* decided on a new pastoral policy: Audrey and I will do one out of town pastoral visit if you move away from here – as long as its to Hawaii!
…had some great motorbike riding moments…interior of BC is made for biking…got to understand the generous and sacrificial wife I have…
-one of the great joys of riding this way is not having to carry any baggage on the bike…all in the vehicle…can ride unencumbered down the road, lean into those curves, not worry about anything shifting or the extra weight to slow you down…I’ve done both kinds of trips…this one is by far the most enjoyable…
* great to have no baggage…to be free from carrying baggage…thru Audrey’s help and kindness I was set free from baggage…
Which brings me to today’s message (as we continue our series in the book of Acts)…in ch. 8 we are going to look at a very interesting person called Simon the Sorcerer (open Bibles…)
…who will help us deal with the issue of baggage, baggage we may be carrying from our past…sinful problems, patterns, behaviors from our old life that seem to hang on even after we become a follower of Jesus…
After we get saved, many Xns still have unresolved issues and problems and patterns from their past that just don’t go away the moment they trust Christ…theologically: when we are saved, we become a new persons in Christ, but we have a long growth process ahead of us…the life-long process of sanctification…
…Simon is going to serve as an illustration of that reality…and also show us how God can set us free from past baggage…so that we can ride without the extra weight and heaviness and unnecessary load…
Prayer…Read…8:9-24…brief context…
I Simon’s Life Before Knowing Christ vv.9-11
-it’s pretty clear who this Simon guy was before he came to know Christ…plain and simple he was a sorcerer, magician, someone who practiced black magic and was clearly good at it…he was empowered by evil to do amazing things that created a significant following…no small thing to be called “The Great Power of God”…
…and as we can see from the story, Simon loved the attention and power and fame his sorcery brought him…he liked being the best show in town, hearing the gasps of people when he performed a miracle, pulled off a trick…this guy would definitely win the TV show, America’s Got Talent…
Let me just say a few words about sorcery, black magic, the occult. Have nothing to do with it! Have nothing to do with things associated with it. If you dabble in any of this…not just practice it, look at it, research it, play around with it, you are opening yourself up to the control and influence of Satan through which he can get a stronghold in your life that can destroy you if you don’t call out to God for deliverance…
Dt. 18:10-11
“Let no one be found among you who… practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD…”
List of occult practices to renounce: (sheet)
“it’s only a little harmless fun…I don’t take it seriously”
-confess, repent and renounce…get rid of any materials associated with those practices…
II Simon Believes In Christ vv. 12-14
-then something life altering happens to Simon: he believes in Christ and chooses to follow Christ and the apostles…
…astonished by the great miracles he sees performed by Peter and Philip and convinced by the preaching of the gospel, Simon, along with many others, believes and is baptized…
Simon comes to faith in Christ – or does he?
This is where there is some controversy about the genuineness of Simon’s conversion. Some Bible teachers believe he was genuinely saved; others believe he didn’t become a true Christian…based on Peter’s strong rebuke in v.21 “you have no part or share in this ministry…”
But others see this as the case of a young convert who is carrying loads of baggage from his past…and hasn’t had any time to deal with it and let it go…in other words, he is saved but badly in need of growth thru sanctification…
We’re not going to solve that controversy here this morning, but it does raise some interesting points:
a. it’s not always possible to know if a person’s conversion is genuine or not…it’s possible for even the most devout appearing Xn to be faking it, going through the motions, looking like the real deal, but at the deepest level of their soul, they don’t know God…
Mt. 7:21-23 “…Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven…”
…ultimately God knows who is the real deal and who is not…He will be the judge, not you or me…
b. it’s possible to have belief and faith that does not save…
-it appears that Simon’s faith was more in the miracles, signs and wonders, personal benefits of fatih, than it was in the Person of Jesus Christ…
-that’s not to discredit signs and wonders and miracles…it is to say that your faith can be in the wrong thing…we need to believe in and pray for God to do the miraculous in these days…!!!
-if your faith is in any of the things God does and not primarily in God Himself, then you are in danger of having a faith that is not genuine and does not lead to salvation…
Jm 2:19 “you believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.”
I am really concerned about this today, because there are many lovely, sincere Christian people who come to Christ because of what He can do for them…they know He is the one and only Savior, the only way we can be made right with God…that He is the way, the truth and the life…they believe the gospel and they love Jesus…
But, deep down, even without them being aware of it, their faith is mainly in what Jesus can do for them…which becomes what Jesus should do for them…and when He doesn’t…doesn’t answer that prayer…do that miracle, change that life, heal…then they’re ready to walk away, reject God and feel justified in doing so because He never came through for me…
c. true conversion is only through faith in the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ…
If anything, the story of Simon calls us to take an honest, deep look at the true nature of our faith and belief…make sure that our faith is firmly placed in Jesus Christ and in His gospel…alone…in His undeserved grace and mercy… …substitutionary death on the cross…
…so rather than coming with any expectations and entitlement…we come with a humble, grateful response to God’s free and loving gift…lost sinners destined for hell…who have been rescued by love…
* I am truly concerned for people who make a decision for Christ without a sense of repentance from sin and a need for forgiveness…
* come to Christ for salvation…but only out of a HS given deep sense of your sinfulness and need for a Savior – not only for what He can do for you…not only to make a family member happy…
2 Cor. 13:15 “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”
III Simon’s Baggage Emerges vv. 18-19
-assuming Simon did become a genuine follower of JC…then we see in vv.18-19 that his baggage from the past emerges…
And as I stated at the beginning of this message, I believe this is an all-too common reality for many genuine Christians…that we are truly saved, but the sinful patterns and pull from the old life still hang on and try to keep us bound up and captive and struggling and defeated and troubled…extra baggage…until we finally wake up and call out to God for deliverance…
“Jesus lives in my heart, but grandpa lives in my bones”
-so the old sorcecer’s ways emerge and Simon wants to buy the power of God so he can continue to amaze people…
IV Simon’s sinful roots are revealed vv.20-23
-so what God does through Peter is reveal to Simon his sinful roots that are still un-healed…God shows Simon his baggage…
Simon’s baggage: (at least three things)
a. desire for power and fame v.20
b. full of bitterness v.23
c. captive to sin v.23
Simon needs to be set free from these sinful roots that are part of his old life…so do you if you recognize any of these things in your life…
eg. Pastors and LC members have recently gone through the Steps to Freedom…
-did this about 17 years ago…had a list of about 40 people I needed to forgive…
-this time, can count number on one hand…
eg. Setting Your Church Free next month…
eg. story of couple I married years ago…
-are you willing to let the HS reveal to you any sinful roots from your past that are still unresolved?…so that He can help you find freedom, be set free…there’s help and caring people available…
Jack Hayford: “Your salvation solves the problem of your relationship to God; but it doesn't always dissolve the problems in your life.
Salvation opens the doorway to solutions, but it's only by walking through that door and patiently pursuing that way that those problems will finally be resolved. We are people who need more than rebirth; we need rebuilding. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. If we stop at simply rebirth and the restoration of relationship to God, we miss God's full redemptive purpose in salvation.”
V Simon Calls for Deliverance and Prayer v.24
-that’s what Simon does in the last part of the story…he asks the apostles for healing prayer and deliverance…
-and I wish we could see the end of the story, but it’s not given to us…we can only hope he found it and became a great follower of JC and joined God’s kingdom movement and learned to minister to people humbly in the power of the HS…
That’s what God wants for each of us…
Conclusion
-God has some great highway riding for you in His kingdom journey here on earth…doesn’t want you carrying all this extra baggage…
-He wants to set you free from baggage from you past so you can navigate those roads, zoom along with joy and be a huge blessing to the people you meet along the way…
-may you have the HS conviction and courage to reach out for that help so that you too can be free from the baggage of your past…
Prayer