1 And Saul gave approval to his death. Now at that time a violent attack was started against the church in Jerusalem; and all but the Apostles went away into all parts of Judaea and Samaria.
Driving him out of the town and stoning him: and the witnesses put their clothing at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.
But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.
And so the church through all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was made strong; and, living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was increased greatly.
But those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word.
But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen.
Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;
Then those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only. But some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, when they came to Antioch, gave the good news about the Lord Jesus to the Greeks. And the power of the Lord was with them, and a great number had faith and were turned to the Lord. And news of them came to the ears of the church at Jerusalem: and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch:
Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.
And Pharaoh said to him, Go away from me, take care that you come not again before me; for the day when you see my face again will be your last. And Moses said, You say truly; I will not see your face again.
And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.
They will put you out of the Synagogues: yes, the time is coming when whoever puts you to death will have the belief that he is doing God's pleasure.
Keep in mind the words I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they were cruel to me, they will be cruel to you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours.
Now a number of the people of that town had faith in him because of the woman's witness: He has been talking to me of everything I ever did. So when the people came to him they made request to him to be among them for a time, and he was there two days. And a great number more of them came to have faith in him because of what he himself said. And they said to the woman, Now we have faith, but not because of your story: we ourselves have given ear to his words, and we are certain that he is truly the Saviour of the world.
For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains; So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days;
For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town;
It is enough for the disciple that he may be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have given the name Beelzebub to the master of the house, how much more to those of his house! Have, then, no fear of them: because nothing is covered which will not come to light, or secret which will not be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, say in the light: and what comes to your ear secretly, say publicly from the house-tops. And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell.
You are the salt of the earth; but if its taste goes from the salt, how will you make it salt again? it is then good for nothing but to be put out and crushed under foot by men.
For this reason King Darius put his name on the writing and the order.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering Nebuchadnezzar the king, said, There is no need for us to give you an answer to this question. If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe. But if not, be certain, O King, that we will not be the servants of your gods, or give worship to the image of gold which you have put up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 8
Commentary on Acts 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
In this chapter we have an account of the persecutions of the Christians, and the propagating of Christianity thereby. It was strange, but very true, that the disciples of Christ the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied.
Act 8:1-3
In these verses we have,
Act 8:4-13
Samson's riddle is here again unriddled: Out of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness. The persecution that was designed to extirpate the church was by the overruling providence of God made an occasion of the enlargement of it. Christ had said, I am come to send fire on the earth; and they thought, by scattering those who were kindled with that fire, to have put it out, but instead of this they did but help to spread it.
Act 8:14-25
God had wonderfully owned Philip in his work as an evangelist at Samaria, but he could do no more than an evangelist; there were some peculiar powers reserved to the apostles, for the keeping up of the dignity of their office, and here we have an account of what was done by two of them there-Peter and John. The twelve kept together at Jerusalem (v. 1), and thither these good tidings were brought them that Samaria had received the word of God (v. 14), that a great harvest of souls was gathered, and was likely to be gathered in to Christ there. The word of God was not only preached to them, but received by them; they bade it welcome, admitted the light of it, and submitted to the power of it: When they heard it, they sent unto them Peter and John. If Peter had been, as some say he was, the prince of the apostles, he would have sent some of them, or, if he had seen cause, would have gone himself of his own accord; but he was so far from this that he submitted to an order of the house, and, as a servant to the body, went whither they sent him. Two apostles were sent, the two most eminent, to Samaria,
Act 8:26-40
We have here the story of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch to the faith of Christ, by whom, we have reason to think, the knowledge of Christ was sent into that country where he lived, and that scripture fulfilled, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands (one of the first of the nations) unto God, Ps. 68:31.