Open Door Baptist Church

14

Pastoral Oversight.

15

If they were saved, why didn’t they have the Holy Ghost already? We have seen that there is a difference between receiving the Holy Spirit and being Filled with Holy Spirit.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

( John 20:22 )

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

( Acts 2:4 )

We believe that we receive the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. So why didn’t Phillip’s converts have the Holy Spirit?

1. Was there something wrong with what they had been taught by Phillip?
2. Was this intended as one of the signs confirming the apostles authenticity in Mark 16:20?

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

16

They were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, but had they actually understood who Jesus Christ was? Right now they are being thrilled by Phillips miracles which put to shame those of poor Simon the Sorcerer.

Whether Peter and john are fixing a problem with Phillip’s teaching or the Holy Spirit was held back as a sign, this is a clear picture of the importance of Pastoral oversight.

17

They fixed the problem.

18

Simon hears the cash register in his mind. This is what he has been waiting for: a bankable talent.

19

Greed and avarice overcome whatever spiritual revelation he had.

20

Peter responds as he did in the situation with Ananias and Sapphira

21

He gives a pronouncement about Simon’s spiritual condition.

22

However, he is merciful and points to God’s mercy. Making sure to include the part about repentance.

23

Peter realized that Simon didn’t have a spiritual revelation at all, he was envious of Phillip and seeking a way to recoup his losses.

24

Simon no doubt knows who Peter is, and he as quite possibly heard about what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. Now his own lust and avarice have overpowered him, and he has fallen under the judgement of God, the righteous judge. In panic he asks Peter to intercede for him.

He comes under conviction of his own wickedness, but does he repent?

Technically he has not repented, he asks for intercession, but he didn’t confess his sin. He asks to be saved from the consequences of his actions, but he doesn’t appear to connect that with repenting, turning away, from those actions.

Simon’s status is uncertain.

25

Back to Jerusalem. What they did was made sure that Phillip had his facts straight and was on the right track. This was critical because of what comes next.

Open Door Baptist Church

Acts 8:9-25

When we say Simon the sorcerer, what do we really mean?

The Bible shows us that magic and the dark arts are a real thing, it is not just a matter of illusions or sleight of hand. There are several examples of conjuring in Exodus.

From sticks to serpents

Exodus 7:8-13

The plague of blood

Exodus 7:22

The plague of frogs

Exodus 8:6-7

The plague of lice

Exodus 8:16-19

Summoning spirits

There is an example of a medium summoning a spirit of the dead. This was when Saul was panicking having completely lost his way.

1 Samuel 28:7-19

Spiritual possession

People posessed with demons and evil spirits was common in the time of Jesus and the apostles. Now it is called “mental illness.”

Acts 16:16

Books of magic

Scroll, books and textx of the curious arts have always existed. Thankfully many have been destroyed over the course of history.

Acts 19:19

The greatest collection of ancient texts of the curious arts perished in 48BC

In 48 BC, during Caesar’s Civil War, Julius Caesar was besieged at Alexandria. His soldiers set fire to his own ships while trying to clear the wharves to block the fleet belonging to Cleopatra’s brother Ptolemy XIV.^{[80][81][57][8]} This fire spread to the parts of the city nearest to the docks, causing considerable devastation.^[81][78][8] The first-century AD Roman playwright and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger quotes Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita Libri, which was written between 63 and 14 BC, as saying that the fire started by Caesar destroyed 40,000 scrolls from the Library of Alexandria.

Open Door Baptist Church

Acts 8:1-25

1-3

Paul didn’t participate in Stephen’s murder, but he didn’t do anything to stop it. He was determined to prove that he was the most zealous of all the pharisees. At this time he thought that meant he had to stop the spread of the church, but he must have been conflicted because of the impact Stephen’s sermon had on him.

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

( Acts 22:3-4 )

But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

( Acts 23:6 )

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

( 1 Timothy 1:15 )

4-8

Following the Lord’s commands

4

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

( Matthew 10:23 )

5

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

( Acts 6:5 )

7

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

( Mark 16:17 )

9-13

• Sorcery –
• μαγεύων – mageuōn
• to practice magic

14-24

Peter and John.

20

Remember Ananias and Sapphira?

25

Open Door Baptist Church

Acts 6:9-15

9

Libertines – Freedman, the name of a synagogue.

a freedman, one of the class of manumitted slaves; a synagogue at Jerusalem appears to have been reserved for them.

Manumitted – Manumission, or affranchisement, is the act of an owner freeing his or her slaves.

Cyrene – Cyrene (/saɪˈriːniː/; Ancient Greek: Κυρήνη, translit.Kyrēnē) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya.

Alexandria – Alexandria (/ˌælɪɡˈzændriə/ or /-ˈzɑːnd-/;^[3]Egyptian Arabic: إسكندريه‎ Eskendereyya; Arabic: الإسكندرية‎ al-ʾIskandariyya; Coptic: ⲁⲗⲉⲝⲁⲛⲇⲣⲓⲁ Alexandria or ⲣⲁⲕⲟϯ Rakote) is the second-largest city in Egypt and a major economic centre, extending about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country.

Cilicia – In antiquity, Cilicia (/sɪˈlɪʃiə/)^{[2][note 1]} was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus and corresponds to the modern region of Çukurova in Turkey.

Asia – The Roman province of Asia or Asiana (Greek: Ἀσία or Ἀσιανή), in Byzantine times called Phrygia, was an administrative unit added to the late Republic. It was a Senatorial province governed by a proconsul. The arrangement was unchanged in the reorganization of the Roman Empire in 211.

10

Stephen may have been aware of this teaching of Jesus:

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

( Luke 21:12-15 )

Jesus was quoting scripture:

Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

( Exodus 4:12 )

11

And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

( 1 Kings 21:10 )

12

13

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;

( Matthew 26:59 )

14

the customs which Moses delivered us.

Irony. When Stephen mounts his defense he will accuse them of resisting and opposing Moses.

15

Angel – a messenger, generally a (supernatural) messenger from God, an angel, conveying news or behests from God to men.

Open Door Baptist Church

Acts 6:1-7

The ordination of the first deacons. The word Deacon doesn’t occur in the passage as written in the KJV but it does in the Greek

1

And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

• ministration – διακονίᾳ diakonia
• service, ministry
• waiting at table; in a wider sense: service, ministration.

2

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

• serve – διακονεῖν diakonein
• to serve, minister
• I wait at table (particularly of a slave who waits on guests); I serve (generally).

3

Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

4

But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

• ministry – διακονίᾳ diakonia

5

And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

6

Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

7

And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

The next time the word Deacon occurs in our English version is Philippians 1:1

Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

This is where we see a distinction between the clergy and the laity

broadly speaking the clergy, or priesthood, care for the spiritual welfare, the diaconate care for the physical welfare of the congregation.

The qualifications for bshops and deacons are laid out in 1 Timothy 3

• bishops – ἐπισκόποις episkopois ( overseer )
• deacons – διακόνοις   diakonois ( a servant, minister )

We connect the office of bishop to the office of pastor through 1 Peter 2:25

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

• shepherd – Ποιμένα Poimena
• a shepherd
• a shepherd; hence met: of the feeder, protector, and ruler of a flock of men.
• properly, a shepherd (“pastor” in Latin); (figuratively) someone who the Lord raises up to care for the total well-being of His flock (the people of the Lord).