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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>A C T S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have an account of the persecutions of the
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Christians, and the propagating of Christianity thereby. It was
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strange, but very true, that the disciples of Christ the more they were
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afflicted the more they multiplied.
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I. Here is the church suffering; upon the occasion of putting Stephen
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to death a very sharp storm arose, which forced many from Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. Here is the church spreading by the ministry of Philip and others
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that were dispersed upon that occasion. We have here,
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1. The gospel brought to Samaria, preached there
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>),
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embraced there
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:6-8">ver. 6-8</A>),
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even by Simon Magus
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>);
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the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred upon some of the believing
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Samaritans by the imposition of the hands of Peter and John
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:14-17">ver. 14-17</A>);
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and the severe rebuke given by Peter to Simon Magus for offering money
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for a power to bestow that gift,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:18-25">ver. 18-25</A>.
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2. The gospel sent to Ethiopia, by the eunuch, a person of quality of
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that country. He is returning home in his chariot from Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:26-28">ver. 26-28</A>.
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Philip is sent to him, and in his chariot preaches Christ to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:29-35">ver. 29-35</A>),
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baptizes him upon his profession of the Christian faith
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:36-38">ver. 36-38</A>),
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and the leaves him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:39,40">ver. 39, 40</A>.
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Thus in different ways and methods the gospel was dispersed among the
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nations, and, one way or other, "Have they not all heard?"</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ac8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Persecution of the Church.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time
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there was a great persecution against the church which was at
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Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the
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regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.
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2 And devout men carried Stephen <I>to his burial,</I> and made
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great lamentation over him.
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3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into
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every house, and haling men and women committed <I>them</I> to prison.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. Something more concerning Stephen and his death; how people stood
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affected to it--variously, as generally in such cases, according to
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men's different sentiments of things. Christ had said to his disciples,
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when he was parting with them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+16:20">John xvi. 20</A>),
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<I>You shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.</I>
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Accordingly here is,
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1. Stephen's death rejoiced in by one--by many, no doubt, but by one in
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particular, and that was Saul, who was afterwards called Paul; he was
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<I>consenting to his death,</I> <B><I>syneudokon</I></B>--<I>he
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consented to it with delight</I> (so the word signifies); he was
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pleased with it. He fed his eyes with this bloody spectacle, in hopes
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it would put a stop to the growth of Christianity. We have reason to
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think that Paul ordered Luke to insert this, for shame to himself, and
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glory to free grace. Thus he owns himself guilty of the blood of
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Stephen, and aggravates it with this, that he did not do it with regret
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and reluctancy, but with delight and a full satisfaction, like those
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who not only <I>do such things, but have pleasure in those that do
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them.</I>
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2. Stephen's death bewailed by others
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)--
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<I>devout men,</I> which some understand of those that were properly so
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called, <I>proselytes,</I> one of whom Stephen himself probably was.
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Or, it may be taken more largely; some of the church that were more
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devout and zealous than the rest went and gathered up the poor crushed
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and broken remains, to which they gave a decent interment, probably in
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the <I>field of blood,</I> which was bought some time ago to bury
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strangers in. They buried him solemnly, and made great lamentation over
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him. Though his death was of great advantage to himself, and great
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service to the church, yet they bewailed it as a general loss, so well
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qualified was he for the service, and so likely to be useful both as a
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deacon and as a disputant. It is a bad symptom if, when such men are
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taken away, it is not laid to heart. Those devout men paid these their
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last respects to Stephen,
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(1.) To show that they were not ashamed of the cause for which he
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suffered, nor afraid of the wrath of those that were enemies to it;
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for, though they now triumph, the cause is a righteous cause, and will
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be at last a victorious one.
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(2.) To show the great value and esteem they had for this faithful
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servant of Jesus Christ, this first martyr for the gospel, whose memory
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shall always be precious to them, notwithstanding the ignominy of his
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death. They study to do honour to him upon whom God put honour.
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(3.) To testify their belief and hope of the <I>resurrection of the
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dead, and the life of the world to come.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. An account of this persecution of the church, which begins upon the
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martyrdom of Stephen. When the fury of the Jews ran with such violence,
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and to such a height, against Stephen, it could not quickly either stop
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itself or spend itself. The bloody are often in scripture called
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<I>blood-thirsty;</I> for when they have tasted blood they thirst for
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more. One would have thought Stephen's dying prayers and dying comforts
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should have overcome them, and melted them into a better opinion of
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Christians and Christianity; but it seems they did not: the persecution
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goes on; for they were more exasperated when they saw they could
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prevail nothing, and, as if they hoped to be too hard for God himself,
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they resolve to follow their blow; and perhaps, because they were none
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of them struck dead upon the place for stoning Stephen, their hearts
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were the more fully set in them to do evil. Perhaps the disciples were
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also the more emboldened to dispute against them as Stephen did, seeing
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how triumphantly he finished his course, which would provoke them so
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much the more. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. Against whom this persecution was raised: It was <I>against the
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church in Jerusalem,</I> which is no sooner planted than it is
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persecuted, as Christ often intimated that tribulation and persecution
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would arise <I>because of the word.</I> And Christ had particularly
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foretold that Jerusalem would soon be made too hot for his followers,
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for that city had been famous for killing the prophets and stoning
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those that were sent to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:37">Matt. xxiii. 37</A>.
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It should seem that in this persecution many were put to death, for
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Paul owns that at this time he persecuted this way <I>unto the
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death</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:4"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 4</A>),
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and
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:10"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 10</A>)
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that <I>when they were put to death he gave his voice against
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them.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. Who was an active man in it; none so zealous, so busy, as Saul, a
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young Pharisee,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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As for Saul (who had been twice mentioned before, and now again for a
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notorious persecutor) <I>he made havoc of the church;</I> he did all he
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could to lay it waste and ruin it; he cared not what mischief he did to
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the disciples of Christ, nor knew when to stop. He aimed at no less
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than the cutting off of the gospel Israel, that the name of it should
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be no more in remembrance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+83:4">Ps. lxxxiii. 4</A>.
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He was the fittest tool the chief priests could find out to serve their
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purposes; he was informer-general against the disciples, a messenger of
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the great council to be employed in searching for meetings, and seizing
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all that were suspected to favour that way. Saul was bred a scholar, a
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gentleman, and yet did not think it below him to be employed in the
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vilest work of that kind.
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(1.) He <I>entered into every house,</I> making no difficulty of
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breaking open doors, night or day, and having a force attending him for
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that purpose. He entered into every house where they used to hold their
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meetings, or every house that had any Christians in it, or was thought
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to have. No man could be secure in his own house, though it was his
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castle.
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(2.) He haled, with the utmost contempt and cruelty, both men and
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women, dragged them along the streets, without any regard to the
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tenderness of the weaker sex; he stooped so low as to take cognizance
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of the meanest that were leavened with the gospel, so extremely bigoted
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was he.
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(3.) He committed them to prison, in order to their being tried and put
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to death, unless they would renounce Christ; and some, we find, were
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compelled by him to blaspheme,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:11"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. What was the effect of this persecution: <I>They were all scattered
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abroad</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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not all the believers, but all the preachers, who were principally
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struck at, and against whom warrants were issued out to take them up.
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They, remembering our Master's rule (<I>when they persecute you in one
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city, flee to another</I>), dispersed themselves by agreement
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<I>throughout the regions of Judea</I> and of Samaria; not so much for
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fear of sufferings (for Judea and Samaria were not so far off from
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Jerusalem but that, if they made a public appearance there, as they
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determined to do, their persecutors' power would soon reach them
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there), but because they looked upon this as an intimation of
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Providence to them to scatter. Their work was pretty well done in
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Jerusalem, and now it was time to think of the necessities of other
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places; for their Master had told them that they must be his witnesses
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in Jerusalem first, and then <I>in all Judea and in Samaria,</I> and
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then <I>to the uttermost part of the earth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+1:8"><I>ch.</I> i. 8</A>),
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and this method they observe. Through persecution may not drive us off
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from our work, yet it may send us, as a hint of Providence, to work
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elsewhere. The preachers were all scattered <I>except the
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apostles,</I> who, probably, were directed by the Spirit to continue at
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Jerusalem yet for some time, they being, by the special providence of
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God, screened from the storm, and by the special grace of God enabled
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to face the storm. They tarried at Jerusalem, that they might be ready
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to go where their assistance was most needed by the other preachers
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that were sent to break the ice; as Christ ordered his disciples to go
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to those places where he himself designed to go,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+10:1">Luke x. 1</A>.
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The apostles continued longer together at Jerusalem than one would have
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thought, considering the command and commission given them, to <I>go
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into all the world,</I> and to <I>disciple all nations.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+15:6;Ga+1:17"><I>ch.</I> xv. 6; Gal. i. 17</A>.
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But what was done by the evangelists whom they sent forth was reckoned
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as done by them.</P>
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<A NAME="Ac8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ac8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Spreading of the Gospel; Philip's Success.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where
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preaching the word.
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5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached
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Christ unto them.
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6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things
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which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
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7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many
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that were possessed <I>with them:</I> and many taken with palsies, and
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that were lame, were healed.
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8 And there was great joy in that city.
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9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime
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in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of
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Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
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10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest,
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saying, This man is the great power of God.
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11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had
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bewitched them with sorceries.
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12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things
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concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they
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were baptized, both men and women.
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13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized,
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he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles
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and signs which were done.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Samson's riddle is here again unriddled: <I>Out of the eater comes
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forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness.</I> The persecution that
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was designed to extirpate the church was by the overruling providence
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of God made an occasion of the enlargement of it. Christ had said, <I>I
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am come to send fire on the earth;</I> and they thought, by scattering
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those who were kindled with that fire, to have put it out, but instead
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of this they did but help to spread it.</P>
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<P>
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I. Here is a general account of what was done by them all
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>They went every where, preaching the word.</I> They did not go to
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hide themselves for fear of suffering, no, nor to show themselves as
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proud of their sufferings; but they went up and down to scatter the
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knowledge of Christ in every place where they were scattered. They went
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every where, into the way of the Gentiles, and the cities of the
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Samaritans, which before they were forbidden to go into,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:5">Matt. x. 5</A>.
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They did not keep together in a body, though this might have been a
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strength to them; but they scattered into all parts, not to take their
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ease, but to find out work. They went <I>evangelizing</I> the world,
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preaching the word of the gospel; it was this which filled them, and
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which they endeavoured to fill the country with, those of them that
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were preachers in their preaching, and others in their common converse.
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They were now in a country where they were no strangers, for Christ and
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his disciples had conversed much in the regions of Judea; so that they
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had a foundation laid there for them to build upon; and it would be
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requisite to let the people there know what that doctrine which Jesus
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had preached there some time ago was come to, and that it was not lost
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and forgotten, as perhaps they were made to believe.</P>
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<P>
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II. A particular account of what was done by Philip. We shall hear of
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the progress and success of others of them afterwards
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+11:19"><I>ch.</I> xi. 19</A>),
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but here must attend the motions of Philip, not Philip the apostle, but
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Philip the deacon, who was chosen and ordained to serve tables, but
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having <I>used the office of a deacon well he purchased to himself a
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good degree, and great boldness in the faith,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+3:13">1 Tim. iii. 13</A>.
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Stephen was advanced to the degree of a martyr, Philip to the degree of
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an evangelist, which when he entered upon, being obliged by it to
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<I>give himself to the word and prayer,</I> he was, no doubt,
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discharged from the office of a deacon; for how could he serve tables
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at Jerusalem, which by that office he was obliged to do, when he was
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preaching in Samaria? And it is probable that two others were chosen in
|
|
the room of Stephen and Philip. Now observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What wonderful success Philip had in his preaching, and what
|
|
reception he met with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The place he chose was the city of Samaria, the head city of
|
|
Samaria, the metropolis of that country, which stood where the city of
|
|
Samaria had formerly stood, of the building of which we read,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:24">1 Kings xvi. 24</A>,
|
|
|
|
now called <I>Sebaste.</I> Some think it was the same with Sychem or
|
|
Sychar, that city of Samaria where Christ was,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:5">John iv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many of that city then believed in Christ, though he did no miracle
|
|
among them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:39,41"><I>v.</I> 39, 41</A>),
|
|
|
|
and now Philip, three years after, carries on the work then begun. The
|
|
Jews would have no dealings with the Samaritans; but Christ sent his
|
|
gospel to slay all enmities, and particularly that between the Jews and
|
|
the Samaritans, by making them one in his church.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The doctrine he preached was Christ; for he determined to know
|
|
nothing else. He <I>preached Christ to them; he proclaimed Christ to
|
|
them</I> (so the word signifies), as a king, when he comes to the
|
|
crown, is proclaimed throughout his dominions. The Samaritans had an
|
|
expectation of the Messiah's coming, as appears by
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:25">John iv. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now Philip tells them that he is come, and that the Samaritans are
|
|
welcome to him. Ministers' business is to preach Christ--Christ, and
|
|
him crucified--Christ, and him glorified.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The proofs he produced for the confirmation of his doctrine were
|
|
miracles,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
To convince them that he had his commission from heaven (and therefore
|
|
not only they might venture upon what he said, but they were bound to
|
|
yield to it), he shows them this broad seal of heaven annexed to it,
|
|
which the God of truth would never put to a lie. The miracles were
|
|
undeniable; they heard and saw the miracles which he did. They heard
|
|
the commanding words he spoke, and saw the amazing effects of them
|
|
immediately; that he spoke, and it was done. And the nature of the
|
|
miracles was such as suited the intention of his commission, and gave
|
|
light and lustre to it.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He was sent to break the power of Satan; and, in token of this,
|
|
unclean spirits, being charged in the name of the Lord Jesus to remove,
|
|
<I>came out of many that were possessed with them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
As far as the gospel prevails, Satan is forced to quit his hold of men
|
|
and his interest in them, and then those are restored to themselves,
|
|
and to their right mind again, who, while he kept possession, were
|
|
distracted. Wherever the gospel gains the admission and submission it
|
|
ought to have, evil spirits are dislodged, and particularly <I>unclean
|
|
spirits,</I> all inclinations to the lusts of the flesh, which war
|
|
against the soul; for God has called us from uncleanness to holiness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Th+4:7">1 Thess. iv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was signified by the casting of these unclean spirits out of the
|
|
bodies of people, who, it is here said, came out <I>crying with a loud
|
|
voice,</I> which signifies that they came out with great reluctancy,
|
|
and sorely against their wills, but were forced to acknowledge
|
|
themselves overcome by a superior power,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+1:26,3:11,9:26">Mark i. 26; iii. 11; ix. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He was sent to heal the minds of men, to cure a distempered world,
|
|
and to put it in to a good state of health; and, in token of this,
|
|
<I>many that were taken with palsies, and that were lame, were
|
|
healed.</I> Those distempers are specified that were most difficult to
|
|
be cured by the course of nature (that the miraculous cure might be the
|
|
more illustrious), and those that were most expressive of the disease
|
|
of sin and that moral impotency which the souls of men labour under as
|
|
to the service of God. The grace of God in the gospel is designed for
|
|
the healing of those that are spiritually lame and paralytic, and
|
|
cannot help themselves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:6">Rom. v. 6</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) The acceptance which Philip's doctrine, thus proved, met with in
|
|
Samaria
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip
|
|
spoke,</I> induced thereto by the miracles which served at first to
|
|
gain attention, and so by degrees to gain assent. There then begin to
|
|
be some hopes of people when they begin to take notice of what is said
|
|
to them concerning the things of their souls and eternity--when they
|
|
begin to give heed to the word of God, as those that are well pleased
|
|
to hear it, desirous to understand and remember it, and that look upon
|
|
themselves as concerned in it. The common people gave heed to Philip,
|
|
<B><I>oi ochloi</I></B>--<I>a multitude of them,</I> not here and there
|
|
one, but with one accord; they were all of a mind, that it was fit the
|
|
doctrine of the gospel should be enquired into, and an impartial
|
|
hearing given to it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) The satisfaction they had in attending on, and attending to,
|
|
Philip's preaching, and the success it had with many of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There was great joy in that city;</I> for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>they believed Philip, and were baptized</I> into the faith of
|
|
Christ, the generality of them, <I>both men and women.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Philip preached <I>the things concerning the kingdom of God,</I>
|
|
the constitution of that kingdom, the laws and ordinances of it, the
|
|
liberties and privileges of it, and the obligations we are all under to
|
|
be the loyal subjects of that kingdom; and he preached the name of
|
|
Jesus Christ, as king of that kingdom--his <I>name, which is above
|
|
every name.</I> He preached it up in its commanding power and
|
|
influence--all that by which he has made himself known.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The people not only gave heed to what he said, but at length
|
|
believed it, were fully convinced that it was of God and not of men,
|
|
and gave up themselves to the direction and government of it. As to
|
|
this mountain, on which they had hitherto worshipped God, and placed a
|
|
great deal of religion in it, they were now as much weaned from it as
|
|
every they had been wedded to it, and become <I>the true worshippers,
|
|
who worship the Father in spirit and in truth,</I> and in the name of
|
|
Christ, the true temple,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+4:20-23">John iv. 20-23</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] When they believed, without scruple (though they were Samaritans)
|
|
and without delay <I>they were baptized,</I> openly professed the
|
|
Christian faith, promised to adhere to it, and then, by washing them
|
|
with water, were solemnly admitted into the communion of the Christian
|
|
church, and owned as brethren by the disciples. <I>Men</I> only were
|
|
capable of being admitted into the Jewish church by circumcision; but,
|
|
to show that <I>in Jesus Christ there is neither male nor female</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:28">Gal. iii. 28</A>),
|
|
|
|
but both are alike welcome to him, the initiating ordinance is such as
|
|
women are capable of, for they are numbered with God's spiritual
|
|
Israel, though not with Israel according to the flesh,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+1:2">Num. i. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
And hence it is easily gathered that women are to be admitted to the
|
|
Lord's supper, though it does not appear that there were any among
|
|
those to whom it was first administered.
|
|
|
|
[4.] This occasioned great joy; each one rejoiced for himself, as he in
|
|
the parable who <I>found the treasure hid in the field;</I> and they
|
|
all rejoiced for the benefit hereby brought to their city, and that it
|
|
came without opposition, which it would scarcely have done if Samaria
|
|
had been within the jurisdiction of the chief priests. Note, The
|
|
bringing of the gospel to any place is just matter of joy, of great
|
|
joy, to that place. Hence the spreading of the gospel in the world is
|
|
often prophesied of in the Old Testament as the diffusing of joy among
|
|
the nations: <I>Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+67:4,1Th+1:6">Ps. lxvii. 4; 1 Thess. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The gospel of Christ does not make men melancholy, but fills them with
|
|
joy, if it be received as it should be; for it is <I>glad tidings of
|
|
great joy to all people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:10">Luke ii. 10</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What there was in particular at this city of Samaria that made the
|
|
success of the gospel there more than ordinarily wonderful.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Simon Magus had been busy there, and had gained a great
|
|
interest among the people, and <I>yet they believed the things that
|
|
Philip spoke.</I> To unlearn that which is bad proves many times a
|
|
harder task than to learn that which is good. These Samaritans, though
|
|
they were not idolaters as the Gentiles, nor prejudiced against the
|
|
gospel by traditions received from their fathers, yet had of late been
|
|
drawn to follow Simon, a conjurer (For so <I>Magus</I> signifies) who
|
|
made a mighty noise among them, and had strangely <I>bewitched
|
|
them.</I> We are told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] How strong the delusion of Satan was by which they were brought
|
|
into the interests of this great deceiver. He had been for some time,
|
|
nay, for a <I>long time, in this city, using sorceries;</I> perhaps he
|
|
came there by the instigation of the devil, soon after our Saviour had
|
|
been there, to undo what he had been doing there; for it was always
|
|
Satan's way to crush a good work in its bud and infancy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+11:3,1Th+3:5">2 Cor. xi. 3; 1 Thess. iii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>First,</I> Simon assumed to himself that which was considerable:
|
|
<I>He gave out that he himself was some great one,</I> and would have
|
|
all people to believe so and to pay him respect accordingly; and then,
|
|
as to every thing else, they might do as they pleased. He had no design
|
|
to reform their lives, nor improve their worship and devotion, only to
|
|
make them believe that he was, <B><I>tis megas</I></B>--<I>some divine
|
|
person.</I> Justin Martyr says that he would be worshipped as
|
|
<B><I>proton theon</I></B>--<I>the chief god.</I> He gave out himself
|
|
to be <I>the Son of God, the Messiah,</I> so some think; or to be an
|
|
angel, or a prophet. Perhaps he was uncertain within himself what title
|
|
of honour to pretend to; but he would be thought <I>some great one.</I>
|
|
Pride, ambition, and an affectation of grandeur, have always been the
|
|
cause of abundance of mischief both to the world and to the church.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> The people ascribed to him what he pleased.
|
|
|
|
1. <I>They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest,</I>
|
|
both young and old, both poor and rich, both governors and governed.
|
|
<I>To him they had regard</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and perhaps the more because the time fixed for the coming of the
|
|
Messiah had now expired, which had raised a general expectation of the
|
|
appearing of some great one about this time. Probably he was a native
|
|
of their country, and therefore they embraced him the more cheerfully,
|
|
that by giving honour to him they might reflect it upon themselves.
|
|
|
|
2. They said of him, <I>This man is the great power of God--the power
|
|
of God, that great power</I> (so it might be read), that power which
|
|
made the world. See how ignorant inconsiderate people mistake that
|
|
which is done by the power of Satan, as if it were done by the power of
|
|
God. Thus, in the Gentile world, devils pass for deities; and in the
|
|
antichristian kingdom <I>all the world wonders after a beast,</I> to
|
|
whom the dragon gives his power, and <I>who opens his mouth in
|
|
blasphemy against God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+13:2-5">Rev. xiii. 2-5</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. They were brought to it by his sorceries: <I>He bewitched the people
|
|
of Samaria</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>bewitched them with sorceries</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, either,
|
|
|
|
(1.) By his magic arts <I>he bewitched the minds of the people,</I> at
|
|
least some of them, who drew in others. Satan, by God's permission,
|
|
filled their hearts to follow Simon. <I>O foolish Galatians,</I> saith
|
|
Paul, <I>who hath bewitched you?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:1">Gal. iii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
These people are said to be bewitched by Simon, because they were so
|
|
strangely infatuated to believe a lie. Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) By his magic arts he did <I>many signs and lying wonders,</I>
|
|
which seemed to be miracles, but really were not so: like those of the
|
|
magicians of Egypt, and those of <I>the man of sin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+2:9">2 Thess. ii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
When they knew no better, they were influenced by his sorceries; but,
|
|
when they were acquainted with Philip's real miracles, they saw plainly
|
|
that the one was real and the other a sham, and that there was as much
|
|
difference as between Aaron's rod and those of the magicians. <I>What
|
|
is the chaff to the wheat?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+23:28">Jer. xxiii. 28</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Thus, notwithstanding the influence Simon Magus had had upon them, and
|
|
the unwillingness there generally is in people to own themselves in an
|
|
error, and to retract it, yet, when they saw the difference between
|
|
Simon and Philip, they quitted Simon, gave heed no longer to him, but
|
|
to Philip: and thus you see,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] How strong the power of Divine grace is, by which they were
|
|
brought to Christ, who is truth itself, and was, as I may say, the
|
|
great undeceiver. By that grace working with the word those that had
|
|
been led captive by Satan <I>were brought into obedience to Christ.</I>
|
|
Where Satan, as a <I>strong man armed,</I> kept possession of the
|
|
palace, and thought himself safe, Christ, as a <I>stronger than he,</I>
|
|
dispossessed him, and <I>divided the spoil; led captivity captive,</I>
|
|
and made those the trophies of his victory whom the devil had triumphed
|
|
over. Let us not despair of the worst, when even those whom Simon Magus
|
|
had bewitched were brought to believe.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Here is another thing yet more wonderful, that Simon Magus himself
|
|
became a convert to the faith of Christ, in show and profession, for a
|
|
time. <I>Is Saul also among the prophets?</I> Yes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Simon himself believed also.</I> He was convinced that Philip
|
|
preached a true doctrine, because he saw it confirmed by real miracles,
|
|
of which he was the better able to judge because he was conscious to
|
|
himself of the trick of his own pretended ones.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The present conviction went so far that <I>he was baptized,</I>
|
|
was admitted, as other believers were, into the church by baptism; and
|
|
we have no reason to think that Philip did amiss in baptizing him, no,
|
|
nor in baptizing him quickly. Though he had been a very wicked man, a
|
|
sorcerer, a pretender to divine honours, yet, upon his solemn
|
|
profession of repentance for his sin and faith in Jesus Christ, he was
|
|
baptized. For, as great wickedness before conversion keeps not true
|
|
penitents from the benefits of God's grace, so neither should it keep
|
|
professing ones from church-fellowship. Prodigals, when they return,
|
|
must be joyfully welcomed home, though we cannot be sure but that they
|
|
will play the prodigal again. Nay, though he was now but a hypocrite,
|
|
and really in <I>the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity</I> all
|
|
this while, and would soon have been found to be so if he had been
|
|
tried awhile, yet Philip baptized him; for it is God's prerogative to
|
|
know the heart. The church and its ministers must go by a judgment of
|
|
charity, as far as there is room for it. It is a maxim in the law,
|
|
<I>Donec contrarium patet, semper præsumitur meliori parti--We
|
|
must hope the best as long as we can.</I> And it is a maxim in the
|
|
discipline of the church, <I>De secretis non judicat ecclesia--The
|
|
secrets of the heart God only judges.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] The present conviction lasted so long that he continued with
|
|
Philip. Though afterwards he apostatized from Christianity, yet not
|
|
quickly. He courted Philip's acquaintance, and now he that had given
|
|
out himself to be some great one is content to sit at the feet of a
|
|
preacher of the gospel. Even bad men, very bad, may sometimes be in a
|
|
good frame, very good; and those whose hearts still go after their
|
|
covetousness may possibly not only come before God as his people come,
|
|
but continue with them.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The present conviction was wrought and kept up by the miracles; he
|
|
wondered to see himself so far outdone in signs and miracles. Many
|
|
wonder at the proofs of divine truths who never experience the power of
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Account of Simon Magus.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 <I>their</I> 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
|
|
<I>in</I> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
God had wonderfully owned Philip in his work as an evangelist at
|
|
Samaria, but he could do no more than an evangelist; there were some
|
|
peculiar powers reserved to the apostles, for the keeping up of the
|
|
dignity of their office, and here we have an account of what was done
|
|
by two of them there--<I>Peter and John.</I> The twelve kept together
|
|
at Jerusalem
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and thither these good tidings were brought them <I>that Samaria had
|
|
received the word of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
that a great harvest of souls was gathered, and was likely to be
|
|
gathered in to Christ there. The word of God was not only preached to
|
|
them, but received by them; they bade it welcome, admitted the light of
|
|
it, and submitted to the power of it: <I>When they heard it, they sent
|
|
unto them Peter and John.</I> If Peter had been, as some say he was,
|
|
the prince of the apostles, he would have sent some of them, or, if he
|
|
had seen cause, would have gone himself of his own accord; but he was
|
|
so far from this that he submitted to an order of the house, and, as a
|
|
servant to the body, went whither they sent him. Two apostles were
|
|
sent, the two most eminent, to Samaria,
|
|
|
|
1. To encourage Philip, to assist him, and strengthen his hands.
|
|
Ministers in a higher station, and that excel in gifts and graces,
|
|
should contrive how they may be helpful to those in a lower sphere, and
|
|
contribute to their comfort and usefulness.
|
|
|
|
2. To carry on the good work that was begun among the people, and, with
|
|
those heavenly graces that had enriched them, to confer upon them
|
|
spiritual gifts. Now observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How they advanced and improved those of them that were sincere. It
|
|
is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>The Holy Ghost was as yet fallen upon none of them,</I> in those
|
|
extraordinary powers which were conveyed by the descent of the Spirit
|
|
upon the day of pentecost. They were none of them endued with the gift
|
|
of tongues, which seems then to have been the most usual immediate
|
|
effect of the pouring out of the Spirit. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+10:45,46"><I>ch.</I> x. 45, 46</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was both an eminent sign to those that believed not, and of
|
|
excellent service to those that did. This, and other such gifts, they
|
|
had not, <I>only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,</I>
|
|
and so engaged in him and interested in him, which was necessary to
|
|
salvation, and in this they had joy and satisfaction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
though they could not speak with tongues. Those that are indeed given
|
|
up to Christ, and have experienced the sanctifying influences and
|
|
operations of the Spirit of grace, have great reason to be thankful,
|
|
and no reason to complain, though they have not those gifts that are
|
|
for ornament, and would make them bright. But it is intended that they
|
|
should go on to the perfection of the present dispensation, for the
|
|
greater honour of the gospel. We have reason to think that Philip had
|
|
received these gifts of the Holy Ghost himself, but had not a power to
|
|
confer them; the apostles must come to do this; and they did it not
|
|
upon all that were baptized, but upon some of them, and, it should
|
|
seem, such as were designed for some office in the church, or at least
|
|
to be eminent active members of it; and upon some of them <I>one gift
|
|
of the Holy Ghost,</I> and upon others <I>another.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:4,8,14:26">1 Cor. xii. 4, 8; xiv. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now in order to this,
|
|
|
|
1. <I>The apostles prayed for them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Spirit is given, not to ourselves only
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:13">Luke xi. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
but to others also, in answer to prayer: <I>I will put my Spirit within
|
|
you</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+36:27">Ezek. xxxvi. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>but I will for this be enquired of,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+36:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>.
|
|
|
|
We may take encouragement from this example in praying to God to give
|
|
the renewing graces of the Holy Ghost to those whose spiritual welfare
|
|
we are concerned for--for our children, for our friends, for our
|
|
ministers. We should pray, and pray earnestly, <I>that they may receive
|
|
the Holy Ghost;</I> for this includes all blessings.
|
|
|
|
2. They laid their hands on them, to signify that their prayers were
|
|
answered, and <I>that the gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon
|
|
them;</I> for, upon the use of this sign, <I>they received the Holy
|
|
Ghost, and spoke with tongues.</I> The laying on of hands was anciently
|
|
used in blessing, by those who blessed with authority. Thus the
|
|
apostles blessed these new converts, ordained some to be ministers, and
|
|
confirmed others in their Christianity. We cannot now, nor can any,
|
|
thus give the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; but this may
|
|
intimate to us that those whom we pray for we should use our endeavours
|
|
with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How they discovered and discarded him that was a hypocrite among
|
|
them, and this was Simon Magus; for they knew how to <I>separate
|
|
between the precious and the vile.</I> Now observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The wicked proposal that Simon made, by which his hypocrisy was
|
|
discovered
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>When he saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
|
|
Ghost was given</I> (which should have confirmed his faith in the
|
|
doctrine of Christ, and increased his veneration for the apostles), it
|
|
gave him a notion of Christianity as no other than an exalted piece of
|
|
sorcery, in which he thought himself capable of being equal to the
|
|
apostles, and therefore <I>offered them money, saying, Give me also
|
|
this power.</I> He does not desire them to lay their hands on him, that
|
|
he might receive the Holy Ghost himself (for he did not foresee that
|
|
any thing was to be got by that), but that they would convey to him a
|
|
power to bestow the gift upon others. He was ambitious to have the
|
|
honour of an apostle, but not at all solicitous to have the spirit and
|
|
disposition of a Christian. He was more desirous to gain honour to
|
|
himself than to do good to others. Now, in making this motion,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He put a great affront upon the apostles, as if they were
|
|
mercenary men, would do any thing for money, and loved it as well as he
|
|
did; whereas they had left what they had, for Christ, so far were they
|
|
from aiming to make it more--
|
|
|
|
(2.) He put a great affront upon Christianity, as if the miracles that
|
|
were wrought for the proof of it were done by magic arts, only of a
|
|
different nature from what he himself had practised formerly.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He showed that, like Balaam, he aimed at the rewards of
|
|
divination; for he would not have offered money for this power if he
|
|
had not hoped to get money by it.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He showed that he had a very high conceit of himself, and that he
|
|
had never his heart truly humbled. Such a wretch as he had been before
|
|
his baptism should have asked, like the prodigal, to be made as one of
|
|
the hired servants. But, as soon as he is admitted into the family, no
|
|
less a place will serve him than to be one of the stewards of the
|
|
household, and to be entrusted with a power which Philip himself had
|
|
not, but the apostles only.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The just rejection of his proposal, and the cutting reproof Peter
|
|
gave him for it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:20-23"><I>v.</I> 20-23</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Peter shows him his crime
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with
|
|
money;</I> and thus,
|
|
|
|
[1.] He had overvalued the wealth of this world, as if it were an
|
|
equivalent for any thing, and as if, because, as Solomon saith, <I>it
|
|
answers all things,</I> relating to the life that now is, it would
|
|
answer all things relating to the other life, and would purchase the
|
|
pardon of sin, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He had undervalued the gift of the Holy Ghost and put it upon a
|
|
level with the common gifts of nature and providence. He thought the
|
|
power of an apostle might as well be had for a good fee as the advice
|
|
of a physician or a lawyer, which was the greatest despite that could
|
|
be done to the Spirit of grace. All the buying and selling of pardons
|
|
and indulgences in the church of Rome is the product of this same
|
|
wicked <I>thought, that the gift of God may be purchased with
|
|
money,</I> when the offer of divine grace so expressly runs, <I>without
|
|
money and without price.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shows him his character, which is inferred from his crime. From
|
|
every thing that a man says or does amiss we cannot infer that he is a
|
|
hypocrite in the profession he makes of religion; but this of Simon's
|
|
was such a fundamental error as could by no means consist with a state
|
|
of grace; his offering money (and that got by sorcery too) was an
|
|
incontestable evidence that he was yet under the power of a worldly and
|
|
carnal mind, and was yet that <I>natural man which receiveth not the
|
|
things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them.</I> And
|
|
therefore Peter tells him plainly,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That his heart was <I>not right in the sight of God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Though thou professest to believe, and art baptized, yet thou art not
|
|
sincere." We are as our hearts are; if they be not right, we are wrong;
|
|
and they are open in the sight of God, who knows them, judges them, and
|
|
judges of us by them. Our hearts are that which they are in the sight
|
|
of God, who cannot be deceived; and if they be not right in his sight,
|
|
whatever our pretensions be, our religion is vain, and will stand us in
|
|
no stead: our great concern is to approve ourselves to him in our
|
|
integrity, for otherwise we cheat ourselves into our own ruin. Some
|
|
refer this particularly to the proposal he made; what he asked is
|
|
denied him, because his <I>heart is not right in the sight of God</I>
|
|
in asking it. He does not aim at the glory of God nor the honour of
|
|
Christ in it, but to make a hand of it for himself; he <I>asks, and has
|
|
not, because he asks amiss, that he may consume it upon his lusts,</I>
|
|
and be still thought some great one.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he is in <I>the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
|
|
iniquity: I perceive that thou art</I> so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is plain dealing, and plain dealing is best when we are dealing
|
|
about souls and eternity. Simon had got a great name among the people,
|
|
and of late a good name too among God's people, and yet Peter here
|
|
gives him a black character. Note, It is possible for a man to continue
|
|
under the power of sin, and yet to put on a form of godliness. <I>I
|
|
perceive it,</I> saith Peter. It was not so much by the spirit of
|
|
discerning, with which Peter was endued, that he perceived this, as by
|
|
Simon's discovery of it in the proposal he made. Note, The disguises of
|
|
hypocrites many times are soon seen through; the nature of the wolf
|
|
shows itself notwithstanding the cover of the sheep's clothing. Now the
|
|
character here given of Simon is really the character of all wicked
|
|
people. <I>First,</I> They are <I>in the gall of
|
|
bitterness</I>--odious to God, as that which is bitter as gall is to
|
|
us. Sin is an abominable thing, which the Lord hates, and sinners are
|
|
by it made abominable to him; they are vicious in their own nature.
|
|
Indwelling sin is <I>a root of bitterness,</I> that <I>bears gall and
|
|
wormwood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:18">Deut. xxix. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
The faculties are corrupted, and the mind embittered against all good,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15">Heb. xii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It intimates likewise the pernicious consequences of sin; the <I>end is
|
|
bitter as wormwood. Secondly,</I> They are <I>in the bond of
|
|
iniquity</I>--bound over to the judgment of God by the guilt of sin,
|
|
and bound under the dominion of Satan by the power of sin; led captive
|
|
by him at his will, and it is a sore bondage, like that in Egypt,
|
|
making the life bitter.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He reads him his doom in two things--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] He shall sink with his worldly wealth, which he overvalued: <I>Thy
|
|
money perish with thee. First,</I> Hereby Peter rejects his offer with
|
|
the utmost disdain and indignation: "Dost thou think thou canst bribe
|
|
us to betray our trust, and to put the power we are entrusted with into
|
|
such unworthy hands? Away with thee and thy money too; we will have
|
|
nothing to do with either. <I>Get thee behind me, Satan.</I>" When we
|
|
are tempted with money to do an evil thing, we should see what a
|
|
perishing thing money is, and scorn to be biassed by it--It is the
|
|
character of the upright man that he shakes his hands from holding,
|
|
from touching bribes,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:15">Isa. xxxiii. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He warns him of his danger of utter destruction if he
|
|
continued in this mind: "Thy money will perish and thou wilt lose it,
|
|
and all that thou canst purchase with it. As <I>meats for the belly and
|
|
the belly for meats</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+6:13">1 Cor. vi. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
so goods for money and money for goods, <I>but God shall destroy both
|
|
it and them</I>--they perish in the using; but this is not the worst of
|
|
it: <I>thou wilt perish with it, and it with thee;</I> and it will be
|
|
an aggravation of thy ruin, and a heavy load upon thy perishing soul,
|
|
that thou hadst money, which might have been made to turn to a good
|
|
account
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:9">Luke xvi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
which might have been laid at the apostles' feet, as a charity, and
|
|
would have been accepted, but was thrust into their hands as a bribe,
|
|
and was rejected. <I>Son, remember this.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] He shall come short of the spiritual blessings which he
|
|
undervalued
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter;</I> thou hast
|
|
nothing to do with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, thou dost not
|
|
understand them, thou art excluded from them, hast put a bar in thine
|
|
own door; thou canst not receive the Holy Ghost thyself, nor power to
|
|
confer the Holy Ghost upon others, for <I>thy heart is not right in the
|
|
sight of God,</I> if thou thinkest that Christianity is a trade to live
|
|
by in this world, and therefore <I>thou hast no part nor lot</I> in the
|
|
eternal life in the other world which the gospel offers." Note,
|
|
<I>First,</I> There are many who profess the Christian religion, and
|
|
yet have <I>no part nor lot in the matter, no part in Christ</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:8">John xiii. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>no lot in the heavenly Canaan. Secondly,</I> They are those whose
|
|
<I>hearts are not right in the sight of God,</I> are not animated by a
|
|
right spirit, nor guided by a right rule, nor directed to the right
|
|
end.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) He gives him good counsel, notwithstanding,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though he was angry with him, yet he did not abandon him; and, though
|
|
he would have him see his case to be very bad, yet he would not have
|
|
him think it desperate; <I>yet now there is hope in Israel.</I>
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] What it is that he advises him to: He must do his first works.
|
|
<I>First,</I> He must <I>repent,</I>--must see his error and retract
|
|
it--must change his mind and way--must be humbled and ashamed for what
|
|
he has done. His repentance must be particular: "Repent of this, own
|
|
thyself guilty in this, and be sorry for it." He must lay a load upon
|
|
himself for it, must not extenuate it, by calling it a mistake, or
|
|
misguided zeal, but must aggravate it by calling it <I>wickedness,</I>
|
|
his wickedness, the fruit of his own corruption. Those that have said
|
|
and done amiss must, as far as they can, unsay it and undo it again by
|
|
repentance. <I>Secondly,</I> He must <I>pray</I> to God, must pray that
|
|
God would give him repentance, and pardon upon repentance. Penitents
|
|
must pray, which implies a desire towards God, and a confidence in
|
|
Christ. Simon Magus, as great a man as he thinks himself, shall not be
|
|
courted into the apostles' communion (how much soever some would think
|
|
it a reputation to them) upon any other terms than those upon which
|
|
other sinners are admitted--repentance and prayer.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] What encouragement he gives him to do this: <I>If perhaps the
|
|
thought of thy heart,</I> this wicked thought of thine, <I>may be
|
|
forgiven thee.</I> Note, <I>First,</I> There may be a great deal of
|
|
wickedness in the thought of the heart, its false notions, and corrupt
|
|
affections, and wicked projects, which must be repented of, or we are
|
|
undone. <I>Secondly,</I> The thought of the heart, though ever so
|
|
wicked, shall be forgiven, upon our repentance, and not laid to our
|
|
charge. When Peter here puts a <I>perhaps</I> upon it, the doubt is of
|
|
the sincerity of his repentance, not of his pardon if his repentance be
|
|
sincere. <I>If indeed the thought of thy heart may be forgiven,</I> so
|
|
it may be read. Or it intimates that the greatness of his sin might
|
|
justly make the pardon doubtful, though the promise of the gospel had
|
|
put the matter out of doubt, in case he did truly repent: like that
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:29">Lam. iii. 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>If so be there may be hope.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] Simon's request to them to pray for him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was startled and put into confusion by that which Peter said,
|
|
finding that resented thus which he thought would have been embraced
|
|
with both arms; and he cries out, <I>Pray you to the Lord for me, that
|
|
none of the things which you have spoken come upon me.</I> Here was,
|
|
<I>First,</I> Something well--that he was affected with the reproof
|
|
given him, and terrified by the character given of him, enough to make
|
|
the stoutest heart to tremble; and, this being so, he begged the
|
|
prayers of the apostles for him, wishing to have an interest in them,
|
|
who, he believed, had a good interest in heaven. <I>Secondly,</I>
|
|
Something wanting. He begged of them to pray for him, but did not pray
|
|
for himself, as he ought to have done; and, in desiring them to pray
|
|
for him, his concern is more that the judgments he had made himself
|
|
liable to might be prevented than that his corruptions might be
|
|
mortified, and his heart, by divine grace, be made right in the sight
|
|
of God; like Pharaoh, who would have Moses entreat the Lord for him,
|
|
that he would take away this death only, not that he would take away
|
|
this sin, this hardness of heart,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+8:8,10:17">Exod. viii. 8; x. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some think that Peter had denounced some particular judgments against
|
|
him, as against Ananias and Sapphira, which, upon this submission of
|
|
his, at the apostle's intercession, were prevented; or, from what is
|
|
related, he might infer that some token of God's wrath would fall upon
|
|
him, which he thus dreaded and deprecated.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> Here is the return of the apostles to Jerusalem, when
|
|
they had finished the business they came about; for as yet they were
|
|
not to disperse; but, though they came hither to do that work which was
|
|
peculiar to them as apostles, yet, opportunity offering itself, they
|
|
applied themselves to that which was common to all gospel ministers.
|
|
|
|
1. There, in the city of Samaria, they were preachers: <I>They
|
|
testified the word of the Lord,</I> solemnly attested the truth of the
|
|
gospel, and confirmed what the other ministers preached. They did not
|
|
pretend to bring them any thing new, though they were apostles, but
|
|
bore their testimony to the word of the Lord as they had received it.
|
|
|
|
2. In their road home they were itinerant preachers; as they passed
|
|
through many villages of the Samaritans they preached the gospel.
|
|
Though the congregations there were not so considerable as those in the
|
|
cities, either for number or figure, yet their souls were as precious,
|
|
and the apostles did not think it below them to preach the gospel to
|
|
them. God has a regard to the inhabitants of his villages in Israel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:11">Judg. v. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so should we.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_39"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ac8_40"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Philip and the Ethiopian.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 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.
|
|
27 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,
|
|
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the
|
|
prophet.
|
|
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself
|
|
to this chariot.
|
|
30 And Philip ran thither to <I>him,</I> and heard him read the
|
|
prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
|
|
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And
|
|
he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
|
|
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was
|
|
led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his
|
|
shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
|
|
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who
|
|
shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the
|
|
earth.
|
|
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of
|
|
whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
|
|
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same
|
|
scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
|
|
36 And as they went on <I>their</I> way, they came unto a certain
|
|
water: and the eunuch said, See, <I>here is</I> water; what doth
|
|
hinder me to be baptized?
|
|
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart,
|
|
thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus
|
|
Christ is the Son of God.
|
|
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went
|
|
down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he
|
|
baptized him.
|
|
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of
|
|
the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and
|
|
he went on his way rejoicing.
|
|
40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he
|
|
preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the story of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch to the
|
|
faith of Christ, by whom, we have reason to think, the knowledge of
|
|
Christ was sent into that country where he lived, and that scripture
|
|
fulfilled, <I>Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands</I> (one of the
|
|
first of the nations) <I>unto God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:31">Ps. lxviii. 31</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Philip the evangelist is directed into the road where he would meet
|
|
with this Ethiopian,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the churches in Samaria were settled, and had ministers appointed
|
|
them, the apostles went back to Jerusalem; but Philip stays, expecting
|
|
to be employed in breaking up fresh ground in the country. And here we
|
|
have,
|
|
|
|
1. Direction given him by an angel (probably in a dream or vision of
|
|
the night) what course to steer: <I>Arise, and go towards the
|
|
south.</I> Though angels were not employed to preach the gospel, they
|
|
were often employed in carrying messages to ministers for advice and
|
|
encouragement, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:19"><I>ch.</I> v. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
We cannot now expect such guides in our way; but doubtless there is a
|
|
special providence of God conversant about the removes and settlements
|
|
of ministers, and one way or other he will direct those who sincerely
|
|
desire to follow him into that way in which he will own them: <I>he
|
|
will guide them with his eye.</I> Philip must <I>go southward, to the
|
|
way that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza,</I> through the desert or
|
|
wilderness of Judah. He would never have thought of going thither, into
|
|
a desert, into a common road through the desert; small probability of
|
|
finding work there! Yet thither he is sent, according to our Saviour's
|
|
parable, fore-telling the call of the Gentiles, <I>Go you into the
|
|
highways, and the hedges,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:9">Matt. xxii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sometimes God opens a door of opportunity to his ministers in places
|
|
very unlikely.
|
|
|
|
2. His obedience to this direction
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He arose and went,</I> without objecting, or so much as asking,
|
|
"What business have I there?" Or, "What likelihood is there of doing
|
|
good there?" <I>He went out, not knowing whither he went,</I> or whom
|
|
he was to meet.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. An account is given of this eunuch
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
who and what he was, on whom this distinguishing favour was bestowed.
|
|
|
|
1. He was a foreigner, <I>a man of Ethiopia.</I> There were two
|
|
Ethiopias, one in Arabia, but that lay east from Canaan; it should seem
|
|
this was Ethiopia in Africa, which lay south, beyond Egypt, a great way
|
|
off from Jerusalem; for <I>in Christ those that were afar off were made
|
|
nigh,</I> according to the promise, <I>that the ends of the earth
|
|
should see the great salvation.</I> The Ethiopians were looked upon as
|
|
the meanest and most despicable of the nations, blackamoors, as if
|
|
nature had stigmatized them; yet the gospel is sent to them, and divine
|
|
grace looks upon them, <I>though they are black, though the sun has
|
|
looked upon them.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. He was a person of quality, a great man in his own country, <I>a
|
|
eunuch,</I> not in body, but in office-lord chamberlain or steward of
|
|
the household; and either by the dignity of his place or by his
|
|
personal character, which commanded respect, he was <I>of great
|
|
authority,</I> and bore a mighty sway <I>under Candace queen of the
|
|
Ethiopians,</I> who probably was successor to the queen of Sheba, who
|
|
is called <I>the queen of the south,</I> that country being governed by
|
|
queens, to whom <I>Candace</I> was a common name, as <I>Pharaoh</I> to
|
|
the kings of Egypt. He <I>had the charge of all her treasure;</I> so
|
|
great a trust did she repose in him. <I>Not many mighty, not many
|
|
noble, are called;</I> but some are.
|
|
|
|
3. He was a proselyte to the Jewish religion, for <I>he came to
|
|
Jerusalem to worship.</I> Some think that he was a proselyte of
|
|
righteousness, who was circumcised, and kept the feasts; others that he
|
|
was only a proselyte of the gate, a Gentile, but who had renounced
|
|
idolatry, and worshipped the God of Israel occasionally in the court of
|
|
the Gentiles; but, if so, then Peter was not the first that preached
|
|
the gospel to the Gentiles, as he says he was. Some think that there
|
|
were remains of the knowledge of the true God in this country, ever
|
|
since the queen of Sheba's time; and probably the ancestor of this
|
|
eunuch was one of her attendants, who transmitted to his posterity what
|
|
he learned at Jerusalem.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Philip and the eunuch are brought together into a close
|
|
conversation; and now Philip shall know the meaning of his being sent
|
|
into a desert, for there he meets with a chariot, that shall serve for
|
|
a synagogue, and one man, the conversion of whom shall be in effect,
|
|
for aught he knows, the conversion of a whole nation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Philip is ordered to fall into company with this traveller that is
|
|
going home from Jerusalem towards Gaza, thinking he has done all the
|
|
business of his journey, when the great business which the overruling
|
|
providence of God designed in it was yet undone. He had been at
|
|
Jerusalem, where the apostles were preaching the Christian faith, and
|
|
multitudes professing it, and yet there he had taken no notice of it,
|
|
and made no enquiries after it--nay, it should seem, had slighted it,
|
|
and turned his back upon it; yet the grace of God pursues him,
|
|
overtakes him in the desert, and there overcomes him. Thus God is often
|
|
<I>found of those that sought him not,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:1">Isa. lxv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Philip has this order, not by an angel, as before, but by the Spirit
|
|
whispering it in his ear
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Go near, and join thyself to this chariot;</I> go so near as that
|
|
gentleman may take notice of thee." We should study to do good to those
|
|
we light in company with upon the road: thus the lips of the righteous
|
|
may feed many. We should not be so shy of all strangers as some affect
|
|
to be. Of those of whom we know nothing else we know this, that they
|
|
have souls.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He finds him reading in his Bible, as he sat in his chariot
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
He <I>ran to him, and heard him read;</I> he read out, for the benefit
|
|
of those that were with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
He not only relieved the tediousness of the journey, but redeemed time
|
|
by reading, not philosophy, history, nor politics, much less a romance
|
|
or a play, but the scriptures, <I>the book of Esaias;</I> that book
|
|
Christ read in
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+4:17">Luke iv. 17</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the eunuch here, which should recommend it particularly to our
|
|
reading. Perhaps the eunuch was now reading over again those portions
|
|
of scripture which he had heard read and expounded at Jerusalem, that
|
|
he might recollect what he had heard. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is the duty of every one of us to converse much with the holy
|
|
scriptures.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Persons of quality should abound more than others in the exercises
|
|
of piety, because their example will influence many, and they have
|
|
their time more at command.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It is wisdom for men of business to redeem time for holy duties;
|
|
time is precious, and it is the best husbandry in the world to gather
|
|
up the fragments of time, that none be lost, to fill up every minute
|
|
with something that will turn to a good account.
|
|
|
|
(4.) When we are returning from public worship we should use means in
|
|
private for the keeping up of the good affections there kindled, and
|
|
the preserving of the good impressions there made,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+29:18">1 Chron. xxix. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
(5.) Those that are diligent in searching the scriptures are in a fair
|
|
way to improve in knowledge; for <I>to him that hath shall be
|
|
given.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. He puts a fair question to him: <I>Understandest thou what thou
|
|
readest?</I> Not by way of reproach, but with design to offer him his
|
|
service. Note, What we read and hear of the word of God it highly
|
|
concerns us to understand, especially what we read and hear concerning
|
|
Christ; and therefore we should often ask ourselves whether we
|
|
understand it or no: <I>Have you understood all these things?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:51">Matt. xiii. 51</A>.
|
|
|
|
And have you understood them aright? We cannot profit by the
|
|
scriptures unless we do in some measure understand them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:16,17">1 Cor. xiv. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, blessed by God, what is necessary to salvation is easy to be
|
|
understood.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The eunuch in a sense of his need of assistance, desires Philip's
|
|
company
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>How can I understand,</I> says he, <I>except some one guide me?</I>
|
|
Therefore pray come up, and sit with me."
|
|
|
|
(1.) He speaks as one that had very low thoughts of himself, and his
|
|
own capacity and attainments. He was so far from taking it as an
|
|
affront to be asked whether he understood what he read, though Philip
|
|
was a stranger, on foot, and probably looked mean (which many a less
|
|
man would have done, and have called him an impertinent fellow, and bid
|
|
him go about his business, what was it to him?) that he takes the
|
|
question kindly, makes a very modest reply, <I>How can I?</I> We have
|
|
reason to think he was an intelligent man, and as well acquainted with
|
|
the meaning of scripture as most were, and yet he modestly confesses
|
|
his weakness. Note, Those that would learn must see their need to be
|
|
taught. The prophet must first own that he knows not what these are,
|
|
and then the angel will tell him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+4:13">Zech. iv. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He speaks as one very desirous to be taught, to have some one to
|
|
guide him. Observe, He read the scripture, though there were many
|
|
things in it which he did not understand. Though there are many things
|
|
in the scriptures which are <I>dark and hard to be understood,</I> nay,
|
|
which are often misunderstood, yet we must not therefore throw them by,
|
|
but study them for the sake of those things that are easy, which is the
|
|
likeliest way to come by degrees to the understanding of those things
|
|
that are difficult: for knowledge and grace grow gradually.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He invited Philip to <I>come up and sit with him;</I> not as Jehu
|
|
took Jonadab into his chariot, to come and see his zeal for the Lord of
|
|
hosts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+10:16">2 Kings x. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
but rather, "Come, see my ignorance, and instruct me." He will gladly
|
|
do Philip the honour to take him into the coach with him, if Philip
|
|
will do him the favour to expound a portion of scripture to him. Note,
|
|
In order to our right understanding of the scripture, it is requisite
|
|
we should have some one to guide us; some good books, and some good
|
|
men, but, above all, the Spirit of grace, to lead us into all
|
|
truth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The portion of scripture which the eunuch recited, with some hints
|
|
of Philip's discourse upon it. The preachers of the gospel had a very
|
|
good handle to take hold of those by who were conversant with the
|
|
scriptures of the Old Testament and received them, especially when they
|
|
found them actually engaged in the study of them, as the eunuch was
|
|
here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The chapter he was reading was the fifty-third of Isaiah, two verses
|
|
of which are here quoted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7,8;Ac+8:32,33"><I>v.</I> 32, 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
part of the seventh and eighth verses; they are set down according to
|
|
the Septuagint version, which in some things differs from the original
|
|
Hebrew. Grotius thinks the eunuch read it in the Hebrew, but that Luke
|
|
takes the Septuagint translation, as readier to the language in which
|
|
he wrote; and he supposes that the eunuch had learned from the many
|
|
Jews that were in Ethiopia both their religion and language. But,
|
|
considering that the Septuagint version was made in Egypt, which was
|
|
the next country adjoining to Ethiopia, and lay between it and
|
|
Jerusalem, I rather think that translation was most familiar to him: it
|
|
appears by
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+20:4">Isa. xx. 4</A>
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that there was much communication between those two nations--Egypt and
|
|
Ethiopia. The greatest variation from the Hebrew is that what in the
|
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original is, <I>He was taken from prison and from judgment</I> (hurried
|
|
with the utmost violence and precipitation from one judgment-seat to
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another; or, <I>From force and from judgment he was taken away;</I>
|
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that is, It was from the fury of the people, and their continual
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clamours, and the judgment of Pilate thereupon, that he was taken
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away), is here read, <I>In his humiliation his judgment was taken
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|
away.</I> He appeared so mean and despicable in their eyes that they
|
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denied him common justice, and against all the rules of equity, to
|
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the benefit of which every man is entitled, they declared him innocent,
|
|
and yet condemned him to die; nothing criminal can be proved upon him,
|
|
but he is down, and down with him. Thus <I>in his humiliation his
|
|
judgment was taken away;</I> so, the sense is much the same with that
|
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of the Hebrew. So that
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:7,8;Ac+8:32,33">these verses</A>
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foretold concerning the Messiah,
|
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(1.) That he should die, should be <I>led to the slaughter,</I> as
|
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sheep that were offered in sacrifice--that his life should be taken
|
|
from among men, taken from the earth. With what little reason then was
|
|
the death of Christ a stumbling-block to the unbelieving Jews, when it
|
|
was so plainly foretold by their own prophets, and was so necessary to
|
|
the accomplishment of his undertaking! Then is the offence of the cross
|
|
ceased.
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(2.) That he should die wrongfully, should die by violence, should be
|
|
hurried out of his life, and <I>his judgment shall be taken
|
|
away</I>--no justice done to him; for he must be <I>cut off, but not
|
|
for himself.</I>
|
|
|
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(3.) That he should die patiently. Like <I>a lamb dumb before the
|
|
shearer,</I> nay, and before the butcher too, <I>so he opened not his
|
|
mouth.</I> Never was there such an example of patience as our Lord
|
|
Jesus was in his sufferings; when he was accused, when he was abused,
|
|
he was silent, <I>reviled not again, threatened not.</I>
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(4.) That yet he should live for ever, to ages which cannot be
|
|
numbered; for so I understand those words, <I>Who shall declare his
|
|
generation?</I> The Hebrew word properly signifies <I>the duration of
|
|
one life,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+1:4">Eccl. i. 4</A>.
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Now who can conceive or express how long he shall continue,
|
|
notwithstanding this; <I>for his life is taken</I> only <I>from the
|
|
earth;</I> in heaven he shall live to endless and innumerable ages, as
|
|
it follows in
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10">Isa. liii. 10</A>,
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<I>He shall prolong his days.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. The eunuch's question upon this is, <I>Of whom speaketh the prophet
|
|
this?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
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|
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He does not desire Philip to give him some critical remarks upon the
|
|
words and phrases, and the idioms of the language, but to acquaint him
|
|
with the general scope and design of the prophecy, to furnish him with
|
|
a key, in the use of which he might, by comparing one thing with
|
|
another, be led into the meaning of the particular passage. Prophecies
|
|
had usually in them something of obscurity, till they were explained by
|
|
the accomplishment of them, as this now was. It is a material question
|
|
he asks, and a very sensible one: "Does the prophet speak this of
|
|
himself, in expectation of being used, being misused, as the other
|
|
prophets were? or does he speak it <I>of some other man,</I> in his own
|
|
age, or in some age to come?" Though the modern Jews will not allow it
|
|
to be spoken of the Messiah, yet their ancient doctors did so interpret
|
|
it; and perhaps the eunuch knew this, and did partly understand it so
|
|
himself, only he proposed this question, to draw on discourse with
|
|
Philip; for the way to improve in learning is to consult the learned.
|
|
As <I>they must enquire the law at the mouth of the priests</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:7">Mal. ii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
so they must enquire the gospel, especially that part of the treasure
|
|
which is hid in the field of the Old Testament, at the mouth of the
|
|
ministers of Christ. The way to receive good instructions is to ask
|
|
good questions.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Philip takes this fair occasion given him to open to him the great
|
|
mystery of the gospel concerning <I>Jesus Christ, and him
|
|
crucified.</I> He <I>began at this scripture,</I> took this for his
|
|
text (as Christ did another passage of the same prophecy,
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+4:21">Luke iv. 21</A>),
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and <I>preached unto him Jesus,</I>
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|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is all the account given us of Philip's sermon, because it was the
|
|
same in effect with Peter's sermons, which we have had before. The
|
|
business of gospel ministers is to preach Jesus, and this is the
|
|
preaching that is likely to do good. It is probable that Philip had now
|
|
occasion for his gift of tongues, that he might preach Christ to this
|
|
Ethiopian in the language of his own country. And here we have an
|
|
instance of speaking of the things of God, and speaking of them to good
|
|
purpose, not only as we <I>sit in the house,</I> but <I>as we walk by
|
|
the way,</I> according to that rule,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:7">Deut. vi. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The eunuch is baptized in the name of Christ,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:36-38"><I>v.</I> 36-38</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that the eunuch had heard at Jerusalem of the doctrine
|
|
of Christ, so that it was not altogether new to him. But, if he had,
|
|
what could that do towards this speedy conquest that was made of his
|
|
heart for Christ. It was a powerful working of the Spirit with and by
|
|
Philip's preaching that gained the point. Now here we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The modest proposal which the eunuch made of himself for baptism
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>As they went on their way,</I> discoursing of Christ, the eunuch
|
|
asking more questions and Philip answering them to his satisfaction,
|
|
they <I>came unto a certain water,</I> a well, river, or pond, the
|
|
sight of which made the eunuch think of being baptized. Thus God, by
|
|
hints of providence which seem casual, sometimes puts his people in
|
|
mind of their duty, of which otherwise perhaps they would not have
|
|
thought. The eunuch knew not how little a while Philip might be with
|
|
him, nor where he might afterwards enquire for him. He could not expect
|
|
his travelling with him to his next stage, and therefore, if Philip
|
|
think fit, he will take the present convenience which offers itself of
|
|
being baptized: "<I>See, here is water,</I> which perhaps we may not
|
|
meet with a great while again; <I>what doth hinder me to be
|
|
baptized?</I> Canst thou show any cause why I should not be admitted a
|
|
disciple and follower of Christ by baptism?" Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) He does not demand baptism, does not say, "Here is water and here
|
|
I am resolved I will be baptized;" for, if Philip have any thing to
|
|
offer to the contrary, he is willing to waive it for the present. If he
|
|
think him not fit to be baptized, or if there be any thing in the
|
|
institution of the ordinance which will not admit such a speedy
|
|
administration of it, he will not insist upon it. The most forward zeal
|
|
must submit to order and rule. But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) He does desire it, and, unless Philip can show cause why not, he
|
|
desires it now, and is not willing to defer it. Note, In the solemn
|
|
dedicating and devoting of ourselves to God, it is good to make haste,
|
|
and not to delay; for the present time is the best time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:60">Ps. cxix. 60</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who have received the thing signified by baptism should not put
|
|
off receiving the sign. The eunuch feared lest the good affections now
|
|
working in him should cool and abate, and therefore was willing
|
|
immediately to bind his soul with the baptismal bonds unto the Lord,
|
|
that he might bring the matter to an issue.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The fair declaration which Philip made him of the terms upon which
|
|
he might have the privilege of baptism
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest;</I> that is, If
|
|
thou believest this doctrine which I have preached to thee concerning
|
|
Jesus, if thou receivest the record God has given concerning him, and
|
|
set to thy seal that it is true." He must believe with all his heart,
|
|
for with the heart man believeth, not with the head only, by an assent
|
|
to gospel truths in the understanding; but with the heart, by a consent
|
|
of the will to gospel terms. "If thou do indeed believe with all thy
|
|
heart, thou art by that united to Christ, and, if thou give proofs and
|
|
evidences that thou dost so, thou mayest by baptism be joined to the
|
|
church."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The confession of faith which the eunuch made in order to his being
|
|
baptized. It is very short, but it is comprehensive and much to the
|
|
purpose, and what was sufficient: <I>I believe that Jesus Christ is the
|
|
Son of God.</I> He was before a worshipper of the true God, so that all
|
|
he had to do now was to <I>receive Christ Jesus the Lord.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He believes that Jesus is <I>the Christ,</I> the true Messiah
|
|
promised, the <I>anointed One.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That Christ is <I>Jesus--a Saviour,</I> the only Saviour of his
|
|
people from their sins. And,
|
|
|
|
(3.) That this Jesus Christ is the <I>Son of God,</I> that he has a
|
|
divine nature, as the Son is of the same nature with the Father; and
|
|
that, being the Son of God, he is the <I>heir of all things.</I> This
|
|
is the principal peculiar doctrine of Christianity, and whosoever
|
|
believe this with all their hearts, and confess it, they and their seed
|
|
are to be baptized.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The baptizing of him hereupon. The eunuch ordered his coachman to
|
|
stop, <I>commanded the chariot to stand still.</I> It was the best
|
|
baiting place he ever met with in any of his journeys. <I>They went
|
|
down both into the water,</I> for they had no convenient vessels with
|
|
them, being upon a journey, wherewith to take up water, and must
|
|
therefore go down into it; not that they stripped off their clothes,
|
|
and went naked into the water, but, going barefoot according to the
|
|
custom, they went perhaps up to the ankles or mid-leg into the water,
|
|
and Philip sprinkled water upon him, according to the prophecy which
|
|
this eunuch had probably but just now read, for it was but a few verses
|
|
before those which Philip found him upon, and was very apposite to his
|
|
case
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:15">Isa. lii. 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>So shall he sprinkle many nations, kings</I> and great men <I>shall
|
|
shut their mouths at him,</I> shall submit to him, and acquiesce in
|
|
him, <I>for that which had not</I> before <I>been told them shall they
|
|
see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider.</I>
|
|
Observe, Though Philip had very lately been deceived in Simon Magus,
|
|
and had admitted him to baptism, though he afterwards appeared to be no
|
|
true convert, yet he did not therefore scruple to baptize the eunuch
|
|
upon his profession of faith immediately, without putting him upon a
|
|
longer trial than usual. If some hypocrites crowd into the church, who
|
|
afterwards prove a grief and scandal to us, yet we must not therefore
|
|
make the door of admission any straiter than Christ has made it; they
|
|
shall answer for their apostasy, and not we.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Philip and the eunuch are separated presently; and this is as
|
|
surprising as the other parts of the story. One would have expected
|
|
that the eunuch should either have stayed with Philip, or have taken
|
|
him along with him into his own country, and, there being so many
|
|
ministers in those parts, he might be spared, and it would be worth
|
|
while: but God ordered otherwise. As soon as they had <I>come up out of
|
|
the water,</I> before the eunuch went into his chariot again, <I>the
|
|
Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:39"><I>v.</I> 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
and did not give him time to make an exhortation to the eunuch, as
|
|
usual after baptism, which it is probable the one intended and the
|
|
other expected. But his sudden departure was sufficient to make up the
|
|
want of that exhortation, for it seems to have been miraculous, and
|
|
that he was <I>caught up</I> in the air in the eunuch's sight, and so
|
|
carried out of his sight; and the working of this miracle upon Philip
|
|
was a confirmation of his doctrine, as much as the working of a miracle
|
|
by him would have been. He was <I>caught away, and the eunuch saw him
|
|
no more,</I> but, having lost his minister, returned to the use of his
|
|
Bible again. Now here we are told,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How the eunuch was disposed: He <I>went on his way rejoicing.</I> He
|
|
pursued his journey. Business called him home, and he must hasten to
|
|
it; for it was no way inconsistent with his Christianity, which places
|
|
no sanctity nor perfection in men's being hermits or recluses, but is a
|
|
religion which men may and ought to carry about with them into the
|
|
affairs of this life. But he went on rejoicing; so far was he from
|
|
reflecting upon this sudden revolution and change, or advancement
|
|
rather, in his religion, with any regret, that his second thoughts
|
|
confirmed him abundantly in it, and he went on, <I>rejoicing with joy
|
|
unspeakable and full of glory;</I> he was never better pleased in all
|
|
his life. He rejoiced,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he himself was joined to Christ and had an interest in him.
|
|
And,
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he had these good tidings to bring to his countrymen, and a
|
|
prospect of bringing them also, by virtue of his interest among them,
|
|
into fellowship with Christ; for he returned, not only a Christian, but
|
|
a minister. Some copies read
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:39">this verse</A>
|
|
|
|
thus: <I>And, when they were come up out of the water, the Holy Spirit
|
|
fell upon the eunuch</I> (without the ceremony of the apostle's
|
|
imposition of hands), <I>but the angel of the Lord caught away
|
|
Philip.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How Philip was disposed of
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He was found at Azotus</I> or <I>Ashdod,</I> formerly a city of the
|
|
Philistines; there the angel or Spirit of the Lord dropped him, which
|
|
was about thirty miles from Gaza, whither the eunuch was going, and
|
|
where Dr. Lightfoot thinks he took ship, and went by sea into his own
|
|
country. But Philip, wherever he was, would not be idle. <I>Passing
|
|
through, he preached in all the cities</I> till he came to Cesarea, and
|
|
there he settled, and, for aught that appears, had his principal
|
|
residence ever after; for at Cesarea we find him in a house of his own,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+21:8"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that had been faithful in working for Christ as an itinerant at
|
|
length gains a settlement.</P>
|
|
|
|
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