So, he asked the apostles if he could buy the ability to lay hands on people to receive the Spirit. Understand that he used to charge people money for using his demonic powers and believed he could purchase the power of God. Simon may have been a sorcerer, but he never saw power like that and wanted in on the action. We do not know what he saw, but it caught his interest immediately. Simon the Sorcerer witnessed something that grabbed his attention. Phillip knew that the people who responded to his message lacked the Holy Spirit, so he sent for the apostles Peter and John to come and lay hands on them to receive. Upstaged and impressed, Simon joined the crowd, believed the Gospel, and was baptized in water. However, when Phillip came preaching the Gospel and moving in signs and wonders, the people who followed Simon - turned to Phillip. Simon was a popular sorcerer with such demon powers that people in his community revered him as a god. I selected this passage to demonstrate how easy it is for the enemy to infiltrate the church if leaders are undiscerning. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” (Acts 8:18–23 NKJV) Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
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