Mar. 08, 2026

Last week we saw Stephen preach to the Sanhedrin and his preaching cut them to the heart. They rejected God’s message and messenger once again and stoned him to death. This week Simon the Sorcerer comes to believe upon hearing Philip’s preaching. Then tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit from Peter and John.

Acts Lesson 13 Study Questions

1.    Who previously practiced sorcery: In the Bible sorcery is associated with _______, magical practices – and often with the taking of mind and mood altering drugs. Whatever real power Simon had, it was from _______, not God.

2.    Amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done: Simon was convinced by Philip’s preaching and amazing miracles, to the point where he declared _______, was _________, and continued with Philip. Simon became a follower of Philip and his ministry.

3.    They sent Peter and John to them: When Jesus gave unto Peter (and the other apostles) the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19) it was really for this ________. Here they officially welcomed those (the Samaritans) who had previously been excluded from the people of God into the ________ of God.

4.    Received the Holy Spirit: The last option seems to best explain what happened. Whatever the Samaritans experienced, it seems to have been more than the “regular” bestowal of the Holy Spirit at salvation. This is a _______ of the Holy Spirit we should always desire and _____.

5.    He offered them money: Simon thought that the Holy Spirit was merely a ______ that could be bought or sold. He wanted to control the working of the Spirit, and regarded the Holy Spirit as a power he could use as he wanted, instead of a _______ who ruled his life.

6.    You thought the gift of God could be purchased with money! Of course, Simon was wrong in this thought. The gifts of God are received _______ from Him, by ______.

7.    Philip could not actually see into Simon’s spiritual _______ and know with complete certainty that he was sincere in his _______; but he had demonstrated enough to make his proclamation of faith credible.

8.    “Men may come very near, they may be intellectually convinced of the supremacy of Jesus; they may even decide that they will adopt His ethical ideal; they may go so far as to determine that they will imitate the perfection of His ________. But these things do not make men __________.” (Morgan)

9.    Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things come upon me: Instead of actually __________ his heart before God, Simon asked Peter to pray he would be spared the consequences of his sin. This shows Simon felt a true conviction of the Holy Spirit, but was not yet willing to _______ his own heart before God. Peter couldn’t humble Simon’s heart for him.

10.    The preacher can’t ________ for you, nor can he _______ for you; he has enough repenting to do all on his own. The preacher can pray for you, but you better also pray for yourself – as Peter told Simon to do.

11.    This is desert: Leaving fruitful ministry to go to a desert is foolish from ____+_ perspective, but wise if directed by ____. What could be more foolish than to leave a place of prospering ministry and go to a desert road?

12.    The Ethiopian was a rich man, a man of power, and at least in some way a celebrity. Yet Philip knew he needed _______ just as much as anyone else. We should never fear speaking to those who are considered to be ___________ people about Jesus.