Acts
8:1-3 … And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great
persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men
buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the
church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and
committed them to prison.
Saul was instrumental in this persecution that arose against
the church. The apostles were not scattered and were likely hidden in Jerusalem
by the Christians and the Holy Spirit for a time. This isn’t a random
scattering and the original text uses a word that is more like planted. It was
a stressful time and it was a real persecution but God was in control and the
Church actually began to grow in the gentile community as a result. Stephen was
buried and mourned but Saul was actively trying to destroy the Church. The Jewish
religious leaders had united behind the idea of destroying the Church. So Saul
actively sought out Christians to punish. He followed them to where they were
and had them arrested.
Acts
8:4-8 … Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 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. 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. So there was much joy in that city.
Now, during this time of scattering, Luke begins to tell
us about “Deacon Number 2” or Philip. Philip was later known as Philip the
evangelist. He would preach to whoever the Holy Spirit told him to preach to.
He went to Samaria. The Samaritans were not a popular people with the Jews. The
Jews were not popular people with the Samaritans. The Samaritans had
intermarried with foreigners and they set up a temple on the wrong mountain and
then they rejected all of Scripture except the first 5 books of the Bible. This
was primarily so that they wouldn’t need to read Scripture teaching that having
a temple outside Jerusalem violated a prohibition from God. But Philip didn’t
care about that and he was surrendered to the Holy Spirit. Philip evangelized
them and God confirmed his ministry with signs and wonders. I would love to
know where the Woman at the well was in all of this but I figure she was in the
middle of it somewhere.
So Saul was trying to destroy the Church but God was
going to build the Church and Saul wasn’t big enough to stop Him.
Acts
8:9-13 … 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. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying,
“This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to
him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 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. Even Simon himself
believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs
and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
This is almost surely the Simon Magus who is mentioned in
other extra-biblical texts from the first century. In these materials from
outside the Bible, Simon Magus is considered an enemy of the Church and a
proponent of Gnosticism. This heresy undermined the atonement by teaching that salvation
was not by the merits of Christ but rather from a special knowledge about God
of course dispensed only by a select few. The deity of Christ is disputed by
Gnostics as well because they are dualists thinking that matter is bad and
spirit is good. Justin Martyr (died c. A.D. 165) was a Samaritan and confirmed
that almost all Samaritans considered Simon the highest god (the “great power,”
Acts 8:10). Irenaeus (died c. A.D. 180) had to work hard defending the Church
against the Gnosticism and he identifies Simon as one sources of these
heresies. It would be hard to imagine that Luke would present this history in
this way if this was any other Simon or that the early Church leaders like
Justin Martyr or Irenaeus would confuse some other Simon with Luke’s Simon. Therefore,
I’m going to make the assumption that Simon Magus is this biblical Simon.
Simon was a magician and used his knowledge and skills to
manipulate people and he was obviously very good at it. He was perceived has
having great spiritual power but in reality he didn’t have God’s power. Seeing
Philip do real signs and wonders amazed Simon and interested him. In Simon, I
think we have our first confession of faith without possession of faith. Simon
learned the facts as presented by Philip and he accepted them to be true because
he saw signs and wonders but he didn’t have a saving faith in Christ. As I’ve
said before, knowing the Gospel and believing it is true only qualifies you to
be a demon. Simon never moved to his knees and appropriated the gracious blood
of Jesus. History seems to indicate that he had other ideas for using
Christianity and apparently wanted to add this power to his repertoire. He was
a rich, powerful, and revered man who wanted to have knowledge that kept him in
his position of power. So he believed that the Gospel was a true source of
power in an intellectual sense and he continued spending time with Philip while
gathering information.
Acts
8:14-17 … Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received
the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for
them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any
of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Something was wrong in Samaria. This really seems to be a
unique event because we know that the Holy Spirit is present in believers.
Philip knew that the Holy Spirit was present in believers but these folks
making professions of faith had a problem. God the Holy Spirit was not
confirming their salvations. Some people want to stretch this verse to teach a
double baptism (water and Holy Spirit) but this is history so you really don’t
want to use history to make doctrine not found in the didactic (i.e., teaching)
portions of Scripture. The context indicates a problem in Samaria with the veneration
of Simon by the population. There was a stop in the proceedings and Philip in submission
to the Apostles called for Peter and John. God needed a visible separation of
this part of the Church from Simon. Otherwise, Simon would have an unacceptable
position of leadership as someone who didn’t accept and receive the atonement. Simon
was going to become an opponent of the Church and teach Gnosticism because it
is so easy to use for gain. The mythology of the Gnostics makes it inconceivable
that the Most High God could be incarnate. Simon’s heart becomes apparent in
his request.
Acts
8:18-25 … Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying
on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power
also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But
Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you
could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this
matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this
wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your
heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and
in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that
nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 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.
Simon’s heart is revealed when he asks Peter and John to
sell him the ability to control the Holy Spirit. This is a man who wants to
manipulate God for his own profit. He will prove it in history by becoming an
opponent of the Church and a proponent of Gnosticism.
Peter says to Simon, “May your silver perish with you”
and says that Simon has neither part nor lot in the manifestation of the Holy
Spirit because of his heart. Peter tells him to repent because he is in
bitterness and bound by iniquity. Notice that rather than crying out to God,
Simon asks for Peter to pray for him. He was scared but he wasn’t repentant. If
you will not repent then asking someone to pray for you is just a stalling
tactic.
The Holy Spirit diminished Simon’s position in the
Samaritan community before He began to bless the Samaritans. The Church in
Samaria needed Simon identified for what he was. He was a goat and not a sheep.
The Holy Spirit pulled the goat Simon out of the Church but the Holy Spirit
drives Philip to find and share with the Ethiopian who was faithful.
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