Acts 8:9 Cross References

Acts 8:9

9: A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, claiming to be someone great.

Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred others joined him, but he was killed, and his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing.

Afterward they preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

Those who present their own ideas are looking for praise for themselves, but those who seek to honor the one who sent them are good and genuine.

He did astounding miracles, such as making fire flash down to earth from heaven while everyone was watching.
And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people of the world to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life.

They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.

Pharaoh's magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered all the people and animals.
"This is the finger of God!" the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh's heart remained hard and stubborn. He wouldn't listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters.
She followed along behind us shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved."
This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and spoke to the demon within her. "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her," he said. And instantly it left her.

"If any among the people are unfaithful by consulting and following mediums or psychics, I will turn against them and cut them off from the community.

Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.
A number of them who had been practicing magic brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars.
So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.

And these teachers fight the truth just as Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. Their minds are depraved, and their faith is counterfeit.
But they won't get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as happened with Jannes and Jambres.

They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.

Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them, too.

Outside the city are the dogs--the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

Then Pharaoh called in his wise men and magicians, and they did the same thing with their secret arts.

But again the magicians of Egypt used their secret arts, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh's heart remained hard and stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had predicted.

For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling or sorcery, or allow them to interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,
or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.
Anyone who does these things is an object of horror and disgust to the LORD. It is because the other nations have done these things that the LORD your God will drive them out ahead of you.

He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

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