Sunday, June 22, 2008: Spirit vs. Spiritualism

Spirit vs. Spiritualism
Acts 8: 9 – 25.

I. Introduction

How do you know that God is real? I suppose we could appeal to the stories of the Bible, which tell of the many ways God has interacted with Israel and with the followers of Jesus throughout history. But this seems backwards to me. People who already believe in God read the Bible to learn more about God. People who do not believe in God, simply do not trust the stories of the Bible.

For hundreds of years, humans have formed philosophical arguments to appeal to a person’s intellect in order to prove the existence of God. Some of these philosophical “proofs” have become famous.

One famous argument is the argument which refers to God as the “First Cause.” Everything that exists was caused to exist by something else. The universe operates on the principle of Cause and Effect. Nothing can be both cause and effect at the same time. Since the universe exists, something must have caused it t exist. Therefore, there must be a First Cause. We call this First Cause, God.

One of my favorite arguments is the argument from desire. Every natural, innate desire corresponds to some real object that can satisfy the desire. Humans have a natural desire that time and earth cannot satisfy. Therefore, something outside of time and earth must exist that satisfies our desire. This is what we call God.

If you look closely at our culture, you will see people who have tried everything on earth to satisfy their desires. They have tried money, possessions, love, relationships, health, longevity of life… Now, our culture is beginning to search for something spiritual. People are turning to angels, crystals, transcendental meditation, an unnamed higher power… We live in an age of increased spiritual desire. People are very spiritual, but not necessarily Christian.

Read Acts 8: 9 – 25.

II. Explanation

Verses 9 – 11…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." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

This is a continuation of the story we read two weeks ago. The young church began to experience persecution from a man named Saul. Saul snooped around to find the houses where the Christians met for Sunday worship services. Then, he broke into Sunday worship services and arrested men and women; placed them in prison; and even had some of them beaten with 39 lashes. On one hand, Saul’s intention was to stop the spread of the Christian faith. On the other hand, he was actually doing everything in his power to erase Christianity from history. But Saul’s plan backfired.

Philip was one of the Seven deacons selected by the church. When faced with persecution, Philip left Jerusalem and started preaching the Gospel in Samaria. Do not overlook how significant this was. First, it was significant that Philip was following the prediction Jesus made in Acts 1: 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” God used the persecution of the church to spread the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem into the ends of the earth. Second, this is significant because the Samaritans were a hated race of people.

After the reign of King Solomon, the Jewish people divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Neither of these kingdoms followed all of God’s commands. However, Judah fared at least a little better. Judah continued to worship God in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The northern kingdom set up numerous holy sites. Both kingdoms had series of good and bad kings, but only Judah kept the kingdom under the reign of someone from the lineage of David.

When the two kingdoms fell—sometime in the eighth century B.C.—the northern kingdom was utterly and completely destroyed by Assyria. The southern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Both Assyria and Babylonia has aspirations of ruling the entire known world, but they each employed different strategies. The Assyrians destroyed their enemies and took over their land. The Babylonians took their enemies captive and allowed these people to live together in communities and maintain their own distinct cultures.

When Judah was taken captive by the Babylonians, some of the people were “left behind.” They only took the strong and healthy people into captivity, leaving the weak and sick behind to die. But that is not what happened. Some of these weak and sick Jews actually survived. They lived in their own land and intermarried with the surrounding peoples. So, when the people of Judah were released from their Babylonian captivity, they reentered their old land and found other people living there. These interracial people became known as Samaritans. The Samaritans were no longer considered Jews, because they had intermarried with other races and adopted many pagan religious practices.

Therefore, it is not enough for us to say that Philip preached the Gospel in Samaria. We should note that he actually moved into a different culture and preached the Gospel to people who were different from the group of Jewish Christians he left in Jerusalem.

The story of Philip’s preaching in Samaria gives us some insight into at least one cultural difference between the Jews and Samaritans. The Jewish faith inside Jerusalem was a pure expression of Judaism. They read and studied the Old Testament law. They even developed a class of religious experts to interpret the Law and apply it to everyday life. The Samaritans also read and studied the Old Testament. However, they did not keep their religion pure. They had taken the Old Testament and added to it many of the pagan practices around them. They were willing to try anything and everything their religious neighbors practiced.

This is why a man like Simon the Sorcerer became so popular in Samaria. This was a culture of people who once knew the Bible and still made claims to be God’s people. But in reality, they were easily duped by a man who claimed to have magical and spiritual powers. It’s obvious from the Bible’s description of Simon, that he did not just entertain the crowds of people with slight of hands tricks. No. Simon performed his tricks and told the people that he had mysterious powers from some supernatural force, known as “The Great Power.”

Verses 12 – 13… But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

On one hand, it is very easy for us to criticize the Samaritans for mixing biblical faith with pagan magic. They did not have a good foundational knowledge of Scripture, so they were easily drawn away from biblical faith. On the other hand, I think we can find some positive things to say about the Samaritans. In particular, we can say that the Samaritans were very “spiritual people.” They did not know the Bible. They did not know the story of Jesus—his life, crucifixion and resurrection. But the Samaritans were searching for something. They wanted to be spiritual and religious. They just needed someone to step into their culture and tell them the Good News about Jesus.

Into this spiritual context stepped Philip, a man full of the Holy Spirit and power. Of course, don’t know what Philip preached in Samaria. (I wish we did know.) All we know is that Philip preached the “good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.” While we don’t know the words of Philip’s sermons, we do know that Philip preached the complete Gospel. Everything you need to know to be “saved” and to live a Christian life is contained in those two phrases: the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.

While many of the First Century Jews considered themselves members of the kingdom of God by virtue of their race and / or religious heritage, Jesus taught something different. Jesus taught us that the kingdom of God is not something contained within geo-political boundaries. No, the kingdom of God is something all people can and must enter by becoming like a child. Jesus picked up on a theme taught by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah that God would write a new covenant within the hearts of all who believe. This simple act of childlike faith in Jesus transforms our lives and hands over the controls of our lives to God as our sovereign king.

Philip also preached about the “name of Jesus.” Throughout the Bible the word “name” is typical used as a figure that represents a person’s character. I am certain that Philip used the five-letter name “Jesus” in his preaching, but this is not the point. Philip taught them about the character of Jesus. Jesus was born of a virgin woman, proving that he is in fact the Son of God. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, proving that patterning our lives after him leads us away from sin. Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins we have committed against God. And Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, proving that Jesus has the power to give us eternal life after our earthly death.

Verses 14 – 17… When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Here we encounter the first of two “problems” in our Scripture passage. The Samaritans heard the Gospel and believed. They were baptized and began to worship Jesus within a local community. However, they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Does this Scripture make a case for two baptisms—a first baptism into Jesus and a second baptism into the Holy Spirit? I would believe that IF this were the norm. But this is not the biblical norm either within the book of Acts or in any other part of Scripture.

A careful reading of the biblical accounts of men and women who received the Holy Spirit shows us that this happened in every way possible. In some cases, the person was baptized and later received the Holy Spirit. In other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came BEFORE the person was baptized. In still other cases, the gift of the Holy Spirit came simultaneously with baptism.

I believe there is another issue at work here. Remember that Acts tells us Philip went into Samaria preaching the Gospel while the Apostle remained in Jerusalem. Evidently, the first wave of persecution only affected the Greek speaking Christians. For some reason, Peter, James, John and the other Apostles were not under attack. Therefore, Philip is preaching the Gospel in a foreign culture without the official sanction of the Apostles—the founders of the original church.

As a result, it was important for Philip to contact the Apostles and to seek their “official stamp of approval” on the missionary work he was doing among the Samaritans. I’m sure the Apostles were shocked when they first got word of Philip’s successful preaching. They believed in Philip—after all, they had ordained him as a deacon only two chapters previously. They just did not trust the Samaritans. So, Peter and John had to see for themselves. And they saw God was working in a foreign culture.

When Peter and John saw God at work in Samaria, they joined God in what he was already doing there. Two actions confirm this for us. First, they laid hands on these foreigners and gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Second, they started preaching to Samaritans… Verse 25… When they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Verses 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."
Verses 20 – 24… Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."

Here is our second “problem” in our Scripture passage. Just a few verses prior to this, we read that Simon the Sorcerer had believed and was baptized. Now we witness as Simon tries to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit and Peter rebukes Simon.


III. Application / Conclusion

1. Gospel and Culture…Magic and spiritualism is a “shortcut.” But the Christian life has no shortcuts…

2. Inverted Theology…God is the one who controls us, not the other way around. Simon was trying to control God…Peter and John were trying to control God…

3. Seeing God at work in other people changes us as much as it changes them…