The Sorcerer & The Servant

Don't look with me at Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, we started looking at Simon the sorcerer, we're looking at four different characters in Acts chapter 8. Actually the hearts of four different individuals, Saul the scoundrel, Philip the servant, Simon the sorcerer, and the Ethiopian eunuch who is a seeker. So we're looking at the scoundrel, the servant, the sorcerer, and the seeker.

Each heart reflects an attitude of the individual. And don't just simply think that you're Philip the servant. We go through the seven churches in the book of Revelation and I always want to be part of Philadelphia, you know, the church that loves and the door is open and no man can shut and just a little while, God gives us that strength for just a little while and then we'll be out of here, you know. But so often I find myself in Laodicea.

Oh, who cares? So don't just simply assume that, you know, well, Philip's the good guy so we're all the good guys sitting here because God wants to convict our hearts where there's areas of Simon and Saul and the seeker. So be open to what he has to say. Look with me at Acts chapter 8 and we covered verses 9 through 11 last time but for the sake of context let's pick it up again at verse 9.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great and all the people both high and low gave him their attention and exclaimed, this man is the divine power known as the great power. And they followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

And Simon himself believed and was baptized and he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles that he saw. And when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they

She was in a different state. She was in New York. He was in Florida. And the following day after making contact with her, he was shipped overseas for World War II and had no further contact with her until, or no visible face-to-face contact with her until after the war was over. But during the war, he corresponded with her. They wrote back and forth together.

And during that time, his heart grew to love her. They agreed when he was coming home to meet at Grand Central Station at 7 o'clock on this

She was kind of frumpy and plump, and her graying hair tucked up underneath her hat. And he noticed, though, that she was holding the rose. She had a rose there in her lapel. And for a brief moment, he was tempted to follow this attractive young lady and forget the other lady because in his heart, he so desired this relationship of love to bloom into a deeper-than-a-friendship-type love.

But because he had come to be bonded so in his heart with the heart of this woman that

But God will often use the unattractive. As we mentioned last time, Jesus born in a barn to questionable parentage. Unattractiveness to test us, to see if we will look to Him, to see if we will trust Him. And that unattractiveness can be circumstances as well as individuals. I mentioned that this last week you've probably run into a lot of unattractive circumstances

and what was your response? How did you respond to those?

He's got chocolate all over his face. And the last time he comes back, he knocks on the door and he's saying, I know you're in there. We don't put our kids through that. We've been there, done that, and don't like it. Didn't buy the t-shirt. So we don't subject our kids to that. So we keep our tuitions low and trying to allow for people to be able to afford to send

their kids. And for those of you paying the tuition, I know it seems high, but we're the lowest in the region. Check around. Even in our own city, we're the lowest in our city.

a non-profit. He said, you don't have to worry about that. He said, if somebody challenges you, you give us a call. It was like he was defiant. It was like he's, you know, David, ready to take on Goliath. I go, all right, you know, we're back to excited again, and it's been just like that with just that. And then we, you know, Bob and Judy's house burns, and the different things going on with

you guys in the fellowship, and it's just, it's like unattractive circumstances, you know? How do you face those? How do you respond to those? However, the nature of your heart is revealed in your response to those unattractive circumstances. Do you freak? Do you run and count your own wallet first, you know, and you don't have the finances, and you cry, and you moan, and you complain to somebody else, and you talk to somebody

else and complain to them, and you're complaining to everybody around here, and you never drop to your knees and face your eyes to the Lord, complain, complain, complain, complain, complain,

Do you want the prestige? Do you want power? Do you want control? You may say no, but let me just dig into your personal life a little bit, your family life. Who is in charge in your family? Is it under the headship of Christ, with the husband as the responsible head, and the wife serving and subservient to Him as to the Lord, or do you want control, wife? Or husband, are you manipulating, using the Scriptures, rather than trusting the Lord

and loving your wife as Christ loved the church? Are you seeking to use food as a means of control, and battling with different areas of anorexia or bulimia? Are you using substances, and abusing those substances, drugs and alcohol, cigarettes, dope, smoke a little weed so you feel like you're in control? You're wrestling with control. You wrestle with control every day.

We want to be in control. We hate it when we're out of control, but you will never find true peace until you surrender

time of his birth, at the time that they saw the star, and he sought to use his magic for the attaining of these three things, power, prestige, and position. In the area of facing these circumstances this past week, the Lord brought me to his word, which if you yield yourself to the Spirit's control, that the Spirit's in charge, he will always direct you to his word, and he will always speak to your heart through his word, and he will always direct you and comfort you through his word. In two verses, and I just want to share two sections, that the Lord spoke to my heart where my unattractive circumstances are that I'm dealing with, Psalm 35, verse 27. David writes, may those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness.

May they always say, the Lord be exalted who delights in the well-being of his servant. You know the Lord delights in your well-being.

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord. He is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them because they take refuge in him. You realize God delights in you, delights in your well-being, and so when something happens, when that unattractive circumstance happens, and you feel out of control, you run into him. You find your stronghold in him.

You find your refuge in him. And see, that's something Simon didn't know. Simon sought to obtain power and prestige and position through the manipulation of his tricks. He was the power that be in Samaria, and he was really Philip's unattractive circumstance when Philip came to Samaria. I mean, after we talked about it last week, but just going to Samaria was an unattractive

circumstance to Philip, to any of the Jews, because Samaria was that place out there where the half-breeds were, and we just keep ourselves separate, they would take the long way around to go to Galilee. Rather than going through Samaria, which was a straight shot, they would take the long way around to get up to Galilee because they didn't want anything to do with the Samaritans. Samaritans could not come to Jerusalem to worship. They were not welcome there.

And so they built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, which is the question that ensues from the woman at the well with Jesus. You people worship in Jerusalem. We worship on Mount Gerizim. Where's the right place to worship? So Philip saw that as an unattractive circumstance. Then he gets to Samaria, and here's Simon, the magician, using all of this power to influence

the people. Now, that is ominous. That is overwhelming to see that, even though you know you have the Lord. When we went to Nigeria, Africa is full of Spiritism, especially the armpit right there, which is Nigeria. If you look at Africa, and you see the way Africa up in the northern region comes around,

Well, don't you realize, Philip, that this Simon guy, I mean, he's pretty powerful, and he may not like what you're doing, sure. Philip realized that, but God's in control. Simon's not. I'll trust the Lord and do what he's told me to do. Well, do you realize that you could get hurt? Well, sure, but God's in control, and I'll just do what God's called me to do.

Don't you realize that the situation that America is facing with bombing Iraq this week could be very detrimental, very deadly? Have you heard the reports and the rumors that Iraq has probably around a hundred sleeper terrorist teams in our country, each one with little vials of anthrax and botulism that can be released and sprayed over our cities within a matter of hours, causing tremendous panic and killing millions, multiple millions of people, the poor man's atomic bomb? Okay, so that's a possibility, but God's in control. We can trust the leading of His Spirit, and we'll continue to proclaim His Word.

This may be going home time. This may be Ezekiel 38 and 39 time.

Can we tell from the text if Simon's faith was a genuine faith? Can we tell if Simon's belief here is a genuine belief, if he really experienced a true conversion? What does it appear from the text was the basis of his faith? And should we even be concerned? Are we wrong for thinking that, for being concerned about that? Jesus warned us in the Gospels that many wolves were going to rise up in the midst

of the sheep. Many false prophets were going to come, and they were going to deceive many. And Jesus said, you will know them by their fruit, which means we look and see what kind of fruit is produced. A bad tree can't produce good fruit. A bitter fountain, a fountain cannot produce both bitter and fresh water. It won't do it.

out before the Antichrist is revealed. But John said, in 1 John chapter 2, that the spirit of Antichrist is already at work. So that spirit's already moving. It's already working among us. There are already those who are drawing people astray, using signs and wonders, miraculous things that are happening, and people are going, ooh. And guys with this charisma and an ability to speak are drawing people away.

You better check it out. You better know what you believe.

But right now, he's receiving this account, probably from Peter, and some from the other disciples as well, but predominantly Peter. We find in this text that he indicates that Peter believed and was baptized and followed Philip everywhere, and was astonished by the great signs and miracles that he saw. He didn't really, he wasn't amazed by the word of God. He did not believe because of the word of God that was proclaimed.

He was amazed by the miracles that he saw Philip perform. There's no indication from the text that there was a repentance, that he repented from his sins, and repentance is critical. Repentance is a qualifier in redemption, being redeemed. When you first came to Christ, there was a point in time where you realized an emptiness in and of yourself, an inability for you to control.

That's repentance. That's a confession of sin and a desire to turn from that. Lord, I'm unworthy. Lord, I want you, but I just am unworthy. Father, forgive me. That's an act of repentance, and we don't see that in the text. As a matter of fact, we see more so that Simon wanted to keep his old ways. Later on, he asks to buy this power of the Holy Spirit so he can impress others.

See, he lost a bunch of his followers. They were following Philip and the disciples now, and they were believers. They weren't amazed by him anymore, and it's like, well, I'll join him so I can stay close to these guys that I've lost, and then give me this too so I can use it and still amaze them. You see, he wanted to say, I believe, but he wanted to continue on in his old ways too, and you can't do that.

True faith, true repentance, true salvation is a true change. You aren't the same anymore. You have been born again. Somebody else lives there now. It's not the same you anymore. You didn't just decide to be good today. You didn't just decide, well, I'll do the church stuff today. There's been a total transformation, and we don't see that in Simon from the text.

Wanted to keep his old ways, amazed the people that were following Philip. You see, people will play games with church and the Lord. People will play the church game. There are some of you sitting here this morning playing the church game. You will do it to appease a spouse. You may be a husband who's here because your wife has been nagging you forever. You just need to come to church, and you're here to get her off your back.

Or maybe your boyfriend, girlfriend situation, and 10 to 1, or maybe even 100 to 1, it's the girl who is spiritually sensitive, and she's going with this guy, and she's encouraging him to come, and he doesn't want to come, and she says, well, you know, I really can't have anything to do with you if you don't care. So he's here, and you may be here because you play the game and impress your girlfriend. And so you're here to play the church game. And you may have grown up in church doing the church stuff all your life, went to Sunday school as a kid.

You grew up, and you were confirmed or baptized or joined the church, and you sang in the choir, and you went on the youth group outings, and now you helped in youth group and taught Sunday school, and you've done the church stuff. You've played the church game. You made the profession. You came down front. You were confirmed.

Now, you can't manufacture that. You can like, and I like the people, but once you've been hurt or stepped on or crossed or offended, that's it. I'm out of here. I'm done. You live your life. I'll live mine. You stay away from me. I'll stay away from you, and that's the flesh. See, love says, according to 1 Corinthians 13, it bears all things. It endures all things.

It doesn't keep account of wrongs. When somebody does you wrong, it doesn't say. Back in 1992, you said to me, and that's really what takes me off. See, love takes no account of wrong. It bears all things, endures all things, believes all things, and hopes all things. That is impossible apart from a true conversion, apart from the true change by the Holy Spirit

in your heart. So, you may be playing the jump through the hoop game, but there's a certain point you're going to come to when you're going to get burned or you're going to get offended or whatever. And then we'll see, in that unattractive circumstance, how you respond, where you look. Simon just wanted to play the game so that people would admire him because he still wanted position and prestige and power.

But look at this, verse 14 talks about now the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and when they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them. They had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus, and then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Word reached Jerusalem that the Samaritans were responding to the gospel, they were believing the gospel, and Peter and John were sent to Samaria.

Now, let me ask you a question, because as you read the text, I've been trying to emphasize, as you study the Word of God, that you ask it questions. Why, Lord? What's this mean? Why is this here?

Well, they'd gotten word that these Samaritans were believing the gospel and being baptized, just like the church in Jerusalem. Now, remember the church in Jerusalem. The first Christian church was Jewish, totally Jewish. Some Hellenistic Jews were in there, which were Jews that were born and lived outside of Israel, outside of Jerusalem specifically, but outside of Israel predominantly.

They came from other areas of the Grecian slash Roman Empire. Some of them were kind of Gentile half-breeds, a lot of them were schooled in the philosophies of the Greeks and the Roman Empire and were, you know, kind of uppity, and so they really were considered not real true Jews. And now you hear that these Samaritans are believing the gospel, we've got to go check this out, you know, we've got to go see this for real. So many times we read this and we think the apostles were so together, like they were a step above, and they were just like you and me.

And that's what's the blessing about the Word of God, is He doesn't gloss it all up. They all make mistakes, just like we do. They are flesh and blood who've been born again, and they're learning how to walk with the Lord, and we get to see their mistakes, and that's exciting. Don't think for a minute that Peter and John were going up there on this big spiritual mission.

I've seen them talking on the way up there going, can you believe the Samaritans? Do you think this is real? I mean, can you really imagine Samaritans coming? Is God going this far? Well, Jesus did say, you know, back before He ascended that He wanted us to go out into Judea and Samaria, the outermost parts of the earth, but do you really think He meant Samaria?

I mean, you remember, He was there in Samaria, and they refused us entry that time, and James and I wanted to know if we'd call fire down, you know? It's really Samaria. I think they had those kind of conversations. I don't think they were walking six inches off the ground in this holy shroud going, ooh, Samaria, yay, praise God for Samaria. I think they went to check this out.

After all, Philip was the one sending back these reports, and he's that Hellenistic deacon. We'd better go see if he's doing it right. I mean, he may be saying something wrong, you know? May not truly be presenting the gospel. But they get there, and evidently the Spirit of God just moves in their lives so strongly that verses 15 and 16, it says that Peter and John laid their hands upon them and prayed

for them to receive the Holy Spirit because, verse 16 says, the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them. They had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, that phrase that we read in English there, the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, in the Greek, it's a word that indicates this is something that should have happened, that's something that was expected to have happened but had not yet happened, and it left a question. If this was real, this should have already happened.

The Spirit should have already been there, but He wasn't for some reason. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, verse 9 to the church at Rome, you, however, are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ, period. You don't have this intermediate stage where you say, I believe, forgive me, I repent, and then you have this intermediate stage where you're not really saved yet, but you wait for the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit comes upon you, now you're saved.

Paul says, if the Spirit doesn't live in you, you don't belong to the Lord. In Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14, Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, and you also were included in Christ Jesus when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed, you were marked in Him with the seal, the promised

And so they said that the Spirit had not yet come upon them, it's something that should have happened when they believed, but He had not done that yet, so Peter and John came and prayed for the Samaritans, laid their hands on the Samaritans, and again, imagine how this must have felt to Peter and John. I mentioned just a second ago that, see, Peter and John were with Jesus and the other disciples, when Jesus was on His way to Galilee, He said, I've got to go through Samaria.

Jesus sends the disciples ahead, a couple of the disciples, go and see if there's a place where we can stay, and they come back and say, they've refused us, they don't want us even coming into the village, and James and John say, in verses 51 and 52 of chapter 9 of Luke, do you want us to call down fire, do you want us to snuff them, let's burn them up, I'll just show them who's in control. And now here's Peter and John laying hands on them, asking God to bless them with His Holy Spirit, asking God to fill them, to enrich them, to empower them with His Holy Spirit, what a change, what a trusting Lord. They placed their hands on them and it says, they received the Holy Spirit. Another question should be obvious, how'd they know?

They laid their hands on them and they prayed, and the implication here is they did it, I mean, they'd fill up, Peter and John didn't stand on a stage and they lined all the Samaritans up that said they believed and they raised their hand and said, receive the Holy Spirit. It says they laid their hands on them, which implies they came up individually, those that had believed and been baptized, now they came up individually and Peter and John laid their

when Jesus was here in the flesh with the disciples to the time that He's ascended and He sent His Spirit and building His church. So the first 10 chapters of Acts are transitional and you see God reaching out to the major groups, the major people groups, drawing them into His church. The first group was chapter 2 and the Jews were the birth of the church, that's where the church was born, salvation is of the Jews, interestingly enough, Paul said. Then the second group happens in chapter 8 and the Samaritans are made part of the church, the half-breeds, the second-class, third-class citizens.

Chapter 10, we'll see Cornelius' house, the Gentiles now brought into the church, same thing's going to happen there, the Holy Spirit comes upon them and it'll say when we get chapter 10, as it did upon us at the first when Peter comes back and relates his story to the council at Jerusalem.

thought it was the formula, and he says, I'll buy it, I'll give you money to show me how you did that, can I buy the formula, I want to know how to do that, and we see his heart revealed here in verses 18 through 24, he just wants the Spirit to use it for his own benefit. This is reported to be a true story, but there was a man from Charlotte, North Carolina,

payment yet, but he filed a claim stating that his very rare, very expensive cigars had all been destroyed in a series of small fires. He sued the insurance company because they refused to pay, and they cited the obvious when they went to court, the guy smoked them, I mean, he's just trying to deceive us, saying that these small fires, you know, they were all, he just lit them and smoked them, but the judge ruled in the man's favor, and in delivering the ruling, the judge stated, quote, that since the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against fire without defining what it considered to be unacceptable fire, it was obligated to compensate

the insured for his loss. Now, rather than enduring a long court battle and more court costs, the insurance company went ahead and issued the guy a check for $15,000 for his loss in the several small fires that gave him the check. Now, the guy went and cashed the check, and as soon as he cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson. And they had his own insurance claim and his testimony and his cashed check that they used

He never even talks about a relationship with the Lord or fellowship with the saints. He wants the power for his own prestige and position and power. He wants to use God for his own purposes, and there are some sitting here who think that's what they want to do. They really don't want anything to do with this Christianity stuff and God stuff. I just use it for my own power.

Maybe I want to run for politics and say someday I was a member of X church, or I meet some guy or some girl, and yeah, I go to X church, and I want to use it for my own benefit. Simon offered him money, and that's another indication that his faith wasn't genuine, no personal conviction of sin, no desire for a relationship with the Lord as evidenced here, only wanted the power for personal profit. And magicians often purchase tricks from other magicians, so that's what he thought. These guys must be magicians.

I'll purchase this trick from them. There's a word that we don't use much anymore. It was called simony, and it meant the purchase of position or influence within the church by paying money. You know, if I donate X amount of dollars, then I get a say as to what direction we're going to go, what color we're going to paint the building, you know, what kind of piano you buy.

And it's got your little plaque on it with the names of those that donated that. And it's meant to ensure prestige and position and power. You're buying your position in the church. We don't have plaques on nothing. Matter of fact, only the treasurer knows who gives what here. I have no idea. I don't see that at all. None of the elders, none of the deacons do.

We don't know who gives what.

Because He will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that, excuse me, you're full of bitterness and captive to sin. And then Simon answered, pray to the Lord for me so that nothing that you have said may happen to me. Peter rebukes Simon. First of all, verse 20, he says, your motives are wrong. You want it for the wrong reason. Secondly, your understanding of God is wrong, verse 20.

The Holy Spirit is a gift. You can't buy the Holy Spirit. It's a gift to those who believe. Third, verse 21, he says, you have no part or share with this ministry. You have no part of it.

It was obvious. The guy was jealous of Philip first because people were following Philip instead of following him. He got bitter over that. And in his bitterness, he feigned this belief and being baptized, and he wanted this part of the Holy Spirit, and he was bitter that he didn't have it. He was upset because he didn't have control over the people that he had had control over.

And Peter says, I see that. There's bitterness and gall in your heart. You are captive to sin.

That's something each of us has to do individually on our own before the Lord. Now this section shows us just how close a person can get to salvation and still be lost. Simon heard the gospel proclaimed. He saw the miracles and was astonished by them.

but I just pray that you'll take this time, and if you've been playing games with the Lord, just been playing church, just cry out to him. Just ask him, Lord, come into my heart.