CHAPTER 8
Mass Arrests & A Roadside Baptism
The spilling of Stephen’s blood spawns a great persecution. Saul starts pulling believers from their homes to throw them in prison. “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”v.4
We then follow Philip, a 2nd generation leader in the church, as he travels wherever the Holy Spirit sends him. His words and wonders convince so many to get baptized that he has to send for Peter and John to lay hands on the new believers that they may receive the holy Spirit.
From there, Philip is led towards Gaza and, on the way, encounters a God-fearing Ethiopian, reported to be the head of treasury for his queen. He’s reading a verse from Isaiah that alludes to Christ and Philip asks him if he understands what he’s reading. The Ethiopian invites Philip into his chariot to teach him.
“Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled 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 baptized?” v.35-36
After being baptized, Philip was snatched up by the Spirit of the Lord and taken elsewhere.
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Redemption for Samaria
In Luke 9, a village in Samaria rejected Jesus. It upset James and John so much that they asked Jesus if he they could call down fire from heaven on them. Here in Acts, Peter and John come to pray for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit!
