Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAY

INTRO: I have never been a soldier, so I have not been at war and therefore never been in a real battle.

Some of you have.

But I can imagine the possibility for confusion on the battlefield, especially in close hand to hand combat.

[image] In such a situation they would want to clearly mark who is who, to know friend from foe, because it might be hard to tell in the heat of battle.

How challenging and confusing and dangerous might it become then if there were some enemies hiding in amongst them clothed as if they were on the same side?

Or what if the enemy could create division so that the army, which should be on the same side, is not working together.

There’s no question that a spiritual war rages cosmically in the unseen realm.

The world is the arena, but the battle is over the glory of God in the hearts of humanity.

The great adversary, Satan, would usurp God’s glory for himself and do anything he can to taint and tarnish God’s glory.

Such is indeed a fool’s errand, but we can see why he would not only twist truth to deceive but also would particularly want to aim attacks where the gospel is victoriously advancing.

With massive growth of Christ’s church in Jerusalem after Pentecost, Satan undoubtedly thought he was gaining ground through the persistent hard-heartedness of the Jewish religious leaders against Jesus and his followers.

And now Stephen’s stoning, at the hands of the Sanhedrin, has opened the floodgates for the first broad persecution of the Christian church in Jerusalem.

But while Saul thought he was inflicting damage on the church (at this point also siding with Satan, although he knew it not), God was in fact accomplishing the very mission that Christ had commanded and promised (Acts 1:8).

Persecution is one tactic.

Confusion is another.

Philip’s ministry is meeting with great spiritual success in Samaria.

Will the believers in Jerusalem unite with these mix-breed believers, or will old divisions remain?

And with some kind of spiritual power having previously been displayed in Samaria, how will the believers now distinguish the Holy Spirit’s work from that which is pagan and false?

These are the tensions we find in our study of Acts 8:9-25.

There is a need for clarity where there is potential for spiritual confusion.

A central thread woven through these verses is the theme of the Spirit’s power at work in Samaria (power is mentioned again and again).

The Spirit’s powerful working generates a dramatic response from the people, including Simon (vv.

9-13).

That same response generates a need for the Apostles to confirm that this is indeed a work of the Spirit displayed in Samaria (vv.

14-17, & 25).

And it is the Spirit’s power we find Simon yearning for in his heart, which generates a confrontational warning from Peter (18-24).

The Spirit’s Power in Samaria: Reception to Philip’s Preaching (vv.

9-13)

In each section, our process today will be to ask an answer questions in two categories.

The first category is to figure out why the author is telling this to his audience.

(questions we should always ask ourselves as we read & study the Bible) Why this, why now, how does this fit with the author’s overall purpose?

The second category works to broaden and bridge.

How should this fit into our broader scriptural/theological understanding, and how do we bridge the situation in the text to our own lives?

What does it accomplish to introduce Simon the sorcerer’s reaction to the Spirit’s work in Philip’s ministry?

It shows the extent of God’s power working through the Spirit in Samaria, and it contrasts God’s power with other spiritual forces.

Simon was doing some magic/sorcery that really did amaze the people of Samaria (9a), so that everybody paid attention to him and thought that he was a manifestation of God’s power (10).

Of course, it seems that he himself initiated this idea (9b).

(v.

11 repeats)

However, what happened when the people experienced the real power of the Spirit in Philip’s ministry?

Their attention shifted, and rightly so.

Simon’s sorcery paled in comparison to what the Spirit is doing.

(review vv.

6-7)

To be sure, we get the idea that Simon did things that actually impressed people, which is likely a combination of trickery and spiritual evil in pagan practices.

- We see in this a common human tendency toward synthesizing their allegiance to Israel’s God with other pagan religions practices.

This would have been true to some degree even within Judaism, but definitely more prominent in Samaria, particularly in a city with significant pagan influence.

Historically, however, “...most segments of Judaism would attribute [pagan sorcerers performing miracles] to Belial (Satan).”

(Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, Ac 8:13.)

Luke’s readers then are meant to view this magic unfavorably and certainly as inferior.

What the sorcerers did in Moses’ day in Egypt was to replicate a plague or other sign on a smaller (or much weaker) scale.

So that’s what we have here too, only in reverse order.

So not only does the Spirit’s power shift everyone else’s attention to Philip’s message, but Simon himself supposedly believes and follows Philip (v 13a).

We reserve judgment on whether or not this conversion is genuine, not only because it is too early to tell and Luke doesn’t say specifically.

But whether or not we can say with certainty, there is undoubtedly a serious question about his motivation, generating more than a hint of doubt.

- In 13b, “great miracles” is literally “great works of power.”

Is Simon’s response a genuine submission to Jesus as Lord and his only Savior, or is he amazed and enthralled with what he perceives as great power?

What is clear so far is that the Spirit’s power is much greater than whatever Simon was doing.

What is also clear is that the Spirit’s power was drawing attention to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which Philip preached faithfully.

And it is that very issue to which we turn our attention in order to answer a theological question in this context:

How do we discern spiritual truth from falsehood?

- Is Christ & his kingdom central?

Is the true gospel clear?

Focus your attention on v. 12 again, please.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings clarity to spiritual confusion.

God is using Philip as an instrument of the Spirit’s power, but Philip is not the focus.

The focus is on Jesus Christ and his kingdom, which Philip “evangelized” (proclaimed the good news) faithfully.

And the people are baptized as an outward demonstration of the new commitment in their hearts.

The Apostle John, who went with Peter on this apostolic errand to Samaria (middle section of our text), gives this Christological focus as one of two primary tests for distinguishing spiritual falsehood from God’s truth.

In his first letter to the Christian churches, John writes about the fundamentals of true Christianity.

Like a loving pastor, what he says is comfort and confirmation to those who are staying true to the fundamentals of sincere faith, but there is also then a warning about those teaching falsehoods.

In chapter 4 vv.

1-3, here is the first test: Is there clear confession that Jesus is God who came in human flesh?

Christianity is literally right relationship to God through Jesus Christ.

The gospel is that God offers forgiveness and restoration to sinners by his own grace through the work of the divine Son.

We receive that gift by grace through faith in Jesus.

Any spiritual teaching that dilutes the fully deity and full humanity of Jesus is not from the Spirit of God, who himself inspired the teaching concerning Jesus which is recorded in God’s word.

So the Spirit’s power blows Simon’s sorcery out of the water and generates a huge response to the gospel in Samaria.

But how will the Jewish church respond to Samaritans coming to faith in Jesus?

The Spirit’s Power in Samaria: Confirmation from Peter & John (vv.

14-17, 25)

There’s a need for clarity for the church about this powerful ministry and reception of the gospel in Samaria.

So the focus shifts from Philip to the Apostles.

(In fact, we don’t hear about Philip again until v. 26, unless he’s included in the “they” of v. 25, which I think he might be.)

What does it accomplish for the Apostles to send Peter & John down to Samaria?

Peter and John’s presence brings clarity.

They are able to confirm the ministry the Spirit is doing through Philip, and especially that Samaritans are genuinely coming to faith in Jesus.

Their prayer for them to receive the Holy Spirit likewise lends apostolic authority to these new believers in Samaria being united into the covenant community.

I’ve mentioned before in this study of Acts, that at times when a new group of people is being reached with the gospel, there is some kind of obvious manifestation of the Spirit as confirmation not just for them but especially for the church at large.

And there is, each time, apostolic affirmation.

So here, so with the Gentiles who are saved when Peter preaches to them (10:46-47, with a note there that speaking other languages and extolling God was confirmation that they had received the Spirit).

Again with a dozen of John the Baptists followers (Ac 19:4-7), when Paul taught them that they must believe in Jesus, and baptized them, and then also laid hands, they received the Spirit and spoke languages and prophesied.

Due to the similarity with those other instances, it is possible the inference here might also be that there was a manifestation of speaking in languages.

(That isn’t explicit, so we shouldn’t insist on it.)

Many other places in Acts, because Apostolic affirmation isn’t needed, individuals and even groups are believing in Jesus and receiving the Spirit and being baptized without such outward manifestation every time.

Again, as we have also said before, we must take the balance of NT teaching to know if things described in the transitional period of Acts are normative.

(Is this something we should always expect?

Is this something we are commanded to practice?)

In Acts especially, but even with all biblical narrative, we must view it more broadly in terms of the author’s message and theological purposes.

If, in this section, it is apostolic authority which brings clarity to spiritual confusion, what about situations that we might face today?

How do we know if a movement is from God? - Would the Apostles confirm this spiritual activity, & how can we tell?

How do we know the difference between chicanery or pagan sorcery versus the true work of the the power of God through the Holy Spirit?

The first test we discussed is that the Holy Spirit’s work draws attention to Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, God in human flesh.

Now our text and John’s second test also intersect at this point: Is this spiritual movement worldly, or does it submit to the Apostles’ teaching in Scripture?