In several ways chapter 8 begins a new chapter.
We’ve already noticed that this marks the beginning of a new kind of persecution.
“Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.”
Why? “Because he saw it pleased the Jews.”
But scattered throughout the rest of Acts, there is persecution by the Jews around the world.
A second way that this marks a new chapter is in the spreading of evangelism.
Those words “spreading of evangelism” are actually redundant,
But I’m talking about the spreading of the spreading of the Gospel.
And verse 1 says that “the everywhere” was widened to include Judea and Samaria.
Briefly this evening lets think about the evangelism of Samaria.
We’ll think about the EVANGELIST, the EVANGELISM and the EVINCING OF CHRIST.
We are told that the Apostles remained in Jerusalem, while other preachers spread abroad.
“Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John.”
When it was suggested by the Apostles that Deacons be elected to help the church,
And Philip, & Prochorus, & Nicanor, & Timon, & Parmenas, & Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.”
It is interesting to notice that his name is Greek,
I think, therefore, that like Stephen, Philip was a Grecian Jew.
And since it was a part of the criteria required, I would think that he was wise and practical.
We aren’t told anything else about the other five deacons.
The ability to stand before a crowd and to forcefully and intelligently declare the gospel, was not one of the gifts that the Lord had given them.
Simply put, not everyone is called to preach, or to pastor.
Philip’s ordination or qualification to be a deacon, didn’t make him a missionary or evangelist.
Just because both these gifts and offices were found in the same man, didn’t make them synonymous.
And that needs to be remembered when we think about Deacons in the 21st century.
Here is WHAT I GUESS happened in the life of Philip.
He was a man surrendered & willing to do whatever he could to be a blessing to the church & Apostles.
He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and the church recognized the Lord in Him, selecting him to be a deacon.
But over time, it became obvious that the Lord had also given him the ability to craft a good sermon and to adequately preach that sermon to groups of people.
And as the church became convicted about the Lord’s commandment to be “witnesses unto Him, in all Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the world,” Philip either volunteered, or the Apostles asked him if he would be willing to go to Samaria.
My guess would be that he was then set apart to this new work, and off he went as an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ.
I can’t prove half of what I just told you, but I am reasonably sure that this is basically what happened.
I believe that he was an evangelist in the sense that a missionary is an evangelist.
I can’t prove it to you, but I believe that this man was ordained and sent out as a missionary of the church in Jerusalem.
We read that he not only preached Christ, but he also baptized those who professed to believe on Him.
He was not an Apostle and didn’t have all the gifts of an Apostle, but he was a missionary of the church in Jerusalem.
He was still a servant of the church in Jerusalem, but now a servant of a different kind.
You might think from what I’ve just said that evangelism is the job of men especially ordained to this kind of work.
But that is not the case, and I’ll show you something about this in just a moment.
I believe that it is the task of everyone of us to spread the gospel, the good news.
An iron worker can tell others about the Lord while working on a ten-storey building.
A Christian lady should be able to share the truth about Jesus with her neighbor.
Everyone should be an evangelist, even though not everyone is called to be a pastor or even a preacher.
Everyone should share Christ, even though not everyone should baptize those who believe.
When we pick up the Bible to study, it’s not like studying any other book.
First it is a spiritual book with a Heavenly author, making it unlike any book – religious or secular.
But then it comes to us in both English and the original languages at the same time.
Acts 8:4 says, “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.”
He “kerusso” (kay-roos’-so) ‘d the people of Samaria.
He didn’t just spread the gospel, he heralded, proclaimed, forcefully preached the gospel.
Philip preached Christ.
And what do you suppose that he said about the Lord?
Using the Old Testament, he probably compared the life of Jesus with the prophesies of Christ.
He probably made reference to the virgin birth and sinless life of the Lord, using the Old Testament.
Eventually he came to the sacrificial atonement of the Lord, and how this was foretold.
And of course he declared the resurrection and ascension of Christ into glory.
He may have referred to his friend’s testimony to seeing the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father.
And when all else was said, he spoke about the return of the Messiah to establish his literal kingdom.
But before we get to that I want you to think for a moment about Samaria.
This may have been in the land of the tribe of Ephraim, but the Samaritans weren’t Ephraimites.
In fact, it might be argued that they weren’t Hebrews at all.
When the Assyrians overthrew the ten northern tribes most of the people were taken captive and scattered in hundreds of other areas within the Assyrian Empire.
And the people of other areas were imported and planted in Samaria.
These Samaritans were a people made up of the intermarriages of the poor escapees of ten northern tribes and these idolatrous new-comers.
And that is why the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, even though great numbers of the Samaritans had become proselytes to Moses’ religion.
Secondly, Samaria was now a district or region, but there was no longer a city named “Samaria.”
Verse 5 is saying that Philip went to the chief city of Samaria to preach.
And it is debatable which city that might have actually been, but I would guess that it was Sychar.
Thirdly, earlier, the Lord Jesus commanded His 70 preachers NOT to travel into Samaria to preach.
Some people surmise from this that the gospel was forbidden to these half-breeds,
And others think that the gospel in the four Gospels was not really the Gospel which we preach today.
But could it be that the Lord Jesus told his disciples not to preach to the Samaritans in an effort to concentrate His limited human resources to areas of more immediate concern?
It is a very important fact that the Gospel WAS preached to the Samaritans in the days of Christ.
So Philip was sent “down” from Jerusalem to Samaria, and he began to preach Christ.
And the Lord powerfully blessed his ministry
“And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.”
To what can we credit the success of Philip’s ministry?
Of course, it was due to the Lord, but what were the more mundane elements of that success?
Could it be that if Peter or John had gone to Samaria they might not have been well received, because they were considered to be “Jews”?
This was certainly a part of the later ministry of the Apostle Paul.
Certainly Philip was used of the Lord because he strictly adhered to the Word of God.
And then the miracles were a definite help.
But there was something else as well.
He said that one sowed the seed of the Word and the other watered it, and another reaped.
What a great privilege it is to be a spiritual reaper.
Actually it isn’t the least bit any greater than to be a sower or a waterer.