Remember what Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1? "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." We see this unfolding in Acts 8 as the Gospel of Jesus Christ begins spreading out, first into Samaria and other points further away from the epicenter of Jerusalem.
To what can we attribute the growth of the Church into new areas? Persecution! The religious authorities thought to stomp out the flames of the Christian faith, but all they did was send sparks and embers shooting out into new territory. "All except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria."
Acts 8 picks up the tempo of the story of the Church and it's getting exciting to see that the Holy Spirit is still on the move - and not just for full-blooded Jews! Samaritans, too, are recipients of this grace, as well as an Ethiopian eunuch. Stay tuned to find out where God is leading next!
It is truly amazing how God can use even the evil things of this world as an instrument for His purposes. We see it in the story of Joseph, when he says all the bad things that happened to him, God used for His good. We see it in the Prophets, when an evil nation comes to carry out God's purpose of taking His people into exile because of their disobedience. We see it hear it Acts as well. Even in the midst of persecution, God was using it to spread the faith. A very Romans 6 thing of Him to do, if I do say so myself.
ReplyDeleteCorrection. A very Romans 8 thing of Him to do.
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