Simon Says - Acts 8:1-25

© May 18th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts

As a child, you probably played the game “Simon Says.” It’s a fun game where the leader (Simon) tries to trip people up by giving them commands, but they should only follow the commands if they are preceded by the words “Simon says…” It’s a silly game, but also a lot of fun. It teaches you the importance of listening closely before blindly following directions.

In our passage this morning, we get introduced to a man named Simon. He was seen as someone important and powerful, but he was far from God. We’ll see that you shouldn’t always do everything Simon says, because in this case, Simon was way off-base. Today’s passage continues the spread of the gospel in the book of Acts, even as we also see the increase in persecution of the fledgling church. We’ll discover that sometimes human plans don’t work out the way they imagined—which is why it’s always better to trust the Lord’s plans!

Persecution

We left off last week with the story of Stephen’s stoning. Luke had done a bit of foreshadowing by mentioning that the men who stoned Stephen left their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul, who would later be known as the Apostle Paul. As he transitioned away from the story of Stephen, Luke tells us a bit more about the aftermath of Stephen’s death.

Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. (Acts 8:1-3, NLT)

Saul agreed with the killing of Stephen, even though he may not have directly participated in it. But he was zealous for getting rid of the Christians, because he saw them as a threat to the pure Jewish faith. He saw them as distorting the truth and therefore worked to rid the world of them. Saul traveled to cities all around, searching for Christians then dragging out both men and women and having them thrown into prison. Saul was at the center of a great persecution of Christians that began that day.

The result of this persecution was that many of the believers (but not the apostles) fled from Jerusalem and were scattered all over Judea and Samaria. The word used here is the same word used to describe the scattering of seed in a field. That’s really what happened. Those persecuting the church were intending to silence it by attacking Christians. The irony was that their efforts actually caused the gospel to spread!

This is kind of like what happens with dandelions. We all know that dandelions start as little yellow flowers in our lawns. Then they lose the flower and have a bunch of seeds that are designed to be carried by the wind. If you try to get rid of dandelions by mowing over them, you may kill some weeds, but you’re actually going to spread seeds far and wide! You’ll end up with way more dandelions than when you started!

That’s what was happening with the church. They were forced to flee, but they carried the gospel with them. While they mourned the death of Stephen, and possibly feared for their own lives, they also recognized that they had the message the world needed to hear. So wherever these disciples went, they carried the gospel with them. It’s a reminder that what seems bad (persecution) is often used by God to accomplish good things (the spread of the gospel).

Philip in Samaria

And that brings us to Philip, another of the 7 men chosen to serve the Jerusalem church in Acts 6. Philip also fled and traveled to Samaria and shared the gospel there.

4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic. 12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed. (Acts 8:4-13, NLT)

Philip traveled to the city of Samaria to preach about the Messiah there. There is a lot of weight to this statement, but it is easy to miss if we’re not careful. First, we need to understand the geography of Israel. Israel was basically divided into three parts. The southern part was called Judea, and this was where Jerusalem was. The upper part was called Galilee, which was where Nazareth was, and much of Jesus’ ministry had been carried out. In between these two regions was Samaria, where Philip was.

Jesus had predicted this expansion would happen. He had told the disciples before he ascended into heaven that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The disciples were now fulfilling the second step of this prophecy. They were carrying the gospel into Judea and Samaria.

The second important element of this has to do with culture. The Jews and the Samaritans did not like each other because they had a very divisive history. During the time of the kings, Israel split into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Judah remained (mostly) faithful to the Lord, while the northern kingdom of Israel did not. God allowed the Assyrians to conquer this northern kingdom. They deported many of the Israelites and moved others into their land. The Israelites left behind intermarried with these foreigners. From the perspective of the Jews in Judah, these people were now half-breeds, and they saw them as second-class citizens, not welcome to worship with them at the temple.

This left the Samaritans in a bind. They decided to build their own temple on Mt. Gerizim. They rejected all of the Old Testament except for the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible) and had even re-interpreted it to place greater emphasis on Mt. Gerizim than on Mt. Sinai. As you might imagine, this further incensed the Jews.

Eventually, the temple on Mt. Gerizim was destroyed as the people of Judea came to rule Samaria for a period of time under the leadership of John Hyrcanus. Eventually, control was given back to the Samaritans by the Romans. The result was a big mess where neither group liked each other at all. As a matter of fact, most devout Jews, if they had to travel from Galilee to Judea, would walk around Samaria, rather than walking through it, lest they be defiled by these people.

But that’s where Philip chose to go to share the gospel. Philip may have been the right man for the job. He was likely a Greek-speaking Jew, and also seen as a second-class believer by the Hebrew-speaking Jews of Jerusalem. He understood the gospel was available for all and understood that the Messiah had rendered worship in the temple unnecessary (many of the early Christians likely still did worship there, but not believing that doing so would save them). These were major sticking points for the Samaritans, and Philip likely had the right approach and credibility to bring the message to them.

The other thing Philip brought with him was miracles. As we have seen in several other places, when the gospel spreads to a new place, God often causes the people sharing to have a special outpouring of power as a way of validating their ministry and message. That’s what happened with Philip. His miracles attracted people’s attention, and this led people to listen to his message, and some to believe in Christ.

Luke also introduces us to another character in these verses, a man by the name of Simon. He’s been called by several names over the years (Simon the Sorcerer, Simon Magus, etc.) Simon was apparently well known among the Samaritans as a magician or miracle-worker. It sounds like he was adept at self-promotion as well, possibly introducing himself as Simon the Great or something like that. We don’t know whether Simon performed his feats using trickery and illusion (like the magicians of today) or whether he was utilizing some demonic forces to gain attention. Whatever the case, he discovered people were paying much more attention to Philip than him.

As you can imagine, Simon became curious about Philip’s power. He may have been able to fool many others, but he knew there was no real power behind the things he did. But he couldn’t figure out Philip’s trick. Did Philip have real power Simon knew nothing about? We are told that like many others, Simon believed Philip’s message and was baptized, and he began to follow Philip everywhere he went, amazed by his miracles.

The question is, did Simon truly believe? Was he truly converted? The text doesn’t tell us for sure, though I’m inclined to think he didn’t. We’ll see why in the verses that follow.

The Apostles’ Visit

When news reached Jerusalem of all that had gone on in Samaria, the apostles thought it wise to investigate. So, they sent Peter and John to see what was going on.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17, NLT)

These verses raise some difficult questions for us, because we are told that while the Samaritans had believed in the gospel, they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Some see this passage as evidence that a believer does not receive the Holy Spirit until baptism, but these people had been baptized. It wasn’t until the apostles laid their hands on them and prayed for them to receive the Spirit that they did. So, what are we to make of this account? How does a believer receive the Spirit in their lives?

We touched on a similar issue on the day of Pentecost. We must remember how the book of Acts is structured. Acts is a narrative; it tells us what happened in these specific circumstances in the early church. As such, we must be careful as we read about these events. Acts describes what God chose to do in a particular situation at a particular time and place. It may not be valid for us to assume that God must always act in the same way in other times and places. When developing a theology, it is best not to rest upon narrative texts, but rather texts intended to teach us about the character of God.

So, how do we make sense of this? First of all, I believe Christians receive the Holy Spirit the moment they believe. I believe it is only through the work of the Spirit that a person even can come to a place where they will believe. While the scriptures seem clear that we can have more or less of the Spirit’s influence and power in our lives depending on whether we are living in obedience to Him or not, there does not seem to be a ritual (baptism, laying of hands, apostolic blessing, etc.) we must do to receive the Spirit.

So, why does that seem to be the case here? I think this is a unique case designed by God to unify the church. Remember, the Jews saw the Samaritans as second-class citizens. By causing the Samaritans to receive the Spirit only after the apostles came, He accomplished two things. First, He put the apostolic mark of approval on them. If anyone questioned whether they were genuine believers, they could point to the fact that Peter and John had given them the Spirit, just as they had done for others. They had a direct connection to the apostles, just as the other early believers did.

Second, it reminded the apostles the Samaritans were equals. The apostles got a chance to see that God was working in a new way. In the book of Luke, John once asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans who had rejected Him. While the apostles might have had some misgivings about welcoming the Samaritans, God did not. He bestowed the Spirit on them, helping solidify to the apostles that God was welcoming Samaritans as well. God was helping them see a bigger picture they had not yet fully grasped.

Simon’s Request

There is still one more scene in this story to see however, and it gives us a glimpse into Simon’s heart.

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!” 20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.” 24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!” 25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News. (Acts 8:18-25, NLT)

Simon, when he saw the apostles bestow the Spirit on the believers was truly impressed. This was a kind of power with which he was unfamiliar. Simon was hungry for this kind of power, so asked the apostles if they could give him the same ability they had. He offered to pay them for the privilege. Peter condemned him and cursed him for trying to buy God’s gifts.

It is in these verses that I think we see Simon was not a genuine believer. Simon had become enamored with what the gospel might provide for him, but was not interested in submission to Christ. When Peter tells him to repent, we see a glimpse of Simon’s heart, because he didn’t repent, but asked Peter to pray for him that those curses wouldn’t happen to him. Notice that he had no desire to change in his own right, he was primarily concerned that he not lose the comfort and position he currently enjoyed.

While it’s possible that Simon had genuine faith and eventually came to repent and align his heart with the Lord, it seems to me that he was not a true follower yet. He was simply playing the game.

Luke ends the section by telling us that Peter and John continued to preach the Good News in Samaritan villages as they traveled back to Jerusalem. Their perspective on the Samaritans had changed. A new era of the church was upon them! The gospel had spread to Samaria! But, of course, we know God wasn’t done yet.

Conclusions

This passage teaches us a number of important lessons to which we should pay close attention. First, many worship what Christ can give them, not Christ Himself. Simon seemed interested only in gaining power or prestige, not in submitting himself to Jesus as his Lord. Many today do the same thing. They think that if they go to church, get baptized, give money, serve in a ministry, or anything like that, then God will give them something they want. There are blessings that come from obedience, but when our primary goal is to obey in order to get God to give us what we want, we aren’t worshiping Him at all. We are really worshiping ourselves. We will be unwilling to do things that are hard or might cost us, because we aren’t willing to submit to God, we want Him to submit to us. We must be on guard against the attitude that led Simon astray, because it’s more common than we realize.

Second, God has a funny way of using evil peoples’ plans against them. When the Jews began to persecute the church, they were intending to silence it and keep the message from spreading. It had the opposite effect, and caused the message to be carried far and wide. This should be a reminder to us that when the world takes aim at us, we need not fear, we must simply remain faithful. Rather than trying to “fight fire with fire,” we should recognize that the Lord will fight His battles and win. We must simply align ourselves with Him and be faithful, knowing He will eventually win!

Third, the gospel applies to everyone. The apostles may have said this before the Samaritans believed, but it was suddenly much more difficult when they were faced with welcoming people they’d previously looked down on. The gospel challenges us to believe that God can save anyone, so we should welcome everyone who submits to Christ with open arms—no matter how we might have viewed them before.

Finally, we are to be witnesses wherever we go. Sometimes we think it’s the pastor’s job to tell people about Jesus, so the rest of us are off the hook. It is the pastor’s job to tell people about Jesus, but not because he’s the pastor, but because he’s a Christian! Every one of us is called to share, because God uses us to plant seeds in places others won’t go. You will interact with people I never will. You will be uniquely qualified to reach certain people because you may have a common experience that bonds you or something else. They may see you as credible in way they may not see anyone else. God has given you a mission field. Wherever you go, He has called you to scatter seed. Be alert for opportunities, knowing He can use you to reach people no one else can.

While the world may enjoy teaching us to play Simon Says, the far better approach is to stick close to the Lord. No matter what the world might throw against us, God has a plan to use us to spread the gospel far and wide—so let’s do what He says instead.

© May 18th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts