The Great Power of God

At the beginning of this chapter in Acts, Luke told us that “a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem” began following the martyrdom of Stephen, and that the disciples of Jesus, other than the apostles, “were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.” The rest of the chapter zooms in on one of those scattered disciples, Philip, who, like Stephen, was one of the “seven men of good repute” who had been appointed to the ministry of daily food distribution for the widows. What we find in this chapter is that Philip, also like Stephen, ends up being known for his evangelistic gifts. Here we find him effectively evangelizing the Samaritans. And at the end of the chapter, we find him effectively evangelizing a certain Ethiopian official.

When Philip went to Samaria “and proclaimed to them the Christ,” he was received quite well by the people there. Because of his ministry among them, “there was much joy in that city” (v. 8). But that joyful story is tempered by the encounter that Philip, along with the apostles Peter and John, had with “a man named Simon.” Simon was a man who practiced magic in that city quite effectively and had garnered for himself quite a reputation. But he is himself impressed by what Philip and the apostles are able to do and wants them to grant him the same abilities. He is willing to pay a high price for it, too.

This passage in Acts highlights for us the great power of God that has been unleashed on the world because of the good news of Jesus. Every believer in Jesus has been given this great power, the power of God’s own Holy Spirit. The unstoppable power of God’s Holy Spirit is freely given to everyone who believes the good news of the kingdom of God. But you and I must also learn how to wield it rightly, for the sake of God’s kingdom, for the sake of the world. So, let’s pay attention to the power of God here, seen in the ministry, unity, and freedom of the Holy Spirit.

The Ministry of the Spirit

First, in verses 9-13, we see the power of God in the ministry of the Spirit. Gospel ministry, gospel work, can only be done with real power, with divine power.

Persecuted but Not Forsaken

We’ll come soon enough to Simon the Magician, but he is not the most important part of this story. The most important part of the story is what we are told in verses 4-5.

“Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Remember that this scattering was because of the great persecution that broke out in Jerusalem against these followers of Jesus. It might seem that the Christian gospel was not as powerful as the persecution that broke out against it. But this story tells us that the attempt to stop the growing Christian influence in that city resulted in that same Christian influence being exported to a wider region. Persecution did not, in fact, silence the gospel but resulted in its spread.

“Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.” These words in verse 5 must be read in light of the guiding premise of the entire book of Acts. As the resurrected Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, he told the disciples that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit” came upon them, and they would then be his witnesses not just in Jerusalem but also “in all Judea and Samaria” (Acts 1:8). This moment in chapter 8 is telling us that this is exactly how the story went, how Jesus’s own prophecy about what would happen to the good news about him would unfold.

Here at the very beginning of the Christian mission we see what the Apostle Paul would later come to see. “We have this treasure in jars of clay,” he wrote to the Corinthians, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Cor 4:7). We may be persecuted, he said, but we are not forsaken (2 Cor 4:9). Persecution because of Christian testimony and witness is not a sign of its weakness but of its strength. Persecution does not indicate that God is absent, that he has forsaken us. It indicates rather that he is very much present with us. And the good news we have to share is energized with the power of God himself. It cannot be stopped.

New Creation Signs

So, the power of the gospel is evident in the persecution that was leveled against it. The power of the gospel is also evident in the success it had among the Samaritans. What was being rejected in one place was being received, quite surprisingly, in a different place.

The Samaritans and the Jews did not exactly see eye-to-eye on things. The Samaritans claimed to be the true descendants of Abraham, the true Israelites. So, when Philip, a Jew, went to them and “proclaimed to them the Christ,” we have no reason to expect that they would believe him.

But verse 6 says that they paid attention to him “when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.” Verse 7 tells us that he exorcized demons and healed many people who were crippled. The important thing to notice here is that this combination of teaching and works of mercy is the same thing we have seen the disciples do in Acts 3 and Acts 5, and also the same thing we saw Jesus do in his lifetime. In other words, Luke wants us to see that Philip is in continuity with Jesus and with the apostles of Jesus as he ministers in Samaria. This is authentic Christian ministry, the ministry of the Spirit. Word and works should both be present. And the signs he is doing, these “works,” are just like the signs that Jesus and Peter did. They are signs of the new creation.[1] They aren’t magic tricks, or random displays of power. They were done to confirm the message, the message about the Christ, that he is the one who is saving the world, restoring what is broken.

Impressing the Great One

Even Simon was impressed.

Simon had practiced magic there in Samaria, impressing the people. Now when we hear the word magic, we think of impressive sleight-of-hand tricks, deceptive techniques that make one look like he has access to some kind of supernatural power. But the word magic here comes from the same root as the word Magi, those “wise men” from the east who came to worship the child Jesus. Simon was involved in something that did, in fact, give him real power. He said of himself that he was “somebody great.” This isn’t entirely a self-exalting claim. Whatever it was Simon did, it was impressive.

Prior to Philip’s arrival, it was Simon that the people paid attention to. They recognized him as “the power of God that is called Great.” That designation in verse 10 tells us a lot about Simon’s reputation among the Samaritans. It wasn’t just that Simon was known as a powerful person. What the Samaritans had come to believe was that Simon was a manifestation of Yahweh himself, the Greatest Power there was.[2]

But when Philip “preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,” even this well-known Great One believed and was baptized. He saw “signs and great miracles,” verse 13 says. The word miraclesis the same word as power. Simon saw in Philip a power that was greater than anything he had ever encountered before. And he was amazed.

The Unity of the Spirit

So far, so good. Philip has come to Samaria and preached Christ and is widely accepted, even by the elites in that place, like Simon. But now, in verses 14-17, we are told that the news of what was happening in Samaria got back to the apostles in Jerusalem. They sent Peter and John to Samaria to see first-hand what was going on. Why? Because the power of God’s Holy Spirit is a unifying power. Where the power of God is present, its purpose is unity. It is the power to reconcile, to put broken things together again.

Apostolic Endorsement

So, the sending of Peter and John to Samaria was not because there was something wrong or deficient with Philip’s work. They don’t come there and rebuke him or anything like that. We can speculate about what the apostles in Jerusalem were thinking when they heard the news about what was going on in Samaria and commissioned two of their own to go see it for themselves. But we are told what they did when they go there: they prayed for these Samaritan believers to receive the Holy Spirit.

What this shows is that the ministry of Philip (one of the Seven) and the ministry of Peter and John (two of the Twelve) is one in the same. They were working in harmony in this new Christian ministry.[3] Luke wants to highlight for us that Philip has initiated this momentous development in Samaria, and that the apostles have arrived to finish what Philip has started.[4]

Perhaps Luke wants us to consider, not that there was something deficient about Philip, but that the power with which he had been working was not something he could say was his alone. In other words, Christian mission and ministry, done with the power of God, is necessarily shared among all disciples of Jesus.

Think of it like this. Before Peter and John show up, the story has led us to see a contrast (if not a contest) between Philip and Simon. Two men with competing powers. Simon saw himself as “Somebody Great” and was celebrated as such by the Samaritans. But then Philip shows up, possessing a superior power, and Simon starts following him around, verse 13 says, like some sort of groupie.[5]

The arrival of Peter and John takes the spotlight off of Philip—he is not mentioned again in this account. We find out in verse 26 that God directed him to move on to another mission while the apostles take up the mantel of this Samaritan ministry. When there is real success in Christian ministry, it is not supposed to be about some celebrity in ministry but about what the community has achieved together, by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

The Expanding Family

It might seem strange that Peter and John arrive in Samaria and find that so many of the people there have believed Philip’s message and were baptized, and yet the Holy Spirit “had not yet fallen on any of them.” Does this suggest that one can be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit? Or does this suggest to us that the Samaritans were not genuinely converted until after Peter and John arrived? So, when did these Samaritans “get saved”?

There are even more options for interpreting this apparent discrepancy in Samaria, some of which you will find to this day reflected in church practice. Does verse 17 suggest some kind of “second blessing” of the Holy Spirit that can come to a Christian? Or does it suggest that what needs to happen after one is baptized is the confirmation of some high church clergyman through the laying on of hands?

Neither of those options see the point of what is going on here. The reason for the irregularity is explained by this unique historical moment in which the division between Jew and Samaritan is now being “swallowed up by the universal Christian mission.”[6]The arrival of Peter and John and the giving of the Holy Spirit through their prayers is to show that what God was now doing in Samaria was not something different than what he had been doing in Jerusalem. No! These Samaritan believers were to be seen and known as members of the same community, the same family.[7] They, too, have received the gift (and the power) of the Holy Spirit.

Unity of Believers

Christian denominations, reading the same texts like the book of Acts, will no doubt continue in our distinctive practices. Yes, because as we see here and will see elsewhere in this book, “God acts in different ways for different purposes.”[8]There is room for distinctiveness within the Christian family. Those differences do not necessarily indicate deficiencies.

Still, the emphasis in these four verses is on unity, and so ought ours to be. There are plenty of things that make Christians different from each other, but these must not be overemphasized to the point that we begin to treat each other as if one of us don’t belong in the family. Let’s see instead what is true of all genuine believers in Jesus: they believethat Jesus is Messiah, King, and Savior. They are baptized in his name. They are blessed with the gift and power of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, they all belong to the church, to the family of God.

There is no doubt some proper ordo salutis, some logical order to how a person is brought to salvation in Jesus. We Reformed Christians like to theologize about that kind of thing. But the ministry of God’s Spirit doesn’t always go in the neat and tidy fashion that some of us might prefer. It isn’t usually beneficial in ministry for us to worry too much about precisely when a person has become a Christian. Being a Christian is much more like being an adult. It’s not so much about the precise moment it happens but about growing into the privileges and responsibilities that come with this new status.

The Liberty of the Spirit

Our story so far has been wonderful. Philip, a Jew, brings the message of Jesus to the Samaritans, and they believe and are baptized. The apostles send Peter and John to continue Philip’s ministry, and we are left with no doubt that this is a movement of God. The Samaritans received the same Holy Spirit. They are legitimate members of the same family. This is wonderful!

But we read in verse 18:

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.”

But the power of God’s Holy Spirit cannot be obtained like that. We need to understand the liberty of the Spirit.

Give Me this Power!

We were told in verse 13, that “even Simon himself believed” and was baptized, amazed at the great power he had seen at work through Philip. But when he saw the Spirit given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he was absolutely blown away. “Give me this power also!” I want to be able to do that!

We might well wonder what it was that Simon saw. What did the giving of the Holy Spirit look like? It had to look like something, and indeed, the apostle Paul told the Corinthians that all Christians are “given the manifestation of the Spirit,” so that possession of the Holy Spirit is not something one can simply claim without some evidence. The Spirit’s presence and power will be shown in some way. J. I. Packer writes:

[S]upernatural living through supernatural empowering is at the very heart of New Testament Christianity, so that those who, while professing faith, do not experience and show forth this empowering are suspect by New Testament standards.”[9]

At the same time, a word of caution: Luke doesn’t tell us what exactly the manifestation of the Spirit looked like. After all, it was a fascination with such manifestations of divine power that he is wanting to warn us about.

Exposing the Threat

Peter’s rebuke of Simon in verse 20 is about as strong as it could be. “May your silver perish with you.” Translators know what this would sound like in our language: “To hell with you and your money!”[10] Peter is not uttering an expletive, profanely expressing his own personal anger or frustration. His sharp words indicate that this is a serious issue.

Simon has not simply misspoken. He’s not sincere but misguided. There’s something very, very wrong here, which ought to stand as a warning to all of us baptized believers. Here’s the stated principle we had better make note of: you cannot “obtain the gift of God with money” (v. 20). But many, no doubt, continue to try.

The power of the Christian faith and the Christian gospel is not for sale. It is God’s power, not ours. The problem with what Simon says here is that, were one to possess the power to give God’s Holy Spirit to whomever they wanted, they would also possess the power to withhold it from whomever they wanted.

J. I. Packer warns of those who, in their Christian witness, offer “power for living” to those who will convert to Christianity. He uses this passage in Acts as a reminder that there is a “distinction between manipulating divine power at one’s own will” (the magic of Simon, which he says sounds more like “an adaptation of yoga than like biblical Chritianity”) and experiencing God’s power as we live in obedience to God’s will. Packer says:

Certainly God sometimes works wonders of sudden deliverance from this or that weakness at conversion, just as he sometimes does at other times; but every Christian’s life is a constant fight against the pressures and pulls of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and his battle for Christlikeness (that is, habits of wisdom, devotion, love, and righteousness) is as grueling as it is unending.[11]

Repentance Is the Only Hope

I must refrain from giving any more specifics about where the temptation to do something like what Simon attempted to do shows up today. I’ve got some thoughts. Maybe you do as well.

But what’s important here, surely, is that you and I do some pondering about how such temptation might appeal to us. And then, of course, to repent.

Because it is clear that the problem here lies within the heart, a heart that “is not right before God” (v.21). And that is a very dangerous place to be.

We can’t tell for certain if Simon’s words in verse 24 show a genuine repentance or not. Most scholars doubt that, and one early church father called Simon and his actions “the source of all heresies.”[12]

So, let us all be warned. The power of God’s Holy Spirit will attract the dangers of distractions and distortions of various types. All sorts of deadly and dark compromises will be put on the table to threaten the purity, holiness, unity, and freedom of God’s power for all who want in on what God is doing through Jesus will confront us.

Let the hearer understand: the great power of God is God’s own Holy Spirit, who is on the move in and through all God’s people, as he gathers and shapes a new unified people for his glory. _____

[1] Darrell L. Bock, Acts, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 326.

[2] Barclay Moon Newman and Eugene Albert Nida, A Translator’s Handbook on the Acts of the Apostles, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1972), 175.

[3] C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, ed. J. A. Emerton, C. E. B. Cranfield, and G. N. Stanton, International Critical Commentary (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 1:410.

[4] Ben Witherington, III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998), 287.

[5]Witherington, Acts of the Apostles, 285.

[6] John R. W. Stott, Baptism and Fullness: The Work of the Holy Spirit Today, 2d. ed. (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), 34.

[7] N. T. Wright, The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2024), 47.

[8]Bock, Acts, 331.

[9] J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God, Revised and Enlarged (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005), 24.

[10]See, for example, the translation of J. B. Philips (The New Testament in Modern English) or Eugene Peterson’s in The Message.

[11] Packer, Keep in Step, 26.

[12] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 1.23.2.