Who was Simon the Sorcerer?

Simon Magus. — Who was that sorcerer? Simon by name, he is commonly called Magus, indicative of his profession — a magician or sorcerer. By his magical arts he had bewitched the people, and had established himself in their estimation as a marvel. He gave himself out for some great one. The people gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, declaring, so we should read, "This man is that power of God which is called Great" (8:10). To those captivated by Simon, Philip preached — not, however, himself, but Christ. How different must he have appeared to them all from the sorcerer. Both did wonders. Simon exalted himself, and accepted the adulation of the crowd. Philip preached Another, and enlisted the converts as disciples of Christ. He sank himself, his glory, his greatness, in the excellency of the One whom he preached. Was he dazzled by the power of Simon? Certainly not. He did what amazed Simon, who felt himself in the presence of one greater than himself. Simon wondered, we are told, beholding the signs and great miracles wrought. A power greater than that which he had known was at work, and he was constrained to admit it. It was the power of the Holy Ghost. And the message proclaimed, the historian is careful to state, was good news to those who received it.

The effect on the people was decided. Prestige, which had been with the sorcerer, disappeared like snow before the sun. From being bewitched by Simon they turned to be baptised by Philip, who had preached what they now believed was good news concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. True converts had been made; and even Simon took his place as a convert among them. He too was baptised. What a testimony had been borne to the power of the truth! People felt it. They owned it. For they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God was triumphing in the place where the enemy had dazzled so many. For turning once for all from Simon, they became disciples in truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who was that sorcerer? Simon by name, he is commonly called Magus, indicative of his profession - a magician or sorcerer. By his magical arts he had bewitched the people, and had established himself in their estimation as a marvel. He gave himself out for some great one. The people gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, declaring, so we should read, "This man is that power of God which is called Great" ( 8:10 ). To those captivated by Simon, Philip preached - not, however, himself, but Christ. How different must he have appeared to them all from the sorcerer. Both did wonders. Simon exalted himself, and accepted the adulation of the crowd. Philip preached Another, and enlisted the converts as disciples of Christ. He sank himself, his glory, his greatness, in the excellency of the One whom he preached. Was he dazzled by the power of Simon? Certainly not. He did what amazed Simon, who felt himself in the presence of one greater than himself. Simon wondered, we are told, beholding the signs and great miracles wrought. A power greater than that which he had known was at work, and he was constrained to admit it. It was the power of the Holy Ghost. And the message proclaimed, the historian is careful to state, was good news to those who received it. The effect on the people was decided. Prestige, which had been with the sorcerer, disappeared like snow before the sun. From being bewitched by Simon they turned to be baptised by Philip, who had preached what they now believed was good news concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. True converts had been made; and even Simon took his place as a convert among them. He too was baptised. What a testimony had been borne to the power of. the truth! People felt it. They owned it. For they were baptised unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God was triumphing in the place where the enemy had dazzled so many. For turning once for all from Simon, they became disciples in truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Simon detected. — The sorcerer evidently looked on with amazement, beholding the power of the Apostles displayed in conferring the Holy Ghost. He well knew how men regarded any one professedly even endowed with supernatural powers. He knew, too, what temporal profit he had himself reaped by dazzling the multitude with his sorceries. If only he could possess that power which Peter and John had exhibited, what gains would he make! In what estimation would he be held! Hence he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:18-19). The power to give the Spirit he desired, not the blessing of receiving it. For that he cared not. The answer of Peter was instantaneous, crushing, and decided, negativing the request, and defining Simon's true moral condition. Baptised though he had been, he had no spiritual life in his soul. Conversion he had never known. In the new birth he had never shared. He was yet in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, and on the road to perishing, unless forgiveness of that thought of his heart was accorded to him. Real believers will never perish. Simon was not yet in that class, and so beyond the danger of it. "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God [rather, the Lord], if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity" (8:20-23). Simon believed, we have read (13). Evidently it was intellectual faith without any real conscience work. His heart was still not right with God. Who, consciously sharing in Divine grace, could have made the request he did? Was conviction wrought in his soul by Peter's reply? Was his conscience at last really aroused? "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me," was the unhappy man's response. He desired to escape Divine judicial dealing. But that apparently was all. He asked for their prayers, but made no confession of his sin, nor does it appear that he prayed, as told to do, himself. With this he disappears from the pages of inspiration. And any notices of him in ecclesiastical history, mixed up though they may be with fables, confirm the Apostle's expressed judgment of him — that he had no part or lot in the matter. Persistent opposition to the truth is uniformly reported of him, and unceasing hostility and bitterness against Peter seem to have characterised that sorcerer to the end.

The sorcerer evidently looked on with amazement, beholding the power of the Apostles displayed in conferring the Holy Ghost. He well knew how men regarded any one professedly even endowed with supernatural powers. He knew, too, what temporal profit he had himself reaped by dazzling the multitude with his sorceries. If only he could possess that power which Peter and John had exhibited, what gains would he make! In what estimation would he be held! Hence he offered them money, saying, "Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:18 ,19). The power to give the Spirit he desired, not the blessing of receiving it. For that he cared not. The answer of Peter was instantaneous, crushing, and decided, negativing the request, and defining Simon's true moral condition. Baptised though he had been, he had no spiritual life in his soul. Conversion he had never known. In the new birth he had never shared. He was yet in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, and on the road to perishing, unless forgiveness of that thought of his heart was accorded to him. Real believers will never perish. Simon was not yet in that class, and so beyond the danger of it. "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God [rather, the Lord], if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity" ( 8:20 -23). Simon believed, we have read (13). Evidently it was intellectual faith without any real conscience work. His heart was still not right with God. Who, consciously sharing in Divine grace, could have made the request he did? Was conviction wrought in his soul by Peter's reply? Was his conscience at last really aroused? "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me," was the unhappy man's response. He desired to escape Divine judicial dealing. But that apparently was all. He asked for their prayers, but made no confession of his sin, nor does it appear that he prayed, as told to do, himself. With this he disappears from the pages of inspiration. And any notices of him in ecclesiastical history, mixed up though they may be with fables, confirm the Apostle's expressed judgment of him - that he had no part or lot in the matter. Persistent opposition to the truth is uniformly reported of him, and unceasing hostility and bitterness against Peter seem to have characterised that sorcerer to the end.

Simon Magus was a miracle-lover, and lived to influence the people's minds thereby. But Philip was preaching Christ, something that met the deep need of the heart of man, and Simon was distanced. "Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done" (Acts 8:13). But the faith of a man who sees miracles and believes is not divinely produced faith; for what I believe, because I see it with my eye, is not faith at all. I have no doubt when Simon confessed the Lord, and Philip baptized him, that Philip thought he had caught a great fish, and would have brought him into the assembly; but the Lord had His eye on His assembly, and on His dear servant, as well as on this daring sinner, so, by means of Peter, He brings out his real state.

Evidently, before Philip reached Samaria, Simon Magus had by his sorcery gained an immense hold on the Samaritans. We read that he "bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one; to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God" (Acts 8:9-10). But the ministry of Philip, meeting, as it did, the deep need of the conscience and heart, delivered numbers from Simon's influence. His sorceries were dispelled from their minds by the truth and light of God. Seeing the way the current ran, I take it, Simon thought the best thing he could do was to go with the tide, and see if he could not yet keep his position. Carried by the strong current, it is quite possible his intelligence assented to the authority and power of the name of Jesus, whom Philip preached. That his conscience and heart were not reached is manifest, as the desire for his own glory is his uppermost thought. This reveals the profound moral darkness of his soul. Light — God's light — he could not have had; as the reception of that always leads the new-born soul to have, in measure, thoughts which are according to God. Simon had nothing of this about him; and Peter is instrumental in saving the assembly from the introduction of a hypocrite, that Satan sought to foist in, and whom the warm-hearted evangelist Philip appeared prepared to welcome.

The apostles Peter and John had come down from Jerusalem and having laid their hands on the Samaritan believers, they had received the Holy Ghost. "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said to him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." How solemn for any one who is a mere professor of Christianity? Are you only a mere professor of Christianity? "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter," is a Spirit-blown trumpet note that may well awaken you from your awful delusion. With what divine clearness does Peter look into the man's soul, as he says, "Thy heart is not right in the sight of God." I ask you, Is your heart right with God? Shirk not this plain question, I beseech you. Peter's last words to Simon are, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."

And when Simon gets these solemn words said to him, what does he do? Fall on his knees, and cry to God for mercy? No; he would have his praying done by proxy, like thousands in Christendom today. "Pray ye to the Lord for me," is his answer. You pray for me, Peter, he says. I do not hear that Peter did pray for him, and we hear no more of him. I fear he had a grand opportunity of salvation, and missed it. Do not imitate him!

The visit by Peter and John to Samaria also brought to light a negative issue. Among those who had reacted to Philip's preaching there was a sorcerer called Simon. Although he believed and was baptized he was not truly converted. This man who, by his sorcery had brought others under the spell of Satan, appears to have been impressed by the great wonders and miracles of God he had seen, but without a work by the Holy Spirit taking place in his heart. And Philip did not notice this! He possessed the gift of the evangelist, but obviously not the gift of discerning of spirits (Acts 21:8 and l Cor. 12:10). It was not until Peter came that it became manifest that Simon had "neither part nor lot in this matter" because his heart had not really been in the light of God.

The hour of deliverance came for the Samaritans when Philip preached the Word, concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Signs and great miracles followed, and the Samaritans believed and were baptized. The miracles were done to show the power of God, to attest the preaching of the Gospel by Philip, and to expose the counterfeit powers of Simon. And he, like the sorcerers of Egypt, had to own that this was the power of God. He was amazed when he beheld the great miracles. But more than that, he also believed, was baptized, and then continued with Philip. But his faith was not through the Word of God. God's Word alone can produce faith in man, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Simon was captivated by the miracles he had seen. Philip was deceived by him, but not Peter, who uncovered his Wickedness.

Philip goes down, then, preaching Christ; "and the people with one accord gave heed to those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did." But the testimony of miracles is apt to act upon the flesh. They are, indeed, a sign to unbelievers, and that such is the result we find shown us by the Spirit of God in the chapter before us. However graciously given of the Lord as a token to attract the careless minds of men, they are dangerous when they are made the resting-place and the object of the mind; and this was the fatal mistake made then, and not merely there but by many millions of souls from that day to this. Faith never rests on any other ground than God's word. All else is vain, and apt to accredit, as well as entice man. There was indeed the unmistakable action of the Spirit of God on this occasion — the power that cast out unclean spirits and healed the sick, as well as the means of spreading joy throughout that city for the souls of men. Evidently it was power in external display, then so richly manifested, which acted on the fleshly mind of Simon, himself having the reputation of a great one, and before this the vessel of some kind of demoniacal power — the miserable power of Satan, with which he dazzled the eyes of men. But now finding himself eclipsed, like a wily man, his object was to avail himself of this superior energy if it were possible. His aim was not Christ; it was all for himself. He wished to gain fresh influence, not to lose his old: why not, by this new method, if possible, turn things to his own account?

Accordingly, among the train of those that received the gospel and were baptized, Simon is found. Philip had not the discernment to see through him: evangelists are apt to be sanguine. It may be that the Lord had not allowed the true character of Simon to be manifested to every eye at that moment. It did not escape the discerning eyes of Peter a little afterward. But as we are told here, "When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women; and Simon himself believed also." Scripture does show, though it does not sanction as divine, a faith that is founded on evidence. And it continues still. So John often speaks of it; and the very one that tells us most of the divinely given character of true faith — who most of all lets us into its secret power and blessedness, even eternal life as bound up with it, — that same John is the one who more than any other furnishes instances of a mere humanly produced faith. Such was the faith of Simon. The gospel of Luke also describes what is similar; that is to say, a faith not insincere but human, not wrought of the Spirit but founded on the mind yielding to reasons, proofs, evidences, which are to it overpowering; but there is nothing of God in it: there is no meeting between the soul and God. Without this, faith is good for nothing, nor is God Himself honoured in His own word. Power was what struck Simon's mind — himself a devotee of power, who in times past had sunk indeed low, even to the enemy of God and man in order from any source to be the vessel of a power beyond man. He could not deny the might that proved itself without effort superior to anything he had ever wielded. This was what attracted him; and, as it is said here, "he continued with Philip" (there was no other bond of connection), "and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." A believer would have wondered more at the grace of God, and bowed in adoration before Him. Conscience would have been searched by the truth of God; and the heart would have been filled with praise at the grace of God. Neither one nor other ever entered into the thoughts or feelings of Simon.

Whatever the mischievous result of Simon's sorcery and falsehoods leading to his own blasphemous pretensions — and we are here told of his misleading all around small and great (for what avail rank or education to guard from error?) — all vanished like smoke before the light of the gospel. 'The kingdom of God' and 'the name of Jesus' annihilated the vain jugglery and impious frauds of the Samaritan.

But it is instructive to notice that there is a difference in the language of verse 12 as compared with 13, and a difference in favour of the men and women in the former as against the latter. They are said simply to have believed the testimony and to have been baptized; the same is said of Simon with the important addition that he attended closely to Philip, and while beholding the signs and great works of power as they were done, was amazed. This was what transported him, not the love of God, not the truth of Christ, nor the grace of the gospel even to such a guilty deceitful wretch as himself, but the wondrous power which wrought before his eyes. Its overwhelming reality struck none so deeply as Simon. Others had their eyes drawn to the kingdom and its holy glories; others in spirit fell down and clasped the feet of their unseen Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, lost in wonder, love, and praise. Simon was in ecstasies, beholding the signs and great deeds of power, the character of which was discerned by none more clearly than himself. He yielded to evidence and believed what approved itself to his mind irrefragably. Not a word implies self-judgment before God, not a word of any gracious action on his heart. Conscience was not ploughed up; nor did the affections flow under the sense of God's immeasurable grace in Christ to save him from his sins. On the other hand, it is not said of the men and women in the verses before that they were 'amazed', as Simon was in his close attendance on Philip, not to hear the truth more fully and grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but 'beholding the signs and great deeds of power as they came to pass.'

The visit of Peter and John to Samaria brought to light an appalling case of hypocrisy (Acts 8:9-24). For a long time a sorcerer, Simon by name, had deceived the people by his Satanic wonders. Self-exaltation and personal gain were his objects, as with every other misleader ancient and modern. The people had come to call him "that power of God which is called Great" (R,V.). This man's spell was broken by the coming of Philip with the Gospel of Christ. There is indeed nothing else that can deliver men from the thraldom of Satan, whatever form that thraldom may take.

Remarkably, amongst those who came forward for baptism, professing faith in the Lord Jesus, was Simon himself. What was it that attracted such a character? "The miracles and signs which were done." He was astonished to find introduced into Samaria a power more marvellous than his own. There is no need to accuse him of making a profession of faith for the sake of gain; he was doubtless sincerely attracted by Philip's miracles, although his heart was never reached. Faith that is founded upon miracles is worthless, for it is of the essence of faith to believe in that which is unseen. In our Lord's time, many in Jerusalem believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did, but to such persons He did not trust Himself (John 2:23-25). In the case of Nicodemus, conviction wrought by miracles happily led on to something better (John 3). In Acts 13:6-12 we read of one who witnessed a miracle great indeed, but it was "the Word of God" he desired to hear, and in conclusion we are told that he "believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."