Sermon for MHBC (28 March 2021). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays.
Scripture offers us a sobering perspective on the human heart. Jeremiah says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Our passage in Acts this morning gives us an opportunity probe our hearts. We can easily lead ourselves astray. And there are numerous reasons for this. Again, the heart is incredibly complex.
Last week we saw the start of severe persecution against the early church. Stephen is killed for his proclamation about Jesus. This results in a persistent persecution against the church. Look at v. 1: And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. The church is scattered. Pay attention to what the text says. They were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Just hang onto that for a moment. I’ll explain why that’s significant when we get to v. 4. For now, just note that they are scattered out of Jerusalem into the regions of Judea and Samaria.
*image from Holman Atlas, p. 242
They mourn Stephen in v.2: Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. Luke doesn’t portray some sort of positive-thinking early church. These aren’t unfeeling stoics. They recognize that Stephen’s death was both unjust and sad. It was tragic. And yet, they believe God is still in control. They make great lamentation over him.
And they are in the midst of persecution. Verse 3: But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Here we have this ruthless persecution from Saul—a young religious leader. And he’s going from house to house because the environment has gotten so hostile that they presumably cannot meet in the Temple or publicly any longer. The consequences for being a Christian are building for them.
Let’s stop here and do a heart check. If this where our current situation how would you feel? I’d be afraid. I might wonder where God was. I would certainly be sad as they were. Persecution has always bothered me. There are horrifying stories in other parts of the world. Some Christians suffer greatly. In China, house churches continue to be raided. On March 21, Chinese police arrested Zhang Pei-Hong, the pastor of Lancun House Church in Shanghai, during the Sunday service. The same day another church was raided as well.[1]
This has been the experience of Christians throughout the ages. Can I be honest with you? This stuff scares me. I don’t like it. I’ve never liked it. It makes me sad, fearful, angry. Sometimes I wonder why God allows it. But then when I turn to the NT, I realize that’s not a question even on the radar. They aren’t perplexed by suffering. They expect it.
While I was doing research on the persecution in China, I accidentally clicked a link to Bible Gateway. On the homepage for Bible Gateway was the verse of the day. It was Philippians 1:29: For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. According to Paul, you get two gifts: faith and suffering. Jesus said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Matt 5:10–11). These aren’t usually the verses we like to linger on, but again it the expectation of the NT and the experience of Christians throughout time.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Suffering … is the badge of true discipleship.”[2] Luther included suffering as one of his seven marks of the true church, writing, “The holy Christian people are externally recognized by the possession of the sacred cross. They must endure every misfortune and persecution, all kinds of trials and evil from the devil, the world, and the flesh.”[3]
But if you’re like me, you are hesitant to suffer and any notion that we might suffer scares you. You may disagree with me, but it seems to me that in our context, hostility toward Christianity is beginning to increase. Even if you don’t agree completely with the way I’ve said it, it is certainly true that it seems much harder to thrive as a church. In a city like Richmond, we are in a post-Christian culture. The obstacles are building, but here is where we need a heart check as we look at the early church. What do they do with this persecution?
Look at v. 4 with me: Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Did you see it? They are scattered due to persecution, but they aren’t just running for cover. They are preaching the word. Here’s a principle I want you to remember: obstacles are opportunities for faithfulness.
Let’s talk about Monument Heights. Do you agree that we are facing some obstacles? These are opportunities for faithfulness. Now is not the time to be stubborn or to insist on doing things our way. Now is the time to do a heart check, to take an honest assessment and inventory of our congregation and church, and renew our commitment to faithfulness. Here’s what I mean. Where are we failing to be obedient? Where do we need to be corrected by Scripture? What are we doing that needs to be scrapped? What are we not doing that needs to be done?
Now I know Monument Heights has been tested with obstacles in the not-so-distant past. Those obstacles were opportunities for faithfulness and obedience. Look at these believers. They are being persecuted. They are driven from their homes, but they are preaching the gospel.
And God in his infinite sovereignty is fulfilling his plan. Do you remember what Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1? Let me remind you: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Do you see how that’s happening? Persecution has driven them from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria and they are witnessing. See, obstacles are opportunities for faithfulness.
Philip is preaching to the Samaritans. Look at vv. 5–6: Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.
Philip is proclaiming Christ to the Samaritans and here we see the gospel going out into the world. Now the Samaritans had some concept of a Messiah, but still the gospel is unlike anything they’ve ever heard. And that’s true today. Judaism says you must make every effort to be a good person to experience life hereafter. Islam says you must be faithful to the five pillars, fasting, praying, giving, and must live righteously to obtain heaven. Buddhism says you need to accept that suffering is neither good nor bad and when you do that you will be freed so that when you die you will simply become part of the universe. Mormons say you must do all the good you can to be saved. And yet Christianity says, “You and I are hopelessly dead in our sins against a holy God, our natural nature is bent away from God, but God himself, not just a prophet, but God in the flesh, came into this world in order to die so that our sins might be legally penalized and through his resurrection we are set free from the grip of sin, Satan, and death and given new life through God’s own Holy Spirit. And that is offered to us through grace, not through our works, and it is received by faith, what we call trust.” You see Christianity is radically unique.
And we see just how radically unique it is in the next verses. The kingdom of God is invading the world. Look at vv. 7–8: For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.
And we continue to see the distinctiveness of the gospel in the next verses. Verses 9–11: But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
This magic seemed impressive before. They thought this was the answer, but now they’ve seen the power of Jesus. They’ve seen something new and different. And they believe. Verses 12–13: But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
The power of the gospel is unlike anything else in this world. You can search for answers all over the place, and the truth is that people are searching for answers everywhere. They want to make sense out of life—where we came from, why we are here, where we are going. And they’re looking for something that has traction, something that makes sense, something that seems real. The gospel has the power to transform and heal and redeem in a way that nothing else does. Hold up the claims of the gospel to all the alternatives out there and everything pales in comparison.
The truth is that people are searching for answers everywhere. Here’s the heart check for us. Does the gospel invoke wonder and amazement in you?
So big things are happening in Samaria. And this is huge. God is expanding his kingdom. He is bringing in Samaritans into his people. Look at vv. 14–17: Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now obviously these verses raise some theological questions. But I don’t think Luke intended to give us grief. The rest of the NT seems clear enough that upon believing in Christ a person receives the Spirit. However, that does not appear to be the case here. There seems to be two reasons for that. First is the unity of the church. Having Peter and John come down from Jerusalem to affirm that the Samaritans have believed upon Christ ensures that the church will not be split but will remain unified. God’s providential withholding of the Spirit until that moment ensures the unity of the church.
The second reason seems to be for clear affirmation that God has received these Samaritans into his people. When the Spirit falls upon them, there is no question that God is work.
Now unfortunately, Satan is always looking for a means to destroy the church. And he does that through Simon. Simon who apparently had genuinely believed upon Christ is pulled back to his old ways. Look at vv. 18–19: Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Simon has been driven by his desires back into his former lifestyle. He sees this as magic to manipulate. But that is not how the Spirit of God works. Peter’s response to him is a heart check. Look at vv. 20–24:
But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Notice how Peter mentions the intent of his heart twice. Remember the heart is deceitful. Peter has warned him. He has called him to repentance. Now there’s all sorts of speculation about what happens to Simon after this. The text is silent. That’s probably intentional because it forces us to reflect. It gives us a warning. It calls us to check the intentions of our heart.
We’ve been talking about renewal and revitalization here at Monument Height, but there are several warnings for us. First, we cannot abandon the gospel for worldly ways of thinking. That is Simon’s mistake. Whether we abandon the gospel for tradition and religion or our own clever thinking, we are making a grave mistake. Second, we cannot manipulate the Holy Spirit. We must never think that if we pray or follow some specific formula that God is going to do exactly what we want. We cannot force God’s hand. To treat God as a vending machine is incredibly dangerous and calls for repentance. So if in all of our talks of prayer and faithfulness, we find our hearts starting to think that this is a magic formula for Monument Heights to flourish and grow, we must immediately repent.
Our hearts are deceitful. The remedy for this must be a heart that is set on seeing God glorified in the gospel of Jesus. That is a heart that is right. So let’s take a look at our hearts. Why do we want to grow and flourish? It must be about the glory of God. Otherwise, we may need to repent for trying to manipulate God and force him to meet our agenda.
It happens to be Palm Sunday. You may have expected a Palm Sunday sermon. It’s a day I think we often misunderstand. See in some ways this is a Palm Sunday sermon. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem, they expect a king to overthrow the Romans. They are saying, “Hosanna,” because they think the moment of Israel’s deliverance has come. John situates this moment after the raising of Lazaruz. The people see this great power and they think the moment they’ve been waiting for has come. But Jesus doesn’t ride into Jerusalem on a war-horse. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. And he doesn’t run the Romans out of town. He goes after the Temple and the religious establishment. He calls judgment on the emptiness of the religious system and traditions. And when it becomes clear that Jesus is not there to run the Romans off, he is arrested and crucified. The most despicable act in human history occurs when humans put God on the cross. And why did they do it? Because he wasn’t serving their agenda.
The reminder of Palm Sunday is that King Jesus doesn’t serve our agenda. We serve his. His knees will not bow to us. We, along with everything else in all of creation, will bow to him. And as a congregation, it is vital that we take an honest inventory of our hearts and repent of those ways in which we are not serving king Jesus.
[1] https://www.persecution.org/2021/03/24/house-churches-raided-shut-across-china/
[2] The Cost of Discipleship, 91.
[3] https://www.ligonier.org/blog/martin-luthers-7-characteristics-church/