SCATTERED, THEY WENT PREACHING
#779a SCATTERED, THEY WENT PREACHING
(A BUMP ON THE GREAT COMMISSION ROAD)
Scripture Acts 8:1-13, NIV Orig. 3/16/1980
Rewr. 5/12/1988
Passage: 1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered 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.
Philip in Samaria 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer 9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Purpose: Using a mission message to acknowledge the occasion of the 100th anniversary of a most significant WMU emphasis
Keywords: Church Mission Christ, Orders Evangelism Missions
Timeline/Series: Acts Bible Study
Introduction
It never ceases to leave me incredulously wondering when I hear the story of the organization of Women’s Missionary Union. It happened, as surely you are aware, exactly 100 years ago. May 14th was a Monday in the year 1888, and the Southern Baptist Convention was in session in Richmond, Virginia. The men, mostly pastors, were meeting in First Baptist Church. The women were a few blocks away down Broad Street at Broad Street Methodist Church. Actually, they had been denied permission to hold an organizational meeting for the purpose of women’s work at First Baptist Church.
This 100th anniversary year may be unique in yet another way. It is possible that when the proceeds of this present year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is counted, mission gifts through that annual fund raising will climb to a grand total of $1 billion dollars. For an organization having such difficulty in the outset, they have done rather well.
You may be interested in knowing that enrollment is well over a million (1,947,479). In some churches, it is actually on the increase, though shamefully, not in ours. I am happy to report however, that response to our mission offering goals has been excellent.
Also, our national organization, auxiliary to the SBC, has a current budget of 10.8 million, none of which comes from mission offerings. The major portion is generated by the WMU through the publication and sale of eleven magazines prepared to facilitate church mission organizations.
I. “Scattered, They Went Preaching,” Means People Who Are at the Disposal of God. V1f, “. . . And at that time there was a great persecution against the church that was at Jerusalem: . . . They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.”
I’m not suggesting to you that our great grandmothers in Richmond were persecuted. I’ve no doubt they were respected. Men tipped their hats, opened doors, gave up seats. But to many such a woman’s organization was “playing” church. But I say unequivocally that those ladies prayed harder and worked more tirelessly because of this lack of adequacy.
It could well be what we most need today. I am not eager for persecution. I do suspect that if we had less material advocacy, our prayer and our work would be different. And we would reexamine our faithfulness. Where were you last Sunday night? Where will you be tonight? Ladies, what excuse did you use to give up on WMU?
In our day of extremes, even the extremes of faith, our principal function is the spread of the word. It was so with the Hebrew covenant. Isaiah 6:8, “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’” Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” It was under which commitment that Christ lived His life. He taught the disciples to pray Matthew 6:10, “Thy kingdom, thy will be done.” On the cross, He, Himself prayed. Matthew 26:39, “Not as I will but as thou.”
If we are not at the disposal of God in this late 20th century, we have reason to question if we are Christian at all.
II. “Scattered, They Went Preaching,” Means that People Needed to Hear the Word. V5, “Phillip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed Christ there.” It is of only passing interest who this Phillip was. Not the apostle of that name. John 1:43f. The one called “deacon,” Acts 6:5: A Jew of Hellenist background; chose to serve non-native Jews; responds to persecution by seeking a place elsewhere to serve. Article in NSW (5-12) about school club being shut down by ACLU. “We knew we would have to stop if anyone complained.”
The place he chose to go to serve was Samaria. “The city of Samaria,” KJV and Greek; “a city in Samaria,” NIV and others. Its significance is that here was a people who still carried the stigma of Jewish hatred. It’s a long story. Ezra tells part of it in effort to interfere with rebuilding. John 4 tells of Jesus encountering the culture of prejudice with the “woman at the well.”
Phillip will go in response to his Lord even where others would not go. The church at this juncture is only Jewish. The commission’s command was to “all the world,” Matthew 28:19-20. The step is taken here that brings half-breed Jews into the kingdom. The open door to Gentiles is now a step closer. The prophecy is being fulfilled. Hosea 2:23, “And I will say to them which art not my people, ‘Thou art my people’, and they shall say, ‘Thou art my God.’”
Baptist Hymnal #176/148
Word of God across the ages, Comes thy message to our life,
Source of hope, forever present, In our toils and fears and strife;
Constant witness to God’s mercy, Still our grace what e’er befall;
Guide unfailing, strength eternal, Offered freely for us all.
In the tongues of all the peoples May the message bless and heal
As devout and patient scholars More and more its depths reveal.
Bless, O God, to wise and simple, All Thy truth of ageless worth
Till all hands receive the witness, And Thy knowledge fills the earth.
It brought truth (v4), healing (v7), and joy (v8).
III. “Scattered, They Went Preaching,” Defines a Wondrous Event in the Life of the Church. V6, “And the people with one accord gave heed . . . .” V8, “And there was great joy in (the) city.” It was a people to people movement. V4, “The ones being scattered passed through preaching the word,” LSV.
It is interesting that the apostles were allowed to remain in Jerusalem. Clearly, they had the respect of the people. It may be that the non-native Jews were the ones who bore the brunt of this religious persecution. Some suggest that the apostles were the least ready for their faith to be separated from its homeland, and its Hebrew culture.
There were Christians who wanted only to be a Hebrew sub-culture. Many things will keep Jerusalem central. But the gospel outlook is beyond Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the world. V14, Peter and John sent to Samaria; v17, the Samaritan Pentecost; v25, “. . . Returning to Jerusalem, (they) preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” It would be interesting to know how many cities of the earth have had the gospel preached to them because some Baptist women went to Richmond 100 years ago and organized a venture that would bring their sons and daughters a mission consciousness unequal in the world.
As it was people to people, it was also geared to message and ministry. Nothing will ever take the place of the preaching of the word. Whether one person to another over a telephone, or in a letter, or on a bus. Or, whether it is one person to 100,000 persons in a great sports complex. When you support tv ministries, you support what is first entertainment. When you support your church, you are supporting what is “gospel proclamation.”
Romans 10:14, “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?”