The Real Power of God

"If we be like trees planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth our fruit in our season, it is not because we were naturally fruitful, but because of the rivers of water by which we were planted. It is Jesus that makes us fruitful." Charles H. Spurgeon

"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; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, 'This man is what is called the Great Power of God.' And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. " (Acts 8:9-11).

Modern Judaism and ancient "Samaritanism" have much in common. While both religions claim to follow Moses, each have allowed practices forbidden by the Torah to become a part of their popular spirituality. Though magic is forbidden in the Torah, the Samaritans permitted themselves to fall captive to the evil tricks of a magician. Within modern Judaism, it is normal to use charms to ward off the evil eye (ptu, ptu, ptu; the hamsah; red cords on the wrist), practice mysticism (Kabbalah), and even seek for blessings at the gravesites of famous rabbis.

But whenever the Torah's message is properly preached, those with eyes to see and ears to hear will flee from these unbiblical forms of spirituality and put their faith in Jesus (see Matt 5:17-19; John 5:46; Rom 10:4)! "Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them.... 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" (Acts 8:5, 12).

By : One for Israel

Bible Study Acts of the Apostles (Follow link for full study)

At this point we’re introduced to a new character, Simon

ACTS 8:9 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; ACTS 8:10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” ACTS 8:11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. ACTS 8:12 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. ACTS 8:13 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.

Simon the magician is a curious and often debated fellow.

His may be the first religious charlatan to infiltrate the Christian church

If there had been cable TV, “prayer cloths,” and toll-free donation phone lines in this day, Simon probably would have been the first to employ them

Luke says he was performing magic, astonishing the people, and claiming to be someone great

In fact the people were calling Simon, the Great Power of God

It’s interesting to see right from the beginning how Luke juxtaposes Simon and Phillip

Phillip is astonishing the people, as is Simon

But Phillip’s work is the result of God’s power

While Simon’s work is the result of magic, dark arts

Real power, but demonic

Simon’s work is intended to make himself look powerful and important before the people – and it was working

While Phillip’s work causes the people to rejoice and give God glory

Based on Philip’s preaching, the church has been established in this place and is starting to grow

And the re-emergence of miracles for the sake of the Samaritans was intended to affirm the truth of Philip’s teaching in the same way that it did in Jerusalem

The Holy Spirit is not yet seen to indwell the new believers though

Why does the arrival of the Spirit wait under these circumstances?

In the case of Jerusalem, the Spirit’s arrival was delayed until a certain day in order to fulfill the Feast of Pentecost. Here the delay is different.

The primary purpose for a delay here was to make an impression on a different audience – the apostles themselves

Keep in mind that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the mark of faith

So it served as a powerful sign to anyone of where true faith was present

Now speaking of powerful signs, Simon has a pretty good thing going here

Within his community he is the leading spiritual attraction

And like the Pharisees in Jerusalem, anything that contends with his prominence is a threat

So the arrival of a competitor wielding even greater power bothers Simon greatly

Simon, we’re told, is so impressed by Philip that he “believes” and submits to water baptism

Even after the baptism, he continues to follow Philip around “observing” the miracles

The word for observing is theoreo, which carries the sense of studying or examining something

Simon was following Philip out of professional curiosity

It causes us to wonder about what Luke means when he says “believes”

Could Simon have made a confession without actually accepting the Gospel truly?

The news of Philip’s ministry soon reached the apostles in Jerusalem, and of course they were surprised to hear of it

ACTS 8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ACTS 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ACTS 8:16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ACTS 8:17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

Peter and John are not assigned the duty of going to Samaria and investigating this news

The fact that they go at all tells us how concerned they were by this news

Don’t read v.14 and v.15 together too quickly

If you do, it will sound as if the purpose of their travel to Samaria was to lay on hands, as if that was the expected function of the Apostles

This isn’t the proper reading

They came to investigate and validate that the Samaritans were actually being called into the truth faith

Rather than simply mimicking the Jews once again

Once they arrived, then they performed these activities in response to the faith they found

The apostles were an important part of this event, because their presence validated their experience

It also confirmed again that Peter had the keys to the Kingdom

And he was now enlisted to recognize the expansion of the church beyond Jews and the entry of Samaritans into the Kingdom by faith

This is why the baptism of the Holy Spirit had not yet occurred

Peter is always involved in the first faith experience for every new group (Jew, Samaritan, Gentile) because he held the “keys” according to Jesus direction

This also ensured that Peter was able to personally witness God’s work through the Spirit and understand himself that these new groups were joining the church

Finally, John is included here as well, perhaps because of his early desire to destroy the Samaritans when they rejected Jesus during the Gospel account

After this moment, John is never mentioned again in the book of Acts