Acts 8:5-8(NKJV) 5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8And there was great joy in that city.
(Last week was our youth camp here at LWCC. The young people had a great time and the Lord really met them in a wonderful way. Pastor Matt Holcomb of The Door Fellowship in Williamsport, Pa. was here ministering to the youth and we had him stay over for the Sunday morning service. He spoke about “Taking our City” and here are some of my thoughts from his message.)
Our emphasis this week has been taking our cities for the Gospel. We have seen that God gave Israel a specific location as their inheritance. There were spiritual implications to their possession of the Promised Land, however, it was a physical place. They had to take the city of Jericho in order to fulfill their spiritual destiny. Jericho represented the enemies that were hindering Israel from taking their possession. We must overcome the opposing forces that keep the people of our city from receiving salvation in Jesus Christ.
We have found that there is a biblical precedent for possessing our area for the Gospel. God gave Adam dominion over the earth. It was the will of God that Adam, God’s earthly representative, rule the earth. When man fell in the Garden of Eden this plan was derailed. Satan became the ruler of this world in Adam’s place. It took the ministry of Jesus to break the satanic hold and return to man the ability to have the dominion God gave him.
In the New Testament, we see that Jesus gave his church the same dominion that God gave to Adam. He said in Matthew 28 that we were to go into the whole world and preach the Gospel. His commission was to make disciples of all nations. We are not called to take our cities politically, although we should participate in the public arena. Our commission is to take our cities spiritually by preaching the Gospel to them, winning the lost and rising up to become the dominant spiritual authority in our area.
Let us close this week with some insights from the book of Acts. In today’s scripture, we see that Phillip went to Samaria and preached the Gospel to the city. I want to remind us that the city, from God’s point of view, is not just the place. It is the people in the place. Phillip did not preach to buildings and streets. Phillip preached to people. However, the bible says that the “city” rejoiced. Whether you live in a major city or in a rural area, whatever region you and your church influence is your city. The way to bring joy to your city is the preaching of the Gospel to the people in the city.
If we look at the natural, we would say that this is not true. It often seems that our cities are against the Gospel. We may try to witness and we encounter anything but joy. We may be rejected or ridiculed. It was no different in Phillip’s day. The disciples were considered outlaws. The government had executed their leader. The religious establishment saw them as a threat and anyone associated with them was excommunicated from the Jewish community. Yet it says that Phillip’s ministry produced great results and great joy in the city.
If we will begin to look at our cities as the inheritance given to the churches God established within them, we will begin to see joy in the city as well. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16) God has given us a commission to preach the Gospel and when we do, salvation will be released. Some will reject that salvation, but others will receive it. With the preaching will come a release of God’s power and when that power begins to flow, the city will rejoice whether the demonic powers over the city want it to or not. Let us look at the experience of Phillip.
The period these verses describe is prior to Paul’s salvation. He was stirring everyone against the Gospel. He was arresting people for speaking in the name of Jesus. Due to this persecution, many left Jerusalem and began preaching the Gospel to other cities in Judah. Phillip was one of them and he found himself in Samaria. What did he do that produced joy in this city?
We see two basic things that Phillip did. He spoke to them. It is certain that what he spoke was no message except the Gospel message Jesus sent him to preach. He spoke without shame and he spoke publicly. I am sure that, in the beginning some listened out of politeness and others out of curiosity. I am also sure that there were many who ridiculed him and turned away. However, he spoke.
God may ask us to go out on the streets and pass out tracts or ask people about their relationship to the Lord. However, I believe it is even more important that we be willing to speak to the people we are in contact with already. We need to speak to the people we work with. We need to speak to the people we shop with or go to school with. We need to be willing to speak to our city every day. However, Phillip did not just speak to the city.
We see in these verses that the people listened to him because great power was released to heal the sick and free people from demonic bondage. We must begin by speaking for it is the Gospel that is the power of God for salvation; however, we must also believe that the power of God will be there to confirm what we say. There was great joy in Samaria because Phillip not only spoke to the city but he brought healing and deliverance to the city as well.
I have been a minister of the Gospel 34 and ½ years in a fulltime capacity. For eight years before that, I was ministering in music on a part time basis. I know that it is easier to talk about the power of God manifesting than to see it manifest. I know that many of us have been praying for an increase in the outpouring of God’s power for many years. It can be discouraging when we do not see the power of God the way we know it should be seen. The Devil has used this to discourage us and to cause us to back away from preaching the Gospel altogether. However, we must choose to believe that the word of God is true.
Mark 16:15-18(NKJV) 15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18they£ will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
This is the commission to the church. These are the words of Jesus. Later in the chapter, it says that when they went to their cities signs and wonders confirmed the word that they preached. This was the experience of Phillip in Samaria. We must believe it will be our experience in our city as well.
We cannot make God move. We can believe he will move. The bible says he will and that needs to be our only gage of what will or will not happen. We can preach. We cannot heal. We can speak to evil spirits. It is the power of God that must drive them out of people. We can make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit but it is the Holy Spirit who will do the work. We need to believe God for our city. We need to be ready to preach the Gospel to the city and we need to expect God to confirm what we say with signs following.
There was great joy in the city because a simple man named Phillip chose to go there and become available to the Holy Spirit. There can and will be great joy in your city as you do what Phillip did. You cannot do God’s part. However if we do our part we must believe that God will do his. Let us take our cities for the Gospel.
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