If you go to Chiswick Roundabout, you know where that is, Chiswick Roundabout, and you get on the M4 and you travel 123 miles, you will see a sign which says, Croeso i Gymru, welcome to Wales.
On the other side of that sign, the sun shines. You're in a different realm. You're in a different world. There's a different language. People are warm and friendly and kind and very bad at rugby at the moment.
You're crossing the border. You go across the Seven Bridge, you see the sign, welcome to Wales, Croeso i Gymru. You're in a different world.
But lots of you probably didn't even notice it when you were driving. Lots of you will be thinking, it's no big deal.
You drive along the M4, you go past that sign, you don't think about it. It's a border, but does it make a massive difference?
Well, in Acts chapter 8, the good news of the Lord Jesus and the Gospel is about to cross a great border.
It's about to cross a great line, a significant boundary. It's about to go into Samaria.
And that isn't really like going on the M4 and crossing into Wales. It's a great leap.
And so, if you'll turn, if you haven't already, to Acts chapter 8 in your Bibles.
Because what you have after the death and resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven
and the proclamation of the Lord Jesus in the city of Jerusalem and Judea,
what you have in this book of Acts is the progress and the advance of that Gospel to the ends of the earth.
How are there a body of people in West Ealing this morning from all parts of the world worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ?
And the book of Acts explains that to you.
And one of the first big steps is when the Gospel goes out from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria.
The Gospel got bloody in Jerusalem.
Acts chapter 7 talks about the stoning of Stephen.
And it's at that point, in the aftermath of his death, when he's brutally stoned to death, that great persecution arose.
And everyone, Luke says, apart from the apostles, was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
And the church left.
People were dying for their faith.
People's lives were at risk.
And so they fled.
And the main truth of this passage it's putting before us is that the Gospel advances, whether you like it or not.
And the Gospel advances.
And it will either deliver you or it will reveal you.
And so three Ps this morning.
First of all, the progress of the Gospel.
Look at verses 4 to 8.
The progress of the Gospel.
It says, those who were injured to them, they're scattered.
And they went about preaching the word.
And Philip went down to a city of Samaria and he proclaimed to them the Christ.
The King.
The Lord Jesus.
And the crowds, with one accord, they paid attention to what was being said.
And there was great joy and so on.
The progress of the Gospel.
And that's really interesting because if you look at verse 1 and verse 3,
in the aftermath of Stephen's death, there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.
They're scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Twelve.
And it talks about this guy, Saul, who was in on Stephen's death.
And he began to lay waste to the church.
He entered into houses.
He pulled off mums and dads, husbands and wives.
And he took them and delivered them over to prison.
It's a brutal thing.
And the interesting thing here is that Luke says, those in verse 1, they're scattered abroad.
And when they were scattered, they went everywhere.
What?
Verse 4, preaching the word.
So Saul scattered the church.
But when you scattered the church of Jesus Christ in persecution, what do you do?
You scatter the Gospel.
And I think Saul would have been really upset with himself if he'd realized that actually he's only helping Jesus' program.
If you go back to the start of Acts, do you remember that?
Chapter 1 and verse 8.
Jesus said to the apostles in chapter 1 and verse 8,
You will be my witnesses.
And what are the stages?
Chapter 1 verse 8.
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea.
And then Samaria.
And then finally to the ends of the earth.
And so Acts chapter 8.
The Gospel, the good news, is spreading around the world.
Because of the persecution of Saul.
The Gospel is going into Samaria.
Saul was only ever aiding Jesus' program.
But the point you see is this.
Scatter the church.
And you scatter the Gospel.
That's the way the Gospel advances.
And if you look through history, that's always been the way.
In the late 1520s, before the Reformation in Scotland, before John Knox ever arose to lead it,
there was a man by the name of Patrick Hamilton.
And Patrick Hamilton had been abroad.
He came back to his native Scotland.
And he understood the good news of the Lord Jesus.
He'd received the grace of God.
He was studying the Bible.
He came back to Scotland because he wanted people to hear.
He wanted people to understand.
He wanted people to know the Lord Jesus.
Well, the Archbishop and others made him feel welcome under the pretense of friendship.
And they pretended they wanted to confer with him about this new teaching and so on.
They tricked him.
Then they tried him.
They condemned him as a heretic.
And then they burned him at the stake.
And on the day when Patrick Hamilton walked to the stake,
the kind of kindling, the faggots to light the fire were damp.
They wouldn't kindle.
So for six hours, this poor guy, Patrick Hamilton, was roasted to death, really, then burnt to death.
But there was one of the Archbishop's friends, one of his counsellors, who counselled the Archbishop.
And he said this,
What's he saying there?
He's saying this, that you cannot stamp out the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You cannot stamp out the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In fact, you will only advance his course.
And that's so often the case, isn't it?
And so we rejoice to have, and brothers and sisters from Iran who are here with us this morning,
we love having you as part of our church family.
What is happening in Iran?
What has happened in the last 20 to 30 years?
That the regime there have tried to stamp out the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what has happened?
It has flourished.
And it has spread.
And it's so often the case, isn't it?
That in the suffering of God's people, the gospel makes progress.
The suffering of the church will never lead to the silencing of the church.
And there's a spillover, isn't there, into our lives today.
That just as the early believers were scattered abroad in suffering and persecution,
and the gospel was scattered,
and so some of you here this morning,
you have suffered.
You've suffered individually and personally and in your families.
And maybe you don't understand that suffering.
And maybe you don't see any rationale for that suffering.
But that suffering has not destroyed your faith in Jesus Christ.
In fact, you've been upheld in it.
And for some reason, your suffering has not driven you away from Jesus.
Actually, it's driven you closer to the Lord Jesus.
And it's strengthened Christ's grip on you.
And so the progress of the gospel.
Secondly, you see the power of the gospel.
Look at verses 9 to 12.
Luke there pictures the power of the gospel.
There's two aspects of what the good news of the Lord Jesus does for you.
And the first aspect is this.
It's the liberty and the freedom that the gospel gives.
The liberty and the freedom that the gospel gives in delivering you from false.
From falsehoods.
There's a man named Simon in the city.
He'd previously practiced magic in the city.
I don't know what you think of when you hear the word magic.
For those of my age, you think of Paul Daniels, don't you?
Saturday night TV.
Or you think of a man with a top hat pulling a rabbit out of it.
Saying abracadabra with a little wand.
But that isn't the case here.
Here is somebody who's seeking to control events.
It's the occult.
Think of sorcery.
This guy has astounded the people in Samaria.
They looked on him from the lowest to the greatest.
And they said this guy is great.
And he wasn't some kind of sideline.
Working out of a shop front on the Xbridge Road doing psychic readings.
No, Simon's act was a class act.
And it says, doesn't it?
From the least to the greatest.
They all paid attention to him.
In fact, they say this man is the power of God that is called great.
Simon is respected.
He had Samaria in his grip.
And they said this man is the power of God.
He'd manifested.
He'd shown in some way a supernatural power.
And they were in his grip.
And you might be sitting there and you think, oh, it's so primitive, isn't it?
A primitive ancient world.
We're not like that today.
We're so sophisticated.
That can't happen today.
But I think you go through the last century and you find this sort of thing.
People in bondage to someone who exercises authority and power over them.
Blind to their faults.
And they put their hope in their leaders.
At Mussolini, his secretary was standing in the background.
When Mussolini, in 1936, was standing on the balcony in Rome.
And the crowd were cheering for him.
The throng in crowds were adoring him.
Mussolini had been victorious in Abyssinia and Ethiopia.
And at that point, Mussolini, the Italian dictator, was at the height of his powers and success.
He was called back to the balcony for the applause 42 times.
The crowd was cheering him, going wild.
And he stood there on the balcony in Rome with his hands stretched out, receiving the adoration.
Motionless, looking at the crowd.
His party secretary was watching him from behind him.
And one of the men from Mussolini's entourage said to his party secretary,
He's like a god.
And Mussolini's party secretary said,
He is god.
The people were bound.
And gripped by.
And held by him.
And that's what Simon had in Samaria.
This city was in his grip from the least to the greatest.
But do you see there's deliverance?
Look at verse 12.
But when they believed Philip,
as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,
a crucified carpenter from the back end of nowhere, Nazareth,
who'd risen from the dead,
they were baptised, both men and women,
when they believed Philip's word.
And suddenly there is liberty,
and there is freedom,
and there's release from Simon's bondage.
What was it that Philip preached?
They believed Philip as he preached good news
about the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ.
So what is the kingdom of God?
Well, among other things,
it begins with the kingship of God.
That God rules,
and that God reigns in our world.
And he is proclaiming
the kingship of God,
that God is king.
And people who believe that
enter into and submit
under God's kingship
for their own lives.
And he proclaimed
the name of Jesus Christ.
What does that mean?
It at least means this,
the authority of Jesus Christ.
And they believed what Philip said.
And they enter
under the authority of Jesus Christ.
They say,
you are God,
you are Lord,
and we are not.
And they submit to his lordship.
And they come under his dominance.
And they come and they submit themselves
to the authority of Jesus Christ.
And when they do that,
they are liberated.
They are free.
They're free from Simon's clutches.
Because they've come under a new jurisdiction,
under a new kingship,
under a new regime.
Think of the musical,
think of the film,
The Sound of Music.
I don't really know that film very well.
But do you remember the Von Trapps family?
At the end of the film,
they make their exit away,
don't they,
from the pursuit of the Nazis
from Austria
to Switzerland.
There's some nun,
isn't there,
if I remember rightly,
who pulls part of the engine
out of the Nazis' car.
And the last scene
is them coming
up the mountain,
out of Austria,
into Switzerland.
And what are they like?
Really depressed?
Really down at heart
to be leaving Nazi Austria?
No, they're not, are they?
The Von Trapps,
they are rejoicing.
Why?
Because they're now in Switzerland.
They're under a new jurisdiction.
They've entered a new sphere.
And so now,
the Nazis
no longer have
any dominance over them.
The Nazis
no longer have
any authority over them.
They don't have
any control over them.
In that neutral country,
they are free.
They're under a new jurisdiction.
And when the people of Samaria
came under the authority
and the kingship of God,
and they put themselves
under the authority of Jesus,
they moved from Simon's dominance
to a new jurisdiction
and a new management.
That was symbolised
and that was signified
by the fact that they were baptised.
Both men and women.
And if you've been baptised,
do you remember what the formula is
that is used when you're baptised?
I baptised you into the name.
I baptised you in the name
of the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
And it means that you've
come under new ownership.
And that's precisely
what happened with these people.
And so the power
of the good news
of the Lord Jesus
brought freedom,
liberty,
and deliverance
from falsehood
and from lies
that had bound them
for years.
And that still happens today.
When the power
of the gospel
is understood
and let loose,
people are delivered
from falsehood.
And that's happening
all over the world,
isn't it?
Think of the land
of China, isn't it?
Where the authorities
have tried to stamp out
Christianity.
And millions of people
have been converted
over the last 20,
30, 40 years.
It's happening here,
the power of being delivered.
And so what I'm trying
to say to you this,
is what we're about
in this church,
the good news
of the Lord Jesus,
it's not merely a concept.
It's not merely
that we would just
do our best
and try to make healing
a better place.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus
is not just an idea,
it is the power of God
to salvation
that changes lives.
Leon Morris tells
the story of an alcoholic
who was brought
to Christ.
He became a Christian
and some of his drinking
mates mocked him
and they ridiculed him
and they were amused
and they said to
this guy,
does that mean you believe
the Bible and all that stuff?
You don't really think
that Jesus turned water
into wine,
do you?
And the alcoholic
who was converted
said,
well I really don't know
about that
but I do know one thing
that in my house
Jesus has changed beer
into furniture.
And that's the power
of the gospel.
And you might think,
well that's not really
happening here is it?
But I beg to differ
with you,
I could walk
around this room
and I could stop
at seats
and I don't know
all of your individual
stories but I could
stop at some seats
and I could point
at some people
and they could stand up
and they could still
be racked with lots
of problems
and they're not free
of all their problems
but they could testify
that the gospel
of Jesus Christ
has power
to change their lives
and to deliver
from guilt
and to deliver
from falsehood
and that they were
trapped
but Jesus has
delivered them
and made them free.
The progress
of the gospel.
The power
of the gospel
and the power
is shown
not only
that it delivers
from falsehood
but it gives unity,
that's the other power.
It delivers
from divisions.
You see that
in verses 14
to 17
of Acts chapter 8
which is a strange
passage in many ways.
Sort of verse 14
and 15.
Now when the apostles
at Jerusalem
heard that Samaria
had received
the word of God,
big shock,
they sent to them
Peter and John.
They sent to them
the kind of official
big cheeses
and they came down
and they prayed for them
that they might receive
the Holy Spirit.
And verse 16
records that there's
something apparently
abnormal
in the way
that he recounts it.
there's something
abnormal.
Verse 16,
for the Holy Spirit
had not yet fallen
on any of them
but they'd only
been baptised
in the name
of the Lord Jesus.
So you'd assume
if you've been
reading Acts
and tracking Acts
with us over these
few months
that Acts 2
38
you would assume
that
nothing really
necessarily
had to be done
in addition
to them
for them
to receive
the Holy Spirit
God's
indwelling
presence.
From Acts
chapter 10
the Holy Spirit
came when
Peter was
preaching
to Cornelius
and yet here
it's abnormal.
You've got
this apparent
difference
where there's
no visible
evidence
that these
Samaritan
believers
these outsiders
had received
the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
And so Peter
and John
come down
from Jerusalem
and they
place their
hands on them
and they
begin receiving
the Holy Spirit.
How could you
tell that?
Well there's a
visible sign
isn't it?
They speak
in other
languages.
The apostles
did that
on the day
of Pentecost
if you remember.
There was
some visible
token that
they'd received
the Holy Spirit.
Now why
would that
happen?
Why did
God
apparently
withhold
this gift
from some
of the
believers
for a while?
It's an
unusual
it's
abnormal.
And so we
go back
isn't it?
When the
gospel went
into Samaria
it's not
just kind
of crossing
over
the
Severn
Bridge
from the
border
from
England
into
Wales.
What's
happening
here is
that the
gospel
the good
news
is going
over this
massive
religious
chasm
this
social
chasm
this
racial
chasm
so you
remember
in John
chapter 4
there's
this
giant
rift
there's
this
hatred
between
Jews
and
Samaritans
there's a
parable
Jesus
tells
of the
good
Samaritan
it was
an impossibility
in Jewish
eyes
but now
the good
news of
the Lord
Jesus
has gone
into
Samaria
and in the
wisdom of
God
he's delayed
this visible
token
at least
of the
spirit
to the
Samaritan
believer
and so
the
Jews
come
from
Jerusalem
and
the
Holy
Spirit
is
given
and
they
can
validate
by
personal
witness
that
what
the
Samaritans
have
received
is
the
gospel
of
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
and
they
are
given
the
gift
of
the
spirit
that
Peter
and
John
the
kind
of
officials
would
be
able
to
say
yes
they
really
did
but
it's
also
a way
in which
the
Jewish
Christians
in
Jerusalem
can
show
a
visible
token
of
unity
they're
bound
together
with
these
Samaritan
believers
Jews
and
Samaritans
may not
get along
they may
fight
they may
actually
detest
each
other
and look
down
on
one
another
but
in
the
church
of
Jesus
Christ
Jewish
Christians
from
Jerusalem
and
Samaritan
believers
are bound
together
in a
unity
that the
gospel
has brought
about
naturally
they may
be
hostile
but
in the
gospel
there's
a
unity
and
Luke
is
saying
this
gospel
restores
and
brings
unity
and
we can
go into
that
further
and we
can say
that the
gospel of
God
today
does
that
and so
in this
church
family
and in
any
church
family
where
the
gospel
is
you'll
not only
be set
free
from
bondage
but you
will be
bound
to one
another
united
together
I don't
think you
and I
can really
imagine
the rift
culturally
racially
religiously
that there
was between
Jews and
Samaritans
and yet
can you see
what we're
being told
we're being
told that
the gospel
of Jesus
has such
power that
it
unites
people
like that
people
who have
Jesus
in common
and who
have the
Holy
Spirit
in
common
and I
know that
the
Christian
church
in this
country
is often
accused
of being
cleekish
and full
of factions
and divided
but you know
something
my experience
is this
that when you
look around
this group
there are
people
naturally
who I
would never
choose to be
friends with
and it's
the same
for you
I mean
there are
some pretty
diverse
creatures
here this
morning
with
diverse
personalities
if I can
put it
like that
and the
only reason
that we
are together
in the
same
professing
body
is because
we share
the same
Lord
and we've
received
the same
spirit
and lots
of times
that's where
the similarity
ends
and it
is the
power of
the gospel
that does
that
the progress
of the gospel
the power
of the gospel
and then
briefly
and thirdly
the perversion
of the gospel
verse 13
can you see
what Simon
does
and this
guy
this magic
man
verse 13
he believes
and he
is baptized
and he
joins
the church
but apparently
he's a fake
it was a
profession
that on the
surface
looked authentic
but it
wasn't real
Jesus says
about
John says
about Jesus
in John
chapter 2
that when
Jesus was at
the Passover
in Jerusalem
many believed
in him
when they saw
the amazing
things he was
doing
but Jesus
did not
entrust himself
to them
and literally
Jesus did not
believe them
because he knew
all men
he knew what
was in a man
and in other
words John
was saying
they believed
these people
when they saw
Jesus acts
but it was
with a
superficial
faith
it wasn't
real
and Jesus
did not
commit himself
to them
because he
knew that
their apparent
faith
was fake
Simon says
when he sees
this laying on
of the apostles
hands
when he sees
them given
the Holy
Spirit
he says
I want to do
that
and he says
to Peter
he offers
him money
can I give
you some
money
so I can
get that
power
in other
words he's
thinking that
Christianity
the Holy
Spirit
was a toy
that I
can use
and God
is a commodity
that I can
somehow market
and it will
lead to
the furthering
of my aims
and my
prestige
and so on
and Peter
sees right
through it
doesn't he
and he says
take your
silver and
your gold
do what you
want with it
your heart
is not right
before God
Simon
and he commands
him to repent
to turn around
and pray to the
Lord if it's
possible
that this
sin of what
you've done
may be forgiven
you
can you see
and what Simon
is doing
it's a perversion
of the gospel
Simon wanted
to use
the gospel
and we
immediately think
don't we
tell you
evangelists
you know
those
those people
that they
use Christianity
for their
own ends
for politicians
that use
the Christianity
and they
try to kind of
win the Christian
vote by
playing it
that's what we
think of
but actually
we need to
turn this on
ourselves
because you
don't have to
be on TV
or in a
pulpit
to be a
fake
you can
pervert the
gospel just
like Simon
did in verse
13
he believed
in a
superficial
way
he believed
and he
was
baptized
and he
wanted to
use God
for his
own
convenience
and appearances
can be
deceiving
can't they
so let me
urge you
and urge
myself
to examine
ourselves
and maybe
you've
believed
you've
professed
faith
maybe you've
been baptized
but it can
be can't
it from this
passage of
phony faith
you see it's
possible to
be perverting
the gospel
like Simon
and we
think God
might fit
our convenience
cater to our
expectations
and we want
to use
God
and we may
not know
anything of
a passion to
adore God
for what he's
done for us
in Jesus
Christ
and we may
not know
anything of
a hungering
and a thirsting
for righteousness
but we
believe and
we've been
baptized
and it
just could
be
couldn't it
that your
faith
is fake
and the
warning that
Luke is
giving us
here is
examine
yourself
there's
great power
in the
gospel but
you can
pervert
that
you can
have a
belief in
speech marks
and be
baptized
and it
might be
a false
faith
and so
can you
see that
when the
gospel
advances
even in
IPC
Ealing
this
morning
it both
delivers
wonderfully
and it
discloses
the power
and the
progress
of the
gospel
it's
unstoppable
and yet
the tragedy
of religion
is that
it can
pervert
the gospel
let's
pray
and
to
!