The Sin of Simon Magus - Session 1 - Michael Coughlin

The Goal of Hating Simony

Here's what I'm not going to do this morning. What I'm not going to do this morning is give you meticulous detailed applications of what simony is or isn't so that you can determine if your grandma or your neighbor or whoever's on your mind is committing simony when they jot a Bible verse in a card and Give it to someone or if you have a Bible verse on a cup it in and out.

What I am going to try to do is I'm going to try to give you the general overview of what happens in Acts chapter 8 such that at the end of this hour you will hate simony. And that is my goal. I will leave it to Andrew and Conley to give you more Definitions and applications and defenses of the various ways we can be simoniac.

But I want you to walk away hating simony so much that if you were able to discern it. You will respond the way you ought to respond to something that God loathes as well. So going back to the Word of God, we set the table here.

Simon the Sorcerer and the Samaritans Believe

We're in Acts chapter 8. Interesting chapter break because it says Saul was there giving approval to Stephen's death. Which is an odd way to start a chapter, of course. God and the Apostle. Well, not the Apostle but the writer of Acts Luke did not put chapter breaks in here.

This was men who did this but Saul of course was there when Stephen was persecuted and this is when the Prophecy from Acts chapter 1 verse 8 began to be fulfilled. If you turn to Acts chapter 1. But you will receive power When the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem.

And in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth and so a great persecution breaks out. It's notable to realize here that persecution is synonymous with a bad thing. None of us would pray for persecution for ourselves or for others.

In fact, if you're a prayerful person for your fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. You should be praying for the persecuted church on a regular basis. You should be praying for more than just that they'd be faithful in their affliction.

I do think it'd be appropriate to pray for deliverance from some of those evils and yet God used persecution. Broken out against the church in Jerusalem by the hands of a man named Saul to scatter everyone except the Apostles and a man named Philip goes to Samaria which would have been where you get the word Samaritan from and so Samaria was where that woman at the well was from the woman who knew that they were to worship God.

But did not know how to worship God in truth. And so you have people who are religious you have people that know that there's a Messiah to come in in Samaria. Generally speaking compared to Israel. They would have lacked the revelation that Israel had they would have lacked the specifics.

That a lot of those in Israel had. But you do recall that Jesus Saved that woman at the well. And then she went and testified of the Lord Jesus and people in that city said well bring him here so we can hear him.

And then they believed as well. So there's some Christian history there and then we move forward to this point where Philip not an Apostle Philip a deacon shows up Preaching Christ to those in Samaria, and we it's not specified.

What city this was in it says it was in a city. Historians believe it was a city called get I not sure that matters. But if you're interested in those things people have written about Simon in this city.

But so Philip gets there and he's performing signs and wonders. Which are the authenticating marks of the Word of God is coming to a people special revelation is appearing in such a way that you can know that it's authentic and because the Messenger is being authenticated by God.

And you get to verse 9 prior to this time. Prior to the time when Philip showed up and with signs and wonders was causing demons to fly out of people with loud shrieks. They weren't faking it. This was a real thing happening.

Simon had practiced sorcery in the city or or we call him Simon the magician. Sometimes but I call him Simon the Samaritan sorcerer because I went to just enough Baptist churches where alliteration was required.

It seems by the pastors that I've Developed a bit of it myself. But Simon practiced sorcery. Simon was a man who intentionally went around and did the opposite of what God has commanded us and he did Magic, he did sorcery.

He did things that wowed people. He performed signs and wonders that were beyond what God has permitted us to do in creation in order to move things and make things happen and ultimately for his glory.

Continuing in verse 9. He claimed to be someone great. That's your first clue. Just so you know. He claimed to be someone great that's. That's a bad thing Christianity. All right, he claimed to be someone great this before his supposed conversion.

But it says all the people from the least to the great it heeded his word. So they listened to him from the least to the greatest. So you've got this city. You've got the officials of the city are afraid to oppose him.

I remember the torch lighters video about St. Patrick. St. Patrick was on the island and he was a slave and he escaped and he went back to the island of Ireland. That's why he's considered the patron saint of Ireland and he went back to convert his slaveholders.

That was his goal. They needed Christ he believed. And if you remember what was happening in the story of st. Patrick, there was a king in the village. There was a man in charge. But who was really in charge if you watch the video closely were the priests so it was the religious leaders of this heathen city that were actually the ones in charge because they were the ones who if They told the king he was doing something against the gods the king would listen.

The king would obey what he thought he had to obey to get what he thought he wanted and so if the men of God The people with the power to do signs and wonders Would instruct a king he would obey and so Simon was similar.

He was heeded by everyone in the city and they called him the divine power called the great power and it's not Uncapitalized by mistake. Simon was being equated with God. It says they paid close attention to him in verse 11 because he astounded them for a long time with his sorcery.

So now we have the conversion of Simon chapter 8 of Acts verse 12. But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. They were baptized both men and women.

So you have Philip in this in this city and Samaria is a region if you didn't catch that yet Samaria is more like a Region with cities in it. So when we talk about Samaria, it's more like saying Ohio or something smaller probably but They were baptized both men and women and it says even Simon himself believed.

This is great news. You have a sorcerer a magician someone who's living in opposition to God. They're perfect they're practicing divination. They're calling themselves great. They're entertaining an entire city and He gets saved and this is this is what we think we want.

Yes, that's what we want. We look around the United States some of us and we think oh if only this celebrity would get saved everything would be better because everybody's listening to This celebrity right now.

So we think well they would suddenly start preaching Christ then of course people would follow and believe. That's not how it works. Okay, so if you're my age, you may remember when Kirk Cameron got converted and I wouldn't say that America's gotten more Christian eyes since then but we're glad for conversion but Simon's converted and So there's hope he gets baptized.

After believing and he followed Philip closely and was astounded by the great signs and miracles. He observed so you have the greatest magician at least in that city. He's called the great power. People are astounded by him and suddenly somebody else comes in and is doing greater works.

Simon is amazed by this. He's watching closely and at as of this point in the text. I It's easy for me to say after reading the whole passage and now having a 2 ,000 year doctrine of Simon II that I think he was a bad guy.

But at this point Simon is a new believer. He's been baptized into the church. As far as we know, he's repenting of past sins that he's been made aware of. He certainly would have been aware that sorcery was a sin at this point.

But there's hope He's doing what you're supposed to do at this point, so the Apostles in Jerusalem verse 14. Somehow hear that Samaria had received the Word of God. I want you to think about this for a minute because when we read the Bible we read it quick.

They had to travel. Something had to travel someone had to travel from Samaria to Jerusalem to share this news. This wasn't this wasn't we didn't have a live stream. Of this there was time going by here.

And sometimes you miss that when you read the Bible everything happens fast in a chapter you read it. Something time had to go by. Simon had time to be in the city being discipled growing other Christians were there.

Apostles come from Jerusalem. Why did the Apostles come? Let's see what happens. They sent Peter and John to them. That's pretty big. These are like the two most important guys at this point. And it says on their arrival Peter and John's they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. This is not the purpose of our talks this weekend.

But I want to make a clarifying point for anyone that thinks that these early believers were not receiving the Holy Spirit Upon their conversion because of this text it can be confusing. Because it reads like they hadn't received it and then they will.

But in the early church, what was happening was people were receiving the Holy Spirit as a special thing after their conversion to authenticate their conversion and you can see this throughout the book of Acts and you can see it fade away and it usually Manifested in new believers speaking in tongues it manifested in people having these miraculous works which prior to Local churches everywhere able to talk to you and baptize you and work with you.

This was how the early church Authenticated that people were actually becoming Christian. But I want you to know that at the moment of your conversion and at the moment of the conversion of the people in this story.

They received the Holy Spirit as a permanent guarantee of their inheritance one day. That will is stored up in heaven for believers so the Holy Spirit indwells believers regenerates believers gives believers the assurance of the hope of their salvation and He is present from the moment.

That you are born again and at this time in history. There was a special outpouring of the Spirit that happened periodically through the laying on of the Apostles hands and now the exciting part. Now we actually get into what is the doctrine of simony a little bit.

Simon's Offer and Peter's Rebuke

When Simon saw that the Spirit the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles hands He offered them money. I think Conley said yesterday. It's it's actually somewhat of a noble response.

When you first think about what happens. The desire for the thing isn't always the wrong thing. He wanted the power the Apostles had so that he says Everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

This sounds like a really good thing most of your desires that you have. That Ultimately end up sin. Did not start out as sin. I sir at least I hope so as a Christian. You should have good desires. God has said that he has changed your heart.

He's given you a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. And so you have good desires and your desires can be wrong. Not only in their direction, which means you desire something, but you're going in the wrong direction.

You want something you cannot righteously have but your desires can be wrong in their degree as well. You may desperately want to Have a certain gift that the Holy Spirit gives to people in his church so that you can use that gift to minister to others.

It's a good desire if God doesn't give it to you. That desire can lead you to as James will put it Quarreling and arguing because you're not getting what you want. You desire and you cannot have so we can have good desires.

We can have noble desires and we can use them wrongly. But Peter looks at Simon and this is where it gets I think. Absolutely shocking. So if for a moment you take yourself out of the Dorian principle group and you pretend that you've never read the Bible before and you've never read Acts 8 and you haven't been Indoctrinated by guys like Conley and and Andrew is selling Jesus and.

And you're just reading the Bible and you hear about this new believer this guy who's turned away from sorcery as far as we know so he can follow Philip and He says give me this power to do this wonderful good thing as well.

And now I want you to think about how shocking Peter's response really is. I think sometimes in our Christianity we get so used to what we know already that we forget to be a little bit shocked by the Oppositeness that God portrays that we are to his ways.

Listen Peter replies to this guy new Christian just baptized probably within we'll say weeks maybe days. He's time to be gentle with them right. Matthew 18. Right go to him privately if he makes a mistake talk to him about it.

Give him lots of time. Peter says may your silver perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money and I'm going to tell you that when he says may your silver perish with you it he's being extremely harsh.

It might not sound harsh. We don't I don't carry silver around. I think he's being harsh. And he tells them why you thought you could buy the gift of God with money. You have no part or share in our ministry because your heart is not right before God.

This is instant. There's no asking him like well. Hey, what did you mean? Like let's make sure we understand what you were trying to say before we judge you there was none of that Peter as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has a certain divine prerogative in how he's going to deal with people.

What I mean by that is sometimes the Apostles or even Jesus themselves would deal with people in a direct way. That we might say well I can't necessarily do that because I don't have the omniscience of Jesus and I don't have the apostolic authority of Peter.

I don't have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writing when I'm writing. But I'll tell you what if you're going to imitate someone who's better to imitate than Jesus Peter Paul John Jeremiah Isaiah Ezekiel you're gonna imitate someone.

The only person we ever seem to want to imitate is whoever's the nicest American that we can think of that got popular enough. That we're allowed to watch them on TV. Someone that will never offend people will never be edgy.

I don't want to read debate certain points, but that is part of the problem with the discussion yesterday. Is that? The side that I don't necessarily agree with Tanner's side. I respected Tanner being here.

It's just the sense is we don't want to call these things sin. Because it's just so confrontational it's just so hard it's so hard to to think about ourselves and brothers and sisters all Basically swimming in sin to such an extent that we don't see it.

Side note this one's for free. This is unprepared. There's a movie called time changers that Investigates this concept I think in a really neat way. Where a man from about the 1880s or something like that?

Gets in a time machine, which of course now you know this made-up story, and he goes forward to about 1995 or so and the the shock of his experience of what we just walk around in and think is normal.

It is mind-blowing to him because we we've we're like the frog in the water that's slowly Heated up till it boils. We we just move forward one step at a time getting used to the next level of immodesty getting used to the next level of blasphemy that's acceptable in public getting used to the next level of How we deal with our neighbors in such a way that that we never offend them anymore.

We're Swimming in it. It's the air we breathe. This is shocking to us because we don't talk to people this way now. Simon II is Effectively the buying or selling of spiritual things an office or power.

It's named after this man Simon. One of the things that's interesting is if you read the text of just this passage, you'll see that Simon's sin was Offering money to have the power that the Apostles had whereby they could lay hands on people in order to give them the Holy Spirit in this as I told you special way, so Simon's not offering them money for salvation According to the passage.

He's not offering them money for All these other powers that the Holy Spirit gives it's just the laying on of the Apostles hands. So that people will receive these gifts in a special way that authenticates what's going on.

Simon was not selling anything at no point in this passage. Is it explicitly stated that Simon was going to try to sell the power or that he was going to try to use the power? In exchange for something it's not explicitly stated there.

I don't have a search tool with me, but the word Trinity isn't explicitly stated here either. We all believe that The Bible never says Don't download pornography from the Internet either. We're all utterly aware of the fact that God's Word is exceedingly broad and his commandments require and Forbid more than can be explicitly stated.

It's one of the reasons God gave us brains so that unlike Unreasoning animals we can think through the application of his commands to us and you all anybody here that's raised a child knows the difficulty of giving a child a rule and Then watching the child either apply the rule so Like everywhere that it makes no sense or not thinking it through in other situations where it's like well Why didn't you apply that same rule?

And yet God looks at us and expects us to use our reasoning ability To apply rules more broadly than he explained him. He said you shall not murder and he says if you call your brother a fool You're a murderer right, and then Paul says Oh foolish Galatians to a group of people a Very cursory reading of all those texts would think oh well.

I guess Paul's murdering the Galatians. Right but none of us believe that we all believe he's using that word appropriately and Paul would have also Not murdered people in his heart for no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

And so Simon is Just as wrong for wanting to purchase the Holy Spirit and the power here as Peter would have been had he offered it for sale. How detailed this can get. I trust the Holy Spirit to help us To work out some of these details a lot of the things in church history that we have good Definitions of today came about because a circumstance forced it.

Well, the circumstance is forcing it now. And so what I want to encourage you to do Is to be willing to repent of anything in your life That can rightfully be called simony and I would add that if there is something in your life or people's lives that you know That maybe is a gray area.

Why wouldn't you want to err on the side of holiness if you were going to err right. If I wasn't sure something I was doing was murderous in the eyes of God. Maybe I'm better off not doing it until I'm sure if I wasn't sure that something I was doing was going to be adultery in the eyes of God.

Maybe I'm better off avoiding it Until I figure it out. We're so addicted to our Liberty. But sometimes we forget that there is such a thing called holiness without with without which You will not see the Lord.

God Does Not Use Graceless Ministers

So a few points about Simon. God does not use graceless ministers. So look back at verse 18 and 19. Simon saw the Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles hands and he offered them money.

Simon's instant response and I want to buy this power. Give me this power as well so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Matthew Henry has an Extensive quote from this section.

I'm just going to read part of it. But if you go to let's dot Bible you can read Matthew Henry's full commentaries. Speaking of Simon He does not desire them to lay their hands on him that he might receive the Holy Ghost for himself.

And Henry adds and I think rightly. For he did not foresee that anything was to be got by that Mean he didn't ask them to do this to him that they were doing to other people. Because he didn't see how that would be to his advantage but Still quoting Henry that they would convey to him a power to bestow the gift upon others.

He was ambitious to have the honor of an apostle. But not at all solicitous to have the spirit and disposition of a Christian. He was more desirous to gain honor to himself than to do good to others. Henry pointed out four affronts that Simon's Statement makes.

One to the Apostles as if they were mercenaries. It's offensive to the free givers Peter and John. That somebody would offer them money. Treating them as if they're just mercenaries for hire and not servants of the Most High God.

You realize they had just watched their friend Judas betrayed Jesus. For 30 pieces of silver. And I'll add that that's not a ton of money. The amount of money you sell Jesus for is irrelevant. If anything it shows how little you really value him when you lower the cost.

They weren't mercenaries these were men of God who were stewards of good things and As we saw Peter instantly knew this was a very very bad problem. To Christianity itself Simon treats Christianity as if it's just a higher sorcery.

Simon made his living off sorcery. This was his thing. He was good at it. He found somebody that did it better and he thought well if I can get these powers I can Maybe keep my job. He he's probably starting to lose money right as the Christians around him stopped being so interested in what he would say as They stopped being excited to pay him to do their do tricks.

He needed another job. He needed the money. So he treated Christianity as if it was just a different sorcery. He was like Balaam and that he aimed at the wages of divination and He had pride. Matthew Henry says that he should have asked to be a hired servant, but he wanted to be a steward.

It's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of Yahweh than dwell in the tents of wickedness and some of us would do well to recognize ourselves as Doorkeepers. Some of us would do well to realize that sometimes for a period at least God humbles us by not giving us an exciting job.

Some of some of you will die without ever having done anything that you'd call exciting or in Christianity. And you'll walk into an amazing reward if you did it faithfully whatever God called you to you realize that.

But it's okay. It's okay to not be the the guy. Right. I'm up here speaking. That's fun. I like doing it but if I like being the speaker and having attention on me the way Simon did that I'm in sin and God isn't pleased with.

And if you're at this conference, you may have recognized that over the past five to ten years that we've been propagating this teaching some large exciting Celebrity centered ministries have actually fallen.

And I'm not going to say that it's a direct result of violating the Dorian principle, but many men have died that we have seen Exalted as men rather than sometimes the it's the people's fault not the men necessarily.

But we want to be those who? Do not act as celebrities. Simon was a celebrity if you turn to the book of James chapter 3 Verse 1 it's a memory verse for most of you. I hope It's an easy one to remember.

This I believe should be everyone's life verse not many of you should become teachers my brothers. Because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. I Wish every podcast Christian podcast started with that verse.

Who give me a lot less to have to choose from? Jeremiah 23, I don't mind telling you to turn there. The Word of God is powerful sharper than any two-edged sword. Able to divide soul from spirit as joint from marrow and it's a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of your heart.

So when you look down at your Bible, you are experiencing something very powerful. That even Simon could not mimic Jeremiah 23 32. God speaking of these prophets he says We'll go back to 31. He says I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim Yahweh declares it.

He says indeed declares Yahweh. I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them To lead my people astray with their reckless lies. He's against False prophets and he says it was not I who sent them or commanded them and they are of no benefit to all these people.

My point in quoting that verse and Proverbs 26 if you'll turn there is. If you're going to engage in simoniac you Simon so it's I moniak you all simoniacal activity or you're going to support those who do.

Or You're going to commit What you think in your heart is a lesser sin and just not speak against those who do. You are promoting those whom God does not want to bless the ministry of God doesn't need celebrities.

He doesn't need Kirk Cameron. He doesn't need. I don't even know any celebrities names now. I'm so out of it. So I mean the last one I can think of is Paris Hilton. I don't know. She's still a celebrity.

No, that's the last person I can think of that had this undue influence on a generation of people and I'll tell you what the moment she Would have believed in Jesus if she had The crowds would have dropped her.

God will save whom he's going to save through the instruments. He wants to save them through and I believe he Most often is going to do that through men and even women not through preaching but through teaching people and Talking to their friends about the gospel who are following him verse 6 of Proverbs 26 like cutting off one's own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool and At this point everyone said why did this man just turn to this verse?

Nobody here is going to cut off their own feet. Nobody here wants to drink violence. Okay, so this is the description of utter uselessness and God is telling you That if you're gonna send a message by the hand of a fool.

To trust in a fool to take the right message somewhere is similar to if you just cut off your own feet. You're not going anywhere you're gonna be useless you're gonna be the guy that everybody has to bring things to and what I'm trying to tell you is that if Proverbs was written to teach us not to be foolish and That if foolishness would be sending a message by the hand of a fool.

Since God is himself wisdom and He is not a fool God doesn't send his message by the hand of fools. God does not need Simon Magus or anyone Who is not going to? Adorn the gospel with love for Christ and their own good works in obedience to his law to spread his message now will God use a faithless man once in a while to preach the gospel and Salvation occurs and good things happen.

Yes, that is in spite of The faithless man and it's to the praise and glory of the power of God's Word. That that a worthless man speaking the gospel Can see salvation and fruit from it, but more often and in some ways I'll say more glorifying to God is when he takes a converted sinner causes us to act in a way That is respectful to all of his word to the whole Council of God and then when we preach Truth the people whether it's about Simon II whether it's the gospel, whatever the topic is.

Our lives reflect that we actually do believe in the same God and that his power Was capable of changing us into the kind of person That now demonstrates that his power is real. We don't need signs and wonders today to authenticate our message we have changed lives and the final Canon.

And the final Canon is enough. But our changed lives do demonstrate people to people the power of God unto salvation. Secondly Simon's rebuke publicly and immediately if you want to go back to Acts chapter 8 We'll remember that Peter says may your silver perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money.

Simon Is Rebuked Publicly and Immediately

You have no part or share in our ministry because your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of your wickedness and pray to the Lord perhaps. He will forgive you the intent of your heart. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and captive to iniquity and then Simon answered this.

I just want this is a side note. I don't want to make a huge deal out of this. Just put yourself in Simon's shoes for a second. Okay, the Apostle Peter says repent and Pray to the Lord. What what two commands were given to Simon?

Repent and Pray to the Lord. These aren't trick questions. That's the neat thing about the Bible when you're born again, particularly. But even AI figures this stuff out. It's not unclear what to do and Simon's response to the Apostle Peter who has all the power that Simon wants so bad his response.

To Peter saying pray is you pray for me? The man who will not pray for himself doesn't have a mediator of Jesus Christ. Simon's disrespect to Peter's direct commands to repent and pray for himself I believe are more indicators of his heart.

That is Wicked that Peter saw so there's no private first step. Matthew 18 is a really great passage about dealing with other Christians, particularly in your local church and Matthew 18 is not always applicable.

Public sin needs to be rebuked publicly lest other people do not realize that it is sinful. This entire village where Simon had attracted a following at one point certainly Could have been pulled away by Simon at some point Peter wanted to make it utterly clear that Simon was not one to be followed and I will say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Peter was right.

It wasn't like Paul with the Corinthians where there was a Process of Discipline that occurred and you may recall the Corinthians made effectively the same error that Simon made in some ways. The Corinthians were wowed by the super Apostles and one of the reasons why the Corinthians thought the super Apostles must know something.

Is they were charging them money? If what you had was worth anything you wouldn't do it for free people say for some reason Paul bears with the Corinthian Church and Peter rebuked Simon instantly and whether it was by divine inspiration.

Or whether Peter just knew something I'm gonna say it's because Simon was so utterly clearly a false teacher to him and A wicked man in the gall of bitterness and captive to iniquity. That Peter knew how to deal with Simon instantly and Paul dealt correctly with the Corinthian believers who needed to be shepherded.

Peter had apatholic authority apostolic Authority to retain sins to forgive sins. Remember what Jesus told him in John 20 whoever sins you forgive they will be forgiven him. This was not that long earlier Jesus said this to Peter and these guys and Rather than say Simon I assure you of the forgiveness of sins because you repented and were baptized and believed.

Peter sees Simon as no different than a demon who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Demons believe Jesus is the only way Demons do not receive the Lord Jesus as Savior. 1st Timothy chapter 5 reminds us that some men's sins are Conspicuous and Simon's was conspicuous.

They went before him and were obvious. Point number three. You're keeping score. Point one was God doesn't use graceless ministers. Point two was Simon was rebuked publicly. Point three his main sin. Is that he devalues God in the anatomy of Simon Magus?

Simony Devalues God and Spiritual Gifts

It's written but some have set it forth as more heinous than the heresy of Macedonius in regard that the Macedonians Supposing the Holy Spirit a creature and not God made him only a servant to God. So there was a heresy Calling the Holy Spirit a servant of God because he was created rather than God himself.

And this author writes, but the Simoniacs Acknowledging the Holy Spirit to be God yet make him a servant to themselves and To their own covetous or ambitious designs nay as they're very slave they buy and sell and make merchandise of him and some again have paralleled it with the treachery of Judas.

Romans 1 19 through 22 were reminded that our Problem is that we've exchanged the glory of our Creator for images of birds and creeping things. We worship the creation rather than the Creator. Largely because we pull down the Creator from his created position in our mind in Song of Songs Chapter 8.