Acts 8:9–24

But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that power of God which is called Great.” And they gave heed to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when 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. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. 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 it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power, that any one on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “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. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 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.”
Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

Why do the Scriptures take all this trouble to record the case of this particular man, Simon the sorcerer? God is anxious to safeguard our interests.

Our eternal salvation depends upon our relationship to this message.

As my eternal destiny depends upon my right relationship to the truth of God’s Word, there is nothing in the universe today that is so important as my actually being in that right relationship.

I may think I am, but I may not be. So the Scriptures have been written for us in order that we may in no sense deceive or mislead ourselves. God in His love is concerned that we should never be deluded or misled.

It is clearly possible for us to think we are Christians without being Christians at all. It is possible for us to delude ourselves and to imagine that we are Christians when we are not. This is perfectly clear, the case of Simon the sorcerer. “Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done”

Simon “Believed”

verse 13 says, “Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip.”

But then something happens that shows this “belief” to be false. The apostles come down and lay hands on the Samaritans so that they receive the Holy Spirit. Then beginning in verse 18 here’s what happened: When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power that any one on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Simon has no part or lot in this matter of Christianity. His heart is not right with God. He still needs to repent.

The same thing is found in John 2:23–25, When Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did [notice the similar setting to Philip’s signs]; but Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man.

This “faith” or “believing” was not genuine and Jesus could see into the heart and knew that it wasn’t.

The same kind of “faith” is seen in the parable of the four soils. In Luke 8:13 Jesus describes the second soil like this: “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” The faith is not real saving faith.

Paul taught the same possibility in 1 Corinthians 15:1–2 when he said, “I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain.” There is such a thing as “believing in vain.”

Luke’s point here in Acts 8 is that Simon’s “faith” his “believing” (described in v. 13)—is not a saving faith but a false faith, dead, barren, empty. There is such a faith and it can rise right in the presence of true preaching and true miracles, and still not be real.

Here is a man who thought he was a Christian, but he was not.

Now when be [our Lord] was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. John 2:23–25

Here the Word is telling us that it is possible for people to think they are Christians when they are not and to come into the church when they really should not be there. The Lord Jesus Christ at times seems to go out of His way to hinder people from coming to Him; He discourages them.

Jesus has come into the world to save the world. Yes, but when He sees people coming to Him in the wrong way or for the wrong reason, He tries to discourage them.

Our Lord, there in Jerusalem, saw these people coming to Him, and they were smiling and wanted to join in with Him. But He would not have them because He knew that they were coming for the wrong reasons.

The parable of the sower in Mark 4. What is the point of that parable. Here is our Lord Himself saying that He was not misled by appearances. He says in effect, “There are people who seem to accept this truth of mine, but they have not really done so. There is a temporary appearance of believing the truth, but it is not real, it does not last, it is of no value.”

There is nothing more terrible than for people to think they are Christians when they are not. There is nothing more terrifying than for people to go through a lifetime thinking that they are Christians and that they are safe and then to find at the end that they have been misleading themselves altogether.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Mt 7:21

How does this happen, how are people so misled?

The object of Simon’s faith, the thing in which he believes, is the power of supernatural phenomena—the power of miracles that you can see with the physical eye, not Jesus Christ and the glory of his grace.

Simon was a sorcerer. That means he dealt in supernatural power before he ever heard Philip preach or ever heard of Jesus Christ. He used his magical arts for a long time in Samaria (according to Acts 8:9–11), and amazed the people. He knew real power when he saw it.

So when Philip came to town and not only preached but performed signs by healing people and casting out demons (Acts 8:7), Simon knew the power was real, and that it was stronger than his power. So he was ready to switch sides. He even tried to buy the power with money because he wanted it so badly (v. 18).

It is possible for a man to assent to all this and still not be a Christian. Simon said, “I believe this.” It is possible for someone to give an intellectual assent to the propositions of the Scripture and not be a Christian.

Christianity is not concerned about our assent, but it is very concerned about our true deliverance from sin, our true reconciliation to God.

Similarly, it is possible for us to be aware of feelings within ourselves, and many are deceived by feelings. Many people have been moved to tears by the description of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross on Calvary’s hill.

“Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized …”

What a prolific cause baptism is of people imagining they are Christians when they are not.

Many think they are Christians because they were baptized or christened when they were children. They think that baptism is a guarantee, that it makes them Christians.

Simon’s “faith” was simply amazement, amazement at Philip’s signs, not brokenness for sin and not humble trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Believing that supernatural power is present and being amazed by it so much that you want it is not an experience of true faith.

Simon Had a Crooked Heart

Verse 21: “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right [literally: straight] before God.” At the root of Simon’s false faith was a heart problem. His heart needed to be changed.

He was a man with a crooked heart who willfully suppressed the knowledge of the true God,

Luke’s warning to us: there is a false faith that does not save; its object is the power of supernatural signs and wonders, not Jesus and the glory of his grace; its nature or experience is amazement, not brokenness for sin and humble trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior; its root is a crooked and vain heart.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

Our hearts are so deceitful that we do not know that we are being deceived. And the deceit is so subtle. If the heart thinks it can get peace and quiet and rest, if it thinks it can silence its conscience by doing something, it will do it. I repeat that the trouble with all of us by nature is that we not only fool other people, we fool ourselves. That is the greatest folly of all, that you have fooled yourself.

People think they can have their fill of pleasure in the world and go to heaven because they believe in Christ. He will believe in anything as long as he gets his own will and his own way.

In addition there is the devil, the adversary of our souls. The apostle Paul tells us that the devil sometimes transforms himself into “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). The devil is quite prepared to tell men or women to believe in Christ and to persuade them that they have done so if in that way he can ensure the loss of their souls. The devil will encourage people to say they believe if he knows that will silence their consciences. If it will stop them from thinking and reasoning and investigating and making sure of where they are,

How often Jeremiah’s words have come true: “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14).

Not only that, Simon joined the church. We read, “When he was baptized, he continued with Philip.” His profession of belief was apparently not a flash in the pan.

Simon to all intents and appearances had become as much of a Christian as all the others. There was a change in his life. He would never have been admitted into the church if he had gone on practicing his sorcery.

And yet, the whole point of the story is to tell us that the man had never become a Christian at all. Here was a man who to all appearances was a perfectly good Christian.

“I will give you money. Let me have this power too.” If you had questioned Simon on his creed, he would have given you the right answers, but in what he said in an emergency, in a sudden moment—ah, there you see the state and condition of his heart!

Poor Simon, by speaking like this, showed quite plainly that he was still essentially the same man. And that is always the trouble with the false appearance of Christianity; people in themselves remain the same. They add on certain things—they believe and are baptized, they join the church, they look on with admiration and wonder—but their natures are not changed. They are still the same people they were before, and then they betray themselves! Suddenly they show that they are still worldly-minded; they are still profane.

So we must test ourselves, not so much by what we say as by the general tenor of our lives, by the way in which we practice Christianity.

For to many, their Christianity was always something that they seemed to be carrying with them in a bag.

What matters fundamentally is not experience, it is your relationship to Jesus Christ, your understanding, your knowledge of the truth. Experiences can be treacherous. That, again, is where the cults come in. They counterfeit experiences and lead people astray.

I have had people come to me and say that they felt called to the Christian ministry, but at times I have been able to detect that their real interest was not in the truth to be preached but in the preaching, in the position of a preacher, a minister. He saw an opportunity for self-importance, for self-aggrandizement, a chance to get people to admire him.

The issue has always been, what part does Christianity play in my life? Does Jesus control my life or does something else?