When God Turns Persecution Into Purpose | Abel Garcia | Book of Acts

If you could just please stand to your feet, we're gonna open God's word this morning. I hope you have your Bible with you, and if you do, please open it to the Book of Acts, chapter eight, verse one, through four. Acts, chapter eight, verse one through four. We are teaching and preaching on a sermon series in the Book of Acts. How many of you guys enjoyed Pastor Tye's message last week, come on. If you didn't have the chance to be here for whatever reason, just go back. Go back on our website, tap that disc, and just re-watch it. I'm not gonna lie, I told Pastor Tye now. Every time I cook a steak, I gotta be there, make sure it's not well done. You know what I mean? (laughing) Now I have to be super cautious, but those of you who are here will understand, if you weren't here, just go back and re-watch, and you're gonna know what we're talking about, and we're all hungry now. Amen, all right. Acts, chapter eight, verse one, through four. If there is a title I could put to tonight's, or not tonight, this morning's message, is when God turns persecution into purpose. When God turns persecution into purpose.

Acts, chapter eight, verse one through four, and it says like this, and Saul proved of their killing, of killing him, on that day, great persecution broke out. Turn your neighbor in town, persecution. Highlight that word, memorize it, because we're gonna talk a lot about that today, persecution. On that day, great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered. Turn your neighbor in town, scattered. Memorize that word today as well, scattered. Throughout Judea and Samaria, verse two, Godly men buried Steven and mourned deeply for him. And verse three, but Saul began to destroy the church going from house to house. He dragged off both men and women, and put them in prison. And verse four says like this, and those who had been scattered, there's that word again, and those who have been scattered, meaning dispersed, sent out, they preach the word wherever they went. They preach the word wherever they went. Let's pray. Jesus, Holy Spirit, you are present in this place today. You have a purpose, and you have a plan. No word in this Bible ever becomes empty. You are always trying to teach us something.

You are always trying to pursue us. You are always trying to speak to us. So God, let me open up my heart, my mind to receive what you have for me this morning. I don't want to go back home the same. God, fill me up. Fill me up not only for me personally, but God, fill me up to be a blessing, to be an impact to everybody that surrounds me. Jesus tonight, or this morning, sorry, could be the morning, but you could change everything. Everything can change from this day. So God, let me take advantage of every opportunity in every moment that you have for me. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, and amen. You can take your seats. We are gonna be speaking in the book of Acts. Thank you, Philip. Acts chapter eight and two. Start my message today. I want to give you a story as an introduction, okay? This story was written by an anonymous writer, and I want you to just listen to the story, and this is where we're gonna step into as we get into the message. The story says like this, there was a small seed that was buried beneath the soil. For days nothing happened. The seed could not see the sunlight. It could not feel the wind,

and from above the ground it looked exactly the same. But beneath the surface something powerful was happening. Something powerful was happening. The seed was putting down some roots. One morning after rain and warmth, a tiny green shoot pushed through the soil. It was small, it was fragile, and it was easy to overlook. But it had begun its journey. Day by day, the shoot grew stronger. Its roots grew deeper. Its stem grew taller, and the little leaves opened towards the light. It did not become a tree overnight. It simply kept on growing. Through storms, through heat, and changing seasons, it continued to reach upward. Years later, what had once been an almost invisible seed had become a strong tree, offering shade, shelter, and fruit for others. There's three lessons that we can learn from this story today. And one of the lessons is don't mistake silence for failure. Turning your neighbor in time, don't mistake silence for failure. Don't mistake persecution with karma. And the third one is that there is purpose in the name of Jesus. There is purpose in Jesus' name. Amen? I love what my good friend Pastor Joseph said one time, and he constantly repeats this,

and there's so much truth in this. He says, "You can count all the seeds inside of an apple." But you can't count how many apples come from one seed. Sometimes when we see no results, because that could be every single one of us in this place today, there are times where we will see no results. Your roots are growing. Keep planting, keep scattering seeds, keep believing, keep nurturing what matters. Because the greatest growth often begins where no one can see it. I want to get into some context or some background in Acts 8. So, I'm going to give you some background, and then we're going to go into the core of the message. Are you ready? We're just all going to go home and need a stake. Amen, Jesus' name. Come on, somebody. Some context to Acts 8. Acts 8 comes immediately after Stephen was martyred, and Pastor Ty did an incredible job on preaching about this in chapter 7 last Sunday. Stephen was one of the first leaders of the early Christian church. Acts 8, verse 1, when we just read it, said exactly that, and Saul approved of his death, of Stephen's death. And there arose on that day great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. There arose a great what? Persecution against the church in Jerusalem. Stephen has just been martyred, have just been killed, which is found in Acts,

chapter 7, verse 54 through 60. He was stoned after boldly proclaiming Jesus as a Messiah. Saul approved of Stephen's death. Get this, later known as the Apostle Paul. Wow, which we're going to learn into Acts 9 and so forth. And at this point, Paul or Saul, sorry, was a zealous persecutor of Christians. Persecution broke out in Jerusalem. Stephen's death became a turning point. Turn your neighbor and tell him, turning point. I'm going to tell you right now because you probably noticed it by now. You're going to be talking a lot to your neighbor today. So if you're not comfortable, no, don't move, get to know them. So you're going to talk a lot to your neighbor today. But this became a turning point where believers were being pressured and driven out from the city. The apostles remained in Jerusalem while many other believers scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, meaning that they not only stayed in Jerusalem but they scattered elsewhere. And the scattering of all these people advanced the spread of the gospel. Acts chapter Averse 4 says that those who were scattered when everywhere preaching This fulfills a movement Jesus had described in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 where it says that the gospel would spread from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to ultimately all the ends of the earth. This is where it started. Me and you are here because of what happened here. Now paint that picture in your head a little bit. Here's a big picture that I want you to see.

There is an important irony in Acts chapter 8 verse 1 and what happened and what appeared sorry to be a disaster for the church became a means of expansion. The persecution scattered to Christians and wherever they went they carried the message of Christ with them. So therefore the gospel was expanding. This person was knowing that person. That person was getting talked to about Jesus. That person was getting saved. So guess what? They were talking about Jesus. It was just, it was just expanding everywhere. Acts chapter 8 then immediately illustrates this through Philip preaching in Samaria which is in Acts chapter 8 verse 5 through 25. So Acts 8 is essentially a transition point. Turn your neighbor and tell him there's a transition. Chapter 8 of Acts we find a transition and this is a transition. Stephen was martyred. Stephen begins, believers were scattered and the gospel is being spread beyond Jerusalem and that includes Yuma Arizona, come on. And Saul who appears here as a persecutor will eventually become one of the gospel's greatest missionaries from chasing and killing Christians to becoming the gospel's greatest missionaries. Wow. Because God can do it with Paul, why can he do it with you? Something that really caught my eye when I was reading Acts chapter 8 and you know when you're preaching or when you're just sitting down and reading the Bible, you want to digest so much but you just keep reading and reading and reading and reading and reading and every time the Holy Spirit just gives you something so different, right? Every time you read it. But something that really stood out to me in Acts chapter 8 is that Acts chapter 8 begins

with persecution. I'm talking about persecution, the cruel, the unfair or the abusive treatment to a person or a certain group. So right here in Acts chapter 8, since it begins with persecution, the church is facing intense opposition. The believers are being scattered from Jerusalem and from a human perspective, from a perspective that you and I can see this looks like a disaster. Why can't we just stay in Samaria? Everything is going good. Everything is happening where it's supposed to but now everything Stephen was murdered, he was killed and now through Philip, everything is just being expanded. Some of us don't like to expand because we think we're going to fail. Some of us don't like to go beyond because what is that person going to say? But I want you to get something really rooted inside of you today and I want you to memorize it and I want you to just hold it with you today. God will always see something that you and I cannot see. God will always live beyond on what you and I cannot see. What the enemy intended was to stop the church but God used it to spread the gospel of Jesus in Christ, amen? So we can all agree today that Acts chapter 8 teaches us that sometimes God uses the very circumstances. We don't understand to move us into the place where he wants us. Okay, first row God, back row didn't get it, let's repeat it again. Acts chapter 8 teaches us that sometimes God uses the very circumstances. We don't understand to move us into the place where he wants us. [APPLAUSE] can become an opportunity in the hands of God. Our early church experienced tremendous persecution, you and I today are experiencing tremendous persecution. Believers were scattered from Jerusalem and it probably felt like everything that they

had built was falling apart. But Acts 8 teaches us something important. It teaches us that the enemy may scatter God's people everywhere. But the enemy cannot stop God's purpose in your life. The enemy cannot stop what God has put inside of you. The enemy cannot stop what He started in you and the one who starts us will be faithful to complete it in you. Amen. Romans 8, 28 says, "And we know that all things turn in every time, all things. All things God works for the good, for the good of those who love Him. And have been called according to His purpose." Today, I want to just jump into the core of this message. And today, I want us to look at three important lessons that we can all learn from Acts 8. Turn your neighbor into three important lessons, come on. Number one, tell your neighbor lesson number one. God can use difficult times to advance His work. God can use difficult times to advance His work. Acts 8, verse 1 through 4 after Stephen was killed, the great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. The believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. But verse 4 says of chapter 8, verse 4 says, "Those who had been scattered were in their couch sitting down. Those who had been scattered were out just doing their job 9 to 5 and coming back home and doing nothing else. Those who were scattered were just sleeping, taking naps, which those are all real good, okay? You can take those. Those are good. The Bible says that those who had been scattered preach the Word. This is not Abel saying it, I'm not that smart.

This is the Word of God saying it, everywhere you go, take advantage and preach the Word of God. They said that they preach the Word of God wherever they went. Don't underestimate a moment. Don't underestimate a time. Don't underestimate the season that you're in. Because notice what happened, that they were all scattered, but they were not silent. They proclaimed boldly Jesus wherever they went. Persecution moved them out of Jerusalem, but it did not move the Word of God out of their hearts. Ooh, this is so powerful to understand. Just grasp that for a moment. Just take some time to grasp that. Persecution moved them out of their hometown, which was Jerusalem, but it did not move the Word of God out of their heart. What does this tell you and me? This tells us that no matter what hell you went through, no matter what separation you're going through, no matter what difficult situation that you are facing. And no matter if the enemy has tried to destroy you, don't remove the Word of God from your heart. The enemy is going to try to do anything he can to bring you down. The enemy is going to try to do anything to try to step on you and crush everything about you. But don't remove the Word of God from your heart. Stay consistent. Stay bold and remain faithful in what God has called you to do and be. Sometimes we are constantly asking God, "God, why are you allowing this?" God, why are you allowing this to happen in my family? God, why are you allowing to happen? Why are you allowing this to happen?

Church, we will face disappointment. Church, we will face rejection if you haven't already. Come on, somebody. We will face changes. We will have doors that suddenly close right in front of us. But sometimes God uses that very thing we think is destroying our plans to redirect us back into His purpose. The church may have thought in Acts chapter 8, why are we being scattered? We got it so good here. Why are we dispersing all over the place? And God says, you're not being scattered, you're being sent. There's a difference between being scattered and being sent. It looks like a disruption may actually be a divine direction from God. So don't ignore the disruptions in your life. Come on, somebody. You've got to get this this morning. Don't ignore those disruptions in your life. Don't waste your difficult season. Don't waste it, if God has placed you in a place where everything around you seems different, because you've never seen yourself in that moment, because you haven't seen yourself in that season, if God has placed you somewhere different and that place doesn't look familiar to you, this is what we should do and ask God, Lord, who can I reach while I'm here? God, who can I bless while I'm here? God, what are you trying to teach me while I'm here? Lesson number two, turn your neighbor into Tom, lesson two. Wherever you go, take Jesus with you. Wherever you go, take Jesus with you and there's somebody in this church that I know was thinking this, maybe not, but you might be saying God, I mean, Abel, God is everywhere where we're at. You might have been present everywhere.

Yes, but along the way you might have traded him for something else. Yes, God is everywhere we're at, but maybe along the way you got sidetracked, but maybe along the way you got a little bit too busy, but maybe along the way your career, which is awesome and is good, cause you to pay more attention rather than to focus. I'm the one who gave you the strength to start that career in the first place. Wherever you go, church, take Jesus with you. Acts 8, verse 5 through 8 says that Philip went down to Samaria and he began preaching Christ. Oh, come on, so good. Samaria was not an easy place for Jewish believers, too minister. There was a long history of tension between Jews and Samaritans, yet Philip went. And when Philip preached Christ, people listened. And when Karina preached Christ, people listened. And when Dreyer preached Christ, people listened. Oh, don't worry, I'm coming to this side too. And with the Abrenda preached Christ, people listened. And when Jose preached Christ, people listened. And when church for the city preached Christ, people listened. Lives were changed, demons were cast out, the sick were being killed in Jesus' name. Things were happening. Anytime God is present, things are always happening. Once I was reading, when I was reading the whole chapter, there's a verse in particular, verse 8 of Acts 8, verse 8 that says, "And there was a great joy in the city." Who? Let me pause right there. Let me just pause. Circumstances, situations, difficult seasons in your life have caused you to lose the joy that God has given you. But in the name of Jesus, regain that joy once again. God begins to put a smile on your face again.

that begins to give you that joy that the word says. Joy comes in the morning. And I'm not talking about happiness. Happiness, anybody can give you happiness. Anybody, a YouTube video, a podcast, your feelings, your emotions, anything can cause you to be happy. But joy, joy only comes from the Lord. And there was a great joy in the city. Philip did a needed, perfect environment to serve God. He simply took Jesus with him wherever he went. This is a message in itself for us today, church, that you don't have to wait for the perfect circumstance to be used by God. You can serve God at your workplace. You can serve God in your neighborhood. You can serve God in your family. You can serve God wherever you are at. The question isn't, where am I? What am I doing? No, no, no, the real question is, what am I doing with Jesus where I am now? Philip brought the gospel to Samaria and an entire city experience joy. "Never underestimate what God can do "through one obedient person." I'm gonna make this a little bit more personal today. You might say, oh no, where is it going? Never underestimate what God can do through you. Never underestimate it. And lesson number three, turn your neighbor

and tell him, thank God he's almost done. Come on. (laughs) Lesson number three, turn your neighbor and tell him, lesson number three, the last one. God is looking for people who are ready to obey. God is looking for people who are ready to obey. Acts chapter eight, verse 26 through 40. Later in this chapter, God directed Philip towards a man in Ethiopia. Turn your neighbor and tell him a man in Ethiopia. Tell him. But like you mean it, come on church. (laughs) (mumbles) Come on. (laughs) God directed Philip toward a man from Ethiopia. And you know what? God, Philip, sorry, could have questioned the instruction that God gave him. This is why it was so important that he had presented this man from Ethiopia. Why leave Samaria? Philip could have easily questioned what God was trying to do in his life. How many of you guys have ever questioned something in your life before? Raise your hand. And everybody who did not raise it, you're lying.

Don't be lying in church. (laughs) Everybody in here has questioned something in our lives. Everybody in here has questioned one moment in our lives. I mean, there's some other visit here who questioned everything. Don't do that either. Philip could have simply said, "God, why leave Samaria?" There's literally revival happening here. Lives are being transformed. Things are happening. God is reaching these people in Samaria. Why is it necessary for us to scatter? Why is it necessary? Why am I making this a little personal right now? Why is it necessary for me to get out of my comfort zone? Why is it necessary that I have to do something else besides go to church on Sunday? If you didn't know, you're not called just to come to church on Sunday. It's God, keep on coming. But you weren't on the call for that. And Philip could have easily questioned the instruction that God gave him. But you know what, Philip simply obeyed. And you know when we say yes to God's calling over our lives, we don't know what that's gonna look like. we're going to get put, be put of one situation and head into another one. Being in a good season and going into a more terrible season,

because we don't know what saying yes to God is going to look like. But our job is not to try to understand God, George. That's not our job. Our job is to simply obey and be faithful and trust Him deeper. [applause] My job is not to question God, go ahead and see how that goes. Don't question what God is doing in your life, because He's preparing you for what's coming. [music] You found the Ethiopian official reading from the prophet Isaiah in verse 32 of chapter 8 in Acts, and Philip asked this Ethiopian man in verse 30, he asked him, he said, "Do you understand what you're reading? Do you understand what you're reading and the man?" The Ethiopian man replied in verse 31, he says, "How can I unless someone explains it to me?" There's another version of the Bible that says, "How can I if someone doesn't help guide me there?" What an incredible moment this was. What an incredible moment this was that we see in the Word of God, that the man that was searching God sent Philip, that the man was searching in God sent Philip, this teaches us something so powerful. Turn your neighbor and tell him something so powerful, come on, tell him. This teaches us something so powerful, and it teaches us that God is already working in people's hearts before we even arrive. Just in case you want to pump your collar. Just in case you want to think that, "Wow, it was because of me because I had those very nice spiritual words to say." It was a really eloquent prayer that I gave that person that, "No, it's never been about you and it's never going to be about me.

It's always going to be about Jesus." They will continue to be about Jesus. There may be someone in your life today who is asking those questions. Maybe there's someone in your life today who is hurting. Maybe there's someone in your life today who is still searching. Maybe there's someone in your life today who doesn't understand the Bible. Maybe there's someone in your life today who needs hope. And God may be calling you to be the person who helps him understand. If you want to waste the disruption in your life, you're not willing to obey. Philip didn't simply preach at that man. He started with where the man was. He started in his current state. He started in his current condition. With his Ethiopian man, he opened up the Scripture and he preached Jesus unto him. Church, can I tell you something? That's our calling too. That everywhere we go, we give everyone Jesus. That in everything that we do, we give everyone Jesus. That in everything that we speak, all our actions, everywhere we are, we give everybody Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. We are not called to talk about religion. We are called to point people to Jesus. To conclude today, I want you to really look at this repeated theme throughout Acts 8. can take circumstances intended for destruction and use them to advance Christ's kingdom. God can use anything and God can use anyone. He can do it. God said go to Samaria, fill up Obey. God said arising go towards the south and Philip went. God said go near and join yourself to this chariot and Philip simply went. Philip didn't have the entire plan altogether. He simply obey the next instruction. God is calling us to do the same church. You don't need to have it all together and have plan A through Z even though I live in marriage

to someone who wants to have it all together. This is still it's a constant argument. Don't worry. God is healing us amen. That's not the point. Sometimes we want God to show us the whole journey before we take the first step. And it's not until God shows us the whole picture that we'll say, okay God, now I'm not all big. What's the point in that? God says obey me now, obey me later. Trust me now and trust me later. But God often says take the next step and trust me with the rest. You may not know where God is leading you. You may not understand why a door closed right in front of you. You may not even understand why you're in the season that you're in right now but you can still obey. So let us leave with this truth today church. Is that when God sends you? Go. Please go. People out there are waiting to hear the word that God has placed upon your heart. When God gives you an opportunity speak, when God opens a door walk through it and when you don't understand the plan, trust the one who does. I want to share a quick story with this which I didn't share in first and second service and I just I just thought about it right now. I had the privilege of knowing and amazing men of God pass the Ralph and me and pass the Ralph at least once a week or once every other week we go have coffee. Just random places around town and the first thing he would always tell me when he sit down with me, he's like, "Abel, how's your marriage?" And I said, "I was going great. Pass the Ralph." He said, "Tell me the truth." And I remember in one of those conversations that we were having, it was about a year since we had attended church for the city. We've been here for almost five, right? Four and a half. And I remember in one of those conversations it had been probably about a year and Pastor Ralph said, "Abel, I know you're a preacher. Like, I know, I know that you can start serving. Why haven't you done it?" Like, "Why haven't you started serving? Why haven't you gotten connected to a live group? What's going on?" And I told him Pastor Ralph, "Honestly, I'm just waiting for the perfect time." He didn't scream at me. For those of you who knew Pastor Ralph, he just looked me straight into the eye and he told me, "Abel, while you're waiting for the perfect time, there are people out there who need to hear about Jesus." So you keep taking your time, Abel. Go ahead. Whenever you're

ready, whenever you're prepared, whenever you think you got all your things in order, go ahead. God is just gonna be there just waiting for you. And obviously I knew there was some truth behind this and a little bit of sarcasm, but I understood the lesson that day. God wants media obey and God wants you to obey too. The church may be scattered, but the church may be scattered. going forward with you or without you. I'm sorry. I hope it's with you but the gospel is still going forward and God's mission cannot be stopped. The enemy thinks he's scattering the church but God is scattering the gospel all over this world. Right there where you're at, why don't you stand to your feet with me. Prayer team, come on, come help me out. God is so good, isn't he? We serve such a great God. I want you to think about these things as you're maybe on the fence about saying, "Man, hey, why don't I want to go up there because people are going to know that I'm struggling. Who cares?" How people are going to know that I'm going through something, who cares? You come up here believing that your miracle is waiting. You come up here boldly, confidently knowing that God's going to begin something in your life. There are many forms of persecution that we are currently living in today. Many forms, we're going through a big mental persecution. We're going through a big political persecution. We're going through a culture, persecution, a social, a religious, a situational persecution and the list goes on and on and on and it's not a matter whether you will go through it or not because we're already living in it, church. The church right now is going through a persecution. You might say, "Well, I have an experiment today when you will one day."

You will be confronted with that one day. What will you do when persecution comes walking at your door? The real question is, will you learn to trust and find God's purpose in all of it? Will we just sit there silently and just hold back and just see how everything's playing out or would we stand up boldly at God's people and stay consistent, staying bold and being faithful to the purpose that God has placed upon my life. And today church, that can be someone in here today. That can be someone in here today where today you can open up your heart and you can trust God and give Him your entire life knowing that in His hands they are much better than in yours. Church, God wants to remind you today that there is purpose in your pain. Through you, God's going to change the whole generation. And because of your obedience, God's going to transform a whole city. And because of your obedience, notice that I didn't say aching. Notice that I didn't say physical ability. I know. I'm very energetic. People tell people you don't stop. You don't have to be energetic or just high on coffee like me all the time. No. God can use you in the moment that you are where you are right now, how you are quiet. Maybe a little bit more shy. Maybe not wanting to speak so many but take Jesus wherever you go. Take Jesus wherever you go. Take Jesus wherever you go. So right there church, I want us to make a bold statement today and I want you to make it personal because there are people around us that still need Jesus. Maybe it's you today and if it's not you, maybe it's somebody that you know or somebody around you. But today, I want you to stand by me and I want you to say, God, don't look for nobody

else. Choose me. I'm here. I'm willing to obey. I'm willing to go. I'm willing to do whatever it takes. So right there where you're at, why don't you bow your heads with me? [MUSIC] There's a prayer team up here that are gonna fight alongside with you. There's a prayer team up here that's gonna embrace you, that's gonna hug you, that's gonna pray for you, that's gonna intercede, and that's gonna say we got this in Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. [MUSIC] God. [MUSIC] Sometimes my purpose in life has been stained by so many circumstances. [MUSIC] God, so many times my purpose has maybe diminished, or been squashed by certain seasons that I've let define who I was. But God tonight, or this morning, sorry, this afternoon, I understand that you want my yes, and God, whatever it takes, I'm willing to do it. I'm gonna obey, not questioning what season I'm in, but trusting you deeper in it. Jesus, do with me what you want. I'm ready, in Jesus' name we pray, amen, and amen. Y'all bless you, church.