Eat your heart out Harry Potter! (Acts 8:1-25)
Billy Milton - July 18, 2004
Last week Duncan took us on a passionate journey through Acts 6 & 7 where Stephen became the first Christian martyr, and he posed the difficult question, “Would you be prepared to die for your faith?” He also posed another almost equally difficult question, “Would you be prepared to live for your faith?”
As a direct result of Stephen’s death, we are told in Acts 8:1 that a great persecution broke out against the church, so much so that the believers had to leave everything and flee. Right at the end of ch. 7 and in 8:1-3 we are introduced to a man called Saul who became the chief scourge of the Christians. We are told that, “Saul began to destroy the church.” He was a fanatical little, hardnut of a man who was determined to stop this fledgling religion dead in its tracks before it caused any further damage to Judaism. Can you imagine the prayer meetings devoted to praying against this man? And yet God had a plan that the church could never have guessed at!
In the most difficult of times we must never lose sight of the sovereignty of God. Not only would Saul become the most famous Christian missionary of all time, but unwittingly he was doing the work of God even as a non-believer by forcing hundreds of Christians to flee and, as they fled, they took the gospel message with them. Aren’t God’s ways beyond our imagining?
Tertullian, an early church father, observed that, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church,” and this was certainly proving to be the case here. Incidentally, nothing has changed in that regard! The blood of martyrs is still the seed of the church. Incidentally, in terms of martyrdom… its only getting worse. Did you know that in the past 100 years it is estimated that over 23.5M people have been killed for their faith! Only last week I received an email informing me that in Afghanistan a Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity was taken from his house by the Taliban and had his throat cut in public! I pray that the blood of this dear brother will prove to be the seed of the church in Afghanistan.
1. Philip in Samaria vv4-8
So God has used Paul, even as a raving persecutor, to help spread the gospel by spreading the saints! In v4 we are introduced to Philip, one of the many who had fled from Jerusalem and gone to Samaria where he was preaching the gospel and performing miraculous signs. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that what might seem to us to be an indiscriminate, enforced scattering of Christians from Jerusalem, is actually carefully orchestrated by God under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Do you remember the words of Jesus in Acts 1:8 that Duncan again quoted last week, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
In the previous chapters we have seen how Jerusalem was by now well and truly evangelised by the apostles. In 5:16 the indications are that all Judea was also by now evangelised. Now, here in ch. 8, as commanded by Jesus, the next two expansions of the gospel take place. First of all Samaria is evangelised by Philip and then Ethiopia is reached via a returning court official. Ethiopia in those days was considered to be, ‘the extreme boundary of the habitable world in the hot south’. In other words, “The ends of the earth.” Luke is very concerned to show us that the command of Jesus from 1:8 is being fulfilled. The gospel message is on the march around the whole world.
But another reason for my not believing that the ‘scattering’ referred to in v4 is indiscriminate is because of the Greek word that Luke uses - Diaspora. When I walk down the Canal Fields with my dog, Swizzle, she often sees dozens of rabbits feeding near the railway fence. She charges after them and they scatter. She never gets nearer than 10 feet just in case you are a bunny rabbit lover! Diaspora does not mean an indiscriminate scattering, such as Swizzle and the rabbits, but its actually a farming term which means a deliberate scattering such as you would get when a farmer carefully sows his seed at sowing time. It might look like an indiscriminate scattering but that seed lands exactly where he wants it. In other words Luke is telling us that God is in complete control of this scattering! His Spirit is directing. None of these fleeing Christians flee out of God’s presence! I find this so encouraging, especially when I come to a time in my life when I think, “God I don’t know what you’re doing right now.” This careful scattering of the Christians reminds me that God is always in control. He is directing, even when we perhaps feel a bit lost and bewildered in our walk and witness.
At any rate the witnessing of the various fleeing Christians quickly bears fruit. Let’s bear in mind that Samaria was a very hostile environment with a history of hatred and mistrust with Israel going back over 1000 years. But despite this terrible animosity, the Christians took the gospel to their one-time enemies. Jesus has truly transformed their lives. Folks would you take the gospel to a friend, never mind an enemy? We need to rediscover the gift of evangelism in our churches. That poem that Mark and Helen read out at their baptism a couple of weeks ago was very challenging wasn’t it? Too often we simply contain and comfort those who already are Christians without reaching out to others and it would be a tragedy if they one day pointed the finger at us and said, “You never told me.” Philip and the other scattered Jewish Christians preached the good news and v8 tells us the result of this preaching – “There was great joy in that city.”
2. Simon the Sorcerer (and the apostles from Jerusalem) vv9-25
However, Samaria had been under quite a different influence for some time prior to Philip’s arrival. Simon Magus had been astounding the people here and in the surrounding area with his hocus-pocus and he was even encouraging their worship of him as if he was some kind of deity. However, then Philip began to preach! It’s not just that Philip’s preaching was better or that his miracles were better than Simon’s magic – like some latter day David Blain vs. David Copperfield competition - but rather that his whole approach was fundamentally different. Whereas Simon boasted about himself and sought to win people to himself for his own gain, Philip preached about the kingdom of God and sought to win people to the name of Jesus Christ. And the people believed him. Later on we are told that Simon also believed. Can you just imagine the impact that the conversion of the famous Simon Magus would make on that city?
When the disciples in Jerusalem heard what was going on they dispatched Peter and John basically to check out what was going on. When they arrived and saw what had been happening they recognised it as a genuine work of God and prayed for the people, laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Let me just say briefly here – this is not meant to be a set pattern for how we receive the Holy Spirit as some denominations would teach. You know, salvation followed by a second blessing, type thing. If you need proof of this do a little bit of homework. Go through Acts and list every time people are saved or baptised or filled with the Spirit and tell me if you see a pattern? I’ve done this and I can’t see any pattern.
So what was happening in Acts 8? Well, I don’t accept either the Pentecostal view or the Roman Catholic view of a two-fold route to becoming a true Christian since this pattern is not repeated in the rest of Acts. What I do believe Luke is trying to show here is that the Jerusalem church have, by sending out Peter and John, signaled loudly and clearly to the Jewish Christians that these ‘hated Samaritans’ have also been reached and saved by God in exactly the same way as they have. They are real Christians and equal with the Jewish Christians and it would take such a definite act from the headquarters in Jerusalem to convince the Jews that the Samaritans could be bona fide Christians. It’s a case of overcoming centuries of prejudice.
But then there’s a big disappointment for the disciples when Simon, who had indicated to them that he had become a Christian, reveals that he still has not grasped what being a Christian is really all about. He tries to buy the ability to impart the Holy Spirit. Aaagh! It’s interesting, isn’t it? Despite his obvious abilities as a magician, this is the best trick he has ever seen! The Holy Spirit must have been making an amazing difference to those upon whom he came!
When we see how Peter reacts, and we remember what happened to Annanias and Sapphira in ch 5 when they incurred Peter’s wrath, it’s fortunate for Simon that he doesn’t just drop dead there and then! But the difference is that Simon made a genuine mistake and not a calculated attempt to defraud the Holy Spirit. You see just because someone becomes a Christian doesn’t mean that they are suddenly perfect. That’s a hard one for me to learn and I’m sure others of you struggle as well. We tend to expect perfection from people very quickly and its not going to happen. At best we are all just sinners saved by grace.
To his credit, Simon repented immediately. Indeed another translation says that he wept bitterly when he discovered his error and he begged the disciples to pray to the Lord on his behalf that he might not die. Whether their prayers were answered or not, we don’t know. I suspect they were because God always answers the pleas of a repentant sinner.
What an amazing chapter, isn’t it? I hope that you’ve been able to see the Holy Spirit at work all the way through? And I pray that you’ve taken encouragement from the fact that the exact same Holy Spirit directs us today. In what area do you need to trust God? If he can do it for Philip and the Samaritans surely he can guide and direct you!