Sermon Tone Analysis

Simon, a pretender in God’s house.

Simon, a pretender in God’s house

“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.

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.

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!

You have neither part nor lot 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 iniquity.”

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.”

Someone once said, beware of those Christians whose faith is based on their own ideas and feelings, and what they think is right, and not on God’s Word.

As we remember from last week, Philip’s initial impact on a group of Samaritans is remarkable (vv.

5–8), especially since it is made clear that it came from the Word of God and not from Simon’s sorcery and false religion.

Philip’s proclamation of Jesus and the kingdom of God brought many to faith, and incited Simon to become a pretender.

Although the signs and miracles performed by Philip are a significant factor in capturing the attention of the Samaritans (v.

6)— who were previously under a Satanic oppression and focused on Simon demonic magic.

But it was Philip’s clear proclamation of the gospel that converts them and brings them to baptism.

The last time, we were all together Philip was going down to a city in Samaria to proclaim Christ Jesus, the Messiah there.

Luke understands the fundamental hostility between Jews and Samaritans and though it is well known; yet he does not reveal it in this text.

The first century was a time of very strained relations between these two neighbors, of both Jews and Samaritans.

‘The old antithesis of North Kingdom and the South Kingdom, of Israel and Judah, was revived in all its sharpness.’

Mt.

Gerizim was the center of worship for the Samaritans and Jerusalem was the center of worship for the Jews.

The Samaritans recognized only the Pentateuch as Scripture (in a form that differed significantly from the Masoretic text).

In practice, the Jews put the Samaritans on a level with Gentiles and had restricted dealings with them, even though the Samaritans claimed to worship the same God and follow the law of Moses.

So Philip’s offer of the gospel to these despised people was a radical step forward, signifying the newness of the situation brought about by Jesus and His gospel.

The essential message proclaimed by Philip, even among the Samaritans, was that Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

The Samaritans were looking for a prophet like Moses; the one promised in , “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’

And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers.

And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die,” calling him Taheb (‘restorer’) rather than an eschatological savior and ruler from the line of David.

But we know that the true fulfillment of is in the coming of Jesus, we see this clear in , Moses said, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.

You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.

And Ann the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

As we still look back towards verse 8:6 we see that, ‘The crowds paid close attention to the things said by Philip’ The same Greek verb (prosecho) is used again with reference to the response of the Samaritans to Simon in 8:10, 11, suggesting that they paid close attention to Simon.

But now that the truth had come into their lives that attention was now being transferred to Philip.

Such close attention to the claims of the gospel is the prelude to genuine faith.

It was the gospel about Jesus that interested them most, and they applied themselves to understand it together.

As they listened they also saw the signs and miracles being performed’.

Philip’s preaching was accompanied by signs (sēmeia), as was the preaching of Jesus and the apostles.

Luke then details what happened, illustrating the comparison in terms of exorcisms and healings (v.

7): “For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who has them, and many who were paralyzed and or lame were healed.

So there was much joy in that city.

The unclean spirits which were live in the unsaved people came out because the truth of the gospel was being preached.

Before under Simon that we under Satanic oppression because they had give into the magic and were amazed by magic and not by God’s message of deliverance.

Even though this text speaks of physical healing , I do believe there were spiritual healings as well.

That there were people who were paralyzed in their faith by this pretender Simon and also many had a lame faith that could only be healed by the truth of God’s Word.

In Acts, signs and wonders establish the credentials of a prophet before all the people and authenticate or verify the prophet’s message by actually conveying a partial realization of the salvation proclaimed.

The encounters with demonic forces which are specifically highlighted by mention of the evil spirits and ‘unclean spirits’.

Prepares us for the detailed account of the conflict with Simon the sorcerer.

So Philip’s preaching and the signs worked together, and because the people were being delivered from this satanic oppressed there was great joy in that city.

But now the time for pretense was over and God wanted His people to know the difference between His prophet and the pretender.

Simon was a pretender in God’s house... who amazed the people through magic; we see that in vv.

9-11.

Simon was a pretender in God’s house…who was pretending to believe; we see this in vv.

12-13.

Simon was a pretender in God’s house…who was exposed as a pretender through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; we see this is vv.

14-25.

Simon was a pretender in God’s house.

Let us pray…

Simon was a pretender in God’s house… who amazed people though magic.

V.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.”

Luke pauses to introduce Simon before continuing the story of how the Samaritans came to truly believed and were baptized (8:12).

Simon had been in Samaria before Philip and was already influential in the area.

Luke outlines the spiritual oppression from which the Samaritans needed to be delivered and prepares for the encounter between Simon and the apostles (8:18–24).

Simon is not mentioned elsewhere in the NT, though the second-century Christian writer Justin Martyr, who was himself a Samaritan, refers to Simon as being empowered by demons to perform magic and as later honored in Rome as a god.

Luke portrays Simon as ‘practicing sorcery’ and ‘amazing the Samaritan nation’, suggesting a widespread and powerful influence.

The cognate word “mageuo.”It

came to be used of anyone possessing supernatural knowledge or ability , anyone practicing magic.

Look at, , “When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.”

Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.”

So this term, “mageuo”, describes anyone who was a deceiver or seducer.

The term is clearly used in a negative way by Luke, who is keen to highlight the differences between Christianity and contemporary magical beliefs and practices.

The Jews were strictly forbidden from any involvement in magical practices because of their association with idolatry and the demonic, and the earliest Christians adopted the same stance.

, “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD.

And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you.

You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners.

But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.”

There was certainly a demonic/ false religious dimension to the hold that Simon had on the Samaritans.

He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, look at verse

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” ‘This man is rightly called the Great Power of God’ Popular opinion in Samaria accepted what Simon apparently claimed for himself.

We must always watch out for those people proclaim greatest by their own mouths, those who pretend to have more power than their positions really include, and those who are always trying to make a name for themselves so that they might be know as great.

Always remember the saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies but always from those that you feel you can trust.

Simon did not presume to be the supreme God but ‘inculcated the belief in the people that had all the Powers of God, that he was the great one.’

The Samaritans were gripped by his magic and by his idolatrous claim to be in some sense ‘a divine man’.

They were therefore caught up with a strange syncretism of Hellenistic-Pagan and Samaritan-Jewish beliefs.