Lechem Panim #151 "The Seed is Scattered” (Acts 8:1-8) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We have been studying the growth of the Early Church in the beginning chapters of the book of Acts. And (as we have been talking about in recent weeks), the Church has been growing at an incredible rate within the confines of Jerusalem. But as the church continues to grow and expand, it also continues to run into conflict with some of the Jewish leaders. And the tension climaxes in Acts 6:8-8:1 with the seizing and stoning of Stephen, who becomes the first martyr of the Christian Church. And last we recently read of his death at the hands of the Jewish leaders there in Acts chapter 7. But there is a person present at Stephen’s stoning who was watching the garments of those stoning Stephen; and this was a man who would have enormous significance for the Church. And of course I am speaking of Saul (also known as Paul).

Paul’s Early Life— Now we can glean much from the book of Acts and the Epistles about the early life of Paul. [He was born in Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 22:3), a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (see 2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5), the “son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6), and a Roman citizen (16:37; 22:25–28). He was educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel (22:3) and became a devoted Pharisee (26:4–5; Phil. 3:5). Measured by the law, his life was blameless (Phil. 3:6). He was one of the most promising young Pharisees in Jerusalem, well on his way to becoming a great leader for the Jewish faith (Gal. 1:14). {And} Saul’s zeal for the law was displayed most vividly in his persecution of the church (Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:6). He really thought that persecuting the believers was one way of serving God. {He had no idea that he was in fact persecuting God Himself, which Jesus confronts him with in chapter 9.} He obeyed the light that he had {at that time}, and when God gave him more light, he obeyed that and became a Christian!]

The Dual Names of Saul/Paul— Now some will say that it was at that point that he became known as Paul. But that is not in fact what the Bible teaches. Throughout the course of his life, he always had and maintained two names; one a Jewish name (Saul) and one a Greek name (Paul). [The custom of dual names was common in those days.] It is a common misconception that Saul’s name was changed to Paul. Many Christians think that Saul had his name changed, much like Abram’s was changed to Abraham; or any other of the famous name changes of scripture. Some even go so far as to say that it was Jesus who changed Saul’s name after appearing to him on the Damascus Road; a story that we will cover in depth in the next chapter. However, the reality is that Saul actually never changed his name. [Jesus addresses him as “Saul, Saul” during the christophany (Acts 9:4).] [Ananias addresses him as “Saul” after his conversion (Acts 9:17).] [The Holy Spirit calls him “Saul” before his first missionary trip.] [After the conversion experience, he is {in fact} called “Saul” 11 more times.] And in fact he isn’t even called Paul at all until Acts 13:9 while he is on the island of Cyprus. Now there is a definite shift to his using the name Paul more than he uses Saul, but it is not for the reasons we might assume. [The decisive shift from “Saul” to “Paul” in Acts happens only once Paul sets off on his missionary journeys away from Jerusalem.] In Jerusalem he used his Jewish name, “Saul” and outside of Jerusalem when he was ministering to Gentiles, he chose to use his Greek name “Paul”. As we will see when we come to chapter 9, he not only had an exquisite Hebrew education, but a secular (and even Greek) one as well. And so (depending on his audience) he could adapt not only the way he presented the Gospel, but even his very name to help relate best to those to whom he was bearing witness; which we will see will eventually be primarily to Gentiles (hence the shift to his Gentile name). But [Saul and Paul were two names for the same person all along.] Now Saul is far from being a Christian at this point in the book of Acts. Not only is he watching the garments of those killing Stephen, but it says in…

Acts 8:1 (ESV)— 1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Scattered— And so we see the Church is scattered. The apostles remain in the city; and rightfully so. They knew they had to remain there to care for the Church. But the believers are scattered out into the rest of Judea and even Samaria. And [The word translated “scattered” (diaspeiro, Acts 8:1,4) {literally} means “to scatter seed.”] And so we see that instead of persecution killing the church, [Persecution does to the church what wind does to seed: It scatters it and only produces a greater harvest.] And that harvest now begins to move outwards into the rest of Judea and even into Samaria. But we see later in Acts that the death of Stephen pushed the Gospel even farther than Samaria. It says in…

Acts 11:19-21 (ESV)— 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. [So you have persecution causing the spread of the Gospel] 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists[a] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

So persecution is driving the Church to spread out across the empire. And though we see it as a wonderful and even a necessary part of God’s plan, think about how they must have been processing all of this. They don’t see the big picture yet. All they know is that one of their most anointed leaders has been killed. And they are still in mourning over that. It says in…

Acts 8:2-3 (ESV)— 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. {And then it says.} 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Saul’s Ravaging— Now your Bibles probably say of Saul something like he began to destroy the church. That phrase is actually a Greek phrase that is sometimes used to describe the ravages of wild animals. So this was an intense persecution; and because of it, the Church at Jerusalem is scattered all throughout Judea and Samaria. Now when you and I face persecution, we also don’t always see the big picture. And though it might be hard at times for us to understand, persecution is not always a bad thing. In fact Tertullian, an early church theologian once pointed out that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Well, that is what we see. It says in…

Acts 8:4-5 (ESV)— 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

Samaria— Now who lives in Samaria? Samaritans. Well, who are they? Well, you will remember that after the reign of King Solomon in the Old Testament, the kingdom of Israel was split in two. You had the northern kingdom of Israel, whose capital King Omri named "Samaria" (1 Kings 16:24). And then you had the southern kingdom of Judah. But the northern kingdom of Israel was the region that, in 722 BC, was conquered by the Assyrians and taken into captivity into Assyria. Now we remember that Israel was called by God to remain ethnically pure. They were not to intermarry with and of the surrounding nations. However, during those years that the northern kingdom of Israel was in captivity in Syria, the Jews ignored those prohibitions and began intermarrying with the non-Jews around them. And so they lost their ethnical purity. Now the southern kingdom of Judah was also taken into captivity in 586 BC by the Babylonians. Yet we find that while they were in captivity they maintained their ethnical purity and did not intermarry with the Babylonians. They kept themselves pure. And Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego) were stalwart examples of this kind of resolve to keep themselves pure unto God. However, when both captivities were ended and everyone came home, the Jews from the southern kingdom of Judah began to regard the Jews from the northern kingdom of Israel as half-breeds—Samaritans because they had mingled blood. And so they despised them. And that hatred was passed down throughout the generations and was still every bit as alive in Jesus’ day as it was in the beginning. In fact, so deep was the hatred that [A popular prayer in those days among some of the southern-kingdom Jews was, “Lord, do not remember the Samaritans in the resurrection.”] Praise God that He doesn’t say “yes” to all our prayers. Now I say all of this because I want you to understand what a miracle it is that the early Christians brought the Gospel to Samaria; because it means that the love of God shed abroad in their hearts has moved them to cast aside their racism and their hate and embrace those they had until recently despised. It’s a powerful thing. And you can imagine what an impact this had on those who were recipients of Philip’s ministry. It says in…

Acts 8:6-8 (ESV)— 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

Philip’s Ministry in Samaria— So we see that Philip goes to Samaria and actually becomes a preacher of the word. And God moved through him mightily. He becomes the first ever Christian missionary to non-Jews. He performed miraculous signs, he cast out demons, he healed paralytics and cripples. And the people of Samaria listened to him and rejoiced at what God was doing through him. And I’m sure Philip rejoiced as well.

But all of that would not have happened at all if there had not been a mighty wave of persecution in the Church; a persecution that touched many of these believers on a very deep and personal level. And what that ought to tell you and me is that when things seem darkest (even after the death of a great leader) or in the midst of friends, family members, or co-workers who are trying to persecute you, God may be doing a mighty work; because others are watching and seeing the righteousness of Christ being lived out through you in those moments. And so don’t give up; don’t get discouraged. Hold fast to Jesus; as Stephen did, look up into the eyes of the Savior and trust that even though we might not see the big picture, God is using us and will continue to use us if we but remain faithful to him. Let’s hold fast to Him today. Amen.