The When the Apostle Peter preached the Gospel on the day of Pentecost, thousands came to faith.

However, in spite of an enthusiastic response, the hostility against followers of Jesus also escalated.

Today on Truth for Life, we'll see how the increased persecution of Christians came as an unexpected result of the preaching of the gospel.

Alistair Begg is teaching from the opening verses of Acts chapter 8. Lord God, we come now to the time when we want to hear from you. We want desperately to understand the Bible in a way that is life-changing and to this end we seek you in Jesus

name.

Amen.

Tertullian on one occasion defiantly said to the Roman authorities,

Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust.

The more you mow us down, the more we grow.

For the seat of the church is the blood of Christians.

And the whole notion of the

blood of the martyrs being the seat of the church

is something which, if never before finds its origins

here at the end of Acts Chapter 7. And if you haven't read for some time the story

that leads to the stoning of Stephen, then I commend it to you

at your earliest convenience. Because certainly the events that follow upon the stoning of Stephen bear testimony to what Turtullian had to say.

The death of Stephen at the end of act 7 heralds a significant expansion in the story of the gospel.

And what Luke is describing here in verses 1, 2, and 3, and into 4 is really that which sets the stage for a centrifugal explosion of evangelistic

activity. Whatever was happening before is now moved forward at an

exponential rate and it is the death of Stephen which has given the impetus to the idea of persecution.

The whole idea of let's deal with this man, and perhaps he will be an example to others,

is now to be followed up by Saul and others with a campaign of

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