[Linux4christians] Thursday - Acts 8:4-40

Wed Oct 19 08:59:10 EDT 2011

    Thursday

      Acts 8:4-40

Philip Preaches in Samaria

8:4 Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the 
good news of the word. 8:5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria 
and began proclaiming the Christ to them. 8:6 The crowds were paying 
attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the 
miraculous signs he was performing. 8:7 For unclean spirits, crying with 
loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many 
paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8:8 So there was great joy in 
that city.

8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing 
magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 
8:10 All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close 
attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called 
'Great.'" 8:11 And they paid close attention to him because he had 
amazed them for a long time with his magic. 8:12 But when they believed 
Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and 
the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women. 
8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed 
close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles 
that were occurring, he was amazed.

8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted 
the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 8:15 These two went 
down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 
8:16 (For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had 
only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 8:17 Then Peter and 
John placed their hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy 
Spirit.

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying 
on of the apostles' hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, "Give me 
this power too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the 
Holy Spirit." 8:20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with 
you, because you thought you could acquire God's gift with money! 8:21 
You have no share or part in this matter because your heart is not right 
before God! 8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray 
to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your 
heart. 8:23 For I see that you are bitterly envious and in bondage to 
sin." 8:24 But Simon replied, "You pray to the Lord for me so that 
nothing of what you have said may happen to me."

8:25 So after Peter and John had solemnly testified and spoken the word 
of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news 
to many Samaritan villages as they went.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

8:26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go south on 
the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert 
road.) 8:27 So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a 
court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of 
all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, 8:28 and was 
returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. 8:29 
Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 8:30 So 
Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. He 
asked him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" 8:31 The man 
replied, "How in the world can I, unless someone guides me?" So he 
invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 8:32 Now the passage of 
scripture the man was reading was this:

"/*He*//**//*was*//**//*led*//**//*like*//**//*a*//**//*sheep*//**//*to*//**//*slaughter,*/

/*and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,*/

/*so*//**//*he*//**//*did*/ /*not*//**//*open*//**//*his*//**//*mouth*//./

8:33 /*In*//**//*humiliation*/ 
/*justice*//**//*was*//**//*taken*//**//*from*//**//*him*//./

/*Who can describe his posterity?*/

/*For*//**//*his*//**//*life*//**//*was*//**//*taken*//**//*away*/ 
/*from*//**//*the*//**//*earth*//./"

8:34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, "Please tell me, who is the prophet 
saying this about -- himself or someone else?" 8:35 So Philip started 
speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news 
about Jesus to him. 8:36 Now as they were going along the road, they 
came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look, there is water! What is 
to stop me from being baptized?" 8:37 [[EMPTY]] 8:38 So he ordered the 
chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the 
water, and Philip baptized him. 8:39 Now when they came up out of the 
water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did 
not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. 8:40 Philip, 
however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he 
proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

      Prayer

Lord, You empowered those whom You called, and You redeemed good from 
Saul's evil intent by using the flight of disciples to spread Your Word 
even further. May I trust You to provide whatever I need to do whatever 
You ask me to do.

      Summary & Commentary

As the disciples fled Jerusalem in the face of Saul's persecution they 
were dispersed in Samaria and beyond. The unintended, by Saul, 
consequence was that the Word was also dispersed.

Philip preached Christ in Samaria and performed "miraculous signs" of 
healing and the casting-out of demons. [Note: This was the second 
non-Apostle, Stephen was the other (Acts 6:8) reported as exercising 
this sort of power.]

A "magician" called Simon had claimed greatness to himself through acts 
of "magic" yet as the people around him heard Philip and were baptized, 
even Simon believed and was baptized. Simon then followed Philip closely 
in awe of the power flowing through him.

Peter and John came to Samaria to pray that the Holy Spirit would come 
upon the people there. They had been baptized, similar to those baptized 
by John the Baptist, but they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. 
[Note: The Apostles were among the few who had not fled in the face of 
Saul's persecution in Jerusalem.]

Simon remains confused and still trapped in his desire to be the focus 
of attention and the conduit of power, thus he asks the Apostles to sell 
him the ability to lay-on hands for the delivery of the Holy Spirit to 
people. Their discernment tells them that his heart is filled with envy, 
not a desire to serve others, so they rebuke him sternly and instruct 
him to pray that the Lord may forgive him. They then returned to 
Jerusalem, proclaiming Christ along the way.

An angel directed Philip to leave Samaria and follow the 
desert/wilderness road that connected Jerusalem to Gaza. Along the way 
he observed an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official to Queen Candace of the 
Ethiopians. After visiting the Pentecost celebrations in Jerusalem he 
was reading Isaiah as he traveled. The Holy Spirit prompted Philip to 
approach him and ask if he understood what he was reading - he invited 
Philip to explain Isaiah 53:7-8, which he did.

Philip explained how this OT verse prophesied Jesus. The Ethiopian 
Eunuch immediately asked to be baptized, which Philip did, then the Holy 
Spirit immediately relocated Philip to Azotus (a city on the southern 
coast of Palestine). The Eunuch went away rejoicing.

Philip proclaimed the good news of Jesus the Christ from Azotus to 
Caesarea.

      Interaction

        Consider

Observe the sequence of faithful obedience which resulted in the baptism 
of the Ethiopian Eunuch; Philip travels where directed, Philip 
approaches the Eunuch, the Eunuch requests discipleship, Philip shares 
what God has taught him, the Eunuch requests baptism.

        Discuss

When have you observed someone claiming to be a follower of Biblical 
Christianity, and even assumed a role in leadership based on a 
charismatic personality, but then was exposed as a charlatan whose focus 
was really on their own popularity, power, and profit.?

        Reflect

The Ethiopian Eunuch was so teachable that the moment he understood what 
the Lord God wanted him to do he humbled himself and did so.

        Share

When have you observed that the enemy/the world had successfully 
attacked a Biblically-faithful ministry then God redeemed it to an even 
greater effectiveness?

      Faith in Action

        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to pray for greater patience and 
discernment within the family of believers as they select and submit to 
spiritual shepherds at any level.

        Action:

Today I commit to be available and teachable as the Holy Spirit leads 
and directs so that He may use me as effectively as He did Philip. I 
surrender that place of resistance to change and/or risk that I have 
allowed to be an impediment to Him.

        Be Specific ______________________________________________________

    Friday's text will be:

      Acts 9:1-22

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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