Acts Bible Study: Day 12
Today’s passage: Acts 7:51 to Acts 8:4
Focus verse: On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (Acts 8:1)
Everyone listens, without rancor, to what Stephen says in his sermon. Then he starts meddling.
He calls the people a stiff-necked group. He accuses them of having uncircumcised hearts and ears. Being uncircumcised is a major insult.
Then he adds that just as their ancestors did, they resist the Holy Spirit, persecuting every prophet that God sent. This includes Jesus, the righteous Son of God, whom they murdered.
This isn’t the best way to wrap up a sermon. If Stephen intended to give an altar call, he never gets that far.
At this point the members of the religious council grow enraged. They gnash their teeth at him in righteous anger.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looks up. He peers into heaven and sees God. “Look,” Stephen points. “I see into heaven. Jesus stands at God’s right hand.”
The people in the hearing have had enough. They cover their ears, scream, and rush him. In a riotous frenzy, they drag him outside the city and pelt him with rocks.
A man named Saul stands there, witnessing the whole thing and giving his approval. We’ll hear more about him later. A lot more.
As the stones hit Stephen and break his body, he’s about to die. He asks Jesus to receive his spirit. He falls to his knees, begging God to forgive those killing him. Then he dies.
Some godly men bury Stephen. The people mourn his death.
Emboldened by what happened, a wave of persecution breaks out against the church of Jesus. Most everyone hightails it out of there. They scatter in all directions.
In Jerusalem, Saul goes on a rampage to destroy Jesus’s church. He moves from house to house, arresting believers and throwing them in jail.
It seems a dark time for the church. Yet after Stephen’s martyrdom, the church does exactly what Jesus had told them to do.
He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit from Papa. Then they were supposed to go out and tell others about Jesus. They forgot that part—until now.
Though Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem, the waiting wasn’t indefinite.
Questions:
- There’s a time to wait and a time to go. How do we discern which is which?
- Do we tend to want to wait or to act?
[Discover more about what Jesus tells his followers to do in Matthew 28:18–20 and Acts 1:4 and 8.]
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Read more about the book of Acts in Acts Bible Study: Discover How the Early Church Can Inform What We Do Today, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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