The Blood of the Martyrs in the Seed of the Church - Acts 8
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Notice a few important things:
1. Philip replaces Stephen as they key apostle who was preaching in Jesus' name, healing many who were lame and paralyzed, and casting out demons. The Holy Spirit that empowered Stephen was now working powerfully through Stephen.
2. Simon the sorcerer practiced sorcery and had a big following in Samaria. People were so enthralled with they they called him the, "great power of God". But when he encountered the true power of God, he and many others were baptized and saved.
There are people who read tarot cards and fortune tellers and get a following today. People pay for it. People are searching for the truth and the true God. They need to see the true power of God through the church acting in the same power and authority of the Holy Spirit.
3. Finally, we meet the eunuch from Ethiopia. He was an important official from Africa, and Philip found him reading from the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament. God led Philip to understand that the prophet in the Old Testament was speaking about Jesus.
Bottom line through Stephen's faithful witness (note the word witness means "martyr" ), the church grew in numbers and out of Jerusalem and into Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The blood of Stephen became the seed of the church.
We who live in America will most likely not be martyred for our faith. But we may be suffer or be perscuted indirectly for standing up for Christian values. This passage shows us that even when bad things happen to us, God can use it for good. The faithful witness of the gospel in difficult times and circumstances always leads to the growth of the church. Philip and Stephen were not part of the original 12 apostles but God raised them up to meet the needs of the church in the power of the Holy Spirit.
God give us the courage to be like Philip and Stephen in our world today!
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