The early church was made up of ordinary people like you and me. Yet it changed the world. The whole known world was transformed following the death and resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts tells us how this happened.
Everywhere they went they preached the message about Jesus (v.4, MSG). In this passage we see that they preached to crowds and to individuals, like Simon the sorcerer and the Ethiopian eunuch.
Nations are comprised of cities, towns and villages. They preached the gospel in all three. Philip preached to a city in Samaria (v.5). Peter and John preached the gospel in many Samaritan villages (v.25). Philip preached the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea (v.40).
Their preaching was accompanied – and indeed accelerated – by three factors:
Persecution
It began with persecution: ‘Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went’ (v.4). The dispersion brought great blessing. Everywhere they went they ‘proclaimed the Christ’ (v.5).
Again and again in the history of the church, persecution and opposition has led to unexpected fruitfulness. It is easy to lose heart when we experience setbacks, but this reminds us that God can use them in amazing ways.
Prayer
We see in this passage the importance of prayer. Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans that they might receive the Holy Spirit (vv.15–17).
Simon was a notorious magician who dazzled everyone with his wizardry and had everyone eating out of his hand (vv.9–11, MSG). He himself believed and was baptised, but following his old ways he wanted to buy the Holy Spirit (v.19).
Peter was unimpressed, ‘To hell with your money!… Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you; you reek with money-lust’ (vv.20–23, MSG).
Simon realized that only the Lord could save him and asked them to pray for him (v.24).
Power
The early church was characterized by enormous effectiveness: ‘When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed’ (vv.6–7).
They were totally reliant on the Holy Spirit. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian was not the result of a strategic planning meeting. Rather, ‘the Spirit told Philip…’ (v.29). The result of him following the leading of the Holy Spirit was the remarkable conversion of the Ethiopian, which has affected the whole nation of Ethiopia right down to the present day. The church that was birthed that day has never died out in that nation.
The Holy Spirit is the agent of change. He can bring about change in a nation. That change starts with the change in the lives of people. It is worth noting the factors involved in the change in this Ethiopian.
First, the Spirit of God prepared his heart. The Ethiopian is honest about his ignorance (v.31), searching for answers (v.32) and not too proud to ask for help (v.34). There is no shame in not always understanding what you read in the Bible. It is wise to get help from trusted people or Bible commentaries to help you apply it to your life.
Second, the Spirit of God is at work through the word of God. It is as the Ethiopian looks at the book of Isaiah that he begins to find answers (vv.32–33). Often, the Holy Spirit uses a human agent to help open up, explain, and apply the Scriptures. This is what happened here, beginning with Isaiah 53, Philip explains ‘the good news about Jesus’ (v.35).
The Holy Spirit changes the heart of the Ethiopian in such a radical and complete way that he believes immediately and asks to be baptised. There is no more powerful an agent of change than the Holy Spirit.
