True Spiritual Power

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Last Sunday

Introduction

We are continuing in Acts (chapter 8) directly following the death of Stephen

We looked at this man last week and how he was murdered by the same religious leaders who condemned Jesus

With Stephen’s death… the religious leaders were predicting that all of this talk about Jesus would die down

But we’ll see today that his death was a catalyst and turning point for the growth and movement of the church

And particularly today… we are going to see a stark contrast from Stephen to a man named Simon

Acts 8:1–25 CSB

1 Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. 3 Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison. 4 So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. 6 The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city. 9 A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.” 11 They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Even Simon himself believed. And after he was baptized, he followed Philip everywhere and was amazed as he observed the signs and great miracles that were being performed. 14 When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 After they went down there, they prayed for them so that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them. 16 (They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 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 I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven. 23 For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.” 24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” 25 So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Prayer

Today, I want us to see from this story… the truth of the real spiritual power we have in the Holy Spirit

It’s something we ‘know’, we talk about, we sing about… there is power in the name of Jesus and his Holy Spirit

But before we talk about what we learn from this story… what is power?

Webster: “Power is a broad term that means the ability, strength, or right to do something, control people, or make things happen.”

And that is a broad answer

Power as physical strength — to move something

Power as social strength — to persuade someone

Power as authoritative strength — to be in charge of someone

Power as psychological strength — to control your own mind and emotions

And in some sense… we are all people who seek power

We want strength to change things—to make things go our way

We want to be in control

We want the things we want when we want it on our terms

And as Christians—we know where this strong drive and desire comes from...

Any guesses?

The Fall

Ever since the Garden—humans have been striving for power

Genesis 3:16 CSB

16 He said to the woman: Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.

This isn’t a curse or a proscription

This is a description of the consequences

Because you define right and wrong on your own terms—other people are going to suffer

We are going to be constantly striving for power

And because everyone is striving for power—for control—we live in a world with so much suffering

From wars and famine

To friendship betrayals and breakups

And because of this—we are utterly helpless

We either fight and strive to forge our own empires — that will ultimately clash with others

Or we give up and become a pawn in someone else’s schemes

And the reason I’m talking about all of this—is because it gives the background to the true spiritual power we find in Jesus

But what is true Spiritual Power?

It breaks us free of the cycles of pride and power that we have been so chained to

It is a life changing encounter with the living God to pull us out of our mess

And although we have access to this power—it is not ours to control—or to use to manipulate others

And we’ll see all of this today, by contrasting Simon the Sorcerer with Stephen, Philip, and the other followers of Jesus we read in Acts

Outline:

True Power is for the sake of others

True Power results in our personal transformation

True Power is for the Sake of Others

You see Simon is a man that unfortunately represents many Christians in the West today

The only reason he wants Jesus is for his own personal gain

Acts 8:9–11 CSB

9 A man named Simon had previously practiced sorcery in that city and amazed the Samaritan people, while claiming to be somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.” 11 They were attentive to him because he had amazed them with his sorceries for a long time.

And the Apostles arrive drawing in more attention and crowds than he was

And he wanted their power so that he could continue amazing the people around him

His eyes were not on how he could bless those around him—but how he could remain in power

His ‘conversion’ was just a way for him to stay relevant and keep his respect

True Power in Christ is for the sake of others

Simon wanted a main role in the story

He tries to pay the apostles off so he could receive the same power

And I think we all need to sit down and think of our motivations for following Jesus

This story puts the question right in our faces:

Do we follow Jesus for our own personal gain—this temptation is there for each of us—myself included

There is a deeply engrained heresy in the modern church

That following Jesus means your best life now

That God’s will for your life means you will be successful

You’ll make a lot of money, you’ll find the perfect spouse, you’ll have all the ‘things’ you want

But that is just not true

And if we are thinking like that… we have the same mindset as Simon

I’m following Jesus because it means more success for me

We begin to think that true spiritual power—means more success, more money, more fame

But like Stephen, Philip, and all of the others, true spiritual power—is for the sake of others

Look Philip had immense spiritual power in Christ

He was performing miracles—casting out demons // healing the paralyzed

But none of it was about Philip—he was pointing to Jesus in everything he said and did

He wasn’t doing this to build a following, to make a name for himself, or to make money off of it

His power was not meant to be stockpiled for himself—but used to bring healing and truth to others

We are meant to be conduits not batteries

The power doesn’t start from us

The power doesn’t end in us

We are the means in which other people experience the love, joy, and hope that Jesus offers

God wants to pour blessing into our lives so that we might pour it into others

True Power Results in our Personal Transformation

To continue the analogy

As we are used by God—and his power flows from us to other people

We actually undergo a transformation—“Real power from God transforms one spiritually and relationally.”

You see Simon wanted the power—but did not want to change his ways

Acts 8:18–19 CSB

18 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 I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

“While Simon may have believed the message proclaimed by Philip, this belief did not penetrate his interior life and exterior actions. Authentic faith results in authentic worship”

He saw and he wanted, but he didn’t undergo an inner surrender and transformation

And again, I think many of us are in the same dangers as Simon

Has our faith actually gone deep into our souls and began a change in us?

Do we ‘believe’ without living it out?

Because true faith—true spiritual power—WILL change us—It will transform us

Our beliefs, whether good or bad, shape us and transform us

And the end goal of this transformation is becoming like Jesus himself

Seriously—do you want to become more like Jesus?

Read about him in the Gospels

What is keeping you from that?

Habitual sin?

Unhealthy attitudes or mindsets

Bitterness // Anxiety // Hatred

Selfishness

We can identify these things—but we cannot beat them or master them by ourselves

If we do—its like the hydra in Heracles—another 3 heads come right up

True spiritual power—brings change and transformation in the darkest areas of our lives

Freedom from bondage

Joy in difficult circumstances

Renewed and refreshed attitudes

A self-less heart that is content

The Power of the Holy Spirit

Romans 15:13 CSB

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 1:7 CSB

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Gods has gifted us his power:not to change our circumstances, but our character—the deepest parts of us

God is more concerned with the person you are becoming than anything you can do for him

His power isn’t for us to do great things through us (Although we will do great things)

But the purpose of it—is a deep inner transformation of our heart and souls

God’s power helps us to become more like Jesus despite any hardships we face

God’s power is not about doing specific things—but becoming a specific person

So when we talk about the power of God—it’s this unstoppable power to change even the worst things about us

Conclusion

So what does this mean for us?

One of my greatest desires is to see each of you, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit

It brings me so much joy seeing you guys trust in Jesus

But to get there we often have to ask and answer some hard questions

They might be questions we avoid—or distract ourselves from

They might be ones we actively wrestle with daily

But if you are completely honest… where do you need God’s power in your life?

And again, not for success or outward gain… but where are you powerless?

Stuck in sin

Overwhelmed by your circumstances

This is one of the hardest parts of preaching—is that each of you is unique

I can’t always speak to the specific thing you’re going through because you are all going through different trials and seasons

But I do know—each and every one of us (myself included) are in desperate need of the living power of God in our lives

For some of us it is a deep habitual cycle of sin that you feel cannot be broken

For some of us it is a crippling fear and anxiety over the uncertain future

Others of us are going through seasons of grief and loss

Some of us are being attacked and slandered by others

Whatever it is—I just want us to take this time—to recenter our lives back on Jesus—and to ask for help

And again, our circumstances might not change

Jesus in the garden—strengthened

Here are 4 truths that I want to leave you with

God will never deny you help—he will always listen

God’s help is always sufficient—despite what we think

God might not change your circumstances but he can change your heart

God’s power is made perfect in our weakness

As we take communion—let’s recalibrate our lives back to God’s heart for us

We remind ourselves that our sins and mistakes are forgiven

We remind ourselves that God gave his own life for our sake

And that God loves us more than we can fathom

In our weakness—we ask for God’s strength

Seniors

I am so proud of you guys

I am confident that God has gone before you // and that he has wonderful things planned for you

My prayer is that this church will be your home

We are always here for you

Prayer