simon magus, a false prophet

[murjahel]

Philip traveled to Samaria, and proclaimed the good news there.

Miracles occurred, the sick were healed, and demons were

cast out.

One convert was Simon Magus.

Acts 8:13 says that he ‘believed", and we have no reason

to doubt the truth of that...

But his conversion did not continue, for he backslid...

Judas had had his name written in heaven, and he sinned and

went to hell..

And this convert, Simon Magus, also left a faith that

he had found for a short time.

In the present time,

the church has paid little attention to Simon Magus.

In the early church,

this name was very familiar,

and the purpose of this portion about him

in Acts is of vital importance...

During the following 300 years,

the name of Simon Magus was spoken of very often.

"Simon"

is the Greek form of a the Hebrew word,

​

"Shimon"

meaning

"hearing with acceptance..."

The word "magus"

does not occur in relation to Simon,

but in verse 9, "mageuon" is used,

meaning "to use sorcery"...

The word "magias" is used in verse 11,

meaning "sorceries".

Therefore, this man was a magician,

using the powers of deception,

and powers of demonic forces

to amaze, astonish, and overwhelm the people.
​

{9} But there was a certain man called Simon,

who previously practiced sorcery in the city

and astonished the people of Samaria,

claiming that he was someone great,

{10} to whom they all gave heed,

from the least to the greatest, saying,

"This man is the great power of God."

{11} And they heeded him because he had astonished them

with his sorceries for a long time.
​

Simon Magus had made the people to think

that he was "the Great Power of God..."

The Greek words for​

"Great Power" are:

"megas dunamis"

meaning the

"exceeding great and mighty miraculous power".

This man, Simon Magus,

was well-known, accepted,

and thought to be a god by these Samaritan people...



There were many such "magicians" in those days...

Tiberius had a host of magicians

in constant attendance with him...

People, then as today,

are attracted by miraculous signs and wonders...

Paul had a confrontation with another magician

called "Elymas".

This Elymas tried to turn away

the deputy from the faith.

Luke refers to this Elymas as a "magus"...
​

{6} Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos,

they found a certain sorcerer,

a false prophet,

a Jew whose name was Bar_Jesus,

{7} who was with the proconsul,

Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man.

This man called for Barnabas and Saul

and sought to hear the word of God.

{8} But Elymas the sorcerer

(for so his name is translated) withstood them,

seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

__ Acts 13:6_8 (NKJV)
​

Philip had gone down to Samaria (vs. 5),

and there were many miracles,

sick people were cured of their diseases,

and demons were cast out...

Simon Magus watched these events,

and saw that these miracles astounded the people...

Revival, salvation of souls,

and acceptance by the people,

that even Simon Magus could not duplicate...

Simon Magus was awestruck by these signs and wonders.
​

Simon Magus became a Christian,

and was even baptized by Philip.
​

{13} Then Simon himself also believed;

and when he was baptized

he continued with Philip, and was amazed,

seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
​

There is no reason to think the Bible lies,

or prevaricates, in this passage,

and the salvation was real,

and to be baptized in those days,

the same statements of faith found in the Apostles' Creed

had to be claimed by the one being baptized...

A miraculous change came to Simon Magus...

Peter and John were dispatched to Samaria

to see what was happening...

When they arrived, they began to "lay hands"

on the converts,

and they began to receive the Holy Spirit...

The sight of these people speaking in tongues,

prophesying, and beginning to exhibit the other gifts

of the Spirit... astounded Simon Magus...

Simon began to see this new found religion,

as another means to make a living,

become powerful and accepted...

Peter and John were showing forth

the miraculous power of God,

that was even a step beyond the signs

seen in Philip...

Simon Magus offered money to Peter and John

to be shown how to give forth the miraculous power

shown in the ministry of Peter and John.

Today, we still call the idea

that trying to buy or to sell spiritual gifts

to be "simony"...

Even today, we find many in Christianity,

that try to offer spiritual gifts, blessings,

prosperity, and answers to prayer

to be received by MONEY...

It is a common false doctrine of today,

started long ago by Simon Magus...

and deserves rebuke today, as it did then...
​

{20} But Peter said to him,

"Your money perish with you,

because you thought that the gift of God

could be purchased with money!

{21} "You have neither part nor portion

in this matter,

for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

{22} "Repent therefore of this your wickedness,

and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart

may be forgiven you.

{23} "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness

and bound by iniquity."

{24} Then Simon answered and said,

"Pray to the Lord for me,

that none of the things which you have spoken

may come upon me."
​

Simon Magus repented

of the sinful desires of his heart...

He was newly saved, weak,

and still needing "milk",

unable to understand the "meat" of the Word...

Slowly, perhaps quickly,

Simon brought the evil former life,

and tried to mix it with the new found Christianity...
​

 

[murjahel]

Simon Magus took the doctrines of Christianity,

and tried to integrate what he had believed beforehand...

It started a heresy known as

​

GNOSTICISM.

Over the next years,

there became a group within the church called
​

"SIMONIANI" or "SIMONIANS"​

​

...

They had doctrines that were a combination

of Judaism, Samaritans, paganism, and Christianity...
​

The early church often referred to Simon Magus

as the founder of the GNOSTIC SECT...​

​

Simon reverted to using his former powers of deception

and demonic miracles to astound people...

The works of supernatural powers appeal

to the outward senses...

The bewilderment, and deception of Simon Magus

attracted some in the church.

The signs seen by many, then done by Simon Magus,

and now done by many Christian charlatans,

make people open to receive spiritual doctrine...

Simon Magus preached a doctrine that was heresy,

false, and damning to the souls of his victims...

The true divine works and miracles done

by true men and women of God

are greater than anything Simon Magus then,

and false prophets today, can imitate...

Yet, the false and evil wonders

done by charlatans of the church

do lead many into false doctrines and heresy...

The devils then, and still today,

use similar methods.

The devil could not stop the church

by the evil Pharisees, Sadducees, and ungodly Romans... Therefore, the devil began to infiltrate the church...

leading some who were saved,

but had had evil doctrines before their salvation,

to include those false doctrines

into their Christian beliefs...
​

We see many illustrations today of such demonic attempts to pervert Christian doctrine...
​

Some charlatans today call out illnesses and diseases

unknown to the person,

and then tell them that they were healed...

The person often believes

that they truly must have had such disease,

and believes that this was truly a healing...

Thereby, they make themselves susceptible

to the false heretical doctrines

promoted by the charlatans...

Some fakes and charlatans of today,

as did Simon Magus in that time,

deceive people by pretending to announce a healing

of someone in "t.v. land" or in "radio land"...

While the ones who have come personally

to the meeting needing and wanting healings

go home unhealed...

the charlatans have many believing

there were astounding miracles done

to someone, somewhere, but not there...

Jesus healed those who came to Him,

and did not just sit there

and tell the sick of Jerusalem,

that someone in Nazareth has just been healed...

The gullible, easily led away by every wind of doctrine,

swallow the lies of the impostors...

They are swindled by such deceptive lies...

With the greed of Simon Magus as an example,

many today want money to guarantee

a miracle, prosperity, and blessings...

Jesus never asked for offerings

to give forth His blessings...

In fact, we are to continue the works of Christ...

and His miracles were mercy, undeserved favor...

Some today, ask for $2000 to get God to procure

the victims of the charlatans out of debt...

Now they are so greedy

that they even want the 'tithe' of the amount needed

to get them out of debt... first...

This prosperity doctrine is evil,

and perpetrated by the "quacks" of Christianity...
​

What of the further history of Simon Magus???
​

Justin Martyr​

​

(also a Samaritan) tells us:

Simon Magus was from a village called Gitton.

In the time of Claudius,

Simon became to be worshipped as a god in Rome

because of his magical powers...

There was a statue erected to Simon Magus

on an island in the river Tiber...

On the statue was engraved "SIMON DEO SANCTO"...

meaning "to Simon the sacred god".
​

Jerome​

​

claims to quote from writings of Simon Magus:

"I am the Word of God,

I am the Comforter, I am the Almighty,

I am all there is of God..."
​

Origen​

​

said of Simon Magus:

"It escapes the notice of Celsus

that the Simonians do not in any way acknowledge Jesus

as the Son of God,

but they call Simon... 'The Power of God'".
​

 

[murjahel]

Irenaeus​

​

had much to say about Simon Magus,

and tells us enough to see the perverted doctrine

preached by this heretic.

"Simon, having purchased a woman named Helena,

who had been a prostitute in the city of Tyre,

carried her about with him...

said she was the first conception of his mind,

the mother of all things, by whom,

in the beginning,

he conceived the thought of making the angels

and the archangels.

Knowing her father's wishes,

she descended to the lower world,

and produced the angels and powers;

by whom he also claimed this world was made.

But after she had produced them,

she was detained by them though envy,

since they were not willing to be considered

the offspring of any other being,

for he (Simon) himself was entirely unknown by them..."

They did not want her "to return upward to her father..."

So she was "confined to a human body,

and for ages passed into other female bodies...

She was that Helen,

on whose account the Trojan was fought...

at last she became a prostitute,

and that this was the lost sheep...

On this account, he (Simon) himself came,

that he might first of all reclaim her

and free her from her chains,

and then give salvation to men

through knowledge of himself.

For since the angels ruled the world badly,

because one of them desired the chief place,

he had come down for the restoration of all things,

and had descended being changed in figure,

and made like to principalities, and powers,

and angels, so that he appeared among them as a man,

and was thought to have suffered in Judaea,

though he did not suffer...
​

Furthermore,

​

he said that the prophets uttered

their prophecies under the inspiration

of those angels who framed the world.

For which reason,

they who rest their hope on him and his Helena

no longer cared for them,

but as free men could act as they pleased,

for that men are saved by his (Simon's) grace,

and not according to their works,

for that no acts were just by nature,

but by accident,

according to the rules established by the angels,

who made the world,

and who attempt by these precepts

to bring men into bondage.

For this reason, he promised that the world should

be released, and those who are his set at liberty

from the government of those who made the world."

\
​

Simon Magus and Peter debated

at least three times...​

​

Simon Magus tried to preach that there were two gods...

Simon Magus denied the deity of Christ Jesus,

and said that Jesus was only a Jewish prophet...

Simon Magus preached that people could live

as immoral as they wished,

and as long as they had an acceptance of him,

they were saved from eternal destruction...

He claimed that the God of the Old Testament

was imperfect...

Peter followed Simon Magus

and countered his sorceries and false teachings

with the truth and the miracles of God.

There first confrontation was at Antioch,

another at Laodicea,

and the final one at Rome...

Simon died in Rome,

after challenging the people to accept his teachings

as superior to those of Peter...

Simon claimed he would ascend to heaven before them,

and through demonic powers began to rise in the air...

He flew about Rome for some time,

but as Peter prayed to Jesus,

Simon Magus suddenly fell to the ground and died.

Simon Magus had told his followers

that if he ever died,

he was to be buried,

and in three days, he would arise from the grave...

They waited fruitlessly...

for he did not arise!

The false heretical teachings had taken seed

in the early church,

and gnosticism was confronted by the true prophets

of the church for many years...

We still fight many of the false doctrines of gnosticism...
​

John wrote I and II John

to confront and counteract the heresy

started by this Simon Magus...
​

{4:1} Beloved, do not believe every spirit,

but test the spirits,

whether they are of God;

because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

{2} By this you know the Spirit of God:

Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ

has come in the flesh is of God,

{3} and every spirit that does not confess

that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.

And this is the spirit of the Antichrist,

which you have heard was coming,

and is now already in the world.

{4} You are of God,

little children, and have overcome them,

because He who is in you is greater

than he who is in the world.

{5} They are of the world.

Therefore they speak as of the world,

and the world hears them.

{6} We are of God. He who knows God hears us;

he who is not of God does not hear us.

By this we know the spirit of truth

and the spirit of error.

--I John 4:1-6
​

The thing that most concerned John

about the gnostic heresy was its view of Jesus Christ.

If anyone does not have the correct view of Jesus,

that person has the spirit of the "antichrist"...

John is very adamant about this...

Today, as then, there are people

who do not deny the historicity of Jesus,

but want Him only to have been a prophet,

a great man, a righteous leader...

Jesus was the "Sent One of God" (Messiah, Christ),

He was the Son of God,

and He is the Only Savior of the world...

John proclaims that these gnostic heretics

are of the world,

and of the world's paganism,

even though they may claim to be of the Christian faith.

There are many beliefs in Christian circles of today

that are so false, so heretical,

so damning in their belief

that we must learn how to know the

"spirit of truth and the spirit of error"

to ascertain the fact

that those doctrines are given of the devil and his cohorts,

not of God.
​

{12} No one has seen God at any time.

If we love one another, God abides in us,

and His love has been perfected in us.

{13} By this we know that we abide in Him,

and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

{14} And we have seen and testify

that the Father has sent the Son

as Savior of the world.

{15} Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God,

God abides in him, and he in God.

{16} And we have known and believed the love

that God has for us.

God is love,

and he who abides in love abides in God,

and God in him.

__ 1 John 4:12-16 (NKJV)
​

John also lets the saints know that Simon Magus

was not "God",

and that "no one has seen God at any time..."

The true God abides within us,

and we know His presence by the love within us...

Jesus was sent of God to become the Only Savior

of the world...

It is confession of Jesus, not Simon Magus,

that saves us...
​

 

[murjahel]

John strongly confronts the gnostic teaching

of that day, and so must we...

We must glorify God as the True God,

and Jesus as the only Way of salvation...

We may tolerate other religions,

but we must still re-iterate,

Jesus is the Only Way to heaven.
​

{5:1} Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ

is born of God,

and everyone who loves Him Who begot

also loves Him Who is begotten of Him.

{2} By this we know that we love the children of God,

when we love God and keep His commandments.

{3} For this is the love of God,

that we keep His commandments.

And His commandments are not burdensome.

{4} For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory

that has overcome the world;

our faith.

{5} Who is he who overcomes the world,

but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
​

The gnostic belief that there is no moral law,

no standard of ethics to which we must adhere

is still prevalent today.

Many want morality to be a personally chosen thing...

but God has established a morality ethic

that He demands to be kept.

Sinners do not answer to us, but to God...

We try to show mankind the route to the mercy of God,

for all of mankind is on the road to hell

for their breaking of His law...
​

"For all have sinned,

and come short of the glory of God..."
​

We may hate the doctrine of the gnostics,

and hate the damning effect it has on mankind...

but we still love the sinner,

if we are truly Christian.

We try to point mankind to the Savior...



Those who trust the "Simon Magus" of this day,

who believe they can choose whether something

is "right or wrong",

and who believe that there is any other way to heaven

will be sadly shocked to someday

awaken in hell-fire.

We have a short time to convince the world

of its need of a Savior...


​

{10} He who believes in the Son of God

has the witness in himself;

he who does not believe God has made Him a liar,

because he has not believed the testimony

that God has given of His Son.

{11} And this is the testimony:

that God has given us

eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

{12} He who has the Son has life;

he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

{13} These things I have written to you who believe

in the name of the Son of God,

that you may know that you have eternal life,

and that you may continue to believe in the name

of the Son of God.
​

{17} All unrighteousness is sin,

and there is sin not leading to death.

{18} We know that whoever is born of God does not sin;

but he who has been born of God keeps himself,

and the wicked one does not touch him.

{19} We know that we are of God,

and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

{20} And we know that the Son of God has come

and has given us an understanding,

that we may know Him who is true;

and we are in Him who is true,

in His Son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life.

{21} Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

__ 1 John 5:10-21 (NKJV)
​

In II John, John again cautions

and warns the church of the "deceivers"

that leave the whole truth of God,

and who bring a "doctrine"

that is contrary to that proclaimed by John...

If anyone even "greets" such a one with a

"blessing" of God,

that one shares in the "evil deeds" of the heretic...

That is strong talk,

but it is proclaimed in the Word of God...
​

{7} For many deceivers have gone out into the world

who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.

This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

{8} Look to yourselves,

that we do not lose those things we worked for,

but that we may receive a full reward.

{9} Whoever transgresses and does not abide

in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.

He who abides in the doctrine of Christ

has both the Father and the Son.

{10} If anyone comes to you and

does not bring this doctrine,

do not receive him into your house nor greet him;

{11} for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

__ 2 John 7-11 (NKJV)
​

The false doctrines started by Simon Magus, are still

found in the church of today.

Hypocrites of today base many of their beliefs
on the same doctrines as Simon Magus.
Judgment will come on the church of our day, due to many of the same beliefs and

practices started by Simon Magus.

The early church which faced the heresy of Simon Magus and his followers,

needed to know how this one came to be in the church...

Hence, in Acts, Luke records where his conversion occurred,

and what began his backsliding into these heretical beliefs...

"Simony" is one of the chief sins of the prosperity movement of today.

Offering to sell the blessings of God for money,

seeking to use Christianity for personal gain and riches...

Began with Simon Magus....

Some in the church of today, use deception and charlatan tricks to imitate miracles,

in order to deceive congregations....

They do it to have a big offering, power, and recognition...

This was the same desire of Simon Magus.

Many today preach that Jesus did not truly rise from the dead.

These ‘modernists’, as we have called them, are actually believing a

heresy started by Simon Magus.

Some today believe that the commandments of God can be broken,

and if they have have somewhere accepted the Christian faith,

they can, with impunity, abort babies, practice sexual promiscuity or perversions,

and still be headed for heaven...

This heresy started with Simon Magus.

Many today want to be considered Christian,
despite their heretical beliefs,
and
Simon tried to continue to call himself a ‘Christian’
despite his heresies...
Many, many... of the heresies of the church,

started with this Simon Magus...

We need to rebuke the followers of such, as Peter did Simon Magus...
​

{20} But Peter said to him,

"Your money perish with you,

because you thought that the gift of God

could be purchased with money!

{21} "You have neither part nor portion in this matter,

for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

{22} "Repent therefore of this your wickedness,

and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart

may be forgiven you.

{23} "For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness

and bound by iniquity."
​