Lessons From Simon The Sorcerer

Acts 8: 5-24, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. 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: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

We have here under consideration the first century conversion of a man by the name of Simon. The Scriptures tell us that this man had at one time practiced some form of magic or sorcercy in the city of Samaria. The conversion of Simon was a milestone in the conquest of the Gospel as it showed it’s superior power over the false religions of man.

What I want to do today is to have us note some things that Simon saw when he was confronted with the Gospel for the first time. The first thing I want to mention is that Simon was able to see the difference between Bible miracles and the counterfeits of his own experiences.

In the eighth chapter of Acts and verse nine, Simon deceived people with his magical arts prior to the coming of the evangelist Phllip. He pretended to be someone great and he deceived the people. He was probably like one of our modern magicians and performed tricks of sleight of hand and so forth. He is called Simon Megas by some of the commentators.

I’m sure all of us have seen magicians perform. They do things that appear to us to be impossible, with their various “sleight of hand tricks,” through the use of misdirection and other things. And yet, when Phillip performed the genuine miracles of the New Testament by the power of God, then Simon immediately saw the difference in the two.

This is one of the problems in our world today: many people, it seems. do not have the discernment to be able tell the difference between the genuine miracles of Christ and the spiritual counterfeits that are sometimes palmed off on a unsuspecting and gullible public today.

I would like to point out some of the genuine miracles of the New Testament: These are some that you never see anyone perform or attempt to perform. You never see anyone try too imitate these for the simple reason that they cannot. The first on these is:

· RAISING THE DEAD

Sometimes I hear people say, “Oh, well, there are a few people that have been raised from the dead.” But when you trace it down, it’s in far off India or Indonesia or somewhere like that. You and I have never seen anyone raised from the dead (and I dare say no one else has either). But there were hundreds of people who had seen people raised from the dead back in New Testament times.

· TURNING WATER INTO WINE

Jesus was able to do that. They would put some modern distilleries out of business today if they had that power.

· HEALING MEN WHO ARE BORN BLIND

So many times a person with one good eye is called to the platform and an attempt is made to perform an act of healing. But Jesus and the Apostles were able to heal men who were born blind.

· WALKING ON WATER

Jesus could do that, without even exerting Himself.

· FEEDING 5,000 WITH FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISHES.

· HEALING CRIPPLES WHO HAD BEEN LAME FOR FORTY YEARS.

These are the kind of miracles that were in the New Testament that cannot be duplicated today. Instead we get evangelists and preachers over television offering such things as “miracle oil” which when analyzed turns out to be common old olive oil that they have bought somewhere at a store and prayed over --- that is supposed to work “wonders and miracles.” Just “put it under the pillow of someone you want saved or healed.” You are supposed to be able to receive “wonders” from it.

Many times we see these things on T.V. We’ll see a person limping onto the stage, and then walking better as he goes off. These are not like the miracles of the New Testament times. They’re not a 32nd cousin to the miracles of the New Testament times. They’re the kind of “miracles” that Simon was performing when he came in contact with the genuine miracles of Christ --- through the evangelist Phillip.

Many times we’ll be confronted with people that claim that miracles and signs are still for our time today. Sometimes Mark 16:16-18 will be quoted as a proof text. It reads, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues ... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” Now you will notice that the verse has not been read in it’s entirity. Why do you think that they left this part out? That’s because the remainder of the verse(s) do not support the view that’s being put forth.

Let’s read the part that was omitted in Mark chapter 16 verse 18“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. “ It would be a little inconvenient to have to handle deadly snakes and drink deadly poisons to prove that miracles are for today. This shows that those using Mark 16:16-18 while leaving out that part of the verse are not “shooting squarely” with you, because it becomes contradictory when the remainder of the verse is quoted. The whole truth is not being told here. They’re trying to pull a “fast one” on you, and you’d better beware! Normally this is part of the illusion people are trying to pass off on an unsuspecting gullible public.

Let’s continue reading in Mark 16:19-20 “ So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” So, what was the purpose of all of that? To “CONFIRM THE WORD!” In other words to prove that the word that the Apostles and those early prophets spoke that they were indeed the words of God. That they had the power to back it up!

Now let me ask you this question; Does this need to be reconfirmed? As we read over in Hebrews the second chapter verse 3, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”

So the Word of God has already been confirmed. It doesn’t need to be redelivered. It doesn’t need to be reconfirmed, because God has already confirmed it, and the signs that are in the New Testament follow it today. I submit to you that Simon saw the difference betweem fake miracles and genuine miracles. You don’t see any legs grown on; you don’t see anybody restoring a man’s ear that’s been cut off; or causing a man that’s been blind all of his life to see; or a man tha’s been lame from his mother’s womb rising up and walking. And I submit that you never will see it. Because men do not have the power of the first century. When the Word of God was confirmed then that power ceased.

Our Saviors warned in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

Not long ago there was a famous evangelist, by the name of Peter Popoff, who preaches on television. He was found to have a remote receiver concealed in his ear. His confederate would filter through the crowd and find out information about people; their names, addresses, and also the names of their doctors. Then they would report to his wife in the back room somewhere. She by radio would report to him when these people would come forward, and he would pretend to have a word of knowledge. That kind of chicanery is too cheap, and too common, and absolutely too crooked to be passed off as anything from God. It’s a shame that such is the case. But that’s what Jesus said would happen, that they “shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” You and I must be care not to be deceived by such as this! We don’t want to condemn the Samaratians too much for be carried away with Simon, because today we have those same type of individuals.

I want to read from 2 Thessolonians the second chapter verses 8-10 what the Apostle Paul said about this in . He said, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Now it says here that some don’t have a love of the truth. That the only thing saves, Jesus said in John 8:32, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

Let’s continue reading in 2 Thessalonians 2: 10-12: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Oh precious one, wouldn’t it be tragic to believe a lie and be damned because we have not the love of the truth. I believe that if you and I will exalt the love of the truth above all of the opinions, the ideas, and the wishes of man, the “the truth will make us free” as Jesus said it would.

Well, let’s continue on with what Simon saw. Not only did he see the genuine miracles and signs that were performed, but he saw something else, too. He saw that the kingdom of God was established upon the earth. Not as some people expect it to be sometime in the future, but he saw that the Kingdom of God was established at that time. In Acts in the eighth chapter verse 5, the Bible says, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

Now the Bible is a little more specific about what “preaching Christ” involves. I’d like to point out three things that “preaching Christ” involves. He said “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” So here’s three things that preaching Christ involved:

One was the Kingdom, or the church. You know, Jesus says in Matthew 16 verses 18 and 19, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” So Jesus equated the church to the Kingdom. But look at this now: In Acts 8:12 in the NAS this is rendered, “When Philip told the good news of God’s kingdom and of the name of Jesus Christ, men and women believed him and were baptized.” Now what was the good news? Why the “good news” was that the kingdom had come! Not that it was thousands of years away, but that it had come. In spite of these scriptures, there are some who are still looking for the kingdom of God. But Simon saw that the kingdom of God had come, and he wanted to be in it. That’s the reason he did what he did.

Now I can show you by the Scriptures that the kingdom has come. Hebrews 12:28, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” How can you receive something that hasn’t come? Again in Mark 9:1 Jesus said, “... there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” Do you know who He’s talking about? He talking about the people and the twelve Apostles that were there with Him. He says to them. “there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.” Now I submit that either the kingdom has come, or there are some men walking around the earth today that would make Methusla look like a baby by comparison! Because they’re over nineteen hundred years old! That’s how long ago when Jesus said “some of you won’t die, some of you won’t taste of death, till you see the kingdom of God come with power” (paraphrase).

I might just go ahead and say that “power” came on the day of Pentecost, didn’t it? Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you,” in Acts 1 and 8. In Acts 2 and 1-4 it says, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Well, that’s when the kingdom came. So the kingdom was come with power ; the power was to come with the Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit. Well, you see, that Simon saw that the kingdom had come, and he wanted to be a part of it, and that’s the reason he was baptized. Because Jesus said in John 3 and 3, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God..” He cannot discover, experience, or apprehend it. He cannot realize the kingdom of God. Now down in verse five He says, “...Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So Simon saw that the kingdom of God --- the church had come. He wanted to become part of it through the “new birth.”

But, then there was something else that Simon saw. Simon saw what is necessary for salvation. That’s right. He saw what it took to be saved. Let’s see what he did. Here’s what he did. In Acts 8 verse 13, “Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized continued with Phillip...” Phillip preached the Gospel and Simon believed, and then was baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. The Bible also says that repentance of our former life and confession of Christ as Lord and Savior is necessary, so we know that Simon also did that. See Acts 2:37-38, Mk 16:16; Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9-10, 2 Peter 3:16-18; Hebrews 3:14.