June 7, 2015
When the Rock Rolled
Stand Up for What You Believe
Acts 8:4-25
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Introduction
In the Book of Acts, Luke tells the stories of the leaders:
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- Peter and Stephen and Philip and Paul.
- He tells the stories of ordinary believers: Aeneas and Tabitha and Lydia and Cornelius...
- Luke tells the stories of missionary endeavors that were well-received.
- He tells the stories of missionary endeavors that met with more than a little resistance.
- Luke tells the stories of those who are models of faithful discipleship.
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2 Timothy 3:16 says that “all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” even the stories of those who were not such great models.
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- Consider Simon the Sorcerer
Ok…so how is this passage about Simon the Sorcerer useful?
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- Simon liked being the center of attention.
- When he was a sorcerer, people oohed and ahhed at his magic.
- You can be sure that whatever power he had, it did not come from God, but the folks in Samaria sure thought there was something divine about it.
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From Simon we learn that sorcerer is not good, but we also learn that when it comes to what’s most important we must stand up for what we believe in.
- We see this in Peter’s response.
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Text
9 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. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 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. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Acts 8:9-13
In this text we meet a rather interesting individual...Simon the Sorcerer.
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- He was a magician, capable of slight of hand.
- As with all magicians, even today, he excelled in tricking his audience.
If you notice in vs. 9-11 he had the people of Samaria amazed by his tricks.
- He boasted that he was someone great, and everyone treated him as such.
- Thier comments were, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”
Simon meets someone who truly is great, and even goes so far to sell his soul to be like him.
Lesson
Simon was a Samaritan.
- Most likely he had ancestors among the multitude that entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses and Joshua.
- He likely knew that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob prohibited sorcery.
- Still, Simon was attracted to the power he could wield through sorcery.
- He liked being able to draw a crowd of appreciative onlookers who turned on his every move.
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The Real Deal
One of the apostles named Philip was able to do amazing...miraculous things.
- The things that Philip did were not a trick.
- We are told in Acts 8:13,”Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.”
- There is the old saying, “You can’t kid a kidder.”
- Simon had been kidding people, but he knew that what Philip did was not magic, sleight of hand, or deception.
We find in this verse that Simon saw, believed and was baptized into Christ.
- After hearing of the great revival in Samaria the apostles sent Peter and John to lay hands on these new converts.
- Why, had they not been baptized?
- Acts 2:38 reads, ““Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
- So what were they being given?
When you had hands laid upon you 1 of 3 things were being done:
- You were being healed.
- You were being blessed with a certain responsibility.
- You received a ‘special outward’ sign or expression of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul laid hands on them so that they could have the outward expression of the Spirit’s presence!
- This was not a result of baptism, but rather the dynamic gifts of the spirit only came from the laying on of Apostolic hands.
NOTICE - what happens in vs. 18-19:
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
- What Simon had seen was the miraculous giving of the Spirit by the Apostles.
- This is what prompted Simon to offer money for this ability!
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Peter Takes a Stand
Peter’s response to Simon has always seemed a bit harsh to me.
- He doesn’t make small talk
- He doesn’t even try to explain that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
- Look at what he says:
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 neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”
If someone didn’t know what was going on they might think that Peter is being unreasonable.
- In fact, what he was doing was just throwing some cold water on his face to wake him up.
Peter was not trying to be mean to Simon.
- Peter could see what was going on inside of Simon.
- He saw the bitterness and the underlying sinfulness that lurked in this man’s soul.
- With all that in mind he knew that something radical had to take place.
- So he spoke in a harsh tone because it was the one thing that was going to get his attention.
Conclusion
We need to stand up for and stand on what we believe.
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- It must be our foundation and we must not fear the consequences of doing such.
Peter knew that behind the questioning of Simon was a self-centered man.
- But he was a saved man...he had been baptized.
- So that meant that Peter had a responsibility for his soul.
