And just to get a little bit of context, I'm actually going to start reading in Acts 7, 54. Remember, this is the end of Stephen had been arrested after being falsely accused for speaking against God and against the temple and against the law and against Moses. He gives his defense and then the end of Acts 7, he is martyred. And so we'll read that because it gives us the setup for Acts chapter 8. So let's read that together. Acts chapter 7, I'll read starting in verse 54. When they heard these things, they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city. 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. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women, even Simon himself believed. And after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Let's pray. God, we ask this morning that you would grant us the ears to listen to your word, and that by your spirit, your word would be illumined to us, that in the words you speak we would know Jesus Christ our Savior. Give us sharp minds, loving hearts, and working hands for your glory. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. So the book of Acts is history on purpose. Luke didn't just mean to give us information. It's information to encourage the church. So to get this, you've got to remember why Luke wrote the gospel according to Luke. Remember, same author, kind of part one, part two. All the way back at the beginning of the gospel of Luke, He says, it seemed good to me also, having followed all these things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, O most excellent Theophilus, and here's Luke 1, 4, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. So how does history provide certainty? In one sense, history gives us something that we can look back on and see where we've come from. There's something about observing the faithfulness of God in the past that helps us to trust the faithfulness of God in the present. It might also be in the book of Acts, and this is partly why it's here, to provide us some guidance on how we're to do things and what we're to expect. Maybe even to encourage us that we're not the first people to face certain problems. I wonder if maybe that's why this whole scene with Simon the magician is here, to show us that this is typical. There are people who believe the gospel, and then there are people who believe, but then something goes wrong. And I can imagine Christians in the first century, just like Christians today, probably us, were asking, like, what do we do with a guy like Simon? What do you do with that person that you know, who used to profess faith in Jesus, but has abandoned the faith? Or maybe just their lives call their faith into question. It's a common situation. I wonder if maybe Luke gives us this history, in part, to encourage us as we face those sorts of situations. And to remind us that God is faithful. Those charlatans and fake believers will arise. It's the word of God that prevails. And that's the big message, I think, in the book of Acts. So Acts chapter 8 then is a step of progress even though there's a problem. Part of the progress in Acts chapter 8 is it's Jesus working beyond Jerusalem. We see this through the ministry of Philip. Remember Philip at the beginning of Acts chapter 6 is appointed as one of the seven Hellenistic Jewish men to care for the Hellenistic widows. So it's sort of two threads I want to pull on today. the advance of the gospel beyond Jerusalem, and what do we do with people like Simon? What do we do with fake believers? So let's pick it up in Acts chapter 8 verse 1 again. And there arose that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. This is because of Stephen's death. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him, but Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ." So from one angle, this whole situation is very concerning. Death, persecution, scattering. So not good concepts, at least at first glance. From the other angle, this is the outworking of God's sovereign plan and command. Jesus had told the apostles that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And of those four boxes, we're now checking two and three. They're scattered into Judea and Samaria. So there is progress through persecution. And this is good because the ministry of Jesus is spreading. Now I say that very particularly, the ministry of Jesus. It's his work done by his people by the power of his spirit now flooding out of Jerusalem. So that everywhere Christians go, they speak the word of God and the gospel of Jesus and people believe. Part of this expansion is that Jesus now goes to the Samaritans. I'll tell you a little bit more about the Samaritans in a few minutes. But the Samaritans were Jewish, but they were outsiders. They're outsiders to Jerusalem, outsiders to the temple. That's part of the expansion. This is going to people outside of just the normal Jewish context of Peter and the apostles. Another part of the expansion of the gospel, though, is it's not the apostles doing it. There's this little passing detail in verse one that everybody scattered except the apostles. It's probably not like only 12 Christians stayed in Jerusalem, but probably most of the new converts of Christianity left. It's telling, though. It's telling because the spread of the gospel across the world is not the work of the apostles. We see the apostles doing signs and wonders, we think, these are the guys. They're gonna lead the charge to the ends of the earth. And in a sense, they play a part, but right off the bat, we're starting to learn that the spread of the gospel is not about the 12. It's not the work of an institution, the apostles. The spread of the gospel is not a matter of succession, as if we just need new apostles or popes to take the place of the old. No, the spread of the gospel across the world is the work of Jesus. Like sometimes we can think that certain people are essential to the spread of the gospel, like gifted people, powerful people, like the apostles. But just remind you, brothers and sisters, the kingdom of God is not dependent on the servants. It's dependent on the king. Part of Jesus's plan for spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth is to work through each and every one of his servants. So that means we play a part in this. We are part of this long line of servants of Jesus, spreading the gospel, running our leg of the race until our race is done. And then we joyfully pass the baton. So when we long for our friends and family and neighbors and our nation and our world to believe in Jesus, and to know God, remember that the means that Jesus uses to make himself known is you and me. It's the scattered people of God proclaiming the word of God. So think of it like this, the apostles stay in Jerusalem, Stephen goes in the ground, and Jesus goes forth. That's a pattern that we will continue to live out in our lives. And when Jesus goes forth, he goes forth through people telling the good news about him. Now, I hope you're starting to grow used to this in the book of Acts. that Jesus works through the word, through the message, through the witness, through the good news, through preaching, through proclamation, through speaking, through telling, through saying, through teaching. That's where Jesus is revealed to the world. This is why there's sort of this summary statement that I read in verse 25. After what happened in Samaria, the city of Samaria, they go through the whole region, and what are they doing? Verse 25 of Acts 8, they're preaching the gospel, speaking the word of the Lord. So this is how it works. This is how Jesus reveals himself to the world. Notice a little connection in Acts 8, verses 4 and 5. Now there were those scattered, now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Preaching the word. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. So sort of this conflating of the word and the Christ. Because the message about Jesus is where people meet the person, Jesus. The word and the Christ are so intertwined that to speak the words of the gospel is to introduce a person. And to believe the word of the gospel is to know and love and trust a person. Notice how this works out in verse 12 when Philip gets to Samaria. Verse 12 of Acts 8, when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, they were baptized, both men and women. That is, when they believed the message that was preached, they were united to Jesus. This is what Christianity is. We hear the good news about Jesus and his kingdom, we believe the message, and then we are united to the person. That's why baptism is such an important sign. It's because in our baptism, we are united to him in his death and his resurrection. We are marked on this earth as the people of God, showing everybody that we're with Jesus. So it's not just that we've adopted a religion or that, you know, we now have a book to guide us. It's that we know a person. So don't lose sight of this, because I know you want people to know Jesus. You want your friends and family to know that He is God who died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead. You want them to know that He is Christ and Lord, Savior and Friend, Good Shepherd and Prince of Peace. You want people to meet Jesus. How do they meet Jesus? when we tell about Him. This is how God has designed it to work. That's why God commissions us to say, He doesn't say, go out there and convince people to join your religion. God doesn't commission us to say, try to convince as many people as possible to come to your church. He certainly doesn't commission us to go out and persuade everyone else that I am right. God commissions us to introduce people to Jesus by telling the good news about him. So our part in the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth, our faithfulness, Christians, the way we love our God and love our neighbor is to tell people about Jesus. Because to hear the message is to be introduced to the person, to believe the message is to know the person. That is, and you'll hear me say this so many times probably as we get to the end of the book of Acts, like that's what the book of Acts is showing us. That when the Word goes forth, it is Jesus going forth. When the Word is believed, it is Jesus who is believed. That's the truth that dominates the book of Acts. It's all about the Word. We've got to ask though, like, what about the miracles? If the Word is what dominates, then why is it that we keep seeing so many miracles? Like these in Acts chapter 8 that Philip does. Because notice it's not just preaching that Philip does. Look at verse 6 again. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did for unclean spirits. Crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed, so there was much joy in the city. I guess as we're far enough in the book of Acts, you've kind of come to expect this as well. Jesus did miracles. The apostles did miracles. Now Stephen did miracles back in Acts chapter 7. Now Philip is doing miracles. What about us? Should you expect to do miracles as you tell people about Jesus? Maybe we should even try to make it happen. Or if you're like me, And I suspect most of you are. When I tell people about Jesus, I don't perform miracles. Am I doing something wrong? So as I've been studying through Acts, when I run into verses like that, verses 6 and 7, I find I often write in my journal, like, why not today? Why not today? I want people to be saved. I want people to meet Jesus. Why doesn't God seem to do these sort of miraculous things that would draw people to Christ? And I've decided that's the wrong question to ask. Because in the history of Christianity, and even as we get into later chapters of the book of Acts, miracles are not normative. Yes, the apostles do miracles and Stephen and Philip do miracles. Paul does miracles, maybe Barnabas, but Timothy doesn't. And as we get later and later, you'll see fewer and fewer miracles. And of course, if you study the history of Christianity, you will find that the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth is not normally accompanied by miracles. So when I ask the question, why not today? I think that's the wrong question. I should rather ask, why did God do this here? I mean, God can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. We know that. I don't want to deny that. And so when we see something unique, like the miracles of the apostles and now Philip, We shouldn't sit here and feel bad about ourselves, like, why doesn't God do this for me today? Rather, we should say, wow, this is something very unique. Why did God do it then? Why did God work miracles alongside the proclamation of Jesus in the earliest days of Christianity? That's the better question, and here's the answer. The miracles authenticate the message and the messenger. The miracles authenticate the message and the messenger. And once the message is authenticated, the miracles can cease because it was never about the miracles in the first place. It's the message where we meet Jesus. So think about how this works. Jesus performs miracles to demonstrate that he is the son of God, but what dominates Jesus's life? It's not his miracles, it's his teaching. And then the apostles perform similar miracles to Jesus to confirm that Jesus is still at work through the message being proclaimed. And now that the message of the gospel has taken a step out of Jerusalem, it's miracles that confirm that it's the same gospel and the same Jesus. So the point of the miracles is to authenticate The message, we have a really good example of this in Acts chapter eight. So notice, we read this, Philip preaches, he does miracles, the people believe and are baptized, but something strange happens. They don't receive the Holy Spirit. That's unexpected, right? If you look back at Acts chapter two, verse 38, Peter tells us what's normal. Acts chapter two, verse 38. When he's talking, he's preached at Pentecost, the people are cut to the heart. They say, what are we going to do with this? What do we do with this? Peter says, Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Okay, what happened in Samaria? They heard the gospel of Jesus, they believed it, they were baptized, and they didn't receive the Holy Spirit. What's going on here? Back to Acts chapter eight, let's unpack this a little. Verse 14, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit for he had not yet fallen on any of them. But they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now if we only look at Acts chapter 8 in isolation, we might ask all sorts of weird questions. Like, does that mean that the Holy Spirit only comes upon people when the apostles lay hands on them? Seems to be what Simon thinks. But no, that's not what Peter said in Acts 2, and that's not how it works out in the rest of the book of Acts. Maybe the problem is Philip. Maybe Philip didn't do it right or didn't speak rightly. Of course we say, well, no, because there's nothing here that indicates Philip had done anything wrong. Remember in Acts chapter six, when he was chosen, it was because he was full of the spirit and full of wisdom. Now he's doing exactly what Stephen was doing, taking the gospel to people, proclaiming the good news and doing miracles. So Stephen didn't do anything wrong. Well, does it mean then that the Samaritans didn't believe rightly? Which we'd say, no, they were baptized in the name of Jesus, just as Peter said they should be. So we look at this whole scene and think, well, why didn't they receive the Holy Spirit? Why does this play out different? And it's because this is the first movement of the gospel outside of Jerusalem. These are the first Christians outside of traditional Judaism. Philip is the first evangelist outside of the apostles. So we'll take him and Stephen at the same time. So here, God is authenticating the advance of the gospel with miracles. Because that's what the purpose of miracles is. And actually, it's a very specific miracle that authenticates Philip and his message. It's a coming of the Holy Spirit. It's sort of like Pentecost. How did they know that the Holy Spirit hadn't come upon the Samaritans? And how did they know when the Spirit came? We just aren't told. But it had to be something tangible. Something observable. Maybe it was the sound of a mighty rushing wind like happened at Pentecost. Maybe people began to speak in other languages like they did at Pentecost and we'll see later in Acts chapter 10. We just aren't told. That's okay. It is evident, though, that something unique, something miraculous happened. So how do we know that the true gospel will advance beyond Jerusalem, will advance beyond Israel, will advance beyond Judaism? How do we know that the true gospel advances beyond the eyewitnesses? I have no reason to think that Philip was an eyewitness of Jesus' death and resurrection, like Peter and John were. How do we know that this is real and authentic? The miracle. It's the miracles that authenticate the message and the messenger. So we shouldn't ask, why doesn't God do this today? Why did God do it then? To authenticate. See, God works in unique ways at the beginning because it's the beginning. And we're not at the beginning of this thing. We're 2,000 years down the road. The message about Jesus has been authenticated and recorded and confirmed and preserved and translated into our language. We've got it here. And since people meet Jesus in his word, and the word has been authenticated, the miracles are no longer necessary. It is scripture that's sufficient. And I understand, sometimes we think, well, that feels inferior. Like I feel like people would be more persuaded if we did miracles like Philip than if we simply opened an old book and read it to them. The problem with that is not the book, it's us. Don't forget the promise of Jesus. When he commissions us to make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them all that I've commanded them. When he commissions us to go with the word and his message, he makes a promise. He says, behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So your gospel message to people is not lacking because you don't do miracles. Jesus is with you. He's present in his spirit. He's present in his church. He's present in his word. And so if he's with us, we need nothing else. And the proof that it works is that you and I are here. The gospel has been spreading for 2,000 years around the globe, translated into every language through people speaking and hearing and believing. You can think of Acts chapter eight as the breach in the dam. And we are way downstream, caught up in the flood until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. That is the mission of God. Through the speaking of his word, people will meet him in Jesus. And we know it's not done yet. I mean, even in Acts, we're not to the ends of the earth. We're just a little ways out of Jerusalem. And even today, the mission is not done. And that comes with all sorts of implications, one of which is that the kingdom of Jesus continues to meet opposition. So in Acts chapter 8, it's Saul ravaging the church. We'll come back to him in future days. But in this chapter, we also meet another sort of opposition. It's Simon. I'm not even sure what to call Simon's issue. I call it fake belief. Some people don't think that he's an unbeliever. But I know that something's really wrong with Simon here. There's a twisting of the gospel. There's something in this account that's a warning to us. So let's see if we can sort it out. Pick it up in verse 9. But there was a man named Simon. who had previously practiced magic in the city of Samaria, and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying, this man is the power of God that is called great. And they paid attention to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. And when they believed, Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now, we'll pause there. Just let me give you a little more about Samaria. Samaria is a region in what we would now call Israel, in the north of Jerusalem, that was populated by a mixed race. Jewish people who intermarried with non-Jewish people, Gentiles, for centuries. And so they kept parts of their Jewish faith, but they built their own temple and traditions. They also kept part of the Jewish scriptures. So when we get to the time of Jesus, there's a really sharp division between the Jews and the Samaritans. So you could think of passages like John chapter 4, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. His disciples are very concerned. She's very concerned about this relationship. Or you could think about Luke chapter 10, where the scandal is the person who helped the beat-up man is the good Samaritan. So I say that, so don't think of Samaritans as pagans, godless people. They're not pagans. They're actually closer to the Jews. But there's this whole pagan element here, right? Simon doing magic? Now, his magic's used kind of two ways in the New Testament. Think of the magi. You have no problem thinking about the magi. They're there on the wall. But those would be more like philosophers, probably. And then there's the magic that's sorcery and deceit and illusions. That's where Simon is. He amazes people, captivates them. They think something supernatural is going on with this guy. He calls himself great, and everybody says, you're the power of God that is called great. And so there's this whole pagan mysticism intermixed with Samaritan Judaism. And just to be clear, the Jews did this a lot too. They would intermix magical elements, supernatural elements with their Jewish religion. Something's really off here. Simon, I think, was probably a con, and a deceiver, and an illusionist, and probably demonic. So his power is real and perceived, but it's not good. And here comes Philip preaching the good news about Jesus, and even Simon the magician believes and is baptized. Now if the story ended at verse 13, we would all stand up and rejoice and praise God. Because it's true, God can and does snatch people out of the darkness and deceit and brings them into the kingdom of his beloved son. It's a wonderful thing that God does. But that story doesn't end here. We have to keep reading. And of course, after the apostles come, we read that part and impart the spirit to the Samaritans. Listen to what happens with Simon in verse 18. Now, when Simon saw that the spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money saying, give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. I hope that makes you uncomfortable. Maybe you've probably read this, you know the story, but like you go, there's something wrong with this. And then you think about Acts chapter five. Remember Acts chapter five, Ananias and Sapphira? How does God feel about greed, financial mismanagement, purchasing, praise? He killed Ananias and Sapphira. So we're like really uneasy when we see Simon, the magician. We know God doesn't tolerate this. And so you start to wonder, what do we do with Simon? Listen to Peter's response. Verse 20, Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. Okay, I preach out of the ESV. I love the English Standard Version translation. It's a good translation here. I just think the word perish is too gentle. Perish is a really polite word. I don't think Peter used a very polite word. A more literal translation could say, go into destruction. or into perdition, or even into hell. Peter does not take Simon's request lightly. Simon's inquiry actually reveals a problem with his heart. Peter continues, verse 21. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. As I start to ask, what do we do with Simon? You know, it could be that Simon was a very immature Christian who just didn't understand how things work. That's not how Peter talks to Simon. Peter speaks to Simon as a thief and an opponent. who needs to repent. He is in the bondage of iniquity, full of bitterness, wicked, who has neither lot nor part in this matter. That's the language that's used about Judas. Like, you're supposed to see Simon as more related to Judas than, say, a Christian who just doesn't quite understand. His heart is full of poison. So Peter's analysis of Simon is bleak. Simon's answer perhaps leaves us with even more questions. And Simon answered, in verse 24, So what do you do with this? I mean, in verse 13, he looks like a Christian. In verse 18, he doesn't. And in verse 24, is he repentant? Or maybe he just wants Peter to pray for him because he's not willing to pray for himself. We're really left hanging like, story, end of story, move on. Like Luke does this all the time to us. He doesn't even tell us what happened with Simon next. Why not? I wonder if maybe he leaves it open because this is the sort of thing that Christians encounter all the time. Details may be different, but you know people who were once amazed by Jesus, once believed in Jesus, once professed Jesus, and were even baptized in Jesus' name. But then, something, whether it's something they do, or something they say, or the way that they go, calls everything into question. Maybe even completely abandoning Christianity, and you look at that and think, what are we supposed to do with this person? And I wonder if Luke's just writing this to tell us this is what happens. As the word of God is spreading, there will be fake believers. Now, if we give weight to church history, and I think we should in this case, according to the early church fathers, Simon became the father of heretics. You can go read up on Simon online, some interesting writings about Simon the sorcerer, Simon the magician. But the history is that after this scene, he went right back to his magic, right back to his deception. And I guess we don't know for sure. But I do think this is here as a reminder that there are fake believers. There are still people who see godliness as a means for gain. There are still people who look at the power of the Holy Spirit and want to buy it with money. There are still people who will be amazed by Jesus, caught up in the moment, but never really know Him. And I think Luke's giving this account to Christians to say, stay faithful. Don't go the way of Simon. And also, don't lose heart when Simon's arrive. We know that the church has experienced apostasy before, and yet we can be encouraged that the word of God prevails. That's what we get in verse 25, right? We don't know what happened with Simon. I do know what happened with the word of God. Verse 25, now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. I mean, for every Simon the magician, there are multitudes of people who believe and are baptized and follow Jesus through life and death and into resurrection. So don't lose heart. It's so discouraging to see people abandon Jesus. But don't forget that God is saving people. It's not God who's the problem. Now, if you're like me, I'm the sort of person that reads the account of Simon the Magician, and I'm always wondering, is that me? Am I a fake believer? Is my heart not right before God? Do you have thoughts like that? Some of you think, no, I never think like that. Praise God if that's you. I give thanks for people like you who are more stable than I am. And if you are the sort of person that feels such stability and certainty, praise God, you're here to help those of us who tend to not see things right. So how, if you have that sort of guilty conscience, and even if you don't, we should look at a passage like this and ask, how can we diagnose fake belief? So let's just use this passage to give a little bit of a diagnosis and a cure. Now the diagnosis is the hard part, so stick with me, we will get to the cure. How can you know if you're a fake believer? Two questions I'd ask you. First, are you looking to Jesus for personal gain? That's Simon's issue, right? He's after power, he's after fame, he's probably after money. I mean, it's sort of an investment, right? If I can get this power of the Holy Spirit with money, I can probably make a lot more money off of it. Maybe to bring that more into common terms, Are you following Jesus because you think he's gonna get you ahead in this world? If all you want from Jesus is a little religion, or a better marriage, or a more comfortable conscience, or something that makes you sound respectable in crowds, I think those are all signs that you're a fake believer. Second question, are you looking for Jesus just to amaze you? Do you want Jesus to keep you emotionally charged up Are you coming to Jesus to scratch some itch you have for supernatural things? Now, I think the belief that we see of the people of Samaria is genuine. I don't want to minimize that at all. But did you notice the way that Luke presents Simon and the way that Luke presents Philip are really similar? They both do miracles. The people are amazed, that word comes up a bunch, amazed. and they pay attention, that word comes up a bunch too. Like it's sort of like Philip and Simon had the same effect on the people. Philip preaching the gospel, Simon performing magic. What's he trying to tell us? I think he's trying to tell us that some people only want Jesus to amaze them. You only want Jesus to make you feel some experience. Some people will treat Jesus as if he's just another passing fad, just another show to entertain them. And the truth is, and if you've been following Jesus for a while, you know that that feeling wears off. So the big question for all of us is, what are you looking to Jesus to do for you? If you're looking for Jesus to do the wrong things and he doesn't deliver, you will abandon him, like Simon. Jesus doesn't promise you wealth or ease or power or entertainment. So the key to both the diagnosis and the cure is to look to Jesus for the right things. Imagine, just for illustration, imagine a lifeguard at a pool. I know it's fall, just stick with me. It's okay. You'll get to the pool eventually. What do you want from a lifeguard? One thing. Can you get me out of the pool if I'm drowning? That's what you want. I don't care if a lifeguard can make me a sandwich or sing me a song. I need a lifeguard to save my life. That's it. So what are you looking to Jesus for? Save your soul from death and hell and give you life with God that lasts forever. That's what he does. He is a faithful king and Lord and Christ. If what you want from Jesus is something different than the forgiveness of your sins, you're a fake believer. Now, to my brothers and sisters who are like me, and you get your conscience all unsettled when you read something like Simon, a couple of things that you should do. One is, I think, ask those simple questions and be content with simple answers. If you say, I want Jesus to forgive my sins and give me eternal life, you can rest in the fact that that's what he does. The word has been authenticated. The other thing you should do is ask other people. This is one of the big blessings of the local church, is we've got other people that help us to see things clearly, right? So if I sit here and go, I'm just not sure I'm a real Christian, you should be the person that comes up beside me and says, what are you talking about? And then tell me all the ways in which you see that my trust is in Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and not for personal gain. And you should remind yourself of the gospel again and again. Because though our motives are mixed at times, and though we're tempted by selfish gain, and though our hearts can be fickle, our trust is that Jesus, the Son of God, died for me and rose from the dead and gives me life. I'm looking to him to do one thing, and it's the one thing he does perfectly. Let's pray. So Lord Jesus, I pray that you would expose Fake belief. I look at my brothers and sisters and just love these people and I don't think that's anybody here. I just don't. I'd be shocked and heartbroken. God, but even beyond this room, we've all known those people who abandoned Christ. And so God, if there's even a shred of falsehood in us, Help us to see it and to run to Christ our Savior and to rest in His forgiveness. God, I pray to you that you would give us trust in the sufficiency of your word, both to assure us of our salvation and to advance the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.