Biblical
Examples Of Conversion
– Acts Eight
In Acts chapter eight we begin to observe the spread of the gospel
into
This persecution led to the church being scattered. "They
that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." (Acts
8:4) The apostles remained at
Those
that know the gospel and have Christ in their lives cannot be put to silence. "Then Philip went down
to the city of
Following the great events in Samaria Philip was told to go down
on the road from
The third Jewish persecution – Acts 8:1-4: Saul
consented to Stephen's death. He led a great persecution against the church in
It is
amazing to observe the difference in what people do. Observe: (1) Devout men
buried Stephen and lamented his death, while (2) Saul made havoc of the church,
putting men and women in prison, and (3) The scattered disciples went
everywhere preaching the word. Christian men and women were persecuted to
prison and to death. No Christian is exempt from persecution and sometimes it
is wise to flee.
The conversion of the
Samaritans – Acts 8:5-25: Philip went to
The preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ centered in the
message of His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and His eventual return
to receive the obedient! Salvation from sin comes through obedience to the word
of God. The result of preaching Jesus is always (1) Faith in Jesus as Lord and
Christ (Acts
Philip preached things concerning the
Was Simon converted? The Bible says, "Then Simon himself
believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and
wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." (Acts
Christ is preached to an Ethiopian – Acts 8:27-35: This
account is the story of a preacher (Philip) and a sinner (the Ethiopian). When
God said “go,” Philip went to do the will of the Heavenly Father. Philip was
ready to teach and the eunuch was anxious to learn. He preached Christ to the
man from
“Jesus” was the message that Philip preached to the
Ethiopian. We must also open our mouth
with boldness and speak clearly and the message of Jesus. We must preach to
people that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah, and that He is the only
person through whom we must be saved.
The Ethiopian obeys the gospel – Acts 8:36-40:
God is concerned about the redemption of one lost soul. The Lord uses people
like Philip to convert other people like the Ethiopian. A part of conversion
includes baptism into Christ. You cannot preach Jesus without preaching baptism
"into Christ."
The manner of baptizing in the early church was to bury the whole
body in the water. The Book of Acts contains several cases of conversion. When
all the case are studied we learn that those that were saved: (1) heard the word
of God, (2) believed the salvation message about Jesus, (3) repented of sins,
(4) confessed Jesus as Lord and Christ, (5) were baptized (immersed) into
Christ, (6) received forgiveness of sins, and (7) received the ordinary gift of
the Holy Spirit. The gospel of Christ, promptly and cheerfully obeyed, leads to
rejoicing. The
Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to go to heaven? Jesus
said, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned." (Mark