CHAPTER 8

(A.D. 34)

SAUL

¹And Saul (Paul) was consenting unto his death (means that he expressed hearty approval of the stoning of Stephen). And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church which was at Jerusalem (the Church, as far as we know, was then confined to Jerusalem); and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria (the persecution helped take the Gospel to these particular regions; so Satans plan backfired), except the Apostles (they stayed in Jerusalem, no doubt at the behest of the Holy Spirit; for the Apostles to leave at that time could have destroyed the infant Church).

²And devout men carried Stephen to his burial(proclaims the high esteem with which they held this man, and rightly so!), and made great lamentation over him (what a difference between his death and that of Ananias and Sapphira).

³As for Saul, he made havoc of the Church (it seems he was the leader of this persecution), entering into every house (referring to those houses he knew contained followers of Christ), and haling men and women committed them to prison (he spared no age or gender, but forced them all before magistrates).

⁴Therefore they who were scattered abroad (refers to a result of the persecution) went every where preaching the Word (as stated, the persecution backfired; instead of stopping the Word it rather scattered the Word!; Satan dreads the preaching of the Gospel by the Anointing of the Holy Spirit, but has no controversy with either ritualism or philanthropy).

PHILIP

⁵Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria (should have been translated, a city of Samaria, which was probably Sychem; this was the Philip of Acts 6:5), and preached Christ unto them (refers to him proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, God manifest in the flesh, and being raised from the dead; he would not have understood much about the Cross at this particular time; that awaiting the conversion of Paul).

⁶And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spoke (proclaims a great acceptance of the Gospel), hearing and seeing the miracles which he did (verified the Message he preached).

⁷For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many who were possessed with them(the Name of Jesus was used to cast out demons): and many taken with palsies, and who were lame, were healed.

⁸And there was great joy in that city (when the Message of Christ is accepted, it always brings great joy).

THE SORCERER

⁹But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery (pertained to the practice of the rites of the art of the Magi; it is of Satan), and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one (it seemed they believed his claims):

¹⁰To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest (proclaims that all were duped by his sorceries), saying, This man is the great power of God (they attributed his magic and stunts to being done by the Power of God, when in reality it was of Satan; much in the modern Church which claims to be the Power of God falls into the same category).

¹¹And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries (the word bewitched refers to the fact that the person or persons are deprived of the ability to think or order their thoughts correctly).

¹²But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God (they now encountered a Power which was greater than the powers of darkness), and the Name of Jesus Christ (Salvation is in that Name and what it refers to, which speaks of the Cross; the very Name Jesus means Saviour), they were baptized, both men and women (they were baptized in water after they were saved, not baptized in order to be saved).

¹³Then Simon himself believed also (every evidence is that Simon truly gave his heart and life to the Lord Jesus; the word believed is used here exactly as it was in the previous Verse, which signifies Salvation [Jn. 3:16; Rom. 10:9-13]): and when he was baptized (plainly informs us that Philip saw enough evidence of Repentance and Faith in Christ that he baptized Simon exactly as he did the others), he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done (he watched carefully what Philip was doing, and noted that there was no trickery involved).

THE HOLY SPIRIT

¹⁴Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God (many had been saved), they sent unto them Peter and John (for a reason which we will see):

¹⁵Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit (this was their purpose for coming, and this is how important it is for Believers to be Baptized with the Spirit):

¹⁶(For as yet He (the Holy Spirit) was fallen upon none of them (evidently Philip had strongly preached Salvation, but had not preached the Baptism with the Holy Spirit): only they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus.) (This is meant to infer that they had been baptized in water, but not the Baptism with the Spirit.)

¹⁷Then laid they their hands on them (presents one of the ways Believers can be baptized with the Spirit, but this is not necessary in order to be filled [Acts 2:4; 10:44-48]), and they received the Holy Spirit (doesnt give any more information, but we know from Acts 2:4; 10:44-48; 19:1-7 that they also spoke with tongues).

THE SINFUL PROPOSAL

¹⁸And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles hands the Holy Spirit was given (what did he see? he saw and heard them speak with tongues), he offered them money (he would not have offered money for the mere laying on of hands),

¹⁹Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit (money cannot purchase these Gifts, or anything else of God for that matter).

²⁰But Peter said unto him, Your money perish with you, because you have thought that the Gift of God may be purchased with money (every Preacher must be extra careful that money not be made a part of the equation; God has nothing for sale; everything He has is a Gift [Jn. 3:16]).

²¹You have neither part nor lot in this matter (the word matter in the Greek, as it is used here, is Logos, and means a word or speech; Peter is referring to these Believers speaking with other tongues): for your heart is not right in the Sight of God (self-will is the cause of the evil heart).

²²Repent therefore of this your wickedness (proclaims just how bad the sin was, but yet that hope is offered), and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you (tells us that God Alone could remedy this situation, and He always will upon proper Repentance, which says that He is right and I am wrong).

²³For I perceive (refers to the Holy Spirit informing Peter of the exact cause, and not mere symptoms) that you are in the gall of bitterness (condition of extreme wickedness), and in the bond of iniquity (a bondage of greed for money, power, and control over other men).

²⁴Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me (suggests a right attitude on the part of Simon), that none of these things which you have spoken come upon me (has reference to him potentially perishing, that is if he remained on that particular course).

²⁵And they, when they had testified and preached the Word of the Lord (they, no doubt, saw a Church established there), returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Gospel in many villages of the Samaritans (on their way to Jerusalem, they preached in many towns and villages, probably taking several weeks to do so).

PHILIP

²⁶And the Angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip (proclaims another mission entirely for Philip, rather than going back to Jerusalem with Peter and John), saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert (probably referred to the road that led to the Old Testament Gaza, which was destroyed in 93 B.C.).

²⁷And he arose and went (a distance of approximately one hundred miles; He immediately obeyed): and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an Eunuch of great authority under Candace Queen of the Ethiopians (evidently presents a Gentile who was proselyte to the Covenant of Israel), who had the charge of all her treasure (he was the treasurer of that African country), and had come to Jerusalem for to worship (could refer to the Feast of Tabernacles, which was held in October; Eusebius says, He was the very first Gentile to convert to Christ, at least in the Early Church.),

²⁸Was returning (returning to Ethiopia), and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the Prophet (more than likely spoke of a translation into Greek).

²⁹Then the Spirit (Holy Spirit) said unto Philip (the Holy Spirit will lead and guide all who desire such a relationship), Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.

³⁰And Philip ran thither to him(the driver had probably stopped to water the horses), and heard him read the Prophet Isaiah (means that he was reading aloud), and said, Do you understand what you are reading? (This was perhaps asked because the Holy Spirit told him to ask such a question.)

³¹And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? (This is the reason the God-called Preacher is so very important!) And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him (he wanted Philip to explain the Scripture to him).

³²The place of the Scripture which he read was this (as well presents an orchestration carried out by the Holy Spirit), He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened He not His mouth (this refers to the Cross and the manner of approach by our Lord to this Sacrifice):

³³In His humiliation His judgment was taken away (means that all justice was suspended concerning the trial and Crucifixion of Christ): and who shall declare His generation? (This means that the Jewish Sanhedrin had tried to blot out His Memory, but with no success at all.) for His life is taken from the Earth (despite their evil intentions, the Plan of God was carried out to total fulfillment).

³⁴And the Eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaks the Prophet this? (This presents, as will become obvious, a heart hungry for God.) of himself, or of some other man? (This presents the correct question, which Philip will answer.)

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus (refers to Isa. 53:7-8; He explains to the Ethiopian that the Prophet Isaiah is speaking of Jesus).

³⁶And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water (as they journeyed a little ways, with Philip explaining to him all of this time, they come to a place where there was water; evidently, Philip had explained to him that Water Baptism was the outward sign that Jesus had been accepted in the heart): and the Eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized? (He had accepted Christ, and was now eager to follow the Lord in Water Baptism.)

³⁷And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may (presents the only Scriptural requirement for Salvation). And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (this shows that Philip had explained the Gospel Program to this man very well!).

³⁸And he (the Ethiopian) commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch (this tells us that Water Baptism is by immersion, and not by mere sprinkling as taught by some); and he (Philip) baptized him.

³⁹And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (means exactly what it says), that the Eunuch saw him no more (this would have been quite an experience): and he (the Ethiopian) went on his way rejoicing (his trip had been well worthwhile).

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus (this was the old Ashdod, situated on the Mediterranean): and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea (about sixty miles north of Azotus).