It Aint Magic and It Aint For Sale

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever tried something that didn’t work? Or perhaps something that you tried and it didn’t meet your expectations? I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve all been there, and if you haven’t, just wait and you will.

Philip one of the seven Hellenistic Jews that we were introduced to last week is journeying through Samaria preaching the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As he is ministering throughout this region we see the Holy Spirit giving him the ability to do great signs and wonders, along the line of what Jesus did. His ability to heal, drive out evil spirits etc. has given the evidence to validate that he is indeed a messenger from God. The whole area was caught up in the excitement and Philip is fast becoming a local celebrity. As Philip preaches, many of the Samaritans accept the Gospel message, and become believers

PROPOSITION: Yet here in Acts 8 we see a conversion that just doesn’t seem to work out. A conversion that gives us all pause to consider what is truly required to follow Jesus.

BACKGROUND: To set the stage for where we’re going this morning we must travel back to chapter 7. The stoning of Stephen set off a whole wave of persecution against the church; they’d lost that “loving feeling.” At that point Saul and his cronies began to ambush the house churches, dragging the disciples off to prison. Save for the Apostles, most of the Christians were driven out of Jerusalem.

While this act appears to be something that’s going to prove disastrous for the church, this event actually proves to be a blessing in disguise, in that the Church is finally taking the Gospel outside of Jerusalem. The Pentecost community was content where they were, and they weren’t fully obeying the great commission. (Acts 1:8) It shows us that if the church won’t willingly obey God then He’ll find other ways to accomplish His mission. This is just one of the many times in scripture where the church fails to “keep up” with God’s time table.

It took “persecution” against the Church to get the Gospel message to Samaria? Why? The answer goes back for centuries; it was the deep seated prejudice of Jews held towards the Samaritans. After the Babylonian captivity came to an end, the Jews returned to a devastated and desolate city of Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple of God. The Samaritans had offered their assistance in rebuilding the temple, but this offer was summarily rejected. In response to this slight, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim. These groups had the same God, the same traditions, the same history, yet they hated each other. The Samaritans hadn’t been hospitable to Jesus either; see the response of James and John to this attitude (Luke 9:51-56)

TRANSITION: But now Samaria is open to the Gospel message and many are being saved, but in the midst of this great evangelistic success story not everything goes according to plan… case in point…

I. SIMON THE SORCERER

a. This man was perhaps the most famous person in the entire region

• He was a “celebrity” because he could do “magic;” this wouldn’t have been thought to be strange in an area such as this; one that was known for its superstition and