The deceiving believer
Witness to the world: Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:02:38
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Impact of conversion
Impact of conversion
The gospel is being carried out, from Jerusalem and all of Judea now to Samaria and we have seen the results.
Philip preached Christ, people were convinced (Act8:5-6)
So the scattered church because of persecution brings Philip one of the 7 to Samaria and there Philip preaches Jesus.
Convinced lead to conversion (Act8:12-13)
Men were convinced by the Word of God that Philip preached and people were converted because of belief and being baptized.
(Transition) This will include our main character tonight, Simon. Last week I gave a view of Simon the converted believer, but tonight I want you to evaluate for yourself, was he converted, or was he deceived and wanting to be a deceiver.
I think we need to keep things in context so let me quickly give you the scriptural history of Simon and the Samaritans
Simon and the Samaritans (Act8:9-13)
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”
11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
There is Simon who was influential to the people, they thought he had the great power of God, then came Philip who did really have the great power of God, God’s word and God’s Spirit and Simon was even moved by the words and the workings of the Spirit and was converted, or was he?
(Transition) In our study passage tonight we are looking at a few things for us to consider.
Word of conversions travel back and bring apostles (Act8:14-17)
Simon’s sin (Act8:18-19)
Peter’s response (Act8:20-25)
Holy Spirit and the Samaritans
Going to check things out
Going to check things out
So the local church in Jerusalem had been disbursed except for the Apostles and conversions were happening supposedly among the Samaritans. Peter and John are dispatched to check things out and to do some things too.
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
It is always good to glean from the scripture directly so what do we see?
Word of the conversions got to Jerusalem (v.14)
Peter and John went to Samaria (v.14)
They prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit (v.15)
They had been baptized (v.16)
Apostles laid hands on them and they received Holy Spirit (v.17) (further look at Act10:44-46, 11:15-17)
Peter and John leave and come to Samaria where Philip had been disbursed to and some great work was going on, but it was out of the ordinary for to this point the message and the conversions were mostly to Jews. They went to check things out. They know they had been baptized because they heard the word and they believed the Word, but there was something missing, the imparting of the Holy Spirit.
Does that raise a question for you? I thought in Act2:38 it says baptized for forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, so isn’t this a contradiction? Is this the gift of the Holy Spirit himself or is this something else? Hum, interesting, and we will discuss this some more tonight as we go.
Maybe I should bring in some other scripture here to show similar regarding the imparting of the Spirit
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,
47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
And one more
15 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. 16 “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
(Transition) It is through prayer and the laying on of the apostles’ hands, they “received the Spirit.” Again, more to follow on this as we go- this receiving the Spirit is visual it is evident and it makes Simon want it, and he wants to buy it.
Simon’s Sin
Simon’s Sin
Pay attention to the verses and see what it is that Simon wants to buy and why is that a sin?
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
What do you see, what is it that Simon is trying to do?
Simon saw how the Spirit was given (add to this Mk16:15-18)
It was done by the laying on of the apostles hand’s, they were the ones given the authority by Jesus
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
17 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Simon tries to buy authority
The apostles had the God given authority
It was given with a purpose to prove the message they gave was from God just as Jesus signs, wonders were to prove who He was.
You cannot buy authority in the kingdom, so was Simon a real believer? Was he really converted?
Simon wants it for his own purpose and glory (add to this Php2:3-4)
Simon was one the people listened to, that had great influence on before and they thought he had the power of the god’s.
Simon was heeded to until Peter and John showed up.
Simon wanted the authority to impart the Spirit not for God’s purpose and glory but for his own.
Christianity is not about me, it is about us, it is not selfish, it is selfless, it is.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
On a side note something to consider here we have the imparting of the Spirit on the Samaritans, that which had previously been for the Jews, something seen in the local church now is spreading out to the world wide church. God is uniting those who were previously separated for centuries to be one body. No dividing wall, no divided people, but one people.
Peter’s response
Peter’s response
Purposed words Peter used. Simon tries to buy authority, Peter responds with some very purposeful, and should be very piercing words too, but are they to Simon? Let us consider the passage together.
20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
24 But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
What do you see, notice, what sticks out to you in this section?
(heart of the matter picture inserted here)
Money cannot buy it (v.20)
Just as money cannot buy you love, money cannot buy the free gift of grace by God.
Money cannot buy the gift of the Spirit
What Simon wants is the empowering authority to do what he see’s the apostles doing and able to impart that on others.
Your heart is not right (v.21)
The wickedness of Simon’s heart is clearly seen by the apostles, Simon wanted power and wanted authority and was willing to pay for it.
Interesting fact the word “Simony” comes from this action. which means, or is defined as: the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges, for example pardons or benefices.
The gospel and money oftentimes are contrary to one another
It cost Ananias ans Sapphira their very lives (Act5:1-11)
It cost a fortune teller his business, but landed Paul in jail (Act16:16-24)
It was a contributing factor with uprising the by silversmiths in Ephesus causing a riot (Act19:23-41)
Important fact: The early church then, set an example for us today that we would be wise to follow. Their priority was the preaching of the Word more than willing the wealthy and influential of the “world.” - Peter calls for Simon to leave the worldly ways, worldly thinking and to:
Repent, pray (v.22)
What is Simon told to repent of? (wickedness, heart)
What are the specific instructions Simon is given? (pray for forgiveness because of your heart)
Bound by bitterness and iniquity (v.23)
Sin, bitterness can poison us and bind us, just as it did Simon.
Remember Simon was a professed and baptized believer but yet he was in bondage, why? Hum, was he really converted? (Only God knows for sure) what we do know is that it was visible to the apostles that he was in bondage.
Simon’s true heart comes through (v.24)
I think we better read (v.24) again
24 But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Simon does not repent does he? What does he do? (asks for prayer)
A sinner who wants the prayers of others and not even wiling to pray for himself has no repentance and no entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
What we can see here is how close someone can be to salvation and not be converted (consider Mt18:3, you must be converted)
What we also see is belief, and even baptism does not equal salvation does it?
Something to ponder, maybe discuss: What was Simon missing? (be ready to discuss this one)
Gospel message carries on (v.25)
So we have Peter and John who came to see what was going on with what the heard about the Samaritans and now are heading back after giving them the Holy Spirit and they stop and preach along the way. This is fulfilling Mt28:20 “Go into all the world” which really means as you are going, preach the word. That is what they were doing.
Holy Spirit and the Samaritans
Holy Spirit and the Samaritans
That they might receive the Holy Spirit, what does that mean (Act8:15-16)? An interesting subject, let us consider together.
15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
There are, as I might have mentioned before some questions that should arise from these verses.
Why did they get baptized by Philip but not Spirit?
Why does it says “might receive the Spirit?”
What did the Apostles have and can do that Philip could not?
So, is there a secondary baptism of the Holy Spirit?
I think part of the answer is found in (v.17)
17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit here had to come at the laying on of the Apostles hands (Act8:17)
The Holy Spirit that came was evident and able to be seen (Act8:18)
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
Holy Spirit fell on them, similar to (Act10:44-46)
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”
So, is this the gift of the Spirit or a gift from the Spirit?
All Christians receive Spirit at baptism in obedience (Act2:38; Act5:32)
But not all Christians received the miraculous gifts (1Cor12-14)
It is apparent that they did not receive the miraculous gift, but the Apostles wanted them to have, something that Philip could not give. There was no denying that there were miraculous gifts in the early church and you could focus on 1Cor12:1-11 for more on that, but there is more I want to cover on this.
The Apostles are the ones who had the authority to impart the miraculous gifts as seen in Act19:1-7 by Paul and even Paul wanted to give to the church at Rome in Rom1:11. He did give it to Timothy 2Tim1:6
6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
From what we can see, learn from the scripture is the the ability to impart the spiritual gifts was limited to the apostles an that is why Philip, Stephen could do miracles but could not pass on to others to do it, meaning to impart the Holy Spirit.
Food for thought also: If the imparting came through prayer, asking in prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, why did the apostles have to come and lay hands on?
Simon in his heart of hearts did not want just a spiritual gift, he wanted the authority, ability to impart the gifts on others (Act8:19)
Things to glean from the ministry work in Samaria
Philips work was God called and ordained by the working of miracles (Act8:6-7)
True conversions happened when true belief and baptism worked together (Act8:12-13)
News of the conversions reached Jerusalem and it led Peter and John to come to impart spiritual gits (Act8:14-17)
(Be converted - Act3:19 slide here)
Don’t be deceived, don’t deceive yourself, you want to enter into heaven you must be converted
(Below not on a slide; leave it that way; read it)
19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
Simon was so close to salvation, but did he miss it? God knows. As for you, you know have you been converted, are you a new creation born of water and Spirit?
Encouragement (Prayer) prayer, (exit slide)