WWUTT 2597 Philip Preaches in Samaria (Acts 8:6-13)

Philip goes to Samaria and he's preaching the gospel there and performing great signs and wonders. There's this magician there named Simon and he's amazed at what Philip does. He even believes for a little while when we understand the text.

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Philip Preaches Christ in Samaria

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come back to chapter eight, picking up where we left off yesterday with Philip in Samaria sharing the gospel. I'll read once again verse five and we'll go through verse 24.

Hear the word of the Lord. Now Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip as they heard and saw the signs which he was doing.

For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. Now there was a man named Simon who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria claiming to be someone great.

And they all from smallest to greatest were giving attention to him saying, this man is what is called the great power of God. And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astounded them with his magic arts.

But when they believed Philip proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued on with Philip.

And as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded. Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit for he had not yet fallen upon any of them.

They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now, when Simon saw that the spirit had been bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money saying, give this authority to me as well so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you supposed you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have no part or portion in this matter for your heart is not right before God.

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours and pray earnestly to the Lord that if possible the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of unrighteousness.

But Simon answered and said, pray earnestly to the Lord for me yourselves so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. Now, there are some pretty controversial statements that come about in this particular narrative, especially when it comes to baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

So Philip baptizes the men and women there of Samaria, but they don't receive the Holy Spirit. It's not until the apostles come and lay hands on them that they receive the Holy Spirit. Well, before we get there, I'll just go ahead and say, this is not talking about salvation.

It's not receiving the Holy Spirit in a salvific way, but specifically concerning the gifts that were being bestowed upon those the Holy Spirit was falling upon. And so just as they were seeing Philip perform great miracles, the apostles came Peter and John laying hands on them, giving them the Holy Spirit in such a way or bestowing upon them the Holy Spirit in a way that they also could perform many of the things that Philip was doing.

And this affirming all the more that the message of the gospel had come even to the Samaritans. This was the first time that the gospel is being proclaimed to the Samaritans. It's only been in Jerusalem up to this point.

But then after the death of Stephen and then the Christians are scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, here comes Philip to Samaria preaching the gospel and the apostles Peter and John come to give them the Holy Spirit so that the sign of the Holy Spirit among them is showing that the Spirit is with the Samaritans too, just as the Holy Spirit was falling upon the Jews.

Now, as I said yesterday, this is relevant because when we get to chapter 10, Peter goes to the house of Cornelius who are Gentiles. So we're seeing how the gospel is coming to the Jews, then even to the Samaritans and then onward to Gentiles.

That's the progression that we're seeing happen here through the narrative in the book of Acts. This account that we have in chapter eight, all about Philip. We are focusing on this deacon and the work that he began to do after the Christians were scattered in Judea and Samaria.

The Progression of the Gospel to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles

So yesterday I read, though didn't get to the exposition part of it, verses six through eight, where the crowds were giving attention to what was being said by Philip and they heard and saw the signs which he was doing.

Now, this was just like Stephen. Stephen was proclaiming the gospel and he was also healing and performing great signs. So Philip is doing the same. Verse seven, for in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.

So there was great joy in that city because Philip had come to them preaching the gospel and they are also getting to enjoy the signs and wonders that accompany the proclamation of the word of Christ.

Now note that in verse five, it says Philip went down to the city of Samaria. Well, if you look at it on a map, Samaria is north of Jerusalem, not to the south. So why would it say that Philip went down to the city of Samaria?

Well, because it's lower in elevation. Jerusalem was meant to be the highest place, the highest place of elevation there in the Holy Land because that's where God had designated that his temple was gonna be built and he would dwell there with his people.

This was all in the days of David and Solomon that this place, Mount Moriah, was where the temple would be built. And so going up to Jerusalem, you were always ascending in elevation. In Psalm 122, which is considered a song of ascents, A-S-C-E-N-T-S, ascent, ascents, right?

There are several Psalms that are called songs of ascents and they were songs that were sung by the Jews as they went up to Jerusalem. Usually for one of the feast days or to go up to the temple. So the songs that they would sing on their way up to Jerusalem were among those songs of ascents.

And there in Psalm 122, verse three, it says, Jerusalem built as a city that is found firmly together to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

So going to Jerusalem is to go up the mountain to the place where the temple of God was, where he dwelled with his people. So leaving then Jerusalem and going out to other places, especially to other cities, you'll see it said in the Bible that they went down to such and such a city.

So Philip is going out from Jerusalem down to Samaria, even though Samaria is to the north. Now, you know about the Samaritans. You've probably heard this history lesson given many, many times that the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.

This was why Jesus told his parable about the good Samaritan, because even a Samaritan can do such great things in fulfillment of the law and the prophets to love God and love their neighbor. Whereas the Jews who had those laws were not obeying them and were not loving their neighbors, had great contempt for the Samaritans instead of loving them as they should.

So that's why Jesus chose a Samaritan for his parable, that it would bring great offense to the Jews who didn't think that they had to love Samaritans. Jesus and his disciples on occasion traveled through Samaria.

We read about that in John chapter four, where they go to Sychar near the field of Jacob that he gave to his son Joseph, and Jacob's well is there. And that's where Jesus met the Samaritan woman. So Jesus and his disciples, they didn't have any prejudice toward anybody, though the Jews largely did.

Well, the disciples may have, but then learning from Jesus not to have prejudice toward others. So here is Philip with no prejudice, even now going to the Samaritans to share the gospel so that they too would come to faith in Jesus Christ and be saved.

Now there were Samaritans that already believed in Jesus. But as I said, Jesus and his disciples went to Sychar. This is Philip actually going to Samaria, not just the region of Samaria, but the city itself, Samaria.

And he began preaching Christ to them. And they've seen and enjoyed such wonderful miracles. They know of salvation that has come by faith in Jesus. So again, in verse eight, there was great joy in that city because Philip had come to them preaching the good news.

Simon the Magician and the Limits of His Power

Now going on to verse nine, there was a man named Simon. Now this is Simon that we would refer to as Simon the Magician. This is not to be confused with Simon Peter, who is gonna be mentioned a little bit later on in the account.

So this is Simon the Magician, or sometimes Simon Magus, as it would be translated, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria claiming to be someone great. Now we don't know for sure what kinds of magic arts that he was practicing.

It could have been illusions. It could have been sleight of hand type of stuff. It could have been snake oil salesman type of stuff. So, you know, having elixirs or something like that. And would tell the people, if you take this, it will heal you of this.

And there may have been one or two occasions where somebody had taken that elixir and was cured of whatever ailment they had. And then they sing Simon's praises. And now everybody thinks that he's some kind of a miracle worker.

So it could be that. It could also be that he really was practicing some element of spiritism. And it was under the influence of an evil spirit rather than an angel, certainly not the Holy Spirit. We see this later on when the Apostle Paul is in Philippi and there's that woman who is following him around and warning people that they come preaching in the name of Christ.

And then Paul rebukes her and the evil spirit that she has comes out of her. And then her ability for divination, she was unable to do anymore. And then her owners, her handlers who owned this slave girl and had her practicing divination for money, when they saw that they could not profit from her anymore, then they turned against Paul and Silas and had them persecuted and thrown in prison.

So that woman was under the influence of an evil spirit and was able to practice some mystical arts. And it could be the same thing here with Simon. Could be a mixture of all the above. You have some sleight of hand, you have some snake oil salesman stuff going on, and you have his ability to actually deal with spirits, with evil spirits.

Now, one thing that would lead me to reject the idea that he may have been doing something supernatural but in the dark arts is because the apostles don't cast anything out of him. So Philip is there.

And it says that Simon was even following Philip around for a little while until Peter and John came and were laying hands on people and bestowing the Holy Spirit. And so there's Simon with Philip who's casting out evil spirits and Simon doesn't have a spirit cast out of him.

Or when he talks to Peter and John, he doesn't have, they don't cast anything out of him either. And it doesn't seem like any evil spirit is upon him that is tormenting him so in such a way, being in the presence of one of the apostles.

So, or two of the apostles, I guess it would be. So that's one of the reasons why I would say that it may not have been that he was doing something actually supernatural though from dark forces rather than under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Again, it could have just been like snake oil salesman stuff, sleight of hand type of stuff, but they did consider him someone great. This man is what is called the great power of God is what they called him according to Acts 8 .10.

So they all from smallest to greatest were giving great attention to Simon. He is something of a celebrity there in Samaria until Philip comes. And it doesn't appear as if Simon is jealous of Philip, at least in what we have in the narrative.

It could have been that he was, especially since Peter later says of him that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of unrighteousness. Well, that gall of bitterness could have been because he was jealous of Philip, but at least as far as what we have here in the very beginning, he's very awestruck by Philip.

He's amazed at what Philip does and follows him around as he continues to preach and perform great signs and wonders. So in verse 12, but when they believed in Philip proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, both men and women.

So here is Philip proclaiming, and of course his proclamation, his declaration of the gospel of Christ is being affirmed by the miracles that he is doing and great joy coming upon the city because even their diseases are being healed or evil spirits are being cast out.

And verse 13 says, even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued on with Philip. And as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded. Now it says here in verse 13 that he believed, but if we track what Peter says to him later, rebuking him and saying that you are in the bondage of unrighteousness, well, then that would lead us to believe that he doesn't believe that Simon is actually not a believer or would be a false convert rather.

So why would the text tell us that Simon did believe when his belief is for selfish reasons, it's not really for salvation, it is because he can personally benefit from this somehow. So what is then meant by, why would Luke say it this way?

Why would he write it as even Simon himself believed? Not Simon was convinced by this or something or he was amazed by this, but he wasn't truly a believer. Luke doesn't qualify it that way. He doesn't give that sort of caveat.

So why say even Simon himself believed? Now, some people will point to a passage like this and they will say, see, this is evidence that a person can lose their salvation or they can believe for a while and then suddenly not believe later.

Doesn't say Simon is saved though. It just says that he believes. And what is it that he believes? Well, he probably does believe the message of the gospel that Philip proclaims. But what has not happened for him is the transformation of the Holy Spirit.

Now, even Jesus has said, even Jesus said that there are people who will believe for a time, but then fall away. This was in his parable of the sower. In Matthew 13, where he talks about the sower going out to the field to sow seed, the seed represents the message of the kingdom of God.

And as he's sowing seed, some of that seed falls on the path, the birds gobble up the seed and that represents how Satan will snatch the word from a person's heart before it has the chance to take root.

Some of the seed falls in rocky places and it will shoot up into something for a little while, like a plant will break forth and begin to grow, but it doesn't have any root and so the sun will scorch out the plant and it will die.

And Jesus says, this is the person who in the beginning will receive the word with joy, but having no root in themselves. Then whatever demonstration of faith that they may have had at the very beginning withers away and dies.

They weren't true converts. So there may have been some sense of belief in the beginning, but after a while, it's demonstrated that they don't truly believe. They're not truly converted. They don't really have the sealing of the Holy Spirit as Paul talks about in Ephesians chapter one.

There are lots of people that will come to believe, but they're not truly God's sheep. They don't really belong to the flock of God. So here you have Simon believing, he does believe, he professes faith in the message that Philip is preaching to the point that he's even baptized and he continues on with Philip.

And then as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded. And he's following Philip. He's become like Philip's little puppy dog. But we know, at least by what is happening in the narrative here, that Simon's heart was not genuinely for Christ.

He's just astounded at what Philip's doing and he's looking for some personal benefit for himself. But this is not really in true faith unto the Lord Christ who alone can forgive Simon of his sin and give him entrance into the kingdom of God.

So we'll continue to read more about Simon tomorrow as we come back and finish up this episode of Philip in Samaria. And then we will also consider this statement about Simon and John, well, not Simon, sorry.

Simon, Peter, yeah. Peter and John giving the Holy Spirit to people and the Holy Spirit falling upon them as it was seen at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit coming upon people there. We'll consider that aspect of the narrative as well when we look at verses 14 to 24 tomorrow.

In the meantime, let us be sure that the faith that we have is for Christ and not for ourselves. Not to personally benefit for ourselves. Of course, the faith that we have is for ourselves because it's the only way that you can be saved.

Faith in Jesus Christ is to save yourself, but we don't do it for personal earthly gain. And that's certainly what Simon was after. Let us put to death what is earthly in us as Colossians 3, 5 says, and walk in the holiness of Christ.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read today and I pray that just as we open your word anytime and we desire to be conformed and shaped by the words that we read, I pray that you would conform our hearts to you.

May the faith that we have be genuine. May it not just be a passing opinion for a time. We were amazed by it for a little while, but then something else comes along that causes us to fall away or chase after something else in this world or even change our faith so it's a little bit more palatable with the world.

Let that not be for us. May it be for us that we are firmly rooted in Christ Jesus and growing in love, growing with one another in love as we edify and strengthen each other in the faith that we share in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.