A Study of Acts: Fulfulling the Great Commision

Chapter Eight: Those Who Were Scattered

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:18-20 NIV)

It is sometimes difficult to see the good in bad things. It is difficult to see what good could come from man's fall in the garden. It is difficult to see what good could come from the nation of Israel turning their backs on the Father. It is difficult to see what good could come from the murder of the Chosen One. It is difficult to see what good could come from the murder of Stephen, a follower of the Chosen One. But that is what we find in the eighth chapter of Acts.

For forty days after his resurrection, Jesus repeatedly told his disciples to "make disciples of all nations." His very last words to them before being taken up into the clouds were, "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Yet here they were, still in Jerusalem. They certainly had been witnesses in Jerusalem, but they had not yet ventured out into "all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." In fact just the opposite seems to have been true. The controversy in chapter six arose between the Hellenists and the Hebrews. The Hellenists were Jews who lived among the Greeks. They had traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Jewish religious feasts and became believers while in Jerusalem. Then, rather than return to their homes where they would be separated from the family of believers, they stayed in Jerusalem. Verse seven of chapter six tells us, "the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem." They were certainly making disciples, but they were all in Jerusalem. It's easy to be comfortable around family. We can see mission fields all around us and wonder why we should go to far off lands to preach the Word. We forget that God's vision is much wider than ours. While we may see the mission field in our backyard, God sees a world that needs to hear the good news. As mean and cruel as the stoning of Steven was, the positive outcome was that it got Christians out of Jerusalem and into the much wider mission field beyond their backyards.

Acts 8:1

1 … On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.(NIV)

Chapter eight also introduces us to Saul. Or rather, we hear about the activities of a man named Saul, without any real introduction to who he was. The first readers of Acts already knew who he was. No introduction was required because Saul was very well known for his activities against the Church. Even Theophilus, the person to whom Acts was addressed, must have known who Saul was, though he may not have known his history. So for the record Luke wrote:

Acts 8:3

3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. (NIV)

Less we miss it amid everything else in this chapter, we must pause to fully take in verse four, the key verse in this chapter. Possibly the key verse for the whole book.

Acts 8:4

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (NIV)

We must never get so wrapped up in the story being told that we lose sight of the purpose for telling the story. Acts provides us with an example of how to win the world for God. The book of Acts gives us a guide for fulfilling the Great Commission. This letter from God tells us how men and women in the first century, while facing persecution and hardships, were obedient to Jesus' last command, "you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." These early Christians didn't have a hard time understanding what it meant to witness about Christ. They just did it; wherever they went.

The rest of this chapter provides us with the specific example of one of the first century Christians. We met Philip earlier in chapter six. He was one of the other men appointed along with Stephen to serve the congregation in Jerusalem. Starting in verse five of chapter eight we are told how Philip was a witness for Jesus, first in Samaria and then in Judea. And we are given a glimpse of how his preaching may have carried the Gospel far beyond.

Philip and the other early missionaries didn't have the New Testament to carry with them. The people that Philip taught could not read about the miracles that Jesus and the apostles had performed. They had not seen the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who had leprosy cured, the deaf hear, the dead raised (Matt 11:5 NIV). They had not seen it and they could not read about it. It was up to Philip to proclaim to them the Christ, and his message was confirmed by the miracles that the Spirit worked through him. His message and the miracles were so powerful that the multitudes gave heed to what Philip said. Many of the people including Simon, the local magic man, believed the good news preached by Philip and were baptized. (The reader should take note here how "believed" and "were baptized" go together.)

To fully understand verses fourteen through seventeen we must understand that in Acts there are two distinct ways in which people received the Holy Spirit. One is the gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift from God that is given to all believers upon being baptized.

Acts 2:38

38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

This is the same gift of the Spirit that was promised in John 14:15-17 when Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth." This is the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is promised to all baptized believers.

The other is the miraculous working of the Spirit which allowed the apostles and preachers like Philip to speak in foreign tongues and to perform miracles of healing. This miraculous working of the Spirit was given to people in two ways. Three times in Acts we are told of the Holy Spirit coming down and filling all of those present. These accounts are found in Acts 2:2-4, 4:31 and 10:44-46. In all three of these accounts the recipients were able to speak in tongues, and they spoke the word of God.

The second way that people received a miraculous working of the Spirit is seen in the way miracles were performed to confirm the message being preached. Until chapter six of Acts only the apostles were able to perform miracles. Then in chapter six the apostles laid their hands on the seven men selected to serve the congregation in Jerusalem. In the following verses we were told that Stephen, one of the seven, "did great wonders and miraculous signs." Here in chapter eight we read about Philip, also one of the seven, performing miracles of healing. Now, starting in verse seventeen, we are told that Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritan Christians and they received the Holy Spirit. Luke does not tell us that this allowed the Samaritans to perform miracles, but that is inferred by Simon's reaction.

Acts 8:18

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money (NIV)

Simon the magician wanted what the apostles had. He knew that his magic was just trickery, and he wanted to possess the power to work real miracles.

The thing for us to see here is that only the apostles could pass on this miraculous power of the Spirit. If it were possible for others to pass it on, then Philip could have laid his hands on the Samaritans and given them the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. But he could not. It required Peter and John to go to Samaria and lay their hands on the people before they could perform miracles.

After laying their hands on the people and preaching the word, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. It is noteworthy that they did not simply go straight home though. Rather, they stopped to preach the gospel in many Samaritan villages as they went.

In the last fifteen verses of chapter eight we read about Philip teaching and baptizing an important Ethiopian government official. The Lord instructed Philip to "Go south to the road-- the desert road-- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This would place him in southwest Judea. It was here that Philip met up with the Ethiopian who was reading Isaiah 53:7 & 8. The Ethiopian did not understand the verses he was reading and he asked for Philip's help. "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news of Jesus."

What would you say to someone if you were given only one chance to win them to Christ? We don't know all that Philip said to the Ethiopian official, but whatever he said, it prompted the Ethiopian to action. By his actions we do know that the Ethiopian came to a belief in Jesus. And having believed what Philip taught him, he requested that he be baptized.

After they both came up out of the water, the Spirit sent Philip on to his next destination. The Ethiopian continued on his journey home, never to see Philip again. This is the last that the Bible mentions this Ethiopian official, so we do not know what became of him. However, early church history records a tradition about him. It is said that when missionaries arrived in Ethiopia, they found that there were already believers there.

This chapter has been about the spread of the gospel, and the one theme that repeats itself is the one of Christians preaching the word wherever they went. When Philip went to Samaria he preached the word. As Peter and John went home from Samaria to Jerusalem, they preached the gospel in villages along the way. When Philip went to southwest Judea, he preached the gospel. And whether the tradition about the Ethiopian is historical or not, it is a safe assumption that he carried the word back to his countrymen.

The example is clear. The message is plain. What God expects of us is unmistakable.

Acts 8:4

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (NIV)

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A Study of Acts:

Fulfilling the Great Commission