5 Smooth Stones

function through miracles and gifts of healings among the people to which he was ministering. Another a tt ribute we see from the preaching of Philip in Samaria, which we often miss in our preaching today, is the e ff ect it had on the ruling class in Samaria. While Jesus said He had come to preach the gospel to the poor, he by no means ignored the in fl uential people in the areas where he went. He ministered to leaders such as Zacchaeus, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the Centurion, priests, elders and rulers. He instructed his disciples to do the same. Ma tt hew 10:11 "Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.” Luke 10:5 “But whatever house you enter, fi rst say, 'Peace to this house.' 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.” In the case of Samaria at the time that Philip preached to the people of the city they were “from the least t o the greatest” under the in fl uence of a sorcerer named Simon, thinking he was “the great power of God.” (Acts 8:10). This had gone on for a very long time. Simon himself believed the preaching of Philip and also was baptized, which had great in fl uence on the conversion of many in the city. This was no small thing. When those who lead cultural ma tt ers in society turn to the Lord it can have a far-reaching, lasting and multiplying e ff ect on society. In the Great Awakenings, people from all levels of society were saved and discipled. What follows is an example from the second Great Awakening. In A Mighty Winner of Souls Charles G. Finney, a Study in Evangelism, Frank Beardsley records, “The wife of a prominent Rochester a tt orney had invited Finney to her home, hoping to learn more about this preacher who was becoming quite famous. Secretly, she worried that revival, which seemed to follow Finney everywhere, would ruin the coming social season. As he spoke with the woman, Finney observed that pride was the most marked feature of her character. He felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to share one particular verse from the Bible: ‘Except ye be converted and become as li tt le children, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.’” Of this season, Charles Finney wrote, “It was soon seen that the Lord was aiming at the conversion of the highest classes of society. My meetings soon became thronged with that class…As the revival swept through the town, and converted the great mass of the most in fl uential people, both men and women, the change in the order, sobriety, and morality of the city was wonderful.” 113