Acts 8:9-25--Simon the Magician Believes

Acts 8:9-25
English Standard Version

Simon the Magician Believes
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.

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The gospel does not just come to heal like we studied last time, but it also necessarily undermines the powers of darkness and the bondage that they have put people into.  It seems that for some time, these Samaritans that Philip was preaching the gospel to have been under the influence of a man named Simon who practiced magic and sorcery, and he was seen to be great at his craft.  They all paid attention to Simon the Sorcerer and what he said imagining that his power came from God and that he was speaking for God as a prophet (this all goes back to the decision that the northern 10 tribes of Israel made to build false gods, build their own version of the Temple, have their own priesthood, make their own kings, and to worship the gods and goddesses of the cultures around them while pretending that they were still worshiping the LORD, as it is from the mixture between these Jewish and Gentile nations where the Samaritans came from).

​Now many believed and were baptized when Philip came a preached the message to them, and the text claims that even Simon the Sorcerer believed and was baptized by Philip and followed after him for some time.  He saw the signs and wonders that Philip did through the power of the Holy Spirit and he was amazed (remember that he was great at his craft in the past so he had performed "signs" in the past that were based on the lies and deception of the devil, but he had seen nothing like this before that was based on the power of God).

Word spreads, probably rather quickly, that the Samaritans have also believed and been baptized, but that they had not yet received the Holy Spirit like how the Jewish believers did at Pentecost.  The Church in Jerusalem sends Peter and John to them, and they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit.  God wanted Peter and John there to be witnesses to what happened so that on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses (Peter, John, and Philip) all things could be established.  It would be quite a claim in that culture that Samaritans would repent and believe the gospel as most Jews talked about them in ways that associated them with demons or at least being demonized, they told stories to their children about the Samaritans being the villains in every story doing terrible things like kidnapping and eating children, and they were seen as being so "unclean" that no Jewish person would set foot in Samaria.

Now Simon sees this power that God had given to the apostles to pray for people to receive the Holy Spirit and he too desires to have it (he desires to be an apostle just like them).  We'll see shortly in the book of Acts that God can take someone who has an evil background and make them into an apostle.  That's not the issue here, the issue is that Simon's experience was that every magic trick and illusion was something that could be bought and learned for the right price, and he treated the Holy Spirit the same way.  He asked the apostles how much he needed to pay them to receive the ability to lay his hands on people and have them receive the Holy Spirit?

Peter stands up and rebukes Simon the Sorcerer that his silver may die with him because he thought that the gift of the Holy Spirit was something to be gained by money (and probably wished to make people pay him to have him lay hands on them so they would receive the Holy Spirit).  They told him that even though he had made a profession of faith and that he had been baptized that his heart was not right and that he had no part or lot in this matter (that he had not received the Holy Spirit when the Sarmatian believers did because he was not genuinely saved).  They told him to repent and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the wickedness of his heart would be forgiven by God.

Peter saw that Simon the Sorcerer was almost to the point of repentance but not quite there as Peter said, "I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."  There are many people today that want to repent but are still enslaved by sin much like this man was.  We too need to call for true repentance on their part for there is no salvation apart from it, and we cannot pretend that someone is saved just because they made a proclamation of faith or even that they were baptized like everyone else in the crowd.  We are not saved by our works, but our works will reflect if there has been genuine repentance or not, and Simon the Sorcerer's words and actions reflected that there was no true change of heart yet even after doing everything that looked right on the outside.  This was no magic incantation where if you said the right words and went through the proper rituals that you would be saved and receive the Holy Spirit.

Simon the Sorcerer asks them to pray to the Lord that nothing they said will come upon him.  He does not understand that the words they spoke came from the Lord and that unless he repents, this is what would happen--he would die a rich man by the world's standards but without possessing the most valuable thing that money cannot buy--salvation, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  There is no indication in the text that Simon the Sorcerer was really saved after this--we don't hear any more after this because the story does not stay there in Samaria.  This is beginning and the end of what we hear about the Church there, yet I'm sure it is not the end of what the Lord did in and through those who were saved.  Imagine being the first non-Jewish people to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  God is working first in the cultures that have some or all of the Old Testament--first with the Jews who had the entire Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets and the Writings) and now with the Samaritans who only held to the Law, but not to the Prophets or Writings.  Soon we'll see the gospel going to places in the world that only have a passing familiarity with Moses and the Law because of the Jewish people that lived among them and then we'll see the gospel go to places where there were no Jewish synagogues and the people knew nothing of God or His revelation to His people.

This passage ends with saying "they" (probably Peter, John, and maybe Philip too) testified and spoke the Word of the Lord.  As they returned to Jerusalem, they also preached the gospel in many other Samaritan towns and villages, for God had not sought to withhold the Holy Spirit from the Samaritans who believed, so it was obvious to the apostles now that the gospel was to be preached in Samaria as well (just as Jesus had commanded them to in Acts 1:8).  Whether Philip is still in Samaria or is back in Jerusalem when the next verse happens, we are not sure, but either way, he is coming off of a major evangelistic effort when the Holy Spirit will call him to go away from the "action" so that he can talk to one man, an Ethiopian eunuch, a man unable to enter the Temple but is desiring to understand God's Word.  We'll talk about this divine appointment next time.