At this time there was present in the neighbourhood a man, who made no small stir in his day, by name Simon[745]. By his skill as a magician he had succeeded in astounding the people of Samaria to such a degree that he found votaries amongst all ranks and all ages, and was pronounced to be _the Power of God which is called Great_[746] (Acts viii. 10). But in Philip he found a rival whom he could not resist. He might astonish and perplex, but Philip could do more. He could heal, and restore gladness to many a saddened home (Acts viii. 12). The magician, therefore, soon found himself deserted, and many, both men and women, left him, and believing the Glad Tidings announced by the Evangelist, were admitted into the Church by baptism (Acts viii. 12). These results made a deep impression on the mind of Simon, and he too professed himself a believer, and received baptism at the hands of Philip (Acts viii. 13). Meanwhile news that the despised Samaria had received the word of God reached the ears of the Apostles at Jerusalem, and they dispatched Peter and John[747] thither on a special mission of enquiry. They on their arrival prayed that some of those extraordinary gifts, which followed and attested the effusion of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, might be bestowed upon the Samaritan believers, and laid their hands upon them (Acts viii. 17), whereupon the endowments, for which they had prayed, were vouchsafed, and attested the planting of a Church in Samaria, standing in an equal rank with the first Church at Jerusalem[748]. Astonished as Simon had been at the miracles of Philip, he was still more astonished at the results of the imposition of the hands of the two Apostles, and he tried to bribe them to bestow upon him the same peculiar power (Acts viii. 18, 19). This mercenary proposal opened their minds to the real character of the man, and with the same just severity with which he had rebuked Ananias, Peter now denounced the wickedness of the pretender, and declaring that his heart was not right in the sight of God, that he had neither part nor lot in the matter, bade him pray that peradventure his evil intentions might be forgiven (Acts viii. 20–22). Struck dumb by the plain-spoken truthfulness of the Galilæan fisherman, and awakened rather to feelings of apprehension of the Divine vengeance than to repentance[749], Simon implored the Apostles to intreat the Lord for him, that none of the things which they had threatened might come to pass (Acts viii. 24)[750].