Acts 8 - 3/19/17
Turn with me this morning to Acts 8. The book of Acts is the transitional book, leading us from the life and ministry of Jesus and taking us into the church age. As Jesus ascends back up to heaven, he said to his disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The book of Acts is the story of how all that took place, with the gospel being preached in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. In the first few chapters of Acts, we have seen the ministry of the disciples in Jerusalem and the founding of the church there. Today, we see the gospel going out to the half-breed Jews called Samaritans.
We finished up last week the story of Stephen, stoned by the enraged Sanhedrin, the leaders of the Jews who refused to hear the truth that Stephen preached. They dragged him outside the city walls and stoned him to death. And that brings us to chapter 8. Read 8:1-8 Pray
We see four “firsts” in the book of Acts: four distinct “beginnings” of the gospel coming to various people groups. In Acts 2 we see the Day of Pentecost, where Peter preaches the gospel to Jews from all nations who have gathered in Jerusalem. And as a sign of the baptism of the Spirit, we see the people begin” declaring the wonders of God” in all the various languages of the people present. Today in chapter 8, we see the gospel comes to Samaria, and a second outpouring of the Spirit takes place, and again we see great miraculous signs take place. In Acts 10, Peter takes the gospel to the gentiles as he goes to the house of Cornelius. Again we see for the third time an outpouring of the spirit as this new group receives the gospel. It tells us in Acts 10, While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. And then a fourth group receives an outpouring of the spirit in Acts 19 - the followers of John the Baptist. Even though John had been beheaded in the years previous, his disciples continue to gain a following, and here this group believes in Jesus as the true Messiah, and the spirit comes upon them as well. This is a transitional book.
Today, we are looking at the transition of the gospel coming to Samaria. The disciples were content to stay in Jerusalem. Even though Jesus had given the call to GO, the church said NO and they stayed at Samaria. And so God allows a great persecution to come - 8:1 - and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. The word here “scattered” literally means to “scatter seed” - so just like a farmer goes out to a field and takes his sack of seed and sows it - he literally takes handfuls and throws it across the field and it falls where it may - so also as the disciples flee the persecution, wherever they end up, they share the gospel. And the gospel witness now is greatly spread.
It is interesting here in this chapter that as God takes the message to the Samaritans, the person he uses. He doesn’t take Peter or John or one of the key disciples, but God uses Philip, one of the seven deacons we saw back in chapter 6. Acts is a transitional book is showing us how God transitions from the 12 to many others who pick up the torch to share the gospel. We see Stephen, now Philip, next Paul. For the rest of the book, apart from Peter taking the gospel to Cornelius in chapter 10, the ministry taking place is by the next generation of leaders.
But as is common even in churches today, there is often a “hesitancy” to accept change when it comes. The older, established leaders of the church seem somewhat reluctant to accept the new things that God is doing in His kingdom. We see here in verse 14, when there is a great revival in Samaria, the church sends Peter and John to check it out. Peter in chapter 10 is hesitant to accept the fact that God wants the gospel to go to the Gentiles - three different times God has to give him this vision to prepare his heart. In chapter 9, when Paul is converted, the church leaders are hesitant to accept him until Barnabas speaks up for him. And in chapter 11, when God does great things in Antioch among the Gentiles, the church leaders send Barnabas to check it out.
The good thing in each of these instances is that the church accepted the work that God was doing. But we never want to become so comfortable with “business as usual” that we fail to embrace the “new things” that God is doing in His church. Does the gospel change? Never! But do the methods for sharing the gospel change? Every day! We always want to be open to the new works that God is raising up. We always want to encourage the next generation of Christian leaders to “think outside the box” and be open to the creative ways the Holy Spirit will use them to take the church forward to the next level.
Who knows that God will use Zephaniah Balsley or Eli Bodag to be one of the leaders for the church tomorrow. We always want to look to invest in our youth, because they are the leaders of the church in the future.
Here in chapter 8 as the gospel comes to the Samaritans, who does God use? Philip, one of the deacons, a Greek! God takes a veteran of cross-cultural work and uses him, because Philip knew by personal experience what it meant to be viewed as a second-class citizen. And when he preached about Jesus in the city of Samaria, multitudes responded.
Notice that our verses here begin with persecution and end with proclamation. The proclamation was due to the persecution. It was by means of the persecution that arose over Stephen that these early Christians were pressed out of Jerusalem, scattered out into the areas around, into Judea and Samaria, and they began to preach the word, all according to the program of God. And God used this young man, Saul of Tarsus, even before he became a Christian to accomplish this. God works to use the very obstacles thrown in the path of Christians to advance his cause. In spite of the persecution and pressure, God will build His church.
Are you going through some kind of pressure today? It may be God's way of moving you, of pressuring you into a new experience, into a new understanding of his truth, and giving you a new opportunity to put step out in faith. God works through the pressure and persecution and He leads to the proclamation of the truth more widely than it had ever been before. Don’t resent the times of pressure in your life; instead view them as an opportunity for God to do something GREAT! Remember the story of Joseph, it was as he endured the slavery and false accusation and being forgotten in prison that God uniquely placed him where he could change the world! Let’s never resent the difficulties we face, but rather we embrace them and look for God to use them for His glory. God doesn’t waste a hurt. He wants to use the pain we experience for His purposes.
Paul reminds us in Romans 5, And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
In other words God allows us to struggle in life, because the struggles make us stronger. When we suffer, it helps us to endure -- to keep on holding on and not give up. The perseverance builds character in our life, which inspires us to keep on believing in God: to have HOPE - The belief in God even when circumstances don’t seem to indicate He is at work, because we KNOW He IS, and we can trust Him.
Paul says we can rejoice in sufferings: trials, tribulations, problems. God certainly knows that there are a lot of problems facing us - but these problems can be a source of rejoicing for us.
God never gives us more than we can bear - 1 Cor. 10:13 - he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. The only problem is that sometimes God gives us MORE than we THINK we can bear! I read a cute quote this week that gave a beautiful word picture. It said, “When God puts his children in the furnace, He keeps his hand on the thermostat and his eye on the thermometer. He knows what He’s doing. He knows what we can handle.
So in the midst of this great persecution on the church, God scatters the seed of the gospel witness as believers leave Jerusalem and go throughout the neighboring area. Philip comes to Samaria, vs 5, and a great number of Samaritans believe. Remember that Israel had been divided into three main regions—Galilee in the north, Samaria in the middle, and Judea in the south. Samaria had been the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel in the days of the divided kingdom. When Assyria overthrew the north in 722 b.c., the Jews were taken away to Assyria and foreigners resettled the area. One of the most fascinating stories no one ever hears about - 2 Kings 17 - When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. It was reported to the king of Assyria . . . Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Make one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD. Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places.
So the Samaritans are half-Jews ethnically: These foreigners had intermarried with the Jews who were left, and the mixed race became known as Samaritans. But they were also half-Jews religiously: they mixed the worship of the true God with their idol worship and spiritism. It’s sort of like what we see in Kaballah today - a mix of New Age teachings and Judaism. Many Christians today get heavily involved in astrology or numerology (The Bible Code” or pyramid power or crystals. It’s that same type of syncretism that the Samaritans followed.
They opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah, and during the time of Alexander the Great, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim. Remember the first thing the Samaritan woman talked about in John 4, the woman at the well, when she realized that Jesus was “a prophet” was the temple issue. The Samaritans were considered half-breeds and religious apostates by the “pure” Jews in the southern kingdom of Judah, and the two groups hated each other.
So it is really the working of God that brings the leaders from the Jerusalem church to the Samaritans so they can receive the Spirit. It helps maintain the unity of the early church. God surely has a sense of humor - He brings Peter and John to pray for the Samaritans - disciples who in Luke 9 want to call fire down from heaven on the Samaritans because they don’t receive Jesus hospitably. Seeing the working of God among the Samaritans must have humbled them greatly.
The presence of apostles, especially two with such a high profile—Peter and John—would give unquestionable credibility to the Samaritan church These two apostles, through whom the Samaritans first received the Holy Spirit, would confirm to the rest of the Jerusalem church that indeed God was doing the same thing among the Gentiles that he was doing among the Jews. These “half-breeds” have been fully welcomed by God into one body, the body of Christ, where there is no Jew nor Gentile, no male or female, no slave or free man. We are all one in Christ Jesus. There are NO second-class citizens.
So in the midst of persecution, God is doing a great work. And whenever God does a good work, Satan always wants to try to break up the party. We see here in verse 1 persecution from without, and then as we go on in the chapter we see persecution from within the church. There are always going to be “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us. Sadly, we prepare ourselves for opposition from unbelievers - but attack from so-called brothers or sisters in Christ often catches us off guard.
Here in the rest of the chapter we see two examples of faith: two men who have different responses to the gospel. First, Simon, a man with artificial faith, and then the Ethiopian eunuch, a man with authentic faith. And God uses these two examples to help us see the different responses to the gospel. First,
Artificial Faith - Read 8:9-25 - Here is the example of Simon, who models for us artificial faith, insincere faith. One of the things we see is that artificial faith
- exalts personalities - Simon - vs 9 - boasted that he was someone great. And as a result he gathers a great following. False leaders often gather a large following. That’s not to say that a good leader can’t have a following, but the focus of a true follower is a focus on Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:5 - For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. Paul exalted Christ, not himself. In fact, in Corinth they had a problem with “personalities” - people were bragging about the teacher they followed - Paul, Peter, Apollos - and Paul says I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no-one can say that you were baptized into my name.
When you find a radio or TV preacher who wants to talk about all the great things they have done, be careful. Often pride will lead good men to destruction. In fact when we see how Paul talked, he said he was the least of the apostles - less than the least of the apostles - and finally the chief of sinners!
How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as a gift to God, God’s gift to mankind? Remember that scripture calls us to “in humility consider others better than yourselves.” False faith also
- follows the crowd - we see that Simon goes along with what everyone else is doing. Verse 13 - everyone else is being baptized so Simon gets baptized too. It says here that Simon believes - is this a saving faith? We really don’t know, but from what Peter says later, it doesn’t appear that Simon was truly converted. But he looks the part. Think about Judas - he played the part - when Jesus says at the Last Supper “one of you will betray me” the disciples all say “is it I” - they don’t turn to each other and say “It’s Judas - he never COULD cast out demons!” Judas played the part well. And there are many false teachers who will use the same terminology as true Christians - only they define the terms differently. Do they believe that all men have “sin” - yes - only they don’t believe that God will hold that sin against them. So you find leaders like Joel Osteen who say they believe the bible, but won’t say that those who don’t believe the bible will be excluded from heaven. Is there another way of salvation? Not according to the Bible! Look back in Acts 4:12! Next, those with false faith have a
- focus that is corrupt - Notice what vs 13 says about Simon - And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. What is his focus? The signs, the miracles. NOT the message, not Christ. Jesus faced the same problem in his earthly ministry - the people followed because they saw the miraculous - they came for the show. They didn’t care about applying Jesus’ teaching to their lives - they just wanted to see another miraculous healing. How did he do that loaves & fishes trick - let’s watch him do it again!
Simon wants to buy POWER from the disciples - he offers them money to be able to do what the disciples do - 19 - Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But we can’t manipulate God. Simon wants to be able to control God. And he misses the fact that the signs are simply there to authenticate the message: the message of the risen Christ - that is the focal point! Sometimes people today want to manipulate God as well - they want certain gifts for themselves. Whether it be the gift of tongues, or teaching, or knowledge - some want to tell God what their gifts should be. But that is always God’s decision to make. No one gift should ever be exalted over any of the others. Because the church needs them ALL!
Peter’s stern answer was a stinging rebuke. Simon’s errant thinking had led him to believe that God’s gift could be bought. Note the terminology Peter used in rebuking Simon: his heart was not right before God; his behavior was called wickedness; his thinking was called evil; he was said to be full of bitterness; and, in the most sweeping of condemnations, Peter said that Simon was still, despite his supposed conversion, held captive by sin. The implication was that Simon had not genuinely come to Christ.
So Peter’s indication is that even though the text said that Simon “believed” it appears that it was not a true saving faith. One preacher gives Peter’s response this way: “To hell with you and your money! You and your money are both going to hell if you don't change your attitude!” The next characteristic of false faith is
- counterfeit power - Simon was able to do great deeds. Vs. 11 says, They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. That doesn’t mean he did card tricks and illusions - it is a reference to occultic magic, impressive signs done through Satan’s power. Remember when Moses comes to Pharaoh with the plagues, the Egyptian priests are able to imitate them through Satan’s power. And Satan is STILL at work today, proclaiming to have great power.
We see earlier in Acts that it was the apostles who had the power to do great miracles - but here Philip, who is not an apostle, is given this power. Because to draw the people away from Simon and to get them to hear the truth, God gives Philip true power to do great miracles. Simon’s sorcery was energized by Satan and was used to magnify himself, while Philip’s miracles were empowered by God and were used to glorify Christ. Simon started to lose his following as the Samaritans listened to Philip’s messages, believed on Jesus Christ, were born again, and were baptized.
So Simon is an example of artificial faith - false faith. The second story in chapter 8 is a story of
Authentic Faith - or true faith. Read 8:26-40 - The first lesson this passage teaches us is
• Obey God’s Leading - Here is the example of a man with true faith, the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip in Samaria is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit and a great revival takes place. But then God leads Philip to leave the great work and go off alone into the desert. God led Him away from the crowds, away from those hungry souls eager to hear the Gospel, to a lonely dirt road in the middle of nowhere. This was an uninhabited region. No town – no marketplace teeming with people – no souls gathered to hear this precious message. Just … desert.
Why would God lead him THERE? Sometimes we question why God puts us where He does. But once again Philip is faithful to follow God’s leading. It is easy to follow God when He brings good things into your life; but how easy is it to follow God into times of difficulty? Yet if Philip had not obeyed God’s leading, how different the world would be today. Because God had a divine appointment for Philip with one of the most influential men in the whole region south of Israel. We also learn here the lesson to
• Rely on God’s Timing - Philip obeys God and God has him uniquely placed to be at just the right spot when this high Ethiopian official comes through on his chariot. Here is a man of power and influence. It calls him a eunuch, and he may have faced castration, or it may be an official title for his high office. It says he serves Candace, but that was not the queen’s name, but a title, like Pharaoh or Caesar. His parallel today might be Janet Yellen, the head of the federal reserve board - all financial transactions depend on the decisions she makes on a daily basis. Notice in verse 28 that he is “sitting” in his chariot - so in other words he was being “chauffeured” around in his chariot. Here is an important, impressive person, but God had Philip at just the right spot at just the right time. We could tell many stories of how God’s timing is perfect. Notice we also learn
• Pursue God’s Openings - As Philip has the chance to cross paths, Philip looks for an opening to talk about spiritual things. In verse 30, as the chariot is racing by, Philip hears the eunuch reading Isaiah 53, so he asks an open ended question: Do you understand what you are reading? When we are seeking to be a witness, following God’s leading, relying on God’s timing, we need to look for a way to steer a conversation to spiritual things.
At the office when you hear: “I’m worried about my job, my future, my marriage, my child. I’m scared of dying.” It could be your passing chariot, an open door for the good news of the gospel.
At school when you hear: “I don’t like myself. Nobody likes me. Should I be involved in this or that? It could be your passing chariot, an open door for the good news of the gospel.
In you neighborhood, gym, or club) when you hear: “My boyfriend asked me to marry him. I’m having a baby. My cancer is back. My wife is leaving.” It could be your passing chariot, an open door for the good news of the gospel.
Be ready to take normal everyday conversation and look for the opening God gives you to bring your faith into the discussion with others. The eunuch is a man of great learning, but he doesn’t understand what he is reading. Why not? Because the word of God is “spiritually discerned” - it takes the Holy Spirit of God to “turn the light on” for us. MANY people read even basic simple passages, but don’t understand them, because they do not have the Holy Spirit. Look for ways to not only share what the bible says, but to explain what it means, because there are many learned men and women who do not understand.
Philip launches right off of Isaiah 53 and begins explaining how that passage referred to Jesus, the suffering Messiah. He then goes through other passages - vs 35 says he “began” with Is. 53, so it implies he uses many other passages to point out the good news about Jesus. How well do you know your bible? When God gives you an opening, are you able to take the scripture and run with it? Realize that the NT has not been written yet - there was NO Romans Road - no four spiritual laws - no simple gospel tract. Philip doesn’t use a memorized plan, he simply goes to the word of God and teaches the good news of Jesus Christ, God’s son, crucified, buried, risen, ascended and glorified. Look to pursue the openings God gives you. The next lesson
• Overlook Personal Differences - Philip and the eunuch don’t have a lot in common. There were racial differences (Greek/Ethiopian), religious differences (Jew/Gentile), vocational differences (evangelist/government worker), socio-economic differences (poor/rich), physical differences (Philip possibly hot and dirty from walking/the Ethiopian likely cool and clean in his chariot). Philip could have backed down because of those differences and because he could have been thought a robber, a beggar, or a fool. But he didn’t. Philip went. All Christians would do well to ask themselves as they study Philip, “Do I follow God this simply and completely? Do I share Christ as boldly across social, racial, economic, and ethnic boundaries?” Remember in the OT the story of Namaan the leper - he is a great Aramean general - but the one who brings him to faith is a little household Jewish maid in his house. Never let the differences between you and another keep you from sharing the gospel with them. God had uniquely prepared this man’s heart, and Philip took full advantage of it.
This eunuch was a man who had serious concern about finding out the truth. He was taking a trip that would have been a couple months to leave his home and travel to Jerusalem. He had a scroll of the book of Isaiah - remember at this time everything was written by HAND - so this was quite a valuable investment just to find out about God. And for a man of his status to leave his job for that long - this was a great sacrifice he was making - because he so seriously wanted to know the truth. The next lesson for Philip is
• Give Public Confirmation - when you share the gospel, expect God to work. Offer people the chance to make a decision to receive Christ. What would you think of a salesman that came to your door and said, You don’t want to buy any vacuums, do you? Or if they spent a half hour telling you how great their vacuum was and then left without offering you the chance to buy one? Always end times of sharing the gospel with a chance for others to make a personal commitment of faith. In this case, the eunuch responds in faith, and Philip baptizes him. Remember baptism does not save, but it is an outward symbol of an inward faith. And if any of you here have an inner faith in Christ for salvation, but have never taken the outer expression of that faith - being baptized - I’d be glad to talk with you about holding a baptism service for you. We can set the baptistry right up here in the sanctuary any Sunday! We saw earlier Simon was baptized - even though he was sincere. here the eunuch is baptized, and he has a heart full of faith. We are not responsible for the hearts of others - we simply extend an invitation to follow Christ - sometimes people respond and other times they don’t.
I remember once talking to a couple - Larry and Linda Lea - they had visited church and I followed up with them. I explained the gospel and asked if they were ready to place their faith in Christ. Larry said, I don’t know - that’s a big decision - it’s sort of like buying a house. I’d like to take some time to think about it.” Well, that was great, because I could tell Larry was seriously weighing his choices. A few weeks later I visited them again, and as we again talked about spiritual things, I again offered the chance to respond in faith, and that day both Larry and Linda prayed with me to receive Christ. The working on hearts is God’s job - ours is to share the good news and offer the chance to respond in faith.
And then the last thing I want to mention today in regard to Philip’s example is to
• Continue on Faithfully - After the eunuch is baptized, we see the Holy Spirit again leads Philip on - this time to Azotus, which is the city of Ashdod, one of the ancient Philistine capitals, about twenty miles north. Philip continued his single focus: preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. Philip disappears from the Acts story at this point, but ultimately he ended up in Caesarea. The only other mention of Philip is in 21:8–9. Twenty years later, Philip was still at Caesarea with four daughters, all of whom were prophetesses. Paul writes, leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. So here Philip is years later, still faithfully being used as an evangelist, one who shares the good news of salvation with others.
Two examples - one of false faith, one of true faith - and one faithful man of God, faithfully obeying the Holy Spirit in times of public acclaim and in times of private service. May God help us to be just as faithful to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as Philip was. Let’s pray.
