Power Money Can't Buy

Welcome to Verse by Verse. Thank you so much for joining us as we take a look at the book of Acts. We take things nice and slowly as we look and see what God is doing in the big picture of expanding the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea and to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. My name is David Humphrey and I'm the pastoral care and missions pastor here at United City Church in Humboldt, Texas. We're excited to be your church family while you're incarcerated, but we're going to be even more excited when you get out and you can come and be a part of our church in person. We love you very much. Please grab your Bible and a journal, perhaps a pen, and be ready to take some notes and let's learn together through the book of Acts. I'm really excited to introduce you to our guest teacher today. Her name is Denise Cook. She's actually a member of the group and she loves God and his word and is excited to share this powerful story with you. So glad that you joined us and so let's just dig in together. This is verse by verse and I want to thank David for teaching us and I can see the one who started this, right? Verse by verse. And isn't he just a wonderful teacher? He is on fire for the Lord. He is on fire for the Lord and he just has that gift of just sharing the Bible with truth and grace and joy and so we thank David. He always encourages us to read our Bible with imagination. I love that. And when you put that with digging for the truth, it's just unbeatable because when you're studying the Bible that way, you get into the words more often. And so I'm glad he teaches us that way. And if you've ever visited the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Have any of you visited the Museum of the Bible? If you have a chance to go, go. And it has a wonderful exhibit. But this one exhibit that just strikes me is I don't, I can't remember what it's called. It's called a journey or something. But basically what it gives you walks through a title of the chronology of the Bible beginning from Genesis to Revelation. And you go in this room, you're seated at first and it begins a creation, right? And they give a little narrative and the room darkens and then all of a sudden this bright light comes on and you see images on the

wall and around the room of this beautiful garden being formed. And then you get up, you leave the room, and you walk out the room going through the tunnel and you're seeing scenes and lighting and projections and short separates of things with the story of creation, the flood, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Egypt, and Moses, and the burning Jewish, the opening of a Red Sea. You're walking through a sea of water on both sides and you're watching Israel and obedience and disobedience, the laws of Jericho before that even. And then the birth of Jesus to redeem a sinful world and we see the resurrection and the formation of the church which is where we are now in our Bible study. And the return of Jesus to take us home to be with him and shows the creation, covenant, redemption, and restoration from one continuous narrative. And we took our whole family, and my husband's back here, Danny, we took our whole family several years ago and my daughter-in-law, Desiree, this is all it brings tears to my eyes, was with us of course. And she had not been churched at all. We got to the end of the tunnel and she said, now I understand the Bible. It was just a beautiful thing. And in fact she and I ended up going back to the Museum of the Bible a couple years later and we just enjoyed it again. Went through that tunnel. So it was just an amazing thing to see. Did you know that all of its fit into the story? Our books are being written about us. So what you're about to read about that in Revelation, what in the last verses of the Bible. But there is, you know, all of our thoughts and deeds and everything. We think, oh my goodness, everything that I think and do. But there's another book and it's called what? The Lamb's Book of Life. And that's the book we want our names in, we believe in Jesus. Because when we're in that book, these other books about us don't matter. They're not going to be open. And so, so we're in the story too. And between Genesis and Revelation, we will walk through a world of darkness. Because Satan came in and tempted Eve, right? And there's animosity and hatred between her seed and Satan's seed. And throughout the whole story of the Bible, and even now, Satan is working to crush the message of Jesus and we saw that at work throughout the entire Bible and he was even trying to kill

baby Moses and then Jesus and many other things that were happening in the dark versus evil. And so speaking of the supernatural because we have supernatural dark powers and then the light which is God. Now I want you to take out your phones or calculators or pixel paper something something in in your mind that you can think about numbers if you're good at numbers you don't need a calculator. I want you to think about this and there is a verse in the Bible that says when Jesus is in the garden and he's being arrested by Roman soldiers he begins this verse these words, do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels? Have you ever thought about how many angels that would be and or how and how many people that would slay and we have a bunch of that and so in 1735 I'm not going to give you the whole story but basically one angel slew 185,000 people that day the enemies and so if you take one legion of angels which is equals about 6,000 okay and one angel could destroy 185,000 in one night he did that 6,000 times 185,000 could destroy how many? 1,110,000 times 12 legions that would be 72 angels times 185,000 and you're going to get over 13 billion that first one was billion one billion you're going to come up with 13 billion that he could have slain that night and so we we kind of look at that thing oh yeah okay he said did you not know not know that I could call 12,000 12 legions of angels and uh we said well okay 12 legions we don't think past that but when you put it into bits and pieces and details you come up with wow what's that's crazy and so um and here at united city we have what is called at the movies in november I love that it's a new thing and I think we're going to do it again this year and it's a movie popcorn and a soda and pastor Chris offers a brief narrative about how we can think about how God works in in our lives during the movies I remember seeing it groundhog day and I thought man that has theological implications and it's like gee if I had this day to do over again I could do it this way martin g what if I had to live this day over and over and over again some um you would think about theology and so many different things and here uh in front of me is my um brain science my talking skate I brought the one that smelled the same thing so you didn't have to know that right oh my god um he learned to skate at a very young age and he um was on a couple ice hockey teams from ages six to eleven we used Danny and I used to walk we'd go watch him play and it's just amazing uh what those little ones can do I skate so fast but if you look at the skate um you take the blade and he's first of all let me tell you

that you know that there are um at least six on three in Houston area and they all have different on whether or more references and there are um and they all have different eyes my grandson can tell you which race have the best eyes wow some of them might have water bubbles in the middle that kind of thing but he always wants a fond foundation of eyes to state what he's playing how old is he now he's 16 now yes thank you and uh we need a good foundation uh in our christianity and when we're studying the bible and that's the word of god and that's founded on jesus christ and so a good foundation is a must and he said Nancy I can uh play better and make sharper turns and just feels better when my blades are sharpened and we want to be sharp in in the bible study and the the blades need to be sharpened uh quite often after a couple of games it wants to sharpen again and um and the way they fit up an ice hockey skate on a player is you put them you purchase your size put them on and they will do a process of heating to mold them to your foot and we're going to talk about finding the sorcerer tonight and uh we all have a different salvation experience or a choice to make uh for Salvation and we're going to have a little bit of a debate about that, but but we're going to talk about that and one of the neat things about iCocky is when They win they raise their sticks and they're just It's so fun to see all players just raise their sticks in victory and celebration We will have that time at the end where Jesus comes for us, right? and uh, so it's just a wonderful thing another thing is uh in uh, the iCocky playoffs are On tv right now dan and i'll watch those. We like to uh, watch those And all the iCocky players suited out will play in that game We all have a chance to come to know the lord and so, uh So catch an iCocky game dan just to kind of uh, If you haven't they're just fun to watch and um so

we just need to stay sharp in the word and uh, so um We have about 30 minutes tonight to make it a little longer to uh get into our study, which is acts 8 9 through 20 query And we're going to resolve a family feud Move the temple and try to save simon the sorcerer That's all we're going to probably have a debate First of all though Uh, let's review some things acts 8 1 to 8, which david taught last week. Uh, philip has gone to samaria. Why is philip in samaria right now? To spread the news to spread the news what dog down there It gathered Scattered. Yes. They were quite comfortable in jerusalem People were being saying they were having their cup of coffee with people They were being able to chat and share meals and and share other things and they were just happy. It was good they loved jerusalem and they didn't really want to go but uh In our outline we have to uh our apps. Um one to It's anyway, it's uh, you will be my witnesses where and the jerusalem judea and samaria and to the ends of the world and acts 1a and so that's what has happened here and That's where we find Um Let's go back to some uh, old testament history because we need that history to talk about The family feud here the feud between the jews and samaritans. How did that begin? You remember? Had king david and then came solomon and after that monarchy it broke into rabbi and jeroboam Uh jeroboam went to the north kingdom rabbi went to the south kingdom and that's where we had to split the hysterians uh captured The northern kingdom in what 722 bc and the babylonians captured and the southern kingdom in 586 bc

and while uh, the um northern kingdom is where they are in samaria, well, uh samaria uh or that region They the uh, when the assyrians would capture another Country they would send the captives into the area where those samaritans were now Let me back up some of the samaritans Not all the samaritans were there assyria took many of them off with them He they left the farmers Uh, no more samaritan with that. I don't think no, but that there were jews at the time. I'm, sorry They're jews at the time and those north those jews in the northern kingdom. They're still there the farmers They left the farmers. So where others came in they intermarry and the offspring that's where we get the word samaritans, okay, and the jews and the gentiles hated each other basically because when the babylonians uh let When the the jews came back out of babylonia uh Back to jerusalem. They were going to rebuild their temple Well, uh, the the samaritans wanted to help and nehemiah said no you're not going to do that And so there was a fight an argument Uh hatred that built animosity that built a mind on and so they said fine We'll build our own temple. They built their temple at garrick. There is some And then by in the southern king that the uh, the temple of jerusalem was there Okay, so there's always this animosity between those and the two temples. Um You'll remember that there were the two mounts mount evol and mount garrison And they chose mount barisi because that was a mount of blessing, right? You were what mount feeble was the mount of cursing and so wouldn't you choose a blessing over cursing? So so that's a little bit of history about that. I went through that really fast any questions about that So the jews at the time Uh that the uh apostles are going in

um here in ans 8 The Jews and Samaritans have not liked each other, okay, so, but something happened even before Philip goes into Samaria in Acts 8. Who was there? You were in John 4, who was in Samaria there? Jesus was. That's where Jesus met the woman at the well, yes, and so the gospel has spread there at least one time, right, because she received the words and then she went into Samaria and told everyone and so during that time they had already heard, okay, and so Philip's in Samaria and he's thinking, okay, I'm going to Samaria too. You know, the irony of all of this is, yeah, there's this debate between the Samaritans and the Jews, the best temple, our temple this and your temple that, but there's there's not a need for a temple, right, because God has redeemed the body of the temple of the Holy Spirit and at this time it's over there, the temple in Jerusalem is still there but the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed then, won a lot of big state, just a little bit of history there, and when we get to Revelation 21 tells us there will be no need for a temple because what? The Lord God already and the Lamb are its temple. Okay, what should we know about Simon? Let's get into our scripture verses 9 through 11, okay. Albert, can you break that please? Sure. But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest, saying this man is the power of God that is all great. And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. Okay, what do we what we know about Simon now? He practices the occult, I mean magic. Can you can you name some of the things he might be doing for the people to be so amazed for how long? A long time, right? Okay, and what would he have been doing? Let's see, he was a little bit black, a lot of black magic and sorcery. This is a common practice in the Roman Empire, and they would go around the Roman Empire just praying on the people and sometimes their their genuine supernatural demonic events. Remember, Satan has supernatural powers too. They're not as great as God, but but they are there, and so he's he's going through in the occult with this, and he's

defined as greatness, and he defends this kind of greatness. Today the people give it to him even. And so he prays on the people. Early Christian historians describe Simon Magnus as the father of Gnosticism. That might be where you get what you're going to follow, but a father of what? Gnosticism. And what is Gnosticism? It's a belief that denies God, and anything material is evil. For instance, they didn't believe in Jesus because he became what? Flesh. And so that that's got to be evil, right? Everything is spiritual, and we have that influence here today. Can you name some areas where we might have that influence? Actually, I don't think Gnosticism began when Simon Magnus. It began what? In a Kennebunk religion way in early Genesis. So, but but I'm an idiot. Yeah. Yes, yes. There are some dark areas that are very occulted. Yes, and I'm sure David may have seen some of that on his trip even. So yes, so so that's what Simon was doing. And so let's go to Acts 8, 12, and 13. And Paul, I'm just going to let you be my readers. You know, we've got that loud voice, so. Yes, please. Thank you. But when they believed, though, because he preached the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracle perform, he was amazed. Right, okay. Even Simon. Notice in those first verses when we get to 9, but Simon, okay, got all these wonderful things going on, but Simon, okay, what that finger reading, but, that's the reason, but Paul, why do you that meaning, but what about Paul? And so even Simon believed, and the Samaritans are believing, and what sign is do you think they saw from God when they believed? Go back to Acts 7. What does Acts 7 say? Unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many. And when we read Mark 5, Jesus drove out one legion of demons out of one man. How many demons would that have been? Six thou? At least. And they say anywhere from 4,500 to 6,000. We're going to say 6,000. Does Simon believe if he's saved? Now, the nature of Simon's faith has been widely debated among the elders. And ultimately the answer is what? Do we know? Nope. No, we don't. Only God knows. You're right. That's right. Only God knows. And let me just say right

here, there are numerous commentaries that debate Simon's salvation. Again, only God knows the heart. But verse 13 says, even Simon himself believed and was baptized. And we'll visit this a little bit later. Yes, we will. Okay. But there's great incitement in Samaria at this time. And Jesus had some of those seats much earlier, hadn't he? Um, in, um, we talked about in, in, um, John 4. Jesus' prior ministry in the region prepared the ground for the court. And Jesus told the Samaritan woman, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain, not Jerusalem, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the father. But the hour is coming when you will worship the father in spirit. And in truth. And so he was preparing her for that. And with the coming of Christ separation between Jew and Gentile, that's no longer relevant. Nor was the centrality of the temple in worship. Now we all have equal access to him. Keep in mind that, uh, the apostles are believers, right? And the temple is still in Jerusalem. And do you think they still do some of the ritual practices at that time that at their temple? They, they do. And, and, uh, it, in fact, in, at the end of Acts, I think, Acts chapter 21, or about to say Paul visiting the temple to do certain things. And I understand they even participated in the, the sacrifice that's being made at the temple, although they knew that the ultimate sacrifice had already been made. So they were still very much a part of the temple. And so, um, so the good news that Philip that's preaching is now we are one in Christ, one church, Jews and Samaritans, not, not, uh, Jewish church at, um, Jerusalem and not, not the, not the Samaritan church at, uh, Mount Gerizim, but one body, one church. And so, um, that's, this is a new concept that's coming on, right? And it had to happen here in Samaria between the Jews and the Samaritans before they can go out where in, in, uh, next week to the Ethiopian unit and to the outermost parts of the world and Judea. Okay. Um, let's see, let's read, uh, 14th and 19th now. And any comments or questions? I'll kind of go over this. The only thing I would say, and I meant to say this last week, to realize that Jesus basically led the woman who had more than one husband, uh, and she admitted that, but it was her testimony that drew the men out to see Jesus. So there was evangelism going on with a woman that had very little repute. And so when Philip comes there, he's basically got a foundation that Jesus helped lay through this woman. That's fine.

So, I mean, just think about, you know, we said, well, we're not good enough to, to share Christ. We are called to be his witness. And this woman did that. Yes. Probably wasn't the smoothest person that ever shared Christ, but she did. Yes. And so Philip actually got, how do I say it? There was a foundation laid by a woman who certainly was not, uh, someone that most of us would have looked at and said, yeah, she could be an evangelist. Yes, exactly. And those two questions that she asked Jesus when she was there, you're a Jew and you're asking me this and, and I'm a woman to, to, to, no, no. right and so and yet Jesus shared with her and she believed and she and you're right Dave she went out and testified to that. Thank you David. Anybody else? Now when the apostles of Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God they said to them Peter and John who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For he had not yet fallen on any of them but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the Apostles hands he offered them money saying give me this power also so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Before we get to Peter and John let's get down and and to verse 18 and talk about Simon for a minute. What does Simon want? The power. Right. He's pretty amazed at things himself right? He's amazed at what has happened with Philip. Philip seems to have more power than he does. He doesn't like that. He wants that power and he's willing to what? Pay for it. There's a word that comes out of this and it goes back to this verse I think it's called I think I've heard it called simony but I think the correct pronunciation is simony. Where you're buying sacrificial kind of things. You're basically paying for what it boils down to. Catholic Church. Okay okay I didn't know that but and that's where the word simony comes from. Correct. Good. So we got the big guys

coming in Peter and John. Why are they being sent? What's gonna happen? First of all we get under okay let me read it real quickly. Matthew 16 15 to 19. Do you remember this when Jesus and his disciples are at Caesarea Philippi? You ever go to Israel you're going to go to Caesarea Philippi and you're going to see where the worship of both gods happened when Jesus had this conversation. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied you are the Christ the Son of the living God and Jesus answered him blessed are you Simon Barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I tell you Peter on this rock and when Jesus said that he's probably pointing to himself on this rock Jesus is the rock right? I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. What does it mean to have the keys of the kingdom of heaven? What are these keys for? To open and get in. Right to lock and unlock doors exactly and so the specific doors Jesus has in mind are the doors to the kingdom of heaven right? And so Jesus is laying the foundation of the church which we find in Ephesians 2 20. The disciples will be the leaders of this new institution and Jesus is giving them the authority to open the doors to heaven and invite the world to enter in, invite everyone to enter in. John 3 16 you must be born at again. Let me interject something because you just hit on something that a lot of people are thought wrongly on and that is that when when Jesus was looking at Peter and said upon this rock I will build my church you rightly pointed out that he was talking about himself. I have heard it preached from the pulpit not here but but but time and time again that he was talking about Peter being the rock upon which he would build his church and it's often misunderstood because in Greek the word Peter means rock right? This is where the

Catholics came up with Peter being the first pontiff. Jesus was talking about himself. He wasn't going to build his church on a human. Think about the idea that Christ God himself was going to build his church on a simple fallen human being who is created is just beyond ridiculous. It is preached and taught very often. Thank you for bringing that up and pointing that out. Thank you, Ray. Thank you for your comment and attitude that I just love Bible study. And we just learn from each other. And it's just wonderful when we come together and just dig out those things. And so early in Jesus ministry, he spoke about the necessity of placing new wine into new wines. What happens if you place new wine into old wines? First, OK. And so he's introducing an emphasizer that new wine must be poured into fresh wines. This teaching signal that Jesus did not intend to reform the existing corrupt system of the Pharisees. Instead, he was introducing new truth and bringing about a radical transition. And this is what's happening here. When Philip and the other disciples, apostles are in Samaria, the temple doesn't matter. We are one then. And so we're building the church. And so this is a drastic way of thinking about the temple and the fathers of Christ, like we said, still practice the rituals in Jerusalem. And one commentator like this says that this new entity, the church formed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, should survive is an evidence of the grace of God. External forces sought to exterminate the church from the time of its inception.

Internal forces disrupted the unity of the body of believers and threatened its existence. It shows how difficult it was for believers to accept change. And yet you're here we are. Someone to read First Corinthians six, 19, whoever, but first Friday is six, 19. And. Well, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? It was in the National Guard and you are not your own. OK, thank you, Nathan. And I like that's a great translation there. I also like how the King James says, what? No, you know that your body in the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you and you have a bond, you're not your own. You are bought with the price. Therefore, therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit. And this is a new revelation for them. And so now the laying on the hands of Peter and John was necessary to publicly affirm what a couple of things. About. But. No. The lying on her hands, brought about the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Remember, they are even say they had the spirit involved. OK, but now when you're in power, the spirit comes up on you and it is manifested in certain ways. How might that manifestation be in this particular instance? Tongues, tongues. Yes. And it could have been manifested in other ways. And so Simon sees that the apostles see that and they're saying, hey, this is right. They are safe.

And so, again, the oneness of the church, the oneness of the body. And this again, this prevents the separation of this church in Jerusalem, the church and the church. Now we have denominations, right? But we're all whether we're Baptists or non-denominational or Methodists or Catholic. Even those who believe in Christ are one body, one church. OK. Any comments about that? Who needed assurance that the salvation was that the Americans did right? Who else? The Jews themselves. Yes. Yes. Peter and John needed that, didn't they? And they're going to need it again. And what? Ask Tim when we get to Carmelos. And so next year. I think. Yes. And the gesture of laying hands was unique to this moment of how it happened here. So the event in Samaria was divine, the order to foster unity and demonstrate that all believers, regardless of their background, were welcomed into the one church. Only redemption can bring about that kind of love and unity and understanding and remove that kind of racism and prejudice like me, because it was removed at that time. They were all in agreement that everyone would stay there except when we're in a conference on stuff. But and so let's get this on. How would you read versus 22? Let's read 2024.

OK. But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you." At 24, he said, "'For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity,' and Simon answered, "'Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.'" Okay. Well, that's ridiculous. That is, he's the only one that can change that, Simon himself, with his faith. Say that again now? I said, Simon is the only one that can pray for me. Yeah. I mean, that would help, but his heart has to change. Yes. I hold it for him, too. Yes. And so, okay, these are good. We're going to talk about these kinds of things. I'm going to give you some reasons that I read where he was saved and some reasons that he wasn't saved. Okay? Reasons Simon lacked genuine faith. Peter said, "'You have neither part nor lot in this matter.'" Peter said, "'May your silver perish quickly.'" Peter said, "'Your heart is not right before God.'" Peter said, "'Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours.'" And then, reasons he had genuine faith.

Look at verse 13. "'Even Simon himself believed.'" Even is—why would Luke put that in there, even Simon? And then the word, believed, okay? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And Luke writes that Simon believed, a filled, baptized son, and unsanctified thoughts are not uncommon among the unbelievers. We're going to talk about that, too. And when confronted, Simon appeared sorrowful and desirous to change, remorseful. You know, one of the verses that I have to pray more than I'd like to admit is 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we, as believers, screw up. We did. And you're looking at one, and it's one that I, you know, totally trust. God promises he'll not only forgive, but cleanse me from any unrighteousness. And it sounds like that Simon may have been that genuine of, you know, I know I just screwed up. You know, hopefully that, it was genuine. Yes, yes, we would want that. And so I'm glad you're there, David, and I'm glad you're there for us. So we have two different thoughts here, and we're going to talk more about that. So what does it mean to be a believer, a follower of Christ? And so let's read Luke 23, 39 to 49. And David, can you look that up real quickly? Yeah. Luke what? 23, 39 to 49. I'm not going to be as loud as Paul, but no one is.

33, 39, 23, 23, 39 to 49. But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. 39. 39. I think he said 20. Chapter 23, verse 39. All right. Thank you, Paul. You bet. But it's a long list. That's keeping him loud. It's fine. Getting down there. And one of the criminals, and I was actually going to bring it up a minute. Okay, good. One of the criminals who were hang-railed at him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. Thank you, David. So we have two responses of Jesus on the cross. And historians, we don't, this isn't in the Bible, but I'm going to go with this. Historians will tell us that, our tradition will tell us that the one on the right was, his name was, I'm going to say Dismas, and the one on the left was Gestas, I think. The one not saved, okay? And so, what did Bismarck recognize to be saved?

First of all, Jesus was the Savior, right? That life is temporal. The afterlife is real. That he needed a Savior, like he said. And that Jesus was the Son of God. And if you think of something else, just shout it out there. That Jesus Christ had the power to save him and take him to heaven. Could he be saved by his own words? No. No. But it was never too late, no matter what the sins. And this fit Bismarck, the thief on the right, they say. The one who was saved. Had he ever been to a lie-through? No. Did he go to Next Step? No. Was he baptized? No. Did he do any good works before he died? No, no, no. Sounds like it. And did he do anything ritually to be saved? No. I know when I was, I grew up in the church. And so, the thing was, we had to walk the aisle to be saved. And so, and I was very shy. Like, I was very shy. And so, I can walk up in front of everybody. And so, it took years for me to walk the aisle, so to speak.

Well, I was saved before that. I recognized it later. But the joy came when I walked the aisle. Because then they were saying, oh, you have to walk the aisle. I've already done that. You were a Baptist? I grew up Baptist. Go ahead. So, he hadn't done any good works. And, yeah, I thought about that. And I thought, but my goodness, how much doctrine have we learned from him making that decision at the last minute on the cross? We have built our doctrine of salvation and security of the believer and that you don't have to be baptized or you can't work for your salvation, all of those things, much of it on this one illustration. So, we've learned much from him. Let me ask you this question. Could Gestas have, he's the one on the left, could he have been saved? Could he have. Anyone else that knows his side could be out. Yes, exactly. I mean, can you imagine what he thought when it went dark from noon to 3 o'clock and he may have heard the bell tear. And you have to recognize the bell was, what, 60 feet high, 30 feet wide. It was that thick, as thick as your hand, inches they say. They say that horses tied on each end running opposite could not tear the bell. And it tore through a thousand farther. Yes, yes. And can you imagine the sound that that would have made if you could have heard it from the Holy Poly.

But all of this going on, the earthquaking and everything. So, I'd like to think maybe he got saved. I was going to say, we don't know. But it seems like all that being so obvious, this is really something serious going on here. He's still, as far as the Bible's concerned. You're right. He didn't accept. You're right. He did not. Yes, you're right. But can you imagine seeing all that and still not believing? Exactly. I know. And yet, there are people like that. For instance, Paula had to be blinded, right? Some people just have to be knocked in the head to believe or to do something. And then we read about Lydia. And at 16, she heard the sermon of the message of Paul, and she opened her heart to the Lord. She was just ready and willing. So, let's get back to Simon, I guess. Okay, Paul, give your view on Simon. You don't think he was saved. No, I don't. Any time I look at a somewhat, let's call it controversial Scripture Bible like this, and the controversy lies in this particular case, was he saved or not is the question. I'm trying to look at context of who the person was in this case, okay? And we know from the beginning of the passage that Simon was self-centered,

and he craved attention, and he loved the control that he had over the crowd for years and years because of the trickery that he had performed. They thought that he actually had the power or some power of God himself, okay? He was fasting in that, okay? He was a very prideful individual, and he sought approval of the crowd, control of the crowd, and power over the crowd, okay? That was his first and foremost, when I gather, that was his first and foremost motivation for doing what he did. He also probably became rich because later in the passage we read he had money to offer, okay? Back then there weren't a lot of people that had money that they could buy things with. Yes, he did very much so. So he's watching what happens as the people are hearing the sermon preached and they're coming to Christ and he very well may have become caught up in the moment, okay, and he may have made verbally and mentally a perfection of faith, okay, but I don't believe he made it with his heart because of the actions and the word that he does or speaks later in the passage, okay. He's watching the Holy Spirit manifest itself through the laying on of hands of the apostle, okay, and you see whatever most commentators think at least were a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but he's saying, oh, wow, these guys look at the power they've got when they're laying on their hands. I want some of this, too, right?

So he goes and he offers money, okay. Ultimately, what a slap in God's face. Now, he was an uneducated person as far as like, okay, he may have spurs the name, he may have known, hey, that guy was fetching me a backpack and so forth, but he probably didn't really know anything about it other than what was being freaked out at that moment, okay. Many people, and I'm old enough to remember Billy Graham and those crusades that Billy Graham did all the time. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of people would go forward when Billy made the call, right. They had counselors to weed out those who were just caught up in the excitement of the moment. I believe Simon was one of those caught up in the excitement of the moment, and I'm getting to the benefit of the doubt even saying that because I think more Jews are interested in control and more power. He's saying he sees his followers, his loyal followers for years now pulled toward someone else, and he sees what has pulled them toward these new people, okay, and he wants it. He wants it. So, he makes a fearful effort to try to give somebody, and he's chastised. So, we have your view, but we want David's too. David, do you want to give your view? Well, I mean, again, we don't know, but, you know,

we're saved by faith. We don't know if he didn't switch. I mean, the thief on the cross didn't start off thinking, hey, I'm being conned by God's son. That came either through the spirit that was speaking to him or the events that were going on. So, I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't want to hang on anything, but if Simon had the faith to realize he had screwed up and repented, which the word says he repented, then he could have been saved. Let me interject one more thing in my bank. I'll try to put it. When you look at verse 20, Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money, okay? And then you go on to 21. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God, okay? If you look at that phrase, may your silver perish with you, right, do you agree what Peter is literally telling him? May you and your money go to hell, okay? Now, that's a pretty small statement from what we consider at that time the leader of this young church that had Christ as a stab of drug, and then he just states in verse 21, for your heart is not right before God. It's possible, and this would be used by religious imagination, it's possible that God's spirit laid

upon Peter's heart what the heart of Simon actually was like, you know. That'd be a pretty bold statement, because that's a judgment of spiritual condition, and if you know it, we're not all about to do that. And all those are right, and we don't know. I look towards bitterness and iniquity. Can we be bitter and have iniquity and still be saved? We can, and I'm not saying to say that Simon would say, I'd like to give him the bitterness. benefit of the doubt because I think of someone say an alcoholic who has come to know Christ but he still struggles with alcoholism or even somebody else who has been traumatized by something else. Some of them don't need to be saved they need to be defiable and I see Simon he wants to come up to Philip and find out what's going on here you know I want that too and of course did he want power or did he want salvation was it an intermingling of it like I said we don't know and to show how prejudiced we can be yes. I have a question yes and I make a mission as well for the act 813 that Simon himself believed in after being baptized to conceive this Philip yes yes and that's where I and that's a good point that's where I think he did he want to be with Philip because of the power did he want to learn how to do all that and he offered money for it right or was he trying to be discipled and so both and so David do you have something to say well I was there for the irrevocable that they the same chapter in how there seems to be a delay we did it that time he's in the work and then the full stir sale on it that is verse 50 it says uh don't turn up at four tuesdays now an apostle who was due from birth is so very have you seen your word they said you're a john cuda do it it had come down pray boy that they might receive the full year where it's yes he has fallen upon five down they had only been baptized in the vehicle to be born so this is the only time in the past where I could find the related link of pseudonyms at ten point four it says that when they receive

the word and when you get back but it's very interesting that there was a delay yes you know he received the word and was baptized in the word but but did he receive before he stood and all his questions the current because I actually believed in myself that he was meant to say in this you and I going to say my class right and you know my testimony yes um my testimony is still on the side of what i did jesse the word and they started appreciating it was sharing the word with me and yet eventually you know sure i am bad so it's a fun point of debate but like everybody said you know we just don't know yeah i find it animus and then the bible that the bible just kind of shuts off and doesn't really say either way you know go ahead and let david answer those questions i want to call you by saying give giving an illustration of something that happened with me as you know at the intersection sometimes you have ministries collecting donations for the ministry well i hope this one comes often to our intersection and they help people with family problems drugs alcohol and so i joined this intersection the lines ran it's read for quite a bit at that time this gentleman comes to the window and evan my grandson's sitting we're we spend a lot of time together but in the passenger seat and so the gentleman comes to the window and wants a donation and and he's in ministry and so i said well um can you quote john 316 because you're in ministry you should know johnson and he said no i said well if you're in ministry you really need to know that and i was saying nisi you can't say that i'm kind of new at this and i said well this is what it says and he said okay i'm gonna go on and memorize that and um so um i said do you believe it and he said yes i did and so we went on our way the light turned green uh two weeks later came back evan's with me again and evan said nisa there's that man and he came to the window he said i know that first now memorize and he told me the first and it was officially for him for me and for evan and you know if my prejudice was working there right and so i gave him a donation about a month ago i was at the uh at the intersection just one intersection away at same ministry and this gentleman came up to the window and he's taking a donation i said can you quote john 316 he said yes he said that is a wonderful verse and he with his um african american smooth wonderful voice they quoted john 316 it's beautiful and i said you know jesus is coming back for us he said yes i do and he said that i can't wait and so he was just excited about that and he started that bible said the red light i was black us with a couple of long

red lights during that time, Ron. And so he gave me a fist bump, and we just encouraged each other. And so two little bit different scenarios there, but very real. And people want to learn the Bible. They want to know about God. They want to know about Jesus. And they want to know about their eternity, where they're going to be. And so we saw the boundary to you and moved the temple, which is inside us. And they're understanding that now. And we may or may not have gotten Simon's Day, though. It's going to be next week. But anyway, any

comments before we leave? I came up with faith. Going back to the old account, Jesus said to the one who was right, today shall thou be with me in paradise. Yes. He didn't tell the other one. Yes. But Jesus also said, whosoever professes me before man, I also will profess him before the Father. That's right. That's right. And that you're walking the aisle made me think of that, because you're matching a public perfection. Belief and trust in whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let's have a word of

prayer before we go. Amen. Amen. Father, we're so thankful for this final study. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, lord, for this final study. We're thankful that you wanted to save us, and that you offer it to everyone, everyone, no matter how bad the sin or what we've done, and all we have to do is say these words to be saved. Jesus, I am a sinner. I need a savior. I need, and I know that you died on the

cross for my sins, and that you're resurrecting, and you have the power to take me home to be with you one day. I believe you and trust you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. And so, if anyone prayed that prayer, tell someone, and start studying the Bible, at least even with just one person, another good. Well, thank you for coming tonight. It was a blessing to be with you guys, and I don't think they were going to answer all our questions, but that's okay. Seriously. Well, thank you. Thanks again for joining us verse by verse through the book of Acts. I hope that you have

learned a lot. More importantly, I hope that you'll apply these things to your life this week. Share it with a friend. Great thing for you to just have some discussion with the other people around you, share the things that God is doing in your life. Again, remember, the Bible is a book about God, far more than it is a book about us. So, let's learn about Him. Let's grow to love Him more and more. Here at United City, this is not the only thing that we have on the Pando app. We would love for you to check out some of our other content, watch some of our worship services, along with music and the messages, as well as podcasts.

We've got a lot of great content. We would love for you to follow that. Also, if you would like to be in touch with us here at United City, the best way to do that is by writing us a letter. You can address that to Prison Ministry at United City Church, 19901 Townsend Boulevard, Humboldt, Texas, 77338. We'll read that letter to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll send it to you. We'll pray for you and somebody will write you back. God bless you and we'll see you in the word.