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Acts 8:9-25
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 miracles1 performed, he was amazed.
14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to 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 on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 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.” 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 gall2 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
25 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.
[1] 8:13
[2] 8:23
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to Acts chapter 8 as we look at one of the more bizarre stories, in the book of Acts. The story about Simon the magician. It's actually one of the reasons I love doing expositional preaching through whole books is you get to come across texts like this that you would not normally ever preach through. Actually, I had a number of people email me or text me this week asking if I was gonna preach on Simon the magician, and I said yes, and they were all excited. And And then I got song suggestions, asking, you know, every little thing she does is magic.
Joel Brooks:Abracadabra. I wanna reach out and grab you. I I got several. We're not doing any of them. But I wanna look at acts chapter 8, the story of Simon the magician.
Joel Brooks:We'll begin reading in verse 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. 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.
Joel Brooks: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.
Joel Brooks: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 on whom I lay my hands 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.
Joel Brooks:You have neither part nor lots in this matter for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the lord that 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 inequity. 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.
Joel Brooks:This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. If you would pray with me. Our father, I pray that as your people are here gathered together, we would become the temple in which your holy spirit blows. You're welcome in this place to have your way in our midst.
Joel Brooks:I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but, Lord, your words would remain and they would change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So when I was in college, I heard about an apparent revival that was happening in Toronto. It was called, for those of you who are my age, you might remember this.
Joel Brooks:It was called the Toronto Blessing. And I knew nothing about the teaching or the preaching that was going on at this, Toronto revival. But I had heard rumors about all of these healings that were taking place there and all of these miracles that were happening. There were stories about people, people falling out in the spirit. People being healed.
Joel Brooks:People, speaking in tongues. People even getting drunk on the spirit, whatever that means. People who had uncontrollable holy laughter. Some people went around clucking like chickens, and I don't make that up. And so I I heard all of this and I had no idea what to think about this, but I heard that the pastor there was coming down to Kentucky to preach at a revival.
Joel Brooks:And since I was a college student, I had some time on my hands. I thought, well, I'm going up to Kentucky and I'm going to to hear this man speak. And so and so I went up there. And I remember I was really really skeptical of these stories and about whether all those things I heard were true. But I do remember that I really wanted them to be true.
Joel Brooks:Like I really wanted them to be true. I wanted to see some signs and some wonders. And so I I got there for this revival and I got to hear the preacher tell a lot of fantastic tales of of healings and, and all about the Holy Spirit. I've been mentioning the Holy Spirit over and over and over. I never actually heard the gospel, but I did hear lots and lots of teaching on the Holy Spirit And red flags were going all up during the teaching for me.
Joel Brooks:But still, I I wanted to experience something. I don't know if you've ever felt that way but I you just you wanted to experience something that was just so out there. I I wanted something like the book of acts to happen to me. I mean And yes, I I was a Christian. Yes, I knew God had changed my heart.
Joel Brooks:Yes, God spoke to me through, through His word and through prayer. Yes, I could see the fruit of the spirit growing in my life, but I still wanted something other to happen to me. And, and so when it came time after the message, and they opened up the altar for times of prayer, I I beelined it up there. But I didn't go to one of this man's associates that were all up there praying. I didn't I didn't want one of his minions, you know.
Joel Brooks:I wanted I wanted him to pray for me. I mean, you you travel all this way, and so, and so I go to the main guy and I and I say, I would love for you to pray for me. He says, okay. And so he he puts his hand on me and he begins praying. He actually didn't put his whole hand.
Joel Brooks:He just put 2 fingers right on my forehead, and he began praying And, and we're going, we're praying for a while and not much is happening. And then I I feel the the subtle push is happening. I'm I'm pushed so I, you know, I push back. To which he pushes harder, to which I'm pretty stubborn. I push back really hard.
Joel Brooks:And by this point, I'm getting like 2 huge indentions in my forehead. I am the picture of what it means to be stiff necked in the Bible. Alright. I'm like, I'm just going and at the same time, one of my friends was being prayed for by one of the associates next to me. Same thing was happening to him, but this time, he was pushed over.
Joel Brooks:But as he was falling down, he grabbed the man and pulled the man down with him, yelling, you pushed me. And so we kinda put a damper on the whole revival thing that was happening there. But I I remember so desperately wanting something like the book of Acts to happen to me. Now we we have seen incredible things happen throughout this book. But I think one of the reasons that Luke includes this story here is to serve as a warning to us.
Joel Brooks:A warning about the over fixation of signs and wonders. And then he wants to invite us once again, not to just be amazed at the signs and the wonders, but to be amazed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it calls to stir us up to remind these remind us of these things. So this story is about amazement. Luke makes this clear in the way that he writes this.
Joel Brooks:Verse 9 says that Simon was amazed or Simon amazed the people. Verse 11 says that he amazed them with his magic. Verse 13 says, Simon was amazed at Philip's signs and wonders. Simon was a self proclaimed amazing magician. Luke says that he he went around and he told everybody that he was great.
Joel Brooks:He was self proclaimed. He told everybody he was great. It kinda reminds me of when you go to New York City, and you know, you do have the coffee shops there that say world's best cup of coffee. It's it's self proclaimed or world's best pizza. You just kinda come up with a sign and you say we are the world's best.
Joel Brooks:And and Simon was doing that. I I'm the best. And he actually got a following. He got some following. I mean, he he could probably do some legitimate things.
Joel Brooks:He he could do some tricks at least. Some people think maybe he could, he was an expert with mathematics or astronomy and that was some sleight of hands. He could trick the crowds. Others think that maybe there was some real occult power there. We're not sure.
Joel Brooks:Luke doesn't really expound on that. We do know that Simon, he was, likely a Samaritan which means he was half Jewish. So he was this weird mixture of a lot of things, even a weird religious mixture there. He probably dabbled in essential oils, you know, on the side. He's he's he's that kind of guy.
Joel Brooks:Alright? I saw so many people now. I like hitting the person next to them. When when you think of him and you think a magician, don't think of the guy with the hat and the wand. Think of somebody more like a doctor Phil or an Oprah.
Joel Brooks:Somebody with a magnetic personality, quasi Christian beliefs. You know enough truth in there to where they're dangerous. People think they're gifted. They might even consider themselves gifted. But it they use that term so vaguely, like gifted by who and by what?
Joel Brooks:Like they're just gifted. It's much like people describe Simon saying that he somehow possessed something of the divine in them. And people would consider doctor Phil, you know and Oprah, helpful generally. I'm I'm not trying to knock on doctor Phil or Oprah. They just come to mind.
Joel Brooks:Their spies are everywhere. So I'm not saying anything like, negative about them. But Philip, he comes into town and he preaches the gospel in both word and deed. He did what we looked at last week. And then Simon sees this.
Joel Brooks:He sees it when Philip comes in and he has mighty displays of power and Simon recognizes real power when he sees it. And he's in awe. And so he believes, and he's baptized along with many of the people in the city after they heard and saw what Philip was doing, but we find out later that this was not a genuine belief. It's actually a warning here to us that, not all belief, I believe, leads to salvation. You can have some type of belief here.
Joel Brooks:You can even be baptized and yet you still can remain lost. You cannot know Jesus. I would say that Simon believed in the power of the gospel, but he didn't believe in the gospel. And you can make a distinction between those things. He believed in the power of the gospel, but he didn't believe in the actual gospel.
Joel Brooks:He was all about the things that Jesus could do through his spirit, but he didn't actually want Jesus. He didn't actually want Jesus himself. And and we'll see this the more we look at this text. Now, I believe that there is a warning here for all of us. And in particular, I think there's a warning for pastors.
Joel Brooks:A strong warning to pastors. I know a number of pastors who resemble Simon. Resemble Simon in a way that they think of themselves, the way that they wield power at the expense of the gospel, and I feel that temptation. You need to know that. For instance, right now, I I have a lot of power in this room.
Joel Brooks:I'm the only one up here on stage. I've got the power of the pulpit. I'm also the only one who's mic'd. There's a lot of power in me being the one who's mic'd here. What that means is I I can actually wield that power by doing things like, I can whisper to you.
Joel Brooks:I can whisper to those in the back row and you can hear me. And what that means is I could talk to you like I would talk to my wife, and it makes you us feel like we have such an intimate relationship, but it's an illusion. And on top of that, we can, you know, a number of churches they would have, the pastor projected up on a screen. And so now, even those who are away in the back feel as if they're up close. I actually went a few months ago, I went to to visit with a man named Andy Crouch.
Joel Brooks:He's a Christian thinker writer. He wrote Strong and Weak, Tech Wise Family, a number of things. And, I'm in a small group with a number of other pastors and we went to go talk with him. And he brought up about the pastor's manipulation of power. And one of the things he did bring up was the the pastor projecting himself up on the screen.
Joel Brooks:And he said, now how many of y'all do this at your churches? And, I felt very self righteous at that moment, because I didn't. But but one of my friends, he's pastor of an excellent church and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, alright? Hear me. But he's like, well I I do.
Joel Brooks:I said, well I want you to come and I want you to stand as close to me as your face appears on that screen. And that's when things got awkward. Alright, so he's he starts walking towards Andy, and he gets about this far away. He goes, okay. So so now you could talk to a person as if they're this far away.
Joel Brooks:They see you as if they're this far away, yet there's no real relationship at all. So wow, you can really manipulate that power. And we also know that even if the screen there was the exact same size as the person himself on stage, people are drawn to look at the screen and not the actual person because we're drawn to a counterfeit. You see it over and over. Now on top of those ways you can wield power as a pastor, you know, you can add on top of that some some Facebook or some Instagram photos of your family, and you put it out there to everyone.
Joel Brooks:So of course now they feel like they're part of your family. They maybe take a few screenshots of your bible or your sermon prep, and so now they're invited into your devotional life. And there are people are now feeling like, well, I really know this guy. I mean, we're like we're like this. I know his family.
Joel Brooks:I know his devotion life. We're we're so close. And yet it's all an illusion. Magic, if you will. There's a huge temptation from every pastor, you need to hear me, to use the tricks of the trade and convince yourself that it's all for the good of the gospel.
Joel Brooks:Now, for me to trust in those things, would be no different, really, than Simon wielding the power that he has. I'd be far more like Simon, than I would be like Philip or Peter. Yet, that type of power is intoxicating to all of us. It's intoxicating. It can make pastors feel gifted.
Joel Brooks:It can make pastors feel great when they use it and they see results. So the question for me, every time I get up here, I need to ask, what am I trusting in? What am I trusting in when I preach? What am I seeking when I'm up here? Am I seeking power?
Joel Brooks:It's a probing question to me. Am I seeking power or am I seeking the presence of Christ? If my desire is to know Jesus and for you to know Jesus, then what I need to simply do is is when I get up here as clearly as possible, just present to you Jesus without any gimmicks. And the power comes from him. Now, the the question that I have of, you know, what am I seeking?
Joel Brooks:Isn't a question just for me, it's a question for you as well. Do you seek to know Jesus? Or do you just want to know Jesus's power? Do you seek the giver of the gift or do you just seek His gifts? Do you want others to see Jesus as great or do you want them to see you as great?
Joel Brooks:I mean like Simon, you you might be the kind of person who kind of believes the gospel and you kind of help people, but ultimately it's really all about you. And Simon, kind of, stands as a mirror to us that we can we can look and we could probe the depths of our hearts. Make no mistakes. Simon is after power. He is thirsty for power.
Joel Brooks:After Simon was baptized, we read in verse 13 that he continued with Philip. After seeing the signs and the great miracles that Philip performed. Now that word continued there is the exact same word in Greek as the word devoted. Simon devoted himself to Philip. Now, this is the first time we have in the book of acts, anyone who has devoted themselves to another person.
Joel Brooks:We've seen the word devoted before, but as early on, it was it was the church that was devoting themselves to prayer. In acts chapter 1, acts chapter 2, they were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. In Acts chapter 6, they were devoting themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word, but never do we see the church or anyone devoting themselves to another person. Here we see that. And what we see here is Simon is in awe of Philip.
Joel Brooks:He knows real power when he sees it and so he attaches himself to Philip. But he never really believes Philip's message, he only wants Philip's power. And then, we read that Peter and John, they come to the city of Samaria. The apostles, they've heard the report that God was was saving people in Samaria and so they they send Peter and John there. And Peter and John go there and sure enough, it's true.
Joel Brooks:And they lay hands on the people there and the Holy Spirit comes on them. You have this Samaritan Pentecost, if you will. And God waits to send the holy spirit to them at this moment because he wants to show the Samaritans that they're not, you know, they're not, second class Christians. That God is just as real and he's just as moving with them as he was with the Jews in Jerusalem. And so they have their own Pentecost experience.
Joel Brooks:And when Simon sees that, that display of power that the apostles gave, he's like, I want that. Now he's no longer looking at Philip. I mean, he wants that. What can he do to get that? Now it's telling here that Simon himself does not desire the spirit.
Joel Brooks:He only wishes the ability to dispense the spirit. But he himself doesn't care for the person of Christ in him. He doesn't care for that inner heart transformation. He only desires the ability to have his place his hands on somebody and maybe have them speak in tongues or get a chill bump or whatever it is. He wants that power.
Joel Brooks:So he's after power, not the presence. Let me ask you, have you ever made the mistake, a revealing mistake? Maybe in your prayers or when talking to somebody else, but you have referred to the Holy Spirit as an it. Ever done that? You pray for the spirit to fill you.
Joel Brooks:May it come and fill me. May it come and give me power. And it's because typically, we associate the holy spirit with power and we can treat him like an impersonal force. But the reason we long for the spirit is not for power, it's for the presence. The presence of Christ in us.
Joel Brooks:He's not an it, it's a he. And so that mistake can be revealing to us. So, I would say that the mistake that Simon makes is he sees the signs that are happening. The signs that Philip has displayed and the signs that Philip is doing, but he doesn't get it that it's just a sign pointing to something greater. If you remember, as we've been going through the book of acts and we've seen all these miracles, the miracles are called signs.
Joel Brooks:We we see that here. They're called signs. They're not just raw displays of power. We don't see that in Acts. Jesus didn't do that.
Joel Brooks:He didn't just do raw displays of power. If so, there were greater miracles he could've done. He could've just levitated around. He could have started moving mountains around. He could have done all these different things, rather than just healing the lame or the blind or breaking bread and feeding 1,000.
Joel Brooks:He did those miracles because they were signs pointing to who He is and who God is like, Who God is. And we see through these signs, these miracles that God is a God who cares that you would be made whole in your body and in your soul, the spirit. You'd be a whole person and He's redeeming you. And so that's how we're to understand those miracles and that's what we're to understand Philip is doing here. But Simon doesn't get it.
Joel Brooks:He focuses on the sign. I mean, the point of seeing a sign that says, Grand Canyon, this way, is not for you to get out your camera and take a picture of the sign. The the point is, oh, you look over here if you wanna see the majesty. If you wanna see the, you know, the breadth or the the depth that's before you there and the beauty. And the miracles, we don't take our cameras out and and take pictures of the miracles.
Joel Brooks:We we look at them as signs to whom they point and we get caught up in the majesty of to whom they point. But Simon Simon lost the ability to look at the sign and see it for what it is. And so you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the son of God being offered here, yet Simon would rather have something else. You have forgiveness being offered, everlasting life being offered, a new heart being offered here. But Simon would rather have the ability to just lay hands on people and have them have an extraordinary experience.
Joel Brooks:Now without being too hard on Simon or before being too hard on him, I think we should ask the question, do we really love God or do we only love the things that God provides? I heard John Piper once say that God's greatest adversary is not the devil, but God's own gifts. God's greatest adversary is not the devil, but God's own gifts in which we can become so fascinated with the gifts He gives that we refuse to look at him. And the Bible is littered with a history of this. And we take the gifts that God has given us, we melt them down, and we make idols out of them.
Joel Brooks:God's greatest adversary is his gifts. Now when Simon asked Peter here, if he could buy this power, he gets one of the strongest rebukes in the bible, if not the strongest rebuke we have in scripture. Look at verse 20. But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. This is incredibly strong language here.
Joel Brooks:And excuse me for being explicit, but Peter essentially says, Simon, you and your money can go to hell. You and your money could go to hell. It is a strong rebuke. The question is this, what caused that strong of a rebuke out of Peter here? I mean, why why this reaction?
Joel Brooks:Well, it's here we actually get to the heart, I believe, of this unusual story. Peter has this strong of reaction to Simon because what he sees here is a distortion of the gospel that so many of us are prone to. Remember, the gospel is that we are saved by grace. We are forgiven by grace. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit by grace.
Joel Brooks:And there is nothing we can ever do to buy or to earn these things. Let me ask you. What could you possibly do to buy God's spirit? What could you possibly do to buy his spirit? I mean, do you think if you were, you know, right now to to sell all the money that you had, I mean to to give away all the money that you had.
Joel Brooks:Then maybe move off to some third world country and even in that country you decide to live among the least of these, the lowest of the low, and to completely spend your life out there for God, do you think that would be enough to buy the gift of His Holy Spirit? Of course not. Of course not. It's not enough to buy His Holy Spirit. It's not enough to buy eternal life.
Joel Brooks:It's not enough to buy forgiveness. It's not enough to buy those things. Yet, we think along these lines all the time and and you know what the result of thinking along those lines is? It's it's this kind of belief that if I have my quiet time this morning, if I spend time in prayer, if I spend time in the word, then God loves me more. If I do these acts of service, then God loves me more.
Joel Brooks:If I go to church, if I tithe, then God loves me more. I can buy His affection. I can buy His forgiveness, but those things are not for sale. You cannot buy his love. There's absolutely nothing you can do to ever make God love you anymore, and And there's nothing you could do to ever make him love you any less.
Joel Brooks:He has just showered his affection on you. I'm reminded of Ephesians 2, for by grace you have been saved by faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Not a result of works, lest any man should boast. Simon wants to boast.
Joel Brooks:He wants to be thought of as great. So he tries to buy salvation, and he tries to buy God's spirit through money. We try to buy those things through good works. Now, here's the good news for us, and there is good news. The reason that the gift of God is not for sale is because it's already been purchased for us by Jesus on the cross.
Joel Brooks:The reason that the gift of God is is not for sales because it's already been purchased for us on the cross. We can't buy what has already been purchased, And God has purchased our forgiveness. He has purchased our adoption through the work of Christ on the cross. And that leads us here to this table. Father, during this moment, as we celebrate communion, we want to commune with you.
Joel Brooks:And we are reminded not of any work we have done, we're reminded solely of the work of Jesus which is completely sufficient for us. And you have purchased our salvation at a great price to yourself, Jesus. And we thank you and we give you praise. And now as we partake of this bread and we partake of this wine, may our spirits truly be nourished and feast on new Christ. We pray this in your name.
Joel Brooks:Amen.