Acts 8:4-25
Notes
Transcript
Authentic Faith
Authentic Faith
Intro
God is on the move in the book of Acts.
8 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.”
4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
6 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.
7 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.
8 So there was much joy in that city.
Preach the Gospel
As we look at this passage we need to see a few key insights into what God is communicating to us.
Nothing can stop the mission of God.
His gospel is going to spread regardless of what man tries to do to stop it.
His mission will not be stifled, paused, or hindered by man’s intervention.
God is relentless when it comes to saving people. He is on a mission to save souls and transform lives.
v.1 We as faulty humans are called to join him in this mission. He wants us to come with him and experience live’s being changed through the message of the gospel.
He doesn’t just invite pastors, evangelists, or “Super Christians” to join on his mission he invites ordinary people and in fact loves to use ordinary people to propel his mission forward.
You may think that you don’t know enough or have all the answers. Good.
That’s a fantastic starting place. Because no one knows everything or has all the answers.
But that should stop you from sharing the gospel.
Sharing the gospel with someone is a privilege and a responsibility for every Christian.
Here in acts we see that God is using those who were Scattered to preach the word.
You know who wasn’t scattered? The Apostles. Who was scattered? Ordinary everyday people.
Why is this important? Because there are some who haven’t heard the good news of the gospel of Christ.
Here is the reality. Most of the followers of Christ are not called into the ministry. They are not pastors, evangelists, teachers, or “Super Christians”
Most are men and women who live normal lives out side of the ministry. They have families, go to the grocery store, fill up at the gas station, peruse Facebook, and so on.
God uses normal people to spread the gospel.
You have more influence and connections with people than I will every have. You touch many different lives that ministers will probably never be able to reach.
When church people think that it’s only the pastor’s job to share the gospel or that someone else will do it they are living a lie and passing the buck.
Your sphere of influence is greater than you think. God has placed you with a specific family, friend group, and work environment so that you can share the good news of the gospel with those who don’t know or love Jesus.
That is your unique and ordinary calling.
You are essentially scattered to grow where God has planted you and to tell others about the goodness of Jesus.
What is the result of preaching the good news to those who don’t know about the amazing grace of our savior? Joy. v.8
You have the opportunity to offer someone a complete and unending Joy found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He is the light in the world. He is one who restores. He is the one that calls people to himself. You just need to be willing to tell others.
You may feel ordinary. You may fell unequipped. You may feel inadequate.
But God can use you to tell someone about the truth of the gospel.
Preach the word. Tell others about his greatness. Bring joy into their lives.
Who should we be telling about Jesus?
Everyone.
We see Philip again. The last time we read about him he was being chosen to be one of the 7 called to serve the Hellenistic Widows back in chapter 6.
Here we see him preaching the good news in Samaria.
He is chased away from Jerusalem and providentially found himself in Samaria.
The Samaritans are a special people.
They are special b/c they are hated by everyone. The Jewish People hate them. The Gentile people hate them.
So they are despised and hated by all.
They are viewed by Jewish people as half-breeds. These people are a result of Jews and Gentiles intermarrying.
The relationship between the Samaritans and Jews is one of tension, hatred, and hostility.
This is as intense as the Hatfield's and McCoy's or the Montague's and Capulet's.
This is why it is so radical when we look at some of Jesus’ actions in the gospels.
He spoke to the woman at the well in Samaria.
This lady as many things going against her culturally. She’s a woman, she’s an outcast amongst her own people, and she is a Samaritan having a conversations with a Jewish Man.
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus also tells a radical story about a Samaritan man saving a Jewish man’s life in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus reveals that there is no distinction between those he has come to save. He has come to save all who would repent and call on his name.
The Samaritan people still had and obeyed the books of Moses, the torah. They are still waiting for their savior to come and rescue them. They have their own temple where they worship the God revealed in the Bible.
Yet they are rejected by the Jewish people and seen as people of less value and of less concern simply b/c of their ethnicity.
B/c they look different, act different, and worship differently.
Sound Familiar?
The Samaritans are racially, ethnically, and theologically ostracized by the Jewish people.
And now Philip a Jewish man has come to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.
He has come to share with them something that is too precious to keep to himself.
He is a stranger in foreign land. He is an outsider among other outsiders.
What does he do? He tells these outsiders how they can be come insiders.
How they can become a part of the family of God.
All people need an opportunity to hear the message of Jesus.
Their past, the color of their skin, the accent on their tongue, their citizenship status.
None of that matters in the grand scheme of things.
What matters is the message of the gospel. What matters is life transformed by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
What matters is that when Jesus is proclaim Joy can be found.
What matters is that God cares about all of his creation.
He created people of all different colors.
He created people of all different backgrounds.
He created people of all different languages and accents.
He created all people in his image.
He created all people to love and serve him.
He created all people and he cares about all people.
And yet we are the ones that attach labels.
We are the ones that determine if someone is worthy of hearing about the only name that will save.
We let our prejudices, our hatred, and our anger get in the way of telling someone about the God that will save.
We don’t have issues telling others how to vote, how to live their life, or that they are wrong.
But we do have an issue telling them about the one that will save them.
We have an issue telling them about Jesus.
May we be as bold in our stance with Jesus as we are when we want to tell someone that they are wrong.
May we magnify the King and minimize the me.
So that the one we are talking to may experience joy. True Joy found in Christ alone.
It is important for us to know and remember that the gospel isn’t just for people who look like we do.
It’s not just for the people that we relate to.
It is for all people.
The grocery store clerk.
The single mom.
The divorcee.
The rebellious teenager.
The obnoxious neighbor.
The migrant worker.
The Refugee.
The devout Muslim.
All People.
We as Christ Followers are to bring them the message of redemption.
That is what Philip shows us here. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t be worried. Be ready, Be willing and be able to share the Word of God to those who don’t know him.
Corrie and I were talking a couple of weeks ago about church growth.
We were talking about our community and the people who live here.
There are roughly 1000 people who live here in Louise.
If we could reach a tiny 10% and preach the gospel and invite them to church. That’s about 100 people. If we could do that our church would be full.
We would need more room.
What would it look like if all of you who regularly attend this church would just reach out and touch base with your five.
That would be about 100 people. If each of you were serious about ministering to the ones that God has put on your heart. 100 people.
100 souls. 100 new creations. 100 new brothers and sisters. 100 people praising God. 100 people worshipping with us. 100.
Can you imagine how much Joy this would bring?
Joy b/c of Jesus. Joy because of Salvation. Joy b/c of new life.
This town, community, and county would be full of more joy if we Christians took what Christ commands us more seriously.
However, the response to the good news of Jesus will vary from person to person and at times we will be confused by the response.
We see in this chapter here that there are some who respond with genuine faith and repentance and some who have a false faith.
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.”
A Tale of Two Faiths
In this passage we meet a man Simon the Magician. He is an interesting character who contrasts well with the believing Samaritans in this passage.
In verse 6-8 we see that Philip was going around Samaria and he was healing the lame and paralyzed, he was exorcising demons and people were coming to love what he was saying about Jesus.
There were believing that Jesus was the promised messiah and that they could have a relationship with him.
We see that Luke in v. 10 says that all the Samaritans from the least to the greatest paid attention to Simon.
This stands in contrast to what was said in v. 6 which says that they paid attention to Philip and all he was doing and teaching.
They said these things about Simon before the truth of Jesus was revealed to them.
People always want to believe something. They may claim to be atheist, agnostic, or some other religion, but the truth is they want to believe in something.
Maybe it’s science.
Maybe it’s religious behavior.
Maybe it’s the “good of humanity.”
Maybe it’s the lack of need for a God.
Whatever it is people want to believe in something.
And if they don’t have the truth about who God is and what he has done then they will grab a hold of anything.
That’s why it is important for us to preach the gospel. So that people will let go of what they are holding onto and grab a hold of Jesus.
Look at the text (10 & 11) they gravitated toward Simon b/c he was a convincing magician.
He amazed them with his magic. They thought that his magic had the power of God behind it.
I will admit. I love a good magic trick. I have stayed up many nights watching magicians on YouTube and Facebook.
Some of their tricks are absolutely mind blowing.
We have the advantage of living when we do to know some of the basics when it comes to physics, gravity, and the like.
Most of us have the ability to know when someone is performing a magic trick that it is simply a trick.
Slight of Hand, Illusion, or any other type of trickery.
But that doesn’t make it any less awesome.
Yet these men and women could be fooled by magic and really believe that it came from a type of connection with the divine.
Simon was so good at his craft that the Samaritans stated that he “is the power of God that is called Great.” 10
They wanted to believe in him so bad b/c what he did was amazing, awe inspiring, and magical.
But then they heard about the name above all other names. Jesus.
They heard about him b/c Philip preached the good news of the kingdom of God.
People were saved. People gave up their past beliefs about magic and false doctrine and turned to Jesus.
These people rejected their old lives and were brought into a new life with God.
They didn’t just witness the power of God they got to participate in it.
They had a faith that saves. A Faith devoted to Jesus. A Faith that understood the importance of Christ and of this new life he promised.
And it seems that Simon is among them in this new found Faith in God.
And due to their faith in Jesus, Philip rightly saw fit that the go and be baptized.
Baptism follows belief.
Men, women, and even Simon was baptised.
God was working in Samaria. He was bringing lost souls to himself.
And the apostles back in Jerusalem heard about the progress of the gospel in Samaria and wanted to go check it out for themselves.
Peter and John make the trip into Samaria and when they witnessed what was happening they were pleased.
So they laid hands on the believers and they recieved the Holy Spirit.
This is one of the hardest passages in the Scriptures to figure out what is going on, but we will think about it for a minute and reach a conclusion as to what actually happened.
I thought that you recieved the HS when you placed trust in Jesus.
Why did the Apostles need to be present for the HS to show up?
Do we need to receive the HS from an Apostle to be saved?
These are all good questions.
Here is what I want you to remember.
The book of Acts details a special time in the history of the church.
This is the church getting off the ground. This is not prescriptive this is descriptive.
This isn’t the norm this is the exception.
This is the first time that the gospel has been outside of Jerusalem and the apostles were there to make sure that the teachings aligned with the orthodox views of Jesus.
God sovereignly waited to send the spirit so that the apostles could be there to make sure that the church would be unified under the belief of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.
The best explanation is that God himself withheld the Spirit until the coming of Peter and John, ‘in order that the Samaritans might be seen to be fully incorporated into the community of Jerusalem Christians who had received the Spirit at Pentecost’.51 God withheld the gift for his own revelatory and salvific purpose, not because of an inadequate response on the part of the Samaritans. The apostles needed to be there as reliable witnesses on behalf of the Jerusalem church, not to impart the Spirit because of their office.
God was doing something only he could do and he chose to do it in only a way that he could do it.
And the gifting of the Holy Spirit to these believers in Samaria was the proof that their faith was real, genuine, and authentic.
Theirs was a Faith that Saves.
However, when we look at Simon he is an example of a false faith.
Simon goes through the motions of hearing about Jesus, professing some sort of belief, and being baptized.
He was amazed at the power demonstrated by Philip through the HS.
He was astounded by the miracles and signs.
He was enthralled by the power and might on display through the HS.
But he wasn’t amazed, astounded, or enthralled by the reason behind those miracles.
Power caught his attention. Jesus didn’t astound him. What God could do did not who God was.
After being baptized he followed Philip around trying to see all the miracles performed perhaps trying to find out a way to do the same type of think.
He lived in a world of deception and trickery, but now he was witnessing the world of truth and restoration and he wanted that power for himself.
When Peter and John showed up he saw what happened when the HS came upon the believers and he wanted to be have the power to give the HS to people.
He offered to buy the power of the HS from Peter and John.
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.”
No matter what you have seen or heard on TV or on the radio or anywhere else, God is not for sale.
He is not a magical genie ready to answer your every request.
He is the author and sustainer of life. He is the King of the universe not a servant to fulfill all your hopes and dreams.
His power is his alone and he gives it to those he chooses, but you cannot buy it.
Now we may not be as bold as to ask to buy God off with money, but in what other ways do we try to appease God rather than recieve his grace?
He can’t be bought with money, our time, our devotion, our deeds, our behavior, etc. We cannot earn God’s grace.
We cannot earn God’s Blessings.
We cannot earn God’s Favor.
It is a GIFT. He gives freely to those who acknowledge him as savior and submit to his authority.
In fact, Peter’s striking rebuke of Simon puts that into perspective.
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.”
One translator, puts it this way “To Hell with you and your money”
Those are harsh words.
Simon’s Heart wasn’t right before God.
He wanted the gifts of God with wanting God himself.
The life of the Christian isn’t about getting the blessings God may or may not give you.
It is wholly about getting God himself.
If we come to God wanting to get something from him and not Him alone we come before him with wickedness and sinfulness in our hearts.
He is the treasure. He is the blessing. Anything outside of that is a bonus.
We may not come to God wanting the ability to empower people with the HS, but some do tend to come to God with ulterior motives.
How about those who “Give their lives to Christ” because they don’t want to go to hell.
That’s not a reason to claim to be a Christian. That’s fear talking. I can’t imagine that there is anyone who believes in hell that wants to go there.
Or we barter with God…If you cure this disease, If you save this marriage, If you give me children then I will....devote my life to you, give my money to you, etc.
Following Jesus isn’t about getting out of hell, having a disease cured, a marriage saved, or any earthly thing.
Following Jesus is about getting the best thing Jesus. A life in harmony and in relationship with the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of the universe.
How does one receive Jesus?
Peter tells us in v.22.
Repent of your wickedness, Acknowledge your sinfulness, Ask for Forgiveness.
See even though Simon wasn’t a believer he could have become one through repentance and faith.
He went through all the motions. Belief and Baptistism.
But he didn’t do it out of a repentant heart..
He did it because he wanted something from God.
He did it b/c it felt like the right thing to do.
And there is no doubt that there are people driving in their cars, walking down these streets, and living in this neighborhood, community, and county who believe they are right with God b/c they were baptised and have a belief the Jesus is who he said he is.
But James tells us that “even the demons believe and shutter” but their belief isn’t a belief that saves.
It isn’t faith in God’s goodness and grace. It’s a belief that starts in the head and never makes it to the heart.
So we as believers need to be having this conversation with those who claim to believe in Christ but don’t live a fruitful life.
If we see someone who calls themselves a Christian, but they are living a life of sinfulness we need to assume that they aren’t true believers.
B/c those with authentic, true, and saving faith are those that don’t merely say they follow Christ, but those whose life’s demonstrate devotion to Christ and things that glorify Him.
Conclusion
Your here today and and may be you fall into the category of those who have a faith that saves.
What should you do with this passage?
You should be living out a life like Philip preaching the gospel to anyone who will listen and even those who won’t.
You should be praying for and seeking opportunities to tell others about the goodness of your savior.
Your life should be one on full display for the world to see Christ in you, Christ through you, and Christ all around you.
Maybe you thought that you gave your life to Christ in the past and now you are discovering that your life is more like Simon.
You did the right things but with the wrong motivations.
Repent of your sin and trust in the God who saves and not just what he can do for you.
Believe in him alone.
Or maybe you don’t fall into either of these categories.
Maybe this is the first time you have heard this message of the gospel.
Maybe you have questions about this whole faith in Jesus thing.
I want to first say welcome. I am glad that you are here.
I want you to be open to asking your questions. I want you to feel like you can approach me and ask anything that troubles you.
I also want to extend an invitation out to you.
I want you to know that Jesus loves you, he cares about you, and he wants you to come into a relationship with him.
We are going to sing a song of invitation.
I want to invite you to come and pray, repent, or ask any questions of me you wish.
Let’s Pray.