Acts 08_01-08, 14-17 Moving Out

Read Acts 8:1-8, 14-17 – II Kings 19:25 is wonderful! God speaking: “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass.” That’s what this text is about – God in total control. Theologian Bing Hunter says this, “Because of God’s providential care for His creation, ultimately, there is no such thing as luck. What is more, from God’s perspective, there are no accidents, surprises, or ‘curious turns of history.’ What we call chance doesn’t exist.” That’s what we see in this text.

Jesus’ last recorded words: Acts 1:8b: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Many have faulted the disciples for not leaving Jerusalem sooner. But Jesus’ words were not a command, they were a prediction. With the Jerusalem church settled, that time has come. They’re going! Not all – but some. It’s a divinely executed event.

It almost had to be. The Jews and mixed blood Samaritans hated each. But when a Jew comes to preach Jesus of Nazareth – revival breaks out. Incredible. Only God’s grace could do this. Here’s the divine plan!

I. Divinely Animated Movement (1-3)

At first, Stephen’s life looks like a waste. A powerful witness cut down. And worse – his death led to a firestorm of persecution. The Jewish leaders, having gotten away with it in Stephen’s case, went after others as well.

Saul – who held the coats at Stephen’s stoning, was worst of all. 3) “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Hitler’s gestapo had nothing on Paul. “Ravage” (λυμαίνω) is used in Psa 80:13 of wild boars destroying a vineyard. Saul was dragging men and women alike from their homes. Pix someone holding on for dear life as they’re pulled from a place of safety. He’s ruthless, sincerely believing he was pleasing God. But sincerely wrong! Perhaps convicted by Stephen’s message of the OT pointing to Jesus, Paul went on the warpath. When in doubt, kill the messengers!

So, many decided to get out of Dodge. “All” is an exaggeration. Not everyone left. The Jerusalem church continued to exist and even occupy a leadership role throughout Acts (9:26; 11:2; 15:4; 21:17). But many left – probably primarily Hellenists. Imagine uprooting your family, your career and your home because your life is threatened because of your faith. It was a hard time.

But Satan overstepped his bounds. In 8:1 “They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” just where Jesus had predicted. There are a 2 Greek words for scattered. One means to get rid of – scattering ashes at sea. But Luke’s word (diesparēsan) comes from speirō, to sow seed. This is scattering to sow. 8:4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” They left Jerusalem, But they never quit sowing the Word. Rather than a few people preaching the Word in Jerusalem, Satan had planted little firestorms of gospel truth all over Judea and Samaria. He’d outdone himself. God turned Satan’s bad to good, as with Joseph, Daniel, Moses and others.

A young man headed home one night from law school. A powerful storm arose, and a bolt of lightning flung him to the ground. Fearing for his life, he cried out, “Help me, and I will become a priest.” When he told his father of his vow, Dad chastised him and ordered him to remain in law school. But 15 days later, Martin Luther enrolled at the monastery in Erfurt, Germany, from which he eventually turned the whole corrupt Roman system on its ear. Luther later said his vow was a sin, “not worth a farthing” bc it was made against his father and out of fear. But, he added, “But how much good the merciful Lord has allowed to come of it.” Another case of God being in control.

We note the apostles did not scatter. Did they sin by staying? I don’t think so. They were endangered by staying. The infant church needed them. Their time to leave would come. But first, they needed to see the church established in the midst of severe testing. The whole church was learning the truth of George Keith’s hymn: “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, / My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply. / The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design / Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” In God’s time, He began to unleash the power of the gospel through His persecuted saints.

II. Divinely Authenticated Message (4-8)

So, what of those who scattered? They took shelter and hid? Not at all. V. 4: “Those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Persecuted in one place, they went elsewhere and kept preaching! Amazing Boldness!

Philip, one of the table servers, He went to Samaria where Jews would expect to be isolated. But in God’s providence, revival broke out. Philip was a Grecian Jew, and thus of a different ilk from the Jerusalem Jews. Second, the Samaritans retained enough of the Jewish faith (Torah) to expect a Moses-like deliverer. They described him as Taheb (Restorer), so when Philip began to show how Jesus fulfilled prophecies of this Messiah, he got a hearing.

Further, his message was authenticated by spectacular miracles. 6) And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7) For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.” Here is the gospel going to a new place thru an unknown messenger. They “paid attention” to the message bc of the signs.

And -- Jesus had been there. Recall the woman the well in John 4? She was a Samaritan – and it was to this immoral, social outcast woman that Jesus first revealed himself as Messiah! Remember? John 4:25: “The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26) Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” What a revelataion! And the result? Jn 4:39: “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” He stayed 2 more days. So, when Philip arrived, the soil had been prepared. Philip, empowered by the HS, took full advantage of these conditions and many believed (v. 12). Revival broke out in Samaria even as Jerusalem was closing ranks against the gospel. God does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t He?

Persecution led to revival as wind increases flame. When the Communists took China in 1949, 637 CIM missionaries were kicked out. It seemed a total disaster. Yet within 4 years 286 had been redeployed in SE Asia and Japan, while Chinese Xns, under severe persecution over the next 20 years began to multiply to where they are 100 times more than when the missionaries left. When God decides to do a work, Beloved, nothing can stand in the way.

III. Divinely Affirmed Manifestation (14-17)

Now, there’s a question here. Many have “received the word of God” (14b); they have “been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus” (15b), BUT “he [the HS] had not yet fallen on any of them” (16a). Many of our charismatic friends have seized on this passage to insist that receiving the Spirit happens as a 2nd act of salvation. They consider this normative for every believer.

But in this, they ignore the transitional nature of the book of Acts – and the plain teaching of Scripture. In his first sermon, Peter told the Pentecost crowd in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, and you will receive the gift of the HS.” There’s normal. When one comes to faith in Christ in this new era, the HS is part of the deal. Paul agrees: I Cor 12:13, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” All of us. We were “all made to drink of one Spirit.” He adds in Rom 8:9, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” The clear teaching of Scripture is you can’t be “in Christ” and not have the HS!

So why the delay in here? Well, recall Jews and Gentiles hated each other. The Jews considered themselves the special repository of God’s revelation, which they were, but rather than share it with the world, they horded it to themselves. Thus an ugly arrogance defined their relationships with Gentiles. And they viewed the Samaritans as turncoats – Jews who during the Syrian occupation centuries before had intermarried to the point where their Jewish heritage was lost. Judean Jews viewed Samaritans as the worst kind of collaborators – like the French who collaborated with the Nazi’s in WWII.

Now – Samaria is on fire! But the HS is briefly withheld for several reasons. First, the delay confirms apostolic authority. That was not in question in Jerusalem where they led from the start. But this is a new place, and Philip, while a leader, is not an apostle. So, v. 14b: the apostles “sent to them Peter and John, 15) who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the HS.” This established apostolic leadership even in Samaria.

The early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Paul expanded this theme in Eph 2:20 saying the church is, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” These men had been taught by Christ. Now they were passing on those universal truths to bring people to faith in Christ. By delaying the coming of the Spirit until Peter and John arrived, God established their authority among a whole new group of people.

Second – P & J’s arrival validated Philip’s message. The signs and wonders had already done that, but now here’s personal validation. Not only was he from God, but his message was the same as that of the apostles in Jerusalem.

Third – By delaying the Spirit’s arrival, God wonderfully preserved the unity of the church. It clarified that Jew and Samaritan were one body. Without the involvement of the apostles, the Samaritans might have stayed independent of the Judean Jews as they had for centuries. And the Jerusalem Jews might have continued to look down on the Samaritans as second-class at best. But this was God’s way of saying, “You are all part of the same faith; the same body; the same church and equal partners going forward.” This is a visual illustration of Gal 3:27-28 where Paul says for those who have “put on Christ 28) there is neither Jew nor Greek [nor Samaritan] . . . for you are all one in Christ.” What better way to demo that than to send John, who once wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans (Lu 9:52-55), to welcome them into the fold? God’s ways are always a wonder, are they not?! We can safely say this delay in the Spirit’s coming was not normative, but purposeful in this instance.

Now, one further question – how did they know the Spirit had come? V. 18 says “Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands.” What did Simon see? We’re not told. But we can infer from elsewhere. When the HS first came, we read in Acts 2:2) “And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3) And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” That was powerful physical evidence of the Spirit’s coming, right?

Later, when the HS first comes to Gentiles at Cornelius’ house, Peter and his Jewish companions Acts 10: 45b) were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46) For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.” Speaking in different languages and praising God was the visible sign. So we might infer that while speaking in unknown languages is not mentioned in Acts 8, it undoubtedly happened, causing Simon to want to add this miracle to his bag of tricks.

So, are we always to expect the gift of tongues as evidence of the Spirit’s coming? No. Many reasons. First, today’s proponents are not speaking in real human languages as in Acts. But more clearly, when Peter reported to the church in Jerusalem what happened at Cornelius’ house, he said in Acts 11:15: “As I began to speak, the HS fell on them just as on us at the beginning.” “As on us at the beginning.” Not, “as on us every time someone comes to faith in Christ.” Not “as on us when people get a second blessing”, but “as on us at the beginning.” That’s a reference to the uniqueness of Pentecost which was repeated in Acts 8, and now Acts 10. There’s a pattern. As the gospel spreads – first to Jews in Jerusalem, then to half-Jews in Samaria and finally to Gentiles in Caesarea, God visibly confirms the Spirit’s presence – emphasizing the unity of the faith as the gospel spreads. Believers are one – one in the body of Christ, one in faith, and one in the Spirit. But the visible manifestations are not normative. They are unique, one-time events linking various groups together in Christ, showing it’s one God; one Spirit.

Conc – Recall II Kings 19:25! God says: “I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass.” Fast forward 800 years to Jesus saying, “I will build my church” (Mt 16:18b). He didn’t say you would, or I would or even the apostles would. He said, “I will build my church.” And now, He’s doing just that – providentially moving his disciples out, bringing revival where least expected and doing it all in a way that makes clear – we’re all one.

Twenty years ago Thabiti Anyabwile was a black activist claiming, “It’s not that I hate white people; it that I love black people.” But Thabiti met Jesus, grew in faith and became a pastor in DC, part of TGC board. A couple of years ago he found himself speaking at a conference. He says, “In the middle of a sermon, it occurred to me where I was – a former black activist -- standing in Jackson, MS -- surrounded by 200 white men – in MS – in the woods – at night! That’s Jesus! That’s the evidence of the supernatural power of the God we serve because 20 years ago that was unthinkable.” That’s Christ building His church – in Samaria – in DC – in Jackson, MS – in Eaton. And we get to be part of it. How good is that? Let’s pray.

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