Simon the Sorcerer
Date: June 15, 1997-P.M.
Speaker: Tobey Pierce
Main Scripture Reference: Acts 8:4-24
[Acts 8:4-24, New International Version of the Bible: ]
ACTS 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. [5] Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. [6] When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. [7] With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. [8] So there was great joy in that city.
ACTS 8:9 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, [10] and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” [11] They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. [12] But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. [13] Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
ACTS 8:14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. [15] When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, [16] because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. [17] Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
ACTS 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money [19] and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
ACTS 8:20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! [21] You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. [22] Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. [23] For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
ACTS 8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Well, Simon is a sorcerer—a magician. He went around making a living as a sorcerer. He was also able to have great honor, praise and prestige from all the people because he was able to trick them and do things that would amaze them. They thought that he had some divine power, known as the “Great Power.” In our day, we might say, “May the Force be with you.”
But Simon’s power was trickery! It was “slight of hand”, and he knew that. And when he saw the true miracles, and the true signs and wonders that the apostles were doing, he was amazed, and he believed.
Philip is a prominent person in this story—a prominent minister/preacher/evangelist. I think Philip is sort of a great “unsung hero” in the Bible. You kind of see him here and there, and get little snatches and grabs of his life.
We see Philip first in Acts 6 when he is one of the seven men chosen to serve. We see him here in the story of Simon the Sorcerer in a city in Samaria. Now that’s interesting, isn’t it. Philip is in Samaria. And that’s an important fact. You remember when Jesus was talking to the woman at the well, [John 4:4-42], it says that He had to go through Samaria. Well, Jesus didn’t really have to go through Samaria. There was a well-worn path around Samaria that any good Jew would take. [Samaria and the people of Samaria were considered “unclean” by the Jews. The Jews of Samaria had intermarried with people of other nations and therefore were not full-blooded Jews. Any Jew having to travel would travel around Samaria, and not through it.] But because of who Jesus was, He had to go through Samaria—He had to talk to those people. And Philip is like that. He goes to Samaria and preaches to the people. Of course, later, we see Philip with the Ethiopian Eunuch, [Acts 8:26-40]. Philip taught him and then baptized him. And then near the end of the book of Acts, Acts 21, we see that Paul and Luke, and maybe several others, stay at Philip’s house with his family. Philip is a great “unsung hero.”
So, let’s look at this story. I want to look at three topics that you will see through this story. It talks about salvation. It talks about signs and wonders—signs and miracles, depending on which version of the Bible you are reading. And it talks about sin. Let’s take a look at those three topics.
We’re told that the people believed and were baptized. You know, if you listen to religious radio programs you don’t hear things like that. We used to always hear that the way that you are saved is to hear, believe, repent, confess AND be baptized, and that that’s how you get into heaven. But you don’t hear ALL of that Truth any more. And that’s what I call a “contraption.”
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