Acts Chapter 8
After the death of Stephen, Saul brought great persecution upon the Church chasing its’ leaders throughout Samaria and Gentile cities as they spread the gospel. Saul’s plan to eradicate Christianity didn’t work the way he had desired as Christianity only gained more followers. One of these church leaders was Philip. In Acts 8, Luke tells two stories about Philip, the first is his encounter with a sorcerer who tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, and the other involves teleportation and an Ethiopian Eunuch.

Paul here is in Ephesus, and he asks some disciples if they received the Holy Spirit. The answered they never heard of this, so Paul lays hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit. Some Jewish exorcists attempted to use Jesus' name to cast out demons. However, a demon said they heard of Paul and Jesus, but not them. They were then pounced on them and injured them. Then a riot occurred on Ephesus. They held back Paul from going to them, but several of hi friends did go. But when the croud brought them before the town clerk, but since they did not do anything illegal, he let them go.

In the introduction, we discuss who wrote the Book and Acts? When was it written and for what reason? There is a very specific reason for it, and we will look closely into it. Then in Chapter 1, Jesus gathers the apostles are gathered together to meet with Him. Before He ascends, He commands them to stay in Jerusalem until they receive what was promised, that being the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. And since Judas was no longer with them, will they remain the eleven? We will look into all this in Chapter 1.

The death of Ananias and Sapphira is often misunderstood, being less about what was given and more about hypocrisy. How this was addressed is clearly the work of God. The Apostles continued proclaiming the truth, however the Jewish leadership reacted negativily to this. However, the results were not what the Jewish leadership expected. But a highly respected Pharisee advised them how they should address these new teachings.
After the death of Stephen, Saul brought great persecution upon the Church chasing its’ leaders throughout Samaria and Gentile cities as they spread the gospel. Saul’s plan to eradicate Christianity didn’t work the way he had desired as Christianity only gained more followers. One of these church leaders was Philip. In Acts 8, Luke tells two stories about Philip, the first is his encounter with a sorcerer who tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, and the other involves teleportation and an Ethiopian Eunuch.
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