READ | ACTS CHAPTER 8
1 And Saul approved of their killing him.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
The Church Persecuted and Scattered
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
DEVOTIONAL
Have you ever had a really bad day? The car breaks down at the worst possible time. You open the mailbox to receive unexpected bad news. You say something you immediately regret and wish you could take back. You make an error at work that has lasting and costly consequences. These are days you wish you never got out of bed. Take heart, God is in the business of using bad days. He often takes one person’s bad day and uses it to draw another person closer to himself. God is still God of the good days and of the bad. He doesn’t stop loving you or using you simply because you make a mistake.
There were many bad days for the early church. The day Stephen died was one of the worst, and it only went downhill from there, depending on how you look at it. On the same day, Stephen was murdered, a widespread persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Saul began the next phase of his mission of destroying this Jesus Sect through intimidation, fear, imprisonment, and death. He was ruthless in his hatred for these people he saw as blaspheming the God of the Old Testament. But something interesting happened because of and through this wave of persecution. We read that all except the apostles (who no longer feared death) were scattered from Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria. This type of persecution through fear tactics was nothing new for those closest to Jesus. They had been living under opposition and threats for many years and had accepted it as a part of ministry. The closer you are to Jesus, the less you are influenced by fear, intimidation, or even the threat of pain and death. These disciples had made a firm decision to live by faith, no matter what. Saul avoids arresting any more of these apostles. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Stephen. Instead, he would focus his fury on those who were young and less mature in their faith.
If we read closely, we see the entire tone of this chapter pivots from the first three verses to the next four. Words like mourning, persecution, and destruction are replaced with preaching, miracles, healing, and even great joy. Those who were scattered began to preach and took the gospel with them wherever they traveled. And wherever it is preached, the gospel bears fruit. People were healed, demons were cast out, the name of Jesus was declared, and many came to faith in Christ. The mourning, sadness, and fear in one city led to what verse 8 describes as great joy in another. God takes the negative, painful experiences we endure in one stage of our lives and uses them to draw people to himself. He uses that which would come against His Kingdom to expand His Kingdom. Just think about how amazing that is! Philip and all the others who were scattered out from Jerusalem could have easily allowed the fear and opposition they faced in Jerusalem to silence them in these new cities. They could start over. They could have easily chosen to keep Jesus and the good news of the gospel to themselves as to not invite renewed persecution to follow them wherever they went. It’s good that they didn’t keep Jesus a secret. The scattering ended up being one of the best things that could have happened for the early church and continued the fulfillment of Jesus’ words that the gospel would go, “To the ends of the earth.”
There are two different words in the ancient Greek language for the idea of “scattered.” One is the idea of scattering in the sense of making something disappear, like scattering someone’s ashes. The other word has the idea of scattering in the sense of planting or sowing seeds. This is the ancient Greek word used here in this passage. As the historian Tertullian would later write about the church, the blood of martyrs truly was the seed of the church. How frustrating it must have been for the Devil to see that the murder of Stephen and his tactic of fear and intimidation blew up in his face. The gospel spread wider and faster the more the forces of evil tried to stop it. When men and women have their hearts set on Christ, despite their earthly circumstances, nothing, not even the gates of hell, can stand in their way.
We need to hold a similar perspective in our own lives today, no matter what we face or endure. We cannot allow opposition, gossip, slander, offense, or a difficult experience to silence us. We never abandon the good news simply because we are surrounded by bad news; because it is when we are surrounded by bad news that the good news is even better. It is in the midst of the darkness that the light of God shines most brightly. It is in the midst of a mistake that grace and forgiveness are most appreciated. A horrible event, tragedy, or mistake has the ability to be used for great good as long as we keep our hearts and minds aligned with Christ.
There were many bad days for the early church. The day Stephen died was one of the worst, and it only went downhill from there, depending on how you look at it. On the same day, Stephen was murdered, a widespread persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Saul began the next phase of his mission of destroying this Jesus Sect through intimidation, fear, imprisonment, and death. He was ruthless in his hatred for these people he saw as blaspheming the God of the Old Testament. But something interesting happened because of and through this wave of persecution. We read that all except the apostles (who no longer feared death) were scattered from Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria. This type of persecution through fear tactics was nothing new for those closest to Jesus. They had been living under opposition and threats for many years and had accepted it as a part of ministry. The closer you are to Jesus, the less you are influenced by fear, intimidation, or even the threat of pain and death. These disciples had made a firm decision to live by faith, no matter what. Saul avoids arresting any more of these apostles. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Stephen. Instead, he would focus his fury on those who were young and less mature in their faith.
If we read closely, we see the entire tone of this chapter pivots from the first three verses to the next four. Words like mourning, persecution, and destruction are replaced with preaching, miracles, healing, and even great joy. Those who were scattered began to preach and took the gospel with them wherever they traveled. And wherever it is preached, the gospel bears fruit. People were healed, demons were cast out, the name of Jesus was declared, and many came to faith in Christ. The mourning, sadness, and fear in one city led to what verse 8 describes as great joy in another. God takes the negative, painful experiences we endure in one stage of our lives and uses them to draw people to himself. He uses that which would come against His Kingdom to expand His Kingdom. Just think about how amazing that is! Philip and all the others who were scattered out from Jerusalem could have easily allowed the fear and opposition they faced in Jerusalem to silence them in these new cities. They could start over. They could have easily chosen to keep Jesus and the good news of the gospel to themselves as to not invite renewed persecution to follow them wherever they went. It’s good that they didn’t keep Jesus a secret. The scattering ended up being one of the best things that could have happened for the early church and continued the fulfillment of Jesus’ words that the gospel would go, “To the ends of the earth.”
There are two different words in the ancient Greek language for the idea of “scattered.” One is the idea of scattering in the sense of making something disappear, like scattering someone’s ashes. The other word has the idea of scattering in the sense of planting or sowing seeds. This is the ancient Greek word used here in this passage. As the historian Tertullian would later write about the church, the blood of martyrs truly was the seed of the church. How frustrating it must have been for the Devil to see that the murder of Stephen and his tactic of fear and intimidation blew up in his face. The gospel spread wider and faster the more the forces of evil tried to stop it. When men and women have their hearts set on Christ, despite their earthly circumstances, nothing, not even the gates of hell, can stand in their way.
We need to hold a similar perspective in our own lives today, no matter what we face or endure. We cannot allow opposition, gossip, slander, offense, or a difficult experience to silence us. We never abandon the good news simply because we are surrounded by bad news; because it is when we are surrounded by bad news that the good news is even better. It is in the midst of the darkness that the light of God shines most brightly. It is in the midst of a mistake that grace and forgiveness are most appreciated. A horrible event, tragedy, or mistake has the ability to be used for great good as long as we keep our hearts and minds aligned with Christ.
