Following the Acts record it would appear that the newborn church had been pretty cozy and comfortable, up until the martyrdom of Stephen.
It had begun with a very public demonstration of God’s power in the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the others had boldly proclaimed their risen Lord and many had responded in faith and been baptized.
For the most part, followers of the Way were just basking in God’s grace, enjoying one another’s company, sharing, praying and feasting together both on food for the body and bread for the spirit through the Apostle’s teaching.
Then came some low rumblings of persecution. The religious leaders didn’t like this teaching of a resurrected Jesus, so they began to put on some pressure; but take note that even then, it wasn’t on the community of believers in general, but on the leaders. The ones publicly preaching the resurrection.
Yes, things were so comfortable that apparently, many of those who had originally come to Jerusalem for the Passover, having become followers of the Nazarene, had never left for home. They had just settled in and become pew warmers.
They were comfortable with their little church, and the familiarity of the others around them who believed the same, and the routine of their new church life ~ the teaching of the big guns, the availability of the goods being shared by all, the new songs being written and passed around, just the general security that comes with numbers ~ ah, life was good.
Now I wouldn’t suggest that the disciples had forgotten their commission to go into all the world, preaching the gospel, baptizing and teaching. And after all, it’s not like it had been years and years since the church was formed.
But I think we’d all have to agree that it is just in our nature, when we are comfortable, to want to maintain the status quo. Don’t stir the pot. Don’t rock the boat. If it works, don’t fix it.
All of you know as well as I, how easy it would be to just continue meeting here in our house, doors shut, blinds drawn, worshiping together, singing the familiar songs, laughing at each other’s jokes, agreeing with one another about the Bible and the things we believe.
You know that when we go out in public on the first Sunday of the month there is a degree of discomfort in that. A sense of stepping out into the unknown and the unexpected. “How will we appear to others?” “Will we meet with opposition?” “Will we look silly? Be a spectacle?”
We’re out of our comfort zone. We’re exposing ourselves. We’re not entirely in control.
But folks, y’know what? We’re being obedient. And if we are not obedient, if we do not go on our own, the Lord will find a way to drive us out eventually; because we were not assembled by His Holy Spirit in order to be an island; an exclusive little club; hiding in our room, as the song goes, safe within our womb, touching no one and remaining untouched by anyone.
Sure we like it here. Sure we benefit from the time we gather and do these familiar things and delve into the Word together and let God speak to us.
But these are times of preparation for something else, and not just going to Heaven. Here we are equipped for the work of ministry, but out there is where ministry goes on.
Jerusalem was quickly becoming a little spiritual fortress for the followers of the Way, and it was time for them to go to other parts of Judea, and Samaria, and even the remotest parts of the earth.
Stephen met a violent, shocking death outside the city walls, and the murderous anger of the religious men who killed him began an impetus of persecution that rocked believers out of their nests of ease and scattered them throughout the region.
It is here that we’re first introduced to Saul of Tarsus, who goes on a raging offensive, actually bursting into the homes of believers and dragging them away to prison.
The party is over, friends! You’ll remember last week when I quoted Ignatius who, when he was arrested and faced martyrdom, said, “Now I begin to be a disciple”.
And we might do well to ask ourselves; ‘at what point do I begin to truly be a disciple?’ At what point can I honestly say that I have become an active member, and not just a name on a roll book? Is it when I declare a set of beliefs and go down into the water? Or is it when I attain to some certain level of scripture knowledge and become able then to teach? Is it when I get myself elected or appointed to some office in the organization that we call ‘church’?
Or do I only truly become a disciple, when I begin to obey without pause or question, every command of the Lord, and not just the ones I am comfortable in performing?
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was asked if he felt God was on his side concerning all the issues of the war.
Lincoln replied that he was less concerned with whether God was on his side, than whether he was on God’s side.
And I think that far too often, we are quick to ask the Lord to add His blessing to what we’re doing, but not asking the more important question as to whether what we’re doing is what He wants us doing in the first place; and whether where we presently are is where He would have us be.
The people were scattered throughout the region because of persecution, but they didn’t go quietly. Verse 4, praise the Lord, says, “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word”.
PHILIP WENT DOWN TO SAMARIA
In verse 1 of chapter 8 Luke tells us that they “all were scattered” and that the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem. Now we are not to take literally that every believer in Jerusalem left, because verse 2 tells us that some devout men made loud lamentation over Stephen and took care of the body.
We can probably safely assume that all the Hellenistic Jews left to go back to their various homelands; but many Jews who had always lived in Jerusalem would have been slower to go.
Even in our time we know that when some disaster is about to strike, like a volcanic eruption or a hurricane for example, police and other public safety personnel have a very difficult time convincing people to abandon their homes and move to safer ground.
Why the Apostles stayed can only be speculated about. Maybe they just weren’t quite ready to give up on their loved city.
Jerusalem had crucified their Lord, and was now persecuting His believers, once more rejecting Him and rejecting the opportunities God was giving them to repent.
But they would not repent and believe, and they continued to reject until they were set aside and the gospel went to the gentiles.
We see the beginnings of this in Philip’s story.
Like Stephen, he was chosen as one of the seven to serve in the distribution of food and certainly some other duties that involved organization and just the logistics of attending to the needs of the saints.
Also like Stephen we see in chapter 8 verses 5-7, Philip was preaching, casting out demons, healing many of various maladies, at least but doubtfully limited to, paralysis and lameness.
Now don’t misunderstand me; it is a given that it was the Holy Spirit doing these things through Philip, not any personal ability or inherent power in Philip himself.
And in verse 8 we see, “And there was much rejoicing in that city.”
So to capsulate; we have the new church flourishing in Jerusalem, persecution starting because the religious leaders are jealous and desiring to stamp out this new movement before it can grow stronger, finally leading to the bloody and noisy murder of a man who is powerful in the Spirit of the Lord, so the church scatters to avoid this persecution which, apparently spearheaded now by Saul of Tarsus, is spreading like wildfire.
Among those who have left is Philip, who has gone to Samaria, to some certain city there.
I wonder if this might be the same city that James and John wanted to consume with fire from heaven when they rejected Jesus on His last journey to Jerusalem? (Lk 9:51-56)
And Philip brings light to this city of darkness; this place where Simon, a worker of magic, probably the dark arts, has had them spellbound. But now they are hearing the good news and seeing God bearing witness to Philip by signs and wonders and various miracles ~ and what comes next we might just naturally expect.
What if very suddenly, here in Montrose, or even one of the smaller communities in our region, say, Nucla or Colona, God began to do amazing things that were causing widespread rejoicing among the people, many professions of Christ, baptisms in the Uncompahgre river by the hundreds, physical healings taking place on the public streets…
One of the first things that would happen, and I do not say this with any sarcasm or in a spirit of criticism, is that ‘suits’ from the State convention office, and probably a few from Atlanta would be flying into Montrose to see what’s going on, get a first hand look, make sure things are being handled well and all the resources are in place for followup and so forth.
Then they’d go back to Denver and Atlanta to their jobs there, and the following month we’d read all about it in the Rocky Mountain Baptist and whatever publication the North American Mission Board puts out.
And that’s what happened here in Acts. Look at verse 14
“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and many were receiving the Holy Spirit.”
Now jump down to verse 25.
“And so, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”
And the next month they all had their picture in the Mount Horeb Gazette.
Well, in all seriousness, there were many good reasons for the apostles to be there which we won’t go into now; I’ll just mention one and then we move on.
This Simon, the magician, was apparently very powerful and influential. That is to say, influential with the people, but powerful in spirit, and I don’t mean the right kind of spirit.
One of the things accomplished by the presence of Peter and John, exercising the authority that Jesus Himself had given them, was that they dealt with what might have become a very serious threat to the spread of the gospel in Samaria.
This man liked what he was seeing, and wanted to be a part of it. He wanted to join up. To get in on the ground floor. And as is the case with anyone who joins the church for selfish reasons; to be seen of men, in hopes of climbing to a position of authority and honor, to get control for the service of self, they can bring true kingdom work to a screeching halt in that congregation, until they are dealt with; until they truly repent and surrender to Christ, or leave altogether.
This is something neither Philip or any other new believer would have been prepared to deal with, but Jesus used His ‘big guns’, Peter and John, to come down and take care of the matter. Other good came of the trip, of course, as is recorded for us. But we must get back to Philip.
ON THE ROAD TO GAZA
As of verse 26 he’s on the run again.
Now don’t miss the details here. An angel spoke to Philip. I’ve heard folks say that Philip was miraculously transported by the Holy Spirit and set down by this man’s chariot. No that is not yet. Also note that it doesn’t say he was sent there or drawn there in the Spirit, or by the Spirit, as we often read in other places.
It’s just interesting to note that an angel was given the task, a delightful duty I’m sure, of telling Philip to go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.
It was a specific message, wasn’t it? He didn’t say ‘go to Gaza’, because in that case there may have been several routes Philip might have taken. In fact, there was probably a more convenient route than the one he was told to take, because he was already in Samaria, and Gaza was on the Mediterranean coast south of there.
So in order to take the road he was told to take, he would have had to backtrack almost to Jerusalem to get on it and head south.
Just a brief point of application here; there are some things we don’t go backwards in. We don’t go backwards in our faith, in our spiritual growth, in our walk with the Lord.
But sometimes in just the everyday progression of our work we may find the Lord halting us, backing us up, rerouting us, for His purpose. And we may occasionally feel that we’re backing up, but as C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘sometimes the long way round is the shortest way home’.
I’m sure there are those who see our coming back to this house for worship as a step backwards. A failure of sorts. But I hope that you are already beginning to see, or that if not you will soon begin to see, that it was really a way of setting us on the road He wants us on, for the marvelous things he’s going to do down the way; around the next bend; over the next rise.
Keep your eyes open, Christians, and your ears tuned. Your opportunity for service may be in sight in a moment, and bypass you in another if you’re not ready to run to obedience.
Philip was obedient. He arose and went. Simple as that. He arose and went, and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official to the queen of the Ethiopians, entrusted with all her treasure, and apparently because of his position, also a man of some stature and authority. Certainly some wealth. He was riding in his own chariot and had the freedom to travel to Jerusalem at will to worship.
Hey. If you don’t want your treasurer stealing your money, make sure he’s well-paid and happy; right? It only makes sense.
So here’s this God-fearing Ethiopian, having been to the capital of the Jews for worship, returning from his sojourn back to his homeland, and he is reading in the prophet Isaiah.
Remember in the sermon about Stephen when I called your attention to the providence of God, in bringing Nicolas to the faith first as a Jewish convert and then to Jesus and then raising him up in a place of service?
Well here is another example for us to rejoice over today.
First of all, there is Philip, himself apparently a Hellenistic Jew. In other words, from out of that group in the pagan nations of whom Paul was later to write, “…excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:12)
But he somehow finds himself accepted into the religion of the Jews, seeking the one true God, and finally, a believer in the Messiah and one of His preachers.
Then one day this Ethiopian, who has a story of his own, to be sure, is reclining in his chariot on the way home from Jerusalem, and perhaps due to the inspiration of his recent time of worship there, or perhaps just because the Spirit of God laid it on his heart at this particular moment in time, he opens up and begins to read Isaiah.
Not just any part of Isaiah, but the very verses that make it easiest for Philip to use to tell him about the promise of the Messiah, and his own crucified and resurrected Lord.
Folks, this all started with persecution. It began with the martyrdom of an innocent man, a man full of faith, grace and power, whose final breaths were used to pray forgiveness for those killing him.
In fact, this is a great opportunity to point something out that is one of those underlying truths of scripture, not specifically stated, but there if you watch for it, and significant to take note of.
God doesn’t use whiners. He doesn’t use complainers. He cannot use those who bring discord and strife to the body, by their constant grieving and moaning over their present circumstances, or the problems they think they see coming down the road.
When Peter and John are threatened with bodily harm if they don’t stop preaching, the church prays that the Lord will give them boldness to preach Jesus.
When Peter and John are flogged for preaching and sent on their way with renewed threats, they go out of the presence of the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
When Stephen is stoned to death the people scatter throughout the region, and do they run home and hide in their basements? If they had basements?
No. They go preaching the word of the Lord.
God doesn’t use complainers. Faith does not produce whiners. Faith produces winners.
Listen:
ETHIOPIA: ANCIENT LAND OF AFRICA
By YAW DAVIS
(to find this site, go to “Google” and type in ‘ethiopia ancient land of africa’)
In addition to Ethiopia being one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Ethiopia is also one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Ethiopian court (governing officials) was first introduced to Christianity in approximately the year 42. Some of you may remember the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch as written in Acts, Chapter 8, verse 27: "Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the Kandake (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure."
The passage continues by describing how Philip helped the Ethiopian understand one passage of Isaiah that the Ethiopian was reading. After the Ethiopian received an explanation of the passage, he requested that Philip baptize him, which Philip obliged. I cross referenced some of my Ethiopian materials and discovered that Queen Gersamot Hendeke VII (very similar to Kandake) was the Queen of Ethiopia from the year 42 to 52. The aforementioned reveals that the Ethiopian court was introduced to Christianity in the 1st century.
(end of quote)
Why? Because Stephen was faithful, and submitted to the will of God, no matter what.
Because Philip went his way preaching and being used of God in power and ministry.
Because when he was told to backtrack and take a certain route, he did so without pause or question, and when he was told to approach a rich Ethiopian’s chariot, he didn’t say, ‘Are you kidding? He can’t be a Jew, he’s a eunuch!’ And he didn’t say, ‘But he’s a rich man and I’m just a regular guy. Poor even. Why should he listen to me?’
No, he ran to do God’s bidding. He ran to the chariot, and asked a very point blank and straightforward question to get the conversation going. “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
Hey. If you walked into Starbuck’s and saw a man in the corner reading the Bible, would you walk over and ask, “Do you understand what you’re reading”?
Of course not!
So it seems a little funny, doesn’t it, that Philip would open with this. But here is another way to see it.
If you walked into Starbuck’s and saw a man reading the Bible, and God spoke very clearly to your heart and said, go up to that man and tell him about Jesus, you may very well open with that question or something very like it.
So he did, and the result was the gospel going out to the gentile world in a very powerful way; making Ethiopia one of the oldest Christian nations in the world.
ON TO CAESAREA
Well, we don’t hear much from Philip after this. But he was still God’s preacher on the run. He left the Eunuch in a pretty spectacular way, when the Spirit miraculously transported him and set him down in Azotus, about 18 miles north of Gaza, and he hit the ground running.
We’re told he continued to preach, and kept preaching the gospel in the cities he passed through until he came to Caesarea. Now that’s where his story ends, until we get to chapter 21, where we find that at some point he settled in Caesarea, where he ended up with four daughters, something I can personally attest to as a great blessing, and the last testimony the Spirit gives us of him is by calling him ‘the evangelist’.
God never fails to reward faithfulness, believers; nor to acknowledge His friends.
Just this final note, and then I close.
Listen to chapter 21, verse 8.
“And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea; and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.”
Do you know who was writing this? It was Luke. Do you know who he was traveling with? It was the Apostle Paul.
Paul, who as Saul, stood watching over the cloaks of the mob who murdered Stephen. Saul, who gave his hearty approval to the stoning, and began a one-man murderous rampage against the church, that drove Philip to Samaria, that started him on his evangelistic career.
And now as brother Paul, he is staying in this man’s home, rejoicing and enjoying a relationship as fellow heirs of Christ.
God’s got it all in control, Christians. He is still on His throne, and if you and I will just stop whining, and start rejoicing, and be daily filled with His Spirit, and watching after one another, and caring about the lost, and being willing to go where He sends, even if it seems like He’s sending us backwards for a time; He will not fail to reward faithfulness, nor to acknowledge His friends.
And are we His friends? Yes. He said so, when He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13) And He said it just before He laid down His life for us.
