Acts 8 Wednesday, March 7, 2018 Acts 7:59 8:1 (NKJV) 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. Jesus said that this would happen. John 16:2 (NKJV) 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. Acts 8:1b 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. They were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8 you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. The statement that they preached the word is misleading; the Greek expression does not necessarily mean more than shared the good news. (Stott) Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit s power which they were receiving was given for a specific purpose - to be a WITNESS - not only in Jerusalem, but to the neighboring communities and beyond. No one is moving out yet So God sent a - - - not just a persecution, but a Great Persecution to pry people out of their pews and out of their homes and out of town. Page 1 of 7
Christian Jews in Jerusalem became refugees. Some may have had relatives in nearby Judea. Think of it this way: Jerusalem as your town, Judea as your county. Samaria on the other hand, is a little different. We will have to go back to the Babylonian exile. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and did a very interesting thing. Due to Cyrus's decree, around 50,000 Jews made aliyah to the land of Israel. The word aliyah means migration - but it literally means ascent. (You are always going up in the mind of the Jews when you are heading to Jerusalem.) 50,000 Jews made that ascent with Ezra in 538 B.C. The second temple was completed in 516 B.C., yet the city still lay within its own rubble. In 445 B.C. Nehemiah made his aliyah in order to rebuild the wall and reset the city gates. But there was tension between the returnees and the local Israelites who resided in the areas of Judea, Samaria and Benjamin. Why? Because they weren t pure Israelites. When Babylon had taken Israel captive they left a few farmers and peasant-like people to occupy the land. Gentiles moved into the land and occupied it. The people intermarried so there were no pure blooded Jewish people living there. Therefore they were not permitted to take part in the rebuilding projects which caused a great rift between the local half breed Jews and the returning pure race Jews. That rift has continued on till this day. Today a small Samaritan community has survived without losing its identity through intermarriage. There are about 550-600 observant followers of the Samaritan religion. Different religion? - Similar but different. They adhere to all the Jewish rules and regulations, but only hold to the first five books of the Bible. Not any of the rest of the Old Testament. They twisted the story about Abraham sacrificing Isaac and said that it was at Mt. Gerazim, which is where they worship today. This will come into play as we continue to read tonight s text. But listen to Jesus talking to the Samaritan Woman. The woman said Page 2 of 7
John 4:20 21 (NKJV) 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. 21 Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. The mountain they were referring to was Mt. Gerazim. Acts 8:2 3 (NKJV) 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. From this we see that Saul wasn t consenting in a way that said, Well, if you must stone Stephen, I m not going to get in your way. Saul was adamant, he was indignant, he was demanding. Ever wonder if he were there chiming in with the words Crucify Him when Pilate wanted to release Jesus? He probably was. Another misleading word in our text is the word havoc. It means to destroy or to cause the destruction of persons, objects, or institutions - to ruin, to destroy. Acts 8:4 8 (NKJV) 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. Before Jesus Himself had left Samaria we read John 4:39 41 (NKJV) 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, He told me all that I ever did. 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word. Philip decides to capitalize on Jesus visiting Samaria and make it a mission trip for himself ~ I m sure he was being directed by the Holy Spirit. Page 3 of 7
Who was Philip? Like Stephen, he was a server, a helper in his church. He was one of those chosen to wait on the tables, a deacon. Faithful in the little things.. In chapter 21 we read this - - - Acts 21:8 (NKJV) 8 On the next day we who were Paul s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Philip the evangelist. Not only did the Lord bless Philip in ministry - listen to this Acts 21:9 (NKJV) 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. Acts 8:9 13 (NKJV) 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. Though Simon would have called himself a Magi, his type of wizardry simply preyed upon the superstitions of the people. Simon is converted to Christ and becomes a disciple of Philip. Nothing at this point indicates anything but a true conversion. But his faith will be tested - as all of ours is from time to time. What was happening in Samaria became known to the church in Samaria. This seemed to pry some of the apostles out of Jerusalem to see for themselves what was happening and to make sure that this new evangelistic movement was on the right track - which they should have. Page 4 of 7
Acts 8:18 25 (NKJV) 18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. 20 But Peter said to him, Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. 24 Then Simon answered and said, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me. 25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. An interesting Old Testament verse says Isaiah 55:1 (NKJV) 1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Buy without money - You cannot buy a personal relationship with Jesus with money, but you can have one by faith. You cannot purchase the gifts of the Holy Spirit with money, but you can have them by faith. Let s go back to v. 9 and take a look at Simon before Philip arrived with the truth of the Gospel - - - He claimed 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. That title was now being given to Philip, and Simon wanted some of that back. He was willing to pay for it. Peter was given the ability to see into the heart of Simon and this is what he saw - For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. And he issued a very strong warning - v.22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you Repent - turn away from your sinful thoughts and turn and pray to God for forgiveness. Acts 8:26 29 (NKJV) 26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And Page 5 of 7
behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot. We ll get to the eunuch in a moment. But first - Candace was not the queen s name. Ethiopia was often ruled by a queen, or Warrior Queens as they were known. Many believe that this queen mentioned here was a woman called Amanitore, but we don t know for certain. Candace was a title - like Pharaoh or Caesar - that meant Queen Mother. Now this is interesting - Queen Ahywa (regal name Sofya), who made Christianity the official religion of the Ethiopian kingdom in 332 A.D. Who knows - Philip - this eunuch - then someone else until 300 years later would make such a profound effect. Acts 8:30 33 (NKJV) 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. What a great question - I know your reading your Bible (it was customary in the ancient world to read out loud - might be a good practice for us sometimes to do the same when it comes to our Bible reading), but do you understand? Do you get it? Although this would have been a very wealthy and powerful man, he was honest and humble enough to say - Not exactly, I could use a little help in understanding. Philip must have been thinking - "Wow, the Lord sure opened up this door. Acts 8:34 36 (NKJV) 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man? Page 6 of 7
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Can you imagine how that must have gone? No says Philip, Isaiah was talking about someone else. Jesus - have you heard of Him? I opened the door to the possibility of Saul being there when Jesus was crucified. Well, it s just as probable that Philip and this eunuch were in Jerusalem then. After all it was the Passover - a pilgrimage holiday. Whether the eunuch witnessed the crucifixion or not, he was sure to have heard about it. Remember one of the two guys traveling to Emmaus said to Jesus (Who was unrecognized by them at the time ) Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days? So Philip could have said You remember a few months back when Jesus was crucified? Well, Isaiah was speaking about Him. The eunuch asked if it were possible for him to be baptized Philip responds - Acts 8:37 40 (NKJV) 37 Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. The Eunuch didn t believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God because Philip said it was true. He believed because the Holy Spirit bore witness in his heart when Philip said it was so. Page 7 of 7