Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #12 - 8:4-25)
IX. 8:4-40 RESULT OF PERSECUTION: SPREADING EVANGELIZATION
A. 8:4-25 SAMARIA RECEIVES THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. 8:4-8 SAMARIA EVANGELIZED
a. 8:4 And those, therefore, scattered abroad went about preaching the word.
Hoi men, oun, di-a-spaRENtes [1289]diELthon eu-ag-ge-liZOme-noi [2097]ton LOgon.
b. 8:5 But Philip went down to the city of :Samaria, andproclaimed to them the Christ.
PHIlip-pos de ka-telTHON [2718]eis ten POlin tes Sa-maRIas, eKErus-sen auTOIS ton ChrisTON.
c. 8:6 SIGNS DRAW ATTENTION OF CROWDS TO PHILIP
proSEI-CHON [4337] te hoi OCHloi tois le-goMEnois
And the crowds gave heed with one accord
huPO tou PhiLIPpou ho-mo-thu-maDON,en toaKOUein auTOUS, kai BLEpein ta seMEIa ha ePOIei.
to the thingsspoken by :Philip, as they heard them, and saw the signs which he did.
d. 8:7 BOTH DEMONIACS AND SICK HELPED
polLOI gar ton eCHONton PNEUma-ta aKAthar-ta [169] boONta [994]phoNEmeGAle, eXERchon-to,
For many of those that had unclean spirits that cried with a loud voice, came out,
polLOI de pa-ra-le-luMEnoi [3886] kai choLOI [5550]e-the-raPEUthe-san [2323].
and many paralyzed and lame were healed.
e. 8:8 And much joy was in that :city.
eGEne-to de polLE chaRA [5479]en te POlei eKEIne.
2. 8:9-13 SIGNS LEAD TO FAITH AND WATER BAPTISM
a. 8:9-10 A DESCRIPTION OF FORMER SORCERIES OF SIMON
A-NER de tis, oNOma-ti SImon, prouPERchen [4391]en te POlei maGEUon [3096],
But therewas a certain man, Simon by name, who previously in the city used sorcery,
kai e-xiSTAnon [1839]to ETHnos tes Sa-maRIas, LEgon EI-NAI ti-na he-auTON MEgan:
and amazed the nation of :Samaria, saying he was some great one:
hoproSEIchon [4337]PANtes, aPO miKROU HEos meGAlou, LEgontes,
10to whom all gave heed, from small to great, saying,
HOU-TOS es-tin he DUna-mis tou TheOU he ka-louMEneMeGAle [3173].
This manis the power of :God which iscalled Great.
b. 8:11 SORCERIES DREW ATTENTION TO SIMON'S WORDS
proSEIchon [4337] de auTO, diA to hi-kaNO[2425]CHROno
And they gave heed to him, because that of long time
tais maGIais [3095] e-xe-staKEnai [1839] auTOUS.
he had amazed them with his:sorceries.
c. 8:12 PEOPLE FORSOOK SIMON FOR GOD'S KINGDOM AND NAME OF JESUS
HOte de ePIsteu-san to PhiLIPpoeu-ag-ge-li-zoMEno
But when they believed :Philip preaching good tidings
peRI tes ba-siLEIas [932]tou TheOU kai tou oNOma-tos IeSOU ChrisTOU,
concerning the kingdom of :God and the name of Jesus Christ,
e-bapTIzon-to [907] ANdres te kai guNAIkes.
both men and women were baptized.
d. 8:13 PHILIP WON SIMON THROUGH AMAZING SIGNS
ho de SImon kai auTOS ePIsteu-sen: kai bap-tisTHEIS, en pro-skar-teRON [4342]to PhiLIPpo;
And :Simon himself also believed: and being baptized, he continued with :Philip;
the-oRON te seMEIa kai duNAmeis meGAlas ge-noMEnas, eXIsta-to [1839].
and beholding signs done and great miracles, he was amazed.
3. 8:14-24 EARLY CHURCH EMPHASIS ON BAPTISM OF SPIRIT BY JESUS
a. 8:14-16 PETER AND JOHN THROUGH SPIRIT SEAL PHILIP'S WORK
A-KOUsan-tes de, hoi en Ie-ro-soLUmois, aPOsto-loi,
Now when theapostles, those at Jerusalem,
HOti DEdek-tai[1209]heSaMAri-a ton LOgon tou TheOU,
heard that :Samaria had received the word of :God,
aPEstei-lan pros auTOUS PEtron kai 'IoAnen: HOIti-nes, ka-taBANtes [2597],
they sent unto them Peter and John: 15who, when they were come down,
proSEUxan-to [4336]peRI auTON, HOpos LAbo-sin PNEUma HAgi-on:
prayed for them, that they receive theHoly Spirit:
ouDEpogar en ep' ou-deNI auTON e-pi-pep-toKOS [1968];
16for as yet He was fallen upon none of them:
MOnon de be-bap-tisMEnoi huPERchon eis to Ono-ma tou KuRIou IeSOU.
only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
b. 8:17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received theHoly Spirit.
TOte e-peTIthe-san [2007]tas CHEIras ep' auTOUS, kai eLAMba-non PNEUma HAgi-on.
c. 8:18-19 SIMON OFFERS MONEY FOR THIS MINISTRY
iDON de ho SImon HOti diA tes e-piTHEse-oston cheiRON ton a-poSTOlon DIdo-tai to PNEUma,
Now when :Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' :hands the Spirit was given,
proSEneg-ken [4374]auTOIS CHREma-ta [5536], LEgon, DOte ka' 'MOI ten e-xouSIan TAUten,
he brought them money, 19saying, Give me also this :power,
HIna ho an e-piTHOtas CHEIras, lamBAnePNEUma HAgi-on.
that on whoever I lay :hands, he receive theHoly Spirit.
d. 8:20 SIMON REBUKED FOR PRICING THE HOLY SPIRIT
PEtros de EIen pros auTON, To arGUriON [694] sou sun soi EIe eis aPOlei-an [684],
But Peter said unto him, Your :silver perish with you,
HOti ten do-reAN [1431]tou TheOU eNOmi-sas [3543]diA chreMAton KTASthai [2932].
because you have thought to obtain the gift of :God with money.
e. 8:21 PETER REVEALS SIMON NOT TRULY CONVERTED.
ouk EStin soi meRIS [3310] ouDE KLEros [2819]en to LOgoTOUto:
You have neither part nor lot in this :word:
hegar karDIa sou ouk EStin euTHEIa [2117]Enan-ti tou TheOU.
for your :heart is not right before :God.
f. 8:22 PETER COMMANDS REPENTANCE UNTO FORGIVENESS
me-taNOe-son [3340]oun aPO tes kaKIas [2549]sou TAUtes, kai deEthe-ti [1189]tou KuRIou,
Repent therefore of this your :wickedness, and pray the Lord,
ei Ara a-pheTHEseTAI [863]soi he ePInoi-a [1963]te karDIas sou.
if perhaps the thought of your :heart shall be forgiven you.
g. 8:23 For I see that you are unto thegall of bitterness and bond of iniquity.
h. 8:24 SIMON BEGS FOR PRAYER HELP
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho SImon EIpen, DeEthe-te [1189]huMEIS huPER eMOU pros ton KUri-on,
And :Simon answered and said, You pray for me unto the Lord,
HOpos meDEN ePELthe[1904]ep' eME hon eiREka-te.
that none of the thingsYOU have spoken come upon me.
4. 8:25 REVIVALS IN OTHER CITIES
Hoi men oun, di-a-mar-tuRAme-noi [1263] kai laLEsan-tes
They therefore, when they had testified and spoken
ton LOgon tou KuRIou, huPEstre-phon [5290] eis Ie-reSOlu-ma,
the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem,
polLAS te KOmas [2968]ton Sa-ma-reiTON eu-eg-geLIzon-to [2097].
and preached the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
NOTE: For me, Acts 8:20 is the key verse in this passage - “But Peter said unto him, Your :silver perish with you, because you have thought to obtain the gift of :Godwith money.”The word “do-reAN”, gift, appears 11 times in the NT, and each time refers to the Holy Spirit, who Jesus said would take His place. He said, “It is expedient, that I go away, for far better is the Holy Spirit inyou, than Me being withyou!”The disciples no doubt did not believe Him at the time He said this, but after the Day of Pentecost, they could then see the accuracyof His prophecy! The Spirit inthem allowed Jesus to work throughthem. And the rest of the book of Acts abundantly confirms the truthfulness of His word in the Gospel of John.
Note the first time “do-reA” appears in John 4:10, when Jesus spoke to the woman of Samaria. On most occasions the definition of a word comes with its first reference. Here Jesus likens the water of the Spirit promised to the woman of Samaria as an artesian well, evermore flowing up into eternal life.
In Acts 2:38 it appears in “the Peter Package” as the third and fulfilling part following repentance and baptism. 3000 men believed the word of Peter, and fulfilled the two conditions, qualifying them to receive this promise.
Now in Acts 8:20 Peter strongly rebukes Simon the sorcerer, and informs him that this gift (do-reA) of God cannot be purchased with money. The Phillips translation at this point renders this word, “To hellwith you and your money.” Peter knew it had cost Jesus His life at Calvary to make this “gift” available! No wonder he came on so strongly to correct Simon's ignorant and almost blasphemous request.
Look up in Strong's concordance and do a word study on the remaining 8 references.
Notice the importance the early apostles placed upon immediatebaptism following true repentance. They normally did not lay hands on believers for the Holy Spirit except the first two conditions of Acts 2:38 had been performed. See the Philippian jailer in Acts 16. The apostle Paul did not allow the wounds of Silas and himself be attended to - nor for them to sit down to breakfast, till firstthe Philippian jailer and his entire household be baptized! In Acts 8 Philip had baptized the Samaritan believers following their repentance and faith, before Peter and John laid hands on them for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Look at all other references for the order of baptism and the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. Except God Himself would change this order, the apostles adhered to it. The one exception is with the Roman centurion, his family and friends in Acts 10 and 11. The Jewish believers would not have laid hands on Gentiles for the Holy Spirit, but once God intervened and did, then Peter immediately commanded water baptism, so as to fulfill the pattern of Acts 2:38. J.A.W.
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