Dear Friends,
Greetings in Christ!
When we left off in Acts 7, Stephen was being received into heaven as they stoned him with stones. Saul was present as a party to his execution. As Chapter 8 opens, Dr Luke mentions Saul again, as consenting to Stephen’s death, and then engaging in the persecution of other believers as well. Give us understanding, Father, and fill us with your Holy Spirit, as we read your word, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Acts 8:1-11
AND Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
The apostles did not fear the persecution. They stayed in Jerusalem and cared for the church.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus gave the outline for Acts. We now come to Section II, as the gospel goes into Samaria. The persecution is watering the church and making it grow, as rank-and-file Christians go out from Jerusalem into Samaria. Similar to how the wind spreads the seeds of a dandelion, the Spirit is using their evangelism to spread the seeds of the gospel.
Just as the Holy Spirit raised up Stephen from among the seven deacons selected in Chapter 7, likewise now Philip steps out in faith:
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies [paralized], and that were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
Wherever the gospel is received, it brings joy. Reading Acts reminds me of when I was young and living in San Diego. My friends and I met in houses, churches, Christian coffee shops, on the beach, in the park, and Jesus always came with. When one of my friends was diagnosed with a fatal disease, we all felt the leading of the Holy Spirit telling us to hold a prayer meeting. After we laid hands on her and asked for healing, the Spirit spoke to us and told us she was healed, so we sent her back to the doctor to get tested again. When we went to collect her at the hospital, she informed us the test was negative and she had a clean bill of health. Do you think we had joy? You bet we did, but eventually hardships hit our group and we all splintered off in different directions. That was bitter, but when I ended up in the mission field I found even more joy.
Paul’s treatise on joy, his letter to the Philippians, was written while he was in prison, as joy is not necessarily dependent on circumstances. As Christians, the joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10), whatever our situation may be. Moving through Acts, Dr Luke has been highlighting the joy and gladness that the gospel brings. (Acts 2:41, 46; 3:8f; 5:41; 8:8, 39) Dr Luke highlighted the joy that accompanies the gospel in his first letter to Theophilus as well, but not everyone is filled with joy. We should endeavor to rejoice in the Lord alway (Phil 4:4) but remember to weep with those who weep. (Rom 12:15)
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
Acts 8:1-11
That is a very interesting word in verse 11, sorceries (Gk mageia). Simon fooled people by pretending to be “some great one.” I suspect he wore a costume, as that is usually the first requirement to be a convincing con man sorcerer. For example, a Catholic priest wears a costume, says some mysterious-sounding Latin words, “Hoc est enim Corpus meum,” and turns a piece of bread into Jesus. (Did you know that is where the phrase ‘hocus pocus’ comes from?)
Anthony Fauci’s costume was his tie and white lab coat. His silver tongue was every bit as effective as a mysterious-sounding foreign language. The tie and white lab coat is probably the most effective costume there is in this regard. People will believe almost anything or do almost anything if a man in a tie and a white lab coat tells them to. This has been demonstrated, for example, in the Milgram experiment, where people delivered what they believed were life-threatening electric shocks to others because a man in a tie and a white lab coat told them to.
The TV set is an effective prop for sorcery as well. Viewing something on TV, or even in the new media if it is presented well, creates a psychological effect of believability. Why am I talking about this? Because Jesus warned us not to be deceived. (Matt 24:4)
Whether Simon’s ‘sorcery’ involved any real magic, as seemed to be the case with Pharaoh’s magicians, for example, is not certain, but what real difference does it make? Consider our situation today; when spiritual wickedness in high places takes control of peoples’ minds through control of mass media, turns them away from the gospel, and convinces them to trust new-world-order narratives that are harmful to themselves and others, what real difference does it make how they manage to pull it off?
Let us consider the contrast between the ‘magic’ Simon used and the power of the gospel that Philip possessed:
Magic requires skill, deception. It enriches the practitioner as he deceived his victims.
The gospel requires humility, obedience, and faith to minister the truth of the the word of God (creation, death and resurrection, second coming, etc). The gospel benefits all who receive it.
The word for Simon’s magic, mageia, is different than pharmakeia, which specifically refers to deception using drugs or poisons. That one, pharmakeia, is a hallmark of the end-times deception. (Rev 9:21; 18:23)
Although we are not currently experiencing 2020-level lies and deceptions, there is deception all around us. Even for those of us who know Christ, this deception is dangerous. Otherwise, Jesus would not have bothered to warn us about it. Jesus said if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
We will see what happens with Simon the sorcerer in our next post, but for now, let’s consider the Simons in our own day. Let’s carefully consider what we are being told. Question everything and examine all the evidence when considering important issues. Remember the key question, Who benefits? Pray for discernment. Most of what we are told in the media is lies, but if we keep our focus on Christ, if we keep our armor on and continue in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we will not have a hard time remembering that we are the ones who have the answers — not the talking heads on TV or on X. Most of them are just a distraction.
In closing, I don’t often feel joy after reading the news, but I do after sharing the gospel with someone. It may be foolishness to those that perish, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. Father, we are living in the age of deceit and the strong delusion is already taking hold of peoples’ minds. Strengthen us Father, that we may be strong in the Spirit and in the truth of your word, that we may light the way for others. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prophecy Update: Finally, let’s consider a bit of good news concerning one of the ‘Simons’ in our day, Jeffrey Epstein bud and tech titan, Bill Gates. He has been walking back his ridiculous claims about ‘climate change’. Notice the body language in the clips below as Gates realizes people are no longer fooled by his nonsense:
Of course, profiting from ‘climate change’ through things like carbon credits and fake meat was only one of Gates’ grifts. He is a party to the mRNA vaccine catastrophe, which used the same business model he used at Microsoft; create computer viruses, then market the solution. He applied this model to vaccines, mosquitoes (more vaccines), and more — all of it tied to the new world order and their agenda of depopulation.
PS: Endofdays.press will expire in January. Notes on Acts will continue to be posted at: MichaelJamesHarvey.substack.com
