V.1-3 Quite a change takes place. The church (assembly), mainly made up of Jewish believers, now starts to spread out to the Gentiles. But persecution spreads too. No difficulties can stand when God is there, and we believers cannot stand before our enemies when He is not there. Up until Stephen’s martyrdom, Jerusalem had been the one center (Deut. 12:13-14). Now Israel had rejected the Holy Ghost by the murder of Stephen, so the message of the gospel of God’s love and grace went out to all nations.
V.5-25 God uses another one of the men chosen to serve at the tables in chapter 6.
V.9-25 Simon “believed,” but we see later that it was only with his head, for he proves himself to be in a lost condition. It must be with the heart (Rom. 10:10). The miracles had affected him. People often say that if they saw, they would believe. This is just what Simon did, but it was not real.
V.26-40 Another example of the change. The man from Ethiopia receives Christ and goes on his way rejoicing, even though he lost Philip. When we are enjoying Christ, we are not dependent on outside contacts.