God’s Will - Will Be Done

Acts 8:1-13

INTRO: Good morning. The last time we were together we left Stephen repeating with his dying breath the words of Jesus, ‘forgive them’ and ’Father receive my spirit’.
What Luke is going to share with us today is one of the most difficult times in church history.

But first I want to tell you a story. A doctor decided to put his overweight patient on a diet.
"I want you to eat normally for two days," he said. "Then I want you to skip a day. Follow this pattern for two weeks and come back to see me. After two weeks you should have lost five pounds."
Two weeks later the man came back for his appointment. He had lost twenty pounds.
The doctor asked, "You lost all this weight just by following my instructions?"
The man said, "Yes, but I'll tell you though, I thought I was going to drop dead on that third day." The doctor asked, "From hunger?" "No," the man said, "from skipping!"

I guess the point of the story is, if you’re going to follow the instructions, make sure you fully understand them. Our lesson this morning will be from Acts 8:1-13.

I. Luke introduces us to Saul in Acts 8:1 as the person who approved of Stephen’s death. It’s this same Saul who later would become Paul and turn out to be one of the greatest apostles of Christ in the history of the kingdom.

A. Jesus had given specific instructions for the apostles to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said that the apostles will be “His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."[para]
B. We catch up with the events of the early church in Acts 8:2-4 - “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”

1. Immediately following Stephen’s death, an intense period of persecution followed, headed by a young Jewish persecutor named Saul. Luke tells us that "devout” men buried Stephen and greatly mourned his death. These God-fearing men still had enough faith in God to openly bury a Christian who had died such a violent death for preaching the gospel.
2. I find that amazing. You may ask; what is amazing about it? The Sanhedrin didn’t do anything about these God-fearing men yet it was Jewish custom not to allow an individual grave and lamentation for a person who had been judicially stoned. No lamentation or other sign of mourning was permitted on behalf of one who suffered execution, the Jewish rule on this being derived from God's command that Aaron should not mourn for Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:6). I suspect that with Stephen, yet again, the Jews killed another innocent man... and they knew it.

C. It’s interesting to see the apostles remaining in Jerusalem, and disciples driven to every corner of Judea and Samaria. I said this was interesting because when the devil wants to destroy a church, he will often use the form of “divide and conquer”. We see that today and it seems that’s what’s happening in Acts. Also if Satan wants to destroy a congregation he will attack the leadership. If he can destroy them, he usually ends up destroying the rest of the flock.

1. I suspect what we see here is God's divine intervention, God protecting and keeping His apostles’ safe. After all, in the mind of Saul and everyone else who opposed the church the apostles were the church leaders.
2. The New Testament record of Saul's persecution of the church leaves no doubt to the savagery and brutality with which it was carried forward. There was no consideration of age, sex, or other circumstances. The actions of Saul testify to the bitterness and fury with which the Sanhedrin sought to exterminate Christianity.
3. Yet, God’s will, will be done. God doesn’t do evil but He can use the evilness of men to get His will accomplished. The gospel was supposed to begin in Jerusalem where it did, but it was also to be spread in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That wasn’t happening yet, the church seemed destined to stay in Jerusalem.
4. What we do see happening here are the terrible acts of wicked men, who were persecuting the church.

II. I wondered, why was God allowing this to happen? I suspect it might be because the gospel needed to be heard in other parts of the earth and that wasn’t going to happen as long as the church stayed in its comfort zone. Luke tells us in Acts 8:4, that, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.”

A. When was the last time any of us stepped out of our comfort zone? I thank God that the church has had many brethren who have done that. Don’t stop in your comfort zone folks; don’t get so comfortable with your faith that you forget the work.

1. I read an article once about sharks that said if you put a baby shark in a fish tank it will grow to 8 inches long and be fully developed but if you put that same baby shark in the sea, it will grow to 11-16 feet in length.
2. We don’t want to be a baby shark swimming around in our comfort zone, we want to get out there and share our faith with others so that we can become fully mature Christians with a strong faith in God.
3. Growing and developing our faith happens when we get out there and share our faith with people and tell them how Jesus changed our life. God will give us the courage and wisdom to share our faith with our friends and family, if we ask Him.
4. The only persecution we are likely to experience in this place and time is rejection, but the faith of these Christians needs to be commended because even in the face of death they shared their faith.

B. Now I suggest also that we all ask ourselves a really hard question. What would need to happen for you to give up your faith? A divorce, the death of a loved one, family difficulties, personal difficulties? I understand that many of us can’t answer that question unless these things happen to us. We probably know Christians who have gone through or are still going through tough times. When you are talking to God, add thanks that they are still holding on, strong to their faith in Christ.
C. When Saul of Tarsus got wind of where Christians met, that sent fear throughout the whole church. They were frightened but they wouldn’t give up the faith. Even though some were caught and thrown into prisons and then brought before the elders in the synagogue, who tried to force them to deny Jesus, they wouldn’t give up their faith in Christ.

1. Paul said in Acts 22:4 that - “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.” A little later in Acts 26:10 – “This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.” These Christians would rather die than deny their faith in Christ.
2. Paul carries on in Acts 26:11 and says that – “And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.” Paul said that he had many Christians beaten and punished but still they would not deny their faith in Christ.
3. Again, ask what would it take for you to give up your faith? I pray that nothing that this world can throw at us, or any circumstance which happens in our lives, will cause us to give up our faith. When we think about it, it’s our faith in Christ which helps us through many difficult circumstances in life.

III. I said earlier that God used the evil of wicked men so that the gospel would be spread. This spreading of the Gospel is what Luke tells us about next. Acts 8:5-8 – “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.”

A. Remember that Philip is one of the seven mentioned earlier in Acts 6:5. Philip has now gone to the city of Samaria. The city of Samaria was built by Omri, a wicked king in Israel, and it eventually became the capital city for the ten tribes of the northern kingdom.

1. The Samaritans were of mixed descent coming from the intermarriage of Jews and Gentiles and the Jews saw the Samaritans as unclean.
2. If a Jew was walking down the street and he saw a Samaritan coming towards him the Jew would cross over to the other side to avoid being “contaminated”.

B. In John 4:9 when Jesus is speaking to Samaritan woman, she says to Jesus, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?'' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” Further down in the same chapter of John, she says to Jesus in John 4:19-26 – “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.'' Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.'' The woman said to Him, "I know that the Messiah is coming'' (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things.'' Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He.”

1. This Samaritan woman had no problems believing who Jesus claimed to be. In fact when she went back into the city, she practiced what we are preaching today.
2. She told everyone what happened when she met Jesus. The Bible says in John 4:39-41 – “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did.'' So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.”
3. Despite previous grievances with the Samaritans, Philip went to Samaria and watered the seed which Christ had already sown when He spoke to the woman at the well, and the other Samaritans who believed in Him.

C. What exactly did Philip preach? He preached Christ. Philip preached Jesus as the promised Messiah, and as we have already seen with the words of the Samaritan women, the Samaritans would already have been very familiar with the Messiah.

1. Deuteronomy 18:15-18 – “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, "according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.' "And the Lord said to me: 'What they have spoken is good. 'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”
2. The message which Philip was preaching hit home for multitudes of the Samaritans. That message was confirmed by God enabling Philip to work miracles. People who were sick were made well, those paralyzed and lame were able to walk again, and those possessed by demons had the demons driven out of them.
3. The message, and the miracles which confirmed the message, caused the city to be filled with joy. Isn’t that exactly what good news does? It brings joy.

IV. I wonder... how is our joy in the Lord doing? When was the last time you woke up in the morning and just thanked God with a joyful heart, for your healing from sin?

A. Do we ever take a moment out of our busy schedule and think about what God has done for every one of us? I fear some Christians never rejoice in the Lord.

1. Paul in Ephesians 5:19-20 tells us; “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. [para] There are Christians who do that. They love to sing songs of thanksgiving to God when they doing chores, riding in the car, making a cup of coffee, or preparing dinner.
2. Colossians 1:9-14 – “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” There are Christians who sing with thanksgiving in their hearts to God all day long because they appreciate their salvation.

V. I don’t know how true this is but they say the most infectious thing in the world is a smile. I believe when a Christian is full of joy, it’s infectious, and others want a piece of that happiness too. In fact, that’s what happened in Samaria. In Acts 8:9-13 Luke next introduces us to a man named Simon. Simon wanted a piece of that joy but as we will see next time, he wanted it, and something else, for the wrong reasons.

A. Let’s just take a quick look at Simon here in Acts 8. Acts 8:9-11 – “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, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God.'' And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.”

1. Just like some religious groups in the world today Simon uses trickery to convince people that he was a spokesman for God. He had been doing this for some time because Luke tells us that both high and low classes of people were paying attention to him and thought he was from God.
2. Folks, when you put your faith and trust in Christ, and not in people and their claims, the truth truly does set you free as Jesus tells us in John 8:32.
3. Are we firm and trusting in what the Bible teaches or do we get interested in the preacher down the street who claims he can speak in tongues just like the apostles did? Are we attracted to doctrine that does not stand in the light of scripture?

B. When things get bad, do we put our faith in the Bible or a faith healer who claims he can heal the sick and make the lame walk?

1. The psychological illusionist Derren Brown was doing a live séance on TV and he invited some young people along to join. In the séance the Ouija board planchette moved and he claimed he was speaking to the dead. Some people in attendance screamed and ran out of the séance even though many of them were skeptics.

a. It wasn’t until the end of the program that Derren revealed the dead person he was speaking to was still alive and in another room close by. He told his audience that “the power of suggestion and illusion is very powerful and when you use them properly you can get people to believe absolutely anything”.
b. I strongly suspect there is a lot of this happening in the religious world around us today.
c. People are being drawn into believing what they are being taught because of something they think they see happening.
2. A preacher told of a friend who went to an outdoor campaign of a religious group. They called certain people forward to be healed and among them was a woman in a wheelchair. She came forward and was “healed” and supposedly walked for the first time in twenty years.
a. A few weeks later in a nearby town, there was another outdoor campaign with the same group and the same preacher invited people forward to be healed, and guess what?
b. The woman who was supposedly healed before was back up in front being healed again.

C. When we put our faith in God and His word we will see these so-called spiritual things for what they really are. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 – “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

1. Today we have God’s word and we do not have to rely on miracles, signs, and wonders for our faith. Though you know, some people say that you need some sort of supernatural gift to prove you’re a Christian and you have the Spirit. Jesus doesn’t teach that.
2. Jesus says in Matthew 7:15-17 – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”
3. Jesus never mentions anything about recognizing people by their gifts, but what He does say is that you can recognize those who claim to be Christians... by their fruit.

D. Well then, what is this fruit that He has in mind? Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

VI. There are some who contend God’s word is incomplete. If we are to believe that the Bible isn’t God’s final revelation, and He is still revealing more of His will to mankind today through miraculous gifts... then why would Jude say in Jude 3 – “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” God has either revealed once for all “the faith” or He hasn’t.

A. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:1-3 – “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,” God has either given us “all things” we need for life and godliness through our knowledge revealed in His word or He hasn’t.
B. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Through His word we are either equipped for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training, “thoroughly equipped for everything” He wants us to know and do—or we’re not. In other words, God’s word is all we need or it isn’t.
C. All in all it seems to be clear to me that God’s word is all I need to know God, live like He wants me to live, and if I follow His plan of salvation I will be with Him forever in heaven.
D. When Philip preached the good news about the Christ and His kingdom, with the accompanying signs, people were set free from false prophets. Acts 8:12-13 – “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. 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.”

1. I know I’m old fashion, but to me this is where common sense needs to come into play. Philip preached the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. The text doesn’t mention anything about Philip preaching baptism, but common sense tells us that this verse makes it clear that preaching belief in Jesus and baptism in His name is a crucial part of preaching about the kingdom.
2. Why would both men and women be baptized if Philip didn’t preach it?
3. Why would Simon himself having been amazed by what he saw and heard, believe, and be baptized?
4. I’ll tell you why, because baptism for the forgiveness of our sins is part of the good news.
5. We’ve already established that baptism is for the forgiveness of our sins when we looked at Acts 2:38 – “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

E. Folks, as we say all the time you don’t get baptized to join the church. If you want to join something go and join AAA, then they will gladly help you out when your car breaks down. Being christened as a child isn’t Biblical baptism. That’s just getting your hair wet. Baptism involves a burial. Baptism is part of the good news because it’s through baptism for the forgiveness of our sins that we are united with Christ and His baptism and His death.

1. Romans 6:3-5 – “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,”
2. The Samaritans had no trouble understanding what Philip was preaching concerning Jesus and what Jesus wants everyone to do. What’s stopping those who aren’t Biblical Christians? Only they can answer that question. I don’t know why people don’t want to become Christians. I don’t know why so many resist Baptism. Only they know their own answer.

CONCLUSION: Let me leave you with this thought. I spoke about the illusionist Derren Brown a little earlier. In October of 2003, he played Russian roulette with himself live on national TV in the UK and he survived to tell the tale. How did he survive? The clue is in his title - ‘Derren Brown Illusionist’. It was all an illusion.

What I can’t for the life of me figure out is why people would want to play Russian roulette with their very souls.

If people are not sure about the baptism they received, then they need to go back to the Bible and see if it’s the same baptism we see being practiced here in Samaria.
If it’s not, then they need to be encouraged to stop hoping that their baptism was ok and to be baptized with the baptism which we know is acceptable to God for the forgiveness of their sins.

Folks, God’s will, will be done whether you obey His will or not.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon: Mike Glover