‘THE SOWING OF THE CHURCH’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on September 21, 2022 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: September 21, 2022 from Acts 8:1-8
Theme: God used persecution to scatter His church abroad and—through that scattering—to spread His gospel in the world.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
The closing story of Chapter 7 involves what looks like a terrible tragedy for the early church. And more, it also seemed to have sent things into a very troubling condition for the saints.
A godly man named Stephen—a faithful follower of Jesus, a servant to God’s people, and an instrument of God’s witness to unbelievers—was put to death by stoning. He was the church’s first martyr. And then, in the story of his death, we also see the rise of the early church’s most intense antagonist. As Stephen was being stoned, a young Pharisee named Saul stood guard over the cloaks of Stephen’s executioners—giving visible consent to their action. Before Saul, only the apostles and the leaders in the church suffered persecution; but with the rise of Saul, the saints at large began to suffer. Before Stephen’s death, Christians had to defend themselves only against arrest. After Stephen’s martyrdom, Christians had to flee for their lives.
But this was all in God’s sovereign hand—allowed by Him to accomplish His plan to bless the world with the gospel. At the beginning of the Book of Acts, the Lord Jesus made this promise—which, at the same time, was His commission to His followers:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The persecution caused the church to be ‘scattered’ from Jerusalem. And it’s very interesting to notice the word that is used in the original language to describe this scattering. It’s a word that is made by putting two Greek words together: the preposition dia (which means “through”), and the verb speirō, (which means “to sow”; as in the sowing of seed). Thus the word diaspeirō means “to scatter abroad”—not necessarily in a destructive way, but rather in an intentional and productive way. It’s just as when a sower sows seed in order to bring about life and growth.
Did you know that this word became the name of the early Jewish church in some of the New Testament letters? In James 1:1, James wrote to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (literally, “to the twelve tribes in the diaspora”). And in 1 Peter 1, Peter addressed his letter “to the pilgrims of the Dispersion”. The church wasn’t destructively scattered by persecution—even though ‘destruction’ may have been the intention of this world. Instead, it was deliberately “sowed” by God into the world for the spread of the gospel—just as Jesus promised it would be.
So; with that in mind, let’s look at this morning’s passage. The Greek word diaspeirō appears twice in it—being translated both times as “scattered”. With respect to Stephen, it says;
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city (Acts 8:1-8).
This is a very important passage in understanding the history of the early church. It marks a new stage in the story of its growth. And as it plainly shows us, God used persecution to scatter His church abroad and—through that scattering—to spread His gospel in the world.
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Now; the story that this passage tells us is one that mixes the challenges of persecution with the victories of the gospel. That ‘mixing’ of things is intentional. Even in the midst of terrible hardship upon His church, God still remains sovereign over all that happens to it. He uses whatever happens in order to advance His cause; and through the church, to bear His witness to the world.
So; let’s notice the first reference to the hardship of persecution. We find it in verse 1; where’ we’re told this about the execution of the godly man Stephen, “Now Saul was consenting to his death.”.
In Chapter 7, we were shown how this man Saul was consenting to it. We’re told in 7:58, “And the witnesses”—that is, most likely, the false witnesses that first brought false accusations against Stephen (see 6:13-14)—“laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul” as they took up stones to stone him. This man Saul later became known to us as the apostle Paul; and when he spoke of this incident in his own trial for the faith, he told the Jewish leaders that he confessed to God:
“And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him” (Acts 22:20).
This man Saul, then, made it plain that he supported the execution of this gospel preacher Stephen. It put Saul on a career of persecution of the church and the murder of those who followed Jesus. (Thankfully—in God’s mercy to him—it was a short career.)
And so, verse 1 goes on to tells us; “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem …” This was because the church had not yet spread to the regions beyond the holy city. It remained mainly centered in Jerusalem—where it had all begun. But it’s then that we’re told what this persecution accomplished in the providential hand of God; “… and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” The apostles remained while under threat of their own lives—perhaps bravely seeking to protect the witness to the leaders of their people. But the rest were “scattered”—diaspeirō—to the very places that the Lord Jesus had previously promised that they, under the power of the Holy Spirit, would be His witnesses.
This reminds us of something that the apostle Paul said later on; while he himself was sitting in a Roman prison for preaching the gospel. He encouraged his fellow Christians in Philippi;
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12).
This is because our sovereign, all-powerful, all-wise God often uses the persecution of His people to spread His gospel in the world. He allows them to be “scattered” for the advancement of His kingdom.
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Now; the persecution was painful. We’re told in verse 2, “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.” The suffering of persecution involves temporal loss and grief. It’s hard for God’s people, while in the midst of it all, to see the sovereign work of God through it.
And what’s more, that persecution intensified. We’re told in verse 3, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” The word that is translated “havoc” appears in the Bible only here. The idea behind it is that of bringing such great harm on something that it completely and irreparably ruins it. The way the word is used in this passage suggests to us that this man Saul was only ‘in the process’ of trying to destroy the church. But as it turned out, he couldn’t do so completely. Consider what he himself later said about it to King Agrippa:
“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’” (Acts 26:9-18).
Think of it! Could there be any greater proof that God uses persecution to spread His gospel than the story of this man Saul? God even transformed the persecutor and made him into one of the greatest instruments of spreading the gospel in all history!
And indeed, the church was scattered to the advancement of the gospel. We’re told in verse 4, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” The witness could not be stopped by persecution. Wherever the Lord’s people will go, there the witness will go also. As Jesus said in John 15:26-27;
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
That was true at the beginning; and it is still true today. It always will be.
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Now; we’re given an example of this in the story of the godly man Philip. He was one of the seven who had been chosen for ministry in Acts 6—along with Stephen. After Stephen was stoned, the Holy Spirit seemed to have Philip brought forward in his place. He—along with others—was ‘scattered’ by the persecution. And we’re told in verses 5-7, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.”
This response from the people of Samaria is important to notice. In John 4, we’re told that Jesus went to Samaria and spoke about Himself to the woman at the well. He revealed His identity as the Christ to her; and in response, she went to tell all the people of Samaria about Him. We’re told that
many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did” (John 4:39) …
and He spent two or three days with them. Perhaps the Lord—in mercy—had prepared the Samaritans to hear the gospel well in advance; and now, He was using the persecution of the church to bring that gospel to them through Philip.
The result is told to us in verse 8; “And there was great joy in that city.”
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The persecution of the believers—apparently headed up at this time by Saul—was a terrible hardship to God’s people. But in the sovereign hand of God, it didn’t have the result that was intended. It didn’t silence the church at all. Instead, it spread its influence to the regions beyond; so that those who were thus scattered “went everywhere preaching the word.”
We should never despise where it may be that God puts us—or how He may get us there. If we are faithful to preach the word of the gospel, we will be placed as His witnesses where He wants us to be.
Praise be to the sovereign God! He even uses persecution to scatter His church abroad and through His scattered people—His diaspora—to spread His gospel in the world.
AE
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