Suffering for Christ or Serving Sin?

Acts 8:1-25

Saul Persecutes the Church

1 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

Christ Is Preached in Samaria

4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

The Sorcerer's Profession of Faith

9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The Sorcerer's Sin

14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

20 But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."

24 Then Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me."

25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

As Saul left the place where Stephen the Witness (Martyr) was stoned to death by the judge and jury of the religious council set against the Lord and His Christ (Acts 4:25-26) as foretold in God’s predetermined plan, he had the taste of blood in his mouth to persecute more of God’s children who are the church.  He did this under the rule of the serpent of old (Revelation 12:17) who is out to stop the testimony of Jesus Christ as his heel is bruised (Genesis 31:5) by the Lord Christ.  This persecution drove the disciples out from Jerusalem to spread the gospel further instead of stopping it as planned!  Saul was driven by evil to find men and women of this way of truth and drag them off to be hastily tried and put to prison and even death as Stephen was.  They suffered for Christ while Saul served sin.  Ah, but God purposed even this in order to spread His followers out with the gospel as we read here with faithful Philip continuing the work of the gospel to heal body and soul; the healing of the body was to prove who he represented, while the healing of the soul was God’s aim of the message preached, reconciliation with Him through repentance and faith.  Sin drove many a man still as it was doing with Saul as Simon the sorcerer saw the miraculous works of God’s Spirit in the ministry of Philip and offered to purchase the power with money.  Such selfishness and desire for power drive most sin in men and Simon was no different; he just was bold enough to speak and pursue his sinful passion for those things instead of doing the things which please God (1 John 2:15-17) according to His will and word.  The people heard Philip as he “preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” and were made whole in body and body, which led even the self-seeking Simon to believe and be baptized into Christ because he witnessed the finger of God at work through Philip.  Unfortunately, Simon still longed for importance and offered to pay for the ability to lay hands on people to give them the Holy Spirit, as if the gift of God to all who beli could be bought and sold as a mere commodity. We witness such blasphemous behavior even today in some charismatic circles of the church as some treat the Spirit of God as a power and not the person of God Himself.  Philip rightly told Simon to repent of such wickedness that he might receive God’s forgiveness and restoration as he could be set free from such poisoning bitterness (Hebrews 12:15) and bondage of iniquity to treat God as a commodity.  Simon asked for prayer to escape such consequences and we are left wondering if he did indeed repent. As for Philip and the apostles with him, they continued to testify to Christ through the good news of reconciliation through the one who died on the cross for forgiveness of sin and for Hos word and Spirit to then live in those who received the gospel and Christ Himself (John 1:12).  They even preached among the Samaritan towns as Jesus did in John 4 even though the Jewish religious leaders forbade fulfilling the salvation of God to the nations as promised to and through Abraham (Genesis 17:5, Galatians 3:8-9) by the covenant of faith in God’s word and work.  The question facing everyone is unchanged; do we choose to suffer for Christ or continue to serve sin?