Hey there WonbyOne! How is everybody? I understand that those in public school went back after a week of vacation. I hope you enjoyed your time off with your family and friends. =)

Getting right to business (I'm a "right to business" kind of a guy), we studied Acts 8:9-25 this past Friday night, and we broke the text into four parts:

The idolatry of the Samaritans (vv9-11)
The salvation of the Samaritans (vv12-13)
The citizenship of the Samaritans (vv14-17)
The false faith of the Samaritan (vv18-24)

Where the Samaritans represent a group of people Phillip preached to, and who repented, confessing Christ as Lord (Phillip was preaching the "Kingdom of God" (v12), which obviously entails Lordship); not represent all ALL Samaritans, of course.

We had some theological discussion, as well as some really practical discussion, which was great! We spoke about the futility of idolatry (looking at Isa 44:9-20), as well idolatry's inclusion in the list of sins which people, who will not in heaven, continually and unrepentantly walk in (Gal 5:19-21, 1 Cor 6:9-10). We expanded idolatry beyond just worshiping a piece of wood, or a human being claiming to be someone special, to other things as well that we worship more than the true God. John Calvin called the human heart an idol factory, for it is desperately wicked, and will replace God with that which is non-condemning, non-judging and will not hold it accountable for sin. I believe this to be the primary reason liberal theologians twist the Bible, and deny its validity, accuracy or perspiquity (clarity), for they refuse to submit to its authority! They deny the God of the Bible, and worship a false god, who allows them to go on in their sinful rebellion against their creator. Indeed, they're very religious, and say many pious things, but on the inside, in their hearts, they are hypercrites, and refuse to glorify a just and holy God.
We briefly spoke about the difference in the nature of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers between the OT and the NT. We've differentiated between being "Baptized" in the Spirt with being "filled" with Him in the past, so we won't diverge to cover that which has been covered already (but if there are questions, lets talk =)). When we study the Bible, and interpret it literally, we find the the Holy Spirit didn't permanantly dwell in a believer until the church age was initiated at Pentecost. These people (the Samaritans) were regenerated already, but the Spirt had not yet come upon them. Peter and John praying that those who were just saved through Philip's preaching (God saves through a positional sanctification of the Spirit, AND faith in the TRUTH, 2 Thes 2:13) was to show both the Jews and Samaritans that there is no division in the church, ratial or any other! We still have yet to see a similar event with respect to the gentiles, and John the babtist's former disciples. This no longer happens today because the church is fully established. The book of Acts is in many ways a "transition" period, where the church is coming into maturity, and many things have to be established, including but not limited to the understanding that the body of Christ is not divided by race, ethnicity, family history, place in the world (rich versus poor, for example), etc. This phase of transition is a testimony of the diffence in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in believers between the OT and the NT.
We finally spent some time talking about Simon's false, non saving faith. Simon was impressed with Phillip's signs (8:6) but wasn't all that interested in his message of salvation! The gospel is a message of God's just wrath towards sin, His perfect and holy standard revealed through His Law (and our consciences), our being lawbreakers by nature because of the fall, and therefore our deserving of His jugement! However, it's also a message of God's grace for sinners, in His forgiving sin, giving a free gift of perfect righteousness (that of Jesus Christ) and changing one's nature through regeneration, so that they love righteousness, and hunger and thirst after it. =) The true gospel has both negative and positive aspects! A person can't be saved if they don't know they're lost. How can a person understand the importance of Christ's death on the cross for sin if they don't understand what they deserve? Some people today want to minimize the gospel, make it quick and easy. The scripture judges their false gospel. Simon would have been interested in an easy gospel, a gospel that allowed him to continue on in his idolatry, but as we clearly saw, Peter wouldn't have it (8:20-23). Let's give it up for the Apostle Peter! Men who are faithful, like Peter is here, are today hated for their refusal to compromise the gospel, and compromise in regards to God's commands. They're seen as unmerciful, ungracious and proud. In reality, we need more men like them!

Philip the Evangelist

This is an amazing account of the power of the gospel as it goes out from Jerusalem. On Friday we looked at how Saul led the first great persecution against Christians as a whole, having them arrested in their homes. This drove many to flee out of Jerusalem, but they didn't just go and hide! They took the gospel with them and planted churches!

Philip, one of the "seven" from Acts 6, goes out to Samaria. There, he preaches the Gospel and many believe. This fulfills Acts 1:8, where Christ orders His followers to take His message to Samaria.

After this, an Angel appears and tells Philip to go out on the desert road, which he does. He meets an Ethiopian eunuch, and finds that the man is reading a copy of the book of Isaiah. After asking if he understands (which he doesn't), Philip takes this CLEARLY God-given opportunity to explain how both Isaiah and the rest of the scriptures are about Jesus. He shows that, like the Samaritans who were cast out from worship in the Temple, the gentiles and even eunuchs can worship Jehovah through his Son.

The eunuch believes, and has such great joy in his salvation, that when he sees some water nearby, he immediately asks to be baptized. He asks, "What prevents me from being baptized?" What a great question!

So where is your heart? Do you have understanding of Jesus' gospel? Do you understand the wrath that God has against your sin? Do you have joy in the scriptures because you know that Jesus' death atones for your sins, and that nothing else will do? If so, and you haven't been baptized, why not?

I hope you guys all enjoyed our "guest speaker" on Friday night. Did you do your homework? If not, do it today!

Acts 6:8-7:60

Hey guys and gals, I had a wonderful time with you on Friday! =) We’re really cruising our way through Acts, and I’m loving every bit of it!

So, last Friday we were studying Stephen's sermon before the Sanhedrin! First, we noted that he was a very powerful witness for Christ because he was filled with the Spirit. In fact, the text gives us three descriptions of Stephen: he was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (6:5), and was full of grace and power (6:8).
There are many sermons in Acts as we have already seen, and will continue to see, and this is the longest sermon of them all! Luke really provides much detail for the account, and gives us an excellent reconding of Stephen’s sermon, as well as its impact on its hearers!
We broke the text up into 5 parts:

The instigation (6:8-10)
The accusation (6:11-7:1)
The devastation (7:2-53)
The repudiation (7:54-59)
The confirmation (7:60)


Do you think that you would have boldly preached like Stephen did? The men within the Sanhedrin claimed to be godly (and we know of at least two members of the Sanhedrin who were regenerate, namely Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, but are not told whether they were there), and those who are trustworthy to get theology from, when in fact, as Stephen exposed, they were unregenerate, and were yet inslaved to their sin. Stephen was faithful to expose thier hypocrisy simply by preaching the true exposition of scripture! The word of God exposes sin and theological error, and when these men were confronted with the the word of God, they wanted nothing to do with it, desiring to kill the preacher rather then repent.

What are some practical applications of the account????? I'll given one, Stephen repeatedly quotes the Greek translation of the Old Testiment perfectly! He knew his scripture! Does this encourgae you to know the word of God by heart for the oppertunities we have to tell others about Christ?