Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
As you look around your world today are there confusing things happening? Sometimes, when you look into religious events or spiritual activity are you confused by what you see or hear? I’m sure you see the rapidly changing moral/spiritual environment in America & Europe is bringing great Confusion into churches and Christian ministries & Schools trying to stand strong and true to their faith and doctrine, while swirling public and political opinion pressure them to change.
Confusion was spreading, both in Jerusalem and the surrounding region, in the months following Jesus’ ascension. As persecution against anyone known to be a follower of Jesus exploded in Jerusalem, led by Saul the angry Pharisee, people who’d been caught up in this great ‘Jesus spiritual movement’ began to flee Jerusalem. Acts 8 tells us Philip, one of the 7 who had been appointed in Acts 6 to care for the needs of widows, fled north to the region of Samaria. Perhaps it was because some of the widows went there, maybe it’s because he had a strong sense Jesus was leading him there, maybe he thought Jewish Pharisee Saul would certainly not go up into Samaria looking for Jesus followers? However it happened, it didn’t take long and Samaria was experiencing the impact of Philip’s presence and the power of Jesus was shaking things up, as we saw yesterday in Acts 8:4-8.
However, beginning in verse 9, Dr. Luke tells us of a man named Simon who had practiced sorcery in that region of Samaria for a long time, and he was even revered by the people as having ‘great divine power’. In fact, it was NOT the divine power of God, but it was a demonic power which enabled Simon the Sorcerer to do some amazing but very suspicious things. This created great confusion in Samaria. The question which befuddled many Samaritans was this: How could miracles done through Philip, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, appear so similar to many amazing things Simon the Sorcerer had been doing for a long time? Everyone knew Simon was a Sorcerer, a magician doing his miracles by some mysterious power, but certainly not by God’s power. This is an important reality my friends, too often overlooked by people in what some would call sophisticated societies. Satan and his dark kingdom of demons are very active in our world today, do you see that?
Satan is the second most powerful force, second only to Jesus who created all things. You may recall Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae: “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God…For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together…” (Col. 1:15-18) That Scripture, and others, tell us Jesus created all things including the angels, and among them is Satan, also known as Lucifer.
Since Satan already was in existence and was evil by the time we meet him for the first time in Genesis 3, we presume Jesus created the angels in eternity past, before Genesis 1, and when he was created Satan/Lucifer was holy like all other angels. Evidently Jesus created the angels with a degree of free will and Isaiah 14:12-14 & Ezekiel 28:12-17 are believed, by most Bible scholars, to be brief glimpses of a spiritual revolt which took place in heaven. Satan rebelled against God, and God threw Satan out of heaven, along with any other angels who chose to follow Satan in his rebellion against God. You may recall Jesus once said in describing this heavenly event: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)
Following that heavenly ‘coup d’état’, and Satan’s expulsion from heaven, God then permitted Satan to establish an evil, immoral kingdom, fully opposed to God, God’s truth, God’s purposes and God’s people. Col. 1:13 give us a glimpse of that. Satan and his evil demons are busily at work here on earth seeking to oppose and disrupt anything God is doing here. John 8:44 is one occasion where Jesus spoke very clearly about Satan being a deceiver and even a murderer as he influences people by his dark powers. Do you understand these important truths my friends, and do you see the evidence of them in the practical, real world where you live today? Do you wonder why God didn’t just destroy Satan and all those rebellious angels who followed Satan? Well my friends, one reason is you and me! What?
By God allowing Satan to establish an evil kingdom in opposition to His glorious kingdom of truth and moral right and holiness, you and I, and every other human being, are daily in a position of CHOICE! Everyday, many times a day, you and I have the opportunity to choose: which kingdom, which leader will I follow… Satan as he tries to lead me and all of us, to think, say and do things in opposition to God, God’s truth or God’s holy standards; or will I follow Jesus as He tries to lead me and those who desire to live rightly, to think, say and do things which honor and glorify Holy, Almighty God and His kingdom! Without Satan and his evil kingdom, there would be no choice. It is in our choices that we exercise one of the great attributes of God which He put into us when we were each made in God’s image. We humans have the ability to think, reason, consider the future implications of our choices, weigh the morality of our options, then decide and act on our choices. And make no mistake, we will be held responsible, accountable by God for those choices, according to His standard of holiness!
Simon, the Samaritan sorcerer, faced choices everyday. But Simon had evidently, sometime in his past, decided he would follow Satan’s lead. Simon had so frequently yielded to the influence of the dark kingdom in his life that he was actually tapping into some of the power of the dark kingdom and performing demon assisted magic which appeared to be miracles. We can presume this was bringing Simon fame and probably some fortune. The people of Samaria had no doubt heard of the miracles of Jesus, and now the apostles in Jerusalem. But these miracles sounded and looked so similar to what Simon the sorcerer was doing! The people were confused.
Which was the true, miraculous power? Who could be trusted, Simon the Sorcerer or Philip the follower of Jesus? Have you found yourself in similar confusion when looking at or hearing things you don’t fully understand in our world? Do you realize how prevalent and powerful such things as sorcery, divination, channeling, Ouija boards, tarot cards and similar engagements with the dark kingdom are? And what about the more direct engagement with the devil of the occult or overt Satan worship or Voodoo? It’s very real my friends, very real!
Dr. Luke continues with this summary statement of Simon’s credibility “A man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great…they followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.” Seems the people were amazed with Simon the Sorcerers’ remarkable, unexplainable and apparently supernatural abilities. They evidently knew it was sorcery and they were willing to take the risk of Simon helping them in a time of need, even if it meant Simon would somehow tap into dark kingdom powers! Do you have any idea how much of this is going on in your city my friends?
Are you able to discern with clarity and confidence the distinctions between the Holy Spirit of God at work, and the contrary work of the dark kingdom, seeking to confuse people? Here’s one distinction… the presence and power of God at work among us will always draw the attention and glory to Almighty, Holy God. Often amazing things being done, which draw the attention and glory to a human being, are not being done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Did you notice Luke wrote that Simon boasted he was someone great? Wisdom calls us to be cautious and even skeptical when extraordinary claims are being made, especially if they elevate or bring glory to a person rather than Jesus. God said through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah “I am the LORD, that is My name. I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.” (Is. 42:8)
Do you remember how strongly Peter denied that he was responsible for the healing of the cripple in Acts 3? Peter and the other apostles were doing amazing miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, but they always made sure people understood it was the power of the Resurrected Jesus or the Holy Spirit and it was NEVER for their own glory. . .it was always for God’s glory. Simon the Sorcerer was delighted to receive the accolades for himself.
Tomorrow we’re going to see this confusion got even more complex as the Samaritans trusted in Philip’s teachings about Jesus and even were baptized, but they did not experience the Holy Spirit coming upon them as Jesus had promised? Why not? We’ll consider that tomorrow. For today, I urge you to spend some time looking around your world to see if you can discern the difference between authentic works of Jesus through His Holy Spirit, and the works of the devil, even if like Simon’s they are helpful to people? I wonder if this song would have been one Philip would have sung to explain the miracles Jesus was doing through him?
Today’s Scripture is Acts 8:9-11.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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