False Faith in the Midst of Revival
Acts 8:4-24
Acts 8:4-24
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. [5] Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. [6] And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. [7] For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. [8] So there was much joy in that city.
[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.
[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 gall 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.”
From this passage, we see two things. First, we see a ministry that produces true faith and we also see a life that evidences false life. In looking at these things we see contrasted the true faith of the Samaritan believers with the false faith of Simon.
Ministry that Produces True Faith (8:4-8, 14-17)
1. Proclaims Christ
The very first thing we read in this passage is “those who were scattered went about preaching the word. [5] Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.”
I have said this before and today will not be the last time you hear my say this. Preaching the gospel is essential to any Christian ministry. I don’t care if you’re in a church, a Bible study, a youth group, college group, men’s or women’s group. You might be in campus ministry, a missionary to a foreign country, or a lay person in Bay City.
The only kind of effective, God-honoring way of life and ministry is that which is centered around the proclamation of Christ. We must tell people of his life, death, and the resurrection for us. That Jesus willingly gave his life for others when he died on the cross.
That on the cross, God poured out his wrath on his own Son, though we deserved it for our sins. We must tell people of the great exchange – Jesus receiving the punishment for our sins, and us having the righteousness of his earthly life counted towards – when we place our faith in him.
We can do lots of others things. We can hand out food baskets, pay bills for people, visit them in the hospital, have community parties, build homes – all kinds of things. But not of that will make an eternal difference if it is not seen as simply supporting the preaching of Christ.
2. Involves everyone
What we see happening in Samaria – both this week and next week – is nothing less than true biblical revival. God is pouring out his Spirit to enable sinners to respond to the proclamation of the gospel. People are getting saved.
But it’s important that we notice who is carrying out this ministry. Who has gone into Samaria? Whose ministry is God’s blessing? It’s not the apostles – it’s a deacon. It’s Philip. Do you remember him from back in chapter 7? He’s one of the men set aside to serve as a deacon.
Remember that we saw that the deacons were not the spiritual leaders of the church. By that I mean they weren’t responsible for teaching and preaching to God’s people. And so it might be tempting to think that, like any other lay-person, it wasn’t their responsibility to be involved in evangelism.
My point is this – from the words of Jesus in the gospels, to his final words before he ascended in Acts, the command is clear. Jesus calls all of his people, from its leaders to the laity, to share the gospel. Some may be gifted as evangelists, but all are called to engage in evangelism.
Kenneth Latourette is a church historian who teaches at Yale University. He is considered the authority on the history of missions. In his writings he says the chief agents in the expansion of Christianity appear not to have been those who made it a profession (evangelists ministers), but men and women who carried on their livelihood in some secular manner and spoke their faith to those they met in this natural fashion. Thus, the expansion of the church at this point didn’t depend upon the apostles, but on the grass roots, men and women sharing the gospel as they went about their daily lives.
As we look to the future of the church, the same is true. If God’s church – even this local church – will grow through people coming to faith in Christ, then everyone; not just the pastor, but you in the pew as well, must join together in preaching Christ.
Whether we are out to lunch with friends or co-workers, in our living rooms with neighbors on a Friday night, Saturday afternoons on our couch during a football party, talking with the server at the restaurant – these are times when we share the gospel, when we proclaim Christ.
3. Demonstrates power
At one level the power of Philip’s ministry is obvious. Luke writes that the people “saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits came out of many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.”
Certainly these were demonstrations of the power of God. These things were done through Philip to serve as signs of the validity of his message. But there is something even more powerful that we see in this passage – the power of the gospel to reconcile peoples that are hostile to one another.
It’s actually amazing that two major figures in Acts – two people that push forward God’s plan for reaching the nations are not apostles. Remember we saw Stephen’s importance in the last few weeks, and now here is Philip. What does he do? He is the first to take the gospel beyond the ethnic borders of the Jewish people to the Samaritans.
The Samaritan people had been hostile to the Jews for a thousands years. Then you will remember that 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel split away from the rest of the country and made Samaria their capital. Then in 722 BC Samaria was captured by the Assyrians and thousands of Israelites were deported, with many Assyrians moving in. Inter-marrying took place among the 10 tribes, contrary to God’s law.
After the exile of the other two tribes a couple hundred years later, in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jews refused the help of the Samaritans in rebuilding the temple. Then in fourth century BC, the Samaritans built their own temple, and discounted all Scripture except the Law.
The result of all this was a deep schism between the Jews and Samaritans, with the Samaritans being despised as crossbreeds in race and religion. And the Samaritans resenting the Jews attitudes towards them. In the end, there was a culturally-ingrained attitude of hatred from both groups towards the other.
Thus for Philip to specifically go to Samaria to preach the gospel was almost unthinkable. Only Jesus himself had ministered to the Samaritans at this point. Yet, this is the power of the gospel. The saving message of Christ that can not only reconcile men to God, but also break down the walls of hostility among men.
Thus, even today, the way you speak of the gospel, the way you let the gospel transform your way of life should demonstrate this power as well.
You see, when the world says, white people and black shouldn’t get along and should be wary of each other, we say the gospel calls me to love all people. When the politicians seek to pit us against people who think differently than us, we say the gospel calls me to share Christ will all people. When the culture says we should always look out for number one, we say the gospel calls me to sacrifice and put everyone else first – even my enemies.
Again, the power of the cross is not only seen in the saving of sinners. It is also seen in its power to create a new people for God where “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
4. Produces joy
This is the result of Philip’s preaching – there was much joy in that city. And the presence of joy is very much a clear sign of embracing of the gospel.
In several of his books, Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones has made the observation that the chief characteristic in the life of those who truly come to faith in Christ is joy. It is the outshining of the inward work of God in the heart. Joy cannot be contained. It is the overflow of the Christian life. It is evidence that our greatest delight is knowing and glorifying our Lord.
You see when you have been graciously brought to the place of forgiveness and the knowledge of God through Christ, you cannot help but be joyous. It should be an oxymoron to use the term ‘a joyless Christian.’ How can we be joyless when the source of all joy dwells within us?
This is the thing that makes missions exciting. When we share the gospel, we are bearing the good news of Jesus Christ to joyless people who are living in the darkness of sin. When they embrace the truth of Christ and their darkness is turned into light and their sorrow into joy!
And you have the privilege of seeing God at work! This is the privilege all of us can have, for all who belong to Christ are to be ambassadors of the gospel throughout their lives in every place they go.
And if we faithful to present the biblical gospel, those that embrace it will experience a life of joy.
Transition
As far as we are told, Philip did everything right. His ministry was a model for us. Not just a model for pastors, but for all Christians; for you in the pew as well.
Nevertheless, it is possible to everything and still see little fruit, or bad fruit. Jesus explained this to the disciples didn’t he? Do you remember the parable of the sower in Matthew 13?
The sower went out to sow the seed, but only about a quarter of the seeds sown actually produced healthy plants that bore good fruit. Jesus explained the parable was about those that would spread the gospel. The pure seed of the gospel can be spread to many people, but that doesn’t guarantee that all will believe or that all of those that say they believe actually believe.
Remember Jesus said, some hear the word and appear to believe, but then temptation comes and their false faith collapses. Others appear to have faith, but then the lure of sin pulls them away and proves they never really believed.
This is very much what we see in Simon. Someone who professes to believe in Christ, to embrace the gospel, but whose life reveals that he never really believes.
And so from this passage, we not only see a ministry that produces true faith, but we also see a …
Life that Evidences False Faith (8:9-13, 18-25)
1. Sees God as a means to an end
Before Philip came to Samaria, Simon was the center of attention. He would perform powerful magic that caused people to say, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.”
Magic in the first-century was a mixture of science and superstition. It combined astrology, divination, and occultic practices along with history, mathematics, and agriculture. There’s no way for us to know if Simon’s magic was simple deceit and effects, or truly supernatural events empowered by demonic forces.
Regardless, his practices had earned him the reputation of being a great and power person – someone who had the power of a god himself.
But then real power came to Samaria. Such was the miraculous ministry of Philip – empowered by the Spirit of Christ – that even Simon was astonished. And it was that amazement that drew him to Philip, even to the point of making a profession of faith.
As will become evident, Simon’s profession of faith was not genuine. It is not hard to imagine what happened here. Simon was used to a huge following of people in the city. And along comes Philip. Suddenly, one by one, family by family, those that once thought Simon was great are now leaving him to hear Simon’s teaching and worship the risen Christ.
Simon still wants to be at the center of things, so he decided to stick close to this guy Philip. And in order to do that, he says that he believes in Christ and is baptized according to Philip’s instruction.
When I was in high school, I had a friend I was brining to church. Eventually, he made a profession of faith, was baptized, and joined the church. But as time went on, it became apparent he was not really saved.
In fact, he had only made his profession so the girls in the youth group would date him. There was a worldly self-interest that motivated his decision and revealed that he only God as a means to an end.
We have to be careful not do the same thing as false believers, making God a means to an end. We have to make sure, we do not serve or attend church or do other religious things hoping to get something from God in return – the Christian life doesn’t work that way.
2. Shows no change in lifestyle
As soon as the Samaritan’s receive the Spirit, Simon’s true colors are exposed like a flag run up the main mast of a sailing ship.
Simon had been on Philip like glue since he associated himself with the Christians. And now the apostles come and he sees something even more impressive than the healings Philip had done.
[17] Then [Peter and John] 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.”
The apostles laid hands their hands on the Samaritans and God dramatically poured out his Spirit so that all may know that they were just as saved as the Jewish Christians. It’s likely the Samaritans spoke in tongues, or experienced some other visible manifestation of the Spirit’s outpouring.
In fact, so spectacular was the event, that Simon asks – pleads – that Peter and John sell him the trick. You see in his day, magicians would often buy tricks from each other. From his request, though, we see that there has been no change in Simon’s heart. He is still living the same pagan life as he did before he made his profession of faith and was baptized.
It’s become almost cliché because people say it all the time, but the saying still holds true – ‘no change, no Christ.’ If you call yourself a Christian and there’s no difference in your life and now and before you became a Christian, then there’s a good chance, you weren’t really saved.
3. Lacks real repentance
When Simon asks to buy the apostle’s power, the response isn’t a smile, a chuckle, or a shaking of the head. No, Peter is outraged. Why? Here is someone who has claimed to be a brother in Christ, deceiving Philip and the other Christians, and now belittles and profanes the power of God with his request.
[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.” [24] And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Even when confronted by Peter, notice that Simon doesn’t repent. He regrets what he did because he fears the consequences. He is not truly sorrowful for the sin itself. As one pastor says, “What was missing was a heartfelt recognition of sinfulness and a turning to Jesus with a broken and humble trust for forgiveness. Amazement and excitement about signs and wonders is not saving faith.”
I fear that this is major problem today. Many regret the consequences of their actions, but they do not come to a place of true repentance. As Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 7, they have a world grief, but not a godly grief that leads to salvation (7:10). Many hear the gospel, but somehow fail to actually behold the glory of Christ and so never really trust him as savior.
It is not enough to be sorry for your sins and regret its effects on your life, you must see your sin as an offense to a holy God. You must see that the just penalty for your sins is death and hell for all eternity. And you must see Christ as the one who bore that penalty for you on the cross. You must see Christ as the one who enables you to not only escape death but bring you to God.
Conclusion
