Acts Archives - Page 4 of 24

Establishing the New Jerusalem (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #48)(King’s Cross)

Christ Church on February 24, 2025

INTRODUCTION

If I told you a story about a persecuted people sailing to a strange new world to establish a new way of life and forming a new nation in the process, what does that make you think of? It may apply to the founding of many nations, but for many of us, it sounds like the founding of America. At the time it looked weak and desperate, but it was actually momentous and glorious.

In the ancient world, Homer’s Odyssey traced Odysseus’ beleaguered voyage home after the Trojan War, and Virgil self-consciously channeled that story in his Aeneid and the legendary founding of Rome (a new Troy) by the Trojan hero Aeneas. Perilous voyages, miraculous escapes, and surprising hospitality mark these national legends of pagan virtue and piety. It probably would not have been lost on a first century audience that Paul’s journey to Rome had some of the same echoes. This is the story of the ambassador of the High King of Heaven coming to Rome to establish New Jerusalem.

The Text: “And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness…” (Acts 28:1-16)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As the ship breaks apart, 276 souls swim or float to the shore of the island of Malta, about 50-60 miles south of Sicily, where they were met by natives who received them kindly and kindled a fire in the midst of a cold, winter rain (Acts 28:1-2). When Paul joined in gathering sticks and feeding the fire, a poisonous viper came out of the heat and bit him, and while the natives assumed this was an omen of his guilt, Paul shook off the snake and was unharmed and the natives acclaimed him as a god (Acts 28:3-6). One of the chief men of the island, Publius, lodged Paul and his companions for three days, and while they were there, Paul healed his father and many others (Acts 28:7-10).

After three months on the island, a ship sailing under the sign of Castor and Pollux took them to Syracuse on Sicily, and from there, the ship worked its way up to Rhegium, past the legendary location of Scylla (a multi-headed monster in a cave) on one side and Charybdis (a deadly whirlpool) on the other, and on up the Italian coast to Puteoli, where they met with Christian brothers for a week (Acts 28:11-14). From there, they continued north, welcomed by more brothers about halfway, before finally arriving in Rome under house arrest (Acts 28:15-16).

TRUE DOMINION BY THE SPIRIT

The church has frequently misunderstood our mission of dominion and has frequently veered between fleshly power and spiritual irrelevance. When I asked Ben Shapiro why he didn’t accept Jesus as the Messiah, he said because the Messiah is clearly a political figure who is supposed to establish a new political order. Many Christians would say Shapiro was wrong: Jesus only came to establish a spiritual kingdom. But Paul would look Shapiro in the eyes and say: “What are you talking about? He is and He did.”

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, it really was His triumphal entry, and when they crucified Him on that Roman cross, mocking Him and crowning Him with thorns, He really was enthroned in this world, in history. At that moment, He was the King of kings and Lord of lords. This was proven and proclaimed with power in His resurrection from the dead three days later. And so here, Paul, the servant of the King of kings, is being escorted to the capital city of an empire to announce the terms of their surrender. Rome belongs to Jesus Christ. And from the shipwreck to the snake bite to the ensign of the ship to the city of Rome, nothing can stop him. He may look like a weak prisoner, but he is being escorted by the authority and healing power of the High King.

As Herbert Schlossberg said, “The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God’s triumphs disguised as disasters.” Or as Chesterton put it, “Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.” This is true dominion in history by the power of the Spirit.

APPLICATIONS

Jesus said that some of His emissaries would “take up serpents” and not be harmed (Mk. 16:18), and so sometimes that has been the case. But that was only a sign confirming the Word of the gospel (Mk. 16:20), which is for the healing of the mostly deadly snake bite: the poison of sin. This was pictured in the Old Testament when many Israelites were bitten by poisonous snakes and were dying (Num. 21:6). God told Moses to make a bronze serpent pierced on a pole, and all who looked at the bronze serpent were healed (Num. 21:9).

And Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). This is not merely a spiritual reality; this is the center of the renewal of human life, the healing of families and nations. What is it that brings this healing? Seeing Christ lifted up on Calvary like a poisonous snake and impaled. This is what the gospel proclaims: your sin, your lies, wrath, lust, and envy laid upon Him and pierced through.

One of the marks of this healing in families and nations is hospitality and friendship (e.g. Acts 28:2, 7, 14-16). Jesus came eating and drinking, and by His death, God has welcomed us to His table and fellowship. While it may not look like much, we sit at the Lord’s Supper as His nobility and royalty and friends (Rev. 1:6). Do you believe that? Therefore, we have fellowship with one another because we have fellowship with Him through His blood (1 Jn. 1:7). Here, Christ grants Paul a royal welcome by complete strangers on an island and the brothers along the way. We welcome one another because Christ welcomes us.

The New Testament clearly teaches that we are to view fellow Christians as “brothers.” This does not obliterate our duties to our natural family or nation, but while we are to do good to all men, we are to especially minister to those in the “household of faith” (Lk. 8:21, Gal. 6:10, Eph. 2:19). This is a sign of true conversion that you love the saints, who are your brothers (Col. 1:4, 1 Jn. 3:14). But this friendship and hospitality are not ends in themselves, they are for encouragement and refreshment along the way on the mission of the King. We are not here “for community.” We are a community because we are here for the mission, establishing New Jerusalem: All of Christ, for All of Life, for All of Moscow.

Ethiopia Stretches Out Her Hands (Acts of the Apostles #20) (Christ Church)

Christ Church on February 24, 2025

INTRODUCTION

Remember that the Lord had said the gospel would progress from Jerusalem to Judaea, to Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. The books of Acts begins in Jerusalem. After the murder of Stephen, the disciples scatter into the province of Judaea, and also Samaria. Philip went to Samaria and ministered there. An angel then sends him into the wilderness toward Gaza, but does not tell him why. While there, Philip sees a chariot (and probably a caravan, given the importance of this man). As the gospel fans out across the world, this is the next stepping stone, and the word of the psalmist is fulfilled.

“Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God” (Psalm 68:31).

And as the next verse makes plain, Ethiopia is the harbinger of all the other nations coming to Christ. “Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah” (Psalm 68:32).

THE TEXT

“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? . . .” (Acts 8:26–40).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After Philip’s success in Samaria, the angel of the Lord commanded Philip to go down to the south desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza (v. 26). So he obeyed, and encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, a very important officer under Candace, the Ethiopian queen. He was her treasurer (v. 27), and was returning home after worshiping in Jerusalem. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah (v. 28). The Spirit spoke to Philip, and told him join up with this chariot (v. 29). When Philip did, he heard him reading Isaiah aloud, and asked him if he understood it (v. 30). In the ancient world, there was no such thing as reading silently. The eunuch replied that he was not able to without an interpreter, and invited Philip up into the chariot (v. 31). As it turned out, the place where he was reading was Is. 53:7-8—the place where the Suffering Servant is led as a sheep to the slaughter, not protesting, and his life was taken from the earth in a humiliating way (vv. 32-33). The eunuch asked whether the prophet was speaking about himself or about somebody else (v. 34). So Philip began to speak, starting from that passage, and preached Jesus to him (v. 35). As they continued traveling, they came to a place that had some water, and the eunuch asked what would prohibit him being baptized (v. 36). Philip said that if he believed with all his heart, he certainly could, and the eunuch replied that he did believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (v. 37). Indicating a difference in manuscripts, some of your Bibles don’t have v. 37 included. So the eunuch then commanded the chariot to stop, and both men went down into the water, and Philip baptized him (v. 38). When they both came up out of the water, the Spirit caught Philip away from the eunuch and so he went on his way back to Ethiopia rejoicing (v. 39). But Philip appeared at Azotus (Ashdod), where he preached through all the cities, until he came to Caesarea (v. 40).

MODES OF BAPTISM

Not surprisingly, this passage has been referred to often when it comes to debates over baptism. Advocates of “immersion only” often refer to the fact that in v. 39, it says that they came up “out of the water.” The problem with this is that it would require the immersion of Philip also. The demands of the text would be fully met if they walked into the water knee deep, and water was poured or sprinkled over the eunuch’s head. At Christ Church, we practice water baptism by three lawful modes of baptism—Christian baptism is any application of water to someone in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).

You have perhaps been erroneously told that baptizo means immersion, and can mean nothing else, which is not the case. It certainly includes immersion, but it is not limited to that meaning.

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples (Acts 2:17-18), just as the prophet Joel predicted (ekcheo). The verb pour is used twice. In Acts 10:44, the Holy Spirit fell on them (epipipto). When Peter recounts what had happened, he describes it this way. “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). And in the next breath, he describes this falling and pouring as a baptism—“ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 11:16). So pouring is clearly a biblical mode.

What about sprinkling (rhantizo)? In Hebrews, we are told about the older Mosaic ceremonies (Heb. 9:10), and they included “divers washings.” The word for washing here is baptismos, the noun. But three verses later, in describing one of the ceremonies, he refers to the “ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean” (Heb. 9:13). This sprinkling was part of the ceremonial ablutions that prepared the Israelites for worship. And in our text, what possessed the eunuch to ask about baptism? Remember that Philip started from Is. 53:7. As it happens, this is what Isaiah says nine verses earlier: “So shall he sprinkle many nations; The kings shall shut their mouths at him: For that which had not been told them shall they see; And that which they had not heard shall they consider” (Isaiah 52:15). So sprinkling is a biblical mode.

And not that you need to be persuaded, immersion is also a biblical mode. “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing (baptismos) of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do” (Mark 7:8). The washing of cups and pots obviously included immersing them.

BAPTIZED INTO THE LIVING CHRIST

We are accustomed to think of baptism as resulting when a new believer comes to the water. But what happened prior to that was that the water came into the world, and the only way that the water could do that was because it was living water. Christ is the one who possesses the gift of living water (John 4:10). And when He brings the water to us, the water baptizes us, and that water is Christ Himself. And once we are baptized in His living water, we become a source of that same life that ministers to others. “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

The Master of the Ship (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #47) (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on February 24, 2025

INTRODUCTION

When the earth was filled with wickedness, and every imagination of the thoughts of men were evil, God sent the biggest storm in the history of the world and saved Noah and his family (Gen. 6-7). When the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, He caused a great storm to descend upon the Red Sea, parting the waves for Israel to pass through (Ex. 14). When Jonah ran from the Lord, He sent a great storm to hunt him down. “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling His word” (Ps. 148:8).

This is one of the great themes of the gospels: Jesus falls asleep in the boat in the midst of a storm and when the experienced fishermen panic and wake Him, He commands the storm to become calm (Mk. 4:41). At another time He walks out to the disciples on the sea in the midst of a storm, as though He were taking an evening stroll (Mk. 6:48). And as we come the climax of the story of Acts, we see the Lord Jesus once again commanding storms to do His will. We serve the God of great adventures (the kind that can make you feel sick), but He is the Master and He knows what He is doing. And faith obeys.

The Text: “And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band…” (Acts 27:1-44)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Finally, Paul is sent to Rome with a number of other prisoners, under the care of a courteous Roman centurion named Julius (Acts 27:1-3). From Sidon, the first ship carries them north of Cyprus along the coast of southern Turkey/Asia Minor (Acts 27:4-5). From there, they find another ship sailing to Italy and make it as far as Crete as winter is coming on (Acts 27:6-8). While Paul warned them not to continue, the centurion was persuaded by the master and owner of the ship to attempt to make it to a better harbor, when an infamous Mediterranean storm system called Euroclydon struck them (Acts 27:9-14). Forced to let the ship drive in the storm for many days, the sailors lost all hope (Acts 27:15-20).

Finally, after many days in the storm, Paul announced that an angel had appeared to him and declared that all hands would be saved, although the ship would be lost, and on the fourteenth night, they neared land and dropped anchor (Acts 27:21-29). When some sailors attempted to escape in a boat, Paul warned them that the only way to survive the storm was to stay in the ship, and after the soldiers obeyed Paul, he urged them to have a little food, and broke bread with them (Acts 27:30-38). In the morning, they drove the ship aground, and while the soldiers were inclined to execute the prisoners, the centurion spared them for Paul’s sake, and as the ship was breaking apart, all 276 souls were able to swim safely ashore (Acts 27:39-44).

WHO IS THE MASTER OF THE SHIP?

This story illustrates well the entire story of Acts (and the history of the world). Who is the main Actor? Who is driving the action of the story? The Jews and Romans repeatedly think that they are in charge, but Acts demonstrates unmistakably that it is the risen Jesus and His Spirit at work in every detail. Here, the Romans think they are in charge and are following their Roman protocols for sending prisoners to Caesar (Acts 27:1), but very quickly, the Roman centurion is out of his depth (ha) and must rely on the expertise of the master and owner of the ship (Acts 27:11). But everyone soon appears to be at the mercy of the great storm called Euroclydon (Acts 27:14). But Euroclydon is not just a random force of nature: Jesus is the Lord of all of Creation –even the wind and waves obey Him (Mk. 4:41, Ps. 107:25-29). Euroclydon obeys Jesus.

The Romans thought they were sending prisoners to Rome. The ship master and owner thought they were taking goods for sale and trade and delivering passengers. But the Lord Jesus was taking His servant to Rome to preach the gospel to Caesar (Acts 23:11, 25:10-11). In fact, Paul seems to indicate that his personal survival was never in doubt, but when he stands up to encourage the ship after many days, he announces that he has now secured from God the safe passage of everyone else aboard (Acts 23:11, 24). By the end of this story, everyone is following the instructions of Paul, the servant of Jesus – Paul is the ship master and Christ is the owner because Paul (and all of creation) belongs to Him (cf. Acts 27:23).

APPLICATIONS

Clearly Julius the Centurion is a well-meaning but foolish Roman who learned to trust and obey Paul. This is what all Romans needed to learn to do. Unless Rome trusted in the Messiah Jesus and listened to His servants (the apostles), Rome would be lost just like the ship. In the end, many did believe in Christ, but like this shipwreck, the empire was lost while many swam to safety.

America is no different in this respect, but we have been given far more grace than ancient Rome. We were founded by evangelical and Reformed Christians. If the centurion represents the best of Roman piety, a sort of friendly foolishness, America is the prodigal son spitting on the grave of our fathers, wasting our lavish blessings on drugs and hookers, RVs and fashion. And God has sent the Great Euroclydon of Sexual Madness, full of lies and hubris and violence, and we have been driven by this storm for several decades. Our current cultural moment is a brief reprieve, but the fundamental question is whether we will actually repent and turn to Christ, whether we will actually turn and obey Him, or will we keep listening to the “ship masters” that got us into this mess?

It’s remarkable that the only way to survive the storm was to stay in the ship that was going to be destroyed (Acts 27:31). When land was in sight, the sailors wanted to take their chances in the lifeboat, which makes good human sense, but Paul said that if they did that they would perish. To put it another way, anyone who wanted to save his life would lose it, but those who were willing to lose their lives in obedience would save them (Mt. 16:25).

We do not usually receive visions like Paul, but we have the clear word of God in Scripture. When you haven’t been listening, sometimes you get to the point where Wisdom says, “you should have listened to me.” You should not have gone your own way. And sometimes you get there after much harm and much loss. But the Word of the gospel comes and it says: “Be of good cheer, fear not, have courage, believe God, and obey.” In the storms of disobedience, it can seem so complicated, but obedience parts the clouds. Tell the truth. Be kind to your wife. Submit to your husband. Obey your parents. Confess your sin; forgive those who have sinned against you. Obedience is the greatest adventure. The Lord Jesus is the Master of the Ship and the Master of the Storm.

The Light That Opens Blind Eyes (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #46) (King’s Cross)

Christ Church on February 5, 2025

INTRODUCTION

Imagine you find yourself lost at sea in a small boat nearly dead. And by some chance you find a map and your coordinates, and you have reason to believe you might be able to make it to an island. But your dehydration causes you to badly misread the map and you think you’re supposed to be sailing north, and there you go spending the last of your energy heading north, but after a while the clouds suddenly part, the sun comes out, and it becomes blazingly obvious you are very much sailing south.

Now imagine you collapse in despair and happen to glance at the map, only to realize that you were supposed to be going south the entire time. This is what some have called a eucatastrophe – a sudden, favorable resolution to a dire situation. Paul’s conversion was a eucatastrophe, as has been every conversion to Christ ever since, and it will be the great theme of history to the end of the world.

The Text: “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself…” (Acts 26:1-32).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is now the third time Acts records the conversion of Saul/Paul to Christ. He explains to Agrippa that he grew up as a strict Pharisee, the Jewish sect known for their hope in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 26:1-8). He held his convictions so fiercely that he persecuted the Christians who followed Jesus of Nazareth, even approving of their deaths, until he was confronted by Jesus in a blinding light on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:9-15). Jesus commissioned Paul to become a witness of His resurrection, to open the eyes of the Gentiles from darkness to light, to turn them to God in repentance (Acts 26:16-20). Paul says it was that ministry to the Gentiles that caused the Jews to try to kill him, even though that ministry is nothing other than a fulfillment of the Old Testament (Acts 26:21-23). While all of this was a bit much for Festus, King Agrippa was almost persuaded to become a Christian, and both rulers agreed that Paul might have been freed if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar (Acts 26:24-32).

A LIGHT FROM HEAVEN

A central part of Paul’s testimony is that he is preaching none other than the message of the Old Testament: the hope of the promise made to the fathers and the twelve tribes, the suffering of Christ, and His resurrection as the first fruits of the great resurrection (Acts 26:5-8, 22-23). To return to our illustration at the beginning of the message, what Paul came to realize suddenly is that he had been very wrong about the map, but the map was never wrong. In this case, the Old Testament was the map, but because of Paul’s sinful blindness, he misread the map and saw Jesus and the Christians as enemies. But when Jesus appeared to him, obviously alive from the dead, Paul realized that the very thing he had always hoped for (the resurrection) had actually happened in Jesus of Nazareth. And while Paul was going the wrong way, it turned out to be exactly the way the Scriptures said blind men would go, until the Messiah gave him light (e.g. Is. 42-43).

ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES

In 1 Cor. 15, Paul reviews the gospel which saves, and it is particularly remarkable for his emphasis on the Scriptures: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). It’s not just that it really happened; it’s that it really happened according to the Scriptures. And Paul is making the same point here: he is on trial because of the hope of the promise made to the fathers, “saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come” (Acts 26:6-7, 22).

APPLICATIONS

When is the last time you changed your mind about something because of what you read in the Bible or heard in a sermon? It is easy to read your Bible and listen to sermons primarily to find what you already agree with. There is nothing quite so hard as trying to convince someone that they are wrong when they really believe they are right. Paul was so sure he was right he persecuted Christians. Everyone believes they are right; this is how human beings function. But humility knows it is all entirely dependent on God. Apart from God, our eyes are blind; apart from Christ, we are slaves of Satan and sin (Acts 26:18). In this world, there are only blind slaves and formerly blind slaves.

The central message of the Cross is God is right, and man is not. And God has always been right, and God has been pleased to make known His infallible truth through fallible men: through prophets and preachers and Scriptures. Paul calls this the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21) “so that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:29) “that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5).

So this is the message that opens blind eyes, softens hard hearts, delivers from the power of Satan, and grants forgiveness and holiness to sinners: Jesus of Nazareth was tortured on a Roman Cross until He died, and when He suffered, He was suffering for our sins, just like the Old Testament said He would. He was buried, and they rolled a stone over the mouth of His grave and set a guard, but on the third day, the stone was rolled away, and Jesus came back to life in that same body that had been killed, just as the Old Testament prophets had said that He would.

And I ask you the question Paul asked Agrippa: Do you believe the prophets? Notice that question: Do you believe the Old Testament? Of course we now have the New Testament also, confirming this gospel, but the question is probing something deeper: do you believe that God has always been right? Do you believe that since Adam’s sin, mankind is blind and wrong? Do you believe that we are the problem and Christ is the only solution? Believe and you are saved. Believe and you are a Christian.

May Your Money Perish With You (Acts of the Apostles #19) (Christ Church)

Christ Church on February 5, 2025

INTRODUCTION

After the apostles had laid hands on the seven men who were to help administer aid to the widows, two of those men come to the forefront as powerful preachers and miracle workers. We have considered the story of Stephen, who face his martyrdom with remarkable courage and grace. The story of Stephen ended with an introduction to Saul of Tarsus and his early persecuting career, but Luke’s main focus moves on to a second man among the seven, a man named Philip.

Now remember the “table of contents” from Acts 1. Jesus had said they would travel as His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit was poured out in Jerusalem (Acts 2:2-3), and all the early activity happened there. In the persecution that broke out after Stephen’s death, the believers scattered into Judaea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). And then follows Philip into Samaria (Acts 8:5).

THE TEXT

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city . . .” (Acts 8:5–25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Samaria was both a city and a region, and Philip went there to preach Christ (v. 5). It says that the people there gave heed to Philip “with one accord,” hearing and seeing his miracles (v. 6). He cast out unclean spirits and they came out with a loud voice (v. 7). He healed the lame and the palsied (v. 7). As a consequence, the city was overjoyed (v. 8). Now there was a sorcerer in the city named Simon, bewitching the people, and passing himself off as a great one (v. 9). They used to call him the great power of God (v. 10), and because of his sorcery, they had followed him for a long time (v. 11). But then they believed Philip concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, and both men and women were baptized (v. 12). Simon also believed, and after he was baptized, he followed Philip around, marveling at his power (v. 13). The apostles at Jerusalem heard about this, and sent Peter and John (v. 14). When they arrived, they prayed and laid hands on the Samaritans so that they would receive the Holy Spirit (vv. 15, 17). These converts had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but they had not received the Spirit (v. 16). When Simon saw this, he offered them money so that he might be able to bestow the Holy Spirit (vv. 18-19). But Peter said to him, “may your silver be destroyed along with you—imagine thinking the grace of God could be bought!” (v. 20). He said, “you have no part in this because your heart is not right” (v. 21). He calls him to repent in the hope that he might be forgiven (v. 22), which was needed because Simon was “in the gall of bitterness and the chains of iniquity” (v. 23). Simon answer meekly, at least on the surface (v. 24). And so Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages as they went (v. 25).

APOSTOLIC SOLIDARITY

What is the central point of this story? Why do the Samaritans not receive the Holy Spirit until Peter and John come to lay hands on them? This was not because there was some special power laid up in the apostles, such that without it you couldn’t even be saved. Peek ahead to Acts 15—the single greatest controversy in the early church was whether or not you could even become a Christian without becoming a Jew first. And so here were these despised half-breed Samaritans. God withheld the blessing of the Spirit from them until two of the foremost apostles showed up and demonstrated their solidarity with them. It would be hard to exclude the Samaritans from the fellowship of Christ now—and there would be those who would want to exclude them.

Ethnic animosities are completely natural to the natural man. It is hard to get a carnal man in the grip of this sin even to see that he might be displeasing God. The Jews had “no dealings” with the Samaritans (John 4:9), and the Samaritans were happy to reciprocate (Luke 9:53). And one of the themes of the book of Acts is that of establishing table fellowship between groups that previously would have had nothing to do with each other (Acts 10:28). You are watching an apostolic battering ram take down centuries of bitterness and enmity. But there is only one way to do it, and His name is Jesus Christ. It cannot be done with an secular humanist nonsense. The Lord’s Table has to be at the center of it.

SIMONY

The sin of simony, which means purchasing a church office with money, derives its name from this attempt by Simon. Simon’s response to Peter’s brusque rebuke is not a belligerent one, but according to some early church fathers, like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, Simon did come to a bad end as a false teacher. Some early fathers say that he was the founder of Gnosticism, although this is not certain.

Simon does provide us with our earliest example of a perennial pastoral problem in the church. The text says that he also believed (v. 13) along with the other Samaritans, and he was baptized as well (v. 13). So he was a Christian in this sense. But then, after he tried to buy the gift of imparting the Spirit, Peter curses him. Some translations render Peter’s rebuke in really strong language—“may you and your money go to Hell.” Peter says that Simon’s heart is still all twisted (v. 23). He was a Christian in one sense and not in another. Remember what Paul said at the end of Romans 2 about the man who was a Jew inwardly and the man who was merely an outward Jew (Rom. 2:28-29).

CHRIST IN TRUTH

But if you try to determine that you are a real Christian by looking to your own perfections, you will be disappointed. You don’t have any. And if you try to determine that you are the real thing by refusing to look at any of your imperfections, you will also be grievously disappointed when you hear “depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.” Where do you go? Where do you look? Philip came and he preached Christ to them (v. 5). Philip was preaching the name of Jesus Christ (v. 12). Their baptism had attached the name of Jesus Christ to them (v. 16). Your baptism points to the Lord Jesus Christ, and does not point to you and your righteousness. No, it points to Christ, and unlike Simon your faith and life need to point away from yourself and in the same direction—to Christ.