Oh God, I ask in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ that you would meet
with many today.
Amen.
We find our text in the book of
Acts.
From chapter 8 and we read from verse
1.
Our soul was consenting to his death, that
is, of Stephen.
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.
We'll read thus far.
The theme of this service is taken from
this verse 4 where it says those scattered
went everywhere preaching the word.
Let me repeat that again.
The scattered ones went everywhere preaching the word.
Now it was in Jerusalem.
The church was multiplying.
There were 3,000 and then 5,000,
and they continued to grow.
The Lord was at work.
His miracles were happening.
But with the martyrdom of Stephen and his
being stoned to death, with Saul being present,
Saul was very glad about the killing of
Stephen.
There were those who mocked at that time.
Today there are theologians who mock and they
say, well, what does Paul know anyway?
At that time he was still very young.
Now we don't know how young he was.
He might have been young, but he had
a high position.
In his particular position, they couldn't be below
24.
He could have been 24 to 40 years
of age when this incident took place.
It seemed that he had the mandate to
do this.
So that hatred grew.
This act of Saul's in being glad about
the killing of Stephen became fashionable, and this
idea to persecute the Christians grew and grew.
He pursued the Christians even into their homes
and arrested them and dragged them off to
jail.
You see that whatever decision you make is
something which grows.
If you decide for the Lord, it is
a growing decision and it increases daily.
But if you decide for the devil, even
if you're a preacher and you allow something
of the devil in your life, that thing
increases, it gains momentum, and eventually you'll do
something which even the pagans will frown upon.
But if you've decided for the Lord, it
is something that grows and the momentum is
evident and visible to all those around you.
But if you don't grow, then I want
to tell you, you are dead.
No growth equals death.
You are like a corpse.
You are being consumed by maggots.
While you walk around, you are dead.
If you're a child of the Lord, your
growth is evident, is visible as you grow
in the Lord.
However, if you decide for the devil in
any area of your life, that thing increases
and grows until even the pagans around you
are astonished.
And Saul, he was zealous for God, so
-called, but it was with a false zeal.
It was deception in Saul's life.
And this hatred against the believers was something
which grew and increased.
And the heartbreaking thing is this, that they
thought they were serving God.
They were fighting for God.
Very sincere.
But sincerely wrong.
I don't know if there are people like
that here.
Zealous.
They're full of zeal for some cause, but
it's not of the Lord.
They need to repent of that.
They need to return to the Lord.
And the Word of God says here that
a great persecution arose in Jerusalem.
It was an enormous persecution.
And the Christians left their homes and furniture
and had to flee because of this persecution.
Only the apostles kept by the power of
God were able to remain in Jerusalem.
And it says, many scattered in the direction
of Judea, some towards Samaria.
But what is wonderful, and that is the
theme of this message, is that every one
of them, wherever they were scattered to, propagated
the gospel.
So Satan, even though he is Satan, he
is like a cat which doesn't die.
For from the beginning, he should have admitted
his failure.
For Satan has been in the business of
attacking and persecuting for a long time, and
he has failed.
Someone said, they quote Winston Churchill's words, never
give up, never give up, never give up.
It can be a good thing, but an
evil thing, because if you're on the wrong
track, you won't give up.
If you're on the right track, never give
up.
Be faithful right to the end.
When the Boers, Petra Tief, was killed, the
men wanted to flee, but the women said,
no, we can't.
Well, a worldly person would say, cheers for
the women.
But the devil has got one evil thing,
that he doesn't give up.
He should give up and bow to God,
but he doesn't.
So Saul just continued growing in his persecution
and hatred of the brethren, but at the
same time, what happened was the scattered Christians
just caused the growth of the church.
Remember in Acts chapter one, Jesus said to
his disciples, remain here till you receive power
from on high.
Then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the
earth.
They received the Holy Spirit, and they propagated
the gospel in Jerusalem.
And here was Satan trying to destroy this
work, trying to utterly rout this ministry.
But the true gospel can never be defeated,
it can never be squashed.
It can never be defeated, it can never
be squashed.
It can never be destroyed.
It can never be destroyed, it can never
be destroyed.
As it has been said, the blood of
the martyrs is the seed of the church.
As it has been said, if you take
a Christian and jail him, or even kill
him, you're actually defeating your own aims to
destroy the gospel, because that will only enhance
the gospel, and it will go forth more
powerfully than before.
And so Satan here, in fighting against the
church, achieved the exact opposite.
In fact, he achieved the fulfillment of the
Lord's command, that the disciples should go out
and preach in Judea and Samaria.
So if you feel that Satan is attacking
you in some way, and it seems like
he's absolutely destroying you and what the Lord
is doing in your life, just understand that
the Lord will bring about good in what
is fitting in his sight.
So even if Satan intended to spoil things,
even in heaven, but by this act of
persecuting the church in Jerusalem, he was actually
spreading the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and other
areas.
It was difficult in Jerusalem, because of the
persecution, with Stephen having been martyred, and
it says that the devout men buried him.
Now here you'll find, there are various translations
and various versions of the Bible, in the
Zulu Bible it says, believing men buried Stephen.
Devout.
In English, in this particular version it says,
devout men, so good and upright, godly men,
went and buried Stephen.
Devout and pious Jews buried him.
So as some translations indicate that they were
believing men of the church, and some commentators
and expositors say, Yes sir.
But there are some commentators who say, But
there are some commentators who point out, that
these were devout men, Jewish men, who were
becoming favorable towards the faith.
Like with the burial of the Lord Jesus,
he wasn't buried by the disciples, instead rather
by believing Jews.
Like Joseph, and history tells us, that if
a person was stoned to death, because of
the decision of the Sanhedrin, the council of
the priests, or was put to death by
them, or was decapitated, or
whatever way the capital punishment was carried out,
if it was by the decision of the
Sanhedrin, then, you
were not allowed to display public grief.
It was not allowed.
It was forbidden.
You could mourn in secret.
And so some commentators say, that the church
couldn't take Stephen from the rubble of the
stones, and go and bury him, but there
were some, there were some Jews
who were secret disciples, who were sympathetic regarding
Stephen.
And they came, like Joseph of Arimathea, and
took the corpse.
And the Greek, indicates
that they didn't just go and dump him
in a grave, but a proper burial ceremony
was performed.
They took his body, buried him in the
proper way, and there was great lamentation over
him.
Or one could say they picked up everything.
It could be that, as happens with a
person who is stoned to death, that they
are broken and in pieces even.
It may be that brains are spilled on
the stones.
The skull breaks into pieces.
Some of you remember when we visited the
crash site of Samora Moshel, where his plane
went down, we found bits of bone and
bits of skull lying around.
Dogs were busy eating these white bones.
Now, when it comes to stoning, that the
person's body might be broken, the head, the
skull broken in pieces.
And in the Greek, as if they put
all the pieces together.
And these Jewish believing men made great lamentation
over him.
They grieved.
Go and bury that corpse.
And pick up those pieces.
Nevertheless, it indicates, whatever interpretation, it indicates the
terrible atmosphere that there was in Jerusalem.
Hell was let loose.
It was as if there was this determination
to completely extinguish every trace of the church
on earth.
But no, for our hero, the one who
was raised up, the one who ascended into
heaven, of whom the Bible says, God has
highly exalted him, our Lord Jesus.
He sovereignly controls the whole earth sitting there
in heaven.
And as we've heard from John and Michael,
of some of the difficult circumstances, the darkness,
we never need to be perturbed by the
darkness.
Instead, it makes the light to shine brighter.
Even as I came into the service today,
I began to feel like I should be
out there preaching the gospel.
God actually makes it easier.
When he allows darkness to have its way
and there's such oppression, the Lord makes it
easier for his gospel to go forth.
And so
the
Christians were scattered in every direction.
But I don't think that they were grieving
about the loss of their cupboards and their
tables and chairs and their beds.
No, a true Christian is one who can
rejoice when he suffers loss, when he is
persecuted, because he knows of the eternal reward.
If you lose your house, your furniture, everything
you've got, and you've got to flee, then
you can have pity for yourself.
Full of self-pity.
Sorry for yourself.
Thank God and praise him that he's broken
the neck of all your idols.
You're not serving God, you're serving your home,
your furniture.
Your car, your home, your furniture may be
your idol.
but by this they were all scattered in
every direction and in fact the words of
the Lord Jesus when he commanded go ye
therefore into Judea and Samaria was being fulfilled
was a blessing in disguise who's good he
lent or beggars will see so no my
singer Bonagalli you moan and you groan oh
it's so difficult you're in the wrong crawl
go to the world go to to those
that serve the devil that's where you belong
but not a Christian Maucon on a who's
Khalil which our English to get away lent
or not lent or kushkuti when Indy my
aku is says when I go buzz alone
who don't call buffers a look at any
non-talented on Galileo to look on a
cool look in a local who go to
Munda happy a fagas and I look up
to Lillie and so God organized that they
should be scattered they weren't made to stay
put in one place but that they were
to go forth all over I get what
we forget to Judea Abba Kali who could
have such a beggar figure Samaria how such
a beggar basho my elava fagas and which
is and so when they got to Judea
and Samaria they didn't pity themselves about their
loss instead they spread the word right there
about the Lord Jesus Mikael gave me a
Mikael one nigga a paper L Kuluma noise
fuzz on a obey unconquered German a
young lady with justice and Michael gave me
an article about a lady who was a
cabinet minister in the Department of Justice in
Germany one man who had been invited to
that same meeting got a I got here
in Gungo Shimon Jango by a now what
he who pushed a funnel Hitler none what
portray what in Gaga UGT whom Hollywood cream
I'm keepers concede she is no longer a
cabinet minister and she has lost her position
because she made the statement that President Bush
can be equated with Hitler and as this
is the same as Hitler and so she
was expelled from that position what's a good
to our figure or manua who could have
Kuluma in what it was a face you
start to go so Carla I'm not good
for you because of a lot of normal
lesson now in Dima your Carla you're not
your Carla who was a face and so
she was invited to come and speak on
the first part of Ephesians chapter 1
and she said ladies
and gentlemen as I look at this text
I don't know what it means I don't
really understand anything of it probably
God wants us to hear pious and poetical
phrases and not that we don't understand the
content of it just that we've got nice
clinging words now nice ringing words I you
must forgive me I didn't know that I
mentioned it I would have brought it along
I can't put it as beautiful as she
did and
the last part of that portion said and
through whom we were cleansed and washed by
his blood our sins forgiven and she said
of that I don't know what it means
I can't understand that God must just be
giving us nice words that would sound and
good and have a good resonance so it
shows that she doesn't know what forgiveness is
all about Paul must have written that just
to write nice ringing words that have got
no meaning it just shows us that heaven
and earth wants to bless you whether you
go to bed what to mama go to
Paul who before you go to ashwagandha I'm
Nandi when
I read that article I felt like writing
a letter to her to explain something of
the wonder and of the truth of this
text and
to show her that these words from the
Bible are not just nice ringing words that
sound good but they have content they have
real meaning
now
back to our text where the Christians were
scattered in every direction and strict Judaism was
they it was putting down its foot insisting
on its way if you look at Jerusalem
and where it's placed on the map where
I'm showing towards the south is Judea below
it to the north of Jerusalem Samaria
further north Galilee
for Israel had been split into three portions
by then more 722 that was in 722
BC the
king of Assyria had attacked Samaria it was
still full of Jews at the time why
set up a bar to Tabatica and it
I'm a no-tealer I'm a baby all
the prominent and wealthy Jews and just the
poor ones remained why set up a zone
is his way why later I summary and
then he went and took a different pagan
nations and planted them to occupy the land
there in Samaria but could I get manager
and so through history that area became a
mixed race because they began to intermingle and
intermarry with each other and
with the
passing of time the hatred between the Samaritans
and the Jews grew ever tenser because the
Jews looked down upon these low-cost Jews
in Samaria you see apartheid is not something
that just happened recently
and
it's even older than the Afrikaners in fact
we had a recent historical meeting in a
shower we were one of the royal family
pointed out that apartheid was introduced by the
English in South Africa long before the Afrikaners
you see it was even older from of
ancient times even when our Lord was on
earth but Jesus even though there was
this tension and hatred between these races Jesus
went to the Samaritans and
he also commanded his disciples he said you
go to Samaria those who are your enemies
as Jews you go to them that's the
marvelous thing about the gospel that in Christ
there is no Jew or Samaritan there's no
colored or Indian but the Lord says that
we should go to everyone even those who
are the proclaimed enemies of your people but
you are but
you are not called to be exclusivist to
defend your people and your nation no the
Lord says all people are your people you
are to go to all people if you
are discriminatory and say no I'm just wanting
to protect and defend or fight politically for
my people then you still need to meet
with Jesus you need to repent and so
these people found themselves in the midst of
the Samaritans you
might be complaining and say oh
look at what has happened to me woe
to me and now I'm thrown in the
midst of these people no God is using
even Satan to fulfill his own will you
might say
I'm
badly treated I'm not given I'm not welcomed
well let God open your eyes what does
he say about that and he's using that
because you're so blind maybe you've forgotten already
what he told you before then you just
busy with this can't you busy your little
baby when it dies you are sorry and
you forget what he told you who commanded
you busy nendo yako nengan yako was
tension between themselves in that nation but they
were absolutely free because they could witness about
Christ if you receive Jesus you will
want everyone to get to know him I
can't believe that Jesus can love can live
in your heart without telling others about him
excuse me I
feel like telling you you're a liar you've
got the wrong Jesus not the right one
was scattered and they all spoke about Jesus
they propagated the gospel wherever they went and
history both those who are sympathetic to the
faith and historians who are anti-christian confirm
the truth of this Justin Martin for instance
Justin Marta who was
one of the great men of God of
that first church he
writes
about how he was walking on the sand
along the beach and a Christian came alongside
him and spoke about Jesus and led him
to the Lord great men of God were
one by simple Christians who couldn't keep quiet
and if you can keep quiet the Jesus
you've got is a dead Jesus I'm a
daughter gun cool and cool oh I'm not
doing on I'm trying to also
a great man of God writes
that every Christian in whatever career he was
following or whatever work he was doing put
it very nicely he said but both those
these two things go together if you find
out God if you find God you can't
but manifest it when after you found him
what
he never come allow a match alone alone
salon we am told you found God and
you don't manifest him when OT um Tolila
Gandhi um um Vesi Pamega Bonnie today's your
day where you should get converted and get
right and find God and meet with him
and then you can't but manifest him if
you manifest something else go for counseling and
just don't play church get down to business
you're a bad man if you confess that
you're a Christian and you don't manifest God
to high and low poor rich worker you're
a bad man and
so to Italian said you both find him
and show him but what is the Jesus
who is the Jesus found that you cannot
show Christ are you and you yet you're
blind to it's why the blind leading the
blind if you're following something else
if
you
do not show by having found God and
manifest God then it shows that the world
is in you you like a whore of
the world you even if you don't do
it outwardly there's this whoredom inside you you're
immoral inside you you need the Lord to
come in and to get that out may
God show you your emptiness someone said you're
an empty-headed man but you're not only
an empty-headed man you're an empty-hearted
man.
A certain man known as
Celsus mocked the Christians and he said that
everybody Celsus scoffingly remarked that whether they fullers
those are workers in leather
or workers in wool and crochets
and that or rustic rural people and
by
the
way there is this scoffing of the urban
folks scoffing the rural people by the way
the rural people of know many more things
than those in the cities but anyway this
man Celsus said even the rustic people who
are rural
and
ignorant persons they were the most
zealous propagators of Christianity and he said women
would also bring this
gospel immediately to their children and lead them
to Christ.
Women and slaves introduced it into their circles
slaves to slaves and also to their owners
to their own circles they spread the gospel.
This man who hated Christianity and went against
it he says every Christian would tell his
neighbor about Christ.
Every laborer his fellow laborer the slaves to
his fellow slaves.
He is a killer, he is a killer,
he is a killer, he is a killer,
and slaves telling their fellow slaves, not like
those who will arrange instead a boycott and
or will arrange a demonstration and try and
arouse the rebel and get or get a
fighting spirit.
No, that belongs to hell.
Here they share Christ with each other.
And with their masters and their mistresses, telling
them about Jesus.
So wherever a person was, that's what he
did.
Now we haven't yet been persecuted.
There are just lies spoken about, lies spread
abroad and also by Christians, things being written,
but we haven't yet gone to jail or
been stoned.
But, But
wherever you go, you should still be bringing
Christ to the people around you.
There are those who go to school here,
and when you follow your career or maybe
start some work somewhere, whatever it is, are
you busy spreading the gospel?
If you're not, don't tell me about your
Christianity.
That's just dirt that you have.
Don't say to me you're spreading the gospel
if you just talk and talk and talk.
Empty talk, without fruit, is worth nothing.
That's why I say to you, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, repent.
Turn away from this old life, otherwise you're
headed for hell.
Everyone, wherever you're scattered to, Spreading
the gospel of Christ, always having that urge
not to let the sun go down without
having told somebody about the Lord or what
the Lord has been doing in your life.
If that's not your life, then you're just
playing around, you're a comic, you're in a
circus.
Or like little children acting.
Acting like little children who, maybe one acts
as a preacher and the other sits and
listens to them.
Well, they are better off than you, who
you find yourself an old Christian, but there's
none of that zeal to spread the gospel
of our Lord.
Instead you become traditional, that you're a Christian,
you've accepted Christ.
But you still lie, you're still sexually abusive,
you're still sexually abusive, you're still sexually abusive,
you're still sexually abusive, you're still
sexually abusive, you're still sexually abusive, you're still
sexually abusive, you're still sexually abusive.
You're still sexually abusive, you're still sexually abusive,
you're still sexually abusive, you're still sexually abusive,
you're still sexually abusive.
But when I met with Jesus, I put
that aside, I took the Bible and I
began to go into homes, into these huts
where there was smoke and it was very
poor and I'd sit on the ground and
share the gospel with these people.
I had no time for sports anymore.
I would go to the round huts, into
the mountains and valleys and tell them about
Jesus.
And you go to rugby matches, you go
to cricket matches, you go to sports field
and you've never gone out into a hut
and sat down and told them about Jesus.
What a hypocrite and pharisee you are, don't
call yourself a Christian.
I won't accept it, never.
They ask John, what is a heathen?
Now you know what a heathen is, maybe
you're the biggest one.
But John, what is a
heathen?
When I was 23, I went to school,
I went to school as a heathen.
I didn't go to school, I didn't go
to school, I didn't go to school.
I heard of DSS at a prayer meeting,
only 20 or 30 come or to the
choir, well then it's a pagan school and
teachers take note of this as well, these
are unconverted children.
What is a
heathen?
So do not be deceived, recognise what is
truly of him and what is not, that
which is of a goat and that which
is a sheep, otherwise the Lord comes back
and he is returning and you'll be shocked
to discover who are real sheep and who
are just sheep.
Dear friends, those of you who speak German,
did you understand what I said?
And you Africans, did you understand what I
said?
I meant, you English speaking people, have you
heard?
What are you going to do about it?
Stop being a geese, or a duck, dive
into the water, come out on the other
side of the river and you're still dry.
And you speak African languages or other nations,
wherever you might be, wherever you're from, I
don't want to stand before God and be
found guilty of not telling the truth as
it is.
And you dear visitors, whom I honour, let's
face the truth squarely.
We are not to play around.
Let us pray.
Let's stand to our feet and pray.
Lord, by your Holy Spirit, please reach the
depths of our hearts.
That it will be the end of having
many people and yet most not having met
the Lord.
But grant, Lord, that each one who calls
himself a Christian would be a true Christian.
Amen.