A church was
in need of a preacher. One of the elders was interested in finding out just
what kind of a preacher the church wanted.
In order to
do this he composed a letter as though it had been received from a preacher and
read it to the committee selecting a new preacher.
"Gentlemen:
Understanding
that you need a preacher, I would like to apply for the position. I have many
qualifications that I think you would appreciate.
Inhave been
blessed to preach with power and have some success as a writer. Some say that I
am a good organizer. I have been a leader in most places I have gone. Some folks,
however, have some things against me. I am over fifty years of age. I have never preached in one place for more
than three years at a time. In some places I have left town after my work
caused riots and disturbances. I have to admit that I have been in jail three
or four times, but not because of any wrong-doing. My health is not too good,
though I still get a good deal done. I have had
to work at my trade to help pay my way. The churches
I have preached in have been small, though located in several large cities. I have not gotten along too well with the
religious leaders in different towns where I have preached, and I am sure that
they will not recommend me. In fact,
some of them have threatened me, taken me to court, and even attacked me
physically. I am not too good at keeping records. I have been known even to forget whom I have
baptized. However, if you can use me, I shall do my best for you, even if I
have to work to help with my support."
The elder
read this letter to the committee, and asked if they were interested in the
applicant. They replied that he would never do for their church. They were
not interested in an unhealthy, trouble-making, contentious, ex-jailbird; and
were insulted that his application had ever been presented! But one of
them did ask the preacher's name and the elder replied, "The Apostle
Paul."
Last week we
learned that Paul who is one of the most impressive people in our NT was a
party to the stoning of Stephen.
Saul of
Tarsus who will become the Apostle Paul was attacking and ravaging the church.
Today’s
passage picks up with the spreading of the flock because of the persecution.
They will
fan out in all directions and in so doing they will spread the gospel.
It seems bad
that the church is being persecuted but God is using it for His glory- tonight
we will delve into this holding together of man’s free will and God’s plan and
direction.
How does God
make all things work together for good?
IF you have ever asked that question we will get to that this evening.
But this
morning lets look at our text.
Acts 8: 4-24
4Therefore,
those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. 5Philip went down
to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. 6 The crowds with
one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and
saw the signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had
unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice ; and
many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. 8So there was much rejoicing
in that city. 9Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing
magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone
great ; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to
him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God." 11
And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished
them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good
news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being
baptized, men and women alike. 13Even Simon himself believed ; and after being
baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great
miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. 14Now when the apostles in
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter
and John, 15who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy
Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then they began laying their hands on
them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18Now when Simon saw that the
Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered
them money, 19saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone
on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 20 But Peter said to
him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could
obtain the gift of God with money ! 21 "You have no part or portion in
this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22"Therefore repent
of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention
of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 "For I see that you are in the gall
of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." 24 But Simon answered and
said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you
have said may come upon me."
Keys to this
passage:
1)
In the weakness of the Church through
persecution – this is the greatness of the Church.
Tertullian
the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church in 197 AD.
2)
Samaria and the significance of this
region
Don’t forget that the Samaritans receiving the Gospel is a
big deal.
3)
Simon the Sorcerer is the
representative of paganism and what the church is up against as it goes out
into the world.
As Acts progresses from this point we will see more and more conflict with paganism.
Simon the Sorcerer is a taste of what is to come.
Remember
that so far the church has dealt with Jews coming to faith that Jesus is the
Messiah of Israel. Now in Samaria you
find a true pagan that will be much like what the church will see.
Acts 1-7 is the Gospel
in Jerusalem. Now
it is moving to the Judean countryside and into Samaria.
We notice in
verse 4 that there is a scattering of the church.
We notice
the apostles or the 12 in Jerusalem are not part of this scattering and you may
ask why?
Well Saul of
Tarsus who is the lead antagonizer of the church is the one leading this
persecution.
Remember
that it was Paul’s great teacher Gamaliel that earlier told them not to try to
stop the apostles.
Saul or Paul
was probably listening to his great teacher and only went after the disciples
and not the 12.
Luke uses a
transition in verse 4 – Therefore
– this is characteristic of Luke when he is introducing a new part in the narrative.
Something
big is about to happen – something new – so pay attention.
I call this ACT 2 of Acts
Act 1 was the salvation of the Jews
in Jerusalem and Judea.
Now the
Gospel is going to Samaria.
The
Scattering of the Church is a very important point in Acts and we cant miss it
or we will miss major points in this book.
In the Great
Commission we see that they are to go into the entire world. In
Acts 1:8 we see that:
and you
shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth
The Church
is supposed to go from Jerusalem to Judea and then to Samaria. This is a scattering of the Church.
In the Greek
of Acts 8 we get some clues – Luke uses the word DIASPORA twice.
This is the
word used in verse 4 for scattering.
This is a reversal of the Old Testament method of God.
In the OT
the nation of Israel came into the land to live and to be a light to the
nations in one geographic location.
Israel would
live in the Land of Promise and would be a beacon to the world of what God’s
people should be like.
If Israel
was unfaithful or failed in this task the judgment of God is the DIASPORA – the
scattering of the Jews into the world.
As a matter of fact, Samaria was synonymous
for the Diaspora – it was the northern tribes what was then samaria that were
scattered.
The 10
tribes to the North were attached by Assyria and deported all over the Assyrian
Empire.
Now we see
the church is begin dispersed and scattered.
They are
scattering preaching the word. Preaching
the Word is the theme
In Acts the
idea of the Word of the Lord or the Word of God or the Word of Christ is a main
theme throughout acts.
God’s
purpose now for His kingdom is the opposite of Israel – they are to go out and
spread out.
The first
place on this stop is Samaria.
We see the
miraculous outpouring of the Holy Spirit each time the Church goes to these new
areas.
IF you
understand this point you will
understand why the Holy Spirit comes and they are able to work miracles.
First in
Acts 2 we see the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost when the
Gospel comes to the Jews in Jerusalem.
This is
Jesus 1st point the Gospel will go to Jerusalem first.
Next, we see
the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit on the Samaritans.
This is
important because the Jews saw the Samaritans as compromised or half-breed
Jews.
They hated
them almost as much as they did the pagans.
God is
showing by the outpouring of His Spirit that He has chosen the Samaritans to
receive eternal life.
We need to
take pause here and understand that this outpouring of the Spirit is a
sign.
This is not
some second special second blessing for the Samaritans – this is not some
blessing that is for all times.
This is a
special historic event that was a fulfillment of the OT prophecy of the pouring
out of the Spirit on all flesh – all types of people.
Just as Acts
2 and Pentecost was a one-time event so is this event. What do I mean? The gospel will never again go for the FIRST time
to the Samaritans – this is a special once and for all event.
Now think
about the next place in Acts you will see this miraculous outpouring – you will
see it in Acts 10 and the conversion of Cornelius.
The Holy
Spirit will come upon Cornelius and the miraculous will be present before water
baptism.
Why? God is
showing that the Gentiles have been appointed for eternal life.
If you
follow these major movements of the Holy Spirit you will see how God is
including these three major groups in the Church
1st
the Jews at Pentecost, Secondly the Samaritans in chapter 8 and last the
Gentiles in chapter 10.
This follows
the progression of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remote parts of the
world.
PHILLIP – we also need to notice
Phillip as the carrier of this message.
Why was
Philip able to work these great miracles – remember earlier in Acts 6 that
Phillip was able to work miracles because the apostles had laid hands on
him.
We will see
more of Philip next week when we focus on the conversion of the Ethiopian
Eunuch.
We see in
the passage that in verse 18 that - the Spirit was bestowed through the laying
on of the apostles' hands
The Holy
Spirit was given by the imposition of the apostles hands.
This is not
regeneration so don’t get confused.
IN John 3 we
learn that regeneration or salvation happens by the birth of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2
verse 38 we see that those that were baptized in water in Acts 2 received the
gift of the Holy Spirit or as it says remission of sins.
We receive
new birth from above by the Holy Spirit.
This
outpouring here is a miraculous outpouring to work miracles – don’t make the
mistake that this is how it should work.
Some current
religious groups today claim a second blessing of the Holy Spirit through
miraculous gifts today.
Some believe
that you must work harder or set yourself apart for a second blessing of the Spirit but this is
not what is being taught in Acts.
These
miracles serve a purpose that should give you comfort today.
Paul tells
us in 1 Corinthians 13 that that special gift of tongues will cease and
stop. We learn in Hebrews that these
miraculous gifts are used to confirm the message of the apostles.
Once that
apostolic message was given to the Church and direction was put together in the
Scripture the need for this ended.
Let me
explain – we have the entire council of God today through the Bible – this is a
blessing.
Imagine if
you lived in the 1st century – all you had was the OT and the NT
canon was growing.
How would
you know to listen to an apostle or if the apostolic message was valid?
Hebrews 2: 3-4
3how will we
escape if we neglect so great a salvation ? After it was at the first spoken
through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4God also
testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by
gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
The Hebrew
writer tells us that the message was first given by the Lord – spoken through
the Lord and then confirmed by those that heard.
Who were the
ones that heard- the Apostles- they were the ones that heard the message and
passed it on.
And how did
God testify to there message –
Testifying
with THEM – the ones that heard – by both signs and wonders.
The signs of
a true apostle were to be able to work special signs and miracles. This was a test of their authenticity.
Look at 2 Corinthians 12:12
Paul is
defending his apostleship to the Corinthian church.
Some in the
churches that Paul ministered to questioned his apostolic credentials because
he came to be an apostle in a different way.
His Damascus
Road experience was not like the others that had been chosen by Christ during
his early ministry or like Matthias was chosen by lot
IN that case
the apostles chose a man that had been with them since the baptism of John
until the ascension of Jesus.
Paul comes
to his apostleship differently and in that is questioned at times.
But look at
this passage and see what proof Paul provides for his apostleship.
2 Corinthians 12: 11-12
11 I have
become foolish ; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been
commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent
apostles, even though I am a nobody. 12 The signs of a true apostle were
performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles
That was the
purpose of these signs and wonders – to equip a church with supernatural
prophecy or teaching and tongues until the entire council of God would come
together.
We know from
the earliest church fathers those people that came after the apostles that
these gifts died out after the apostles died.
Early
Christian writers like Origen, John Chrysostom, and Augustine talk about the miraculous
gifts that the apostles bestowed had ceased during their day.
This was not
because they were not good Christians – many of these folks died for their
faith – they just stated an empirical fact – they could not do the miracles the
early church was able to do.
Miracles
still occurred by the answer of prayer.
The church has never denied that God quit working in this world and
answering prayer.
That would
be heresy to say that God has ceased to work in this world.
What the
church did affirm is that the special gifts like what the Apostles displayed
died when they died.
You see the
normal progression – baptism in water for the remission of sins and then in
some cases the laying on of the apostles hands to impose a special gift of the
Spirit to work this miraculous so that they may minister to others.
So Philip
was able to work miraculous wonders for the Samaritans.
Also Phillip
came to preach that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and he also preached the
Kingdom of God.
Philips
message centered on the Christ – or Jesus as the anointed one of Israel and the
Kingdom of God.
This ties
together chapter 1 where the apostles asked about the coming Kingdom – Jesus
the King is announcing His kingdom rule through these teachers.
The
evangelists are spreading this kingdom proclamation. Jesus is king and they must give their
allegiance to Him.
We also meet
a guy named Simon the Sorcerer. He had
received the message but his heart was bad.
He saw the
miraculous gifts of the Spirit and wanted to buy them, he wanted to purchase
the gift of the Spirit.
He wanted to
be like the Apostles – able to lay his hands on people and he had bad motives.
He equated
the Gospel with money. He was making the
same mistake, he was making a mistake of putting money before God.
Or what is
worse seeing Christianity as something to manipulate for your own gain.
This is the
same heresy of the health and wealth gospel culture.
I saw an
evangelist last year on TV on the Trinity Broadcast Network. He claimed that God had given him two lear
jets.
He went on
to talk about how God could gift his listeners with monetary gain and economic
wealth.
This is
purely not Biblical- manipulate God to make you wealthy.
How do we
get to this point? Why would people
believe such a thing or send someone like that money in the mail?
Allison and
I have some dear kinfolk that we love very much that sends money to some of
these charlatans and I wonder why.
Here is why
– it is basic and I am just as bad as anyone- we have gotten away from the
wellspring of truth.
There is
just one anchor that you can attach to – and that is God’s Word.
I have no
extraordinary example for you today or fireworks that will go off. It is what our preachers and teachers have
told us our whole lives.
The Bible
should be our sole authority in all matters.
If it is not
in Scripture and not part of God’s plan then we cannot give it a thus saith the
Lord.
Today in our
sermon we have made one specific point – APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY is so important in
the Bible and to our lives.
The twelve
apostles were the foundation of the Church and the foundation of truth for us
today.
In Luke 22:
30 Jesus even tells his twelve apostles that one day they will sit on 12
thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
These 12 men
would be the authority for the Church after Christ’s glorious return to Heaven
in his resurrected body. They would
carry on the mantle of authority.
Paul tells
us in Ephesians:
Ephesians 2: 20
having been
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself
being the corner stone,
2 Peter 3: 2
2 that you
should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the
commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
The Apostles
had the very words of Christ- If we want to know what Jesus said, the Apostles
are the ones we get the message from.
It is that
simple – this inspired God-breathed New Testament had apostolic authority. This is were we go to base our life.
And there
will be no further revelation – the Book of Mormon and the Islamic religion are
all false religions.
The apostles
have spoken once and for all.
They worked
miracles and built an early church up so that the succession of truth would
come down to us in the New Testament.
Jude tells us in Jude
verse 3
3 Beloved,
while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt
the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the
faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
We have the
truth deposited to us from the Apostolic authority.
We should
not be tossed to and fro by every new doctrine or fad that comes down the
street. We can pillow our head at night
if we base our life on God’s word – we can pillow our head in peace and not
doubt about what is right and wrong.
So what do
we do about it?
1)
Read
and Search – get out of the milk and grow up
There is a
story about Walter P. Chrysler.
At the time
he was a master mechanic on a railroad. He was 35 years old and he bought his
first automobile with borrowed money.
It was a $5,000.00, four-door Locomobile. The
car was delivered to his hometown in Iowa and then towed to a barn at the
Chrysler home.
The story
said that Mr. Chrysler studied that car for three months before he ever
attempted to drive it. Using the instruction manual, he took the vehicle apart,
spread the pieces on newspapers and made sketches; then he put it back
together.
His theory
was, he had to understand it before he could drive it.
Like Mr.
Chrysler many people do not understand the move of the Lord in a Spirit filled
person. And like
Mr. Chrysler
will never understand until they sit down with God’s manual called the bible
and reassemble their own lives.
We must sit
down with the Bible and digest it and learn it.
We have a
book that people died to preserve – we have a book that was supernaturally
preserved.
Up until the
Industrial Revolution you could not even have an affordable Bible.
Paper was so
expensive- many people think the printing press of Gutenburg made the Bible
affordable but that is not true – even after the printing press paper was so
expensive.
It wasn’t
until the industrialization of Europe and the US did Bibles become affordable.
People 200
-300 years ago would have longed to have the opportunity that you do just to
read God’s word.
So many of
us don’t read it- don’t have time for it.
We can have
time for texting, facebook, shopping, working out, hanging out, football games,
whatever – but we can take time out to read God’s word.
What does
that say about our faith? If you were to
face the throne of God right now could you honestly look upon Him and tell Him
that you truly searched out His word for all aspects of your life.
Do you make
decisions, raise your kids, spend your money in light of what the Bible
teaches?
If we don’t
then why not?
GROWTH as a
Christian-
We have
authority to rest our lives on, the Scripture can tell us everything that we
need to live our lives.
There is a
story told of a man that dives for exotic fish to go in aquariums.
He said one
of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark.
He explained
that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size
proportionate to the aquarium.
Sharks can
be six inches long yet fully matured. But if you turn them loose in the ocean,
they grow to their normal length of eight feet.
That also
happens to some Christians. I’ve seen some of the cutest little six-inch
Christians who swim around in a little puddle.
But if you
put them into a larger arena--into the whole creation--only then can they
become great.
Some of us
as Christians are like baby sharks because we don’t want to grow.
Do you want
to be a baby or a king?
You may find
that to be an odd question but let me make my point.
Hebrews 5: 12-14
12 For
though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone
to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come
to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is
not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid
food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to
discern good and evil.
Paul makes
it clear that the purpose of a Christian is to grow up and develop away from
the milk of the word.
We should
all be teachers if we are adult mature Christians – we should all work to the
point in Scripture study that we can teach.
This is a
movement that exists for the sake of others.
WE should be so full of God’s truth that is spills out and we have to
tell others about it.
What cant
happen is being stuck as a baby Christian still in the milk – we must grow up
in our study and understanding.
Proverbs 25: 2
2 It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a
matter
God conceals
a thing – sometimes a Scripture may be hard to understand but a kingly like
person – a King will go and search it out.
A king will
meditate and search the Bible for answers – a
King will not be content with just not knowing.
God wants us
to do that – God invites you to grow up in your faith and the number one way
you will do that is be here at Church as much as possible and study His Word
It is not
rocket science – deep Scripture study has been molding people into mature
Christians for 2000 years now.
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