The Acts of the Apostles 33

Subtitle: The Gospel Spreads to Samaria

Acts 8:1-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 29, 2023.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus says, "[Y]ou 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 book of Acts can be outlined using these three geographical descriptions.

• Chps 1-7, The Gospel and Holy Spirit upon Jerusalem
• Chps 8-12, The Gospel and Holy Spirit upon Judea and Samaria
• Chps 13-28, The Gospel and Holy Spirit upon the nations

The phrase "ends of the earth" is not fixated upon a geographical point on the globe.  It is a picturesque way of describing all of the nations of the globe.  We see this supported in Revelation 5, particularly verse 9, where those worshiping God around the throne are "out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation."

The death of Stephen is presented as the transitional point for the Gospel spreading from Jerusalem into the surrounding area of Judea and Samaria (further north).  Luke shows through his book that the words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 happened as he said from roughly AD 30 to AD 62.  Of course, the book ends with Paul under house arrest in Rome, but spreading the Gospel. 

Obviously, the Gospel had not made it to the ends of the earth, but the burden is not upon him alone.  He hands the torch down to others.  In fact, far more happened in those thirty years by others to spread the Gospel.  This has led to the concept of an Acts 29 Christian, or an Acts 29 church.  It simply means that they recognize, we recognize, that we are continuing the witness to all the nations that the apostles started.

We will see today that persecution is one of the things that God uses to spread the Gospel.  It isn't necessary.  But, when it comes, it is used of God for the good of souls who need to hear.

Let's look at our passage.

A great persecution of the Church begins (vs 1-3)

In verse one, Stephen gives us a snapshot, summary, of this transitional point of the Church.  We have seen persecution upon individuals like Peter, John, and the apostles up to this point.  However, after Stephen's death a "great" persecution begins.

There are several words for persecution that are used.  This one emphasizes that the hunt is on and people are made to flee from pursuers.  Yet, we should know that the demeanor of those fleeing is not part of this word.  Some could flee in terror, but we do not see this in the book of Acts.  They do not flee in terror, but they do not want to be imprisoned or die.  Thus, they pragmatically move out of the sphere of danger.  They move on, but go forth victoriously- as we will see in the rest of this passage.

At this point, it begins to cost more to follow Jesus.  There is the question of whether you will stay or leave Jerusalem, but it also demands an answer to this question.  Is it worth it to keep following Jesus?  The heat is now on all believers in Jesus.

Luke tells us that this pursuit of anyone who was a Christian is what led to them being scattered throughout the region.  The word for "scatter" pictures the casting of seeds.  Each one of these Christians is a seed, or earthen vessel, containing the treasure of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit.  That seed and Spirit are capable of fruit in their lives, but also of life for others.

This is something that we need to get into our heart.  I might have a wart on the end of my nose and people tend to avoid me.  However, if I have the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, then there is a treasure in me that people need.  Of course, many who are very easy to look at are empty of any treasure.  May God teach us as believers in Jesus to remember that "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him."  (Isaiah 53:2 ESV). 

What the enemy intended for evil, God turned to the good.  These believers went forth telling people about Christ and seeing others believe.

It is interesting to me that Jesus had told them that he wanted them to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  Yet, it took persecution to kick-start this part of the mission.  Were they being disobedient?  I do not think that Luke is showing this at all.  There does not seem to be any sense of this in the text.  I think the real point is that there is a proper timing of the Holy Spirit, and a proper way.  It doesn't always have to be because of persecution, but God was allowing Jerusalem to have as much grace as they would take.  They needed to hear the Gospel because the clock was ticking on Israel remaining as a nation.  Judgment was coming.  God gives them as much grace as they will take, and this persecution is basically the leadership pushing the grace of God out of Jerusalem.  Of course, they weren't able to push it all out.

Make sure that you don't miss this progression for us as individuals.  We need to receive the Gospel and the Holy Spirit within our own heart and mind, within our own family, which is our "Jerusalem."  As God teaches us and fills us with His Holy Spirit, He will then lead us forth to witness in our community and as far as the scope He has given us will lead.  We shouldn't rush it, but neither should we lag behind being dilatory or lazy.  God's heart is for the nations, and it begins for each one of us at the center of our hearts and minds.

Verse two shows us that Stephen is buried by his fellow Christians, "devout men."  It was considered an offense to publicly lament one who had been executed, especially for blasphemy.  However, these men make it abundantly clear that they are sorrowing over the death of Stephen.  He was a righteous man who did not deserve such a death.

This sorrow is understandable and should not be rebuked.  Though we do not sorrow as those who have no hope, we do sorrow nonetheless.  2 Corinthians 7:9-10 makes this point.  They weep because they are separated from one they love, and in a horrible way.  They weep for the loss of such a man who was used of God to heal people and set them free from evil spirits.  He fed widows and cared for the unfortunate.  We should weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15).

Yet, we do not want to become stuck in grief, and paralyzed by it.  Just as Stephen had served God faithfully to the end of his life, so too we must go on without him and serve God faithfully.  We do no one honor by walking away from God because of what happened to them.  Stephen's witness was that it was worth it to die for Jesus!  Grief has a natural cycle that is not exactly the same for each individual, but will definitely take as much as a year to fully absorb.

This hounding of Christians is lead by the young man Saul.  He seems to be zealous for removing Christians from Jerusalem.  Of course, he is being zealous to push the grace of God out of the city.  In such, we can become blind to the things that God is using in our life in order to bless us.  In our ignorance, we can push out the grace of God, bringing harm to ourselves and others around us.

Luke writes that Saul made a "havoc" of the Church.  The word has the idea of publicly shaming it by defiling their dignity, even causing a stigma to be attached to these Christians.  We see this with Saul entering "every house," and "dragging" them off to jail.  The dragging may or may not have been literal.  It is a word that is frequently used for arrests.  In many cases, it is clear that there is no actual dragging taking place.  It would be similar to a person today saying that, "They slapped him in cuffs and dragged him off to jail."  Again, it could be literal, but the language of slapping and dragging can be metaphorical.

Regardless, it was a difficult time for believers.

Samaria receives the Gospel (vs 4-8)

Saul is clearly trying to contain this "heretical sect," as he takes them to prison, but it doesn't work.  We should remember that there are at least 5,000 Christians in the city, and Luke has given several other summary verses where he describes the Church growing more.  Thus, we have a magnitude of thousands of Christians spreading out into the region.  This will cause the Gospel to spread out into Samaria and Judea as well- just as Jesus said.

It is interesting to me that Saul cannot seem to keep himself from doing the work of Jesus, whether he is trying to stop Jesus or help him.  Ironically, he is really bad at stopping the Church.  Everything he does only spreads it more.  This is the tragic fate of those fight against Christ and his purposes.  In the end, they only help us to do what God wants us to do.

Of course, the world is a lot better at trying to put out the fire of Christians today.  Yet, if you have your eyes upon Jesus, and are filled with his Holy Spirit, it is not that good!  We may be spiritually kicked in the gut and lose our breath, but the Breath of God will fill our lungs and enable us to catch our breath.  Just know that God is in control, not in that He is operating humans as marionettes.  However, His eternal purposes will always be accomplished in our lives and this world!  You can't lose on His side!

Luke then turns away from the persecution of Saul in order to give some stories of God powerfully working through these dispersed ones.

The scattered believers preached the Word.  Though the believers are scattering because of persecution, they are not keeping quiet.  They are using the Scriptures, the Word, to explain to people about the recent events in Jerusalem.  These are the Scriptures that talk about Jesus.  The Messiah had come, was executed, but then was resurrected.  He has now poured out the Holy Spirit upon those who believe.  Luke has already given us a taste of such preaching through Peter and Stephen's accounts in chapter 2 and chapter 7.  None of these events involve a pulpit or podium.  Preaching is not solely the work of a pastor.  It simply means to proclaim.

This brings us to Philip.  We know that this is not the Apostle Philip because verse 14 will tell us that the apostles were at Jerusalem when this happens.  Acts 6 describes the calling of seven men to be deacons in the early Church at Jerusalem.  Luke then went on to describe the ministry and martyrdom of the man who was first on that list of deacons.  Now, Luke shows us that the second deacon on that list, Philip, was powerfully used of the Holy Spirit as well.

As a side-note, the Apostle Philip is never specifically mentioned by name after Acts chapter one.  He is generally mentioned in the phrase "the apostles."  The Philip here is Philip the Deacon.  Of course, that ministry is not going to be able to continue with the scattering of the Church, at least not in the form that they had set up.  He will be later described in Acts 21:8 as "Philip the Evangelist, who was one of The Seven."  Saul had caused Philip to be promoted from a deacon to an evangelist, i.e., someone who has a ministry of telling others about the Gospel of Jesus.  For some reason, Philip goes to the city of Samaria. 

The city of Samaria is in the middle of the region of Samaria.  It had been destroyed several times through the centuries.  It was actually rebuilt and renamed by Herod the Great in the 1st Century BC.  It's new name was Sebaste, which is Greek.  Clearly, this was not a name that was popular with first century Jews.  This city was populated with around 6,000 people or more.  Note:  Here is a link to a map to help you picture where Samaria (Sebaste) is in relation to Jerusalem.  You may also note that Sychar is where Jesus ministered after speaking to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well.

Philip does not go to Samaria to hide.  He begins "preaching Christ" to them."  This is essentially the same as preaching the Word and we should not try to make a technical point out of these two phrases.  The early Church did not study the Word out of a mere desire to grow in intelligence.  They studied and taught the Word to know Jesus the Messiah better!  In fact, the word translated "preach" in both instances is different in Greek.  The first is literally to "Good News" someone.  The second is to proclaim, or herald, news that may or may not be good news.  It emphasizes the proclamation.  Jesus, the resurrected Lord who is in heaven pouring out the Holy Spirit on those who believe in Jesus, is good news that we should be proclaiming!

Notice that this deacon, now Evangelist, does miraculous signs by casting out demons, and healing people, specifically those who had paralysis and were lame.  He is not an apostle, but He is filled with the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit.  There is no sense in the Bible that we have to have a title in order to be used greatly of God.  Any one who believes upon Jesus and is filled with the Holy Spirit can be used to do miraculous things.  Yes, God can do these things through us today.

There are seasons in which God gives signs or not.  However, we must be careful of using this as an excuse.  Maybe, they were far more desperate than we are as a people?  You can be cynical about God doing such things today.  However, it can also be our cynicism and lack of faith that leads to these things not happening right now.  Many in the Church, lean on everything, but God.  May we learn to lean upon Him and be in the place where He can do anything through us that He desires.  This calls for a person to be in prayer, in the word, seeking the leading of the Spirit, and then obeying His leading!

Luke mentions that the people paid close attention to what Philip had to say.  We do not know how many of these people were religious Samaritans.  Herod had brought people in to populate the city, and it had several pagan temples.  Still, the ministry at Sychar would have primed the pump in the area.  They would have known about Jesus and his disciples.  These inhabitants of Sebaste are transfixed at the message of Philip and the power of the Holy Spirit working through him.

This brings us to verse eight, which tells us that there was great joy in the city.  Think about the many people who are no longer demon-possessed, and those who knew them.   Think of a desperate parent who has tried everything to help their child, and now they are completely healed!  Think about those who can now walk, and are running around leaping and praising God!  Think about those who had been paralyzed showing everyone who will listen how they can now use their limb! 

How long had they gone without much in the way of God's grace, and then one day things changed.  Remember that about God.  We may be hyper-cynical about a move of God in our family, city, or Republic, but some days, God just changes things!  Maybe, He has been wanting to move for decades, perhaps centuries, but no one was in the right place spiritually for it to happen?  This day, Philip was in the right place with God.  Amen!

What a beautiful thing.  It was almost as if Jesus was back!  In truth, Jesus is back in us when we cooperate with and operate in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Yes, there are seasons to the work of God, but its foundation is a person who:  believes in Christ, seeks to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and asks Jesus each day what they should be doing for him.  We don't know if we are a generation that will experience what Jeremiah experienced, unbelief and the judgment of God upon the nation.  How can we know?  We can only know by being faithful like Jeremiah.  Even though it fills like he didn't do any good, Jeremiah lived a life of the Spirit of God and passed that torch on to the next generation.  He didn't fail, the people of Israel stuck in their flesh failed.  The faithful remnant is always victorious to accomplish exactly what God sent them to do!

You and I can be those people who are doing the will of Jesus and are ready for what he may have next.  We are Acts 29 Christians whether we use that phrase or not.  Until Jesus comes back, we aren't done working.  Let's get to work!

Samaria audio

Becoming A Disciple Of Jesus

We continue our discovery of the True Jesus in the Gospel according to Luke.  In chapter 4 we saw how Jesus was initially rejected by those from his hometown and yet sought out by those who were in the region of the Sea of Galilee.  It is clear that Luke is not giving a strict chronology, although his Gospel does follow the pattern of the birth of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, and the death of Jesus.  Within this ministry section we find Luke giving detail but also skipping around chronologically.  In chapter 5 Luke gives us insight into the calling of some of the disciples to not just be those who believed him, but to also follow him wherever he went.

Hearing the Word of God

In verses 1-3 we see that Jesus had gone down to the Lake of Gennesaret.  This is just another name for the Sea of Galilee, which is also called Lake Tiberias.  They are most likely near Bethsaida where Peter lived, however the exact location is not stated.  What is stated is that Jesus was there to share the Word of God.  Jesus was popular and soon an unorganized crowd had developed around him as he shared God’s Word.  This is an important part of understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.  It starts with a desire to hear the Word of God and then coming to Jesus to receive it.  He is the ultimate Light of the World that stands above all the prophets of the Old Testament.  To be a disciple is to be one who sees Jesus as the one who has the Word of God.

As it gets crowded on the beach we are told that some fishermen are nearby.  We know that there has been interaction between Jesus, Andrew, and Peter in the past due to John’s gospel.  So Jesus most likely chose this spot and this time on purpose.  He just happens to be preaching when Peter and his partners are cleaning and mending their nets after a long night of fishing.  Notice that Jesus asks Peter for help.  Perhaps if we were there we would think that it was unspiritual or rude of these fishermen to clean their nets while Jesus is teaching.  But Jesus sees an opportunity here.  He asks Peter to lend him his boat so that he can preach from it.  That would solve the practical problem of the difficulty of the crowd to hear and see Jesus.  This is typical of God.  Though he can do all things, He wants us to join Him in what He is doing.

At this point I would ask you what the goal of preaching is.  Why is Jesus preaching to these people?  Simply put they need Truth.  The goal of preaching is for the salvation of its hearers.  Yes, not all believe and are saved.  But without the Truth no one could be saved from not just problems in their life, but primarily the bondage of sin.  The Apostle Paul demonstrates this in Romans 10:13-15.  He starts with the Truth: All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  He then asks this question.  How can we get people to call on the Lord?  Answer: they first have to believe that the Lord can help them.  How can they believe?  They have to hear the Truth about Who Jesus is, there own predicament, and what he has done about it.  How can they hear?  Someone has to preach the Truth to them.  Who will preach?  God must give His Truth to someone and send them.  Thus God sends us to preach so that others can hear the Truth, believe in their heart, call upon the Lord and be saved.  Every disciple is the result of that process.

Listening To His Directions

In verses 4-7, Jesus has finished preaching.  However, he now has some personal business for Peter and Andrew.  This part of the story ends with them catching more fish than they could imagine, enough nearly to sink two boats.  Is Jesus just paying them back for helping him?  We could think of this passage as Jesus showing that you can’t out give God.  But I don’t think that is what is going on here.  In fact, there is no indication that Peter and Andrew materially benefit from this catch.  It seems more that Jesus is giving them a personal lesson of just what he can do.

Now it all starts with some simple directions from Jesus.  Go out into the deep and cast out your nets.  Jesus doesn’t ask something difficult, nor is it something illogical.  However, it isn’t the sense or logic that they would have employed.  This is a big obstacle to being a disciple of Jesus.  He will ask us to do things that we wouldn’t.  We have all kinds of reasons why we shouldn’t do it.  We have all kind of feelings that are opposed to doing it (whatever it is).  Other obstacles that can keep us from being true disciples of Jesus are lust, pride, fear, and many others.  Disciples don’t just hear the Word of God from Jesus.  They also listen and obey.  Peter is tired.  He has fished out that whole area.  Why is this carpenter from the hills down here telling me to go back to work when I’m done for the day?  Yet, he responds with surrender.  “I don’t want to, but nevertheless because you ask it I will do it.”  He could have missed out that day.  But he had heard and seen too much of Jesus to not listen to this man.

Now Jesus isn’t just about miracles.  In fact they are actually secondary to why he came to earth.  Miracles are to reinforce the message.  So let me insert an end-times warning at this point.  The Scriptures tell us that the antichrist and false prophet will do lying signs and wonders.  People will be astonished at the power they have.  However, the problem will be that their message is not the message of the True Jesus.  We don’t receive Jesus just because he did miracles.  But we do so because only he has the words of life, the Words of God.  Miracles can help us to surrender our flesh when we know he is right.  But never let it push you to surrender the Truth when the Bible shows someone is wrong.

Understanding The Truth About Jesus And Me

Now verses 8-11 teach us something about being a disciple.  Somewhere in the middle of that great miraculous catch of fish, somewhere in the midst of pulling in nets, signaling the other boat, wrestling all the fish into the boat and struggling to get to shore…somewhere in the middle of all that Peter understands something.  Peter saw himself for what he truly was in contrast with Jesus.  The shame and guilt of his own sin becomes so obvious and hideous to Peter that he begs the Lord to leave him.  Even as the light dawns on Peter, the flesh and the devil are working overtime to keep him in the dark.  Pushing Jesus away because he is so righteous and we are not, is a mistake.  All disciples enter by the narrow gate of understanding this problem.  He is good and I am not.

With great tenderness, as only he can do, Jesus tells Peter to not be afraid.  Don’t let your fears rob you of being my disciple, Peter.  Leave your fears behind and come follow me.  Yes, I am holy, but I am also love.  I don’t love your sins, but I am committed to transforming you if you will enter into relationship with me.  You must understand that your fears will cause you to separate from the very thing you need.  A true disciple of Jesus has to learn to wrestle with fears and lay them at the feet of Jesus.

In fact let me close with this picture.  The Bible tells us that marriage is a picture of Jesus and his disciples, his Church, his bride.  If marriage is a picture of that relationship then we should look at that original marriage of Adam and Eve.  The Bible says that this is why a man will leave his family and cleave to his wife.  All successful marriages learn the lessons of how to leave others behind and cleave to one another.  Forsaking all and following him, Peter became, not just a hearer of Jesus, but a true disciple.

O friend, make sure today that you aren’t chasing Jesus to get something out of Him.  These guys actually walked away from what Jesus supplied that day in order to have a closer relationship with Jesus.  Be a true disciple of the true Jesus today.

Becoming a Disciple audio