The Power of the Gospel

Today, we are getting into a story here in the book of Acts that is very interesting. We have Simon the magician and Philip preaching the gospel in Samaria. I thought about coming up here and opening up the sermon with a magic trick, but decided to spare you.

In this passage, we are going to be tackling some very controversial topics in the church like receiving the Holy Spirit. My prayer is that we all can gain some clearer understanding of what this text is saying and that it not be confusing.

Acts 8:9–25 ESV

9 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. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 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. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

1. The Gospel has Power over Evil

It would be easy for me to just relegate this to magic with the story that is told here. But it goes deeper than just magic. The gospel has power over all evil. We saw in the verse prior to this the demons being released by people. So the gospel has power over evil and in the story we are in today, the gospel has power over magic.

Acts 8:9–10 ESV

9 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. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”

This is not Simon Peter. This is a Samaritan man who had been practicing magic. And he had been doing this for a while. Enough to get somewhat of a following. And people were amazed by the things that he would do. Enough so that they looked to him as someone being used by God. They said that he was the “Great power of God”. They would not give someone this title lightly. But they looked to him as someone who is being used by God.

Acts 8:11–12 ESV

11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 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.

So Philip comes to town and begins preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to remind us of what Philip was preaching (Gospel Presentation). And people were coming to faith. There is power in the gospel. The Samaritan people were coming to Jesus and turning from the false prophets that were drawing them in.

Acts 8:13 ESV

13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

I said that the gospel has power over evil. Even the one who was performing the acts was amazed by the power the gospel had over people. It was greater than any power that he could perform. And he was amazed because of it. You may think it is a stretch to compare what Simon was doing to evil. But it was distracting people from the one true God. They saw that the works that he was doing and were amazed and considered this power to be from God. This is why it is evil.

You hear me talk about false teachers that we have today. This is why. Because the power and the works that they are presenting is distracting others of the true miracle which is the saving power of the gospel. The charismatic movement is wrapped up in this. Emotionalism is at the root of it. You see people being hit with suit coats and falling out and being slain in the spirit. The tugs at your emotions. There was a church right here in Albemarle that just had a series of “revival” meetings where people were getting slain in the spirit and falling out and speaking in gibberish tongues. One of their preachers for the services had hit a table up there and sat his bible on it and would reach over and put his hand on the bible, but never once opened it up to preach from it. This is because they are more concerned about seeing and feeling these things rather than hearing the word of God preached and responding in faith and repentance. If we want to see revival, it will come from the preaching of God’s word and people responding to it. Not from emotionalism that comes from hearing music that is produced in a way that swells up feelings in you. This is no different that the magician showing off his tricks to get people to see power that is outside of the work of God.

The gospel has power over evil. And we most definitely see evil in our world, even today. We were reminded of it very recently with the attacks from Hamas in Israel. There is no other word to describe these events other than evil. But the good news of the gospel is that it has power over evil. Big evil like Hamas and also the evil in our own lives. But not only does the gospel have power over evil but...

2. The Gospel Brings the Power of the Holy Spirit

Acts 8:14 ESV

14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,

We talked last week that the ones that were scattered were not the apostles. So they were not with Philip seeing the things that were happening in Samaria. But word came to them, so they sent Peter and John to go and check things out.

Acts 8:15–17 ESV

15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

You may wonder sometimes why I chose to preach through books of the bible. This verse is one of the many reasons. If I were a topical preacher, I would avoid this verse like the plague. Preaching through books of the bible, verse by verse, makes sure that the whole counsel of God gets preached, and not only verses that I am comfortable preaching. Because, I was not comfortable with this verse to begin with. But I thank God for this verse because a question was brought up to me just this past week pertaining to this verse.

So let’s work this out. The people who had heard Philip preach and believed what he preached were baptized. But the author, Luke, tells us that they had not received the Holy Spirit yet. This doesn’t jive with what we believe the bible teaches. The bible teaches us an order of salvation.

Foreknowledge and Election - God knowing who would be saved and setting those apart

Faith, Regeneration, and Conversion - Most would see this as happening simultaneously. We believe, God renews us into right relationship with him, We turn our hearts to the gospel. At the same time, we have...

Repentance and Justification - We turn from our sin and are seen as righteous in God’s eyes

Receiving the Holy Spirit - at the moment of salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit.

Scripture backs this up. Romans 8:9 “9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” So Paul tells us that if you are a Christian, then you must have the Holy Spirit. If you do not have the Holy Spirit then you are not a true believer. If we go by what happens in Acts 8, is there a correlation between baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit? I would take us back to Jesus hanging on the cross. The most clear story we have on this is found in

Luke 23:39–43 “39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

The thief on the cross believed and was justified by Christ. But he never had the opportunity to be baptized. If you must be baptized to receive the Holy Spirit, and you must have the Holy Spirit to be regenerated, then how can Jesus promise this man that he would be in heaven with him. It is all about the context of the events.

Here, in Acts, we are very early in the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem. The apostles stayed back in Jerusalem while the lay people of the church scattered to spread it. In fact, this is the first account in the spread of the gospel that people outside of Jewish tradition came to faith in Christ. So this is a unique case. God sovereignly withheld the Holy Spirit from them until the apostles could visit to verify what was going on. This is consistent to several commentaries that I found on this topic. This is not me just pulling a rabbit out of a hat (pun intended). This is a common interpretation of these verses. I want to share what one of the commentaries said.

Exalting Jesus in Acts The Apostles: Sent for the Gospel (Acts 8:14–17)

The Spirit was withheld until the apostles could verify the gospel work. In this unique case of the gospel’s first moving beyond Jerusalem, the Lord sovereignly waited to give any manifestation of the Spirit until the apostles could be there to witness it. That way they would see and could testify that the Samaritans received the same Holy Spirit given to the Christians in Jerusalem. In this way there could be no question that the gospel was for the nations and that the Jews and Samaritans, once bitter enemies, were now brothers and sisters and members of the same household of God because of their shared faith. The Jerusalem believers had received the Spirit at Pentecost (2:1–13), and now, at the proper time, apostles from the mother church were there to witness and welcome the incorporation of the Samaritan believers into God’s church.

Just to reiterate what is going on. This is a unique case in scripture where God withheld the Holy Spirit until the apostles could verify the conversion of the Samaritan people. Today, we receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. Not at baptism, not at a later time like some belief systems teach. Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit comes upon us at the moment of salvation. The gospel was preached in Samaria, people believed, they were baptized, and in this unique case the apostles came and laid hands on people so that the Holy Spirit would be received by them. The Gospel brought with it the power of the Holy Spirit. As we continue, we see...

3. The Gospel Power is not For Sale

Acts 8:18–19 ESV

18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Simon was witnessing people receive the spirit when the apostles were laying their hands on people. So he wants this same power. There is something very interesting about these verses. In earlier verses, it says that Simon was one that believed and that he was baptized and even continued with Philip. But here, it says that Simon was seeing the apostles laying hands on people and people receiving the spirit. It does not say that Simon received the Holy Spirit when they laid hands on him.

And maybe there is an order of events here. Maybe Simon was one of the later ones that they were going to lay their hands on and they just haven’t gotten around to him yet. But we must also see that there is a chance that they did not see Simons profession as a legitimate one. That after the apostles came to Samaria and they were talking with him, that they did not see a conversion in him. This is an area that the church can get better at.

For years, we would see people pray a prayer, walk and aisle, and profess faith and there would be no sort of examination in their life, no questions even asked to see if they understood the gospel and why they needed salvation. That they would be immediately baptized and added to church membership. I will be very open and honest with you that as the pastor of this church, I am taking a page out of the apostles ministry and when someone wants to be baptized, we have some extended conversations. This is why we have instituted a membership class. So that we can have these conversations with people about what it means to be Christians and church members. There are churches that do “spontaneous baptisms”. I believe that there are too many people that have been dunked in water and have gotten this false sense of security in this act when they have not believed the gospel.

Back to Simon, I would say that they did not see his profession as a credible profession. Yes, he had been baptized in water. Yes, he had been going around with Philip and participating in ministry. But once he saw the Holy Spirit come upon people, his true motives came to light. He wanted to pay the apostles money so that he could get this power.

Acts 8:20–21 ESV

20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.

I think our imaginations could really show us the near outrage that Peter had towards Simon when he asked this. He tells him that he is going to perish with his money. Now I think it is clear that the word perish means to burn in Hell. You do not perish in Heaven. So what Peter is basically saying is that Simon and his money can burn in Hell together. Because he thought he could buy the power of God from the apostles. Peter tells him that he doesn’t even have a little bit of weight in the matter of receiving the Holy Spirit because his heart is not right before God. So Peter tells him how to make this right.

Acts 8:22–23 ESV

22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

Repent. There is that word that we use week in and week out at church. It means to turn. In the case of Simon, he is headed in the direction of wickedness. He needs to turn and pursue a life of righteousness that is only brought by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. He may believe things about Jesus, but he has not yet trusted him as Lord and savior. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe. Belief does not make you a Christian. What makes you a Christian is repentance and faith in Jesus that he died in your place, for you. This is deeper than intellectual belief. This is life change. And this is what Peter tells Simon that he needs. Because his heart is controlled by sin and not by Christ.

Acts 8:24 ESV

24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

It would be nearly impossible to be able to know the tone of which Simon responds to Peter. But I think we need to take it how it reads. It seems that Simon was convicted by what Peter said and is sincere in his response. He asks Peter to pray that the things that Peter said should happen to him don’t. I would not say that this, in itself, is repentance. But it could be the early stages of it. God uses the reality of our sin to draw us into repentance. Simons sin had been pointed out and he is seeing it as the thing that is in the way of him and God.

I think something very practical that we need to take away from this is prayer for others. We all know people that have not come to faith in Christ. If you don’t, then walk down your street and introduce yourself to your neighbors. I challenged last week for us to write down the names of 3 people that we know that don’t have a relationship with Christ, but also to pray for them. Again we see the importance of prayer for the unbeliever. I heard someone say one time that if God were to convert everyone that your prayed for their salvation this week, how many new believers would their be? I believe that it is very important for us to pray big kingdom prayers for people to be saved.

Just as Simon asked for Peter to pray for him, basically for his salvation, we need to pray for others. And we may encounter people who want to profess Christ as their Lord and savior for some sort of personal gain like Simon did. For this, it is good that scripture is clear that the power of the gospel is not for sale. And finally, in this last verse, as we wrap this up, we see...

4. The Gospel Power Continues

We have seen the great power of the gospel as it has spread throughout Samaria. This is encouragement to us today. That the gospel power continues. It does not end. Don’t lose hope brothers and sisters, just as the believers in the early church. They could have lost hope when Jesus left, when they encountered persecution, or when Stephen was murdered. But they didn’t. Because they knew the power of the gospel and that everyone needed to hear about it. Yes, our church has gotten smaller, our finances are not where they used to be. But the gospel power continues in Immanuel Baptist Church. We baptized 2 people a couple of weeks ago and there are a couple more that I am talk to about baptism. We may be losing members, but we are becoming a healthier church with less bickering and back biting and gossiping. Praise God for a healthy church.

Acts 8:25 ESV

25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

On their way back to Jerusalem, the apostles preached the gospel to villages of Samaritans. The work was not done. In fact, the work was still a priority to them. I am sure that they would have loved to rushed back home to be with their families and enjoy a nice meal with them. But they knew that the gospel was the most important thing and that their call, not only as apostles but as believers, was to spread the gospel everywhere they went.

And this is our charge and encouragement for today. The gospel power continues today. It continues and each and every one of our lives. As we wrap up the sermon today and sing our last song, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your own salvation. Remember when you realized your sin was killing you and you knew that you needed a savior. Remember when you believed that Jesus came and lived a perfect life, died a horrible death, rose from the grave 3 days later to prove he was God. Remember when you turned from your sin and put Jesus in the place of Lord over your life. And if you have not done that, I encourage you to come down and I would love to speak to you about that today.