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July 24, 2024 6:00 am

Acts 8 - Part B

Connect with Skip Heitzig / Skip Heitzig

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July 24, 2024 6:00 am

Jesus had to go to Samaria to spread the gospel, meeting a woman by a well and many Samaritans believing in his name. Philip, a servant in Jerusalem, followed Jesus' example, preaching the gospel in Samaria with great success, demonstrating the principle of faithfulness. However, a false practitioner named Simon Magus, who practiced sorcery and magic, attempted to undermine Philip's work, but the apostles validated the Samaritans' baptism and gave them the Holy Spirit, showing the power of God's love and redemption.

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If you're faithful and little, you'll be entrusted with much, and you'll be faithful with much because you're tested on the little.

Some people fail right here. Oh, no, no, no, no, I can't do the little stuff. God has called me to bigger things. And God never will call you to bigger things unless you're faithful with the small thing.

That's His principle. I'm glad you've joined us today. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to bring more people into God's family and connect listeners like you to His unchanging truth. That's why we make teachings like this one today available to you and others on air and online.

If they've helped you connect with Christ today, would you consider giving a gift to help others around the world connect with Him in the same way? Just call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskipheitzig.org.

That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thank you. Now let's turn to Acts eight, as we see what Skip has for us today. Stephen was one of the seven deacons in the Jerusalem church, one of the seven servants who served the tables when there was that complaint with those group of gals. Stephen was one of them. Another one of them was Philip. Philip starts out as a servant. By the time we get to Acts chapter 21, he will already have a title. Here's his title, Philip the Evangelist. Philip the Evangelist, he will be known as that. Now he's just known as one of the servants on the ministry team in Jerusalem.

So everybody gets scattered. He's one of them. He goes to Samaria and preaches the word to them. Now, Jesus went to Samaria, right? John chapter four.

Do you remember how it opened? It said, but he needed to go through Samaria, which is a funny line. If you know the geography, it's like John is telling a joke. He needed to go through Samaria. Nobody needed to go through Samaria. Samaria was off the charts.

It was up in the hills, difficult to get to. The Jews had alternate routes when they wanted to go from north to south. Nobody went through Samaria, not only because it was isolated, but because there was animosity. Way back in the 10th century BC, I'm going to give you a little nutshell history. 10th century BC, there was a split in the monarchy. There was Saul and David and Solomon and then Rehoboam. There was a split in that monarchy so that 10 tribes went north with the capital at Samaria and two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, stayed down south with the capital Jerusalem. The kingdom split north and south. Israel, Judah, Hatfields and McCoys.

There was this long-standing family feud, animosity. An empire in the northeast arose called Assyria. They took over the world. The Assyrians swept down into that 10 northern tribal areas, Samaria, and took the 10 northern tribes captive with them to Assyria. It was a practice of the Assyrians to repopulate areas that they took over by placing people from other regions that they had taken over into those areas. The 10 tribes of Israel were now populated, though there were a few poor farmers left. They kept them in the land because it wouldn't cause trouble and it would keep the land going. They essentially repopulated it with non-Jewish people, Gentile people from other locations they had taken over. They're in the land.

So what happens? Well, when you need to find sons and daughters for partners, marriage partners for sons and daughters, they're going to marry who's available. They intermarried with those people groups from those different regions. And developed a group known as the Samaritans. By the way, just FYI, there are 802 Samaritans alive today.

We know that. Interesting story. I wish I had a chance to kind of get into the modern history, but I don't. So this group of people up north, because of the intermarriage, they're not pure Jewish bloodline now. They're producing children that are part Jewish, part whatever. The people down in Judah, right, Judeans and Benjamites, saw the Samaritan northern population as half-breeds, not pure.

And so this animosity developed and grew. Now eventually Judah will be taken captive, not by the Assyrians, but by the Babylonians, 586 B.C. Boom, they go.

Three deportations, that's the first one. By the time they come back, 70 years later, they start rebuilding their temple down south in Jerusalem. As they rebuild it, some of the Samaritans say, we want to help you. Nehemiah says, thanks, no thanks. This is for the covenant people. So he refused cooperation with the Samaritans, the people in Judea, that furthered the animosity even more. So in 303 B.C., the Samaritans built their own temple, very similar to the one in Jerusalem, on Mount Gerizah. Mount Gerizam up north. And they had sacrifices on Mount Gerizam. And they even said, this is where Abraham brought his son Isaac and almost sacrificed him, not down south, not down in Zion, not down in Jerusalem, but up here.

So they retold the story, similar to what Muslims do when it comes to Abraham and Ishmael. Here's what I want to really get to. Jesus had to go there. Come on, boys, we're going to Samaria. Why? I got to go there.

No, you don't. I got to. There's a woman I got to meet. You can meet her too. And so by a well, he spoke to her and got very personal into her life. But by the end of it, not only does she believe, but many, it says, of the Samaritans believed in his name. And they had heard the gospel through Jesus being there. Now, Philip gets the idea, hey, I think I'm going to go where Jesus went. He did that. And there were people who believed in him. I'm going to go back and preach the gospel up there. So he does, very successfully. He preaches the gospel, multitudes, verse six, with one accord.

This is amazing. He did listen to the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles, which he did. For unclean spirits cried out with loud voice came out of many who were possessed, many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

This is pretty amazing for the, let's call him the church janitor in Jerusalem to become this mighty miracle working articulate preacher sent out on a mission with incredible results. Now, there's a principle. And the principle is that of faithfulness. Jesus talked about being faithful in little. If you're faithful in little, you'll be entrusted with much and you'll be faithful with much because you're tested on the little. Some people fail right here.

Oh, no, no, no, no. I can't do the little stuff. God has called me to bigger things. And God never will call you to bigger things unless you're faithful with the small thing.

That's his principle. You start small. You work your way through it. And you let the Lord humble yourself before the mighty hand of God. In due time, he will raise you up. So that's the story of Philip. He humbled himself. The Lord used him many years ago.

And since the passage of time has gone, nobody will remember. But many, many, many years ago, not in this building, not in the other, but in previous buildings, I had a worship leader here for a very short time. I was straightening chairs in the sanctuary one day and making sure they were fitted together right. And I asked him to come and help me. And, you know, he kind of hesitated like, I don't know if I know how to do that. Like, it takes skill.

But I said, I'll show you how. This is how we do it. And so he started working with me for a couple of rows. But then he walked away.

And at the end of the day, he goes, you know what? I didn't come here for this. God didn't call me to this. God called me to, you know, do this. God called me to do great things. I said, I think you could actually put a period just God didn't call me here, period. I don't think God called you here.

Because part of the ministry is doing what I'm doing right here to straighten in those chairs. And, you know, in the book of Zechariah, so the long story short is he, that was his last day. I wanted him to go where God felt, I didn't want to hinder him to do the small things that he wouldn't call me to.

God forbid that I would stand in his way. So in the book of Zechariah, the people have been back building that temple I told you about down south in Jerusalem. They were discouraged.

And it was off to a poor start. Zerubbabel, the governor, laid the foundation, but it kind of looked meager and meek. And even when it was done, some of the people who remember the previous temple, they wailed and cried, it didn't look as good as the old one.

Other people were rejoicing, so it was just a cacophony of confusion emotionally. So the Lord gave a vision to Zechariah the prophet in chapter four. And he sees a menorah, a seven branch golden candlestick in this vision. And above it, he sees this vessel, this pot of oil, and seven pipes going to this lampstand, the menorah, sort of like an automated menorah.

It was automatic. It would go into the pipes filling up the menorah that the priest would usually have to do once a day, but it was just filling it, keeping it going, keeping it supplied so that it could stay lit. This is all a vision he had. Next to that vessel with the oil, there were two olive trees. So you have a direct feed of olive from the tree, even though you have to go through a process of breaking down the olive typically in this vision. You know how visions and dreams are.

They don't always make sense. So there's two olive trees supplying the vessel with the pipe supplying the menorah so it stays refreshed. And so the Lord said, do you know what you're looking at, Zechariah? And he's like a typical prophet, like, uh, no. He's saying, you are seeing this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, that it's not by might, it's not by power, it's by my spirit, says the Lord. Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this temple and he's going to finish the temple.

His own hands that laid the foundations are going to finish it. And then the Lord says, don't despise the day of small things. It looks meager to you now. It looks so small. It looks so little. Just hang in there.

One stone on another. It'll finish. It'll go.

It'll be successful. And I love that story. And I think of guys like Philip. I said, yeah, I'll serve tables. I'm not too good for that. I want to serve.

I want to get my hands dirty. And that's what God called him to do that day. But on this day he went to Samaria and the Lord, the same spirit, they gave him the gift to serve the body of Christ in those little capacities now adds to it.

And look at verse eight. And there was great joy in that city. That is always the result of the gospel. Great joy. We've been talking about joy.

Sunday on weekends, Sundays and Saturdays. The epistle of joy. God is not a kill joy. God is the king of joy. He's the giver of joy. When you come to know him, if you walk with him, your life should have joy.

Doesn't mean you'll always be happy at the way things are turning out. But no matter what's going on, even with physical ailments, even with the loss of employment, even with difficulties relationally, you can have, it is possible to have the joy of the Lord as your strength. There was great joy in that city. But now you know the story is going to go a little south when you read that word after what you just read.

People came to Christ, joy in the city. But there was a certain man. There always is a certain man. Every generation, some guy, there's some gal or somebody.

It's going to do something to kind of mess it up. Am I right? So God's moving, but there's this guy. Every church has them.

Every movement has them. Every period of church history has a certain man. Now, you see this word, but because introduced a contrast, you go from a powerful preacher to this false practitioner named Simon Magus.

That's how he is. He's typically known, Simon Magus, Simon the magician or the sorcerer of the city of Samaria. But there was a certain man called Simon who previously practiced sorcery, magic in the city and astonished the people of Samaria claiming that he was someone great, whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest saying, is the great power of God. And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. This guy is an occultist.

He's practicing sorcery, an ancient form of magic, a very primitive science, along with astrology, what they would have called astronomy, but it was astrological nonsense, reading clouds, reading entrails of animals. But obviously something worked because there was a release of power, even though it was from the dark side, from the evil side, there was power. Things happened. Miracles happen, and that shouldn't surprise you.

2 Corinthians says concerning Satan, he can transform himself into an angel of light. It should be no wonder to us that his ministers can transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. They all look good.

They all sound good. They're doing amazing things. Listen closer. In fact, listen to what is said to the preachers on TV. Listen to the doctrine.

Listen very closely and carefully. They said this man is the great power of God. Now let me tell you a little bit about Simon Magus, this guy, because you may have never heard of him except here. Church history actually writes about him. A guy by the name, second century guy by the name of Justin Martyr, who happened to be from Samaria actually, said that Simon Magus was considered to be a god not only by people in this region, but even some in Rome worshipped him as one of their deities and that there was a statue in honor to Simon Magus in the city of Rome, that his influence had gone that far. Church history said it was Simon Magus who developed a doctrine called Gnosticism, that he was the founder, you church history buffs, of Gnosticism. That was later on developed by Syrenthus and others, but that it began, its nascency began with him.

So just a little backfill on that. In the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed.

Before you get your hopes up, go, oh, awesome, because that's what we do. When we hear somebody famous, some rock star, some actor who just drops God in a sentence, we go, oh, he's saved, even if they say they believe in God. So it says he believed, but watch. He was amazed seeing the miracles and the signs which were done. Now, we're going to be questioning his salvation by the end of this chapter because of the things that the apostles will say to him. But he's amazed seeing the miracles and the signs that were done.

Look at Herod's. His church isn't growing. His group is dwindling.

People aren't looking to him anymore. They're looking to Philip with this new message of the gospel. So he comes along and he looks and he's amazed also at the miracles, genuine miracles, not sorcery, genuine healing miracles.

He's getting a little jealous because his business has been dropping off. He says miracles, but in the miracles of God. It's the miracles.

It's the signs. It's not God. This is not different from Acts 2 where it says when Jesus goes to Jerusalem, Acts 2, the end of the chapter, and many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did, but Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. And he had no need that anyone testify of man for he knew what was in man. He could tell true faith from shallow faith.

I think Simon Magus has this shallow faith. Prequel to the book of Acts, our three part series on the Holy Spirit. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

So it's time for follow up. The crusade has been very effective. A lot of people have come to make decisions to follow Christ. But, you know, a deacon did this. So let's send out the big guns, the apostolic big guns, Peter and John, kind of validate this.

Give it the sanction. So they left Jerusalem. They go up to check it out. And when they come to Samaria, these two apostles start praying for them in favor of them that they might be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now, here's why I'm smiling. Remember the disciple of Luke? It came to pass when the time had come for him, Jesus, to be received up that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his face. And they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. But they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. Remember the animosity that's been going on.

So John was there, same John, who's with Peter in Acts, saw this. They said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Just as Elijah did. So they've gone, they've gone nuclear.

They're ready to push the red button. He turned and said, rebuked them and said, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And so they went to another village.

Isn't that amazing? The apostles who were praying fire come down from heaven are now praying that they would be filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. They once wanted them scorched. Now they want them saved.

Very different and humorous because at one time they thought, I think it'd be good just to wipe them off the face of the earth. Don't you, Jesus? Isn't that in your heart of love to do? Oh, no. Okay, we'll just go on.

Then I guess. So I wanted to bring that to your attention because here's the deal. Aren't you glad for second chances? You blew it the first time. You come back the second time and say, oh, thank you, Lord. I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't honor my prayer when I said, kill them all.

I love it. Second chances. Find the full message as well as books, booklets and full teaching series at connect with Skip dot com. Now we want to tell you about a resource that gives you a glimpse into those who have sacrificed their life for the sake of the gospel. Today's modern martyrs actions mirror the courage of a long line of brave Christians. And as believers, it's important that we know the heroic sacrifice of those who gave it all for the Christian faith so that we, too, can boldly stand for Christ. But most of these modern stories are only a matter of time.

Today's modern stories are unknown. We want to help encourage and strengthen you with the stories of those who paid the ultimate price to share their faith so you can hold fast to the truth by sending you a copy of the new book of Christian martyrs in this update to Fox's Book of Martyrs. Johnny Moore and Jerry Paton Gale highlight key martyrs of past centuries and feature stories of contemporary martyrs around the world. You'll be encouraged and inspired as you discover that men and women are still standing firm for the truth. The new book of Christian martyrs is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to keep messages like this one today on the air for you and others equipping you to know God's word and follow his will.

Call 800-922-1888 or give securely online and connect with Skip dot com slash offer. Tune in tomorrow as Skip shows you the difference between religion and the gospel. Religion always leaves you empty. You're going to see he's empty and his heart's going to be filled because he's going to hear the gospel. But religion always leaves you empty. It might be beautiful, it might have ornate practices and traditions and songs that make you feel good, but at the heart religion doesn't satisfy anybody. And he's returning, having converted to Judaism, having relinquished the foreign gods of Ethiopia, he would have to do that to be a Jewish proselyte.

But he's coming back, something's not settled. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-07-24 05:52:45 / 2024-07-24 06:01:30 / 9

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