THE PURE AND THE PHONY

ACTS 8:1-24

NASB

1 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

And on that day a great persecution [a]began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went about [a]preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming [a]Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [a]signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was much rejoicing in that city.

9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized [a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or portion in this [a]matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the [a]bondage of iniquity.” 24 But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

8:1 [a]Lit occurred  8:4 [a]Or bringing the good news of  8:5 [a]I.e. the Messiah  8:6 [a]Or attesting miracles  8:16 [a]Lit into  8:21 [a]Or teaching; lit word  8:23 [a]Lit bond 

NLT

1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. 5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil[*] spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One —the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.

12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”

20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”

24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”

[8:7] Greek unclean.  

Tracing the history of the church in the book of Acts is like following a wounded deer through freshly fallen snow; pools of blood mark the trail from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to Nero in Rome. As the previous section came to a close, we witnessed the martyrdom of Stephen, whose final words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (7:60), were crushed and suffocated under a pile of rocks. As the enemies of God turned from the gruesome memorial of a faithful man, the church lost a great deacon, the saints lost a beloved brother, and heaven received a genuine hero.

Shortly after the martyrdom of this authentic, Spirit-filled believer, the gospel flowed down from the mountaintop city of Jerusalem into the surrounding valleys of Judea and then northward into Samaria. While many heard the good news of the risen Messiah and responded in genuine belief, not everyone embraced the gospel with good intentions. In this next segment, Luke brings us face to face with a phony. The contrast of Simon Magus to Stephen could not be starker.

— 8:1-4 —

The statement “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting [Stephen] to death” (8:1) is a pivotal sentence. It forms a hinge between the story of the church’s expansion in Jerusalem and the expansion of the church beyond the city walls. Luke also uses this opportunity to introduce a man who would play a critical role in that expansion. His comment that “the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul” (7:58) might otherwise pass as a curious detail. Instead, the name Saul headlines the sobering declaration “And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem.”

This “Saul of Tarsus” is better known to us today as “Paul the apostle.” At this point in the story, however, he was to the Christians what Adolf Eichmann would become to the Jews of 1930s Germany —the architect of a holocaust. Driven by religious zeal, Saul determined to exterminate the followers of Jesus.

Few people in the twenty-first-century West have ever experienced religious persecution. We may endure a little mockery at school, a sarcastic slam at the office, some ruffled feathers in the neighborhood, but little more. It would be exceedingly revealing if persecution put our modern-day churches to the test. One wonders how many would quickly defect. Though the early believers fled, they did not defect.

Luke’s summary passage (8:1-4) reassures the reader that Saul’s campaign failed. Instead of wiping out the church, his efforts facilitated the plan of God. Stage one of God’s plan saw the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the evangelization of Jerusalem; the believers had become His witnesses (2:1–7:60). The persecution became the catalyst for stage two: “Judea and Samaria” (cf. 1:8). As the rank-and-file Christians fanned out into the surrounding region, called Judea by the Romans, and filtered into the region called Samaria, they continued to proclaim the resurrected Jesus as the Messiah of Israel.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAMARIA

ACTS 8:5

Originally, the Hebrew nation settled the Promised Land and thrived for several centuries as twelve tribes united by worship at one tabernacle, located in Shiloh, about 10 miles from Mount Gerizim. Eventually, Solomon, Israel’s third king, constructed a permanent temple in Jerusalem.

Shortly after Solomon’s death, the northern ten tribes rejected the legitimate successor to the throne, chose an idolatrous rebel general to lead them, formed a separate nation, and claimed the name Israel for themselves. The southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah remained loyal to Solomon’s son and became known as Judah. North and South fought intermittently for the next two hundred years, until Israel was distracted by repeated assaults from the Assyrian kings Pul (2 Kgs. 15:19-20; 1 Chr. 5:26) and Tiglath-pileser (2 Kgs. 15:29; Isa. 9:1). Finally, Shalmaneser (2 Kgs. 17:3-6) and his successor, Sargon, finished off Israel by deporting the northern tribes and intermarrying them with other conquered nations, virtually breeding them out of existence. After 721 BC, only a small remnant of the Israelite tribes remained in the northern territory, and most of them had begun to intermarry with Gentiles.

After the people of Judah were exiled to Babylon (606–587 BC) and later returned under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, they found the northern region inhabited by Samaritans, people of mixed Hebrew and Gentile heritage. The returning people of Judah by then had become known as Jews. Tensions mounted when the Samaritans opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, and the final breach occurred when the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, claiming it, not Jerusalem, to be the authentic place of worship. This temple was destroyed by the Jewish high priest John Hyrcanus in 128 BC,[55] and its location was, like that of the Jerusalem temple, further desecrated by Emperor Hadrian’s erection of pagan shrines in the second century AD.

— 8:5 —

Luke’s summary statement in 8:4 introduces a series of notable examples that make up the second major section of his narrative:

This first episode involves one of the seven original deacons (6:5), a man named Philip, who left the persecution in Jerusalem (where the apostles remained; 8:1) and then began to preach the gospel in the region called Samaria. Luke refers specifically to “the city of Samaria,” the old capital of the northern kingdom (1 Kgs. 16:24) and a place long associated with religious compromise and bitter contention with Jerusalem. It would be no exaggeration to say that Jews hated Samaritans as idolatrous half-breeds —ethnically polluted, religiously confused, and morally debased. This prejudice ran deep. During a particularly dark period in Israel’s history (glimpses of which are seen in Ezra 4), the Hebrew inhabitants of this region intermarried with Gentiles and established their own temple on Mount Gerizim to rival the one in Jerusalem (cf. John 4:20). This temple was destroyed by the Jewish high priest John Hyrcanus in 128 BC.[56] Most Jews would not risk uncleanness by setting foot on Samaritan soil and would not have expected a warm welcome there.

None of this deterred Philip. God has a missionary heart that beats for the whole world. He doesn’t see half-breeds. He doesn’t see Gentiles. He sees lost people in need of rescue. Sadly, none of the early believers entered Samaria with the gospel until persecution forced the church out of its comfort zone. Regardless, Philip decided to proclaim Christ to the people most despised in Jerusalem.

— 8:6-8 —

The central theme of true evangelism is the message of Jesus Christ. An authentically Christian ministry must have Christ as the sole object of worship and devotion. Philip didn’t talk about the past, he didn’t argue about the location of the temple (cf. John 4:20), and he didn’t defend the superiority of Jewish theology. He preached Christ and ministered to the people. His message was accompanied by “signs” (miraculous evidence of authentic divine teaching) and recalled the earthly ministry of Jesus because the infirm were healed and demons were cast out (Acts 8:7). Many of the Samaritans must have remembered the ministry of Jesus (cf. John 4:39-42); in any case, they responded to Philip’s ministry with rejoicing (Acts 8:8).

— 8:9-11 —

Like technology today, “the practice of magic was omnipresent in classical antiquity.”[57] And like our near addiction to the convenience of smartphones and tablets, Wi-Fi devices and laptops, dependence on magicians and their magical props in the first century was epidemic. From superstitious curses to supernatural cures, people from every social class were exposed to the magic arts. One historian summarizes what most pagans believed about these practitioners: “Magicians had a direct link to the divine world, and magic was seen as a gift from the gods.”[58] These peddlers of falsehood commonly gained fear, respect, admiration, and money through their sleight of hand and deceptive illusions.

Enter Simon the Samaritan, often called by Christian historians in the ancient church Simon Magus or Simon the Magician. He had become an expert in the magic arts. It’s possible that Simon had purchased secrets and performed tricks that could easily have been repeated by a modern-day illusionist. However, given the context of Acts and the prevalence of conflict with spirits of wickedness, it’s just as possible that Simon “astonished” people with supernatural power (8:9, 11) —not the power of God, but the power of demons. In either case, Simon didn’t give God credit for the miracles; he claimed it for himself, allowing people to call him “the Great Power of God” (8:10). This curious phrase essentially calls Simon a visible manifestation of God, or at least a demigod. Regardless, he undoubtedly appeared humble and magnanimous when hailed as something more than mere human, but you can be certain he didn’t object —unlike Paul and Barnabas (cf. 14:11-15).

— 8:12-13 —

When Philip arrived with the ability to “astonish” with power from the true God —not to create fear and respect for himself, but to demonstrate that God validated his teaching —people responded in droves. He preached the gospel and they believed; he pointed them toward the resurrected Jesus and they embraced Him as Messiah. As an outward symbol of their belief, the people submitted to water baptism.

Luke says plainly, “Simon himself believed” (8:13). He expects us to take that statement at face value; after all, Philip didn’t doubt the man’s authenticity. Simon was baptized in water and then followed Philip like a disciple, observing the deacon’s ministry of preaching, healing, and casting out demons. Luke describes Simon as “constantly amazed,” the imperfect tense of existēmi [1839] —he was “out of his senses.”

It should be noted that Luke doesn’t mention the Holy Spirit in conjunction with any of the conversions in Samaria. In itself, that isn’t significant; Luke sometimes omits any mention of the Holy Spirit (2:37-41; 4:4; 5:14) even when the context implies that the believers were filled. In this case, the believers didn’t receive the Holy Spirit right away (8:15-16), for reasons that will become clear shortly.

— 8:14-19 —

The apostles in Jerusalem were not present at the time of the Samaritans’ conversion, so they sent Peter and John to join Philip. Upon their arrival, they prayed and laid their hands on the new believers, at which time they received the Holy Spirit (8:14-17). Luke depicts Simon as an observer, not a participant —which is notable —and he describes the magician’s perspective. To Simon, it appeared that Peter and John had bestowed the Holy Spirit on them, a serious misunderstanding.[59] God didn’t bring the apostles to Samaria to bestow the Holy Spirit but to witness the Samaritans receiving the Holy Spirit. The Lord delayed the falling of the Holy Spirit for the apostles’ benefit, to assure them that He had accepted the Samaritans’ belief and had made them full-fledged brothers and sisters in the kingdom.

At last, we see that Simon had not received the Holy Spirit because he had not genuinely believed. This becomes evident in his viewing the power of the Holy Spirit the same way he had used magic —real or illusion —for selfish gain. In fact, his understanding of the gospel was so far off, he actually asked to purchase the Holy Spirit’s power!

— 8:20-23 —

Peter’s response to Simon appears much harsher in the original Greek. The word for “perish” (8:20) refers to the total destruction of something, its utter ruin. He said, in effect, “May your money follow you into hell, because that’s where you’re headed!” But Peter didn’t condemn Simon to hell or even wish his destruction. He merely expressed his contempt for Simon’s offer while warning the man that eternal destruction lay in his future. The apostle urged Simon to repent —“if possible” (8:22).

The Greek phrase for “if possible” is ei ara [1488, 686], which is less tentative than the English rendering implies. “If possible” implies less than fifty-fifty odds, whereas ei ara implies near certainty if an effort is made. Then, in Acts 17:27, Paul told the Athenians that God created people for relationship with Himself so that “if perhaps they might grope for Him” they might “find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (emphasis mine). The phrase here implies that seeking God almost certainly results in finding Him.

Peter’s warning holds out the possibility that Simon’s desire for God might have been smothered by his own envy and pride. The “gall of bitterness” (8:23) is a vivid metaphor for someone who is “deeply envious or resentful of someone.” Being in the “bondage of iniquity” could be paraphrased “handcuffed to wrongdoing,” implying that Simon’s capacity for free choice had been so compromised by his dependence upon evil that he could not escape without help. In other words, if one seeks repentance, God will certainly grant it; the question is whether Simon actually wanted to repent.

— 8:24 —

Simon’s reply appears genuine, at least on the surface. Peter called for Simon’s repentance. Simon asked for Peter’s intercession before God on his behalf, but he still didn’t “get it.” No one can do our repenting for us. We must repent all on our own. Our loved ones can pray for us, but they cannot pray us out of our destiny. Each of us will stand before God accountable for our own decision in response to His call for repentance.

According to Irenaeus (around AD 180), Simon became the father of “all sorts of heresies,”[60] not the least of which was a kind of proto-Gnosticism. According to Irenaeus and others, he also laid the intellectual foundation for the false teachings of Cerdo and Marcion.[61] His precise role in the formation of later false teachings is debatable, but this fact seems certain: He did not become a genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

From My Journal

Faith That Saves

ACTS 8:13

Simon the Magician believed and was baptized, yet his attitudes and actions demonstrate that he clearly was not born again. Obviously, God expects something more than mere intellectual assent in conversion. So what kind of faith is “saving faith”?

Saving faith —the kind of belief God accepts as genuine and for which He grants the gift of His Spirit —is more than accepting as fact the historical personage of Christ. To accept the fact that a man named Jesus lived at some point in time and later died on a cross is merely a starting point. Furthermore, genuine belief must do more than admire Jesus or emulate Him or follow His teachings. It’s not even enough to venerate Jesus as more than human.

Those kinds of belief make for a good beginning. But the kind of belief to which we have been called encompasses much more. First, the Greek term pisteuō [4100] means “to believe,” that is, to acknowledge the truthfulness of a claim —that it corresponds with reality. When I say that I believe the book of Luke, I mean to say that I accept its content as truth. To believe in Christ is, first, to accept what He says as truth. Second, and more importantly, pisteuō means “to trust,” “to rely upon,” or “to derive confidence in” something or someone. When I say I believe in Jesus Christ, I declare that I trust Him, I rely upon Him, I have placed my complete confidence in Him; everything I know about this life and whatever occurs after death depends upon His claims about Himself and my positive response to His offer of grace.

That is what God accepts as genuine faith, the kind that grants a person eternal life, fills him or her with the Holy Spirit, and begins an internal transformation.

APPLICATION: ACTS 8:1-24

How to Spot a Phony

Luke’s chronicle of the early church has given us many examples of what genuine Christian ministry looks like. In this segment of his narrative, we have an opportunity to compare and contrast authentic ministry and phony religious scams.

In Philip’s ministry, we see three qualities of genuine ministry flowing from the power of the Holy Spirit.

First, we see the centrality of Jesus Christ in the message (8:4-5). Not any other leader. Not a philosophical system or a regimen of activities. Not even a specific doctrine, regardless of how important or valid the teaching. The central focus of all worship, instruction, fellowship, and expression must be our living Leader and Lord, Jesus Christ. If the ministry continually points followers toward Christ, giving Him all the glory, you can rest assured that it’s of God.

Second, a dynamic of liberating power (8:6-7). People find freedom from their bondage to sin. Philip healed and cast out demons with the power of God, not to create fear in the people or to establish himself as the village shaman, but to grant freedom. His power authenticated his message as divine in origin and pointed people toward God, not himself. As the people gained freedom from their illnesses, they accepted the message of freedom from the bondage of sin. Genuine Christian ministries create and encourage freedom for the followers of Christ.

Finally, a contagious joy (8:8). The city rejoiced as a result of Philip’s preaching, teaching, and healing. They weren’t saddled with a list of responsibilities or duties to perform. The new believers didn’t become dour, dark, moody captives of a rigid system of thinking and behaving. They rejoiced in their freedom; they experienced a happiness and contentment like never before.

The activity of Simon Magus, on the other hand, illustrates several characteristics of a phony ministry. I see at least four.

1. The ministry exalts a person rather than Christ. You’ve got trouble when you’re in a system (or a church) that exalts a person other than the person of Christ. Simon came on the scene and made exclusive claims to inspire devotion to himself. Spiritualists, magicians, and witch doctors have done this for millennia, creating fear in the community to establish themselves as the sole intermediaries between the spiritual and physical realms. Even today, I see men and women putting on modern-day “magic healing shows,” and while they pretend to give God the glory, they cleverly establish themselves as the “go-to people” for healing and instruction.

2. The ministry draws a following with promises to solve temporal problems. Watch out for any ministry that promises to solve your financial, physical, relational, and emotional problems. Authentic Christianity can certainly make life better all around; obedience to the Lord and His transforming Holy Spirit can work amazing wonders. But no particular ministry can make those hard-and-fast claims. God grants healing and blessings and wisdom and freedom directly. You have a direct line to Him through prayer, and He will deal with you personally. You don’t need to send money. You don’t have to purchase a cloth or oil or water or books or any other token. And you certainly don’t need some particular person claiming great power to pray for you.

3. The ministry exercises a counterfeit power. Beware the magic shows of some television evangelists; they peddle their counterfeit power for donations. The “supernatural” exhibitions of faith healers convince no one but the gullible. They perform their illusions in very controlled environments, and either their “healings” are limited to mild improvements or they claim results difficult to verify.

The miracles of the Bible, like the healing of the beggar in Acts 3, had an immediate and visible impact; no one could deny their truth. The signs and wonders described in Scripture left no room for doubt by even the most ardent skeptics of the day. Nothing we see today fits this category of genuine miraculous activity.

4. The ministry demonstrates a preoccupation with the material rather than the spiritual. In phony ministries, you’ll hear a lot of talk about money, material wealth, buildings, private planes, and special equipment, but very little about what purposes they serve. All ministries need certain things to accomplish their missions, but authentic Christian ministries keep spiritual matters primary; for them, physical things serve spiritual purposes. For example, a ministry might want to raise money to purchase a building. If it’s a genuine ministry, the primary beneficiaries of the building will be the people the ministry serves.

Listen to the ministry leader carefully. Pay attention to what is said —and left unsaid. If the vast majority of his or her instruction concerns physical issues, such as health and money, beware!