Misunderstanding the Gospel
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Pray
Introduction.
I have entitled this sermon, ‘misunderstanding the gospel,’ because that’s what the passage is about.
And what we’re going to see is that misunderstandings can be catastrophic, as it in in this case.
Of course they can also be hilarious.
For example - take a look at this sign...
[Show picture of sign]
This is a sign in Wales, where the signs are in both English and Welsh. And the person who whote the sign, sent the English text to their translator to get the Welsh translation of the sign.
However, the translator was out of the office, and had set up his email to automatically respond with an ‘i’m out of the office’ message.
So when the email was sent, asking for the translation, the reply came back…in Welsh...
I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.
But because it was in Welsh, the designer of the sign didn’t understand it and thought that what he received was the Welsh translation for the sign.
And that’s what the bottom part of the sign says.
So the top of the sign says, ‘no entry for heavy good vehicles. Residential site only.’
And the bottom of the sign says, ‘I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.’
A misunderstanding, kinda…but not terribly consequential...
Pause
However, there is another misunderstanding that I want to share with you…and the results were not so great...
There was a case where a patient who was diagnosed with diabetes, was taught how to inject themselves with insulin. So they were shown how to inject the insulin into an orange.
So the patient went away and then was readmitted a couple of days later with dangerously high blood-sugar levels.
Turns out the patient went home and thought they had to inject the orange with insulin and then eat the orange. And of course that shot their blood sugars way up to dangerous levels.
Pause
Misunderstandings can have serious consequences. And we’re going to see an example of this today.
However, have you ever stopped to wonder how a misunderstanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ could have serious consequences?
In our passage today, we have that very issue...of a man who completely misunderstood the gospel of Jesus Christ - and at the end, we’re left without knowing whether or not he corrected his views.
Pause
So what’s happening in this passage?
Well, what’s happening is that in Samaria, there is this guy named Simon, who has magic powers. Now, when we hear, ‘magic powers,’ we think Harry Potter, science fiction stuff and we think that this stuff is for the movies and it’s real.
This guy, Simon is under the influence of Satan, who is giving him the powers to do supernatural things in order to wow the people in this city in Samaria and lead them away from the true gospel.
And this stuff is real. Only a couple of weeks ago I heard about a person who used to be a witch. She was a charmer and was under Satanic power - she came to faith and was freed from this demon. But she said that when she was walking down the street, she could spot Christians because they glowed.
Now, I don’t know what you make of that, but regardless - Satan’s power is real and it is supernatural…and this man Simon had it.
And everyone in this city in Samaria loved him. In fact they thought he was the manifestation of a god’s power - and the way the Greek is here, Simon would have called himself this too. He was in the limelight because he could do stuff that nobody else could do. And he loved it.
However, as we saw last week...as a result of the persecution of the church in Jerusalem, the Christians are scattered to Judea and Samaria..and Philip goes to this city and HE performs signs and works of power that is BETTER than Simons, under the power of the Spirit.
And as a result of Philip’s preaching the miracles that he does, many believe in Jesus Christ, are baptised. And also, people are healed and demons are being released from those inflicted…Simon perhaps being one of them.
Becuase verse 9 says...
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.
Simon had PREVIOUSLY practiced magic in the city. So, in my understanding of the text, when Philip casts out the demons, it looks like Simon lost his power and his magic, because he’s not practising magic anymore, because the demon has left him and it’s the demon that is giving him the magic power…it can come from nowhere else.
Pause
But Simon believes in Jesus (verse 13) and he hangs around Philip and is amazed at the power that Philip has...
13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
So you can see what’s coming here...
Simon used to amaze people with his magic - he was considered a god. Now that power is gone and he sees Philip with this amazing power. He latches onto him and it’s like you can see his envy of Philip and his power.
Pause
And then the apostles come from Jerusalem because they hear that Samaria have heard the word of God.
So they come down and lay hands on them becuase they haven’t yet received the Holy Spirit.
Now, we need to very quickly highlight something for a second…when you become a Christian, you immeditaely receive the Holy Spirit. There’s no delay. There’s no second baptism of the Holy Spirit.
And this is confirmed later in Acts when we see the immediate coming of the Holy Spirit when Peter is with Cornelius.
So what’s happening here? Why the delay?
Well, the Samaritans are a separate group of people who worship the same God as the Jews, but in a different way. And the scholars think that this delay is to show the Samaritans tha their church and their faith is now legitimate because it has been santioned by the Jerusalem church.
In other words - God delayed his Spirit coming so that the Samraitans, who were previously cast aside by the Jews, could be officially welcomed into the Church as a legitimate Church through their faith in Jesus Christ.
So just a reminder that this is not the normal way things happen. This was a one-off event.
Pause
But when the apostles get to this city in Samaria, they lay hands on those who had believed and were baptised and these guys receive the Holy Spirit.
And this reception of the Holy Spirit must have been something like what happened at Pentecost, becasue Simon wanted a piece of this action.
And you can see the cogs turning in Simon’s heads… “If I lay my hands on people and be able to make all this amzing stuff happen, then people will think I’m a god again.
I want this power because I want this recognition… Hey Peter, how much for this power?”
...
And Peter rebukes him, because his heart hadn’t changed at all.
21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
And the scholars say that Simon was more intrigued by the signs and wonders of Philip than by the message he preached.
And what did Philip preach?
12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Philip preached about Jesus and what it meant to be part of the kingdom of God.
And it looks like Simon wasn’t paying attention to that - his eyes were just glazed over at the signs and wonders.
And so it looks like Simon believed just so that he could get a piece of this miracle-action.
And that becomes evident when he offers to pay Peter and John for this gift of God.
And notice how he is misguided. Notice how he has misunderstood the gospel. Look at what Simon says...
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
There’s no mention of faith. There’s no mention of believing in Jesus. There’s no mention of repentance. All Simon wants to do is go around touching people and seeing this amazing stuff happen.
His motives are wrong. His heart is wrong…He has misunderstood the gospel and, as Peter says - he’s destined for destruction.
22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
Pause
Now, at this point, it looks like Simon has seen the error of his ways…because his repsonse is this...
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
But Luke has deliberately left it ambiguous. On one hand, Simon is perhaps repenting and asking for forgiveness for his misguided thoughts.
On the other hand, Simon only wants to escape the bad stuff that Peter says will happen to him.
And many of the commentators that I looked at said that Simon wasn’t truly repentent - he just didn’t want to be punished for his sin.
And that made me wonder....
Pause
Because I struggled with this text for quite some time this week. It’s not like we see the stuff happening in Acts today - at least not in the way they did.
And it’s not like there are people offering money to get the power of the Holy Spirit so that they can make a name for themselves and have people love them and worship them.
And so, for ages I was racking my brain on how to apply this to us today. Because what’s happening here isn’t an everyday occurance.
However, what is perhaps more prevalent that we might realise, is how some people might have misunderstood the gospel of Jesus Christ and are deluded in their faith, like Simon was…and their hearts haven’t changed.
Simon misunderstood his belief in Jesus and thought that he could buy power that would make him like a god - which is the opposite of what being a Christian is about.
And so it made me wonder…are there ways in which we misunderstand our faith and think that we can use it for influence or power or prestige?
And so I wonder are there ever people who would say they are a Christian because it might make people trust them more in the business world? Or because they know that their boss is a Christian and it might get them a promotion?
Now that’s one thing, and I’m not even sure if that happens or if it’s happening among our people…but what perhaps IS happening is this...
I wonder are there people who are Christian’s simply to evade the punishment that is waiting for those who are NOT Christians? In other words, they have said a prayer as a kinda of insurance policy, but their lives and their haven’t changed…and their hearts haven’t changed.
OR
Are there people who are believing in Jesus in order to hedge their bets in case all this Jesus-stuff is true and there IS a heaven and hell? But, once again, their hearts haven’t changed. They aren’t living their life for Jesus. They might come to church once a week, but Jesus isn’t Lord of their lives.
‘I mean, might as well go to church once a week if it means that I’ll go to heaven when I die.’
And could it be that this misunderstanding is leading these people into the same destruction as Simon?
Cos didn’t Jesus say something similar in Matthew 7?
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
I mean, this is practically talking about what Simon WANTED to do. He wanted to have the power to do the signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit gave - prophesy, drive out demons - that’s what Philips was doing…
...but Simon wanted that without the loyalty and devotion to Jesus. He wanted the gifts without the change of heart. He wanted the gift without any recognition of the giver.
…he wanted the gift without KNOWING the giver.
And, later when he was called to account, he wanted to simply escape the punishment that was heading his way - but his HEART wasn’t in the right place.
And it made me think of Isaiah. Jesus quotes Isaiah when referring to the Pharisees when he said...
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
Pause
And so my heart breaks for those people, who honour God with their lips by coming to church, maybe even wearing a suit and dressing up like a Christian, but their hearts are far from God.
And the sad truth is that, like Simon, they have misunderstood the gospel and are missing out of the love and grace of Jesus.
Jesus WANTS to forgive us. He WANTS to bless us. He WANTS to give us eternal life…but he wants our hearts, not our lips. To Jesus, it doesn’t matter if you look the part…he wants your heart. He wants to KNOW YOU.
[Jesus wants to know you]
He wants all of you…not just an hour on Sunday morning…he wants ALL of you.
And he wants us to love him…He wants us to make him LORD of our lives. He wants it to be the case that Jesus is the driving force for our every decision we make…that Jesus is the reason you get up every morning. That Jesus is the reason for why you do what you do.
He wants us to worship him, to love him, to long for him. He wants our hearts.
Pause
The best way I can think of to describe this is a marriage…well, actually the bible uses that illustration, so I can’t claim that....
But in my marriage, Kate wants me to love her. She wants me to WANT to spend time with her. She wants me to think about her every day, to talk to her, and to have that deep connection that a husband and wife should have.
She wants to KNOW me and for me to KNOW her.
If I say to her that I love her but never see her, or talk to her, or care for her, or spend time with her…if I live as a single man in the marriage, then I’ve misunderstood what marriage is about.
Kate wants my heart…she wants to know that I love her and she wants that to be evident by they way I treat her.
Well, here’s the thing, Jesus wants our hearts too…and HE wants us to love him and he wants that to be evident by the way we treat him. He wants us to KNOW him and he wants to KNOW us.
Pause
Let me ask you as we close…Where is your heart?
Are you saying ‘Lord Lord’ as an insurance policy or to hedge your bets in case this stuff is true? That’s not a love and devotion to Jesus - that’s not giving him your heart.
Are you honouring God with your lips only, but your heart is far from him?
Today we have the opportunity to correct this. Today we can take this time now to come before Jesus and confess that we haven’t given him our hearts and today we can say Jesus, take my heart....
...I want you to be Lord of my life. I want you to be the reason I get up in the morning. I want you to be the driving force in all my decisions. I want you to be my focus today and every day.
Pause
Don’t misunderstand the gospel. It IS good news to those who are willing to let go of their pride and their love of themselves. Simon wasn’t willing to do that - he wanted the power and the glory, and so he missed out.
Let’s give Jesus our everything - every part of our lives…not just an hour on Sunday morning, but every hour of every day. Let’s give him our hearts.
Let’s pray.