Acts 8:9-25

Good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. It's so good to have you. This is where every day, you and I, we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it all the way from Acts to Philemon. We're at Acts chapter 8 today, verses 9 through 25. An interesting dude we're going to talk about today.
Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. I have tea today, by the way, not coffee. I'm still trying to make sure I'm watching my caffeine intake, but why don't we go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And we pray now that as we read your word, that you would let us love you more. We pray that we would have true faith. We pray that we would follow in your ways. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Here you go, Acts chapter 8 beginning at verse 9.
Remember the context for this, that Philip is preaching in Samaria and the people are believing. But there was a certain man called Simon who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great. to whom all gave heed, and the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And they heeded him, because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time, but when they believed, Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed, and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and he was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. Well, this is an amazing story, isn't it?
We need to ask ourselves. We've got two different parts of this story. This is the first part. What's going on here? What is this about? Well, this is Simon, and Simon was a sorcerer. There's Philo, who is a Jewish guy riding in Alexandria down in Egypt during this time, or just before this time. He's writing and Philo talks about magic in one of his books on the laws and he talks about two different types of magic that existed in the world during this time.
The first type was, I got it written down here, was a respectable science where facts of nature were presented in clear light. This was what we might actually call science today, you know, actually looking at the stars and seeing what's going on. This is what the Magi were. This is what they were doing, is they were astronomers, not astrologists, astronomers. They were looking at the stars and they were able to present things to the king. This was what was going on in the courts of Persia. Bofilo writes about a second type of magic, and that's what Simon is doing. He says these were charlatan mendicants and parasites. Man, even Jews didn't really have much time for them. He said they created charms and purifications and enchantments. These were a bunch of quack stuff that had no basis in anything.
And so Simon's one of these magicians. One of these quack doctors someone who's made himself great someone who's built up a reputation, but he doesn't actually sell anything real He doesn't present anything respectable, but Simon is a bass, dude he's what violet would call a charlatan mendicant a parasite and But it seems like he hears Phillips preaching and He responds.
Well, he's baptized But what happens after this shows us more about what's going on in his heart. So let's go ahead and read verses 14 through 25. Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had fallen upon none of them, that they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When they laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.
But Peter said to him, Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. For your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray that if perhaps the thought of your hearts may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. Then Simon answered and said, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me. So when he had testified and preached, or sorry, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans." Well, what's going on here?
While the apostles, remember, had stayed in Jerusalem, the rest of the believers were spread out, dispersed, sent abroad. And indeed, this was keeping with what Jesus had told them to do in Acts 1, verse 8. To preach the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And so now the gospels come to even Samaritans, even Samaria. The last time that the apostles had been to Samaria, they had asked Jesus if he wanted them to call down brimstone and fire upon the city, because they had rejected him, because Jesus had set his face towards Jerusalem.
And now those same Samaritans are believing. And they're baptized in Jesus' name. But none of them have received the Holy Spirit yet. And so they send out, the apostles send out two emissaries. They send out Peter and John. Notice the locus of authority is not in Peter, the head, but it's in the apostles. And the apostles send out two. They are all equals. But they send out Peter and John. And as Peter and John go to Samaria, they pray.
They pray and they lay hands on them This was the apostolic gift that the Apostles could give to people to have the this powerful working of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues This was the signs that was going on and Philip take note takes notice not Philip. Sorry Simon takes notice of it Simon's like whoa.
Hey, you can kind of see the wheels starting to turn in his brain You know if I had the power to do that I Then I could have even more reputation. Then I could have even more followers. I'll pay, I'll give them money for this. Man, that's a good, that's a good parlor trick. I can, I can go and I can actually make something off of this.
And so he asks, he doesn't ask for the Holy Spirit. No, what is it? What does the text tell us? Verse 19, give me this power also that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. He wants the apostolic blessing of being able to lay hands on someone and that person to receive the Holy Spirit. Do you see what's going on here?
He doesn't actually care about the Holy Spirit. He doesn't actually care about what the apostles are preaching and teaching. He doesn't realize that the signs are meant to glorify Jesus Christ to exalt his name and are never, let me make this absolutely clear. The gifts which Jesus gave were never meant to promote any human man, but they were meant to testify to the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And so I just want to pause here real quick because I have a number of friends, maybe even some of you watching, who come from Pentecostal or charismatic backgrounds, And you follow these men of God, these quote-unquote men of God, who build up their own reputations and speak more about their healing ministries and things like that than they do about Jesus Christ the risen Lord. Charlatans. Parasites. People like Simon. Be careful. I know it's hard to hear, but you need to hear that rebuke just like Simon needed to hear Peter's rebuke. And Peter's rebuke is really, really sharp.
Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You cannot purchase the gift of God. For salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. is not a result of worthless. Anyone should boast. But God demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since God has given us his own Son, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? It is the gift of God, not something that's a trinket. This is what makes Christianity different than every other religion.
It doesn't matter how many crucifixes you might buy for your house. It doesn't matter how many crosses you might amass. It doesn't matter how much money you spend on the best Bibles. None of that is going to buy you the Holy Spirit. You cannot purchase it. God gives himself as a gift. And so many Christians treat the Holy Spirit like He's a trinket, like they could just purchase God's favor, like they can just do enough to get His grace known. No, that's not what it's about. It's never been that way.
And again, Peter just sharply says, "...you have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God." Our hearts must be right. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and pray, God, if perhaps the thoughts of your heart may be forgiven you." Do you see the depths of his sin? It's not just what he did, but it's the internal reality that the thoughts of his heart were the same as those in Genesis chapter 6, when God declared that the thoughts of man's heart were only wicked continually. Will we be those who repent of the thoughts and the intents of our hearts?
Crying out that Jesus Christ, I need to be washed clean. I need to be forgiven of my iniquities. His heart was wrong. He wanted his own fame. He wanted his own reputation. He wanted his own ability to puff himself up and continue his parasitical charlatan trait.
But no, what does Peter say? For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. Peter looks into his soul and he tells him, hold on, you're bitter. You want Well, you know you cannot buy. You want the fame. Your name was great, but now Jesus Christ's name is being great. People are starting to see your charlatan tricks, and you want to move on to the next thing. And your heart is bitter because your name isn't as great anymore.
May the name of Jesus Christ always be exalted. May our hearts not be bound up in iniquity. May we turn from sin. It seems like Simon gets this, possibly. From his mouth, he says, pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me. And that's the last we hear of Simon. asking the apostles to pray for him. And then they leave. They preach all throughout Samaria and they preach all the way home. They preach the good news of Jesus Christ. They preach the risen Lord and the free gift of salvation. They preach the gospel of repenting of sin and turning unto righteousness. Let me ask you, Is your heart bound up in bitterness and entrapped in iniquity? Or are you repenting of your sin? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ? Are you cherishing the gift of his grace?
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for not hiding hard stories from us, but letting us know that our hearts could easily be in the same way. God, we pray that the true gospel would go out, that charlatans and parasites would be put to the side, that antichrists and false prophets would go to the wayside, and that your kingdom would come here on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, please let your will be done. Let Christ be preached. throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even into the ends of the earth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May the Lord bless you today as you rest in Jesus Christ. May His name be magnified in your heart, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.