WHEN YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT
Acts 8:4-8 NKJV
Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 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; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.
There is an adage that “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” In this eighth chapter of the book of Acts, the heat is on, and the believers are getting out of the kitchen. The kitchen in this case being Jerusalem. Ever since Jesus had ascended back into heaven, the church had been growing, but only in Israel. No one was reaching out to the Samaritans and certainly not to the Gentiles.
But didn’t Jesus direct the apostles to take the gospel into the whole world? Matthew records that Jesus said, Make disciples of all nations. Mark records that the directive was to go into all the world. Luke says that repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations. So the Lord was clear, but evidently the message was not coming across. I know from personal experience that you can hear and yet not hear.
For the apostles and the believers in Jerusalem, the idea of going outside of Israel to proclaim the gospel was not in their scope of thinking. They could not imagine preaching to anyone but Jews and people who had converted to Judaism. However, the heat of persecution was about to change all of that. A great persecution came on the church in Jerusalem. Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, was making havoc of the church and putting men and women into prison. The heat was so great that the believers were scattered. Some believe that the persecution was from God to get the believers out of Jerusalem. Others believe that the persecution was a function of the believers not following God’s plan and winding up in a tough situation. I don’t believe God was committing His children to prison and harming families. I do believe the early church may have set themselves up for pressure by their lack of obedience. I think we’ll have to sort this out fully in heaven. But in any case, the believers were out of Jerusalem, and the gospel was being preached to the Samaritans.
Phillip goes down and preaches Christ to Samaria, and all heaven breaks loose. Miracles were taking place. Demon-possessed people were being set free, and people who were paralyzed, and those who were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in the city. This would be considered a city-wide move of God. We can’t call it a revival because these folks had never received salvation, so there was nothing to revive. God was doing great things, and there was joy in the city. Keep in mind there was no controversy at this time regarding if God healed or if healing passed away. These Samaritans were thrilled with the message of Jesus, and God was confirming His word with accompanying signs.
APPLICATION
Whenever I am experiencing some heat, problems that go beyond routine, I look in two areas. Is this an attack of the enemy, or have I missed it and gotten away from what God has instructed me to do? I just have to check my heart to make sure I am on the course.
When I took my family to North Carolina many years ago to start a church, we caught some heat. But for us, it was easier to come to the conclusion that we had missed the leading of the Lord. But the Lord was merciful, and we were able to get back on track. I have been in the will of God and out of the will of God. In is better.Makes it far easier to stay in the kitchen.
PRAYER
Lord, I want to stay in Your will for my life. Please let me know when I am getting off course.