SIMON- THE GREAT PRETENDER
ACTS 8:9-25 (NIV)
by: Pastor Audie Castillo
INTRODUCTION:
☞-
Christ post resurrection ministry (Acts 1:3-11) Jesus remained with the
apostles for 40 days and speaking to them pertaining to the Kingdom of God. He
instructed the apostles not to leave Jerusalem until the promise of the Father
has come.
And He said to them,” But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
☞- The Holy Spirit comes at
Pentecost (Acts 2) They began to speak with other tongues
.
☞-The Church grows (Acts
2:40-47) The word was preached and received with gladness and they were
baptized. On one occasion Peter preached the word and 3000 souls got saved.
☞Stephen’s arrest and martyrdom - God
worked great wonders and signs among the people through Stephen. (Acts6:8) Up
to this point, the church had stayed put in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem
was growing so much, and it created controversy to the Jewish leadership and
they sought to control.
We will pick up the story from verse 8
☞Saul Leads the persecution of the church: He had been the official overseer of the
death of Stephen. Now he was taking that violence to Christians wherever he could
find them and put them to prison. (Acts 8: 1-3)
☞Philip’s ministry in
Samaria. The
gathered church in Jerusalem is now scattered. (Acts 8:4-8) And from Jerusalem,
they scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria. Except the apostles.
Samaria receives the word. As Philip speaks the message about Jesus,
people are responding. But this is not
the whole story, because it is not all good news. So… . In our study today, the
bible will exposed the dangers of a counterfeit faith of a
certain man called Simon.
●In the previous verses we saw: city wide revival w/ Philip the
Evangelist. Miracles were performed, souls saved. And here’s a scriptural
principle which follows: wherever God sends genuine revival, Satan attempts to
send counterfeit revival. God sows some saved souls, and Satan sows his tares
among that wheat.(Matt. 13:24-30)
I-
SIMON’S ARROGANCE (9-11)
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 rightly called the Great
Power of God.” 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a
long time with his sorcery.
Simon Magus.
☞ Did you know that the Bible strictly forbids
having anything to do w/ sorcery and the like: such as astrology, horoscopes,
fortunetelling, psychics, , palm reading, spirit-channeling, divinations,
enchantments, incantations, witchcraft, wizardry, charms, spells, or anything
else invented by the occult world, including today’s big names: Harry Potter,
Dungeons and Dragons and similar video games, The Bible forbids involvement in
these things! God goes so far as to call these things an abomination.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NIV)
10
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,
who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11
or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same
detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.
He commands respect (influence) of the people
(9-11)
● He claimed to be someone great
● People claimed to have power of God.
II-
SIMON’S FAITH (12-13)
12 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. 13 Simon himself believed
and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great
signs and miracles he saw.
A)
He became a follower of Philip (12-13)
● He believed and was baptized and followed
Philip
Think with me. When it says Simon believed also, does that mean he got
saved? Not necessarily! Are we saved by
believing? Yes, by believing on. But look at James 2:19:
Thou believest that
there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
● He was attracted by the signs and wonders (He believed not because of the Word, but because of the
miracles took place.)
In the same way…
●We have known of people that have confessed their allegiance to Christ in order to date and eventually marry a Christian, but then lay it aside after the wedding.
●We have known people who said they prayed the sinner’s prayer, and then never live for Christ.
●We have known people who said they were believers because it seemed like a good idea.
●We have known of people that have confessed their allegiance to Christ in order to date and eventually marry a Christian, but then lay it aside after the wedding.
●We have known people who said they prayed the sinner’s prayer, and then never live for Christ.
●We have known people who said they were believers because it seemed like a good idea.
These are examples of believe that are neither genuine, nor saving.
III-
SIMON’S
DESIRE ( 14-21) ☞ Samaria received the Word. (14)
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
I am sure when word got back to Jerusalem, some heads were left shaking in disbelief.
So, two apostles are sent to inspect the work, Peter and John. It is interesting that John goes, for he and his brother James were known as the sons of thunder, and it was not because they were gentle souls. No, they were movers and shakers. One time, when they were with Jesus, a Samaritan community had been inhospitable to Jesus and his band of disciples. James and John had a just solution for Jesus.
Luke 9:54 “Lord do you
want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, Just like
Elijah did?” (
☞ Samaria received the Holy Spirit. (15-17)
15 When they arrived, they prayed for
the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16
because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John
placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit
They were missing the Holy Spirit.
You see, no one is really saved without the Holy Spirit. God honors faith, but it is the Holy Spirit that makes you a Christian. We don’t know if there was any visible evidence of this lack. Luke is silent on this point. But Peter and John did have the discernment that the Samaritans were without the Holy Spirit. And when they laid their hands on them, the Holy Spirit came.
A) Simon’s Desire for Power (v.18-19)
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.”
SIMONY in the Dictionary means…“the
trafficking of sacred things, as well as the buying and selling of Church or ecclesiastical
office.”
The word “SIMONY” gets its start here…from
SIMON!
In 1516, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic
Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St. Peter's
Basilica in
Rome.]Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether
fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man; justification rather depends only on
such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata)
can justify man. The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money
to the church. (Wikipedia)
Penance, catechisms, praying for the dead
were teachings that were strongly opposed by Martin Luther. He taught that we
can be saved by Grace through faith.
B) Simon’s Desire Will Lead To His destruction
(v20)
20 Peter answered:
“May your money perish with
you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
So
Peter simply was saying here ““To hell with you and your money.””
C)
Simon’s Desire reveals his heart is not right
with God. (v21) 21 You have no part or share in this ministry,
because your heart is not right before God.
IV-
SIMON’S
SINs (22-25)
22 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. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to
sin.” 24 Then Simon
answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to
me.” 25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord
and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the
gospel in many Samaritan villages.
A) Wickedness in his heart (22a) Bitter and
bound by inequity (v23)
B) His sinfulness prevent him to pray for
forgiveness.(v.24)
Simon’s response was, "Pray to the Lord
for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me." And that is the
last we hear of him. The sad thing is that no matter how much any of the
apostles or the disciples prayed for Simon, the only one who could pray the
deciding prayer is Simon himself. He had to come before the Lord in repentance.
He had to surrender his life before the Lord. He had to take that step of
belief. He had to receive God’s forgiveness. No one else could.
Conclusion:
This passage of Scripture shows just how close a person can come to conversion
or salvation in Jesus Christ and still be lost without knowledge of God.
2 Corinthians 13:5 (New
Living Translation (NLT)
5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine.
Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is in you; if not, you have
failed the test of genuine faith. Pastor Audie Castillo
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