The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 8, verses 1 through 8.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the Word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 8. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 8. For those of you who are here for the very first time, this is what we do. We teach through the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book. We leave no stone unturned, and we're in the book of Acts on Sunday mornings. We're in the Old Testament in the book of Judges on Wednesdays. And so just going through the Word of God, it's just been a fabulous time going through the Scriptures.

Oh, I just, I can't wait. Every time I'm up Sundays, I can't wait for Wednesdays. Wednesdays, I can't wait for Sundays, just to take us through the Word of God. And Father, thank you so much that you have given us this Word. And God, I pray now that you by your Spirit will reveal the secrets of our hearts. Lord, I pray that this Word would apply to our lives today in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 8, looking at verses 1 through 8, and the title of this message is, "It's Coming." It's coming. You ask, "What's coming?" Well, what we see happening in the book of Acts, and more specifically what is happening in this chapter. It is called persecution. Persecution against us as believers because of our stand for Jesus Christ and for the Bible.

Remember, Stephen was stoned to death in chapter 7 because the Jewish Supreme Court didn't like the historical truth he had to say to them in court. As they cast him out of the city and stoned him, according to Acts 7 and verse 58, the end of this verse says that the people stoning him laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul, who would later become the great Apostle Paul.

And as Stephen was being stoned, he prayed in chapter 7 and verse 60, "Lord, do not charge them with their sin." And this statement seemed to have had a lasting effect upon Saul. He was probably thinking, "Who prays for the salvation of the people stoning them?" This affected him very powerfully. However, verse 1 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 region of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles."

I want to draw your attention to the word "consenting" in verse 1. That Greek word is an amazing word. It means to assent to, hearty agreement, or feel gratified with. This implies that Saul could have had a vote and been a part of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. He consented or gave hearty assent to the death of Stephen.

As I was going over my notes early this morning, I got to thinking about this. And I just have to pose this question to all of us here: Are you giving a hearty agreement to the death of someone's career, to the death of their reputation, because maybe you didn't like what they had to say to you? Maybe the truth that they gave you on the job you didn't like it, so you, just like they were doing here, you gave hearty assent. You gave, you feel gratified with the death of somebody's career or the death of their reputation.

If you're part of this, I'm telling you, it won't end well for you. Just like we will see with, with Saul. After this, verse 1 goes on to say that a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem. This is a classic example of throwing a rock in the pack of dogs. The one that barked the loudest is the one that you hit. And it is clear that Saul was hit by the rock of truth that Stephen told, and he led a crusade against the church at Jerusalem.

Please remember this story when you have shared the truth about the Bible and God and Jesus Christ. The ones that get the angriest at you and launch a crusade against you is really trying to drown out the voice of their conscience convicting them of the truth that you just told them. This is what Saul is doing. And they will think that they are doing God's service. Jesus, speaking prophetically, Jesus said in John 16 verse 2, I believe he was speaking prophetically of this period here, more specifically to Saul himself.

Jesus said in John 16 verse 2, "The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service." In other words, those who will be on a crusade against you will be religious church people. And by shutting you up or shutting you down, they will think that they are doing the work of God.

Verse 1 goes on to say after the persecution broke out against the church, they all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Now, Jesus told the Apostles in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, he said, "Then you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." They started in Jerusalem, but they stayed there.

We all have the tendency to hang out where it's comfortable. And so did the early church. But the Lord is calling us out of our comfort zones and to reach out to a hurting and lost world around us. And sometime God has to use persecution like he did here in these verses. Throughout history, whenever the church was persecuted, it grew. The church always struggled, watch this, when it was prosperous.

Jesus gave an indictment to the lukewarm Laodicean church in Revelation 3 and verse 17. He said, "Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, but you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." I believe the, the American church fits very comfortably in the lukewarm status with the prosperity gospel, which says, "I am rich and have need of nothing."

And Jesus would say to the American church, "But you don't realize that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." And this is why I believe that the persecution that our dear brothers and sisters are experiencing around the world, especially in the Middle East, will come to American soil. And I believe it's already here. Now here in America, my country that I served when I was in the Marine Corps, my country, this country of mine now, you can get fired for mentioning or talking about Jesus Christ.

We have already had everything Christian removed from public places. Prayer removed out of schools. Ten Commandments taken down off the walls of the courtrooms. Crosses taken down off of hills and mountains around this country. No nativity scenes in public places. Now it's a, it's a holiday tree. Holiday tree? Now it's holiday shopping. No Christmas because of the Christ in Christmas. Now it's holiday, it's no more Christmas break. Why I grew up, we, we look forward to Christmas break. Now it's winter. Winter break. Since when you need break in winter?

I mean, you know, it'd be, it's nice. But why are we taking a break in the wintertime? It's Christmas. But this is the country that we're living in. No more praying in the name of Jesus at city council meetings. I used to pray at city council's meetings until they sent me a letter one time and said, "Hey, we want you to come and do what you do, pray before do, you know, before the city council meeting, but you can't mention the name of Jesus. Don't pray in Jesus' name." And I said, "And that's the last time."

That I, I'm, who am I, who am I talking to? Somebody on the city council? With my eyes closed? Who am I talking to? Some, some cosmic God out there, some generic, who am I praying to? You're asking a pastor of a church to come and pray and not mention the name of Jesus? Are you kidding me? I said that, I said, "No thanks. Y'all go and pray, get your generic prayer from somebody else, but it won't be me." It won't be me at all.

And so now no more mentioning of Jesus by valedictorians at graduations. The list goes on and on. Next is what we see happening in these verses, Christians being put to death for speaking the truth about Jesus Christ. Here's the question, are you ready for this level of persecution? Those of you playing games with God, you know who you are and not serious about your relationship with Jesus Christ, will, not might, will give in and not stand for Jesus Christ.

Oh, hey, Pastor Tony, how do you, how do you know this? Because if you can't live for him now, you definitely ain't going to die for him later. You ain't living for him now. You know who you are. You're fooling around playing games with God. You won't stand. You won't stand when the rubber meets the road. And so here it is, we see in these verses. No one wanted to leave Jerusalem. You know why? It was the happening place. It was the center of spiritual activity. And for six years, no one wanted to leave.

It took the persecution by Saul to get the believers moving to scatter to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I want you to notice where they scattered when persecution broke out. The Lord told them, "You should, when the Spirit of God comes upon you, you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth." They stayed in Jerusalem. Persecution broke out. They went to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

It was the persecution of Acts 8:1 which moved the church to obey the command of Acts 1:8. And what form of persecution will come your way to get you going or to get you to take your relationship with God seriously? Will you be faced with a job transfer, a new military assignment, a breakup of a relationship? Maybe you got turned down for a job or a promotion you wanted.

What will it take to get you going in obedience to the Lord? A pink slip? Most of us want to stay where it's comfortable. But the Lord sees where we can be used most effectively. Now, let me tell you and I'm going to look at all of you with a straight face. I would have loved to have stayed in sunny California. Trust me when I say that. But God wanted me and wanted to use me here in Virginia.

Let's stop and look at what we consider as persecution here in the American church, what we call persecution, losing a job, losing a relationship, a job transfer. This is what we call, oh, suffering for the Lord. Persecution. Where there are people around the world losing their lives. We, we're talking about a job transfer when there are people who are being chased away from their homelands permanently because of their stand for Jesus Christ.

Maybe persecution is what, what we need here in the American church to get us going for the Lord. Maybe this is what we need. It'll begin to weed out those true believers from those fooling around. It'll begin to weed it out. Maybe this is what we need. Notice how the end of verse 1 says that everyone scattered except the Apostles. Why didn't they flee like everyone else?

I believe because they fled previously out of fear. You remember in, in Matthew 26 and verse 56, when they came to arrest Jesus to bring him to trial, it says that all the disciples forsook him and fled. So here it is, six years later, they probably said, "We fled out of fear before. We're staying here in Jerusalem even if it costs us our lives."

Look what it says there in verses 2 and 3. It says a devout man carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. And as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Now in these verses, we see in verse 2, that devout man carried Stephen, who was stoned in chapter 7, to his burial and made great lamentation over him.

Then we are reintroduced to Saul again in verse 3. It says that he made havoc of the church. I put emphasis on havoc for a reason, because that Greek word is an amazing Greek word. It only appears here in the entire New Testament. And it means to destroy, to ruin, or to damage. In extrabiblical writings, it was used to describe the destruction of a city and the mangling by a wild beast.

The root of this word describes the results of wounding a, a wild boar. See, when a boar is wounded, it goes on a rampage and loses all sense of sanity, which is exactly what happened to Saul. And here is Saul just consenting to the death of Stephen, now like a wild boar, begins to go from house to house dragging believers out, putting them in prison.

Another definition of this Greek word for havoc means that Saul was tearing the church apart, an act that would haunt him the rest of his life. In 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 9, he said, "For I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle." In Ephesians 3:8, he says, "To me who am less than the least of all the saints." And finally, in 1st Timothy 1:15, he calls himself the chief of sinners.

Now what happened next? Look what it says there in verse 4. "Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." So those who were scattered in verse 1 because of the persecution against the church, went everywhere preaching the Word, which is what the Lord told them to do from the start.

Does the Lord have to use persecution to get us going to preach the gospel? He told us in Mark 16 and verse 15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." He told us in Matthew 28 and verse 19, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

When are we going to obey this, though? Maybe persecution is the only way to get us believers today to obey his command and take this glorious Gospel to a hurting world. There are many people who say, well, you know, for those of you who've been around church for a little while, you use this spiritual jargon. Well, I'm waiting to be led by the Lord. He told you 2,000 years ago to go. How much waiting you have to do? It's been 2,000 years. He told you to go, to take this Gospel that Jesus Christ came and died and rose again on the third day.

That he came to pay the price for your sin and mine on Calvary's cross. That no longer do you have to carry the weight and the guilt of your sin. That you can be set free through a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the message we need to be taking because there's a world out there guilty. There's a world out there carrying the weight of their sin, trying to lay on somebody's couch to get rid of their guilt and sin. Only Jesus can set them free from their sin. Only Jesus. You can lay on somebody's couch and talk to them 'til you're blue in the face. It won't remove your guilt.

Only through repentance of your sin, not trying to shift it on somebody else. Taking responsibility for your sin and repent of that, and Jesus will take the weight of your sin off for you. And as you begin to walk with him in a relationship with him, you don't have to carry it any longer. The guilt, you know the guilt that you cry yourself to sleep every night because of how you feel about what you're doing. Jesus wants to take that away. He wants to forgive you and set you free. That's the message.

We need to take to a hurting and dying world. They're hurting because they've been, they've been beat up by life, drowning in their sin. And they're like, what, what am I to do with it but carry it? No, you don't have to. There's somebody who carried it. He can forgive you of all of your sins, past, present, and future. He said, "Well, how is that?" How many of your sins were yet future when Jesus died on the cross? All of them. All of them. All of them.

Look what it says there in verse 5. "Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them." Now, as Philip was persecuted, he went down to the city of Samaria. Now, what is interesting to note is that Stephen was stoned to death in chapter 7, and persecution breaks out in verse 1 of this chapter, and now Philip flees to Samaria. It will seem like the persecution was mainly against the Hellenistic Jews, or the Jews with a Greek background. Stephen was a Hellenistic Jew, and so was Philip.

It will seem that the persecution was against the Hellenistic Jews that the Orthodox Jews hated. We're going to see why. Look at verses 6 through 8. "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."

So Philip traveled to Samaria, which was 40 miles north of Jerusalem. Now, the Samaritans were a mixed race of people. When the Assyrians took the ten northern tribes into captivity in 721-722 BC, the Assyrians mingled with the Jews and produced the Samaritans. So verse 6 says that the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

The Holy Spirit had already prepared the hearts of the Samaritans to respond to Philip's message. Could it be, could it be, or could it have been done as a result of the Samaritan woman that Jesus ministered to in John chapter 4? You remember Jesus ministered to the woman, told her everything that was in her heart, and it said that she went into the city and gathered all the men. She had a way with the men. Gathered all the men and said, "Come see a man who told me everything I did." And they said, "Everything, we got to come see him. Did he mention me?" And they came and it said that they all came. Could their hearts have been prepared because of this Samaritan woman? Could have been.

The same thing is needed in our lives. The Holy Spirit must prepare the hearts of the Samaritans on your job, in your neighborhood, and in your families. This is done by prayer. Begin to pray for the Samaritans in your life and see how easy it is to talk to them about the Gospel because the Holy Spirit has already gone before you like we see in these in these verses.

This is another reason why we started praying on Saturday nights. I look at you, all of you here today. We prayed for you last night. We prayed that God would open up your heart so you can be receptive to the Word of God coming forth today. Oh, many of you, you know, you you would have come in here like this, "Okay, what do you got to say? Okay, hurry up. Okay, I'm done. All right, I'm." But now there's an openness because we prayed for you last night.

It was just a few of us, but we prayed. I said, "I don't care if it's just me here. I'm going to pray for you on Saturday night so your heart will be right." And for those of you who went out partying last night, we prayed for you too. We prayed that you have miserable time. That your time stunk last night. Was that you praying for me? Yeah. Prayed that you, it stunk. It was terrible. We pray for you. Pray for you that your heart will be receptive to the Word of God and the things of God. The miracle spoken of at the end of verse 6 is told to us in verse 7, which were those with unclean spirits, possessed with demons, and those paralyzed and lame were healed. We are seeing these kinds of miracles happening in our church in a spiritual sense.

Those with unclean spirits of pornography and sex slaves and prostitution are being delivered.

Guest (Female): If The Word Made Plain has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to you, why not consider becoming a Word Made Plain giving partner to keep this listener-supported program on the air. As a giving partner, you join forces with Calvary Chapel Newport News's Kingdom vision of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can make your tax-deductible gift online at calvarynn.org or send your gift of any amount to 15531 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23608. And receive a gift from Calvary Chapel Newport News as our thank you. In addition to your financial support, we ask that you pray for The Word Made Plain broadcast, that it touches hearts and generates change in the lives of people around the world. We pray you've been blessed by God's Word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear The Word Made Plain.