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
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