Persecution and Witness

• In the last two chapters we saw how, as a result of two (and probably many more) mighty outpourings of the Holy Spirit on the church in Jerusalem, it became a mighty evangelistic force in the city.
• The church was equipped to fulfill its mission of reaching the people of Jerusalem (1:8), but it was also prepared for what lay ahead.
• The Jerusalem Christians were soon to experience a savage outbreak of persecution that would cause them to flee for their very lives.
• The believers were unaware of what was to come, but God knew. He was preparing them by filling them again and again with His Holy Spirit.
• The time had come for the church to move to the next item on Jesus' "Acts 1:8 agenda", the evangelization of Judea and Samaria.
• We are calling this the transitional period of the book of Acts (see Table 2.1). It is the time period when the church transitioned from being a purely Jewish sect to an international missionary force.
• During this period three powerful outpourings of the Holy Spirit occurred. Each served to prepare the church for its upcoming Gentile mission, which will be discussed in Unit 4.

On the same day Stephen was stoned, a great persecution led by Saul of Tarsus broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Saul began moving from house to house, assaulting and arresting Christian men and women and putting them into prison. Many believers fled for their lives from Jerusalem, scattering throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Amazingly, they preached the gospel everywhere they went! The apostles, however, remained in Jerusalem, enduring the full force of the persecution.

• The Jews' pent-up anger and resentment against the church suddenly erupted into a frenzy of violent persecution.
• Until now, the church had reached out to Jews only. Later in 13:1-4, the church would launch its Gentile mission. However, before that could happen, it needed to go through a period of transition.

8:1 Persecution broke out against the church

• The persecution was fierce and violent. Its source was the Jewish religious elite.
• The church's response to persecution is a major theme in Acts. Luke records how persecution came repeatedly against believers (compare Acts 4:1-22; 5:17-40; 6:12-15; 7:54-60; 8:1-3; 9:23-30).
• This realization helps us to understand Luke's intent in writing Acts. His original audience was likely enduring persecution, and as a result, it had significantly limited its evangelistic and missionary work.
• Luke wrote to address this unacceptable situation. He wrote to show how believers could triumph over persecution: by being filled with the Spirit and by remaining focused on Christ's mission to witness to all peoples before He comes again.

8:1 Scattered throughout Judea and Samaria

• Because of the persecution, the church was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
• This scattering represents a major step forward in the church developing from a regional Jewish sect to a universal body of believers. It is the next step in the fulfillment of Jesus' agenda as stated in Acts 1:8.

Philip, one of the scattered believers, went to a city in Samaria and began preaching Christ. His Spirit-empowered preaching was accompanied by miraculous signs, including the healing of paralytics and cripples and the deliverance of people from demonic possession. Because of this, great crowds of people gathered and listened intently to his message. A great soul harvest resulted as people believed Philip's message about the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Philip baptized those men and women who received Christ as Savior.

8:5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there

• The proclamation of Christ (that is, the gospel) is again emphasized.
• Jesus said that His disciples would be His witnesses (1:8). Two implications flow from this truth: (1) they would be witnesses for Him, that is, they would be His representatives, and (2) He would be the subject of their witness.
• Philip represents both concepts.

8:6 Crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did

• Philip's witness, like that of Jesus, was not in word only but also in works (compare Acts 1:1). His Spirit-inspired proclamation was accompanied by powerful miraculous signs generated by the Spirit.
• The value of signs and wonders in evangelism is illustrated in this story. Because the crowds saw the miraculous signs of Philip, they gave heed to what he said.
• True gospel preaching always involves both a powerful proclamation of the gospel (a truth encounter) and mighty demonstrations of kingdom power (a power encounter); compare Romans 15:18-19.

8:8 Great joy

• The Samaritans' great joy is the result of their experience of salvation and the knowledge of sins forgiven.
• Joy is also a sign of the Spirit of God working in one's life (Luke 10:21; Acts 13:52; Romans 14:17; 15:13; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).

News soon arrived in Jerusalem that Samaria had accepted the word of God. None of the Samaritans, however, had received the Holy Spirit. This circumstance so concerned the apostles that they sent Peter and John to pray with them to receive the Holy Spirit.

Upon arriving in Samaria, Peter and John began laying their hands on the new Samaritan Christians. One after another they received the Holy Spirit. Then, after praying with them, the apostles joined the Samaritans in proclaiming the gospel to the residents of the city. On their way back to Jerusalem, Peter and John preached the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Among those who had responded to Philip's preaching in Samaria was a sorcerer by the name of Simon. Because of his occultic displays of power, Simon was followed by many and was even known as the "Great Power" (some versions, "Great Power of God"). Simon nevertheless believed Philip as he preached, and therefore he was baptized. Amazed by the miracles God was working through Philip, Simon followed him everywhere. Then when Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed with the Samaritans to receive the Spirit by laying their hands on them.

Simon was especially impressed. He offered to buy this ability from the apostles. But Peter rebuked him, saying, "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!" Peter told Simon that he could have no part in such a ministry because his heart was not right with God but rather was full of bitterness and captive to sin. Therefore, he needed to repent of his wickedness. Simon was filled with fear and asked Peter to pray for him.

• How the apostles must have rejoiced when they received the news of the great soul harvest in Samaria. The gospel had been clearly and powerfully proclaimed, people had been miraculously healed and delivered, and many had been baptized in water.
• Upon closer examination, however, the apostles in Jerusalem realized that a vital ingredient was missing from the Samaritan revival: no one was being filled with the Holy Spirit.
• In the apostles' minds this was a serious issue, for everyone who receives the gospel must also become a proclaimer of the gospel. The same applies to communities of believers. Wherever the gospel goes to, it must go from.
• For this to happen, those who receive the gospel must also be empowered by the Spirit, as was promised by Jesus in Acts 1:8.
• According to the plan of Jesus, the church's witness was to begin in Jerusalem and then proceed into Judea and Samaria. It was not, however, to stop there. It was to spread from there until it reached the "ends of the earth".
• The issue was so serious that the apostles sent their two most prominent members, Peter and John, to Samaria to pray with the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit.

8:14 Samaria... accepted the word of God

• There is no indication in the text that the Samaritans' conversion was defective in any way, as some have claimed.
• They had truly believed in Christ and acted on the demands of the gospel.

• The Samaritan outpouring is the third key outpouring of the Spirit in Acts. It is the first outpouring during the transitional period (see Table 2.1).

8:17 Placed their hands on them

• The apostles laid hands on the Samaritans for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
• Some today have claimed that people could only receive the Spirit if the apostles (or their representatives) laid hands on them. Is this true? No, since in Acts some were filled with the Spirit without the laying on of hands (2:4; 10:44), and one was filled when someone other than an apostle laid hands on him (9:17-18).
• We lay hands on people to encourage them to be filled and, to a certain degree, to impart the Spirit to them.
• Another important reason we lay hands on people to receive the Spirit is to commission them to service, as was the case with the seven deacons (6:6), Saul (9:15-17), and the Ephesian believers (19:6).
• It was probably the case here also. Peter and John were not only praying for the Samaritans to receive the Spirit, they were also commissioning them to missional witness (compare 1:8).
• Everyone who receives the Spirit is thus commissioned as Christ's witness.

They received the Holy Spirit

• This is not the moment of the Samaritans' conversion. That had already occurred when they believed and received the message of Christ preached by Philip.

• Why did Luke include the story of Simon the Sorcerer in the book of Acts? It seems that he included this narrative as a warning to those who would be tempted to seek the power of God for personal gain.
• The ministry of Simon is contrasted with the ministries of Philip, Peter, and John, who were used by the Spirit to bring life and blessing to others. Simon, on the other hand, sought the power of God for personal gain.

8:13 Simon himself believed... And he followed Philip

• It is difficult to determine whether Simon was truly converted. If he was, his commitment to Christ was very shallow.
• It seems that he was more interested in following Philip and observing his miracles than he was in following Christ.

8:18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given

• The Samaritans' experience of receiving the Spirit must have been dramatic and observable, for when Simon saw what had happened, he wanted to buy the power from the apostles (v. 18).
• It is likely that Simon saw the Samaritans speaking in tongues, as the 120 on the Day of Pentecost (2:4), the Gentiles at Caesarea (10:46), and the twelve Ephesian believers (19:6) also did.

8:20 The gift of God

• The "gift of God" mentioned here is the baptism in the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus in 1:4-8.

• A few paragraphs after the Samaritan episode, one discovers that "the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord" (9:31).
• This verse is a summary statement concerning the progress of the church from the persecution and dispersal of the Jerusalem Christians in 8:1 through the conversion and early ministry of Saul (Paul).
• It gives us insight into the missionary result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Samaria.
• In 9:31 Luke notes how, along with the churches in Judea and Galilee, the church in Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and growth as it was strengthened and encouraged by the work of the Holy Spirit.
• It further demonstrates that a Spirit-empowered missional church was indeed planted in Samaria as a result of the ministry of Philip and the apostles.

In the midst of the great revival in Samaria, an angel of the Lord appeared to Philip and directed him to go south to a certain road in Gaza in southwestern Judea. There he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch riding in a chariot. The man was a high government official in the court of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. He was returning home after a pilgrimage to worship at the temple in Jerusalem.

As he rode along, the man was reading from the book of Isaiah. The Spirit of God then directed Philip to draw near to the chariot. As he did, he heard the man reading aloud from Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The Ethiopian replied, "How can I unless someone explains it to me." Philip then joined him in his chariot and explained to him how this passage was talking about Jesus.

Soon they passed a body of water where Philip baptized the Ethiopian man. Immediately the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch continued on his journey rejoicing. Philip was next seen in Azotus, about twenty miles (32 kilometers) to the north. He continued his journey northward along the coastline, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he arrived in Caesarea.

• The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch is a good example of what has been called a "divine appointment".
• A divine appointment is an occasion when God providentially arranges circumstances and divinely leads His servants into situations where the gospel can be presented with maximum effect.

8:26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go..."

• This is the fifth appearance of an angel of the Lord in Luke-Acts (compare Luke 1:11, 28; 2:9; Acts 5:19) and the second appearance in Acts. Three appearances will follow (10:4; 12:7-11, 23).
• Luke presents angels as active participants in the advancement of God's kingdom. They are, however, never seen preaching the gospel. This task is left to Spirit-filled believers.
• Here, as elsewhere, the angel is the Lord's agent urging a believer to "go" and bear witness to Christ (compare 5:19-20).

8:27 An Ethiopian

• This man is the first Gentile to receive the gospel in Acts.
• As the Holy Spirit did with the Samaritans, He again used Philip to open a new door for the gospel.
• A black African man became the first representative in Acts of those at "the ends of the earth" (1:8), as well as those "who are far off" (2:39), who were to receive the gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

• Two powerful outpourings of the Spirit in Jerusalem prepared the church for its Spirit-empowered ministry in Jerusalem (2:4; 4:31). These same outpourings helped to prepare the church for the coming persecution (8:1).
• So, when the time of trial did come and the church was scattered, it was ready. It was not diverted from its primary calling but continued to preach the gospel in the power of the Spirit.
• Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ (v. 4). In Samaria many were saved, healed, and delivered.
• Then, when the apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed with the new believers to be empowered by the Spirit, just as the church in Jerusalem had been empowered.
• With the evangelization and empowering of the Samaritans, the church took its first step in moving from its Jewish to its Gentile mission (see Table 2.1).
• In the next chapter we will look at the church's second step. As the church continued to expand throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, another outpouring of the Spirit occurred. This outpouring, which we call the Damascene outpouring, further helped prepare the church for its coming Gentile mission.

• Although we do not seek persecution, persecution will sometimes come, especially if we are faithful to boldly proclaim the message of Christ.
• When persecution does come, we must be ready.
• We can do this, if we, like those first Christians in Jerusalem, will stay focused on Christ's mission and remain full of the Holy Spirit.

• We must never forget that our primary message is the gospel, the message of Christ, and we must always strive to preach that message in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• If we will faithfully do this, we can expect God to confirm His word through signs and wonders.
• We should anticipate that women as well as men will be saved, baptized in water, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
• As a result they, too, will become full participants in the ministry of the Spirit (see 2:17-18; 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:13; 14:31).

• In our evangelism and church planting efforts, it is important that we address the issue of Spirit baptism.
• It is essential that those involved in gospel work, whether pastoral, evangelistic, or missionary, understand the importance of immediately leading those who have been born again into the experience of Spirit baptism.
• This work must not be delayed for at least two reasons. The first is personal: the new convert will need the power of the Spirit to resist the temptations and attacks he or she will encounter from the world, the flesh, and the devil.
• The second reason is missional: every believer must be empowered by the Spirit because every believer must be Christ's witness to the lost (1:8).
• The gospel worker must further understand that everywhere the gospel goes to, it must proceed from. This can only happen if believers in that new church are empowered by the Holy Spirit and taught about their responsibility to win others to Christ.
• We must therefore ensure that the churches we plant are Spirit-empowered missional churches, that is, churches that are willing to plant and capable of planting other Spirit-empowered missional churches. Only then will the gospel spread spontaneously throughout a community or region.

• From Philip's ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch we learn the importance of following the leading of the Holy Spirit in performing our work as ministers of the gospel.
• Had Philip not been full of the Spirit and open to the Spirit's voice, he would have missed this opportunity.
• Further, had he not understood the great importance of presenting Christ, he would have wasted the opportunity.
• We can also take great encouragement from this story, knowing that when the Lord leads us into a ministry opportunity, He has also been at work providentially arranging circumstances and preparing the people to receive the gospel.