Ligonier
R.C. Sproul
JUL 28, 2009
BIBLICAL TEXT: Acts 8.18–23
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given
at the laying on of the apostles’ hands,
he offered them money
19 and said,
“Give me also this ability
so that everyone on whom I lay my hands
may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered:
“May your money perish with you,
because you thought
you could buy the gift of God with money!
21 You have no part or share in this ministry,
because your heart is not right before God.
22 Repent of this wickedness
and pray to the Lord
in the hope that he may forgive you
for having such a thought in your heart.
23 For I see that you are full of bitterness
and captive to sin.”
The technological explosion proliferates in geometric proportion. Yet the human spirit of corruption remains.
We are still trying to be God.
We still grasp for autonomy, refusing to have God rule over us.
We now reach beyond the heights of an ancient ziggurat.
We walk on the moon and call it a real step forward for mankind.
We are indeed “enlightened.” No longer do students carry switchblades to school. They carry guns.
Gangsters don’t use tommy guns. Machine-gun Kelly has become obsolete in the face of assault weapons and rocket launchers.
The battering ram has yielded to the ICBM.
Our cities are armed fortresses, and we need more brick and mortar for prisons.
We are still confused.
Our politicians babble to us daily on the magical technology of television. And still everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
But there is no technology sophisticated enough to fulfill the Serpent’s seductive promise. We are not gods. We shall not be gods. We cannot be gods.
Only God can be God. Only God can be supreme.
The issue in Eden is the issue today.
Who will have dominion over man and man’s technology?
Our margin of error shrinks each day.
Now we have the technology and techniques not to destroy God, but to destroy ourselves. It is technological madness.
Coram Deo
Examine your personal life.
- Are you grasping for autonomy?
- Refusing to let God rule your life?
- Trying to be as God?
BIBLICAL TEXT: Acts 8.9–25
Simon the Sorcerer
9 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,
10 and all the people, both high and low,
gave him their attention and exclaimed,
“This man is rightly called
the Great Power of God.”
11 They followed him
because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery.
12 But when they believed Philip
as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ,
they were baptized,
both men and women.
13 Simon himself believed and was baptized.
And he followed Philip everywhere,
astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had accepted the word of God,
they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
15 When they arrived,
they prayed for the new believers there
that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;
they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,
and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given
at the laying on of the apostles’ hands,
he offered them money 19 and said,
“Give me also this ability
so that everyone on whom I lay my hands
may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter answered:
“May your money perish with you,
because you thought
you could buy the gift of God with money!
21 You have no part or share in this ministry,
because your heart is not right before God.
22 Repent of this wickedness
and pray to the Lord
in the hope that he may forgive you
for having such a thought in your heart.
23 For I see that you are full of bitterness
and captive to sin.”
24 Then Simon answered,
“Pray to the Lord for me
so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Originally published at
Understanding the Nature of Corruption | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org
About the author
Dr. R.C. Sproul was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., and first president of Reformation Bible College. He was author of more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God.
