![]() The Holy Spirit himself leaves the matter up in air: Scripture never tells us what became of Simon. ![]() What else are we to make of Peter’s statement, “pray to the Lord, that if possible…” It appears as if Simon is on the verge of committing the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Acts 8:20-24įrom showing all the signs of a true work of God in the heart, we are suddenly presented with the possibility that not only is Simon not saved, but that salvation might be impossible for him. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. And suddenly, our certainty about Simon begins to crumble.īut Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’” (8:18-19). The coming of the Spirit must have been wondrously evident, for Simon, no stranger to the fantastic, was taken aback. It was not until the apostles Peter and John came and prayed for the Spirit’s coming that He actually did so. But even after the people of Samaria received the good news of the kingdom of God and salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, they did not have the Holy Spirit. In all of the great people movements for salvation seen so far in the book of Acts, the work of the Trinity was explicit. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ![]() Any pastor would be happy to receive Simon into church membership.īut something, rather Someone, is missing in the account of the gospel’s spread to Samaria. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.” As if the statement he believed was not sufficient, Acts 8:9-13 tells us that Simon gave up the sin that characterized his unbelief (8:9) that he was baptized (8:13) and that he continued to receive instruction from Philip (8:13). First we have the statement of Scripture itself in 8:13, “Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. The evidences of his salvation are pretty compelling. Of note is the qualifying statement in verse 9, “previously practiced magic.” What would cause the most popular guy in town to give up the source of his popularity? Apparently Simon was included in the number of those who believed. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.” Simon’s prominence in the community is given in 8:9-11: “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. Special attention is given to the magician named Simon. 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. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. His ministry is summarized in Acts 8:5 & 12: Philip went down from Jerusalem, north to Samaria. In any event, God did use the persecution to accomplish the spread of the gospel. If the believers were that lackadaisical why not just deny Christ, or not confess him openly, and return to synagogue worship? That would have been a lot easier than fleeing home. I have my doubts as to whether this was really the case. I know there is a latent tendency in some to always assume the worst, and so I have heard that God used persecution to move these Christians into obeying the Great Commission. In Acts 8 we have a rather perplexing account of the work of the Trinity in the salvation of Samarians and the salvation, or perdition, of Simon the sorcerer.Īs a result of the persecution ignited at Stephen’s martyrdom, the church in Jerusalem was scattered.
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