"The World Impact of the Judean Church"

The Message Brother Ken Wilson delivered on April 12, 2008.


The Scripture References are from Acts, chapters 8 - 11

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Ac 8:2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Ac 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

Philip in Samaria

Ac 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Ac 8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.
Ac 8:6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Ac 8:7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed.
Ac 8:8 So there was great joy in that city.

Philip and the Ethiopian

Ac 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Ac 8:27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
Ac 8:28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.
Ac 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Ac 8:30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
Ac 8:31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Ac 8:32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Ac 8:33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
Ac 8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”
Ac 8:35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Ac 8:36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”
Ac 8:38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Ac 8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
Ac 8:40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Saul’s Conversion

9:1-19 pp—Ac 22:3-16; 26:9-18

Ac 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest
Ac 9:2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Ac 9:3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.
Ac 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Ac 9:5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
Ac 9:6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Ac 9:7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.
Ac 9:8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
Ac 9:9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
Ac 9:10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision,“Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered.
Ac 9:11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
Ac 9:12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
Ac 9:13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
Ac 9:14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
Ac 9:15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.
Ac 9:16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Ac 9:17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Ac 9:18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Ac 9:19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
Ac 9:20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
Ac 9:21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?”
Ac 9:22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

Cornelius Calls for Peter

Ac 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.
Ac 10:2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
Ac 10:3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
Ac 10:4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
Ac 10:5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
Ac 10:6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
Ac 10:7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.
Ac 10:8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

Peter’s Vision

10:9-32 Ref—Ac 11:5-14

Ac 10:9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
Ac 10:10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
Ac 10:11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
Ac 10:12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
Ac 10:13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
Ac 10:14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
Ac 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Ac 10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
Ac 10:17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.
Ac 10:18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
Ac 10:19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.
Ac 10:20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Ac 10:21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
Ac 10:22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”
Ac 10:23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went along.
Ac 10:24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.
Ac 10:25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.
Ac 10:26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
Ac 10:27 Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.
Ac 10:28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
Ac 10:29 So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
Ac 10:30 Cornelius answered: “Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me
Ac 10:31 and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.
Ac 10:32 Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’
Ac 10:33 So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”
Ac 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
Ac 10:35 but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
Ac 10:36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
Ac 10:37 You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
Ac 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Ac 10:39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,
Ac 10:40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
Ac 10:41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
Ac 10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
Ac 10:43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Ac 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
Ac 10:45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
Ac 10:46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said,
Ac 10:47 “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
Ac 10:48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

The Church in Antioch

Ac 11:19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
Ac 11:20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
Ac 11:21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
Ac 11:22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
Ac 11:23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.
Ac 11:24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Ac 11:25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
Ac 11:26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.