The Gospel on the Move
Acts 8:1 – 8:13
Jeff Hughes – May 25, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. It has been said that the gospel is the greatest story ever told, about the greatest offer ever made, by the greatest person who ever lived.
b. In the past five months, as we have journeyed through Acts, we saw where Jesus gave instruction to the apostles to carry the gospel first to Jerusalem, then to Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth.
c. The book of Acts can be broken down into those three parts as well, the first seven chapters dealing with the gospel’s spread in Jerusalem. As we begin chapter 8 though, we start to pick up a new part of the gospel story, as the gospel gets carried to Samaria.
d. Here’s a little background about Samaria. After the death of Solomon, the northern tribes split off of the kingdom and became Israel, leaving the kingdom of Judah. Samaria was the capitol of the northern kingdom. The Assyrians attacked Samaria in 725 BC and it fell about three years later. The Assyrians deported most of the people out of Israel, and brought in many people from Babylon and other countries to live in Israel. This was done to weaken the countries that Assyria dominated, so no country could rise up against them. In time these different races of people intermarried and the whole area around the city of Samaria became known as Samaria. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great captured the city and settled Macedonian veterans there. Herod named it Sebaste and built it back up to a beautiful city. During the time of Jesus there was hostility between Jews and Samaritans. Remember that the disciples were surprised when they found Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.
e. They were surprised that Samaritans were people that God cared about. They thought that since they were God’s chosen people, the Samaritans were doomed for all eternity. They could not be more wrong. God had a plan for the Samaritans, and today, we will see it begin to unfold as we continue on our journey through Acts.
f. Before we close, I’d like to draw each of your attentions back to your field – your coffee pot, or water cooler, the people you share life with. Pray that God would use you to share the gospel with those people.
g. Let’s pray.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. Many churches today are like a laboring crew trying to gather in a harvest while they sit in the tool shed. They go to the tool shed every Sunday and they study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and then get up and go home. Then they come back that night, study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and go home again. They comeback Wednesday night, and again study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and get up and go home. They do this week in and week out, year in and year out, and nobody ever goes out into the fields to gather in the harvest.
b. I think it fitting that Jesus told His disciples while He was in Samaria, at that same well – He said - Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ’One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
c. In our passage of study this morning, we will see both sowers and reapers. We will see a harvest, because truly, the field of souls in Samaria was white unto harvest.
d. While we study this passage this morning, I want each one of us to think about your own field. People don’t usually congregate around water wells in this country anymore, but think about your water cooler or coffee pot at work. Think about those folks, the people around you in your everyday life. I still work a secular job, I have folks that I am thinking about that I work with right now. Think about this - if those people don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, then they are ripe for the harvest. Pray that God would use you to bring those people to the Lord.
e. There’s a place to take notes in your bulletin, and I’d encourage you to follow along. If you need a Bible, just raise you hand, and we’ll get you one. Acts is right past John, and just before Romans in the New Testament.
f. Follow along with me as we read.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city. 9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But 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. 13 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.
ii. We see here in these thirteen verses, two men each with a vastly different view of the gospel. The first one, Saul of Tarsus, was an educated man; he was a Jewish rabbi, schooled under the great teacher Gamaliel. He was more than just a teacher though. He was a guy that got his hands dirty.
iii. He was the hatchet man, the hit man for the Jewish religious establishment. They did away with Stephen, and now it was open season on Christians.
iv. The second man was a man named Philip. This was not Philip the apostle. This was Philip, one of the seven deacons, or servants named back in Acts chapter 6, along with Stephen. He is often called Philip the evangelist, because that is what he does. Philip is a gospel spreading machine, and as we will see, God uses Philip mightily.
v. We will look five points from our passage today – The persecution, the pandemonium, the preaching, the powers of darkness, and last, the powerful message. Today, we start Acts chapter 8, as we continue on our journey through the book of Acts.
vi. Our first point, the Persecution, is found in verse 1.
b. The Persecution (Acts 7:1)
i. 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
ii. Our author, the good Dr. Luke, leaves us a very important footnote to chapter 7 here. He is weaving a thread into the fabric of the story of Acts. His statement seems simple enough.
iii. He notes that Saul was there at Stephen’s death, consenting to it. Now remember, the Bible was not broken into chapters and verses until about the year 1500, so many scholars link the first part of verse one with chapter 7.
iv. The first part of verse one here is important. It tells us that Saul was present at Stephen’s death, and presumably, from Paul’s other writings, Stephen’s trial as well.
v. As I said last week, the death of Stephen and how Stephen faced execution had a profound effect on Saul. God was knocking on Saul’s heart, God wanted Saul to be a witness of Jesus as well, Saul just didn’t know it yet.
vi. Saul was being used by God here too, even before Saul has his life-changing experience on the road to Damascus, which we will see in chapter 9. Saul was being used by God, but not the way he thought though. He thought he was doing God a favor by persecuting these Christians. In a way, he was right. God used Saul’s persecution to spread the gospel, and that is what we will look at today.
vii. I think that this is a good word of warning to us sometimes though. Sometimes we can be down on somebody in the church just because they don’t believe exactly as we do. We can tend to beat them up, because we don’t see eye to eye on something doctrinally, thinking that we are “purifying the church”.
viii. How shocked Paul must have been on that Damascus road, thinking – “How could I have missed God by so much?” I think that a lot of Christians will be surprised when they get to heaven as well, and realize just how far they missed God in the name of church.
ix. But as we look at verse 1 though, we see more than just Saul though. Verse one tells us that a great persecution swept through the church at that time.
x. The time in question was shortly after the death of Stephen. Stephen’s trial and death was a catalyst for persecution of the church. The Sanhedrin had heard Stephen’s testimony, and all it did was get them angry. They didn’t want to hear about Jesus, or what a bunch of his followers had to say about Him.
xi. It is as if Stephen’s death marks a milestone in the life of the church. Not only was it the first recorded martyr in the history of the church, but Stephen’s death marks a shift in the church as a whole.
xii. Up to this point in history, the church had been focused in Jerusalem. Now, certain other folks from outside Jerusalem had heard the gospel, but the church was not actively pursuing evangelism outside the city.
xiii. Stephen’s death, or more likely the persecution that arose from it, served to drive the church away from Jerusalem, and to re-focus them on reaching the outlying people for Christ.
xiv. Their focus was re-directed toward the communities around them because they were now living in the communities around them. A large number of people were scattered in the persecution. God will kick us down from our mountaintop experience sometimes to minister to other people.
xv. I’ve seen this happen in my own life. Two years ago, I was plugged in at Calvary Chapel Houston, and we had just moved to a fabulous new house just 2 miles from our church. I was on top of the world. My prayer life and study time were great, I was growing, and seeking God. I worked for what I though was a great company, and I loved my job. Nothing could be better.
xvi. But, even though I was happy, I was complacent, God wasn’t. God wasn’t happy with the status quo. The company I worked for started coming apart at the seams, and my career was about to come to an abrupt end, I thought.
xvii. So, I called out to God – “What do you want me to do?” His answer was not immediate, but I began to feel a burden for Bryan / College Station, and I began to pray that God would send someone to teach His Word here, verse by verse.
xviii. Eventually, God let us know in no uncertain terms that He wanted us to come here, and start the church. Now, I wasn’t facing death or stoning, or anything like the early church did, but I just wanted to draw the parallel that God uses bad situations for good things many times.
xix. One last thing I want us to notice is that the apostles didn’t leave. Why was that? Why didn’t they leave with everyone else? One plausible explanation is that they didn’t want to flee like they had done when Jesus was crucified. They didn’t want to run again.
xx. The funny thing about bad situations is that Some times, they bring out the best in people. Bad situations are often what God uses in our lives to motivate us to do things for Him. Sometimes, they bring out the worst in people. We see both in verses 2 and 3.
c. The Pandemonium (Acts 8:2-3)
i. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
ii. The first thing we see here in verse two is a group of devout men that carry Stephen for his burial, and they mad a great lamentation over him.
iii. Now, does this mean that we should have a funeral with a great lamentation over a believer? No, it doesn’t. First off, we are not told here that these men who buried Stephen were Christians. The word devout there simply means “god-fearing”. Most likely, these were Jewish men who were shocked and horrified by how the Sanhedrin had decided to deal with their problem of the church. Maybe these men felt sorrowful and repentant over Stephen’s death, we simply can’t know.
iv. I do know this though, if they were believers, then they must not have understood this principle of the Christian faith. We find it in 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13 and 14 - 13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
v. As believers, we are not to sorrow as those who have no hope – meaning those who don’t know Jesus. 2nd Corninthians 5:8 tells us - We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
vi. Some people take this a bit too far, and say that believers should not mourn other believers at all. I think that this is wrong on the other side of the scale. To not mourn a loved one is unhealthy, but as believers, we are to try and find God’s balance when dealing with the death of another believer.
vii. So, Stephen is buried, and these devout men made a great lament. I find that interesting too, because in Jewish law, it was actually illegal to mourn for someone who was executed by the state, and by doing so, these guys were putting themselves in harm’s way.
viii. Now we get down to verse three though, and we see Saul, a very bright young rabbi, wreaking havoc in the church. The word translated wreaking havoc there is a term used to describe the destruction by a wild boar, or how an army leveled a city after besieging it.
ix. Saul stood by and approved of Stephen’s death, but now, he had a taste of blood in his mouth, he viciously attacked the church. In Acts chapter 26, Paul later recounts that he was armed with the authority of the chief priests.
x. He searched tirelessly for Christians, searching house to house, as that was where they primarily met, and he drug men and women that were believers alike off to prison, as we are told here. In Acts chapter 22, we are told that the church was persecuted unto death, meaning that any Christians caught were tortured and even killed for their faith.
xi. It was because of these acts that Paul never felt worth to be called an apostle, and we see this in his writings many times.
xii. Saul literally tore the church apart, and scattered it’s members abroad, in their quest to avoid persecution, they were used by God, and we will begin to see this in verses 4 through 7.
d. The Preaching (Acts 8:4-7)
i. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
ii. Saul’s intent was to scatter the church to make them ineffective. What actually happened had the opposite effect. The scattering of the early church made them more effective. We see here that the first result of the scattering of the church here in verse 4.
iii. Those that were scattered went about the work of the ministry where they were scattered to. All Saul managed to do was scatter the seeds of the gospel around, so that more and more people heard and believed.
iv. So, as we can see here, the end result of the scattering was to the glory of God. As we have seen again and again in Acts, the plans of men amounted to nothing, and God’s Word continued to go forth.
v. Now, one thing worth pointing out here is that those that were scattered for the most part were accidental missionaries. They didn’t go looking for people to give the good news to, and they didn’t walk the streets, preaching as they went.
vi. I believe that what we saw here was more of a personal thing. The people moved out of Jerusalem, and they moved to another area. They made friends, they hooked up with family, and they simply shared their faith, just as each one of us is called to do in our everyday life.
vii. I believe this because, as we see in 5, that there was a clear distinction between most of the other people scattered and Philip. Philip was a guy we have seen before, as I said earlier. Philip was one of the seven servants, or as they would be later called deacons, by the apostles, as we saw back in chapter 6.
viii. Philip is moved by God to go to the Samaria and preach the gospel to them. Seven years earlier, Jesus met the woman at the well, and as we see from Luke chapter 9, verses 51 through 56, that the James and John, and likely all the rest of the disciples thought that the Samaritans were only good for calling down fire and God judgment.
ix. Remember that story? Jesus was going to Jerusalem and He sent ahead to a village of the Samaritans to receive Him, and they refused. James and John asked if they could call down fire, and Jesus rebuked them, saying that He didn’t come to destroy lives, but to build them up.
x. Philip wasn’t there to destroy lives either. Philip was doing what the Lord commanded in Acts chapter 1, verse 8 – to proclaim the gospel in Jerusalem, in Samaria and Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
xi. I wonder if the people of that village and the woman at the well were there, listening to Philip teach? We’ll never know, but we do know that a large number of people did come to listen.
xii. We see right here in verse 6 that a multitude of people listened to Philip and that large numbers of them believed. They believed not only because what Philip preached made sense, but that the Holy Spirit was there. The Holy Spirit was there preparing hearts, opening eyes, and opening people’s ears to hear the gospel. The Holy Spirit was also there in power.
xiii. We see this in verse 7. Many people that were afflicted by unclean spirits were freed. Not only that, but people who were paralyzed or lame were healed as well.
xiv. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again here. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that the Holy Spirit can move and minister today, just like He did in the first century. Scripture tells us in Hebrews chapter 13 that God - Jesus Christ is unchanging – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
xv. If we believe that the Holy Spirit is God, then we believe that He doesn’t change either. There are people in the world today that are demon possessed. It may not be as common as you think, but I watch the news, and see the terrible things that people do, especially to their children, and I can’t help but think that these people are not in control of their own bodies.
xvi. The good news is that we can pray and intercede for people like that. We can pray for people to be healed, and if it’s God’s will, He can heal them.
xvii. More important than the physical healing though was the spiritual healing. Jesus came to heal the set the captives free, to bind up the wounded, and to heal the broken hearted.
xviii. Jesus was doing just that in the city of Samaria. People were getting healed, people were being freed from the powers of darkness, and most importantly, they were coming to Jesus.
xix. The result was joy. Pure joy. It has been said that joy is the byproduct of obedience. These people were now pursuing a life of faith, and not selfishness.
xx. As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them."
xxi. Not everyone in the city was joyous and serving God. We see that in the next three verses.
e. The Power of Darkness (Acts 8:9-11)
i. 9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.
ii. We see here in verse 9, a man named Simon. Now, Simon was a man of some local fame. Simon was a sorcerer. The word translated sorcery there was the Greek word pharmakia. We get our word pharmacy from it today.
iii. Sorcery in the ancient world always involved two very bad things – the occult and drug use. The question arises – was Simon a druggie, or a person under Satan’s command? I believe that it was a little of both.
iv. Whatever power Simon had though, it is clear that he got that power from Satan. The power that Satan gave Simon accomplished what Satan wanted it to, it drew people away from the true God, and gave attention to Simon.
v. That is why we try to keep our kids away from crystals, pyramids, horoscopes, ouija boards, or anything else that has to do with the occult. Personally, my family and I do not celebrate Halloween because of it’s occultic origins.
vi. The people attributed Simon’s power to God, because it was real power. Simon and other sorcerers had a great influence on the communities that they were in.
vii. The forces of Darkness, Satan and his minions do have real power. They can work miracles and wonders through a willing vessel, like Simon.
viii. I would submit to you that Simon became a willing vessel to Satan through his drug use. Drugs open up your mind to other influences, and almost always, those influences are bad.
ix. If you look at rock music today, we see a genre of music that was pretty tame at first in the fifties. But then, it became dominated by the drug culture of the sixties. Timothy Leary urged young people to expand their minds through using LSD. He told them to turn on, tune in, and drop out. That’s what they did. But, as the rock and roll, drug crowd turned from the sixties generation to the seventies and eighties, you see the satanic and occult influences coming more and more to the surface.
x. Satan indeed does have power to work on and influence people for long periods of time, just like we see happening in Samaria in verse 11, but the power of Satan always does harm. That’s the difference between the power of God and the power of Satan. Satan can counterfeit God’s power, sometimes pretty well, but people aren’t better off, and God isn’t glorified.
xi. They were getting to see a different kind of power at work in Philip. What they saw was a power that glorified God, and made people whole – they didn’t feel cheated or robbed by it. It was more powerful than the power of Satan at work in Simon, it was the power of God, and we see this in verses 12 and 13.
f. The Powerful Message (Acts 8:12-13)
i. 12 But 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. 13 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.
ii. The people of Samaria had seen the true power of God. They heard Philip preaching and teaching the good news of Jesus Christ, and they believed. They believed in Jesus. They believed in the power of His Name, they believed in His coming kingdom, and their eternal life through their belief in Him.
iii. As we saw back in verse 8, great joy came to the people when they believed. The message was fresh, the message was relevant, and the message was powerful.
iv. We see from verse twelve that Philip’s message is focused on two things – the kingdom of God, which refers to God’s sovereign rule over the earth, and our hearts, if we are His, and second, Philip focused on the name of Jesus Christ, which symbolizes all the Jesus is. As we saw back in Acts 4:12, there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
v. These folks in Samaria heard and believed, men and women. Then they took the step to proclaim their faith publicly – baptism.
vi. As these folks believed, were saved, and baptized, Simon’s power dwindled. People didn’t come by for readings or divination anymore, and Simon was losing money and influence. So, Simon decided to check out what was going on for himself.
vii. Simon makes his profession of faith in Jesus and was baptized. He continues going to meetings with Philip, and was amazed by the miracles and wonders that God performed through Philip.
viii. But, as we will see next week, Simon had just gone through the motions. Simon’s conversion was totally on the outside and not on the inside. We will look at this next week, as we look at Simon in particular.
ix. Maybe there’s someone here who has never made that decision for themselves. Maybe you’ve walked down an aisle, shook a preacher’s hand, and said a prayer. Maybe you’ve even been baptized. Doing these things doesn’t make you a Christian, any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.
x. You see, the difference is between religion and relationship. We try to not put much into religion here, because in reality, it’s all about a relationship – a relationship with Jesus that will free you from your sin, and bring that joy into your life, so that you can face the tough times ahead.
xi. If you’re that person, in a few minutes, I’m going to give you the chance to accept Jesus, and enter into that relationship; I’m praying that you will.
xii. I‘d like to close with a short story, one that I tell from time to time here at Calvary, so that we can keep focused on the task at hand, and that task is to reach our communities for Jesus.
g. Conclusion
i. On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.
ii. Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now, the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired life-boat crews to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club’s decoration, and there was a symbolic life-boat in the room where the club initiations were held. About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
iii. At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.
iv. As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.
v. Let’s close in prayer.
V. Closing Prayer
a. ***Father God, I confess that I am a sinner. I know that I need You in my life. Lord Jesus, come into my life, and fill me. I know that You died for me, and rose again, for my sins. I give my life to you. Thank You Jesus, for new life in You.
b. Now, if you prayed that prayer with me, please come down front. We’d like to talk with you and pray with you some more, and give you a few things to help you in your walk.
STAND FOR LAST SONG!!!!
