Acts 8:1-9:30

Acts 8:1–8
John 4:6–42
- The apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1)
- Those who were scattered preached the Word wherever they went (Acts 8:4)

*Zondervan NIV footnote:

8:1 giving approval. See 22:20 and note. all except the apostles. For the apostles to stay in Jerusalem would be an encouragement to those in prison and a center of appeal to those scattered. The church now went underground. scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. The beginning of the fulfillment of the commission in 1:8 - not by the church's plan, but by events beyond the believer's control.

2 Kings 17:6–41

The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites (2 Kings 17:24). They worshipped the LORD, but also other gods (2 King 17:28-33).

Jesus and His apostles have already been there preaching the word. When Philip went down to Samaria, he performed miraculous signs and furthered his mission to proclaim the Christ. Many Samarians received Christ and were baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:4-8; John 4:34-42).


The Jews did not associate with Samaritans (John 4:9) and shunned them because the Jews did not consider Samaritans as “pure” Jews. We learn here that God does not discriminate who the Gospel is spoken to (John 4, Acts 11:1-18). We should therefore not discriminate between who we share the Good News with either! 

* Zondervan NIV footnote:

John 4:9 do not associate with. The point of the NIV text note (and probably of the text) is that Jews would become ceremonially unclean if they used a drinking vessel handled by a Samaritan, since they held that all Samaritans were "unclean".

Acts 8:9–40

Isaiah 53

- Simon previous previously practiced sorcery and amazed all people of Samaria (Acts 8:9)
- People followed Simon because of magic, and they called him “the great power of God”
- Simon then chose to follow Philip because of the miracles that Philip performed amazed him
- Simon eventually believed in the Christ and was baptized (Acts 8:9-13)

- Simon thought he could use money to gain the power to give the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18-19)

- Simon was told by Peter of his wickedness and that he should repent and ask for the Lord's forgiveness (Acts 8:20-24)

The holiness of God’s Spirit is a gift, not something that can be bought with money. We receive the Holy Spirit because we receive God’s gift of salvation with our heart, not because we offer God our riches. For nothing we offer God can ever worth more than God’s greatest sacrifice: the death of His only Son, Jesus Christ.

By giving examples of individuals receiving the Word of the Gospel (Simon: Acts 8:9-24; the Ethiopian: Acts 8:26-39). Also note that Philip was instructed by an angel to travel very far just to preach the Word to just that one Ethiopian.

Isaiah 53:3–6

The passage is talking about Jesus because Jesus was the only person who fulfilled all the things mentioned in the passage:
- He was despised and rejected by men (Matthew 16:21; Luke 18:31-33)
- He was a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering (Matthew 16:21; Luke 18:31-33)
- He was despised, and shunned by the Israelites (Matthew 27:29; John 1:10-11)
- He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows (Matthew 8:17), yet we considered him punished by God (John 19:7)
- He was pierced for our transgressions (John 3:17)
- He was crushed for our iniquities
- The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed

Acts 9:1–19a; 22:1–16; 26:9–19

In regards to Paul's account of his conversion at his trials (Acts 22, 26) compared to Luke’s record of Paul’s conversion (Acts 9):

- the light: The light, brighter than the sun, was from Heaven that shone around Paul and his companions (Acts 26:13)

- the voice: The voice said, in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14)

- the words spoken by Christ: Jesus replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Acts 26:15-18). Paul will be Christ's witness and he is to spread the Word of the Gospel (Acts 26:16-18).

- Paul’s obedience: Paul went to Damascus, then to Jerusalem and all of Judea to preach the Word of God. Paul also preached to the Gentiles, telling all to repent, return to God, and prove their repentance through their deeds (Acts 26: 20-23). Paul was not disobedient to the vision from heaven (Acts 26:19).

Paul never lost sight of the Glory of Christ.

*From "Learn the Bible in 24 Hours by Dr. Chuck Missler":

Saul was blinded by this vision of Christ, and he remained blind until he met Ananias and was baptized. But we know from the Galatian letter that Paul continued to have eye problems. He mentioned that the Galatians loved him so much they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to him (Galatians 4:15). Apparently his eyes were weak and very unsightly. That may be why Luke became his physician, to help treat his eyes, and the thorn in the flesh he spoke of may have been his eye problem.

Money, power, and status have no brilliance or glory when compared against the glory of Jesus Christ.

Paul had been persecuting followers of Jesus. He persecuted them because he was born a Jew and trained as a Pharisee, who up-held the Law to a point of legalistic righteousness and faultlessness (Galatians 1:14). And because Jesus and His followers did not obey the Law, Paul, a very religious Pharisee, persecuted them. Paul wrote in Philippians: “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:4-11).

From God’s call to Ananias and his reaction to it, we learn that…
- We are all sinners: Paul said so himself that he perhaps is the greatest sinner of all, for he killed Christians who were devout follower of Christ!
- We are all given the chance to repent: Jesus revealed Himself to Paul, and Paul repented.
- We are all given a second chance when we make a mistake: Jesus forgave Paul for his wrongful persecutions. Not only that, Jesus gave him the mission to preach to the Gentiles.
- We should prove our repentance through works: Paul, having repented, worked diligently for the rest of his life to bring the Gospel wherever he went. Through his work, we can see how Paul had truly repented. And through his work, we can see how he rescued so many souls from the grasp of Satan

Acts 9:19b–30

Galatians 1:11–24

After escaping from Damascus, Paul went to Arabia for 3 years.

*Zondervan NIV map (Timeline of Paul's Life), p.1702

AD 35-38 Arabian trip (Gal 1:17). Fits in at Acts 9:23, during the "many days"

*Zondervan NIV footnote

9:23 After many days. Three years (Gal 1:17-18). It is probable that the major part of this period was spent in Arabia, away from Damascus, though the borders of Arabia extended to the environs of Damascus. the Jews conspired to kill him. Upon Saul's return to Damascus, the governor under Aretas gave orders for his arrest (2Co 11:32). The absence of Roman coins struck in Damascus between A.D. 34 and 62 may indicate that Aretas was in control during that period.

Paul went immediately to Damascus because Jesus told him to—Paul was meant to preach to the Gentiles. What I learn from this is that just as Jesus told the disciples in the Gospels, we need to follow Jesus with our whole heart, able to drop anything and just go and accomplish the Lord’s mission for each one of us, as Paul demonstrated here.

Paul’s first stay at Jerusalem:

Paul was praying at the temple, fell into a trance and saw the Lord tell him to leave Jerusalem immediately because people in Jerusalem will not accept his testimony about Christ. (Acts 22:17-18). The Lord told Paul that He will send him far away to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21). Paul got acquainted with Cephas (Peter) and stayed with him for fifteen days (Galatians 1:18). Paul did not see any other apostles - only James, the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:19).

Zondervan NIV footnote:

* Galatians 1:18 Peter. Or Cephas (see NIV text note), from the Aramaic word for "stone" (see Mt 16:18 and note). The name designates a like quality in the bearer (see note on Jn 1:42).
* Acts 9:26 he came to Jerusalem. From Gal 1:19 we learn that all the apostles were away except Peter and James, the Lord's brother. James was not one of the Twelve, but he held a position in Jerusalem comparable to that of an apostle (see Gal 2:9).