Now, Acts 8, beginning at verse 9: Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God." And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. Help us to learn those things that we need to learn, and instruct us and rebuke us, and correct us and equip us for every good work. We ask now as we read this section of Scripture together that You would illuminate our minds, give us understanding, help us to see those things that we need to see. We thank You for the comfort of the Scriptures, how they strengthen us and embolden us, how they instruct us in all that we need to know for the life of godliness and discipleship before You. Our Father in heaven, we thank You again for the Scriptures. Now before we read the passage together, let's come before God in prayer. Now we're going to pick up the next section, about Simon Magus, Simon the magician, beginning in verse 9 of Acts 8. ![]() And that marvelous little verse, verse 8, describing Samaria after the Holy Spirit had come through the preaching of Philip: ".so there was much joy in that city." There was much joy in that city. but a sovereign outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit does what He ordinarily does but He does it all at once, and He does it with great intensity, and He does it with great numbers. Well, last time we saw that something akin to a revival. They would cross over the River Jordan and go down on the east side, and then cross somewhere near Jericho and then head westwards toward Jerusalem. When Jews from up north came down to Jerusalem for one of the stated feasts, they wouldn't normally travel through Samaria. The Samaritans had erected their own temple in the capital city of Samaria. For the best part of a thousand years, there had been ethnic hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews in Jerusalem. If you drew a straight line from Jerusalem northward, you'd go through Samaritan land. The region of Samaria is that region between Jerusalem and Galilee, up north. They went about evangelizing or gospelling, or telling the good news of Jesus Christ in the locations to which they went.Īnd then Luke begins to unfold for us how Philip goes to presumably the city of Samaria. And the apostles, it appears, remain in Jerusalem, but many of the disciples in Jerusalem flee the city and they are scattered about (verse 4), and they went about preaching. ![]() And now in the beginning of the eighth chapter in a section that we looked at last week, he's ravaging Jerusalem, apparently turning men and women out of their homes - and a great persecution arises in Jerusalem. We've been introduced to Stephen and Luke has given us little indicators of what's to come (of course, we know the story so well that we don't need those indicators), but Luke has been telling us that there's a man, Saul of Tarsus (the Apostle-Paul-to-be) consenting to Stephen's death. You remember one of the most significant events in the unfolding of the purposes of God in the world as Acts describes it has just taken place, namely, the death of Stephen, the martyrdom of Stephen - this godly man, one of the seven, you remember, chosen because of the dispute that had arisen between the two sets of widows in Jerusalem. We began it when we were back on Sunday nights in the temporary sanctuary, and now we've moved it here for the fall.and we're in the eighth chapter. Now turn with me once again to The Acts of the Apostles, a series which we began-oh, I don't know when we began it. Volume 17, Number 19, May 3 to May 9, 2015
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