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Scripture Reading: Acts 8:4-13
In chapter eight of Acts there are many patterns for us to follow today. In particular, the patterns in this chapter are related to the preaching of the gospel. In this message we shall begin to consider the patterns in Acts 8.
Acts 8:4 says, “Those therefore who were scattered went about the land bringing the good news of the word.” It was sovereign of God that the scattering of the believers from Jerusalem to other localities through the persecution should carry out the spreading of the gospel for the fulfillment of the Lord’s word in Acts 1:8 (see Acts 11:19).
The first pattern in Acts 8 is that of the preaching of the gospel through the scattering of the saints. In Jerusalem, the gospel preaching was carried out mainly by the apostles. Although this also is a pattern, it is not the unique pattern for our gospel preaching. If it were the unique pattern, then the preaching of the gospel would be limited. Therefore, in 8:4 we have another pattern of the preaching of the gospel — the preaching of the gospel through the scattering, the migrating, of the saints.
In Acts 8 we do not have the words “migrate” or “migration.” Nevertheless, migration is implied by the word “scattered.” The scattering of the saints was actually a migration.
Before the scattering of the saints in 8:4, there were many thousands of believers in Jerusalem. Like most people, they probably did not desire to move; instead, they may have wanted to settle there. But the Lord is sovereign, for He is the Leader, the Ruler of the kings. Although Satan instigated the persecution against the church, the Lord is over Satan, and whatever Satan does is under the Lord’s sovereignty. Therefore, the persecution in chapter eight actually worked out for the spreading of the gospel, because thousands of believers were scattered throughout the lands of Judea and Samaria. Through this scattering the good news was brought to many cities. Here we have the pattern of the preaching of the gospel through the migration of the saints.
For many years in the Lord’s recovery we have been practicing the matter of migration. For example, many saints were gathered to Los Angeles from 1962 until 1970. Then in 1970 we began to migrate, and the migration was a great success. When the saints migrate, the gospel goes out with them. The migrating saints bring the gospel wherever they may go.
All the churches should follow the pattern in 8:4 concerning migration. The saints should not stay in a certain place for too long. On the contrary, we all should be migrants, following in the footsteps of our father Abraham. Abraham was a river-crosser; he migrated from Chaldea to Canaan. Like Abraham, we should not be permanently settled. We all should learn to migrate.
For some years many of the saints in this country were reluctant to migrate. But we thank the Lord that recently the saints have begun to migrate again. In the last year a number of churches have been raised up through the migrating of the saints.
The saints in all the churches should be encouraged to migrate. If the saints in a certain locality do not migrate, eventually that locality will become a “Dead Sea.” The Dead Sea is a reservoir for the water from the river Jordan. Once the water from the Jordan reaches the Dead Sea it does not proceed any farther. If the church in a particular locality is to avoid becoming such a Dead Sea, a “canal” must be dug to allow the “water” to flow out. Perhaps ten percent of the saints in a locality may migrate each year. This will allow for the necessary outflow without devastating the church. Furthermore, if water is allowed to flow out, more water will flow in.
Using the illustration of a hose, we may say that every church should be like a hose that is open at both ends. When a hose is open in this way, water is able to flow in and out. But if water is not able to flow out of a hose, nothing more will be able to flow in. How much water flows in depends on how much flows out. If we want the church to increase, there must be the outflow. Only when there is an outflow can the church in a certain locality be preserved from becoming a Dead Sea.
However, the migration of the saints is not a legality. The point we are making is that the churches need to follow the pattern in 8:4. This means that, in principle, we should be willing to migrate.
From my own experience I can testify of the importance of migration. At first, I did not want to move but preferred to settle down in one place. But the Lord is the Ruler of the kings, and He did not allow me to settle down. Instead, He caused my life to be a life of traveling. I moved here and there, and eventually I came to the United States. After spending more than twenty years in this country, I am burdened to spend more time in Taiwan because of the need in the churches there.
I encourage you all to pick up the burden to migrate. We should migrate not for the sake of our living but for the sake of the gospel. The Lord called Abraham, and Abraham migrated. In following the Lord, Abraham had no lack. Likewise, as we migrate for the gospel’s sake the Lord will meet our needs. To migrate for the gospel is to migrate for the Lord, since the gospel is actually the Lord Himself. The first pattern found in chapter eight of Acts is the migration of the saints for the spreading of the gospel.
Acts 8:5 says, “And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.” This Philip was not the Philip among the apostles (1:13), but the Philip among the seven appointed by the apostles to serve tables (6:5). But through his ministry in preaching the gospel as recorded in chapter eight, he was manifested to be an evangelist (21:8).
Philip’s preaching Christ in Samaria was a further step in the Lord’s evangelical move. By this He spread Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God from the racially pure Jews to the mixed Samaritans for the fulfillment of His prophecy in 1:8.
According to 8:4 and 5, among the saints who migrated from Jerusalem was at least one who was an evangelist. Philip took part in this migration, and he had an outstanding gift of gospel preaching. Because of this gift, he was eventually called “Philip the evangelist” (21:8).
Concerning Philip’s gospel preaching, 8:12 tells us that he brought “good news concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” Philip preached Jesus Christ as the good news. In verse 12 “bringing the good news” is a verbal form of the noun “gospel.” Philip preached Christ as the good news; he preached Christ as the gospel. In other words, he preached Christ, and Christ was his gospel.
Acts 8:12 also indicates that Philip preached the kingdom of God as the gospel. He preached the kingdom of God as the gospel just as the Lord did (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43). Like Philip, we should preach the gospel that is Jesus Christ and also the kingdom of God. In fact, we should preach Jesus Christ as the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is the Lord Jesus, the Savior, as the seed of life sown into His believers, God’s chosen people (Mark 4:3, 26), and developing into a realm which God may rule as His kingdom in His divine life. Its entrance is regeneration (John 3:5), and its development is the believers’ growth in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:3-11). The kingdom of God is the church life today, in which the faithful believers live (Rom. 14:17), and it will develop into the coming kingdom as an inheritance reward (Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5) to the overcoming saints in the millennium (Rev. 20:4-6). Eventually, it will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God, an eternal realm of the eternal blessing of God’s eternal life for all God’s redeemed to enjoy in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4; 22:1-5, 14). Such a kingdom, the kingdom of God, is what both the Lord Jesus and Philip preached as the gospel, the good news.
In the Gospels the Lord Himself was the seed of the kingdom. In Acts we see the spreading of this seed. In particular, this seed spread through Philip’s preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Today much of the gospel preaching among Christians does not include the kingdom of God. Therefore, we must preach a gospel that has Christ as the content and also has Christ as the kingdom.
We need to experience Christ not only as our Savior and as our life but also as the kingdom of God. When we received Christ, we received a Savior, a life, and a kingdom. Now we should live a kingdom life. Then we shall know how to preach the kingdom of God as the gospel.
Certain preachers today are eloquent and know how to stir people and inspire them. In their speaking these preachers may use stories and illustrations. But if you examine the content of their messages, you will find that there is very little of Christ or the kingdom. Our preaching of the gospel must be different. We need to preach a high and rich gospel with Christ as the kingdom. In our preaching we should have Christ not only as the Savior and as life, but also as the kingdom.
I am happy that Luke pointed out in his narrative that Philip preached the gospel concerning Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Although Luke did not give the details of Philip’s preaching, he does tell us that Philip preached Christ and the kingdom of God as the gospel. This should be a pattern for our gospel preaching today.
We have seen that according to 8:4, those who were scattered went about the land bringing the good news of the word. We have seen that this verse contains the pattern of the saints migrating for the spread of the gospel. Now we need to consider another pattern found in this verse — the saints bringing the good news of the word.
Among much of today’s preaching there is little of the Word of God. Instead of the word, there are stories and illustrations. Our speaking should not be like this. Rather, we need to learn the word in the New Testament. We need to study the New Testament and be saturated with it. If we are saturated with the New Testament in this way, when we open our mouths to speak the word will come forth spontaneously. There will not be the need to use so many stories and illustrations. We should simply give people the word.
People may be entertained by a preacher’s stories and illustrations, but they may not receive much of the word. This is the poverty of a great deal of today’s teaching and preaching.
We in the Lord’s recovery should be full of the Lord’s word. The Life-study Messages do not contain many stories, but these messages are full of the rich Word of God. The saints do not receive help from stories; they receive help from the solid, divine word.
As we go forth for the spreading of the gospel, we should go with the gospel of Christ and the kingdom in the word. Only the divine word can contain and convey Christ and the kingdom of God. The teachings of Confucius certainly cannot convey Christ. Such teachings cannot be vessels to convey Christ to others. Only the holy word, the divine word, is useful in conveying Christ as the kingdom of God to others.
When we sow the word into others, we also sow Christ into them. According to the Gospels, we cannot separate Christ from the word. Christ is the seed, and the seed is the word. Therefore, we need to be filled with the word and sow it into others.
In this message we have seen some crucial points concerning our preaching of the gospel. The content of our gospel must be Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. Furthermore, we need to preach Christ and the kingdom of God in the word and with the word. In order to preach Christ and the kingdom, and even to preach Christ as the kingdom of God, in this way, we need to be very familiar with the Scriptures. We need to be filled and saturated with the divine word in the New Testament.
