3 DAYS TO PENTECOST

3 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT:  ACTS 8

⁴ Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

⁵ Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

⁶ And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

⁷ 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.

⁸ And there was great joy in that city.

⁹ But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:

¹⁰ To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

¹¹ And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

¹² But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

¹³ Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

¹⁴ Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

¹⁵ Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

¹⁶ (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

¹⁷ Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

¹⁹ Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

²⁰ But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

²¹ Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

²² Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

²³ For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

²⁴ Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

²⁵ And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

KEY TEXT: Acts 8:8 “…There was great joy in that city…”

REFLECTION: 

Soon after Pentecost, the Christians at Jerusalem scattered throughout Judea and into Samaria to escape persecution.  Everywhere they went they preached the word. It was happening just as the Lord Jesus said it would happen, “ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8).

When the Philip arrived in Samaria to preach Christ the people were thrilled. So much so that the Scripture records, “There was great joy in that city.”   No wonder.  The Samaritans were scorned by the Jews in Judea and Galilee.  The Samaritans were a mixed race—both Jewish and Gentile blood flowed in their veins. History records that the Jews in Galilee would walk an extra 20 miles just to avoid walking through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. But the Gospel of the Lord Jesus shattered those old prejudices.

Just as the Jewish Pentecost was confirmed by supernatural signs, the Samaritan Pentecost was accompanied by miracles and signs.  Once again powerful Christ-centered messages were preached.  Once again the people were convicted, convinced, and converted. Dr. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, records that both men and women were baptized. In the Kingdom of Christ the testimony of men and women would be received and honored.  Another old prejudice was demolished by the Gospel.

Why were the Apostles called from Jerusalem to lay hands on the Samaritan believers?  Had they not received the Holy Ghost when they were converted?  We are sure that if they were born of the Spirit, adopted into the Kingdom of Christ, they certainly had His Spirit within them.  “If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”  (Romans 8:9)  Both John Wesley and Adam Clarke contend that it was by the laying on of hands that the Samaritans were endowed with the gifts of the Spirit.  Wesley wondered if “sanctifying graces” may also have been imparted.

What is certain is that this Spiritual endowment was not for sale!  When Simon, a recent convert to Christ, offered to pay the disciples for the ability to transmit this gift, Peter looked him in the eye and sentenced him: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.” (Acts 8:20-22). 

Reading Peter’s rebuke of Simon makes us wonder how the disciple would react to the crass commercialization of contemporary Christianity.  Actually we have no doubt.  His sentence would again be, “thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”  May God purify our heart of all that is “not right in the sight of God.”  We pray that we will be numbered among “the pure in heart,” that “see God.” (Matthew 5:8).

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, How thankful we are that the Gospel of Christ is not bound by the prejudices of men.  We thrill to know that your love is still reaching and your power is still transforming people on every continent and in every nation.  May we follow in the footsteps of the first Christians who were scattered abroad preaching Christ.  May Thy Kindom come, Thy will be done!  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. “Our Father, &c.”