Grace Versus Glory | Acts 8:4-13 | Manny Pereira

Persecution leads to gospel promulgation. The good news of Christ breaks out beyond Jerusalem not with the noise of human greatness, but with the quiet thunder of divine grace. A city is flooded with joy as the result of receiving the grace of God in the gospel of Christ. The power of God that topples dark strongholds is contrasted to the empty fascination of spectacles for applause. A major contrast is presented between God’s grace and man’s self-glory. Grace bows low, repents, and rejoices in Christ; glory grasps, performs, and markets in sacred things. The passage exposes charlatan faith and calls us to cling to Christ, whose gospel cannot be bought, whose Spirit cannot be manipulated, and whose joy is found only when the self is dethroned and Jesus is treasured.