Acts 8:1-4

THE CHURCH IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA

Acts 8:1, Acts 12:25

THE DISPERSION THE WORK OF PHILIP THE WORK OF PETER AND John 8:1-40.

A.

THE DISPERSION. Acts 8:1-4.

Acts 8:1

And Saul was consenting unto his death.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 8:2

And devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him.

Acts 8:3

But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.

Acts 8:4

They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word.

It might be well to say at the beginning of this section that the numbers which appear under the headings such as the one above correspond to the numbers found upon the following chart. All the events that took place in Jerusalem will be discussed under number one (1); all the events that took place in Samaria, under point two (2), etc.

a. The persecution against the church resulting in dispersion. Acts 8:1.

Acts 8:1 It has already been said that Saul was consenting to the death of Stephen. A further word needs to be added; that through the efforts of this one and others a great persecution arose against the church. Up to this time the rulers were content to oppose the church by pretending to defend their position. The opposition now turns from the defensive to the offensive. The leadership of the persecution passes from the Sadducees to the Pharisees. Saul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. The opposition swept upon the disciples with a fierceness that had never before been known. There were to be no more trials, no more defenses. The cause of Christ was condemned in a wholesale manner that permitted no hearing. Evidently the popularity of the new movement presented to the mind of the Jews a real threat to their power and prestige. It did indeed, for had the church been left to continue its march, all Jerusalem would have bowed at the feet of Jesus.

Under the general persecution it was flee or be jailed. Since the persecution was localized in Jerusalem the disciples scattered into the parts of Judea and Samaria. This dispersion was God's use of opposition to further His own purposes. Jesus said the witness was to be given first at Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria; this was the start of it.

b. The burial of Stephen. Acts 8:2.

Acts 8:2 With great sorrow devout men tenderly lifted the broken body of Stephen from amidst the stones and buried him. Yet there must have been joy intermingled, for now they knew that there was nothing they could not face, and come forth victorious. They had faced threatenings, imprisonments, stripes and now death; still Jesus could be seen and heard, leading them above it all to still greater efforts.

c. The persecution of Saul. Acts 8:3.

Acts 8:3 Saul was the spearhead in this all out campaign. He left no stone unturned, he ferreted out every Christian. He went from house to house and upon finding a follower of Jesus gave him no chance for so much as a word, but dragged him from his home and cast him into prison.

d. The preaching of all who were scattered. Acts 8:4.

Acts 8:4 There were not twelve preachers in this early church but thousands. Every believer held it his divine responsibility to tell someone else of this Jesus. So when the disciples were forced to leave their homes and loved ones they Went everywhere preaching the word.

236.

What was the difference between the persons persecuted in the earlier persecution and the ones described in the eighth chapter?

237.

What change of party do we find in the leadership of the persecution?

238.

What threat did the Pharisees see in this new movement?

239.

How did this persecution fulfill the purpose of Christ?

240.

Tell of the sorrow and joy that must have been present at the burial of Stephen.

PART OF THE COLONNADE WHICH ONCE ENCIRCLED SAMARIA.

On the south side, near to the west end, a great number of columns are still standing.

Could it be that Philip looked upon some of these same pillars? Samaria stood upon a hill about three hundred feet high, in a wide basin formed by the valley which runs from Shechem to the coastHere, on this hill, overlooked by still higher hills beyond the valley, Omri built the new city which became the permanent capital of the kingdom of the northern tribes. The city was almost impregnable. Two sieges it sustained without yieldingone in 901 B.C. (1 Kings 20:1) and one nine years later. (2 Kings 6:24, Acts 7:20).

241.

How did Saul go about his efforts of persecutionhis attitude and method?

242.

What is the meaning of the term word as used in Acts 8:4?