involve redemption the doctrines of redemption and we dwelt with the effectual call of the believer and regeneration and then we dwelt on the doctrine of faith and then we studied the doctrine of faith which is a gift of God the result of regenerating grace we saw that there is a true faith But there is also a faith that does not save. And this morning in the Bible lesson, we have an instance in Scripture of the faith that does not save. And we should examine our own souls to be sure that our faith is real, that it is genuine. So we begin in verse five of Acts chapter eight. Then Peter went on to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city, but... There was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God, and to him they had regard, because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, They sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whom I lay my hands he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said unto him, Thine money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right with God. Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, return to Jerusalem and preach the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. Now may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Now may the Lord speak to our hearts. Let's pray together. Our Father, in the name of thy dear Son, we bow before you. And we recognize that this is a solemn portion of your word. Your word has been given by divine inspiration. It is authoritative and it is able to convict and convert. And we pray that the words of our mouth that are multiplied upon this sacred text may be such that they will be precious in thy sight and will be used of thee to strengthen thy people. and to convict sinners. We come to you because you're the author of eternal salvation. And we ask these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. When our Lord was about to go back to the glory, he said in Acts chapter one and verse eight, ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Judea in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And we find that there are three circles of the movement of God in the book of Acts. You have Jerusalem and Judea, and we find Peter is God's spokesman in that area. And then there is Samaria, and that's what we have this morning in our lesson. And we find that God is using Philip in Samaria. And then finally, we find to the uttermost part of the earth, and his spokesman is that man, Saul of Tarsus, who becomes the Apostle Paul. Now the movement that is here before us in Acts chapter eight is the result of the persecution of the church. The result is like a volcano spewing out lava, the lava of the gospel. For everywhere the Christians go, they preach Christ. And Philip, who was made a deacon back in chapter six of Acts, now is the man that God uses in a mighty way in Acts chapter eight. Now, in Acts chapter eight, We find that God is saving a people whom the Jews did not like. For the Scriptures tell us in John chapter four, when our Lord speaks to the woman at Jacob's well, you remember, the woman said, The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritan. How is it that you, being a Jew, ask us to drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria. For the Jews have no dealings with us. But here we find... that the gospel levels these class distinctions and graciously moves in the salvation of a despised and a rejected people. But in the midst of this, we have a lesson in a man by the name of Simon, Simon the Sorcerer. And the lesson of Simon is a lesson of great importance to us. For we should be asking our own souls the question, is my faith, a genuine faith. Here's a man who it says believed, and he was baptized, but it's quite evident from the text of Scripture, he was never born of God. He was lost. Now, this we find is same truth in other portions of the Word of God. In John chapter two, when our Lord performed his first miracle at Cana of Galilee, there was great excitement among the people. and we read in chapter two verses twenty four and twenty five that Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men and he needed not but then he should testify a man for he knew what was in man and we may have a belief and a life and an acceptance that he's all right with our parents it is all right with our neighbors it is all right with a husband and wife But is it right with God? For it is with God that I must eventually give an account. And if I find in that day that my faith is not the genuine thing, if I only have a knowledge of Christ, an intellectual knowledge of him, without a true submission to his lordship, And I find that I'm not his. I should ask myself the question today. Is my faith? What changes have been wrought in me because of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ? What changes have been wrought in me? I'll never forget what a lady told me who has a great voice for singing. And she was singing in the choir. in the church that she attended. And they have quite a good choir. They have a director of music and you can go down the list of the things that they have. They have a great pipe organ in this church. And she said, we were singing the great cantata by Du Bois, the seven last words. And she said, when we got to that place in the song, where the choir sings, he is death worthy. Take him. Let us crucify him. She said, I couldn't sing it. She said, I stood there silent with tears running down my face while everybody else sang. Said, I couldn't sing. He is death worthy. Because I'm the one that was death worthy. He didn't deserve to be crucified. I'm the one who deserved to be lost. And she said, I'd never sing that. You see, friends, this is the difference that genuine faith makes in the life of an individual. The Holy Spirit makes real to the child of God that genuine conviction of the value of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is he valuable to your soul? Are you careful what you say about him even in song? Now the sermon of Simon the Sorcerer stands as a great warning to all of us. And we want to examine a few things about it. First of all, we need to examine the preaching of Philip. The reason for the scattering of the saints in Jerusalem and Judea area was the persecution of the church. And here we see the Spirit of God working through circumstances. When we read that verse, Romans eight, twenty-eight, we do know that all things do work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Here is a good example of this, the Spirit of God working through circumstances. God took the circumstances of the persecution of the church, and he used it to the blessing of the Samaritans. In other words, maybe the Jewish people were a lot like us. Even the Jewish Christians, maybe they wouldn't have gone to Samaria otherwise. And God had to persecute them in order to get them to be willing to go. Do your neighbors know where you stand in relation to Jesus Christ? Have you talked to your neighbors? You see, this is what Christianity is all about. That's an interesting thing. Acts chapter six, the church makes Philip a deacon, but our blessed Lord made him an evangelist. And you know, that's really what it says about deacons in First Timothy chapter three, doesn't it? It says they that have used the office of a deacon well, purchased to themselves a great degree and much boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And here's a man who used the office of a deacon well. And God made him an evangelist. Now there's a great contrast between Philip, the preaching of Philip, and the preaching of Simon. A great contrast. Did you notice Philip preached Christ? He preached Christ to the Samaritan. That's the theme of our message. Oh, let me hear about the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. No one. who is a child of God can ever be disappointed with a person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ but on the other hand Simon preached himself what a difference what a difference I'll never forget a number of years ago when I was at Ireland Street Chapel we had a Saturday night covered dish special you know covered dish social and There's a fellow came in, one of the people's children, and he looked like a hippie. He was living in rebellion to his parents and everything, and everybody ran up and threw their arms around the guy. I'll never forget what old Brother Smith said to me. He said to me, he says, the scripture says, we preach not ourselves. but Christ Jesus the Lord. That's how I was preaching himself. How true. How true. And it's something to keep before you. Philip preached Christ. Simon preached himself. The second thing you'll notice in contrast, Philip evangelized with the gospel. Simon evangelized, but he evangelized with magic tricks. For we notice the end of chapter eleven, he bewitched them with sorceries. Now Simon has a real problem. And we must keep in mind that in times of spiritual unrest, it becomes popular to traffic with sorcery, fortune-telling, and the occult. and you and I are living in a time of spiritual unrest in the world and the occult is with us. Sorcery is prevalent. Fortune telling is a prevalent thing. They even advertise on TV. In fact, there's one area of the occult that have an eight hundred number. In other words, they'll even pay for the call. and the person who is foolish enough to get involved with the things of the devil, they can get it for free. In times of spiritual unrest, this takes place. Sorcery is power that is received from the aid of trafficking with evil spirits. It is condemned in the Word of God. Simon, however, when Philip comes preaching Christ, he is impressed with the things that are being done. The thing about it is this. The people believe the things which Philip spake, and there was great joy in the city. So we read in verse eight, and wherever the gospel is believed and received, there is great joy. is the portion of the people of God. Did you ever meet a Christian who's always, they don't have joy, they look as though they were a cheerleader for an accident? You've seen that. There are Christians like that. No joy. Our Lord said, these things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. I remember that Scottish evangelist from Philadelphia who was driving in a car with another believer and they turned the corner and they waved and Jimmy said to him, did you see that other man? Yes. Do you know him? Oh yes, he's a great Christian, you know. And he said, yeah, he said, did you ever see him smile? Aren't Christians the apple of God's eye? Paul said, yes. Well, he said, that's one of his crab apples. You know, you can find them. They're around. They're always sour. It's wrong to laugh, you know. I like what our brother from California, who's now with the Lord, J. Vernon McGee. He said, every time that I'd tell a little story that people would laugh, this one woman in his congregation would come up and shake her bony finger at him. So he said, You see, there was great joy in the city. When Christ comes in, there's joy. And I am not happy with a gospel that does not bring joy to the people of God. For the joy of the Lord is the strength of the people of God. So said Nehemiah, and it is so today. Now, Simon believed because he saw miracles. That's why Simon believed. The people believed because they heard Philip preach. But there's a big difference in the belief of these. Simon had fooled the people with false miracles. And now he had seen the real thing. What a difference that must have made. Now Philip was confused with Simon's going along with Christianity. Philip was misread and he baptized Simon. Now here's a man of whom it is written, he believed, and he was baptized. But you see, the news of what's going on in Samaria reached the ears of the people back in Jerusalem. And the apostles back there said, we ought to send someone up to investigate. And Peter and John went to Samaria. And, of course, they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for as not, yet had the Holy Spirit been given to them. In other words, what God was going to do was unite them and teach us a lesson that is so important, that believers, no matter where they are, are united to one body. There's only one church. There's not two. There's only one head of the church. Our Lord Jesus Christ. And this church that we're talking about, you can't join. It's not one you join. It's one to which you are joined when you believe to the saving of the soul. We only have one church. Not two. Only one. And a man, if he's a Pentecostal, and he's truly saved, he's part of that church. And a person, if they're a Methodist, and they're truly born of God, they're part of that church. And a man, if he's a Roman Catholic, and he's born of God, he's part of that church. And we need to keep that in mind. And if he's part of that church, he is linked to the head of the church. The Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have two churches. We have but one. And if this truth ever gets into our souls concerning the unity of the body of Christ and concerning the oneness of the body of Christ, it will do something to us in the preaching of the gospel. It will revolutionize us. in our attitudes toward others. And you see, the church at Jerusalem needed to have their ideas illuminated. And God just withheld the giving of the Holy Spirit. And the miraculous gift, signed gifts that attended the ministry of the Word in those days. The Word of God, the New Testament was not yet written. And therefore, God authenticated... the messenger with miracles. It's that simple. But what God did was He sent for Peter and John at Jerusalem to come over. In other words, as He gave the Holy Spirit to them on the day of Pentecost, uniting them into one body, He bridges the gap and now He includes the despised believers in Samaria. a beautiful picture here of the oneness and the unity of the body of Christ the bridge spans the gap between the Samaritans and the Jewish believers Ephesians chapter two tells us that we who once were far off and they who once were near are both made near, brought near by the blood of the cross. But Simon, he's outside the whole thing. Simon's on the outside. He saw what took place, but he couldn't buy into it, he tried. See, God doesn't make any mistakes. I like what H.P. Barker says concerning the two parables which are very similar. The parable of the servant and the parable of the servants. In the parable of the servant, the servant goes out into the byways and he brings in the halt the lame and the blind. But the house of the Lord is full. That's your having Luke. In Matthew, we have the servants going out and bringing them in. But there's a man there without a wedding garment. You see, the servants, gospel preachers like myself or like Philip, another Philip, they make mistakes. But the servant, the Spirit of God, makes no mistakes. He doesn't make any mistakes. There's no one in that parable of the servant without a wedding garment. They all have one. Because when he does a work, it's a genuine work. And it's a work. that lasts. So when Simon tries to buy into this, it shows that his attitude is totally wrong. And the strongest language that you can find in the New Testament is what Peter has to say to Simon. If you happen to have a Phillips translation of this passage, you read how Phillips translates what Peter says to Simon. A literal translation is, you may go to perdition with your money. And that's where money will take you. Why? And Peter tells him your heart is not right. And then he gives him a message. The commandment that always comes from God. Repent. Repent. God has appointed a day. He commands all men to repent, for he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness for that man that he has ordained. And he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. And the message of repent, you see, in the book of Acts is always in relation to the ungodly. Keep that in mind. Study the words, repent. where it is used in the Acts, and you'll find it has relation to the ungodly. But Simon did not repent. What? He wanted the apostles to do it. He said, you pray for me. He wanted the apostles to do it. You see, he only wanted to escape the consequences of his sin. He didn't really want the Savior. Philip preached Christ. He wanted to be some big shot and keep the people under his control. The difference between Simon and Philip is so important. Now there's a conclusion to it all. It's possible to be so near and yet so far away. Simon heard Philip preach. Simon saw the miracles. Simon saw the evidence of a risen Lord, the Holy Spirit come down from heaven, who indwelt the believers. He saw all this. He was so near and yet so far away. Almost persuaded harvest his past. Almost persuaded, doom comes at last. Almost will not avail. Almost is but to fail. Sad, sad, that bitter wail. Almost, but lost. It is possible to be so near and yet so far away. The second great lesson is this, Simon's failure. was that of the heart. This stands as a warning, friends, this passage to all who trust in anything but the person of Christ. This is a very subtle thing in the of Satan today. There are things that appear so good But in the end, they're pernicious. And anyone who trusts in anything, there are those today who think, well, it won't hurt. It may help. No, it is not going to help. It is going to hurt. A person who thinks that their lodge can do something for them. And I met people like that. I'll never forget the man who was seriously ill in the hospital. And I've preached Christ to that man, but I want to tell you, even though he went to a Bible-believing church in this city, I could mention the name, but I'm not going to. But he had more confidence in what that emblem on his finger stood for, the ring he was wearing. than he had in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. So near and yet so far away. And this stands as a warning, friends, to any who trust in anything else. But the person of Christ, what's wrong with Simon? This is the third thing. Simon stood on mental. ground. The teaching was true, but he failed to see his own need. Genuine saving faith, friends, as we noticed when we studied the doctrine of faith, it consists of three things, knowledge, conviction, and commitment. Three things that make up saving faith. Let me illustrate it. The fourteenth chapter of Matthew You have a great chapter. Our Lord goes to the mountain to pray. The disciples get on a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. There's a great storm. In the fourth watch of the night, they're rowing and in the midst of the storm, our Lord sees them and he goes toward the boat. And you know the story. Peter said, they said, it's the Lord. And Peter said, Lord, if it's you, bid me to come to you on the water. The Lord said, come. Oh, what a blessing. Come. Now Peter had knowledge. It's the Lord. But where are his feet? His feet are still in the boat. When we come to this matter of commitment, It means getting out of the boat and going only to the person of Christ. Peter had his problems getting to Christ, you remember. He took his eyes off Christ and you know what I believe happened? I believe there's many other disciples back in the boat. Look out, Peter. There comes a wave. You're going to sink, Peter. You know, people have all sorts of excuses. And you take your eyes off the person of Christ. But Peter cried. You know, Peter didn't have time to say prayers. But he did have time to pray. And when you get to the place where you don't have time to say prayers. But you have time to pray. That's when the Lord hears. Peter cried out, Lord, save me. The Lord took him by the hand. And he'd put him into the boat. My friend, Simon was so close, all he had was knowledge, but there was no commitment. Peter had to get his feet out of the boat and go to Christ. Now the Lord gave him the ability to do it, but that's what we talk, mean by commitment. It is God who gives the faith. And so the natural cry should be, really the spiritual cry of the man should be, the woman should be, the boy or the girl. Lord, give me the faith to genuinely come to you and to trust you and to be saved by you. And you see, the next part of Acts chapter eight deals with a faith that does save. We didn't have time to go into it today. Let me ask you a question. How near are you? Are you with the Lord in genuine salvation? Or are you like Simon? You stand on mental ground. You've learned all these things. You've learned your memory verses. But have you committed yourself to Jesus Christ? Where are your feet? The Lord is saying, come to me, where are your feet? Are they in the boat or are they on the water where you know that it is he who upholds you by his right hand? Now let's pray together. Our Father, we commend to you this word. We ask you to take it and bless it through every heart. that we may hear your voice and that we may hear that gentle invitation come unto me and in coming that rest to our souls is found deliver us our father we pray from a faith that does not save from only having a mental ability to know certain things about Christ but not have genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Give us true conviction, genuine conversion, and a life that shows it for Jesus' sake. Now we commend this