SIMON: BARGAINER EXTRORDANAIRE
ACTS 8:9-25
OPENING ILLUSTRATION…Dale Crowell’s bargainer attitude
I cannot help, tonight, to think of one of my supervisors I had during college. I worked at the Groundskeeping shop to help pay my way through school. The second supervisor I had was quite a character. He was an older fellow and was retired from the U.S. Navy and wanted to help out at a Bible College. He did just that. The reason he was quite a character was that to get anything done or to acquire materials that we needed to do our work, he’d always barter. In fact, he bargained with a company to give us quote a nice riding lawn mower. How? I am not sure, but I know that he could bargain his way in and out of a deal at will. And that is the subject we want to look at tonight... bargaining... bargaining with God.
READ ACTS 8:9-25
Why do we bargain with God? Why do we try and make deals with the Creator? Why do we test Him like that? Why why why—that seems to be the primary question when we look at bargaining with God. We’ve seen in this passage a great example of bargaining with God. To take a closer look, let’s look first at the man, then we’ll look at the motives, and then finally the meaning.
I. THE MAN… SIMON
It seems that as our passage opens, our character for this evening is put in a bad light. He is called a sorcerer. The word in Greek that we see here actually means, “one who practices sorcery.” This man, Simon, is no fictional Merlin or a flight of fancy witch; he was one who practiced the magical arts. He did this practice in the open and all the people of Samaria knew who he was. These people were so astonished that the Bible says they were beside themselves with awe. This guy was amazing. He was even called the Great Power. Simon was no con-artist. He was no fly-by-night promiser of empty promises—he was real and he had done it for a long time. I am sure he was making money hand over fist with this power he had. The people of Samaria had come to believe in this man’s power and what it could do for them.
Simon was a dangerous man, make no mistake about that. He was a man who gave false hope to the hopeless and used any means necessary, even absolutely evil ones. He was causing people to put their faith and amazement in himself instead of in God. He was a dangerous man. He was trying to take the place of God in these people’s lives—maybe he even claimed to be God, he was “the divine power known as the Great Power” you know.
But then, Simon the Sorcerer was faced with some competition. His monopoly on the hearts of the people with his magic was over—there was a new spiritual master in town. The True Spiritual Master was being preached loud and wide by a man named Philip, one of the Master’s apostles. The tide was turning away from him and was turning toward Jesus. People began to believe in Jesus. People began to be baptized, the lame walked, the blind received sight—all for the glory of Jesus Christ. It was a revival and it was sweeping the towns of Samaria. The tide was flowing and sweeping everyone in its path to come to faith in Jesus. The revival was so great that Peter and John traveled to see if the reports were true of Samaria’s faith.
And Simon was swept up too. The author Luke records in verse 13 that “Simon himself believed and was baptized.” Amazing, the great sorcerer Simon had come to know Jesus. There is no doubt that he was a changed man. His life was new. He knew that his old life did not fit in with Jesus’ plan for His people. He went around with the evangelist Philip and saw the great power that came with becoming a Christian. Being a Christian had its advantages. Being a Christian could open whole new doors of influence for him. Simon was a changed man.
ILLUSTRATION…the foxhole Christian
“’There are no atheists in foxholes,’ wrote William T. Cummings in 1942. ‘While crouched in a trench with bullets zinging overhead, even the most reluctant heart begins to bargain with God- just in case He might exist. ‘God if you only get me out of this alive, I’ll…’ But foxhole faith rarely lasts. The crisis passes and thoughts of God recede into the background. To the ‘foxhole Christian’ God is there mostly for emergencies.”
II. THE MOTIVES… OF SIMON
When we talk about motives, we are talking about why Simon the Sorcerer wanted to become a Christian. Why all of a sudden did he give up “the good life” as a sorcerer to become a Christian with no advantages.. none like he was used to anyway? He traded his wand for a cross. He traded incantations for prayers. He traded being the object of everyone’s affections and awe and wonder for being a servant. Why would he do that? What did he want from Christianity? What did he want from God?
Well, he tells us. Plain and simple he wanted power. Simon was a man who wanted to trade one power for another. He wanted to trade his Great Power for God’s power under his control. He looked and saw Philip, an apostle, healing and teaching and doing all sorts of wonderful things through the power of the Holy Spirit. That was what he wanted. He wanted the ability to impart the Holy Spirit and use the power of the Spirit for his gain. And how was he going to get it? How was he going to get this Holy Spirit? It seems everyone else had it—he needed it! How?
Money! Money buys everything. I will just walk up to that fellow Peter and offer him $2000 for the Holy Spirit. I’ll actually go as high as $5000, but I won’t let him know that. Ok ok, $3000, you drive a hard bargain. Hey, if you guarantee that I’ll be able to do any miracle that I’ve seen, I’ll go $3500 and that’s my final offer. He wanted to buy the Holy Spirit of God for money. How else was he going to get it? It seems that only real believers were receiving it. He didn’t really believe but just went with the tide. Trading one power for another is no big deal, just as he’s on top when the dust settles. Simon was an evil dangerous and foolish man. He bargained with God for the Holy Spirit.
What could he possibly want with the Holy Spirit? What could he have used it for? He could have charged outrageous prices for healings for any disease, malady, and disability. He could have put on a show and charged admission for the miracles he could do. He could black mail kings and emperors for millions. Wait, he could be a king or emperor. He would be unstoppable. The possibilities were boundless. He’d just have to win this one little bargain to get him in the door.
ILLUSTRATION… The Bargainer; Funny Funny World
1) Our mammas did not hesitate to bargain. Questioning a price was standard procedure. “How much are these cucumbers?” “Two for five cents ma’am.” Then mamma pushed one aside. “And how much is this one?” “Three cents.” “Okay. I’ll take the other one.”
2) Never buy a portable TV set on the sidewalk from a man who’s out of breath.
III. THE MEANING… FROM SIMON’S MISTAKE
You see, Simon believed that God could be bought with money and then the same power the apostles had could be his for whatever he wanted. Simon wanted to use God for his own gain. Peter was horrified. How could someone think they could buy the gift of God with money? Sinful. Horrible. Evil. Peter had nothing but bad things to say to Simon.
READ 8:20-23. Peter saw a man caught in sin and evil desires and he could have no place in God’s work. He was to full of himself and dishonor for God to do anything good. Simon realized the huge mistake he made in trying to barter a better deal with these Christians. God may even do something to him. He seemed to have a change of heart or was he only trying to cover his backside? Who knows? He was now afraid of God because of what Peter had said. Was he even bargaining with God now in trying to save his own skin? God, lets make a deal. I know I offended you, but if Peter prays will you let me off. What if I get John too, how about then? Simon the Sorcerer was in trouble. The bargain had not gone as he had planned… not at all.
CONCLUSION
What can we learn from Simon… the one who would bargain with God. The one who would try and make God out to be whom he wanted. The one who would use the power of the Holy Spirit for his own gain. What can we learn from him? We bargain with God too you know. We do. “God if my promotion comes through I’ll… If I win the lottery God, I will give so much to the church, it’ll never go broke… God if I can just have this then…” We barter and haggle with our God in the same way Simon did. We do it to get what we want from God. What, other than money, do we usually want from God? The right job. Health. Good relationships. Promotions. You think of what you have bargained for with God. Why do we do this? We do it because we want God to fit into our little picture of Him. We take God out of our pocket, ask Him to perform, and when He’s done we stick Him right back in our pocket. God is often our pet. Good God, thanks.
Its ok to ask God for things, please don’t misunderstand me. It is the attitude with which we ask. The motives that we have behind our requests are our downfall. It was not an evil request that Simon made—requesting the Holy Spirit—but it was His motives. My challenge to you tonight is an important one. This week, as you pray to God, ask Him to show you your motivations behind what you ask Him for. Ask Him to show you your heart. Pray in a way that reflects who God is and not what you want from Him.
