The Reality of Revival

Good morning Church!

I would like to ask everyone to join me in the Book of Acts. Our text today, is Acts 8:14-25

Acts 8:14–25 ESV

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.

Context

We have been speaking on the topic, “The Difference One Man Can Make”. Since Chapter six, we have been looking at men who were called to serve within the Church. In Chapters six and seven we read of Stephen. We got see a small glimpse into his ministry, but then we got to see his faithfulness unto death. We watched as Saul ravaged the Church in Jerusalem and had Stephen stoned to death.

Then, in Chapter eight, we moved focus to those who had scattered abroad, and we started to follow Phillip on his journey. Phillip journeyed into Samaria and began to teach the Gospel there. Samaria had been fooled into believing that one among them named Simon was a Godly man, but found out through Phillip that he was nothing more than a sorcerer.

They began to believe in Phillip as continuously loved and cared for them, performed miracles of healing, and spoke of the kingdom of God. Those who once followed Simon, now believed in Christ. The text last week told us that even Simon himself got saved, but we will put that statement to the test today as we continue through the storyline. That brings us to where we are today, v. 14.

Content

The Startling Fact (vv. 14-19)

Samaria receives the Word of the Lord! (v. 14)

As we have eluded to in previous sermons, this within itself was a miracle. Samaritans hated the Jews and anyone, or anything, that had related to them. This feud had been brewing for centuries, and it was going to take a miracle of God to overcome it.

This speaks to the sovereignty of God beautifully. Think about how it all started: twelve Jewish men following one Jewish Rabbi. The twelve grew to 120, and then to thousands. This new movement began to grow exponentially, and then Gentiles began to get saved as well. So many gentiles were getting saved, that the twelve apostles could no longer handle the daily requirements of the Church. They were forced to call from among themselves seven men who could take on these tasks. These seven men would be serving the Greek women, so they were Greek as well.

God used the growth of Gentiles to call seven Greek men into service. God then used heavy persecution against the Church to scatter them throughout the land. God then used one of these seven men, who did not have a Jewish background, to lead a group of people who hated the Jews to God.

As this news began to spread, it made its way back to the apostles who were still at Jerusalem. They decided it best to have Peter and John go down and check things out.

Samaria has not received the Holy Spirit! (vv. 15-17)

When they arrived, they found two things: Samaria had indeed accepted the message of Phillip, but they had yet to receive the Holy Spirit.

This section of scripture has been the point of countless debates over the centuries. It is indeed a startling fact that these people believed and were baptized, but yet did not receive the Holy Spirit at that moment. Instead, Peter and John, two of the apostles and leaders of the first century Church, had to come and lay hands on them first. Why is that?

We do not have time to dig deep into this, but I do want to hit the highlights before we just move on. God wanted to unite the Samarian believers with the original Jewish church in Jerusalem. He did not want two separate churches that would perpetuate the division and conflict that had existed for centuries. Jesus had given Peter the “keys for the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 16:13-20), which meant Peter had the privilege of “opening the door of faith” to others. He opened the door to the Jews at Pentecost, and now he opened the door to the “half-Jews” in Samaria. Later, he would open the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 10).

Those who claim we must be baptized to receive the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38) have a hard time explaining what happened to the Samaritans here in these verses.

Those who claim we must have “the laying on of hands” to receive the Spirit have a difficult time explaining Acts 10 where the Spirit came upon those present while Peter was preaching.

We must accept that Acts 1-10 is a transitional period within the early Church. The Gospel transitioned from the Jews to the Samaritans, and then to the Gentiles. God’s pattern for today is given in Acts 10: the sinner hearts the Gospel, believes, receives the gift of the Spirit, and then is baptized. It is dangerous to base any doctrine or practice only on what is recorded in Acts 1-10, for you might be building on that which was temporary and transitional.

Regardless of where one stands on this issue, it does not change the text before us. Peter and John came down to Samaria and they had yet to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter and John began to pray over these individuals and impart unto them the Holy Spirit by laying hands on them. It seems to imply that this was done individually. One by one, people came to Peter and John to receive the Holy Spirit of God.

Simon is not a genuine believer! (vv. 18-19)

As this took place, Simon the sorcerer sat back and watched. He finally noticed that the gift of the Holy Spirit came to those present when Peter and John would lay hands on them and pray. Simon wanted this “power” as he called it. He wanted it so badly that he offered them money for it.

Sadly, this shows us the true nature of Simon’s heart. Verse 13 told us that “Simon himself believed” and that he was baptized. Simon was believed to be saved. He went through the same motions as everyone else did.

Sin can only be see with a backdrop of righteousness. Darkness can only be perceived when referenced with light. A false claim of salvation can only be seen with a backdrop of true spiritual transformation. But then it goes on to tell us why he continued with Phillip, “seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.”

Simon was a sorcerer. Simon was used to getting all of the attention from people. He would perform some amazing feet, and people would praise him for doing the unnatural. When Phillip showed up performing miracles of God, and then preaching the Kingdom of God, people quit following Simon and gave their attention to Phillip. Simon wanted to know why, and went to find out.

He found a young man performing miracles, but doing so in the name of Jesus Christ. This young man was great in power, but boasted in nothing. He performed amazing acts of healing, but gave all of the credit to God in Heaven.

Simon was awestruck from the whole situation and wanted to know more. He went through the motions of being baptized, and I think he truly believed in this God that Phillip preached about. How else could he explain what Phillip was doing?

Unfortunately, instead of believing to the point of submission, Simon believed only to the point of self-gain. He wanted to know how he too could perform these same miracles. He wanted the “power” that these men had.

After making the statement, Peter was quick to rebuke him. Peter made it clear in v. 21, that Simon’s heart was not right before God.

The Strictly Forbidden (vv. 20-21)

Peter quickly lets Simon know that he will in no way be given this power he seeks while in his current condition.

Peter tells Simon in v. 21, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter,”. The term part speaks of a part in a play. It speaks of participating in something or having a role to play. Peter makes it clear that Simon will not be participating in this act. The term lot refers to a piece of land, an inheritance, or an estate. Peter makes it clear that the Holy Spirit cannot be bought. Not only does Simon not get to participate, but he has no equity in this scenario. Simon will not inherit this gift. He will not own it like a piece of land. Why? Because his heart was not right with God!

Peter uses strong language in his response to Simon, but language that is true and necessary nonetheless. Notice closely to what Peter tells Simon: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”

Peter tells Simon that his money will do him no good here. Matter of fact it will perish. The Bible tells us that the root of all evil is the love of money. I find it fascinating that the object of all evil was used to try and purchase the object of complete forgiveness. Peter makes it clear that his money will do not good in this matter. It is the gift of God. A gift cannot be purchased.

Materialistic things cannot be given in order to gain the Holy Spirit; Adversely, materialistic things must be given up, in order to gain the Holy Spirit. We cannot purchase God. “God, I will give you this or that.” “If you will do this one thing, I will quit this or that.” If you will bring this to pass, I will never do this or that again.” God cannot be bribed or bought. The Holy Spirit is a free gift of God to all who believe.

Peter says that not only will his money perish, but that Simon himself would perish also. Notice what he says once again, “May your silver perish with you,”. Peter lets Simon know that not only would his silver perish, but that his life would as well. You cannot buy the Spirit of God, and without it, you will perish. Then how can it be obtained? How can one avoid this perishing that you speak of?

The Sobering Formula (vv. 22-23)

Repent of your sin!

Peter tells Simon to repent of his wickedness. Repentance is a must in order to receive the Holy Spirit in our lives. Because it is so important, we need to make sure we fully understand what it means to repent.

The term “repent”, means to turn from, or turn about. In other words, it means to change direction. I am travelling this way towards sin, but now I am going to turn from sin and walk towards righteousness.

We can see straight from the text today, that repentance does involve asking for forgiveness as well. Peter tells Simon to pray to the Lord for forgiveness. When we are praying for forgiveness, it should be sincere. If we truly love God and His Word, then our sin should break us. We should be ashamed of our sin and come to God with a brokenness in our hearts.

We must note another crucial part of what Peter said to Simon, “pray to the Lord that the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.” It is not enough to just pray and beg God for forgiveness. We must beg God to forgive us for the condition of our heart, and beg Him to change that. To repent means to turn from sin. We cannot beg forgiveness of our sin, just to return and do the same thing again. We must turn from it, and go a different direction. Our hearts must be changed to think and feel differently than it was before, so that we do not commit the same sin again. The intent of our heart must be different. If we truly repent, not only from the action of sin itself, but also from intentions of our heart, we can experience the mercy and grace of God.

We should come ashamed but expecting. Though we know we made a mistake, we must also remember that God’s mercy is everlasting and love without stipulation. God can and will forgive us of our sins, if we are truly repenting of them.

1 John 1:9–2:2 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Commitment

I beg you today, to examine your hearts. We have seen that one can go through the motions without truly knowing God. Simon believed for selfish reasons. He wanted to know how Phillip performed the miracles so that he too could do the same. Did you come and pray for selfish reasons? Why did you believe in the first place? Was it just because of the eternal benefits of heaven? Did you profess God in your life just so that you do not have to go hell? If so, that is no different than Simon.

Coming to God for the right reasons is paramount to our faith. We must believe that God loves us despite of our sin. We must believe that out of that love, God has done everything within His power, which is a lot, to make sure we get to heaven. We must believe that God can and will save us. After understanding and believing all of that, we must realize that believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, means that our lives must be given to Him, as His was for us. We must live our lives with a kingdom focus. Salvation is more than a prayer; it is more than a public confession; it is more than a weekly visit to a building; it is more than nice clothes and catchy phrases; Salvation is complete surrender!!! It is not a change what we do, it is a change in who we are.