Devotion Acts 8:1b-3 Foreordained And Sustained

Acts 8:1b-3a – 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.

“On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”  The day being referred to is from V1a in which it is stated that Saul (Paul) was approving of the murder of Stephen.  It is pointed out that the great Apostle Paul was at the beginning, one of the propagators of the persecution of the church.  On the specific day of Stephen’s martyrdom began a great persecution of the church.  We can rightfully say that was a very dark day.  Yet we must not look at what the enemy has done, but what God is doing.

As a result of this great persecution all the followers of Christ began to flee out into Judea and Samaria.  It is important to note that these did not leave behind their faith, but instead, it was living within them, and they spread their faith wherever they went.  On every highway, at every inn and upon meeting those along the road, these lovers of Jesus told His Gospel message.  They told about the Lover of their soul.  They were not complaining to every one about what they had lost because of the persecution, but instead were telling all about what they had gained, eternal life with Jesus.  They did not count the persecution as too much to bear for the sake of the Gospel, but instead a great honor to be named as one who belonged to Jesus.  Though evil intended the persecution to destroy the memory of Jesus and thereby stop the salvation message from reaching the world, the persecution only brought about what it intended to destroy, the spreading of the Gospel throughout the world.

These followers of Jesus, dispersing into surrounding nations, was not an error, but instead fulfilling God’s divine will.  The enemy had still not learned, and still has not learned, that God’s will shall prevail.  Hard times does not stop the will of God but instead can be used for quite the opposite (Genesis 50:20). It is better thought that the disciples who were fleeing were not doing so in a lack of faith, but instead very much in faith.  They trusted God to keep them and deliver them and to find them a new home and there they would continue to share Jesus to all they met.  God’s will was not being quenched as evil hoped, but rather being fanned into surrounding and ever expanding areas to reach new people.

Notice that the Apostles did not flee into other areas.  Family we are all called to unique and specific ministry.  Some are called to stay and some to go.  Some are called to preach and teach from the pulpit and some from the highways and alleys.  Some are called to share at work, or school, or sporting events.  We should follow where the Lord leads, or when necessary, drives us.  Let us not be unwilling to suffer hardships for the glory of God, but be proud that we have been called to do so.

“Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.”  These Godly men took a risk.  Not many people want to associate themselves as lovers of one who was just killed by mob violence.  But these men did.  They knew it could be dangerous to claim the body of Stephen and then to bury him and mourn his murder.  They did not mourn his death, but his murder, as He was ushered to Jesus as his vision had foresaw.  They mourned how he died and that they would no longer have him with them.  They would miss him.  By them burying him and displaying that they loved him, they, as they had in life, they stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the death of his earthly body.

“But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.”  Saul (Paul) was a man possessed in his persecution of the church of Jesus.  He wanted every man, woman and child who confessed Jesus as Savior and Lord to be destroyed.  He considered The Way not to be of God, but as something evil and different from what he considered to be the right and true teachings he had been taught.  Paul was a man fully persuaded to fight for God and he wrongly believed that when he was trying to stamp out the followers of Jesus that he was doing the will of God.

Religion does that to people.  God does not want us to follow religion, but to live in fellowship with Him.  God is our friend, the one who truly loves us and He wants us to be guided only by Him and His Word.  We might say how awful Paul was by being devoted to religious teaching and not yielding to God’s true guiding and teaching and yet, we must be careful with our judgements.  Yes, Paul (Saul) was wrong, but how about us.  We condemn one group of people for being tied to a church because of culture and tradition, and yet the church we attend can become a tradition and culture to us and to our progeny.  We must always remember that it is to Jesus that our loyalty is demanded.  Yet also, we must know that God has called us to love and worship God together.  He has called us to lean first on Him and then to comfort and encourage each other.  Therefore God will lead us to congregate in groups, small and big, at home, at work, and in school.  Being loyal to a certain church is good and right, but not to the point that we will not follow God another place if God calls us to go.  Let not the church we attend be a tradition that keeps us from following where God leads us.  Family, attend the church that God has brought you to.  Support the leadership of the church that is doing the will of God.  Yet don’t let everything you do be in the name of a denomination but rather let all things be done in the name of Christ.  Pray for your church and follow God.  But, God forbid, should that church fall from preaching the full Word of God, if they are unrepentant, flee to where the Word of God is fully and faithfully being taught.  Tradition can be good, but all too often is deadly.

Follow God!  Trust His Holy Spirit to guide you and compare everything to the Word of God.  If something being taught does not align with the Word of God, get away, run away.   Don’t let tradition and culture be an anchor that weighs us down, or kills us.  Live for Jesus.  Be willing to suffer in His name.  Bear that badge with honor.  Love God, pray for each other, and know the joy of the Lord as we rest in Him.  God has supplied all we need, let us rest in the finished work of Christ!  Praise God!

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!