Acts 9:10-16 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
 
WHEN he said, “Yes, Lord.” Ananias did not know why God called his name. What a privilege and joy this would be. It is interesting to note Ananias knew God was speaking to him. Perhaps he was accustomed to talking with the Lord. Or Jesus could have shown himself in some very clear vision.
   But the Lord’s instruction jolted Ananias. Suddenly his “Yes, Lord.” became, “This man has come to arrest us!” Ananias did not want to do what the Lord told him to do. No one who followed the Way wanted to meet Saul!
   But there he was in Judas’ house on Straight Street. What was he doing there, blind and hungry, waiting on God? He was praying. Could this be the first mark of Saul’s spiritual transformation to a new life as the apostle Paul? Saul had trained to be a Pharisee, highly educated in the law. Apparently he had learned an essential truth of God: Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. Perhaps Saul used his vast knowledge of Scripture to confront God’s stunning entrance into his life.   
   Do you see how God began to care for Saul? He gave him a very specific vision. Saul knows a man named Ananias will come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. This is most remarkable. The Lord has literally and figuratively knocked Saul from his authority. The Lord has blinded Saul. He has put him in a house to fast and to wait. And then the Lord graciously showed to Saul that Ananias would come to heal him!
   Ananias also needed to know God is a refuge in times of trouble. He was justly afraid of Saul. But God confirmed his commands for Ananias and his purpose for Saul.
 
Acts 9:15 “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
 
God is in control. He wants everyone to know it. Ananias and the other Christians in Damascus must trust what God is doing. Saul, too, had no choice. God is changing him from a man of power to a man under God’s power, even to the point of suffering for Jesus’ name.
   When you read the Bible, you learn God speaks very plainly. He wants you to know his will, so you will have no excuses, only action to do what he says, even if you object.
   

What You Must Do
 
Acts 9:6-9 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
 
JESUS chose a very dramatic, hard way to introduce himself to Saul. Suddenly it was of no consequence that Saul was under the high priest’s authority. He had a new Master to obey. Is this what Saul wanted?
   There seems to be a common teaching that God will never make you do what you don’t want to do. That teaching does not match the Bible. We look back into the Bible’s  history: Joseph didn’t want to be kidnapped. Moses didn’t want to go to Egypt. Gideon didn’t want to attack a huge Midianite army with 300 men carrying torches, trumpets and clay jars. God told these men and many others to do things they didn’t want to do. They responded to their circumstances with a focus on God’s leading. Our LORD advanced his salvation purpose through them. Acts 9 also confirms God commands in various ways, “You will be told what you must do.”
   What could Saul do but obey? Jesus had blinded him. His supporting guard was speechless and helpless against this unknown force. The only thing they could do was lead Saul to a room in Damascus. There he stayed, blind and without food and water for three days. It’s as if Jesus had put him into a grave for three days to prepare him for a resurrected life of faith and worship of the LORD God.
    What about you? If you have a saving relationship with Jesus, your sin nature did not want to submit to Jesus. But one day the Spirit changed your heart. In some form of his power, whether subtle to dramatic, God told you what you must do to be saved.  
   Being Jesus’ disciple means he often confronts you with things you don’t want to do. For example, do you refuse to forgive someone? You know Jesus commands you, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15) Yes, you might believe you have a choice to reject this or other of Jesus’ commands. But you really don’t. Jesus very plainly said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) A deepening love for your Lord will conform your heart to say, “Yes, Lord.” to all he commands. Your objection to forgiveness will become a generous heart to forgive. You will want to know for certain what Jesus tells you to do, so you can lovingly obey him. 
   As God calls you, “Son. Daughter.” be eternally grateful he has made you do what you did not naturally want to do.
   Next we’ll meet Ananias, who was very afraid to do what God told him to do

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  Acts 8:32-35 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 
THE man was reading from a scroll of a portion of the prophet Isaiah that we know today as Isaiah 53. The entire chapter foretells Jesus’ humiliation, suffering, death, burial and triumph over death. For those with open eyes, it is plain to see Jesus fulfills Isaiah’s words.
   God has opened the door for the Ethiopian to enter into a saving faith in Jesus. In some particular God-ordained way, the man came to possess the scroll. The Spirit had instilled in the Ethiopian a desire to read and a yearning to understand. The Ethiopian was then humble to implore Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about.” How good it is when people want to know God’s Word.
   And how good it is when they have someone to teach them. Philip responded. He taught the eunuch that Isaiah’s hard description of a man’s life became the good news of Jesus, Lord and Savior.
   Philip told the Ethiopian that the lamb led like sheep to the slaughter became the Good Shepherd, who leads us to life. The one who did not open his mouth, is now the one who has declared, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8) The one unjustly condemned affirms he is the true judge. John 8:16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.” And the one numbered with the transgressors now intercedes for the transgressors.
   Jesus has suffered to save you, so he can be Lord of your life. He leads you, prays for you and teaches you. You are his own. He wants you to be actively engaged with him because he is actively engaged with you. Know Jesus’ triumph is your victory: Isaiah 53:11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors

Acts 8:29-31 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
 
IN faithful anticipation of God’s good work, Philip runs to the eunuch.  A true disciple represents the Lord’s will to those God has chosen. He knows what he must do. And he does so with joy.
   Yes, Philip has an advantage over most of us. God has spoken audibly and directly to him. How good it would be to have those explicit instructions each day! We could know and then go with absolute certainty, “This is God’s assignment today!”
   There are many examples of God doing this for his leaders, prophets and disciples. These specific instructions were to demonstrate to the Jews that God is very intentional to do his will as he says he will.
   The Spirit seldom tells us directly what to do. But God has taught us to live under Jesus’ commands. Consider his sermons. Understand his teachings. His will is that we be faithful, be salt, be light, be obedient, be sacrificial, be loving and more. We may often be uncertain of how we specifically fulfill these commands. But we do know what to do when we filter each circumstance through the Bible’s lessons.
   The apostles and evangelists had learned from Jesus, and  they lived for him. They had the advantage of seeing God’s remarkable work come upon Israel. There was nothing that kept the church from a joyful response to Jesus’ commands.
   The same must be true for each of us today. Very few of us have heard God speak audibly. None of us have touched the resurrected Jesus. No tongues of fire have come upon us. Still, we have the Spirit’s anointing us to faith. He opens God’s Word to you, so you can understand what you are reading. The apostle Paul prayed each member of Jesus’ church would personally understand the power of a glorious relationship with God: Ephesians 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
   God’s life power has not diminished since Pentecost. When we listen to his Word we will know enough to go where he is pointing us to go. With each step, our purpose will become more clear. Be as Philip. Eagerly run where the Spirit tells you to go.
   

Acts 8:26-29 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
 
WHEN the Spirit speaks, listen.
   We continue to see God’s very personal interactions with his messengers. The Spirit’s power is evident through new believers, special gifts and miracles. In addition an angel of the Lord has freed the apostles from jail (Acts 5), and now he is a messenger to the evangelist Philip. God is methodically moving the church into the next steps of his salvation sequence.
   Does it seem odd God would command Philip to leave a busy city to go on the Desert Road, the way from Jerusalem to Africa? Philip likely did not concern himself with, “Why, Lord?” Instead, Philip may have anticipated, “What wonders will the Lord now reveal to me?” This is the disciple’s view. Philip soon learned God had an appointment for him with an Ethiopian eunuch.  
   Philip, though,  may have been surprised when he came upon this man reading a scroll in a chariot. Who was he? The Ethiopian was from a region of Africa that was on the southern region of Egypt at the time. Candace was the title of queens of this region. The man was likely not a physical eunuch. “Eunuch” was a term for men who were officials in a royal court. Philip knew he was wealthy because he had a chariot, and he was reading a scroll. The common man had no such luxuries. The Ethiopian apparently was also a Jew by faith. He had been to Jerusalem to worship, and he was reading from Isaiah. God had given the Ethiopian a heart and mind eager to learn more.
   God was working in the desert. How many times in Scripture does God’s salvation begin in a desert? Israel’s journey to the Promised Land, John the Baptist’s ministry and Jesus’ 40 days in the desert are some examples. He does so once more with Philip’s mission.
   Just as Moses, John and Jesus knew what to do in the desert, Philip was sure of his next steps. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” One command from God and one obedient heart takes you to the place God wants to use you. Listen, go and wait. Be eager to respond, even it seems to be as small as one man in a chariot on a desert road.
   God had been preparing the desert soil to produce a fertile harvest. The time to plant had come.  

Acts 8:18-25 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” 24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” 25 When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
 
WE learn in Acts 8:13 Simon believed and was baptized…astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. But when Peter and John laid hands on the new believers, Simon wanted to buy the power. Is Simon’s belief real? Or was he merely believing in the miracles?
   Many people Jesus encountered were like Simon. They believed the evidence of Jesus’ miracles. How could they not? People dramatically changed to health, even resurrected lives! But they did not believe Jesus is Lord of Life. Some even claimed he was of the devil. God’s gifts do not automatically produce faith in Jesus’ salvation.
   Peter’s response to Simon seems to be an angry rebuke. In part he said, “May your money perish with you. Your heart is not right. Repent. Pray to the Lord. You are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
   Peter had the gift to know a man’s heart. One who is saved will not be full of bitterness. He will not be captive to sin. Simon wanted to profit from the Spirit’s gifts as he had from the devil’s sorcery. He apparently had no relationship with the Lord. That’s why he implored Peter, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” He did not ask Peter to pray for a true faith, only protection from God’s judgment.
   Long before this Pharoah’s dark heart implored Moses in the same way. Three times he asked Moses, “Pray to the LORD your God that I may…” (Exodus 8, 9, 10). He continually rejected God’s sovereign power to free Israel; yet he recognized God’s power to judge Egypt. Pharaoh, like Simon, did not pray for repentance.
   People may acknowledge God exists. But they refuse to receive him as Lord and Redeemer of their lives. Their goal is to get what they can from God in this life with no concern of their eternal life. They are willing to have others pray for them, but they have no interest in seeking God for a personal living relationship. Self remains their god.
   The evidence of true faith is the Spirit empowering your life with particular gifts. Among those are a desire to pray for yourself and others, to repent of sins, to obey God’s commands and most of all, to love God and love others. Your redeemed life produces fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and gifts for building up the church (Romans 12). Perhaps Peter’s rebuke awakened Simon to true faith.
          

Acts 8:14-17 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
 
LUKE, author of Luke and Acts wrote of God’s activity in the world in a sequential pattern. One thing led to another. In Acts. Luke first informs us of Jesus’ ascension as the event that gave the apostles a true understanding of Jesus as the Divine Son of God. When the apostles genuinely believed in Jesus, God anointed them with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He baptized them with tongues of fire, giving them the gifts of specific tongues, preaching, teaching, healing and more. Jesus rising and the Spirit descending are two events in God’s sequence to equip the apostles for ministry in Jerusalem. We learn the fruit of these gifts in chapters 2-7.
   God next revealed his power in Samaria: Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. As the apostles believed in Jesus at his ascension, the new believers had faith to know Jesus is Messiah. Salvation for eternal life is through faith in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. We can only truly know this when it has now been revealed by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:5)
   That brings us to a question the church has deliberated for centuries: If the Spirit has revealed Jesus to the new believers, why does Luke say that the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them?
   In God’s order of events to reveal Jesus to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth, he used Peter and John to be the messengers of a second Pentecost event. God had given his apostles the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 16:19) Peter and John discerned God’s work in Samaria. They understood people had come to faith in Jesus. They also knew God would deliver the Spirit’s gifts into Samaria. Through the Spirit’s work in John and Peter, the new believers received God’s power for kingdom work, just as the apostles had received the Spirit’s power at Pentecost.
   Many believe God revealed himself in this sequence to unite Jerusalem and Samaria. Their centuries-old division had created great hostility between the Jews. They would not readily unite as one church. The LORD used Peter and John as a unifying authority, so his church would be one body under one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (from Ephesians 4:4-6)
   God’s salvation is a sequence of events. The Spirit reveals the gospel. The Spirit then anoints you with particular gifts to be a kingdom builder. 

Acts 8:9-13 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
 
WE mentioned in the previous lesson that God had judged Samaria for their continual idolatry. This Satanic influence was still deeply influencing many people in Samaria.
   Simon, a sorcerer, had developed a following. He was proficient at magic, which is the false impression of supernatural skills. Satan had also given Simon the power to heal. This is difficult for us to understand. Healing is a good thing. How can the Evil One do anything good? How is it God allows him to influence people this way?
   The “good” healing is designed to disguise the truth. God seems to allow it as a way to test us. As mentioned, healing is not God’s primary purpose for mankind. Jesus warned us to be watchful: Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible.
   Here’s the evil in Simon’s healing: Simon deceived Samaria to the point some considered him to be Messiah and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.”
   Then Philip came with the truth. People believed. They were baptized. Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. Simon’s life seemed to change. He seemed to reject Satan’s influence to be a constant companion to Philip. Was this true repentance? Or was Simon performing more sorcery.
   His constant association with Philip could have been an attempt to be noticed. Sometimes people will claim faith in Jesus, so they will find favor with people. The truth of a changed life becomes evident when one desires most of all to be close to Jesus.
   There is some indication that Simon did continue to lead people away from Jesus. A group of Gnostic “Christians” in the 1st century church claimed Simon as their founder. Gnostics believe that they have superior knowledge of spiritual matters. As a result they believe they are greater in God’s sight. The Gnostic uses their claim of Jesus’ salvation as an instrument of superiority.
   Jesus very clearly wants us to understand our salvation is his gift to us through the redemption of our sin. We receive it with humility, understanding it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
          The Holy Spirit seems to have inserted Simon into this account of the early church to help us understand the evidence of true salvation. We will see more of Simon when he encounters Peter.