After I graduated from college for three years I planted corn on my grandfather’s farm. This wasn’t sweet corn for humans to eat but feed corn for pigs, cows, horses and chickens. I had a tractor. And hooked to the back of the tractor was a planter. This planter would plant four rows of corn at the same time. On each row there was a think blade (about the size of a dinner plate) that would cut a line into the ground. Right behind the blade was a tube that would drop a corn seed every 7 centimeters (3 inches). Right beside the blade there was another thin blade that would cut another line into the ground. And another tube would drop fertilizer which helped make the seed grow bigger and faster. At the back of the planter was a long thin bar with sprayers attached to it. They sprayed chemicals that killed the grass. So as I drove the tractor across my grandfather’s land I killed the grass, planted seeds of corn and put fertilizer in the ground to make the corn grow big and fast all at the same time.

And from almost every seed of corn that went into the ground two stalks or plants of corn would come up. And on each stalk there would grow two ears of corn. And after it was fully grown, if you opened up one of those ears of corn and you counted every seed on one ear you could count over 700 kernels or seeds of corn. From one seed came two stalks with a total of four ears or 2,800 kernels or seeds of corn. That’s multiplication.

Now in Bible times they did not have tractors and planters like they do today but they would scatter the seed over the soil. And it would multiply 30, 60 or 100 times (Mark 4:3-8). And Jesus said that if His disciples would spread the word of God and the good news of the gospel like that they would see Christians multiply.

But seeds do not multiply by themselves. If you buy a packet of seeds but you leave the seeds in the packet they will not multiply in the envelope. You must take the seeds out of the envelope and scatter them, plant them in the ground. In John 12:24 Jesus said, “I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it produces much grain.”

That is what happens in Acts chapter 8. The Christians were all in Jerusalem like seeds in an envelope. And God does something to scatter them outside of Jerusalem.

1. SAUL THE SCATTERER (8:1-3)
Verse 1 says, “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; The word “great” is megas in Greek: it is a mega-persecution, widespread, thorough, and aggres-sive. Men and women are torn from their homes. Friendships are destroyed. Parents are dragged off to jail, their children orphaned.

“And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” This is Acts 8:1. Back in Acts 1:8 Jesus had told his disciples “you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus said this was going to happen and here in Acts 8:1 it happens. They were scattered. The Greek word for “scattered” is diaspeiro and the Greek words for “seed” is speiro. So literally they were scattered like seeds.

And this passage focuses on one main guy who was persecut-ing Christians. At the end of chapter 7 when Stephen was stoned it says that “they laid down their clothes” (or coats) “at the feet of a young man named Saul.” This makes him look like a minor player, jus a guy sitting on the side. But in our next session we will see that he becomes the main character in the whole book of Acts.

And chapter 8 begins, “Now Saul was consenting to his death.” In other words, Saul agreed with the religious leaders that Stephen should have been stoned to death. Verse 3 continues, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church.” He was very mean and cruel. And he brought fear and chaos to the church.

Persecution was hard. But it scattered the Christians and it made the church grow like crazy. Tertullian, a second century lawyer, who converted to Christianity when he saw Christians singing as they went out to die, said: THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS IS THE SEED OF THE CHURCH. Augustine wrote, The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, torn, butchered -- and they multiplied!

Because persecution helped to spread the gospel around the world, it was a good thing. But there was also a bad side. Let me explain. Jesus said in John 4:22 that "salvation is of the Jews." Paul said, “the gospel of Christ” was “salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). God gave the gospel message to Israel first. But the Jewish people rejected the truth. John 1:11 says, “He came unto His own and His own did not receive Him.” They had Him crucified. And they persecuted His followers. And now they have killed Stephen with their own hands. So God begins to turn from the Jews and go to the Gentiles. And the church begins to move from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. That is very exciting for us who are Gentiles, but it was a sad day for Israel.

Now most of us who sit here today are NOT facing persecution. We are rich and comfortable. We have an easy life. We live in safety and freedom. But we need to be careful. Many times rich and comfortable Christians are weak, self centered, and have an “I don’t care” attitide. The Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper showed how that less than 10% of Christians tithe (give 10% of their money) to the church. The poorest 20% of church members gave 3.4% of their money. And the richest 20% of church members only gave 1.6% or less than half of the poorest ones.

Jesus said the seed among thorns is like that- “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches & the desires for other things come in and choke” it (Mark 4:19). Be careful this doesn’t happen to us.

2. SCATTERED TO SAMARIA (8:4-25)
Verse 4 says, “Therefore those who were scattered went every-where preaching the word.” When the early Christians were perse-cuted, they didn't hide in caves, make fires to keep warm, and pray to God for protection. They kept sharing the good news of the gospel everywhere they went. The Jewish religious leaders tried to stamp out the fire, but all they did was scatter the sparks and start new fires.

Verse 5, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. Now the Jews looked down on the Samaritans (John 4:9). But Jesus didn’t. One of the lepers he healed was a Samaritan (Luke 17:11-19). The woman at the well, who led her village to Christ, was a Samaritan (John 4:3-42). Also there was the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). So at least some people who lived in Samaria knew a little bit about Jesus.

And when Philip came “and preached Jesus to them” they listened very carefully. One reason was because of the miracles he did, casting out demons and healing lame people (8:7). Another reason was Simon. Verse 9 says he “previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ... saying, "This man is the great power of God."

Have you ever heard of David Copperfield (Russian 1956-present) or Harry Houdini (Hungarian 1874-1926)? They are probably the world’s most famous magicians of the the last 100 years. They have amazed people with their escapes and illusions. Imagine that David Copperfield moved to Tokyo, Japan. If he were scheduled for performances, large crowds would come to see him.

But what if a young preacher came and not only preached but also did many amazing signs and wonders. Imagine that David Copperfield was so amazed with this young preacher that he gave up his performances and began to follow this young preacher every-where he went. He sat on the front row and marveled at his signs and wonders. Can you see how this would make lots of people curious to see what this young preacher was saying and doing? I think this is similar to what happened with Philip and Simon the magician. Verse 12 says, “When they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.”

In verses 14-17 the apostles Peter and John came from Jerusalem, “laid hands on them,” and “prayed for them” (8:15). When Simon saw that they had received the Holy Spirit he offered Peter and John money (verse 19) saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ... 22 Repent of this your wickedness, and pray” to “be forgiven.” Simon was amazed and astonished and the power of Jesus and His disciples but he needed to confess his sins and be forgiven. Justin Martyr, Ireneus and Jerome say Simon became a heretic and was not a true Christian.

3. SCATTERED TO SUDAN, AFRICA (8:26-40)
In verse 26, “an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. So he arose and went.”

In the book of Acts a lot of evangelism is done without an angel of the Lord telling them to do it. Jesus already gave us the command to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). So we don’t need to wait on an angel to tell us to do evangelism. But I think one of the points of this story is that sometimes God does prompt us, lead us, guide us through His Spirit, to do things. He will always work together with His word. The word says, “preach the gospel to every creature.” And the Lord says, “Go here and do it now.” God’s Spirit does not always do that but sometimes He does. And we need to be men and women of God, rooted in the Word of God and led by the Spirit of God. Philip went.

Verse 27 continues “And behold, a man of Ethiopia,” that’s modern day Sudan, “a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,” That was about 800 kilometers (or 500 miles away). He “was returning. And sitting in his chariot,” which was probably a covered wagon pulled by oxen.

“He was reading, Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot.’ 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading,” obviously outloud, “the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" That was a great question. 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

When you share the gospel start where the other person is and bring the gospel to his point. When you hear a friend say, “I’m worried about my job, my future, my marriage, my child. I’m scared of dying,” that could be your passing chariot, an open door to share the gospel. You could say, “Did you know that in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible God says, “I know the thoughts that I think about you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). And if they are more interested you can keep reading Jeremiah 29:12-13, “Then you will call upon Me ... and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” And if they are spiritually hungry maybe their next question will be, “How can I find God? How can I know Him?” And you can share that is the whole purpose of the Bible. And that is why God sent His Son Jesus to this earth.

32 “The place in the Scripture where” the man from Ethiopia “was reading was” Isaiah 53;7-8. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.” So Philip showed this man from Sudan, Africa how “the LORD had laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquities of us all” and that we are set right with God through His death and resurrection (Isaiah 53:4-5, 11-12). And the Ethiopian believed, was baptized (v. 38) along the road, and went on his way rejoicing (v. 39), while Philip was taken up to Azotus by the Spirit (v. 40). Tradition has it that this eunuch went home and evangelized his country of Ethiopia, modern day Sudan. And more seeds were scattered.

Are you scattering seeds? Or have “the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things come in and choke” them out (Mark 4:19)? What will you do?