So why did Simon offer money to Peter and John to give him the power to do the same thing they did? Until that time, Simon’s exposure to the gifts of the Spirit had been through witnessing Philip, who as an evangelist, ministered his gifts of healing to those who were paralyzed and lame, to both the saved and the unsaved alike. And so Simon in his ignorance assumed that this gift could also be ministered to everyone, for he did not know that the gift of the Holy Spirit was given only to the Lord’s saints. As I have already mentioned, the ability to lay hands on individuals to receive the Holy Spirit is in fact a gift of the Spirit, and so if Simon’s motivation for wanting this gift was so that he could bless others with it, it would have been entirely scriptural for him to seek this gift, for the bible encourages the saints to desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). And if in his zealous ignorance, he had offered money for the gift because as a new convert he didn’t know any better, Peter would not have rebuked him so harshly but rather just corrected his thinking on the subject. However, Simon’s motivation was not so that he could bless others, but rather for his own selfish ambition, so that he could keep his fame and continue to make money. For Simon had in effect now switched sides, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and he couldn’t work with demonic powers anymore to attract the crowds through the use of sorcery. But to his surprise he had now found a new source of power that he thought he could use to attract the crowds once again. So what evidence did Simon see that convinced him that the power of the Holy Spirit was real? Simon would have seen the same evidence that we described in the previous account, i.e. some of the disciples would have begun to tremble under the tangible power of God coming upon them, some would have wept and still others would have laughed, while some among them, may have cried out in surprise and joy at encountering the tangible power of God for the first time. Some on this occasion may also have fallen down under the power of God, as they would have been standing at the time hands were laid on them. But nevertheless, all the disciples would have started to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And Simon himself would have experienced the same tangible power and phenomena as the rest of the disciples.
Michael E.B. Maher
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