From
Acts to Revelation
Part
19 – In Depths of Sin
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Today's scripture gives us insight into
“Extremist-religious” groups, and their mishandling of faith, as well as how
God will use all things for good, even when we don't understand.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Acts 8:1-8
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out
against the church at 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 men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they
went. 5 Philip
went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When
the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close
attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many
paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that
city.
Up to this point in the Book of Acts, we
have seen;
ñ Jesus gave the
Apostles their command before His ascension, they obeyed Christ, returning to
Jerusalem and waited for the promise
ñ The Holy Spirit
came on the Day of Pentecost and The Church began
ñ Peter & John
were preaching and teaching in front of the temple daily
ñ They healed a man
lame from birth
ñ The Sanhedrin
became jealous and angry and arrested them
ñ They warned them to
stop preaching and teaching about Jesus
ñ They continued, and
were arrested again, and beaten
ñ They continued and
the Church grew
ñ They appointed
Deacons to help see to the Disciples needs
ñ Stephen was
arrested for preaching Christ
ñ He was charged with
Blasphemy
ñ Last week, we
examined Stephen's defense in Acts 7:1-53
ñ Stephen is stoned
to death
I.
SAUL APPROVED STEPHENS DEATH
1. Saul, a
zealot for God
1. but he
fully approved of the murdering of Stephen
2. Knows
the Word, but lacks understanding
1. The
scriptures he had studied and memorized were full of the prophecies and
teachings of the coming Messiah...Saul should have known, but lacked
understanding of the very words he thought he was defending.
3. Lives
in the depths of sin and hatred
1. Many
today think they have a relationship with Christ, but live a life full of hate,
un-forgiveness, vicious anger, resentment, selfish-motivations.
2. A true
believer in Christ will cast these things down when they try to exalt
themselves above the life Christ has called us to live.
1.
2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ”
3. Knowledge
of God, and Obedience of Christ!
1.
Saul knew the words, but lacked knowledge.
2.
Saul's behavior was against the knowledge of God, and against the
obedience of Christ.
3.
How are you doing in these areas?
4. Are you
following in Jesus' footsteps, or are you following your own
selfish-motivations, fueled by anger, hate, un-forgiveness, self-centeredness?
5. Are you
living in obedience, or in sin?
4. Yet,
Saul is still redeemable!
1. Saul is
not a lost cause, and neither are any of you!
2. There
are times in our lives when we do not understand what a relationship with the
Lord is...a time when NONE of us were “saved”.
3. There
are also times when we stray from the narrow path Christ walks.
4. Times
we may not find our way back to the path.
5. But as
we see with Saul, who approved the murder of Stephen, and actively sought out
more “Christians” for slaughter, even this is forgivable to one who is truly
seeking the Lord.
6. Many
sins can be forgiven, when one finds the Lord, even if he had already had Him
at one time, and is returning!
1.
James 5:20 “...he
which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
2.
This chapter is speaking of believer's who have strayed.
7. Saul is
going to live this scripture. He is going to prove God's forgiveness, love and
grace, which gives us time to repent.
II.
THE GREAT PERSECUTION BEGINS
1. All but
the Apostles scattered
1. Until
this time, the “church” was confined to Jerusalem
2. Saul
began to destroy the church
1. Persecution
actually helped take the gospel to Judaea and Samaria, so the devils plan to
end this “Church”, backfired!
3. Going
house to house searching for followers
1. Saul
went to houses he knew had Christians in them
4. Putting
both men and women in prison
1. Saul
spared no age or gender, and forced them all to stand trial in front of the
magistrate
III.
GODS WILL BE DONE
1. Those
who scattered preached the Word wherever they went
1. The
persecution backfired...instead of stopping the spread of the Word, it aided
it!
2. Satan
has a problem with the preaching of the gospel by those anointed with the Holy
Spirit...but has no controversy with ritualism, or philanthropy.
2. Philip (an Apostle) proclaimed Christ in
Samaria
1. vs.5, “Then
Philip went down...”
2. The
scriptures do not tell us why Philip left Jerusalem to go to Samaria
1.
I believe it was because the Disciples were preaching and teaching
Christ in Samaria, and the people may have doubted their authority.
2.
So an Apostle was needed to show that the things they were hearing
was the Truth of God, and authorized by Him.
3.
I believe this because of verse 1 saying “All but the Apostles
fled to Judaea and Samaria...”, and then reading in verse 5, “Then
Philip went down to Samaria...”, and what do we read next?
4.
Verse 6, “When
people saw the miracles, signs, healing...they paid close attention to the
things Philip spoke” (Verse 5 says he preached Christ).
3. When
the people saw Miraculous signs, they paid close attention to all he had to
teach
1. The
sign of a TRUE Apostle, one who is eye-witness to Christ's resurrection, and
has the ability to perform miraculous signs, wonders, healing at will.
4. He cast
out evil spirits from many, paralytics and cripples were healed
5. These
are all signs of a true Apostle, and one who is authorized to speak for God
1. I
believe that those in Samaria had trouble believing the Disciples, and an
Apostle was needed to prove that the Christ that was being preached, was the
Truth of God.
2. Because
Philip went to Samaria and took care of this, the result is verse 8
CONCLUSION
vs. 8 “So there was great joy in that city.”
We see from today's scripture a few important facts.
1) Like
Saul, sometimes we “think” we are right with God, and we are “helping” God in
the things we do and say to others...when in reality, we are hurting others,
and getting in God's way. We need to evaluate our behaviors, and
motivations...anything we do that is NOT motivated by God in the imitation of
Jesus Christ, is selfishness...we are not truly following Christ, but
ourselves.
2) Like
Saul, no matter your current relationship with God, whether it is good, or bad,
or you think it's good and it is bad...you can be forgiven, and your
relationship with Him restored.
3) Like
the first church, sometimes we can be persecuted, and forced to move in this
world into directions we never dreamed, nor wanted to go...BUT, if we are
listening to the Holy Spirit, and obeying Him, we will be part of God's Will
and plan!
4) Even
when things look their worse, as the church was just getting its start, and is
now persecuted and appears to be dissolving, God's will may be doing something
great! We do not always see what God has planned, and usually don't until after
it is complete.
5) God's
will is going to be done, regardless!
You can either be part of it, or in His way...the choice is yours!
6)
Saul was at this time in God's way...but
before long, he will repent and choose to be part of God's glory!
