False Prophets-Simon Magus of Samaria
(Note: This message is based on a sermon preached at New Hope Baptist Church near Fulton, MO on Sunday evening, 3-23-2025, but is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: Someone once remarked that where you find a religion, you’ll find a prophet or more than one willing to endorse that religion. There were false prophets in the Old Testament, some were named but others were not, and that was true in the New Testament era. Even the Lord Jesus Christ warned about false prophets in a number of places/
One of the first known false prophets in the New Testament was a man named Simon who lived in Samaria. He had everything going his way until Philip the evangelist came to town. Philip preached Jesus and won many to the faith. Simon was among those who believed—or was he?
The Prolog: when the persecution began
Text, Acts 8:1-4, KJV: 1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. 4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
The background for this message about Simon, the false prophet of Samaria, actually begins with verse 1 of Acts 8. Just before this, Stephen, one of the original seven men called deacons, was put on trial and then executed for his faith in Jesus the Messiah. Saul of Tarsus was there and, as verse 1 states, a great persecution arose against the Church in Jerusalem.
One of the sad things about this persecution was the universal aspect. Luke doesn’t mention it here, but Saul, later Paul the apostle, never forgot this. He testified before King Agrippa in Acts 26 as to what he had done to both men and women. And, this was a conflict between Jewish believers and Jewish non-believers about Jesus as Messiah.
Some believers stayed but paid with their lives. The apostles remained in Jerusalem (Luke doesn’t state why) but there were still others who got out of Jerusalem as fast as they could, one might say!
One of those who ran to Samaria, then, was Philip. This Philip was not the Apostle but another believer; one of the original seven “deacons” selected in Acts 6:1-6. The next several verses give us an account of some of what he did while in Samaria.
1 The ministry of Philip the evangelist
Text, Acts 8:5-9, KJV: 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
Verse 5 says Philip “went ‘down’” to the city of Samaria. This is true because Jerusalem sits about 3000 feet above sea level (see https://bibleatlas.org/jerusalem.htm) and a good bit of central “Palestine” seems to be a good bit lower in elevation. I haven’t found yet just what Samaria’s—the city, not the region—elevation except that it was “atop a steep hill” according to a Wikipedia ™ article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria_(ancient_city)), for what it’s worth. At any rate, Philip the evangelist left Jerusalem and went to one of the cities of Samaria.
And there he preached Jesus! Just as others were doing, so was he, and the Lord was going to honor Philip’s efforts shortly.
We sometimes forget how important this was. Even when Jesus and the disciples came to Sychar (John 4), the Samaritan woman was surprised that a Jew would ask for even a drink of water because “the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans (John 4:9)”! At that time, though, many of that city believed in Jesus but, sadly, at a later time there was another Samaritan village that lost a golden opportunity to minister to Jesus and the disciples (see Luke 9:51-56).
Now it seems that the second part of the Lord’s final commission to the apostles was coming along. The Gospel had been pretty much retained to Jerusalem and those coming into that city. The early chapters of Acts describe this. Now, as Philip and the other unsung heroes of the faith who preached as they fled through Judea and Samaria, some heard and believed. And it wasn’t just because of the message, but also the miracles which Philip
(highlighted here) was doing.
Some of the miracles Philip did (not by himself, of course; he had to have the Lord’s approval and the Holy Spirit leading him) included casting out demons or evil spirits (these “guests” didn’t want to leave their human hosts!) and healing those who were lame as well as those having “palsies” or paralysis (https://biblehub.com/greek/3886.htm). These are the same kinds of healings Jesus performed: witness how many times He cast out demons (seven from Mary Magdalene alone, Luke 8:2), healed a paralyzed man (Luke 5:17-26), plus at least one man who was lame (Matthew 15:30-31). Jesus had told the disciples, “You’ll do greater works than I did” in John 14:12 and here was proof positive.
Luke adds, “There was great joy in that city”, and I would suppose, yes there was! It’s always a great day when someone, anyone, comes to faith in Christ! It’s also a great day when someone is healed from a serious illness! We don’t see it much these days, but demon/evil spirit activity is alive and well—even so, when someone is delivered, that’s a call for great joy!
But just as surely as the Lord wants to bring joy, there is someone else who wants that joy to be done away with. That person is our enemy, the devil, and he has an entire team of those who want to squelch or destroy our joy. He had one such person in that very city where Philip was,
2 The experience of Simon the magician
Text, Acts 8:9-13, KJV: 9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. 11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 12 But 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. 13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
It goes without saying that the devil uses every trick in the book plus others in order to deceive people, getting them to worship and/or serve him, however he can. That’s probably what happened here in this Samaritan city. Philip had come to preach Jesus and salvation through him. Simon the Magician (some call him Simon Magus) had already been there, using “sorcery” or “magic (https://biblehub.com/greek/3096.htm)” to bewitch or amaze the people, according to the notes at (https://biblehub.com/greek/1839.htm). That was bad enough, attempting to amaze them, but he also wanted to be known as “the great power of God”. Imagine that, using magic of whatever kind to amaze people and have them say this was God’s doings!
Simon had done this for a “long time (verse 11)” and he must have thought he had a good grip on the people there. But something happened, and that something was the Gospel! The messages Philip preached and the miracles Philip performed were greater, apparently, than anything Simon could do. I don’t read where Simon performed any miracles, at least not like Philip’s deeds. It’s important to remember, there wasn’t a good way for Simon to cast out demons. If he was using magic and receiving power from Satan, there was no way he could cast out demons! The Lord Jesus Himself said that it was impossible for Satan to cast our Satan (see Mark 3:20-27)!
And these Samaritans continued to believe the Gospel. Philip was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God (a theme found often in Acts) and, to repeat, these people believed it! They also showed they were serious by being baptized. A word about baptism: to be placed in water doesn’t change anything except the status of one’s clothes from dry to wet. These folks in Samaria had heard the Gospel, then believed it, and proved their faith by being baptized. They wanted to show they were following Jesus! Remember that even though many believed in Jesus in Sychar (John 4), there is no record that anyone was baptized. Now, many were baptized.
Now comes one of the most debated subjects ever: Simon believed, and was baptized, but was he ever genuinely born again? Philip must have thought Simon had genuinely believed and baptized him; and Simon even followed Philip, “beholding the miracles and signs which were done.” To be honest, even like Simon, I might wonder about all of this as well—Philip was doing things and healing people better than anybody else could do at the time!
And, by the way, the same word used to describe how Simon “bewitched” or amazed the people is the exact same word used here to show that he “wondered”!
Luke doesn’t say how long Philip stayed there, but it was long enough for news of this awakening to reach the apostles in Jerusalem. They sent Peter and John to this city, and when they got there, some very good things happened!
3 The prayer by the apostles
Text, Acts 8:14-17, KJV: 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Luke now records that Peter and John arrived where Philip was preaching and briefly adds what these two Apostles did. The first thing they did was pray for these Samaritan believers so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. After that, Peter and John laid their hands on these believers and they received the Holy Spirit. It’s beyond the scope of this message to explain why these two had to minister in person so that these new believers could receive the Holy Spirit. The important thing is that they did what was required at the time.
As an aside, I can’t help but think what thoughts Peter and John may have considered once they arrived in Samaria. They might well have remembered the incident in John 4 where, as Jesus stayed by “Jacob’s well”, they had gone into the city to buy food. John, especially, must have had some kind of “what was I thinking?” moment. He and his brother James had wanted Jesus to call down fire on a certain Samaritan village because “they didn’t receive Him (Luke 9:51-56). John had to go from “Torch ‘em, Lord!” to “Touch ‘em, Lord!”
But back to the text. We’re not told if Peter and John laid hands on all believers, or if maybe they had been interrupted for a moment, and that bit of confusion was the direct result of the actions of one man, one alleged believer, who wanted something extra,
4 The problem Simon caused
Text, Acts 8:18-24, KJV: 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. 24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
It must have been something, and actually only a few people ever did see this, when new believers did receive the Holy Spirit. Nobody but they know what emotions they felt but they had to know something was different. It was real. And they had been changed forever because they believed the Gospel, repented, and trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Except, perhaps, one person. Again, we do not know if Simon was genuinely born again, i.e., had repented of his sins, or had only gone through the motions, so to speak. To follow what I’d said about baptism a little while ago, some people have done this, to either simply be baptized or give an intellectual response.
In brief, an evangelist named Oliver Greene from South Carolina told in his autobiography that he had done something so revolting that his father was about to put him in a reform school. This was during the late 1920’s or early 1930’s so imagine what that might have been like. His sister pleaded with the father, saying Oliver will surely go to Hell if you put him in that reform school. Oliver decided he needed to “do something” and decided he would “join the church”. One such church was having meetings and at one such meeting, Oliver asked the pastor if he could “join the church”. The pastor, according to Oliver simply asked him if he believed Jesus was the Son of God. Of course, Oliver agreed—intellectually—but as he himself said, the only change he made was a change of clothes. He didn’t become a believer until a later time, but the Lord has used him through sermons and literature for many years.
And to this day, we wonder about Simon and whether or not he was a genuine believer. Some doubt it, based on the problem he caused when he spoke with Simon Peter. Simon the magician saw how Simon Peter was an instrument in how the believers received the Holy Spirit and even offered Peter money for the privilege, as Simon thought it was! Did Simon want to be able to give the Holy Spirit to others, as Peter did? Or was he desiring to charge money for this act of service? Did he want to keep the standing as “the great power of God”?
Peter didn’t waste any time, He simply looked at the offer, and maybe the money in Simon’s hand, and told him “Thy money perish with thee”, which is a very polite translation! We can find a rather earthier rendering in the J, B, Phillips’ translation (loosely, Peter told Simon where to go with the money)! And it wasn’t because of the money itself—Peter gave his “diagnosis” as first, you thought you could pay to receive the gift (it’s not a gift if I have to pay for it); then, your heart isn’t right with God; followed by “you need to repent of your wickedness (was this just about the payment or something else?) and pray to God so that He will forgive the thoughts of your heart. Peter summed it up nicely when he added, “You’re in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” Gall, here, referred to bile or choler, at the least something very bitter according to (https://biblehub.com/greek/5521.htm). It’s almost like Peter said, “you’re in the bitterness of bitterness” and that’s hardly a good combination!
And Simon’s reply is still puzzling to me (and some of the others who have studied this passage). Note that even though Peter tells him to pray, Simon turns it around and asks Peter to pray for him. Again, this could be fear on Simon’s part (I don’t know if the Lord will even hear me or not); possibly acknowledging Peter had something Simon didn’t, including what Simon may have thought was better communication with the Lord; alternately, as some think, Simon was too proud to pray for himself, simply wanting to escape any judgment from the Lord.
Conclusion: the story of Simon stops here. I didn’t go into too much detail about how he was a false prophet but let me add, here, why I believe it. First, he used sorcery and magic—however he used those things—to get and keep power over the people where he lived. Second, we may never know this side of Heaven whether or not he was a genuine believer, or if he had only pretended. I’ve heard it say that there is about 18 inches between head knowledge and heart belief: one can agree with the mind, “yes, I need to be saved” but not do anything further.
Lastly, he tried to pay Peter for the ability to give the Holy Spirit to others. Was this a genuine request, or did he have other things in mind? Peter didn’t doubt for a moment and gave Simon a reproof he never forgot!
But leaving Simon for a moment, the most important question is this: dear reader, how about you? Have you personally repented of your sins and believed the Gospel? If not, do so today!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
