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Without going and re-reading Acts 8, did Simon (the sorcerer) make it to Heaven?Now go read it again and let me know.

I don't know about heaven, but he was big shot in town and most likely a money man, maybe a big giver. He may not have made it to heaven, but could have been on the church counsel.

“Head knowledge” won’t get you in the door “Hell will be filled with people that didn’t cuss, didn’t drink, and may even have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things makes someone a Christian.”

It sounds to me as though Simon wanted to truly do what was right in the end, so if he was sincere in asking God to change his heart, yes, he went to heaven.But people that have had a power trip and know how to manipulate people usually have a very hard time letting go of that or changing. It can be done but they must have a true desire to change More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

This story is powerful to me.I just completed a series in our SS class of the parables of Christ. But this was not a parable. It was the real thing with real people and speaks to me on so many levels.Unlike a parable which contains a core meaning but not always a picture that you can draw every possible correlation from, this one actually is a life example that truly settles for me some questions that good people have of a doctrinal nature.Calvinists will say that he wasn't truly saved in the first place. But a plain reading of the text says otherwise. And Peter's cure for his problem did not include instruction to truly repent this time and do his first works over. Phillip, the 2nd deacon chosen by his church family is the evangelist. Being the 2nd deacon chosen tells us that Phillip was spirit filled. And his sermon was powerful, and wherever he went folks were saved and folks were healed, and something I have never witnessed, demons were cast out of people. But for some reason that I can't explain, folks were not being spirit filled. This is a big problem for those who say you get it all when you get saved. Who knows how long it took for the news of this revival to reach back to Jerusalem and for them to send Peter and John to them?Simon meanwhile had every reason to hate the arrival of this new message. But he didn't. He believed, as the others did, and he followed Christ's example in water baptism as his first act of obedience. Never again are we told of his practicing his magic.And this next thing stands out to me: Though he marveled as he followed Phillip, he never offered Phillip any money to share with him the powers that Phillip was performing.Why not? (I don't know.) Oh what I would be willing to pay for the power that Phillip was applying! I have a friend who is now home and paralyzed from the waist down from a small plane crash. If I had such power, I would be on my way to Ohio to lay hands on him.We have been praying in our class for a young girl (12 y.o.) who has cancer in her knee. She is at all the risks of cancer, plus, like my wife she has a high risk of losing that leg above the knee. It is one thing when this happens to a woman who has lived a very good life and is about to see her first grand-daughter... it is quite another thing for a 12 year old.Why didn't deceitful (self deceit?) self absorbed Simon not offer anything to Phillip?Well, that's enough for now. As I said, this is one of the richest real life stories in all of scripture to me.I don't know if he is in Heaven. The last we heard he was heeding Peter's rebuke and repentantly was asking Peter to pray for him.

Good stuff! I think I may go back & study this again! Thanks for sharing, Bro. Bob, and great to see you posting More of Him...less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name

I haven't even mentioned Philip's daughters, Carolyn. Because Phillip gets less attention than he ought to (in my opinion), a lot of people who actually study the Bible never make the connection.Acts 21

I believe he never was saved to begin with, and I’m just about as far from being a Calvinist as can be. Simon the Sorcerer might have repented later, but the text doesn’t reveal if he did. Peter told him directly that his heart was not right in the sight of God, that he was wicked, that he needed to repent, and that he was still in the bond of iniquity, enslaved to sin. A heart right in the sight of God is a condition of salvation. There is no salvation without a heart that has been made right with God. A true Christian is set free from slavery to sin. In Acts 8:24, Simon did not repent of his sin. Like King Saul of old, Simon only asked that the

It is possible that your understanding is correct, and I always value your opinion QW.It is also possible that v 13 was a true statement.

note: These were some of the questions I had about this story during my study of it. SIMON (the ex-sorcerer)Acts 8:9-241) It takes less than 2 minutes to read Simon's entire story. How long did it actually take? (Acts 8) 2) What had just happened in Jerusalem? (Acts 7)3) Who was Phillip? (Stephen, Phillip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus, Nicolus, Acts 6) 4) Was Phillip Spirit filled? So why were people not being Spirit filled under his ministry? 5) Do you receive the Holy Spirit when you are saved? (be careful)6) Who was Simon?7) Was Simon truly saved? Were the others? Was Peter truly saved before he denied Christ? If a Christian sins, does that mean he was not truly saved? How does one know whether he is truly saved? 8.) What does an evangelist do?9) Did Peter violate Judge not...? (v20-23)10) Simon's sin. What law or commandment did he break? How was he supposed to know?11) Why did he Believe, be baptized, and follow in amazement, yet never offer Phillip money?12) Why did he offer Peter money for HIS gifts? 13) Why were Phillip's and Peter's gifts different?14) Leave some parts out, leave out Simon's sin... how does this change the story?16) Leave out V 13. (Many do.)17) Leave out v 24. (Many do.)************************ Q) What is the purpose of salvation? What is required to be saved?* Q) What is the purpose of water baptism? What is required to be eligible for it?* Q) What is the purpose of Holy Spirit Baptism? What is required to be a candidate for it?