Call to Commitment

 

Acts 8:1-3 

An introduction to Saul of Tarsus 

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. 

 I mentioned in chapter 6, the presence of Jewish Hellenists in Jerusalem, who spoke Greek, along with Hebrew and their various native languages. For that reason, I want to explain briefly, how Greek became so prominent throughout the Middle East and even into Africa. Ancient Greece consisted of city-states that warred among themselves and not until modern times did it develop a central government. Philip II of Macedon was a great conqueror and did much to conquer other areas of Greece. He was murdered, when he was 46, so his ambitions were not totally realized. His son, Alexander the Great, conquered a great part of the known world, but died at 30 years of age. He also did not establish a central Greek government, as Rome did after they became a great empire.

 However Rome, a great military power, was not strong culturally, but borrowed from Greek culture and religion and spread it throughout their many colonies. Alexander´s four generals took over the territories that he conquered and warred against each other so, for this reason also, Greece never formed a strong central government. Greek citizens colonized throughout the Middle East and through these colonies, through Roman influence, and because of the wide conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek culture, religion and language flourished everywhere. Of course, Greece had great philosophers, such as Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, who continue to have great influence throughout the modern world.

 I mention these facts mainly, because they form a background for the man we learn about in chapter 8… Saul of Tarsus, a Hellenistic Jew. The author of the book of Acts, Luke, was a Greek and an educated medical physician, who, experts tell us, wrote quality Greek, He had a carefully designed plan, as he followed the development of Jesus’ Great Commission, beginning in Jerusalem.

 After Stephen was killed, serious opposition broke out against the Christians. The fear of God that fell upon the Jerusalem society seemed to have lifted after his martyrdom. The Sanhedrin sent the apostles to prison overnight on two occasions and on the second occasion, an angel freed them. The council found them teaching in the temple, detained them once more, and in the end, they beat them. However, the populace in general kept their distance, because the obvious power and presence of God among the believers, restrained persecution, for fear of heaven’s repercussions. When no apparent judgment fell upon Jerusalem after Stephen was killed, the Jerusalem citizens were emboldened to take more serious steps. Saul of Tarsus led the persecution.

 Luke shows that God used this means, so that the gospel would reach Judea more fully and spread into Samaria. It is a principle that can be observed many times throughout church history. Opposition only gives wings to the gospel and causes it to prosper more than ever. For this reason, the second phase in the Great Commission begins. Judea, surrounding Jerusalem, has already become exposed to the gospel in part, because we learned in 5:16 that sick people from cities around Jerusalem, came to be healed. But now, Christians, fleeing under persecution from Jerusalem, settled in Judea and Samaria.

 In 7:58, Luke carefully introduces us to this young man, Saul, because he fits into place, at this point in his book. He begins this chapter, describing him as the chief persecutor of the early church. He was zealous, a fanatical Pharisee, who came to Jerusalem from Tarsus, in the Roman province of Cilicia, to study under the rabbi, Gamaliel. The Greek word, translated consenting in verse one, meant that he not only agreed with this unofficial execution, but he was pleased with it. Some think that Paul himself gave Luke this description later, in his great sorrow and self-deprecation. Many years later, he wrote to the Galatian church of his accomplishments, “beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation.” He had become well-known among the Jews, as an aspirant to the Sanhedrin.

 Stephen’s death was not sanctioned by the council, but was a spontaneous incident, prompted by the intense anger of the moment, produced by his unbearably truthful words. His body was taken by brave men, who risked their lives, identifying with the martyr, and gave him a decent burial. He had been a deacon in the church and was well loved by the believers. He was active and faithful in preaching the gospel in Jerusalem, and therefore his death brought much grief. As far as Stephen himself was concerned, all suffering and grief were over, as he rejoiced in the presence of Jesus (v. 2).

 Saul was one, of which Christ forewarned His followers: “Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (Jn. 16:2). Saul took it as a personal responsibility to blot out Christianity, because it was a threat to Jewish religion. He led the attack against it, going to the homes and imprisoning men and women (v. 3). 

 

Acts 8:4-15 

The proclamation of the gospel in Samaria

      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. 

9.      But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 

10.  to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." 

11.  And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 

12.  But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 

13.  Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. 

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. 

 I wrote about the impossibility of silencing a true believer at the end of chapter 2, giving the example of two men in Mexico. Both had only one exposure to the gospel, but they believed and immediately spoke to family, friends and neighbors. This is what happened, when opposition forced believers to leave Jerusalem. It was a general characteristic of all that “those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” That is to continue to be the characteristic of true Christians today.

 They had been under the apostle’s doctrine, which was sanctioned by Jesus, and came directly from the Scriptures. Regardless of the background and religion of the people that the gospel reaches, they must know the true gospel, as taught in the written word of God. There is no other gospel and there is no other source. The apostle Peter himself gave us examples in chapter 2, referring to the prophet Joel and the Psalms and then declared in chapter 3:18: “Those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” 

 Why must this be? Because the hearer must know that it is under the authority of the Creator and Ruler of the universe that this message is preached. We are dealing with issues of eternal life and eternal damnation. For that reason, we must present the law of God to the sinner. It is not enough to present right and wrong, according to that, which we think or what they think. We must distract them from human thoughts, so that we can present a message of absolute authority. They must know that they have lived a life that is contrary to the law of God, they have offended Him by disobeying it, and stand guilty before the Lawgiver of the universe. He is the only One, Who can reconcile that deadly fault. The Christians who fled persecution in Jerusalem, “went everywhere preaching the word” (v. 4).

 Peter was referring to the principle of human rebellion against the Creator, when he told the people that they crucified the Promised One, foretold in Scripture, Whom God sent to earth. We are dealing with something less than the gospel, as often occurs under modern evangelism, when we speak of a solution to their problems in life, a way to escape from the dilemma that they have let themselves fall into, or of some help for them to achieve their goals. Their chief problem is enmity against Almighty God!

 In verse 5, Luke tells of the experience of Philip, not the apostle, but another of the seven deacons, having just given us the account of the death of the first. This man is another Hellenist Jew, one of whom we will learn more, in the evangelization of the first African believer, just after this account. We will see much later in this book, that he had eventually settled in the city of Caesarea, where the apostle Paul went for a lengthy visit.

 He had been called to exclusively minister as an evangelist and had four daughters who fulfilled the prophecy of Joel, becoming prophetesses (Ac. 21:9). From them, we learn that the gift of prophecy continued in the New Testament church, among men and women. We learn much more, concerning the gift, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, proving that it continues to this day as part of New Testament teaching (1 Cor., chapter 12 and 14). We will write more specifically of this, when we come to chapter 21.

 Philip preached the promised Messiah to the Samaritans, a people of mixed blood and corrupted language, despised by the Jews in Judea. We have learned that the Jews held the Galileans in low esteem, but there were no people more hated by them than the Samaritans. We learn much about them in the Gospels, but their history reaches much further back into the Old Testament.

 The Samaritan originated after the Assyrian conquest of Northern Israel. As was the custom of the day, after the emperor of Assyria conquered the nation, he carried the Jews  captive, away from their native land to Assyria. You can study the entire story in 2 Kings 17:6-41, but just briefly, we will look at verse 6: “The king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” After that, from verse 7 to 18, the word of God gives the reason behind their immense fall. It tells  of an idolatry, which actually reached the depravation of sacrificing their children by fire to heathen gods. They practiced witchcraft and, generally gave themselves over to sin against their God.

 Now, we will also quote verse 24, telling of the entrance of foreigners to replace the Israelites in their land: “The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.” Because these people did not fear God, they fell before His curse and the Syrian king sent Jewish priests back to Israel, to teach the new inhabitants the ways of God. The chapter ends with this statement: “So these nations feared the LORD, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.”

 These half-breed Jews, with corrupted language and religion, became known as Samaritans and the territory that they occupied was called, “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Is. 9:1-2). They opposed Nehemiah, when he came to rebuild Jerusalem: “(Sanballat) spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, ‘What are these feeble Jews doing?” This history gives the background to the enmity between the Jews and the Samaritans.

 The city of Samaria no longer existed in the time of the book of Acts, but the territory received a visit from Jesus. Before His day, the Samaritans worshiped in Mount Gerazim and Jesus went to Sychar in Samaria, to evangelize them (Jn. 4). Many believed in Him as “the Christ, the Savior of the world" (Jn. 4:42). The gospel experienced a revival under the miraculous ministry of Philip (v. 6) who, I remind you, was a deacon and not an apostle. Demon-possessed people were delivered and specifically, the text mentions, that people were healed of paralysis. The gospel came to free people from the supernatural bondage of demons (v. 7).  A chief characteristic of the Kingdom of God is joy, which reigned in Samaria (v. 8)… “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Ro. 14:17). 

 I allude for a moment to the false prophet in the end times, who will support the Antichrist, who will be possessed by the devil (Rv. 13:4). The false prophet will lead the entire world to worship Antichrist through supernatural signs (Rv. 13:11-18). Miracles can be deceptive and are not ultimate proof of the legitimacy of anyone’s ministry… Christian beware! (v. 11).

 Verse 12 begins with that wonderful word, but, that transforms a deceived past into a bright future of faith. Satan’s deception ends, when the gospel is proclaimed. The ultimate authority for the Christian is the Bible, the message “concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” The people believed and were baptized.

 The sorcerer also ‘believed’, something that might leave us somewhat confused because, not in every case is the ‘believer’ brought into new life in Christ. Only God knows the heart, and this man certainly was not a new creature, as we will see, continuing our study. The enemy sows tares among the wheat, inserts leaven in the loaf, and bad fish among the good, caught in the same net. Apparently, even with the light in this New Testament evangelist, the hypocrisy was not immediately discernable, but according to the New Testament practice, he was baptized on his own confession of faith. He was amazed, as the power of God was manifested in Philip, because supernatural power was so much a part of his dark past (v. 13).

 I believe that the book of Acts teaches “believers’ baptism,” and clear scriptural instruction teaches that one first must be saved, and then baptism follows. Other opinions are expressed by believers, but none of them can be clearly proven in the Scripture. I suppose all of us are familiar with “baby baptism,” but perhaps fewer know of “household baptism.” These are based on accounts in Luke 19:9, Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, and 1 Corinthians 1:16. However, not once, in these scriptures, does it suggest that non-believers or infants were baptized. In fact, in 16:32, it tells us that Paul and Silas spoke the word to the jailor and “to all who were in his house” and in 16:34, “he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household”. His entire family believed the gospel; in this case those, who were baptized, were very clearly believers. Because the Bible does not say that there were infants or unbelievers in these various households, we have no reasonable grounds to assume that there were.

 Practices in the book of Acts, are to be followed in the future, so we will notice that besides believing and baptism in water, there is something more to be experienced by the believer. It was experienced by the disciples of Christ at Pentecost. The apostles remained in Jerusalem, when the believers scattered, and they became aware of the moving of God in Samaria. They agreed among themselves to send two of their number, Peter and John, to Samaria for a specific purpose (v. 14). 

The Samaritans were baptized in the Spirit

 Luke used the term, “receive the Holy Spirit,” throughout this book, meaning that people would receive the Spirit, as the disciples did at Pentecost, but John the Baptist said that Jesus would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt. 3:11, Mk. 1:8, Lk. 3:16, Jn. 1:33). In Luke 24:49, Jesus commanded that His disciples were to “tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” and in Acts 1:8, He said that they would receive power to be witnesses. Therefore, the baptism in the Holy Spirit was an experience in which they would receive power by the Spirit.

 Jesus breathed on His disciples, before He ascended into heaven, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” and obviously, they did. Paul gives us the doctrine very clearly in Romans 8:9 that “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His,” then adds in verse 14, that those who are born into the family of God “are led by the Spirit of God” and “are sons of God.” In verse 16 he teaches that the indwelling Spirit “Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” We should add to Paul’s doctrine, the words of the apostle John in his gospel, chapter 1, verse 12: “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

 The conclusion to this teaching is that to believe in His name is to become children or sons of God. They are His, and if they are His, they have the Spirit and are led by the Spirit. There is no other way to interpret this, but to say that every true believer has the Holy Spirit. However to receive Him in the way that Luke shows, from the day of Pentecost on, is a deeper dimension in the Holy Spirit, baptizing and empowering for service. The Samaritans were water-baptized believers, but the apostles saw that something else was necessary. They sent Peter and John to pray for the believers that they “might receive the Holy Spirit” to empower them (v. 15).