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Philip: Preaching to Good and Bad Samaritans
ACTS of Philip the Evangelist

Φίλιππος Philip who?
Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis ..

(No, not that Philip, whose wife Herodias his brother Herod Antipas took as his own wife.)
Jesus chose Twelve Apostles at the beginning His ministry in Galilee. The Apostle Philip was one of the Twelve.
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Philip has been an Apostle for about five years now.
The year c. A.D. 32 or 33.
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- (But it’s not that Philip, either. Don’t get confused like I did.)
When Simon Peter healed a lame man and spoke at Solomon’s Portico just two years ago, Philip would have observed the entire miracle. (Actually, two men named Philip may have been present.)

Our other brother Philip 🙂

As we learned in An Apostolic Model: Administration of a Growing Church from Acts 6:

As the church grew rapidly, the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples, asking them to choose seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to lead in ministering to the Church: Steven, Philip and five others.
- (Yes, this other brother Philip, a leading deacon of the Church, second in the list of seven, is known as Philip the Evangelist.)
So now after Stephen’s trial, the Church in Jerusalem faces imminent persecution.

Philip heads back north through the mountains of Judea, traveling one of their usual routes to Galilee through Samaria.

Samaria was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, and again by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus in 108 B.C. The city was rebuilt by Herod the Great between the years 30–27 B.C. According to Josephus, Herod expanded and renovated the city, bringing in 6,000 new inhabitants, and renamed it “Sebastia” in the emperor’s honor (translating the Latin epithet Augustus to Greek Sebastos, “venerable”). – Source: Wikipedia

Acts 8:
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We will return to Luke's chronology shortly, but lets begin with a parallel timeline from his account of events in *Sebastia from the perspective of its people.
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The ‘not so good’ *Samaritan

..there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery [μαγεύω] in the city and astonished the people of *Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”

μάγος – magus
- the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.
- the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him
- a false prophet and sorcerer
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Luke had begun his account with Philip's departure from Jerusalem following the execution of Stephen.
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Philip went down to the city of Samaria
and began proclaiming the [Messiah] Christ to them.
ACTS of the Apostles 8:5 NASB20
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Philip leaves for *Samaria fully aware its reputation. He's been there before and passed through the town many times. And Jesus had illustrated general Jewish thought about this city and these northern tribes in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
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Miracles and Signs by Philip

6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed;

Philip, along with the Apostles and many other disciples following the Lord had witnessed Jesus’ power to command evil spirits. Peter healed a lame man in Jerusalem, just one of several Apostolic signs of power. Now we learn of Philip’s miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.

and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.
ACTS (of the Apostle philip) 8:7b – NKJV

GOOD vs. EVIL!

Scripture records several contests similar to Philip’s opposition. Some of these contests between God (good) and evil have taken place on this very mountain where Philip encounters Simon Magus.

False prophets and idolaters deceive others by spirits (i.e. demons, devils, angels) from all that is evil.

Our 21st century Christian minds easily dismiss powers we cannot explain.
- Do you really believe in such powers of the spiritual realms?
Acts reveals the Power of the Holy Spirit [πνεῦμα].
- “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit G4151; you are doing just as your fathers did. – Acts 7:51
- But he, being full of the Holy Spirit G4151, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God – Acts 7:55
- They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit G4151!” – Acts 7:59
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The HOLY SPIRIT of the ONE GOD, WHO IS One with God the Father and the One begotten Son Christ Jesus, works for good in the hearts and lives of sinful men and women like us once we turn to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
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- Acts of the Apostles is a first century account of a continuing battle between Good and Evil.
- The Good News (Gospel) of the Lord’s death and resurrection is that JESUS will win this war.
Simon Covets Philip’s Power
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Of course this power is not from Philip, but from the Holy Spirit.
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11 They [the Samaritans] were attentive to him {Simon] because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

13 Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed.
- Philip’s signs are more powerful than the power of Simon Magus, who the Samaritans called, ‘the great power of God!’
  - Was Simon’s baptism a complete turning from evil and a permanent cleansing?
  - Did Simon receive the Holy Spirit
    
    (even as Ananias and Saphira had claimed, yet sought to deceive the Holy Spirit and other believers)?
  - Luke tell us: 16 ‘They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
    
    Baptism alone does not make you any more faithful to Jesus than Ananias and Saphira OR Judas.
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Philip continues teaching of new believers in Samaria with great success.
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Meanwhile, back in Jerusalem..

14 When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

Why Peter and John?

About eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
Luke 9:28 NASB20

Peter, James and John know the Person of Jesus more intimately than the other nine Apostles.
1. These three comprised an inner-circle of leadership for the Lord Jesus.
2. The Twelve in turn lead other disciples (hundreds of them at times), so that now these Apostles lead a growing Church.
The Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven! (At the conclusion of Luke’s Gospel and opening of ACTS of the Apostles, leadership passes to them.)

Simon Peter leads this inner circle of the Apostles, all of the Twelve (including Mathias), Jerusalem’s seven deacons (including Stephen and Philip); and NOW [c. A.D. 33] many disciples of Jesus beyond Jerusalem as they, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel.’

Peter and John join Philip in Samaria

ACTS 8:15 After they went down there, they prayed for them so that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them..

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
- Apparently Simon is not of one accord with these new believers in Samaria. So the magician has missed out on the blessings of the Holy Spirit;
  - But the powerful always covet more power.
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying,
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“Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
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If Simon’s story had ended here
- Would you recognize this false prophet, a teacher with power?
  - Do you realize that such a man must bow down to the LORD God or face judgment with eternal consequence?
- Does Scripture not warn us how to handle such sheep in the designer clothing of wolves?
ACTS of the First Century Church

Stephen had just called out such false leaders in Jerusalem! For two years now the Apostles have demonstrated signs from God to Jerusalem’s leaders. Revenge and persecution fill its political streets.

These leaders of the Great City of religion misused Scripture. AND false accusation meant to silence opposition to the Truth of the Gospel, resulted in their false leadership condemning Stephen to death!

The Lord Jesus Christ had warned of others to come. Simon Magnus could have been one of the first.

“And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people.

Gospel of Matthew 24:11 NASB20

Peter’s Reaction to Simon

YOU want such power, right? To make a lame man stand? Heal someone’s cancer? Help someone paralyzed with pain to get up and walk once more? Even to save a young man or woman from death? (Stephen was just thirty years old)

So did Simon, who like so many just offered to pay Peter for such POWER.

“Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
ACTS 8:19 NIV – Simon’s request to Peter

PETER would have none of it.

20 But Peter replied,

“May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God.
Acts of the Apostles 8:20-21 NLT

Is YOUR heart right with God?

8:21 οὐκ ἔστιν σοι μερὶς οὐδὲ κλῆρος ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἡ γὰρ καρδία σου οὐκ ἔστιν εὐθεῖα ἔναντι τοῦ θεοῦ

²¹وَلَيْسَ لَكَ حِصَّةٌ أوْ نَصِيبٌ فِي هَذَا الأمْرِ، لِأنَّ قَلْبَكَ لَيْسَ سَلِيمًا أمَامَ اللهِ. ²²فَتُبْ عَنْ شَرِّكَ هَذَا وَصَلِّ إلَى الرَّبِّ، لَعَلَّهُ يُسَامِحُكَ عَلَى الفِكرَةِ الآثِمَةِ الَّتِي فِي قَلْبِكَ. ²³فَأنَا أرَاكَ مُمتَلِئًا مَرَارَةً وَعَبدًا لِلخَطِيَّةِ.»

ACTS of Repentance

“Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours,
and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart will be forgiven you.
Acts of the Apostles 8:22 NASB20 – Peter’s admonition to Simon Magnus

23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”

24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”

Returning to the scene of the crimes against Christ and His Church:

25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
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ACTS of Philip (the Deacon Evangelist): TO BE CONTINUED...
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February 1, 2022
God will raise up for you a prophet
I HAVE COME DOWN TO RESCUE THEM

Stephen: ‘God will raise up a Prophet like Moses’

As he stares intently into the souls of those leaders of Jerusalem who have brought him to trial for preaching about Jesus Christ, Stephen continues to compare Jesus to Israel’s ancient fathers. He also compares these judges he faces to defiant Hebrews who rejected Moses for forty years. But what point does Stephen make about Christ when he quotes from Scripture concerning Moses saying, ‘God will raise up a Prophet from your countrymen?‘
“This Moses whom they disowned..

is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer
led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt
and in the Red Sea,
and in the wilderness for forty years.
“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel,
‘GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR COUNTRYMEN.’
ACTS of the Apostles 7:37 NASB20 – Defense of Stephen to the Sanhedrin

ACTS 7: of the disciple of the Apostles, Stephen

38 Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.

To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us:
Acts 7:39-40a KJV – Stephen compares Israel’s leaders to those who turned from Moses to Aaron, asking Aaron to lead them back to Egypt and their gods

“You are to be blameless before the LORD your God.

“For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.
Deuteronomy 18:14 [& 13 above]

A Word from the Source:

Deuteronomy 18:

“Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me..

..pay attention to him, just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested Adonai your God,

‘Don’t let me hear the voice of Adonai my God any more, or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!’
Deuteronomy 18:15-16 excerpt
Complete Jewish Bible

אֲדֹנָי

ăḏōnāy (H136)– an emphatic form of אָדוֹן (H113)

The following Scripture verses precede Stephen’s defense he quotes from Deuteronomy to leaders of the Jewish High Council of the Sanhedrin:

Powerful Pleas of the Prophet Moses
- ‘Lord H136 GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? – Deuteronomy 3:24
  - – Mōšê, at the time when the Lord God would allow him to see the Jordan, but would not allow Moses to cross over because of his disobedience.
- “And I prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Lord H136 GOD, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand! – Deuteronomy 9:26
- “For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord H136 of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. – Deuteronomy 10:17 *[quotes from NASB20]
Open your eyes to the full context of the scripture above from which Stephen preaches.

Powerful pleas from Deuteronomy by Stephen
- Why does Stephen use this Book of Moses for his defense?
“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
Deuteronomy 10:14

Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

for all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land— and for all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Deuteronomy 34:10-12
- And the Lord God, who belongs to heaven and the highest heavens is the only One who can send down another Prophet like Moses to earth, a son of man,
- The Apostles and many more disciples of Jesus had witnessed the Lord Christ Jesus taken up into heaven just a few weeks prior to that first Pentecost when Peter had preached in Solomon’s Colonnade.
  - God the Father ‘will raise up another Prophet like Moses: One Redeemer Son of God greater than Moses, as One Perfect Sacrifice for sin for those who believe — Stephen stands accused before these same men who sent the Lord Jesus – the Righteous One — to hang on a Roman Cross.
  - Moses had assured that the Father of all creation and created would ‘raise up’ such a prophet and teacher — and these disciples of the Apostles of the Messiah Jesus are His witnesses.
Stephen has now preached Christ crucified and risen to Jerusalem for two years, prior to his trial.

Tabernacles and Temples

Acts 7: Stephen continues..

⁴¹At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

42 Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods!
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Remember: Stephen is preaching this to Jewish leaders who idolize Herod's Temple, Israelites who have been dealing with this 'Jesus challenge' for five years now, even as the church grows dramatically even as Rome becomes increasingly impatient with their State of Judah.
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Stephen now quotes Judah’s Prophet, Amos of Tekoa, a small village just 10 miles from Jerusalem eight centuries earlier.
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“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
You also carried Sikkuth [*] your king [*]
And Chiun, [*] your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,”
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.

Amos 5:25-27 NKJV - [* pagan idols including Moloch]
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In the book of the prophets it is written,

‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me
that you offered slaughtered animals
and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness!
No, you carried the tent of Molekh
and the star of your god Reifan [Ῥαιφάν],
the idols you made so that you could worship them.
Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel [Babylon].
Acts 7:42b-43, Complete Jewish Bible

What is Stephen’s point in quoting Amos to the Sanhedrin?
(Amos 5:1 introduces Stephen’s lament to his Jewish judges:)

Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

Moloch, god of Canaan
5:24 וְיִגַּל כַּמַּיִם מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה כְּנַחַל אֵיתָֽן׃

“But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24

The trial and defense of Stephen before Jerusalem’s leaders of the Sanhedrin —–

To be continued…
January 14, 2022
Understand today the discipline of the LORD your God
- Do YOU, (children) claiming God as your Father and Jesus Christ as YOUR Lord know this one?
11:1 וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַרְתָּ מִשְׁמַרְתּוֹ וְחֻקֹּתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וּמִצְוֺתָיו כָּל־הַיָּמִֽים׃
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11 :: Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC)

Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the LORD your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:2

What is the difference between Discipline of the LORD & the Punishment of God?

Water covers the earth!

The LORD GOD wipes the slate clean! No more creatures on earth EXCEPT Noah.

And that was not even punishment, but pure judgment of the created men and women, fallen deeply into sin.

God’s created world may have had a flood or two in this past year of our Lord, BUT not like the first flood.

Covenant of our Forefathers

After the LORD cleanses creation, He makes a covenant with Abraham and gives His LAW through Moses.

Moses also makes a covenant with the LORD on behalf of Israel:

24:3 וַיָּבֹא מֹשֶׁה וַיְסַפֵּר לָעָם אֵת כָּל־דִּבְרֵי יְהוָה וְאֵת כָּל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים וַיַּעַן כָּל־הָעָם קוֹל אֶחָד וַיֹּאמְרוּ כָּל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר יְהוָה נַעֲשֶֽׂה׃
Exodus 24:3b KJV – .. and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.’.

פָּקַד pâqad, paw-kad’; a primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent)
- to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for
“But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless on the day when I punish^H6485, I will punish^H6485 them for their sin.”
Then the LORD struck the people with a plague, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.
Exodus 32:34-35 NASB20 – Strong’s H6485 = number (119x), visit (59x), punish (31x),

This is punishment: that the Lord attends to His own and that our reckoning will be by the hand of our Creator and Heavenly Father, who must punish His children who break our promises and violate our covenant.

Discipline of the LORD – יָסַר
- to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish
“Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline^H3256 you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. – Deuteronomy 4:36

“So you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining^H3256 you just as a man disciplines^H3256 his son. – Deuteronomy 8:5

“.. but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the LORD which He did.

“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today..
Deuteronomy 11:8a

Punishment of God – פָּקַד
- visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children..
  - עָוֹן — ʿāôn – perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity
‘You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting H6485 the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them.

“Otherwise, the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the sky so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then you will quickly perish from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
Deuteronomy 11:17 [11:16 quoted above]

‘You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me..
Deuteronomy 5:9

Will you receive the Discipline of the LORD our Father OR Punishment for your Sins?

דברים 11

מוּסָר:: From יָסַר (H3256)

“Know this day that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline^H4148 of the LORD your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm.. but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.
Deuteronomy 11:2,7 on the discipline of the LORD. – NASB
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What is your Short Take on these Scriptures about Discipline and Punishment?

Please add your COMMENT at the bottom of this post. - RH
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January 11, 2022