When Philip did greater works that the sorcerer Simeon, the Samaritans believed in Christ. The Jerusalem Church was really surprised and sent John and Peter there. They prayed for the Samaritans and the Holy Spirit came upon them. Simeon who had already become a Christian was really surprised and went to the disciples and gave them money asking for the authority that they had. Peter’s answer is in verses 20, and 21.
His heart was not right before God. He wanted to receive God’s gifts through money. Today let’s look at the mistake that Philip made so that we can be careful not to make the same mistake ourselves. Let’s look at three things in this passage.
- I. The one way grace of God. (vs. 14-17)
When the Jerusalem church heard that the Samaritans had accepted the Gospel, they sent Peter and John there. This was probably to check out the situation there. However, also it was because the apostles had the total responsibility for the church Therefore, they were sent there to teach and train those who were saved by laymen. This was especially so because of the Samaritan’s history. During the Assyrian invasion, the Samaritans intermarried with the Assyrians and as a result the fellowship with the Jews had been cut. Therefore, the fact that the Samaritans were accepting Christ was surely a concern of the Apostles. It was necessary for them to actually see that the Samaritans were saved and that the Jewish church and the Samaritan church were one in Christ.
When Peter and John went there they realized that the Samaritans had been baptized, but that the Holy Spirit had not come upon them yet. Therefore, Peter and John laid their hands upon them and prayed and the Holy Spirit came upon them. It was like Pentecost.
This is a little mysterious. These people believed in Christ though Philip’s evangelism. The Holy Spirit is a guarantee that God is with us and that we are saved. Therefore, they should have received the Holy Spirit when they received Christ.
I Cor. 12:3
When we believe in Christ we receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore it is hard to understand why the Samaritans still had not received the Holy Spirit.
In Acts this happened only one other time. That is in 19:1-7. It is when Paul went to Ephesus. Here the Samaritans, enemies of the Jews were given the gift of tongues to show that the church is one and that Christ is for all peoples.
One of the mistakes that Simeon made is that he didn’t realize that the Holy Spirit is given by the one way grace of God. He thought that the Holy Spirit was given by people with special authority within the church. The Holy Spirit is completely a gift from God. We don’t receive the Holy Spirit by doing something. The Holy Spirit is a gift completely from God. The Holy Spirit is received by grace. Therefore, there is no need to search for authority. We need to only seek the grace of God.
- II. Doing little things little by little (verses 18-21)
Simeon wanted to buy the authority to lay hands on people so they could receive the Holy Spirit not only because he didn’t realize that the Holy Spirit is given by the one way grace of God, but also because he wanted instant authority. He didn’t want to do things little by little.
I Tim. 3:2, 6
However, it is not just Simeon who seeks instant fame. We often do the same thing. We fail to read the Bible everyday and to pray, we don’t enthusiastically attend the events of the church and we don’t witness, but we work hard at things that will surprise people. Revival is great if it results in a renewal in spiritual disciplines. However, when it is only to cause other people to be surprised, then it is very dangerous. When we concentrate on doing little things little by little, we see God do great things.
- III. Pray for repentance (Verses 21-24)
The root of Simeon’s problem was that he had forgotten about “heart”. Simeon wasn’t able to receive the authority because his heart was not right before God. Therefore, he needed to repent. He was filled with bitterness and captive to sin so repentance was necessary. However, Peter says that in verse 22 to repent and “perhaps” God will forgive him. When we repent God always forgives us. The reason that Peter uses “perhaps” is because Simeon still hadn’t completely repented. It is like Pharaoh in Exodus 8:8, 28; 9:28; 10:17) In the end Pharaoh’s heart became completely hardened. Probably Peter saw the same kind of hardened heart with Simeon. Therefore he used the word, “perhaps”. However, no matter how much bitterness we have in our heart and how captive we are to sin, if we truly repent, then God will forgive us of our sins.
Through Simeon we can learn that the Holy Spirit is a gift. It is a complete gift from God. Let’s live in that grace and have a right heart before God.