Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Peter confronted the baptized Simon Magus with holy indignation when he offered money for power to bestow the Holy Spirit, declaring he had no share in the sacred work because his heart was not right before God. Having no part or lot means having no share in the matter of the Holy Spirit and of imparting the Spirit, for the sacred gift cannot be bought or sold with money or obtained from human authority but must be sought from God. A heart not right is untouched by grace and unconverted despite profession and baptism, still in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity and needing repentance and prayer if its thought may be forgiven. Such a heart is divided between serving God and pursuing wealth and self-advantage, valuing truth and spiritual gifts as means to worldly benefit while selfish will remains unsubdued and unreformed. With no living connection with Christ it has no true share in God's work, so God cannot cooperate with it, accept its service, or trust it to teach and lead, and it weakens His people while serving the enemy in bondage.
Simon's Rebuke and Exclusion
Peter spoke the words with holy indignation as a rebuke to Simon Magus after his baptism, when Simon offered money for power to give the Holy Ghost, declaring that he had neither part nor lot in the sacred work because his heart was not right in the sight of God. The setting was when Samaria had received the word and Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem while the Spirit was waiting to enlighten souls and convert them to the truth, connected with the account of Philip and the Ethiopian going where God sends to explain Scripture to those who read without understanding. Neither part nor lot means no share in the matter of the Holy Spirit and imparting the Spirit, for the sacred gift cannot be bought or sold, and an enlightened mind would know this, while his offer revealed a heart untouched by God's grace. The Spirit is given to Christ's chosen instruments, whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin.
Simon was a sorcerer who sought supernatural power by welcoming satanic influence and had no conflict with demons, unlike those tormented by them. His deceptive arts later helped bring about Drusilla's adulterous marriage to Felix as a satanic device. Peter exposed Simon's deceptions and defeated his efforts to hinder the gospel, showing he had no share in the gospel work.
Though baptized and counted among the believers, Simon remained with a heart not right before God. He was a tare growing with the wheat like Ananias and Sapphira and Judas, one who comes to the banquet but does not eat the Word of life, treating the gift of God as merchandise to be purchased with money, remaining in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity and needing repentance and prayer if the thought of his heart may be forgiven. His presence shows that unworthy false members may remain in the church without making Christianity untrue, and Christians should bear patiently with them. The verse calls for sharp testimonies that reveal sin and distinguish sacred eternal interests from common things, while workers must not be discouraged when clear truth fails to arouse benumbed carnal minds, since spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
Heart Not Right Explained
A heart not right is untouched by grace and unconverted despite profession or baptism, still in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, needing repentance and prayer that even the thought of the heart may be forgiven. The sacred gift cannot be bought or sold, and an enlightened mind would know this, for the Spirit is given to chosen instruments whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin. Merely possessing or professing truth gives no share in a genuine intelligent religious experience, for noisy or impulsive religion, self-righteousness, and outward claims to teach do not qualify a person for the work. Truth must take hold of the heart so that selfish will dies, the life is reformed and sanctified, and the person seeks where God can best be glorified. Even those who have had the message before them for years need converting now and must give themselves wholly to God so the Holy Spirit will cooperate with them. The heart is not right when loyalties are divided between serving God and pursuing wealth, when His gift is valued as a means to worldly benefit and temporal gain. Such self-interest mars work for God, injures influence, and leaves a person unfit for missionary service.
It is a selfish heart that has scarcely touched the work of subduing and controlling self, flattering itself that it is improving while in danger of deceiving its own soul. It devotes attention to self, has a special interest for itself, seeks to advantage itself to the disadvantage of others in dealings and business, thinks others should favor it and show it special interest as God's servant, esteems self too much, and lets self-will and a hard unsubdued spirit control instead of the graces of the Spirit. It shows itself in unwillingness to learn from or submit to brethren, in a hard bitter severe spirit when they disagree, in claiming liberty to act independently of the body, in rising in opposition to whatever does not meet one's own mind or feelings, and in acting from impulse and manifesting natural feelings, which keeps a person from being a successful laborer. It means dishonesty toward light, willfully and stubbornly following one's own way and relying on one's own judgment instead of honestly following light, and refusing to be helped when God sends help after Heaven has done all that could be done. This wrongness of heart can exist even before open fanaticism appears, including dissatisfaction and pettish sideways behavior like a spoiled child when others seem more esteemed, and wishing to be highly esteemed while taking a course that greatly lowers one's standing.
It is a heart made hard by suspicion, blame, and accusation, lacking the mind of Christ, harmful to the young while mistakenly believing it has made great progress. It is not devotional and lets thoughts wander from God upon forbidden things. Such a heart has no living connection with Christ and no true share in God's work. God cannot work with it while it remains divided, will not accept its service nor trust it to teach, exhort, reprove, and rebuke, and its condition destroys confidence before God and makes praying in faith impossible. Its alienation weakens God's people and burdens their institutions. By drifting toward the world, loving amusement, and pursuing selfish plans, hopes, and ambitions, it serves the enemy in bondage to Satan as his willing slave despite outward claims to serve God. A heart made right brings consecration to God, an end to complaining and self-centered talk, and gratitude expressed in words of praise and glory for His mercies.
Faithfulness in God's Work
Taking hold of only part of the truths connected with the third angel's message leaves a person with neither part nor lot in the matter, for the first, second, and third messages must all be gladly received just as God gave them. No share in the matter of the Holy Spirit belongs to one whose heart is not right with God, since offering to buy the power to impart the Spirit shows a life still untouched by grace, and an enlightened mind understands that this sacred power cannot be bought or sold. Spiritual standing and forgiveness likewise cannot be purchased with money nor obtained from a human religious authority, but pardon must be sought from God, and the Spirit is given to Christ's chosen instruments whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin.
Only truly converted men baptized with the Holy Ghost can carry the city missionary work, and even those who have had the message before them for years need converting now and must give themselves wholly to God so that He will accept them and the Holy Spirit will cooperate with them. That work requires spreading out through division and subdivision of experienced workers to enter unworked cities and train new workers, rather than centering in a few places. Those who hold back from the work God has directed and figure for themselves have neither part nor lot in that matter and are not to have its control or management, because they are not prepared to stand on the higher plane on which it must advance according to the will of the Lord. Others who are willing to take the responsibility may move steadily forward without them and manage the business.
Those who have denied the faith and now work to tear down what in past years they labored to build up have neither part nor lot in the faith that has firmly held God's people in unity. By placing themselves in decided opposition to the truth for the last days, with hearts not right, they are divorced from the privileges of God's people and are not true and loyal. Therefore the tabernacle must be set apart decidedly to those who are true and loyal, and must not be taken or used for preaching by that opposing element.
Peter confronted the baptized Simon Magus with holy indignation when he offered money for power to bestow the Holy Spirit, declaring he had no share in the sacred work because his heart was not right before God. Having no part or lot means having no share in the matter of the Holy Spirit and of imparting the Spirit, for the sacred gift cannot be bought or sold with money or obtained from human authority but must be sought from God. A heart not right is untouched by grace and unconverted despite profession and baptism, still in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity and needing repentance and prayer if its thought may be forgiven. Such a heart is divided between serving God and pursuing wealth and self-advantage, valuing truth and spiritual gifts as means to worldly benefit while selfish will remains unsubdued and unreformed. With no living connection with Christ it has no true share in God's work, so God cannot cooperate with it, accept its service, or trust it to teach and lead, and it weakens His people while serving the enemy in bondage.
Simon's Rebuke and Exclusion
Peter spoke the words with holy indignation as a rebuke to Simon Magus after his baptism, when Simon offered money for power to give the Holy Ghost, declaring that he had neither part nor lot in the sacred work because his heart was not right in the sight of God. The setting was when Samaria had received the word and Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem while the Spirit was waiting to enlighten souls and convert them to the truth, connected with the account of Philip and the Ethiopian going where God sends to explain Scripture to those who read without understanding. Neither part nor lot means no share in the matter of the Holy Spirit and imparting the Spirit, for the sacred gift cannot be bought or sold, and an enlightened mind would know this, while his offer revealed a heart untouched by God's grace. The Spirit is given to Christ's chosen instruments, whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin.
Simon was a sorcerer who sought supernatural power by welcoming satanic influence and had no conflict with demons, unlike those tormented by them. His deceptive arts later helped bring about Drusilla's adulterous marriage to Felix as a satanic device. Peter exposed Simon's deceptions and defeated his efforts to hinder the gospel, showing he had no share in the gospel work.
Though baptized and counted among the believers, Simon remained with a heart not right before God. He was a tare growing with the wheat like Ananias and Sapphira and Judas, one who comes to the banquet but does not eat the Word of life, treating the gift of God as merchandise to be purchased with money, remaining in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity and needing repentance and prayer if the thought of his heart may be forgiven. His presence shows that unworthy false members may remain in the church without making Christianity untrue, and Christians should bear patiently with them. The verse calls for sharp testimonies that reveal sin and distinguish sacred eternal interests from common things, while workers must not be discouraged when clear truth fails to arouse benumbed carnal minds, since spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
Heart Not Right Explained
A heart not right is untouched by grace and unconverted despite profession or baptism, still in wickedness in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, needing repentance and prayer that even the thought of the heart may be forgiven. The sacred gift cannot be bought or sold, and an enlightened mind would know this, for the Spirit is given to chosen instruments whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin. Merely possessing or professing truth gives no share in a genuine intelligent religious experience, for noisy or impulsive religion, self-righteousness, and outward claims to teach do not qualify a person for the work. Truth must take hold of the heart so that selfish will dies, the life is reformed and sanctified, and the person seeks where God can best be glorified. Even those who have had the message before them for years need converting now and must give themselves wholly to God so the Holy Spirit will cooperate with them. The heart is not right when loyalties are divided between serving God and pursuing wealth, when His gift is valued as a means to worldly benefit and temporal gain. Such self-interest mars work for God, injures influence, and leaves a person unfit for missionary service.
It is a selfish heart that has scarcely touched the work of subduing and controlling self, flattering itself that it is improving while in danger of deceiving its own soul. It devotes attention to self, has a special interest for itself, seeks to advantage itself to the disadvantage of others in dealings and business, thinks others should favor it and show it special interest as God's servant, esteems self too much, and lets self-will and a hard unsubdued spirit control instead of the graces of the Spirit. It shows itself in unwillingness to learn from or submit to brethren, in a hard bitter severe spirit when they disagree, in claiming liberty to act independently of the body, in rising in opposition to whatever does not meet one's own mind or feelings, and in acting from impulse and manifesting natural feelings, which keeps a person from being a successful laborer. It means dishonesty toward light, willfully and stubbornly following one's own way and relying on one's own judgment instead of honestly following light, and refusing to be helped when God sends help after Heaven has done all that could be done. This wrongness of heart can exist even before open fanaticism appears, including dissatisfaction and pettish sideways behavior like a spoiled child when others seem more esteemed, and wishing to be highly esteemed while taking a course that greatly lowers one's standing.
It is a heart made hard by suspicion, blame, and accusation, lacking the mind of Christ, harmful to the young while mistakenly believing it has made great progress. It is not devotional and lets thoughts wander from God upon forbidden things. Such a heart has no living connection with Christ and no true share in God's work. God cannot work with it while it remains divided, will not accept its service nor trust it to teach, exhort, reprove, and rebuke, and its condition destroys confidence before God and makes praying in faith impossible. Its alienation weakens God's people and burdens their institutions. By drifting toward the world, loving amusement, and pursuing selfish plans, hopes, and ambitions, it serves the enemy in bondage to Satan as his willing slave despite outward claims to serve God. A heart made right brings consecration to God, an end to complaining and self-centered talk, and gratitude expressed in words of praise and glory for His mercies.
Faithfulness in God's Work
Taking hold of only part of the truths connected with the third angel's message leaves a person with neither part nor lot in the matter, for the first, second, and third messages must all be gladly received just as God gave them. No share in the matter of the Holy Spirit belongs to one whose heart is not right with God, since offering to buy the power to impart the Spirit shows a life still untouched by grace, and an enlightened mind understands that this sacred power cannot be bought or sold. Spiritual standing and forgiveness likewise cannot be purchased with money nor obtained from a human religious authority, but pardon must be sought from God, and the Spirit is given to Christ's chosen instruments whose lives must be free from selfishness and sin.
Only truly converted men baptized with the Holy Ghost can carry the city missionary work, and even those who have had the message before them for years need converting now and must give themselves wholly to God so that He will accept them and the Holy Spirit will cooperate with them. That work requires spreading out through division and subdivision of experienced workers to enter unworked cities and train new workers, rather than centering in a few places. Those who hold back from the work God has directed and figure for themselves have neither part nor lot in that matter and are not to have its control or management, because they are not prepared to stand on the higher plane on which it must advance according to the will of the Lord. Others who are willing to take the responsibility may move steadily forward without them and manage the business.
Those who have denied the faith and now work to tear down what in past years they labored to build up have neither part nor lot in the faith that has firmly held God's people in unity. By placing themselves in decided opposition to the truth for the last days, with hearts not right, they are divorced from the privileges of God's people and are not true and loyal. Therefore the tabernacle must be set apart decidedly to those who are true and loyal, and must not be taken or used for preaching by that opposing element.