Philip Preaching the Gospel in Samaria

 "But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike." (Acts 8:12 NAS)

Most people with an elementary knowledge of the scriptures understand that the first gospel sermon ever to be preached was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2.   If one wants to learn what one must do to be saved from sin it is a great place to start. This sermon was the first ever preached after Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven where he sat down at the right hand of God the Father.   His blood had now been shed for the remission of the sins of man.  Full forgiveness was now possible.

After Peter’s preaching Jesus on that day of Pentecost, having made believers of approximately 3,000 souls, Peter exhorted them to “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2:38 NAS)   What was required for their salvation that day?   Faith, repentance, and baptism.

Who was saved that Day of Pentecost?   The text tells us, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41 NAS)  Who was saved?  Was it those who believed the word only?  Or, was it those who heard the word and acted on it, who repented and were baptized?  To ask is to answer.

We find a similar account in Acts 8 but this time a different Holy Spirit inspired preacher, Philip the Evangelist.  Here we see Philip preaching in the city of Samaria and the text tells us he “began proclaiming Christ to them.” (Acts 8:5 NAS) But, now watch what happened.  “When they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.” (Acts 8:12 NAS)`

The Acts 8:12 passage parallels Acts 2:41.  What was the good news Philip preached?   Was it the gospel Peter preached?  Was it “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16 NAS)?  I am sure we can all agree on this.

The text says "they believed Philip" (Acts 8:12) with regard to what he was preaching.  This is the equivalent of "those who had received his word" with reference to Peter's preaching in Acts 2:41.  When they believed Philip what did they do?  The text says "they were being baptized."  In Acts 2:41 when they received Peter's word what did they do?  They were baptized.   Thus we see that in the beginning of the church, of Christianity, of faith in Christ, that when the gospel was preached and believed or received it led to people being baptized.  There has to be a reason for that.

Is baptism a part of the gospel?  Is it a part of the good news?   It is if it is "for the forgiveness of your sins" as per Acts 2:38.  It is if Peter preached it.  It is if Philip preached it.  It is if these two Holy Spirit inspired men preached it.  It is if it is a part of God’s means of saving people, a part of God’s plan.  Saying this is not discounting faith in any way.   It is only those who first believe who benefit by baptism.   Baptism is the obedience of faith.   It is what a scriptural faith leads to.

Only when one receives the word, the gospel, only when one believes, is he baptized.  Those who did not receive the word did not believe it, were not baptized.  This pretty much tells us who has believed the gospel and who has disbelieved it.  If you believe something else, something other than the gospel, you are not baptized.  We ought to consider that seriously.

We know in both cases baptism was preached for how else were people led to be baptized? What led Philip's audience to be baptized if Philip did not preach it?  Where did they learn about baptism if he did not preach it?   Why were people baptized on the day of Pentecost under Peter's preaching if he did not preach it?  But, we do not have to guess about Peter's preaching for Peter's words were "repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2:38 NAS)

I am reminded of those living in the lifetime of John the Baptist who rejected John’s baptism. The Bible says, “But, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” (Luke 7:30 NAS)   We now live under King Jesus who has a baptism of his own for mankind.   Are we going to reject it?  Is not the baptism Jesus gives us God’s purpose for us?

If you have never been baptized for the remission of sins you are in a fight against God.   Don't be one of those who insist on being saved your way rather than the way taught by Peter and Philip, by the Holy Spirit.   You cannot win in a fight against God.   It is his narrow gate or the wide gate and the gate you enter makes all the difference (Matt. 7:13-14).  You cannot become a child of God by disobedience, by ignoring his word, by doing it the way my group believes. God only has one group--those who have done it his way.  It is "the Way."   The way of salvation.

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More on Peter’s First Sermon – Calling On the Name Of The Lord

I wrote sometime in the past an article on Peter’s first sermon, the one recorded in Acts 2 delivered on the Day of Pentecost, the day the church was established, the first gospel sermon ever preached by man after Christ’s resurrection.  I titled that article “Receiving the Gospel.”  I thought it good to go back and look again at that sermon and expound a little more on it.

As you recall a crowd was drawn together that day in the city of Jerusalem by a noise that sounded like “a rushing mighty wind.” (Acts 2:2, 6 NKJV)  This was occasioned by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered together as a group (Acts 2:4).  Peter then begins his sermon starting with the explanation of the event by quoting the prophet Joel from Joel 2:28-32 and he says this is the fulfillment of that prophesy (Acts 2:16). 

The part I am interested in today for our purposes is the last quote from Joel (verse 32 in Joel 2, verse 21 as quoted by Peter in Acts 2), “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be save.” (Acts 2:21 NKJV)  Peter says that prophecy is now being fulfilled before you gathered here.  This was, is, and will forever be great news for all humanity as long as the earth shall stand.  It is God’s promise to all of us no matter how badly our lives have turned out otherwise.  The key word in this Holy Spirit inspired declaration is the word “whoever.”  Many translations use the word “everyone” (the ESV, NAS, NIV, NET, and the CSB).  The promise of God is that you will not be excluded.  It is “whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17 NKJV)  God is “not willing that any should perish.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) 

The only stipulation is that a person calls on the name of the Lord.  So what is involved in that?  Well, we know it is not saying to Jesus “Lord, Lord” for Jesus himself says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21 NKJV)

Do you suppose Peter in that first sermon might have told his audience what the Lord’s will for them was?  Yes, I think we would all agree upon that.  After he preached his sermon and it became evident many believed his message about Christ even to the point of asking what they could do about the sin they had committed against the Lord (Acts 2:37) Peter responded.  “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:38 NKJV)

In doing what they were instructed to do they had called upon the name of the Lord.  They were saved.  The scripture says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:41 NKJV)  Were they added to the saved or to the damned?  Let the reader answer.

Remember Peter earlier, in the beginning of his sermon, had told the crowd, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  They are now saved.  Had they called on the name of the Lord?  What had they done?  Let the reader answer.  I ask this of the reader for it is easier to see the truth when we see it for ourselves versus someone else telling us what it is.  We need to reason it out for ourselves.

Calling on the name of the Lord means doing what God tells us to do with full faith that he will respond by doing what he told us he would do.  The people on the Day of Pentecost obeyed Peter’s spirit-inspired preaching of God’s will in faith that God would remit their sins if they would do so. (Acts 2:38)  God would do this for his spirit-inspired apostle said he would if they would do what he told them to do.

Paul’s own conversion experience is further confirmation of this truth.  Ananias in Acts 22:16 having been sent to Paul directly from God says to Paul, a man who because of his experience on the road to Damascus is already a believer and penitent, to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16 NKJV) 

There are two very important points to be made here.  (1) Paul was not yet a saved man.  He still had sins to be washed away.  (2) He had not yet called upon the name of the Lord for if he had Peter told us in Acts 2 that all who do so are saved.

Ananias instructs Paul to call on the name of the Lord how -- by arising and being baptized.  If Ananias is correct that in being baptized Paul’s sins will be washed away making him sin-free Paul will then be a saved man.  If he is a saved man he is a man who has called on the name of the Lord.  God sent Ananias.  Ananias was not mistaken.

Neither Ananias nor Peter nor any other Christian believes there is anything magical in water to wash away sins.  There was no magic potent in the water of the Jordan River Naaman was instructed to bathe in to cure his leprosy in the Old Testament either.  The power lies in doing by faith what God tells you to do with faith believing if you do that God will do in turn what he promises as a result thereof.  Paul’s sins were washed away in water because of God’s promise.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16 NKJV)  Such a person has called upon the name of the Lord.

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This article was written in late May of 2023.

  

Preaching on Hell—Then and Now

I am reading a book entitled A Time to Laugh…Grandpa Was a Preacher by Leroy Brownlow.  Here is a short take from it:

"At a preachers' conference that was held to discuss the merits of preaching on hell, the chairman pointed him out and asked, 'Do you preach on hell very often?'

'No, not often.'

'Why not?' inquired the chairman.  'Is it because you feel that you are not effective on this topic?'

'No, because it disrupts the service.'

'How's that?' continued the chairman.

'It's like this,' explained grandpa, 'the audience becomes so fatigued fanning that I have to declare a recess about every five minutes.'" (Page 23)

Funny, yes, but while funny there is truth here about the preaching of days gone by versus today.  Growing up in the 50's thru the early to mid 60's I often heard sermons that would figuratively speaking curl your toes and send chills up your spine.  In those days hell was real and man was in present danger of ending up there without faith, gospel obedience, and living thereafter a faithful Christian life.

Today it seems no one is afraid of God and everyone seems to believe that in the end no one is going to hell despite their disregard for spiritual things in this life.  The idea is just so you are a decent person, the way society today defines that, then all is well and you will be okay in the end.  No need to worry about reading your Bible, obeying all those commands, attending worship services, etc.  Why even non-Christians may get to heaven seems to be the thinking of the day.

Many despise all that old-time fear-mongering preaching but one wonders whether or not we are better off today without it than we would have been had we kept it up?  After all, those preachers of days gone by did preach on other subjects as well but they made it clear there were things you had to do to be saved and you left those services not doubting for a minute but what they were right.  If a tornado (think hell) is headed directly for you don't you think you might be better off if the weatherman (think preacher) warned you versus giving you soothing words of peace and all is well?

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