Hi, everyone. So we're reading from Acts chapter 8 verses 1 to 25. I'll just give you a quick
overview of chapter 7 because it gets straight into 8. So Stephen was taken in front of the
Sanhedrin. He told them some hard truths and they didn't like it, so they stoned him and
killed him. And there was a young man named Saul. Chapter 8. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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 whom I lay my hands on 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. 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.
Well, good morning, everyone.
Will you pray with me as we come to God's word? Let's pray.
Father, I pray that you'd teach
each one of us
more what it means
to rejoice
in the fact that our names are written in heaven.
And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Well, what makes somebody great?
Would you agree with me that in our culture, we believe someone's great mainly based on their
achievements, their results?
So if doctor,
da-da-da-da,
their qualifications,
their titles,
project,
manager,
head of
whatever,
we look at their money.
They've got more and more stuff.
Look how great they are.
We look at,
like,
I'm obviously getting old,
but I'm only mid-30s,
I think,
but the influences culture,
the fame,
the popularity,
they're great
because they're getting a following.
They're getting results.
I think we can even do it
as a parent.
Look at my children.
We look at position and power.
Aren't I great
in this position,
in this church?
I've already hinted at the fact that we
we can do it even in the church.
It's achievements.
Like,
I was thrown last week
when I had to admit publicly
that it was pretty obvious
that I forgot to print the bulletins.
Now,
you guys went home
and you couldn't care less,
I'm guessing,
but I cared
because it was just this public failure.
Who cares?
I know who cares.
Obviously,
I still care because I'm talking about it,
but
do you say,
like,
why?
do I care?
Because
that failure,
that sense of failure.
We're going to see in our passage today
that it is possible
to put on
all the church lifestyle,
put on all the church lingo,
you say all the things,
and still be thoroughly committed
to building up your own name,
your own sense of greatness.
I think we see that
in the story of Simon.
The movement of the early church,
like,
this is a matter of months
after Jesus died
and was raised.
The movement,
they had great achievements
up until this point.
The apostles were saying,
Jesus is risen,
he's ascended,
he is the king
that we've been waiting for.
In the last days,
the proof of that
is the spirit has come
on all God's people.
We've seen the success
of all the internal threats
to the church progressing
have been overcome.
The hypocritical religion
was stamped out.
The disunity in the church
was wonderfully changed,
common concern for one another
across cultural differences.
All these internal threats,
it was just success,
achievement,
and all these external threats
of the religious leaders.
The church kept growing.
More numbers.
They couldn't stop
the converts pouring in,
even among the priests.
And then we get
this huge failure,
apparent failure.
Like, is Jesus really enthroned
if Stephen is crushed by rocks?
What becomes of the spirit's
teaching and signs
through the apostles
now that they are in Jerusalem
and all the church is scattered?
What becomes of that?
All this success through apostles
and now the church is scattered.
What happens?
The joy in the church
was replaced by fear
of being put in prison
and great lamentation
for Stephen's death.
What are you doing, Lord?
Well, he told us in
chapter 1, verse 8,
you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem
and in all Judea
and Samaria
and to the end
of the earth.
This scattering
that felt like God's curse
was his means
of blessing more people.
All his people,
we're told,
except for the apostles,
go into Judea
and Samaria.
And verse 4,
now those who were scattered
went about
preaching the word.
Instead of being filled
with fear
and just going,
I'm going to keep my head down,
I'm going to just live
a safe life,
all these believers
just spoke
about Jesus.
Instead of just the apostles
having authority
to proclaim the good news,
all who were scattered
preached.
All the believers
were gossiping the gospel.
And you can imagine
happening.
We're not told this,
but you can imagine,
why on earth
are you here in Samaria
of all places?
Why are you in Judea?
What's happened?
What a wonderful opportunity
to explain
why they've been
running for their lives.
Because
the Messiah has come.
They're all just
gossiping the gospel.
The word preached here,
don't imagine
what I'm doing now.
That's not the word
in the Greek.
It's a different word.
It's just,
they're just telling,
they're telling the good news.
It's the word we get
evangelised from.
So,
we see that it's not
just the clergy,
it's not just the apostles
declaring this good news anymore.
It was Stephen
and now Philip
and it's all God's people
who are declaring
this good news,
who have the authority
to speak this good news.
So,
can I just
encourage at this point,
invite people to church
to hear teaching.
Go for it,
do it.
But,
trust
that God has you
in the relationships,
in the situations
he wants you.
You are best placed,
not me,
you are best placed
to share
why you've got peace
and joy
and hope in Jesus.
I think we've got to trust
that you've got the authority
of God to speak.
Louisa's probably going to kill me
after church,
but
I love
the example,
I've been humbled
by Louisa's example
this week.
Even
sick in hospital
and she,
I'll just be
feeling rotten
in hospital,
but she was
seeing these ladies
she got to meet
and wanting to minister
to them.
I love that.
Even
in
hardship,
looking out
for how to share
the peace
and hope
that you've got.
When the Christian
missionaries
were kicked out
of China
in the middle
of the 20th century,
it just seemed
like the biggest
devastation
to China.
All the missionaries
were pushed out,
severe persecution,
but
it wasn't
lost.
The missionaries
went to surrounding
regions
and the believers
fledgling church
there,
they flourished.
They've gone
from strength
to strength.
This Jesus
is unstoppable.
He can
even use
failures,
defeats,
loss
to spread
his life-giving
word.
And so
Luke's focus
here
is on the
word of the
Lord keeps
going.
And we're
focusing on
Philip.
He's later
called an
evangelist.
We saw him
as a deacon,
he's later
an evangelist.
And his
message can be
summed up in
one word,
verse 5.
The
Christ.
That's his
message.
His signs
remind us
of Jesus.
Spiritual
oppression,
overcoming
Satan,
unclean
spirits are
driven out.
And physical
oppression,
paralyzed,
the lame
are healed.
It just
reminds us of
Jesus again,
doesn't it?
We saw Jesus
in the person
of Stephen
and now we're
seeing him
in Philip.
Jesus is the
hero of this
story,
working through
Philip.
In Jerusalem,
there's moral
outrage,
but in this
city,
there's joy.
Even in
dark days,
Jesus is
unstoppable.
His word is
continuing to
spread through
all the earth.
He's gathering
in his lost
sheep.
All Jesus
began to do,
he's continuing
to do.
Now this
spread of the
gospel was
even more
amazing when
we remember
who the
Samaritans
are.
Now Luke
says in
verse 5,
Philip went
down to the
city of
Samaria.
Now Luke,
he's known
for his very
precise historical
accuracy.
He's known for
it.
So much
of,
anyway,
I won't
go into
that now,
but there
wasn't a
place called
Samaria.
It was called
Sebaste.
I'm not sure how
to pronounce that
in his day.
So he seems to
want us to
remember their
historical,
who they were
historically.
It's a little
indicator.
Now you've
probably heard,
if you've
heard a bunch
of sermons
before,
you've heard
the hatred
between Jewish
and Samaritans.
So I just
want to go
back into
why they
hated each other.
Jews would
go all the
way around
Samaria,
walking around,
just to avoid
going into
unclean
territory.
Think of the
parable of the
Good Samaritan,
which is so
famous.
Why does that
parable work?
Because true
love crosses
even the barrier
between Jews
and Samaritans.
Whoever you
dislike,
this is a
true love
in Jesus
crosses those
barriers.
We learn
of their
origins back
in 1 Kings
12.
David's son
Solomon,
in the later
part of his
reign,
he starts
taxing the
northern tribes
heavily.
And then
Solomon's
son,
Rehoboam,
instead of
correcting the
injustice,
he doubles
down and
he tries to
use fear
to keep
them submissive.
But it
doesn't work.
They rebel.
The northern
tribes rebel
and they
break off.
And even
though God
had promised
that a son
of David
would be the
forever king
and bring
blessing,
the northern
tribes reject
David's line.
they set up
their own
king,
Jeroboam.
And instead
of going
back to
the temple
where God
had said,
meet me
here,
they set
up two
golden
calves
while claiming
to keep
worshipping
Yahweh.
And then
they create
their false
temple on
Mount
Gerizim.
And so
the Lord
judges them
through the
Assyrian
empire.
taking some
into exile.
And the
Assyrians
also brought
people from
other nations
to come
live in
Samaria so
that they
would learn
their customs.
They're
mixed up in
the religion
of the
world.
So they
reject David's
king.
They build
false temple
with false
worship and
they're
intermingling
worship of
Yahweh with
just the
customs of
the world.
Really they're
worshipping
what the
world does.
they reject
God's
prophets.
They only
believe the
first five
books of
the Old
Testament that
Moses wrote
and they
reject the
rest.
Samaria was
the capital
city of
these northern
tribes.
How impossible
would it have
been for a
Samaritan to
walk into
Judea, into
Jerusalem, to
the temple and
believe that God
accepts them after
all they've
done?
Rejected his
king, rejected
his word,
worshipping false
gods.
How could they
possibly worship
God shoulder to
shoulder with
Jews after all
they've done?
That's why it's so
amazing that
Philip, a Jew,
would come into
this place, this
unclean territory
and likely he
was touched, we're
not told this but
probably he was
touching those he
was healing.
How unlikely that
they would listen to
his message.
He's saying the
Christ.
They had rejected
David's line.
How unlikely they
would believe his
message.
The son of David
has come.
But many believe.
Many are
baptised, bowing
the knee to
King Jesus.
That's what Jesus
does.
Humanly
impossible divides
he reconciles.
He reconciles the
northern tribes and
the southern.
I think that's
probably the likely
reason why the
Holy Spirit didn't
come on them right
away.
Luke, throughout
Acts, repentance,
faith and receiving
the Spirit go
together.
This is unusual.
And so Luke's saying
it's unusual.
It's not something we
should create a
church practice on
of needing a second
baptism or something
like that.
This is unusual.
And so I think the
most likely explanation
is God withheld his
Holy Spirit until the
apostles from the
south come and lay
their hands,
authorised, saying
there is true belief
here.
It's that picture of
reconciliation.
God himself testifying
by giving his Holy
Spirit.
This is what Ezekiel,
the prophet, said would
happen in the last
days.
Ezekiel 37, 21-27.
One king shall be king
over them all.
And they shall no
longer be two nations
and no longer divided
into two kingdoms.
They shall not defile
themselves anymore with
their idols and their
detestable things or with
any of their transgressions,
but I will save them from
all the backslidings in
which they have sinned and
will cleanse them.
And they shall be my
people and I will be their
God.
My servant David shall be
king over them and they
shall all have one
shepherd.
They had no way back to
the temple in Jerusalem
so the temple came to
them.
Jesus is the true
temple.
He washes them clean.
He's reuniting his
people.
One kingdom, one
sanctuary of the Spirit.
We're in the last days.
That's the effect Jesus
has.
That's the fruit of faith
in Jesus.
It's reconciliation.
How much our world needs
it.
And then we come to this
man, Simon.
Who is this Simon
character?
Why does Luke spend so
long on him?
He spends, we get to
know him well.
Why does Luke want us to
know Simon?
Well, we're told in
verses 9 to 13 he
practiced magic.
Now, hopefully it's
pretty obvious.
We shouldn't picture what
we think is magic of
illusions that we know
are illusions and magic
tricks.
This researcher, David
Horne, has researched
magic in Greco-Roman
society.
He says magic was about
managing supernatural
powers in such a way
that results are
virtually guaranteed.
So it's saying the
right things.
It's doing the right
processes.
It's paying the right
sum.
It was getting
guaranteed results.
David Horne also says
that people didn't use
magic all the time.
They used it when the
normal religious rituals
couldn't deal with a
person's situation.
If you need protection,
you need healing, you
need success for something
you want to do, you want
harm for your opponents,
if the normal institution
couldn't help, people
turn to magic for
results.
Now, I can't resonate
very well with that
worldview.
I don't think in our
materialistic, what you
see is what is.
We can't resonate
easily.
But isn't the desire for
guaranteed results easy to
resonate with?
Like, don't worry about how
you get the results.
The means doesn't matter.
Like, do a deal with the
devil if you need to.
The means doesn't matter.
Results are all that
matter.
That feels very relevant
today in our culture.
And I'm just, doesn't it
trouble you that the power
Simon thinks he's got with
money is so related to this
idea of magic?
I think we've got more in
common with Simon than we
might first think.
Simon was the go-to guy.
Verse 10, they all paid
attention to him from the
least to the greatest.
He's the go-to guy.
Verse 11, it's emphasized
again, they all paid attention
to him because for a long time
he had amazed them with his
magic.
Who we give our attention to is a
moral choice.
Because who we choose to give our
attention to shows what we really
value in life.
I think we're told about Simon
because Simon, he represents what the
Samaritans value.
They praise him.
He is at the top of their society.
They call him great.
Power of God.
So I think Simon represents their
worldview.
Power, control of a supernatural
world to give guaranteed results.
So I can see at least three main reasons
Luke wants us to get to know Simon.
The first, a bit of a secondary reason
is I think to distinguish that the
miracles Philip was doing were very
different from magic.
Very different.
The early church and Jesus himself was
accused of that.
So I think partly it's to just distinguish
what was going on through the apostles
from what Simon was doing.
Two other reasons I think.
The second is Simon is a backdrop, he's a
foil to see the genuine conversion of so
many in Samaria.
They once paid attention to Simon but we're
now told with one accord they pay attention
to Philip.
There's been a change.
Verse 11 to verse 12 makes that clearer.
They paid attention to Simon, verse 12, but
when they believed Philip as he preached good
news about the kingdom of God in the name of
Jesus Christ, they were baptised.
So when Peter and John came down and prayed for the
converts to give them the Holy Spirit but the
apostles reject Simon, we can be confident that the
apostles really saw genuine faith.
They turned from what they once lived for and really did
turn and pay attention to Jesus.
So Simon being the focal point of their old life, he's a
backdrop to true conversion.
This is a genuine movement of God going on, turning away from
idols to the living God.
I think the third reason we're told about Simon and the one I want
to focus on is that Simon was a massive threat to this newly
formed church.
Verse 13, he believed.
Now, what we make of that, he must have accepted at some
intellectual level the claims of the gospel.
He believed.
He was baptised.
He's in.
He's in this movement.
And he followed Philip around.
But his actions later exposed that his heart had not changed.
He seems to have tried to add Jesus onto his unchanged Samaritan
worldview.
And he had a very big position in society.
He's probably like the famous Christians we talk about going,
isn't it great that so-and-so is a believer?
He had huge influence.
He's inside the church apparently.
Secondly, he could have led others to a superficial faith.
I think it's a threat to this new movement.
So remember their worldview.
Power, control over supernatural world to give guaranteed results
to be someone great.
We see this in his offer to give money to the apostles.
Verse 18 and 19, he wants the power.
Give me this power.
To control the Holy Spirit.
To control God.
To give guaranteed results that when I lay hands,
they get guaranteed results.
They get the spirit.
And we can presume, based off what we're told about him earlier,
he wants to be great.
He wants to be seen as great again.
The greats we saw in Jerusalem, in the council,
they rejected Jesus to keep their power.
Now Simon in Samaria, he accepts Jesus to keep his power.
But Jesus thwarts this threat to superficial religion.
Peter responds basically to hell with you and your money.
It's strong language here.
Your heart is not right with God.
His baptism did him no good.
Peter was calling him to repent.
See how enslaved you still are.
Ask for forgiveness.
And when you ask, don't think you're doing magic,
saying the right words.
If possible, you be forgiven.
Be brought to your knees, Simon.
Realising God has to come and save you.
So Jesus, through his apostles, stops this internal threat.
By unmasking this.
Treating Jesus as useful.
It's insincere.
Insincere belief.
So what would Luke, what does Luke want us to learn from Simon?
What are we meant to be learning from this?
I doubt, I doubt any of us are guilty of the exact sin he tried to do.
I've never tried to offer money.
I've never tried to offer money to have the ability to give the spirit.
So I don't think it's the particulars we should be focusing on.
But we do share this in common with Simon.
The gospel of the free gift of God must first destroy our attempts to be great by what we can offer.
Despite all the public appearances of being in the church, Simon's commitment to self, his commitment to power, to control, to be someone great, had to be destroyed.
Salvation is a gift of God.
Believing it's a gift must be devastating news before it's wonderful.
It had to devastate those back in Jerusalem, like the Pharisees in the parable, who prayed, I thank you that I'm not like other people that I give and I do and I pray and I try, etc., etc.
I'm someone great.
It's got to destroy that.
The free gift of God destroys that.
It's also got to destroy the culture in Samaria.
It's got to devastate the boasting.
I can control what I can achieve.
I am someone great.
That's what the free gift of God in the message of Jesus does.
It destroys all cultures, not just one or two cultures.
It's got to first devastate before its wonderful news.
A farmer in Connecticut in the US where I was born, Nathan Cole lived a long time before me, but lived in the Great Awakening in the 18th century.
He was listening to the powerful preacher George Whitefield.
Here's his response after hearing the gospel from George Whitefield.
My hearing him preach gave me a heart wound.
By God's blessing, my old foundation was broken up.
And I saw that my righteousness could not save me.
It's what the free gift of God has to do to each one of us.
It's got to break up that foundation.
You can't add Jesus onto your life.
He must destroy your foundation.
Only then can you receive God's embrace of you.
It's a totally free gift.
And brothers and sisters, don't we have more of that foundation to be broken up?
And the freeness of this gift, I think it also gives us insight into how Jesus reconciles people.
Because both the Jewish and the Samaritan idea of greatness, by what you can offer God, is demolished.
The very thing that gives you that sense of superiority is just bulldozed.
Jesus had to give his life to save Philip.
From his sense of moral achievement.
And he had to give his life to save the people in Samaria.
Who trusted in control, power.
We all share the same gift.
Not one of us, not one culture, has offered anything to earn it.
Finally, I think the freeness of this gift shows how great our God is.
David Bott isn't great.
Simon's name isn't great.
People who have rejected his king.
And rejected his word.
And preferred the control and the praise of people trying to prove to be someone great.
That God would provide a way back.
That he would give his son.
He would give his Holy Spirit.
That he would give life forever in his kingdom.
That he would give his people to send into our lives to tell us this wonderful news.
It's just gift.
All is a gift.
His name alone is great.
And when we believe that, the more we believe that, that's when peace and joy enters our heart.
When Jesus Christ's name is great.
That's when peace and joy will enter this church more and more.
It's not our name.
It's Jesus' name that is great.
And don't we want that peace and joy in our city?
And the promise is that peace and joy will be in all the world.
Fully and forever one day.
We're going to be singing.
With one accord.
And it won't be my name.
It won't be your name.
It won't be our name.
Grace and joy.
It'll be his name alone we're singing.
Will you pray with me?
Father, thank you for the times that you
frustrate our plans to be seen as someone
wonderful, someone great
because of whatever we're trusting in.
Thank you for the way you frustrate that
so that we can
come to you
and receive the peace and joy
that is found
in just celebrating
your free gift
of knowing you
of being part of your people
of the promise
of eternal life.
Lord, I pray that you'd break up
our foundations
that we're still clinging to
more and more
help us trust you
when you do break that up.
And I pray that you would lead us
to rejoice more
in the name of Jesus
and that because of him
our names are written in heaven.
In his name I pray.
Amen.