Acts 8:14

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 - Peter and John. The twelve kept together at Jerusalem (Act 8:1), and thither these good tidings were brought them that Samaria had received the word of God (Act 8:14), 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: When they heard it, they sent unto them Peter and John. 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,

I. How they advanced and improved those of them that were sincere. It is said (Act 8:16), The Holy Ghost was as yet fallen upon none of them, 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 Act 10:45, Act 10:46. 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, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and so engaged in him and interested in him, which was necessary to salvation, and in this they had joy and satisfaction (Act 10:8), 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 one gift of the Holy Ghost, and upon others another. See Co1 12:4, Co1 12:8; Co1 14:26. Now in order to this, 1. The apostles prayed for them, Act 8:15. The Spirit is given, not to ourselves only (Luk 11:13), but to others also, in answer to prayer: I will put my Spirit within you (Eze 36:27), but I will for this be enquired of, Act 8:37. 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, that they may receive the Holy Ghost; for this includes all blessings. 2. They laid their hands on them, to signify that their prayers were answered, and that the gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon them; for, upon the use of this sign, they received the Holy Ghost, and spoke with tongues. 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.

II. How they discovered and discarded him that was a hypocrite among them, and this was Simon Magus; for they knew how to separate between the precious and the vile. Now observe here,

1. The wicked proposal that Simon made, by which his hypocrisy was discovered (Act 8:18, Act 8:19): When he saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given (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 offered them money, saying, Give me also this power. 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.

2. The just rejection of his proposal, and the cutting reproof Peter gave him for it, Act 8:20-23.

(1.) Peter shows him his crime (Act 8:20): Thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money; 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, it answers all things, 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 thought, that the gift of God may be purchased with money, when the offer of divine grace so expressly runs, without money and without price.

(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 natural man which receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. And therefore Peter tells him plainly, [1.] That his heart was not right in the sight of God, Act 8:21. "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 heart is not right in the sight of God 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 asks, and has not, because he asks amiss, that he may consume it upon his lusts, and be still thought some great one. [2.] That he is in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity: I perceive that thou art so, Act 8:23. 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 perceive it, 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. First, They are in the gall of bitterness - 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 a root of bitterness, that bears gall and wormwood, Deu 29:18. The faculties are corrupted, and the mind embittered against all good, Heb 12:15. It intimates likewise the pernicious consequences of sin; the end is bitter as wormwood. Secondly, They are in the bond of iniquity - 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.

(3.) He reads him his doom in two things -

[1.] He shall sink with his worldly wealth, which he overvalued: Thy money perish with thee. First, 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. Get thee behind me, Satan." 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, Isa 33:15. Secondly, 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 meats for the belly and the belly for meats (Co1 6:13), so goods for money and money for goods, but God shall destroy both it and them - they perish in the using; but this is not the worst of it: thou wilt perish with it, and it with thee; 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 (Luk 16:9), 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. Son, remember this."

[2.] He shall come short of the spiritual blessings which he undervalued (Act 8:21): "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter; 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 thy heart is not right in the sight of God, if thou thinkest that Christianity is a trade to live by in this world, and therefore thou hast no part nor lot in the eternal life in the other world which the gospel offers." Note, First, There are many who profess the Christian religion, and yet have no part nor lot in the matter, no part in Christ (Joh 13:8), no lot in the heavenly Canaan. Secondly, They are those whose hearts are not right in the sight of God, are not animated by a right spirit, nor guided by a right rule, nor directed to the right end.

(4.) He gives him good counsel, notwithstanding, Act 8:22. 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; yet now there is hope in Israel. Observe,

[1.] What it is that he advises him to: He must do his first works. First, He must repent, - 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 wickedness, 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. Secondly, He must pray 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.

[2.] What encouragement he gives him to do this: If perhaps the thought of thy heart, this wicked thought of thine, may be forgiven thee. Note, First, 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. Secondly, 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 perhaps upon it, the doubt is of the sincerity of his repentance, not of his pardon if his repentance be sincere. If indeed the thought of thy heart may be forgiven, 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 (Lam 3:29), If so be there may be hope.

[3.] Simon's request to them to pray for him, Act 8:24. 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, Pray you to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken come upon me. Here was, First, 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. Secondly, 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, Exo 8:8; Exo 10:17. 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.

Lastly, 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: They testified the word of the Lord, 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 (Jdg 5:11), and so should we.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act_8:14-25

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

The first Church visitation

I. The occasion. There is--

1. Christian life to be fostered (verse 14).

2. A want in the Church to be supplied (verse 16).

II. The visitors.

1. Peter--apostolic zeal.

2. Evangelical tenderness.

III. The functions.

1. Prayer in the name of the Church (verse 16).

2. Imposition of hands in the name of God (verse 17).

IV. The effects.

1. The strengthening of the Church (verse 17).

2. The sifting (verse 18). (K. Gerok.)

The deputation to Samaria

This must have been a most instructive experience to John. The apostle who would have prayed for destructive fire is himself sent down to Samaria to invoke the falling of another flame that burns but does not consume! We cannot tell what we may yet do in life. Amongst our old enmities we may yet find our sweetest friendships. Do not seek to destroy any man, however much he may reject you or misunderstand you. A time may come when you can render him the service of prayer.

I. The apostles receive a report from Samaria (verse 14). The text is now easy reading, but there was a day when it was a grand story. It is the dawning of a new day, the winning of a great battle; that day the Gentiles were admitted into the kingdom of Christ. We lose so much by forgetting the circumstances of the case. This is a verse now read as if it had no atmosphere. What is it that we lose in history? The atmosphere; that which gives the novelist or the dramatist supremacy over the dry, technical, and most learned annalist! The dreariest part of every missionary meeting to many persons is the reading of the report--a reading which should bring all the Church together in its noblest enthusiasm, shouting as a conquering host--Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

II. When this report was made the apostles sent down Peter and John. Was Peter then really sent down? We thought that Peter would have sent down other men! Yet how delicate the tribute to his undoubted primacy of love and enthusiasm! He it was who was selected to go down. There is nothing papal here. The Pope is not sent down, he sends down. Our greatest men should always be sent down to the villages under circumstances such as these. Our very grandest prcachers ought to be our missionaries.

III. When Peter and John were come down what did they do? This will reveal the right aspect of apostolic influence and office. Let us read the text in a way of our own, Peter and John sat upon a great and high throne, and waved over the astounded Gentiles a staff that was supposed to have singular power in it, and the amazed and wonder-struck villagers fell back before such dazzling dignity and bewailed their own unworthiness. That would be poor Scripture! How does the text really read?

1. When they were come down, they prayed for the villagers. Pray for inquirers; do not overpower them. Pray in great religious crises, and thus magnify the event, and do not lessen it. Do we pray now? Do we ask as if we meant to have what we ask?

2. They prayed that Samaria might receive the Holy Ghost. Then what had Samaria already received? Only the first baptism. Water will do you no good. It was meant to be a beginning, not an end. We have believed, but have we received the Holy Ghost? People imagine that when they have believed, the work is done. As well tell me that when you have put the fuel into the grate the fire is lighted. We know the truth, what we want is the burning spark I There is no mistaking that. No man can mistake fire. You may paint it, but you cannot warm your hands at the flame on the canvas. Fire is like nothing but itself. It separates man from man, yet unites man to man. It burns up selfishness; purifies, glorifies. It gives a man individuality. It detaches him from the common crowd and gives him a singularity of his own. When the Church has received the Holy Ghost she will be unlike every other community. When the pulpit has been baptized by the Holy Ghost it will stand alone in the supremacy of its power. At present it is the retreat of the mumbler, the living of the essayist. Our religion is at present an argument, our desire is that it may become a passion!

IV. Simon, hearing that through laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was received, offered them money.

1. It is easy to abuse this man, but he acted a most natural and rational part, considering his training, avocation, and the influence he had acquired. He had lived all his life in the market-place; he had never breathed a purer air; he knew but one world, and one language. He saw only the outside--which of us sees any further? We think because we have been to church we are Christians. That is precisely the reasoning of Simon. There has grown up a custom which is known as Simony. He who would hold his place in the Church by virtue of haying bought it is guilty of it. But simony is not in the pulpit alone. We may buy influence, status, and authority in the Church by the use of money. Who is there that does not imagine that everything can be bought? Yet how little in reality can we buy with money! Can you buy sound judgment? Poetic fire? Prophetic insight? Any form of spiritual and enduring power? Know ye that money has hut a little world to live in, and that the highest gifts are not to be purchased with gold. God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and strong in power. To the poorest man He says, Take this gospel and preach it. A manger will do for a cradle when there is in it the Saviour of the world. Do you suppose that because you have little money you have little power, life, responsibility? What have you? You may have the power of prayer! You may be able to speak a word in season to him that is weary. You may have the gift of hope and the faculty of music, and you may be able to lift the load from many a burdened heart. Poorest man, do not despair! You may be rich in ideas, in sympathies, in suggestion, and in all the noblest treasures that can make men wealthy with indestructible possession.

2. There was probably no fixed sum in the mind of Simon. If such a bestowal as that of the Spirit could be effected upon him, money should not stand in the way. This was the hour of apostolic temptation. Silver and gold they had none. Money is always a powerful temptation to the empty pocket. It is very easy when there is no temptation to say what we should do; but when the money is in the hand of the tempter, and when in one moment more it may be in our own, and when the thing asked for in exchange is itself a good thing, where is the man who can return a denial with the emphasis of thunder, and the accent of lightning? The Church is always tempted in this same way. We must always reject the unholy patronage. Do I address a minister who preaches to a moneyed pew? Your ministry will be blighted with well-merited condemnation. Do I minister to a Church that could accept secular patronage in order to preach a settled and determined theology? Such a Church would have sold its birthright for a contemptible price. Faith must spread its own daily board. Love must pay its own way. Do I speak to some who represent very feeble communities? Do not ask any man to help you, unless his help be the inspiration of love. Never be bribed into silence. Never keep back the truth of God, lest you should forfeit status or income. It is not necessary for any man to live, but it is necessary for every man to be loyal to Christs truth. When the king came to meet Abram, and offered him great hospitality and patronage Abram said, No, lest thou say, I have made Abram rich The chief power is spiritual, not financial. But the church has wonderfully fallen under the fallacy which teaches that the Church ought to be socially respectable.

V. How was it that the apostles were enabled to escape this potent temptation? The answer is that they had a true conception of the spiritual election and function of the Church (verse 20). The Church had not then become a machine. Ordination was not then a thing to be arranged. It was inspiration. Men are now prepared for the ministry. Now we educate men for the pulpit. Educate men for the ministry! Thy education perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God could be purchased by schooling. Get all the education you can; be the best-informed man of your circle; but inspiration makes a minister and makes the Church. Not by might, and not by power, etc. Are you, young man, considering whether you will enter Christs ministry or not? Then pray God you may never enter it; for it is not a question for consideration. There are those, shame on their grey hairs, who are telling us that if the Church would offer more money to the young men of our better families, they might possibly give themselves to the ministry! A malediction from heaven be upon such thoughts! Does Christ want the members of our better families to be kind enough to accept position as His ambassadors, and expositors, and friends? He will choose His own ministers. He will see to it that the pulpit is never silent.

VI. Peter spoke in his own characteristic tone. (verses 21-23). His speech was not a mere denunciation. His moral dignity is positively sublime, and yet, having uttered the word of malediction, he shows that the true object of the denunciation of wrong is to save the wrong-doer. Here is the gospel in an unexpected place. After such a thunderstorm who could have expected this voice of lute and harp? Repent! Forgive! Give up no man. Do not spare his sin; hold the fiercest light over it, but point the wrong-doer himself to the possibility of forgiveness through repentance and supplication.

VII. Simon did not--nor could he be expected to--seize the spiritual idea which ruled the apostles thinking. His reply is most natural, though often condemned (verse 24). He asked for prayer, so far he was not wrong. He suggested the prayer that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. There he failed to see the right meaning of prayer. We must not go to God in supplication merely to escape penalty, but to escape sin. Yet let a man come through any gate that first opens, only let him come! If one man should come through hatred of sin, if another man of lower mould should say, I fear hell; God have mercy upon me. Let him also come. Every man must pray as he can. You cannot send the heart to school to teach it how to pray. Where the pain is, the prayer should be. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The apostles visit to Samaria

I. The effacement of Philip. Like the Baptist; before our Lord, Philip retires when Peter and John come on the scene: There is something touching in this willingness to be eclipsed. Philip might naturally have felt that he had borne the burden and heat of the day, and that the apostles success was due to his efforts. He had laboured (words spoken about Samaria), and they had entered into his labours. He had dug the soil, sown the seed, watered it, until the field was white; and now it only remained for the apostles to reap. Nor is he in the least jealous. His aim was the reverse of Simons, and accordingly any increase and confirmation of faith was a matter of joy. Only those who after honest labour have been superseded by men of more brilliant gifts can appreciate the trial and the grace to bear it.

II. The apostolic deputation.

1. The men chosen.

(1) Peters presence was required by his position in prophecy and providence. Our Lord had entrusted him with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, indicating that he was to throw open the gates of the gospel dispensation.

(2) John is so constantly associated with Peter, that we are not surprised to find them companions here. But it is a striking coincidence that he who, giving vent to the prevailing hostility against the Samaritans, called for fire from heaven to consume them, should, now that a more loving spirit actuated him, be selected to call down the fire of Gods illuminating and quickening grace.

2. Their official act.

(1) This forms the scriptural ground for the rite of confirmation. Baptism is in the nature of a contract into which Christ enters with the soul, and the practice of infant baptism makes it almost a necessity to have some period at which a baptized child may consciously, and of his own accord, enter into this contract. How suitable, then, that they should receive the completion of their baptism by prayer and the imposition of hands. This consecrates, as it were, the baptized person to the royal priesthood, and sets him apart solemnly for the service of Christ. Yet, while we discover in holy Scripture the germ of this rite, we do not regard confirmation as having the universal necessity or virtue of a sacrament. For the gift of the Spirit was vouchsafed independently of the imposition of hands, as in the cases of Cornelius, Saul, and the Ethiopian eunuch.

3. Their treatment of Simon. Once before bad money been offered to Peter, in order to gain a fair reputation. Ananias had laid money down at his feet, wishing it to be understood as the whole. Simon now does the same thing to win power and influence. The secret of the apostles power was just what he wanted to regain his lost influence and eclipse Philip. What he coveted was not the Holy Spirit, but the power of communicating the Spirit to others. And what he cared to communicate was not the grace of the Spirit, but His gifts, And there can be little doubt that what he offered money for, he intended to win money by. Peters reproof, and his insinuation of the difficulty of saving a character so far gone in evil (perhaps) was not too strong for the occasion. Had there been a single stirring of conscience, a single aspiration after goodness, the rejoinder would have been far more lenient.

4. The contrasts of character in the Church. Here is Simon the apostle, a man of the most intense disinterestedness, who had forsaken all to follow his Master, confronted with Simon the sorcerer, who had nominally embraced Christianity as a possible means of wealth and power. What a natural repulsion must there be between the minds of the two when each gets an inkling of the other. (Dean Goulburn.)

The Church and the world

Between no two things is there a greater contrast. The contrast is a double one--between the natural and supernatural, and between the holy and the sinful. With respect to the first, they are for each other; and therein lies the task of the Church. With respect to the second, they are against each other; and therein lies the danger of the Church. Both the task and the danger are exemplified here.

I. The Church in the world.

1. The extension of the Church in the world.

(1) The words of our departing Lord (Act_1:8) are the theme of all Church history, as well as that of the first days. The evangelical history of the first thirty-four years of our dispensation conducts us from Nazareth to Jerusalem. The apostolic history of the same number of years leads us from Jerusalem to Rome. The bridge between Jerusalem and the heathen world was Samaria, a field planted by our Lord, whose prophecy of the harvest there (Joh_4:35-38) was now fulfilled in Philip, driven thither by persecution. The storm destroys flowers, but scatters seeds--a consolation for the Church in every age.

(2) Philip was a guardian of the poor, but the Holy Ghost made him an evangelist. The liberty of the Spirit is not bound by human order. He founded the Mother Church of Missions at Antioch by means of private Christians, and the Church of Rome by men unknown; prisoners brought the gospel to the Goths in Europe. He bloweth where He listeth.

(3) In the days of Jesus, Samaria had been greatly moved; then there arose a sorcerer who won the people. Hunger grasps at any food, for which reason also they accepted the word of salvation. The conversion of the Samaritans was a sign for the Jews (Mat_21:43), and the apostles understood it well. The spread of the gospel is always a sign of warning. In our days the age of missions has begun anew. May not this be a sign that the word of grace will depart if we esteem it slightly. Buy, says Luther, while the market is at your door. Gather in while the weather is blight and fair. Use the word of Gods grace while you have it. The Jews had it once; but they lost it, and now they have nothing. Paul brought it to Greece; but they lost it, and now they have the Turk. Rome and Italy had it; but they lost it, and now they have the Pope. And you Germans must not think that you will have it for ever; for ingratitude and contempt will not suffer it to remain.

2. The Church preserving its unity in the world. The apostles send Peter and John to sanction the work of Philip, and to incorporate the Christians into the Apostolic Church. The rending of the body of Christ into such a multitude of sects is to be deeply lamented. Unceasingly should we think of the words of Jesus (Joh_17:12). But a self-conceived, self-made unity, only leads to schism. Unity gives strength, but only true unity--unity in the truth.

3. The testimony of the Church in the world (verse 15-17). It must not be understood that the baptism of Philip was ineffective, and that laying on of apostolic hands made it so. The action of the Holy Ghost is twofold. He is a Spirit of life and a Spirit of work. He makes us children of God and servants of God. The first work of the Spirit was accomplished through Philip, the second through the apostles. The first is alike in all, the second manifold. God gives various gifts of service, and these are not necessarily and obviously miraculous. The gifts of knowledge, doctrine, guidance, etc., have nothing striking in themselves, and yet they are as much gifts of the Spirit as others. Without the power and blessing of Gods Spirit, all our toil and skill are vain; but with that, our work gives evidence to the world that the Church is the possessor of heavenly powers.

II. The world in the Church

1. The gathering of the world into the Church. The net cast into the sea collects all manner of fish. The condition of the Church is necessarily mixed; the wheat and tares must grow together here. When the reapers come at the Judgment, then will the Church be pure. Let us judge not, lest we be judged; but let us see to it that we are the children of God.

2. The spirit of the world in the Church. What is the spirit of the world and the spirit befitting the kingdom of God (Mat_20:25-28). The world strives to rule, the Christian rejoices to serve; the one wants to be great, the other is willing to be nothing. It was not enough for Simon to be a Christian; he wanted to play the same great part as before his baptism; and to use the powers of the Spirit for the gratification of his self-seeking mind. And yet his sin grew from the corrupt soil of the heart, which is the same in all. Scarcely is the pride of the natural man driven out, when there comes the pride of the spiritual man. And, as Luther says, the white devil is worse than the black. How hard it is to seek nothing but the favour of God, whatever mans opinion may be.

3. The Churchs judgment on that spirit. Thy money perish with thee--i.e., all thy arts by which thou thinkest the powers of the Holy Spirit are to be obtained. How marvellous will it appear when, at the Judgment, those now esteemed great will be cast out, and the little ones esteemed great (Mat_7:22, etc.). This judgment we can only escape by a penitent judgment of ourselves. (Prof. Luthardt.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 8:14-17. When the apostles heard that Samaria — That the inhabitants of that country, or of the chief city thereof; had received the word of God — By faith; being desirous that these new converts should be further settled in their Christian profession, by receiving those spiritual gifts which no inferior teacher or officer in the church could be the instrument of communicating; they sent unto them Peter and John — Two of the most eminent of their number, made remarkable by the miracle they had lately performed, and the courageous manner in which they had borne their testimony to the gospel. Here we find Peter sent by the other apostles, which is a proof that he was not their head and superior, for greater is he that sends than he that is sent. Peter and John were sent to Samaria, 1st, To assist and strengthen the hands of Philip. Ministers in a higher station, and that excel in gifts and graces, should consider how they may be helpful to those in a lower sphere, and should labour to promote their comfort and usefulness. 2d, To endeavour to carry on the good work that was begun among the people, and through those heavenly graces that had enriched themselves to confer upon them spiritual gifts. Who, when they were come, prayed for them — The imposition of their hands would have been unavailing toward the purpose of their mission, without prayer: that they might receive the Holy Ghost — In his miraculous gifts, as well as in his sanctifying graces. Not that all who had been baptized in Samaria might receive these gifts, for it was never so in any church, no, not in that of Jerusalem; there being only some, even among them, who were, in this sense, full of the Holy Ghost; (Act 6:3;) but that some of them might receive these gifts, for the confirmation of the gospel, and especially such as were designed for some office in the church, or at least, to be eminently active members of it; and that some of them might receive one gift of the Holy Ghost, and others another; see 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:8; 1Co 12:28-31; 1Co 14:26. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them — None of them were endued with his extraordinary influences, notwithstanding that those influences had been wonderfully displayed among them in the astonishing miracles which Philip had performed. It is rightly observed here by Epiphanius, that Philip, being only a deacon, had not the power of conferring these miraculous gifts, and therefore these apostles were sent to do it. Then laid they their hands on them — Namely, after they had prayed for them; and they received the Holy Ghost — In answer to the prayers of these apostles: that is these new converts spake with tongues, and performed other extraordinary works. Thus God put honour upon the apostolic office, bore witness to his truth, and by qualifying many persons to instruct others therein, and to sustain other offices among his people, he made provision for the further enlargement of his work, in the conversion of more sinners, and the establishment and edification of believers.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act_8:14. Sent.—The mission of the two apostles, Peter and John, is not said to have had as its motive the imparting of the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans (Holtzmann), although this was undoubtedly a consequence which flowed from their mission.

Act_8:15. Prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.—Not the ordinary converting influences of the Spirit, which they must already have received, since they had believed, but those miraculous endowments which had been conferred upon the Pentecostal believers (Act_2:4).

Act_8:16. As yet He was fallen upon none of them.—Contrast the case of Cornelius and his household, upon whom the Spirit fell before baptism (Act_10:44-48); and compare that of John’s disciples in Ephesus, who were first baptised, and afterwards endowed with the Holy Ghost (Act_19:1-6).

Act_8:17. Then laid they, the apostles, their hands on them, and they, the Samaritans, received the Holy Ghost.—That none but the apostles had the power of imparting the Spirit, and that this was the reason why the preaching of Philip did not secure this endowment for the Samaritans (Hofmann), cannot be maintained in face of Act_9:17 and 1Ti_4:14. Still less can the non-descent of the Holy Ghost in this case be ascribed to a difference between Philip’s preaching and that of the apostles (Neander). Possibly the reason lay in this, that as the Samaritans were half-heathen, it was the purpose of the Holy Ghost to mark their reception into the Church (which their endowment with His miraculous gifts attested) by a formal act through the hands of the apostles, which would carry with it all the weight of authorisation. There is no ground for thinking that the Spirit intended here to institute a new rite corresponding to Confirmation.

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_8:14-17

The Mission of Peter and John; or, the Confirmation of the Saints

I. The occasion of this mission.—The report about Samaria. The good news could not be kept from spreading. The apostles at headquarters took deep interest in the progress of the cause which for a moment the persecution had seemed to overwhelm. When perhaps the outlook appeared blackest, this information which came to them from Samaria would seem like the breaking forth of a star upon the dark firmament overhead.

II. The authors of this mission.—The Apostles. These had not left Jerusalem, but remained at their post. Not, as some think, because through Stephen’s superior brilliancy they had dropped into obscurity, and so in a manner had become safe from persecution (Stokes), but because, like brave men, they felt it incumbent on them rather to face the peril than to flee. (See on Act_8:1.)

III. The agents of this mission.—Peter and John, who appear to have been drawn to one another by common affinities and by perceiving each in the other the complement of himself, and to have acted in concert after the resurrection (Act_3:1; Joh_20:4) as well as before (Mat_27:1; Luk_8:51).

IV. The fulfilment of this mission.—

1. They went down to Samaria. Ever ready to “doe the next thing,” and to execute whatever task was laid upon them, they proceeded to Samaria. Regarding the instructions of their colleagues as an expression of the Spirit’s mind, they obeyed. At the same time, their own wisdom and zeal would without doubt concur in the expediency of the journey.

2. They prayed for the converts. These had not yet received the seal of the Holy Ghost—i.e., in His miracle-working endowments—though it need not be questioned they had received the Spirit in His ordinary gracious operations. Accordingly the two apostles prayed that this further seal of conversion might be given them.

3. They laid their hands upon the converts. The result they expected followed. The converts received the Holy Ghost, and doubtless (though it is not so stated) began to speak with tongues and perhaps work miracles of healing, as afterwards the Spirit-endowed believers in the Christian Church did (1Co_12:9; 1 Corinthians 10). The communication of such gifts was of course only symbolically brought about by the imposition of the apostles’ hands. Their unseen but real bestower was the glorified Christ. (See “Critical Remarks.”)

V. The termination of this mission—

1. When? After they (the apostles) had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, Peter and John neglected no opportunity of either confirming the disciples or making new converts. Neither should their successors in the ministry.

2. How? They returned to Jerusalem. Not directly, but preaching by the way to many villages of the Samaritans—thus bringing on themselves the blessedness of them who sow beside all waters (Isa_32:20).

Lessons.—

1. The interest which all should take in the spread of the gospel.

2. The true source of spiritual endowments—the Holy Spirit.

3. The unwearied diligence which Christian preachers should ever show.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act_8:14. Peter and John; or, the First Apostolic Delegates.

I. Their relation to the apostolic college.—

1. Not the heads, but ordinary members. If in the Church they were reputed to be pillars (Gal_2:9), they yet claimed no supremacy over their colleagues in the apostleship; not even though they had received distinctions above their brethren in the days before the crucifixion (Mar_5:37; Mar_9:2; Mar_14:33), and after the resurrection (Joh_21:15-23).

2. Not the senders, but the sent. They manifestly did not regard themselves as invested with authority to command their brethren, but viewed the whole body of the Twelve as of co-ordinate rank. They did not even think of disputing the right of the Twelve to appoint them to such a work as the mission to Samaria.

II. The reasons for their selection.—Why these and not a different pair—say Andrew and James—were deputed to execute this work may with some degree of probability be surmised.

1. Their personal capabilities were most likely such as to mark them out as leaders; and this inference receives ample confirmation from their writings which have been preserved in the New Testament

2. Their spiritual experience through their close and intimate fellowship with the Master was manifestly such as to qualify them beyond others for the execution of a delicate and responsible task like that of visiting and reporting on the great revival in Samaria.

3. Their close friendship of many years’ standing fitted them to act as colleagues on this important mission. They had long been accustomed to act in concert.

4. Their individual temperaments, on the one hand, of energy and impulse, fortitude and decision; on the other hand, of love and gentleness, thoughtfulness and sympathy, supplied the two elements that were specially demanded for the contemplated visitation.

III. The special object of their mission.—This may be gathered from the context.

1. To inspect and report upon the awakening in Samaria. To judge whether it was a genuine work of grace, or only a temporary excitement.

2. If found genuine, to complete it by receiving the baptised into Church fellowship, by laying hands upon them and praying for their endowment with the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Act_8:14-18. The First Church Visitation.

I. The occasion.—I. There is Christian life to be fostered (Act_8:14).

2. There is a want in the Church to be supplied (Act_8:16).

II. The visitors.—

1. Peter: apostolic earnestness and zeal.

2. John: evangelical tenderness and mildness.

III. The functions.—

1. Prayer in the name of the Church (Act_8:15).

2. Imposition of hands in the name of God (Act_8:17).

IV. The effects.—

1. The strengthening of the Church (Act_8:17).

2. The sifting of the Church (Act_8:18).—Gerok.

Act_8:17. Receiving the Holy Ghost.

I. A possibility.—Otherwise Peter would not have promised it (Act_2:38).

II. A necessity.—Otherwise Peter would not have gone to pray for it.

III. A certainty.—Otherwise God’s promise would be falsified and Christ’s prayer for His people would be unanswered, and the lives of believers would be incomplete.

IV. A mystery.—Otherwise we should be able to comprehend it, which we are not.

HOMILETIGAL ANALYSIS.—Act_8:18-24

The Two Simons; or, the Detection of a Hypocrite

I. Simon Magus’s proposal.—

1. What suggested it. The sight which he beheld. The coming down of the Holy Ghost upon those on whom the Apostle’s hands were laid. This shows that the recipients of the Holy Ghost must in some external fashion—probably through speaking with tongues or working miracles—have indicated their possession of the heavenly gift.

2. What accompanied it. An offer of money. This revealed that Simon had no right conception either of the nature of the miraculous endowment which had been conferred upon the Samaritan believers (and perhaps also upon himself) or of the means which had been used in its bestowment.

3. What composed it. A request that the apostles should impart to him, not the Holy Ghost, which possibly along with others he may have received, but the power of conferring the Holy Ghost with His supernatural gifts upon others. Simon recognised in what Peter and John had effected a power that transcended his own, and wished to secure it for himself, that by its means he might stand on a level with the apostles as a thaumaturge and be able to recover his lost influence with the people.

II. Simon Peter’s Refusal.

1. A terrible denunciation. “Thy money perish with thee!” Literally, may thy silver with thee be for destruction!

(1) The meaning. Hardly an imprecation, which would not have been becoming in a follower of Him who said, “Let your communication be ‘Yea, yea; Nay, nay,’ for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Mat_5:37), and who taught His disciples to bless and curse not (Mat_5:41 Luk_6:28; Rom_12:14). Scarcely even a prediction that Simon was destined to perdition, since he afterwards directs Simon how that awful doom might be averted (Act_8:22). But most likely and best, a strong and solemn asseveration that he, Simon, being in such a state of mind would certainly share that destruction which would eventually overtake his money, as all other earthly goods, which in their nature are perishable (Col_2:22). “Gold and silver would perish in the end. Equally valueless and perishable would be the life of an unrighteous man. The corruptible nature of that gold and silver which man prizes so dearly seems to have been ever in Peter’s mind, and to have entered continually into his arguments” (Spence). Compare 1Pe_1:7; 1Pe_1:18.

(2) The reason. “Because thou hast thought that the gift of God might be purchased,” or “to obtain the gift of God with money.” The proposal revealed that Simon had not apprehended the true nature of what had taken place. Neither the character of the blessing bestowed—which was a spiritual influence; nor the author of its bestowment—God, and neither Peter nor other man; nor the terms of its bestowment—as a free gift, so that no quantity of gold or silver could purchase it. Compare what is said of wisdom (Job_28:15-19). 2, An alarming declaration. “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter.” Concerning which also must be noted:

(1) The import of it—viz., that Simon had no share either in the word or doctrine of the Gospel which Peter preached, or in the Holy Ghost which God imparted to believers, so that even if apostolic hands had been laid upon him it was wholly in vain, or in the Christian community to which all Spirit-endowed believers belong. This was practically a sentence of excommunication on Simon. It excluded him from the congregation of believing and regenerated men, because his speech disclosed he should never have been reckoned with these.

(2) The ground of it. “Thy heart is not right in the sight of God” or “before God.” There was more at fault with Simon than defective understanding. His heart was not straight (compare 2Ki_10:15, LXX.; 2Pe_2:15), not sincere and upright. Crooked, perverse, and corrupt, it was directed towards not spiritual, but earthly things. It thirsted not for eternal life but for temporal power, sought not God’s glory, but its own fame. Though it might seem otherwise in men’s sight, such was its character in the eyes of God.

3. A solemn exhortation. “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness,” etc. Setting forth

(1) An urgent duty. To repent of his wickedness, since without godly sorrow for past sin moral improvement was impossible. To turn from his wickedness. This also was implied, inasmuch as no repentance could be sincere that did not lead to a changed life. To pray God or the Lord for forgiveness, because even repentance and reformation cannot cancel or atone for past guilt. And such guilt attached to the wicked thought of the heart quite as much as to the evil deed of the hand or sinful word of the mouth (Mat_15:19).

(2) A fearful uncertainty. “If perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee.” Peter could have no doubt that “all manner of sin could” and would be “forgiven unto men” if they repented and believed (Mat_12:31), but in this case he appeared uncertain whether the special sin committed did not fall within the category of sins for which no forgiveness can be found either in this life or in that which is to come (Mat_12:31-32; 1Jn_5:16). Peter’s language shows that the power of absolution conferred on the apostles by Christ (Joh_20:23) was not absolute, and could not be exercised in every or any case except conditionally on the repentance and faith of the individual absolved.

(3) An appalling argument. Peter justifies his uncertainty as to the possibility of Simon’s forgiveness by stating that Simon was “in the gall of bitterness”—i.e., in bitterness, wickedness, hostility, as in gall, “and in the bond of iniquity”—i.e., in unrighteousness as in a chain. Not that he would lapse into such a condition if he did not repent (Stier), but that already he had fallen into and was abiding in it. The gall of noxious reptiles having been considered by the ancients as the seat of their venom, Peter, by the selection of this metaphor, virtually said that Simon was actuated by a spirit of bitter hostility against the Gospel, that the seat of this bitterness was in his corrupt heart, and that this malignity which his evil nature cherished held him fast like a chain, or bond.

III. Simon Magus’s entreaty.

1. What was right about it.

(1) It was good that Simon felt alarmed and thought of prayer, rather than magic, as a means of averting his peril.

(2) It was better that he sought the friendly mediation of Peter to make supplication on his behalf, whereas he might have turned upon Peter with cursing and violence.

(3) It was best that he directed Peter to lay his prayer before the Lord against whom he had sinned. Even of bad men it is right to take the most charitable view, and these thoughts suggest hope for Simon the Magician.

2. What was wrong about it.

(1) That he prayed not himself but merely asked (perhaps mockingly) Peter to pray for him.

(2) That he only wished to elude the threatened punishment of his wickedness, and had no concern about escaping from the wickedness itself.

(3) That he made no mention of feeling sorry for his sin, but only “confessed his fear of punishment, not horror of guilt” (Bengel). In all which he resembled Pharaoh, who entreated Moses to intercede with Jehovah for him (Exo_8:29; Exo_9:28; Exo_10:17), and yet afterwards hardened his heart.

IV. Simon Peter’s silence. It is not said that the apostle complied with the magician’s request. The inference is that he did not.

1. Not because it would have been wrong to pray for another. Intercessory prayer was practised by Old Testament saints, as Abraham (Gen_17:18; Gen_17:20; Gen_18:23-32), Moses (Exo_8:2; Exo_8:13; Exo_8:30-31), Samuel (1Sa_7:5-12), and Elijah (1Ki_17:20-23); was enjoined upon New Testament disciples by Christ (Mat_5:44), and is still enforced upon believers as a duty (Eph_6:18; 1Ti_2:1-2; Jas_5:16; 1Jn_5:16).

2. Not because the forgiveness of heinous sin was impossible. If Simon Magus’s wickedness was outside the reach of pardon Peter did not know this, else he would not have urged on Magus to pray for forgiveness. But

3. Because the conditions of true prayer were wanting. Simon was not in a proper state of mind to be interceded for, being destitute of both repentance and faith. Peter may have supplicated heaven for his awakening, and perhaps did so in secret; while Simon continued as he was, Peter could not beseech God for the granting of his request. Whether the magician ever repented and reformed cannot be told. Ecclesiastical tradition reports that after his interview with Peter he went back to his old courses like a dog to his vomit, etc. (2Pe_2:22), and became a bitter opponent of Christianity.

Learn—

1. That many who profess to be converted are still in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.

2. That heaven’s gifts—whether in providence or in grace—cannot be purchased for money, but must always be accepted free.

3. That the purchase and sale of spiritualities (usually called Simony) is a heinous sin.

4. That “the heart aye’s the past aye, that makes us right or wrong” (Burns).

5. That the first thing to be done with sin is to repent of it, and the second thing to seek its forgiveness.

6. That sinful thoughts and feelings as much require repentance and forgiveness as sinful words and Acts 7. That if Peter could read the heart of Magus, much more can God read the hearts of all.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act_8:18. Money.

I. Rightly viewed.—God’s gift to man.

1. Because the silver and the gold are Mine saith the Lord (Hag_2:8).

2. Because no man can possess it except it be given him from above (Joh_3:27; Jas_1:17).

3. Because the ability to earn money comes from God (Deu_8:18).

3. Because God can recall it at any moment (Job_1:21).

II. Wrongly used.—When employed to purchase the Holy Ghost, or salvation.

1. Because the Holy Ghost, a spiritual gift, cannot be purchased by carnal things.

2. Because the Holy Ghost, a heavenly gift, cannot be purchased by earthly things.

3. Because the Holy Ghost, a free gift, cannot be purchased by anything.

Act_8:21. A Heart not Right with God.

I. When destitute of true faith (Heb_11:6).

II. When anxious to make gain of godliness (1Ti_6:5).

III. When desirous of purchasing salvation.

IV. When secretly in love with sin (Psa_66:18).

V. When a veiled enemy of Jesus Christ (Act_13:10).

Act_8:22. The Thoughts of the Heart.

I. Naturally wicked (Gen_6:5).

II. Thoroughly understood (Pro_15:11).

III. All forgivable (Mat_12:31).

IV. Certainly damnable, if not repented of (Luk_13:3).

Act_8:24. Intercessory Prayer.

I. Commanded (Mat_5:44; Eph_6:18; 1Ti_2:1; Jas_5:16).

II. Exemplified. Abraham (Gen_17:18; Gen_19:23); Moses (Exo_32:31-32); David (2Sa_24:17); Paul (Rom_1:9).

III. Solicited.—By Pharaoh (Exo_8:8; Exo_8:28); Israelites (Num_21:7); Jeroboam (1Ki_13:6); Hezekiah (2Ki_19:1-4); Zedekiah (Jer_37:3).

IV. Answered.—For Ishmael (Gen_17:20); Pharaoh (Exo_8:12-13; Exo_8:30-31); Miriam (Num_12:13); Aaron (Deu_9:20); Peter (Act_12:5-12); etc.

V. Refused.—To Judah (Jer_7:16; Jer_11:14; Jer_14:11) and Simon Magus.

Act_8:14-25. The Mistakes of Simon.

I. He sought to purchase spiritual gifts with money.—Rich men try to buy the favour of Him whom they have neglected all their lives by great gifts to His cause. Poor men try to do it by some outward service which is not loving sonship. It is the mistake of all who cannot understand that God’s offer is so free. So for penitence, which is only a motive to return to God and to receive His pardon, they substitute some penance which is the offering of our pains of mind or body to Him as the condition on which we ask His grace. It makes but little difference whether it is in a grosser or more spiritual form, whether it by the flagellation of our bodies or the torturing of our souls. God gives pardon; He does not sell it. Sin can earn wages, such as they are, but eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ is the gift of God’s free grace.

II. He sought spiritual gifts that he might use them for selfish ends.—For it is impossible not to suppose that he offered money for money’s worth. He had been a magician, and accustomed to receive the pay as well as the praises of the Samaritans. He desired this apostolic power that by its aid he might be both exalted and enriched. Here again, although the form of Simon’s sin is exceptionally gross, the spirit of it is not unknown even to our modern world. Simon’s sin is that of those who look upon the places of the Christian Church rather as means of support than as opportunities of ministry. But there is a subtler form of this same sin not so easily recognised, nor so easily brought to condemnation. Conceit may move men as well as covetousness. Ambition may be a motive as strong as avarice. They make this same mistake, commit this same sin, who desire to enjoy the dignities of Christian leadership in distinction from simply desiring to do Christian work. But there is a broader application of the principle, to those who desire the benefits of religion without the religion itself. The world is full of men who wish to have the advantage but not the responsibility of spiritual gifts. They would like the peace and joy of believing, but are not willing to accept its restraint and control. Above all, they are willing to be saved from the punishments of sin, but unwilling to be saved from the sin itself. They will join the disciple and be baptised and give their money, as Simon did, and would like all that God has to give them except a new heart; and the old heart is not right in His sight.

III. He sought to substitute the spiritual gifts of others for his own repentance and prayer.—And this was his last mistake, after he had been rebuked for the first two, and so was perhaps the worst and most harmful of all. Peter had turned on this baptised sorcerer with sharp rebuke. God’s gift cannot be purchased. Simon’s money can find no investment in these spiritual gifts. Worst of all, he has shown that his heart is not right in God’s sight; that it is full of wicked thoughts. “Repent of this thy wickedness,” he cries to him, “and pray God if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee.” There is no sin so great that true repentance and turning to God may not cover it. But still the mind of the disappointed magician does not take in the remedy proposed and its necessity. He would rather pray them to pray God for him than do it himself. He would rather depend on them than on the Lord. “Pray for me,” he begs. If they would only pray for him, he might be delivered from these threatened evils. Nor is this a mistake confined to the Samaritan sorcerer. How many people are to-day depending on some other person’s goodness to save them, or some other person’s prayers to procure their pardon?—how many who practically hope for some miraculous saving power from the intercessions of others, without their own self-abasement before God, or without making supplication for themselves. There are husbands by scores who, having some general knowledge of the gospel, hope to be saved somehow by the godly living and praying of their wives; children, grown up to manhood and to womanhood in Christian homes, who are relying blindly on the power of their parents with God to secure for them deliverance from sin and a part in his salvation; unrenewed and unrepentant persons in all our congregations who hope that the Church will somehow pray them into heaven, if only at the eleventh hour. Perhaps the Church, in some of its branches at least, is not altogether blameless for this attitude on the part of many. Has it not sometimes encouraged them to ask for the prayers of God’s people without emphasising the need that their own prayers should first be offered up. No Peter by his prayers, devout and apostolic though they be, can save a Simon who does not repent of his sin and pray for his own pardon and purifying. No Monica can save an Augustine by her prayers till God shall teach the wayward son himself to cry to Him for help. There is but one Mediator between God and man—the man Christ Jesus; and not even He makes repentance unnecessary on the sinner’s part. After all, the mistakes of Simon were only the outcome of his mistaken heart. The heart which is not right in the sight of God cannot see anything rightly which relates to God. It does not see itself or Him, or its relation to Him, as it is. The right heart feels its need of that which cannot be procured by money or by its own good works, but only as the gift of God. The right heart recognises that it has no claim upon God’s spiritual gifts for its own sake, but only that it may use them in the new spirit it has received of love to God and love to man. The right heart will not depend on any other to make needless for it sincere repentance and humble prayer.—Monday Club Sermons.

The Natural Heart.—In meditating upon the story of the Samaritan impostor, and studying our own depraved nature in it, we may remark—

I. That the natural heart has no knowledge of Divine things.—We hear a great deal nowadays of the “religious instinct.” It is one of the catchwords by which men would do away with the notions of revelation and a new heart. According to some modern teachings, all men have a religious instinct, all have a desire to worship God—nay, all do worship God in some honest way, which, as he is a kind God, must be acceptable to him. On analysis, we shall find that this, which is called a religious instinct, is either the action of a guilty conscience or of a poetic fancy. But is this religion? Is this knowing and serving God? Is this intelligent action towards a revealed Maker? Is it a movement of will and affections toward a personal Ruler of the universe? Can such a religion as is found in the “religious instinct,” as it is called, satisfy the heart and purify the life? Has it ever done so? Do we find people and nations growing stronger on such diet, more civilised, more attractive? The religious instinct is of no higher character than the eating and drinking instinct, as far as true religion is concerned. One will lead to God as readily as the other. They are both of the earth, earthy. Men are cut off from God by sin, and they can return only by the use of Divine means. Nothing in themselves can be of any avail. The chasm must be bridged from the Divine side. Acceptance of what God has done is salvation. What we do only helps us downward in sin. That which Simon brought out into full relief by reason of his position and boldness was simply the common character of the natural man. Divine things are treated with low, earthly affections, and, of course, as low, earthly things. Simon in trying to buy God’s power was no worse than the many who try to appease God’s anger with a penance or a gift. The one tries to buy God’s power, the other tries to buy God’s pardon.

II. Note, in the second place, that man’s wickedness before God is in the condition of his heart.—Look at the words used in Simon’s case: “Thy heart is not right before God.” And then again, “Repent of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee.” Men have accustomed themselves to posit sin in overt acts, and have failed to explore the pollution of their hearts. Our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount endeavours to correct this fatal error, and shows that the seat of murder and other gross offences is in the heart. He, as a holy God, can receive none to Himself except as the unholy heart is renewed. This fundamental truth is what the poets and philosophers ignore. They would reform man on the basis of the old evil heart. They would make the outer circles of life pure, and leave the core rotten. If, however, they say that the heart of man is pure, how then did it ever produce such universal impurity in life? For surely the life must come from the heart. But some will say, “We believe the heart must be renewed, but why cannot man renew it himself? What is renewal except turning the heart from one object of affection to another, from wrong to right, from the false to the true?” In reply, we make our third remark on our text—

III. That only God’s power can renew the heart.—We accept the definition that renewal is a turning from wrong to right, from the false to the true. But when the affections are in the wrong and the false, how can their own influence take them out? How can love destroy itself? Now, the heart is this love, this love for evil. How can it change itself to love for good? Where is the first impetus to come from when that which forms the force of the life is fixed upon evil? Do you take refuge in the thought that there is some element of good in the heart, and that this at last accomplishes the renewal? Then why does it not always accomplish it? What is there to make exceptional cases? Any exceptional case destroys your theory, for Nature always works in the same way, and if the good element would produce renewal in one heart, it certainly would in all. But, besides that, how could the good element in the heart overcome the bad unless it had a majority? And if it had a majority, how came the heart ever to go wrong? No; the theory will not bear examination. The evil heart cannot renew itself. God alone can do that.

IV. The hope of man is in prayer.—“Pray the Lord,” said Peter, “if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee.” Prayer must have penitence as its spirit (“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord”). It must have a deep conviction of personal sin. Though Simon apparently did not take the road to pardon and to God, we see in Peter’s injunction what the road is. It is prayer to God. The heart needs His forgiving grace.—H. Crosby, D.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ III. The apostles Peter and John follow Philip, in order to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, on which occasion Simon the sorcerer is unmasked.

Act_8:14-25

14Now [But] when the apostles which [who] 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[om. the renthetical signs enclosing the next verse] (For as yet9 he was fallen upon none of them: only they were [but (δὲ) they were only] baptized in [unto, εἰς] the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18And [But] when Simon saw10 that through [the] laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered [brought] them money, 19Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee [May thy money with thee go to destruction], because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money [because thou hast thought of acquiring the gift of God by means of money!]. 21Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right [upright] in the sight of11 [before] God. 22Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God12 [beseech the Lord], if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23For I perceive [see] that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity [that thou art bitter gall and art bound up in unrighteousness]. 24Then answered Simon [But Simon answered], and said, Pray ye to [Beseech ye] the Lord for me, that none [nothing] of these things which ye have spoken come upon me [!]. 25And they [But they,οἱ μὲν οὗν], when they had testified and preached [spoken] the word of the Lord, returned13 to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act_8:14. a. Now when the apostles … heard that Samaria had received the word of God.—The tidings which the apostles, who had remained in Jerusalem, now received, were evidently as unexpected, as they were important; they accordingly resolved to send two of their number to the new missionary field. Luke refers to the momentous character of the event, when he employs the phraseology: “Samaria received the word of God.” It would weaken the force of the remark, if we should interpret Σαμάρεια as the name of the city; it here designates the whole province, and indirectly alludes to the peculiar position, in matters of religion, which the Samaritans occupied as a people. The fact is here brought, to our notice, by implication, that the promulgation of the word of God among the Samaritans, and their acceptance of the Gospel in faith, constituted an epoch, inasmuch as the Samaritans, who were originally a mixed people (Israelites and pagans, ἀλλογενεῖς, Luk_17:18), were regarded by the Jews as sectarians and heretics.

b. They sent unto them Peter and John.—This is the first time, since the proposition to elect the Seven was made (Act_6:3), that the Twelve collectively adopt any measure, as an organized body, authorized and pledged to exercise a general control. It is also a novel circumstance that the college of the apostles deputes two of the whole number, choosing precisely the two who had hitherto (e. g. Acts 3 and Acts 4). been the most prominent of all. Such a mission unquestionably conferred distinction, and was a decided expression of confidence in those who were intrusted with it. But it was, at the same time, a declaration on the part of the apostolic college which offered the mission, and an acknowledgment on the part of those who accepted it, of the great fact that no single apostle, even though it were a Peter or a John, was elevated above the whole company of the apostles, but that each member was subordinate to it. We hare here a direct refutation of the Romish doctrine of the primacy of the apostle Peter, and a proof that he, like any other of the number, could claim only a parity of rank. (See Karl Lechler; N. T. Lehre vom heil. Amt, p. 136 f. [Doctrine of the New Testament concerning the sacred office.]).

Act_8:15-17. Who … prayed for them.—The service which the apostles rendered to those who were already converted, consisted in offering intercessory prayer for the gift of the Holy Ghost [“that the faith of the Samaritans who had received already the converting influences of the Spirit—might be confirmed by a miraculous attestation” (Hackett)]: prayer was combined with the imposition of hands, Act_8:15; Act_8:17. The result was, that the converted Samaritans received the Holy Ghost. And it would, further, seem as if one prayer had been offered in behalf of all, as a single or momentary action (aor. προςηύξαντο), and that the imposition of hands was a subsequent act (τότε, Act_8:17); according to this view, the imposition of hands on the individuals in succession, occupied a considerable time, and thus, too, the individual converts received the Holy Ghost, not simultaneously, but one after the other (imperf. ἐπετίθουν—ἐλάμβανον). [“The aorist describes a momentary action, or a single action—the imperfect describes an action in its continuance and progress.” Kühner: Gr. Gram. § 256. 3. Rem. 2.—Tr.]

Act_8:18-19. a. And when Simon saw.—Simon had observed that the Holy Ghost was given by means of the laying on of hands of the apostles. The latter fact was doubtless apparent to him, when he observed certain manifestations on the part of the believers, and compared with these the prayer of the apostles, to which, like others, he had listened. The question whether Simon himself had also received the Holy Ghost, is at once decided by two considerations: first, if he had been so endowed, his conduct, as described in Act_8:18, would have been a moral impossibility; secondly, the terms ἱδών, etc., obviously represent him as a mere spectator, and not as one of those who personally received the imposition of hands, and the gift of the Spirit.

b. He offered them money.—Simon again betrays the characteristic features of the sorcerer, that is, he is completely controlled by selfish considerations, and is interested in that which is spiritual and holy, only in so far as it may serve as the means of aiding him in his sorceries, and enlarging his personal influence and power. His true character is, further, revealed by the hope which he entertained of gaining his object through the medium of money. For as he expects to influence the apostles by pecuniary considerations, he plainly shows that he himself is influenced chiefly by such motives. He views the communication of the Spirit in the light of magic, that is to say, as a power or authority, which does not depend on the moral character, but may be exercised or transferred at pleasure. The latter view is expressed in the words: ᾧ ἐὰν ἐπιθῶ τ. χ. λαμβάνῃ π. ἅ..

Act_8:20. Thy money perish with thee.—Peter, whose labors had, so far, been strictly associated with those of John, Act_8:14, now steps forward, ready to speak and to act, at a moment when a prompt decision, and a resolute course of action, were needed. He not only positively rejects the money, but also, with holy indignation, and with the utmost abhorrence, devotes both the silver [ἀργύριον] and the man who offers it, to destruction! The moral indignation and the imprecation of Peter are occasioned by Simon’s desire and will to purchase God’s gift with money [“which, from its very nature, could be only a free gift” (J. A. Alex.)]. The term ἐνόμισας, namely, is applied not merely to an opinion, but also to an established sentiment and a purpose; the mere opinion, as far as it depends on the understanding, could not be subjected to a moral judgment and retribution, unless it was associated with the general tendency of the will and the character, and was in reality dictated by them.

Act_8:21. Thou hast neither part nor lot.—After Peter had very righteously repulsed the man, and rejected the silver, he next refuses, in the most positive terms, to grant the request itself. As, in the former case, his strong emotion led him to begin with the words: τὸ ἀργυρ. σου etc., so here he begins his refusal with the words [in the original]: “There is no part nor lot for thee in, etc.,” that is, Thou canst have no share at all therein. [“Part and lot are synonymous; the former is the literal, the latter, a tropical term.” (de Wette).—Tr.]. The phrase; ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ, must here be interpreted, as the connection shows, not merely in accordance with the Hebrew דָּבָר, but also with the classic usage of λόγος, or, as equivalent to ipsa causa, i. e. “in this matter or thing of which you speak”, namely, the power to bestow the Holy Ghost. That mode of interpretation which adheres to the definition of λόγος as word, doctrine, and assumes that either a participation in the Gospel itself is meant (Grotius; Neander), or that the inspired manifestations of the believers are here to be understood (Lange), is not consistent with the context, or else is too artificial to be considered as setting forth the true import. The reason which induces the apostle to refuse so absolutely any share to his namesake in his apostolic authority, is to be sought for in the insincerity of the sorcerer alone.—Thy heart is not right, [εὐθεῖα, straight-forward, (Robinson)—Tr.], not upright, not honest, in the eyes of God; thy heart is perverted and treacherous.

Act_8:22-23. Repent therefore, etc.—This is the practical lesson which Peter deduces (οὖν), i.e., “since such is thy state, change thy mind, and cease (ἀπὸ) from thy wickedness.”—Peter urges Simon to repent and to pray for the forgiveness of his sin, but gives him no assurance of the latter, since the phrase; if perhaps (εἰ ἄρα ἀφ.) indicates that the result, (i.e. whether God will forgive), is doubtful.—Ἐπίνοια, a (practical) thought, purpose, plan, is a vox media [i.e. it may be applied to an honest purpose, in bonam partem, or to one that is dishonest, in malam partem, according to the context.—Tr.]. The statement of the cause or reason is here, as in the preceding verses, introduced by γάρ, although that reason had already been indicated by οὖν in Act_8:22. Peter’s words, literally, mean: “I regard you as a man whose influence will be like that of bitter gall and of a bond of unrighteousness, or, as a man who has reached such a state.” The reference is, primarily, to the personal and fixed character of Simon, and secondarily, to the pernicious influence which it might be apprehended that he would exercise on the newly formed church. The bitter gall (in the original a Hebraizing genitive [Winer: Gram. N. T. § 34. 2.]), probably indicates poison, as, in ancient times, the gall of the serpent was supposed to be the seat of its poison, even as the German alliterative phrase; Gift und Galle [poison and gall] assumes that an immediate connection exists between the two. [Comp. Job_20:14. “The terms here are probably derived from Deu_29:17, Sept. χολὴ καὶ πικρία, etc.” (de Wette).—Tr.]. The expression σύνδεσμος ἀδικίας occurs in Isa_58:6 [in the Sept.], but in an entirely different sense; it here implies that Simon’s whole person had become, as it were, a single band, a whole bundle [translated by some: “bundle of unrighteousness.” (J. A. Alexander).—Tr.], all the component parts of which were unrighteousnesses [see below, Hom. and Prac. on Act_8:18-19 (b)]; hence the word is analogous in sense to the modern German: Ausbund von, etc. [This German word, (from ausbinden, to untie and take out, i.e. to select) is sometimes translated paragon or quintessence, and is applied to any object which exceeds all others of its kind in any good or bad quality.—Tr.]

Act_8:24. Pray ye to the Lord for me.—In what light should we regard this language of Simon, as well as the sentiments which dictated it? Meyer inferred, at an earlier period, from the silence which Luke henceforth observes respecting Simon, that the sacred writer intended to describe, in Act_8:24, the beginning of a genuine repentance, and that he expected the reader to complete in his own mind the history of Simon’s entire reformation. This is an erroneous view of the case. The old interpretation, which Neander, Olshausen, de Wette, and Baumgarten, among recent writers, have adopted, and to which Meyer himself assents in the last edition of his Commentary, undoubtedly presents the true view, viz., that no genuine repentance on the part of Simon is indicated by the narrative. At the same time, however, no value is to be ascribed to the patristic accounts of Simon which have been preserved, e. g., that he subsequently resumed the practice of his magic arts, and, indeed, that his course became more iniquitous than it had previously been, inasmuch as he now regarded it as the great object of his life to maintain a systematic opposition to the apostles and the Gospel. The language of the text before us is sufficiently explicit. Peter had demanded two things of Simon: first, that he should repent; secondly, that he should pray for forgiveness. He yields only a partial obedience to the latter admonition, or, strictly speaking, none at all. In place of praying himself, and seeking forgiveness, he requests the apostles to pray for him. But by this course he betrays, first of all, that his heart is not truly contrite, and, secondly, that he still entertains superstitious views, since he expects miraculous results from the intercessory prayers of others, without his own self-abasement before God, or supplications offered by himself. And, further, we cannot suppose that an individual has sincerely and truly repented, who, like Simon in the present case, is alarmed solely by the consequences, that is, the punishment of sin, but is not influenced by a sense of his own moral guilt and baseness. He is moved by a dread of the evils with which he is menaced (ὦν εἰρήκατε), but not by any abhorrence of the sin itself of which he is guilty. These are not indications which can encourage us to believe that Simon entertained a godly sorrow, that he sincerely repented, and that he became a renewed man; we cannot, therefore, speak of his conversion as “a glorious victory of the superior spiritual power of the apostles” [quoted by Lechler from an early edition of Meyer’s Commentary, but essentially changed in the last edition.—Stier says, in this connection (Reden d. Ap. I. 195, 2d ed.): “Simon speaks here almost like Pharaoh, who afterwards hardened himself; see Exo_8:29; Exo_9:28; Exo_10:17.”—Tr.]

Act_8:25. They … returned.—The two apostles did not content themselves with imparting to the new converts of that one locality fuller religious instructions than the latter had hitherto received. (This was theδιδάσκειν, which, in Mat_28:20, follows the βαπτίζειν the order of time, but also constitutes a part of the μαθητεύειν; see above, Exeg. and Crit., note a. ult. on Act_8:5). Peter and John, therefore, after having been engaged in the labors already described, devoted themselves to others of a direct missionary character, and preached the Gospel in many villages of Samaria, before they returned to Jerusalem. That these labors were not hastily performed, but were continued for some time, and that the return of the apostles was, consequently, somewhat delayed, are circumstances very plainly indicated by the Imperfect(ὑπέστρεφον—εὐηγγελίζοντο), which is, for critical reasons, to be preferred to the Aorist. [See the note numbered 5, appended to the text, above, Act_8:14-25, and also Exeg. and Crit., Act_8:15-17, ult.—Tr.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Baptism and the gift of the Spirit, missionary and apostolical labors—what is the relation which the one sustains to the other? The converted Samaritans had received baptism, but not one of their number had with it received the gift of the Holy Ghost, Act_8:16. Does this latter expression denote exclusively the extraordinary gifts and miraculous manifestations of the Spirit, so that we are authorized to assume that the new converts had, at their baptism, and in conjunction with it, already received the ordinary gift of the Holy Ghost? (Löhe: Aphorismen, p. 29 f.). Not at all! Such an assumption is altogether arbitrary, and requires us to obtrude the distinction just specified, upon the text, whereas πνεῦμα ἅγιον occurs in Act_8:15; Act_8:17-18, without any indication of such a distinction. We can, moreover, discover no explicit doctrinal passage in the New Testament which would furnish a firm foundation for the assumption that the gift of the Holy Ghost was immediately and inseparably connected with baptism. Even Act_2:38, when closely examined, does not sustain this view, and Act_10:44; Act_10:47-48, proves that God can impart the Holy Ghost even before baptism. The baptism with water, accordingly, is not always accompanied by the baptism with the Spirit, as if the latter were dependent upon it, but may in some cases be separated from it by a certain intervening period of time. The determination of the order or sequence belongs to Him who causes His Spirit to descend according to his own pleasure (Joh_3:8), and who has also in this respect “put the times and seasons in his own power.” (Act_1:7). We are hardly in a position to fathom the causes and conditions on which the simultaneousness or the succession of the baptism with water and of that with the Spirit, depends, or, in any special case, to exhibit these causes distinctly in certain natural and finite instruments and persons. When Neander, for instance, refers to the circumstance that the Samaritans had not yet received the Holy Ghost, he alleges that the cause lay in the new converts themselves, and adds the explanatory remark, that they had at first received the preaching concerning Christ merely in an outward manner, and had only afterwards, when the apostles arrived and addressed them, been inwardly impressed or affected; but he obtrudes this distinction upon the entire narrative, which furnishes no support whatever for it. Others have supposed that the most simple explanation which could be given of the fact is the following: Philip was not an apostle, whereas Peter and John were, emphatically, apostles; they accordingly believe that the gift of the Holy Ghost could be conferred by none but apostles. This is the view not only of the Romish and the Anglican churches (both of which, in conformity to it, regard the administration of the rite of Confirmation as exclusively a function of the episcopate), but also of many Protestant commentators. The latter believe that the explanation of the fact before us is to be derived solely from the circumstance that the giving of the Holy Ghost was reserved for the apostles, as such. But Luke cannot have entertained this opinion, since he relates in the very next chapter (Act_9:17 ff.), that the Damascene Christian Ananias, at the command of Christ, put his hands on Saul and baptized him, in order to impart the Holy Ghost to him. Yet Ananias himself was not an apostle, nor even one of the Seven, like Philip. The latter cannot therefore have been prevented by any barrier, such as an official restriction, from being the medium of an outpouring of the Holy Ghost on those whom he had baptized. It is also an error to assume, at the same time, that the. reason for which the apostles sent two of their own number to Samaria, is to be found precisely in their wish to aid the Samaritans in receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost as well as baptism (Meyer). For the narrative by no means states that the apostles in Jerusalem had heard that any want of this description existed in Samaria: it simply informs us that intelligence reached them “that Samaria had received the word of God,” and that they at once sent thither two of their number. Their real motive is apparent: they desired to recognize by that act the work of evangelization which had been commenced in Samaria without their direct agency, to form a bond of union between the new converts and themselves, and to avow and sustain the principle of the unity of the Church of Christ, the interests of which had been specially intrusted to them. While they were influenced by these considerations, the two apostles ascertained, after their arrival, that, by imparting the Holy Ghost, they could materially strengthen the new converts, and aid in the work of maintaining the moral purity and uprightness of the congregation, in view of the equivocal purposes of the sorcerer.

2. The imposition of hands is here mentioned a second time in the Acts (comp. Act_6:6). It was a sign, in the first place, (after the intercessory prayer, Act_8:15, had been once offered for all the baptized persons), of the communication of the gift to the individual; it was, as a symbolical action, a sign, in the second place, and also the medium, of the actual impartation of the Spirit and of spiritual life. But it clearly appears from Act_9:17, that the laying on of hands was not an act which the apostles exclusively were authorized to perform, and, from Act_10:44 ff., that this act was not the sole, the indispensable, and, as it were, the only lawful, medium in communicating the Spirit.

3. The conduct of Simon Magus, which betrayed that he had not “put off the old man” [Eph_4:22], has, from the earliest times, been regarded as the type of a procedure which derives from him the name of Simony. He desired to acquire a special spiritual power by means of money; hence the Church with great propriety applies the name of crimen simoniæ to the act of giving or offering secular means and advantages as a compensation for the conferring of spiritual things (such as ecclesiastical offices or Church preferment, ordination, etc.); and the guilty man is termed simoniacus. A striking proof of the purity and power of the Christian sentiments imparted to the apostles by the Holy Ghost, is furnished by the conduct of Peter, who at once discerns the true character of the hypocrite, instantaneously, without any hesitation, judicially repels the tempter, and surveys the temptation with abhorrence and a holy zeal. The ethical judgment pronounced by Peter exposes the twofold sin from which the temptation proceeded: (a) the desire to obtain from men that which God alone can bestow (τήν δωρεὰν τοῦ θεοῦ); (b) the desire to obtain by his own means, even by money, that which is solely a free gift of the grace of God (τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ θεοῦ—διὰ χρ. κτᾶσθαι). It is precisely the latter that constitutes Simony. If the apostles had desired to grant the request of Simon (which, however, they could not have done, according to (a) above), they would have violated the express command of the Lord:δωρεὰν ἐλὰβετε, δωρεὰν δότε. Mat_10:8.

4. Simon is a type not only of all the simonists, but also of all the heretics who have since arisen in the Church. It is well known that this magus has been regarded ever since the second century, as the prominent leader of an heretical school, and, indeed, as magister et progenitor omnium hæreticorum (Iren. adv. hær. I. 27), and that a Gnostico-heretical system has been ascribed to him personally. It is undoubtedly true that a legendary influence is perceptible in the accounts which have been preserved respecting this man. Still, it would be inconsistent with enlarged views and with the dictates of true wisdom to overlook the deep truth which constitutes the foundation of these traditional accounts. Simon’s error consisted essentially in combining pagan with Christian principles, inasmuch as he expected to acquire and exercise the power of conferring the Holy Ghost, as a magic art, and obtain increased facilities for gratifying his ambitious and covetous spirit. He intended, accordingly, to combine, in practice his heathenish trade as a sorcerer with Christianity. But he must have had a conception of the whole subject which was still indistinct: his views, if unfolded in the practice which he proposed to adopt, would have ultimately led to the theory of an amalgamation of pagan superstition and Christian faith. Whatever course an individual may pursue in actual life, he will endeavor to justify it by adopting any theory that will satisfy himself and the world around him. Hence we cannot fail to see the germs of a Gnostic, and, in general, of an heretical tendency in the sentiments which Simon obviously entertains. The book of the Acts, as a whole, shadows forth or exhibits the germs, as it were, of all the events and phenomena which belong, to the subsequent history of the Church of Christ. Simon Magus, for instance, is, in his personal history, a pre-figuration of later occurrences. He became a Christian, but no inward change occurred in him, since he attempted to combine Christianity with his heathenish sorcery. He is thus the representative of all those unsound theories, devices and parties within the pale of Christendom, of which the main object was the combination of foreign elements with the Gospel, or the retention of paganism under a Christian garb; the issue of all such efforts is also prefigured in his history.

5. On this occasion Peter employed the binding key [an allusion to “the office of the keys,” i.e. the binding and the loosing key, Mat_16:19; Mat_18:18; Joh_20:23.—Tr.]. He did not, it is true, in distinct terms pronounce an anathema upon Simon Magus—he did not expressly exclude him from the Lord’s Table, and expel him from the Church of Christ; but he desired, as far as he himself was concerned, that destruction (ἀπώλεια), might come upon Simon. Now this language implies at least a temporary exclusion from the communion of the Church and the Sacrament. The apostle stands before this man as one who is invested with full authority, although his words do not assume the form of the definitive sentence of a judge, but rather that of an imprecation (εἵη). The reason which he assigns, viz.,ὅτι τὴν δωρεὰν etc., plainly shows that his imprecatory language was not dictated by any highly excited personal feeling, by a carnal zeal, or by the fervor of passion, but by an ethically pure and righteous zeal for the honor of God and of his cause. And that his zeal was not fanatical in its character, or one that disregarded the spiritual interests of an erring soul, is demonstrated in the most beautiful manner, when be exhorts Simon to repent and become changed in mind, Act_8:22; he likewise admonishes the offender to offer prayer in a penitent spirit to the Redeemer, as the way that may conduct him to forgiveness [see note 4, above, appended to the text.—Tr.]

6. The ethical character of Christianity is most gloriously revealed in this apostolical declaration, which assumes a strictly categorical form. Peter takes away from Simon, Act_8:21, in the most explicit manner, all hope of obtaining by any possibility the power to confer the Holy Ghost. The cause lay in his own heart, which was not upright. In the practice of magic arts, no regard whatever is paid to the moral sentiments either of the operator or of the subject to whom these arts are applied; purity of heart and integrity of character are here of not the slightest importance. But in the kingdom of God, none can receive grace or the gift of divine grace without corresponding moral qualifications; here, integrity and uprightness of heart are indispensable.

7. Peter’s language leaves the point in doubt, whether Simon actually will obtain the forgiveness of sin—not, however, because forgiveness in itself is an uncertain matter, but because he entertains doubts himself respecting the sincerity of Simon’s repentance and conversion. The great danger which proceeds from the frame of mind in which he finds this wretched man, is the sole cause which prevents him from giving Simon an unconditional assurance of his pardon. It is contrary to the Scriptures, and a very hazardous course, to infuse doubts into the soul of any individual respecting the forgiveness of his sins, or to teach, as the Romish Church does, that he can never be fully assured of the divine forgiveness of his sins. But it is equally as unscriptural and as dangerous to the souls of men, to represent this assurance or certainty of the divine pardon as independent of the state or fitness of the heart. Now the latter was wanting in Simon, as Act_8:24 demonstrates, even after the solemn appeal which the apostle made to his conscience.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act_8:14. Now when the apostles … at Jerusalem heard, etc.—Persecution cannot weaken the zeal of faithful shepherds in laboring for the welfare of the church. It is of great importance that the faith of the members of newly organized congregations should be steadily maintained and strengthened. Let there be no envy among the servants of God; let none of them look with jealousy on the blessing which attends the labors of others. (Starke).—The most eminent apostles, Peter and John, come, in a fraternal spirit to the aid of Philip, who occupies a subordinate position. (Apost. Past.).—The storm of persecution carried a seed away from the plant, and deposited it in a good soil. The Gospel, which is to be preached to all nations, here comes forth from the temple of the covenant people into an outer court; it reaches a people, which, occupying an intermediate position, in its relations to Jews and Gentiles, was acquainted with the law and the promises given to Israel, and. partially observed them. (Leonh. and Sp.).—Even as the Lord Jesus sent his disciples two and two before his face (Luk_10:1), so the holy college, of the apostles, devoutly imitating this example, sent forth two of their number—that faithful pair of disciples, whom the hand of God united so intimately in the path of duty. The testimony of the truth is intended to be proclaimed in full harmony by the mouth of two witnesses, and their fraternal love is intended to be a source of comfort and encouragement to both. (ib.).—The first ecclesiastical visitation: I. The occasion: (a) spiritual life has been imparted, but needs support, Act_8:14; (b) a certain want exists in the church, which must be supplied, Act_8:16. II. The visitors: (a) Peter—apostolical earnestness and zeal; (b) John—evangelical mildness and gentleness. III. The functions of chief pastors: (a) humble prayer in the name of the church, Act_8:15, and, (b) sacerdotal imposition of hands in the name of God, Act_8:17. IV. The results: (a) the congregation is strengthened, Act_8:17, and, (b) sifted, Act_8:18 ff.

Act_8:15. Who … prayed.—The pastor’s work includes prayer as well as preaching. God does not withhold an answer to the prayers of his servants for the salvation of the souls intrusted to their care.

Act_8:16. As yet he was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized.—The baptism of the Spirit must be combined with the baptism with water, else the latter remains incomplete, and the individual is no true Christian. With which baptism hast thou been baptized?

Act_8:17. Then laid they their hands on them.—This imposition of hands, combined with prayer, is the holy type of our ecclesiastical Confirmation, which is intended to be neither more nor less than the avouchment and sealing of the Spirit received in Baptism. (Leonh. and Sp).—The holy rite of Confirmation: considered with respect, I. To its origin: it is not, indeed, a sacramental institution of the Lord, but it is a venerable order or usage of the church; II. To its significance: it is not, indeed, a substitute for, or repetition of, baptism, but it is a confirmation of the baptismal confession of faith, and of baptismal grace; III. To its effects: it is not, indeed, an infallible means of imparting the Holy Ghost, as in the case of the apostolical imposition of hands on the Samaritans, but it is a spiritual blessing of incalculable value to hearts that are properly disposed to receive it.

Act_8:18-19; comp. Act_8:23-24. Simon … offered them money, saying, Give me also this power.—The sin of converting church matters and spiritual gifts into articles of trade, either as buyers or sellers, is the sin which Simon committed, i.e., Simony. With respect to this subject, the following points claim attention (from Apost. Past.): (a) Simony originates in a covetous and ambitious heart. As Simon had, during a long period, wielded a considerable influence, and practised his sorceries among the people, but now ascertained that the powers of the apostles diminished his influence and his profits, he basely resolved to acquire new honor, and secure new gains, by means of money. Thus all who seize on offices by dishonest means, are governed by no other motive than that of serving their idols—honor, or the belly [Php_3:19], or mammon.—The church has, therefore, from the earliest times, regarded Simon, on sufficient grounds, as the father of heresy, and the type of sectarianism. The hidden motive, indeed, of nearly every founder of a sect, is a thirst for spiritual power combined with immeasurable arrogance, which employs audacity and a plausible appearance as the means for bewitching people who look merely at the surface. (b) The sin of Simon, further, betrays that his heart was full of bitter gall, and was, in truth, a bundle of manifold unrighteousness. His heart was full of bitter gall, i.e., full of bitter envy, when he saw the blessing that attended the labors of the apostles, and the superiority of their divine preaching to his magic arts. There was a bundle of unrighteousness in his heart. For instance, although he had become a Christian, he had no intention to exhibit his Christianity by bearing the cross and following Jesus; he desired to become a proud worker of miracles, and, consequently, we find a carnal mind in him. Then, he continued with the apostles in appearance only, for, in his heart, he was irritated when they succeeded, and thus he secretly cherished hypocrisy in his bosom. He hoped to bewitch these servants of Jesus with his money, as he had previously bewitched the people with his sorceries, and as he was himself bewitched by the idols of honor and mammon; hence he entertained degrading views respecting the apostles, and looked on them and their office with mean and sordid feelings. And this bundle or combination of envy and jealousy, of a carnal mind, and degrading views of the sacred office and of those who are invested with it, is even yet the characteristic mark of the followers of Simon, (c) Simon is anxious to obtain, not χάριν but ἐξουσίαν, a power to do certain acts, Act_8:19. He did not desire to conduct men to the wells of salvation, by preaching the Gospel, but rather to acquire eminence by the exhibition of great power. In this respect all those resemble him who seek an [ecclesiastical] office without having yet obtained grace, and who are influenced, not by a desire to labor in the service of the Lord, or to do good to the souls of men, but by considerations that refer to their own dignity, rank or power. Those persons, too, belong to this class, who are anxious to acquire certain official qualifications, but altogether overlook those which are derived from the sanctification of the soul. They are diligent in collecting stores of showy learning, and are eager to exhibit the possession of the gift of a graceful and attractive delivery, but their efforts are not directed to the acquisition of an enlightened understanding, a renewed heart, and a mind devoted to the Lord. “In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Luk_10:20.—(d) Simon offered the apostles money or “treasures.” There are many who do not precisely offer ready money as a compensation, but attempt to secure an office by the offer of a valuable consideration of another kind. How often the office constitutes a dowry! How often the door of the sheepfold refuses to open, until the patron of the benefice has been reached by clandestine means! (e) Simon regards the divine punishments with servile fear, in consequence of his evil purpose. He dreads the condemnation with which he is threatened by the apostles; yet no conversion takes place; he simply desires, in a slavish manner, to escape punishment. He cannot pray himself, with a joyful spirit, but says, in his alarm: ‘Pray ye for me!’ This is still the condition of pastors who are guilty of the sin of simony; they are perpetually harassed by a slavish fear. They bear with them an evil conscience, and cannot possibly derive enjoyment from their office; they can never unreservedly put their trust in God, and act in the name of Jesus.—“Pastors should apply this case as a test to themselves, and ascertain whether they have obtained their office pro jure et titulo; if their conscience accuses them, let them take the path which the apostle directs Simon to pursue, Act_8:22. All candidate ministerii may find a standing warning in this text, and learn from it that no real advantage can ever be derived from the use of unfair means.”

Act_8:20. Thy money perish with thee!—This is the language of the moneyless Peter, who had said to the lame man: ‘Silver and gold have I none.’ (Act_3:6). He speaks with a holy abhorrence of the avarice and hypocrisy which Simon had so shamelessly betrayed, and speaks, too, with a distinct recollection of the Lord’s words: “Freely ye have received, freely give.” [Mat_10:8]. The “Successors of Peter” have not always thought, spoken, and acted in this manner.—There are none with whom we should deal with more severity than with hypocrites, who enter the vineyard of Christ under plausible pretences, to the great injury of the souls of men. (Apost. Past.).—But those who wish to be zealous after the manner of the apostles, must also possess a portion of their spirit, (ib.).—It is one thing to condemn, and another to convince an individual that he is in a state of condemnation. (Starke).—And these two points, also, the successors of Peter have sometimes overlooked.

Act_8:21. Thou hast neither part nor lot.—He who prefers that his part and lot should consist in the things of this world, will have no share in those that are spiritual and eternal.—Thy heart is not right in the sight of God.—When we rebuke sinners, it is always necessary to direct their attention to the state of their hearts. It is not sufficient to refer to their outward acts; it is far more to their advantage when we expose to them the original source from which their evil deeds proceed. And, therefore, when we assail a particular sin, while we occupy the pulpit, or at our pastoral visits, we should always show that the unconverted heart is the true source of that sin. This procedure is, above all, needed in the case of hypocrites. (Apost. Past).

Act_8:22.—Repent, therefore, etc.—Pastors ought to labor sincerely for the salvation of those whose sins they condemn, and guide them to the way of salvation by urging them to repent. 2Co_12:19. (Starke).—An apostle of the Lord, who came “not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” [Luk_9:56], bears with him not only the thunderbolt of law, but also the olive-branch of the Gospel, which offers forgiveness to all repentant sinners. (Leonh. and Sp.).—And pray God.—It is of great importance that we should urge inquiring souls to offer prayer to God themselves: such counsel is adapted to sins of every kind: it points to the only means that can afford relief to a soul which is conscious of its guilt and misery.—If perhaps … forgive thee.—Peter does not intend to represent the forgiveness of Simon as a doubtful point, but only to exhibit to him the great danger in which he is placed, and the necessity of sincere repentance. An evangelical pastor must adopt proper precautions, must furnish remedies against levity of mind, as well as against a weak faith or unbelief, and be careful, while he guards men against an unnecessary anxiety, not to establish them in a state of false security. (Apost. Past.).

Act_8:23. Gall of bitterness.—Nothing is more offensive to the taste of men than gall; so, too, nothing is more abominable in the eyes of God than deceitfulness and lies. Psa_5:6. (Starke).—The bitter gall of the heart must be expelled by the bitterness of repentance, that is, one hitter thing must be expelled by another, before the sweetness of the Gospel and the goodness of the Lord can be tasted. [Psa_34:8]. (ib.).

Act_8:24. Pray ye … that none, etc.—Behold here the characteristic features of an imperfect or false repentance: (a) “Pray ye for me.” In such a case, the individual is converted simply in the sight of men, and unto men, who are chosen as mediators, but he is not converted in the sight of God, and unto God. (b) “That none of these things … come upon me.” Such an individual simply desires to be delivered from punishment by indulgence, but not to be delivered from sin by forgivenesss and purification.—“Thus Simon approached, step by step, that destruction from which there is no deliverance, although at every step which he took, grace rebuked, warned, and called him: thus his latter end was worse than the beginning. [2Pe_2:20]. He had received grace, but in place of applying it conscientiously, he employed it in promoting carnal purposes. The wonderful works of God which he beheld, did not fill him with humility, but only tempted and animated anew his arrogant spirit. He sought to acquire a more precious gift than he had already received, but it was his purpose to employ it in destroying the souls of men. The call to repentance reached him, but did not infuse life into his soul; it simply led him to think of means for escaping the temporal punishment of his sin.” (Rudelbach).—The precious gift of the Holy Ghost: I. It completes the work commenced by the word and the sacraments, Act_8:14-17; II. It can neither be obtained by any human art, nor be purchased with money, Act_8:18-21; III. It is a free gift of God, reserved for those who repent and believe, Act_8:22-25.—The Holy Spirit, a gift of the grace of God: I. Freely bestowed on up-right souls (the Samaritans); II. Never sold to the deceitful at any price (Simon).

Act_8:25. They returned—and preached the gospel in many villages.—The true torches of God, enkindled by the fire of divine love, afford both light and warmth wherever they appear.—Even when we are travelling, the fear of God should be our guide, and the love of our neighbor, be our companion, Joh_4:3-5.—The man is very guilty, whose arrogance leads him to desire a pastorate in an eminent city, and reject one in a despised village. What else are these distinguished apostles here, but village preachers! (Starke).—It is, indeed, very painful to a servant of Christ, when he had hoped to derive pleasure from a soul that seemed to be converted, but is disappointed in the end. However, he should not despair. If he is disappointed in one case, all his hopes may be fulfilled in other cases. If Simon is found to be deceitful, the Lord awakens in his place the Ethiopian eunuch, Act_8:27. (Ap. Past.).—The evidence of the vital power of the Church of Christ: I. It daily extends its borders, amid the opposition of the world; II. It promotes the spiritual growth of believers, by communicating the gifts of the Holy Ghost; III. It maintains its own purity by a strict judgment in the case of hypocrites and false teachers. (Leonh. and Sp.).—The circumstances under which the Gospel went forth for the first time into all the world: I. The holy order appointed by the Lord was here maintained, Act_8:14-17; II. That order was violated by the sin of man, Act_8:18-19; III. The watchfulness and fidelity of the shepherds preserved the flocks from the dangers that threatened them, Act_8:20-25. (Langbein.)

Footnotes:

[9]Act_8:16. In place of οὔπω of the text. rec., Griesbach has, in accordance with the most important MSS. [A. B. C. D. E. and Cod. Sin.] recommended οὐδέπω; and this latter reading has been unanimously adopted by all the more recent critics. [Alford, who concurs, found it, however, difficult to decide, as far as internal evidence is concerned, and “followed MS. authority.”—Tr.]

[10]Act_8:18. Ἰδών [in A. B. C. D. E. and Cod. Sin.] is much better supported than θεασάμενος [of text. rec.], which is found only in G. H., and is evidently a correction intended to improve the text. [Lach. and Tisch. read ἰδών, but Alf., who reads θεασ., regards the former as the correction. Meyer concurs with him, and de Wette would adopt the same view, if ἰδών were not so strongly supported.—In the same verse, Alf., with Tisch., omits τὸ ἅγιον of the text. rec. after πν.; but while this reading is omitted in B. and Cod Sin., it is found in A. C. D. E., Vulg., etc., and Lach. retains the two words.—Tr.]

[11]Act_8:21. ἔναντι in A. B. D. [and Cod. Sin.] like οὐδέπω [in Act_8:16], is a somewhat rare form, for which C. and some fathers read ἐναντίον; the more usual ένώπιον [of the text. rec.] is incorrectly substituted for it in E. G. H. [Lach., Tisch. and Alf., with whom Meyer agrees, read ἔναντι, but as Luke very frequently employs ἐνώπιον in his Gospel and elsewhere in the Acts, de Wette regards tins latter form as the original reading also here.—Tr.]

[12]Act_8:22. κυρίου is far more positively attested [A. B. C. D. E. Cod. Sin.] than Θεοῦ [in G. Η., Vulg., etc.,], which appears to have been transferred from Act_8:21. [κυρίου, by the later editors.—Tr.]

[13]Act_8:25. ὑπέστρεφον—εὐηγγελίζοντο are the readings preferred by Lachmann and Tischendorf to those of the text. rec., which, in both cases, exhibits the aorist; however, ὑπέστρεφον is found only in A. B. D., while εὐηγγελίζ. is found in A. B. C. D. E. The authorities which exhibit the latter, advocate the former also, as both words should undoubtedly appear in the same tense. [ὐπεστρέψαν of text. rec., in C. E. G. H.; ὑπέστρεφον, (adopted by Lach., Tisch. and Alf.) in A. B. D. and many minuscules; εὐηγγελίσαντο, of text. rec., in G. H.; εὐηγγελίζοντο (adopted by the same editors) in A. B. C. D. E.—Cod. Sin. reads ὑπέστρεφον and εὐηγγελίζοντο.—Tr.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 18

THE APOSTLES AND CONFIRMATION.

Act_8:14-18

IN the last chapter we noticed the work of Philip in Samaria, the present one will deal with the mission of the Apostles Peter and John to complete and perfect that work.

The story, as told in the sacred narrative, is full of instruction. It reveals the ritual of the apostolic Church, the development of its organisation and practice, the spiritual lessons which the earliest gospel teachers imparted and the latest gospel teachers will find applicable. Philip converted the Samaritans and laid the basis of a Christian Church. Word was at once brought of this new departure to the Apostles at Jerusalem, because it was a new step, a fresh development which must have given a great shock to the strict Jewish feeling, which regarded the gospel as limited by the bounds of orthodox judaism. The Apostles may have felt some surprise at the news, but they evidently must have acknowledged the Samaritans as standing on a higher level than the Gentiles, for they do not seem to have raised any such objections to their baptism as were afterwards urged against St. Peter when he preached to and baptised Cornelius. "Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised," was the objection of the Jerusalem Church urged against St. Peter as regards Cornelius. The Samaritans were circumcised, and therefore this objection did not apply. The Jews, indeed, of Judaea and of Galilee hated the Samaritans with a perfect hatred, but neither hatred nor love is ever guided by reason. Our feelings always outrun our judgment, and the judgment of the Jews compelled them to recognise the Samaritans as within the bounds of circumcision, and therefore the Apostles tolerated, or at least did not except against, the preaching of the gospel to the Samaritans, and their admission by baptism into the Messianic kingdom. It is a phenomenon we often see repeated in our own experience. A brother or a relation alienated is harder to be won and is more bitterly regarded than a total stranger with whom we may have quarrelled, though, at the same time, reason, perhaps even pride and self-respect and regard for consistency compel us to recognise that he occupies a different position from that of a perfect stranger. The conversion of the Samaritans must be viewed as one of the divinely appointed steps in the plan of human unification, one of the divinely appointed actions gently leading to the final overthrow of the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile which the earlier chapters of this book trace for us. How beautiful the order, how steady and regular the progress, that is set before us! First we have the call of the strict Jews, then that of the Hellenistic Jews, next that of the Samaritans, and then the step was not a long one from the admission of the hated Samaritans to the baptism of the devout though uncircumcised Gentile, Cornelius. God does His work in grace, as in nature, by degrees. He teaches us that changes must come, and that each age of the Church must be marked by development and improvement; but He shows us here in His word how changes should be made, -not rashly, unwisely, impetuously, and therefore uncharitably, but gently, gradually, sympathetically, and with explanations abundantly vouchsafed to soothe the feelings and calm the fears of the weaker brethren. This method of the Divine government receives an illustration in this passage. God led the Church of the first age very gradually, and therefore we see the apostolic college steadily, though perhaps blindly and unconsciously, advancing on the road of progress and of Christian liberality.

We have in this section of primitive Church history a twofold division: the action of the Apostles on one side, the attitude and conduct of Simon Magus on the other. Each division has quite distinct teaching. Let us in this chapter take note of the Apostles.

I. The Apostles who were at Jerusalem heard of the conversion of Samaria, and they at once sent thither Peter and John to supervise the work. The deacons had, for a time, appeared to supersede the Apostles before the world, but only in appearance. The Apostles retained the chief government in their own hands, though to the men of the time others seemed the more prominent workers. The Apostles gave free scope to the gifts entrusted to their brilliant subordinates, but none the less they felt their own responsibility as rulers of the Divine society, and never for a moment did they relinquish the authority over that society which God had entrusted to them. They felt that Christ had instituted an organised society with ranks and offices duly graduated, with officials-of whom they were themselves the chief-assigned to their appointed tasks, and never did they surrender to any man their Divinely given power and authority. Philip might preach in Samaria; but though he was successful in winning converts, the Apostles claimed the right of inspecting and controlling his labours. They successfully solved a problem which has often proved a very troublesome one. They combined the exercise of power with the free play of enthusiasm, and the result was that the enthusiasm was shielded from mistakes, and the power was vivified by the touch of enthusiasm and prevented from falling into that cold, heartless, ice-like thing which autocratic rule, in Church and State alike, has so often become. What a picture and guide we here behold for the Church of all ages! What a needed lesson is here taught! What errors and schisms would have been avoided throughout the long ages which have since elapsed, had the example of the apostolic Church been more closely followed, had power been more sympathetic with enthusiasm, and enthusiasm more loving, obedient, and submissive as regards authority!

The Apostles recognised their own responsibility and acted upon their own sense of authority, and they sent forth Peter and John to minister in Samaria and supply what was wanting as soon as they heard of the work done by St. Philip. The persons whom the college of Apostles thus despatched are worthy of notice, and have a direct bearing on some of the great theological and social problems of this age. They sent Peter and John. Peter, then, was the messenger of the Apostles, -the sent one, not the sender. We can find nothing of the supremacy of Peter in these early apostolic days of which men began to dream in later years. The supreme authority in the Church and the burden of the Christian ministry were laid upon the Twelve Apostles as a whole, and they, as a body of men entrusted with co-equal power, exercised their functions. They knew nothing of Peter as the prince of the Apostles; nay, rather, when occasion demanded, they sent Peter as well as John as their delegates. The choice of these two men, just as their previous activity, depended again upon spiritual grounds, upon their love, their zeal, their Christian experience, not upon any official privilege or position which they enjoyed above the other Apostles.

Surely in this view again the Acts of the Apostles may be regarded as a mirror of all Church history. The pretended supremacy of St. Peter above his brethren has been the ground on which the claim of Roman supremacy over all other Christian Churches has been urged.

That claim has been backed up by forgeries like the False Decretals, where fictitious letters of Popes, dating from the first century downwards, have been used to support the papal assertions. But plain men need not go into abstruse questions of Church history, or into debates upon disputed texts. We have one undoubted Church history, admitted by all parties who profess and call themselves Christians. That history is the Acts of the Apostles, and when we examine it we can find nothing, about St. Peter, his life or his actions, answering in the remotest degree to that imperial and absolute authority which the Papacy claims in virtue of its alleged descent from that holy Apostle. The Acts knows of St. Peter sometimes as the leader and spokesman of the Apostles, at other times as their delegate, but the Acts knows nothing and hints nothing of St. Peter as the ruler, the prince, the absolute, infallible guide of his fellow Apostles and of the whole Church. Peter and John were the persons despatched as the apostolic delegates to complete the work begun by Philip. We can see spiritual reasons which may have led to this choice. Peter and John, with James his brother, had been specially favoured with Christs personal communications, they had been admitted into His most intimate friendship, and therefore they were spiritually eminent in the work of Christ, and peculiarly fitted to do work like that which awaited them in Samaria, - pointing Christian men to the great truth, that eminence in Christs Church and cause will evermore depend, not upon official position or hierarchical or ministerial authority, but upon spiritual qualifications and the vigour of the interior life. How wonderfully has the prophecy involved in the preeminence of Peter, James, and John been fulfilled. When we look back over the ages of Christian labour which have since elapsed, whose are the foremost names? Whose fame as Christian workers is the greatest? Not popes or princes, or bishops of great cities, but an Augustine, the bishop of an obscure African see; an Origen, a presbyter of Alexandria; a Thomas A Kempis whom no man knows; or presbyters like John Wesley, or George Herbert, or Fletcher of Madeley, or John Keble; - men like them, holy and humble of heart, obscure in station or m scenes of labour, they have lived much with God and they have gained highest places in the saintly army, because they were specially the friends of Jesus Christ. The world knew nothing of them, and the men of affairs and the children of time, whose thoughts were upon rank, and place, and titles, knew nothing of them; and such men had their reward perhaps, they gained what they sought; but the despised ones of the past have had their reward as well, for their names have now become as ointment poured forth, whose sweet fragrance has filled the whole house of the Lord.

II. And now why were Peter and John sent to Samaria from Jerusalem? They were doubtless sent to inspect the work, and see whether the apostolic approval could be given to the step of evangelising the Samaritans. They had to form a judgment upon it; for no matter how highly we may rate the inspiration of the Apostles, it is clear that they had to argue, debate, think, and balance one side against another just like other people. The inspiration they enjoyed did not save them the trouble of thinking and the cosequent danger of disputation; it did not force them to adopt a view, else why the debates we read of concerning the baptism of Cornelius, or the binding character of circumcision? It is clear, from the simple fact that controversy and debate held a prominent place in the early Christian Church, that there was no belief in the existence of infallible guides, local and visible, whose autocratic decisions were final and irreversible, binding the whole Church. It was then believed that the guidance of the Holy Spirit was vouchsafed through the channel of free discussion and interchange of opinion, guided and sanctified by prayer. Peter and John had to go down to Samaria and keenly scrutinise the work, so as to see whether it bore the marks of Divine approval, completing the work by the imposition of their hands and prayer for the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The Apostles duly discharged their mission, and by their ministry the converts received the gift of the Holy Spirit, together with some or all of those external signs and manifestations which accompanied the original blessing on the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem. This portion of our narrative has been always regarded by the Church, whether in the East or the West, as its authority for the practice of the rite of confirmation. The assertion of the Church of England, in one of the collects appointed for use by the bishop in the Confirmation Service, may be taken as expressing on this point the opinion of the Churches-Roman, Greek, and Anglican. "Almighty and everliving God, who makest us both to will and to do those things that be good and acceptable unto Thy Divine Majesty; We make our humble supplications unto Thee for these Thy servants, upon whom (after the example of Thy holy Apostles) we have now laid our hands, to certify them (by this sign) of Thy favour and gracious goodness towards them." Let us reflect for a little on these words. The reference to apostolic example in this collect is not. indeed, merely to this incident at Samaria. The example of St. Paul at Ephesus, as narrated in the nineteenth chapter, is also claimed as another case in point. There we find that St. Paul came to a place where he had previously laboured for a short time. He discovered in Ephesus some disciples who had received the imperfect and undeveloped form of teaching which John the Baptist had communicated. A sect had apparently been already formed to continue Johns teaching, such as we still find perpetuated amid the wilds of distant Mesopotamia, in the shape of the semi-Christian society which there practises daily baptism as a portion of its religion. St. Paul explains to them the richer and fuller teaching of Christ, commands them to be baptised after the Christian model, by one of his attendants, and then, like Peter and John, completes the baptismal act by the imposition of hands and prayer for the gift of the Spirit. These two apostolic incidents are not, however, the only scriptural grounds which can be alleged for the continued use of. confirmation. It might be said that the practice of the Apostles was not sufficient to justify or authorise confirmation as a scriptural rite, unless it can be shown that the imposition of hands, after baptism and as its completion, passed into the ordinary usage of the early Church. Let me here make a brief digression. The New Testament cannot be used as a guidebook to the whole life and practice of the early Church, because it was merely a selection from the writings of the Apostles and of their companions. If we possessed everything that the Apostles wrote, we doubtless should have information upon many points of apostolic doctrine and ritual concerning which we now can only guess, some of which would doubtless very much surprise us. Thus, to take an example, we should have been left without one single reference to the Holy Communion in all the writings of St. Paul, had not the disorders at Corinth led to grave abuses of that sacrament, and thus caused St. Paul incidentally to mention the subject in the tenth and eleventh chapters of his first epistle to that Church.

Or to take another case. The "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" has been already referred to and described. It is manifestly a manual dealing with the Church of apostolic times, and there we find reference to customs which were practised in the Apostolic Church, to which no reference, or at least very slight reference, is made in the Epistles or other books of the New Testament. The Apostles practised fasting as a preparation for important Church actions, as we learn from the account of the ordination of Paul and Barnabas at Antioch. The "Teaching of the Apostles" shows us that this practice, derived from the Jews, was the rule before baptism (of this we read nothing in the New Testament), as well as before ordination (of this we do read something), and that not only by the persons to be baptised, but by the ministers of baptism as well. It mentions Wednesday and Friday fasts as instituted in opposition to the Monday and Thursday fasts of the Jews; it shows how the lovefeasts of the Primitive Church were celebrated, and sheds much light upon the Order of prophets and their activity, to which St. Paul barely alludes. If we could regain the numberless writings of the Apostles and other early Christians which have perished, we should doubtless possess information upon many other practices and customs of early Church life which would much surprise us. The New Testament cannot than be used as an exhaustive account of the Primitive Church; its silence is no conclusive argument against apostolic origin or sanction as regards any practice, any more than the Old Testament is to be regarded as an exhaustive history of the Jewish nation. And yet, though we speak thus, confirmation or laying on of hands upon the baptised as the completion of the initial sacrament is not left without notice in the Epistles. The imposition of hands as the complement of baptism did not cease with the Apostles and was not tied to them alone, any more than did the use of water in the sacrament of baptism itself cease with the Apostles, as some of the Society of Friends have contended, or the imposition of hands in ordination terminate with apostolic times, as others have argued. This appears from two passages. St. Paul, in the twenty-second verse of the fifth chapter of 1Timothy {1Ti_5:22}, when dealing with Timothys conduct in the usual pastoral oversight of the Church, lays down, "Lay hands suddenly on no man." These words referred not to ordination, for St. Paul had passed from that subject and was treating of Timothys ministerial conduct towards the ordinary members of his flock, directing how he was to care for their souls, reproving publicly the notorious transgressor, and putting him to open shame. We admit, indeed, at once that this notice of the imposition of hands may refer to another use of it which was practised in the early Church. St. Paul may be referring to the imposition of hands when a lapsed or excommunicated member was re-admitted into the Church; or both uses of the ceremony, in confirmation as well as in absolution, may be included under the one reference. But in any case we have another distinct, though incidental, mention of this rite, and that at a time, in a manner, and in a book which clearly proves the practice to have passed into the general custom of the Church. Let us see how this is.

The Epistle to the Hebrews was written by one of the second generation of Christians, one of the generation who could look back to and wonder at the miracles and gifts of the apostolic age. The writer of the Hebrews tells us himself that he was in this position; for when speaking, in the opening of the second chapter, concerning the danger of neglecting the Gospel message, he describes it as a "great salvation; which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will." So that it is evident that the Church of the Hebrews was the composition of a man who belonged to a time when the Church had passed out of the fluid state in which we find it in the earlier chapters of the Acts. It had passed into a condition when rites and ceremonies and Church government and ecclesiastical organisations had crystallised, and when men repeated with profoundest reverence the forms and ceremonies which had become associated with the names and persons of the earliest teachers of the faith; names and persons which now were surrounded with all that sacred charm and halo which distance, and above all else, death, lend to human memories. There is an interesting passage in Tertullian which shows how this feeling worked among the early Christians, making them anxious in divine worship to repeat most minutely and even absurdly the circumstances of the Churchs earliest days. In Tertullians works we have a treatise on Prayer, in which he expounds the nature of the Lords Prayer, going through it petition by petition, proving conclusively that Tertullian and the Christians nearest the apostolic age knew nothing of that modern absurdity which asserts that the Lords Prayer should not be used by Christians. He then proceeds to explain certain useful customs, and to reprove certain superstitious ceremonies practised by the Christians of his day. He approves and explains the custom of praying with hands outstretched, because this is an imitation of our Lord, whose hands were outstretched upon the cross. He disapproves of the practice of washing the hands before every prayer, which Tertullian says was done in memory of our Lords Passion, when water was used by Pilate to wash his hands, and designates as superstitious the custom of sitting down upon their couches or beds after they had prayed, in imitation of Hermas who wrote the "Shepherd," of whom it was said, that after finishing his prayer, he sat down on his bed. Now this last instance exactly illustrates what must have happened in the case of the second generation of Christians, to whom the Epistle to the Hebrews was directed. Men at the end of the second century, when Tertullian lived, looked back to the Shepherd of Hermas with the same profound reverence as to the Apostles. They imitated, therefore, every action and ceremony practised by the Shepherd, whom they regarded as inspired, reading his writings with the same reverence as those of the Apostles.

Human nature is ever the same. The latest sect started in the present generation will be found acting on the same principles as the Christians of the apostolic age. The practices and ceremonial of their first founders become the model on which they shape themselves, and every departure from that model is bitterly resented. Human nature is governed universally by principles which are essentially conservative and traditional. So it must have been with the immediate followers of the Apostles; they conformed themselves as exactly as they could to everything-rite, ceremony, form of words-which the Apostles delivered or practised. And the Apostles certainly, delivered precepts and laid down rules on various liturgical questions, of which we have now no written record. St. Paul expressly refers to traditions and customs which he had delivered or intended to deliver, some of which we know, others of which we know not. Now wherefore have we made this long excursion into the dim regions of primitive antiquity? Simply to show that it is a priori likely that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and men like him of the second and third generation of Christians, would have followed the example of the Apostles, and practised imposition of hands together with prayer for the gift of the Spirit in the case of those baptised into Christ, merely because the Apostles had beforetime practised it. And then, when we come to the actual study of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and read the sixth chapter, we find our anticipations fulfilled. In the first two verses of that chapter the writer lays down the first principles of Christ, the foundation doctrines of the Christian system, which he takes for granted as known and acknowledged by every one; they are, repentance from dead works, faith towards God, the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. Here the imposition of hands cannot refer to ordination, because, as all the other points are matters of personal religion and individual practice, not of ecclesiastical organisation, so we must restrict the imposition of hands referred to as a principle of the Christian religion, to some imposition of hands needful for every Christian, not for the few merely who should be admitted to the work of the ministry. While, again, its close connection with baptism clearly points to the imposition of hands in Confirmation, which the Apostles practised and the primitive Christians adopted from their example. And then, when we pass to ecclesiastical antiquity and study the works of Tertullian, the earliest writer who enters into the details of the practices and ritual established in the Churches, we find imposition of hands connected with baptism exactly as stated in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and viewed as the channel by which the gift of the Holy Ghost is conveyed, not in the shape of miraculous gifts, but in all that edifying, consoling, and sanctifying power which every individual needs, and in virtue of which the New Testament writers, in common with Tertullian, call baptised men temples of the Holy Ghost and partakers of the Holy Ghost.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

8:14-17 When the apostles sent two of their own to Samaria, it was an amazing step in overcoming prejudice (cp. Matt 10:5; Luke 9:52-54; John 4:9; 8:48). Then, it was even more amazing that Peter and John prayed that the new Samaritan believers would receive the Holy Spirit. This event parallels the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-47) and marks the spread of the Holy Spirit’s power from Judea to Samaria (1:8).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 8:14. Δέδεκται, had received) Δέδεκται, ἐδέχθην, δεχθήσομαι, are often used in a Passive signification; ch. Act 15:4; wherefore in this place the verb may he interpreted, was made to receive. Yet it is more simple to take it received. Comp. ch. Act 17:7 (ὑποδέδεκται).—ἀπέστειλαν, then sent) He who is sent, is sent either by a superior or an equal. The authority of the apostolic college was greater than that of Peter and John individually. In our days the Pope of Rome would not be said to be sent by any one.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_8:14-17. Οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσ. ἀπόστ.] applies, according to Act_8:1, to all the apostles, to the apostolic college, which commissioned two of its most distinguished members (Gal_2:9).

Σαμάρεια] here also the name of the country; see Act_8:5; Act_8:9. From the success which the missionary labours of Philip had in that single city, dates the conversion of the country in general, and so the fact: δέδεκται ἡ Σαμάρεια τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ.

The design of the mission of Peter and John[223] is certainly, according to the text (in opposition to Schneckenburger), to be considered as that which they actually did after their arrival (ver.15): to pray for the baptized, in order that (ὅπως) they might receive the Holy Spirit. Not as if, in general, the communication of the Spirit had been exclusively bound up with the prayer and the imposition of the hands (Act_8:17-18) of an actual apostle; nor yet as if here under the Spirit we should have to conceive something peculiar (τὸ τῶν σημείων, Chrysostom, comp. Beza, Calvin): but the observation, Act_8:16, makes the baptism of the Samaritans without the reception of the Spirit appear as something extraordinary: the epoch-making advance of Christianity beyond the bounds of Judaea into Samaria was not to be accomplished without the intervention of the direct ministry of the apostles. Comp. Baumgarten, p. 175 ff. Therefore the Spirit was reserved until this apostolic intervention occurred. To explain the matter from the designed omission of prayer for the Holy Spirit on the part of Philip (Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 32), or from the subjectivity of the Samaritans, whose faith had not yet penetrated into the inner life (Neander, p. 80 f., 104), has no justification in the text, the more especially as there is no mention of any further instruction by the apostles, but only of their prayer (and imposition of hands[224]), in the effect of which certainly their greater ἐξουσία, as compared with that of Philip as the mere evangelist, was historically made apparent, because the nascent church of Samaria was not to develope its life otherwise than in living connection with the apostles themselves.[225] The miraculous element of the apostolic influence is to be recognised as connected with the whole position and function of the apostles, and not to he referred to a sphere of view belonging to a later age (Zeller, Holtzmann).

δέδεκται] has received: see xvii. 7; Winer, p. 246 [E. T. 328]; Valcken. p. 437.

καταβάντες] namely, to Samaria situated lower.

οὐδέπω γὰρ ἦν] for as yet not at all, etc.

μόνον δὲ βεβαπτισμένοι κ.τ.λ.] but they found themselves only in the condition of baptized ones (not at the same time also furnished with the Spirit).

[223] Which Baur (I. p. 47, ed. 2) derives from the interest of Judaism to place the new churches in a position of dependence on Jerusalem, and to prevent too free a development of the Hellenistic principle. See, on the other hand, Schneckenburger in the Stud. u. Krit. 1855, p. 542 ff., who, however, likewise gratuitously imports the opinion that the conversion of the Samaritans appeared suspicious and required a more exact examination.

[224] Act_8:15, comp. with Act_8:17-18, shows clearly the relation of prayer to the imposition of hands. The prayer obtained from God the communication of the Spirit, but the imposition of hands, after the Spirit had been prayed for, became the vehicle of the communication. It was certainly of a symbolical nature, yet not a bare and ineffective symbol, but the effective conductor of the gifts prayed for. Comp. on Act_6:6. In Act_19:5 also it is applied after baptism, and with the result of the communication of the Spirit. On the other hand, at Act_10:48, it would have come too late. If it is not specially mentioned in cases of ordinary baptism, where the operation of the Spirit was not bound up with the apostolic imposition of hands as here (see 1Co_1:14-17; 1Co_12:13; Tit_3:5), it is to be considered as obvious of itself (Heb_6:2).

[225] Surely this entirely peculiar state of matters should have withheld the Catholics from grounding the doctrine of confirmation on our passage (as even Beelen does).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 8:14 . ἡ Σαμ .: here the district; Weiss traces the revising hand of St. Luke (but see on the other hand Wendt, in loco ). There is nothing surprising in the fact that the preaching of the Gospel in the town should be regarded by the Apostles at Jerusalem as a proof that the good news had penetrated throughout the district, or that the people of the town should themselves have spread the Gospel amongst their countrymen ( cf. Joh 4:28 ). δέδεκται τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θ .: the phrase is characteristic of St. Luke, as it is used by him, Luk 8:13 , Act 11:1 ; Act 17:11 , but not by the other Evangelists it is found once in St. Paul, 1Th 1:6 ( cf. Act 2:13 and Jas 1:21 ). In the mention of John here, as in Act 3:4 , Weiss can only see the hand of a reviser, since the beloved disciple is mentioned with Peter in a way for which, as Weiss alleges, no reason can be assigned, Act 3:4 ; Act 3:11 , Act 4:13 ; but nothing was more likely than that Peter and John should be associated together here as previously in the Gospels, see Plumptre’s note on Act 3:1 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Peter not chief, but as an ambassador sent from the whole company of the Apostles, and John his companion according to the authority which was committed unto them, confirm and build up the Churches of Samaria, whose foundation had been laid afore by Philip.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the apostles . . . sent Peter and John--showing that they regarded Peter as no more than their own equal.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. The word of God] The doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.

They sent unto them Peter and John] There was no individual ruler among the apostles-there was not even a president of the council; and Peter, far from being chief of the apostles, is one of those sent, with the same commission and authority as John, to confirm the Samaritans in the faith.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. Luke describeth, in this place, the proceedings of the grace of God in the Samaritans, as he useth to enrich the faithful continually with greater gifts of his Spirit, for we must not think that the apostles took that counsel whereof Luke speaketh, without the instinct of the same God who had already begun his work in Samaria by the hand of Philip; and he useth his instruments diversely unto divers parts of his work, according to his good pleasure. He used Philip as an instrument to bring them unto the faith; now he ordaineth Peter and John to be ministers to give the Spirit and thus doth he foster the unity of his Church when one helpeth another, and not only knit man and man together, but whole churches also. He could have finished that which he had begun by Philip; but to the end the Samaritans might learn to embrace brotherly fellowship with the first Church, he meant to bind them herewith as with a band; secondly, he meant to grant the apostles (whom he had commanded to preach the gospel throughout the whole world — Mark 16:15) this privilege, that they might the better all grow together into one faith of the gospel; and we know that it was otherwise dangerous, lest, seeing the Jews and Samaritans were much unlike in mind and manners, being so divided, they should by this means divide Christ, or at least feign to themselves a new Church.

In the mean season, we see how careful the apostles were to help their brethren; for they stay not until they be requested, but they take this charge upon them of their own accord. The apostles do not this through any distrust, as if they did suspect that Philip did not his duty so uprightly as he ought; but they set to their hand to help him in his work, and Peter and John came not only to help him, and to be partakers of his labors, but also to approve the same. Again, Philip is not grieved because other men finish that building which he had begun, but they one help another full gently and faithfully; and surely it is ambition alone which will not suffer holy fellowship and mutual imparting of duties to enter. Whereas Luke saith that Peter was sent by the rest, we may hereby gather that he was not the chief ruler over his fellows in office; but did so excel amongst them, that yet, notwithstanding, he was subject to, and did obey the body.

Which were at Jerusalem. This may carry a double meaning, either that all the apostles were at Jerusalem then, or that there were certain resident there when the rest went hither and thither; and I do rather allow this latter, for it is to be thought that they did so divide themselves, that always some of the number might take upon them divers embassages, as occasion was offered, that some might stay at Jerusalem, as in the principal standing. Again, it may be that after every man had spent some time in his voyage, they were wont to assemble themselves there. It is certain, indeed, that that time which they spent at Jerusalem was not spent in idleness; and, secondly that they were not tied to some one place, forasmuch as Christ had commanded them to go over all the world (Mark 16:15.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(14) When the apostles which were at Jerusalem. . . .—The tidings came to the Twelve as a proof that the limitation which had at first excluded Samaria from the range of their work as preachers of the kingdom had now passed away (Mat_10:5), and that the time had now come when they were to be “witnesses” to Christ in Samaria as well as in Judæa (Act_1:8). Old antipathies of race and worship disappeared, and without hesitation they sent the two who were, in many respects, the chief of the Apostles to sanction the admission of the new converts. The Apostle who in his zeal had once sought to call down the fire of the wrath of God on the village of the Samaritans (Luk_9:54), was now to bring to them that baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire (Mat_3:11) which spoke not of wrath but of love. That his companion should be Peter, was natural, both from the position which the latter occupied as the leader of the apostolic company and from the friendship by which the two had been throughout their life united.

The word of God is characteristically used by St. Luke, as in his Gospel, for the whole sum and substance of the gospel of Christ. (Comp. Luk_5:1; Luk_8:11; Luk_8:21.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14–25. Peter and John sent down to Samaria. Conduct of Simon Magus

14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem] The whole twelve still abiding there (Act_8:1) and evidently all taking their part in the administration of the affairs of the Church, though it does not fall within St Luke’s purpose to notice what each did or said.

heard that Samaria had received the word of God] There was a communication kept up between the fugitives from Jerusalem and the twelve even from the first. Samaria here means the district, for although Philip’s preaching was in one city, the newly-baptized would spread abroad in every part, and carry the teaching forth as the woman of Samaria did her “new learning” (Joh_4:28). They had received the word of God as their countrymen before, so as “to know that this is indeed the Christ the Saviour of the world.”

they sent unto them Peter and John] We gather from this passage that there was no special preeminence assigned to any among the twelve in these earliest days. Peter and John were sent forth on their mission by the decision of the whole body. These two were probably chosen for such a work, as they had taken the most active part and in concert (Act_3:1) in establishing the Church in Jerusalem.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who when they were come down,.... To the city of Samaria, where Philip was, and these converts dwelt:

prayed for them; for some of them, unto God:

that they might receive the Holy Ghost; the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as to be able to speak with tongues, to prophesy and work miracles: they might pray for them all, that they might have a larger measure of grace, and more spiritual light and knowledge; and that they might be established in the doctrines of the Gospel, and hold fast the profession of their faith unto the end; but it can hardly be thought that they should pray for them all, both men and women, that they might have the above extraordinary gifts, which were not necessary to them all: and that these are meant by the Holy Ghost is clear from what follows, since he was not yet fallen on any of them, which cannot be understood in any other sense; and seeing it was something visible, which Simon could discern, and therefore cannot mean internal grace, and an increase of that.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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:

Ver. 14. They sent Peter and John] Those pillars, Gal 2:9, to confirm Philip’s doctrine, and found a church by their apostolic authority.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They sent - That is, the apostles “deputed” two of their number. This shows conclusively that there was no “chief” or ruler among them. They acted as being equal in authority. The reason why they sent Peter and John was probably that there would be a demand for more labor than Philip could render; a church was to be founded, and it was important that persons of experience and wisdom should be present to organize it, and to build it up. The “harvest” had occurred in Samaria, of which the Saviour spoke Joh 4:35, and it was proper that they should enter into it. In times of revival there is often more to be done than can be done by the regular servant of a people, and it is proper that he should be aided from abroad.

Peter - This shows that “Peter” had no such authority and primacy as the Roman Catholics claim for him. He exercised no authority in “sending” others, but was himself “sent.” He was appointed by their united voice, instead of claiming the power himself of directing “them.”

And John - Peter was ardent, hold, zealous, rash; John was mild, gentle, tender, persuasive. There was wisdom in uniting them in this work, as the talents of both were needed; and the excellencies in the character of the one would compensate for the defects of the other. It is observable that the apostles sent “two” together, as the Saviour had himself done. See the notes on Mar 6:7.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

These were sent that they might further confirm the doctrine which Philip had preached amongst the Samaritans, and by apostolical authority constitute a church in Samaria.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The apostles (see ver. 1). They sent unto them Peter and John. The selection of these two chief apostles shows the great importance attached to the conversion of the Samaritans. The joint act of the college of apostles in sending them demonstrates that Peter was not a pope, but a brother apostle, albeit their primate; and that the government of the Church was in the apostolate, not in one of the number.

Vers. 14-24. The spirit of mammon in the Christian Church.

Peter and John represented the apostolic authority, but not as something to be imposed on believers, but as linking them with the source of spiritual gifts. Simon represented the spirit of this world in the Church the sins of ambition, covetousness, hypocrisy, priestcraft, intimately connected with the one fatal error of admitting the world"s calculations into the Church. He offered them money." The Church has listened to such offers far too much. The Simon-spirit, the mixture of sorcery and faith, has filled some portions of the professed Church with lies and mammon-worship. Notice

I THE TRUE APOSTOLIC SPIRIT manifested.

1. Dependence on prayer.

2. Separation of spiritual gifts from oil money considerations.

3. Detection and denunciation of the false and sordid.

II The CHURCH"S DANGER from the laxness of discipline.

1. Those that have "neither part nor lot in this matter" must be kept out of the number of God"s people.

2. Especially must the ministry be preserved from every form of simony.

3. The bold and fearless course on the part of those in office is much the safest. Hypocrisy is weakness. Simon will succumb to Peter, if Peter only speaks out the Word of God, and stands up for purity of faith and conscientiousness. Better a poor Church with spiritual gifts, than a treasury full of hypocrites" offerings and no Holy Ghost descending on the world. R.

Vers. 14-17. The gift of the Holy Ghost.

There are signs of an impartation of the Spirit by the apostles which we do not appear to understand fully, because it differs from any impartation of the Spirit with which we have experience. The apostles were enabled to repeat for their disciples their own experience. They were first called to discipleship and then endowed for work. So those to whom apostles preached were first brought into the new kingdom by faith and confession, and then sealed and entrusted with particular gifts for service by the Holy Spirit of promise. The apostles were at first the only agents through whom this further gift of the Spirit came. How far they were permitted to pass this agency in the giving of the Spirit on to their successors has been a matter which the various sections of Christ"s Church have regarded differently. Two things require study and consideration.

I THE NATURE AND OBJECT OF THIS GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. It was evidently regarded as essential to the full standing of the Christian. A man must be converted and sealed. St. Paul found at Ephesus some disciples who knew only John"s baptism, and he asked them this, as a searching, testing question, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" as if this alone could be accepted as the assurance of their full Christian standing. The gift or endowment may be regarded.

1. In relation to the apostles as agents. They never assumed that the gift came from them; it only came through them. God might have sent his Spirit directly and apart from any human agency. Probably he used the human means in order that the source whence the gift came should be recognized and men should not treat it as an accident, but as a trust; also that its connection with Christ should be recognized, and the use of the endowments in Christ"s service should be realized. It was a bestowment entirely within the Christian limits.

2. In relation to the believers, who were the recipients of the gift. It was a sealing them as Christ"s. It was a taking of them over to Christ"s service. It was a solemn convincement that a new and Divine life was in them, and so a sublime urging to purity of life and an ennobling assurance of all-sufficient present grace for whatever they had to do and whatever to bear. It was a holy rest for personal feeling; they were plainly accepted of God. It was a holy urging to Christly labors; they had the powers, they must find their spheres.

3. In relation to the Church, which was benefited by the various endowments as calculated to meet all its various needs. These points assume that the indications of the Spirit"s coming on the disciples were such as we find at Pentecost. There was some gift of tongues, or preaching, or praying some outward sign which all could realize. Show that if the Spirit now comes to the believer in quieter modes, no essential difference is made in the purpose of his coming. He is with us now to comfort us with assurance of full salvation; and to inspire and guide us in the devotion of our powers to the service of others and of the Church.

II THE MODE AND ORDER OF THIS IMPARTATION OF THE SPIRIT. Observe that it is never regarded, any more than the early Church miracles, as an independent act of the apostles. It is only effective:

1. After prayer, which puts the apostle in right frame to become the agent or medium, and which directs public attention away from the apostles to the real source whence the gift comes.

2. On the laying on of hands. A significant act, by which the vital force filling the apostle seemed to stream forth into the disciple, and the recipient shared in the Divine Spirit-life. If some indication of a gift, talent, or endowment appeared, as a consequence, it need not be anything new; it might be the characteristic quality or faculty infused with new life and energy. But in those days no man received the Spirit apart from some sign of force for service in the Church. This Simon noticed, and it set him upon evil thought. And still God"s Spirit comes on prayer, is recognized by the spiritually minded, and is the energy for all holy labors. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the apostles hearing that Samaria - The inhabitants of that country, had received the word of God - By faith, sent Peter and John - He that sends must be either superior, or at least equal, to him that is sent. It follows that the college of the apostles was equal if not superior to Peter.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Special gifts of the Holy Spirit:

v. 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,

v. 15. who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost

v. 16. for as yet He was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).

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

The apostles never undertook to exercise hierarchical powers and to assume a jurisdiction which they did not possess. But they had been commissioned by Christ as the teachers unto all nations and therefore were anxious to establish true unity of faith in all congregations, no matter where they might be established. It was an important point in the progress of Christianity that people outside of the Old Testament covenant should receive the Gospel and be added to the Church of Christ. When the apostles therefore received the news that Samaria had received the Word of God, that its people had professed allegiance to the Redeemer, they sent Peter and John as their personal representatives to find out the truth of the report and, if so, to establish the bonds of fraternal unity. The fact of the report being certified to, Peter and John not only extended to the Samaritan Church the hand of fellowship, but also transmitted to these new converts the wonderful gifts which they themselves had received. The Samaritans had been baptized, and therefore they were in full possession of the pardon of God, as well as of the Spirit which sanctifies, Mar 16:16; Act 2:38. But now they were equipped with extraordinary gifts, with the power to perform miracles, to speak with strange tongues, to prophesy, and to give other peculiar evidences of the Spirit’s omnipotence and divine majesty. These extraordinary manifestations had not yet been imparted to these believers, although all the spiritual gifts were theirs by and through Baptism. But now these powers were transmitted to them by the laying on of hands, for it was a part of the Lord’s plan in the early Church to use miracles and signs to confirm the preaching of the Gospel. "The design of such gifts, and the way in which they were exercised in the congregation, are fully set forth by Paul in 1Co 12:1-31; 1Co 13:1-13; 1Co 14:1-40. These gifts served a temporary purpose, until the facts, doctrine, commandments, and promises of the new covenant were committed to writing by inspired men, when the prophecies, tongues, and miraculous knowledge of individual teachers gave place to the written Word."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. How the apostles at Jerusalem, hearing the glad tidings of Samaria’s conversion by Philip’s ministry, thought fit to send down two of the twelve to confirm the new converts in their faith, and to constitute a church there by their apostolical authority.

Observe, 2. The persons whom the college of the apostles at Jerusalem thought fit to send to Samaria, Peter and John.

Where note, That Peter’s being deputed by the rest of the apostles to theis service, is an argument that Peter had no primacy or superiority over the rest of the apostles: Or, if in this employment there was any sign of primacy, John was sharer in that as well as Peter. The apostles sent Peter and John.

Observe, 3. What the apostle Peter and John did when they came to Samaria, They prayed and laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

Where, by the Holy Ghost, is not to be understood the sanctifying graces of the Holy Ghost, which the apostles never did, nor could dispense, but the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, the gifts of tongues and prophecy, and a power to work miracles. These were now conferred on such persons whom the Holy Ghost directed them to lay their hands upon, as persons appointed and chosen to be preachers of the gospel.

Where note, That imposition or laying on of hands has been an ancient rite used by the officers of the church, in their solemn dedicating of persons to the service of God and his church.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

APOSTOLICAL PRECEDENT

14-16. “And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John, who having come down, prayed that they may receive the Holy Ghost.” For He had not fallen upon any one of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14-17. Before recording the sequel of Simon's case, Luke introduces an incident, which, on account of its singularity in New Testament history, demands very careful consideration. (14) " Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John; (15) who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (16) For as yet he had fallen upon none of them, only they were immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. "

It would be useless to incumber these pages with the many unsatisfactory explanations of this procedure with which commentaries abound. We will be content with a simple effort to learn what it teaches, by a careful consideration of the facts. We notice, then, first, That the Samaritans had believed the gospel, and been immersed. They were, then, according to the commission, and according to Peter's answer on Pentecost, pardoned, and in possession of that "gift of the Holy Spirit," which was promised on condition of repentance and immersion. Second, After they had been in possession of this gift, for a period sufficient for the news to reach Jerusalem, the whole body of the apostles united in sending to them Peter and John. Third, Previous to the arrival of Peter and John, none of them had received the miraculous gift of the Spirit. Fourth, Upon the imposition of hands by the two apostles, accompanied with prayers, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, conferring miraculous gifts. From these facts we may draw several conclusions. 1st. Whatever other objects may have been contemplated in the mission of the two apostles, such as confirming the faith of the disciples, and assisting Philip in his labors, it is quite certain that the chief object was the impartation of the Holy Spirit. What they did when they arrived in Samaria was certainly the object for which they went. But the chief thing which they did was to confer the Holy Spirit; hence, this was the chief object of their visit. If, however, Philip could have conferred this gift, the mission, so far as the chief object of it is concerned, would have been useless. This affords strong evidence that the miraculous gift of the Spirit was bestowed by no human hands except those of the apostles. That such was the conclusion of Simon, who was an interested witness of this proceeding, is evident from the proposition he made to Peter, to purchase from him this power. If all who had the Spirit could impart it to others, he need only to have sought the gift himself, knowing that this would include the power to impart it. But his offer to buy this power, and that from an apostle, shows that the apostles alone possessed the power of imparting the Spirit. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that in the only other instance of the kind recorded in Acts, that of the twelve disciples in Ephesus, the same gift was bestowed by the hands of an apostle.

The case of Timothy is no exception, as has been supposed, to this conclusion; for, although Paul states that the gift which was in him was given him through prophesy and "the laying on of the hands of the eldership;" yet he exhorts him, in the second epistle, "Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands." These two statements can be reconciled either by supposing that Paul refers to the gift of office in the former, and the gift of the Spirit in the latter; or, that the eldership united with Paul in laying on hands, while it was the apostolic part of the service which imparted the Spirit, the eldership participating, because at the same time he was ordained to the work of an evangelist.

2d. From the fact that these disciples enjoyed pardon and membership in the Church before receiving the miraculous gift, it is evident that this gift was not necessary to the enjoyment of either of these blessings. Yet, strange to say, the mystic power of an ultra spiritualism has thrown these plain facts into the utmost confusion in the minds of some great men. Witness the following from Neander, in reference to the condition of the Samaritans previous to the visit of Peter and John. "They had not yet attained the consciousness of a vital communion with the Christ whom Philip preached, nor yet to the consciousness of a personal divine life. The indwelling of the Spirit was as yet something foreign to them, known only by the wonderful operation which they saw taking place around them." This assertion is evidently in direct conflict with the commission, and with the promise of Peter, that those who would repent and be immersed should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul also teaches that the indwelling of the Spirit is characteristic of all who are Christ's; and certainly all are Christ's who have been immersed into the name of Christ, as had been these Samaritans.

3d. The statement that "as yet he had fallen on none of them, only they were immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus," thrown in parenthetically in explanation of the mission of Peter and John, necessarily implies that there was no such connection between immersion into Christ and the miraculous gift of the Spirit, as that the latter might be inferred from the former. This gift, then, was not common to the disciples, but was enjoyed only by those to whom it was specifically imparted.

Seeing that this extraordinary gift of the Spirit was not necessary to the conversion and pardon of these parties, nor to the indwelling of the Spirit, it is proper to inquire for what purpose it was bestowed. We have already observed, in commenting on Acts 1:8 , that the design of bestowing it upon the apostles was to endow them, intellectually, with power to establish the kingdom, and to furnish miraculous attestation of their mission. In general, miracles were designed to indicate the divine sanction of the procedure with which they were connected; but when the miracle assumed a mental form, it was designed to qualify the party for some mental labor. The young Church in Samaria had hitherto been guided by the infallible teaching of Philip, and more recently, by that of Peter and John. But these brethren must, in executing their high commission, soon depart to other fields of labor. If, in doing so, they should leave the Church in the condition in which Peter and John found it, there would be no means left them of increasing their knowledge of the new institution, and none but their uncertain memories of retaining with accuracy what they had already learned. To supply this defect, chiefly, and secondarily, to leave among them the means of convincing unbelievers, the gift of inspiration was bestowed-not upon all the disciples, for this is not necessarily implied in the text, but upon a sufficient number of chosen individuals. For further information upon the design of such gifts, I refer the reader to the twelfth and fourteenth chapters of First Corinthians . A complete discussion of the subject would belong to a commentary on that epistle, rather than to one on Acts. Suffice it here to add, that these gifts, served as a temporary provision, until the facts, doctrine, commandments, and promises of the new covenant were committed to writing by inspired men, when the prophesies, tongues, and miraculous knowledge of individual teachers gave place to the written record.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. The apostles … heard. They had remained at Jerusalem. The word reached them of Philip's faithful work. Christ had directed that the gospel be carried to “Jerusalem, and unto Judea, and unto Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” In this order it had been carried to Samaria and been received. The preacher sent there was not an apostle. He had miraculous powers, but could not confer them. It seemed needful, now that the gospel was accepted by a new people, not Jewish, that spiritual gifts, such as had been given to the apostles on the day of Pentecost and imparted through them to others, should be bestowed upon this alien nation. Observe, (1) when the Jews first had the gospel on the day of Pentecost these gifts were imparted by the descent of the Holy Spirit; (2) when the Samaritans were converted these were imparted by the presence of the apostles; (3) when the first Gentiles were converted, an apostle being present, they were imparted. There is no record of their impartation, save in or by apostolic presence. See Rom. 1:11. Sent unto them Peter and John. This is positive proof that Peter was not a pope. The body which sends is superior to the one sent. He and John go at the bidding of the whole apostolic body. This is the last mention of John in Acts.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Luke continues the news of what was happening in Samaria.

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard

This marks the beginning of a new part of the story of the Samaritan's becoming believers. (See: Introduction of a New Event)

Samaria

This refers to the many people, who had become believers, throughout the district of Samaria. (See: Synecdoche)

had received

"had believed" or "had accepted"

When they had come down

"when Peter and John had come down"

come down

This phrase is used here because Samaria is lower in elevation than Jerusalem.

they prayed for them

"Peter and John prayed for the Samaritan believers"

that they might receive the Holy Spirit

"that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit"

they had only been baptized

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Philip had only baptized the Samaritan believers" (See: Active or Passive)

they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus

Here "name" represents authority, and being baptized into his name represents being baptized in order to be under his authority. AT: "they had only been baptized to become disciples of the Lord Jesus" (See: Metonymy)

Peter and John placed their hands on them

The word "them" refers to the Samaritan people who believed Stephen's message of the gospel.

placed their hands on them

This symbolic action shows that Peter and John wanted God to give the Holy Spirit to the believers. (See: Symbolic Action)

translationWords

apostle

Jerusalem

Samaria

receive

word of God

send

Peter

John (the apostle)

pray

Holy Spirit

baptize

hand

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

14–25. PETER AND JOHN SENT DOWN TO SAMARIA. CONDUCT OF SIMON MAGUS

14. οἱ ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἀπόστολοι, the Apostles which were at Jerusalem, the whole Twelve still abiding there, as noted in Act 8:1, and evidently all taking their part in the administration of the affairs of the Church, though it does not fall within St Luke’s purpose to notice what each did or said.

ὅτι δέδεκται κ.τ.λ., that Samaria had received the word of God. There was a communication kept up between the fugitives from Jerusalem and the Twelve even from the first. Samaria here means the district, for although Philip’s preaching was in one city, the newly-baptized would spread abroad in every part, and carry the teaching forth as the woman of Samaria did her ‘new learning’ (Joh 4:28). They had received the word of God as their countrymen before, so as to ‘know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.’

ἀπεστειλαν, they sent. We gather from this passage that there was no special preeminence assigned to any among the Twelve in these earliest days. Peter and John were sent forth on their mission by the decision of the whole body. These two were probably chosen for such a work, as they had taken the most active part and in concert (Act 3:1) in establishing the Church in Jerusalem.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14-24.] Mission of Peter and John to Samaria. A question arises on this procedure of the Apostles:—whether it was as a matter of course, that the newly baptized should, by the laying on of hands subsequently, receive the Holy Ghost,—or whether there was in the case of these Samaritans any thing peculiar, which caused the Apostles to go down to them and perform this act. (1) The only analogous case is ch. 19:5, 6: in using which we must observe that there it is distinctly asserted that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit followed the laying on of Paul’s hands; and that by the expression ἰδών in ver. 18, which must be taken literally, the same is implied here. And on this point the remarks of Calvin are too important to be omitted: ‘Hic occurrit quæstio. Dicit enim tantum fuisse baptizatos in nomine Christi, atque ideo nondum fuisse Spiritus participes. Atqui vel inanem et omni virtute et gratia carere Baptismum oportet, aut a Spiritu sancto habere quicquid efficaciæ habet. In Baptismo abluimur a peccatis: atqui lavacrum nostrum Spiritus sancti opus esse docet Paulus (Tit 3:5). Aqua Baptismi sanguinis Christi symbolum est: atqui Petrus Spiritum esse prædicat, a quo irrigamur Christi sanguine (1Pe 1:2). In Baptismo crucifigitur vetus noster homo, ut suscitemur in vitæ novitatem (Rom 6:6): unde autem hoc totum, nisi ex sanctificatione Spiritus? Denique Baptismo nihil reliquum fiet, si a Spiritu separetur. Ergo Samaritanos, qui vere Christum in Baptismo induerant, Spiritu quoque vestitos fuisse negandum non est (Gal 3:27). Et sane Lucas hic non de communi Spiritus gratia loquitur, qua nos sibi Deus in filios regenerat, sed de singularibus illis donis, quibus Dominus initio Evangelii quosdam esse præditos voluit ad ornandum Christi regnum.’ And a little after: … ‘Papistæ, dum ficticiam suam confirmationem extollere volunt, in hanc sacrilegam vocem prorumpere non dubitant, semichristianos esse, quibus manus nondum fuerunt impositæ. (See this asserted by Wordsworth, in loc. p. 40, Col_2, bottom.) Hoc jam tolerabile non est, quod quum symbolum hoc temporale esset, ipsi perpetuam legem finxerunt in Ecclesia.… Atqui fateri coguntur ipsi quoque, Ecclesiam nonnisi ad tempus donis istis fuisse ornatam. Unde sequitur, impositionem manuum, qua usi sunt Apostoli, finem habuisse, quum effectus cessavit’ (in loc.). And yet after this, Wordsw. refers to “Calvin here,” “in whose opinion,” says R. Nelson, “this passage in the Acts shews that Confirmation was instituted by the Apostles.” This example may serve to suggest extreme caution in trusting to Wordsw.’s reports of the opinions of the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers. The English church, in retaining the rite of confirmation, has not grounded it on any institution by the Apostles, but merely declared the laying on of hands on the candidates, to certify them (by this sign) of God’s favour and goodness towards them, to be, ‘after the example of the holy Apostles.’ Nor is there any trace in the office, of the conferring of the Holy Ghost by confirmation;—but a distinct recognition of the former reception of the Holy Spirit (at Baptism), and a prayer for the increase of His influence, proportioned to the maturer life now opening on the newly confirmed. (2) If then we have here no institution of a perpetual ordinance, something peculiar to the case before us must have prompted this journey. And here again we have a question: Was that moving cause in the Samaritans, or in Philip? I believe the true answer to the question will be found by combining both. Our Lord’s command (ch. 1:8) had removed all doubt as to Samaria being a legitimate field for preaching, and Samaritan converts being admissible. (So also with regard to Gentile converts,—see ch. 10, notes: but, as the church at this time believed, they must be circumcised, which the Samaritans already were,—and keep the law, which after their manner the Samaritans did.) The sudden appearance, however, of a body of baptized believers in Samaria, by the agency of one who was not one of the Apostles,—while it would excite in them every feeling of thankfulness and joy, would require their presence and power, as Apostles, to perform their especial part as the divinely appointed Founders of the Church. Add to this, that the Samaritans appear to have been credulous, and easily moved to attach themselves to individuals, whether it were Simon, or Philip; which might make the Apostles desirous to be present in person, and examine, and strengthen their faith. Another reason may have been not without its influence: the Jewish church at Jerusalem would naturally for the most part be alienated in mind from this new body of believers. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans was excessive and unrelenting. It would therefore be in the highest degree important that it should be shewn to the church at Jerusalem, that these Samaritans, by the agency of the same Apostles, were partakers of the same visibly testified gifts of the one Spirit. The use of this argument, which was afterwards applied by Peter in the case of the Gentiles, unexpected even by himself, ch. 11:17,—was probably no small part of the purpose of this journey to Samaria.

14. Πέτ. κ. Ἰωάν.] Perhaps two, in accordance with the δύο δύο of their first missionary journey (Mar 6:7): so Paul and Barnabas afterwards (ch. 13:2): and the same principle seems to have been adhered to even when these last separated: Paul chose Silas, Barnabas took Mark.

Peter,—because to him belonged, in this early part of the Gospel, in a remarkable manner, the first establishing of the church; it was the fulfilment of the promise ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. It was he who had (in common with all the Apostles, it is true, but in this early period more especially committed to him) τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν,—who opened the door to the 3000 on the day of Pentecost, now (as a formal and ratifying act) to the Samaritans, and in ch. 10 to the Gentiles. So far, is plain truth of Scripture history. The monstrous fiction begins, when to Peter is attributed a fixed diocese and successors, and to those successors a delegated power more like that ascribed to Simon Magus than that promised to Peter.

This is the last time that John appears in the Acts. He is only once more mentioned in the N. T. (except in the Revelation), viz. as having been present in Jerusalem at Paul’s visit, Gal 2:9.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Samaria. The country, not the city. See vv. 5, 9.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.