Acts chapter 8 verses 1 to 25

Acts chapter 8 verses 1 to 25

Today’s passage from Acts is quite interesting and features among other things persecution, exorcisms, healings and a sorcerer who can do magic.

In it we see a snapshot of the spiritual battle that has been going on in the world since the time of Adam and Eve, and which is still going on today.

It is fundamentally a spiritual battle between the kingdom of God – the kingdom of light– and the kingdom of darkness - the kingdom of the devil.

Of course – as we see in this passage - this battle is lived out and expressed through human beings and whether we realise it or not we are all involved in this struggle.

We are either as Christians - members of Christ’s body in the world - working for the extension of God’s kingdom – or if we haven’t yet repented and turned to God – then we are still in rebellion against Him and albeit perhaps unwittingly - on the side of darkness.

We see the first sign of this spiritual battle with the severe persecution of the church which we read about in verses 1 to 3.

This persecution starts with the stoning of Stephen which Luke covers in the previous 2 chapters of Acts and which results in Christians leaving Jerusalem and going to Judea and Samaria.

Interestingly we learn that one of the main agents of the persecution is Saul who of course went on to become the apostle Paul as we’ll see in Acts chapters 9 and 10.

But even though the church is scattered – it only serves to spread the gospel further afield.

It is a bit like trying to put out a fire and only finding that you scatter the flames further afield and spread the blaze.

In today’s passage from Acts the battle between good and evil is evidenced particularly in the lives of Philip and Simon the sorcerer.

Philip comes to Samaria at a time when the devil has been at work through Simon.

Simon we are told considers himself divine and practices magic and sorcery. The people of Samaria have been impressed by his magic and led astray by whatever teaching he may have been advocating.

It’s important for us to realise that there are only 2 sources of power in the world. These are the power of God and the power of the devil and we need to discern where those who exhibit any power are getting their power from.

God’s power of course is infinitely greater than the power of the devil. The devil however does have a degree of power and he can do things that on the surface may look good.

For instance he may temporarily remove a sickness from someone that he has caused - or as with Simon he may do impressive magic.

There is am example of this in the Book of Exodus, where we read that Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and it became a snake. But Pharaoh summoned his sorcerers and magicians and they did the same thing by their secret arts: each of them threw his staff down and it became a snake.

But when the snakes turned back into staffs, Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. This shows that Satan has the power to perform some magic, but that God is much more powerful.

Of course in the last days when the Antichrist and the false prophet have been revealed - scripture warns us that they will deceive many with counterfeit signs and wonders.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Thessalonians that “the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.”

The magic that Simon is doing is therefore Satanic in nature – whether he realises it or not.

And often people may not realise that what they are doing is actually promoting evil.

I wonder for instance how many of those people who stoned Stephen in the previous chapter of Acts - actually realised they were opposing God.

No doubt many of them believed that by putting to death someone they regarded as an enemy of Judaism – they were upholding the law of Moses.

Certainly this is true of Saul. He was a zealous Jew who regarded Christians as enemies of the faith of his forefathers and who sincerely believed that he was serving the purposes of God, when in fact he was fighting against God.

And it can be the same today. Faith healers and clairvoyants for instance may sincerely believe themselves to be agents of the kingdom of light – when in fact they are serving the purposes of the prince of darkness.

Scripture expressly forbids all occult practices and those that dabble in them – however well intentioned they may be – are playing with fire, and whether they realise it or not their actions actually lead people into bondage to the powers of darkness.

Likewise those who advocate the worship of false God’s and those like Jehovah’s Witnesses who seek to spread a false gospel - although they may be well intentioned – actually lead people astray.

God operates in the world today primarily through his Church and by that I mean those individuals in whom his spirit – the Holy Spirit - is living; those who confess the name of Jesus as Lord and who accept and live by the authority of scripture.

I would never seek spiritual healing or advice from anyone who does not acknowledge that Jesus is God and that scripture is the inspired word of God – however seemingly well intentioned they may be.

So when Philip arrives and starts preaching the gospel in Samaria it is unsurprising to hear –as we’re told in verse 6 - that unclean spirits crying with loud shrieks came out of many who were possessed.

Simon’s teaching and sorcery have led many Samarian people into bondage to the powers of darkness. However as the kingdom of God is preached and demonstrated through Philip – those under the power of darkness are set free.

Philip’s gospel message not only brings spiritual truth to people’s minds so they can see the light and come to believe in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, but the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit is with him – and so the powers of darkness in people’s lives are overthrown – and demons release those they were tormenting and seeking to lead to destruction.

Just as in the ministry of Jesus – when the kingdom of God meets the kingdom of darkness – light always overcomes darkness.

Philip’s preaching and the signs that accompany it are so convincing that even Simon himself we are told believed and was baptised.

There is much debate about whether Simon’s repentance was genuine, particularly in view of what occurs later in this passage, which we’ll look at in a minute.

Stephen’s preaching and the healing and deliverance that accompany it result in many Samarian people coming to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

However although the Samarians have believed the gospel, we are told in verse 16 – that the Holy Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.

What does this mean? Well the bible makes it very clear that when a person truly repents and turns to Christ they receive the Holy Spirit.

So these Samarians had received the Holy Spirit but as yet the Holy Spirit had not come upon them in power.

In other words they had not yet experienced being empowered by the Holy Spirit - and therefore were not yet exhibiting some of the more obvious gifts of the spirit like prophesying and speaking in tongues.

So Peter and John come to visit them and when they lay hands upon them the Holy Spirit does come upon them in power and they do start prophesying and speaking in tongues.

Simon the sorcerer is so impressed at what he sees happening that he also wants the power to lay his hands on people and see the Holy Spirit come upon them – so he offers Peter and John money.

Simon has completely failed to understand that God works through those who seek to serve him in humility – not for their own glory – but to bless others and to extend his kingdom.

Simon however is more interested still in power rather than service.

There are a couple of lessons for us to learn here.

Firstly sadly some Christians can like Simon - become more interested in power than in loving service. They may have been empowered by the Holy Spirit and may be able to prophesy and speak in tongues - but then get carried away with their new found gifts and actually end up hurting other Christians because they lose sight of love.

Paul makes it very clear in his first letter to the Corinthians that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be used in love.

He says; “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

The gifts of the Spirit are good but they must be used with genuine love and concern and most certainly not in a spirit of pride.

The other lesson for us here - is that as Christians we do need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit if we want to be truly effective disciples of Jesus.

Of course we receive the Holy Spirit when we become Christians but throughout the book of Acts we see that there are further empowerings and experiences of the Holy Spirit that God wants to give us – so that we can reach out to others as effectively as possible.

As I’ve said before being empowered by the Holy Spirit is available to all Christians who desire it – although many choose to avoid it – mainly I think through fear.

There was a man on my Reader training course who became interested in being baptised with or empowered by the Holy Spirit – whatever we want to call it.

He read lots of books about it but in the end decided it wasn’t for him.

I suspect deep down he was simply afraid but I thought this was a great pity as his reluctance to allow Jesus to pour new gifts and power into his life would limit his effectiveness as a Reader.

Christians can argue endlessly about the theology of the Holy Spirit and when and how He comes. Ultimately God is not as concerned about our theology as whether we have actually come to Him and sought his empowering.

God wants to pour good things into our lives so we should come to Him in a spirit of humility and ask Him to pour into our lives whatever gifts will be helpful to us in our ministries.

We should come to him and say Lord I want to be an effective disciple of yours. Please empower me with your spirit - as you desire - for your glory.

Of course as we see in this passage, God will normally do this through other Christians laying hands on us and praying for us.

And we can come to God as often as we feel the need. We shouldn’t say I came to God to be empowered in 1987 so I don’t need to come again.

He is a loving Father and he has lots of good things that He wants to give us.

We should come to Him and allow Him to give us whatever it is that He wants to give us – whether it is spiritual gifts or wisdom or perhaps courage or boldness to share the gospel.

So I’d urge you again – do come to your loving Heavenly Father and allow Him to pour into your life whatever gifts He wants to give you.

As we see in this passage - there is a spiritual battle going on all around us and the eternal destinies of our families, friends, neighbours, and work colleagues are at stake.

We need to be as effective as we can as disciples of Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t limit what He can do through us through fear or by using our theology as an excuse to avoid Him.

As his beloved child – ask a mature Christian that you trust and feel comfortable with to pray with you and give God the opportunity to pour into your life whatever gifts or empowering He wants to, so that you can be as effective as possible in His service.

In the name of the living God. Amen