“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.” {Acts 8:18-24}
In our society today we don’t really like to talk much about the heart of a person or the motive behind their behavior. We often focus on the actions of a person rather than their intentions. We assume that if their actions are good, they must be good. We love to say, “He has such a good heart” just based on their good deeds, but never really knowing who they are inside as a person. Many people give gifts to the poor, feed the homeless, donate to charities, on and on down the list of charitable acts and we assume because they do these things they must be good. We don’t really know the truth behind the acts but we assume right away they must be good.
Here in this passage we can even assume that Simon, a sorcerer has a good heart for wanting to be able to give the Holy Ghost to people. That seems commendable. But Peter knew what was behind his request to receive this power. As Simon offered money to receive this power we can almost assume he will do the same thing to those who want the Holy Ghost – charge them – make a business out of giving the power of the Spirit of God. But what’s more interesting is, Peter actually shows us the core of the reason that’s behind this request: Simon’s heart. Peter told him his heart was not right in the sight of God. He was in the “gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” Isn’t that amazing? No one can really know the heart of a man except God. But the Lord showed it to Peter that he might point out to Simon what he needed to do which is to repent. Otherwise, Simon has no part in the kingdom of God. His money will perish with him because he believed that the gift of God can be purchased with money and make merchandise out of it. I wonder if his bitterness stemmed out of the fact that the people that used to laud him and think him great are now following the apostles and don’t want anything to do with him anymore. The scriptures had mentioned about him bewitching the people and they all thought that he was “the great power of God”. We can almost see him wishing so much to have this power to give to people the Holy Ghost so people will think him great again. Thus, Peter telling him he was in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity was not farfetched.
In Jeremiah 17:9, the Bibles tells us that, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” But God said: I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. {Jeremiah 17:10}
We can’t be too careful with our hearts; what it is thinking and what is it being motivated by? The Lord judges us according to our hearts – according to our motives. Our appearance doesn’t matter much to Him at all. Our heart is the thing that will either please Him or displease Him; that will either bless us or bring Him away from us.
“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” {1 Samuel 16:7}
In Proverbs 4:23 it tells us, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Watching our heart and keeping our heart diligently is very important because there is no lying we can do before God. Our heart affects the decisions we make in our lives. We may think we can lie and pretend all we like before the Lord but that doesn’t mean He is unaware we’re doing it. We can lie to men and put up a very good holy front to them but again it doesn’t mean God is ignorant of our motives. He knows everything about us through and through: our thoughts, our heart, and our desires. He knows the intents of our heart. Nothing escapes God.
“LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart.” {Psalm 15:1-2}
Why is it hard to be truthful with God? Is it because being honest with ourselves is one of the hardest things we can ever do? Many of us gets so defensive about our faults when others point them out to us and we end up telling them they absolutely don’t know what they’re talking about. Or even lash out with an insult to hurt them back because we’ve been hurt by their honesty. To look at ourselves and find fault within us is a very uncomfortable process for a lot of us. Even when something is so obvious and we know in order for us to grow we need to accept it, we cringe away. For many of us, it takes a humbling experience, a true desire to grow, in order for us to accept we need to change and our heart needs to change.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.” {James 4:10}
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to changing and accepting that I’m wrong, I sure have a hard time doing it. Especially when it comes to the question of the heart. I know for myself I cannot do it. That’s why I make it an important habit to talk to the Lord every day. I bring myself to His presence by talking to Him about my plans for the day, my activities, what I have accomplished and what bothers me, to Him. It could be out loud or in my thoughts, I meditate on these things to Him and ask Him to help me be right with Him. At the end of the day, when an incident or a scene comes to me in my mind from my experience that day, I know it’s my cue to talk to Him about it. I have found that doing this exercise has made me more aware of the thoughts and desires of my heart. The Holy Ghost has helped me tremendously throughout the years to become more and more sensitive to the thoughts of my heart. Through this process I have also learned that the enemy of our soul can plant thoughts in our hearts to cause us to entertain evil thoughts. If we’re not careful we can end up thinking it’s our idea and run with it. I have learned to recognize the enemy’s intentions and rebuke him. I have learned to turn to the Lord and say to Him, “Father, please take these evil thoughts out of my heart. I don’t want them!” And the Lord takes them away. Every day I pray this prayer to Him:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” {Psalm 139:23-24}
The only one that can help us have a purer heart is the Lord. We live in a fallen world where even king David recognized how sinful our world can make us. He said, “Behold I was shapen in iniquity.” {Psalm 51:5} It seems to me we can start out very innocent as a child but sorrow and disappointments, like Simon the sorcerer, can make us become bitter and wicked as we grow older. If we’re not careful we can become so bitter that the word of God will not be able to reach us anymore. His corrections to make us a better person can be taken as an offense rather than an assurance that we are loved. His desire is to save us and bring us to where He is. His desire is to heal us and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness if we would let Him.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” {Psalm 51:17}
I believe the only cure for a bitter heart is to have a constant communion with the Lord. To tell Him every day what bothers us. Tell Him every day our desires to become like Him and to belong to Him. We may start out ashamed of our past, ashamed of ourselves, cringing to talk to the Lord, and probably think we could never ever be honest with Him. But in time, if we challenge ourselves to talk to Him, honestly and openly and have faith in His great love for us, it will get easier. We will see the Lord’s love and His desires to bless us. I have experienced this again and again that when I am honest and open with Him about my heart, I experience His grace. He turns around and blesses me. I receive His healing touch and His wonderful peace that fills my soul through and through and leaves me with pure contentment. I have learned what Jesus said about Himself, “For I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” {Matthew 11:29} This rest, this Son of God that is lowly and meek in heart, we can receive if we would be bold enough to be honest and open with Him with our own hearts.
“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” {Matthew 5:8}
