INTRODUCTION

Frequently, part of the difficulty we have in understanding and applying the Bible to our lives is that we do not understand the characters involved. One such character is the Church. The word for “church” can simply refer to a generic human assembly, like the Elks Club or a political party’s convention. But part of the message of the Bible is that God has established an entirely different kind of assembly in this world called the Church, unlike any other human institution. 

The Text: “And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: but their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him…” (Acts 9:23-43).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After his dramatic conversion, Luke says that Saul was in Damascus for many days preaching Christ as the Son of God and confounding the Jews before escaping out a city wall in a basket (Acts 9:23-25, cf. 2 Cor. 11:32-33). Notice the juxtaposition: radical conversion and confounding the Jews (sounds powerful) versus a narrow escape in a basket (sounds weak). In Galatians 1:18, Paul says that it was three years before he went down to Jerusalem, where they were still afraid of him for his former persecutions, but Barnabas brought him to the apostles and vouched for his conversion (Acts 9:26-27). Saul began preaching with the other apostles boldly before another plot arose, causing the brothers to exit Saul stage left back to his home town of Tarsus (Acts 9:28-30). And despite what might look like another setback, Luke insists that this controversy and movement produced peace in the whole church, being built up, walking in the fear of the Lord, being comforted by the Holy Spirit, and it multiplied (Acts 9:29-31).

Meanwhile, Peter was travelling in some kind of circuit and came through Lydda where he healed a man named Aeneas from an eight year sickness that had kept him bedridden, causing many to turn to the Lord (Acts 9:32-35). While we are tempted to think this was a great power in Peter, he says, “Jesus Christ is healing you” (Acts 9:34). Then in Joppa, a prominent woman named Tabitha/Dorcas was raised from the dead when Peter knelt down and prayed (Acts 9:36-41). And many believed in the Lord and Peter ministered there for many days (Acts 9:42-43). 

ORDINARY LIFE & EXTRAORDINARY POWER

Luke is a careful historian, but he is also summarizing and highlighting key events in order to make particular points. On the one hand, God really did work extraordinary miracles through the Apostles (1 Cor. 12:12). The Bible never assumes that just anyone can speak for God; in fact, anyone who claimed to but was lying was liable to a death penalty in the Old Testament (Dt. 18:20). So the Apostles were given unique authority to prove that they had the right to speak for God and write the New Testament – the signs confirm the Word (Mk. 16:20). At the same time, there was a lot of ordinary life most of the time, including somewhat humbling things like Saul being let down in a basket and fleeing various plots (Acts 9:25, 30). The apostles were not constantly working miracles, otherwise, why didn’t the apostles just call down fire or blindness on the enemies plotting against Saul? The reason is because humans are always tempted to focus on the wrong thing: miracles, signs, wonders, human brilliance. But the central glory, the central miracle is the transformation of ordinary human lives by the gospel. How was the whole church given peace when the same party that put Stephen to death was now plotting against Saul (Acts 9:29)? One big reason was that the one who had overseen that murder was now speaking boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 9:29). The goal is to point to Christ. 

SIGNS OR PHILOSOPHY OR THE CROSS?

Elsewhere Paul says that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). He says that everywhere he went the Jews demanded signs, and the Greeks demanded philosophy, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks (1 Cor. 1:22-23). The problem was not with signs and philosophy per se, the problem was with a resolute refusal to believe combined with those demands. Many who say that they will not believe unless they see a miracle or hear a convincing argument will still not believe even then. Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God. He taught the truth, and He died and rose from the dead. The apostles reasoned from evidence, and on occasion healed the sick and even sometimes raised the dead (Acts 9:22, 40). But the fundamental question is willingness to submit, willingness to believe. If you are not willing, no amount of signs or arguments will convince you. But the Christian Church is the gathering together of those who believe in Christ, who fear the Lord, and have the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 

THE CHURCH LIKE NO OTHER

This is why the Church is no ordinary human institution. It is not based on human action or human wisdom. Christ said that He was establishing His Church on the Rock of Peter’s confession of faith, such that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, giving keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, to bind and loose on earth as it is in Heaven (Mt. 16:18-19). This is not the Lions Club or a golf club. The Church is called the “Body of Christ,” such that what is done to Christ’s people is reckoned to Christ Himself (1 Cor. 12:12-27, Acts 9:4). The Church is called the “Bride of Christ,” for whom Christ died, to sanctify and cleanse and make completely holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27). The Church is a “holy priesthood,” the temple of the Holy Spirit, elect and precious (1 Pet. 1:5, Eph. 2:20-22). While God has also established families and nations, and we may establish other human institutions, no other assembly has such promises. 

CONCLUSION

The Church grows through the preaching of the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, crucified for sinners, raised from the dead, ascended to the Father, Lord of the Church, and Lord of the Nations. Or else if He isn’t, we really do have better things to do on Sunday mornings. But this is the message that has transformed the world: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified for our sins, He was buried, and on the third day, He rose from the dead. This historical fact, this message of the Cross is the wisdom and power of God by which the Church grows and the world turns to the Lord. We are in fellowship, but our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

The Lordship of Jesus Christ means the submission and surrender and obedience of all. And this is good news because He died and rose again for our sins, and He knows what He’s doing – He is a gracious Lord. He rules for our happiness. But this may be one of the most hated Christian doctrines.

The lies of our flesh, the world, and the Devil say that God is withholding something from us, He has forgotten us, He would help but He can’t, or else that He isn’t really good. And these lies tempt us to panic, grasp, demand, get angry, and in various ways assert our own lordship which only makes us less happy. In this passage, Christ confronts the plans and misconceptions of Saul and Ananias, and what Jesus says to them, He says to every one of us: “arise and go.”

The Text: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem…” (Acts 9:1-22).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Full of animosity, Saul takes his persecution on the road to Damascus, where Jesus confronted him with a bright, blinding light, and gave him radically new orders (Acts 9:1-9). Notice that Jesus addresses Saul personally, by name, and that He takes the persecution of His people personally, reckoning what is done to them as done to Him (Acts 9:4). Three days later, a disciple named Ananias was instructed by the Lord to go find Saul to restore his sight, and to baptize him so that he might receive the Holy Spirit, and despite his concerns, he obeyed (Acts 9:10-18). Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues, causing quite a stir, especially as his arguments increased in strength, confounding the Jews (Acts 9:19-22).

Kicking Against the Goads & Obedience to the Lord

When Jesus confronted Saul, He said, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5). The image Jesus is using is taken from using oxen to plow a field, where a farmer often had a prick or goad that would be used to drive the oxen. Sometimes a goad might even be attached to the plow, such that if the animal kicked, the goad would prick them even more sharply. Sin makes people beastlike, slaves to their lusts, slaves to their passions, slaves to their emotions, slaves to their past. The call of Christ is the call to full and true humanity and freedom.  

Jesus graciously confronts Saul by saying that he is in rebellion and his rebellion is only making it more painful for himself. And Saul responds in surrender: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” And the command from the Lord is to “arise and go” (Acts 9:6). The same command is given a few verses later to Ananias, “Arise and go” (Acts 9:11). Who dares order people around like this? The One who made us, the One who suffered and died for our sins. The One who is worthy of all obedience. Jesus is Lord.

THE SORROWS OF THE WICKED

In Psalm 32, a similar warning is given in the context of confession of sin: “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about” (Ps. 32:9-10).

The contrast in this psalm is between the sorrows and pains of our beastly stubbornness and the joy and relief of obedience and confession. If you are not a Christian, then you cannot have peace and joy when you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, when you are trying to be your own lord. But if you are a Christian, you cannot have peace and joy if you are refusing to obey your Lord, and in particular refusing to confess your sins. 

Years later, Saul/Paul wrote to Timothy: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Tim. 1:15-16). 

Do not despair. Do not lose hope. If Saul obtained mercy there is mercy for you and there is mercy for anyone. 

CONCLUSION

“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:9-10).

God’s grace is not a flimsy, weak thing. His grace is fiery and fierce. His grace propels us to great and joyful obedience. In Christ, God’s authority and kindness are married. His will is almighty and all-gracious. He summons us to die, but the summons to die, is an invitation to begin to really live. Your own desires and plans are often not good, right, or healthy. But when you obey the Lord joyfully, you become a force for that good. 

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INTRODUCTION

Having invaded the land of Samaria with His grace, Christ now sends an advance unit to Africa. And in so doing, Christ teaches us that the tip of the spear is the Word of God by which He comes to us and directs us where we should go and fills us with rejoicing. 

The Text: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia…” (Acts 8:26-40)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Lord sends Philip to speak to a prominent eunuch of Ethiopia, a servant of the queen, studying the prophecy of Isaiah in his chariot (Acts 8:26-29). When Philip asked if he understood what he was reading, the eunuch replied that he needed someone to guide him, and invited Philip to come into the chariot where he was reading and asked if the suffering servant in the passage was Isaiah or someone else (Acts 8:30-34). To which Philip answered by preaching Jesus, the lamb who was crucified for sinners (Acts 8:35). And seeing some water, the eunuch asked to be baptized, and when he professed faith in Christ, they went down into the water and Philip baptized him before the Spirit took Philip away to preach in the cities of Caesarea and the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:36-40).

ANGELS & THE WORD OF GOD

Many Christians wish angels would tell them where to go, like Philip, but that is exactly what the Bible is: God’s authoritative message for all time. The same Spirit that instructed Philip (Acts 8:29) and then took him away (Acts 8:39) inspired the Scriptures so that we would know what to do (2 Pet. 1:21, 2 Tim. 3:16). And it’s striking that the angel and the Spirit led Philip to help the eunuch, instead of a direct revelation. God’s ordinary means of direction is through the Word and His people in the church. The word “angel” is messenger, and God’s message has been written down in the Bible and faithful ministers help us understand it. The word “gospel” is the “good message,” and the death and resurrection of Jesus is the central message, the key to understanding all of it. 

Some commentators point out that Gaza had been destroyed and this road was probably literally a desert (Acts 8:26). From a fruitful ministry in Samaria, it may have seemed strange to go to a desert, but obedience to the Word put Philip in the strategic position of being ready to be used by God. So too, we must obey our Lord: confess your sins, forgive quickly, love your wife, respect your husband, obey your parents, tell the truth, read the Word, worship Your King. 

THHE SUFFERING SERVANT

Philip runs up to the entourage and hears the Ethiopian reading Isaiah out loud, and the passage he is reading is from Isaiah 53:7-8. Perhaps what particularly caught the eunuch’s attention was the fact that this servant of the Lord was wounded, crushed, and cut off from the living and his generation. But the promise is astonishing: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when though shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand” (Is. 53:10). In Dt. 23:1, eunuchs are forbidden from entering the congregation of Israel, which means that this Ethiopian could not have been a full Jew, even if he wanted to be. And yet, here was a prophecy of someone else who had experienced the shame and pain of being crushed, bruised, and cut off from life and descendants, who then came under the blessing of the Lord and had children and long life. 

Philip explained that this is talking about Jesus: a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who bore our grief and carried our sorrows, who was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, a faithful lamb for all the sheep who have gone astray (Is. 53:3-7). And this good news is for all men, all nations. In the midst of the false and idolatrous promises of superficial multiculturalism through the secular-liberal state, it must not be forgotten that all men share the sin-infected blood of Adam, and there is no other salvation except by the blood of a Jewish man named Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION: WALKING IN THE JOY OF SALVATION

We are not told exactly which texts Philip used in his message, but in Isaiah 56 there is a glorious promise specifically for eunuchs: “For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” (Is. 56:4-5). 

This is the Christian hope of all people. Everyone is called to deny themselves, take up a cross and follow Jesus. Jesus said that all who give up houses, families, and lands for His sake and the sake of the gospel will receive it back with persecutions plus eternal life (Mk. 10:29-30). This means surrendering everything in principle to God, and then receiving back an everlasting name, everlasting life, and therefore an everlasting joy that can never be taken away, and then everything else is extra. The Spirit took Philip away, but the Ethiopian eunuch had by that time something far greater: Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

Here we see the continuing conquest of Christ extending to the Samaritans. Colliding with their centuries of idolatry and syncretism, the Holy Spirit gets the victory and the Word goes forth with power. The message for us is to trust Him, trust His word, and not lose heart. 

The Text: “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was a Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…” (Acts 8:1-25)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

While Saul thought he was in the driver seat, persecuting the church, remember Jesus had foretold that the testimony of the apostles would go from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and here the Christians are scattered to Judea and Samaria, preaching the word everywhere they went (Acts 8:1-4). One instance of this was another deacon named Philip who preached and healed in a city of Samaria, bringing great joy (Acts 8:5-8). Among the converts was a magician named Simon who had formerly had great influence over the people, and he believed in Christ and was baptized (Acts 8:9-13). Peter and John were sent by the apostles to come and establish the church there, and when the Spirit was given to the new Christians, Simon offered money to the apostles for that power (Acts 8:14-19). Peter condemned Simon and called him to repentance for his poisonous bitterness and conspiracy of evil, and he asked for prayer, while the word continued to spread (Acts 8:20-25). 

DEVOUT MOURNING

Even during a fierce persecution, devout men carried Stephen’s body to burial and mourned his death (Acts 8:1-2). This demonstrates that funerals and memorials are thoroughly Christian acts. Because Christians are those who have been joined to Jesus Christ who is the Resurrection and they can “never die” (Jn. 11:26), dying in the Lord is sometimes described as falling asleep (e.g. Acts 7:60, Jn. 11:11, 1 Thess. 4:13-16). To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but the physical body that we put into the ground is like a seed (1 Cor. 15:35-38). This is why historically, Christians have buried their dead instead of burning them. Luke shows us that from the beginning it was a devout practice to honor the bodies of the dead by burial, especially believers, as a testimony of our hope of the resurrection. Likewise, it is devout to mourn the dead, but we do not mourn as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13).

THE CULT OF THE SAMARITANS

Remember that the Samaritans were basically a Jewish cult that originated at the time of the exile. Samaria was the capital of Ahab’s Baal-worshipping regime, and when the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria, they established syncretistic practices of worship of the true God alongside other false gods (2 Kgs. 17:27-41). In keeping with this, Simon is introduced as one the leaders of their cult (Acts 8:9-11), which first of all underlines the power of the gospel to penetrate even those communities and hearts that may seem to us most dark or enslaved: modern cults, Islam, the LGBT jihad, your family, even you.   

HYPOCRISY & SALVATION

This story underlines one of the hardest areas of faith to understand: the mystery of regeneration and apostasy. Here the text says that Simon “believed” and he was baptized (Acts 8:13). And yet, very quickly, a deep gall of bitterness is revealed with a tangle or conspiracy of evil (Acts 8:23). This should be something of an encouragement just to know that this kind of challenge has faced the church from the very beginning: Jesus had Judas and Paul had Demas (2 Tim. 4:10). We are in good company, if the church continues to deal with some who turn away. Jesus taught that His word would go forth like seed on different kinds of soil (Mk. 4:3-20). Some branches in the covenant vine of Christ are cut out (Jn. 15:1-7). And yet, all whom the Father has given to Christ will be preserved and raised up at the last day (Jn. 6:37-39).

So how do we parse this? The tendency of many has been to either downplay the word and sacraments, since it is sometimes empty or hypocritical, emphasizing the “invisibility” of the true church, or else over-emphasizing the efficacy of the visible ministry of the church, while making salvation something that comes and go, depending on the day or week or year. The Reformed tradition has sought to avoid both extremes by emphasizing the sovereignty of God and faith His Word. This translates into a high view of the word and sacraments, and the efficacy of the visible church, while insisting that the Spirit is totally free. Calvin described it as “all men have not that grace given them in baptism, which grace is there figured.” God really does give grace, but not all men receive it by faith in Christ. Calvin says this of Simon: “And although the receiving of baptism did profit him nothing then, yet if conversion followed afterward, as some men suppose, the profit was not extinguished nor abolished.” Many prodigals come home.

CONCLUSION

This story does not tell us what happened to Simon. It only closes with Simon asking the apostles to pray for him and the word continuing to go forth (Acts 8:24-25). Church tradition mostly suggests that he continued in his sins (hence the sin/crime of “simony”), but this story is what God has given us. And this is for our good: both a warning and a comfort. 

The warning is to guard your own hearts and watch out for all bitterness and tangles of evil. We have no official system of simony in our modern evangelical churches, but there’s plenty of buying and selling of favors and flattery and popularity contests and man-pleasing. This game can be played with hospitality, friend groups, educational methods, or even theology. But you can’t buy the Holy Spirit. And this is where the poisonous root of bitterness fundamentally comes from: the sovereign Spirit who gives and rules as He pleases. Contentment is the opposite of bitterness: it rests in the Father’s gifts of His Spirit in all things (Phil. 4:11). 

But there is a great comfort here as well: the gospel came to the Samaritans. While wicked men were plotting, Christ was saving all kinds of Samaritans. While the nations rage, Christ is still saving sinners, including the ones who once professed faith and have turned away in bitterness or apathy. We serve the God who raises the dead. Why does God allow this? For His own glory, but also so that we will pray more faithfully, so the Word will go forth, and so our joy will be even greater when He saves.

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