There is a word that has become popular in these days. It's the word influencer. This started to become more and more popular since the early 2000s. With social media, people who have used social media to communicate a message or their message to the people. But if you Google on the internet the word influencer or who has been influencers, You will find a long list of people throughout many centuries and generations. I'm going to mention a few of them except one that is mentioned by Google that I will not mention it because I don't think that Jesus is an influencer. He's more than that. They list these people. Mohammed. Mohammed, yes. Gautama Buddha. Confucius. I don't think that you need to translate that because they are just words. Names. Confucius. Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei, Aristoteles, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth, Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare. And you will have some more contemporary people like Queen Victoria, Selena Gomez, Cristiano Ronaldo, and others among them. So, and this is not me saying these are the influencers of the history of humanity. It's Google who says that. But the reality is that They consider these people influencers because they had a message. It's interesting that the word influencers is the same word used in Spanish and English, right? Yes, so they had a message, and with this message they have moved people in their movements. But since the years 2000, The influencers are a little bit different. They are influencing people to themselves. There are the bloggers or those who are creators of content. Some of them are just entertaining people. And some of them are even teaching lessons to people. But at the end of the day, it's a business. I think it probably started with the year 2006 with the creation of YouTube. And I think this started to become a business in 2006 with the creation of YouTube. When people collect followers and gain money from them. My point at the end is most of these influencers are only trying to seek people to be their own followers. It is very different with the followers of Jesus or those who are trying to influence the world with the Gospel. Because Jesus' messengers are not seeking followers for themselves. They are trying to find followers for Jesus. whether you are a missionary, or whether you are just a Christian who is sharing the gospel. You don't want people to follow you, but you want people to follow Jesus. And I think that Luke in the book of Acts And I think that Lucas, here writing the book of Acts, makes a contrast between two types of influencers. It is so clear that they are back to back in the same passage. One of them is Philip, the evangelist. And the other one is Simon, the magician, who we just read here in the test. So the idea for us today is to look at this passage with three points. Simon the influencer, Philip the influencer, and from the least to the greatest. Okay, let us start with Simon the Influencer. So, first of all, the background of this test is that there was a great persecution in the church. This happened right after the execution of Stephen. And those who were the enemies of Christ and enemies of the church, They were emboldened to persecute believers. We saw last week that at the end this resulted in more proclamation of the gospel. Because Christians were scattered. It actually ends fulfilling the promise that we read in Acts 1.8. That the gospel will be proclaimed in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the world. So here we're seeing one step of this gospel proclamation around the world. One of the deacons, Philip, who was an evangelist as well, he says in verse 4 that he went down to the city of Samaria proclaiming the Christ. And many were believing in him. And when we get to verse 9, The text that we read today starts with but. There was a contrast between what Philip was doing and what was going on in Samaria when the Gospel reached Samaria. What was going on in Samaria? Our texts tell us that there was a man named Simon. It says that he had previously practiced magic in the city. Because by this point Simon may have abandoned the practice of magic because he was supposed to be following now Philip. But the point about this man But the point of this man is that all the people of Samaria were amazed at him. So somehow his magic tricks They were very good. And he had been doing this in Samaria for a long time. So little by little he gained the trust of people. The trust of people. And then there were many who were basically his followers. But to whom was Simon pointing to the people? What was Simon's message? What was Simon's gospel? Well, we read here in verse 9 that he was saying that he himself was somebody great. He was not pointing to somebody else. He wasn't even, I would say, pointing to a God superior to him. He was pointing to himself, the people. His message is, I am great. And in order to prove that I am great, I'm going to do some magic tricks. Some of them may have been influenced by demonic powers. We're not told that in the test, but there is a clear tension between a one who was controlling the city, and the coming of the kingdom of God into Samaria. The strong man was in the city, but Jesus Christ was coming to the city to destroy his power. All right, so Simon was a man who have captured the attention of many people. He didn't have a small follow-up. And he was not only focused in one sector of the city, because he says that people were following Simon from the least to the greatest. I would say maybe from the poor to the rich, from young people to old people, all kinds of people were following Simon. And they pay attention to him for a long time. You read that in verse 11. Again, Simon didn't start it with this fame. He start to build this fame year after year, month after month. and everybody was captured by his magic. If we jump ahead on the test, we can read that the apostles, Peter and John, go to Samaria. They were commissioned by the other apostles to support the ministry of Philip in Samaria. He says that they went there and laid down hands on those because they have not received the Holy Spirit. And that they were only baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some have used this test to affirm that there are stages or steps in the life, the Christian journey of a believer. Like somebody first believe and then later on in life receive the Holy Spirit. But when we read the New Testament, we see that the result of faith, or faith is the result of The work of the Holy Spirit in somebody's heart. So, what is this about then? It was very important that the Apostles support the work of God's Kingdom in Samaria. The people in Jerusalem and all the Christian church will recognize the Samaritans as God's people because they have also received the Holy Spirit. And as we can see there, the progression of the fulfillment of the promise by our Lord Jesus Christ that they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the world. Judea and the rest of the world. So the apostles going there is like a stamp. It's like a seal for everybody to see that the kingdom of God was advancing and the Samaritans were also considered part of the body of Christ. But let's go back to the focus of our contrast we're looking at today between Philip and Simon. When Simon saw that Peter was able to lay hands on people and give the Holy Spirit to people, he said, I want that power. First of all, remember that Simon had already started to foul Philip. He has even been baptized, and you might be tempted to think that he was part of the body of Christ. You know, baptism is an external sign that represents an internal reality. The internal reality is faith in Christ. Baptism is the sign of that covenant between Christ and you. But that a person is baptized doesn't mean that a person is a Christian. Because somebody might have taught or might have professed faith in Christ when he didn't really have faith in Jesus. And you can be part of the visible church, which is the local church, the Christians of this church. And you might not be part of the universal church, the invisible church, which is the Christian's church around the world. So it looks like this is the case of Simon. Simon said that he followed Philip, that he was baptized. and now he's a Christian. But we see here in verse 13 that he says this, and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. So as people in Samaria were amazed at him with his magic tricks, Simon is now amazed at Philip when he sees the signs that he's doing. And what is the evidence that he has no real faith? That he goes to Peter, if you go with me to verse 18, he says, now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying of 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." So it looks like that Simon had just taken a break from his job as an influencer for a while. He saw a greater influencer coming into the city, Philip, with real signs. And then he started to follow him. And then he saw his bosses coming, let's say, Peter and John with, let's say, more power. And then he said, well, so I want that power too. And he offered them money. So we see the strong rebuke from Peter to Simon in verses 20, 21, and 22. It's a rebuke and it's a request and a challenge to repent. And he says, repent, verse 22, therefore of this wickedness of yours, And pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your hearts may be forgiven you. What was Simon's offense to God? To think that he could gain the power of the Holy Spirit with money. He was called to repent of his sin. But sadly, when we read verse 24, Simon's words don't look like repentance so much. He says, pray for me to the Lord that nothing what you have said may come upon me." He's not saying something like, Lord forgive me, the Holy Spirit or to the Holy Spirit forgive me that I thought that I could buy this gift. The only thing that he wanted to avoid was punishment. All right, so this is Simon the Influencer. Let's move to Philip the Influencer. And the contrast and the difference cannot be greater. Let's read verse five in your Bibles. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. So, Philip was proclaiming Christ while Simon was saying that he himself was somebody great. Do you see the difference? One message is anthropocentric, which is centered in man. So Simon was calling people to look at him while Philip went down to Samaria proclaiming Jesus Christ. He was saying to people, look at Jesus. Jesus, the one who died on the cross for your sins. The one who was raised from the dead by God the Father. The one who is seated at the right hand of God. Because when he said, when we read in Luke that he was proclaiming Christ, it's more than Philip was just going around saying, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. He was proclaiming the Gospel, where Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is the King, Jesus is the Savior, Jesus is the only hope, and Jesus is the one who gave his life for those who believe in him. Here another difference. What did Simon do in the city to attract people to himself? Magic. But how about Philip? Verse six says, 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. He saw Philip was doing two things. He was saying things. He was proclaiming the Gospel. He was proclaiming Christ. And he was doing signs. Exactly the same as Jesus was doing during his ministry. But what is the difference between signs and magic? tricks. Signs are pointing to something. Signs were meant to reveal something. In the case of Jesus, when Jesus performed signs, they were revealing His identity. They were revealing that Jesus Christ is God, that He is divine. They were not revealing that Jesus, that Philip is divine, but that Jesus is still alive. Because remember, the ministry of the apostles is the continuation of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we say the book of Acts This act of Jesus Christ through the power of the Apostle, through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Apostles. So what were the signs or the kind of signs that Philip was performing? Unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who have them. Remember, there is a connection between Simon and demonic powers. He had the Samaritans captivated with a false gospel. And who is behind a false gospel is the devil. Therefore, when Jesus Christ came, he also cast out demons. And when Simon comes with the gospel to Samaria, there is a direct confrontation against the power of the devil. So the signs have to do with demons running away from Jesus. But also, many paralyzed and lame were healed in the city. Which also shows the will of Jesus to restore all things. This were first taste of what is to come. That when Christ comes, there will be no paralytics. There will be no lame people. no heart attacks, no sorrow, no pain, because everything will be restored. All right, so Simon preaching about himself, So, Simon is preaching to himself, but Philip is preaching about Christ. Simon is doing magic tricks. Philip is doing signs that point to Christ. What was the result in the city? He says in verse 11 that when people saw what Simon did, they were amazed at his magic. How about those who saw the signs that felt it? You read in verse eight. So there was much joy in that city. Difference, right? Amazement. Joy. Why? Because Philip was bringing good news. What were the good news that Simon was bringing to people? And great. Look at me. How is that helping anybody? But Philip was bringing the gospel. And you can read that also in verse 12. What was Philip preaching? But when they believed Philip, as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. Philip was preaching the good news that the Kingdom of God has come. Remember, Jesus inaugurated His ministry saying, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. The Kingdom comes with the King, who is Jesus. And the good news is that the king goes to the cross, receives the punishment you deserve to set you free from eternal condemnation and give you eternal life. Simon wasn't preaching that. And it's all in the name of Jesus. Therefore, there was joy in the city. Not with Simon, but with Philip. But there was another thing that was happening. Read with me again verse 12. He says, but when they believe Philip, as he preached, and then Luke tells us the content of the preaching, good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ. So he follows to tell us the result. They were baptized, both men and women. Look at the difference, the contrast again. About Philip. Sorry, Simon. They all pay attention to him. From the least to the greatest. But in the case of Philip, they not just pay attention, but they were baptized. And what is baptism? It's this covenant sign between God and man. They receive the seal that they belong to Christ. They never receive a seal that they belong to Simon. Therefore, we see a very clear contrast. Two influencers, one that was already in Samaria, pointing people to himself, not providing a gospel to people, and most likely earning a lot of money from that. This is why he's able to say, I can pay for that gift if you give it to me to Peter and John. Philip, and I will remove the word influencer for the right word, the evangelist, because he was coming to bring good news. Who are you going to follow? Are you going to follow the influencers of the world? Sorry to say this, but many people spend hours listening to people who have nothing to say. I remember listening to one who said, I have no idea about this topic, but ask me any question, I will try to answer to you. Are you kidding? This is one of the famous influencers. This is one of the famous influencers. People follow this. But Jesus Christ is the only one who has good news for you and me. Jesus Christ is the only one who will leave you with joy at the end of His message. Because the only thing that happens when you do click on the influencers, is that more money goes to their accounts. Because they go by clicking. How many times the video was watched. But Jesus Christ has the real good news. And I hope that you have trusted in Jesus. And if you have not trusted in Jesus yet, put your faith in Christ. Come into His kingdom. Receive the good news. And you will be saved. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you that you send your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into the world. We thank you for the good news, the good news of your kingdom. Help us, Lord, to rejoice in them. And we pray, Lord, for anyone who might be in this place today In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.