The Gospel Marches On

Review

We have been taking a good hard look at the book of Acts over the last several weeks, and I want to start out this week by giving a quick recap of what we’ve read so far.

In week one, we saw the risen Jesus admonishing His disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they had been clothed with power from on high. These were basically whiny, wimpy fishermen who were too cowardly to stand up to a little servant girl, let alone change the world with the Gospel of Christ. Jesus knew that they needed something badly, so His last words to them were, “Stay! Wait. Don’t do anything without this power.”

Acts 1:8 NKJV

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus told them this because He knew that the only way this collection of misfits was going to be able to do anything was by the power of His Spirit.

Zechariah 4:6 NKJV

So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

So the Holy Spirit baptism was a very crucial piece to their puzzle, they were not going to be able to accomplish anything without it.

So, the Holy Spirit falls, and they all begin to speak with other tongues, they are accused of being drunk, and well things just suddenly change for the world, because there are suddenly 120 very Holy Spirit filled brand new Christians ready to change the world.

In week two we looked at the very first sermon ever preached, and discussed how it should serve as a template to what we, the church should be preaching. Peter stands before the people and does not mince words. He calls sin, sin and the truth the truth. He’s not interested in being gentle, and sensitive to “seekers of the truth”. He is preaching the unadulterated Word of God in all its purity. He is telling them the bad news that they are lost, but the good news that there is an answer. He tells it to them straight.

The basics of His sermon are:

1) Who is the Holy Spirit, and why has He manifested in this manner?

2) Who is Jesus?

3) By laying out the true Jesus, people were cut to the heart and saw the need for a savior- they come to realize that “they can’t”

4) The preaching of the Gospel- “But HE CAN!”

The third week was one in which we examined the body life of the believers. The bible tells us that they met daily to have meals in each other’s homes, then they went to the temple to hear the apostles (pastors) preach the word.

We learned of the importance to stay connected to the church, and how your church life was perhaps the most important aspect of your walk with Jesus. Paul told timothy that people’s faith was shipwrecked because they rejected the faith. We then looked at how faith was imparted and learned that Paul explained to the Romans that the Word that builds faith is the Word that comes from a Preacher that has been sent. We looked at the word apostle, and discovered that it meant “sent”. Crazy huh? Churches have been using this model for centuries, and it is only the modern church that has somehow decided that we’ve been wrong all these years and that everyone is a preacher, and everyone is able to teach the types of sermons that build up faith. While this is true to a degree, we read further that there is a very distinct difference between a believer that teaches or preaches or prophesies and someone who is specifically called into what we called the “five-fold” ministry, and that not everyone is called to be a five-fold minister. And almost on cue, we read in acts that the reason that the church enjoyed the esteem and favor of the people was because of what the apostles did, not because of what the church was doing. In other words, God sent people to direct and to shepherd His people. The church is not a “flat” organization, it has levels of leadership that have nothing to do with how long you’ve been a Christian or how much Bible you know, it has everything to do with the function to which God has called you in the body.

Then last week we talked about the ministry of servant leaders. We looked at the life and death of Steven, and how he was so pivotal in how the direction of the church was to proceed. Steven wasn’t an apostle, he was one of the disciples, he was hired to wait tables in the church, but the disciples chose someone with very high qualifications for that job.

Acts 6:3 NKJV

Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;

But pastor, that’s asking a lot from a waiter! You’re right, but anyone who works for God has to be highly qualified, because at any moment you go from being a waiter to being a preacher. The best place to be, is right where God has you. Just because you are not a pastor in the church, does not mean that God will not use you to impact lives and in fact change the very destiny of the world. It just means that He will minister through you when He needs you. The bottom line is this: be faithful to where He has you. Don’t seek position or even leadership- if you are called into full-time ministry your gift will make a place for you and God will make sure to promote you when the time is right. Don’t look for it from man because the position is not theirs to give in the first place.

We did see something last week as we ended that sets us up for this week’s study in Acts. Let’s read this together:

Acts 7:59–8:3 NKJV

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 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. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

It’s a Grease Fire!

This seems like a very depressing place to start, but as we discussed last week, this persecution of the church was a lot like throwing water on a grease fire. Instead of putting it out, all they managed to do was spread it. Verse one of Chapter eight says “and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Now the apostles had to go to the people that had been scattered and teach them the Word. They had to set up new churches, identify and train up new pastors, the works. The church became decentralized, and as a result, almost impossible to keep down. This is exactly the situation that Phillip now found himself in.

Acts 8:4–8 NKJV

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

So here’s Philip preaching where no one has been preaching before- First of all, who is Philip? The apostle? No, If it had been the Apostle Philip, it would have said the Apostle Philip, this was the Philip we read about in Acts – He was one of the one waiting tables. Again, we have someone who was just going about doing his job of waiting tables, then BLAM! God uses him in a new way- as an evangelist to Samaria. So here is Philip the servant leader, now promoted to Philip the Evangelist. If you recall, evangelist was one of the five-fold ministry gifts. Why suddenly was he made an evangelist? Well like we learned before, your gift makes a place for you. So what is the significance of the city of Samaria? Well, for one the city of Samaria was the capital of Samaria- the “other” kingdom. If you recall, the kingdom of Israel was split into two parts because of rebellion: Judah and Samaria. The devout Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans because of centuries’ worth of idolatry. Jesus stopped by that city once.

John 4:7–26 NKJV

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

She was a Samaritan, what have we said about Samaritans already? Correct, they had corrupted their relationship with God and sacrificed it in the name of convenience. So this woman comes into this transaction with Jesus, already bearing the national shame of being a Samaritan. Jesus fist confronts this national shame and demonstrates to her that her perspective may be robbing her of a blessing.

Still unable to shake her perspective she questions Jesus by pointing out the natural limitations of his request. Isn’t it just like us to say, “But God! How are you going to do this? Don’t you see all the obstacles?” So this woman was in the same situation here.

Jesus responds by offering her supernatural provision- still her perspective is warped. She’s thinking in only partially supernatural terms. She’s seeing material provision- great I don’t have to come up to this well anymore but what He’s trying to show her is that her need isn’t a physical one, it’s spiritual.

Having broken down some of her objections, Jesus now confronts her personal sin issue by asking her about her husband. It is apparent that this woman has some sort of trouble keeping a husband, and if truth be known, she probably gets around. I would venture to say that her problem is fidelity since she has no qualms with shacking up with a man. But at Jesus’ word, her heart is transformed instantly. Finally she’s beginning to see and she asks Him a question—I see you’re a prophet, so you can answer this for me.

Jesus now cuts to the chase and speaks directly to the national shame, but adds that true worship is in Spirit and in truth. Now she’s starting to get curious. The wheels are in motion and she indirectly asks the question that gets her heart beating strongly.

“Could this be Messiah?”

Imagine what it must have been like for her to hear Jesus words to her: “I who speak to you am He.”

Now comes Philip to these same people. Remember, Jesus had already started a work here. He had sown the Gospel, they were ready to believe in Him. They had accepted Him at His word, they had faith to believe.

Philip shows up in power and authority, and signs and wonders follow him. Finally, the deliverance that Jesus had promised these people is upon them!

But God wasn’t stopping there, it was good and well that Philip went and preached the gospel with signs and wonders following, but God is not interested in getting converts, He wants disciples! So in order to make this happen, the church in Samaria has to experience the same fullness of the gospel that the Jerusalem church did.

Now let’s skip down to verse 14 of Acts 8.

Acts 8:14–17 NKJV

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

There it is again! The Holy Spirit! God was not about to let this new church go anywhere without making sure they were fully equipped. The one sure way to ensure their success was the very same way that the Jerusalem church had theirs- the baptism of the Holy Spirit!

How crazy was it? Beam me up Jesus!

Now we start to see things get really crazy for the church. Philip fresh off of his experience in Samaria has a very unusual encounter. Let’s read:

Acts 8:26–40 NKJV

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 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. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

Beat that Spock! God was beaming His servants wherever they were needed. One of the best parts of this is that God is re-stating His principles all over the place. We talked about faith coming from hearing, and not just hearing, but hearing from someone who was sent- well if this isn’t sending, then I don’t know what is! Notice that the Ethiopian was already reading the scripture, but his faith had not been activated unto salvation until he received the Word at the mouth of a preacher. We need to all be willing and ready to do the work of an evangelist and wherever God takes us, be ready to preach the Gospel. Will God beam you from one place to another like He did Philip? Not likely, but if He does, I’d like to be walking with you when it happens… well maybe not, I’d hate to think you’d been raptured and I missed it. The power of the Holy Spirit was being manifest everywhere and not only were Samaritans hearing the good news, but so did this Ethiopian, who represented Jews that were scattered abroad who would also hear. You can’t tell me that He did not immediately run off and tell everyone what had happened- I know I would.

Putting it All Together

As Christians, we must see persecution as an opportunity to shine for God. Philip had this example of Stephen. Quite an example, Stephen, his fellow waiter, had been murdered for preaching the Gospel, but rather than folding and going home to hide from the mobs, Philip simply takes the message on the road and moves mightily.

Church, God has great things for us to do. And in fact, He has done great things in our midst. Don’t be shy about sharing with people what you know! You never know when you’re going to touch off a firestorm of revival in our community. All it takes is one faithful man of God ready to do whatever God asks of him.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’