focus on this. Acts chapter 8. Acts 8. We ended, we did all act seven and one last week. We're not gonna do that this week, so take a breath. It's gonna be a little easier, but I thought it was important to get that all in at once. We can go back and we can be mind in depth there for a while, but I'll let you kind of dig into some of those things. But if you have questions about it, you can ask me as well. But it ends with the martyrdom of Stephen being killed. And we see also this character who shows up primarily from the rest of the book, Saul. Saul was there, he was consenting, he was taking the coats, he was a big part of this. We know that one of the synagogues that Stephen had been witnessing to was one of the ones that kind of made the big stink to bring him before this council to get him then killed. Saul, and we have to, if we're gonna go through this chronologically, which we are, you know, so we're in chapter eight now, we need to see him as a, He's the villain here. He is outright the villain. He is terrified. And we need to have that mindset as we go through the book of Acts to see the change and appreciate it, and also to see the hesitancy that the church has when we're like, hey, Saul's coming. We're like, yeah, we've heard of that guy. And so right now, he's the villain. But God uses Saul even as a villain, as we'll see at the very outset here. So look at verse one, chapter eight. And Saul, which is kind of interesting, there's a lot of chapters in Acts that begin with and, and so and so, and Saul, and the timing was, and Saul I think comes again at the next chapter. It starts with that kind of conjoining thing telling us this is chronological. And Saul was consenting unto his death, because it goes with chapter seven. And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And so, things were scattered abroad, and that brings up some interesting points. And so, before we digest it, I wanna put it in the context of Acts chapter one. Let's look back at Acts chapter one. Because this is a major pivotal transition text in the book of Acts. Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Jesus Christ right before he ascends the last words that he says he says but ye Acts 1 verse 8 but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto both Unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth and so a lot of this has already happened They've got power We've seen it. Stephen had power. He was doing miracles. The apostles had power. They've healed people to the point where people are like, maybe even if their shadow gets us, you know, they're lining up in the street. The Holy Ghost has come. That happened in chapter two. You know, Pentecost comes down upon them. They are filled with the Spirit. They've been a witness. That's what the chapters have been about so far. Peter's witness a couple of times. We've had Stephen's witness. You know, we've had all these witnesses. So, witnessing is being done. They've gone through Jerusalem, they've been in that area, they've turned it upside down. People in Jerusalem know about it because they've added to 3,000, up to 25,000 was the last count that we haven't estimated of and so it's beginning to grow more and more exponentially as people know. But they haven't taken it to Judea yet. It's not gone to Samaria yet. It's not gone to the uttermost parts of the earth yet. chapter 8 changes all that. This is when things begin to transition. So why haven't they done that? Why haven't they taken it and gone out? And one, it's early. And two, I think, I think because the teaching was good. You have, they've just had a lot of things that they have wondered about being answered. You know, the scriptures being explained. you have the apostles right that so they are teaching in chapter six they said uh you had all the uproar about you know hey you're not feeding us and you're feeding them and those things they're like our job needs to be dedicated to interpreting the scriptures and and for prayer and so that's when they have deacons come in to help them and and and take some of the work off them and so they've been reading they've been studying they've been teaching and it must be some fire preaching as they're going because the deacons are on fire and they're going around stirring up Stephen we hear about him and who he is and what's going on and so these deacons have got the teaching and they are stirring up Jerusalem it makes a stink to the point where Stephen gets killed you know because he is taking these messages he goes let me tell you and then he is there among the religious leaders of Israel and they can't answer him and they're saying he has the face of an angel and man he's got answers that we've never had before and they could not refute what he is saying he is taking it over and he is going through and he gives them this overview of the Old Testament showing them who they are how they are what they have done the pattern of leadership in Israel from All the way back to Abraham up how they were they missed God's call. They wouldn't get it. They didn't see it They were stubborn how they opposed God's message anytime it was given. They always opposed it the first time they killed God's prophet Which among you which of God's prophet did you not persecute? Did you not kill when they came and spoken to you? That's kind of some of the last words He said as they said Oh like you and they took up rocks and they stoned him and You know, so they're continuing on. And he puts it right upon them. He says, and when God sends his son Jesus here, you oppose him. You crucified him. You did it. You're just like the fathers. You always get it wrong the first time. The second time you get it right. Repent and get it right now. But they don't. They harden their heart and they kill him. This teaching is so powerful that it says many priests begin to convert. So the top elite, as far as the one who dealt with God's word and dealt in God's house, were converted and turned over to this. And so, leadership goes, so goes everyone else. So they begin to believe, and as word goes forth, that the priests are doing it, the priests aren't serving in the temple anymore, and they're out preaching this Jesus, there's something to it. And so, Jerusalem is on fire for God. Plus what else is going on? You have these guys on fire for God who have a great teaching from God, who's expanding on the scriptures, saying these things have been fulfilled in your lifetime, you just missed it. That guy Jesus you were all wondering about, who is this? He must be from God, right? Now you've got scriptural answers that they're proclaiming to you that he is, even to the priesthood coming. Now these guys are backing it up and God's power is upon them because they are showing signs and wonders and miracles themselves. We're gonna see that the people that were demon possessed that gets cast out of them the lame are walking you know that they're able to do these things and so they have this great power that comes upon them because the holy spirit's upon them because jesus christ is validating them saying listen to their message it's my message it's confirming it and we need it early on until they get it all written down here now i'm not a total sensationist i think god still performs and does supernatural things but not through men as an appointed office like it was with the apostles as they verified it and so the lessons from the scripture were being open. God was moving. Pentecost power happened in Jerusalem. Did you hear the sound? They probably had that dinner that night. Did you hear that big sound? Yeah, I went down and these guys were all speaking in everyone's own native language. And the thing, it sounded like a hurricane, you know, and they heard it and they're like, so why would people leave? Why would they want to go? Things are happening in Jerusalem. Miracles are being done. You know, you could be a part of it. And so they didn't want to miss out. They wanted to learn. They were all kind of being like Mary, wanting to sit at Jesus' feet because the teaching was so rich and so ripe. But at this time, it's time to move on and start being a Martha. It's time for you to start doing some work. It's time for you to pick up the grit and get busy, you know, to get going and get going after it. And so, enter the villain, Saul. Saul comes. Saul is a zealous person. We know that, it continues over when he becomes Paul. He is a Pharisee. As a matter of fact, he says he is a Pharisee of Pharisees. He goes, oh, you think you know a Pharisee? I'm a Pharisee of Pharisees. I am pharisaical more than other. I studied under Gamaliel, and Gamaliel is the one that told him not to kill the disciples, right? He's like, let's use some sense here. Let's see if this burns out or not. You know, we've had other guys that have been upstarts, but if this is real, you're opposing God. And if this is real, it's gonna continue on, and you couldn't stop it anyway. So Paul's heard that, you know, or Saul, excuse me, I'm probably gonna make that mistake a thousand times. But Saul's heard that. Saul, being a Pharisee, believes in the supernatural. So he believes in the resurrection. He believes in angels. He believes in miracles and that God does them. This is what they held to versus the Sadducees who didn't. But the Sadducees are the one who are politically in power. They're the high priest's office. They're the ones that are leader of the Sanhedrin right now, the ones who don't believe in this. And this is why they're so opposed to it because there can't be a resurrection. That makes us wrong. And no one wants to be wrong. And you'll fight to your death to prove that you're right. That's my wife, she'll say I'll do that. But, you know, if you have a conviction, you have a conviction. And so, Stephen has just taught an excellent message. I mean, it's one that people still go through, like I say, and there's depths to mine. And I'm imagining Saul as he is there, and he hears this message, he's gotta be a little conflicted. That makes sense. That seems logical. But it can't be right, because this is what I've been taught, and my teacher has taught me, and this has to be that way. And yet, he's trying to align his thoughts with what he thinks is right, and he's trying to deal with what Stephen has said, and God uses this zeal, his frustration and his anger, and this change that is going on that he's not accepting and he uses it to drive the church out of Jerusalem into Judea and into Samaria and eventually into the outermost parts of the earth because he becomes a man on a mission to try to go off from. And so he needs to drive them out away from the teaching, away from the signs and the miracles and the wonders. Those are still gonna happen and things are gonna go on. But he's saying, you might miss some of it. Talk about it in eternity. People need the gospel. Will you take it and share it out there and put people like the teaching are so good. I need to do, I need to be studied. I need to learn just one more thing. God's like, you've learned it. You know the gospel. You know what salvation is. You know who my savior is. Take it to them. We can grow from this. You'll learn it. Letters will be written. The Bible will be written. The New Testament will be there. Learn as you go. Learn as it is going this way. You have the foundation of what it is. Go out and teach. Start teaching the Sunday school class. Serve as a teacher. Volunteer to help. You might miss a message here and there. You could pick it up online later. They didn't have that then. We have that now, but that's why we need Christian servants. You know, people who've like, okay, I know it. I need to go and serve. I need to teach. I need to step up. You might miss something that everybody else is doing for a minute. But man, you'll gain all the benefits and the reward of studying, preparing a lesson, interceding on behalf of young ones, teaching and instructing someone else. There's benefits to all that that you can't get sitting in a pew as well. So God's like, I want your blessings to grow as well, so serve it that way. So it applies in the modern day church and it applies in that church. There's a time when you've learned, there's a time when you take it out as well. There's a place for service. And so Acts 1, he's saying, this is where the persecution comes to push them and drive them out. And if you'll notice, it even says there at the end, that they went to the regions of Judea and Samaria. Except the apostles, they stayed local at Jerusalem at the teaching hub. They were still there, they were disseminating the information. I think as people, maybe new converts came, they might have more people come and learn that teaching and see and hear from an actual apostle. That would be hard to ever stop, that, until they all get persecuted and killed. But they would come to see them when John ends up matter of fact we are going to have the last mention of John in the book of Acts. We have his writings but the last time he is mentioned is in this account but we know he ends up in Ephesus as a teacher there but people would come and hear from him, the old man in the face, the last apostle and that is why he calls them his little children in that way. But Judea is this area that kind of surrounds Jerusalem and so They were just staying inside, so God's like, I'm gonna have to force you outside a little bit. Samaria was the north of Jerusalem, and we've heard enough about Samarians, you know, that they're so opposed to them that Jesus uses the good Samaritan to really, as a shock value, you know, it's like, oh, you know, the priest didn't do anything, you know, the Jewish people didn't do anything, but man, the Samaritan was the good one, and who did it? That was a shocking story unto them, because they were hated. So persecution from Saul, this villain that enters on the scene, drives them from the comfortable into the uncomfortable, but the whole way they're preaching the gospel. They are proclaiming it. Today is October 2nd, if you haven't set your calendar yet. We switched from September. Yeah, it's going fast. But we're in October 2nd. The dock workers are on strike. If you haven't heard that yet, I saw the longest lines they said they've ever seen in Costco's where people are like, we got to get it now because they ain't nothing new coming in, which is probably not a bad idea. But if you need something, they're saying meds, foods, that's going to affect farmers because our docks is where we ship food out. So it's right in harvest time. Kokomo grains, we're going to store it outside and it's going to be the biggest pile that we lose so much. rain and rodents. It's a bad time for these guys. They just want a 77% wage increase. That seems fair and just. We talked about some of these things. Iran has attacked Israel again. That never happened before. It's happened twice this year. This is like prophetic Bible stuff when you start having Persia, Iran attacking Israel. This is front page of the end times, you know, is this starting some of these things that we've talked about forever, now it's happened, happened twice. Israel has responded lightly today, they bombed some things in Beirut, at least the last time I checked. We are coming up on the anniversary of October 7th, when Israel was attacked out of the blue, so that's only five days away. A lot of people are thinking, It's probably time for another attack or another retaliation or something big is going on and if you haven't seen the news with the headlines saying is this World War III? Will this start World War III yet? You're not paying attention because a lot of the world is thinking is this going to start World War III? Rosh Hashanah ended today a Jewish holiday. That's probably why we had some of these attacks when the Jews don't travel as much or do as much because they are restricted by their festivals. But that ended today, that was the Jewish New Year. It's also the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve. And so if you ever wonder why you love fall, it's probably because it's your birthday as a human being. It's like, oh, I like fall. Yeah, it's a nice time. It's like, no, we were, at least the Jews say this was the time when Adam and Eve were created. And so maybe there's why we have that little special glimmer in our eye for fall, more than just pumpkin spice, right? But I think that's why we love it so much. Yom Kippur. Starts Friday, October the 11th. We're hitting a season of a lot of things all at once That is their highest holy day is the Day of Atonement It's the highest day on the Jewish calendar. It's where they seek forgiveness from God and they seek to be closer to God Christ has satisfied all this. These things aren't needed or necessary anymore. Now they are a picture and they are a type, but as Israel as a nation is beginning to come back awake religiously, these are days that are meaning something more to them. As the red heifers, I watched a video the other day of a guy who went and showed the red heifers, and they're like, when are you gonna sacrifice these? And they're like, any day. Any day. And so, if you think, well, October 7th happened because they had red cows. We think if they go and actually sacrifice one, things will pop off even more? Yeah. Sukkot, or that is the Feast of Booths, is October 16th through the 23rd. We're going to celebrate October the 18th here at the church. It commemorates God's sheltering us during our wandering. Is the dock workers the October surprise? I just came out with a thing kind of showing you some of these things we expect. Is that an October surprise? Will there be a false flag that happens? A black swan event? A lot of people are saying probably, you know, because this is a election year and it's election year where things aren't going so well for this power that's in control. And so we just don't know. But the trouble is, it's trouble. We have natural disasters that are going on right now, where a lot of people, I was watching the footage as they were going down, I think it was Asheville, and you're seeing like a Moe's, and then a Japanese place, and another thing, and all these restaurants all just taken out, and it's like two people walking around this busy town, everybody else is just gone. And I was thinking, man, what's it gonna be like when it's the tribulation, and that's kind of devastation that's global, when roads are gone, and you can't get in and out, and you're trapped in this one little area, you can't go, and there's no one to call for help, and it's going to be that way where every island is moving out of its place? How bad is that gonna be? I mean, I think a fourth of the population die within the first few weeks of this time of peace in the tribulation, and so it's crazy. And so if it's troubling, it's troubling for a lot of people. A lot of people begin to become sensitive, begin to pick up on it. So maybe sometimes trouble comes, and it's not, the trigger for the rapture. It's not a trigger for Gog and Magog war. It's not the Ezekiel 38 battle or the Psalm 83 battle. Maybe sometimes there is just trouble for trouble, right? We've had wars and rumors and rumors are there. But God works on multiple levels. Maybe it's something, if it's not any of these it could still be one of these. We don't know quite yet how that might happen. This last missile attack it didn't injure any Israeli it only injured a Palestinian. If you haven't seen that video literally the back of a rocket falls on one Palestinian guy and smashes him. I just happened to see that the other day. And so they only killed one Palestinian, and the rest of them, a lot of them didn't go off, and you just see fins sticking out of the ground, which is part of what Gog and Magog War will be, where there'll be an attack on Israel where none of the Jews are hurt, but it's so miraculous that it wakes up the world, and if I told you something you hadn't heard before, it wasn't that, because we'd all be like, I can't believe there's any of them alive, and I didn't get any of them. It's gonna be fantastic, fantastic, but we get a little piece. But if it isn't any of those, maybe it's something troubling to get you and me moving. to make us active, to get us to speak up. Maybe it's the veiling of our days for our mouths to speak and say, hey, have you thought about the end of the world? Are you prepared to meet Christ? What if Christ came back right now? What if you're like that guy and that rocket fell on you? He's looking at his phone, wha, it smashes him. It's like he had no preparation. We don't know what's going to happen. Maybe it's to drive us from our comfort zone to go out and to proclaim the truth like the villain of Saul did, to get them out of Jerusalem, out of the little comfort zone, to speaking and talking about things out and about in their Jerusalem, their Judea, their Samaria, the outermost parts of the earth, to spread the gospel, to open lost eyes and ears to spiritual things like never before because people are waking up People are beginning to see, and they're gonna be looking for answers, and we have the answers, and we should be able to point them to it. So God works on multiple angles on everything, even in these things, and so that's why we're not desperate, because we know God has a plan and a purpose, and some of this might be to drive us. But sometimes, of course, we can't personally go to the Carolinas or whatever, but I've changed, like when I pray now, for anybody, in anything like this for their needs, for their, you know, the disaster victims, whatever, aside from just praying that they get through that or whatever, I pray that they will draw near to Him, you know, and if I can't be there, send somebody else. And if that goes for Christians and non-Christians alike, because Christians have, many have drifted away, you know, and I just pray that whatever happens out there, that it will be, you know, a segue into coming to God. Yeah, praying for revival. Praying to wake things up. Something that God's doing these things. And everything he's doing is to draw men unto himself. And so yeah, so exactly. So I think God's working. So I just thought it was pretty good timing to listen. I'm like, well, when bad things are happening, why? It's like, maybe it's sometimes just to wake us up and to be ready with an answer for the reason, the hope that lies within us. Let's get past one verse. Verse two. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentations over him. That's grief. They just had a lot of grief. And so he's buried and that's typically how Christians go. I've heard people make a whole message out of that. Versus cremation. God's able to do what he does, but he's buried. Verse three, it says, and as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women committed, and committed them to prison. And so Saul makes havoc. You know, we don't talk about that very often, but havoc means to ravage, to devastate, to ruin. He goes into the church to try to destroy it. He goes into everybody's houses of house churches were meeting, which was all they had back then. He would try to find them and worship him and arrest them and take them together, whether it be men in the head of the house or whether it be women. He did not care. He would take them and arrest them. What about the kids? He goes, I don't care about the kids. I'm doing this. I'm zealous for the law. And so he's trying to do it. He goes into every house and he throws them into jail. And so, yeah, that makes you troubled. And so if you are in have this kind of trouble coming, and you know, and you hear he's in the area, and the warnings go out, Saul's on the block, you know, what's gonna happen? You either sit still, and you get arrested, and you go to jail, and you try to testify, and you try to witness to him through it, and sometimes people, God calls people for that, to be a witness through all that experience, and to be a witness in the jail. Or sometimes he says, get up and go. And a lot of what he was doing for the church here was get up and go, and they would go, and they'd flee to Samaria, and the whole time they would take the gospel, look at four. Verse four, therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word because they weren't doubting. Oh God, why did you do this? They weren't crying about it. They were saying God is using this. Maybe they have that same inclination. We're supposed to be taking this to Judea and Samaria anyway. But they went because they were Christians and they talked about what was important to them, Christ. And they would preach and they were telling everyone, he is the Messiah. You can't believe the things we'd seen in Jerusalem. And they were telling people about the way that they could have salvation. And they shared it because that's the good news that they had. Hey, what do you know? What's the news from Jerusalem? Christ is risen, he is risen indeed. And they would share it. He was dead and he's alive. I've seen lame people walk. I've seen the disciples do things. I've seen priests convert over. I repent and trust him today. And so then we zoom in in the last 10 minutes to a recently appointed deacon. as in two chapters ago. And apparently it's a dangerous job because right now the leader of those deacons is already dead. They've killed him for preaching. But verse five. says, then Philip, he was the number two, this isn't the disciple or the apostle Philip, this is the deacon Philip that we learned about in chapter six. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Apparently it was pretty bad that the local church where the apostles still stayed, that one of the seven deacons that they had appointed to help care for the church, he's in Samaria. It's kind of like, oh, everybody else is going, a lot of the church has just left and went there. He goes with them and he teaches and he begins to preach in Samaria. Again, we know Samaria is a place that Jews avoided. They hated Gentiles. They hated Samaritans even more. As a matter of fact, the Samaritans were seen as the worst humans in the human race according to them. Samaria was in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, so that northern part tribe. We got used to his name being spoken We were going through the book of Hosea because he came from just even talking about them as a region to start using their personal name You know, not just the northern tribes the house of Israel, but he started using a personal name Oh house of Ephraim Oh Ephraim as he was pleading with them, but they wouldn't listen they got into idolatry and so they get carried away into Babylon long before Judah does and so they get carried away into Babylon and they never return and the majority of them, a few Jews or remnants left behind and those Jews that escaped and were left behind in that area, they married the Assyrians that came down and the idolaters and the lands all around them and they became a mixed people. That mixed people became known as the Samaritans and so they were no longer just Jews, they were Jews mixed with idolatrous nations that became known as the Samaritans and this is why they are despised. They were famous for when they came back from Babylon, they were building the wall, you know, in troublous times with a trowel and one hand and a sword and the other. The Samaritans were the one to come down and attack them. That's why they're like, hey, we're trying to build back the wall. You're kind of a half brother and you're attacking us while we're trying to do it. That didn't win them any favor points. People hated them all the more for that. They built a temple on Mount Girgashim and they said that Moses had told them to do that. That's who the Samaritan woman or what Samaritan woman is talking about at the well, the woman at the well. And when she gets there and Jesus is like, yo, give me some water. And she's like, I'm a Samaritan. Why are you talking to me? And he's like, well, if you knew who I was, you'd be asking me about important things. I'm Messiah. And she's like, well, yeah, I'm your Messiah. Which mountain should we worship on? Our people say Mount Gergashem. You say Mount Zion and this way. So she starts asking about that. And so they had this other place where they worship because their leaders told them so. They said Moses told them to do it. Santa Blatt was the leader. There's a name for you on your baby book, Santa Blatt. He was their leader and he made his son-in-law a priest. That's kind of convenient. And so he makes him the priest of this whole religion. Samaria was also a refuge for the Jewish criminals. It was a sanctuary city where if you were a criminal and you were in trouble in Israel where you violated Jewish law or you were excommunicated, you were welcome there with open arms. They would take in All of them that way, and they were then seen as a dregs of society that took in the criminals that Israel was trying to teach, through the importance of the law, that they would run there and hide out. So this sanctuary city. And they only acknowledged the first five books of the Bible, and they rejected all the other prophets. And so they were despised as companions to evil people, and idolatrous, and a refuge for evil, which they kind of were. But they were part Jewish. And so, because you had Jerusalem, and you had Judea, and then the upper area was Samaria. And so, Jesus is like, make sure you take the gospel to them. And so they do. And then it goes to the outermost parts of the earth. Before we get done with chapter eight, which won't be tonight, we'll have the Ethiopian eunuch, which represents the outermost parts of the earth. So we kind of get all three within this one section of scripture as it transitions over. And then we spend the rest of the book taking it to the outermost parts of the earth. It even gets to the shores of America, where it comes to Trafalgar, Indiana, which is pretty cool. And so it's all type there. Verse five. And so then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and he preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. So again, this is another deacon who's able to perform some miracles because the power of the Holy Spirit is upon him like no other. Verse seven. Validating his message for unclean spirits carrying out or crying with loud voices came out of many and were possessed With them and many taken with palsies and that were lame and were healed and there was a great joy in the city And so pretty cool. You know as it comes in the good news of the gospel is coming is received and A Jewish guy is actually preaching the gospel there and the woman had already kind of laid down some some ground rules remember at the when they were At the well, and they were asking him when they get back the disciples get back and Jesus is all energized They're like did you guys give him food? What happened? And he seems so energized now. We didn't even give him any water. And he's like, but the fields are white and ready to harvest. So this woman had gone into town and started bringing all the other Samaritans out to say, I want you to introduce you to a man who's told me everything I've ever done. You know, because he mentioned about his wives. And so there's already kind of been some groundwork laid by Jesus. And so Philip comes, backs it up with signs and wonders, showing that he's specifically associated with him. Verse nine, but there's little problems. But then there was a certain man named Simon which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria and giving out of himself that he was some great one to whom they all gave heed and at least from the least to the greatest saying that this man had some great power of God. And to him they had regard because of the long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. And so this guy came and he would try to pass himself off as a prophet. He did parlor tricks. He did things that could be bought and taught, you know, that he would go around and do it. But he would do things that, a lot of times it was with magic and stuff that comes that people will finally, most of the population will get and understand. But at first when it's introduced, it seems like magic. There was one magician that used a television because he's like, I can make a picture on screen. Everybody's like, what? You know, if you've never seen it before, it's pretty incredible. Or you know, talking on the phone was a crazy thing to send a message through a room on a wire. I mean, matter of fact, writing would seem like magic to Indians because the guys were like, you can write on a, they call it talking leaves, you can write on a piece of paper and this guy's gonna understand you. They're like, nah-uh. And then they would write words down and the guy would like tap his head and do whatever. And the Indians would be like, that's crazy. It's crazy. And so it seems like magic at first. So this guy would do stuff and make it seem like sparks were coming out of his hands or he'd do all kinds of whatever tricks and make them seem like they were so miraculous. And they would believe. But then he sees the real power of God, verse 12. It says, but when they believed, Philip, preaching these things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. And Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. And so he follows and he's even zealous enough that he is curious about what Philip is doing and how are you doing this? And he's like, what's the trick? Philip's like, it's not a trick. I'm not doing any trick, this is real power of God. But he's curious about it. Verse 14, now when the apostles which were in Jerusalem heard that Samaritans had received the word of God, they sent it to them Peter and John, get the big heavy hitters, get Peter and John, let's send them down there, and they'll kind of verify it. So this is kind of how it's working out from around Jerusalem as it's going out to Samaria. Verse 15, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost, for as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they that were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And so the Holy Spirit hadn't come on them yet, and a lot of people are curious why. Why didn't the Holy Spirit come on them? Because the Bible tells us if you repent of your sins and you trust in Jesus Christ, your Savior, you're infilled with the Holy Spirit. It's instant. There's no second infilling. There's nothing else that happened. There's no laying of hands that needed. You know, they try to use these texts to say that. But it's a gift of God that is given to us, the Holy Spirit that he'd promised in chapter one. So we have all those things being fulfilled as well. But as I took the time to explain who the Samaritans were, there's always been a lot of animosity. There's always been a lot of strife. And because Philip was not an apostle, and because Philip was just a deacon who went out there, And if they began to believe and this whole thing kind of blows up in Samaria and they begin to start their own church, they already had the tendency to start their own temple. They built their own mountain, they did their own thing, and they were separated from the Jews, and God didn't want that. God's like, no, I don't have two churches. I don't have four churches. I have one church. I have the church of believing saints around the world gathered around. Unfortunately, it's called the Catholic Church. I mean, in the sense that that means a church universal. It has been perverted in our day to mean a specific religion. But the universal term is that, that it's one body of Christ around the world. So we'll say the church universal as one body of Christ. But we was afraid that they would be separated, they would not be connected, that the Jews wouldn't receive them and they wouldn't receive the Jews. And so they needed some kind of sign to show that The association from the apostles, the ones that were directly taught from Jesus Christ, are saying, yes, this is the same church. This is the same people. They believe the same, the same gospel. They are trusting in him. And so that the church in Jerusalem and the church around the world would be excited under this one thing. And so one church, not many. And so this is a visible sign given by the apostles saying, see, the Holy Spirit is being spread. Because this is just the ones that are in between. Let alone as Gentiles begin getting added on later, they have a whole other council. Are they true? Do they have to become You know, Jews first and all that. We've seen some of that in Galatians and other books. And so it's the confirming power. Verse 17. It says, then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that, through the laying on the apostles' hands and the Holy Ghost was given, that's key, it was given, it is a gift. The Holy Spirit is a gift given freely by Jesus Christ. None of that deserve it. That's what the grace is. It's not something you earn. It's not something you deserve. It's not something that you buy. It's not something that can be bought. It is given. He says, but he offers them money. He's like, oh, I want that power. I'll give you money. That's how magic works. That's how tricks work. That's how it is. You give someone money, they tell you the secret to the trick. Now you can do the trick and you can make a living. He wants to buy it. He wants the power. But it's a gift that cannot be bought. It is a gift that is given. And trying to buy it today is still called, we have a whole term for it, called simony. It's buying the power of position that can be used that way, just even in government. If you just buy a power, if you use it by money, you buy power and position, it's called simony. But more specifically, if you're using a sacred position to garner wealth, by purchasing it, that's simony. So using religion for power and for profit is called simony to this day because of this text. So verse 20. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. So a lot of people wrestle with simony. Did he believe? He believed and he was baptized. Isn't everybody who believes and is baptized born again? But Peter sees something, I think he's equipped here, verse 21. It says, thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this, thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps that thought of thine heart might be forgiven of thee. For I perceive that thou art in gall and in bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And so Peter lays it on, he's like, you're not born again. You don't have it, you can't have it, you're not gonna get it, because you're not right, you're trying to buy it, you're trying to purchase it, you're coming at this with the wrong angle all the way around. You're not right, you have a head knowledge, you might understand Jesus, you might understand, but you haven't accepted him as your Savior, you don't have any of that. Something a lot about Simon, verse 24. Then answered Simon, he said, pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. "'And they that had testified "'and preached the word of the Lord "'returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel "'in many villages of the Samaritans.'" And so he leaves it as a big I don't know, really. I mean, he asks, he says, Peter, would you please pray for me? I don't want any of that things, I don't want any of that to happen to me. Would you pray for me that that wouldn't be true? And so I wanna be optimistic more than pessimistic. And so I would tend to think, I would want to root for that He saw the error in his ways. He repents and he gets right. And this is Peter trying to say, the church isn't something that gets bought and sold. It's not something that you just give in for power's sake. It's not something for that. It's not to be used that way. And all these things in the book of Acts are being kind of stopped at the beginning because knowing that we're gonna be in 2024 and these problems are still gonna be here, but what does the church say? Or what does God's word say? God's word says, no, if we stop it, we don't do that. You don't just give someone his power right away. Like, oh, you've known for a week and now you're gonna be able to pass out the Holy Ghost like it's something. It's not laying on the hands anyway. Peter even tells them, it's not laying on the hands, it doesn't, it was a gift of God that did it. This was just a sign for everybody else to say that the church of Jerusalem acknowledges the church of Samaria and we are one in Christ, knowing that we are united in that. Some do, but some see this as a whole type of the antichrist, as a guy who comes playing the position. Oh, I believe, I believe, I'm with you, I'm baptized with you. I want this, but I also want the power and the position. They see it as that, it's like, oh, it makes you skeptical, makes you not know. And so many people will preach that. Yeah, and so I don't, they think that way, I don't know. Some of the early church fathers, like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, said that he was an antichrist. and that he continued in sorcery and that he founded Gnosticism which becomes a problem that gets addressed by a lot of the New Testament books and is still a problem today. Gnosticism is saying that You don't come to Christ by repenting of your sins and trusting in him. You have to be in that inner circle, and once you're in that inner circle, then things are opened up to you, and you now have learned the mystical, magical way you can really know the real Jesus Christ through 12 easy payments and four easy steps. We will show you how you can know who Jesus is, the Christ, and they sell it on TV all the time. special knowledge coming to me, I've given the word, I'll lay hands, have you been touched by me? Have you said the phrase the way in which I said it? Then you don't really have it yet. That's Gnosticism, it's simony, it's things that are wrong. So the mystical knowledge is a means of salvation. And so Gnosticism becomes a big problem. We know it's mostly the new age today as it takes that left turn that way. But we don't know. Some say the early church fathers there are wrong. Some say they're right. I don't know. I leave it in the Lord's hand for that. But many New Testament letters address it, and we don't know. But here's what we do know. You can't buy it. It is a gift of God. It is a gift of salvation that's given. It's not something you can lay hands on and do. We do lay hands on, and we do pray for one another, but it's more of a sign of fellowship and connection, the way Peter was saying. You're one of us. And it's not something that gives these other things, because that gets perverted and taken away. And then we'll pick up with the Ethiopian eunuch here next week. But pretty exciting chapter when things change around. And since we've got Ethiopian eunuch all for next week, we'll go down deep and stay down long on that. Why is he there? What was he doing? There's some interesting things that I think about that, that I don't know that everybody does, but I do. And so I'll show you about it. And so I think it's pretty interesting. So we'll take time to look at that. And that becomes then the type of preaching the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. I appreciate you being here, appreciate your prayer and your concern. Tim will put that on the band app and we'll have a connection there if you need to give anything. And when you help get that down there, I'm sure we can relate that as well. But do be praying for all those people in this harm's way. And then also be just, be sensitive that as these conversations and topics come up with the lost, that you use it as an opportunity to witness. Because God hasn't done this for naught. And so let's remember we seize upon it when people are thinking about these things deep and spiritually. Because I'm sure in North Carolina, they're kind of like this. Oh, a hurricane's hitting Florida. Glad I took my vacation last week. That's what Lehman was saying. Glad I took my vacation last week. Glad I wasn't down there. I'm glad I wasn't here. It's like, oh, we got three days of rain. It was kind of annoying. A whole bunch of leaves I had to pick up and sticks. I'm sure North Carolina's thinking that. And all of a sudden, a flood comes in from two storms hitting in one spot and devastation. And so, yeah, you don't, you never know.