Acts 8

This devotional is written by Hannah Booker.

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 paralysed 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 practised 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 baptised, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptised. 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 baptised 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 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.'

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 travelled 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 baptised?' 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised 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 travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

What prevents me from being baptised?

There is so much ground covered in Acts 8, it's a passage that brings in multiple stories of the gospel being heard and the Holy Spirit seen and known in new places. It is also a passage set in the backdrop of the persecution of the early church, that had required many to flee their homes for safety.

The passage speaks of a church that have nothing but to lean on but the Holy Spirit.

That reliance means that this passage is packed with demonstrations of trusting the Holy spirit's lead, and faith worked out, resulting in healings, miracles and displays of Gods power that sees new believers in places that had not yet been told the good news of Jesus Christ.

This passage is a personal favourite, and I was so happy to see that I had Acts 8 to read. For me it shows that when the Holy Spirit gets to lead the way, wild and surprising things happen. And perhaps more impactful is that our faith grows in the process, and we know more of Gods power, and who he is, and in turn others see God through us too.

The verses that speak of Philip being sent by the Holy Spirit into the desert to speak to a confused Eunuch seeking God, are amazing. The reality of a God that knows who needs to hear, and an apostle that is willing to listen and obey the Holy Spirits lead, means that the Eunuch gets to hear and jumps at the opportunity to get baptised. Their exclamation of 'what is stopping me from being baptised?!' is one that in this passage I feel is a truth, an encouragement and a challenge.

The initial truth, that there is nothing that prevents us from being baptised into the Kingdom, the encouragement that as children of God we have access to the Holy Spirit and a right relationship with the mighty God, and the challenge that with the Holy Spirits lead, we can help in the process of removing the obstacles , real or perceived, in the way of people that are longing to know God.