Acts 8:4-24: Simon the Magician

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Intro

1)     The Simon narrative is broken into two sections:

A)   8:4-13 – Simon with Philip

B)    8:14-24 – Simon with the Apostles

2)     As I did my reading on this text, I discovered that the main emphasis is often on whether Simon was sincere in the first place, and if he was ultimately right with God in the end.

A)   First, that’s God’s business, not mine. Second, that conversation is a debate because there do not appear to be many clear answers in the text.

B)    What we CAN do with this text is determine what was wrong, and then…

1)     Make sure we are not guilty of the thing ourselves,

2)     And know how to spot it and look out for it in other people.

C)    In this lesson, we will focus mostly on an ATTITUDE.

Simon has a heart condition

1)     What are we paying attention to?

A)   v. 6 – Look carefully at the text:

1)     The crowds did not pay attention to the signs that Philip did.

2)     They also did not pay attention to Philip.

3)     “the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip”

B)    vv. 9-11

1)     v. 9 – “saying that he himself was somebody great”

2)     v. 10a – “They all paid attention to him”

3)     v. 10b – “saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great’”

(a)   NASU – “This man is what is called the Great Power of God”

(b)   Philip is pointing people towards the power of God.

(c)   Simon really enjoys himself being called the power of God and Great.

4)     v. 11 – “And they paid attention to him”

2)     Simon’s response to the Gospel.

A)   v. 13a – He believed (Good!)…but compare texts. (I’m willing to accept that I’m being nit-picky here.)

1)     “they believed Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ”

2)     It’s worth noting that in v. 13 we are not told what Simon believed. Just that he did.

B)    v. 13a – “he continued with Philip”

1)     I would hope for this instead, “He continued with Jesus”

C)    v. 13b – What is the thing that amazed Simon? When he saw the signs. This is focus.

1)     In v. 6, the Samaritans saw the signs and listened to Philip’s words.

2)     cf.

(a)   v. 9 – he “amazed the people of Samaria”

(b)   v. 11 – “for a long time he had amazed them with his magic”

3)     Simon desired to be first.

A)   vv. 14-19 (esp. v. 19)

B)    First, he thought that power from God could be bought with money.

1)     We have a word that comes from this: simony.

2)     Just think about how offensive this is. To suggest that God, and his power, and his gifts can be bought with money.

(a)   cf. Acts 2:38-39. God offers forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit to everyone.

C)    Second, note that his request was not for the Holy Spirit, or even the power of the Holy Spirit.

1)     The thing that he wanted was to be the distributor of the Spirit.

2)     Trans.

(a)   ESV – “Give me this power…”

(b)   NASU – “Give this authority to me”

3)     Quotes for clarity:

(a)   CSBSB (I don’t think so) – “He was used to impressing the crowds with magic; now he wanted to impress them with his ability to impart the Holy Spirit.”

(b)   FSB – “He is interested in possessing the apostles’ power rather than embracing their message.”

(c)   NIVAC – “He is not interested in his own receiving the Spirit; what he wants was the ability to lay hands on people with similar results (v. 19).”

(d)   Witherington – “Simon must have thought, here ‘is a technique worth purchasing, a way of gaining a ‘share’ in the leadership of this movement.’”[1]

(e)   TNTC – “What is emphasized is his sinful desire to have spiritual power for the wrong reasons and to gain that power by the wrong method. The possession of any kind of spiritual authority is a solemn responsibility rather than a privilege, and its possessor must constantly be aware of the temptation to domineer over those for whose spiritual welfare he is responsible; he must also beware of the danger of using his position for his own ends, whether as a means of making money or bolstering his own ego (1 Pet. 5:2f.).”

D)   I have an extra theory about Simon’s possible motive.

1)     Remember, people used to pay attention to Simon until Philip came along. Now, they were paying attention to Philip’s Gospel. Simon was probably not able to comprehend that. He just saw Philip as his personal competition.

2)     Remember, Philip was not able to pass along this gift of the Holy Spirit. Only the apostles could do that.

3)     One for sure problem was that Simon wanted that power for himself.

4)     But maybe he wanted that power for himself because it would give him a leg up on his competition. If he had the apostles ability that Philip did not have, then he could be better than him again.

Conclusion #1: If this is you, then you have a major problem, and it needs to be dealt with.

1)     vv. 21-22 – The main problem.

A)   KEY: “Your heart is not right before God.”

B)    Lk. 16:14-15

2)     vv. 22-23 – What to do now.

A)   Repent

B)    Pray

1)     This is one of the major critiques of Simon. He was told to pray, but then in v. 24 he asks Peter to pray for him.

2)     Maybe he just wanted the prayers of a righteous man since they accomplish things. Good.

3)     But maybe he was so used to people serving him that he thought, “No, I’m not going to pray for myself. YOU pray for me.”

C)    About the intent of your heart

1)     This is not, “I’m sorry for what I said / did”

2)     This is “I’m sorry for the way I am.”

D)   v. 23 – Extras

1)     “you are in the gall of bitterness”

(a)   NET – “I see that you are bitterly envious and in bondage to sin.”

(b)   Bock – “Simon’s attitude is a poison of bitterness that risks missing God’s blessing.”

2)     “…and the bond of iniquity”

(a)   He was a prisoner to sin.

(b)   The first step for Simon was to realize that sin had taken hold of him.

E)    Bock – “So there are many suggestions in these verses that things are very wrong with Simon and that doom awaits if he does not respond.”

Conclusion #2: We need to know how to spot this sin (not only in ourselves, but in others).

1)     I think it would be a great idea to apply Jesus’ principles to every aspect of life.

A)   Politicians who want positions of power just so they can have power are immediately disqualified.

B)    People in the workplace. If you want power just to have power and be awesome.

C)    Within your friend groups, etc.

2)     Even so, it ABSOLUTELY cannot be a part of what we’re doing here in the Lord’s church.

A)   Jesus specifically talked about this.

1)     Mk. 10:35-37

2)     Mk. 10:42-45

B)    Main take-away: The person who wants to be first, who thinks the work is about them and desires to have authority over other people is IMMEDIATELY disqualified.

[1] Witherington, Ben, III. 1998. The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.