GROWING IN JESUS
TAKES TIME
Acts 8:8-24
THE PREACHED WORD SHOULD BRING JOY
V:8. " So there was great joy in that city."
A. After the stoning
of Stephen, at the hands of Saul, the Church was persecuted and
many were
scattered to other cities and countries.
1. Samaria
was one of the cities that the Jews and Gentile Christians came and settled.
2. Philip went to
Samaria and preached the Gospel.
3. It is strange
that before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Jews would not
deal with the Samaritans. John 4:9
4. Because of the
persecution, Samaria became one of
the cities they sought protection
from their
own people.
a. Do not
burn a bridge because you never know when you will have to cross over
it again.
b. The very
folk you reject might be the ones you need in the future.
B. There was joy in Samaria
because the Word of God was taught to them by the
same people who had
rejected them.
1. Philip the
Deacon, healed the sick and cast out demons in the name of Jesus.
2. Many believed
in Jesus Christ as their redeemer
because of Philip's teaching.
ABSENT OF THE WORD GIVES THE DEVIL FREE REIGN
V:9-10. " Now
for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed
all the people of Samaria . He boasted
that he was someone great, and all the
people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This
man is the divine power known as the Great Power."
A. Simon was a magician masquerading as if he had the power
of God.
1. He used his
magic abilities to gain influence, fame and fortune.
2. He was skilled
in his trade and knew how to mislead and deceive
people in all
levels of the city.
B. He enjoyed the
praise of man.
1. He love the
fact that people believed he had divine powers.
2. He kept his
trade a secret, because no one knew he was deceiving them.
C. When the Word of
God is not being taught, Satan has a field day.
1. Satan is the
father of deception.
2. Without the
Word of God, you cannot stand against him.
WHEN YOU KNOW THE TRUTH YOU CAN IDENTIFY A LIE
V: 11-12. "They followed him because he had amazed them
for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached
the good news of the kingdom of God
A. When you know what is real, a fake is easily recognized.
1. Simon didn't
heal anyone, he just fooled everyone.
2. Following Simon,
the Samaritans were not enlighten , they stayed in the dark.
3. Simon didn't
teach the Word because he had no knowledge of the Word.
THE POWER OF THE WORD
B. When Philip came preaching and teaching the Word of God,
the deceptions of
Simon became
clear.
1. When people were
healed and lives were changed, the falsehood of Simon was
was brought to
the light.
2. Faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
3. The Word has
convicting power, convincing power and condemning power.
a. The Word convicts
us of our sins.
b. The Word
convinces us of our need for a redeeming Savior.
c. The Word
condemns our evil behavior.
4. The Word has enlightens
power, enabling power and equipping power.
a. The Word
enlightens us to the love of God, the grace of God and the mercy of God.
b. The Word
enables us to resist the temptation of sin and fight the devil's advances
into our
lives.
c. The Word
equips us with the power of the Holy Spirit, all spiritual gifts and all
things
necessary to do the will of God.
5. When the
Samaritans witness the miracles brought by the hands of Philip and the
power of the
Word of God, they quit following Simon and followed Jesus.
THE WORD HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORST INTO GOD'S BEST
V:13 Simon himself
believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the
great signs and miracles he saw."
A. The Word of God is so powerful that it can turn an enemy
into a disciple.
1. We all are
witnesses to this power.
2. Before Jesus
came into our lives, we all were enemies of the cross.
3. Before Jesus,
we all were liars, deceivers and cheaters, just to name a few of our
sins.
B. When Simon heard
the Word and witnessed the power of the Word,
he abandoned his
trade and followed the teachers of Jesus.
1. Simon, followed
the foot steps of the original disciples
of Jesus who dropped
their trade
and embraced Jesus.
2. Simon was
living in the dark, until he heard the Word of truth.
3. Simon knew His
magic was an illusion, but the power of the Word was real.
4. Once Simon was
introduced to the light, he abandoned his dark world.
5. The Word ought
to be life changing and continuing life improvement.
GOD STEPS IN WHEN WE NEED HIM
V:14-16. "When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When
they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16
because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus."
A. The work of God is a team effort.
1. We all have
different gifts, different talents and different assignments, but we serve
one God.
2. Philip
introduced the Samaritans to the work, the power and love of God.
3. God used the
apostles to pray for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
4. There is power
in corporate prayer.
5. We have a duty
to pray for other believers that they may be empowered and
equipped to
serve God.
B. When we serve God,
He knows when we need help to accomplish
His will.
1. God sent two of
His veterans Apostles to assist in the work of laying hands
on the new believers
to receive the Holy Spirit.
2. This served as
a reinforcement to the Samaritans that they were truly accepted and
one with the
Jews in the body of Christ.
V:17. " Then
Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit."
A. Some commentary
writers say the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit
when they
first believed.
1. The laying
on of hands by Peter and John added the miraculous manifestation of
the Holy
Spirit to them.
2. Acts is
considerate by some commentary writers as a transition period between
the Law and
the age of Grace.
3. While the
apostles lived, the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit by the
apostles was
the common practice.
4. After the
book of Acts in the New Testament, you will not find the Holy Spirit
being given
by the laying on of hands by believers.
B. Having received
the Holy Spirit, the Samaritans were
empowered to resolve
all differences
with the Jews to continue the spread of the Gospel.
1. There must be unity in the body of Christ
to fight the battle against the devil.
2. The devil will
use any division to separate us from the mission of Christ.
3. When we focus
on our differences, we want be wholly focused on Christ.
C. In the great
commission, Jesus commanded the Jews to start the spread
of the Gospel in Jerusalem
first then to Samaria second.
1. We cannot call
ourselves children of God if we cannot make peace with our
neighbors.
2. Jesus commanded
us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
3. It took the
persecution of the Church to move the Gospel out of Jerusalem .
OUR IGNORANCE OUGHT TO PROMOTE THE STUDY OF GOD'S WORD
V:18-19. " When
Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he
offered them money and said, "Give
me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the
Holy Spirit."
A. You can take a man out of the hood, but you may have a
hard time getting the
hood out of the
man.
1. We don't
completely change over night.
2. We are saved,
sanctified and justified by the blood of Jesus once we believed in Him.
3. Accepting Christ
as our personal Savior is just the start of our regeneration.
B. Any man in Christ is a new creation.
1. The new creation
starts out as a babe in Christ which has to grow in Christ.
2. The new birth is
ignorant of the ways of Christ.
3. The Word says
train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old
he will not
depart.
4. Simon showed his immaturity by trying to
buy the ability to cause others
to receive the
Holy Spirit by the touching of his hands.
A WISE MAN LISTENS TO GODLY COUNCIL
V:20-21. Peter answered:
"May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the
gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because
your heart is not right before God."
A. It is the duty of the older mature Christians to steer the
new Christians in the
right direction.
1. Peter himself
got the same rebuke from Jesus several times.
Matt 16:23 , John 13:8
2. Simon did not
know that his request was offensive to God.
3. Simon had to be
trained in the Word to know the ways of God.
4. After all, the
Jews had denied the Samaritans access to the Synagogues where
the word was
taught. John 14:19-21
B. Simon had made His livelihood by being a master of his
trade.
1. He wanted this
gift which he probably thought was similar to his previous
craft.
a. Simon may
have asked for this gift so that he could glorify God with his hands.
b. Simon may
have asked for this gift so that he could be as effective serving
God as he
had been promoting himself.
2. Simon was
probably not an eye witness to the miracles of Jesus nor
was he a
student of Jesus.
3. He probably had
not received the Holy Spirit to give him
insight into
the Word.
V:22-23 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord.
Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I
see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
A. This may have been the first training that Simon had
received concerning the Word
of God.
1. First, Simon was
taught that there are sins against God.
2. Second, he was
taught to pray.
3. Third, he was
taught that the God he served was a
forgiving God.
4. Forth, he was
taught not to envy the gifts of other Christians.
5. Fifth, Simon was
taught that God gives His disciples insight into the hearts of
man.
6. Sixth, Simon was
taught that sin did not change his relationship with God but
his fellowship
with God.
7. Seventh, He was taught that when he sinned
he needed to repent and ask for
forgiveness.
8. He was taught
that fellowship with Jesus is restored when there is an absent of
un-repented
sins.
B. Simon was in the best place with the best people to learn
the Word of God.
1. He was blessed
to follow Peter and John while they did the work of God.
2. Simon had to
learn that there is growth in our mistakes.
a. Some
commentary writers say the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit
when they
first believed.
b. The laying
on of hands by Peter and John added the miraculous manifestation of
the Holy
Spirit to them.
THE POWER OF PRAYER
V:24 "Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for
me so that nothing you have said
may happen to
me."
A. To ask for prayer
is a sign of Christian growth.
1. Simon did grow
because he knew that there is power in intercessory prayer.
2. Simon grew
because He ask God to be tolerant with him.
3. Simon grew
because his encounter with Peter and John gave him a testimony
to the
goodness of God in his life.
B. Simon learned to
fear the one true God.
1. The beginning
of knowledge is the fear of the Lord.
2. We must learn
that not everyone is as mature as we are in the Lord Jesus.
3. We must learn
that we still have much spiritual growth ahead of us.
4. We must learn
to be tolerant with others as God has been tolerant with us.
Some commentary writers say the Simon was not saved and was
still a pretender.
But the text says that he believed and was baptized. We must
remember that Peter
was rebuked by the Lord Jesus from heaven and by the Apostle
Paul after his conversion.
Acts 11:10 , Gal
2:11.
You also must remember that Peter lied 3 times about knowing
Jesus after walking
with Him for three years ( John 13:38 ). I am not
bad mouthing Peter, I just giving Simon
the benefit of my ignorance.
THE LESSON TO LEARN HERE IS THAT BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY
SPIRIT DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE POSIBILITY OF SIN.
Sometimes you have to look in the mirror before you start
judging folk.
Just because other people don't look like you, talk like
you, walk like you and
think like you don't mean they are not saved and have a
prepared place in heaven.
You be the judge. The Lord did not tell us that Simon was
not saved.
Everyone of us has a past that God has not used to deny us
heaven.
Everyone of us has a past life of sin that Jesus has covered
with His blood.
Every believer while he still lives is growing in Christ.
THANK GOD THAT HE OVER LOOKED MY PAST AND GAVE
ME FAVOR IN HEAVEN
Rev M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
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