Can God Be Bought???
Reflection: There is a saying, “everything in this world has its price!” In the way of the world you can buy almost anything if you have enough money. Simon the Sorcerer had a lot of money on account of his sorcery business. People of both “high” and “low” means came to see him, and paid him large sums of money to watch him do his stuff. But the when the people saw and heard Philip’s ministry, they came to faith, and Simon did as well (or at least intellectual belief). As they followed Philip around, they saw what true power looked like, power that was from God and ushered in God’s kingdom of light into the darkness.
When the apostles Peter and John heard that there was a revival in Samaria and people like Simon the Sorcerer were coming to faith, they discerned they needed to check it out. When they arrived they saw that these new believers were baptized, but had not received the power of the Holy Spirit. How they discerned this is not mentioned, and is a good question to think about. Whether or not Philip had the Holy Spirit is not evident either. Philip was one of 7 deacons set aside with Stephen for the work of the ministry, but one would assume Philip had the Holy Spirit or else how could he do the powerful works he did. Nonetheless the apostles lay hands on the new believers and they received the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the crux of the story is that Simon saw this and wanted to receive some of this power evidently to pump up his own business, for the apostles rebuked him and said he has only wanted to buy the power of God like he thought he could buy everything else. He was a believer (maybe???), yet still living in the flesh and wanting the power of God to prop himself up. The apostles rebuked him and he prayed that what they had said may not happen to him. This could have come from a contrite heart though there are others who think Simon the Sorcerer never became a believer.
There are some early church historians (see Irenaeus 120-202 AD), who wrote that after this incident Simon became worse than ever and many think he is responsible for many early heresies. In fact, the term “simony” means using evil intent like Simon Magus did in trying to buy the holy things of God. The Church of England also struggled with this practice after its separation from Rome.
So what can we learn from this? Today we see many spiritual hucksters “hawking” the Holy Spirit for their own personal gain. Many of these have been identified and dealt with, and yet in Revelation it says we should always be aware of this type of thing for it is representative of the end times when there will be all kinds of those who come to deceive in Jesus’ name.
One way to discern is the key difference of where is the glory going? If the glory is going to man, you can know it is questionable and most likely not of God? The difference between Simon Peter, the apostle, and Simon Magus, the deceiver, is that one gave all glory to God and the other tried to grab that glory and the money that came with it. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book and one Satan tried a long time ago, so we should not be surprised when we see it again!
We can see again today how important it is to read the bible and it reminds us of how to rightly separate truth from error. And God has given us today the Holy Spirit in the church to discern this. One of the most important gifts of spiritual leadership in the church today is discernment, the gift of God to separate truth from error. And of course all truth is based in God’s Word, which we study in the Holy Spirit’s power and discernment! Amen.
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Lord!(aka Hallelujah)
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them—
this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah)
1 Chronicles 1:38-2:17
The People of Seir in Edom
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. 39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister. 40 The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
41 The son of Anah: Dishon.
The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
The Rulers of Edom
43 These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned: Bela son of Beor, whose city was named Dinhabah. 44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king. 45 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith. 47 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king. 48 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king. 49 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king. 50 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab. 51 Hadad also died.
The chiefs of Edom were:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54 Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.
Israel’s Sons
2 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Judah To Hezron’s Sons
3 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. 4 Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to Judah. He had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda—five in all.
7 The son of Karmi: Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things
8 The son of Ethan: Azariah.
9 The sons born to Hezron were: Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb.
From Ram Son of Hezron
10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah. 11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, 12 Boaz the father of Obed and Obed the father of Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea, 14 the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, 15 the sixth Ozem and the seventh David. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel. 17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Acts 8:9-25
Simon the Sorcerer
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. 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. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 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. 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.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 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.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29
O God of community, we are built, shaped and formed by those you call into our lives. Let us be the church and know our responsibility to and our hope for your body. Amen.
When the apostles Peter and John heard that there was a revival in Samaria and people like Simon the Sorcerer were coming to faith, they discerned they needed to check it out. When they arrived they saw that these new believers were baptized, but had not received the power of the Holy Spirit. How they discerned this is not mentioned, and is a good question to think about. Whether or not Philip had the Holy Spirit is not evident either. Philip was one of 7 deacons set aside with Stephen for the work of the ministry, but one would assume Philip had the Holy Spirit or else how could he do the powerful works he did. Nonetheless the apostles lay hands on the new believers and they received the power of the Holy Spirit.
And the crux of the story is that Simon saw this and wanted to receive some of this power evidently to pump up his own business, for the apostles rebuked him and said he has only wanted to buy the power of God like he thought he could buy everything else. He was a believer (maybe???), yet still living in the flesh and wanting the power of God to prop himself up. The apostles rebuked him and he prayed that what they had said may not happen to him. This could have come from a contrite heart though there are others who think Simon the Sorcerer never became a believer.
There are some early church historians (see Irenaeus 120-202 AD), who wrote that after this incident Simon became worse than ever and many think he is responsible for many early heresies. In fact, the term “simony” means using evil intent like Simon Magus did in trying to buy the holy things of God. The Church of England also struggled with this practice after its separation from Rome.
So what can we learn from this? Today we see many spiritual hucksters “hawking” the Holy Spirit for their own personal gain. Many of these have been identified and dealt with, and yet in Revelation it says we should always be aware of this type of thing for it is representative of the end times when there will be all kinds of those who come to deceive in Jesus’ name.
One way to discern is the key difference of where is the glory going? If the glory is going to man, you can know it is questionable and most likely not of God? The difference between Simon Peter, the apostle, and Simon Magus, the deceiver, is that one gave all glory to God and the other tried to grab that glory and the money that came with it. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book and one Satan tried a long time ago, so we should not be surprised when we see it again!
We can see again today how important it is to read the bible and it reminds us of how to rightly separate truth from error. And God has given us today the Holy Spirit in the church to discern this. One of the most important gifts of spiritual leadership in the church today is discernment, the gift of God to separate truth from error. And of course all truth is based in God’s Word, which we study in the Holy Spirit’s power and discernment! Amen.
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Lord!(aka Hallelujah)
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
7 to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,
their nobles with shackles of iron,
9 to carry out the sentence written against them—
this is the glory of all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah)
1 Chronicles 1:38-2:17
The People of Seir in Edom
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. 39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister. 40 The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
41 The son of Anah: Dishon.
The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
The Rulers of Edom
43 These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned: Bela son of Beor, whose city was named Dinhabah. 44 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king. 45 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith. 47 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king. 48 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king. 49 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king. 50 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab. 51 Hadad also died.
The chiefs of Edom were:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54 Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom.
Israel’s Sons
2 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Judah To Hezron’s Sons
3 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death. 4 Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to Judah. He had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda—five in all.
7 The son of Karmi: Achar, who brought trouble on Israel by violating the ban on taking devoted things
8 The son of Ethan: Azariah.
9 The sons born to Hezron were: Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb.
From Ram Son of Hezron
10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah. 11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, 12 Boaz the father of Obed and Obed the father of Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab, the third Shimea, 14 the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, 15 the sixth Ozem and the seventh David. 16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and Asahel. 17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Acts 8:9-25
Simon the Sorcerer
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. 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. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 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. 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.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 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.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29
O God of community, we are built, shaped and formed by those you call into our lives. Let us be the church and know our responsibility to and our hope for your body. Amen.
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