JEWELS FOR THE SOUL

The Book of Acts Chapters 8:1-24

“Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles”. v1.

Now Stephen was the first martyr during the time when Saul of Tarsus persecuted the church. Saul was consenting to his death at the time of the great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

“After Stephen had been stoned to death devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him”. “And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him”. v2.

“As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison”. v3.

“Christ is preached in Samaria therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” v4. Amen, Amen, now those who had heard and learned the word went about being a witness and sharing Jesus Christ to those who did not know Him. Therefore, what I see in my spiritual eye is, in the time off your own pain, or tribulation you should find someone to share Jesus Christ with and it will take you away from your problems, therefore trusting God for your needs, and by being obedient to the word of God others will come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. (Matthew 6:33)

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them” v5

“And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.”v6. In the time of persecution, the people turned to their God. Philip went down to them and preached Jesus to them and they heard the word of God, not only that they heeded what Philip said to them and took it to heart. “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did”v6. The people had fallen to sin. Sin always carries you down, down away from God, away from His presence, away from a relationship, away from God’s love. Sin will keep you down in a life of bondage. Our Savior, Jesus Christ came all the way down from heaven to a sinful earth to save man from their sin. Philip preached Jesus and they heard him so their shackles of bondage will no longer hold them down in a place of defeat. They heard the words, and then seeing the miracles Philip did, they received faith in their heart in a time when they needed it. And so, it will be with us when we hear the word, believe the word, and fill our heart with the word, our faith in God will abound bountifully. Our Savior said: “But He said, more than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it”

“For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed” v7. “And there was great joy in that city”. v8

And so, we see in the Apostle of Acts, Chapter 8 as Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them, the people by Faith believed the Words Philip spoke concerning Jesus and they were: saved, delivered, set free of demon, sorcery, as they believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see the Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith!

“But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, v9 “to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God”. v10

“And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time”. v11

“But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized” v12

“Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done”. v13

“Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,” v14 “who when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit”. v15

“For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”. v16

“Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit”. v17

“And when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money”, v18 “saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit”. v19

“But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!” v20

“You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God”. v21

“Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you”. v22

“For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity”. v23

“Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me”. v24

Because of the great persecution against the church at Jerusalem the people were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Except for the apostles, Philip, Peter, and John went about the regions preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And many people heard the gospel in the very time they needed it. They were forced to leave Jerusalem by persecution, and can you imagine they were away from home, and in strange countries that they knew nothing about, they must have felt so alone, afraid, lonely and indifferent among people who did not know about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are you in Samaria right now, do you find yourself in a strange place, where you don’t know how to navigate yourself around? Do you find yourself sitting thinking what do I do next? There are somethings you can do: Ephesians 6:13 tell us to: Take up the whole Armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and stand having done All to “STAND”: girded your waist with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace, but above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:13-18

• Never lose Faith
• Never forget God
• Never take your eyes of Jesus “He is the Light”
• Never stop Praying
• Never stop reading the Bible

A MATTER OF FAITH!

Praise The Lord!!!