Acts: The Gospel in Samaria

The Gospel of Christ-TGOC

The apostle Paul, who was formerly known as Saul, asked this great question: “Lord what would you have me to do?”
Today we're going to let the Bible answer that question. We hope that you'll get your Bible and stay tuned as we look together in our study of the book of Acts.
In Acts chapter 9 we now come to one of the pivotal conversions in the New Testament: Saul of Tarsus, who has done much harm to the church. He was there when they held he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen. Acts chapter 8 he's wreaking havoc on the church. Dragging men and women to prison, he's doing everything possible, because according to his conscience he believes Christianity is a farce. Now in Acts chapter 9 Saul is going to come face-to-face with the Lord Jesus Christ. As Jesus speaks to him, and he now has to come that truth yes Christianity is true and Jesus is the Son of God, how to those things happen? What takes place?
Notice these principles that we learn from Acts chapter 9. First in Acts 9:1-2 Saul is still breathing threats and murders against the church. He now has in his hand letters from the high priest that if he finds anyone who's, of the way, any Christians, he can take them and imprison them. So with
those letters, he's headed down the road. Along that road Saul is confronted by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus speaks to him and says “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” Saul responds “Who are you Lord?” That he realizes whoever this is the Lord and Master. “I am Jesus whom you're persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against the goads.” What a powerful impact! That that light shines around him. He’s blinded because of that. “Lord who are you?” “I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting, stop kicking against the goads.”
You know that idea, once he hears who it is and once he realizes he's been doing things that he knows probably aren't right, kicking against the goads- that which was pressuring, that was put that was forcing him in that direction he was refusing that. Paul, who we now know it by the blood name Paul, is confronted with Christ on the road to Damascus.
Then we hear the type of attitude that made Saul such a wonderful servant of God. “I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against the goads.” How did Paul respond to that drastic message that is going to shape his life in a whole new direction? “Lord what would you have me to do?” Look at the immediate change that Saul of Tarsus is ready to make. He's been taking Christians who follow Jesus and imprison them, some of them maybe even murdered, wreaking havoc on the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, holding the coats of those who stoned Stephen, and now Jesus speaks, the miraculous voice of Christ appears to Saul of Tarsus, immediately he's ready to change.
You know friends that tells us a lot about the heart of Saul of Tarsus. The Bible says in Acts 23:1 Saul said “I've lived in all good until this day.” When Paul when Saul is persecuting Christians. He really believed it was the right thing. When he heard the voice of Jesus, there was no getting around that truth, and he was ready to immediately change his words. He's blinded on the journey, the Lord tells him “I want you to go into the city and it'll be told you what you must do.” In verses 10 through 19 Ananias is now commissioned to go to Saul and to preach the gospel unto him, and he comes to Saul. When we think about Saul, who is in sin, who needs obey the gospel, who needs to submit to Jesus- what did Saul of Tarsus do to be saved?
You remember that great question. Acts 9:6 “Lord what would you have me to do?” Isn't that what everybody, every person ought to be asking? Let's get the Bible answer to that question.
Saul recounts his own conversion in Acts chapter 22, and I want you notice what is said in Acts 22:16. The Scripture records, Ananias speaking to Saul now, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.”
What did Saul of Tarsus have to do to be saved? He had to hear the voice of Christ. Every person who is going to be saved has to hear the message. He had to believe Jesus was Lord and Christ. Jesus said “Unless you believe, you will all likewise perish. Unless you believe that I'm He you'll surely die in your sins,” John 8:24. He had to acknowledge that with his mouth, confesses Christ as Lord, Romans 10:10. He had to repent no doubt. The change, you can look at Saul's life and a complete change was made. Saul, just like every other conversion in the New Testament, had to be baptized to be saved. What is it, I want you to think real carefully about this with me now, what is it that separates man from God?
The clear answer is sin. Isaiah 59:1-2 “The Lord's ears not heavy that He cannot hear, His arms not shortened that He cannot save, but your sins and your iniquities have separated you from your God.”
Now if we realize the truth that sin separates us from God, we can also know the exact moment in time when a man is saved. Wouldn't you agree that if sin separates us from God, whenever sin is removed is exactly when man is saved? When does that occur?
Listen to Acts 22:16 again. “Why are you waiting?” Ananias says, “Arise, get up, and be baptized,” now watch this “and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Sins are washed away when a man contacts or a person contacts the blood of Jesus in baptism, Romans 6:1-4. One cannot get around the idea that Saul sins are washed away when he was baptized. Are we saying there is something magical or mystical in the water? That's not the idea. It's the answer of a good conscience toward God, 1 Peter 3:21. It's doing what God said to be saved, Mark 16:16, just like in Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” Sins are remitted when one obeys the gospel, culminating in the importance of baptism.
Now let's look at another point that can be very vividly seen from the conversion of Saul. What about the sinner's prayer? I hear a lot about the sinner's prayer. People go around the country and around the world today lot of a lot of teachers have done this, and they'll say false teachers have said to be saved you need to say the sinner's prayer. Usually goes something like this: ‘Lord Jesus I recognize you as Savior. I ask you to come into my heart, and now save me.’
Did Saul of Tarsus know about the sinner’s prayer? Is there ever an example of a sinner praying, and he still had to do something to be saved? Friend if there was ever an example, it's found in Acts chapter 9 was Saul of Tarsus. Notice these words in Acts chapter 9:11. “So the Lord said to him,” that's to Ananias “Arise, go to the street called Straight, inquire house at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus,” now watch this “for behold he is praying.” Blinded by Jesus' light, hears the message, wants to know what to do be saved, told to go to the other the certain house, and stay there. He's there praying, and yet Ananias still has to come to him and tell them what to do to have his sins washed away.
Listen carefully a lot of people have been lied to and duped into thinking the sinner's prayer is in the Bible. You can look in your Bible from Genesis 1:1 to the very last verse in Revelation 22:21 and you will never find the sinner's prayer as so many people preach today recorded. There's no doubt you find people praying. There's no doubt Saul was praying, but he still had to do something to be saved.
When we think about the sinner's prayer, you don't find that in the Scripture.
I was preaching in a gospel meeting one time, and I remember it so vividly. I had taught from the Scripture that you don't find the sinner's prayer recorded anywhere in the Bible, and the sinner's prayer, it cannot save. After the lesson was over and service concluded, I remember there was a lady, who was a visitor that night, who made a beeline to me to ask me a question. She's making a beeline to me, and she comes up. She says “Preacher,” she said, “I heard what you said about the sinner’s prayer.” She said, “I'm going to go home; I heard what you said about the sinner's prayer not being in the Bible.” She said these words she said, “I'm going to go home and ask my pastor.” I said “Well that's good I hope you do. When you
ask him, if you tells, you bring back those verses. We'll look at them together tomorrow night.” She is back tomorrow night. We opened the service. She comes right in the door, makes a beeline for me again. I thought ‘Well I wonder how this is going to go.’ She comes up to me, and she says “Preacher,” she said “I went home and I asked my pastor if the sinner's prayer was in the Bible, and he told me it wasn't.” She said these words “I told him he was a liar.”
I want you to think about that. That man had been teaching people will be saved and say the sinner's prayer. No telling how many people he told that. One of the people who had been listening to him just asked him about it, and said ‘I want you to show me in the Bible where the sinner's prayer is.’ He says the ‘Well it's not there.’ She said ‘You've been lying to people.’ How many people have been doing that throughout the world?
You cannot find the sinner's prayer in the Bible. There's nowhere that says that the sinner's prayer saves.
Saul was praying probably for a two or three days as we read the context, and he still had to do what Ananias told him to be saved. We want to drive that point home, because so many have been told that's what you've got do to be saved.
Now as we turn our attention to Acts chapter 10 and 11, we're going to come to another very unique example of conversion. There is a very good man, who is desperately trying to live right, but he needs to hear about Jesus and the gospel and that man's name is Cornelius. You remember Cornelius. The Bible records in Acts chapter 10:2 that Cornelius was a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. He's a good man. He's trying to do right. He's trying to help others.
I want you to listen real carefully; good moral people still have to obey the gospel to be saved. I had a neighbor one time who I tried to talk to about the gospel. We were across the backyard fence and so I told him ‘You know I'd like for him to come to the church and like to study the Bible with him sometime.’ His response was ‘I'm as good as those people down there at your church.’
Well I don't have a church, to begin with, but nonetheless his idea was ‘I'm a good, moral person and that's going to save me.’ Friend Cornelius was a spectacular, moral person probably. He prayed. He helped the poor. He was devout, sincere. He was trying to do the things to please God. Good morally, good man, but good moral people will still be lost if they don't obey the gospel.
It doesn't matter how much you do benevolently, doesn't how much do in helping the poor, doesn't matter how much you do that is believed to be moral and upright, if people who are good moral people don't obey the gospel-they'll still be lost on the Day of Judgment. Peter sees a vision. He is told to go to Cornelius. Cornelius also receives a vision, and he's told that there's a man coming to him. Cornelius is at his house. Peter comes to him, and he begins to preach the gospel unto him. What you've got here is that and this is an amazing scene in Acts chapter 10. The door is now open for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles. Acts chapter 2 the Jews heard it first time. Acts chapter 10 the the gospel is now going to the Gentiles.
Just as God promised the wall be broken down and all men the two would become one in Christ, Ephesians 2:14-16. Peter comes to preach the gospel to Cornelius. Cornelius is so overwhelmed and overjoyed about this Jewish servant of God coming to him, a Gentile, to preach the gospel that he tries to do something that isn't right, and Peter recognizes that. I want you look in Acts 10:26 at what happens. The Bible records these words for us, “As Peter,” verse number 25 “as Peter was coming in Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him.”
I want you to stop right there for just a moment and think about this: Did Peter what did Peter do when this man fell down and worshiped him? Did Peter say ‘Glad you're doing that that's probably what you ought to be doing’? Did Peter say ‘Here's my ring .You want to kiss it? Also like my funny hat? Doesn't it look good?’ Is that what Peter said? No. Peter didn't say that.
What did Peter say? Acts 10:26 look at these words Peter said. Peter lifted him up saying “Stand up. I myself am also a man.” You know a lot of people want to venerate, want to hold up Peter, and want to say Peter was better than others, and that Peter was the first pope, and that he is worthy of worship and praise. But if that's true, Peter didn't know it. The Holy Spirit
sure didn't record it in the Bible. A Gentile comes in, and he decides ‘I'm going to worship this man because he must be a great servant of God.’ Peter says ‘You get up. I'm a man just like you all.’ Men stand on level ground at the foot of the cross. There is no clergy, laity. There is no big me and little you.
The idea of people worshiping other people, or worshiping saints, or falling down before Peter, or Mary, or the Pope today-friend that's not in the Bible. The Bible teaches that's not acceptable before Almighty God. As Peter begins to preach to Cornelius, he preaches that God is not prejudiced. ‘He's no respecter of persons, but every nation that worketh righteousness and obeys His will can be received by Him.’ Whether you're a Jew, or whether you're a Gentile that doesn't matter to God. God's not concerned with ethnicity. God's not concerned with race. God's not concerned with how much money I've got, or how smart I, or any of that how many degrees I've got. God is no respecter of person persons. ‘Every nation that worketh right and obeys the gospel can be saved.’
What is it that Peter commanded Cornelius and those who heard the message to do? Look in Acts chapter 10, and I want you to notice verse number 48. The Bible says “And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, and they asked him to stay a few days.”
Every account of conversion, people hear the message. They believe in Jesus. They recognize He is the Lord and the Savior. They're willing to change whatever they need to change, acknowledges Jesus as Son of God, and He commanded them to be baptized.
Here's another reason for baptism. Do we realize baptism is a command of God? Can one overlook a command of God and be saved? Well of course not. Jesus said Matthew 7:21 “Not everybody that says ‘Lord, Lord’ is going to heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.”
Another important principle we learn this from Peter's recounting this is what Acts chapter 11 is about. Peter now is going to go back to the Jews and recount the fact that God has opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles. I want you to notice something very important he says in Acts 11:14. The Scripture records these words. Simon said or sir name Peter said, “He would tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.”
Friend to be saved, a person has to hear the word of God. Romans 10:17 “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by God's word.” The word is where the emphasis is hearing the message, the all-powerful word of God, the gospel-that's God's power unto salvation.
Now let's think about this idea. These people in Acts chapter 11 and the people following that who obey the gospel, when they obeyed the gospel when they submitted to the will of God, when they were added to the Lord's church, what were they called? What did they go by?
Look in Acts chapter 11. Let's see what first century followers of Christ were called. Acts 11:26 the Bible records for us these marvelous words, “And when he had found him and brought him to Antioch, and so it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people,” and listen to this, “And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
Disciples, believers, Christians those who follow Christ- those are biblical designations of followers of the Lord in the first century. We don't find denominational names. We don't find somebody called a follower of John Wesley a Methodist, we don't find a Baptist, we don't find Episcopal, we don't find Catholic, we don't find Presbyterian-those names and those man-made denominational designations that cause mass division are not found in the Bible.
May I ask you this, if being called simply a Christian was good enough for Christians in the first century for followers of Christ in the first century, shouldn't it be good enough for us? Shouldn't we be what they were? Put away all the ideas and in the names and division of man and the sectarianism. Hey let's just be Christians. Let's just be members of the Lord's church. Let's just do what they did in the first century to be saved. If we do what they did, if we're called by what they were called in the Bible, we can't go wrong. Let's follow that pattern which God gave us so that we could follow and live according to the teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now in Acts chapter 12 things take a rather dark turn. Peter is in prison, and now we have a John who's going to be imprisoned as well. We have now an evil, ungodly ruler who is trying to snuff out Christianity and
watch what happens in Acts chapter 12:22-23. The Bible records these words “And the people,” talking about Herod “and the people kept shouting to Herod the voice of a god and not a man. Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.” One is beheaded here, Peter then put in prison. It looks like the church is facing great persecution, and the evil government is having its way with the church. Is that what's going to happen? Is God going to intervene? Is the Lord going to protect His people and His church? Herod gives this, what they think is a great speech. They're just trying to butter him up for political reasons. They say ‘that was the voice of a god not a man.’ He didn't give glory to God. Angel of the Lord struck him he was eaten by worms and died right there. Now what about Christianity? What a Herod we know what happened to him? Is the church going to be snuffed out by the evil government of that day? Notice in your Bible what the word of God says in Acts 12:24. The Scripture says “Upon the death of the evil ruler Herod, but the word of God grew and multiplied.”
Yes, there were evil governments in that day. Yes, there were evil people. Bad things even happened to Peter. Bad things happened to John. People died in this chapter. There were martyrs for Christ. But you know what didn't get snuffed out? The power of the gospel, the word of God, and the evil governments of those days did not win and were not victorious over Christianity.
God's going to take care of His people. We can cast all our cares upon Him, because He cares for us. God's going to deal with evil governments and evil rulers. ‘God still rules in the kingdoms of men,’ Daniel 4:25-26 teaches. The principle we learn here is, let's continue to trust in God. Let's continue to trust in the power of God's word, the gospel, and it is the word of God that will grow and multiply. God will give the increase.
Back to the overall mission Acts chapter 1, you shall be my witnesses in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the world. God wants us to go out and preach the gospel. God's going to take care of the things that happen. God's going to take care of evil people that might get in the way of that. God is going to right the wrongs ultimately on the Day of Judgment when Christians hear these wonderful words “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joys of your Lord.”
What we've seen in these chapters are marvelous examples of the power of the gospel. Think about this: Christianity's greatest, single greatest enemy does a 180° turn, obeys the gospel, and now becomes the greatest, working evangelist that we read of- one of the greatest working evangelist we read of in the New Testament. The door is open for the Gentiles and thank God that it is for that includes many of us, if not all today. The gospel truly is for all.
We ask you today the very simple question that the book of Acts begs. Have you obeyed the gospel of Christ? Have you heard the message of Christ? “Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.” They had to hear words whereby they could be saved, Acts 11:14. Have you believed Jesus is the Son of God, John 8:24? Are you willing to repent and change your ways, Acts 3:19? Would you confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, Acts 8:36-38? Would you do what Saul did to be saved?
We ask you this, just like Saul asked Ananias, here's the question will leave you with today- if you've not done these things, why are you waiting?
“Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.”
We pray that you'll continue with us in our study of the book of Acts as we look at these marvelous lessons together.
Study Questions for: “Acts: Lesson 3”
1. What did Jesus ask Saul in Acts 9?
2. How did Saul respond to Jesus in Acts 9?
3. According to Acts 23:1, did Saul think he was doing right?
4. What question does Saul ask in in Acts 9:6?
5. What does Ananias tell Saul to do in Acts 22:16?
6. What did Saul have to do to be saved according to Acts 22:16?
7. What did Jesus say we must do in John 8:24?
8. What separates man from God according to Isaiah 59:1-2?
9. When are our sins washed away according to Romans 6:14?
10. According to Acts 2:28, do what for the remission of sins?