Simon
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Simon the Magician
Simon the Magician
9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
Simon the sorcerer, or Simon Magus as he is called in postapostolic Christian writings, was a leading heretic in the early church. Justin Martyr (died c.165), who was himself a Samaritan, says that nearly all his countrymen revered Simon as the highest god (Apology 1.26; Dialogue 120). Irenaeus (c.180) speaks of him as the father of Gnosticism and identifies the sect of the Simonians as being derived from him (Contra Haereses 1.23). The second-century Acts of Peter has extensive descriptions of how Simon Magus corrupted Christians in Rome by his teachings and how he was repeatedly bested by Peter in displays of his magical powers. These themes were picked up by the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies and Recognitions of the third and fourth centuries, though in them Simon was used as a cover figure for Paul in a radically Ebionite manner. Hippolytus (died c.236) outlines Simon’s system, which he avers was contained in a Gnostic tractate entitled The Great Disclosure, and tells how he allowed himself to be buried alive in Rome with the prediction that he would rise on the third day (Refutation of All Heresies 6. 2–15). And Justin Martyr (Apology 1.26), as followed by Tertullian (c. 197 in his Apology 13.9), tells of Simon’s being honored with a statue in Rome on which was written “To Simon the Holy God”—probably a misreading either by Justin or the Simonians of an inscription beginning SEMONI SANCO DEO (“To the God Semo Sancus,”
12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
But Simon himself, to judge by the narrative that follows, was more interested in the great acts of power accompanying Philip’s preaching than God’s reign in his life,\
Jesus knew about people like Simon:
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,
There was never a greater candidate than Simon to NOT be a Christian.
Peter and John were sent by the Jerusalem church not only to celebrate new converts, but to see for themselves and report back their legitimacy.
15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Prayed for them , laid their hands on them.
God’s wisdom could have only allowed the HolySpirit to be given by Peter and John, from the Jerusalem church, to samaritans.
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Simon’s response to the presence of God’s Spirit and the evidences of God’s power is one of those tragic stories that accompany every advance of the gospel. Whenever and wherever God is at work among people, there are not only genuine responses but also counterfeit ones. Simon “believed” and “was baptized,” Luke has reported. Evidently Simon was included among those Peter and John laid their hands on.
“believed”- represents one of many responses to God. James 2.19
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Simon’s offer to pay for the ability to confer the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands evoked Peter’s consignment of Simon and his money to hell. Simon regarded the bestowal of the Spirit as a specially effective bit of magic, and he had no idea of the spiritual issues at stake.
Peter’s analysis of the situation, however, is that Simon’s heart was “not right before God” because it was still “full of bitterness and captive to sin.” So Peter urges him, “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” But Simon, preoccupied with external consequences and physical effects, asks only and rather lamely, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Did Simon later become a Christian?
Did his heart get made right with God?
But beyond what Luke tells us, we can only speculate. Instead of such speculations, it is better to allow the sobering truth of what Luke does tell us to penetrate deeply into our consciousness: It is all too often possible to make a counterfeit response to the presence and activity of God’s Spirit.
The Counterfeit Proves the Authentic. If I copy a $100.00 dollar bill and take it to the bank they won’t accept it. or I ty to purchase somehting with it.... won’t go. It’s a fake. but it will resemble the real deal.
Bottom Line:
A Counterfeit Desire Is Not A Genuine Faith
A Counterfeit Desire Is Not A Genuine Faith
The Reason We Sing by First Call.
He has brought us together
Each of us a different gift to bring
We'll serve Him forever
Even if the cost is everything
He has called us to be faithful
So with one heart, we give this offering
The reason we sing
The reason we lift our voice
Is more than just making harmony
The reason we sing
Is to praise the One
Who gave His son to be
The reason we sing
What is the reason we are here? What brought you to a parking lot on 12th Street NW in Canton, Ohio today?
See 2 Corinthians 13.5
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!
It’s not only wrong motives… it can be a bad attitude.
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
Why are you here today?
The passage that sets this example for us is Luke 9.51
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
It is referenced in Isaiah 50.7
7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.