Acts 8:1-4 The Word Goes Outside The Walls of Jerusalem

Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.  Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

After the murder of Stephen, the people scattered with the Gospel outside of Jerusalem except for the apostles who remained in Jerusalem.  But this scattering was God's will because back in Genesis, God caused people to scatter at the tower of Babel because God wanted His name to be known in the world. The apostles should have moved outside of Jerusalem, but the first missionary efforts were carried out by the deacons of this early church.  

Daily Prayer: Lord, do not let me hold my tongue when it comes to speaking about You.  You paid the price for my salvation, but not mine alone.  Many still need to hear the good news of the gospel and I am Your slave when it comes to making You known.  Place this missionary spirit in the heart of the church.  Amen.

Acts 7:54-60 Father, Forgive Them

 When they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him.  But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;  and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”  But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse.  When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.  They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”  Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

The confrontation presented here can be described in the prologue to the Gospel of John: "In the beginning  there was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  Through Him all things were made through Him.  The Word shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot comprehend it."  There you go.  Stephen, an emissary of Jesus Christ presents the Word of God to the world.  Because the world's heart is hard, it cannot understand it, so they choose to destroy it.  Stephen repeats the words of Jesus on the cross which is, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, when I am persecuted in the world, because I belong to You and not the world,
let me be quick to forgive, knowing that this is Your desire.  In Your holy name I pray Amen. 

Acts 6:9-15 Taking On The Nature of Christ

But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians and Alexandrian s, and some from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen.  But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”  And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. They put forth false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us.” And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.

The deacons in the early stages of the church in certain ways were more active in evangelism than the apostles themselves.  Today we see Stephen contending with the Temple leaders in Jesus' behalf.  He is presenting Jesus as the Living God while his adversaries were presenting  false claims against him.  They claim that he is blasphemous against Moses when indeed he was endowed with  some of Moses characteristics.  When Moses when to the Mount Sinai and spoke face to face with God, when he returned from the mountain he took on a glow that was apparent to the eye. Stephen in the same way, when presenting Jesus' case to the people took on the same glow as Moses, letting people know that he was from Christ.

Daily Prayer:

Lord, instead of worrying about what people may say or do to us, let us spend our time defending the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world.  Indeed the world will quarrel with us, but as to our enemies let You handle them as the battle is the Lord's and He will prevail.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Acts 6:1-8 Deacons are Raised up for Service

Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.  So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.  Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”  The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.  And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

In the days of the early church, members grew in great number.  The apostles feeling the pressure to serve God and the people reconciled the different factions of Jews (Hebrew or Greek) and the gentiles by appointing the churches first deacon's for service.  The Bible doesn't give  us as many details of the deacon's as it does others, but arising as the more notices were Stephen who is declared to be full of the Holy Spirit and Phillip who was recognized for the first evangelical work outside of Jerusalem.  Just as the apostles were given extraordinary grace by the gift to work signs and wonders, this also poured out to the deacons as well

In time, the church with all of its servants will become the body of Christ, each serving according to the grace given them.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You have indeed granted my gifts for service to You and I desire to be faithful according to Your enabling.  Along with these fruits of the Spirit, grant me also wisdom to serve you and not myself for the betterment of the Church which is Your body.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Acts 5:33-39 Gamaliel’s Counsel: Be Wary of These Men & Leave Them Alone

 But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them.  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.  And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men.  For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.  After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.  So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; t but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

Gamaliel was a highly regarded teacher, but more than that, he possessed wisdom.  He reminds his countrymen that they should not interfere with the work of the apostles and the Christians who were raising up from among them.  He declared that if their actions are from human origin it will fall apart.  But if they are of diving origin, and they try to thwart it, they will find themselves at war, with God!

Daily Prayer:  Lord, let my work be work that edifies the body of Christ and that I have no agenda apart from His Gospel.  Let my message be one of drawing people to Christ Jesus because He is the source of life and salvation.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Acts 5:29-32 We must obey God rather than men

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.  The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.  He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Despite the persecutions of the elders, Peter and the disciples made it known that when it comes to obedience, He can only take the word of God and not the word of sinners.  He reminds them that Jesus is the One who was prophesied and sent from God, but it is just as Jesus said: "If you do not love me, neither do you love the One who sent me."  

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, remind us always that we cannot love God without loving the Son whom He sent. You washed away my sins and gave me a life I did not have before knowing You.  Grant forgiveness and new life to these readers who now seek You.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Acts 5: 17-28 The Second Persecution, God's Word Does Not Return Empty

But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.  They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail  But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,  “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.”  Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought.  But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and they returned and reported back, saying, “We found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we had opened up, we found no one inside.”  Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.  But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them,  saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

The guards and the leaders did not even ask the apostles how they escaped.  I think they were afraid to know.  Why were the hearts of the leaders so hard against the disciples?  Because they were so filled with themselves that they considered emissaries of Jesus to be their enemies and therefore Satan was their leader, because he was the first to rebel.  Ultimately the disciples had to decide who to fear - man or God?  Jesus was doing a work in them that through them His Word would not come back empty.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit quench in us the need for self-importance.  Let us open our eyes so that our hearts too may be opened so that we may see with our eyes, hear with our ears and obey with our hearts.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.