Acts 8

1. Saul agreed that the killing of Stephen was a good thing.

Later, Jesus showed that Paul’s conscience was bothering him.

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 9:5

2 – 4

Some religious men buried Stephen. They cried very loudly for him. On that day people began trying to hurt the church in Jerusalem and make it suffer. Saul was also trying to destroy the church. He went from house to house.

He dragged out men and women and put them in jail. All the believers, except the apostles, went to different places in Judea and Samaria. And everywhere the believers were scattered, they told people the Good News.

They were scattered but were able to do what Jesus had sent them to do as they ran away from Jerusalem. Matthew 28:19

5. Philip went to the city of Samaria and preached about the Messiah.

He may have remember what Jesus said in Acts 1:8.

6 The people there heard Philip and saw the miracles he was doing. They all listened carefully to the things he said.

Philip was willing to serve tables so God gave him a bigger job. Many people would like to do miracles but not serve tables.

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in bigger ones. Luke 16:10

7 – 8

Many of these people had evil spirits in them, but the evil spirits left them. The spirits made a loud noise when they came out. There were also many weak and crippled people there. They were healed also. So the people in that city were very happy.

We see that Philip did not have a special demon casting ministry. Any Christian who is full of God’s Word, and walking in the Spirit will cause demons to run away.

9 – 11

But there was a man named Simon in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had practiced magic. He amazed all the people of Samaria with his magic. He bragged and called himself a great man.

All the people—the least important and the most important—paid attention to what Simon said. They said, “This man has the power of God, called ‘the Great Power’!”

Simon had amazed them with his magic tricks so long that the people became his followers.

People do not follow a man just because he can do magic tricks. When you open yourself up to the devil through magic, he takes you to the next step which is demonic thoughts.

These thoughts may start by suggesting that someone can tell your future, or that you can speak to your did relatives. As you open yourself to these things you become more and more a slave to them.

12. But Philip told them the Gospel about the kingdom of God and the power of Jesus Christ. Men and women believed Philip and were baptized.

When these people got saved they were set free from the demonic spirits that had been controlling them and when these spirits left it opened the door for more people to understand and be saved.

13. Simon himself believed and was baptized. He stayed very close to Philip. When he saw the miracles and the very powerful things that Philip did, Simon was amazed.

Simon believed in Christ but he soon found out that there were still areas of his life that he had surrendered to the devil. Simon is not the first Christian who needed to be set free from things that they tried to bring with them into their new life.

14 – 17

The apostles were still in Jerusalem. They heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God. So they sent Peter and John to them.

When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit. These people had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. But the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on any of them. Then, when the two apostles began laying their hands on the people, they received the Holy Spirit.

Some teachers say that these people were not Christians but let us see what the Bible says: No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

We receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved, but we are filled many times by the spirit as we surrender more of our lives to Him.

Keep on being filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

18 – 19

Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles laid their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money. He said, “Give me also this power so that when I lay my hands on a person, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”

Magicians pay each other for tricks. We have to be honest about church history. There were times in the Middle Ages when positions in the church were bought and paid for, even the position of the Pope. This idea became a word in English language named after Simon and called “simony.”

20. Peter said to him, “You and your money should both be destroyed! You used your imagination to think that you could buy God’s gift with money.

Peter is using the gift of discerning of spirits, and he sees that Simon needs to take back the territory he has given to the devil in the area of imaginations.

21 – 23

You cannot share with us in this work. Your heart is not right before God. Change your heart! Turn away from this evil thing you have done. Pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for thinking this. I see that you are full of bitter jealousy and ruled by sin.”

Peter sees that Simon can be attacked with spiritual pride because he loved the way the people used to look up to him.

24. Simon answered, “Both of you pray for me to the Lord. Pray that the things you have said will not happen to me!”

Simon was a brand-new Christian and took this first step of asking for help to get rid of a big stronghold in his life.

25. Then the two apostles told the people the things they had seen Jesus do. And after the apostles had given the message of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem.

On the way, they went through many Samaritan towns and preached the Good News to the people.

[Jesus] sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because He was on His way to Jerusalem. Luke 9:52–53

26. An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. The angel said, “Get ready and go south. Go to the road that leads down to Gaza from Jerusalem—the desert road.”

We are not like Philip. When the Lord tells us to do something we usually say, “Why do I need to do this? What will happen next?”

All through the Bible we see that God told His people what to do -one step at a time. When He sees that you take the first step, then He will tell you what to do next. Remember Philip was leaving a good ministry and he could have questioned God, but he was not that kind of man.

27 – 28

So Philip got ready and went. On the road he saw a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch. He was an important officer in the service of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was responsible for taking care of all her money. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and now he was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot and reading from the book of Isaiah, the prophet.

So Philip took the first step and he stopped and waited to see what God would say next. It is a good thing when we step back and let God control a situation. It is always a bad thing when we try to take control using our own wisdom. We should be glad that God is in control and not us.

29 – 31

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” So Philip ran toward the chariot. He heard the man reading from Isaiah, the prophet. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

He answered, “How can I understand? I need someone to explain it to me!” Then he invited Philip to climb in and sit with him.

The officer really wanted to understand the Bible. Sometimes God has a person ready to take the next step and He gives us the honor of being there when they are ready. This is our reward for following what He tells us to do without question!

32 – 33

The verse of Scripture that he was reading was this: “He was like a sheep being led to be killed. He was quiet, as a sheep is quiet while its wool is being cut. He said nothing. He was shamed and was treated unfairly. He died without children to continue his family. His life on earth has ended.”

This officer was reading Isaiah 53:7–8.

34. The officer said to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or about someone else?”

Rabbis used to teach that this was talking about the Messiah, but they stopped saying this after the days of Jesus. Now they say that Isaiah 53 is talking about the suffering of the nation of Israel

35. Philip began to speak. He started with this same Scripture and told the man the Gospel about Jesus.

Philip walked him through the Word starting from Isaiah and explaining other Old Testament Scriptures which showed the life of Christ.

36. While they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The officer said, “Look! Here is water! What is stopping me from being baptized?”

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Word of God. Romans 10:17

37 – 38

[Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” The officer said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

Then the officer commanded the chariot to stop. Both Philip and the officer went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

This is where we get the idea of people being put completely under the water when they are baptized. If there is not enough water or you have a different view, the main thing is that you are showing the world that you have died to your own life and risen again with Christ.

39. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away; the officer never saw him again. The officer continued on his way home, full of joy.

Philip must have been a happy person because it seems that everywhere he went he spread happiness. See Verse 8!

40. But Philip appeared in a city called Azotus and preached the Gospel in all the towns on the way from Azotus to Caesarea.

Philip could have planted seeds with Cornelius on his way home. Acts 10:1