – that what they had been doing – was wrong

– and when Joseph and Moses and Jesus and the prophets and Stephen stood up before them and pointed to heaven and said, “Just look up and see the truth and hear the truth and believe the truth and follow the truth” – they couldn’t handle it – and they rejected themselves straight to hell

 

            -- we see this in the gospels as the high priest and the Sanhedrin reject Jesus and send Him to the cross

            -- we see this in the opening to the Book of Acts, as these religious leaders of Israel reject the church and the truth of the gospel, and begin a great persecution by stoning Stephen to death

            -- and we see this in the mirror, when we look at ourselves as we choose to close our ears to the truth – when we choose to ignore God and His commands – when we choose to follow our own way and not the path of righteousness and holiness laid out before us

            -- when Jesus and His Spirit stand right in front of us and say, “Look up and follow Me” and we turn away to follow our own path instead

 

            -- as we have seen many times in our study in the Book of Acts so far, we are faced with a choice every single day – the choice to hear the truth – to know the truth – and to act on that truth as God commands – or the choice to do our own thing – to let our own desires and our wants and wishes dictate what we do with our life

            -- every single day, we face a fork in the road – one path is broad and leads to destruction – the other path is narrow and leads to life

            -- Stephen stood up in front of the Sanhedrin and spoke the truth and pointed them to the narrow path, but they chose the other

            -- God’s word stands before us now, speaking the truth and pointing us down that same narrow path that leads to life

            -- as we close in prayer, I want you to take a moment and consider where you are in your relationship with God – and I want you to consider where He is leading – the truth He is speaking – and I want to encourage you to choose today to follow Him and His truth – to trust in His power in the Holy Spirit to enable you to follow Him down the narrow path to salvation and eternal life

            -- let us pray