Day 97 – Thursday, May 15, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Acts 8

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

Saul Persecutes the Church

1 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 

(Acts 8:1–3, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• A singular post here identifies Saul again as being in the opposition to the cause of Christ. He was named as holding the coats of the people who stoned Stephen, but now is seen as a full-blown conspirator.
• About this time, persecution rose to a high level. Christians scattered all over the surrounding regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
• Stephen was buried, and Saul began searching every house for Christians to have them put in prison.

Christ is Preached in Samaria

⁴ Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. ⁵ Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. ⁶ And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. ⁷ For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. ⁸ And there was great joy in that city. 

(Acts 8:4–8, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• What happened in this scattering was probably exactly opposite of the effect the Jewish persecutors hoped for. Instead of squelching the movement, it emboldened the movement, and the scattered Christians preached wherever they went, and converts came to Christ.
• Philip, for instance, went to Samaria and preached, and multitudes came to hear and see the miracles. Many came to Christ and there was great joy.

The Sorcerer’s Profession of Faith

⁹ But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, ¹⁰ to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” ¹¹ And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. ¹³ Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. 

(Acts 8:9–13, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• A sorcerer named Simon held sway over many of the people Samaria. He came to the meetings to hear Philip.
• When Simon heard the preaching of Christ, he also believed and was baptized and kept coming to hear Philip.

The Sorcerer’s Sin

¹⁴ Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵ who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. ²² Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

²⁵ So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 

(Acts 8:14–25, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• When the Apostles in Jerusalem heard what was happening in Samaria, they sent Peter and John to see the great revival.
• When they came, they prayed for the believers to receive the Holy Spirit and they did.
• Simon, seeing this happen, wanted to buy the ability to confer this blessing on others. This would have been normal to him, having been a spell caster before conversion.
• Peter corrected him sternly, saying that this gift could not be bought with money. He declared that Simon was not right before God.
• Simon repented and asked for Peter to pray for him not to be judged by God.
• Peter and John testified and preached for a time in several Samaritan villages.

Christ is Preached to an Ethiopian

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. ²⁷ So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

³⁰ So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

³³ In His humiliation His justice was taken away,

And who will declare His generation?

For His life is taken from the earth.”

³⁴ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. ³⁶ 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?”

³⁷ 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.”

³⁸ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. ³⁹ Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. 

(Acts 8:26–40, NKJV)

Points to Ponder:

• Angel prompted Philip to go south to the desert of Gaza. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, servant to Candace, queen of Ethiopia.
• This man had come to Jerusalem to worship. Philip came upon him sitting in his chariot reading. As he walked up to the chariot, he asked the eunuch if he understood what he had been reading. He responded that he needed help.
• Philip noticed he was reading from Isaiah about the prophecy of Jesus’ death for our sins. Philip explained the story of Christ, and then offered to baptize him in the water nearby.
• The eunuch confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Philip and he went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
• Immediately, Philip disappeared as the Lord caught him up and deposited him in Azotus, about 20 miles away. He made his way to Caesarea, preaching in all their cities.
• The moral of this story is that persecution had the opposite effect. Men tried to persecute the church into hiding, but instead, they chased the gospel all around the country, and eventually around the known world.
• Another interesting fact is that the very man who ramped up the efforts of persecution became the man (after conversion) who would help spread the gospel around the known world. Saul the Persecutor became Paul the Apostle. Isn’t God amazing? Don’t give up on your persecutors. God may have a calling in store for them. Pray for them.

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page. Another blog will be posted each weekday at 6:00 a.m.