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“And Saul was consenting unto his [Stephen’s] death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad” (Acts 8:1).
“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).
A few days ago I referred to Stephen, a very faithful man in the early church who was stoned to death by the Jews because of his preaching. As a result of his death a savage persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and many of them were scattered here and there. You can read about this in the early part of Acts chapter 8. But what was the result of this persecution and this scattering? It only resulted in those believers preaching the word everywhere they went. Instead of hindering the gospel, the persecution only helped it.
God will never be frustrated in His purposes. He can use even persecution to help spread the gospel.
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