Acts chapter eight is where we're gonna start reading. And as you're turning to there, I wanna tell you what I've written out of my heart all week long as I begin to ponder and pray about God, what would you have me to say? And our title this morning would be simply, Trying to Buy What's Free. I wanna say that one more time, trying to buy what's free. If something is free, then obviously, it doesn't take a lot of thinking here this morning. If something's free, why would you try to buy it? Because if you're trying to buy something that is free, that means somebody somewhere is missing the mark on what's going on and what's transpiring or what needs to happen in their life. We're gonna read about Simon the sorcerer this morning. He's the one that I've been thinking about. Now he's a sorcerer, meaning that he's a magician. And I want you to listen, if you will, in the 18th verse of the book of Acts chapter 8. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. Look at the next verse. He offered them money and told them this. Give me also this power. What you are experiencing is something that's real and powerful. And what he's saying is, I'm gonna give you some money. Why don't you give me this power? But in the end, we have to realize and understand is that it's free. My question is, why are people trying to buy what is already free? Here we see about Simon the sorcerer that he wanted to purchase, he wanted to buy. And what he's trying to see is it's not just we're talking about money today. It's not that we're just talking about assets today. What we're talking about is people are trying so many different ways to find true happiness and experience the power of God outside of a free relationship with Jesus. Folks, what does it cost us to be saved? What did it cost you? If you're here this morning and you can raise your hand saying that you're a child of God and you've been born again, then the question is, what did it cost you to be saved? At the end of the day, we're all gonna answer the same, it cost us nothing. The only price that was paid, and I'm gonna say the only price, the price that was paid was God's giving of his only begotten son. It's free, not free to God, but it's free to you and to me. Simon the sorcerer, we're gonna read about here today. You can go back to about the ninth verse of this eighth chapter. But there was a certain man called Simon. Here's where his sorcery comes in, which before time in the same city used sorcery, which again, this is a type of magic. And I don't know about you, but I'm amazed by magicians, by the way. Now, one thing I've learned about magicians is, what they do, it's not that what they do is real, they make it look real. This morning, why do people pay for something that's free, folks? You don't have to pretend that we're saved. If we are saved people, let me say this clearly. If we are saved people, it's not just something that looks that way, it's something that feels this way. You know what, today, there's a lot of people, the Pharisees were one, the people that had religion that looked right on the outside, but what was on the inside was wrong. Just because people go to church, just because people have Bibles, just because people know Scripture doesn't mean that they know Jesus Christ as their Savior. The difference is, it's about a relationship. Simon the Sorcerer was a magician. He marveled people at what he could do. But here's the difference. Simon the magician, the sorcerer, if he could do things that just mesmerized people, things that nobody else could do, it was a sleight of hand, if you will. If he could do that, what he wanted to do was, he wanted to give people something like nobody else could. Folks, when it comes to salvation, God can give you something nobody else can. So Simon the sorcerer come along and according to what we read in the 18th verse, he offered them money. He said, I want to experience what you have experienced. So for a man, in about this 9th and the 10th and the 11th verse, He had mesmerized people with what he was able to do. He had amazed people of his magical, and I use that word very loosely, magical powers, but isn't it amazing today that a person could do something nobody else could, still could not find favor with God based off what he was able to give as far as money. He said, that's not what he was able to give. So we see that when Simon the sorcerer was experiencing this laying of the hands that had happened, He wanted to experience that same thing, so he offered them money so that the Holy Spirit might come upon them. Notice what he said, and I wanna skip down to about the 20th verse. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee. We won't talk about this morning buying what's free. In other words, why would we have to give God something that is of no value to him? Folks, with God, and we're gonna talk about some of these things in a minute. I want you to notice what he's talking about, a gift that is here. That's what he uses in the 20th chapter there, but also knows what he talks about here. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish. What does it mean perish? It just means it's ruined. It's not good. There's no value to that. Let me ask you this. What are you taking with you when you take your last breath here in this life? What do you take with you? Do you take people? We all have those people that we just sometimes say, I just, I hope we can take our last breath together. We have people that we want to take with us. Folks, when you die, you're not even taking people with you. You may have a very cherished possession that you have. Something that's a family heirloom. Maybe it's just something that has a great sentimental value. Something that's special to you. But folks, when you die, the only thing that is leaving this world, and I mean leaving this world, going to eternity, is your soul. That's what's gonna happen. The question this morning is, what do you have in this gift that he says is going to perish? with thee because thou hast bought that which gift of God may be purchased with money. So here in our reading today, we're gonna find out that it's important that we see is that if we're going to experience the power of God in our life, it's something that he's going to give us and that which is free. Let's go back now to about the 18th to the 19th verse. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles hands, here's where Simon is going to get misled. He's going to misunderstand what the Holy Spirit is doing in his life. But he said that they experienced the, the, the laying of the laying on the apostles hands, the Holy ghost was given. He offered them money. When Christ has something to offer to us today, the question might be, what does it cost us? Isaiah, I wanna turn back for just a minute to the book of Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55, and I want you to listen to our thought this morning is buying. People that are trying to buy what's free. Listen to what Isaiah tells us in Isaiah chapter 55. And bear with me, we'll read a few of these verses if we can. Isaiah chapter 55, and read if you will, verse one. Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money. I find this very interesting. There's an invitation given for people to come to buy something when they don't have money. Now, let's think about this. When a child goes to the store, they don't have money, but they are given to them what they need. A parent will say, here's your dollar. You go buy what you need, and they will buy that. It becomes theirs. Now I want to go back and I want to understand something. When we talk about salvation, it is free to us, but it is not free to God. In other words, God has what you and I need to be saved by His grace. Folks, God will give you what you need. Do you know what we all stand in need of here today? Every one of us. You know what we all need here today? We need the blood of Jesus Christ. There's not a one of us that's exempt from that. There's not a person that can live good enough. There's not a person today that can do the right deeds. There's not things that you can do in life. We all need the blood of Jesus Christ. So in the Old Testament, when they would sacrifice a bird or an animal of some kind, they didn't just pour the blood upon the lamb. The blood would not, excuse me, not just pour upon the ground, but it was collected in a container. Why? Because it was meant to be called and it was meant to be applied, folks. The blood of Jesus Christ did not fall in vain upon the ground, but it has been gathered by God with the intent and desire to apply it to your sins and to mine, folks. I'll tell you this, the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all of us. Every one of us, the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for us, but here Isaiah is giving this strange invitation. He said, if you're broke and you don't have any money, he said, come. He that thirsteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye and buy. He said, and eat. He said, there's a gospel that's gonna come to you in your life. He said here, he said, come, he said, buy wine and milk without money and without price. He's gonna talk about the wine. He's gonna talk about the milk. He's gonna talk about these things that we can have without money. And you see today is that these things he said are gonna bring joy and they're gonna bring nourishment to our lives. Let me ask you something today. Do you believe that we can find joy in Jesus Christ? Oh, absolutely we can if you haven't ever experienced the joy in Jesus Christ. I pray that God would move in your heart. I'll tell you this, folks, the joy that we find in the world is not a satisfying joy, is it? Oh, it just makes us long for more. More and more and more and more and more. But I'll tell you this, when God saves your soul, you can be completely satisfied with the work the Holy Spirit has done. But he said, I want you to come. He said, if you need the wine or he said, and the milk without money, he said, it'll give you joy in your life and it'll also nourish you. Let me ask you this folks, how many of you are saved today? And when God saved your soul, he gave you not only satisfaction, he provided what you stood in need of. He does, he gives us exactly what you and I stand in need of today. When Isaiah was reading this in Isaiah chapter, writing to this in Isaiah chapter 55, he was talking about how that the Israelites had been exiled and how they were in need of a deliverer in their life. And you know what? When they'd been exiled and they'd gone through all the things that they had gone through, they needed something. They couldn't find it themselves. But here's what I love about God. He is able to buy it and supply it for them. Let's read if we can. He said, wherefore, this is verse two of Isaiah chapter 55, do you spend money for that which is not bread? Now, we know that Jesus in the New Testament, he's gonna self-proclaim to be, I am the bread of life. There's none other. Nobody satisfies like him. I've told you before, one of my favorite places to go is when we travel and we go into Jamaica, we go right beside one of those bakeries. And you know what? I love to go down the road, go by a bakery, and I can smell the bread out of that shop. And you know what? Passing by a bread shop has never satisfied me, but I'll tell you where I find satisfaction when we go in and we buy the bread and we consume it. Folks, today, Jesus Christ is not meant to be admired. He's not meant to be looked upon. He's meant to be consumed. I'll tell you this, folks, you need Jesus Christ inside of you today, not just religion on the outside. Outside is what kind of a coat can I have on? What kind of a hat do I have on? What kind of shoes or socks? But you know what, today, we're talking about an inward change that happens in a person. There's a satisfaction. He said, why do you buy that bread that's not gonna satisfy? He said, why aren't you looking for things that are not gonna supply your needs? He said, and why do you labor for that which satisfieth not? Isaiah said, hearken diligently unto me, and ee that which is good. I will ask a simple question. It's a question you've got to ask yourself. Do you believe that everything laid before us is good? If it comes from God, the answer is yes. But what happens when the world and the devil throws things in front of us? It's not good. Have any of you ever had things thrown in front of you that you had to have the willpower and the strength to walk away and to say no, to get away from? And it's because God's saying you don't find satisfaction in those things, you find satisfaction Today for us to understand that we need strength and willpower to overcome. He said, why do you labor for that? He said, which satisfy not? He said, hearken diligently and eat that which is good. There's good and there's bad. And he said, eat that which is good. And listen to what he said in the last part of that verse. And let your soul delight itself in fatness. Now the word fatness, I understand the Hebrew part of that means abundance of things. Can I ask you a question today? If you're saved and God has worked in your life, would you agree that it was not just a little bit, but God has blessed us abundantly? What do you define as abundantly? If I were to stand before you this morning and tell you, when I take my last breath and I die and I'll go to heaven, that's a lie. But folks, I want to tell you something. God has done much more for me than just give me eternal life. God has blessed me with so many things in my life. Many times I've had food on my table. Many times I realize how blessed I am with a house to live in. I realize how blessed I am with the people that I have, the churches we attend. And I'm thankful for all these things. Folks, God is good to us. He blesses us with these things. And that's why I say it's the fatness of His goodness. He goes on in that third verse. Listen to what Isaiah is gonna declare. Incline your ear and come unto me. In other words, get this image in your mind for just a minute. The older I get, the worse my hearing gets. At least that's what I'm told. You know what happens when I can't hear somebody? I lean into them. Sometimes you'll see me do that. If you're talking, I can't hear you, there's a distraction. I kind of lean into you. The reason is I want to hear you. Sometimes, folks, let's be honest, the world gets kind of rackety, doesn't it? Gets kind of loud, doesn't it? And God's trying to speak, and you know what we want to do? We tell the world, pump up the volume, get a little bit louder. May we tune the world out and may we lean into God just a little bit more. And I'll tell you this, folks, the more we shut the world out, the more we lean into God, the more we can hear from God. And I'll tell you this, there is none that you can say is any better to hear from than to hear from God. He said, incline your ear, lean into me, listen to me. He said, give me that effort, give me that attention. He said, and come unto me, here, and your soul shall live. And I will make you an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. You can keep reading where he talks about how that his goodness is there and how it costs people nothing. Matthew, we read in the 10th chapter of the book of Matthew. What does it cost us? Jesus was talking to the 12 disciples here in the 10th chapter of Matthew. and he's gonna send them out to proclaim a message. And it's not just a message. A message that you and I might just have like, supper's ready, or your car's fixed, or you know, we get messages all the time. And those messages are important, by the way, but I'll tell you, there's not a message more important than hearing about a place called heaven. And they were being given these instructions about how to proclaim about this heavenly message that was there, And here in the 10th chapter, and I wanna skip down to about the sixth verse. Well, let's go back to the fifth verse. These 12, Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter you not. He said, you're not just going looking for certain landmarks of any place. He said, you're not going to a place, you're going to a people. You know what I wanna believe today? That the gospel is not just for a place. Places. You go to Europe, you go to Africa, you go to the US, we go to all these places. Folks, the gospel is not for places, the gospel is for people. Folks, today I want you to know something, if you do not know this already, the gospel is for you and for me. He said, I want you to go not into these places, but rather I want you to, he said in the sixth verse, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He said, I want you to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Isn't it amazing the variety of work that happens in people? But notice when we said trying to buy that which is free, listen to what he said. Freely ye have received, freely give. What Christ is teaching them is that what you do, you are doing because you want nothing in return. You know, this morning, Shallow Church is coming here today. We want to worship, and we're going to praise the Lord. We're going to preach His word. We're going to proclaim that. But at the end of the day, folks, we're not here because of what we can receive. We're here to do the work that God has called, that God has sent, that we might be able to accomplish that which He would have us to do. And I believe today that God wants to do that, but we must listen to Him and what He wants us to do. Today, do you believe that it's free? Do you believe that it's without cost? Do you believe that it's not anything that God is going to charge us, if you will, but it's about a relationship with him? It's a familiar scripture found in the book of 2 Kings chapter five. And let me read to you the 15th verse. And he returned to the man of God and all the company and came and stood before him and said, behold, Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now, therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. But he said, as the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it, but he refused. He said, I have something I want to give you there in the book of second Kings chapter five in the 15th and 16th verse. He said, but it's not about what I can give you. He said, no, I don't want anything. He said, because this is something that's free. Simon the sorcerer here in Acts chapter eight. It's about a time that he wanted to purchase and to find favor, but he wasn't going to happen because I want to go back to Acts chapter eight for just a minute. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee. You know what Peter's gonna say? Peter said, your heart has gotta line up with God's. He said, it's not about the money. He said, it's not about what you can buy. He said, you must see yourself the way God sees you. I wanna ask you another personal question. How often do we see ourselves the way God sees us? I would fear that if I saw myself the way that God saw myself more often, I would probably just simply lay upon the ground and realize that I'm a wretched sinner, that I'm in need of the power of God in my life. And notice what happened when Peter began to rebuke him. He said, Your money's no good. He said, thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Here's what I see in this. Not just the fact that Simon the sorcerer, the magician, wanted to purchase and buy it, it's the fact that there was something that he could do to find favor with God. When in the end of the day, folks, there is nothing we can do. We need God's mercy in our life. So notice what he said in the 21st verse. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. What about your heart here today? Where is your heart with God? Is your heart right with God this morning? Are you where you need to be? Is your heart wanting to experience the power of God in your life? Matthew chapter 6, and I want to read if I can in the 24th verse. Matthew chapter 6 is some pretty strong scripture about how that material things can be a hindrance to us if we're not careful. material things. In other words, what can we accumulate? What can we accomplish? Read, if you will, Matthew chapter 6. And I want to skip down to the 24th verse. No man can serve two masters. He's going to notice the possessions that are there. For he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God Ann Mammon. He said the things that we have in our life, he said we have to evaluate them. Is there important, or they're necessary, or they're not necessary. Whether you're doing that right now, whether you get in your vehicle and you head to your respective life this afternoon, I hope that we'll ponder lots of things. And of all the things that we ponder, may we ask ourself, what is eternally necessary for me to have? Folks, there's a lot of people out there today that are totally missing the mark on what's important when it comes to eternity. I'm not against materialistic things. I understand we gotta pay bills. I understand there's things that have to happen, but I'll tell you this, folks. May there be nothing more important than our soul being right with God, that we are prepared for the day that the Lord sees fit to take us from this life and that we go to be with him, that God might prepare our hearts to realize that eternal things are the things of the greatest concern. For Jesus teaches us in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, and I wanna skip down to the 13th verse. I want you to read this parable of the rich fool. He's gonna talk about these possessions and they're gonna draw Christ into this. And they're gonna say, you be the judge here. You tell us who should get the possessions. I love the rebuke that Jesus is gonna give them. Let's get into this in a minute. But the rebuke that he's gonna give them, he said, I'm not worried about material things. It's what he's gonna tell them. And Luke 12 and 13. And one of the company said to him, Master, speak to my brother that he'd invite the inheritance with me. Serious, what he said. This man was, by the way, he interrupted Christ in what he was teaching. He was not worried about the teachings of Christ, he was worried about his inheritance. Remember what I said about people trying to buy that which's free? They wasn't worried about it, the teachings of it, he said, would you talk to my brother that he'd divide the inheritance with me? Sounds pretty selfish, doesn't it? Because he said, it's what I have. And he's talking about the inheritance, meaning he's worried about the wealth. And he said unto him, man, who made me judge or divider over you? It's not that Jesus did not know the truth or the right answer. But what it was reading about was is that there was one that was more worried about his inheritance and Jesus was trying to teach the idea that he was not here to settle about who gets what when they die or what an inheritance they may give. He was here worried about spiritual matters, not material matters. That's the message the world needs to hear today. is that folks, it's not about the material things that we can collect or that we can manipulate to our favor, but it's about the eternal spiritual matters. So this morning, listen to what Jesus said. Some people might read this and think Jesus was being short with him. He said, he just wanted him to say, you know the law, you tell him what the law says that he needs to divide the inheritance. And he said, I love the word. He said, man who made me judge or divider over you. And he said unto them, take heed, beware of covetousness. There's a warning that goes out that if you're not careful, take heed. If you're not careful, you will be more concerned about what you can wrap your arms around and what you can physically touch instead of being worried about what you can feel. Be careful, may churches not worry about what you can see. May churches and people not be worried about what they can touch. But may we completely be concerned about what we can feel. He said, take heed, beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists of not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. I heard it said one time and I totally have just kept echoing this in my heart all the morning long. You can have a full bank account, but you can have an empty heart. You ever thought about that? You can have a full bank account, but you can have an empty heart. But you know, I've also found out there's the other end of that spectrum. There's a lot of people out there that don't have much in the eyes of the world. But you know what? Their hearts are full. What is keeping the human race from having a full heart? It's kind of like Simon the sorcerer. Instead of just a relationship with Jesus, we want to see what we can do or what we can purchase so that we can find favor with God. Today I want you to listen to what we're reading about here in the scriptures that it's important that we repent, that it's important that we turn to God and say, God, the things that you have bestowed upon us are far greater than anything that we can have. For that's the 22nd verse of Acts chapter eight. Repent therefore of this, thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. Folks, Godly sorrow works repentance, and I believe in that. He's praying for repenteth. But I wanna really look at this 23rd verse for just a moment. For I perceive, that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. What Peter's trying to say is, he said, what you're experiencing is, you've got something inside of you that is concerning and troubling. He said, but you're gonna have to repent and say, God, fix it. Today, I don't know what's going on in your hearts. I don't know what's going on in the hearts of many around this world today, but I do know this, is that today, it's not so much what they possess that's concerning. It's about the gall of bitterness. It's something that's inside of them that is polluting. It's something inside of them that is destroying. It's something inside of them that will actually tear you apart. Preacher, are you trying to say I'm a bad person? I want to tell you what all of us are. We were all born sinners. Not sinners in what we do, but sinners by what's in our hearts. You wasn't raised bad. You wasn't around the wrong people. It's the seed of sin. It's been passed down to us ever since the very beginning of time, called the sin of Adam. But you know what the Bible says? And I'm gonna hush. The Bible said by the disobedience of one man, Adam, that was death and sin therefore passed upon all people. Adam passed it, passed it, passed it, passed it because of his disobedience. But you know what I'm thankful for today? That second Adam. The Bible tells us the second Adam was Jesus Christ. Adam had disobedience. Jesus had obedience. Adam brought forth sin. You know what Jesus brought forth? Righteousness. You see, in all of this is that even though sin was passed upon all of us, not by choice, but because of who we are, the seed of sin lives. Aren't you thankful today that we can have faith and belief in Jesus Christ and we can overcome sin and rightfully have a relationship with God, not because of Adam, not because of our parents or who we're born of. We have a relationship with God because of Jesus Christ. Folks, if you take out Jesus, We cannot have a relationship. Why are people trying to buy and to purchase that which is free? For Simon the sorcerer found out you can't, but God wants to give it to you. You can study that word gift. Gift, it's not a gift exchange like we might know it as. It's something he's given to you without desiring anything in return. Folks, God doesn't need anything. He wants you to surrender to him. Today, what do you need? God bless you. I want us to get a song if we could.