Act 8:14-40

Summary
In today’s reading, we see the importance the apostles attach to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As soon as the apostles at Jerusalem heard the news of the conversion of the people of Samaria, they promptly sent Peter and John to them so that they could pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
A man named Simon who was once a magician attempted to bribe the apostles so as to receive the power to impact the Holy Spirit on people. The apostles rebuked him sharply because he thought that the gift of God could be purchased. He was asked to repent and set his hear right with God.
Philip the evangelist being led by the Holy Spirit preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch from the book of Isaiah he was reading. The eunuch believed and was baptised with water as an outward expression of his belief.

Life Application
The apostles understood by experience the role the Holy Spirit plays in the life of a believer; hence they did not hesitate in introducing Him to believers who have not yet received Him with the evidence of speaking in tongues. The Holy Spirit is our helper in the Christian race and without Him, the race becomes laborious. You will always need the help of the Holy Spirit.

Personal Declaration
I receive the help of the Holy Spirit as I journey through life today and always in Jesus name.

Reading – Act 8:14-40

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 baptized 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^[a] 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.”^[b]

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 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?”^{[37] [c] 38} And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized 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 traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the townsuntil he reached Caesarea.

Footnotes:

1. Acts 8:27 That is, from the southern Nile region
2. Acts 8:33 Isaiah 53:7,8 (see Septuagint)
3. Acts 8:37 Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”