God’s Work God’s Way
Who in here gambles? Just kidding. Please don’t answer that. Why is it that sports players can’t bet on games? Maybe the most notorious for this is the famous Reds baseball player Pete Rose. He’s one of the best baseball players of all time, but he is banned from being inducted into the hall of fame because it came out that he was betting, even on games that he played in. Rules against this are so strict that a friend of mine who used to coach at the collegiate level told me he couldn’t even play fantasy football when he was coaching. The reason you can’t bet on games is because it could cause you to not play the game the way the game should be played. It affects your actions in a game where you’re supposed to give your all. We see something very similar in our text for today. We’re going to see the need to do God’s work God’s way.
Whoever you are, proclaim Jesus. (4-6)
We have already encountered Philip a few weeks ago. He was one of the seven deacons appointed to serve widows so the Hellenist widows would not be overlooked and would be cared for well. He was a regular, Christ-following, likely Greek-speaking Jewish.
What word, if you could pick, would you like to have associated with your life. Philip became known as “Philip the Evangelist.”[1] He started out as a faithful follower of Jesus, seeking to be obedient with each opportunity God placed before him, even serving tables. He ended up being called “the Evangelist.” This is the first evangelism we see from him.
I heard the great pastor Allistair Begg say the other day what he does when someone expresses a sense that they are called to ministry. He sends them to the nursery or children’s ministry. If they’re willing to serve there, they’re in it for the right reasons. We see that with Philip. He started serving tables and ended being called “the Evangelist” because of his widespread evangelism.
Evangelism is sharing the gospel. The word comes from the Greek word for gospel, euangelion,[2] which literally means “good news.” So, evangelism is sharing the good news. Good news needs to be shared, right? And we have the best news in the world—the gospel! Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead to give life to, of all people, you, if you believe. That’s the best news in the world! Philip shared the good news.
Here's how God used him following the encounter we read today. Next week Pastor David is going to preach about Philip sharing the gospel with an Ethiopian Eunuch. Because of Philip’s faithfulness to share the good news, the gospel took root in Ethiopia, and Ethiopia is considered to be one of the oldest branches of the Christian faith.
We don’t see what happens with him in the twenty years between chapters 9-21, but we do know he was faithful to witness because he was referred to, by Paul, as “the Evangelist.”
You are called to be faithful to share the gospel. It doesn’t matter who you are.
I love this graphic. It shows us the trajectory of generations that follow the faithfulness of someone unknown. Do you know who Edward Kimball was? No, you don’t. He was a Sunday school teacher in the mid 1800s in Detroit. One of the students he led to Christ was D.L. Moody, one of the greatest evangelists of the 19th century. And then you see the trajectory all the way to Billy Graham. Thousands upon thousands have come to Christ because of the faithfulness of a Sunday school teacher to share the gospel. It doesn’t matter who you are…If you have Jesus, you must share Him.
Wherever you are, proclaim Jesus. (4-5)
We need to think about where Philip was. He was in Samaria. Samaria was looked down upon by the Jews. There was much hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews. Samaritans weren’t considered pure Jews because they intermarried during the Babylonian exile. The fact that Philip is proclaiming the gospel to Samaritans is incredible. Jews wouldn’t even travel through Samaria and would instead go around it to avoid even being near them.
Do you know who needs the gospel? Everyone. Do you know who that includes? People you don’t like. You may not like them, but God loves them!
We also need to consider why Philip was there. He likely wasn’t there by choice. They were scattered to Samaria because of persecution that arose after the stoning of Stephen. There are some places that God is going to place you that you would never choose yourself, but He has called you to be faithful in sharing Christ while you are there. Paul models this well for us in Colossians.
Colossians 4:3 – At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison.
To whomever, proclaim Jesus. (9-13)
Who was Philip proclaiming Christ to? Anybody. We see that with the entrance of Simon the Magician into the narrative. Simon had a large following because he amazed the people with his magic, and he even was known as “the power of God that is called Great.” Whether he claimed to be God or an avatar of another false god is uncertain. But what is certain is that he was a charlatan. He played off the crowds that would flock to him. He loved the limelight and would do anything to keep it.
We’re going to see in a moment that we can’t be certain if Simon was really a true believer or not, but that is not the primary concern of Philip. Philip is called first to proclaim the gospel. He then leaves the results to God.
Discipleship must follow someone’s profession of faith. Simon followed Philip around, but it wasn’t to grow in Christlikeness. It was because he was amazed by his signs and miracles. We will get to that in a moment though. What is the incredible and beautiful part is that the gospel is being proclaimed. And many are believing.
When the gospel is central, there is joy. (8)
When the angels came announcing that Jesus had come, they said that they had “good news of great joy.”[3] And guess what…that “good news” is the same root word we talked about earlier…where we get our word evangelism from.[4] There is great joy that accompanies the gospel.
When your focus is off the gospel, that’s when you see a lack of joy in your life. When your focus is on the style of music rather that the gospel truths you are proclaiming, joy doesn’t accompany even your “worship.” When you take your gaze off Christ and start seeking for your own desires to be met, you will never be satisfied and will just keep wanting more and more. When our focus is placed anywhere else besides the gospel, we will become a Christian grump. I want to be a happy Christian! I don’t want to be one of those Christians that complains about everything and asks for the manager. I want to be a Christian that makes other people smile and know God loves them.
Now, back to Simon the Magician. One of those in the crowd that believed was Simon the Magician.
Not everyone who believes is a believer. (14-21)
We can’t judge the heart, so we can’t be certain about the true state of Simon’s soul, but we can observe actions. Hear what Jesus says, which sounds an awful lot like why Simon was seeking to believe.
Matthew 7:21-23 – 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
It takes more than believing the right things in order to be saved. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” The demons likely know the Bible better than many Christians. They know the true nature of who God is. They know how truly powerful God is. They know that Jesus is the Messiah. They know they are powerless compared to Jesus. The demons believe in Jesus! Yet they are not saved. They don’t submit to His rule and reign. They live in rebellion against Him.
There’s a difference in knowing something and knowing something. You can know something with your head that you don’t know with your heart. You can know something intellectually that you don’t know experientially. I can know how to swim from reading pamphlets and watching YouTube instructional videos, but I can’t know how to swim until I jump into the deep in.
Some of you have been wading in the shallows and have never jumped in the deep end. You claim to know God, but you don’t really know Him. You have to come to God on His terms.
God cannot be bought. (18-19)
You can’t earn your salvation. You can’t earn favor with God. You can’t earn effectiveness in ministry. You must completely rely on God. Simon wanted what the apostles had—Holy Spirit power. He wasn’t willing to get it the way the apostles did, though. He sought to buy it, not lay down his life for it.
In church history, when people seek to do something similar, it’s been referred to as “simony,” named after Simon the Magician. W.A. Criswell explains it like this:
“The church became a part of the state at the time of Constantine’s conversion. Simony was already practiced but it increased in the buying of ecclesiastical office and benefits. A bishop’s office could be bought for so much money. The same was true of an archbishop’s office, a cardinal’s hat, an ecclesiastical living in parishes and in monasteries. Simony finally gave rise to the Reformation when all over Europe indulgences were sold in order to get money to build St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.”[5]
We can think that’s something far removed and that we would never seek to buy God’s power or favor, but we should always look within and check our own hearts. R. Kent Hughes makes the application for us like this:
“Simon tried to obtain spiritual power in order to promote himself, and anytime we seek spiritual power or abilities to put ourselves forward we make the same error. Preaching to gain recognition or status is simony. Serving with an eye to advancement in the church’s power structure is simony. Seeking spiritual gifts for the promotion of oneself is simony. Even seeking to be godly so others will think we are godly is a type of simony.”[6]
I would add withholding money from God in order to get your way is simony. Or giving to be seen and receive praise rather than for God’s glory is simony. We must check our heart motives in everything we do. Are we seeking to live for the glory of God above all else, or do we want something in return? Simon sought to buy God’s power and was called out for his sin. When you are confronted with sin, your response says a whole lot about the state of your soul.
Repentance must accompany salvation. (22-24)
I don’t think we see any real repentance from Simon. When he is told to repent, he doesn’t do so. He instead asks Peter to pray for him rather than him repenting himself.
One commentator says,
“The question is whether Simon did in fact repent. His response may express a degree of remorse but scarcely the sort of complete turnabout of will and mind that marks true repentance. In fact, Simon expressed no repentance. Instead, he asked the apostles to intercede for him. There was no prayer of contrition from Simon, just the fear that Peter’s predicted judgment might come down upon him.”[7]
I want you to think of the grace in Peter’s rebuke. It sounds harsh, but consider the grace that is present within the opportunity for repentance. You are given grace when you are called to repentance. Do you know why? Because you can repent. You can turn to God. You are not cast out, though you very well could be.
Have you repented? Have you received the free grace that is offered to you? Have you turned from your sin and turned to God? You can.
God knows the true nature of our heart. (21)
We can’t be certain if Simon was truly a believer or not, but we can be certain of one thing…God knows the true nature of our heart. When He sees your heart, what does He see? If He sees anything other than a heart on fire for the gospel, you know what He desires for you to do, and He is giving you the grace to do right now? Repent. Would you do so right now?
[2] εὐαγγέλιον: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2098/esv/tr/0-1
[4] https://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/2-10.htm
[5] W.A. Criswell, Acts, an Exposition, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978), 270.
[6] R. Kent Hughes, Acts, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1996), 114.
[7] John B. Polhill, Acts, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 1992), 220.
