But being immature, he was seduced to go back to the old ways of thinking. Simon the sorcerer amazed the people of samaria with his impressive tricks. It documents the true history of the samaritans, the meaning of the word peter in the ancient world and the church that was established at rome by simon the magician. Simon magus tries to buy the holy spirit america magazine. The acts of simon magus in the first century ad by. Join us in exploring, the strange tale of simon the magician. Simon the magician was man who believed that he was someone great. The spirit isnt a commodity we command but a person who commands us. But when they believed philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of god, and the. Esv magic is the art of deception, the sleight of hand, the skill of illusion and distraction. Magus means magician and is commonly added to his name to differentiate him from others named simon. But when philip told the samaritans the good news of jesus christ many people believed. The kingdom of christ and simon the magician by rev. By his magic arts 115 simon had managed to pull the wool over the eyes of the samaritans for years.
Simon magus international standard bible encyclopedia. People are attracted to entertainment with dazzling special effects. The name or term magus is not given to him in the new testament, but is justly used to designate or particularize him on account of the incident recorded in acts 8. Simons perversion of signs and wonders desiring god. Simon, a man amazed with magic and not with christ. The book of acts is the key to the understanding of christian beginnings. This article mainly consists of quotes from the bible and early writers about simon. These were wise men who came from the east to worship jesus, the newborn king. After consulting these two books, i invoked simon the magician. A collection of sermons on book of acts chapter 8 by dr.
Magicians and astrologers swarmed in her streets comp. Although the term magus is not found in this passage, it is also an appropriate description since in act 8. Magic is defined as the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc. Simon performed magic tricks and everyone thought he was amazing.
Lessons from the book of jude united church of god. Going back to acts 8 when we see simon a magician having magic and philip doing miracles, its very easy to assume that magic that didnt come from god could have been in play regardless of phillip saying in the name of jesus acts 8. Although the bible warns about various false teachers, in the new testament there is more about one of them than the others during that time. Conversions in the book of acts simon the sorcerer acts 8. He made claims of being someone great, but it seems that he allowed the people to come to their own conclusions. The act of simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is named after simon. That is what happened to simon the magician here in acts 8. I want you to open your bible to the 8th chapter of acts because were going to look at the history of a man by the name of simon, not simon peter. A minor figure in new testament history, simon also appears in gnostic texts in which his character and biography are expanded upon, but these accounts. After the story about simon, the end of chapter 8 relates the story of an ethiopian eunuch who believes philips preaching of christ vv. We first started in chapter 1, looking at how jesus promised.
His name was simon the magician, and this man, and not simon peter the. Listen here to the most recent sermons preach from the grace baptist church pulpit. I then understood that simon the magician is the opposite pole of simon. Large numbers of samaritans professed faith and were baptized. Well, lets turn to the book of acts, and see how this preaching deacon, philip, and others dealt with simon magus.
These arts were almost, so to speak, the specialite of ephesus. Simon magus, also known as simon the sorcerer or simon the magician, was a religious figure whose confrontation with peter is recorded in acts 8. He appeared in the wake of the newly established church in samaria. Simon had a special status among the samaritans as a practitioner of magic. It comments on a good believer who was martyred, stephen v. The power of authority will not function simply because we copy the methods of another, as the sons of sceva realized acts 19. Simon the sorcerer and the faith that does not save. Simon magus today we are continuing our journey through the book of acts. Simon responds to this situation where gods power is now conveyed as means of judgment pointed at him and he is one scared former magician. One has to do with how simon the magician responded to the holy spirit, and the other has to do with how the samaritans responded to the holy spirit. Now, in verses 9, one man is in view, a magician by the name of simon.
Deceit, lying, power, money, bitterness, slavery, gospel preaching, salvation, and the laying of hands to give. Simon was a local celebrity in samaria, because he practiced sorceryor as the esv renders it, magic. In any case, there are some important lessons from simon s brief new testament appearance. We usually speak of simon the sorcerer or simon the magician. Simon the sorcerer, sometimes referred to as simon magus or simon of gitta, is mentioned by luke in acts 8. It took a truthtelling believer peter to set him straight and tell him the path to forgiveness.
He was a magician of sorts, and had mesmerized the locals with his arts. Luke tells us that this is the occasion for a great persecution to take place and those who were in jerusalem and in judea began to be scattered to other places. And that was simon the magician, now generally called simon magus. The search for the historical paul, signature books, isbn 156085216 x. We first started in chapter 1, looking at how jesus promised the holy spirit for all of us to live upright lives. He used his so called magic to make a great name for himself and to win the adoration of the people. This simon was a man who had once mystified the people of this samaritan city verses 911. Nor can it be attained automatically because we read books about building the church. He claimed that jesus freed him from having to obey any biblical law.
The acts of simon magus in the first century ad is the autobiography of this fascinating character, told at the end of a long and eventful life, describing his many adventures in the time of christ and nero. Simon the magician answered and told me, do not invoke me in the name of christ, call me in the name of peter. Simon the magician this is a great expose by the late dr. Simon magus also known as simon the sorcerer or simon the magician, was a religious figure. Sermons from the grace baptist pulpit are expositional in nature. We cannot buy it as simon the magician attempted to do acts 8. Free access to sermons on simon magus, church sermons, illustrations on simon. But when they believed philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of god, and.
Simon the magician an exposition of acts sunday pm grace community church. From taylor marshalls new book the eternal city rome and the origins of catholic christianity due december 2012. A series of character sketches through the book of acts simon magus. Simon the sorcerer, contrary to many theologians views, was a true believer. Simon was the samaritan sorcerer who professed conversion to christianity and sought to buy an apostleship. Gary years ago, i had a long conversation with a prominent member of a mainstream christian church. And simon answered, pray for me to the lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
The greek word expresses the idea of superstitious arts, overbusy with the supposed secrets of the invisible world. This explains many of the miracles in these socalled faith healing meetings. Simon magus was a magician of samaria who had seduced the people of that region. Philip, stephens coservant to the hellenistic widows, headed to samaria and preached and performed signs and wonders in a city there. The strange tale of simon the magician united church of god. In verses 22, peter tells simon to pray for mercy, but simon responds in verse 24, pray for me to the lord, that nothing of what you have said may come true upon me. However, when the question of jewish traditions continued to intrude on the early churches, christian literature and sermons slid into the third, and most dangerous of these polemics, the defamatory polemic that dehumanizes jews kille 293, or as will be discussed in our case here. So, simon was doing miracles which, for the moment, relieved people, but which, later, left them bound worse than before. Its the same greek word that is used in the story of the magi who visited bethlehem. Even simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with philip acts 8. Announcer join our host, gary petty and his guests, as they help you understand your future on beyond today. We meet simon in acts 8 as one of the converts to jesus through the preaching of stephan.
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