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ACTS: God Reveals the Power of the Gospel
Pastor Scott Foreman
May 7th, 2023
The Gospel Came as a Result of Persecution.
Big Idea: Persecution for Christ Always Bears Fruit

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
What does Acts 8:1 tell us?
“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” (8:1).
Humanly speaking, Stephen died an untimely death, didn’t he?
Stephen’s destiny was to be the first martyr for Jesus. And God would use it powerfully. 
The Bible doesn’t speak of this type of pain as untimely, but as a blessing – even something that as followers of the Lord we should be anticipating. As followers of Jesus, we are to expect the same treatment that he received. Jesus said, “If they persecuted me they will persecute you” (John 15:20).
The Gospel Tore Down Walls of Prejudice
Big Idea: The Gospel Makes Believers One
The Samaritans were coming to Christ! They embraced the gospel. Up to this point in the book of Acts, the majority of people that were getting saved were Jews. So here we have a transition point in the book of Acts.
The sequence as Luke records it is unique:
¡      They believed in the message of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.
¡      They were baptized.
¡      They received the Holy Spirit – after Peter and John laid hands on them.
The passage reminds us that the believer in Christ is one with his brother/sister! Paul reiterated this truth in Galatians 3:27-28….
 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
There is no longer spiritual distinction between races, gender, and social classes. All believers are one in Christ.
The Gospel Contrasted the Real from the Fake
Big Idea: The Object of our Faith Must be Jesus
Acts 8:9-13
 Peter doesn’t sound like he’s correcting a new convert in the error of his ways.  He sounds like he’s confronting a Christian poser and calling on him to repent. 
Does Simon heed Peter’s words? No – he asks Peter to do the praying for him (v24). So, it doesn’t seem that Simon is genuine in his faith.
Then what do we do with the fact that Luke says he believed?
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
BKC says this: “They believed in His name, that is, they trusted in Him. This was not necessarily saving faith as the next verse implies. They believed He was a great Healer, but not necessarily a great Savior from sin.”
The object of Simon’s belief was miracles. The object of genuine, saving faith is Jesus as Savior.
We too are called to carefully evaluate the basis of belief in our own lives:
 â€œExamine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test.” 2 Cor. 13:5
Simon was an example of dead faith.
The Ethiopian is an example of dynamic faith.