Acts 8

Acts 8:1

Chapter 7 recounted the defense and death of Stephen, the dynamic deacon who boldly declared that the Lord was not interested in religion, but in relationship. And chapter 8 picks up the story… This Saul, of course, would later be known as the apostle Paul. The word “consenting” actually means “voting,” implying that Saul was a voting member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. This interests me because marriage was one of the requirements for a position on the Sanhedrinand yet Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that it was good for the unmarried and the widows to remain in a single state even as he was (1Co_7:8). If Paul was married in Acts and single in 1 Corinthians, what happened to his wife? Some suggest she died, that he was a widower who chose to remain single in order to give himself more fully to ministry. Much more probable, however, based upon the writings of early church history, is that Paul’s wife left him when he was converted. Either way, it’s interesting that Paul doesn’t tell the story. Truly, he practiced what he preached when he wrote, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php_3:13-14). If you’ve experienced pain or a problem in the past, perhaps Paul can be an example to you today. I know it’s not easy, but Paul shows the possibility of forgetting the past, pressing on, and seeing how the Lord can do something unique and special in your situation presently. Was Paul actually a thrower of stones? No. We read in Act_7:58 that the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. This brilliant young theologian would vote for Stephen’s death, but he was above bloodying his own hands to bring it about. And yet something happens as we read the story, for later in the Book of Acts, we’ll see Paul use his own hands to drag men and women out of their homes in order to imprison and persecute them. This would haunt him all of his daysso much so that he would write about it to his young protigie, Timothy, calling himself a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an injurious person (1Ti_1:13). In Romans 15, Paul wrote that wherever he went he raised money for the poor saints in Jerusalem. No doubt, whenever he walked through the streets of Jerusalem and saw a wife sitting without her husband, or a man without his wifehe would be reminded of the results of his radical and relentless persecution. I find this to be a word of warning to us personally. We can think we’re doing the Lord a big favor by coming down on people, beating up on people, or pointing our finger at peopleall in the name of “purifying the church” or “taking a stand for righteousness.” But what a shock it must have been for Paul on the road to Damascus when he finally realized that all of the time he thought he was doing God a favor, he was actually persecuting His Son. Be careful. Remember Paul when you feel like going from house to house pointing out sinners or finding fault with preachers. Like Paul, we can be radicalbut we can be radically wrong. “You shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you, and you shall be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth,” promised Jesus (see Act_1:8). In other words, “My work starts here in Jerusalem, but it must move on from here.” We all have a tendency to camp out where it’s comfortable. So did the early church. Because Jerusalem was the center of spiritual activity, for six years, no one wanted to leave. It took persecution to get the believers moving, to scatter them to Judaea and Samaria. It was the persecution in Act_8:1 that moved the church to obey the command of Act_1:8. Maybe you face a job transfer, a relational change, or something else that makes you unsettled or unsure. Maybe doors are closing and you’re wondering why. Although it would be wonderful if we were all so spiritually sensitive that we would feel the prompting of the Lord and respond immediately, most of us don’t have that kind of sensitivity. For most of us, it takes a pink slip, a job transfer, a broken romance to get us moving. Perhaps you’d rather stay where you are, but in reality the Lord sees where He can use you most effectively. Trust Him. Why didn’t the apostles leave? I believe it was because they had previously fled in fear. You remember the story: The night Jesus was brought to trial in the court of Caiaphas, only a few of His disciples followed Himand even then from afar. The next day when He was nailed to the Cross, all except John had deserted Him. Now, six years later, perhaps recalling their former fear, they said, “We’re staying here in Jerusalem even if it means risking our lives.”

Acts 8:2

Does this verse imply that we should make “great lamentation” when a believer dies? Notice Luke didn’t say, “The apostles carried Stephen to his burial,” or, “The disciples carried Stephen to his burial,” but “Devout men carried Stephen to his burial.” “Devout men” means “God-fearers.” Thus, it could be that those who carried Stephen to his burial weren’t believers. If, on the other hand, these devout men were indeed Christians, perhaps they didn’t understand heaven very clearly. You see, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4, many in the early church believed they would see the Second Coming of Christthat any believer who died before His return would miss the rapture and not make it into Heaven. That is why Paul explained to them that, although the dead in Christ would rise first, they wouldn’t be left behind (1Th_4:16).

Acts 8:3

The word “havock” comes from a root word used to describe the results of wounding a wild boar. When a boar is wounded, he goes on a rampage and loses all sense of sanitywhich is exactly what happened to Paul. This refined, cultured, religious scholar who sat at the feet of Gamalielthis student par excellence, this man whose command of the Greek language was greater than any other writerlost all sense of sanity. At first he merely consented to the death of Stephen. But then, like a shark that smells blood, he began going from house to house, hauling out and imprisoning believers, committing them to their deaths.

Acts 8:4

Running from Saul and his posse, the early church fled, preaching the Word as they went. So even as Paul tried in vain to stomp out the flames of faith in Jerusalem, sparks were flying and igniting fires everywhere.

Acts 8:5

Philip was another one of those dynamic deacons we read about in Acts 6. Like Stephen, he is a powerful reminder that if we are faithful in the little things, God will open up more and more for us to do. Second Kings 17 gives the account of the Assyrian invasion of Israel in 721 B.C., when the ten northern tribes were carried into captivity before the Assyrians claimed the northern part of Israel. As they moved into the area, the Assyrians married the impoverished Jews who were left behind, and a half-breed race was produced known as the Samaritans. The Jews in the south looked down on the Samaritans, calling them half-breeds and dogs, and went out of their way to avoid any contact with them. That is why it would have been shocking to hear Jesus say, “I must need go through Samaria” (see Joh_4:4). Seven years after Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman at the well, I wonder if she was there, hearing Philip preach.

Acts 8:6

We usually think of miracles in terms of sight, but miracles can be heard as wellthrough a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, a word of prophecy, and the teaching of the Word.

Acts 8:7

There are those who read the Gospels and the Book of Acts and say, “It’s interesting that Jesus cast out demons and that the early church was involved in deliverance ministry. But we’re beyond that today.” Are we really? Or have we allowed psychology to simply shift the attention away from demonic activity with terms like “psychosis” and “syndrome,” “dysfunction” and “disorder”?

Acts 8:8

The word “gospel” means “good news.” Wherever the gospel is preached and received, great joy replaces pseudo-spiritual heaviness.

Acts 8:9

Was Simon simply a clever magician? Or was he a conduit of demonic power? Whether it was magic, trickery, or demonic activity, I don’t know. But I do know that Satan used Simon to keep people away from God. That is why we need to keep ourselves and our kids away from crystals, pyramids, hypnosis, and anything else that smacks of the occult. Satan can, indeed, empower individuals to do signs, wonders, and impressive miracles. But he can only make things worse… In Exodus 7, when Pharaoh demanded a sign from Moses, Aaron cast down his rod, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then called for his magicians, and they duplicated the miracle, as their rods became snakes as well. Moses then touched the Nile River with his rod, and it turned to blood. Pharoah’s magicians did the same thing to other sources of water, turning them all to blood. Moses called for a plague of frogs to cover the land. What did Pharoah’s magicians do? They conjured up frogs as well. Now, the last thing the Egyptians needed was more snakes, more blood, or more frogs. What they needed was deliverance from those things. But Pharoah’s magicians were powerless to help. That’s the way it always is. Satan and demons can and do perform miracles and wondersbut only to bring about harm.

Acts 8:12

Philip came and began to preach Jesus Christ and the Good News of the kingdom. Suddenly, people realized there was hope, joy, a reason for livingand they responded to his preaching.

Acts 8:13

Simon believed, but he was not a born-again believer. Jas_2:19 says that even the devils believe in God and they tremble. But they’re not saved. Did you know you can miss heaven by eighteen inches? You can believe in your head intellectually. You can affirm the theology mentally. But if faith is not in your heart, you are in no better shape than the demons in hell. There is not one demon who doubts the reality of hell. That is why James points out the fallacy of intellectual faith. “Your heart must be touched,” he says. “Your faith must affect the way you live, for faith without works is dead” (see Jas_2:17). “Faith without works?” you say. “I thought salvation was by faith.” It is. It’s not faith and works. It’s not faith or works. It’s faith that works. Notice that, although the people in Samaria were born again and baptized, they were not yet empowered with the coming-upon of the Spirit. So Peter and John came down from Jerusalem and laid hands on them. Why didn’t Philip do it? Since Philip was the one who led the city into a knowledge of Christ Jesus; since Philip was the one who baptized and taught and shared the Good News of the kingdomwhy didn’t Philip lay his hands on the Samaritans to receive the power of the Spirit? I suggest two possible reasons. In sending for Peter and John, the “Big Guns in Jerusalem,” Philip was linking the Samaritan Christians to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. He was not starting a separate movement in Samaria nor a distinct denomination of believers. They were all one body. Sending for Peter and John verified the linkage and support between the believers in Jerusalem and those in Samaria. But a second and more important reason may have been that perhaps Philip wasn’t gifted in that way. Although he was gifted in preaching and in evangelism, it is possible he was not gifted in the laying on of hands for the empowering of people. Wise enough to realize that a couple of his brothers had that anointing, that gifting, that callinghe sent for them. Again we see the importance of the body working together. No one person can do it all. No one person should do it all. Every part of the body has a specific role to play. It’s so relaxing when you finally realize you don’t have to do it all. People around you might expect you to be everything for them, but you know you’re not and can’t be. So what should you do? Do what you’re called to do and let a brother or a sister do those things you haven’t been gifted or called to do. The Lord’s burden is not heavy. His yoke fits perfectly (Mat_11:29).

Acts 8:18

“Wow!” Simon said. “That’s a neat trick. Let me buy it from you.” To this day, magicians buy tricks from each other, which is why I believe Simon was operating through magic and not necessarily through demonic power.

Acts 8:20

When Simon was called on the carpet, he didn’t say, “Pray that my heart will be changed.” He said, “Pray that these things won’t happen to me.” He wasn’t interested in having his life corrected. He just wanted to be protected from the consequences of his sin.

Acts 8:25

What happened to Simon? Tradition says he went insane and buried himself alivebut not before he introduced the heresy of Gnosticism, which, among other things, stated that, matter being evil and spirit good, God could not have created the world out of matter, nor could Jesus have become Man and died for our sin. John wrote his first epistle, in part, to counter the threat of Gnosticism within the early church.

Acts 8:26

Philip, whose ministry had brought about the wonderful work of the Lord in Samaria, was now being called to Gaza. “But, Lord, what about the posters?” he could have protested. “What about the book-signings? Lord, I’m so influential here in Samaria. The entire city is getting turned on to You. Why are You asking me to go to the desert? There’s nothing down there.” Please note that the Lord didn’t say why He was sending Philip to the desert. He simply said, “Arise and go.” And Philip arose and went. If you struggle with finding God’s will, know this: God’s will is for you to obey what He tells you to do one step at a time. He doesn’t give us the full story. He just says, “I want you to go down to the desert. And once you do that, I’ll show you the next step.” That’s why the Christian life is so incredibly exciting. We never know what’s ahead. An experiment was performed in which caterpillars were placed on the rim of a large pot containing dirt and several of their favorite plants. The caterpillars began to move along the rim of the poteach one following the one in front, every caterpillar thinking the one ahead of him knew where he was going. Around and around and around they went until they all died of starvation. Do you feel like you’re drying up and getting dizzy? Could it be because the Lord spoke to you at some point but, because you were so intent on following the caterpillar in front of you, you missed the adventure? The key to the exciting, impacting Christian life is to be like Philip and obey when you hear the Lord’s voice or feel His pulleven though you don’t know the end of the story at the beginning. The treasurer in the kingdom, this man was perhaps the second most powerful individual in Ethiopia. Evidently, he was a God-fearer who had gone to Jerusalem to worship. Very likely, it was his first pilgrimage to the Holy City. But not finding answers in the law, or in the ritualism of temple worship, he rode home in his chariot with his heart still hungry as he pored over the Scriptures.

Acts 8:29

This proves to me that the Lord will do whatever it takes to reach a person who desires to know Him. On the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to say, “I really wanted to know You, God, but I couldn’t figure out how.” God will send a Philip to anyone who wants to know Him. And that Philip could be you!

Acts 8:30

I love this phrase! It doesn’t say, Philip said, “Okay. I hate the desert, but if I gotta go, I’ll go.” No. Philip ran. How wonderful it is to see someone full of enthusiasm concerning ministry and service. The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek words en and theos, meaning, “full of God.” An enthusiastic person is a person who is full of God. And Philip was enthusiasm personified. Already sovereignly drawn by the Spirit, the eunuch was searching and wondering.

Acts 8:35

Philip preached not Judaism, not denominationalism, not water baptism, but Jesus.

Acts 8:36

The same Peter who saw the deception of Simon the sorcerer would later write, “Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2Pe_1:10). The Ethiopian had at last found what he was looking fornot a ritualistic religion, but a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. Avoiding an Unexpected End A Topical Study of Act_8:35-37 When my son Benjamin was four years old, he was completely and wonderfully obsessed with Bible stories and Bible characters. If you came to our house, chances are you would have seen Benjamin wearing what looked suspiciously like a burlap sack. That was his David outfit. He was David for a good part of each day. Then he would become Joshua, marching around and knocking down his building-block walls. He loved Bible stories in a way that blew me away.

Once on his “special day,” I said, “Benjamin, where do you want to go? Do you want to go to the park? Do you want to go to McDonald Playland?” No, he wanted to go to the Christian bookstore. So that’s where we went. We spent two hours there, with Benny sitting on the floor looking at books and playing with puzzles. After watching Ben’s enthusiasm, Fred, the owner, offered to hire him! Thus, it was not surprising that after every service, Benjamin would head for the bookstore at Applegate Christian Fellowship. One week he saw something that had escaped his notice in all of his previous visits. Way up on the top shelf sat a Bible Nintendo game. Intrigued as he studied the pictures of Noah and the ark, Joshua and Jericho, Jonah and the whale on the cover, Benjamin brought it home. Now, at four years of age, Benny was not very adept at video gamesbut he patiently and laboriously pushed the buttons and tried to advance to the different levels where he could see Noah’s ark sail and Jericho’s walls tumble down. After a couple of hours, however, frustration began to cloud his face. Finally, he said to my wife, Tammy, “Mommy, get a piece of paper and write down what I tell you. I want to send a letter to the bookstore.” This is what he said: Dear Bookstore, I am talking about Nintendo and so please help me to get to Goliath. Please help me to get to the flood of Noah and help the animals to go two by two. I am Benjamin. I am only four. Don’t you know that? Bye-bye, bookstore. I love you, bookstore. Benny Benjamin was disappointed because the game didn’t end the way he thought it would. So, too, many, many people will encounter a far greater tragedy when they find themselves face-to-face with the Lord, believing that they have a right to enter into heaven, but instead hearing Him say, “Depart from Me. I never knew you” (see Mat_7:23). Here in Acts 8, knowing we need stories and illustrations to understand truth, the Lord ingeniously placed the stories of two conversions back to backthose of Simon the sorcerer and the Ethiopian eunuch. These two men appear side by side in Scripture, I believe, so that you and I can verify the reality of our salvation and thereby avoid an unexpected and tragic end. Look first at Simon’s conversion and note four characteristics that prove it was not real. Simon Had a Wrong View of Self But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one…Act_8:9 You’ll always know someone’s off the wall if he tries to pretend he’s someone great. That’s what Simon was doingmaking himself out to be someone special. Although it is true that “pride is a weed that grows in the garden of every man,” in Simon’s case, his weed of pride was a tree, for as the story unfolds, we will see Simon seeking to be a superstar above all rather than a servant of all. Simon Had a Wrong View of Supernatural Power And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.Act_8:18-19 Simon wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Ghostnot to change his character, but to fulfill his ambition. So, too, before leaving home, the prodigal said, “Father give me the goods” (see Luk_15:12). But when he returnedhumbled and brokenhe said, “Father, make me a servant” (see Luk_15:19). True conversion never says, “Give me the goods.” It says, “Make me a servant.” Simon Had a Wrong View of the Spirit But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.Act_8:20 This is where we get the term “simony"the practice of buying a position in church hierarchy. During the Middle Ages, many of the popes actually bought their way into the office. To this day, in many churches, positions on boards or ministry teams can still be bought. Even though that is not the case here, there is a “Simon mentality” that can creep into our lives whenever we subconsciously think we can purchase the gift of God through our devotional life, our piety, our fasting, or our spirituality. The Holy Spirit is a gift (Luk_11:13). He cannot be purchased with money or energy. Jesus said, “If you, then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask?” Simon Had a Wrong View of Sin Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.Act_8:24 Simon didn’t want the sin rooted out of his life; he only wanted protection from its repercussions. The Lord declared that unless the days were shortened, no man would survive (Mat_24:22). Like Simon, however, our society is concerned only with the repercussions of our sin rather than regeneration and deliverance from sin. Now contrast Simon with the Ethiopian eunuch as you note four aspects of his conversion that prove it was real… The Sovereign Work of the Spirit And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.Act_8:26 True conversion is always the result of God’s stirring and moving rather than of some plan or plot someone hatches to get ahead. True conversion takes place when the Lord stirs and brings a Philipa radio broadcast, a tract, a New Testament, a neighbor, a church, or a crusadeto someone who, like the eunuch, is simply riding along in the chariot of life, pondering and curious. The Searching Heart of a Sinner And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.Act_8:30-31 Already sovereignly drawn by the Spirit, the eunuch was searching and wondering. “You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart,” the Lord declared in Jer_29:13. God tugs on our hearts sovereignly, but it’s up to us to respond personally. The Scriptural Base for Salvation Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.Act_8:35 Simon’s so-called conversion was based on seeing wonders. The eunuch’s conversion was based upon seeing Jesus in the Word. True conversion always comes not by seeing wonders, but by hearing the Word (Rom_10:17). Build your faith upon the Word of God. Become students of the Scriptures. Stay in the Scriptures. Submit to the Scriptures. And you will experience true conversion. The Sincere Expression of a Servant And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.Act_8:36-37 Simon the magician asked for power to promote himself. The Ethiopian eunuch asked for baptism to die to self. “Bury me in the waters of baptism,” he said. “I want to serve God. I want to submit to His authority. I want to submerge myself in His will.” The same Peter who saw the deception of Simon the sorcerer would later write, “Brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2Pe_1:10). There’s nothing more important for you to consider than if you are truly saved! You may have been sitting in a pew for yearsbut are you truly saved? You may have been baptizedbut are you truly saved?” You might be active in churchbut are you sure you’re saved? Rom_8:16 declares His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. Do you have that witness? Does His Spirit affirm and resonate in your heart, “Yes, you are My child"or is it still a little fuzzy? If you’re not sure, take time today to let the Holy Spirit minister to you and give you His witness that you are born again. Dear people, make your calling and election sure.

Acts 8:39

The eunuch had come seeking to the Holy City. He had left struggling with the Scriptures. Now he returns rejoicing in his salvation.

Acts 8:40

As a deacon, Philip served tables. In Samaria, he became an evangelist. In Gaza, he was removed from the public arena to minister one on one to the Ethiopian eunuch. In Caesarea, he found himself raising a family of four daughters who became prophetesses (Act_21:9). Wherever he was, Philip flowed in ministry. I’m sure he was as thrilled serving tables as he was preaching to multitudes and as enthusiastic talking to the Ethiopian as he was raising daughters to be godly women. In your walk with the Lord and your work for the Lord, like Philip, you will go through different seasons. There will be times when you’ll wait tables and minister practically. There will be other times when the Lord might use you to speak to multitudes as you minister publicly. Other times, you will work one on one as you minister personally. Still other times, you’ll invest in your kids as you minister to your family. To everything there is a time and a purpose. Trust the Lord. Go with the flow. Walk with Him one step at a time, and He’ll lead you in paths you could never imagine. Just ask Philip!