OBS: ACTS - The Transition (Part 7 - Persecution and the Spread of the Gospels)

OBS: ACTS, The Transition (Part 7) The focus is not so much on studying Acts, as it is on using the book to teach us about dispensation truths.

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Below are the basic notes overview. For details please see the video lesson of this study here.

Persecution and the Spread of the Gospel(s)

In Acts 1:8, Jesus, as He did in Luke 4:17-20 (Isa.61:1-2), could have stopped speaking right in the middle of the verse. He could have stopped speaking after the word "Samaria", because that is as far as this verse is going to be fulfilled where the Jews are concerned!

"…and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,…"

Did the disciples get that far? Absolutely! By the time you get to Acts 8, where does Philip go? To Samaria. And Samaria heard the Word. But did the twelve disciples ever go to the nations of the world? No!

The Spread of the Gospel

When the twelve disciples were sent out to preach in Matt.10:5, their commission was very limited - they were not to go in the way of the Gentiles, nor to enter into any city of the Samaritans, but to preach the Gospel only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

• Why? Because ALL Jews had to be saved first, in order for the New Covenant to be fulfilled and achieve the great commission, which was to extend the Kingdom gospel to "the ends of the earth". (Deut.7:6-8; Gen.12:2-3)

At Jesus ascension, their commission is enlarged, for they were also instructed to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature". See Matthew 28:18.

• Why? This was a prophetic statement and Israel's ultimate objective, but was not achieved due to their unbelief. This is still something that WILL happen, but it was not going to be fulfilled at this time. The purpose of Israel was to be priests (Exo.19:6), mediators between Christ and the Gentile nations in the Millennial Kingdom. It's at this time, that they will go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, but it wasn't going to happen yet. When they receive the New Covenant, all Israel will be saved and at this event, they will be set to take the gospel out to the nations. Remember, ALL Israel had to be saved FIRST before this could happen.
  
  

In Jerusalem ...

• 30AD Jesus' crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost
  
  
• 31AD – 33AD Jerusalem church grows, Apostle's miracles and healings, Ananias and Sapphira die (Ac.5:1), fear of the Lord.
  
  
• 34AD Stephen arrested by Sanhedrin (Ac.6:12), Stephen stoned (Ac.7:59, 8:1), Saul persecutes and ravages the church (Acts 8:1-3; Phil 3:6), Philip goes to Samaria (Ac.8:4)*
  
  
• 35AD Saul converted on road to Damascus (Ac.9:1), Saul preaches (the Kingdom Gospel) in Damascus (Gal 1:17; Acts 9:20-25; 2 Cor 11:32-33), Saul's life is threatened (Ac.9:23) and escapes in basket, Saul leaves for Arabia,
  
  
  

• Galatians 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. [after 3 years]

• 39AD Saul meets Peter in Jerusalem (15 days), Saul preaches in Cilicia and Syria for five years (Gal.1:21), Persecution has ceased in Jerusalem, Jerusalem church continues to grow,
  
  Acts 9:31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
  
  

... and in all Judea ...

• Judea was the southern division of the Holy Land and included Jerusalem as the capital. In 39AD Peter heals Aeneas in Lydda (Ac.9:33), Peter raises Tabitha in Joppa (Ac.9:36, aka. modern name, Jaffa)

... and in Samaria ...

*This was the middle portion of Palestine. In 34AD, Steven was martyred and the rampage of Saul's persecution on the Jewish assembly caused them to disperse northwards into Samaria.

Acts 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his [Stephen's] death. 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. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

Video correction: In the accompanying video I mentioned that due to Paul's persecution, the Jewish church was scattered throughout the Roman Empire. This is an over exaggeration! The Jewish Kingdom believers were probably scattered out as far as Syria and Cilicia at that point. There were of course Jewish synagogues and communities throughout the Roman Empire, but these Jews came to be there from the Old Testament exiles of Israel. These distant communities were Jews practicing their customs and traditions under the Mosaic Law and had probably not yet heard of the Kingdom gospel.

(I will continue with this study in my next article in this series where we will have a look at the expansion of the gospel(s) unto the "uttermost part of the earth".)