Thread: Acts 8 and the Holy Spirit

I noticed something peculiar when reading this passage today. In Acts 2 the Spirit comes upon people who already believe but this is the first passage that describes in detail how people who are non-believers respond to the gospel including the baptism in the Spirit.

Acts 8:5 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.

All kinds of signs are described in addition to people getting saved.

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.

Simon the sorceror also believed and was amazed at the miracles performed.

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.

The funny thing about this is that noone had gotten baptized in the Spirit yet. I suppose Philip had preached the gospel concerning the resurrection of Jesus and then done what he previously had done as a disciple of Jesus during His earthly ministry, to cast out demons and heal the sick and baptize people in water. The baptism in the Spirit wasn't available back then so he wasn't used to that part yet. Or so it seems.

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.”

Simon the sorceror watches all of this but what power does he want to pay them for ? The ability to cast out demons ? Nope. To heal the sick ? Nope. He wants the power to have the Holy Spirit come upon those he lays hands on.

Why does the former sorceror now not-so-repentant Christian pick that as the power to be desired the most ? Was it because people spoke in tongues ? I can't imagine that that would be more impressive than demons leaving people they had inhabited for years or the lame walking. Was it because people got emotional when the Spirit came upon them ? Again, that doesn't sound that impressive.

There must have been something far deeper that he sensed and then twisted in his mind. Was it perhaps the depth of the presence and glory of God that came upon them and saturated them ? Something we see little of today ?

Originally Posted by Colonel

Was it perhaps the depth of the presence and glory of God that came upon them and saturated them ? Something we see little of today ?

I lean toward the same. He must have seen the power. Simon was filled with a lust for power. Perhaps that is what he wanted most and was his downfall. The change in a person's life is night and day, in some cases more powerful in visible contrast than the initial encounter at the point of conversion.

I agree, but he no doubt realized all the rest was the result of THIS...but something that sticks out is he did not want to pay for the infilling for himself..he wanted the power to lay hands on others and THEY receive...I wonder if that points back to his prior affiliation with demons....

Originally Posted by FireBrand

I lean toward the same. He must have seen the power. Simon was filled with a lust for power. Perhaps that is what he wanted most and was his downfall. The change in a person’s life is night and day, in some cases more powerful in visible contrast than the initial encounter at the point of conversion.

Notice that the time that passed between verses 13 and 14 must have been several days. Someone would have to travel from Samaria to Jerusalem and tell the apostles, then the apostles travelled from Jerusalem to Samaria. That's about 30 miles each way. So Simon the sorceror had had several days to contemplate on the whole thing but only minutes to hours to contemplate on people being baptized in the Spirit. Whatever effects he observed they must have been fairly immediate.

Maybe they laughed and laughed and laughed and Simon was a very sad fellow and wanted some of that

Originally Posted by Quest

I agree, but he no doubt realized all the rest was the result of THIS...but something that sticks out is he did not want to pay for the infilling for himself..he wanted the power to lay hands on others and THEY receive...I wonder if that points back to his prior affiliation with demons....

If he had offered to pay them for getting himself baptized in the Spirit so that he would then have the power to work miracles then that would make sense but that is not what he wanted.

Originally Posted by Cardinal TT

Maybe they laughed and laughed and laughed and Simon was a very sad fellow and wanted some of that

But it wasn't for himself, he specifically wanted the power to get other people baptized in the Spirit. Maybe the working of miracles wasn't a novelty among Simon and his fellow sorcerors but the giving of the Holy Spirit who was totally opposite of the demons that had been cast out, was.

I'm thinking that Simon's motivation could have been good in the sense that he wanted to promote this good spirit to other people but his old ways involving power, prestige, influence and probably an ability to make money on his newfound ability were mixed in. It does remind of stories of people from very different cultures that convert to Christianity, some times they start out understanding the message very well in ways but not at all in other ways. Recall that Simon did believe and was baptized in water, he wasn't merely someone who was observing.

Maybe all his friends were sad and wanted them to laugh

Originally Posted by Cardinal TT

Maybe all his friends were sad and wanted them to laugh

That would make sense. Maybe he saw it as an investment, that he was paying for a power that was so different to everything the Samarians had seen previously that he was bound to make money on it in the long run.

Originally Posted by Colonel

That would make sense. Maybe he saw it as an investment, that he was paying for a power that was so different to everything the Samarians had seen previously that he was bound to make money on it in the long run.

Making people roar with laughter would be something people would pay to receive