Luke keeps showing us how the narratives, promises, people, and events of the Old Testament are continued, expanded, and deepened in the New. Especially clear is how Acts shows not only the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that the Kingdom of God would spread from -Jerusalem, to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth,- but specifically, how Acts shows a better Israel that never fails, compared to the Old Israel that continuously failed. --Stephen is murdered. The church is scattered, and Philip preaches. Churches are planted, and Peter has an encounter with an unrepentant Sorcerer, Simon. --Then, Luke gives us a simple little verse in 8-25 that shows two particular characteristics of the Apostles in the midst of persecution-powerful reminders of what the character of the church should be in a world that increasingly hates us.

This is the third sermon in a series on the -Unseen Realms-, seeing what Paul does in response to -servants of Satan- infiltrating the church in Corinth, and worse yet- the Corinthian toleration and acceptance of them---How does Paul respond to the referendum on his ministry, the Gospel, and Christ-

The Apostle John urges his -children- to stay the course-stand firm, resist the lies of the antichrist-s-.--No one who denies the Son has the Father.

Far too many Christians settle for far too little spiritual growth. Content with a few basic confessions and ideas, perhaps commands they seek to obey like -pray daily- or -have a morning devotion-, the Apostle John urges us to -grow up-. --How are we to do this- Why-

Stephen is given special attention by Luke not only because he is the first martyr after the Resurrection, but also because he is one of the best men in the church. He is the deacon of deacons- a gifted leader-one it would seem hard, if not impossible, to replace. --Yet God's wisdom slays him by the hands of wicked men-not for his own wickedness, but because he was so faithful. --How can this be- What are we to think when the best men die-

The Apostles are considered, rightly, as the only true foundation of the church. This does not negate that Christ is the head and substance of the church-rather, it confesses that the Apostolic testimony is that upon which the church rests. --Luke, in Acts 6, shows the Apostles avoiding a critical mistake made by many- distraction. By doing so, he subtly shows how the Apostles' task is narrow- to build the House of God upon a firm, unshakable foundation-to be what they, and they alone, are able to be.--Why are the Apostles the only sure foundation- Several reasons.

Satan--The Adversary--is not mentioned much in the Old Testament- that does not mean he is not active. He is the -god of this world,- he -blinds-, he is a -thief- and a -liar- and -murderer from the beginning.- --He has always been active against God's people, and he still is. --Are we prepared for this fight- To better prepare, let's be sure we do not make several basic tactical -spiritual- mistakes.

We are not Materialists-we believe there is an unseen realm inhabited by spirits -angels, demons, etc.-. We believe in spiritual warfare in these unseen realms. --Scripture mentions many examples of this realm infecting-influencing that which we see, taste, touch, hear, etc.--What steps can a true believer take to be more prepared for the effects of this unseen realm-

The heat gets hotter in the oven of Jerusalem. To this point in Acts, the church has weathered slight persecution. There were hard moments, but no one had lost life or property. That changes with the execution of Stephen, a godly deacon, after a sermon in which he called the Jews to repent and believe on Christ. --Now, the church is scattered as the persecution explodes from Stephen to anyone the Jews can find who share his faith. --What will a faithful church do when it is persecuted- This text shows us three actions taken by this early church that proved them faithful in the midst of profound persecution.

Luke spends quite some time detailing the report of Simon the Sorcerer-what some translations call a -magician-. Simony goes from practicing magic, to practicing the true faith-or does he---What are the implications for the Gospel's power even among Samaritans- This text presents at least two possibilities for us today- one of them marvelous, and one of them terrifying.