Who Should Be Baptized?
(No. 2737)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JULY 28, 1901.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A THURSDAY EVENING, IN THE
SUMMER OF 1859.
"If you believe with all your heart, you may." Acts 8:37.
IT is not my practice to preach what people commonly call "baptizing
sermons." It is very seldom that I even mention the subject of Baptism
in my preaching, for I find that many of my hearers learn the
Scriptural teaching concerning it without much help from me. Of those
who have come to unite with us in Church fellowship, a very large
proportion consists of persons who have searched out the Truth of God
upon this matter for themselves and could in no wise trace their
alteration in sentiment to any remark of mine, but they had seen the
ordinance clearly revealed in Holy Scripture. This is a method of
arriving at the Truth which I greatly prefer to any instruction
imparted by myself, for, in the case of people thus Divinely taught, I
know that their faith will "not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God." I refused, on one occasion, to go to Ireland when
invited to do so by a Brother who gave, as the reason why he wished me
to go, that by going there I should greatly increase the Baptist
denomination. "No," I said, "I would not go across the street, much
less across the sea, merely to make people Baptists." Wherever I may
be, I endeavor, as in the sight of God, so to deal with men as to bring
them to Christ, leaving the Spirit of God further to take of the things
of Christ and reveal them unto them.
Yet I dare not be altogether silent concerning Believers' Baptism. If I
would make full proof of my ministry and preach the whole Gospel as it
is contained in the New Testament, I must proclaim the Truth of God
with regard to that great ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He
has, Himself, put in such an important position by coupling it with
faith and salvation–"He that believes and is baptized shall be saved."
Still, let me assure you, dear Friends, that I do not introduce this
topic in any controversial spirit, for that I would abhor–but only
because I feel it to be "the burden of the Lord" that presses upon me
and, as it is a part of God's Holy Word, I must preach thereon.
In the excellent and estimable Presbyterian Church, before the
administration of the Lord's Supper, it is usual to have a sermon for
the purpose of what is called "fencing the Table." That fencing is a
great part of the duty of the Christian minister in many other matters
beside the Communion. All Bible doctrines, all God's promises and both
Christ's ordinances need to be fenced! In the fencing of the Lord's
Table, the principal topic of the preacher is–Who are the fit subjects
for the reception of the Lord's Supper? Who my draw near and partake of
the symbolic bread and wine, and who may not approach?
Now, as the Communion Table should be fenced, so also should the
Baptismal Pool, so should the promises of God and so should those great
and glorious doctrines which are the essentials of our faith! And I
believe that the only fence which is proper and Scriptural is that
which is given in our text, "If you believe with all your heart, you
may." If a man says to me, "May I reckon myself to be one of the
elect?" I reply, "God certainly has an elect people, but you have no
right to consider yourself as one of them unless you believe with all
your heart." Then there is the Doctrine of Effectual Calling–and if
anyone asks me if he is effectually called, I answer, "If you believe
with all your heart, then you certainly have an interest in this
glorious Doctrine of God's Grace." Then, with regard to the Doctrine of
Redemption by the blood of Christ, which is the basis and foundation of
all our hopes, I see no warrant for telling any man that he is redeemed
until I can get him to give a full and satisfactory reply to this
enquiry, "Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
with all your heart?" It seems to me that the Doctrines of the Gospel
have no truly comforting message to any man until he believes upon
Christ with all his heart.
So also is it with the promises of God. They are rich, dainty,
spiritual fare which He has spread upon the table of His banqueting
house, but no one who does not believe in Christ with all his heart has
any right to lay hold on the "exceedingly great and precious promises"
which God has recorded for the comfort of His own people. I know that
there are some loving and gracious invitations which are addressed to
the sinner, and I thank God that it is so, but I also know that the
sinner can never realize the sweetness of them until he believes in
Jesus. I am sure that he cannot comply with the invitation except by
believing with all his heart–and that he must be a stranger to the
gracious promises and encouraging invitations until he comes and puts
his trust in "Jesus only."
I am fully persuaded that it is the same with the ordinances of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord's Table is not, on any pretense, to be
approached by those who do not believe in Him with all their heart.
"Away, you profane!" should be the cry of the Christian minister when
he is about to dispense the sacred emblems. Believer in Christ, you are
heartily welcome! You have a right to come to the Table of your Lord if
you believe in Him with all your heart. Whoever and whatever you may
be, the only barrier which we can rightly set before you bears upon it
this inscription, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." No, if
you believe, there is no barrier, so come and welcome! We dare not set
up before the Table of our Lord any barrier which God Himself has not
put there, so we invite to it all who have believed in Jesus–but we
solemnly warn all those who come and partake of this ordinance without
faith in Christ–that they are eating and drinking condemnation unto
themselves, not discerning the Lord's body, for none have the right to
approach His Table but those who, with a true heart, believe in Christ
and in Him alone.
It is equally so with regard to the other ordinance of Believers'
Baptism. Whatever opinions different men may hold concerning it, the
Word of God must stand and it is our duty to preach all that is there
revealed to us. One point that is very plain is that no one has a right
to this ordinance until he is a Believer in Christ. I am astonished
that any Christians should ever have imagined that this rule could be
relaxed in any case, and it has often puzzled me that all Calvinists do
not see that Baptism must belong to the people of God, and to them
only. Do we not rightly teach that the Doctrines of Scripture are for
the comfort and instruction of the Believer? That the promises of God
are, as a rule, for the Believer? That, in fact, the whole plan of
God's dispensation of Grace is on behalf of the Believer, and the
Believer only? Then I cannot understand upon what ground any solitary
exception should be made to the Divine Rule, and that it should be
imagined that this solemn ordinance should be left open to all the
world–not merely to all the intelligent inhabitants of the world, but
also be left so open that even an unconscious infant might become the
subject of it!
Not only is that a convincing argument with me, but, as I understand
it, the whole Gospel of Christ is addressed to intelligent individuals.
I cannot see anything that I could do to any purpose if I were called
upon to preach to an unconscious person. The Gospel appeals to men's
understanding and heart, but if their whole mental powers are in a
dormant condition, I do not see what I, as a preacher, can do in such a
case, or what bearing the Gospel itself has upon such people. I am
amazed that an unconscious babe should be made the partaker of an
ordinance which, according to the plain teaching of the Scriptures,
requires the conscious acquiescence and complete heart-trust of the
recipient! Very few, if any, would argue that infants ought to receive
the Lord's Supper, but there is no more Scriptural warrant for bringing
them to the one ordinance than there is for bringing them to the other!
The Church of England Catechism is quite right when it says that
repentance and faith are required of persons to be baptized, but its
practice is not in accordance with that Scriptural teaching. The
godfather and godmother of the child, when they bring him to the font,
promise, in his name, that he shall repent and believe, and that he
shall renounce the devil and all his works–this is more than the child
himself could promise to do, and more than I could promise to do! Or,
if I did say so, I would be a liar to God and to my own soul, since it
would be utterly impossible for me to fulfill such a promise! The
theory of the State Church is that this promise of repentance and faith
is like the paper money that we have in circulation. It is true that it
is not the current coin of repentance and faith, nevertheless it is
valid–the promise that the child shall repent and believe is
sufficient! This seems to me to be a strange figment for any rational
creature to endorse!
I will put the case thus–suppose that there is a king who has absolute
dominion over his subjects–and suppose that there is a certain work to
be done. Say, the insertion of glass in a window which has been broken.
Further, imagine
that there are two workmen, to both of whom the king gives the command,
"Set to work and mend that window." One of them says, "I will not." The
other says, "I will," yet straightway hangs cobwebs over the broken
places. It appears to me that there is not much difference in the
disobedience in the two cases! And it is very much the same with those
who positively refuse to obey what they know to be the plain commands
of God's Word concerning Baptism–those who practically disobey those
commands by substituting the sprinkling of babies for the immersion of
Believers, and then bringing in the fiction of sponsorship to support
their alteration of the Divine ordinance! To my mind, it is a vain
attempt to evade compliance with a plain and simple command and is,
therefore, worse than avowed disobedience would have been. I can
understand the position of a man who does not, in his own conscience,
feel that this is an ordinance which is limited to the Believer, but I
cannot comprehend the consistency of one who says that repentance and
faith are necessary before Baptism and who then takes the unconscious
infant into his arms, sprinkles a few drops of water upon his brow and
declares that he has become a child of God, and an inheritor of the
Kingdom of Heaven! That seems to me to be not only the height of
absurdity, but to be also a heinous sin in the sight of the Most High
God.
I repeat what I have already said, that the fencing of both Christ's
ordinances can be accomplished by the condition laid down in our text,
"If you believe with all your heart, you may." I cannot thrust my
Brothers and Sisters from the Lord's Table if they believe in Him with
all their heart, nor can I keep back from Baptism any child who
believes in Jesus with all his heart. But, on the other hand, though he
is gray-headed and venerable–if he is not a Believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, it is not my business, as a servant of the Lord, to alter my
King's laws so as to please him, but, rather, to say to him, "Stand
back until you are in a fit state to obey my Master's commands! You are
not yet entitled to share the privileges that belong to God's family.
Until you have believed in Jesus and are thus proved to be one of His
children, I cannot admit you as a partaker of either of the ordinances
which He has ordained."
Now I am going to practically carry out the teaching of the text by
briefly and affectionately addressing our dear friends who are about to
be baptized. The observance of this ordinance will awaken, in many of
our minds, recollections of similar services in the past. It spreads to
my remembrance a river in Cambridgeshire, with a great assembly of
spectators on the banks, and a youth walking into the midst of the
flowing stream and there giving himself up, spirit, soul, and body, to
the service of his Master. It recalls to me the hour when I thus
publicly avowed my allegiance to the King of kings and I can join with
John Newton in saying to my dear Lord and Master–
"Many days have passed since then, Many changes I have seen. Yet have
been upheld till now Who could hold me up but Thou?" Perhaps others,
who have thus "put on Christ," may be cheered, and refreshed, and
stirred up by the address I shall now give to those who will presently
enter the Baptismal Pool.
I. In explaining the text, we will take it almost word by word and,
first, dear Friends, note THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL FAITH–"If you
believe with all your heart, you may" be baptized.
Have you believed in Christ for yourselves? It is useless for you to
say that you are the sons of pious parents, the daughters of godly
fathers and mothers. Unless you yourselves believe in Jesus, you will
be cast down to Hell just as surely as will the ungodly descendants of
wicked men and women! The faith of your parents may be blessed by God
as the means by which you will be brought to Christ, but if you are not
brought to Him, all the faith of others cannot avail for your
salvation. Though you should have Abraham to be your father, and Sarah
to be your mother, even then you could not be saved without your own
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. How apt are we, who occupy the
family pew in the House of God, and who from our infancy have been
brought up to hear the Word preached, to imagine that there is a kind
of family holiness which may avail for us all and to believe that
because our parents were Christians, we also are saved! Yet it is not
so–there is no such thing as a Christian family, sufficient to include
you at the Last Great Day, unless you who belong to it are yourselves
Christians! And there is no such thing as a Christian nation unless the
individuals who compose that nation are all Christians.
Men are always prone to talk of religion in the mass, but, Beloved,
remember that you will have to enter Heaven one by one if you go there
at all. "So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God."
No eyes except your own will avail you in looking to the Cross, or in
weeping over your sin. No other heart's repentance can take the place
of your own heart's godly sorrow for sin. No lips but your own can
breathe the penitential prayer on your behalf, "God be mer-
ciful to me, a sinner." You must be brought to feel your own need of a
Savior. You must yourselves be enabled by the Holy Spirit to put your
trust in Jesus, or else you will as surely be lost as if you had been
born in a Hottentot hut, of parents who neither knew nor loved the
Lord.
Personal religion is an essential prerequisite to admission into the
Church of Christ, or to either of the ordinances which He has
instituted. I shudder when I see men, who are not Christians, taking to
themselves the promises that are addressed to Believers. I have heard a
man say of a sermon, which was meant for the comfort of the children of
God, "Oh, how sweet it was to me!" Whereas he was eating stolen sweets
to which he had no right. "If you believe with all your heart," you may
suck the honey out of the promises. If you believe, you may walk to and
fro in the spiritual Canaan, from Dan to Beersheba, for it is all your
own. From the hilltops to the valleys' utmost depths, all is yours.
Yes, from the very center of Heaven to its circumference, or to its
furthest limits, all is your own possession. But if you believe not,
your pedigree avails you nothing! Your godly parentage shall not
advantage you in the Last Great Day–no, nor even now, for the wrath of
God abides on you because you have not believed on His Son, Jesus
Christ, whom He has sent into the world as the one and only Savior of
sinners!
Put your hands to your hearts, then, my dear Brothers and Sisters, and
search and see whether you do really believe for yourselves personally.
Suppose the Ethiopian eunuch had said, "I do not, myself, believe in
Jesus, but my father and mother did"? Philip would have replied, "Their
faith cannot avail for you. Only if you believe with all your heart,
you may be baptized." Religion is a personal matter, the ordinances of
Christ must be observed by Believers only according to their individual
standing in Him. It is of no use for you to talk of your parents being
in the Covenant of Grace–are you in the Covenant? Can you say, with
David, "He has made with me an Everlasting Covenant, ordered in all
things, and sure"? "Do you believe on the Son of God?" For if you do
not, then we cannot admit you to fellowship with His people, and we
cannot permit you to be baptized in His name.
II. Note, next, THE GREAT PREREQUISITE FOR BAPTISM. "If you believe
with all your heart, you may" be baptized.
So the question each one of you have to answer is this–Do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ? "Well," says one, "I try to serve the Master
as best I can." I am glad to hear it, and if your service is the result
of faith in Christ, I bless God for it–but if it is not based on faith
and is not the fruit of faith–it is worthless. All the service of
unbelieving men is but whitewashed sin. It may look like virtue, but it
is only a base counterfeit, not the genuine coin. Again I put the
question to you–Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
"Well," says another, "I accept all the Doctrines of Grace, beginning
with predestination and ending with final perseverance. I am as
orthodox a Believer as ever lived." That is not all I want to know from
you. Faith in Christ is not the reception of a dry, dead orthodoxy–to
believe in Jesus is not simply to be a sixteen-ounces-to-the-pound
Calvinist. Saving faith is not the mere reception of a creed or form of
any kind. To believe is to trust and no man truly believes–in the New
Testament meaning of the word–until he is brought to trust in Christ,
alone, and takes his whole religion upon trust, relying not on what he
sees, nor on what he is, but on what is revealed in God's Word–not on
what he is, or can be, or shall be, nor on what he does or can do, nor
on what he feels or does not feel–but relying solely on what Christ
has done, is doing and shall yet do.
Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, do you thus believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ with all your hearts? Although you have upon you the attire of
candidates for baptism, I entreat you to retire from this pool if you
do not believe in Christ. I think I see a tear in your eyes and I hear
you say, "Blessed be God that, with many imperfections, I can still
look up to Christ, and say–
'Nothing in my hands I bring: Simply to Your Cross I cling; Naked, come
to You for dress: Helpless, look to You for Grace; Foul, I to the
fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
Well, dear Friend, if you can truly make that declaration, however
feeble your faith may be, this ordinance is for you, the Communion
Table is for you, the Doctrines of the Gospel are yours, the promises
of Christ are yours, yes, Christ Himself is yours! And Christ is All,
therefore, "all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is
God's."
In your Baptism, it should be your aim to please God–"but without
faith it is impossible to please Him." How can that which is not
pleasing to Him be accounted as the observance of one of His
ordinances? But "if you believe with all your heart, you may." Observe
it and your observance will be acceptable in His sight. If Christ is
the unsupported pillar of your hope, the solitary stay and prop of your
trust. If your faith really and truly says, "Nothing save Jesus do I
rely on for salvation," come here, come and welcome! "Come in, you
blessed of the Lord; why do you stand outside?"
Some years ago, a man came to me and said that he wished to be
baptized. I put this question to him, "Why do you wish that?" He
answered, "Because I want to be a Christian." "But," I enquired, "do
you think that Baptism will make you a Christian?" "Yes," he said.
"Then," I replied, "you are grossly mistaken. We baptize none but those
who profess to be already saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism
can have no possible effect in helping you on the road to Heaven." The
man seemed to be utterly staggered at that idea, for he had somehow got
into his head the notion that there was something efficacious in the
ordinance itself. And when I tried to explain to him that the
Scriptures contain no warrant for such a thought as that and,
therefore, we would not baptize any who did not believe themselves to
be already saved, the man went away staggered. Yet I hope that he also
went away resolved to ask himself such solemn questions as these, "How
is it that I am not a Christian? How is it that I am not a follower of
Christ, and that the minister therefore refuses to baptize me, urging
me first to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and after
that to attend to Baptism, but not before?"
God forbid that any of you, dear Friends, should for a single moment
think that there is any saving virtue in the water in this baptistery!
If you were baptized in the River Jordan itself, what could that avail
you? Though the waters of Baptism flowed down from the Garden of Eden,
they could not wash away the stain of sin! Nothing but the blood of
Jesus can do that! He that has been plunged in that–
"Fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins," may also be
plunged into the Baptismal Pool. When anyone believes, let him be
baptized. But if you believe not, stand back! This is a sacred circle
into which no unbeliever can be permitted to enter. "If you believe,"
come here, and confess your faith as your Lord ordained. But if you
believe not, take heed lest you destroy your own soul by meddling with
that ordinance which is not for you in your present condition.
III. Now, thirdly, note THE KIND OF FAITH THAT IS HERE MENTIONED. "If
you believe with all your heart."
There is a great deal of difference between faith andfaith. One kind is
the faith of the head and another is the faith of the heart. Some men
have all their religion in their head–like poor, miserable,
poverty-stricken students, they confine their religion to their head
and there they let it feed upon some dry thought or empty speculation.
But the faith of the true Christian occupies the best parlor of the
heart. It has its citadel in the innermost part of his being. It dwells
at home in his inmost soul.
The devil himself has the faith of the head. He believes and trembles.
He is as orthodox as many very learned divines. As far as the mere
statement of theology is concerned, I could trust the devil to draw up
a creed. I believe he is thoroughly sound and that he knows a great
deal more about God's Word than most of us do. He can quote it
correctly when he pleases, although he is also adept at misquoting it
for his own ends. I do not think that the devil ever was an Arminian,
or that he ever will be one–he understands the Doctrines of Grace, at
least in his head, too well for that. In one respect, he is better than
some Antinomians, for they believe and presume, while he believes and
trembles. Still, Satan and Anti-nomians never would be very great
enemies. I wonder that they talk about the devil tempting them–I
believe that they tempt themselves, or that they tempt the devil to
tempt them if he really does tempt them at all!
Yet the devil hates much that he believes with his head. There is, for
instance, the Doctrine of Election. "Ah," he says, "I am not able to
deny the truth of that Doctrine, yet I hate it, for I know that I am
not one of the elect." It is the same with redemption. The devil says,
"I loathe that Doctrine! I know that Christ has redeemed His people
with His blood, but I am not one of them. The Cross of Christ is
glorious, and I am obliged to admit its power, for I have felt it
often, and I am yet to feel it more and more, but I hate the Cross, for
it crushes me, and takes multitudes of my subjects away from me. I know
that Jesus is the Son of God–I wish He were not and if I could, I
would tear Him from His
Throne and cast Him out of His dominions." So, you see, the devil
believes with his head much that he hates with his heart.
Faith in Christ is never true unless it is the faith of the heart,
unless the heart as well as the head gives assent to it, unless the
Truth is not only believed, but is also loved. Do you, dear Friends,
thus believe the Truth of God with your hearts? Are you not only
convinced of it, but is it your joy and delight? Do you know that you
are a sinner, and do you mourn over that sad fact? Do you know this
truth experimentally? Do you also know Christ as your Savior? Have you
received Him into your inmost hearts as a possession of vital
importance to you? Do you appreciate His Presence, and rejoice to have
Him always with you? Do you know that the blood of Jesus blots out sin?
Have you learned that Truth of God, not merely as a Scriptural
Doctrine, but as a matter of heartfelt experience inasmuch as your sins
have been thus blotted out? Do you believe, in your heart, that the
Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier? Do you heartily believe that Truth and
therefore do you pray, "Lord, renew and sanctify me by Your gracious
Spirit in the inner man"?
If not, whatever faith you may think you have does not entitle you to
Baptism, much less to Heaven! Therefore, stand back! If your head alone
is full of that which is sound, and right, and true–and your heart is
empty of faith in Christ, and love to God and to His Truth–stand back
from this baptistery, for you must not intrude into the place which is
reserved for the followers of Christ!
Philip said to the eunuch, "If you believe with all your heart, you may
be baptized." I am afraid that some who have been baptized in this pool
have not believed with all their heart. They said they did, but I
question whether it was true concerning all of them. And, Beloved, if
we honestly test ourselves, some of us will have grave cause to enquire
whether we have any right to the ordinance of Believers' Baptism. Do
you, Friend, believe on Christ with all your heart? Christ will have
the whole of your heart or none at all! He will never be content to
have part, and to leave the devil to occupy the rest. True Believers
will give all their heart to Christ, even though they cannot yet get
possession of all of it for Him. The fact is, it is very much the same
with the Believer's heart as it was with the Israelites in Canaan–the
whole land belonged to them, yet they could not get possession of it
all for a while–they had to fight with the Canaanites and to drive
them out. Now, candidates for Baptism, can you say from your heart that
you give up all to Christ? Can each one of you say to your Lord–
"The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol be, Help me to tear
it from Your Throne, And worship only Thee"?
Can you give up all–life, body, soul, health, wealth, or talent–can
you give up all to Christ? If you cannot, you have not believed on Him
with all your heart–there is some part that you have kept back. If you
believe with all your heart, your surrender will be of all your heart.
"Oh," says one, "I desire to give all to Christ." Then, my Brother, you
have given all to Him–you have really done so in effect, and it will
be your privilege practically to carry out your wish by daily making a
full surrender of yourself to Him.
Mark just one other aspect of the text. Have you any other confidence
besides that which you have in Christ? Is there even a little
self-reliance in your heart with regard to salvation, or a little
reliance on your own good works or on any ceremonies that you can
observe? Then I must say to you, "Stand back from this baptistery until
you believe in Christ with all your heart, and can say to Him–
"All my trust on You is stayed, All my help from You I bring." If you
can truthfully say that, come and welcome! If not, stand back! Here I
can find comfort for myself, for, whatever I cannot say, I can truly
say that I believe in Jesus with all my heart. I have nothing else to
trust to. Others may rely upon their good works, but I have none to
which I can trust. Some may rely upon their prayers, but I have to weep
because mine are so few and so feeble. Some may rest on ceremonies, but
I have often proved the futility of even the best of them. At the
Lord's Table itself, I dare not trust to any blessing received through
the emblems of my Savior's broken body and shed blood–my reliance must
be upon Him alone. My own strength is perfect weakness. I cannot trust
to it, or to anything but Christ. Can you not say the same, dear
Brothers and Sisters? Then may you go down into the water without fear.
But if you believe not with all your heart, stand back from this
baptistery!
In closing my discourse, I would very affectionately put this question
to all my hearers, leaving it to the Holy Spirit to apply it to your
heart–Does it not seem, from this passage, that faith is necessary
beforeBaptism and that, if this eunuch had not believed in Jesus,
Philip would not have baptized him? "I speak as to wise men; judge you
what I say." If any of you are unbelievers, venture not to think that
in your present state you can be baptized in the Scriptural fashion.
But if you are Believers, and have not been baptized, let me put it to
your consciences whether you think you are right in neglecting this
ordinance of Christ? That is a matter for you seriously to think of–it
rests between your Savior and your own soul! I pray the Lord to guide
us all to a right decision. If we are wrong, may He set us right, and
if you are wrong, may He set you right! The prayer of a certain scholar
was very wise one and I commend it to you. In a great dispute in which
he was engaged, he was observed to be frequently writing, so someone
said to him, "May I look at your notes?" "Certainly," he replied. When
the notes were examined, it was found that they simply consisted of the
words, "More light, Lord, more light!" I think that is a request which
we may present for many of our Brothers and Sisters, and certainly for
ourselves, "More light, Lord, more light!"
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ACTS8:4-40.
Verses 4-6. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere
preaching the Word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and
preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed
unto those things which Philip spoke, hearing and seeing the miracles
which he did. We cannot tell how far the soil had been prepared for the
sowing of the Gospel seed by our Lord's visit to Sychar, a city of
Samaria. The influence of the converts in that place may have inclined
the people of the city of Samaria to give more heed to the preaching of
Philip. The work of a great and good man may sometimes seem to die out,
but its effects remain and may extend beyond the place where he
labored.
7-11. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many
that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that
were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city But there
was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used
sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that he 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. And to him they
had regard, because that of long time he bewitched them with sorceries.
He had managed to secure great influence over the people, and he held
them under his wicked rule.
12-17. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning
the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized,
both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the
miracles and signs which were done. Now when the Apostles which were at
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent
unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for
them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit: (for as yet He was
fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the
Holy Spirit. So that miraculous gifts were bestowed upon them. Of
course, there was already manifest among them that Divine operation of
the Spirit of God, by which men are converted, and brought to faith in
Christ–but they had not known the special, attesting, wonder-working
power of the Spirit until the Apostles came among them. A good work was
thus done, yet everything was not altogether as the Apostles could have
wished it to be.
18-26. 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 whomever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy
Spirit. But Peter said unto him, Your money perish with you, because
you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. You
have neither part or lot in this matter: for your heart is not right in
the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray
God, ifperhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For
Iperceive that you are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray you to the Lord for me,
that none of these things which you have spoken come upon me. 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.
And the Angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go
toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
which is desert. He must have wondered at receiving such an order as
that. To be directed to go to a city, he could
understand; but to be sent to a road which went through the desert,
must have seemed strange to him. Yet he obeyed his Lord's orders.
27. And He arose and went Always do as you are told by your Lord. The
first qualification for a good servant of Jesus Christ is immediate
obedience.
27, 28. 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 to worship, was returning, and
sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the Prophet He was a devout man
who was seeking rest of heart, but he could not find it. He had joined
in all the solemn services of the Jewish faith, but as yet he had not
discovered the great secret of eternal life. He was still searching for
it and as he rode along the rough road, he was reading the Book of the
Prophet Isaiah.
29, 30. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join yourself to
this chariot And Philip ran there to him, and heard him read the
Prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you understand what you are reading? That
is the main thing! A religion that is not based upon understanding will
soon come to an end. An emotional religion–one that is nothing but
emotion–will be temporary and transient religion. So Philip enquired
of the eunuch, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31-34. Andhe said, How can I, except some man shouldguide me? Andhe
desired Philip thathe would come up and sit with him. 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: in His humiliation His judgment was taken away: and who
shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. And
the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom speaks the
Prophet? Of himself, or of some other man?That was a very important
question–it went to the very root of the matter. It was useless for
him to read about some unknown person–he must know who it was of whom
the Prophet had written
35. Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and
preached unto him Jesus. You may begin anywhere in the Bible and preach
Jesus. You may begin at the first Chapter of Genesis, or at the last
Chapter of Malachi, at the first of Matthew or the last of Revelation
and still preach Jesus, for He is the sum and substance of the whole
Scripture!
36-40. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:
and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be
baptized? And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. 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.
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: andhe went on his
way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he
preached. See how he kept to his one business wherever he might be–in
Samaria, on the desert pathway, or in the town of Azotus? "He
preached."
40. In all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. Oh, for the same
earnest spirit to be in all of us who profess to be Christ's followers,
that we may preach Him wherever we may be!