Acts 8:9-25

ACTS 8:9-25

v. 9-11 Simon the Sorcerer of Samaria

- Long time occult leader in Samaria
- Great abilities to function in the power of the occult
- Regarded by people of Samaria as possessing ‘God-like’ powers

“To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying,
This man is the great power of God.” Acts 8:10, KJV

Levels of Spiritual Warfare:

- Ground level warfare – casting demons out of people – Acts 8:7

- Occult level warfare – dealing with satanic powers of magicians, witches, New Age channelers, fortune-tellers, palm readers, shamans, etc. – Acts 8:9-11 (Simon)

- Strategic level warfare – principalities, powers, territorial spirits – Ephesians 6:12

v. 12-13 Salvation comes to Samaria

- The Message is accepted because of the Miracles! (v. 13)
The Samaritan’s were not required to go to Jerusalem to be saved!

v. 14 Apostolic awakening: Is this the real deal?

- Peter and John – the two primary leaders of the Jerusalem church are sent to investigate the ministry and impact of Philip in Samaria.

v. 15-17 Saved – without the Holy Spirit?

- Peter and John impart the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the people through prayer.

- Notice: Unlike Pentecost (Acts 2) and Cornelius (Acts 10), there is no mention of the people of Samaria receiving the gift of tongues. This doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen – but for whatever reason, Luke doesn’t say one way of another.

- The Pentecostal movement of early 20th century taught that tongues is a clear sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and in fact, without tongues, you have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Later Pentecostals have moved away from that position.

- Jack Hayford in his book The Beauty of Spiritual Language, writes: “As readily as I want to honor my Pentecostal forebears for preserving the testimony of tongues and for generating a passion for Spirit-fullness among millions, at the same time I confess that I believe an unintentional but nevertheless restrictive barrier was built,” referring to tongues as the initial evidence requirement. At the same time, Hayford strongly encourages the gift of tongues for all Christians, a position that I validate and believe.

- Other evidences of being baptized in the Holy Spirit include:

- New intimacy with the Father
- Falling in the power of God
- Power gifts to heal the sick and cast out demons
- Power gifts to prophecy
- A driving passion to win the lost

v. 25 Peter and John begin to evangelize Samaritans!


v. 18-24 Simon

ß Simon offers money for the gift of the Holy Spirit. This shows that while Simon may be saved, he still has a lot of fleshly behavior and attitudes in him that need changing.

- Peter’s rebuke:

1. May your money perish with you.
2. No part in the ministry – because of an improper heart.
3. Repent and seek forgiveness.

- Simon’s response:

Conviction and repentance.

What can we learn?

- Samaria was fascinated by power.
- Satan had demonstrated his limited powers.
- Philip brings the issue to a head with a power encounter.
“Philip’s dramatic exorcisms and healings of the possessed, paralyzed and lame gave incontrovertible proof of Satan’s subjugations and hence of the certainty of the Kingdom of God with Christ as Lord.” Susan Garrett The Demise of the Devil
-Peter’s rebuke against Simon (v. 20-23) is a public announcement that God’s power is demonstrably greater than Satan’s power!

Acts 8:1-8

ACTS 8:1-8

1-3 The Persecution Spreads

• The more the Jewish leaders thought about the implications of Stephen’s message, the angrier they became.

• The persecution initially targeted the leaders (Peter, John, etc.), but now was aimed at the entire body of believers.

• See John 16:33, Matt. 13:5, 20-21

• “ALL” scattered does not mean ‘all’ it means ‘many’. Possibly the Hellenistic believers, not the Hebrew believers.

• V. 2 – The death of Stephen was a serious loss and was deeply felt.

• V. 3 – Saul’s persecution heats up.

1 Corinthians 15:9 (also Philippians 3:6)

Galatians 1:13 ‘tried to destroy it…’



8:4 The Gospel Message Spreads

“What seems, at first glance to be a setback for the Church is used by God for His glory and the spread of His Kingdom.” Wagner


8:5 – Philip goes to Samaria

The possibility of a Samaritan becoming a Christian without first becoming a full-fledged Jew had never occurred to the earliest Christians. The racial divide was too deep.

Philip – the first cross-cultural missionary.

• Acts 21:9
• Acts 7:5
• Two primary spiritual gifts:

EVANGELIST: The gift of evangelist is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to share the gospel with unbelievers in such a way that men and women become Jesus’ disciples and responsible members of the Body of Christ.

MISSIONARY: The gift of missionary is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to minister whatever other spiritual gifts they have in a second culture.


8:5-8 EVANGELISM BY WORD AND DEED

• WORD: “Proclaiming Christ” – what are the key elements to proclaiming Christ?

• DEED: “Miraculous signs” – what signs and wonders are evidenced in Philips ministry in Samaria?

• WHY did the Samaritan people listen carefully to Philip?

• DOES this same criteria apply today? If so, does it mean more in certain parts of the world than others?

• RESULTS:
1. Paid close attention to the message.
2. Great joy broke out in the city.


• What good are signs, wonders and miracles?
“Ministries of the miraculous, where paralyzed people walk, deaf people hear, and demonized people are freed, never saved anyone. Healings bring glory to God, but even the most dramatic ones are at best temporal. They do no impart eternal life. The deeds only prepare the way for the Word.” Wagner

But prepare the way they do – and quite well! The whole Gospel of John is organized around seven miracles of Jesus!

Changing water into wine 2:1-11
Healing a boy 4:46-54
Healing a crippled man 5:1-15
Feeding 5,000 6:5-14
Walking on water 6:15-21
Healing a blind man 9:1-41
Raising a dead man 11:11-45


The point…
“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31