Acts 5-9
Although God never repeats Himself, there is often to be observed a similarity in His ways, at the beginning of a new dispensation, with His actings in that which preceded it. This is observable in the section of Peter’s history now before us, in connection with the establishment and progress of God’s new work — Christianity, the essence of which is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
When the Lord Jesus began His public ministry, His divine, as well as Messianic attributes, were attested in a remarkable way. We read, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them. And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan” (Matt. 4:23-2523And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. (Matthew 4:23‑25)). Most of His miracles of healing — and all His miracles, be it noted, were miracles of goodness, not judgment, as sometimes was the case in God’s actings through His servants — were wrought in the early days of His earthly ministry. The object is plain. Attention were called to His presence, and mission. A divine person, the Son of God, was on earth, in human form. The same thing is to be noted in the Acts, in connection with the presence of the Holy Spirit here, as actually come to earth, and indwelling the assembly, and the servants of God. Thus signs and wonders — the exercise of the “gifts of healing” of which we read in 1 Corinthians 14 — were to be expected, and they are not wanting. A divine Person, the third Person of the blessed Trinity, though invisible to mortal eyes, was here, and here in a new way, and His presence was thus attested. Hence we read, “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (Acts 5:12,15-1612And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. (Acts 5:12)
15Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. (Acts 5:15‑16)).
In truth it was the fourth of Matthew over again, the Spirit of God replacing the Son of God, and using as the vessels of His power the apostles, and Peter apparently chiefly.
This miraculous testimony to the power of God had a double effect; people came from far and near to profit by it, and Satan began to tremble for his kingdom, and his servants were “filled with indignation” (vs. 17). Peter is evidently greatly used, as the Lord’s messenger, both for the healing of the bodies of men and the blessing of their souls. Bitter opposition rises, and he and the rest of the apostles are cast into the common prison. But the Lord would not have His work put a stop to by Satan’s servants. God, in providence, watches over His work, and, acting through the ministry of angels, frustrates all the plans of the opposers of His grace.
He had been working miracles through His servants, now He works miraculously for them, so the angel of the Lord opens the prison doors by night, and brings them out, and says, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (vs. 20). Oh, what a commission! How beautiful for the angelic messenger of God to give these dear men this lovely message. “Speak all the words of this life.” Do we know the words of this life? Then we too have a lovely commission, which takes in the whole circle of truth, as our testimony. “All the words of this life.” It means all about Christ, all about redemption through Him, all about forgiveness of sins, all about sanctification, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, — all the things that belong to Christ.
There is immense power in this charge, “Speak to the people all the words of this life.” The gospel was, and is, the power of God. It alone can meet man’s necessity. All other agencies are really futile. We live in a day when education, equalization, social elevation, and temperance reformation have each and all their many advocates. They all fail to meet the case. Man’s condition as a sinner away from God, and sunk under sin, and the power of Satan, is alone met by the gospel of Christ, which quickens him out of death, gives him a new nature, a new life, a new power, and a new object. To attempt to patch up, improve, mend, or reform the old nature is a hopeless, and God-forbidden task. “Go, stand and speak to the people all the words of this life” is the divine commission now. This is God’s panacea for the hopeless ruin, and moral depravity in which the whole human family is sunk. A dead man needs life. “Dead in trespasses and sins” exactly describes man’s condition. How sweetly suited to his state is the remedy the servants of God are to use, “the words of this life.” Let us see to it that we use only this divine remedy. It is all powerful. Like Goliath’s sword, “there is none like it.” The Lord’s command is plain. Ring out the gospel. Preach it “in season and out of season.” It alone will lift man up to God, as, in it, God has come down to man.
Peter and the apostles gave immediate heed to the angelic injunction, and go to the temple and preach.
Meanwhile the council gathers, and sends officers “to have them brought.” The officers go, and return, saying, “The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers without before the doors; but when we had opened, we found no man within.” Well might the council be puzzled, and doubt “whereunto this would grow.” They had to deal with God, not man, and had left Him out of their reckoning. This is ever the way of the world. Their confusion is added to at the moment as “then came one and told them saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people” (vs. 25). Again the preachers are taken, but without violence, for the officers feared the people.
After this Peter and his brethren stand before the council again, and the high priest asks them, in a supercilious way, “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?” Ah! my friend, you will have to own “this name” yet. God has raised Him who bears it from the dead, and the day is not far distant when every knee shall bow to Him, angels, men, and demons. Have you confessed His name yet? The day is coming when you must, if you have not. You had better do it now, willingly, in the day of grace, and be saved, rather than be compelled to bow to it in the day of judgment.
The high priest says, “Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine” (it was lovely doctrine, for it was all about Jesus), “and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Oh, Satan is a crafty master. He knows how to urge a man on to a deed of darkness, and then come and give him good reasons for it. This high priest was the very man who had condemned the Lord, and round him were the people who, in Pilate’s hall, had clamored for His blood, saying, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:2525Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:25)); and now he says, forsooth, “Ye intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Ah! my friend, His blood must be upon you, either as a shelter from judgment, and as bringing you to God, or, as crying for vengeance, because of His murder!
Had not these men clamored for the blood of the Saviour? Yes; and, as far as they were concerned, had brought about His death, and they now wished also to put His servants to death.
The high priest remonstrates with them on the ground of his former prohibition, but the contemptuous language used is very notable. He will not name Jesus. He only speaks of “this name” — “your doctrine” — “this man’s blood.” Peter’s reply, in name of the apostles, is the expression of a settled purpose, rather than any attempt to remonstrate, or to give light to those who need and seek it. This his audience did not desire. They were utterly opposed to God — Peter and his friends were for Him.
Observe now Peter’s answer, given by the Holy Spirit, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” These religious leaders of men were opposed to Christ. The apostles were not setting themselves up against the civil power. That a Christian must never do. But Judaism was an ecclesiastical principle, judged of God, and set aside, and here acting in opposition to Christ.
Then Peter once more boldly presses home their sin upon them, saying, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses of these things: and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey Him” (verses 31-32). Let me draw you, my friend, from the toils of the god of this world, and bring you bonded low at the feet of this Prince and Saviour now. Is not a Saviour just what you want? It is I and what you need God sends to you. He is a Saviour in glory today for every anxious soul that wants Him. God gives repentance, and forgiveness of sins through Him, not to Israel only, but to any needy sinner that will bow to Him. Believe Him now, and get these two deep blessings — repentance, and forgiveness of sins. Have you never bowed to, never owned Him yet? Are you still a guilty sinner, an opposer of Jesus? Ah! it is high time you were brought to repentance, for there is something else coming — judgment? It is looming in the distance, but, meantime, we preach repentance and forgiveness of sins.
What is repentance? Owning that what God says of you is true. Repentance is the judgment that the soul passes on itself. It receives the testimony of God, and when a soul believes there is a Saviour in glory, and that it has never yet bowed down to that Saviour, I believe an arrow of conviction goes through that soul.
Peter was repentant when he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Job, when he said to God, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee,” was repentant, for he adds, “Wherefore I abhor myself” (Job 42:5-65I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:5‑6)).
Never let us forgot that, “Repentance is the teardrop in the eye of Faith.” If you are brought to repentance, self-judgment, and contrition now, I know the hand that will wipe that tear from your eyes. It is the hand that was nailed to the tree for you! I know whose voice will whisper, “Fear not, thy sins are forgiven thee.” But if you go on heedless and unrepentant, O sinner, and wake up in hell, you will have tears in plenty, but no hand there to dry them.
There is forgiveness of sins now. When I see my ruined and lost condition, and bow to Jesus, I get forgiveness, and then the Holy Spirit sheds abroad the love of God in the heart.
Peter’s testimony cuts his hearers to the heart; but, alas they did not repent. This is proved by what follows, for “they took counsel to slay them.” At this juncture Gamaliel steps in with his advice, “Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found to fight against God” (vss. 38-39). To this they agree in measure, beat the apostles, command them that they shall not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. They, in no wise depressed, or dejected, depart, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Affliction for Christ’s name, and joy in the Spirit ever go together. What a happy company they were that day! Would that we were all more like them. Weak in themselves they were maintained of God, and consequently “daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (vs. 42).
The opposition of the high priest and his followers towards the apostles and their work was only checked for the moment, and not extinguished, as events show. If we turn now to Acts 7, we find Stephen witnessing for Jesus, and martyred for his faithfulness. Thereafter a general persecution broke out against the saints (chap. 8:1-4). I have no doubt Satan thought he had done a good stroke of business when he sent Stephen out of the world, but Satan always outwits himself. Numbers went out preaching the Word. Philip, who had been among the seven deacons, ordained by the apostles to look after the poor in Jerusalem, found his office interrupted by the persecution. But he evidently had a gift from Christ, and a warrant to preach from the Lord. He made such good use of his gift, that in the Acts 21 we find that he has graduated, and had a degree conferred on him. There he is called “Philip the Evangelist.” A noble degree indeed I Here, in the eighth chapter, Philip, turned out of diaconal work, begins a far higher service, and, going down to Samaria, preaches Christ. As a result — and it is just the right one — “there was great joy in that city” (vs. 8). Yes, when Christ is preached, and Christ is believed, there is always “great joy”; and if you have not great joy, it is because you have not given Christ His right place in your heart. The man that is happy in the Lord has the right to look bright. Some believers in Jesus are joyless, because they are so little looking to Christ. They are occupied with themselves, their circumstances, their bodies perhaps, something that is not Christ. They have too much of Christ to be able to enjoy the world, and too much of the world to enjoy Christ.
Next we have the devil coining in to imitate God’s work, so he gets Simon the sorcerer, to profess conversion, that he may spoil it, and cast discredit on it. But the devil is always outwitted. Simon’s case does not really fling discredit on Christianity at all. What does a bad bank-note prove? That there are plenty of good ones. Even so, a false professor of Christ is really a testimony to the truth, of which he knows nothing, but which tens of thousands rejoice in, or he would not have falsely essayed to join them.
Simon Magus was a miracle-lover, and lived to influence the people’s minds thereby. But Philip was preaching Christ, something that met the deep need of the heart of man, and Simon was distanced. “Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done” (vs. 18). But the faith of a man who sees miracles and believes is not divinely produced faith; for what I believe, because I see it with my eye, is not faith at all. I have no doubt when Simon confessed the Lord, and Philip baptized him, that Philip thought he had caught a great fish, and would have brought him into the assembly; but the Lord had His eye on His assembly, and on His dear servant, as well as on this daring sinner, so, by means of Peter, He brings out his real state.
Evidently, before Philip reached Samaria, Simon Magus had by his sorcery gained an immense hold on the Samaritans. We read that he “bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one; to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God” (vss. 9-10). But the ministry of Philip, meeting, as it did, the deep need of the conscience and heart, delivered numbers from Simon’s influence. His sorceries were dispelled from their minds by the truth and light of God. Seeing the way the current ran, I take it, Simon thought the best thing he could do was to go with the tide, and see if he could not yet keep his position. Carried by the strong current, it is quite possible his intelligence assented to the authority and power of the name of Jesus, whom Philip preached. That his conscience and heart were not reached is manifest, as the desire for his own glory is his uppermost thought. This reveals the profound moral darkness of his soul. Light — God’s light — he could not have had; as the reception of that always leads the new-born soul to have, in measure, thoughts which are according to God. Simon had nothing of this about him; and Peter is instrumental in saving the assembly from the introduction of a hypocrite, that Satan sought to foist in, and whom the warm-hearted evangelist Philip appeared prepared to welcome.
The apostles Peter and John had come down from Jerusalem and having laid their hands on the Samaritan believers, they had received the Holy Ghost. “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay bands, he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou halt thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.” How solemn for anyone who is a mere professor of Christianity? Are you only a mere professor of Christianity? “Thou halt neither part nor lot in this matter,” is a Spirit-blown trumpet note that may well awaken you from your awful delusion. With what divine clearness does Peter look into the man’s soul, as he says, “Thy heart is not right in the sight of God.” I ask you, Is your heart right with God? Shirk not this plain question, I beseech you. Peter’s last words to Simon are, “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”
And when Simon gets these solemn words said to him, what does he do? Fall on his knees, and cry to God for mercy? No; he would have his praying done by proxy, like thousands in Christendom today. “Pray ye to the Lord for me,” is his answer. You pray for me, Peter, he says. I do not hear that Peter did pray for him, and we hear no more of him. I fear he had a grand opportunity of salvation, and missed it. Do not imitate him Simon Magus is like a buoy, affixed to a sunken rock by the hand of God, to keep passing ships off it. He is a solemn warning to all false professors. To all such I would say, Learn this lesson — that neither baptism, nor making a profession of Christ can save you. He was baptized, and professed to follow Christ, and sought entrance into God’s assembly. That he was not then saved is clear; that he over was saved is doubtful. Nothing will do but the real possession of Christ.
Ananias and Sapphira, we see, were detected inside the assembly; Simon is detected outside it, never getting in. May I ask, my friend, Is your soul right with God? If not, do not sleep tonight till this question is happily settled in the affirmative. Are you still in the gall of bitterness, or are you in the happy position of a child of God, having Christ as the joy of your soul? If you have Christ as your life, your object, and your guardian, going through this scene, learn also that He is the coming Bridegroom, and soon He will take you up to be with Him.
If you have never known Him in this way yet, the Lord grant that this day may be the beginning of your thus knowing Him, and of your having the joy of that knowledge.