Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

for

were imparted, it was with the design of fitting the persons who received them for usefulness in the churches teaching the sinner, and building up the saint:—

6. That a baptism with the Holy Spirit, or the enduing a person with miraculous power, never took place till the person so baptized, or so endued, had received spiritual life-had become quickened from being dead in trespasses and sins-had risen from the dead, and that through the exercise of faith in Christ :

7.-That Apostles never had any successors; that after them there were no persons of their order, nor endued with their power; and that those who received miraculous power, or the gift of the Holy Spirit, through their instrumentality, never did, and never could, impart the miraculous or spiritual gifts which they had received. Hence the importance of considering well that there is no priesthood, or ministry among the churches that has. any inherent spiritual power, and that where there is any pretence to it on the part of any church or individual it is only pretence without the least foundation for it :

8. That the only priesthood in the christian system is, first, that of Christ who offered up Himself as an atoning sacrifice for sin, and is now carrying on His office of priest at the right hand of God for those who come unto God through Him; and, secondly, that of all believers, whether male or female, all believers being a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.):

9.-That the substitute for the infallible teaching of the Apostles was the Scriptures of the New Testament, which came into circulation about the time the personal teaching of the Apostles was about to cease, and that to the Scriptures and no where else, we are to look for truth, and to learn the way to heaven :

And lastly,

:

10. That as the Apostles witnessed to Christ and preached the word of the Lord, so should all the churches of Christ preach the gospel, if not individually, yet by their agents, raising funds for sending forth the truth as it is in Christ to earth's remotest bounds.

XXXIII.

"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 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 had bewitched them with sorceries. 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. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him,Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me,"Acts, viii. 9-13, 18-24.

We have here a melancholy case. The city to which Philip went and preached Christ, and in which he wrought miracles, and whither two of the Apostles went and imparted the Holy Spirit in His miraculous power to true believers by laying their hands upon them, contained a man of the name of Simon, who, for a long time had astonished the people (the nation) of Samaria with magic arts. He appears to have been in the height of his reputation when Philip arrived there, being considered a wonderful man by the people-looked upon by them as 'the great power of God:' which expression, perhaps, implies that what was done they looked upon as done by a power immediately derived from, or imparted to him by, God Himself.

His feats must have been of a surprising kind to have been regarded as they were, unless the people possessed a

lower order of intellect than usual, which we have no reason to suppose was the case. Jugglers, or those who pretend to magic arts, often draw the attention and excite the astonishment of the populace in our own country.

Simon, probably, was very skilful in his profession, as jugglers in the East usually were, and are. But whether he was so, or not, he was looked upon as being so, and doubtlessly gained much money by his tricks; for that, by the 18th verse, we see he was not destitute of, bringing some to the Apostles to bribe them to give to him the same power which they possessed of imparting the Holy Spirit.

However, whatever the man was, and whatever he did, a change took place in him, at least outwardly.

Philip had preached Christ to the Samaritans; the doctrine of the cross had attracted their attention, and their affections. He laboured not in vain, nor spent his strength for naught. He was received as a man of God, and the things which he preached to them concerning the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ became precious to them. They sank down into their hearts, and as good seed, sown into a good soil, produced fruit. They received the word, or the gospel, with all readiness of mind, and probably, like the Bereans, searched the Scriptures, (the Hebrew Scriptures) to see if the things, which Philip preached, were so. Whatever course, however, was pursued by them they received Christ Jesus into their heart, and rejoiced in God their Saviour. There was great joy,' we are told, 'in that city.'

And joy is ever consequent to him who receives the gospel in the love of it; and that because it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.' Such joy was experienced by the Thessalonians. In addressing them, St. Paul says, Ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit.' And the same Apostle, writing to the Romans, says: 'the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.' This joy, evidently, many of the Samaritans

had.

But there was another feature in their case. They not only believed Philip preaching the things concerning the

kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, but they were baptized, both men and women.'*

There can be no question, that by this was meant that they professedly gave themselves to the Lord, dedicated themselves to Jesus Christ to be His disciples, to learn of Him, to follow His teaching, to look for salvation through Him, to have no other Master, no other Saviour, resolving, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to bring forth fruit-fruit unto the praise and glory of God.

This was the designed effect intended by Philip and the other servants of the Lord in preaching Christ and spreading His gospel-to collect together a people who should show forth the praise of Him who had called them out of darkness into His marvellous light-to collect a people, finally to be presented to the Lord by Himself as part of a glorious church or gathering, 'not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish.' Amongst the Samaritans, who gave themselves to the Lord, there were many, we trust, who will finally be found to be of that number or gathering thus to be presented: persons who shall have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

And since the gospel was proclaimed in Jerusalem and preached in Samaria, and other places, the numbers of such have been increasing, are increasing, and will go on to increase, till they shall form a multitude which no man can number of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, who shall stand before the throne clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and shall cry with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.' (Rev. vii. 9, 10.)

But in the Samaritans, who believed Philip's preaching, giving themselves to the Lord, the question arises, how was it done?

If we refer to 1 Cor. x. 2, we read in the English version: 'And all were baptized unto Moses in the sea and in the cloud.' Now this should be, and all baptized themselves t

* BаTTIŠOVтo being middle as well as passive, we might read, they were baptizing themselves.'

† ἐβαπτίσαντο is in the Middle voice.

unto Moses at the seat and by (or at) the cloud.' This baptizing of themselves by the Israelites unto Moses was nothing else than their giving themselves up to him, to obey him, as their guide and leader, What was their position? They had left Egypt, and arrived at a spot where the sea was before them. Not able to go forward by reason of the sea being before them they looked back and saw that their enemies, the Egyptians, were behind them. As danger stared them in the face, both in front and behind they complained of Moses for bringing them into such a state of jeopardy with nothing but destruction, as they conceived, as their lot. Moses came forward and directed them to go forward. Lifting up his rod, the sea divided, affording them a passage to travel along. The cloud in front of them went behind them, taking up a position between them and their enemies. In this new state of things, what did they do? They yielded themselves up to Moses, followed his direction, went forward, and were saved. This act of obedience to Moses, this yielding themselves up to his direction by the cloud, and at the sea, is what is meant, as I conceive, by the Israelites 'baptizing themselves unto Moses.'

Now, as the Greek for the expression (Acts, viii. 12), 'they were baptized' may be rendered they were baptizing themselves,' it may mean no more than that the Samaritans gave themselves up to the Lord-yielded themselves up to an obedience to His commands, teaching, and service, and that without the formality or use of any rite whatever.

If, however, this was not the meaning, and a water-baptism was intended by the expression, then it must have been only John's water-baptism which was introduced to make Christ manifest to Israel. This, after John's decease, no doubt went on, though we know not to what extent, amongst the inhabitants of Palestine who became converts to the christian faith, till the formal opening of the gospel dispensation to the Gentiles. But though it went on without our knowing to what extent, yet we know of no passage or authority which directed its continuance. The baptism referred to as taking place, was certainly not the baptism

In 1 Cor. x. 2 and in Ps. cvi, 7, the Greek, in both instances, is év Tĥ Oaλáoσŋ. In Ps. cvi. 7, it is rendered in the authorised English version at the sea,' as it should be in 1 Cor. x. 2.

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »