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September 28, 2022

Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.

Reading along with us in Acts? Here’s today’s reading:

Acts 8 (NIV)

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..............Continue Reading

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This Post Has 8 Comments
  1. As hard as it is to hear of the persecution of the apostles again God uses that pain for good. The apostles were to spread the good news to regions outside of Jerusalem and this persecution scattered them allowing just that to happen.
    Simon, like so many, wanted God’s power and provision without humbling himself or doing the work of sacrifice to change his life as a result of God’s mercy. He did not want to change his ways just reap the benefits of God’s power in his life without relationship with Him.

  2. Another great truth Peter and John do to Samaria to see for themselves if the Holy Spirit was for even Samaritans. Imagine what they must have felt like. Thinking the Jews were the only ones. The gospel is for all people. All races. Color or creed. All equal in the eyes of God. As the rest of this chapter proves. As Philip is obedient and goes to Ethiopia. Part of Africa. This eunuch must have been hungry. Spiritually As he is heading home from Jerusalem reading scripture. Pray we will find someone hungry today.

  3. I fell behind, just finished Acts chapter 2 verse 28-
    “You have shown me the paths of life” I love that verse, thought about that verse, it gave me a sense of well being

  4. Talk about a good thing coming out of a bad situation, but the believers in Jerusalem and the gospel they carried are spread further due to the persecution brought on by Saul. The truth of God always has its objectors and Jesus never promised His followers a rose garden, but assured us that we will be persecuted. One such person who was scattered was Philip and the rest of the chapter covers his ministry. It is important to note this is Phillip the deacon, not Phillip the apostle. And he had quite a ministry in Samaria. He was faithful to share the message and God was faithful to perform miracles by his hand to reinforce it. Now the normal procedure would be that people receive the Holy Spirit when they believe in Jesus. What happens here is an exception to that rule because of the nature of the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans. They were both suspicious of each other thinking themselves right and the other wrong. The Samaritans were vestiges of the Northern Kingdom who had intermarried with non-Jews. So the gospel coming to them brought a little excitement and surprise. It is no wonder Peter and John were sent to check it out. But the fact that the Spirit came to them through the apostles validated the Samaritans to the apostles as well as validated the apostles to the Samaritans. It is really neat how God worked this. And like all of us, Simon needed to learn that our old ways don’t work in God’s economy. Money and worldly influence are not what matters but humility, faith and righteousness do. It was right for Peter to call him out but it is good that Simon had the humility and faith to repent.

    And realize that God then radically changes Philip’s direction and gives him an evangelism opportunity that all of us hope for. May we be sensitive to the Spirit’s call and have our eyes and ears open to the doors that God is leading us through to share the gospel and clarify truth for others.

    1. Thanks for explaining why these people didn’t receive the Spirit right away when they believed and were baptized, Pastor. I was going to ask. I looked at “Enduring Word” and didn’t like any of their explanations. I think your explanation makes sense since the apostles were Jews, God confirmed to them that indeed the Samaritans too can follow Christ and receive the Holy Spirit.

  5. I like this portion that demonstrates the simplicity of the gospel and belief.

    “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

    Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”

    And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

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