November 10, 2024 • 28 mins
Acts 8.9-25 | Ps Alex Huggett | 10.11.2024
Part of a series on Acts
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www.bentleybaptist.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When I was in high school I had a friend who came
to a rally.
It was an old-time tent rally,evangelistic Crusade, in
Ballarat actually, or Bendigoone of those over there, it's
across the border who cares.
And my friend responded to thealtar call, went forward to
(00:21):
receive Christ.
But I noticed over the comingdays and weeks that there was
actually no change to his life,didn't display a love for the
Lord or the things of God.
He didn't start going to church.
There was no evidence of theSpirit in his life.
Was he really saved?
(00:43):
If you've been following alongwith our going through Acts, you
might remember that last weekwe began the story of Philip.
Philip was one of the sevendeacons chosen to administer the
church's welfare program.
But we're told he wasspirit-filled and, as we find
out, he was a powerfulevangelist.
And so he moved north fromJerusalem to Samaria where he
(01:08):
preached the gospel afterpersecution broke out in
Jerusalem and we read that theSamaritans gladly received his
message.
They were freed from demons,they were healed, there was
miracles, all sorts of thingshappening.
There's great joy in the cityas they received the gospel.
Today's reading from continuingon in Acts 8 homes in on one of
(01:33):
those converts in particular,and his story a man named Simon.
So let's read that A man namedSimon had previously practiced
sorcery in that city and amazedthe Samaritan people while
claiming to be somebody great.
Simon had previously practicedsorcery in that city and amazed
the Samaritan people whileclaiming to be somebody great.
They all paid attention to him,from the least of them to the
greatest, and they said this manis called the great power of
(01:55):
God and they were attentive tohim because he had amazed them
with his sorceries for a longtime.
So Simon had been a sorcererbefore he was saved.
Now the Greek word for what'stranslated sorcery here is
(02:18):
actually the word we get magicin the English from, and the
word could have differentconnotations depending on the
context.
So the three or not three, butthe wise men, the magi who came
to worship Jesus used this wordto describe them, but they were
probably more down the road ofastrologers.
What we see here with Simon isprobably something that taps
(02:41):
into a spiritual power, usingincantations and so on, and I
think it's important that wejust park here just for a minute
because, as the empty promisesof secularism in our society
give way to a generaldisillusionment, we're finding
that particularly young peoplebut not only young people are
(03:04):
coming back to various spiritualpractices.
They're seeking something witha deeper spiritual significance
and many are turning to what canbroadly would be called sorcery
in the Bible.
So we see practices even likevoodoo becoming acceptable.
(03:25):
Tarot Reiki you may have hadsome contact with that Crystals
and New Age beliefs in generalwith various practices are
making a comeback.
But, friends, as Christians,these aren't acceptable for us.
Deuteronomy 18, 10 to 14 sayslet no one be found among you
(03:47):
who sacrifices their son ordaughter in the fire.
Let that sink in for a moment.
What a culture who practicesdivination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages inwitchcraft or casts spells, or
who is a medium or spiritist, orwho consults the dead.
(04:08):
Anyone who does these things isdetestable to Yahweh.
Because of these samedetestable practices, yahweh,
your God, will drive out thenations before you.
You must be blameless beforeYahweh, your God.
Now we don't need to panic orgo on witch hunts.
(04:30):
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10,.
What am I saying then?
That food sacrificed to idolsis anything, or that an idol is
anything?
No, but I do say that what theysacrifice, they sacrifice to
demons and not to God.
I do not want you to beparticipants with demons.
(04:54):
And see, one of the problemswith all these spiritual
practices isn't that they don'twork, but that often they do.
But where they derive theirpower from is the problem.
They don't come from the trueand living God.
Power, regardless of whatpeople may attribute it to,
(05:15):
comes from demons.
Now, as Christians who have theHoly Spirit, who have been
filled with the Spirit, we can'tbe possessed by demons.
But if we invite demonicinfluence into our life, it can
afflict us and, for theunbeliever, the influence of
demons, evil spirits, that wholespiritual realm can be
(05:39):
devastating and havegenerational consequences.
So it's not something to muckaround with.
Of course, the other problem forus as Christians, who gets the
glory we see with Simon?
He was about his own glory.
He claimed to be someone greatand because of the sorceries he
(06:00):
was performing, everyone thoughthe was someone great.
But as kingdom people, we areabout the glory of God, about
the glory of the king, andanyone or anything that takes
away from the glory of God isnot something we take part in.
Reading on, reading on.
(06:26):
But when they believed Philip,so the Samaritans this is
backing up a little bit as heproclaimed the good news about
the kingdom of God in the nameof Jesus Christ.
Both men and women werebaptized.
Even Simon himself believed.
And after he was baptized hefollowed Philip everywhere and
was amazed as he observed thesigns and great miracles as they
(06:49):
were being performed.
So it appears that Simon gaveup his practice of sorcery when
he was baptized.
You know, I think in verse 13,the last sentence, there there's
just a hint that all is notwell Because while the rest of
the city is receiving the gospeland we really see when we go
(07:12):
back into the previous passagethat there's rejoicing, the
gospel is coming.
Yes, there are signs andwonders and people are being
healed, and that's part ofrejoicing in the kingdom.
But we really hear Luke saythat they're listening to the
message.
But here what we see is Simonseems to have an unhealthy
(07:32):
interest in the miraclesthemselves.
He followed Philip everywhereastonished by the great signs
and miracles he saw.
And you know, when the kingdomof God breaks in, it will come
with power and it'll come alsowith acts of love and service.
Through the centuries the churchhas always been associated with
(07:56):
caring for the poor and for thesick, whether that is through
signs and wonders and miracleshappening or whether it is
through things like setting uphospitals.
You know, hospitals areessentially a Christian
invention and people are happyto receive the benefits of the
kingdom, aren't they?
(08:16):
You never hear anyone well,maybe you do now, but you've
never heard anyone in the pastcomplaining about Christian
charity.
But you hear people complainwhen the gospel comes along with
it.
People want the kingdom withoutthe king, but you can't
separate them.
How many people Want to receivethe gospel message of
(08:38):
repentance from sin and faith inKing Jesus leading to new life?
Not as many as who want thebenefits that go along with it.
Reading on, when the apostleswho were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the wordof God, they sent Peter and John
(08:59):
to them and after they wentdown there.
So I said up, sometimes youread these things.
This is a complete aside.
People get a bit confusedbecause we tend to go by the
points of the compass.
So Samaria is north ofJerusalem, so why are they going
down?
Because it's downhill fromJerusalem.
(09:20):
They heard that Samaria hadreceived the word of God.
They sent Peter and John tothem.
After they went down there,they prayed for them so that the
Samaritans might receive theHoly Spirit because he had not
yet come down on any of them.
They'd only been baptized inthe name of the Lord Jesus.
And then Peter and John laidtheir hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit.
(09:40):
So when the apostles find outabout Philip's ministry remember
Philip, everyone's justscattered, all the Christians
because of the persecution.
Philip's ministering as he goesalong.
So then they come and lay handson the Samaritans to receive
the Holy Spirit.
Isn't that interesting?
Why didn't it happen when theywere saved, when they received
(10:01):
the Lord?
Why couldn't Philip do it?
Well, one of the things we seein Acts is that as the gospel
moves to new people, groups andinto new stages, one of the
things that is crucial is thatthe unity of the church is
preserved, because there's oneLord, one faith, one baptism,
(10:22):
one God and Father of all, whois over all and in all and
through all.
And the revival in Samariarepresents the next phase of the
gospel, going from Jerusalem toJudea and Samaria to the ends
of the earth, as Jesus said itwould.
And so, as it's moving out,moving into.
So the Samaritans were sort of ahalfway bridge between Gentiles
(10:45):
and Jews.
The Jews really hated thembecause they were kind of seen
as a half-breed.
Isn't that terrible?
But that was the enmity betweenthese two people, so they're
not quite Gentiles.
We haven't reached to theGentiles yet.
The Samaritans believed in thePentateuch, what we call the
Pentateuch, the Torah, and theyhad some sort of Jewish
practices that were mixed up.
But it's essential therefore,because there's this separation
(11:10):
between the two groups, thatthere is a demonstration of
unity.
And so what happens?
When the apostles, the peopleappointed by Jesus as leaders
over the whole church, go downand pray for the Samaritans to
receive the Spirit, and theSpirit comes, they and the Holy
Spirit are declaring thatPhilip's ministry is legitimate,
(11:33):
is one with theirs, his baptism, because they don't re-baptize
him in water, they just baptizehim in the Spirit, just baptize
him in the Spirit.
But they're declaring thatPhilip's baptism is one with
theirs and they're declaringthat the Samaritan believers are
one with them in Christ.
It's just one church, one big,happy family.
(11:56):
You know, the early church mademuch of the need to be part of
the true church.
As a Christian, third centuryBishop Cyprian, said, no one can
have God for his father whodoes not have the church for his
mother.
And that's a sentiment thatmany other early church fathers
(12:18):
write about, and still today, inmany churches, if you're not
part of the right churchespecially Catholic and Orthodox
, but some independent Baptistchurches and others as well they
will say that baptism is onlylegitimate and they say it can
only save you if it'sadministered by a priest or
(12:39):
bishop.
Now, we're part of theProtestant movement, which
emphasizes the priesthood of allbelievers, and as Baptists, we
believe authority resides in thegathered church and its
delegated leaders, not just inpriests and bishops, and we
don't believe that baptism savesyou as such.
(13:02):
We believe that baptism is asign of saving faith, and so we
don't insist that a priest orbishop needs to perform baptism
or pray for someone to receivethe Spirit for it to be valid.
So anyone can perform a baptismand it's a valid baptism.
(13:22):
But I would say this thatthere's no room for cowboys in
the kingdom of God.
It's the church that baptises,and baptism should always be
administered by someone underthe authority of the church.
Put it this way if someonewon't submit to church authority
(13:45):
or church discipline, whatbusiness do they have going
about church ministry, christianministry and claiming to speak
for Christ, if they won't submitto Christ's church?
The point is unity in the bodyof Christ.
(14:06):
Reading on we're sort ofcovering a lot, but it's a
really interesting passage.
When Simon saw that the Spiritwas given through the laying on
of the apostles' hands, heoffered them money, saying Give
me this power also, so thatanyone I lay hands on may
receive the spirit.
But Peter told him may yoursilver be destroyed with you
(14:28):
because you thought you couldobtain the gift of God with
money.
You have no part or share inthis matter because your heart
is not right before God.
Therefore, repent of thiswickedness of yours and pray to
the Lord that, if possible, yourheart's intent may be forgiven,
for I see you are poisoned bybitterness and bound by
(14:49):
wickedness.
Pray for me, simon replied, sothat nothing you have said may
happen to me.
So after they had testified andspoken the word of the Lord,
they traveled back to Jerusalempreaching the gospel in many
villages of the Samaritans.
So apparently, somethingpowerful happened when the
(15:11):
apostles laid hands on theSamaritans.
Probably, I think, they wouldhave spoken in tongues and
prophesied like happened atPentecost.
Whatever it was, it waspowerful enough that Simon
wanted to have the sameauthority that the apostles were
displaying in praying for theSamaritans to receive the Spirit
(15:33):
.
Now, the problem here is thatfor Simon, as a sorcerer, he
understood power to betransactional.
What do I mean?
What you make the right payment, perform the right incantations
, manipulate the right spiritualforces and you get the power.
That's how witchcraft works,magic works and, honestly, I've
(15:58):
heard some Christians who treatChristianity in the same way.
It's possible he also wanted tobe able to sell the Holy Spirit
to others.
Hey, we're going to set up abusiness.
This is great.
People are going to comeflocking, going to be able to
sell the Holy Spirit to others.
Hey, we're going to set up abusiness.
This is great.
People are going to comeflocking, going to be rich.
A business of filling peoplewith the Holy Spirit.
But, friends, the Spirit cannotbe manipulated.
(16:19):
The Spirit is not for sale.
He is the presence of thesovereign God given as a gift
through faith.
God given as a gift throughfaith.
Jesus said to his disciplesfreely you have received, freely
give.
And so Peter rebukes Simonharshly and in fact he curses
(16:44):
him your money perish with you.
Essentially, he is saying Simon, you're not even saved.
When Peter says you have nopart or share in this matter,
the Greek word for matter islogos, or where we get word
(17:06):
which often refers to gospelproclamation.
It can be a message.
He has no part in the gospel.
So is this newly baptizedbeliever even saved?
He has a heart that isn't rightbefore God but is full of
bitterness and sin.
How can that be so for abeliever?
(17:29):
Or can he even be saved?
Peter seems to think he has achance if he repents.
He says pray to God and repentof this wickedness.
But what does Simon do?
Does he do that Now?
He asks Peter to pray for himand it sounds humble, but it's
not what Peter told him to do.
(17:50):
He said you pray, you repent.
Could it be that Simon fearsthe judgment of God and he loves
the power, but he doesn't loveGod?
You know, the early churchfathers thought that Simon was a
heretic and went on to Rome tocontinue his old ways.
(18:13):
So what do you think?
Saved, not saved.
He believed He'd been baptized.
Well, if Simon wasn't saved andI actually don't think he was
it raises the question how canwe know?
(18:35):
How can we know if someone istruly saved?
Like my friend I talked aboutat the beginning of the message,
simon made a confession he wasbaptized.
Who are we to judge.
How can we judge?
We live in a culture that sayswe have no right to judge.
It's what I feel about myselfon all sorts of levels that
(18:58):
speaks to the truth.
But you know, friends, theBible on one hand actually says
don't judge.
But when Jesus said that, healso said practice discernment.
Jesus says in one line in thesame sermon don't judge lest you
be judged.
But he also says don't throwyour pearls before pigs.
Don't give what is holy to dogs.
(19:20):
What's going on there?
It's easy to throw one verseout and ignore the other.
Jesus is telling us to practicediscernment, not to condemn.
There's different ways we thinkabout judgment.
Judgment can be making ajudgment.
It's like who won the race.
Well, we look at the evidence.
They got across the finish linefirst.
They won.
Or we can condemn.
(19:40):
That's what a judge does in acourt of law.
We are to not to condemn.
That's ultimately God's job.
Not to condemn, that'sultimately God's job.
But we are to practicediscernment.
In fact, jesus commanded us topractice church discipline.
If someone was in persistentsin.
He said if someone sins againstyou, speak to them first.
(20:03):
If they don't listen, take oneor two others.
If they still don't listen, goto the whole church.
Paul said to the church inCorinth of someone who was
sinning gravely said expel theimmoral brother, kick him out.
(20:24):
We can't truly know someone'sheart, that's between them and
God.
But we can practice, and wemust practice church discipline
based on the evidence we seebefore us.
Now, sin is one thing.
How, again, can we know ifsomeone's saved?
And I guess the bigger issuehere is because we're not going
to kick someone out of thechurch because we're not sure
(20:46):
they're saved.
We may kick them out becausethey're misbehaving badly, right
, but the bigger issue then ishow can I be sure that I'm saved
?
So let's back up a bit.
What does it mean to be savedand how are we saved?
Now, there's all sorts of waysthat we can look at salvation.
The Bible uses all sorts ofpictures and metaphors.
(21:08):
I'm going to just pick this onethis morning.
The Bible says, effectively,we're infected by a disease
called sin.
It infects our hearts and ouractions so that we become
enemies of God.
And this is a fundamentalproblem with sin and with the
human condition that we are cutoff from God, the source of life
(21:29):
.
We're subject to quarantine, ifyou like, to judgment, and
there is nothing we can do tocure ourselves.
Peter said to Simon we arecaptives to sin, we're prisoners
with no way of escape exceptfor one Jesus Christ.
And so Jesus came and took oursins, the disease of sin, on
(21:51):
himself on the cross and set usfree from the prison of sin,
came to cure us of the diseaseof sin and to reconcile us with
God, the source of life.
And so, when we trust in Jesus,the Father gives us the Holy
Spirit by which we aretransformed and have new life.
And we gain all of this byfaith.
(22:15):
So what does faith mean?
Well, it means trusting inJesus and his message.
Jesus' message was repent, turnaway from your sin and believe
the good news.
On the day of Pentecost, petersaid repent and be baptized,
baptism in this sense being asign of repentance.
And in his letter to Romans,paul said if you confess with
(22:38):
your mouth Jesus is Lord andbelieve in your heart God raised
him from the dead you will besaved.
So Jesus is the way to be saved.
We must believe in him, confesshim as our Lord.
Sin makes us the enemy of God,so we must turn from our sins or
repent and turn to God and hisway of life for us.
(23:02):
We must be baptised as a signof our faith and repentance.
As a sign of our faith andrepentance, and on that basis,
god promises us the gift of theHoly Spirit, who puts our
freedom, healing and new lifeinto effect.
So the question for us, for you,for me, is have you been saved?
(23:24):
How can you know?
Well, jesus said this is wherefruit evidence comes into it.
Jesus said we'd be known as hisdisciples by our love for one
another, by the way we live.
And he also said you'd knowfalse prophets how?
(23:49):
By their fruit, by their livesand actions and words.
I think, in the case of Simon,the fruit of his life belied the
confession of Christ.
So what do we see?
We see a man grasping the power.
(24:10):
Sounds kind of holy, doesn't it?
Oh, I want to be able tobaptize people with the Holy
Spirit.
Here's a bag of money.
He doesn't understand grace.
And you know, wherever we seethe Holy Spirit poured out, we
see love, we see joy, we seefreedom.
But what do we see in Simon?
Peter says you're full ofbitterness and captive to sin.
(24:31):
That's the opposite to what theHoly Spirit does.
Many Christians are caught up inreligion as a transactional
relationship with God.
They want the benefits of thekingdom of God without being
committed to the king.
And let's face it, for manypeople they just don't want to
(24:55):
go to hell.
They don't care about the restof it.
Their love for God is tepid atbest.
They have no joy.
They have no power.
Their thoughts are fixed inthis life rather than their hope
being fixed on the next.
But there is hope.
When we humbly and sincerelyrepent of this wickedness and
(25:17):
pray to God for forgiveness,then we can be saved.
You know, friends, then thereare those who are genuinely
saved, but they live a powerlesslife.
They have no assurance ofsalvation.
They want it, they want God'ssalvation, they hope for it.
And you know, if you want itand you hope for it, probably a
(25:40):
sign that you might actuallyhave it or you're very close.
The problem is they lack anassurance.
This can be for a number ofreasons.
Is they lack an assurance?
This can be for a number ofreasons.
You know, sometimes asChristians we carry unconfessed
sin and it gets in the way ofour relationship with God, the
fullness of the Spirit For someChristians.
(26:00):
They're trying to live with onefoot in the world and one foot
in the kingdom of God, just notfully committed.
Foot in the kingdom of God,just not fully committed.
We have to be hot or cold, nottepid.
For other Christians, maybeit's just that they haven't
received the fullness of theHoly Spirit.
(26:21):
They're trying to do this intheir own strength, and that was
certainly my experience.
I was in the Word but not inthe Spirit.
The kingdom of God is about bothFriends.
If that's you, if you lack anassurance of salvation and
confidence in your faith, if youfeel like you lack a power that
(26:43):
you see in Scripture, that youwant, the Father wants you to
experience the fullness of theSpirit and the full assurance of
salvation, and I want to giveyou a chance this morning.
I want to invite you, duringthis next song and after the
service, to come forward ifyou'd like to receive prayer for
that.
I'd love to talk to you, praywith you and see just if God
(27:07):
won't do something wonderful inyour life.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you for your grace tous.
You are the God who loves togive us life.
You are the God who wants tofill us with all the fullness of
Christ through your spirit.
Father, I pray this morningthat you will fill us up as your
(27:31):
people.
Father, that we will be achurch that fully embraces the
king and thus receives thefullness of the kingdom.
And, father, that we can takethe message of the king and the
fullness of the kingdom out intothe world around us.
(27:55):
Come, holy Spirit.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
When I was in high school I had a friend who came
to a rally.
It was an old-time tent rally,evangelistic Crusade, in
Ballarat actually, or Bendigoone of those over there, it's
across the border who cares.
And my friend responded to thealtar call, went forward to
(00:21):
receive Christ.
But I noticed over the comingdays and weeks that there was
actually no change to his life,didn't display a love for the
Lord or the things of God.
He didn't start going to church.
There was no evidence of theSpirit in his life.
Was he really saved?
(00:43):
If you've been following alongwith our going through Acts, you
might remember that last weekwe began the story of Philip.
Philip was one of the sevendeacons chosen to administer the
church's welfare program.
But we're told he wasspirit-filled and, as we find
out, he was a powerfulevangelist.
And so he moved north fromJerusalem to Samaria where he
(01:08):
preached the gospel afterpersecution broke out in
Jerusalem and we read that theSamaritans gladly received his
message.
They were freed from demons,they were healed, there was
miracles, all sorts of thingshappening.
There's great joy in the cityas they received the gospel.
Today's reading from continuingon in Acts 8 homes in on one of
(01:33):
those converts in particular,and his story a man named Simon.
So let's read that A man namedSimon had previously practiced
sorcery in that city and amazedthe Samaritan people while
claiming to be somebody great.
Simon had previously practicedsorcery in that city and amazed
the Samaritan people whileclaiming to be somebody great.
They all paid attention to him,from the least of them to the
greatest, and they said this manis called the great power of
(01:55):
God and they were attentive tohim because he had amazed them
with his sorceries for a longtime.
So Simon had been a sorcererbefore he was saved.
Now the Greek word for what'stranslated sorcery here is
(02:18):
actually the word we get magicin the English from, and the
word could have differentconnotations depending on the
context.
So the three or not three, butthe wise men, the magi who came
to worship Jesus used this wordto describe them, but they were
probably more down the road ofastrologers.
What we see here with Simon isprobably something that taps
(02:41):
into a spiritual power, usingincantations and so on, and I
think it's important that wejust park here just for a minute
because, as the empty promisesof secularism in our society
give way to a generaldisillusionment, we're finding
that particularly young peoplebut not only young people are
(03:04):
coming back to various spiritualpractices.
They're seeking something witha deeper spiritual significance
and many are turning to what canbroadly would be called sorcery
in the Bible.
So we see practices even likevoodoo becoming acceptable.
(03:25):
Tarot Reiki you may have hadsome contact with that Crystals
and New Age beliefs in generalwith various practices are
making a comeback.
But, friends, as Christians,these aren't acceptable for us.
Deuteronomy 18, 10 to 14 sayslet no one be found among you
(03:47):
who sacrifices their son ordaughter in the fire.
Let that sink in for a moment.
What a culture who practicesdivination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages inwitchcraft or casts spells, or
who is a medium or spiritist, orwho consults the dead.
(04:08):
Anyone who does these things isdetestable to Yahweh.
Because of these samedetestable practices, yahweh,
your God, will drive out thenations before you.
You must be blameless beforeYahweh, your God.
Now we don't need to panic orgo on witch hunts.
(04:30):
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10,.
What am I saying then?
That food sacrificed to idolsis anything, or that an idol is
anything?
No, but I do say that what theysacrifice, they sacrifice to
demons and not to God.
I do not want you to beparticipants with demons.
(04:54):
And see, one of the problemswith all these spiritual
practices isn't that they don'twork, but that often they do.
But where they derive theirpower from is the problem.
They don't come from the trueand living God.
Power, regardless of whatpeople may attribute it to,
(05:15):
comes from demons.
Now, as Christians who have theHoly Spirit, who have been
filled with the Spirit, we can'tbe possessed by demons.
But if we invite demonicinfluence into our life, it can
afflict us and, for theunbeliever, the influence of
demons, evil spirits, that wholespiritual realm can be
(05:39):
devastating and havegenerational consequences.
So it's not something to muckaround with.
Of course, the other problem forus as Christians, who gets the
glory we see with Simon?
He was about his own glory.
He claimed to be someone greatand because of the sorceries he
(06:00):
was performing, everyone thoughthe was someone great.
But as kingdom people, we areabout the glory of God, about
the glory of the king, andanyone or anything that takes
away from the glory of God isnot something we take part in.
Reading on, reading on.
(06:26):
But when they believed Philip,so the Samaritans this is
backing up a little bit as heproclaimed the good news about
the kingdom of God in the nameof Jesus Christ.
Both men and women werebaptized.
Even Simon himself believed.
And after he was baptized hefollowed Philip everywhere and
was amazed as he observed thesigns and great miracles as they
(06:49):
were being performed.
So it appears that Simon gaveup his practice of sorcery when
he was baptized.
You know, I think in verse 13,the last sentence, there there's
just a hint that all is notwell Because while the rest of
the city is receiving the gospeland we really see when we go
(07:12):
back into the previous passagethat there's rejoicing, the
gospel is coming.
Yes, there are signs andwonders and people are being
healed, and that's part ofrejoicing in the kingdom.
But we really hear Luke saythat they're listening to the
message.
But here what we see is Simonseems to have an unhealthy
(07:32):
interest in the miraclesthemselves.
He followed Philip everywhereastonished by the great signs
and miracles he saw.
And you know, when the kingdomof God breaks in, it will come
with power and it'll come alsowith acts of love and service.
Through the centuries the churchhas always been associated with
(07:56):
caring for the poor and for thesick, whether that is through
signs and wonders and miracleshappening or whether it is
through things like setting uphospitals.
You know, hospitals areessentially a Christian
invention and people are happyto receive the benefits of the
kingdom, aren't they?
(08:16):
You never hear anyone well,maybe you do now, but you've
never heard anyone in the pastcomplaining about Christian
charity.
But you hear people complainwhen the gospel comes along with
it.
People want the kingdom withoutthe king, but you can't
separate them.
How many people Want to receivethe gospel message of
(08:38):
repentance from sin and faith inKing Jesus leading to new life?
Not as many as who want thebenefits that go along with it.
Reading on, when the apostleswho were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the wordof God, they sent Peter and John
(08:59):
to them and after they wentdown there.
So I said up, sometimes youread these things.
This is a complete aside.
People get a bit confusedbecause we tend to go by the
points of the compass.
So Samaria is north ofJerusalem, so why are they going
down?
Because it's downhill fromJerusalem.
(09:20):
They heard that Samaria hadreceived the word of God.
They sent Peter and John tothem.
After they went down there,they prayed for them so that the
Samaritans might receive theHoly Spirit because he had not
yet come down on any of them.
They'd only been baptized inthe name of the Lord Jesus.
And then Peter and John laidtheir hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit.
(09:40):
So when the apostles find outabout Philip's ministry remember
Philip, everyone's justscattered, all the Christians
because of the persecution.
Philip's ministering as he goesalong.
So then they come and lay handson the Samaritans to receive
the Holy Spirit.
Isn't that interesting?
Why didn't it happen when theywere saved, when they received
(10:01):
the Lord?
Why couldn't Philip do it?
Well, one of the things we seein Acts is that as the gospel
moves to new people, groups andinto new stages, one of the
things that is crucial is thatthe unity of the church is
preserved, because there's oneLord, one faith, one baptism,
(10:22):
one God and Father of all, whois over all and in all and
through all.
And the revival in Samariarepresents the next phase of the
gospel, going from Jerusalem toJudea and Samaria to the ends
of the earth, as Jesus said itwould.
And so, as it's moving out,moving into.
So the Samaritans were sort of ahalfway bridge between Gentiles
(10:45):
and Jews.
The Jews really hated thembecause they were kind of seen
as a half-breed.
Isn't that terrible?
But that was the enmity betweenthese two people, so they're
not quite Gentiles.
We haven't reached to theGentiles yet.
The Samaritans believed in thePentateuch, what we call the
Pentateuch, the Torah, and theyhad some sort of Jewish
practices that were mixed up.
But it's essential therefore,because there's this separation
(11:10):
between the two groups, thatthere is a demonstration of
unity.
And so what happens?
When the apostles, the peopleappointed by Jesus as leaders
over the whole church, go downand pray for the Samaritans to
receive the Spirit, and theSpirit comes, they and the Holy
Spirit are declaring thatPhilip's ministry is legitimate,
(11:33):
is one with theirs, his baptism, because they don't re-baptize
him in water, they just baptizehim in the Spirit, just baptize
him in the Spirit.
But they're declaring thatPhilip's baptism is one with
theirs and they're declaringthat the Samaritan believers are
one with them in Christ.
It's just one church, one big,happy family.
(11:56):
You know, the early church mademuch of the need to be part of
the true church.
As a Christian, third centuryBishop Cyprian, said, no one can
have God for his father whodoes not have the church for his
mother.
And that's a sentiment thatmany other early church fathers
(12:18):
write about, and still today, inmany churches, if you're not
part of the right churchespecially Catholic and Orthodox
, but some independent Baptistchurches and others as well they
will say that baptism is onlylegitimate and they say it can
only save you if it'sadministered by a priest or
(12:39):
bishop.
Now, we're part of theProtestant movement, which
emphasizes the priesthood of allbelievers, and as Baptists, we
believe authority resides in thegathered church and its
delegated leaders, not just inpriests and bishops, and we
don't believe that baptism savesyou as such.
(13:02):
We believe that baptism is asign of saving faith, and so we
don't insist that a priest orbishop needs to perform baptism
or pray for someone to receivethe Spirit for it to be valid.
So anyone can perform a baptismand it's a valid baptism.
(13:22):
But I would say this thatthere's no room for cowboys in
the kingdom of God.
It's the church that baptises,and baptism should always be
administered by someone underthe authority of the church.
Put it this way if someonewon't submit to church authority
(13:45):
or church discipline, whatbusiness do they have going
about church ministry, christianministry and claiming to speak
for Christ, if they won't submitto Christ's church?
The point is unity in the bodyof Christ.
(14:06):
Reading on we're sort ofcovering a lot, but it's a
really interesting passage.
When Simon saw that the Spiritwas given through the laying on
of the apostles' hands, heoffered them money, saying Give
me this power also, so thatanyone I lay hands on may
receive the spirit.
But Peter told him may yoursilver be destroyed with you
(14:28):
because you thought you couldobtain the gift of God with
money.
You have no part or share inthis matter because your heart
is not right before God.
Therefore, repent of thiswickedness of yours and pray to
the Lord that, if possible, yourheart's intent may be forgiven,
for I see you are poisoned bybitterness and bound by
(14:49):
wickedness.
Pray for me, simon replied, sothat nothing you have said may
happen to me.
So after they had testified andspoken the word of the Lord,
they traveled back to Jerusalempreaching the gospel in many
villages of the Samaritans.
So apparently, somethingpowerful happened when the
(15:11):
apostles laid hands on theSamaritans.
Probably, I think, they wouldhave spoken in tongues and
prophesied like happened atPentecost.
Whatever it was, it waspowerful enough that Simon
wanted to have the sameauthority that the apostles were
displaying in praying for theSamaritans to receive the Spirit
(15:33):
.
Now, the problem here is thatfor Simon, as a sorcerer, he
understood power to betransactional.
What do I mean?
What you make the right payment, perform the right incantations
, manipulate the right spiritualforces and you get the power.
That's how witchcraft works,magic works and, honestly, I've
(15:58):
heard some Christians who treatChristianity in the same way.
It's possible he also wanted tobe able to sell the Holy Spirit
to others.
Hey, we're going to set up abusiness.
This is great.
People are going to comeflocking, going to be able to
sell the Holy Spirit to others.
Hey, we're going to set up abusiness.
This is great.
People are going to comeflocking, going to be rich.
A business of filling peoplewith the Holy Spirit.
But, friends, the Spirit cannotbe manipulated.
(16:19):
The Spirit is not for sale.
He is the presence of thesovereign God given as a gift
through faith.
God given as a gift throughfaith.
Jesus said to his disciplesfreely you have received, freely
give.
And so Peter rebukes Simonharshly and in fact he curses
(16:44):
him your money perish with you.
Essentially, he is saying Simon, you're not even saved.
When Peter says you have nopart or share in this matter,
the Greek word for matter islogos, or where we get word
(17:06):
which often refers to gospelproclamation.
It can be a message.
He has no part in the gospel.
So is this newly baptizedbeliever even saved?
He has a heart that isn't rightbefore God but is full of
bitterness and sin.
How can that be so for abeliever?
(17:29):
Or can he even be saved?
Peter seems to think he has achance if he repents.
He says pray to God and repentof this wickedness.
But what does Simon do?
Does he do that Now?
He asks Peter to pray for himand it sounds humble, but it's
not what Peter told him to do.
(17:50):
He said you pray, you repent.
Could it be that Simon fearsthe judgment of God and he loves
the power, but he doesn't loveGod?
You know, the early churchfathers thought that Simon was a
heretic and went on to Rome tocontinue his old ways.
(18:13):
So what do you think?
Saved, not saved.
He believed He'd been baptized.
Well, if Simon wasn't saved andI actually don't think he was
it raises the question how canwe know?
(18:35):
How can we know if someone istruly saved?
Like my friend I talked aboutat the beginning of the message,
simon made a confession he wasbaptized.
Who are we to judge.
How can we judge?
We live in a culture that sayswe have no right to judge.
It's what I feel about myselfon all sorts of levels that
(18:58):
speaks to the truth.
But you know, friends, theBible on one hand actually says
don't judge.
But when Jesus said that, healso said practice discernment.
Jesus says in one line in thesame sermon don't judge lest you
be judged.
But he also says don't throwyour pearls before pigs.
Don't give what is holy to dogs.
(19:20):
What's going on there?
It's easy to throw one verseout and ignore the other.
Jesus is telling us to practicediscernment, not to condemn.
There's different ways we thinkabout judgment.
Judgment can be making ajudgment.
It's like who won the race.
Well, we look at the evidence.
They got across the finish linefirst.
They won.
Or we can condemn.
(19:40):
That's what a judge does in acourt of law.
We are to not to condemn.
That's ultimately God's job.
Not to condemn, that'sultimately God's job.
But we are to practicediscernment.
In fact, jesus commanded us topractice church discipline.
If someone was in persistentsin.
He said if someone sins againstyou, speak to them first.
(20:03):
If they don't listen, take oneor two others.
If they still don't listen, goto the whole church.
Paul said to the church inCorinth of someone who was
sinning gravely said expel theimmoral brother, kick him out.
(20:24):
We can't truly know someone'sheart, that's between them and
God.
But we can practice, and wemust practice church discipline
based on the evidence we seebefore us.
Now, sin is one thing.
How, again, can we know ifsomeone's saved?
And I guess the bigger issuehere is because we're not going
to kick someone out of thechurch because we're not sure
(20:46):
they're saved.
We may kick them out becausethey're misbehaving badly, right
, but the bigger issue then ishow can I be sure that I'm saved
?
So let's back up a bit.
What does it mean to be savedand how are we saved?
Now, there's all sorts of waysthat we can look at salvation.
The Bible uses all sorts ofpictures and metaphors.
(21:08):
I'm going to just pick this onethis morning.
The Bible says, effectively,we're infected by a disease
called sin.
It infects our hearts and ouractions so that we become
enemies of God.
And this is a fundamentalproblem with sin and with the
human condition that we are cutoff from God, the source of life
(21:29):
.
We're subject to quarantine, ifyou like, to judgment, and
there is nothing we can do tocure ourselves.
Peter said to Simon we arecaptives to sin, we're prisoners
with no way of escape exceptfor one Jesus Christ.
And so Jesus came and took oursins, the disease of sin, on
(21:51):
himself on the cross and set usfree from the prison of sin,
came to cure us of the diseaseof sin and to reconcile us with
God, the source of life.
And so, when we trust in Jesus,the Father gives us the Holy
Spirit by which we aretransformed and have new life.
And we gain all of this byfaith.
(22:15):
So what does faith mean?
Well, it means trusting inJesus and his message.
Jesus' message was repent, turnaway from your sin and believe
the good news.
On the day of Pentecost, petersaid repent and be baptized,
baptism in this sense being asign of repentance.
And in his letter to Romans,paul said if you confess with
(22:38):
your mouth Jesus is Lord andbelieve in your heart God raised
him from the dead you will besaved.
So Jesus is the way to be saved.
We must believe in him, confesshim as our Lord.
Sin makes us the enemy of God,so we must turn from our sins or
repent and turn to God and hisway of life for us.
(23:02):
We must be baptised as a signof our faith and repentance.
As a sign of our faith andrepentance, and on that basis,
god promises us the gift of theHoly Spirit, who puts our
freedom, healing and new lifeinto effect.
So the question for us, for you,for me, is have you been saved?
(23:24):
How can you know?
Well, jesus said this is wherefruit evidence comes into it.
Jesus said we'd be known as hisdisciples by our love for one
another, by the way we live.
And he also said you'd knowfalse prophets how?
(23:49):
By their fruit, by their livesand actions and words.
I think, in the case of Simon,the fruit of his life belied the
confession of Christ.
So what do we see?
We see a man grasping the power.
(24:10):
Sounds kind of holy, doesn't it?
Oh, I want to be able tobaptize people with the Holy
Spirit.
Here's a bag of money.
He doesn't understand grace.
And you know, wherever we seethe Holy Spirit poured out, we
see love, we see joy, we seefreedom.
But what do we see in Simon?
Peter says you're full ofbitterness and captive to sin.
(24:31):
That's the opposite to what theHoly Spirit does.
Many Christians are caught up inreligion as a transactional
relationship with God.
They want the benefits of thekingdom of God without being
committed to the king.
And let's face it, for manypeople they just don't want to
(24:55):
go to hell.
They don't care about the restof it.
Their love for God is tepid atbest.
They have no joy.
They have no power.
Their thoughts are fixed inthis life rather than their hope
being fixed on the next.
But there is hope.
When we humbly and sincerelyrepent of this wickedness and
(25:17):
pray to God for forgiveness,then we can be saved.
You know, friends, then thereare those who are genuinely
saved, but they live a powerlesslife.
They have no assurance ofsalvation.
They want it, they want God'ssalvation, they hope for it.
And you know, if you want itand you hope for it, probably a
(25:40):
sign that you might actuallyhave it or you're very close.
The problem is they lack anassurance.
This can be for a number ofreasons.
Is they lack an assurance?
This can be for a number ofreasons.
You know, sometimes asChristians we carry unconfessed
sin and it gets in the way ofour relationship with God, the
fullness of the Spirit For someChristians.
(26:00):
They're trying to live with onefoot in the world and one foot
in the kingdom of God, just notfully committed.
Foot in the kingdom of God,just not fully committed.
We have to be hot or cold, nottepid.
For other Christians, maybeit's just that they haven't
received the fullness of theHoly Spirit.
(26:21):
They're trying to do this intheir own strength, and that was
certainly my experience.
I was in the Word but not inthe Spirit.
The kingdom of God is about bothFriends.
If that's you, if you lack anassurance of salvation and
confidence in your faith, if youfeel like you lack a power that
(26:43):
you see in Scripture, that youwant, the Father wants you to
experience the fullness of theSpirit and the full assurance of
salvation, and I want to giveyou a chance this morning.
I want to invite you, duringthis next song and after the
service, to come forward ifyou'd like to receive prayer for
that.
I'd love to talk to you, praywith you and see just if God
(27:07):
won't do something wonderful inyour life.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you for your grace tous.
You are the God who loves togive us life.
You are the God who wants tofill us with all the fullness of
Christ through your spirit.
Father, I pray this morningthat you will fill us up as your
(27:31):
people.
Father, that we will be achurch that fully embraces the
king and thus receives thefullness of the kingdom.
And, father, that we can takethe message of the king and the
fullness of the kingdom out intothe world around us.
(27:55):
Come, holy Spirit.
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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