<p>8:1 <i>And Saul approved of his execution<em>- </em></i>Paul warned the Romans that those who &ldquo;have pleasure&rdquo; in (Gk. &lsquo;to feel gratified with&rsquo;) sinful people will be punished just as much as those who commit the sins (Rom. 1:32). But he uses the very word used here for his own &lsquo;consenting&rsquo; or 'approving' the death of Stephen; standing there in consent, although not throwing a stone (Acts 8:1; 22:20). He realized that only by grace had that major sin of his been forgiven; and in that spirit of humility and self-perception of himself, as a serious sinner saved by grace alone, did he appeal to his brethren to consider their ways. &nbsp;&lsquo;Feeling gratified with&rsquo; such sins as are in this list is what the entertainment industry is so full of. We can&rsquo;t watch, read and listen to this kind of thing by choice without in some sense being vicariously involved in it- and this seems to be exactly what Paul has in mind when he warns that those who feel gratified in those sins shall share in their judgment. This is a sober warning, relevant, powerful and cutting to our generation far more than any other. For given the internet and media, we can so easily feel gratified in others&rsquo; sins.&nbsp;</p><p><em>And there arose on that day</em>- Clear evidence that Stephen's speech was the psychological motivator for the anger now unleashed within Saul and his companions.</p><p><i>A great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem, and except the apostles, they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria<em>- </em></i>Luke uses the word for &lsquo;Diaspora&rsquo; to describe how the brethren were &ldquo;scattered abroad&rdquo; (Acts 8:1,4; 11:19); he saw this persecution as turning them into the new Israel. The entire membership of the Jerusalem ecclesia was scattered; the way we read of them numbering thousands by the time of Acts 21:20 suggests that to avoid persecution those who remained reconciled themselves with the temple, becoming a sect of Judaism, presumably with the tithe and temple tax going to the temple rather than to the ecclesia. These &ldquo;thousands&rdquo; of Acts 21 were probably largely converted since the persecution that arose after the death of Stephen. The original Jerusalem ecclesia had gone and preached to the Gentiles (Acts 11:19,20), which wasn&rsquo;t what the later Jerusalem ecclesia supported. Indeed, Acts 11:22 goes straight on to record that the Jerusalem ecclesia sent representatives to find out what was going on. In order to escape further persecution, the Jerusalem ecclesia threw in their lot with the temple and orthodox Judaism. Finally Paul wrote to the Jerusalem ecclesia, as recorded in Hebrews. He sorrows that they fail to see the supremacy of Christ over Moses, and that despite initially enduring such persecution and loss of their goods (during the early persecutions), they had lost their real faith in Christ. The fact they weren&rsquo;t <em>then </em>being persecuted indicates they had reconciled with the temple. They needed to hold on, to keep the joy of faith they once had, rather than become hard hearted, judgmental, works-centred. But they didn&rsquo;t listen.</p><p>When the Romans began persecuting the early church, only the leaders were seized, while crowds of obvious Christians went unpunished. This was perhaps because paganism was utterly dependent on its elite, and most cults could easily be destroyed from the top. This explains a few Bible puzzles- why devout men could carry Stephen to burial and yet be unharmed; why the apostles could remain in Jerusalem they were seen as unlearned and ignorant fishermen whilst the others in the Jerusalem ecclesia had to flee (e.g. the great company of priests who became obedient to the faith). And yet Christianity spread yet further. Josephus (<em>Antiquities </em>18.63-64) expresses surprise that the &ldquo;tribe of Christians&rdquo; indicating their unity had not disappeared after the death of their founder, &ldquo;the so-called Christ&rdquo;. Unlike other religions, the faith of the followers was not in the leaders- if the organization and leaders were taken away, would our church continue? The early church did- and flourished. We must beware lest our system of elders and organizations doesn&rsquo;t take away our individual commitment to preach and personally care for people, and especially for the brotherhood. First century&nbsp;Christianity was a mass movement, rooted in a highly committed rank and file; and therefore it had the advantage of the best of all marketing techniques: person-to-person influence. This in the end is how we can preach far more effectively than through mass meetings or organized campaigns not that I am saying not to hold these.</p>