Alright, well, as we continue plotting through Acts 8, I think we'll see it building up to a crescendo when we get into Acts 9-10 as we see this continued spread of the message of the apostles going from Jerusalem to Judea. to Samaria, and as we go, even in the end of this chapter, we'll see it going to the uttermost places in the world. But today, we're going to look at more. We looked at last week at Simon, the sorcerer, and we looked at how he was received by the people. He made himself out to be some great thing and promoted himself as a miracle worker, one that could do all these things, And what was it? It was self-promotion. It was building himself up to have that great power, and much like people are through all ages, people are gullible, and they like to believe these things that they can have some sort of out-of-the-world miracle or something happened. And so he comes along and we'll pick it up and we'll read verses 5 through 24 once again, but we'll pick it up where he actually says he believed. and was baptized, and he continued with Philip. But let's read verses 5 or verses 4 through 24, and we'll set the context once again. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down 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 the 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, and 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. But 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. Now 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 Ghost. 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 Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy 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 in the sight of 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 dear Lord, we just pray that you would add your blessing to your word this morning. We just pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We turn back in the chapter to verse number 13. Actually, I want to look at one word that's used in two different places before we go to 13. In verse number nine, the first word, important, but. There was great joy in the city because the people believed in the healings and the miracles that were done by Philip. And we saw last week that there had to be somebody around that was an apostle or affiliated with the apostles for these true miracles to happen. Remember, if miracles were for everybody to perform, why did they have to wait for Peter? Why did they have to wait for Paul to perform those miracles? We touched on that last week. So verse number 9 says, but there was a certain man called Simon, which we covered this last week. Verse number 12, Introducing Simon, this man that loved to have preeminence, that loved to bewitch the people. He kept them fooled for a long time. Then verse number 12 begins also with a but. So we see these people that have been believing and going after Simon's false miracles, and those things, they had this but experience, but when they believe Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. What a turnaround that is. They turned away from their old thinking, their own theology that they had built up by this man Simon. They now no longer trusted in him or his works, but they were trusting in the message that they had heard from Philip. Now, it doesn't say exactly what Philip says, just that he was preaching the kingdom of God. But nonetheless, they believe that, and so what happened? Simon kind of got thrown off to the side. No longer was Simon the big cheese in town. No longer would he do that. In Ephesus, the person that was creating all of the little statues to Diana, we remember that, he got angry and they turned against Paul because he was ruining their living. Same thing is happening with Simon. My clientele is now disappearing. What am I going to do? So we pick it up in verse 13, and I call this the conversion of Simon. Next conversion, I have a question mark. There's a question mark. Was he converted? Did he really believe? The closing words by Peter that we heard, I'll get to the conclusion, I believe he wasn't. Peter told him he had to have a change of heart. He had to turn from this wickedness and actually believe. But Simon was like so many other people. Even today, in your bulletin I have, I made up a graphic yesterday of some various people. And all these people have in common is the same thing, is they are very devout people, very diligent people, very studied people, and they were able to trick and still are able to trick multitudes of people. But what they've done is not just their sorceries in the past, they've incorporated the Word of God and taken their beliefs and twisted the scriptures to line up with their beliefs. This happens all over the place still. We can see that. Anybody recognize any of the people, if you have a bulletin? There's two that are very readily recognizable. We have the guy down in the bottom right there, Pope Francis. In the top left, Kenneth Copeland. By the way, a little side note, that picture right there, if I had any viral videos out there, it was one of Kenneth Copeland where I zoomed on his face and that came on there. That's everywhere you can find. I took that and I was goofing around with the zoom effects and I made him go like this. He looked even more wicked. Monica wrote back to the picture. He says, Kenneth Copeland looks demonic. They said how he looks isn't half as demonic as his teachings, however. So we have Kenneth Copeland, we have Pope Francis. These are, well, Kenneth Copeland, if you don't know your Bible, you would think that he is just the greatest teacher in the world. But when you examine him in light of the scriptures, rightly divided, you realize there's something off. And when I say off, I mean off. So we have Kenneth Copeland, we have the Pope. Up in the top right is Ellen G. White from the Seventh-day Adventist. I almost said church, but I can't say church. The Seventh-day Adventists, who had visions from God, who took the words of scripture and twisted it to line up with the vision of the angel that she had in her great prophecies that she had. She is elevated in that movement higher than scriptures. On the bottom left is somebody you may have heard of, that's Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Again, he needed to find a way to rebel against the teachings of scripture and make it palpable to his own teachings. Again, he was a pretty smart guy, a genius in many respects, but he rebelled against the Word of God. The lady in the middle is a local. She's right from Massachusetts as well. This is Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of, along with Quimby, that was just before her, the founders of the Christian Science Church, located right here in Boston, Massachusetts. And remember, it's not Christian, and it's not science either. It's metaphysical hooey. That's a technological term. You can take that. I was talking with somebody, they asked me about somebody, I said, well, that's a lot of bovine scatology. And what is that? I don't know those words like that. I said, well, it's BS. think about that. So that Mary Baker, Eddie, and the handsome, debonair-looking guy in the middle, that is none other than Joseph Smith, as portrayed by the Church of the Latter-day Saints, who once again, and I saved him for last, because there are so many ties with even today's Christian Church, to Mormonism and those things where they accept dreams and visions, they accept new revelation and all these things, they're tying it all together. So this is what Simon was like. A very devout man, we could see it. Verse number 13 here, we'll look at it. But when they believed Philip preaching the things, this verse 12, the things concerning the kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. jettisoning Simon. Then, Simon himself believed also. Now, the term believed there, that's the same general word that we have for believer or put trust in. It's pistou. It's there. He believed also. And when he was baptized, see, he did the same thing. He believed, was baptized, just like everybody else. And look what he did. He continued with Philip. So he stayed the course. He was a regular attender with Philip. He went to learn everything that Philip was doing. How do I know that? Look at the next part. And wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Simon was there to take inventory of all the things that were going on, which is very commendable, is it not? But yet, as we'll see, he wasn't there to learn about the Lord. He wasn't there to learn about submission and sanctification to the Lord. He was there to learn who he would perceive as the competition's motives. He was studying them so he could have a better idea, just like Henry Ford had a better idea. He could outdo those miracles, if only he could find the key to do so. And this is the same mark of false teachers, no matter what stripe they are, whether it's Joseph Smith, or Charles Taze Russell, or Judge Rutherford, or Ellen G. White, Mary Baker Eddy, and Sun Yung Moon, no matter what it is, they have a better idea, and you would need to go to them. the error of so many that call themselves apostles and prophets. And I used to say, well, maybe some of these people are saved, but I would say most of them are not. Most of them are deceptive on purpose, just like Simon was trying to be. He was trying to be deceptive on purpose. Hey, I do it. I read enough of stuff that's unchristian or unbiblical. I get the idea of what the enemy's doing. I get the idea of what the false teachers, the false prophets are doing. I don't know why I do it so much, but it's been ingrained in me since I've been saved. I want to know the truth, and I want to know what brand of truth is being perpetrated or perpetuated out there. So I do that. But there's two things, even in the pastoral ministry. Mark this down. If it goes beyond these things, a pastor is overstepping their boundaries. The pastor's goal, number one, is to feed the sheep. It's to feed the Word of God, not feed with philosophy, not to feed with, I'll say it, simony. And it's to nourish. Now sometimes that good food, you know what? I don't really like quinoa, but I've been told it's good for me. I'm told if you eat it, you will be filled, you will be satisfied. Sometimes that's how the Word of God is. Sometimes it's not always that pleasant. As a matter of fact, Daniel ate a scroll that was not pleasant. It was bitter. of the prophecies coming, so too the Word of God. It's not always comfortable. It's not always convenient. And our flesh tells us, you don't need that Bible. It's a natural thing that we all do, no matter what. But that's the first thing, is we need to be encouraged to read the Word of God, to study, to show ourselves approved unto the God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed. That's number one. The second most important thing, and I lay this at two things. After feeding the Word of God to the flock, the pastor's next thing is to protect that flock from wolves. We all know how Jesus described the wolves. They'd be dressed up in sheep's clothing. They would come, just like Simon, making promises that he could not fulfill. And Simon, obviously, It's like texting today, you don't get really the sense unless there's all caps when you're talking with somebody. Apparently he was very upset that he couldn't perform this power, and that's what happens with teachers today as well. They have false miracles, false signs, just to bring people unto themselves, and it is usually a cost. Now, we know that Simon, He was trying to purchase the gift of God with money. We see that Peter did rebuke him here. So he was there doing the same thing false teachers still do. The good ones will know the truth, will know the Word of God. I mentioned Jack Van Impey. I would not call him a heretic. He went off someplace, but he knew the Word of God better than most human beings, and he swerved. This is the most dangerous part, is swerving from the Word of God into other things. And it's so easy to do. It's so easy to put our philosophies, to put what our feelings are ahead of the Word of God. We all do it to an extent. I was just, what was I, I was talking with Mike before, just before church. I was saying, you know, when I look at some of these things called doctrines, I don't know if we could call them doctrines. Anybody else confused with the doctrine of predestination? Amen? I have a solution. There is no doctrine of predestination. There are four instances in Scripture that talk about predestination, but they're not doctrines. Each of those places has to be interpreted in its place. As Christians, we are predestinated. Let's go there for a second. Let's chase a rabbit for a second. Ephesians 1. Rabbit! Let's look at this, and I have to always correct myself, too, and it's always good to do that. Not necessarily correcting yourself, but weighing, okay, what do I believe about this? Verse number one. Ephesians 1, verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, now verse three, I'm gonna end it. I'm gonna skip part of the verse, and you tell me what I skip, because this is what so many people will do. All right, ready? Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual places and heavenly places. See that? In time past, God called you out and elected you to salvation. I missed something, didn't I? All heavenly places in Christ. You know, when you have the heavenly blessings, you don't get them before the foundation of the world. The only thing that was predestined before the foundation of the world was Jesus Christ. He was predestined to come to this world, be rejected by His own, but received by the Gentiles. This was predestined. So, with that in mind, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, I'll stop there too. Now I'll continue after that pause. That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. He's predestined us in Christ that we should be holy. without blame before Him in love. This is a summary of sanctification, not for those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world for salvation, but that's what He's predestined us. He's predestined us through Him for the blessings in Christ Jesus. Let's continue on here. having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure of his will." So when you're in Christ, now that you're in Christ, you're predestined to the adoption. You weren't predestined before you were saved. This is all what happens to the believer, the one who's in Christ. That's a part that's mostly missing, is the in Christ part there in verse number three. To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom? Right, in whom? Who's the whom? in Christ, in whom we have redemption through His blood. Not from the foundation of the world. You weren't elect before. You can only have redemption through His blood. There are people out there that say that you were elect, you were saved before the earth was even made. How do you justify that? How can you be with His blood if you didn't do any sins before? Amen? but it's in His blood. Some would say, well, yes, I'm in Christ from the foundation of the world. I was chosen, I was elect from the foundation of the world. Well, if that were really true, we wouldn't need these verses. We wouldn't need Jesus Christ to come and suffer, bleed, and die. Amen? It would have been done. But what happened? You must have gotten out of Christ somehow, out of the Lord that can't. Nobody can get you out of His hands, but somehow you must have blew it, and now you need to trust Him. See the trickery involved here? It's only in His blood. We're in Christ through Him, through Himself. What verse was I on here? I turned the page somehow. in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom, in prudence." Where is that found? In Christ. When you're a Christian, you now have access to His wisdom. You have access to His righteousness. You have access to His prudence. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He has purposed in Himself. that in the dispensation of fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him." So there's that key word, is in Him, once again. "...in whom also we have obtained an inheritance." You didn't get the inheritance before salvation. You've gotten it in Him. being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Now verse 12 shows what the believer is predestined to in Christ. Verse 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. So to be predestined in Christ, you have the blood of Jesus Christ, you have the cross. Now there's one thing you must do, it's trust Him for that. It's not from the beginning, not from before the foundation of the world, but in trusting Christ. in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth." You weren't saved at the foundation of the world by election. You're saved by believing the testimony, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. That's the good news. In Christ Jesus alone. In Him. in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. That's one of my favorite places to look at. You believe the gospel, you trust in him, and you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. What is that promise? The adoption. That promise is the eternal life that's in Christ. That promise is also our glorified, no longer mortal bodies, but immortal bodies that aren't prone to death any longer. Verse number 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. So, you're sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. Your ticket has been stamped to glorification. I love that. If I'm flying someplace or going someplace, I have the ticket in my hand. It's already been paid for. It's already been purchased. But it's not until I go to that window and get on the plane that I have that flight taking place. So too is it with the believer. We have the sealing of the Holy Spirit, gives us eternal life, shows us that our life is eternal, the earnest of our inheritance. I like this, until the redemption of the purchased possession. I would say at the rapture of the church, believers will immediately be changed into the likeness of Christ. That will be totally fulfilled. That'll be complete redemption. Right now as we sit here wilting, As we sit here groaning, as we sit here thinking about the stuff that's burning on the stove, all those things at the same time we have the earnest of the spirit and we look forward to better things. I think I'm going to probably stop right at that place right there, but you know me, I'd love to keep on going through the next two verses. But right there, which is, "...the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His Glory. We have a complete salvation. We have the full gospel, which is Christ dying, buried, and resurrected. We have that. That is the entire gospel. If you believe that, you have all of those blessings that'll look forward to the eternity that we have into the purchased possession being redeemed. Amen. That's good stuff. Right? Think of that. Now think of, let's go back to chapter eight. Let's get off the rabbit trail that we went on for a couple moments. That's good. Have thine own way, Lord. Wrong book. So Simon, in verse 13, he believed. You know, I don't know if he walked an aisle someplace or raised his hand or whatnot or put on some kind of show, but it says he believed. He was baptized and he continued with Philip wondering and beholding. And again, his motive wasn't to grow in sanctification in the Lord. His motive was to learn of what his competition was doing. I used to work in a record store at one time. Well, I worked in a couple and I ended up working for a competitor. You probably see this out in the business world as well. You have your competitors will come in and see what you're doing. Amen, they'll try to spy out and get a one-up on your business. So they can then learn from you? No, it's so they can beat you. And that's exactly what Simon is doing. He wanted to display, he wanted to show the same miracles that the apostolic miracles were. So verse number... Verse number... 13 once again, then Simon himself believed also when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto him Peter and John, who when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." This is the verification from the apostles that they had. Gordon hit the nail on the head. Last week, Peter had the keys of the kingdom. He was still on a transitional period between kingdom and the church. be informed more fully. So he had the keys of the kingdom, and Peter had to verify that what was taking place was of God, of the Lord. So when he went there, he laid his hands on them, and he received the Holy Ghost. He had that authority, having the keys of the kingdom to do so. There was nobody after that has that same authority. Not the Pope, not Kenneth Copeland. So I put them in there because they think they have that apostolic authority that they can lay hands on people and they'll receive the Holy Spirit. That authority has been long gone. Today, as we'll see, in Peter's words with Simon, you don't have to have anybody lay their hands on them to receive the Holy Ghost. You receive the Holy Ghost through that sealing of the Spirit. You receive the Holy Ghost when you believe. As a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit does a lot of work before you believe. He testifies of Christ. He convicts you of your sin. He'll turn you from that sin. And what's the ultimate outcome? That you would trust Christ. Amen, isn't it good to have the Holy Spirit? dwelling inside you. Sometimes it's not so good because he knows what I'm doing. He's better than Santa Claus or anything else. He knows what I'm thinking. He knows the conviction that we need dwelling inside of us. So now no longer this external receiving of the Holy Spirit or any signs or anything that go along with it. This was for this day. This showed that these spiritual and physical dogs called the Sumerians, have received the word. That's a miracle right there among miracles, that these people that were cast out and rejected by Israel because of their idolatry were now receiving the message. And by the way, in the meantime, Israel still stayed in idolatry. They weren't necessarily putting up all of the golden statues and everything, but they were worshiping their traditions. That's why the Pharisees hated Jesus so much, because they were trusting something other than the law. That's why they couldn't accept that. That's why they had Jesus crucified. So the apostles went, Peter with the keys of the kingdom, we see that even in his presence was the happening in Acts chapter two and Acts chapter four. He was there to verify that this indeed was a real work of God. So they were accountable to the apostles then. Let's look at the next verse, which we looked at a little bit here. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, called simony. Think of the simony that takes place today. Trying to earn favor with God by buying it. That's what the term simony means. Again, Kenneth Copeland and all the cohorts out there that try to sell you that you can have the blessings from God by sending a check. It's the same thing as was happening with Simon. Simon thought. Boy, I have influence. I have power. I found my purpose in life. If I could only have this power, I could succeed beyond all measures. I could be the greatest in the land. They'll look to me again if only I can have this power. His desire for real power. He was one. You have to hand it to him. He stayed, watched Philip. He was beholding and wondering at that, meaning he was paying close attention and learning of what he wanted to do. I can only think of his desire was that he could be like the Most High. that he could have God-like powers, that he could be the ruler of the area. Let's turn to Isaiah 14 for a second. Isaiah 14. By the way, my second's probably not a literal second. Verse number 12, Isaiah 14 is speaking about the king of Babylon here, but yet the similarities between Lucifer, which is named here, Lucifer the bright one, the shining one, Boy, sounds like Simon too. The bright and shining one that wanted to have preeminence over all things. Verse number 12, how art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said, see Babylon will be judged completely one day as well. So this goes prophetically as well. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust with a sword, and go down to the stones of the pit as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people. The seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. And I think I'm going to stop right there, too, because the rest of the chapter still deals. This is Nebuchadnezzar. Remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar back in Daniel chapter four? Nebuchadnezzar was brought down low. He humbled himself. Daniel chapter four was actually written by King Nebuchadnezzar. It's amazing, he was able to write a chapter in the Bible declaring his folly and then coming back and trusting the Lord after a time where he looked like Howard Hughes. Remember Howard Hughes, one of the richest men in the world, and he died in Las Vegas in a hotel room in Las Vegas. He had fingernails. Now, people try to purposely grow them long. I don't know how they can do it. He had fingernails and his hair was grown. He was afraid of getting diseases. Imagine somebody dying, being afraid to get diseases. I don't get that part. But I always picture Nebuchadnezzar being like Howard Hughes. Has everything. Private planes, buildings, all kinds of things, oil, and being brought low to that estate. That's what Nebuchadnezzar was because he exalted himself. to be like the Most High, just like Satan or Lucifer's goal was. And this was a picture of even Simon as well, wanting the power of God. And it's so bad today that so many people even today are offering that you too can be powerful. You can work these miracles. You can do it. You can bring yourself and heal people and all these different things. And it's a tragedy today that that's still happening. Back to Acts chapter 8. another in a series of buts. Verse number 20. But Peter said unto him, thy 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 in the sight One of the things I want to look at is over in 1 Corinthians 12, dealing with the gifts of the Spirit. Not the things that you can buy, but the gifts of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and Romans chapter 12, deal with them, but I want to go to 1 Corinthians for a second. 1 Corinthians 12, And not even to look at what all these gifts are, but the one thing that I wanna point out, and I'll point it out when we get to in verse seven. Now, verse number four. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it's the same God which worketh all in all, no matter what, different operations, different gifts, all these things, but one God that gives these gifts. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given every man to profit with all. Spiritual gift is never to profit you. It's never to elevate you. The gifts are used corporately to build one another up. They're not used to build your name up and cause you to be a Simon, that you would purchase that gift so that you could have that power. But they're to profit with all. This is the pattern through all the first Corinthians as well, is their desire to have spiritual gifts. It says, while we're here, 1 Corinthians 14, verse number one. We've covered this back a couple years ago when we were in 1 Corinthians. Verse number one says, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophecy. You know what that is actually saying when we look at it? It says it's not, telling them what to do, the first part isn't saying, here's what you need to do, and people will take it this way, here's what, hey, here's what you gotta do, you need to follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, right? But he's saying, you do these things. This is indicative of what they do. You follow after charity. You desire spiritual gifts. What the Corinthians were doing, they were selfishly using those gifts to profit themselves. So he says, you are doing these things, but rather that ye may prophesy. And later on we see that that prophecy or telling forth the word of God benefits all. Whereas speaking a tongue or doing all these other things, those don't benefit all unless it be done in order, unless there'd be an interpreter, unless there are two or three at the most in a service to do it. because that would not profit all. And even today, people think they're more powerful because they have some kind of an unknown tongue or gibberish that they speak. But it's the entirely wrong attitude towards it, because what's coming out of their mouth shouldn't just be a bunch of hooey. There's that word again. It's a good theological term. But it should be benefiting all. Amen? Simon, guilty as charged of all these things, of promoting himself before the message came from Philip, people being bewildered at him and wondering at him, and then now the competition has arrived. How am I gonna get to the hearts of people and get my living back? by getting the same kind of gift. And I can do it. I can buy it. In closing, back in Acts 8, But Peter, back in verse 20, but Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. See, if you buy it, it's not a gift, is it? It's another thing. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. I believe Peter could perceive that. Could we perceive that if somebody did likewise like Simon? We could probably test them by their fruits. But would that say whether they were saved or not? I couldn't make that judgment because the Holy Spirit is the one that would judge that to them. He says, repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. See, it started in here. His thought was in there, not on what was being spoken, not on the word that was preached, not on those miracles, it was inside. How can I profit? For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. That's what happens when people don't get their desires, when they don't get what they've had, when they've been knocked off of the top of the chain. They get angry and bitter. They turn inward. Oh, how could this happen to me? I am something great. How could I fall down to the bottom? But yet the reality is the Lord wasn't in what he was doing. Verse number 24, and this is a great verse to close in right here. Then answered Simon and said, pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. If Simon were a believer, he wouldn't have to go to Peter. He wouldn't have to go into the confessional. He would have the testimony that everybody else received and he could go to the Lord Himself. That's what it is. Even today, no matter what, we may have Simons in our midst. Simons that will observe everything that's going in and figure a way to take over. Figure a way that they can have this power. Whether it be in the workplace or at home or whatever, we all have that around us. People trying to take advantage. But yet, the answer is in the Lord. I turned a page again. How did I do that? 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." The story of Simon. comes to a tragic ending. It doesn't say whether he went in and heeded Peter's words to repent. All we know is he asked Peter to pray for him. But yet, he would be able to pray for himself. It would be an individual work of repentance. An individual work of looking at the reality It says, Peter, verse 22, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. The answer was just simple forgiveness that only we have individually with the Lord. Somebody else cannot pray for us to be forgiven. The Pope can't pray that somebody be forgiven. The Pope doesn't have the power to forgive. None of these rulers, these leaders that sought to have power had the power to forgive. Only Jesus Christ himself has the power to forgive. Whether it is of sins, past, present, future, ask him. Say, Lord, forgive me. That's all that Simon would have had to do if he were a believer. Forgive me, Lord. Oh boy, I almost thought I was going in the confessional. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. But he wouldn't have to do that to any man but go right to the Lord. And the closing of the closing of the closing is that the great part of being a child of God, is that we can go right to Him. We don't have to give to Simon or have Simon give to us. One of the things I remember most as a kid, I don't know why I remember this most of all, I remember a lady that lived next door. She was a local parish secretary. When somebody died, my mother would send me over to go see her with ten bucks to buy a mask card. I thought that was kind of cool, you know, 10 bucks for a card at the time, that was outrageous, I thought. But now, you know, 10 bucks for a greeting card, that's kind of normal. But what I was buying was a mass card to be given to the church so that they could pay for somebody's sins to be forgiven and get them out of purgatory. If that's not simony, I don't know what is. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. There's no other mediator between God and man, not Simon, not Kenneth Copeland, not the Pope, Mary Baker Eddy, portraying herself as God. All of these different leaders, they parade themselves up as being these intercessors between God and man, but as believers. we have Jesus Christ Himself. There's no other mediator between God and man except Jesus. Had Simon merely done that and went to the Lord Himself, I think we could say this man was saved but off base at one time. But he didn't. He tried to go to Peter to have his sins forgiven. It's a bad thing that he did. Sounds logical, but it wasn't right. The Lord alone is the answer for us. He's sufficient for us in all things. Amen.