How did the Lord Spread the Gospel in Acts 8?

     Throughout the New Testament there are references to the Body of Christ.  I have come to learn this is not just a term or a label for the believers--there's a reality behind it.  Through my reading the Life-Study of Acts  I've seen  that the Lord as the Head of His Body carries out His gospel work through the members of His Body on earth.  Peter preached the gospel for the first time in Acts 2.  In Acts 8:1 it's evident that the Lord used some persecution by the Jews to send many of these believers to other places: 

Acts 8:1 says There occurred in that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countries of Judea and Samaria except the apostles.

  This persecution as the above verse shows caused a great scattering of the thousands of believers in Jerusalem to several other countries.  Acts 8:4 tells us what these believers  spontaneously did--Those therefore who were scattered went about the land bringing the good news of the word.  I like the way Witness Lee connected in Chapter 22 of the Life-Study of Acts this event to what the Lord told the disciples in Acts 1:8: 

"It was sovereign of God that the scattering of the believers from Jerusalem to other localities through the persecution should carry out the spreading of the gospel for the fulfillment of the Lord's word in Acts 1:8...Although Satan instigated the persecution against the church, the Lord is over Satan, and whatever Satan does is under the Lord's sovereignty.  Therefore the persecution in Chapter 8 actually worked out for the spreading of the gospel" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Acts. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1985, Print). 

     Then in Acts 8:5 there's a record of how the Lord used Phillip to preach the gospel to those in Samaria.  This was the first time the gospel was preached to those who were not pure Jews

(Page 182).  Because the Lord did not want His Body to be divided,  Peter and John came to lay their hands on these believers. They did this to  show that the believers in Samaria were not a separate work but the spread of the one Body of Christ to another region. You can really see in so many ways Acts really shows the blueprint of so many things concerning the church life of the early believers right after the Lord's ascension. 


You can listen to excerpts from the Life Study of Acts along with excellent commentary by tuning into the Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee.

Other Blogs on the Life Study of Acts:

In the Book of Acts What is Christ Doing in Ascension?
What Does the Early Church Look Like in the Book of Acts?
According to Acts 5:31 What is the Lord Doing as the Ruler of the Earth?
How Did the Lord Spread the Gospel in Acts 8?
What Vision Did Saul Have at His Conversion in Acts 9:3-8?
How Does the Gospel Reach the Gentiles in Acts 10?
How is Acts a Book on God's Move & Prayer?
Seeing God's Move & Satan's Frustration in Acts 14
Prayer, the Spirit, & the Word - The Way the Lord Carries out His Work in the Book of Acts
Seeing God's New Testament Economy in the Book of Acts - Part 1 of 2 
Seeing God's New Testament Economy in the Book of Acts - Part 2 of 2