Acts 8:9 (NIV) Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great. Simon put his trust in sorcery. He was open to his body, the world, and the devil. He not only wasn’t resisting, he was embracing everything that would give him money, possessions, positions, popularity, prestige, power, pleasure, and accomplishments. A lot of what he was doing was coming from the power of Satan.

Acts 8:10 (NIV) And all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is the divine power known as the Great Power.” If you are getting what you want from your body, the world, and the devil, it is extremely hard to put your trust in God. You already feel like you have found what you are looking for. You may have problems in your life; but, there are so many things that appear to be going right. The main problem is your conscience; the Holy Spirit is creating guilt in it as a warning of impending doom.

Acts 8:11 (NIV) They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. When you believe that the majority represents the truth, you start trying to get as many people agreeing with you as possible. If many people are saying you are doing the right thing, then you put your trust in majority opinion. You think, if this many people are saying this is right, then it must be true. However, Jesus has already shown you that there will be more going down the broad road to destruction and less down the narrow road to eternal life.

Acts 8:12 (NIV) But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Adam and Eve had the opposite situation. They were surrounded by good trees and only had one forbidden tree to contend with. Simon was surrounded with lots of people who were heading in the wrong direction and Philip was the only good messenger telling him the truth.

Acts 8:13 (NIV) Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. Coming into trust and fellowship with Jesus requires repentance. Repentance requires you to WANT to quit doing wrong, bad, and evil things. You have to reject you old life and embrace your new life. Sin has to become something you hate; and, righteousness (only doing good things) becomes something you love. Simon didn’t make a clean break with his past. He just ADDED Jesus to his old life.

Acts 8:14 (NIV) When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. Philip was just making sure everyone got a chance to be born again. Those that made a quick, clean break from their past and put their trust in Jesus were totally changed through Philip’s ministry. But, Simon and probably others needed a more specific ministry. Peter and John were to help these new Christians get the power to live this new Christian life. Philip’s type of ministry keeps moving on to new territory.

Acts 8:15-16 (NIV) When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Accepting Jesus as your Lord, Savior, and King is your first step into Christianity. However, Christianity is a whole new way of life. You need the desire to live that life; you need to study how to live that life; you need to learn how to pray and talk to God; you need to learn how to believe for all the new things you are going to need; you need to learn how to yield to God’s love; and you need to start taking faith-action.

Acts 8:17 (NIV) Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus forgives you of all you past, present, and future sins. However, you need to start treating yourself, other people, and God’s plan with righteous living. That takes the power of the Holy Spirit. He leads you into all God’s truths and explains their meaning. He gives you power to live the Christian life in such a way that others want what you have. He is vital for empowering your new life in Jesus.

Acts 8:18-19 (NIV) When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Simon wasn’t trusting in Jesus and resisting his body, the world, and the devil. He was trying to bring it all into one unified way of life. He thought he could go on yielding to his body, the world, and the devil while including Jesus in the mix.

Acts 8:20 (NIV) Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! Jesus dealt with people like Simon: Mat 6:24 (NIV) No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. It would be like trying to ride two horses going in opposite directions. Repentance is like a U-turn; it’s you going into a totally different way of life.

Acts 8:21 (NIV) You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Simon had made what he considered to be a pretty good life for himself. He still didn’t see that life as being all that wrong. He didn’t feel like it was wrong for him to take himself and others into deception, misinformation, lies, cheating, misleading, and sin. He was leading people into eternal death and didn’t see anything wrong with it. He was acting like he was a savior but couldn’t save people like Jesus can.

Acts 8:22-23 (NIV) Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin. Simon’s efforts to add Jesus to his old way of life didn’t work; he was still a captive to sin. He didn’t want to resist his body, the world, or the devil. He was happy with the way his life was going. But, his life was killing him and killing his chances to receive eternal life.

Acts 8:24 (NIV) Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” If Simon was really ready to repent and give up his old life, Jesus was ready to give him a new life. If Simon was ready to put his trust in Jesus and start resisting his old way of life, then eternal life was his! Trust is vital for you to go all the way and make a clean break with your past. You will only resist, if you see there are things trying to get into your life that are deadly to you.