But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. [ Stephen's vision is to be related to his transfiguration, 6:15+.] 'I can see heaven thrown open' he said 'and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him.
The witnesses [ The false witnesses mentioned in 6:13-14. It was for the hostile witnesses to initiate the execution of the sentence, Deut. 17:7.] put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. [ Apostle/Saint Paul.] As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, [ A good example of 'invoking the name of the Lord', 2:21+.] 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'. Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'; and with these words he fell asleep. - Acts 7:55-60 -
[ Vv. 1-4 are made up of a number of brief remarks: Stephen's burial (v.2) the natural conclusion of the foregoing narrative; Saul's campaign against the Christians (vv. 1a and 3) which links the account of the stoning of Stephen, cf. 7:58b, with what appears to be its sequel, namely Paul's conversion. 9:1-30; finally a note on the Church persecuted and scattered (vv. 1b-4) which introduces the narrative of Philip's mission, 8:5-40, and that of Peter, 9:32-11:18; v.4 is found again in 11:19. We have here, therefore, a preliminary sketch of the various themes developed in the following chapters up to chapter 12.] Saul entirely approved of the killing.
That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone [ 'everyone': a very general statement. The persecution in fact seems to have been directed principally against the Hellenists, cf. 6:1,5, and it was this group, scattered by persecution, that gave the church its first missionaries, cf. v.4; 11:19-20.] except the apostles fled to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria. [ Second stage of the Church's expansion, cf. 1:8. The third begins with the foundation of the church of Antioch, 11:20.]
There were some devout people, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him. Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church: he went from house to house arresting both men and women sending them to prison. - Acts 8:1-3 -
Philip in Samaria
Those who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News. One of them was Philip who went to a Samaritan town [ Var. 'the town of Samaria', 'the town of Caesarea.' The reference is probably not to the town called Samaria, by this time a hellenistic city and known as Sebaste, but to the province: those who are evangelised are the 'Samaritans' in the Jewish sense of the word, that is, akin in blood and religion but cut off from Israel's community and living in heresy, cf. John 4:9+; Matt. 10:5-6+.] and proclaimed the Christ to them. [ The Samaritans, too, expected the Messiah, cf. John 4:25.] The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured.
As a result there was great rejoicing in that town. - Acts 8:4-8 -
Simon the magician
Now a man called Simon had already practised magic arts in the town and astounded the Samaritan people. He had given it out that he was someone momentous, and everyone believed what he said; eminent citizens and ordinary people alike had declared, 'He is the divine power that is called Great'. [ Or, less probably, 'that is called Megalleh' (Aramaic for 'Revealing'). Evidently it was thought that Simon's supernatural power issued from some indwelling force of the high God.] They had only been won over to him because of the long time he had spent working on them with his magic.
But when they believed Philip's preaching of the Good News about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women, and even Simon himself became a believer. After baptism Simon, who went round constantly with Philip, was astonished when he saw the wonders and great miracles that took place.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. - Acts 8:9-17 -
When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the imposition of hands by the apostles, he offered them some money. 'Give me the power' he said 'so that anyone I lay my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.' Peter answered, 'May your silver be lost forever, and you with it, for thinking that money could buy what God has given for nothing! [ The Holy Spirit is supremely the Gift of God, cf. 2:38; 10:45; 11:17; Luke 11:9,13; the idea recurs in the Veni Creator.] You have no share, no rights, in this: God can see how your heart is warped. Repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord; you may still be forgiven for thinking as you did; it is plain to me that you are trapped in the bitterness of gall and chains of sin.' [ 'Simony' (trafficking in sacred things) gets its name from this incident.]
'Pray to the Lord for me yourselves' Simon replied 'so that none of the things you have spoken about may happen to me.' [ Western Text adds 'and he wept bitterly without ceasing'.] Having given their testimony and proclaimed the word of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem, preaching the Good News to a number of Samaritan villages. - Acts 8:18-25 -
Philip baptises a eunuch
The angel of the Lord [ Referred to as 'the Spirit' in vv. 29 and 39.] spoke to Philip saying, 'Be ready to set out at noon [ Or 'towards the south'.] along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road'. So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian [ 'Ethiopia' began beyond the first cataract of the Nile: Nubia or the Sudan. It was ruled by queens bearing the generic name 'kandake'.] had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and meet that chariot'. When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' 'How can I' he replied 'unless I have someone to guide me?' So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this: [ Quoted from LXX, here somewhat obscure and deriving from a Hebrew text itself obscure and probably corrupt. On the use of Isaiah 53 in the early Christian preaching, see 3:13+.]
Like a sheep that is led to the slaughterhouse
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,
like these he never open his mouth.
He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him.
Who will ever talk about his descendants,
since his life on earth has been cut short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said, 'Tell me, is the prophet referring himself or someone else?' Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.
Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, 'Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?' [ V. 37 is a very ancient gloss preserved in the Western text and suggested by the baptismal liturgy "And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may'. And he replied, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God'."] He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, [ Var. West. ;the Holy Spirit came down on the eunuch and the angel of the Lord carried Philip away'.] and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea. - Acts 8:26-40 -
The conversion of Saul/Paul [ Crucial event in the Church's history.......
WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE/HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY. - Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and the fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!
"IT IS TRUE, GOD SENT HIS WORD TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AND IT WAS TO THEM THAT THE GOOD NEWS OF PEACE WAS BROUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST - BUT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF ALL MEN.
YOU MUST HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE RECENT HAPPENINGS IN JUDAEA; ABOUT JESUS OF NAZARETH AND HOW HE BEGAN IN GALILEE, AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD BEEN PREACHING BAPTISM. GOD HAD ANOINTED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, AND BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM, JESUS WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND CURING ALL WHO HAD FALLEN INTO THE POWER OF THE DEVIL.
NOW I, ( SIMON PETER / PETER ) AND THOSE WITH ME, CAN WITNESS TO EVERYTHING JESUS DID THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE OF JUDAEA AND IN JERUSALEM ITSELF; AND ALSO TO THE FACT THAT THEY KILLED HIM BY HANGING HIM ON A TREE, YET THREE DAYS AFTERWARDS GOD RAISED HIM TO LIFE AND ALLOWED HIM TO BE SEEN, NOT BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE BUT ONLY BY CERTAIN WITNESSES GOD HAD CHOSEN BEFOREHAND.
NOW WE ARE THOSE WITNESSES - WE HAVE EATEN AND DRUNK WITH HIM AFTER HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD - AND JESUS CHRIST HAS ORDERED US TO PROCLAIM THIS TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO TELL THEM THAT GOD HAS APPOINTED HIM TO JUDGE EVERYONE, ALIVE AND DEAD.
IT IS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT ALL THE PROPHETS BEAR THIS WITNESS: THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS WILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME." - ACTS 10:36-43 -
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
YOU MUST HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE RECENT HAPPENINGS IN JUDAEA; ABOUT JESUS OF NAZARETH AND HOW HE BEGAN IN GALILEE, AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD BEEN PREACHING BAPTISM. GOD HAD ANOINTED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, AND BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM, JESUS WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND CURING ALL WHO HAD FALLEN INTO THE POWER OF THE DEVIL.
NOW I, ( SIMON PETER / PETER ) AND THOSE WITH ME, CAN WITNESS TO EVERYTHING JESUS DID THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE OF JUDAEA AND IN JERUSALEM ITSELF; AND ALSO TO THE FACT THAT THEY KILLED HIM BY HANGING HIM ON A TREE, YET THREE DAYS AFTERWARDS GOD RAISED HIM TO LIFE AND ALLOWED HIM TO BE SEEN, NOT BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE BUT ONLY BY CERTAIN WITNESSES GOD HAD CHOSEN BEFOREHAND.
NOW WE ARE THOSE WITNESSES - WE HAVE EATEN AND DRUNK WITH HIM AFTER HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD - AND JESUS CHRIST HAS ORDERED US TO PROCLAIM THIS TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO TELL THEM THAT GOD HAS APPOINTED HIM TO JUDGE EVERYONE, ALIVE AND DEAD.
IT IS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT ALL THE PROPHETS BEAR THIS WITNESS: THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS WILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME." - ACTS 10:36-43 -
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
"I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time, in the world to come, Eternal Life." - Luke 18:28-30 -
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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