And Stephen’s death snowballed into a massive reaction to the entire church in Jerusalem. This ministry led to opposition, which ultimately led to his execution. Stephen’s ministry exploded and expanded beyond overseeing the care of widows to the powerful proclamation of the gospel, accompanied with signs and wonders. Prominent among them in Luke’s account are Stephen and Philip. The problem of the neglected Hellenistic widows was solved by the appointment of seven men. It was a remarkable chain of events, one which no one would have conceived of in advance. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. 2 And some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The Source of the Samaritan RevivalĪnd Saul 111 was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And let us look as well at the ways in which God is bringing about the growth of His church, from Jerusalem and Judea, to Samaria. ![]() Let us look carefully at Simon, then, to see if any of his ways of thinking or of acting are our own, or are characteristic of others, who profess to be Christians. There is a world of difference between magic and Christianity, as we shall see here, in our text, and later on in the Book of Acts (13:4-12 19:13-20). ![]() This mindset is not just that of the cultists it is a mindset which characterizes many Christians today. He was thus plagues with a “magic mindset” which can be seen in what he says and does, as recorded by Luke. Simon was a man who once practiced magic, but who never seemed to fully give it up. Simon is, unfortunately, similar to many of those who are cultists or false prophets and apostles, as described in the Scriptures. From Luke’s words (“even Simon himself believed,” verse 13) we would conclude that he was saved, but from the words and actions of Simon himself, and from the severe warning of Peter, one would surely have some second thoughts on the matter. 110 It is difficult to determine with any degree of conviction, whether or not he was even a Christian. ![]() Simon the magician was believed by some of the ancients to have been the founder of a very dangerous cult, one which dogged the heels of Christianity for a period of its history. I will not name a particular group, but you may easily be able to think of one or more which fall into this category. A third distressing fact is that some of the cults are so close to Christianity, at least in their professions and in their propaganda, that it is difficult to determine whether they are really Christian or not. One of our close relatives was involved in a cult, and when she showed us the book written by the cult leader, he openly admitted an evangelical background. The second distressing fact is that a number of cult founders and leaders have had some involvement with evangelical Christianity, but have departed from it. I am told, for example, that Southern Baptists are some of the most likely prospects for Mormonism. All too many cult members appear to have been genuinely saved, but poorly grounded in the Scriptures, and thus were easy marks for cult leaders who professed to be “in touch” with God. The first is that Christians are prime targets for cults. There are three distressing facts when it comes to cults.
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