The Power of the Holy Spirit

On my way home to Gitta, I ran into an old friend of mine. He seemed unusually happy and giddy. He was singing praises and dancing with joy. I greeted him with a hug and asked him why he was so happy. He told me he had just received the greatest gift of all, the gift of the Holy Spirit. I questioned him how he attained this gift and he told me he spoke with Apostle Peter. I asked him if he paid Peter for the gift, and he laughed hysterically and replied "You cannot buy the gift of the Holy Spirit you fool! I received this gift out of faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I answered "How much can I buy this power from you? Here, I will give you all I have, just give me this gift that you now possess!" He replied to me saying that the Holy Spirit is so powerful, that it cannot be bought with any amount of money, but it can be possessed if you truly believe in God.

My Trip to Rome

I came to Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius and attracted many followers by displaying my extravagant ability. People made a statue of me because of all the things I have done and the great power I possess. Inscribed in the statue was "Simon the Holy God." I later attacked Apostles Peter and Paul because they opposed me and my beliefs. These constant attacks on the Apostles effected my popularity status immensely. Less and less people began to follow me each day, so I returned to my original home in Gitta. I had a plan to regain my authority over the people that used to follow me. I told them, that when I die, I want to be buried in this here grave, and from there, after three days, I will rise alive from the grave.

The Holy Spirit Among the People of Samaria

The apostles sent Peter and John down to Samaria because they heard that the people had accepted the word of God. When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit, the people had only been baptized by the name of Jesus Christ. When Peter and John placed their hands on the people, the received the Holy Spirit. I saw this miraculous power the Lord had possessed so I offered money to Peter and John to acquire this divine power to bless people with the Holy Spirit. Peter fiercely replied "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 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." I answered "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me." My conversion was not because of inner conviction of faith in Christ as the Redeemer, but because I hoped to gain even more power to increase my influence on the people.

Philip in Samaria

On this day, persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Saul was giving the approval to men to take the action of stoning Stephen. Saul began going from house to house, in search of the apostles, violently dragging both men and women and putting them in jail. Philip arrived in Samaria and proclaimed Christ and the crowd of Samaria paid attention to the astounding signs the Holy Spirit performed through him. A piercing cry came out of each and every evil spirit that was extracted from every body who had faith. Many crippled people were healed and so the town of Samaria was filled with ecstasy.

Change of Power in Samaria

My popularity in the town of Samaria is continuing to grow. People of the town come to see the extravagant power I possess. All of the people, both high and low come to watch me practice sorcery. A man named Philip came to Samaria and was preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and they men and women were baptized. I saw that this God had exorbitant power, far greater than mine would ever be. I spoke to Philip and asked him how much it would cost to buy the powers from him. Philip articulated that you could not buy the gift of God with any amount of money.