A Study in the Book of Acts
The New Testament Church in Action
Part 8
Today we are going to be talking about Acts 8. We will take it in sections and continue our study of the New Testament church in action. We will be looking at evangelism.
Acts 8: 1-5: 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. 2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 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.
This is another brief mention of Saul who has begun in earnest the persecution of the church. We see that he has started the imprisonment of the believers. Remember we have discussed that the communal living of the new church was not permanent. It was a temporary event for the organization, teaching and preparation of the church for the next phase of its existence.
Some commentaries teach this was about a 5-year period from the start of the church until the beginning of the persecution and the following dispersion. I had never really given it much thought until today, of the time frame that occurred. Commentaries also teach that fled in the direction of Antioch first. However, we see here that Philip went to Samaria.
Who is Philip? There are two schools of thought on this. One is he was possibly a Hellenist, one of the 7 chosen deacons and the other is that he is Philip the apostle.
I believe this Philip is not the Apostle. When the 7 were chose, the Apostles said in Acts 6: 2-4: 2. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. 3. "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; 4. "but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.''
The Apostles would no longer take care of the day to day business but would give themselves to prayer and ministry of the word.
Philip chose to go to Samaria. A Region sandwiched between the Jordon River on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the west, Judea on the south and Galilea on the north. If you look at a map of the times, you can see why we see in John 4 it states he needed to go through Samaria. If you remember many Jews of this time would go the long around through other regions to avoid the region as there was so much hatred between the Jews and Samarians. It may have been easier for Philip to go to Samaria as a Hellenistic Jew because he may have lacked the ingrained prejudices of the time. The point being that it was God’s plan that he goes. Here we see the office of evangelist described.
Acts 8: 5-8: 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.
We know that the office of evangelist is listed in the ministries given by the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:11.
As listed here in these verses in Acts 8, let’s look at the office of an evangelist.
- He preaches Christ. Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them. Meaning he teaches the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, his birth, death and resurrection and His heavenly ministry.
- He delivered many of unclean spirits. Many believe that this Philip may have been in the 70 Jesus sent out to minister in Luke 10, who returned amazed that the demons obeyed them.
- Paralyzed and lame were healed. Healing is part of the evangelistic ministry.
- The new believers were baptized.
- Great joy followed his ministry. Joy should be the result of the good news, we should be joyous at all times.
The one thing I want you to notice is that these new believers had not received the Baptism in the Holy spirit until Peter and John came and lay hands on them. The General consensus regarding this is that in Ephesians 2:20: “19. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20. having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,”. In other words, God was continuing to use the Apostles as the final authority for the continued establishment of the new church. Peter was the spokesperson for this group, the leader. It is also believed that their arrival and laying on of hands was approval for the new church in Samaria. It was the seal of approval for these new brothers and sisters in Christ, to the Jewish believers everywhere. It was saying there was no longer the animosity present between the two groups. The other thing about Philip coming to Samaria was it was what Jesus had instructed in Acts 1:8, The spreading of The Word to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the world.
Someone had to go to Samaria, and it was Philip. Philip was obedient, he went to Samaria, flowed in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but he also followed the directions of the Holy Spirit when he went to road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Gaza is south of Jerusalem, It was not a short Journey but we know Philip met The Ethiopian Eunuch there and showed Him Jesus in the book of Isaiah. Then he was translated north to the city of Azotus, and then proceeded to north Samaria to the City of Caesarea.
I have not discussed Simon the sorcerer. Witchcraft and demonic activity will be present on this earth till it is destroyed and the enemy is defeated. We as believers must know how to fight this activity wherever we encounter it. The pulling down of strongholds, knowing the authority you have in Christ, discernment is a big part of this battle. Peter and John demonstrated the gift of discernment by telling Simon, despite his apparent conversion and baptism, His heart was not right, he was filled with bitterness and resentment and continued to believe money would get him what he wanted which was power not new life. We must in these days, walk in this same discernment. We must pray for out pastors to do the same, we must pray for each other and ourselves. The word tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
So, let us take this away from today’s lesson. Some are called to the office of Evangelist.
Mark and Matthew both tell us to go therefore, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Sometimes over the years the Evangelist and missionary have been considers as one office. We are all called to be “missionaries”, not all are called to the office of Evangelist. Signs and wonders follow those who believe, not the office. Although the Holy spirit does give certain endowed gifts to certain called ones. We need to think on the Word and how we fulfill it, how does what Matthew and Mark tell us affect our lives. The short version is we are all called to share the gospel and when we do, these signs will follow. Walk in faith, Walk in strength, walk in love, walk in wisdom and knowledge. Don’t be afraid to step out and be obedient. If Phillip had not gone to Gaza, the Eunuch would not have been saved. God saves all who call on His name, one person at a time. We each answered this call, we need to walk in the good works God has called us to.