We are still in the region of Samaria in today's passage. Philip has brought the gospel to these people and many of them have received it gladly. We are about to meet a fellow named Simon who, before the gospel came, successfully deceived a large number of the residents of Samaria into thinking he was a Messiah-type figure or some sort of a god.
"Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, 'This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.' They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery." (Acts 8:9-11) Luke says Simon was a magos, a magician. Philip has been performing great signs and wonders among the people through the power of God, but Simon has been performing his magic feats through the powers of the occult. We should not be surprised that signs and wonders can be produced through the powers of the occult, for because Pharaoh of Egypt had similar magicians in his court during the days of Moses, and we find them successfully reproducing some of the miracles of Moses in Exodus 7 and 8.
"But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw." (Acts 8:12-13) Some scholars suggest Simon's conversion wasn't real. We can't say for certain, but Luke uses the Greek "pisteuo" which has been translated into the English word "believed". The Greek dictionary tells us this word means "to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, to place confidence in the thing believed". Pisteuo is the same word used in other places in the New Testament when speaking of the true conversion of those who hear the gospel of Christ. I'm not sure that Simon's problem is that he doesn't believe. Simon's problem, as we shall see, is that he desires the ability to perform signs and wonders more than he desires a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
"When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there and that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." (Acts 8:14-17) A number of commentators suggest that the falling of the Holy Spirit that Luke speaks of represents outward manifestations such as the apostles experienced at Pentecost. Whatever Luke means, there must have been some type of visible evidence of the change in these people, for when Simon witnesses it he covets the ability to lay his own hands on people and convey spiritual gifts upon them
"When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, 'Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 8:18-19) Simon longs for prestige and authority. In joining the Christian movement he lost the large following of people who formerly believed he was "the Great Power of God". (v 10) He thinks he can gain back his admirers if he can purchase the ability to convey spiritual gifts by the laying on of his hands. People will seek him out and, perhaps as they did in the past, pay him for his services or offer him desirable advantages in the community. This man is unwilling to submit his authority to Christ and to obediently perform whatever office Christ wants him to perform in the church. He wants to be somebody in his own right. He does not have the humble attitude of the sons of Korah who wrote, "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked". (Psalm 84:10b) Holding a humble office in the church doesn't appeal to Simon.
This brings us to an interesting bit of trivia. The word "simony" comes from Simon's actions in verses 18 and 19 and it means "the attempt to buy or sell an office of the church, the sacrilege of buying or selling that which is spiritual in return for something that is temporal". Simon's request was considered so reprehensible by the early church that a new word was invented to describe what he attempted to do. But again this doesn't necessarily prove he didn't really believe in Jesus Christ. Over the centuries there have no doubt been a number of true believers who attempted to purchase for themselves higher positions in the church. It's the nature of fallen human beings to covet worldly glory and from time to time we have all probably wanted to glorify ourselves more than we have wanted to glorify the name of Jesus.
"Peter answered: 'May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that He may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.'" (Acts 8:20-23) Simon has been following Philip everywhere, but until he repents of his desire for glory for himself he cannot minister to the people. He is not in the right frame of mind to be able to help others. We have to be very careful about the character of those who are in leadership positions in the church. Their mode of living needs to be as above reproach as possible. If a sin has taken them captive, there is the danger that they will lead others into the same sin. A person or persons also in authority in the church, who loves and cares for the one who has fallen into sin, needs to go to them and say the same thing Peter said to Simon, "Repent and pray."
"Then Simon answered, 'Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.'" (Acts 8:24) Simon doesn't go to the Lord in prayer to ask forgiveness for his sin. He asks Peter to intercede for him. Does this mean he didn't repent? No one really knows. We never hear anything about Simon the Sorcerer again. Some early church traditions say he repented and continued to work among the Christian community in Samaria. Other traditions insist he is the founder, or at least a leader, of the heretic Christian Gnostic movement. Gnosticism (from the Greek word "gnosis" which means "to know") taught that salvation was earned by achieving higher and higher levels of spiritual knowledge. This is salvation by works and not by faith, which directly contradicts everything Jesus Christ ever said about salvation. The Christian Gnostics also put forth many erroneous teachings about Jesus Christ and about His nature, all these teachings being the exact opposite of everything Jesus said about Himself. If you have time you should look up Christian Gnosticism and you will quickly see why it was a dangerous and false doctrine.
Did Simon repent and allow himself to be used by the Lord? Or did he continue on in error? The Bible doesn't tell us, but the thing we can take away from today's study is that if we want to be effective in getting the gospel message out and if we want to be able to minister to others, we need to daily examine our hearts to see whether we need to repent of anything. We especially need to examine our hearts for pride to see whether the glory of the name of Jesus Christ means more to us than the glory we want for ourselves. We've all fallen into pride sometime or other. We probably will again. The thing to do when we recognize that is to "repent and pray".
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