Here is a teaching on chapter 8 of the book of Acts. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
First I want to say a quick prayer... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and how to implement it in our daily lives. I pray that you open up our eyes, our ears, and our mind to you Lord, and to knowing the truth of your words. I pray that you lead, guide, and direct us through every aspect of our lives. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Acts Chapter 8:
1 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at 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 men and women and put them in prison.
4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
So I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. Okay. We see in verse 1 that a great persecution, or hostility, broke out the day that Stephen was stoned. We saw in our Bible study from chapter 7 where Stephen was stoned. So that hostility broke out against the church of Jerusalem that day and then in verse 3 Saul started destroying the church and he went from house to house dragging the people into prison. We first heard the mention of Saul in our Bible study from chapters 6 & 7 of the book of Acts. Then in verses 4-8, we saw that even when the people were scattered it didn't stop them from preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and Phillip was proclaiming Christ in Samaria. Philip performed miraculous signs, he cast out evil spirits, healed paralytics and crippled, and that's all in the power and the name of Jesus Christ. He was able to do those things because of his faith in Jesus Christ, and in the power of the name of Jesus Christ these people were healed and these evil spirits were being drawn out of people.
9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced 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 the divine power known as the Great Power." 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. 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 them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into 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. Perhaps he will 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 When they testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
In verses 9-13 we see that Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and there were a lot of people that followed him because they were amazed at his magic. Then when Phillip came and these people believed in Philip and what he preached about Jesus Christ, many were baptized and even Simon was baptized, he believed Phillip, and followed him. Then in verses 14-17 we see that Peter and John went to Samaria when they heard that people had accepted the word of God and they prayed that the people would receive the Holy Spirit. At that point the people had just been baptized in the name of Jesus, but they hadn't received the Holy Spirit. So Peter and John placed their hands on the people and they received the Holy Spirit. The power isn't in the hands of Peter and John, the power. is in Jesus Christ. Through all of this stuff when we see the apostles performing these miraculous signs, healing people and all of this, it's in the power of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes inside these people because they believe in Jesus Christ and they're saved.
Now in verses 18-25, Simon offered the apostles money to give him the ability to give people the Holy Spirit when he lays his hands on them, because he saw that's how the other people got the Holy Spirit by Peter and John laying their hands on them. Peter said that his money will perish with him because he thought that he could buy the gift of God. You can't buy God's power. You can't buy gifts given by God. It's not some type of magic or sorcery like Simon was used to doing. The gift of the Holy Spirit is given by God the Father. He sends down the Holy Spirit to counsel us. Whenever we believe in Jesus Christ and we're saved, we have the Holy Spirit within us, and there's no way you can buy the gift of giving people the Holy Spirit. So Peter told Simon to repent and pray. When people don't know any better, or even when they do know better but they sin against God, he's merciful, loving, gracious, and he will forgive, but we always have to repent. Anytime we do something that we know is wrong, or maybe we didn't know that it was wrong but someone else informed us that it was wrong, or we learned by studying or Bible and really knowing the word of God that what we did was wrong, then we have to repent for that. Once we repent then we have to truly change our ways. Simon told Peter to pray for him because he knew that Peter was a man of God and that God would listen to him if he prayed for him that none of that would happen to him.
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, and an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, 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?" Phillip asked. 31 "How can I," he said, unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Phillip to come up and sit with him. 32 They eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the 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 Phillip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Phillip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I get baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Phillip and the eunuch went down into the water and Phillip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Phillip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Phillip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns and until he reached Caesarea.
Alright, so those are all the verses of chapter 8 of the book of Acts, but I'm going to discuss these verses with the guys here. So in verse 26 an angel of the Lord told Phillip to go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. The angel knew that this eunuch would be there and it would be a chance for Phillip to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. So Philip met this Ethiopian official, or eunuch, that was reading the book of Isaiah and he didn't understand what he was reading. So Phillip began with that passage and he told him the good news about Jesus, about the gospel of Jesus Christ, how he was crucified, resurrected, and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life in heaven with him and God the Father.
Then in verses 36-39 the official saw some water so he had the chariot stopped and the eunuch got baptized. This just shows the faith that the eunuch had. A lot of people will get saved and not get baptized straight away, or maybe people don't even realize that getting baptized is important. But we see here that this eunuch immediately wanted to get baptized as soon as he saw water, because he knew the importance of baptism and that's showing your obedience and faith to Jesus Christ. Baptism is the representation of being dead in your sins and alive in Christ. So the eunuch didn't waste any time, as soon as he saw water he got baptized.
Philip baptized the eunuch and whenever the eunuch came out of the water the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Phillip away. So Phillip's mission there was complete. He was sent there by an angel to help this eunuch. or this Ethiopian official, know about the good news of Jesus Christ, the eunuch got baptized, and then Phillip's mission was complete. So the eunuch went on his way rejoicing and believing in Jesus Christ. And then Phillip appeared in Azotus, which was a new place where he was going to preach about the gospel of Jesus Christ until he got to Caesarea.
Acts Ch 8 Study Guide
Why do you think that the ones who had been scattered still preached the gospel wherever they went?
Can you buy the gift of God with money? Why not?
Why is it important for us to repent?
In verse 26, why did the angel tell Philip to go to that road?
In verses 36-38, what does this show about the eunuch?
Why did the Spirit of the Lord take Philip away after the eunuch was baptized?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So whenever we let the holy spirit guide us, we follow Jesus Christ, we're disciples of Jesus Christ, we spread the gospel, we truly believe, and we let the Holy Spirit guide us, then we will be put in specific places where we have a mission to help other people know about Jesus Christ. It's so important for us to stay faithful to that, to take her courage, and to not be afraid. If we see someone that needs help knowing about Jesus Christ, needs help understanding something in the Bible, or has questions, we need to be prepared and ready to answer them and help them to be able to get saved and go to heaven also. That's why it's so important for us to read and study our Bibles, to pray, to know the teaching and commands of Jesus Christ, and to know all about the gospel of Jesus Christ so we can be ready and prepared to let other people know about Jesus Christ and to help them with any questions they may have so they can get saved and go to heaven also.
So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 8 of the book of Acts. Next week we're going to go into chapter 9 so make sure you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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