Good morning. Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

So we're going to consider these first eight verses this morning. Before we do, I want to give you some of the backstory as to how the church got into this position, specifically the story of Stephen and Saul. It says Saul was consenting unto the death of Stephen. So turn back to Acts chapter six, Acts chapter six.

Acts 6 verse 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. Now at this time, there is a man appointed over the widows to make sure that they had food and that their needs were met at this time. If you didn't have a husband, there was an official officer assigned to take care of these people. And they're looking for who they're going to use for this. Now look down in verse five, Acts six, verse five.

And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen for this job, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests was obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people."

So this is the first of Stephen that we hear. And what's it say about him? It says he was of honest report. He was an honest man. He was full of the Holy Ghost. one of the Lord's people, and a man given the Holy Ghost to be able to preach the gospel and proclaim the gospel. It said he was wise, it says he was full of faith, and that he was full of power. This is one of the Lord's people, this is a man that the Lord is with in this position.

Now look in chapter seven, Acts 7, verse 51. Stephen is preaching to the Jews and he's preaching harshly to the Jews. He's rebuking the Jews at this time. Verse 51, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardened hearers, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost as your fathers did, so do ye. And his preaching this day is a lot of that kind of talk. It's harsh. Verse 54, When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

And he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

So they murder Stephen. They murder Stephen for his preaching. A great sin. Now this is all we read of Stephen in the Bible. We hear of him in Acts 6 and by the end of Acts 7 he's been murdered by the Jews. Now Acts 8 verse 1. And Saul was consenting unto his death. That means he was happy with the death. He approved of the death of Stephen. So who is Saul?

Well, back in chapter seven, it said, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. Look over in chapter nine, chapter nine, verse one. Acts 9 verse 1, and Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest.

Sounds like the exact opposite of Stephen. He murdered Stephen. He was happy that Stephen was dead. We're going to read about the havoc that he was creating in the church, throwing these men and women out, throwing them into prison. Here it says he's breathing threatenings and slaughter. The exact opposite of Stephen.

But the Lord has something to do with this man, Saul. The Lord is gonna save this man and he's actually gonna convert him and change his name to Paul. And that's the Apostle Paul that he used to write scripture. Let's keep reading in chapter nine, verse one. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. Now Saul was given light from the Lord. That is the experience of the Lord's people, given light. We are in darkness by nature, and we have got to be given light to see who the Lord is. And I love how it says, suddenly.

It just, it was there. Saul was not seeking it out. He wasn't moving toward it. He wasn't looking for it. Just suddenly, light from heaven. That's our experiences and we were never looking for the Lord's mercy. The Lord's mercy was just shown. It was declared to us and it was like a light being turned on. Saul's given light from heaven. Verse four, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? What's the first thing Saul does after he's given light?

He hits the dirt. And that's what happens when the Lord shows who he is and he gives us light to see who he is and how holy and high and lifted up he is. We will bow. And it's through seeing who He is that we will see who we are, and we will see our great need of Him. And Saul saw that at this time. Verse 5, And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

His first question, who art thou Lord? And that never stops being the question, the great question that we must have answered, who art thou Lord? That is what the gospel is, is who the Lord is and what he has done. And the Lord answered him, he said, I am Jesus. When that question, who art thou Lord, is truly asked, it will be answered. The Lord will answer it.

And he did here, he said, I am Jesus to whom thou persecutest. Verse 6, Acts 9 verse 6. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Trembling and astonished when the Lord spoke to him. I love that those two things together, trembling and yet astonished, trembling in fear of the Lord, in fear of his justice, of his power, of our salvation being in his hands. And yet astonished at those same things, astonished at his justice, astonished at his sovereignty and his power, astonished most of all that he would show us mercy, that he would be so merciful to such an undeserving people. Astonished and trembling. That's the experience of the Lord's people when he saves us.

Now look over in Acts 13. Acts 13, verse 9. Acts 13, verse 9. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, the apostle Paul, who the Lord is going to use to write 13 books in the Bible. Now, can God do that for a murderer?

Of course he can. If he has shown me mercy, he has shown that same kind of mercy here to Saul. The Lord's people don't say, well, how could he show somebody like that mercy? They say, well, if He has to show somebody like that mercy, because that is our true state before the Lord, is a murderer and a God-hater, somebody that wanted nothing to do with Him. And then He shined that light suddenly. And that's what happened for Paul. And the Lord is going to use Paul to write Scripture, to preach His gospel. He's going to use Paul in great, great ways.

Now I want to remember what Stephen prayed in his final words. Here's what he said. He said, and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And the Lord heard that prayer that day. He heard when Stephen prayed that. for Saul. Now the Lord could have saved Saul and converted him to Paul without that prayer, certainly. But it's obvious that the Lord heard that prayer this day. Now I want you to turn over to Luke 23. Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, verse 33. Luke 23, verse 33.

And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots.

And like Stephen's prayer was answered, that prayer was answered too. Father, forgive them, forgive the same people that are about to murder him on the cross at Calvary, for they know not what they do. Now, the Lord hears those prayers. And when I think about prayer for our brothers and sisters, for our family members, for our loved ones, for them to be given the light to see the gospel, to be given health, to be given any blessing, anything that we're praying for people, or when somebody is praying for us for these things, and somebody is praying for our salvation and for our health and for our comfort, that is not something to be taken lightly. That was given very high regard here in the scriptures, the prayer for our loved ones.

That is all we can do for them. We can't save them. We don't have the ability to do that. The Lord has to do that. But we can pray that the Lord would save them. We can pray that he would not lay their sin to their charge. And the Lord hears that prayer here. He heard Stephen's prayer for Paul, and the father heard the prayer of the son for all of his people. What a blessing that the Lord would actually pray for us, that he would even consider us. We consider him not like we should, but thankfully he considers the needs of his people. All right, let's turn back to Acts 8. Acts 8. That's the backstory of Stephen and Saul. Acts 8 verse 1. And Saul was consenting unto his death.

And at that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. They were very sorrowful for the death of Stephen. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committed them to prison.

This is a very scary time. There's a great persecution against the church. The disciples and the members are all scattered abroad. Nobody's together. Saul is going into homes and throwing men and women, possibly children, into prison. Stephen's been stoned to death. This is a, I think havoc describes it the best. This is a chaotic time. Verse four. Therefore, what was the result of all this? What came of this havoc?

Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. And as a result of the great persecution and the great trials that were happening, the Lord used it for the good of His Word, for His Word to be preached. It said they went everywhere preaching the Word.

So what is it to preach the Word? First and foremost, it is to preach this book. It is to preach what is in it, plainly and simply. We are not preaching our opinions. We are not preaching what another man says, another sinner says. We are preaching what is in the Word. And our commentary on Scripture is the Word. The best commentary on Scripture is Scripture. Now, I want to look at Hebrews 4 for a second. Turn over there to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12.

For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is quick, it is powerful, it is sharp, it cuts to the heart. Now the Lord can send his word out in that way. The Lord said about his word, it will not return unto me void when he sends his word out, but it will accomplish that which I send it to do. And that's what it speaks here of. It's sharp. It cuts through the joints and the marrow. It's a discerner of the heart.

Preaching the Word, when the Lord blesses His Word, He can save through His Word. He can save through His preaching. Again, we can't do that, but the Lord can do that if He's willing to. And that's what happened here. They were preaching the Word, but the Lord blessed the Word. That's what's important here. The Lord blessed His Word.

Turn over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1, verse 23. 1 Peter 1, verse 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. It's to preach the living word. It is to preach Christ the word. It said in John 1, 1, in the beginning was the word, capital W. That means it's a name for our Lord.

He is the living word, the living, alive, active word. And it says His word abideth forever. This word is never changing. And you think about what a rare thing that is in this world to have something that has not changed. So much in this world changes. I mean, just what's changed in the last five years, 10 years, 20 years. But this word has not changed. The Lord has preserved His word and He is going to preserve it forever, how thankful I am for a preserved word, for a word that's in the Lord's hands and not the hands of man.

All right, let's turn back to Acts 8. Acts chapter 8, verse 5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them." Now they went everywhere preaching the Word, and now we read of the preaching of Christ. Now Paul did this after the Lord saved him in Acts 9. If you want to look over in Acts 9 verse 20, it says, "...and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God."

That's what it is to preach Christ, that He is the Son of God, that God is who He says He is in His word, that God is. No greater example of that than how this book begins. Genesis 1-1, in the beginning, God. That is what it is to preach Christ, that He is. And I think it is especially to preach who Christ said He is in His word. The Lord blessed us with Scripture on who He said in His Word that He is. And that is especially something that we should pay attention to, that we can rely on, that there's no need to ever question who the Lord said He is, because He is God Almighty.

I'll read this to you, John 14, verse 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. So if you want to know who Christ is, look at scriptures like that. He said, I am the way. The way that God can be just and justify the ungodly is through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done. I am the truth. I so want to know the truth.

I do not want to be misled. in this thing of the gospel, in this thing of who God is, and who I am, and my eternal salvation. I can be misled in other things. I can be naive in other things. But I do not want to be misled in this. And he said, I am the truth. What he said is what can really be believed. And the life, eternal life, spiritual life, he is that life. The reality is for the Lord to love us and for the Lord to find favor with us, we cannot have our life before God. We cannot bring our works and our ways before the Lord. But through the life of our great substitute, we can have spiritual life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. He preached Christ unto them. Acts 8 verse 4, therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them.

The preaching of the word and the preaching of Christ, those are two things that cannot be separated. They are always in union. If Christ is preached, the word is preached. If the Word is preached, Christ will always be preached. And if you love Christ, you love His Word.

I don't have to convince the Lord's people of that. That's just the truth. We love the Word of God, and we love who Christ is and who He reveals Himself as in His Word. We're so thankful for that. We're so thankful that He's preserved this Word where we can know who our Lord is. Verse 6, Acts 8, verse 6. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. With one accord, they were in complete union on who the Lord is.

Now, I want to consider for a second what a rare thing it is to be in one accord. We are all so different. We have such different backgrounds. We have such different jobs and hobbies and experiences, and we're just different people. But the Lord's people are in one accord, perfect unity on who the Lord is. And we're so in unity on our experience of receiving his mercy that we did not deserve, again, that we were not looking for, but suddenly the light. So thankful to be in one accord. You and me might not have anything in common, but we have the one thing needful in common. The Lord. The Lord's mercy being shown to us graciously.

And it's said they gave heed. What giving heed means is to bring something near. The gospel was made near to them. The word was made near. The preaching of Christ was made near. That's what it was talking about in Hebrews chapter 4. The Lord brought that word near to them. Philip spoke the words, but the Lord blessed the words and it pierced those people and it was received near unto them. It was received to the heart.

Verse seven, for unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. The Lord is called the Great Physician. All these things, unclean, possessed, taken with palsies, lame, that is all of us by nature. Unclean with the sickness of sin, the palsies, the sickness of sin, lame, we are unable to come to Him, we are unable to take one step to the Lord.

And He heals all that. And He gives us the ability to come to Him, He gives us the robe of righteousness, He puts us under the blood, and He cleans us of our sins. Where we're shining white as snow, He is the Great Physician. If you are sick, He heals. That's the good news of the Gospel, that the Lord heals. He can heal us of all our unbelief, all of our desires to look elsewhere. They're still there in the old man, but the Lord can clean us in the new man and give us that new spirit. Again, they were possessed with that sinful spirit, but the Lord healed through the new spirit. He healed through what the Lord did. Verse 8.

And there was great joy in that city. I love that it ends here with joy. Joy is happiness that is a cup that is so full that it can't take another drop. That's when it's joy, full of joy. That's what these people experience. That is what the gospel brings. It brings genuine joy. The Lord's people have no reason not to be a joyful and happy people. And I know that they're, difficult things in this life that we lose our joy so quickly. But if you think about what the Lord has done for us, what reason do we have to not be full of joy?

We have no reason. No reason at all. Now, this story shows how God brings good out of evil, and it shows our Lord's high and holy purpose in all things that he does. Now, What happened to Stephen was evil. I don't need to convince anybody that it was murder.

It was murder of somebody that was full of the Holy Ghost. And our Lord had a purpose in that, and He brought good out of it. First of all, He gave Stephen that prayer to pray, and the Lord heard that prayer. And again, He could have saved Saul without that prayer, but He put that prayer on the heart of Stephen, and He answered that prayer. And then you see the bad stuff that seems to continue. There's persecution against the church. Saul's in here throwing people into prison that don't deserve it. And then, therefore, the turn, what he did with that.

He sent Philip down, and he blessed his word, and he blessed the preaching of the gospel, and those people with one accord gave heed, and they were saved, and there was great joy because of that. That's the Lord's purpose in all things, His high and holy purpose. Now, we do not always see the Lord's purpose in things, us sitting here on this earth. And I can assure you that Stephen did not see the purpose at that time as he was being stoned to death. I can assure you that those people being thrown into prison did not see the Lord's purpose.

We have to remember though, it is his purpose. He is the one that understands why these things are good and what he is going to do with them. And when it does not make sense to us, remember that it always does make sense to him. There is nothing surprising him. There's nothing out of his control. His purpose is always done. The evil of the killing of Stephen and what his purpose was, was joy. the joy for his people, how thankful we are that all things work together for our good and for the glory of God. All right.