Acts 8 - Bible Talk - 11-29-17

0801-04 The Great Persecution

0801-4 The Great Persecution

0801 He was not only "consenting unto his death," but the Greek shows that he approved of it and that he took pleasure in the death of Stephen. Later he so confessed.

'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'

0802 This is a courageous witness to Stephen’s innocence, for Jewish custom forbade public mourning of one executed for blasphemy. No lamentation or other sign of mourning was permitted on behalf of one who suffered execution, the Jewish rule on this being derived from God's command that Aaron should not mourn for Nadab and Abihu ().

0803 The New Testament record of Saul's persecution of the church leaves no doubt of the savagery and brutality with which it was carried forward. This word is commonly applied to wild beasts, to lions, wolves, etc., and denotes the devastations which they commit. Saul raged against the church like a wild beast-a strong expression, denoting the zeal and fury with which he engaged in persecution. Saul’s actions testify to the bitterness and fury with which the Sanhedrin sought to exterminate Christianity. He not only persecuted Christians publicly, but also went into homes, and "dragging men and women" out of their homes, "committed them to prison." Not even women were spared (9:2; 22:4).

9 "I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

0804 Persecution: A blessing?

The Apostles were told not to preach about the Lord, but they still did and the church grew. They were beaten and once again threatened and commanded not to preach, but they did and the church grew. Now their threats turned into the martyrdom of Stephen and great persecution. Would this silence this new movement? NO! Amazing! The persecution which was designed to crush the rising cause of the gospel was overruled by God into an occasion of its rapid advancement. 0804 But the dispersion through persecution creates a band of missionaries, not refugees. The followers of Christ, wherever they went, made known the gospel, and multitudes were converted to Christ. The history from now on takes us to regions beyond Jerusalem. They traveled far and wide through various regions; they did not confine themselves to the Jewish territory, but some of them went as far as Phoenicia, the island of Cyprus, and Antioch in Syria. ()

Philip in Samaria 0805-24 — SAMARIA

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

0805 The Lord’s extraordinary confession that I Am the Messiah () discloses his true identity as the Savior of the world () to the Samaritan woman in Sychar. The Samaritans were privileged with the Lords presence at least once for a 3 day period and many believed the things that he was teaching.

0806 Teaching and signs being performed by Philip:

Many signs and wonders have been mentioned thus far in Acts, but this is the first time the casting out of demons has been specified.

0809 Luke here provides a narrative flashback to the period before Philip’s arrival.

Simon has been in the city for some time, so that it might be regarded as his ‘territory’.

After we are told that Simon was astounding the Samaritans by his magic and was even called the power of God that is called great (9-10), Simon himself was astounded (same word) seeing signs and great acts of power (same words) happening through Philip (13). IN the cases of Philip and Simon, the former utilizes his power to deliver many Samaritans crippled by disease and demonization and conjoins this demonstration with good news about Jesus Messiah. In response, the Samaritan crowds are not so much mesmerized by Philip’s personality or ability as by the Christ he proclaims (they listened eagerly to what was said by Philip 8:6), in whose name they believed and are baptized. Simon, on the other hand, seems only interested in advancing his own name, saying that he was someone great, utilizing his powers to bedazzle the people, not to benefit them, and garner attention to him.

0811 Philip and Simon are in a sort of competition for the same audience, and Simon had a head start. The repeated note of the eager attention of the Samaritans to Simon is no doubt deliberate: it re-emphasizes that Simon had been as successful as Philip (8:6—same word).

0812 The contrasts and comparisons between Simon and Philip are striking. Both performed miracles, Simon by demonic power and Philip by divine power. Simon boasted and welcomed acclaim to himself, but Philip proclaimed Christ. People were amazed at Simon’s magic, but people were converted to Christ by Philip’s ministry.

0813 A potentially tense situation thus arises: what will Simon do now that his supporters are thronging in mass to hear Philip’s message, see his miracles, and ultimately join his Christian community through faith and baptism? Remarkably, Simon mounts neither a defense of his own reputation nor a challenge to Philip’s, but instead he himself believes and is baptized. This Simon whom the Samaritans followed everywhere (11) now follows Philip everywhere!

LEFT OFF HERE

There is nothing in this vs to suggest that Simon was less sincere or in any way a less satisfactory convert than the other Samaritans. He in the same way as them believed. The Spirit says he believed, so I don’t believe that there is adequate enough information to doubt Simon’s sincerity.

0814 The contrast between John’s attitude here and in is significant. It is of course delightful that John, who once wanted to call down the fire of judgment on a Samaritan village (), was one of those who was now calling down the HS.

0815 Prayer was a vital part of the Apostles’ ability to impart the Spirit by the laying on of their hands. The Spirit did not come from the Apostles, but from God!

0816 ; (Other instances the term “falling upon” is used in referring to the Spirit, in reference to the apostles receiving the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the reception of the Spirit in the same way with Cornelius and his household. Something accompanied this reception (speaking in tongues).

0817 The apostles’ willingness to lay their hands on the Samaritans shows that they, like Barnabas, are open to the possibility that God is already at work among a new group through a mission that the apostles did not create. The outpouring of the HS upon these first Samaritans converts was proof of their equality with the Jerusalem believers.

0818 Significantly, although Philip himself possessed the ability to perform mighty signs, the whole narrative at this place makes it clear that Philip did not have the ability to communicate this gift to others.

0819 But Simon, seeing how the Spirit was given, offered money to Peter and John, hoping to receive the same ability from the apostles. This first of all showed that Simon had a misunderstanding of where the Spirit came from, which Peter makes it clear that the Spirit is from God, not from the Apostles. But also Peter makes it clear that because of his attitude in wanting to have this power, his heart was not right before God. Why did Simon want this power to give the Spirit? Exaltation of self?

In offering money, Simon is still thinking like a magician, for magicians would charge a fee for the use of their powers. It is quite possible that Simon thought he could make money with such power, and that he was willing to invest money to obtain it. But also it is possible that he wanted to gain a share in the leadership of this movement, or be recognized. Thus once again the use of possessions symbolizes the nature of the heart.

0820 Peter is pretty clear in the punishment for such motives and attitudes towards the gift of God and of His Spirit. “May your silver perish with you” this expresses his abhorrence of the proposal and shows Simon the imminent danger to which he was exposed with such a condition of heart. “The gall of bitterness” is a forcible expression of the wretchedness of his condition; and “the bond of iniquity,” of the dominion which sin exercised over him. His heart was not right in the sight of God. Peter also sounded a solemn warning to him of the end that would befall him if he followed such a course. His silver would perish with him, with his soul. His one sin here is a big deal!

Simon thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money; he is to learn that the blessings of God, and especially the power to bestow miraculous gifts on others, cannot be had with money. How can you put a price tag on what God offers?

0821 Because of his heart, he could no way partake of the great blessings that God freely offered to those whom he saw receive the Spirit.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled

0822 But unlike the previous account that we have of a misuse of possessions (Ananias and Sapphira), Simon is not struck dead at the feet of Peter and John, but is given the opportunity to repent. He may have been in the gall of bitterness and in bondage to sin, but he still had the hope of mercy if he was willing to mold himself to God’s will. Peter told Simon to repent and pray so that he would be forgiven of his thought that the gift of God could be bought.

0824 Simon saw the danger that he was in; evidently he repented and prayed God, and even asked Peter to pray for him, as though his own prayer was not sufficient to obtain forgiveness. Simon is anxious to escape the penalty for his sin, and hopes that Peter can avert it; Peter had by the Holy Spirit diagnosed his case correctly. His first response was to ask for prayers! Do we ever ask for prayers with the sins that we struggle with?

0825 Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in Samaritan villages on the way.

0826-40 Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

0826 An angel speaks to Philip (did he appear physically to him? Don’t know for sure)`, and directs him of the direction he wants him to go in his preaching of the gospel.

0827 Only the angel talks. Philip says nothing: And he rose and went. Philip is compliant, obedient, taking no initiative on his own. He is brought into contact with the Ethiopian eunuch along a desert road.

He is a spiritual pilgrim from a distant land who is earnestly seeking to understand Scripture’s prophecies of God’s salvation. Because of his worship in Jerusalem, and especially because Luke clearly marks the conversion of Cornelius as the first occasion for the inclusion of the Gentiles, commentators often insist that the Ethiopian is a Jew (either by birth or conversion).

There is disagreement among scholars as to whether he was literally a eunuch, for this word was used also for trusted workers of a royal court. In what sense the Ethiopian was a eunuch has a great bearing on his religious status in Israel. If the term eunuch is being used in its most common sense, he was excluded by law from full participation in the covenant community (see ; ).

0828 Perhaps he dwells on Isaiah because of its hopeful references about Ethiopia’s participation in the blessings of God (; ).

0831 The OT is not self-explanatory. Some help is needed for the Ethiopian to understand what Isaiah was speaking about in ch 53.

0832-33

0835 Philip begins at this verse by preaching the name of Christ, showing how Christ Himself fulfilled this very text.

0836 Again here, the eunuch’s eagerness emerges as he takes the initiative, asks the question about baptism, and commands that the chariot halt. He offers only questions and open-mindedness, no objections or bargains. There were physically barriers that could of quite possibly kept him from being fully part of God’s covenant people under the Law of Moses, but there would be no such barriers in this case. The request for baptism on the part of the eunuch was the immediate and direct result of Philip's preaching unto him Jesus; and in this is manifest the fact that preaching Jesus means preaching baptism

0837 This vs is absent in the earliest and best mss, but is attested as early as Irenaeus. The NIV marginal note correctly states that there is only late mss evidence—the earliest E (6th century)—to support the inclusion of the eunuch’s confession, though it should be noted that most minuscules, not just a few mss, contain it (see the second-century reference to the confession in Irenaeus).

0839 One cannot help wondering if he also continued reading Isaiah where he left off. If so, it would not have been long before 56:3-5.

0840 Caesarea was over 50 miles to the north of Azotus, just off the same coastal road. Azotus" is the name for the ancient city of the Philistines, "Ashdod." It was about thirty miles from Gaza, on the way to Joppa. Philip "preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Caesarea." Philip did evangelistic service through the country there "till he came to Caesarea," where he made his home and headquarters () and was known as the "evangelist." It will be noted that Philip preached the gospel "to all the cities" in that section of the country.

The Spirit speaks—using an angel? cf ch 10