Bread of His Presence

Lechem Panim #160 "The Conversion of Saul: Part 2” (Acts 9:10-28) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to the show today! In our study of the book of Acts, we have been taking a look at one of the most important conversion stories in all of history, the salvation of Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul had been violently persecuting the Christian Church and was on his way to Damascus to further persecute Christians and prevent them from winning converts in the synagogues there. But something amazing happens to Saul on this road to Damascus in our passage today! He meets the risen Lord! And after he meets Jesus, he was no longer Saul the Jew! He was no longer Saul the Roman; Saul of Tarsus; Saul the highly educated; or even Saul the Pharisee of Pharisees. He was Paul, first and foremost, a what? Listen to…

Romans 1:1– 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

A Genuine Encounter— Saul became an apostle of Jesus Christ. And when you think about the power of that; how the unlikeliest convert (one who hated Christianity) became one of its chief advocates and missionaries, it really speaks to the genuineness and the power of the encounter that he had with Jesus there on that road to Damascus. And today I want you to see in Paul’s testimony what a true encounter with Christ ought to produce in the life of a person.

Point 1: Dealing With Sin— First, a Genuine Encounter with God Deals with Sin. The first thing God does is confront Saul with the sin that is at the heart of the issue. He first points out his sin in persecuting the Christians, which is (in essence) persecuting Christ Himself. Then he tells Saul to go into the city and await further instruction. And Saul gets up to leave and realizes he has been struck blind. Now this is an interesting part of the story because he is the only one who is struck blind. Why does Jesus strike him blind? What is the purpose of this?

God’s Light Taken— Well remember how the Jews viewed light and the ability to see? In scripture, God Himself is light and those who know Him walked in the light. In Egypt darkness covered the whole land, except for Goshen, where God’s people dwelt. Why did they have light? Because they followed God. And in and throughout the Old Testament those who are fools; those who reject God and his wisdom are said to be those who stumble in the darkness. Jesus even calls the Pharisees blind leaders of the blind, making the point that they do not know either God or His truth. So what I think Jesus is doing here is making Saul experience his own spiritual darkness; his own spiritual blindness. He is making him bear physically what he is spiritually. And so through this Jesus is saying to Saul, “You are so blind, you persecute the very God you claim to serve. You think you are walking in the light of truth when in fact you are lost. I want to communicate with you just how lost you are. Here, let me take away your sight. And then He says to him, “Now stumble on over into the city and you will be told what to do.”

Point 2: Producing Humility— Now the second characteristic of a Genuine Encounter with God is humility. Now picture this. Saul, who was expecting to come to Damascus in might and in strength, overwhelming the Christians there with his persecuting power, is now sent into that same city the weakest, most powerless person you could imagine. And sometimes this has to happen to us. We have to be humbled before God can do anything with us.

Two Ships Illustration— [In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction—or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.]

Humbling Ourselves— Now that story may sound may sound ridiculous to us. But let me ask you, are there areas in your life that you are not willing to humble yourself and submit to God? Are you so determined to grip the steering wheel of your own life that you are even willing to crash it into disaster just to escape from having to humble yourself and submit to God’s way; God’s plan for your life? Now even those of us who are followers of Christ still have to wrestle with this on a day to day basis. Are we going to obey God in humility; or try to do things our own way? And there was another man in this story that also had to learn this lesson. Look with me at verses 10 to 16...

Acts 9:10-16 [NIV]— 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Ananias’ Doubt— Now I really feel for Ananias. He is a Christian who has already heard that Saul is coming and he is possibly even in hiding. And God says to him, “You know Saul of Tarsus?”
“You mean that guy I and a lot of other Christians are hiding from; the guy who has every Christian he meets thrown into prison? That Saul of Tarsus?”
“Yes. That’s the one. I just revealed to him a vision of a man named Ananias coming to restore his sight.”
I Love God’s sense of humor here. He doesn’t say that Saul saw just anybody, but somebody in particular: a man named Ananias!  And Ananias is probably talking out loud, “Wow, God, that’s pretty specific. You know God, Ananias is a pretty common name. Why don’t you grab an Ananias who’s a little bit less me. I was on my way to get my name changed anyways. How about Sapphira’s husband?”
And God says, “Well, he can’t.”
“Why?”
“He’s dead.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he tried to deceive the Holy Spirit.”
And Ananias says, “God, I was seriously kidding about that whole name-changing thing. I wasn’t really on my way to change it.”
And God says, “Go!” So Ananias goes and finds the house Paul is staying in. Look at verse 17...

Acts 9:17-19 [NIV]— 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Point 3: Being Brought To Repentance:— And this brings us to the third point, which is this: A Genuine Encounter with God leads you to Repentance. Paul not only had his sight restored, but his soul as well, as he received the Holy Spirit into his life. He arose and was baptized, becoming a follower of Jesus Christ; that very Jesus he had met on the road. Now look at the instant change that was wrought about in his life. It says in…

Acts 9:20-22 [NIV]— 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Point 4: An Evangelistic Drive— And so we see that the fourth thing A Genuine Encounter with God leads you to is Evangelism. Anybody who has been genuinely touched by Christ and filled with His Holy Spirit will want to carry that new hope he has found to those who have yet to receive it. And the irony now is that Saul (who had been an enslaver of Christians) has now become an Evangelist for that very faith. Before he was the persecutor; now he is the persecuted, which we see in the very next section. It says…

Acts 9:23-26 [NIV]— 23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall. 26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

A Trojan Horse?— Now you can really understand where they are coming from. How would you know if he were telling the truth or not? What if he’s just faking it to gain information; information he can later use to cause great harm to the Church. Might be kind of a Trojan Horse situation; where you welcome in as a gift the very one who would destroy you. Well, that is what these early Christians were afraid of. And think about it, what are the chances that he would happen to have this kind of change of right now when you know he is seeking out Christians. I guarantee you most of you would not believe him. I probably wouldn’t. But what is remarkable is that he really was telling the truth! Yet nobody believes him. It just sounded too good to be true! But look at what is says. It says…

Acts 9:27-28 [NIV]— 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. 28 So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.

When We Avoid Encountering God— You know, Paul had a real, genuine encounter with God. And it changed his life forever. But you know, sometimes I feel we avoid genuine encounters with God. Because He’s like a mirror for our hearts, we often don’t want Him to be near enough for Him to reveal those areas in our lives we would prefer to keep hidden and un-dealt with. We often forget to humble ourselves before God and submit our way to His. It is not that we don’t want to be good Christians. We are just afraid to let God take the wheel of our lives. It’s strange. We think we can manage and steer our lives better than the One who made us. And we have all been guilty of this. But what the reality scripture points us to is that if we are to walk in the light as Christ is in the light, we must allow God to deal with our spiritual blindness. We must acknowledge our sins before Him. We must humbly accept His way. We must repent and turn from those sins we are clinging to in our lives. And lastly, we need to take the hope of the Gospel to those who need to hear it. And so today I want to encourage you (if you want to have a genuine encounter with God today) to humble yourself and confess your shortcomings and sins. Repent before the Lord now in this moment and ask Him to give you the strength to do the work He has for you. Let’s do so. Amen.

Lechem Panim #159 "The Conversion of Saul: Part 1” (Acts 9:1-9) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. In our study of the book of Acts, we have come to chapter 9, in which we read of the conversion of a man who was at one time one of the fiercest persecutors of early Christianity, and yet became God’s chief instrument in bringing the good news of the Gospel to the gentiles. And of course I’m talking about Saul, who was also known as Paul. I say “also known as” because there is a widely-spread belief that God (or Jesus specifically) changed Saul’s name to Paul. But that is not the case. Saul in fact always kept both names. “Saul" was his Hebrew name and “Paul” was his Greek name. And having that kind of duel name was actually very common during that time. Simon Peter’s name is another example: Simon/Shimeon (a Hebrew name), and Peter (a Greek name). Now there definitely is a shift from the use of “Saul” in the beginning of the book of Acts to “Paul” later in the book of Acts; but the reason for that shift has nothing to do with Saul's conversion. Rather it has to do with where he was ministering. In and around Jerusalem he would use his Hebrew name (“Saul”) and in Gentile regions he would use his Greek name (“Paul”). And you will note here that when Jesus confronts him here on the road to Damascus, he calls him by his Hebrew name; not his Greek one.

The Importance of Saul’s Conversion— Now the story of Saul’s conversion is very important for at least two reasons. First, it helps us to get to know who he is, the problems he struggled with, and how Christ changed who he was. Secondly, Paul’s testimony is important because his apostleship (which is the source of his authority) is based upon this very important encounter he had with Jesus while on the road to Damascus. In fact, Paul’s testimony is so important that the event is described three separate times here in the book of Acts (Acts 9:1-9; 22:3-21; 26:1-23). And what makes Paul’s testimony so important is that it shows us that he did not receive his authority from either himself or the other apostles. His authority came from the fact that he met Jesus face to face and was called (by Christ Himself) to go and be a minister of God’s word; a messenger who would carry His authority and do great things in His name. And over and over again Paul points back to Christ as the one who gave him this authority. He doesn’t consider himself worthy to do the work God has for him. In fact, he even describes how the other disciples met Christ in 1 Corinthians 15 (NIV) and then says in verse eight, “and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” You see, he recognizes that it is only by the grace of God’s love that he was chosen to be God’s special instrument.
    And I am sure that all of us here today recognize our own unworthiness in being chosen by God not only to be His special instruments, but His children. It was not because we were anything special, but because He is good.

Zealous Rage— Now although Saul became a mighty instrument for God, at this time Saul is violently persecuting the Christian Church. And behind this is a misguided zealousness for God, whom he thinks these Christians are in rebellion against. And so he is enraged (really) against these Christians. And you know, that is not very different from how the world often responds to you and to me in our day and age as well.

An Answer Forum— Some time ago I was looking something up online and I stumbled across this website where people could ask any question they wanted and other people could answer. And as I was looking through some of the religious questions people were asking and some of the answers other people were giving, I was struck with how easily you could tell who was a Christian and who wasn’t by how differently they responded. The Christians, though not always on track, were honestly trying to answer the questions while those who weren’t Christians were often flippant and rude. And not only that, they were vindictive, speaking hatefully and mockingly towards Christianity. And I found it interesting how people who reject the truth of Christ are rarely content to just say, “I respectfully disagree with you.” No, they often feel the need to lash out and vent their hatred, even when what they are venting about how little or nothing to do with the question that had been originally asked. And through my interactions with unbelievers in those kinds of forums (but even in person) I have really come to understand more and more that very often it is not merely a matter of respectful debate. No, there is an underlying hatred; an enmity that is working against you right from the outset. And you know, that is because of the truth of what Jesus expressed in…

John 3:20-21 (NIV)— 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Thick Hide/Warm Heart— And so when we come to interact with people who are lost, we need to do expect that there are unseen emotions and forces at play in their lives that will be working against us. Satan will seek to deaden their reason and cloud their thinking. He will place before their mind’s eye a manufactured picture of Christians that would be detestable to anybody. He will seek to stir up their spirit against you. And so, as my mentor once told me, you need to “have a thick hide and a warm heart”. Be willing to take the abuse, remembering what we talked about last week; that those who often respond to us with the most anger are often those who are under the greatest conviction.

The Storm Before Salvation— I remember one time in the early years of my ministry trying to be there for a man who had lost his mother, who had gone to our church. But he himself was a drunkard who did not know the Lord; and it showed in his unsettled (and often angry) spirit and in the way he chose to grieve for his mother, without hope. He was one of those people you would look at and wonder if there really was any hope for him because of how incapable he had rendered himself of hearing God’s voice. How could God ever break through to a man like him? But I kept visiting him. And I would sit with him, listen, and try to offer the hope of Jesus wherever I could. But then one day something happened; he told me he didn’t want to see me anymore. He had misread a situation and thought I had said something to somebody else about him, which I hadn’t. But he said he didn’t want to see me anymore. Now I was a little stubborn and came back later anyway to talk to him and try to restore the relationship, but after I knocked on his trailer door and he opened it, I found that I had interrupted his cleaning of his rifle. And he very menacingly said he didn’t want to see me again. And so I got back into my car and left. But as I was driving down the road back towards the church, I just said, “Okay God, I can’t do anything else. He’s in your hands now. I turn him over to you.” One week later my phone rings and I pick it up and it’s him. And he said he wanted to see me. And so I went and saw him. And when I came to him and sat down with him, he began sharing his own personal despair; the darkness that had closed in upon him. And once again I offered him Jesus. And this time he said he was ready; and he received Christ that night, one week after saying he never wanted to see me again. Later he gave me a plaque that had a cross on it made out of railroad spikes. And I hung it in my office to remind me of what God had shown me through that experience; that there is nobody beyond His reach and ability to save. And even when somebody may be biting into you (as their conviction is at it’s worst), let them do so, all the while recognizing that that chastisement (like the stripes of Jesus) may just be the last croaking of the darkness before the sunrise. So let them bite. And perhaps even in their biting they might taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). Now Saul has definitely come to this turning point. His anger is at it’s peak. And so it says…

Acts 9:1-2 (NIV)— 1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

En Route To Damascus— Now what is happening is these Christians are spreading the Gospel by teaching in their local synagogues. And Saul wants to put a stop to this in order to prevent those people who come to the synagogue to debate and to learn from being led into what he perceives to be a wicked cult. So he receives permission and is on his way to Damascus in Syria, which [was the nearest important city outside the Holy Land. It also had a large Jewish population. The distance from Jerusalem to Damascus was about 150 miles, four to six days’ travel.] And he is at the end of his journey, drawing near to the city. Look at verse 3...

Acts 9:3-9 (NIV)— 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Only Through Encounter— Now here we find that Saul, who thought he had had a clear vision of God and what He wanted; and who had intended on riding into Damascus in might and in strength, now has been rendered vision-less (physical blindness to match his spiritual blindness) that now necessitates his having to be led into the very place he had intended to bring persecution. And it was Jesus Himself who confronted Saul and (as we will see) works about a marvelous transformation in his life. And what that shows us is that it is the presence of Jesus that ultimately changes a person; not anything you and I say or do (though God will most certainly use that). But ultimately it is He who confronts, convicts, and brings people to repentance. Our job is simply to lead them to Him. And so this week, seek to bring the presence of Jesus to those around you. It may be in something you say; or it may be in how you respond to their mistreatment of you. Let them see reflected in you and me the presence of Jesus. Amen.

Lechem Panim #158 "Saul of Tarsus” (Acts 9) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. In our study of the book of Acts, we have come to chapter 9, which we will begin looking at during our time together today. But first, I want to tell you a little about a young girl I’m sure many of you have heard of named Anne Frank. Her story is one that has been remembered throughout the decades due to the tragedies that she faced and the sad and cruel way that her life came to an end during the World War II era. At the age of thirteen [she and her family went into hiding in Amsterdam. She kept a diary, which was given to her on her birthday, in which she chronicled the events of the war and her and her families suffering under the Nazi persecution. They had a hiding place called the Annex in which they concealed themselves. But then they were betrayed and captured and sent to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz in Poland in 1944. Anne, her sister Margot, and their mother Edith died in Bergen-Belsen, another camp. The father (miraculously) survived. But later [a friend of the Franks who had brought them food and clothing while they were in hiding, found Anne’s diary by her bed and saved it], giving it to Anne’s father who survived. It was later published and really [gave a voice and face to all those who suffered Nazi persecution.] Personally, I cannot imagine what it would have been like to live through the trials and persecutions that they faced. But you know, Anne’s story is not unique. Sadly, the story of the Jewish people is filled with stories like hers; stories of persecution and fear. There has been in almost every generation of God’s people a Pharoah, a Nebuchadnezzar, a Darius, a Haman, a Herod, a Nero, or a Hitler. And the same continues to be true today. And yet God showed His providence in each of those situations and often even used what those rulers intended for evil to actually produce or lead to the good of God’s people. God judged Pharoah and delivered Israel out of Egypt. God helped his people endure during the reign of Nebuchadnezzer, delivering Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the flames. He helped them endure the reign of Darius, during which He saved Daniel from the mouths of the lions (and the rulers who were trying to bring about his death). Haman tried to exterminate all the Jews much like Hitler did, yet God used a young girl named Esther to bring about deliverance and (in the end) it was Haman who died and Esther’s cousin Mordecai who came to rule in Haman’s former position as Grand Vizier to the king. In the New Testament Herod killed the Jewish boys in an attempt to kill the Messiah. But in the end, he died and the Messiah survived (the One who would bring God’s salvation to the world). Nero also failed to exterminate the Christians, whom he blamed for all the ills of Rome (including a fire which he himself started). And in the case of the Nazis, they were defeated and shortly afterwards a great and glorious prophecy was fulfilled for the Jewish people as they became a nation once again. Over and over again God’s people are attacked, yet God brings them through. And they (as a people) keep the celebration of that reality at the forefront of their lives. The Jews often sum up their history in three simple phrases: (1) They tried to kill us. (2) We won. (3) Let’s eat.

The First Great Persecutor of Christianity— Now I say all of this because in our passage today we encounter the first great persecutor of the Christian Church; a man by the name of Saul, a very important religious man who (in ignorance) set himself against Christ and His followers, who at that time were almost entirely Jews. And so this time the enemy came from within the Jewish people. And yet right on cue we see continued this glorious theme of God’s providence in working His salvation in the midst of (and even through) times of enormous trial and persecution.

The Stoning of Stephen— Now remember that not long before this, Stephen (one of seven church leaders selected to minister to the Hellenists) has just born witness to the Jewish leaders not only of the truth of Jesus being the Christ; the Son of God, but also of their guilt in putting Him to death. And the leaders are outraged at him and verse 7:58 (NIV) says they 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. And it says in verse 8:1 (NIV) And Saul approved of their killing him.

An Illegal Act— Now not only was the stoning of Stephen a morally evil act, but it was also an illegal one. Because [under Roman rule the Sanhedrin did not have the legal right to execute without Roman concurrence (see John 18:31).] But they did anyway. And the very first glimpse we have of this man named Saul is when he is standing by, passively watching these Jews murder this innocent man while he watches over their clothes. The very first place we meet Saul in scripture, he’s an accessory to murder. He doesn’t exactly sound like a pleasant sort of fellow. But he would have been very highly respected by his fellow Jews; and for good reason.

Paul’s Education at Tarsus— First of all, he was very highly educated. We know this for at least two reasons. First, he was from Tarsus. And [Tarsus was “no ordinary city” (Acts 21:39)] It was a city of intellectual elites; very highly educated people. In fact, [The inhabitants of Tarsus were so well known for learning that Strabo, the Roman geographer, remarked, “The people at Tarsus have devoted themselves so eagerly, not only to philosophy, but also to the whole round of education in general, that they have surpassed Athens, Alexandria, or any other place” (Geography 14.5.13).] And so here was a guy who, having studied abroad in Jerusalem under Rabbi Gamaliel (grandson of a famous Rabbi), has a mastery of Torah, as well as other fields of study normal Jews were not permitted to touch, such as Homer, Euripides, and other Greek literature that was normally considered unclean by the Jews. And that, by the way, would have prepared Saul to better be used by God to communicate the Gospel to the gentiles. But not yet.

He Was A Pharisee— Now on top of this Saul was also a Pharisee, which meant that he was a part of the religious elite in Israel. The name “pharisees” means [‘the separate ones’, i.e. the holy ones, the true community of Israel,] And so Saul was a very highly respected Jewish leader who would have been among the upper classes sociologically.

He was Roman— Now in addition to all of this Saul was also a Roman, which gave him an advantage in certain situations because he had more rights than the average person; such as rights to a trial.

The Road To Damascus— And so, all this to say, Saul was a very important and influential man. In fact he says later (after his conversion) in his epistle to the Philippians basically, “If anybody had anything to brag about, I did! As far as the world was concerned, I was doing pretty good. And I thought so too. And I thought I was winning extra points with God by squelching out this blasphemous new religion called Christianity.”

Zealous History— And by the way [The zeal Paul demonstrated in persecuting the church is not simply religious fanaticism. Paul saw his devotion for God and his law as part of a noble history in Israel, which lauded those who showed outstanding courage to defend and avenge what was holy.] So Saul is trying to do the right thing. But, because of ignorance of the Gospel and misplaced zeal, he believes he is doing God a service by persecuting these Christians, whom he believes are leading God’s people astray, never realizing that they are leading the people to God Himself; to the Messiah. And so it says that after the stoning of Stephen…

[Acts 8:1-4 (NIV)]— ...On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. {(As we said before, the Greek underlying this phrase sometimes describes the ravages of wild animals.)} Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

Not Scared Into Silence— Now I love how these Christian believers weren’t scared into silence. No, even though they were forced to scatter, they never stopped sharing the Gospel even though they knew that doing so increased their chances of getting caught or killed. And it makes me think about my life and my ministry. Am I far easily scared into silence? We sometimes think, “What if I offend the other person?” “What if they get angry?” And of course we don’t want to do so needlessly. But let me tell you, the message of the Gospel (that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God; that we are in desperate need of a Savior who can bring us forgiveness and change because we need changing because of how desperately wicked we are); that message is offensive. But you know, most people (at base) recognize the truth of this, which is why they sometimes respond the way that they do. It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit working through you that is causing them to get angry. But you know, we really shouldn’t worry about that. As long as we are presenting the Gospel in a Christ-like manner, we are doing our part. And often on the other side of that angry and malicious response is conversion.

Ministry Outside A Clinic— I used to be a part of a ministry that met outside of an abortion clinic. We weren’t there to protest, but just to offer help to the women and men going in and out and to encourage them to love their baby. And we shared the Gospel where we could and sang hymns together. Now some of these men and women would be infuriated with us. They’d storm past and say they didn’t need our religion. But then often they would come out of the clinic later and come up to us and say (often in tears) that because of us (or the hymn that they heard us sing while in there) they had decided to keep their baby. Some of them even came to faith in Jesus. Now over the years (we kept track) hundreds of babies were reported to us by their mothers as having been saved through that ministry. Some of these parents even came back later and joined our ministry, often with their babies, who then became young children. And what we found was that it was often those who got the angriest with us who were actually being convicted the most and who were the closest to making a decision to turn to Jesus and to love their baby.

Push Through!— Now remember that this week as you minister to that family member, friend, or stranger. Don’t get discouraged when things get rough. If you push through the anger (and sometimes even the persecution) you will often find that the darkness of their response was actually the smoke being produced by the fire of God’s conviction. And God can cause that conviction to bring salvation to that person’s life if you are faithful to share even when it’s tough. And so let us be faithful to always share the hope of the Gospel. Amen.

Lechem Panim #157 "The Ethiopian Eunuch” (Acts 8:26-40) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We are continuing our study today of Acts chapter 8, looking at verses 26-40 today, which of course is the story of Philip’s sharing the Good News of the Gospel with an Ethiopian Eunuch, who comes to faith in Jesus Christ.

An Example of Genuine Faith— Now you'll remember that a couple of weeks ago we talked about the sorcerer Simon and the false nature of his faith. He became a part of Christianity for selfish personal gain rather than to be used by the Holy Spirit of God to join with God in his mission of reaching the world. However, in our passage today we are given an example of true, genuine saving faith; a faith that is demonstrated by three very important elements; the proper preparation (as the Eunuch was seeking truth in the Word of God, the proper presentation (as Philip came alongside of the Ethiopian to explain the Gospel message to him), and the proper response, which is seen in the Ethiopian being baptized and truly repenting.

Witnessing Not Overwhelming— Now I don’t know how you feel about witnessing. I think we all agree that it has to be done. But often we have qualms about who is supposed to do it. It can be uncomfortable. But that is because we complicate it too much; or we place to much of the burden on ourselves rather than God. We think that if we slip up then we’ll push people farther away. But that view completely takes God out of the equation. It is humanistic because in thinking that way we are assuming it is us doing the work; but it’s not. You are just called to play a part in God’s work. And that doesn’t have to be a complete sharing of the Gospel. Sometimes it can be (like it was with Philip in our passage today) coming alongside of a person and answering some questions; working with them through an issue they might be facing and offering them the hope that you have found if you feel God leading you to. I think that we get overwhelmed by thinking witnessing means you have to give a full presentation of the Gospel and be able to (afterwards) convince them of their sin and to accept Christ. But most of the time that’s a multi-person job. Don’t worry about the big picture of whether or not they come to Christ; because that’s in God’s hands. Just focus on the opportunities God is leading you into. You may be the planter; you may be the waterer; and only occasionally the harvester; and that’s okay. Just be content with the part God has called you to play. That’s how it was with Phillip.

Moved Into Ministry— Now Philip had the unexpected joy of causing something big to happen merely because he was willing to obey an immediate call from God to come alongside a stranger. Now keep in mind this is not Philip the Apostle, but Phillip the Evangelist, one of seven men chosen to help distribute food to the Greek-speaking Jewish widows who had been overlooked in the daily distribution (probably because of a language barrier); because the Jews in Palestine spoke mainly Aramaic. So Philip was originally called to serve the Lord by waiting on tables so that the apostles could devote themselves more fully to prayer and to the ministry of the word. But then something happened nobody expected. Stephen, who had proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to the Sanhedrin, was stoned and killed. And on that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (Acts 8:1) But, like we said before, this scattering only served to strengthen and grow the Church rather than weaken it.

Ministering in Samaria— Now Philip (who was a Hellenist; a Greek-speaking Jew; and therefore one of the primary targets of this great persecution) goes to Samaria and actually becomes a mighty preacher of the Word. And God moved through him in incredible ways. He becomes the first ever Christian missionary to non-Jews; to these half-breed Samaritans, as they were called. He performed miraculous signs, he cast out demons, he healed paralytics and cripples. And the people of Samaria listened to him and rejoiced at what God was doing through him. But then God kind of shifts gears on him by calling him to an unexpected place. It says in…

Acts 8:26 (ESV)— 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Now what kind of place is this? Luke tells us: This is a desert place. So from great revival in Samaria to a desert place. But it says…

Acts 8:27-28 (ESV)— 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

Eunuch— Now the word “eunuch” […can refer to one who had been emasculated or generally, to a government official. It is likely he was both since Luke refers to him as a eunuch and as one who held a position of authority in the queen’s court—that of treasurer, much like a Minister of Finance or Secretary of the Treasury. {But listen to this; because this is very important} As a physical eunuch, he would have been denied access to the temple (Deut. 23:1) and the opportunity to become a full proselyte to Judaism.] And maybe just as bad (at least in the mind of a Jew) is the fact that he will not have any descendants to carry on his name and his heritage.

Hope for A Better Heritage— And in ancient culture your value was very much dependent on the heritage you left. Well here is a guy who probably physically cannot have children because he has (because of his job) been made a eunuch. And yet [Isaiah held out the promise that God would grant devout eunuchs a heritage “better than sons and daughters” (Isa. 56:3–5).] Well, what is that heritage? Salvation in Jesus Christ. So as he’s drawing near that chapter in Isaiah, here comes Philip to share the message of Christ with him so that he can be part of that heritage. How AWESOME is that! Now the way the Holy Spirit timed this encounter is simply amazing, which we will see more in a minute. But it says…

Acts 8:29-34 (ESV)— 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
   “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
       and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
       so he opens not his mouth.
33    In his humiliation justice was denied him.
       Who can describe his generation?
   For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

A Sheep Before It’s Shearers— And we know that this passage from Isaiah is actually a prophecy of Jesus, who was silent before Pilate and those who were persecuting Him. And so here Philip has been given a golden opportunity to share Christ with him. And of course he does. It says…

Acts 8:35-36a (ESV)— 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water,

Now just think… [Philip and the eunuch arrive at a rare watering place in the desert precisely when the eunuch requested baptism.] Once again the Holy Spirit is leading in a very clear and amazing way.

Acts 8:36b-40 (ESV)— and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away [much like Elijah was (2 Kings 2:11).], and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

From Seed to Great Harvest— Now Philip probably didn’t know this, but Church tradition tells us that this Ethiopian eunuch also became a preacher of the Gospel and that in fact that place where Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch (in Gaza) [marks the start of the Ethiopian Church], of which one branch today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has a membership of 36 million. You see, God can use our obedience to witness to bring about great change in people’s lives.

A "sign" to start witnessing?— [Norman Cates shared the humorous story of a guy who prayed this prayer every morning: "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?" Are you looking for a "sign" to start witnessing?]

God Waiting For Us— The fact is there are people all around us who are (like the Ethiopian) waiting for us to connect the dots for them; to make the scripture connect with them so that they might find Jesus Christ. God is simply waiting on us to be willing to be His hands, His feet, and His voice in those moments that He opens for us to share. And the question is, are we going to be faithful? If we are, God can also use us in amazing ways. And so let’s commit to God today to come alongside people and help them to encounter Jesus. Amen.

Lechem Panim #156 "A Light To The Nations” (Acts 8:25) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. It is good to have you with us today as we continue our study of the book of Acts. We have been in chapter 8, which of course tells of how Philip brought the Gospel to the region of Samaria and a great many Samaritans have come to faith in Jesus Christ. And after Peter and John come and open the door for these Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit it says in…

Acts 8:25 (ESV)— 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

For The World— Now this is a crucial turning point in the book of Acts, because it is here that we begin to see the message of the Gospel breaking out from being just a Jewish reality to being a message for everyone. God is starting to remind His people of something that they had forgotten; and that is that His salvation is for a whole world.

Another Woman Not My Wife— Some time ago I read of [A preacher, who shall we say was “humor inspired”, {and who} attended a conference to help encourage and better equip pastors for their ministry. Among the speakers were many well-known and dynamic speakers. One such speaker, boldly approached the pulpit, gathered the entire crowd’s attention, and said, “the best years of my life were spent in the arms of a woman that wasn’t my wife!” The crowd was shocked! He followed up by saying, “And that woman was my mother!” The crowd burst into laughter and he delivered the rest of his speech, which went quite well. The next week, the pastor decided he’d give this humor thing a try, and used that joke in his sermon. As he approached the pulpit that sunny Sunday morning, he tried to rehearse this joke in his head. It suddenly seemed a bit foggy to him. Getting to the microphone, he said loudly, “The greatest years of my life were spent in the arms of another woman that was not my wife!” The congregation inhaled half the air in the room! [And he began to get excited. But when he got ready to deliver the punch line, he found that in his excitement he couldn’t remember it. So] After standing there for almost 10 seconds in stunned silence, trying to recall the second half of the joke, the pastor finally blurted out, “…and I can’t remember for the life of me who she was!”]

Rooted in Israel— Forgetting things can sometimes be very painful. But we I think are prone to forgetting things; particularly about the Christian faith. And one of the basic things we forget (or choose to ignore; perhaps because we don’t recognize the importance of it) is the place of Israel in God's overall plan in bringing redemption to the world. Especially we in our western culture. We forget that God had always intended Israel to be a light to the nations. All the way back in Genesis 1:28 God had told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,…” And he repeats that command to Noah in Genesis 9:7 immediately following the flood. And later, when God entered into covenant with Abraham, he made a promise to him, saying in Genesis 12:3 “…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And so we see that when God established Israel, they were to be a light to the nations. God says in…

Isaiah 42:6 (ESV)— 6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

Isaiah 49:6 (ESV)— 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 52:10 (ESV)— 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Isaiah 60:3 (ESV)— 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Now, fast forward to the New Testament. Listen to the words of Jesus in…

John 8:12 (ESV)— 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

God’s Love for The World— Now first of all notice how Jesus’ claim to be the Light connects back to concept of salvation given in Isaiah. It is very important to understand that Jesus saw himself as the embodiment (literally) of God’s salvation that God had always planned on giving to the world through Israel. Now that must have sounded a bit jarring to those who heard Jesus; because notice Jesus doesn’t say “I am the Light of Israel.” That is what his Jewish audience probably would have expected Him to say. But no, He was speaking to them in the spirit of Isaiah, pointing them back to the reality that they had forgotten; which was that God’s salvation is for a whole world. And so He says, “I am the Light of the world.” Even in His conversation with Nicodemus he had begun to hammer this point. What did he say to Nicodemus in John 3:16? “For God so loved the world…”; another all-inclusive statement. Now this is so important because the Early Church saw Jesus as the fulfillment of these passages in Isaiah and therefore took these passages as their own personal commission. When Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch in Pisidia, it says in…

Acts 13:44-48 (ESV)— 44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
    that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Channels of Blessing— You see, God’s plan has always been for Israel to be the means through which his salvation would be brought to the world. And though God had made a covenant with Abraham and with his people to bless them, the blessing was never meant for them alone. No, they were to channel that blessing to the world. Now the sad reality that we are confronted with is that Israel failed to live out this call, and instead gravitated towards either of two extremes.

Nationalism— The first was that Israel gave in to a separatistic nationalism in which Israel resisted contact with all the surrounding Gentile nations. We see this attitude very much alive in the person of Jonah. He was commanded by God directly to preach to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. But not wanting them to experience God's salvation, he took off in the opposite direction. And God had to use some mighty big circumstances in order to turn him around. Now we know that Assyria had caused Israel a lot of grief; and they were a very wicked empire. But the nationalistic attitude of Israel during that time had all but completely cut them off from engaging in God's mission to reach the world. And unfortunately this attitude pervaded much of Israel's history.

Compromise— Now the second extreme was that of compromise. Israel was called to influence the surrounding nations to God; however what ended up happening was that Israel became influenced by the surrounding nations. They were seduced by the paganism and the idolatry. And so they allowed themselves to become tainted by that spiritual adultery. And because they were tainted by that sin and false religion, they didn't have anything that they could give to the surrounding Gentile nations. They had become the very thing that they were supposed to fight against. Now God was able to cleanse Israel of her idolatry; which He did through the Babylonian exile, after which Israel never returned to their former idolatry again.

The New Idolatry— However, they did embrace a new kind of idolatry; and that was that they allowed their religion to become corrupted into a system of salvation by works. The temple itself became an idol. The religious rights and sacrifices became idols; so much so that when God Himself visited His temple in the New Testament, they did not even recognize Him. And they even hated many of the people that Christ came to save. But all of that changed with the birth of the Christian Church, as each new stage of growth pushes the Church farther out in its scope.

God’s New Instrument— And what I want you to see is that the Church has now become God’s new instrument to further the work He had always intended for Israel. They are His great new means of reaching the world. And while Israel had up until this time been very nationalistic in its focus, we find that the Church would be an entity that would embrace people of every race and culture and nation. But (as we have said before) this happened in stages. At Pentecost the spread of Christianity began first in Jerusalem to an exclusively Jewish body. It wasn't long after that that the Church soon began to reach out to minister to the half-breed Samaritans, as they were called. And then in our passage next week we find the third great milestone of the Church as the Gospel finally begins to reach a Gentile audience as well; as through the ministry of Philip a high official in the court of the Ethiopian queen comes to faith in Jesus Christ. But not only him, but we will see also that through him the Gospel would eventually reach those in the great African continent as well.

​Is Israel’s Problem Ours As Well?— But what we need to be careful of is to keep Israel’s problem from becoming our problem. Are we thinking globally? Are we fulfilling God’s call to carry the Good News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth? Oswald J. Smith has rightly pointed out that “Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.” But you know, in light of that (every pun intended), let us not forget our central purpose; and that is to join Christ in the work He is doing in the world. Let’s join Him this week. Amen.

Lechem Panim #155 "God Is Not For Sale” (Acts 8:12-24) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. I hope you are doing well and that today you are experiencing all the fullness of Christ in your life. As we have been proceeding through our study of Acts chapter 8, we have seen how a man by the name of Philip (not the Apostle Philip, but one of the Greek-speaking men chosen by the apostles to wait on tables) has (in addition to that ministry) also been preaching the Gospel. He is the first missionary named in Scripture and the first to be given the title “evangelist” (21:8). And he has just recently brought the Gospel to the region of Samaria. Now God (as he always does at a new turning point of His salvation plan) confirms His message with miracles; and (lo and behold) a multitude of the Samaritans come to faith in Jesus Christ. And it says in…

Acts 8:12-13 (ESV)— 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Now Simon Magus was a practicer of sorcery and probably a con-artist to whom the people had previously looked up to; a man who (although he believed) was not saved because he had a wrong view of self, a wrong view of salvation, a wrong view of the Holy Spirit, and a wrong view of sin.

The Wrong Reasons— Now although the text says Simon Magus “believed”, we will continue to see that he came to that belief for all the wrong reasons. Because of the Samaritan revival, he knew his own popularity would begin to decline as he ceased to be seen as the Messianic figure that he had marketed himself as as people began turning to Jesus as their true Messiah. He was also motived by a desire [to learn what he perceived to be Philip’s power]. And so he follows Phillip after he is baptized for three apparent reasons. [First, he wanted to sustain contact with the people following the preacher. By joining Philip’s movement, he went where the action was and kept his opportunity for influence alive. Second, as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. He had, so to speak, a professional interest in finding out the source of Philip’s amazing powers. Third, as his later conduct shows, he wanted to figure out how to acquire that power for himself.] And in the next section he thinks he sees his opportunity. It says in…

Acts 8:14-16 (ESV)— 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Peter & John Come— And so word has spread of the incredible success of Phillip’s ministry. And the apostles in Jerusalem receive this word of what is going on in Samaria and they send Peter and John to investigate. And their [Peter and John’s mission was threefold: First, they came to help Philip with the spiritual harvest. The response of the Samaritans was too great for one man to handle. Second, they came to give apostolic sanction and blessing to Philip’s work among the Samaritans. {Because remember that up until this time the Samaritans had been despised by the Jews as halfbreed outcasts. And so the apostles (who were leaders of the church even after the church spread out from Jerusalem) come to officially validate this new branch of the body of Christ. And thirdly}…, they came down from Jerusalem and prayed for the Samaritans that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Although they had believed and been baptized, the Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.]

The Holy Spirit At Conversion— Now some use this passage to argue that Christians nowadays do not receive the Holy Spirit until sometime after conversion, which is not true. At this point in the book of Acts we are in a transitional period into what would later become normative in the Church. All of us receive the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. But at this point in the history of the Church God withheld that outpouring until the apostles came for a very specific reason. Remember [Jesus had given Peter the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:13–20), which meant that Peter had the privilege of “opening the door of faith” to others. He opened the door to the Jews at Pentecost, and now he opened the door to the Samaritans. Later, he would open the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 10).] He was God’s chief instrument in the early days of the early Church. But there is another very important reason; and that was (as one author I was reading this week pointed out) that [For centuries, the Samaritans and the Jews had been bitter rivals. If the Samaritans had received the Spirit independent of the Jerusalem church, that rift would have been perpetuated. There could well have been two separate churches, a Jewish church and a Samaritan church. But God had designed one church, in which “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female,” but “all [are] one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). {And so} By delaying the Spirit’s coming until Peter and John arrived, God preserved the unity of the church. The apostles needed to see {what God was doing amongst the Samaritans} for themselves, and give firsthand testimony to the Jerusalem church, that the Spirit came upon the Samaritans and confirmed their salvation. The Samaritans also needed to learn that they were subject to apostolic authority. And so that is why we see here that (at this point) the gift must come through Peter and John. And so it says in…

Acts 8:17-19 (ESV)— 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

A Wrong View of The Spirit— And so the third fault in Simons’ theology was that he had a wrong view of the Spirit. [When he saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. Evidently, the believers were speaking in tongues as on the Day of Pentecost so that there was a perceivable sign of this great reality sufficient to arouse Simon’s interest. Philip had impressed him, but Peter and John overwhelmed him. Simon asked them brashly and excitedly, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” He treated the two apostles as though they were fellow practitioners of magic, and was ready to negotiate the price to buy the secret of their power.] And this was not unusual during that time. [Magicians often sold each other their tricks and incantations.]

Expensive Magic— When I was younger I was very much into the world of magic; not this kind of evil magic, but rather the world of illusions. And I would go to the local magic shop that had a huge selection of magic tricks. If my mom had shopping to do, she’d drop me off there and I would be content for hours. But the world of magic is very expensive. Tricks that costed a very small amount of money to make would cost the consumer many times over. And that’s because you’re not just buying the prop; you’re buying the secret. But that’s where my lawn-mowing money went because I wanted to be able to perform the greatest magical illusions.

Not For Sale— Well here, Simon sees Peter and John displaying God’s power and immediately wants to have that same power; which wasn’t bad in and of itself (because we ARE to desire the Holy Spirit and the work He can perform in and through us; but (as we said before) Simon had wrong motivations. It was all about how he was going to use that power of the Holy Spirit; not how he was going to be used BY the Holy Spirit. And not only that, but he went about trying to get that power by attempting to buy it like he would any incantation or magic trick. And [By this act, Simon gave his name to the term “simony,” which through history has referred to the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices.] However, nothing God has to offer is for sale (and especially not His Holy Spirit). And that’s because there is nothing we have that God could possibly need or benefit Him. However, there is something of ours that God does desire; and that is our love. He is the Great Groom of Heaven who desires followers who will truly love Him as His Bridegroom. And for any who are willing to be His, He will give us His precious gifts. Listen to the words of…

Isaiah 55:1 (ESV)— 55 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Deadly To The Gospel— Now I'm sorry to say that there are millions of people today who are still desperately and futilely striving to earn salvation. Even many of us Christians can fall into that salvation by works mentality. And this is the first time that we really see it expressed in the early Church. And Peter (through whom God is speaking) makes a radical stand against this. And he does so because the Gospel will always die on the threshold of our manufactured attempts to purchase or earn it. It says in…

Acts 8:20 (ESV)— 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

To Hell— By the way, Peter was being more inflammatory here than what most of our translations show. They have been softened from what really should be read (as J.B. Phillips renders it) “To hell with you and your money!” That is the actual sense of Peter’s words. And Peter wasn’t being profane. He was just truthfully declaring Simon’s spiritual condition. And he emphasizes this as he continues, saying…

Acts 8:21-24 (ESV)— 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

No Sugarcoating— Now we see that following his condemnation of Simon, Peter calls for Simon to repent of his sin so that God might forgive him the wickedness of his heart. He doesn't sugarcoat what Simon has done, but lays it out in all of it heinousness and wretchedness. By [using Old Testament expressions for the most serious offenses against God (cf. Deut. 19:18–20), {Peter} warns Simon of the seriousness of his situation: “I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” The phrase gall of bitterness is very strong. Chole (gall) refers to a bitter ingredient or bile. Coupled with pikria (bitterness), it conveys an extremely bitter, harsh, and distasteful condition. It vividly pictures the reality of one in the bondage of iniquity.] Peter wants Simon to recognize it’s severity so that he will have the desire to abandon it. And God often walks us through the same process as well. He wants us to confront our sin and to acknowledge how bad it is so that we might hate as He does.

Becoming Our Pain— I remember sitting in a detention center with a young man who (for years) had been battling drug addiction. I had ministered to him, to his parents, and to his grandparents who were all suffering under the weight of his addiction. And he wanted to turn his life around and did (at least for a little while); but he went back to it, partially because he allowed the influence of his drug-addicted friends to come back into his life. Now eventually he became free, but it was only after the heinousness of his sin and realizing what it had done to him and his family. Now those who loved him could have told him (and did tell him) how bad his sin was and where it would lead. But it wasn’t until he confronted that for himself that he was truly able to repent and pursue a new life. And that is the path Peter tries to put Simon on. The fourth major problem in Simons theology was that he had a wrong view of sin; particularly his sin. And so Peter confronts him with it and calls for Simon to repent and pray for forgiveness.

God Would’ve Forgave— Now if Simon had done so, God definitely would have forgiven him. However, interestingly, Simon is not persuaded to repent. Now he is terrified, but notice that although Peter has told him to repent and to pray to God for forgiveness, instead he asks for Peter to pray on his behalf; and not for God to forgive him, or for God to receive his commitment to turn from his sin, but rather that God would not inflict upon him the punishment Peter described. He only wanted to escape the consequences of his sin; not the sin itself. And sadly, that is the camp many people fall into; even today. People want forgiveness without repentance. But notice how Peter places repentance first. You have to come to God with the intent of truly turning; that’s what Biblical repentance means.

Have You Turned?— What camp do you fall in? Do you pray only that God might withhold punishment from you? Or do you seek the fullness of God and the transforming work He wants to do in you? You and I must repent of all sin; and when we do, we find that in that repentance we receive freely the gift of the Holy Spirit who will empower that change in our lives. Let us do so. Amen.

Lechem Panim #154 "The Faith That Transforms” (Acts 8:9-11) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We are continuing our study today of Acts chapter 8. You will remember that Stephen has recently been stoned and a great persecution has broken out against the Church in the wake of that, causing many of the believers (particularly the Hellenists) to be driven outside of Jerusalem to minister in the surrounding areas, one of which was Samaria. Now one of the Hellenists, a man by the name of Phillip, was the one to bring the Gospel to Samaria. And he tells the Samaritans of both of heaven and of the way they can get there; through faith in the name of Jesus. And this message of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (along with the signs that are being worked through Philip) invokes a huge response as multitudes come to saving faith in Jesus Christ and are baptized. But in this great revival, one of the men the people had previously looked up to (and even deified) was a sorcerer by the name of Simon. And Simon appeared to convert along with the rest of the believers; believing, being baptized, and even following Philip in what looks to be a discipleship relationship. However, as we will see in the rest of Simon’s story, his motives were quite sinister, as he wanted to use Christianity for his own ends; which consisted mainly of his keeping the spotlight and glory on himself. And so because of that he fell into the same category of believers as Ananias and Sapphira had been. He had the appearance, but was in reality a deceiver; a con artist.

Don’t Buy That Bridge!— Now it’s interesting. [In the long history of con artists, George C. Parker holds a special place of dishonor. He is remembered as one of the most successful and daring swindlers in American history. He set up an office in New York City and “sold” some of the city’s most famous attractions to tourists. His favorite was the Brooklyn Bridge, but he also sold the Statue of Liberty, Madison Square Garden, and Grant’s Tomb. He produced elaborately forged documents and deeds to convince his targets that he was the rightful owner of the landmarks he was selling. Parker was so persuasive that on more than one occasion, police had to come and explain why the new “owners” of the Brooklyn Bridge couldn’t put up tollbooths to collect money from those who tried to cross. After his third conviction for fraud, Parker was sentenced to life at Sing Sing Prison in New York, where he spent the last eight years of his life. He dishonestly made a fortune preying on people who foolishly believed his empty words. He not only was an expert salesman, but he realized that many people were gullible and he could use that to his advantage.]

Self-Deceived— Now one of the amazing things about watching false prophets and con-artists is how convincing they can be. And this can be complicated by the fact that many charlatans actually believe the lies they are telling other people. There is such a thing as being self-deceived; and those who have been deceiving themselves for a long time can lose their ability to distinguish between what is reality and what is make-believe. They become kind of like walking fiction novels that they themselves are writing. But the fact that Simon may have been self deceived did not make him any less dangerous. In fact it made him more dangerous because he did not have the air of a liar. He really believed that he was the special power of God. And everybody was paying attention to him because he was able to astonish them with his magical arts. And the reason they were eager to believe was because they were clinging onto hopes of the Messiah. And when somebody is hopeful about something, that can make them particularly vulnerable to false dealers of hope. And that is not just then, but now as well. Even people in our day and age can be susceptible to being swindled by miracle workers who claim to be acting with the power and in the authority of God.

4 Major Faults— Now last week we began exploring four major faults in Simons theology; faults that were severe enough to cause him to miss out on experiencing true saving faith. And having a wrong view of self was the first one. He had a glorified view of himself that kept him from ever reaching true repentance. And therefore He misses his salvation. Jesus Himself gives a demonstration of this in one of His parables. It says in…

Luke 18:9-14 (ESV)— 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

James’ Sermon— James the brother of Jesus may have had this passage in mind when he wrote [one of the most powerful invitations {ever} to sinners]. He writes in…

James 4:6-10 (ESV)— 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Our Pride-full Culture— One of the things that our culture is discovering as it is moving away from God is that we are becoming so full of pride that we are rendering ourselves incapable of healing and restoration. There are multitudes of people who see themselves (not God; but themselves) as the arbiters of truth. And they look around at anybody who disagrees with them with hatred and animosity. Have you noticed there is no humility in dialogue anymore? So many people arrive to the conversation with no intent of learning anything about the positions or beliefs of the other side. And really they can’t learn. Because in order to learn you must first be humble. But you cannot be humble before another person before you are first humble before God. And we live in a culture that (in so many ways) has turned its back on God. In our humanism we think we know better; that we are good; and not only good but the very standard by which all goods ought to be measured. And this was Simon’s problem. But if you and I want to come to Jesus, then we have to come with that sense of our own lostness; that recognition of our own inadequacies, shortcomings, sinfulness, and pride. Because without that brokenness we cannot receive Christ. That is what Jesus was saying in the Beatitude section of His great Sermon on The Mount when He said…

Matthew 5:3 (ESV)— 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Lost Without Jesus— He’s not saying be sad and depressed all the time. He’s saying understand your sinfulness and approach God with the recognition that apart from Him you are utterly and completely lost.

A Wrong View of Salvation— Now Simon had a second fault in his theology. Beyond his false view of himself, he also had a wrong view of salvation. The text does say that Simon himself believed. And he was even baptized. And for many nowadays, that is enough. And when you ask a person about their salvation, they will very often give you the date of their baptism. Now the two often go hand-in-hand, but not always. We see here in this passage that although Simon was baptized, that baptism did not save him; in fact he remained lost. And this is because more than just baptism is necessary for the forgiveness of our sins. It is an important part of the salvation process, but it is not the instrument of salvation. It is rather an outward sign of an inward work. It is an outward washing that reflects an inward cleansing of the soul by the blood of Jesus Christ. But in and of itself it has no power to take away sin or to save us. And people run into problems when they see their salvation as a ritualistic thing.

My Ritualistic Religion— I know this because I was one of those people. For far to many years for me it was all about crossing my T’s and dotting my I’s; making sure I said the sinner’s prayer so many times a day in case I had lost my salvation so that I wouldn’t go to hell. But ritual alone doesn’t save you. Faith is what saves you; resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Now belief is a part of that. But it takes more than belief. Baptism is a part of that; but it takes more than just baptism. You have to believe and then (by faith) walk in newness of life, which is what baptism is a picture of. There has to be a repentance that leads to transformation. Listen to the words of…

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)— 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

And so we see that [Faith that does not transform the life is not saving faith.] Listen to what James writes in…

James 2:14 (ESV)— 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? {And that’s a rhetorical question by the way. The answer (obviously) is no. And then he says in…}

James 2:17-19 (ESV)— 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Transformation— And so the difference between saving faith and the non-saving faith (that of the demons) is that saving faith always produces in us a love of righteousness and a hatred of sin. The demons believe, but that doesn’t produce in them a love for God and a hatred of sin. But if you have given your life to Christ, and that love for God leading to transformation is at play in your life, that is strong evidence of your salvation. But Simon’s problem was that he believed in the signs, but he did not believe or walk in faith with the One behind the signs. And because of that he never experienced [the divine transformation of the soul from love of self to love of God, from love of sin to love of holiness.] The question is, have you and I experienced that transformation? If not, it is available to you today; all you have to do is ask God and He will give it to you. Ask Him today, and you will receive from Him today a true and saving faith. Amen.

Lechem Panim #153 "The Kiddie Door To Heaven” (Acts 8:9-11) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. In recent weeks in our study of the book of Acts we have been talking about the persecution that broke out against the Church in the wake of the stoning of Stephen. And this [persecution scattered the Jerusalem fellowship and led to the first missionary outreach of the Church. And Philip, whose ministry begin with waiting on tables with the rest of the Hellenists, is now being used by God as a mighty minister to bring the Gospel to the Samaritans. But in the midst of this incredible story, there was a man who (despite outward appearance) was in fact a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It says in…

Acts 8:9-11 (ESV)— 9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

A Contrast— Now it’s important in our study of this passage to also look ahead; because the book of Acts is about to present us with a stunning example of what it means to place saving faith in Jesus Christ. And that is demonstrated in the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch, which we are about to come to later in this chapter. But before we get to his story, we are first given the account of Simon Magus, who represents the first known Satanic attempt to sew a tare in the Church. He’s a Samaritan; and one whose beliefs are very unorthodox and (as we will see) very much self-worshipping.

Bargain Emeralds— Now I know most of us are not traveling much during these days; but if you ever do plan on traveling out of the country and [If you're planning to vacation in Zambia, beware of the street-corner "emerald vendors." And if you're driving, be prepared for some confusion in the streets, owing to stolen traffic lights. The two warnings are related: The traffic light thieves are selling green glass chips to unsuspecting tourists who think they're getting bargain-basement emeralds.]

All The Earmarks— Well, Simon Magus was one of those who at first appeared to be a stunning emerald; a monument and testimony to what God can do in a person’s life. He had all the ear-marks of being a genuine Christian. And he even managed to deceive Philip, who was very godly and discerning. And no wonder. Simon had believed, had been baptized, and he had “continued on with Philip” (verse 13), which are the three major marks of the true believer. And in reality, he was very close to being a Christian. So where did he go wrong? Well, we will see as we proceed through this passage four major faults in Simon’s theology; faults that were severe enough to cause him to miss salvation. (1) He had a wrong view of self, (2) a wrong view of salvation, (3) a wrong view of the Holy Spirit, and (4) a wrong view of sin.

A Wrong View of Himself— And the first of these is seen in that he sees himself as not just good, but “somebody great“. And that is antithetical to what the Bible tells us about mankind before we enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. But this faulty philosophy is still being taught today. A myriad of people will tell you that man is basically good; and if we can reach deep down inside of ourselves and tap into our inner goodness (who we really are underneath), then the world would be a better place. However, scripture tells us that sin has so marred us, that our hearts are wretchedly sinful; so much so that we are incapable (without Christ) of doing any works that aren’t (in the eyes of God) like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The reality is that we are desperately wicked and in need of a Savior. And without that necessary starting point of humility (recognizing our need of a Savior), we are incapable of receiving saving grace. And Simon Magus never seemed to come to that point; and certainly wasn’t there in the beginning, which is seen in his declaring himself to be “somebody great”. And that greatness he and others believed flowed from his ability to perform magic. Now that word “magic“ obviously comes from the word “magi“, which remember referred to the high-priestly tribe of the Medo-Persians. And those beliefs were a mixture of science and superstition. They combined astrology, divination, and cultic practices with history, mathematics, and agriculture. Now were these magical feats trickery or were they demonic? We don’t know for sure, but it very well could’ve been a mixture of both. Those who are possessed by or using the power of demons can sometimes perform feats similar to God’s, but on a much smaller scale. But whatever those miracles were, they gave Simon Magus an incredible hold on the people of Samaria. Everybody was paying attention to him and held him in the highest respect. They even said “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” Now remember what Jesus had said in…

Mark 14:62 (ESV)— 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Claiming Deity— Simon is claiming a very similar description. And this seems to suggest that Simon was even claiming deity of himself, which is the most heretical view that you can have of yourself. And the early church fathers report that Simon was in fact one of the founders of Gnosticism and that he actually viewed himself as God incarnate (like Jesus). And so we see that his false teaching actually did a lot of damage not just to this group of Samaritans, but to the Church as a whole. And that is always where Satan wants to bring us; to where we attempt to place ourselves on the throne of God. That was the heart of his temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden; and we see this same temptation even today. It is at the heart of virtually every key issue we are facing in our culture. Who has the ultimate say-so over our lives?

Our Bodies?— Whether it is the issue of abortion, homosexuality, or the myriad of other practices that involve our bodies, it is very important to pay attention to the language used to defend those practices. It is said “You have the right to do with your body whatever you wish.” “It is your body, your choice.” I talked with a homosexual man this week who told me “Yes, I am a Christian, but I live my life how I want to.” Now that (to me) was a very interesting and telling statement; one that rubs against what the scriptures tell us about the Lordship of Christ over our bodies. Listen to the words of...

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)— 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The Crux of It— Let me tell you, those two verses have the power to change the world and can completely reverse the downward spiral of our nation. The crux of many of the issues we are facing today in these great culture wars boils down to this single question; am I God or is God God? Do I have the freedom to define who I am and use my body how I see fit or do I trust in God’s Lordship over my body? If God is God, then when it comes to the issue of abortion, we have no right to kill the works of creation He has established in us, even if (for a time) they are dependent on us. And when it comes to our sexual identities as well, He has a plan that is not ours to redefine. We are not our own. We were created by and bought anew by the blood of Jesus Christ. And until we are willing to receive Jesus Christ (to borrow the words of Thomas) as “My Lord and my God”, we will miss salvation just like Simon Magus did. Pride (the elevation of ourselves to the place of God) is the enemy of salvation. And that was Simon‘s problem.

Pride’s Masquerade— Now Simon Magus didn’t recognize his pride. And nor do we most of the time and that is because pride can masquerade under seemingly upright motives. With Herod, it masked itself as integrity when he beheaded John the Baptist. With the Pharisees, pride masked itself as holiness; and they ironically ended up rejecting the Holy One Himself. With the Jewish authorities, pride masked itself as zeal for God, but ended with their killing the very Son of God. Pride caused the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. Pride cost Nebuchadnezzar his reason, Rehoboam his kingdom, Uzziah his health, and (as we studied in the book of Esther) it cost Haman his very life. This is why there is so much emphasis in scripture on humility as the starting point of salvation.

The Kiddie Door— The other day on our day off my wife and I spent the day together while the kids were in school. And let me tell you, even after 11 years of marriage we still know how to have a romantic date. Of all the frivolous ordinary things we could have done, we sprang for the ultimate; we went shopping. And one of the places we shopped at was a kids consignment store. Now I very chivalrously offered to stay and guard the car (because, you know, you can’t be too careful these days), but my wife didn’t think that was necessary and “requested” that I come in with her. And of course I was MORE than happy to do so; at least that’s what I’ve been told. But there were two doors into this kids clothing store; one normal sized door and then a much shorter door for the children. And my wife frivolously and cheerfully ducked under the kids door.  However I (in all my dignity) walked through the regular run-of-the mill door for big people. I was not about to duck and look ridiculous stooping to fit through that small kiddie door. After all, I’m a man. But you know, as I was preparing this message I thought again of that small kiddie door. Jesus had said the most remarkable thing in...

Matthew 18:1-4 (ESV)— 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We Have to Stoop— You know what Jesus was saying? “You have to stoop.” There IS no big person door to heaven. Until we become as little children (as Jesus says) we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There’s only one way. And it begins with humbly accepting Christ’s Lordship over our lives and our bodies, and recognizing that our ways are not His ways; they’re not even good ways; they are (without Christ) desperately wicked. And it also means we must we see ourselves as weak, lost, and utterly helpless without the intervention of Christ. There is no other door but through the humble door of submission to Christ Jesus. Have you entered that door? Have you humbled yourself and accepted Christ’s Lordship over your life? If not, I would like to encourage you to do that today. Receive Him as Lord and He will fulfill you in a far better way than you ever could have doing things your own way. Receive Him today as the Lord of your life. Amen.

Lechem Panim #152 "Glorying In Suffering” (Acts 7-8 & James 1:1-4) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We have been talking about the first great persecution of the Early Church, which begins in Acts chapter 7 with the stoning of the first Christian martyr; Stephen. After his death, the Church is driven out of Jerusalem and Philip the apostle even goes so far as to take the good news of the Gospel of Christ into the region of Samaria.

And today I would like for us to take a look at a passage of scripture that ties in and really helps for us to apply what is happening here in Acts chapter 8 to our own lives. And that is James chapter 1. We’ll start with verses 1-2. It reads…

James 1:1-2 (ESV)— 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Now James was probably written before A.D. 50. If that dating is correct, then it makes James [the earliest of all the NT writings—with the possible exception of Galatians.]

A Greeting Command to Rejoice-- And so imagine, the first command given in what is very likely the very first Christian epistle, is a command that completely changes forever how Christians are to think about trials, tribulations, and persecutions. First he says "Greetings" which (as we’ll talk about later) is actually a call to Rejoice. Then he says in verse 2: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Why God?!!!!-- Now when you and I face trials in our lives, our tendency is often to immediately shift into frustration. God, why are you allowing this in my life? Did I do something wrong? Are you angry with me? Do you really care about? If you do, how can you allow this to happen to me?

Count It Joy— But the very first point made in what is likely the very first book ever written in the New Testament is that suffering is not something to complain about, but something to rejoice about. Notice I didn’t say we are to rejoice in. Many people say that we are to maintain joy even in difficult circumstances. And that is true. But James isn’t talking about only keeping joy in the midst of trials. James says to count it joy when we meet trials. Trials themselves are what he says ought to produce joy in us. And I want you to catch that because that was one of the most profound concepts these early Christians in the book of Acts had.

Martyrs Embracing Trials-- And when you look at the early Christian martyrs (of whom Stephen here is the first), that’s exactly what you find; Christians who rejoice not only within difficult circumstances, but rejoice because of difficult circumstances. And part of that is that they have the privilege in partaking with Christ in His sufferings. But again it goes further than that. They rejoice not only because they are participating with Christ in His suffering, but because that suffering is the means through which Christ is maturing their faith and developing and drawing them close to Him.

Taking our Arm— James Packer makes this point pretty clear in his book Your Father Loves You. He says [This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles ... of one sort and another -- to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast. ...When we walk along a clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help us, likely we would impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught in rough country in the dark, with a storm brewing and our strength spent, and someone takes our arm to help us, we would thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough... , so that we may learn to lean on him thankfully. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to trust in himself, to -- in the classic scriptural phrase for the secret of the godly man's life -- "wait on the Lord."]

Persecution the Engine of the Church-- Some time ago I remember I had a conversation with a gentleman about the persecution that the Church is going through. And we talked about the reality that in and throughout history, persecution became the engine that drove the Church. The harder the Church was persecuted, the more they grew. And I think part of that was that people witnessed how these Christians suffered; the joy they found in and through suffering. And they wanted that in their lives too.

“I am one of them”-- In the third century, a famous Christian name St. Cyprian (on his way to die a martyr’s death) wrote from Carthage to a friend of his named Donatus: “This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see; brigands on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It really is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet, in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians…and I am one of them.”

    I love what he says, “They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world.” These Christians had that strength of character; the steadfastness that trials produce;.

Steadfastness Through Testing— And James’ second point is that that steadfastness comes through testing. He says...

James 1:3 (ESV)— 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

In fact, you might also accurately say that steadfastness comes only through testing. We are never growing more than when we are tested; than when we are meeting resistance.

Resistance Suits— [On December 29, 1987, a Soviet cosmonaut returned to the earth after 326 days in orbit. He was in good health, which hasn't always been the case in those record-breaking voyages. Five years earlier, touching down after 211 days in space, two cosmonauts suffered from dizziness, high pulse rates, and heart palpitations. They couldn't walk for a week, and after 30 days, they were still undergoing therapy for atrophied muscles and weakened hearts.  At zero gravity, the muscles of the body begin to waste away because there is no resistance. To counteract this, the Soviets prescribed a vigorous exercise program for the cosmonauts. They invented the "penguin suit," a running suit laced with elastic bands. It resists every move the cosmonauts make, forcing them to exert their strength. Apparently the regimen is working.
    We often long dreamily for days without difficulty, but God knows better. The easier our life, the weaker our spiritual fiber, for strength of any kind grows only by exertion.]

Perfect & Complete— But there was another thing that Cyprian, on his way to die, pointed out that is absolutely important for us to grasp if we are to understand what fruit steadfastness produces in our lives. He says of Christians, “They are masters of their souls.” In other words they are not in bondage to sin any longer, but are living lives free of sin. Sin has no authority over their souls whatsoever. And that is James’ third and last point. He says...   

James 1:4 (ESV)— 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

Becoming Holy-- He doesn’t say partially holy; partially perfect but still sinning occasionally. No, the kind of perfection that he is talking about is a present perfection that is complete, lacking in nothing. God offers us, in the trials we face every day, the means of becoming holy. Why can we rejoice in suffering? Because in it we become more like Christ; in it we become perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The first teaching given in the New Testament to some of the very first believers in the early church is that we are called to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. We are called to be holy; not perfect in the sense that we won’t make mistakes, but perfect in the sense that we are so filled with God’s love and presence that He gives us the necessary spiritual equipment to resist temptation and be and remain victorious over sin; to be masters of our souls.

Pushing Through-- And so what I think what James wants us to understand about trials and suffering is that when we know what the purpose of suffering is, though we might not immediately see why we are going through a particular suffering, we can get through it because we know that in that suffering God is making us more like Himself. Even if we don’t know why we are going through it or why God has allowed it, we know what God is using it for in our lives; to move us towards that perfection in holiness. And it is in those moments that we are closest to Him and and growing the most.

“Rejoice”-- In the first line of James, he says “Greetings”. But that word [“Greeting”--that translation is a little stilted, for the word in the Greek literally means “rejoice.” He writes to them and says, “Rejoice.”] Joy in Christ through trials is, in the mind of James, the starting point of what it means to be a Christian. Not to get overwhelmed; not to ask “why me”, but to rejoice that in our suffering we are being made perfect, lacking nothing.

Joining Hands— Are you overwhelmed with life today? Or are you rejoicing in your Lord? Are you allowing trials to break your spirit, or are you allowing those trials to produce the steadfastness of Christ in you? As you go to work this week; as you take life day by day, you will face trials. There may be people like Saul who seek to ravage you; circumstances that are bringing you down. But the question is, “Will you allow those trials to draw you closer to God or drive you farther away from Him.” “Will you allow Christ to take your hand and, drawing you closer to Him, lead you through the darkness?” This week, rejoice that God is using your trials and persecutions to make you more like Him and to further His salvation work. Glory in your suffering so that in your suffering the world might see in you the glory of Jesus. Amen.

Lechem Panim #151 "The Seed is Scattered” (Acts 8:1-8) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. We have been studying the growth of the Early Church in the beginning chapters of the book of Acts. And (as we have been talking about in recent weeks), the Church has been growing at an incredible rate within the confines of Jerusalem. But as the church continues to grow and expand, it also continues to run into conflict with some of the Jewish leaders. And the tension climaxes in Acts 6:8-8:1 with the seizing and stoning of Stephen, who becomes the first martyr of the Christian Church. And last we recently read of his death at the hands of the Jewish leaders there in Acts chapter 7. But there is a person present at Stephen’s stoning who was watching the garments of those stoning Stephen; and this was a man who would have enormous significance for the Church. And of course I am speaking of Saul (also known as Paul).

Paul’s Early Life— Now we can glean much from the book of Acts and the Epistles about the early life of Paul. [He was born in Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 22:3), a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (see 2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5), the “son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6), and a Roman citizen (16:37; 22:25–28). He was educated in Jerusalem by Gamaliel (22:3) and became a devoted Pharisee (26:4–5; Phil. 3:5). Measured by the law, his life was blameless (Phil. 3:6). He was one of the most promising young Pharisees in Jerusalem, well on his way to becoming a great leader for the Jewish faith (Gal. 1:14). {And} Saul’s zeal for the law was displayed most vividly in his persecution of the church (Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:6). He really thought that persecuting the believers was one way of serving God. {He had no idea that he was in fact persecuting God Himself, which Jesus confronts him with in chapter 9.} He obeyed the light that he had {at that time}, and when God gave him more light, he obeyed that and became a Christian!]

The Dual Names of Saul/Paul— Now some will say that it was at that point that he became known as Paul. But that is not in fact what the Bible teaches. Throughout the course of his life, he always had and maintained two names; one a Jewish name (Saul) and one a Greek name (Paul). [The custom of dual names was common in those days.] It is a common misconception that Saul’s name was changed to Paul. Many Christians think that Saul had his name changed, much like Abram’s was changed to Abraham; or any other of the famous name changes of scripture. Some even go so far as to say that it was Jesus who changed Saul’s name after appearing to him on the Damascus Road; a story that we will cover in depth in the next chapter. However, the reality is that Saul actually never changed his name. [Jesus addresses him as “Saul, Saul” during the christophany (Acts 9:4).] [Ananias addresses him as “Saul” after his conversion (Acts 9:17).] [The Holy Spirit calls him “Saul” before his first missionary trip.] [After the conversion experience, he is {in fact} called “Saul” 11 more times.] And in fact he isn’t even called Paul at all until Acts 13:9 while he is on the island of Cyprus. Now there is a definite shift to his using the name Paul more than he uses Saul, but it is not for the reasons we might assume. [The decisive shift from “Saul” to “Paul” in Acts happens only once Paul sets off on his missionary journeys away from Jerusalem.] In Jerusalem he used his Jewish name, “Saul” and outside of Jerusalem when he was ministering to Gentiles, he chose to use his Greek name “Paul”. As we will see when we come to chapter 9, he not only had an exquisite Hebrew education, but a secular (and even Greek) one as well. And so (depending on his audience) he could adapt not only the way he presented the Gospel, but even his very name to help relate best to those to whom he was bearing witness; which we will see will eventually be primarily to Gentiles (hence the shift to his Gentile name). But [Saul and Paul were two names for the same person all along.] Now Saul is far from being a Christian at this point in the book of Acts. Not only is he watching the garments of those killing Stephen, but it says in…

Acts 8:1 (ESV)— 1 And Saul approved of his execution. 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.

Scattered— And so we see the Church is scattered. The apostles remain in the city; and rightfully so. They knew they had to remain there to care for the Church. But the believers are scattered out into the rest of Judea and even Samaria. And [The word translated “scattered” (diaspeiro, Acts 8:1,4) {literally} means “to scatter seed.”] And so we see that instead of persecution killing the church, [Persecution does to the church what wind does to seed: It scatters it and only produces a greater harvest.] And that harvest now begins to move outwards into the rest of Judea and even into Samaria. But we see later in Acts that the death of Stephen pushed the Gospel even farther than Samaria. It says in…

Acts 11:19-21 (ESV)— 19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. [So you have persecution causing the spread of the Gospel] 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists[a] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

So persecution is driving the Church to spread out across the empire. And though we see it as a wonderful and even a necessary part of God’s plan, think about how they must have been processing all of this. They don’t see the big picture yet. All they know is that one of their most anointed leaders has been killed. And they are still in mourning over that. It says in…

Acts 8:2-3 (ESV)— 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. {And then it says.} 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Saul’s Ravaging— Now your Bibles probably say of Saul something like he began to destroy the church. That phrase is actually a Greek phrase that is sometimes used to describe the ravages of wild animals. So this was an intense persecution; and because of it, the Church at Jerusalem is scattered all throughout Judea and Samaria. Now when you and I face persecution, we also don’t always see the big picture. And though it might be hard at times for us to understand, persecution is not always a bad thing. In fact Tertullian, an early church theologian once pointed out that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” Well, that is what we see. It says in…

Acts 8:4-5 (ESV)— 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

Samaria— Now who lives in Samaria? Samaritans. Well, who are they? Well, you will remember that after the reign of King Solomon in the Old Testament, the kingdom of Israel was split in two. You had the northern kingdom of Israel, whose capital King Omri named "Samaria" (1 Kings 16:24). And then you had the southern kingdom of Judah. But the northern kingdom of Israel was the region that, in 722 BC, was conquered by the Assyrians and taken into captivity into Assyria. Now we remember that Israel was called by God to remain ethnically pure. They were not to intermarry with and of the surrounding nations. However, during those years that the northern kingdom of Israel was in captivity in Syria, the Jews ignored those prohibitions and began intermarrying with the non-Jews around them. And so they lost their ethnical purity. Now the southern kingdom of Judah was also taken into captivity in 586 BC by the Babylonians. Yet we find that while they were in captivity they maintained their ethnical purity and did not intermarry with the Babylonians. They kept themselves pure. And Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego) were stalwart examples of this kind of resolve to keep themselves pure unto God. However, when both captivities were ended and everyone came home, the Jews from the southern kingdom of Judah began to regard the Jews from the northern kingdom of Israel as half-breeds—Samaritans because they had mingled blood. And so they despised them. And that hatred was passed down throughout the generations and was still every bit as alive in Jesus’ day as it was in the beginning. In fact, so deep was the hatred that [A popular prayer in those days among some of the southern-kingdom Jews was, “Lord, do not remember the Samaritans in the resurrection.”] Praise God that He doesn’t say “yes” to all our prayers. Now I say all of this because I want you to understand what a miracle it is that the early Christians brought the Gospel to Samaria; because it means that the love of God shed abroad in their hearts has moved them to cast aside their racism and their hate and embrace those they had until recently despised. It’s a powerful thing. And you can imagine what an impact this had on those who were recipients of Philip’s ministry. It says in…

Acts 8:6-8 (ESV)— 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

Philip’s Ministry in Samaria— So we see that Philip goes to Samaria and actually becomes a preacher of the word. And God moved through him mightily. He becomes the first ever Christian missionary to non-Jews. He performed miraculous signs, he cast out demons, he healed paralytics and cripples. And the people of Samaria listened to him and rejoiced at what God was doing through him. And I’m sure Philip rejoiced as well.

But all of that would not have happened at all if there had not been a mighty wave of persecution in the Church; a persecution that touched many of these believers on a very deep and personal level. And what that ought to tell you and me is that when things seem darkest (even after the death of a great leader) or in the midst of friends, family members, or co-workers who are trying to persecute you, God may be doing a mighty work; because others are watching and seeing the righteousness of Christ being lived out through you in those moments. And so don’t give up; don’t get discouraged. Hold fast to Jesus; as Stephen did, look up into the eyes of the Savior and trust that even though we might not see the big picture, God is using us and will continue to use us if we but remain faithful to him. Let’s hold fast to Him today. Amen.