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Preach the Word Wherever You Go
Preach the Word Wherever You Go Acts 8:1-40 Key Verse: 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” In last week’s passage we heard Stephen’s impassioned defense in front of the Sanhedrin. I found it very interesting that Stephen didn’t focus on the work and ministry of Jesus, but instead went back to the most familiar stories of the Old Testament to rebuke the Sanhedrin for their spiritual blindness due to their stubborn refusal to let go of the three pillars of their shallow faith in God: 1) the land, 2) the law and 3) the temple. Stephen didn’t preach to them about a new religion, he showed them how they were wrong about the religion they claimed they believed. The Sanhedrin had missed the point of the Jewish belief because they were more concerned with holding on to the traditions than in really looking for God’s chosen Messiah. As I reflected on this this week, I was struck by how close most modern many churches are to reflecting the same foolish mistakes of the Sanhedrin. Today many church members are more concerned with arguing and holding onto points of doctrine and tradition, like is it right to worship on Saturday or Sunday, is infant baptism permissible, should baptism be by sprinkling or full dunking, how often should we celebrate communion, is election completely done by God alone or do humans have some say in the matter, that they have lost track of what is really important – that is our Messiah Jesus and what He taught. We must be careful not to fall into this trap. Having a good foundation in church doctrine and traditions can be good, but it must never get in our way of focusing on Jesus and His teachings. Jesus is the only way to heaven, and we must never forget this. In today’s passage we see how God used a very evil persecution of the young church as a way to spread the Gospel message. This reminds me of Paul’s famous words from Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Luke uses this persecution as a type of transition from the church beginnings in Jerusalem to the expansion of the good news of the gospel into Judea and Samaria and to all the earth. In this passage Luke focusses on the gospel ministry of one man Philip – not Philip the apostle (he apparently stayed in Jerusalem with the other apostles), but Philip the Hellenistic Jew who was earlier appointed as a deacon to oversee the food distribution among the widows of the church. Because of the persecutions, Philip’s role changed from a deacon to an evangelist and God used him greatly in this new role. I pray that God will bless our study of this passage and help us to see how God wants to use us to spread the good news of the Gospel today. First, Saul’s approval of Stephen’s death and the persecution that follow’s. (1-3) Look at verse 1. “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.” This is the second time that Luke mentions Saul concerning the stoning of Stephen. In the previous chapter Luke mentioned that those who participated in the stoning laid their cloaks at Saul’s feet, and now, just three verses later, Luke mentions Saul again. This simple sentence serves a number of purposes in Luke’s narrative. First, it acts as a transition point from the early church beginnings to the spread of the Gospel. It also sets the stage for the persecution that will follow. Saul was an influential, upcoming Jewish leader who had the best religious training available at the time. If he approved of the stoning of Stephen, he, and others like him, would approve of completely destroying the young church. As we will see this is exactly what they tried to do. One final thing to be noticed about this simple sentence is that it really doesn’t need to be there. Some think that Paul himself asked Luke to put it there simply to emphasize what type of man Saul really was. Before meeting Jesus, Saul was a murderous tool of Satan, but after meeting the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was a completely changed man. Instead of working the hardest to destroy the young church, he began working the hardest to grow the young church. This simple sentence should remind all of us, that God can change and use anybody to carry out his world mission work. Look at verse 2. “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.” The persecution was likely directed mainly at the Hellenistic Jesus for several reasons. First, it was brought on by Hellenistic Jews fighting against other Hellenistic Jews. Stephen was one of their own, and he appeared to be saying that Jews needed to break with the traditions of the past and follow Jesus exclusively. We must remember that the Hellenistic Jews who had returned to Jerusalem wanted nothing more than to be accepted back into the mainstream of Jewish life. This meant that they had a particular interest into holding onto the old Jewish traditions and therefore, they had a particular interest in getting rid of all the Hellenistic Jews who followed Jesus. Secondly, from Luke’s account, we see that the apostles, Hebraic Jews, remained in Jerusalem while Philip, a Hellenistic Jew fled to preach the Gospel in Samaria. I’m not sure why the apostles stayed behind in Jerusalem, but it is possible that the persecution was not so much pointed at the Hebraic Jews as at the Hellenistic ones. It is also possible that God simply told them to remain and provided heavenly protection for them. Finally, if we look at verse 3 we see that Saul appears to be the leader of this persecution. He goes from house to house dragging off men and women alike and throwing them into jail. Saul was a Hellenistic Jew himself and he had a great personal interest in protecting the good name of his fellow Hellenistic Jews. It is very likely that Saul would have begun and concentrated this this persecution within his own community. Second, Phillip in Samaria. (4-25) The persecution didn’t have quite the effect that Saul and his friends would have liked. Apparently, there were many early Christians who were rounded up, thrown in jail and even killed because of this persecution, but others simply left Jerusalem. I don’t think they left because they were afraid of Saul and his friends, I think they fled according to the will of God. Matthew 10:23 says, “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Persecution seems to be one of God’s ways to spread the Gospel message. What did those Christian do who left Jerusalem? Look at verse 4. “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” They preached the word of God wherever they went. This is what we are called to do today, but I think that it is something far too many Christians simply don’t do. When was the last time you told a co-worker, a student or just any stranger on the street about Jesus? God has put me in a very special place, so I can honestly say that I do this almost every day. However, this verse also rebukes me greatly, because it reminds me that I don’t do this wherever I go. I should be doing it at the bus terminal and on the subway on my way to this worship service. I should be doing it while I’m at the coffee shop reading my books. I should be doing it while I’m at the store shopping. But I usually don’t, I usually just do it at Dream School. However, this verse tells me that I should be doing it wherever I go. May God help us to hold onto this verse and give us the courage to preach the Gospel wherever we go. Luke then goes on to tell us about one very precious man that God used greatly. Look at verse 5. “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.” We don’t know exactly what city it was that Philip went to because in whatever direction you leave Jerusalem you are said to be going “down” from Jerusalem. However, many scholars think that Philip went to one of the major cities of Samaria. The actual city is unimportant, it is what he did there that is important. He proclaimed Christ there and he followed up his message miraculaous signs. In short, he proclaimed the gospel with power as Peter and the other apostles had done in Jerusalem. When he did this, many of the Samaritans believed. It is interesting to note quickly that the Samaritans were very open to Philip’s message. This might have been because they were Samaritans. They felt like they had been rejected by the Hebraic Jews just as Philip and other Hellenistic Jews had been rejected. I am also reminded of John 4 when I think of these Samaritans. When Jesus talked with the woman at the well, the whole town came out to meet Jesus, they invited him to stay with them and they accepted him as the Messiah. It appears that the Samaritans were an open minded, spiritual people looking for the truth. We need to learn from them. Verse eight says, “So there was great joy in that city.” When people accept the gospel message there is always great joy. Why? Because the gospel message is good news of great joy It brings with it eternal life and eternal blessings. There simply is no other thing that can compare with it, so those who truly accept it must be filled with great joy. Verses 9 -23 talk of a man named Simon. Simon practiced sorcery, which is to say that he used fake magic to trick people into following him. Apparently he was very good at this because verse 10 says, “and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." He had many followers because he was so good at deceiving people. However, when the people saw Philip performing real miracles as opposed to the fake ones of Simon, they stopped following Simon and began believing Philips message. Both men and women believed the gospel message and were baptized by Philip. Simon also saw Philips miracles and the Bible says he believed. Look at verse 13. “Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.” Simon believed, but what exactly was it that he believed and why? We must pay careful attention to Simon, because he represents one of the greatest problems among Christians even today. I think that Simon really did believe in the miracles that Philip was performing, and I even think that he believed that Philip performed them by the real power of God. The question really isn’t what Simon believed it is why did Simon believe and follow Philip everywhere. I think he did it because he wanted to learn from Philip so that he could perform real miracles like Philip and his followers would continue to follow him after Philip left. In other words, I think Simon believed for only selfish reasons. He wanted to learn from Philip so that he could exalt himself once again. I see this principle still at work in the church today. Many people, especially people who call themselves pastors, believe only for selfish gain. Of course, at the heart of every believer’s belief is the hope for eternal life, which one might say is a selfish aim. However, I believe that a true believers belief must be founded on bringing glory to God. As a Christian we must know that everything was created by God for His glory. That means that each of us is not created for our own glory, but to bring glory to God. We should believe in Jesus because Jesus says this brings glory to God. If we are to be true Christians, we must completely die to ourselves and live only for the glory of God. Look at verse 14 and 15. ‘When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,” The church that remained at Jerusalem somehow heard of Philip’s success in preach the gospel in Samaria, so they decided to send their leaders to welcome in the new believers. This shows the inclusiveness of the early believers. We must remember that Peter and John were both Hebraic Jews and as such would have had no association with the Samaritans. If you remember back to John 4, the disciples were stunned to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. Now they were more than ready to welcome these dirty Samaritans into their church. Verses 16 and 17 tell us that the Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Spirit but had only been baptized into Jesus name. Therefore, when the apostles arrived they prayed over the Samaritans and when they laid their hands on them the Holy Spirit came upon them. This shows that the apostles were still full of the power of the Holy Spirit and God was still working powerfully through them. Verses 18 and 19 reveal Simon’s crooked heart. Simon saw that the apostles could pour out the Holy Spirit upon people just by laying their hands on them. Simon wanted this power also so that people would continue to follow him and call him the great power of God as they did before. Simon didn’t understand spiritual things at all. He thought that everything could be bought and sold because that is how he had lived his entire life. I will bet you that there are many people living in today’s society that think exactly the same way Simon does. How many Christians do you think can buy their way into heaven by giving a faithful tithe and big Christmas and Easter offerings? I will bet there are quite a few, because that is the evil influence that we see at work in the world today. But we must know that we cannot buy the gifts of God – the really good news is that they are completely free of charge, they are the gift of God and He will give them to whomever He chooses. After severely rebuking Simon, testifying and proclaiming the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. Along the way they stopped at several Samaritan villages and they preach the Gospel – They preached the Gospel wherever they went. Third, Philip and the Ethiopian (26-40). After finishing the work God gave him to do in Samaria, God sent Philip south to the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza. God had a special mission for Philip and it involved another person that would have been excluded from traditional Jewish society. Along that road, God was going to lead Philip to an Ethiopian Eunuch. It is unclear what is meant by the word eunuch in this context, but what there are somethings that we can know about this man. First of all, he was not Jewish and yet he apparently was seeking for God among the Jews. Verse 27 says that this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and verse 28 says that he was reading from the book of Isaiah as he was going home. He was seeking God. Second, we know that he was a humble man ready to be instructed in the scriptures. When Philip ran up to him and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?" The eunuch immediately invited Philip up into the chariot to teach him. Philip did so, and the eunuch accepted Jesus and was baptized. Then just as quickly as Philip appeared he disappears again. This time he really disappears being only mentioned twice more in the Bible and these only tangentially to the ministries that were going throughout the region. The point is that God used Philip preciously in the early Christian church, but he was by no means the only person God was using to carry out His work. We are never alone in doing the work of God. Today we learned that we should be preaching the Gospel wherever we are. When we do God can do a great work and change the hearts of those who hear us. Furthermore, from Simon we learned that we must examine are hearts attitude to the gospel message – it is the greatest blessing to us and will bring us great joy, but it is all for the glory of God, not for our own glory. May God be with us and teach us from the early Christian how to preach the Gospel wherever we are. |
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