Revealing a Counterfeit Convert

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Amen.
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I would like you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Acts.
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And if you would make your way to Acts chapter 8 and verse 9.
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In our evangelism class, one of the things that we teach is how to use tracts in sharing the Gospel.
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A Gospel tract is just some type of a card or a piece of paper that has the Gospel written on it.
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And we use those to hand out to people.
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And one of the tracts that we use is a million dollar bill.
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On the front, it looks like a million dollar bill.
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And on the back, it simply has a Gospel message written on it.
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And a few years ago, there was a news story about a man who went into a Walmart and he tried to buy some items with a million dollar bill.
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And it caught my attention because it was one of the same ones that we give out.
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It showed a picture of it on the website and it was one of the same ones.
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He had the same million dollar bill right from Living Waters.
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That was the one that he was using.
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Because they do look like real money.
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But of course, it was ludicrous because for one thing, there is no such thing as a million dollar bill.
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And for a second thing, I don't think they would have had change.
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But also, it's just silly to think that someone would think that that would work.
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But the reality is, people try to pass fake bills off all the time.
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They try to run them on the computer, print them on their computer.
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Counterfeiting is a very common crime, especially with the advent of new technologies.
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And counterfeiting is not limited to the world of finance.
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There are also counterfeits in other areas of life.
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And there is nowhere where it is more dangerous to be counterfeit than in the church.
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People who seek to appear to be believers in Jesus Christ but actually have made a false profession of faith are in fact counterfeit converts.
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They may look like and sound like believers, but in fact, they are not genuine.
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And the reality is, this is not something new.
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This has been going on since the foundation of the church.
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And that's why today's message comes from Acts chapter 8.
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And the title of the message is, Revealing a Counterfeit Convert.
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And what we're going to see there is there is a man by the name of Simon who demonstrates that his profession of faith did not equal true conversion.
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So let's stand together and read God's Word.
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We're going to read chapter 8, verses 9-25.
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And we get Simon's story.
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It says in verse 9, But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.
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They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God that is called Great.
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And they paid attention to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
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But when they believed Philip, as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
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Even Simon himself believed.
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And after being baptized, he continued with Philip, and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
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Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
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For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
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And when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.
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But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
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You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
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Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that if possible the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.
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And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
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Now when they had testified and spoken of the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
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Father in heaven, I thank you for your word.
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I thank you for the opportunity to again preach.
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I pray, Lord, that you would keep me from error.
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I pray that you would fill me to preach with your Holy Spirit.
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That your Holy Spirit would speak to the hearts of your people, bring conversion and conviction.
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And Lord God, ultimately, that you would be glorified in all that is said.
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In Christ's name we pray.
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Amen.
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We are continuing in our overview of the book of Acts.
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And as you may remember, we're right in the middle of the ministry of Philip.
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Stephen, who was the first martyr, has been stoned to death in Jerusalem for proclaiming Christ.
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That stoning of Stephen has erupted in a great persecution which has forced the church out of Jerusalem and into the surrounding areas.
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And Philip becomes the first missionary in bringing the gospel outside of Jerusalem to this area called Samaria.
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Saul, who would later become the apostle Paul, was terrorizing the church, taking both men and women to jail for expressing their faith in Jesus.
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The apostles stayed in Jerusalem, but most of the church left.
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Philip goes to Samaria and he begins to win converts to Christ there.
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And last week we saw he had a great revival in Samaria.
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And there was a citywide campaign, if you will, for the gospel.
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And many people are being saved.
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But it's at this point in the narrative that we come across an individual named Simon.
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And this person would become important, not only at that time, but he would actually become an important example down through the history of the church.
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Brian Borgman, one of my favorite preachers, said that Simon stands for 2,000 years as a monument to the fact that not everyone in the church is what they appear to be.
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Simon stands for 2,000 years as a monument to the fact that not everyone in the church is what they appear to be.
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So based on that, we're going to give an examination of the text, and then we're going to make application of it.
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The first verse we see is verse 9, in the introduction of Simon's sorcery.
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It says, But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.
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They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God that is called Great.
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And they paid attention to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
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Now that story interests me in several ways, but not the least of which is this, and some of you know this.
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I had a very interesting desire as a youth.
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My desire when I was 14, 15, 16 years old was to become a professional illusionist.
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I actually worked as a professional illusionist, and that's how I met my wife.
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Most people don't know that.
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From the age of 16 to the age of 18, I worked for DeLand Entertainment, doing close-up magic shows at events, and I've done everything from the University Club downtown, to the Women's Club, the Garden Club, all kinds of different places.
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So when I come to the text, and it says this man was a magician, I kind of sit up and take notice, you know, because when I was a kid I had heroes, you know, David Copperfield, and Lance Burton, and Harry Houdini.
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These were men who were very influential in my teenage years.
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And so I read this story, and it gets my attention, as you can probably imagine.
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But one of the things that we need to recognize right away is that this man is not David Copperfield.
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This man, Simon, is not Lance Burton or Harry Houdini, because there was a difference in what this man is doing.
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The most notable difference is this.
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David Copperfield and all those guys make it known that everything you're seeing is fake.
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From the very beginning, you know that when you go to a show, it's an illusion, and that's why they are called illusionists.
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But Simon, in this story, is not an illusionist.
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He is a man who has convinced people that he has power from God to work miracles.
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Now there is some debate as to whether or not he actually worked miracles, or whether or not he was a total fraud, but we know this.
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If he was working any type of miracle at all, it would have been in the demonic realm, not in the holy realm.
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But the reality is, here is a man who has allowed himself to be called, for all intents and purposes, Simon the Great.
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You notice the title that he is called, The Power of God which is called Great.
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That is the title they gave him.
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He is called The Power of God which is called Great.
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Or, in some translations, The Great Power of God.
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In essence, people saw what he did, and they saw him as having miraculous power.
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And he liked being thought of that way, because it benefited him both socially and financially.
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He was able to gather a large crowd, a following within the city, because of his miracles, if you will.
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And again, we don't know what kind of miracles they were.
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We don't know what he was doing.
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The Bible doesn't see fit to describe to us.
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We can kind of assume that he wasn't pulling rabbits out of a hat, or cutting women in half.
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But we don't know.
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And as I said, whether it was demonic, or whether it was simple fraud, and the reality is, fraudulent magicians have been around for a long time.
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There are actually cave drawings of the cups and balls.
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You know that routine where you take a ball and put it underneath a cup, and make it jump to another cup, and it's a little trick? There are cave drawings of that.
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It's one of the oldest things in the world, is to fool people's eyes.
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So it could be...
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How many of you have ever heard of the amazing Randy? I don't recommend him, he is an atheist.
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But I just mention him, because the amazing Randy, his whole life is spent going around and debunking witch doctors and faith healers.
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And he demonstrates that what they do, is simply use the same types of tricks that guys like David Copperfield, guys like Lance Burton, that they're using for a stage show.
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These people are using those same type of mental manipulation, to cause people to think that they're being healed.
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One of the tricks that they do is called palming.
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Where they hide something in their hand, like a piece of gizzard from a chicken.
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And they have this bloody gizzard that they've got palmed in their hand, and they go up to someone's stomach, and they pretend to pull it out of them, and say, here is the cancer that you had.
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And they take it out, and they say, now you're cancer free, and they throw it in a dumpster.
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This happens all over the world.
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These witch doctors do this.
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So when I read about Simon, and I know what's still going on in third world countries, and even in first world countries in some situations, with guys like Benny Hinn, who are causing great manipulation with their hypnosis and everything else, where they're causing the music and everything else, to cause people to have these great emotional experiences.
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These guys are nothing more than illusionists, who are convincing people that they have the power of God.
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So that's what Simon is.
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Whether or not he does have a demonic, or whether or not he's doing these things as an illusion, he's convinced people that he has the power of God, and that they need to come to him.
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So that's kind of the set up to what's happening here.
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Simon the Great has a following.
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But then we see the transition to Philip's ministry in verse 12.
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It says, But, and that but there is a transitional word, saying something different is now happening.
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There's this guy, he's got this great miraculous magic show, if you will, that's going on and people appreciate it.
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He's benefiting financially, socially.
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But, when they, that is the people of Samaria, believed Philip as he preached the gospel, the euangelion, the good news, about the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
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Even Simon himself was baptized.
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I'm sorry, even Simon himself believed.
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And after being baptized, he continued with Philip, and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
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Now think about this from Simon's perspective, the magician.
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Here's a guy, he's got a great following, and now a new magician has come to town.
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He's got a new message and new miracles, but the same old idea.
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This guy's come to town, and he's winning converts.
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Now, I can see that his magic's better than my magic.
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His stuff's better than my stuff.
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I'm losing people.
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So what do they say? When you've got an enemy, make him your friend.
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When you've got somebody who's kind of opposed to you, it'd be better to jump on his bandwagon, than to be in opposition to him.
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And the text says Simon believed.
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And we're going to address this later.
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But that does not indicate that Simon was a true convert.
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And we'll see later why.
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But it does say he believed.
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So at least mentally, he assented to the fact that Philip was doing miracles, and that what Philip was saying had some truth value.
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He hears his words, and he believes him, at least mentally.
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Now, here's the thing.
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For all Simon knows, this guy is just as genuine as anyone else.
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For all Simon knows, he's just as much a believer as anyone else.
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And we know this how? Because Philip baptizes him.
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He consents to baptizing him, which means at some level, Philip believed that what this guy had said in his conversion, that whatever this guy had done in coming to him, and wanting to be part of what Philip was doing, that it seemed at least to Philip to be genuine.
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I know as a minister, there are a few things that are more disconcerting than to have someone that we have baptized show later that their heart was not really converted.
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But it does happen.
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Last week I made the statement that we don't wait to baptize someone.
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But I want to clear up something that I said.
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That doesn't mean that we don't do examinations prior to baptism, because we do.
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We want to know that someone is a believer.
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We want to know that they're bearing fruit.
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We want to know that they have faith.
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That's true.
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And sometimes we do wait a little while, especially with small children.
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Somebody brings to me their four-year-old and says, my four-year-old believed in Jesus.
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I say, yeah, but they also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
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Let's talk a little bit more about this.
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You know, let's address this a little further.
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Do they understand sin? Do they understand why Christ came? What do they understand what they don't understand? So that's part of this.
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I don't want to baptize someone who's not a believer.
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And I'm sure Philip didn't either.
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And I'm sure there was a part of him that when he later finds out that Simon's not a convert, was broken over that.
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But the one thing that we have to remember, that ultimately at the end of the day, no one can see a heart.
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All we can see is the fruit.
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All we can see is what we perceive to be a response to the gospel.
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And that's what Philip saw.
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So the issue of the onus of the responsibility is purely at the feet of Simon.
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For Philip just took him at his word that not only did he believe, but that he had been converted.
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So Philip baptizes him.
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And then we see in verse 14 a little aside.
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And by that I mean, this sort of takes away from the story of Simon for just a moment, but I need to address something, because this is hugely important in the history of the church.
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Because in verse 14 it says, Now when the apostles at Jerusalem had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
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For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
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Now this is a major transitional point in the history of the church.
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The gospel is extending out beyond the Jews now.
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It's going to the Samaritans, and this is huge in the history of the gospel, because we're seeing something unique here.
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The typical biblical model that we see is that when someone receives Christ, they also at that very moment are indwelled with the Holy Spirit.
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That there is not two things that happen, that you believe at one point and then later are filled with the Spirit, but that those things are together.
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In fact, it was so common that that was understood, that later the apostle, when he wrote Romans, the apostle Paul, he said if a person does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ.
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So there's something that is unified in coming to faith and the indwelling of the Spirit.
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But in this transitional period, between the time of the gospel going to the Jews, and going out to all of the world, in these transitional moments, there were times where there was a divide between the act or the belief, and the time of the indwelling of the Spirit.
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Now that has caused some confusion down through the ages, because groups like the Pentecostal church, believe that it's still supposed to be the way that it is.
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That you get saved, and later you get filled with the Spirit, and that's demonstrated by some kind of Pentecostal experience, like speaking in tongues.
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And even the Roman Catholic church teaches this, that you have faith, and then at another point in time, the bishops lay hands on you and you receive the Holy Spirit.
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The difference between the Pentecostal...
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It's interesting that they would have something in common, because they are so divergent.
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But the difference in Roman Catholicism and Pentecostalism, in Roman Catholicism the idea is that it's very ritualistic, and in the Pentecostal church it's very emotional.
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The receiving of the Spirit, it's a big emotional experience.
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So, just to be clear, the standard norm in the history of the church, is the belief that when a person receives Christ, he at that moment is indwelled with the Holy Spirit of God.
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But in these transitional moments and acts, we see them three times.
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We see the Pentecostal experience in Acts 2.
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We see this situation in Acts 8.
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And then later we are going to see in Acts 10 with Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, a similar situation, but in reverse.
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Here, they are saved and later receive the Spirit.
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Or saved, baptized, and then later receive the Spirit.
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And with Cornelius, the other way around.
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They get saved, receive the Spirit, and then later are baptized.
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Because Peter says, who would prevent water from us to baptize these? So, what we see is there is a similar Pentecostal experience that occurs, one in Acts 2, one in Acts 8, and again in Acts 10.
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And these are transitional times in the history of the church, where the gospel is moving from one group out to other groups.
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From the Jews, to the Samaritans, to the Gentiles.
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So, I hope that didn't throw you off course, but I felt like I needed to explain that, because someone might say, well, why is it that the apostles had to come down to Jerusalem? Well, the reason why the apostles are coming down to Jerusalem, is to affirm the ministry that is going on with Philip, and to lay hands on the people, so that they might receive the Holy Spirit the same way that the believers did in Acts 2.
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They are now doing in Acts 8.
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So, that just sort of, like I said, I hope that was helpful.
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A little historical lesson there.
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Let's get back now to see what happens as a result of this, because we go back to the situation with Simon.
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Because in verse 18, we see Simon's hypocrisy is revealed.
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It says, now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the laying on of hands, he offered them money, them being the apostles, saying, give me this power also, so that anyone whom I lay on my hands may receive the Spirit.
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Now, here's the thing.
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From the world's perspective, that probably doesn't seem all that inappropriate.
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I mean, you realize, we know the power of God can't be purchased.
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I mean, we know that.
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But you might think, well, this guy is a believer, he's only been a believer for a week.
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It makes sense that he'd have some loopy theology.
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And that's what a lot of people see with Simon.
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They see a guy who was a convert who just had a little mixed up theology.
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Yet, what often is overlooked is the motivation which causes this request.
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He has been motivated this entire time, not out of love for Christ, and not out of brokenness for sin, but he has been motivated this entire time to associate himself with a fellow magician who, not out of association with Christ, but out of association with the benefits that come along with being with Philip, is now saying, well, what can I do to reap these same benefits? He's not been motivated properly.
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And let me tell you something, motivation is the key.
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It's just like people who go out and try to get people saved, and then tell them, well, you need to come to Jesus because He'll make your life better.
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That's not why you need to come to Jesus.
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You need to come to Jesus because you're a sinner and you deserve hell, and the only way to glorify God is to be regenerated.
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That's the reason why you need to come to Christ.
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You don't need to come to Christ because He's going to make your life better.
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You don't need to come to Christ because He's going to give you your best life now.
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That's world-centered, man-centered, flesh-centered thinking.
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And it's wrong motivation.
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Simon had the wrong motivation for coming to Philip.
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And now we see this act demonstrating what his motivation really was.
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He wanted some of what Philip was getting, some of the attention that Philip was getting.
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In fact, you could even, looking at the text only, think that it's possible that Simon's attention had waned some.
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If you go all the way back to the beginning up here where it says there was a man named Simon, verse 9, who had previously practiced magic.
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You see, that's interesting because it could be that Simon's had been this person who was considered great, but that his constituency, his supporters had dwindled.
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And now comes Philip, now comes this guy, and now here's an opportunity again.
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Here's an opportunity again to get some fame, to get an opportunity, to get some attention.
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And here comes these guys who are Philip's head.
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These guys are over Philip.
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These guys are coming to affirm what Philip's doing.
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They have the power to just touch someone, and they immediately receive the Spirit of God.
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I want that! And it led to a name.
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There's actually a name for this in the history of the church.
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This became a name.
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How many of you have ever heard the term simony? Simony.
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Simony is the act of trying to purchase ecclesiastical authority.
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And it's named after who? Well, it's clear.
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It's named after Simon.
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The act of trying to purchase ecclesiastical authority.
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And it's been a 2,000 year name based on him.
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So we see then in verse 20, Peter condemns him.
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And in very harsh terms, harsher than you think because you read English.
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Because he says in verse 20, Now Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
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Those who are scholars of Greek, which I never claim to be a scholar of Greek, but those who are have made note of this.
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Essentially what Peter says here is you and your money can go to hell.
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Various guys have affirmed this.
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MacArthur, Brian Borgman and others have said this is essentially what he's saying.
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You and your money can go to hell.
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Now you might think that's harsh.
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I can't believe my pastor said that from the pulpit.
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I'm just saying what was the intent of Peter here.
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Here's this guy who brought this wrong motivation and he challenged him on it.
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Because you thought you could buy God's gift with money.
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In verse 21, You have neither part nor lot in this matter.
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And here it is.
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You want to argue with me that Simon was a convert? I'll tell you.
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Verse 21 will tell you.
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He said, Your heart is not right with God.
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There are few words that are clearer to identify someone who is not saved.
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Your heart is not right with God.
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Verse 22, Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, And pray to the Lord that if possible, And I like that he adds that qualifier.
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That if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
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You know we do a lot of assuming on God's grace.
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Peter didn't assume on God's grace.
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He said it's God's will whether He will choose to forgive you or not.
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But you need to repent and pray that He will.
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You need to seek after His mercy on this.
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And he goes on to quote two scriptures.
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He makes an allusion to two scriptural passages.
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Because he says, For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.
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Again affirming his lack of faith.
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Because that's from Deuteronomy 29.18 and Proverbs 5.2.
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Two places where it references unbelief.
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And it's the first one.
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It's saying gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.
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Basically you are still trapped in your sins.
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You are still a slave to sin.
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You are still an unbeliever.
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Verse 24, And Simon answered, Pray for me.
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Pray to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
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Now, Some might see that response as a positive one.
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Seems like he's expressing regret here.
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However, it has been noted by many, And I have agreed, That what we see here is not submission to Christ, But rather an appeal for safety.
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And it's not known from this text whether or not he truly ever becomes a convert to Christ.
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However, tradition, And I know tradition is not scripture, But we look to history and tradition for extra biblical information.
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Tradition does not paint Simon in a good light.
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History does not paint him in a good light.
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There's two traditions that fall.
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One says he became a Gnostic and a leader in the Gnostic movement, Which was a heretical first century sect.
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And that makes a lot of sense to me, Because the Gnostics were very much into mysticism.
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And knowing Simon's background, that seems to fit together.
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But also, there is a tradition which says Simon went about being the perpetual thorn in the side of Peter.
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That he simply just followed him around, Making that his ministry, sort of anti-ministry, To make things hard for Simon.
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Peter, not Simon the other.
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But the text doesn't tell us that.
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The text doesn't tell us anything about his state.
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Just that he ends this situation saying, Pray for me.
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Pray that I will not be condemned.
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That is not an expression of repentance.
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It's an expression of regret.
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So all that being said, verse 25 we see, And this ends the exposition, The verse 25, it says, Now when they had testified, They being the apostles, And spoken the word of the Lord, They returned to Jerusalem, Preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
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And the reason why I want to go all the way to verse 25, Because the story with Simon has ended, But here's what hasn't ended.
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The ministry of the apostles did not end, Just because one guy tries to throw a monkey wrench in it.
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That's hugely important, Because Satan is constantly putting obstacles in the way of the church.
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But Jesus has made a promise.
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Jesus said these words to Simon Peter, I will build my church, And the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
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All we've seen in the book of Acts so far, Is the attempts of the gates of hell to prevail against the church.
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We have seen from the beginning, There is sanction, There has been persecution, There has been corruption, There has been division, And now here is false conversion, And Christ will not allow His church to fail, At the attempts of Satan to bring it down.
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So even though in the midst of this thing happening, The apostles didn't just stop and say, Well this just shows we can't trust anybody to be baptized, We just have to stop baptizing, We have to stop going about, No, they moved on.
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And they kept ministering, Even in the midst of this bad situation.
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So now having seen the text and better understanding it, I want to give an application, And this is where we move to our outline.
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If you want to write the answers, They are in the worship folder.
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Because from this narrative, What I see are four things about evangelism, That we need to learn from this account.
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Because beloved, Again this whole series has been about, Taking the gospel out into the world, It's been about going beyond our borders, That's the goal.
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And how does this story relate to us in evangelism? I'm going to show you four ways.
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Number one, And you might know the answer to this, But I'm going to go ahead and say it.
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Not everyone who claims to be saved, Or claims to be a Christian, Is converted.
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Not everyone who claims to be a Christian, Is genuinely converted.
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I think that we all agree to that, But I don't think we all agree to that.
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What I mean is, I think we all accept that mentally, But practically we don't, Because somebody says I believe in Jesus, Okay, no problem.
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And we don't even think about the reality, That so many people that sit in church, Week in, week out, Are going to hell.
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That's right.
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And that is not a small thing.
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That is not a light thing.
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And yet, we read Matthew 7, Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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And we read that and we say, Oh, well, that's somebody else.
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It's not me.
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There's nobody in my church.
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It couldn't be anybody in mine.
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It couldn't be anybody that I know, Because everybody I know that claims to be a Christian, Yeah, they're right with God.
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There is such a thing as false faith.
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James tells us this in James chapter 2.
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He says, You say you have faith, But do not have the accompanying works.
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Can that faith save you? In that article there, That faith, He's indicating the issue, He says, That faith is not real.
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It's not genuine.
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It's dead.
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And faith that is dead does not save you.
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You know, I heard a Baptist preacher recently say, Because of his commitment to eternal security, Say, That false faith is still faith, And you were justified by faith, So you're still going to heaven.
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He said, False faith is still faith.
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Oh, I don't want to faint.
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Do not base your eternity on that kind of nonsense.
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Churches are filled with people, Some thousands strong, Who are going to hell.
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So that's the first thing.
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Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is genuinely converted.
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Number two, Similar, but not exactly the same.
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A person can say and do right things, And still be lost.
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A person can say and do right things, And still be lost.
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Simon made a profession of faith.
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He was baptized, And he followed after Philip, In such a way that Philip allowed him to follow, And, Gratefully so, Enough to the point, To where he was around, When the ministers came, The apostles came, He was in the midst of all of this.
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There was no question about his life or conversion, Yet, what appeared to be obedience externally, Was motivated by an unchanged heart.
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And it's not always easy to know, Because some people put on a very good front.
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They put on a good show.
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But the Bible is clear that we cannot fool God.
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And that's kind of what I'm hoping to get across to you.
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Because if you're fooling me, Or you're fooling one another, You are not fooling God.
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And a person can do and say right things, And still be lost.
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Because all they're doing is doing and saying, Without any real change.
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Number three, Faith is more, Than an assent of the mind.
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A-S-S-E-N-T Assent.
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Faith is more than an assent of the mind.
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We have reduced faith down to this.
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Somebody says, I believe in Jesus, That automatically means they have faith.
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That is false.
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It's not even what the Bible means, When it says, Whosoever believeth in Him, Will not perish, But have eternal life.
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It's not even what that word means.
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Pistouon, the Greek for belief in that pastage, Does not mean simply to agree with something, Or to know something to be true, But it means to trust in that thing.
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In fact, the Reformers made that point.
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They said there are three ways, That we can understand faith, Or belief.
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One is the Latin terms of the Gnosis, Ascensus, and Fiducia.
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But in English, It's knowledge, belief, and trust.
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Knowledge, belief, and trust.
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This is the easiest way to know.
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I can know, You all know I teach firearms classes.
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Some of you might not.
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I know, That a gun might be unloaded, If I look at it.
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Say, okay, that gun's unloaded.
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I check it.
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I open it up.
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Now I believe it's unloaded.
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I'm still not going to point it at you, And pull the trigger.
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Because even after all that, I don't trust that it's not going to injure you.
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Maybe a better example is Ray Comfort's parachute example.
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I can know a parachute will save me.
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I can even believe it will.
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But I ain't jumping out no plane.
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I'm not going to jump out of a plane, Because I don't trust it.
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I know it, and I believe it.
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But I don't trust it.
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And when the Bible says, For whosoever believeth in Him will not perish, It's whoever trusts in Him.
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Whoever has taken that step of faith.
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Whoever has put on Jesus Christ.
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Not just believed that He can save, But believed that He has saved, And trusted in Him to save.
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It is true trust.
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Not just an assent, Or an agreement of the mind.
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Simon agreed, But he didn't trust.
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When we say we are justified by faith, We're justified by trust in the Savior.
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That's what that means.
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Finally, number four.
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Repentance is more than remorse.
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Repentance is not the same, rather, as remorse.
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When Simon was caught in his sin, He showed remorse.
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But that wasn't a desire to change.
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Remorse is hatred of the judgment that sin brings.
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Repentance is hatred of sin.
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Let me say it one more time.
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Remorse is the hatred of the judgment that sin brings.
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Repentance is hatred of sin itself.
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Many men come to Christ, Because they hate the idea of living in hell.
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But the convert comes to Christ, Because he hates the idea of living in sin.
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Now these are some important things to remember, When we take the gospel into the world.
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Because we're going to meet people who say, I'm saved.
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And often times we have a guttural instinct to say, Okay, well they're okay then.
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And someone who met Simon, Would have probably said, Yeah, he's okay.
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And they would have been wrong.
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We can and should share the gospel, Even with people who claim to be saved, Because even some of them, May not have ever heard the gospel.
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You say, well how would they know they're saved? Because that is a, It's a part of the vernacular of the English language, That people have heard, But don't understand.
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Many people will tell you they are saved, And their faith is as counterfeit, As Simon's was.
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And I have one last thing to share, And then we'll come to a close.
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One of the hardest things in the world, For a minister, Is knowing, That we will preach the gospel, And minister to people who profess faith in Christ, Who will attend church, Who will have all the right words, And many of the right actions, And yet will still end up in hell.
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And I have no doubt, That there are those of you here today, Who are as lost as Simon was.
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You've heard the gospel, You've believed it with your mind, But your heart has not been changed.
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You've put on a show by coming to church, You maybe even have convinced yourself, That you are in the faith, Yet you have no desire for repentance, No desire for godly living, No desire for growing in your walk with Christ, And no desire for sharing your faith with others.
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And I wonder, How many of you today, Would be willing to ask yourself the question, Am I another Simon? Is my profession of faith just words? Am I still just as much in love with my sin, As I was before I quote unquote called on Jesus? There's nothing more important in the whole world, That I could ask you, Is do you really know Christ, Or are you another Simon? Let's pray.
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Father, I thank You for Your Word, And I make no presumptions, On the conditions of my hearers.
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For Lord, as Philip may have presumed, Simon to be saved, And was wrong, I do not want to be, In the same way wrong, About those who hear me.
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So Father, You who see the heart, You who know whether or not, A person has come to faith, You who are the only one, Who can see our motivation, And You are the only one who know, If we are truly right with You, I pray this, For those who are truly believers, That You would comfort them, And encourage them, To draw closer to You.
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For those who have come today, As unbelievers, And are fully aware of their unbelief, That they would understand, The necessity of the cross, That You would regenerate them, And draw them to Yourself.
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But Lord God, For that third group, That group who came today, Saying I'm a Christian, For whatever reason, Because I grew up in America, Or because I was born in a Christian home, Or because at one time, I said a prayer, And got baptized, But have not truly been converted, God may it be, That You bring conviction to their heart, To the point, That they cannot end this day, Without being right with You, By the power of Your Spirit's drawing.
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Lord according to Your will, Save in accordance with how You choose.
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We love You, And we thank You for the promise of salvation, In Jesus' name, Amen.