If you would turn in your Bibles to Acts, chapter 8, I'm going to read for us verses 14 through 24. We're looking specifically tonight at verses 20 through 24. Again, let's listen to the Lord's Word. Now, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen upon any of them. They had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone 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 no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. But Simon answered and said, pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. And this is the Lord's Word. If you'll bow with me, friends, we'll ask the Lord for his help. Father, again, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for a day of rest for our souls. And we thank you, Father, for the privilege, again, of gathering for your worship. Tonight, O Lord, as we come to you, we are reminded of the great trials that face our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. And we ask that you preserve those saints who are being threatened. We ask, Father, that you would embolden them and keep them safe, O Father. We pray that their faith would not be shaken now in the light of this trial. And again, we pray for our brothers and sisters in Haiti and ask that you would be merciful to them and bless rescue efforts to preserve lives. We pray, Father, that the gospel would bring great comfort to those in that land. And we pray, Lord, that this great upheaval that has occurred would bring about a great harvest for your kingdom, for the glory of Jesus Christ. We ourselves come to you now and ask that your blessing be upon this word, and pray that your blessing be upon this servant, that I would handle it faithfully, and that these, your people, near and far, would hear your word, and that their hearts would be encouraged and strengthened and challenged as is appropriate. We ask now all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're looking at the tail end of this passage tonight. As it seemed, there is a treasure trove of things to be covered in these several verses. Looking at the broader context, again, let me summarize it very briefly. Chapter 7 was about Stephen giving his defense, and also of his stoning. And then chapter 8 comes to us, and it begins with this. Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him, that is Stephen, to death. And on that day, a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And the writer, Luke, gives us here an example, Philip, as an example of what to do when we face persecution. We continue to speak of the Lord Jesus. We mustn't ever allow ourselves to be intimidated into silence. And I was very encouraged to hear of how the church in Afghanistan, apparently Mindy Bell's has some connection with the house church there in Afghanistan, And apparently, I mean, you've been hearing how things are unfolding in Afghanistan. The Taliban wrote a letter to them, warning them, warning church leaders, saying things such as, we know where you are and what you're doing. A veiled threat. A veiled threat. And you know what their answer was? These pastors? We aren't going anywhere. That's what it should be. We're not shutting down. That's the very thing that Luke would write to the church. You don't stop speaking of Jesus Christ just because the world hates it. The reason they hate it is because they don't know Jesus Christ. And so the very thing you want to change the world, give them Jesus Christ, right? The most effective, most dangerous weapon in the Lord's arsenal is a godly man or woman who does not fear men, but will go and speak the truth of Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful thing. I was very heartened to hear this. So we are told in verses four and five, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. And again, persecution's purpose is to intimidate and to silence the church. And we must never be silent. It is the Lord's calling to us to speak of him to those around us. Persecution, again, always intending to silence the church. But there's another way that the church can be made ineffectual. And it's when the message of the gospel is changed. That's when the message becomes undermined, how by changing it into something it is not, or by causing the adherents, so-called Christians, to be so offensive that the truth is maligned. So if he can't shut us down from the outside, what he does is he infiltrates the church to change the message and to make the adherence of Christianity to be odious to the world. We read this last week. As Paul, or Peter rather, was speaking of the false teachers who would arise at the church, he said, many will follow their sensuality. And because of them, the way of the truth would be maligned. In this way, while not silencing the church, we change the message to another gospel. We change it to a prosperity gospel, a self-esteem gospel, a therapeutic, moralistic, deistic gospel, a homeschool gospel, a patriot gospel, or to cause it to be so ridiculous, so self-serving, that it becomes malign. So how many times have you heard people say things such as, oh, the church, they're only interested in money. Pastors, they're only interested in money. And that seems to be such a turnoff to so many people, they say, I don't go to church anymore. I have my private spirituality. I go off into the mountains, or I go off into the, you know, I go fishing. In other places, they have water. Here, I might go to the mountains or go to the golf course, right? But we find these other alternate spiritualities because we don't like those people for what they stand. These are tares scattered in the garden, looking very much like wheat, yet never bearing fruit, and in fact hurting the very witness of the Lord's church. Simon the magician is an example of this very thing. We're told of Simon in verse 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. It would seem as though Simon was a legitimate Christian until Peter and John came from Jerusalem to pray for the church in Samaria that they might receive the Holy Spirit. And we're told that they laid their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. And so again, we don't know, and it's not important to the text. We just know that the spirit Not to be confused with regeneration or the sealing of the spirit, but these outward manifestations, they were having miracles, tongues, healings, we're not sure. But again, the outpouring of the spirit upon the Samaritans was proof of their equality with the Jerusalem believers, said Simon Kistemacher. They were part of the true church. The Samaritans were part of the true church. And notice what happens the moment that the true church is identified, how the counterfeit comes to play. There is a counterfeit in the church. Again, we're told, now when Simon saw that the spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money saying, give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Simon's heart was revealed to the apostles through his request. Simon has not become a new creature in Christ, but is the same old Simon in love with himself, in love with power and prestige and money, but he has jumped on the Christian bandwagon to pursue his worldly desires. He has been invited to the marriage feast, but he is not dressed in the wedding clothes. He's been invited to the wedding feast, but he's not wearing the wedding clothes. There's a question. What does this bring into the church, this mindset? What does it bring into the church? Simon's mindset brings an idea, an attitude of self-serving. Jesus, and it goes like this, Jesus is here to fulfill all my wishes and dreams. Now, when I say it like this, it seems so blatant, it seems so So, oh, no kidding. This is one of those no duh moments. And yet you realize that this consumer mindset has really infiltrated the Lord's Church. Jesus is here to help you achieve your ultimate potential. Do you see something wrong with that? I hope you do. Because that's not at all why Jesus is here. to cause you to reach your ultimate potential, to help you earn or get your ultimate earning power, or to get your life in order. And you see, some of you, I would imagine, have a hard time even discerning that. Like, what's wrong with that? And that's what's concerning. I think that's what's concerning to me, because I think that's how infiltrated the American church has become. Jesus is not here to help you fulfill all your dreams and wishes. Listen again to what the Psalmist said, and we read this in Psalm 16. He says, David says, you are my Lord. I have no good besides you. That's the difference between the American gospel and the gospel according to Jesus. Would you be rich if you had nothing other than Jesus Christ? you would be filthy rich if all you ever had was Jesus Christ. And yet so many people, Jesus is never enough for them. I just need a little bit more. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be a Christian if I have a fat bank account. But friends, what happens when the attitudes of the Taliban towards the church come here? What happens when they take our houses? What happens if they take our land? Will we still rejoice? We can, because they can never take us from Jesus. Is he our true treasure? Simon, apparently not. For Simon, it was not. Jesus was not enough. Now, we look at Peter's response to Simon in verses 20 through 23. Listen to this. 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 no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. Notice here in verse 20 what Peter does. He condemns Simon. He condemns him outright. There is condemnation for all who think that they can merit God's gift. Again, listen to what he says. May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. Peter's offended at the offer of money. He's offended, but not on his own behalf, but on behalf of the Lord, because Simon has insulted the Lord by offering money for the authority to dispense the Holy Spirit. Simon has to be warned at this point, as does anyone who is thinking, oh, if I do this, or if I give this, or if I become this, then God will surely bless me and give me a place in heaven and will surely bless the work of my hands. It's not just money that's the problem. He's offended because Simon has insulted the Lord And Simon must be warned. He places such a value on silver, on money, that he actually believes that the gift of the spirit can be bought with earthly means, and that the apostles likewise are in agreement with this. I mean, notice in the text, he's just very matter of fact. Hey, hey, I'd like this authority. Can I offer you some silver? As though Peter and John would go, what a great way to network. Right? Like in a Gehazi. We can render services for people and get money for it. What genius came up with this? We're sitting on a treasure trove. Right? That's the attitude we see here. He can be bought with earthly means. The spirit can. But the apostles are not in agreement. Peter lets there be no doubt about it. Peter states this. And in the Greek, it's in a mood that expresses the strongest possible wish regarding Simon's request. When he says, may your silver perish with you, he's stating it in as strong a terms as he possibly can. Simon, you are hell bound and your money can perish with you. He states it in as strong a possible manner as he can. Here's a check for us on our money. Money is how the world does commerce. Those who want to get rich, said Paul, fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Don't get me wrong. Money can be a real blessing when God intends it to be a blessing. And it can also be a real curse to anyone if they don't keep their eyes on the Lord and keep money. Money is a means to an end. Money is not the end. It's a means to the end, but it's not the end. And certainly, the Lord can do all sorts of things in lieu of money to bring us to where he wants us. Our prayer really ought to be what the writer of Proverbs said in Proverbs 30. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny you, and say, who is the Lord? Or that I not be in wanton steel and profane the name of my God. Simon loved money. And because of it, he is bound for hell. And you say, how did he? He was paying for silver. We looked at last week that as a man, he's making an investment of silver. So you give me this gift and then I can turn around and then I can charge other people for the gift. So they come to me and they need a dose of the spirit or they need a miracle. They pay me and I give this gift. So it was a way that he's making an investment. right, into the things of God. He's turning the things of God into a lucrative business. That's what he's doing. He loved money, and because of it, he was bound for hell. Understand, friends, in our day, some might think of Simon as being ambitious or entrepreneurial or innovative. The syncretism of God and business. The offense, why does Peter condemn him? Because he thought he could obtain the gift of God with money. A gift, by its very nature, is something given. It is not merited. It is undeserved. If it could be bought, rather, it would no longer be a gift. The gift spoken of here is the gift that God gives. What does God give? He gives salvation. Again, Ephesians 2, 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. What? It is the gift of God. It can't be bought. It can't be secured with votive gifts or, oh, it's slipping my mind. John Tetzel, indulgences. Right? We're trying to buy salvation with indulgences for others. We're trying to speed the process up, spring them out of purgatory. Right? It's a gift. It's not bought. He gives the gifts of spiritual gifts. But to each one, said Paul, is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healing, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? These are gifts that God gives, and he gives in various ways to his people. He is the one who gives the spirit. What a terrible offense, what a terrible insult to the Lord and his gracious gift that any would attempt to buy the gift. What did these gifts cost our Lord? Think of it. It cost him tremendous humiliation. As we saw this morning, it caused him, he left glory. He took upon himself the humiliation of putting on human flesh caused him the humiliation of death on Calvary's cross, the conquering of the grave, right? That's a tremendous thing. And we're going to give something that came from the dirt to secure it? Isn't this an insult? that you could do something to merit it. And isn't this to trivialize or to make small the magnitude of such a gift? The answer would be yes on both accounts. It trivializes it. Simon did not understand the gospel. He didn't understand the extent of his sin, nor the glory, the goodness, or the grace of God, how unfathomable his reach to redeem the sinner, how costly a gift that it would cost the Son of God his very life. If he had understood it, he would not have tried to purchase the gift of God. There can be only one conclusion regarding Simon, then. And all who suppose they can merit this gift, the conclusion is that he was never truly a Christian in the first place. And notice what Peter is doing. Again, he's an apostle, so he speaks with authority. He speaks as one who knows the mind of God, or God is revealed. to Peter regarding Simon, but he speaks with great certainty here. Simon is not a believer. And what is Peter doing? He's pointing out, Simon, you're lost. You're dead in your sin. I know you made a profession. I know you were baptized, but you remain dead in your sin. You are not a new creature. And we know this because of the very thing that you requested. He says to him, You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. His request or demand to be sold, this authority revealed what was going on in his heart. Many people will make professions of faith, my friends. Many will be baptized in the name of the Lord, just like Simon. But understand, it is neither the profession, the prayer, some of you grew up like this, and I remember growing up in the Midwest, and hearing this, say this prayer. I remember sitting in a room, just like these little children, I was sitting in a room full of toys, a Sunday school room, and a Sunday school teacher says, children, who wants to go to heaven? Raise your hand. I raised my hand. I want to go to heaven. Say this prayer. I say this prayer. You're going to heaven. And that's the way many people have abandoned, not understanding their need. Now, I'm not diminishing the fact that you can have the faith of a child. I'm not diminishing that. But even a child, a four-year-old, listening to his heart pulse and his ear on his pillow, he can understand, I'm going to die, and I need someone to help me. You see that? We've mechanized things. Now, where people will say a prayer mechanically, or become baptized, and we place our confidence in these things, and we build our hope on some act that we have performed. Some trust in behaviors or performance as though the secure blessing, God's blessing. Simon trusted in money. Others will trust in a prayer. Some will trust in the fact that they walked an aisle. or they took a sacrament. You remember Philippians 3? Those, the false circumcision and what they boasted in their flesh. And Paul would say, if you have reason to boast, I've got a whole lot more I could boast in than you. Remember that? That's some people. Others, however, trust in Jesus Christ. Their heart is his. And because their heart belongs to the Lord, they pray. The prayer is a result of new life. They walk an aisle as a result of meeting with Jesus Christ. Christ has saved them. And they get up and they walk that aisle. As a result of Jesus Christ, others will be baptized and say, I want to be identified with Jesus Christ. Simon was the former. Peter, as an apostle, comes. to a certain conclusion regarding Simon, saying, you have no part or portion in this matter. That is, Simon has no partnership, no ownership in this matter. The work of preaching and teaching the gospel, Simon, you have no part of it, because you have no genuine faith in the Lord. You have no genuine faith. No part or portion are words that are considered an idiom, an expression. and were well known to the Levites because they had no share or inheritance in the real estate of Israel. So it'd be like telling a Levite, you don't have a piece of property, right? You belong to the Lord, and your work is the temple. Peter's saying, you're like the Levites. You don't have a part of this action. You don't have a part of this ministry because you don't know the Lord. You can't have part in what is going on because your heart is not right before God, says Peter. And Peter addresses the heart of the matter, and it is Simon's heart. The heart, you'll notice that it comes up several times in this passage. The heart here should be understood as being the center and seat of spiritual life, the soul or mind, as it is the foundation and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors. It's the inner man, his will, and his character. Simon's heart was not right. It was not straightforward. It was not upright, true, or sincere. It is believed here that Peter is quoting from Psalm 78, verse 37. For their heart was not steadfast toward him, nor were they faithful in his covenant. The psalmist in Psalm 78, Asaph, pointing out that Israel was unfaithful towards the Lord. They deceived him with their mouths, lied to him with their tongues. They were not true in their assertions, their statements, and how they presented themselves. Simon's heart was not right before God. My friends, he professed faith. He was baptized. He acted the part of a Christian. But he was not seeking the Lord for the Lord, for forgiveness or deliverance. He was seeking the Lord for what he could get to indulge his flesh. There are pretty girls in that church. There is money to be made off those people. There are business contacts. Whatever it was, whatever it is, Simon was trying to use these things of God for his dreams and desires and his own aspirations. Peter made a certain conclusion. We have to be careful of trying to make certain conclusions ourselves of other people. Remember, Peter was an apostle. We're not. Right. What do we look for then in someone to challenge them. We say you know a tree by its fruit. You find out are the things of the Lord important to you. What does Peter say examine yourself to see if these things be so right. We look for evidence in a person that they're they're Their profession of faith is genuine, and you see it because they love the things of the Lord, not perfectly, not 100% consistently, but you see the general tenor of their life is to pursue Christ and to rejoice in Christ, not for what they're going to get out of Christ, money or dreams, but because Christ himself is enough. Peter could speak with absolute certainty concerning Simon. And this warning is given to him. You're not right. Your heart is not right. Therefore, you don't have a genuine faith. And therefore, you have no part or portion of this ministry. What are you doing? You need to be challenged on this very point. It is, friends, the mercy of God that warns a man of his spiritual destitute ways before it is too late, because after you die, it is too late. You see here, so it's the grace of God that Simon is even being warned at this point. Because after death, there are no second chances given to any man. There is no purgatory, and there is no reincarnation. What should you do? What should Simon do? And what should you do if this is you? Perhaps you've come to the church. Perhaps you've come to Christ. perhaps you've identified with Christ because your life was falling apart and you said, you know, I think I need some religion. And there's a religious group up on the hill and I'll come up to them, right? And so you come and then you find out I'm coming to this group and I'm coming to Christ for all the wrong reasons. I've been coming to God to see if he would bless me and my endeavors and my business. Why we're looking to start off things right, and so we're gonna give ourselves a shot of Jesus. Maybe that's you. And if it is, I would say to you, repent. Repent and cry out to the Lord. That's what we see in verses 22 and 23. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. Simon isn't a believer. Peter recognizes that Simon's heart is full of the gall of bitterness, and he is bound up yet in iniquity. He has not yet been delivered from his sin. The gall of bitterness means it's an intense bitterness. It is the poison of bitterness. So reading, and I'm reading now from the NIV, from Deuteronomy chapter 29, with this word is linked to this. And it's a nice translation, and it makes it pretty plain. And I think you'll see what he's saying. In Deuteronomy 29, 16 through 19, he says, you yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations, then listen, make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. It was the idolatry. We've walked through, we've seen all these idols, and you're gonna be looking around and you're gonna go, ooh, I like that, I want that. He goes, make sure that nobody does this. Make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, I will be saved even though I persist in going my own way. Meaning I can take the oath of God upon me and I can go and worship these idols and I'll still be okay." And then he says, this will bring disaster on the watered and as well as the dry. My friends, clinging to the idols of the world on the part of so-called Christians brings trouble to the church. What did we say? Simon is an idolater. He loves his money, he loves himself, and he's professing to be a Christian and he's in the visible church And he brings this mindset into the church. A bitter root of poison comes up in the church. And many people will say, well, if he can do it, I can do it. What's the problem with idolizing money? What's the problem with looking at it as an opportunity for authority and promotion in the community? Well, these are all great things. Be careful. because that's the kind of thing that wells up in the church, and it makes the church and her witness ineffective for the gospel of Christ, because it's another gospel, which is not a gospel at all. Clinging to the idols of the world and the part of so-called Christians brings trouble to the church. The writer of Hebrew says, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it, many be defiled. Simon idolized power, prestige, and money, and yet remained unconverted and in the bondage of iniquity. What must he do? He must repent of this wickedness of his. He must repent of what he wanted and idolized. They were wicked. To repent means to change one's mind for the better heartily to amend with abhorrence one's past sins. Simon must change his mind, his thinking, his attitude, and affections, the way he looks at and feels about all that he has prized, the power, the prestige, and the money. He must now turn from these things. My friends, you can't have this. You can't have this world and have Jesus Christ. You can't. It's one or the other. Either you will love him or you will hate him, but you cannot love both the world. It's like having a wife and a mistress. You can't do it. You have a wife, and you embrace her, and you cling to her. You're a Christian, you cling to Christ, and you let the rest go. Remember, we read last week in Matthew 13, the parables of the kingdom, where he sells everything else. just so he could acquire this treasure or that pearl of great price. Christ, Christ is enough. Christ is what we need. He must repent and he must pray. The Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. If possible, when Peter says this, he's not saying whether God can or will forgive sin, but whether Simon can or will repent. Will you repent of these things? That's the question. Pray that your wicked heart be forgiven. Peter is urging Simon to repent and to truly believe. There is no discussion concerning election, no prying into the secret decrees of the Lord. Peter is merely a faithful servant striving to lead a sinner to the Savior. It was not too late for Simon. And then we have Simon's response. But Simon answered and said, pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me. My friends, this is the last we read of Simon in the whole book of Acts. Did he repent? Did he believe? History is divided on this question. Some say yes, and others say he didn't. In fact, John Calvin thinks he did repent. But there were many early church fathers who have assigned Simon to being an arch heretic of the church, and even one of the founders of Gnosticism. And so there's strong debate on this point. We ultimately don't know about Simon, and frankly, It's not for us to know because it's the scriptures are silent on this point. We know at this point to this point, Simon was not truly converted, even though he gave that impression. It's not for us to know about him. So let me ask about you. Are you converted? Have you come to Jesus Christ as your Savior and are you resting in him? And is Jesus Christ enough? I see you nod your head. That's a wonderful thing. Right. That's a wonderful thing to trust Jesus. No better friend will you ever have than Jesus. Right. But many people won't come to church or come to the Lord because of the Lord. They come for many other reasons. The question is not whether or not Simon. What happened to Simon. The question is what will happen to you. Where are you resting. Where are you standing today. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, again, we thank you for this night, and thank you for this word and this warning, and pray, oh Lord, that we would take the lesson that is to be learned from Simon. We thank you, Father, for your church, and we thank you, Lord, that we have examples given to us in scripture of those threats that threaten your church, of those things that threaten to undermine the gospel or to make its preaching or its witness ineffective. We know, Father, and we lament the fact that in your church throughout this nation, that there is much compromise on this point. There are many who have sold Jesus as a commodity. When they've gotten rich, some won't taste death until they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds. We ask, O Lord, that you would please reform your church and revive her. And Father, maybe you're doing that now through the times in which we're living in the upheaval we see. We pray, O Lord, that this would be the case, that you would revive your church, and that one day your halls would be filled as people sing your praises and as they wait to hear the word of the Lord. Revive our hearts now, we ask, O Father. We do ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.