ACTS 8:5-25 HOW CHRISTIANITY SPREADS2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 8:5-25 How Christianity Spreads

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016.

We're in Acts chapter 8 this evening and jumping into a little bit of what we looked at last week in the beginning part of chapter 8 and then moving on into other parts of the chapter as well. We'll be looking at verses 5 through 25 together, but let's begin by reading through verses 5 through 13. Acts chapter 8 verses 5 through 13. Here's what it says.

Verse 9.

But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.

But when they believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Verse 13. Then Simon himself also believed. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

Here in Acts chapter 8, we're jumping into the account immediately after the stoning of Stephen that took place there at the end of Acts chapter 7.

And last week we saw the beginning then of the persecution of the church and how God used that to scatter the Christians, to drive them out of Jerusalem. Previously they were all gathered only in Jerusalem. That's the only place where the church was. If you wanted to hear the gospel, you had to go to Jerusalem. It was limited to there. The church gathered there.

But God allowed this scattering and he allowed it, he used it to accomplish a spreading of the gospel and a spreading of the Christians all throughout the area of Judea and Samaria.

And so we're looking at that spreading of Christianity. And so I titled the message this evening, How Christianity Spreads. And so we're looking at the continuation of that. Now, we're coming at this, we're looking at it, but I think it's important to remember the context as far as the church is concerned, as far as the people are concerned that are involved in this account. For them, it was a very dark season.

We're looking at these things. We're, you know, very far removed from it. You know, there's a lot of distance, and we know the history. We know the things that are coming next. And so you could look at Acts chapter 8 and, you know, think, wow, how exciting, you know, the things that are taking place and the miracles that are happening. But they're coming through this out of great tragedy. Their friend Stephen has just been murdered.

We would use the word martyred, but they would probably use the word murdered, that they

watched, you know, as their friend died in standing for his faith and bringing forth the gospel message and being faithful to Jesus Christ. And so that was the beginning of now all of this persecution has just, you know, been laid open on the church and they're fleeing for their lives. And so they've had to abandon. They've been there in Jerusalem for several years and

But now they've had to abandon all their routines. They've had to abandon whatever place they were living at. They've had to abandon whatever way that they were, you know, having sustenance and having a living. And everything's changed. Everything's out the door. Now they're basically, you know, running for their lives, starting over. And it also seems that they're spreading out. So there's isolation involved as well.

And, you know, if you think about Jerusalem's a good-sized place, but the church was over 5,000 men at that time. And so, you know, it's not that big. And so you can imagine, you know, hey, when you go to your favorite restaurant, oh, there's all my Christian friends. And you go to your shopping market, and there's all my friends. And you go to church, and there's all my friends. And, you know, there's Christians everywhere you go. And there's that fellowship everywhere you go. As they're all, you know, they're located in Jerusalem. But now as they go out and they're spread out,

You go to the store and you don't see anybody you know. You go to the restaurant, you don't see anybody you know. And you're not sure where you're going to live and you're not sure how you're going to make money. And so it was a dark season for them. It was very challenging and stressful. And yet God was using this

to bring forth much fruit. And so we're going to look at that a little bit today as we look at the example of Philip as he goes out to Samaria and God does a work through him. And as I mentioned last week, you know, Philip is one of the church. So this isn't, you know, the biggest, you know, work necessarily that happened. That it tells us in verse 4 that as the people spread out from Jerusalem, they

Well, everybody left except the apostles, but all the Christians who were in Jerusalem, when they left, they went everywhere preaching the word or bringing forth the gospel message.

And so this is kind of like a for example, you know. Here's the example of Philip. He's one of those guys who went everywhere preaching the word. But it's not the only story. It's not the only thing that God was doing at this time. It's just, you know, an example of it. And it's significant because it also is the opening of the door for the gospel outside of strictly, you know, Jews, but to the Samaritans now.

And so we're going to look at four points as we work our way through the passage this evening, talking about how Christianity spreads. And the first point we find in verses 5 through 8, and that is that Christians reach across social boundaries with the gospel.

The way that Christianity spreads is by Christians. And I made this point last week. I think it's important to continue to make. It's not the apostles who went out to do this work. The apostles stayed in Jerusalem. It's all, you know, like the rest of us, the normal believers who went out from Jerusalem. And it was through them that God used, you

to bring forth the gospel to the surrounding regions and to the people all around the area. And so that's why I use the word Christians, because it's a call, it's a commission that we all have to

And one of the marks and one of the unique characteristics about that is the reaching across those social boundaries, stepping over lines that would have been there before. And you can see this begin to unfold in verse 5. It says, Now we read about this and, you know, of course we know the account and so it's not that shocking to us. But this is really interesting.

a big deal as far as, you know, them for their culture, for their time. It was a big deal for him to go down to Samaria and preach Christ to them. It's one thing to go there, that was a big deal, but then also to preach Christ there, that was another big deal. And so there's a lot going on here that's happening that we don't necessarily reflect on or think about as we look at this, but

But it's important to consider. Now, let me just walk you through a little bit of the geography and why this was a big deal. So here's a quick look at the nation of Israel around the time of Christ or around the time of the book of Acts.

It was divided into different regions, and those were governed by Pilate, for example, and Herod. So there was these different regions. Samaria is right there in the middle. Judea is down in the south. And so you have the Sea of Galilee all the way to the Dead Sea. This was all the region of Israel.

Now, this was the same territory that they inhabited going back to the time of the judges. This is the promised land that God led them into. And then as the time of the judges progressed, they went into the time of the kings. And so you had King Saul, King David, King Solomon, who reigned over this entire area. This was the land of Israel, the nation of Israel. And

But as you remember, the nation of Israel was divided after Solomon. Under Solomon's son Rehoboam, the king,

northern part of the nation revolted, and so it was divided in somewhat like this. It's not meant to be precise, but you get the point. So the southern part of the nation where Jerusalem was, that became the nation of Judah, and then the northern tribes became the nation of Israel. They kept the name Israel.

And so there was this division that happened, and they remained divided until both nations were conquered at different times, but they were both conquered by enemies because of their rebellion against God. Well, what ended up happening is Israel was conquered first by Assyria. And when Assyria conquered a people, what they would do is they would remove the people from the land and put them somewhere else in their kingdom.

but then they would take people from other parts of the land and bring them and put them in the land that they just conquered. So what happened in the northern kingdom is the people of Israel were removed. The Jews were taken out of Israel and

except for the poor, they were left behind. And then there were people from other parts of the world that were brought there, and they began now to settle in Israel. And so what ended up happening is the poor who were left behind and the new foreigners who came in, they began to intermarry and have children. And so now you have a whole generation of

of people who are partially Jew, but partially not. And so they were mixed breeds in that way. And so the end result is they really kind of focused on this area here. They inhabited this area of Samaria. And so there was this region where there was this mixed group of people. Now, later on, the nation of Judah was also conquered. They were taken to Babylon. But when they came back, this group here was still there. And so it's a group of people who are

of foreign descent, but also of Jewish descent. And it caused lots of problems, uh,

in their relationship with those who came back from Babylon, there was this tension between them. And there was really a prejudice that developed on both sides, that they did not like each other. They did not get along. And so there was these battles that would go on, and there would be these feelings that they would have, and these prejudices that would be demonstrated towards one another.

Later on, when the nation of Judah comes back, and you remember they rebuild the temple, the Samaritans opposed the rebuilding of the temple, so much so that they built their own temple in their town on Mount Gerizim. They built their own temple. They established their own religion, kind of like similar to Israel.

the religion of Judah, but different, you know. So it's just like subtle changes, you know, still going back to Abraham, but subtle changes. And so they kind of developed their own religion and competed with the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah in that way. And so there was this animosity between them. The Jews hated the Samaritans.

they considered them half-breeds, you know, those who compromised in the things of God and corrupted the worship of God. So much so that by the time of Christ, there was this

idea that if you were, you know, really going to be faithful to God, you would avoid Samaria altogether. And so if you were going to go from Galilee down to Jerusalem, you wouldn't just go straight down through Samaria. You would take a route around Samaria.

You would cross over the Jordan, then go down, then cross back on the other side because you wanted to avoid all contact with the Samaritans. Not just because, you know, you didn't like them, but because they didn't like you. And so it could be dangerous. And so there was this tension. There was these, you know, prejudices that were very strong and built into their culture. And so there was, it was not a normal experience for them to interact.

And that's why it's so unique in John chapter 4 when it says that Jesus had to go to Samaria. And he, instead of going the long way around, he went straight through Samaria. And he didn't just get through, but he stopped and he hung out there in Samaria for a few days. In John chapter 4, it began with that encounter at the woman at the well. And you remember that woman at the well was shocked as Jesus began to talk to her and ask her for a drink. She's like,

Are you serious right now? Are you talking to me right now? In John chapter 4 verse 9, it records her response. It says, And then John explains for us, And so you can see there was this established prejudice. There was this established thing in their culture that

Now, we don't know exactly all the details, you know, of Philip's upbringing and such, but we can make some general assumptions that probably for his whole life, he was raised, taught, you know, taught by example and maybe even by instruction that the Samaritans, you're not ever to have any dealings with them. That was the culture. That was part of what they knew. That was part of what they knew for their whole life. That was part of their upbringing.

Jews don't have dealings with Samaritans. And so this woman is surprised. Why would you ask me for a drink? You're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan. This doesn't happen. This doesn't go. This doesn't work. It doesn't make sense that you would do that. And similarly, it doesn't make sense in verse 5 when it says that Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. He steps beyond Samaria.

the social boundaries, the normal prejudices. He lays those things aside, and he goes to Samaria and doesn't just escape there and flee there and try to hide there, but he actually brings the gospel there and reaches out to the people of Samaria. He's been transformed. He's been transformed.

There's a real transformation. All those things that he's been taught his whole life, you know, all those prejudices, those things are being laid aside, and he's reaching out with love in the gospel message to the people of Samaria. It tells us in verse 6, "...and the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did."

I think it's safe to conclude that when Jesus went through in John chapter 4 and he spent a couple days there ministering to the people, he was planting the seeds and now Philip is there to bring in the harvest. The gospel has been shared by Jesus. Now the full message is being delivered by Philip after the resurrection and crucifixion of Jesus. And so the message is able to be brought with great clarity and now Jesus

With one accord, they heed the things that are spoken by Philip. They're responding. Again, even though there was this animosity and this tension that should have been there, the gospel is breaking those barriers on both sides, breaking through those things and bringing forth a life transformation to those who believe. I think this is important for us to consider because

Well, of course, as we read these things today, there are still prejudices that exist today. And we can think of the automatic ones like race. That's something that definitely continues to happen. And there are those who have prejudices. I'm not trying to accuse any of you, but I don't know. Maybe there are. Maybe there are things in your heart and people that you...

Find contemptible that you wouldn't reach out with the gospel if you had the opportunity. There is that possibility that goes on within our society and within the church.

But it doesn't have to be a racial type of prejudice. I would ask us to consider these things in a variety of different concepts or different applications. So there are those who have occupational prejudices, and maybe even in your workplace, too.

There are, you know, certain kinds of employees and workers that don't associate with other kinds of employees and workers. And that happens and those things develop within the workplace. But I would ask you to consider, you know, who are our Samaritans? Who are Samaritans in your life? And perhaps God wants you to lay aside everything you've always known and taught and felt and thought about, you know, people of that kind or whatever it is that you have in your heart towards them.

And perhaps there needs to be a laying aside of those things so that you can bring forth the gospel message. And so maybe it is, you know, a different kind of worker, a different kind of employee, a different class of person there in the workplace. Or maybe it is a social class.

You don't like those rich people, or you don't like the poor people, or maybe it's based on how tight your jeans are. You really hate those skinny jeans people and don't want to share the gospel with them. Maybe it's age. And sometimes we just kind of like,

ourselves, not that we're actually disqualified, but we just think, you know, well, I couldn't be part of, you know, providing the gospel or bringing forth the message in that because I'm an old guy and that's a young person or I'm a young person and that's an old guy, whatever the case may be. You know, I'm not going to bring the gospel because they're wearing a Dodgers shirt, you know, and I'm an Angels fan or whatever the case may be. We

We can have those barriers, those things that divide. And there's lots of reasons for people to divide in our society. And there are lots of divisions within our society. But here's the point. As believers...

Our life in Christ really needs to take priority over all of those things. And the love of Christ needs to supersede all of those things so that we go beyond those boundaries. We cross boundaries that others won't because we have a message of life to bring forth to the people around us.

In verse 7, it goes on to say, for unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame and were healed. And there was great joy in that city. And so God did an amazing work as Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them. Christians reach across social boundaries with the gospel. That's what we do. That's what we're called to do.

I like this quote from Thomas Constable on this. He said, sometimes God moves us out of our comfort zone because he has a job for us to do elsewhere. A whole new people group came to faith in Christ. A whole new people group came to faith as a result of Philip being moved out of his comfort zone and sharing the gospel in a place in a way that he would not normally do.

And as God scatters us in a variety of ways and through our illnesses or through our occupation stuff or through our finances or through whatever it might be,

As we come into contact with different groups of people, as we come into contact with people that we wouldn't be in contact with otherwise, these are important things for us to keep in mind because maybe God has arranged this so that we could be there to share the gospel and that he could do a work. Reach across those social boundaries and bring the gospel as God gives you opportunity.

Well, moving on to verses 9 through 13, here point number two, Christians baptize those who believe. And so there's a normal process. As people are coming to faith in Christ, they begin to walk with Christ. And the first step in that is to be baptized. We'll begin looking at verse 9 and 10. It says, but there was a certain man called Simon who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great.

to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the great power of God. And so we'll get to the baptism in just a moment. But first, we're introduced to this man named Simon, who was this guy that everybody esteemed in the area. He practiced sorcery.

It doesn't tell us that he was a fake. It seems that he did have some, you know, power, but it wasn't from God. And so he was, you know, exercising some kind of power. And even if it was fake, the people were fooled and they were astonished. And he claimed to be someone great. And so they all gave him heat, it says, from the least to the greatest. So that whole region was

Everybody knew Simon the sorcerer, and they believed that he was the power of God, that he had the power of God, that he was a, you know, a work of God in their midst. In verse 11, it says, So they paid attention to this guy, and they said,

I think it's interesting how it says, for a long time he'd astonished them. So it kind of gives the impression, even if you were skeptical at first, but after a long time of him astonishing you with his sorceries and the powers that he demonstrated, well, people were convinced, they were persuaded, they were sold into this idea, he is the great power of God. But then there's a change that happens.

In verse 12, it says, So notice the contrast. They were involved in a belief system, fully immersed for a long time. They believed, they trusted in Simon the sorcerer. But now as Philip brings the gospel, he preaches things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

They believe. There's a change. They stop believing. They stop trusting in Simon, and they start trusting in Jesus. And lifelong patterns are broken when people believe in Jesus. And things that we pursued, you know, our whole lives before Christ, that's to be broken. That's to be laid aside. And so you see the contrast there in verse 12. But when they believed Philip,

They used to believe him. They used to heed him. But now they follow Jesus Christ. And you can see that at the end of verse 12, it says both men and women were baptized. They used to heed Simon, but now they're heeding Jesus. Demonstrated by the first step. And they were baptized. This is the normal pattern. Christ is preached.

People receive the message and believe in Jesus, and then they begin to follow Jesus. And the first step in following Jesus is baptism. Now, of course, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an essential for salvation, but it is the first step in following Jesus. It's the expression, the outward demonstration of what God has done, and it's the command of Jesus. And so as we seek to obey Jesus, it's the first thing we do.

Or maybe one of the first things we do, you know? It's high on the priority list. You believe in Jesus and then you get baptized. And so there's this break. There's this change. They used to go down this way, but now they begin to go where the Lord has called them. They begin to walk with Jesus with the first step of being baptized. Then verse 13, then Simon himself also believed.

So we're introduced to this guy, Simon, and not just because they used to follow him and trust in him, but now he's part of those who respond to the message of Philip. And so Simon himself also believed.

He also is affected by this message. And so he believes and he's baptized. He makes a change in his life and he begins that first step in walking with Jesus. And as he continues to walk, it says he was amazed seeing the miracles and signs which were done. So as he continues to walk, as he continues to, you know, go forward now, he's in awe of the miracles that God is doing. Now he's been doing miracles or sorceries for a long time, but he's

Maybe they were fake, and that's why he's in awe of actual miracles happening. Or maybe he could see the difference of the power of God and power that came from somewhere else.

He believes, it says, he's baptized and he walks in awe of the work of God. Now, many people question whether or not Simon actually becomes a believer at this point. And we'll see that as we go into the latter part of our passage this evening. So there is a question there, but just reading it pretty straightforwardly here in verse 13, it says, Simon himself also believed and when he was baptized believed.

he continued with Philip. So he began to walk with the Lord and follow the message that Philip brought. But this is the normal pattern. This should be business as usual for us as believers. We baptize those who believe. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28, "'Go therefore, make disciples, "'baptizing them in the name of the Father, "'the Son, and the Holy Spirit.'

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. That's the normal pattern. We go make disciples. When people believe in Jesus, we baptize them, and then we teach them how to walk with him. That's what was happening there in Samaria. Moving on to verses 14 through 17, now we have point number three, and that is Christians need to be empowered by the Spirit. For Christianity to spread, there has to be this reaching across these social boundaries of

The work of the believers that are happening and the first steps in teaching them to obey, starting with baptism, but that happens with the power of the Holy Spirit.

And Philip was able to be part of this ministry because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so we see that demonstrated here. Let's look at verses 14 through 17. It says, Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had not fallen upon none of them.

And so here we see as there's this work going on, the people of Samaria are believing in Jesus. They're beginning to walk with Jesus. Word gets back to Jerusalem where the apostles are. They're the only ones there, remember? The apostles were there in Jerusalem. And so the apostles say, hey, you know, there's this work happening here.

It's unique. It's not what we would have expected because they're Samaritans. They're not Jews, but God's doing this work. They're receiving the gospel. So Peter and John, you better go check out, make sure things are legit, make sure things are happening right. And so they send them out to go connect with the new group of believers there in Samaria. When they come, they lay hands on them and they receive the Holy Spirit.

Now, what this is referring to here as they talk about receiving the Holy Spirit is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or as I often phrase it, the empowering of the Spirit. The empowering of the Holy Spirit is the life of the church. We, Living Water, as a church, cannot exist. Well, we can exist as a social club. We can exist as an organization, but we cannot survive this.

as the church that God's called us to be without the empowering of the Holy Spirit. The church from the very beginning is a work of the Holy Spirit. There in Acts chapter 2, it's the life of the church, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Now the empowering of the Holy Spirit, I use that word to describe, well, to refer to three different ways that this is mentioned in the scriptures, and specifically in the first instance there in Acts chapter 1 and 2.

Jesus told his disciples in Acts chapter 1 verse 5 that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, he said, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And so being baptized with the Spirit and the Holy Spirit upon you, they're synonymous. And then when it actually happens in Acts chapter 2, it describes it as being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so these three things are synonymous, saying the same thing. And so I like to kind of

capture that in, say, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Whether you want to call it baptism or the Holy Spirit upon you or the filling of the Holy Spirit, it's this empowering work of the Holy Spirit that's different than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now, at this point, these believers in Samaria, they had the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. That's part of conversion. They're born again in

Every believer is born again. When you believe in Jesus, you're born again by the Holy Spirit. You're given spiritual life. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. And when Jesus gave the promise of the power of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, they had the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. In John chapter 20, Jesus said, receive the Holy Spirit. And then a little bit later in Acts chapter 1, Jesus said, wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. There was something further. And so there is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within you.

But there's also the empowering of the Holy Spirit. And so it describes these Samaritans. They believed in Jesus, which means they had the Holy Spirit dwelling within. They began to obey, starting with baptism. They began to walk with the Lord. But until Peter and John got up there, they had not yet received the empowering of the Holy Spirit. They were born again, but they didn't have the power of God to do what God had called them to do and to be the church that God had called them to be.

to be. And so they were like the disciples before the day of Pentecost. You'll notice it was after the day of Pentecost that the apostles really became the apostles, you know, and really lived out the ministry and became, you know, had the power to do the work that God had set before them. And here also the Samaritans were like that. They were believers. They had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but they lacked the power to be the church that God had called them to be. And so the

The apostles are sent up there to pray for them. And as they pray for them, they receive the Holy Spirit.

This empowering of the Holy Spirit is received in a variety of ways throughout the scriptures. In this case, it was through the laying on of hands of the apostles. Sometimes this happens at conversion in the scriptures, that as people believe, they're baptized and empowered immediately. Sometimes it happens later. It happens, you know, in a variety of ways. But we are commanded in the scriptures to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And so that's the point that I would bring us back to. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In order to fulfill point number one, to go back to Christians reach across social boundaries with the gospel, the only way that we will ever accomplish that is with the empowering of the Holy Spirit, with the Holy Spirit empowering us and doing the work in us and through us.

Philip was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was empowered with the Holy Spirit, and that's why he was able to go to Samaria. Now again, remember his context. He didn't see it quite that way. You know, he's running for his life. He's, you know, probably concerned about his wife and their four daughters who are prophetesses. They can, you know, that gets more detail later on his life. But

But he has a family, you know, and he's running for his life. And so, you know, he's probably got a million things on his mind. He wasn't going there to start a church. I think that's important for us to consider because, you know, so many times we have a million things on our minds and we're not going to places, you know, thinking about God wants to do a work here. But maybe we need to start and be filled with the Holy Spirit and maybe God wants to do a work.

where he sends you, where he has you. And you might just think that you were scattered there because there was persecution or because you had to get a job or because, you know, this thing or that thing. But God says, no, no, I arranged this. I wanted to send you to Samaria so that you can make an impact, that you could be a part of a work that's going on. Dave Guzik makes the point, most people don't come to Jesus through a professional preacher or an evangelist. They come to Jesus through people just like us. And so we need to be empowered with the Holy Spirit.

to reach across those boundaries and bring the gospel to people who are in need. Well, let's finish it up in the final point, verses 18 through 25. Point number four, Christians correct one another. This is probably going to be your favorite point. Verse 18.

So Peter and John get up there. They began to lay hands on people. They're receiving the Holy Spirit. It doesn't tell us what evidence there was.

It doesn't tell us if there was tongues of fire or if people spoke in tongues or if people were prophesying or what. But there was, you know, something that Simon was watching and saying, whoa, the Holy Spirit's coming upon people. And he's amazed. And he says, I want to be able to do that. I want to have that power. And so he says, hey, here's 20 bucks. Can you teach me how to do that? Try to do like the slick handshake, you know, it's like, hey, hook me up. How do you do that? What's the trick here? How are you able to lay hands on people and receive the Holy Spirit?

Peter responds in verse 20 and says to him, Peter says, look, this can't be bought. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift. You don't earn it. You can't deserve it. You can't buy it. But Peter goes further to say, there's something wrong with your heart, Simon.

Here, God gives Peter some insight into Simon's heart. Now, this is not something that could normally take place necessarily. I often make the point that we're not equipped to evaluate someone's heart. We don't know the motivations and what's happening in the heart. God can see that. And so God spoke to Peter. God gave Peter an indication here. There's something more going on in the heart. And so this is not right. This isn't just plain ignorance, right?

This isn't just, you know, well, he didn't know any better, but there's actually some sin that's happening here. Now, this whole concept, this whole passage here causes some division between Bible scholars. And some take the position that Simon was not a real believer. It says he believed, it says he was baptized in verse 13, but...

You know, that's just kind of generally lumping him in. You know, they might say he was baptized, but that didn't mean he was actually a believer. He just was joining in with the crowd. It was the popular thing to do, you know, and there's lots of ways that you could try to explain that idea that Simon was not a real believer. Now, other scholars would come along and say, no, no, no, Simon was a believer, but

But he was still working through things. You know, he came from this background of being a sorcerer, having the attention and the esteem of everybody, you know, for a long time. And so he was just confused, you know, and he didn't really understand what was going on.

Thomas Constable points out that true Christians can do and have done everything that Simon said and did. His background, fresh out of demonism, makes his conduct easier to understand. And I can relate to that. I can see, okay, yeah, perhaps he was a believer. And so Bible scholars go back and forth. He wasn't a

Notice the exhortation that Peter gives him in verse 22. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and pray, God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. So either way, if you want to fall on the side of he wasn't a believer, or you want to fall on the side of he was a believer, you know, either way you could evaluate, and either way have some useful things to consider as you look at it.

But the bottom line is, either way, the call, the need is for repentance. Peter says, repent therefore of this, your wickedness. His heart was wrong either way, whether he was a believer or not a believer, his heart was wrong. And God gives him this insight into his heart. He says, you're poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. Now we don't know what kind of bitterness he was experiencing. It could be that he was bitter because

over the transition, the loss of power, even though he believed in Jesus, that he was still working through. I used to be the top dog here. You know, everybody used to value what I said and listen to me. And it could be that he was bitter about that. It could be that he was bitter over something else that we know nothing about. We don't know. But he's bound up in iniquity, Peter says.

There's sin in your heart. There's some real issues there, and you need to repent. He calls him to repentance. And I would suggest that in the church, we should expect, it should be probably pretty normal for us to have both kinds of Simons. The Simons who are not believers and the Simons who are believers but are messed up and need to be called to repentance. And either way, there needs to be that call to repentance.

There are those who appear to be believers, and maybe it looks like they believed, and they get baptized, and it looks like they're doing well, but maybe they're really not. Maybe there's still a heart that is not given over to the Lord, and there needs to be a call to repentance in the lives of those people. But there are also those believers who, they're believers, but you and I know how it is. We get caught up in things that we should not be caught up in.

And we deal with sin in our hearts. There are issues there that we have to overcome. And there needs to be a call to repentance. There needs to be correction within the church. There needs to be that kind of relationship with one another. Think about what we have here in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12. It says, "...lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God."

The scriptures are clear. We have a responsibility for one another to call each other to repentance, to exhort one another daily, lest we be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, because there's that danger of being twisted and messed up like Simon was. There needs to be correction. And that's important to consider on two sides. Number one,

You need to be willing to bring correction. You need to care about people enough to beware, to watch out, to exhort one another daily, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. It's good for you to beware for your brethren. It's good for your brethren for you to beware for your brethren. There needs to be that condition of our heart where we care for one another in such a way that we try to protect each other from the deceitfulness of sin.

But we also need to consider this for the receiving end, and that is be willing to be corrected. And we should expect there to be challenges to us. We should expect there to be exhortations to us because we have people around us who care for us, who love us, and they don't want us to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And so there should be that expectation in you that at some point, there's going to be some correction that's brought.

Now, none of us like correction. We saw that in Proverbs on Sunday, right? But if we hate correction, we're stupid. And that's a problem because we hate correction. But we need to learn to receive it. We need to learn to let people speak into our lives, even when they're not like Peter. Now, here's the thing. Here's where this can go completely sideways. We have to have balance.

This does not mean, and it doesn't give people authority to chase down everyone for everything that we want to see changed. I don't think you should drive that way, brother. That's not Christian-like. That's not Christ-like to drive that way. And so now, you know, that's your mission. And everybody you see, you know, you want to make sure they live life, they do things, they, you know, raise their kids, they, whatever, they do that the way that you want. No, no, no. It's not a license to just, you know, tell everybody what we think about everything in their life.

There needs to be a clear violation of God's word or a clear revelation from God. And the example here for Peter was there was a revelation from God. He knew what was going on in his heart. God showed him. Similar to Ananias and Sapphira, right? God showed Peter what was going on. And so when there is a clear revelation from God, when God puts on your heart and says, you know, there's something going on with that person, then you have a responsibility. Beware, lest any of you

have an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. And where God reveals, then there needs to be that correction, that exhortation, or if it's a clear violation of God's word. So when someone says, hey, you know, don't be judging me. Well, if it's a clear violation of God's word, I'm not judging you. The Bible is judging you. The scriptures are judging you. And so that's a solid foundation on which we can bring to one another the correction that is necessary. But there should be that expectation.

That you are going to have a responsibility to correct, but that also others are going to have a responsibility to correct you and call each other to repentance. I mentioned baptism earlier. You know, that's kind of should be business as usual for us as the church. That's like the normal Christian life. You know, you get saved, you get baptized, you start to walk with the Lord. Correction should be a normal part of our life as well.

And we need to have that expectation. We need to have that anticipation and recognize that's part of what God wants us to do in our relationship with one another as believers. Verse 24, then Simon answered and said, pray to the Lord for me that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.

Now, some people kind of fault Simon for this because it doesn't say that he prayed himself or that, you know, that he repented. But I don't know. I kind of lean more towards the, you know, he was just legitimate. He was messed up. He came out of a crazy background. He had a lot of learning and growing to do. And I think he's genuine here. Hey, pray for me.

Pray that that doesn't happen. Pray that my heart is changed, you know, and I think that's a soft heart that's demonstrated here by Simon. But if you want to take a different view, I'll correct you later. Verse 25. So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. And so Peter and John, they finished their ministry up there, and they make their way back and continue to minister along the way.

But here we get a little glimpse at how Christianity spreads, how it's moved out of just the one location there in Jerusalem and how God does a work. One example of many here in Philip.

Just like there is going to be one example of many in your life and in the work that God wants to do. This is part of the work that God does in us as believers. He calls us to reach beyond social boundaries, to reach people who others would not reach, to others who would not be associated with, and bring forth the love of Christ and the gospel. And as they respond, baptize them. As they believe, help them, teach them to walk with the Lord.

If you're going to do that, you need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so I just want to close the service with an opportunity for us to seek the Lord on these things and invite the Holy Spirit to empower us to go and do the work that he's called us to do, whatever that may be and wherever that may be. We look at these things and we recognize this is the normal operation of the church. It's the normal operation of the Christian life.

for us to bring forth the gospel to the world around us. And in order for that to happen, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so Kim's gonna come up and lead us in this closing song, and I'll finish with this last verse, Luke 11, verse 13. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

And so let's take this time as we close the service this evening to ask, to ask for God to pour out his Holy Spirit. Richard's gonna be up here and available. And so if you would like prayer, as I shared, the Holy Spirit and empowering of the Holy Spirit is received in different ways throughout the scriptures. And so if the Lord puts on your heart, hey, you need to have someone lay hands on you, Richard's gonna be here and available for that.

If the Lord puts on your heart, you just stay here and pray and I'll give you the Holy Spirit that way, then you can do that as well. If you want to pray for one another, then that's the opportunity for you as well. But let's take this time and worship the Lord. Let's ask God to pour out His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will be given to those who ask, Jesus says. It's a promise. And so let's invite the Lord to empower us. Let's turn our lives to Him and seek to go and do what He's called us to do. Amen? Let's worship the Lord.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.