Praying through Acts- Chapter 8

Intro:

Acts 8:1 NKJV

1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Tonight, we’re in our eighth week of praying through Acts. We will look at chapter 8.

The more I read the book of Acts, the more I realize the genius of God. He wanted to redeem humanity through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus.

He sent Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of humanity. The resurrection changed everything, but the message needed to get spread around the world.

Though God is omnipresent, everywhere at once, while Jesus walked on earth, He was confined to a human body. He could not be in two places at once.

Therefore, God had a plan. Jesus will return to sit at the right hand of the Father. Upon arrival, He will send the Holy Spirit to empower His church.

He left this promise with His followers, you shall receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

Though God promised His power, the church had to pray and believe God for His power. God responded to their sincere desire for more of God.

When believe for more of God, He will answer by sending His power!

Acts 1 - promise of power

Acts 2 - received power

Acts 3 - exercised power

Acts 4 - prayed for more power

Acts 5- people lied and God displayed His power

Acts 6- conflict arose and God used people of power to help the church

Acts 7- Stephen reminded them of God’s power in history

Upon Stephen’s death, persecution became the norm in the church. One man was influential in coming against the church, Saul of Tarsus.

He even watched as they stoned Stephen. However, Acts 8 serves as a transition chapter, where they continued to fulfill the promise of Jesus to take the word to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.

When we pray, God supplies His power to help us proclaim the gospel to everyone.

I’ve divided Acts 8 into three parts, and we will pray through these three areas, [Proclaiming Jesus], [Proclaiming the Holy Spirit], and [Proclaiming the Word].

1. Proclaiming Jesus

Acts 8:4–8 NKJV

4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

Because of the problems Saul of Tarsus created in Jerusalem, many people began to scatter to flee persecution. However, persecution did not stop the preaching of the gospel.

We meet a man named Philip. He was an evangelist who walked in the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not know when, but we do know that He was filled with the Holy Spirit.

How? Because He had power to declare the message of Jesus Christ. He proclaimed Jesus and people’s lives were transformed.

But this part of Acts is important to not, because Philip went to Samaritan villages. The Samaritans were half-jew and half-gentile.

The gospel begins to extent beyond Judaism into the world. When the Samaritans heard the name and message of Jesus proclaimed, they responded and were forever changed.

It remains incredible to me:

When the enemy thinks he can stop the church through persecution, it causes the church to dig deeper in prayer and remain more committed to Jesus.

We do not know what the future holds, but we do know that people of prayer will proclaim the name of Jesus!

2. Proclaiming the Holy Spirit

Acts 8:14–17 NKJV

14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Philip both walked in and demonstrated the power of Jesus. As a result, entire cities were transformed by the message of Jesus.

The apostles, who remained in Jerusalem, heard what happened. They then went to Samaria to pray for the people. Why did they pray for them?

They wanted the Holy Spirit to fall on these new converts. They came and laid their hands on them and God filled them with the Holy Spirit.

This right here is pivotal. We need to proclaim the necessity and working of the Holy Spirit. He remains a necessary part of our Christian experience.

As these were filled with the Spirit, someone took notice. A local man named Simon, was a sorcerer. When he watched Peter and John pray for them, he wanted that power.

However, he desired to purchase that power. He wanted to buy what was not for sale.

I want to point out something here. I believe those in Samaria spoke in tongues, even though it does not specifically use the word “tongues.”

Two reasons. First, they spoke in tongues in Acts 2, and Luke had already established this evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Second, Simon must have witnessed something new. He watched people get healed, delivered, and saved, but he did not ask to buy that power.

So something happened. I believe it was that those in Samaria began to speak in tongues. He never saw something so marvelous.

Once again, the Holy Spirit went to work through Peter who addressed Simon’s offer to pay for the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:22–24 NKJV

22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

Peter did not mince words. Remember, he watched what happened when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Spirit. So he established, the Holy Spirit is not for sale.

But if Simon will repent, God will give him the same gift!

When we proclaim the Holy Spirit, we should expect God to work supernaturally through us.

The Holy Spirit will do what is humanly impossible to get the attention of those who are lost and in need of God.

We cannot let the enemy intimidate us, instead we should continue to depend on God’s supernatural power.

3. Proclaiming the Word

Acts 8:29–31 NKJV

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

After Peter and John were finished with Simon, they returned to Jerusalem, continuing to preach in Samaritan villages.

God also told Philip to go south of Jerusalem to Gaza. When he arrived, the Lord led him to an Ethiopian eunuch, who worked for an Ethiopian queen.

Notice that Philip was led by the Holy Spirit. He went to the man who was reading the word of God. However, he did not understand the word.

It just so “happened” that the man read from the book of Isaiah, where he prophesied that Jesus would be as a sheep led to the slaughter.

The eunuch did not understand, and Philip proclaimed the work of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And the eunuch was delivered from sin and baptized in water.

After Philip baptized the eunuch, notice what happened:

Acts 8:39 NKJV

39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.

God translated Philip and took him to another place where he began to preach the word of God all over again.

As people of prayer, we must also commit to knowing and declaring God’s word.

We cannot take for granted that people automatically know scripture, for we live in a biblically illiterate society.

Therefore, we have to depend on and lean on the Holy Spirit. As we do, God will enable us to do what is humanly possible.

Close:

Acts 8 is a transition chapter in the book of Acts. No longer was the gospel confined to Jerusalem and Judea, it extended to Samaria.

I also notice that the revival in Samaria occured after a hard time in Jerusalem. Persecution came to the church so much that people fled for their lives. Though they went to a new location, they did not forsake their responsibility to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As we’re into the fifth month of our year of prayer, I’ve felt a deeper burden to pray and trust God to fulfill His word. But I also acknowledge that discouragement can arise when we really go deeper in prayer.

It happened to the early church. Imagine how discouraging it must have been to leave their home and go to Samaria because of the persecution they faced.

However, their difficult and discouraging time was a catalyst for them to go deeper in God.

— In Awe of Argentina, specifically those who prayed before the revival hit.

As we commit to prayer, we must continue to proclaim Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the word, and God will answer and help us!

In prayer, we do not focus at the circumstances more than we look to Jesus, who will help and answer our prayers.

This week, let’s proclaim Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word over our hearts and lives!