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He is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name‘s sake

  Good morning. Jesus’ reply to Ananias: go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name‘s sake. He doesn’t say when He was going to show Paul what he would suffer. Was it before he started or during his accomplishments? If God told us that we were going to do something great for Him, but along with that would come very great suffering, would we still accept the assignment? Ananias went to the house, and after laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is one of the few places where someone was filled with the Holy Spirit, but does not say that they said something immediately afterwards. And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was bapti...
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As he was approaching the city, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, why are you persecuting Me? Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting

  Good morning. The last we saw of Saul/Paul was in conjunction with the stoning of Stephen. I  don’t know how much later this was. Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was approaching the city, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, why are you persecuting Me? Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do. The men with him heard the voice but did not see anyone. He could not see, and the men with him led him by hand into the city. He was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. There was a disciple in the city named Ananias; The Lord said to him get up and go to the street called Straight (it went s...
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And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

  Good morning. When the eunuch asked Philip of whom does The Prophet say this – of himself or of someone else, it was the perfect opening to witness. Beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water. Remember when we started this passage that we said this was a desert road. There just “happened“ to be some water available exactly when it was needed. What prevents me from being baptized? This next verse is not in the earliest manuscripts; the King James version did not use the earliest; it used what was available. Phillip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found...
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An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.

  Good morning. When the apostles had finished their task in Samaria (the city), they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. One would think that after the great revival that Philip had in Samaria that he would’ve made camp there for years; but God had another idea. An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. (this is a desert road). So he complained about having to give up his successful ministry – wrong! He got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. What is really interesting about this is that there was an Ethiopian eunuch who helped the prophet Jeremiah when he was imprisoned in a deep hole in the ground. It was almost like God ...
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Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit

  Good morning. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. It does not say that they spoke with other tongues, but how else would he know that they had received the Holy Spirit? Remember that I said he did not ask for the ability to perform miracles which he saw Philip do; but he is wanting the ability to impart the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues. But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. But Simon answered and said, pray to...
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When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

  Good morning. Well, what happened in Samaria, did not stay in Samaria 🙃 . When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Two things here: first, is it saying they did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or that they had not been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Unless someone has a dramatic change in their lives, it is impossible to tell whether or not the Holy Spirit dwells in them. The baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues would be evidence that they had received Holy Spirit. The second thing is; why didn’t Philip pray for them to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit? It is possible that at that time they did not realize that a “layman“ could pray for people to receive. Remember that they were probably skeptical that Samaritans could be saved. This way the apostles would see that it did happen. For He had not fallen upon any o...
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Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them.

  Good morning. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. This is the area where Jesus had the discussion with the woman at the well. Remember from Acts 1:8 that after Jerusalem, Samaria was mentioned. Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews and considered more or less half Jews. A lot of the Jews of the northern kingdom were taken away and replaced by others who were not Jews. They intermingled with the Jews that were living in the northern kingdom. Even though Samaria was not far away, the disciples had not come there to preach the word before this. The disciples may have even thought that it was impossible for them to get saved, just like the Gentiles. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Even though he was “just a deacon”, God worked throug...
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