Saul was ravaging the church. He dragged men and women off to prison. He was there approving of Stephen’s stoning. He would remember that day the rest of his earthly life. But the passion he shows in working against the church at this point, he will match or exceed when working for the church after he meets Jesus.

But for now, his persecution is scattering the church, which serves only to spread the gospel to new areas. Christians are meant to gather, but they are also meant to scatter! We are meant to go. We can’t just give all our time to friends. We’re to reach others, to take the gospel to others.

People rejoiced when the gospel came. People were set free. It is a joyous thing.

There was a man who had practiced magic and thought he was somebody. He thought he had power, but he saw real power when he met Philip. When you experience the real power of God, you won’t be satisfied with the devil’s counterfeit.

I don’t know why Peter and John had to come pray for people to receive the Holy Spirit. It seems like Philip was just preaching and maybe not doing the baptizing and laying on of hands to receive the Spirit.

I do think that any Spirit-filled believer can baptize and lay hands on someone and pray for that person to be filled with the Holy Spirit. God loves to give the good gift of His Spirit.

Simon the magician is soundly rebuked for thinking he could buy a gift from God. Peter tells him that he’s bound up in sin. Peter warns him to repent and to pray that his wrong heart motivation be forgiven him, “if possible.”

Would we ever speak that way? We treat God like He has to forgive, like it’s no big deal, that we can always just ask for forgiveness and receive it. We don’t come to God with fear and trembling hoping that it might be possible to receive forgiveness for our wrong heart thoughts, much less for actually carrying out a sin!

Sin is an offense against a holy and powerful God. He is merciful and kind, but that doesn’t negate the terrible cruelty of sin against God and His loved ones.