Speaker 1: So Acts, chapter 8, verse 1, says great lamentation over him.
Speaker 1: But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Speaker 1: Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
Speaker 1: Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
Speaker 1: And the crowds, with one accord, paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did, for unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.
Speaker 1: So there was much joy in that city.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 1: They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying this man is the power of God that is called great.
Speaker 1: And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
Speaker 1: But when they believed Philip, as he preached good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Speaker 1: Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
Speaker 1: Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent 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.
Speaker 1: Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: 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, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: But Peter said to him May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
Speaker 1: You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before.
Speaker 1: 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, for I see that you were in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.
Speaker 1: Simon answered pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said may come upon me Now, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1: They returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
Speaker 1: This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2: Thanks be to God.
Speaker 2: A real church full of real followers of Jesus will inevitably greatly positively impact their city.
Speaker 2: Now say it again A real church full of real followers of Jesus will inevitably greatly positively impact their city.
Speaker 2: We support a missionary couple by the name of Anthony and Victoria Santiago.
Speaker 2: They are church planters new church planters in Alicante, spain, and last weekend they had church on the beach.
Speaker 2: I'm preaching at the wrong church.
Speaker 2: We preached the church under the water or something like that, but had church on the beach, baptized seven new believers, just wonderful.
Speaker 2: And one of the ladies, a Spanish lady that was baptized.
Speaker 2: Her name is Raphael and Raphael.
Speaker 2: Three weeks before she was baptized she was going through a horrible season of depression.
Speaker 2: She had no idea what to do.
Speaker 2: She couldn't find help.
Speaker 2: So she got onto AI and she typed in what can I do to help my depression?
Speaker 2: True story AI said go to Alicante church.
Speaker 2: That's where she lived.
Speaker 2: She'd never been to church before.
Speaker 2: She showed up willing to try anything, heard the gospel, received Christ Three weeks later was baptized, hallelujah.
Speaker 2: Guys, listen.
Speaker 2: I want real life to be the kind of place that makes such an impact on the city that even AI saying you need help.
Speaker 2: Go to real life.
Speaker 2: Come on somebody.
Speaker 2: Would that be all right?
Speaker 2: Let me just have you ponder a question for a moment.
Speaker 2: Honestly, if you're part of this church, let me just ask you is Richmond better off because real life is here?
Speaker 2: Is Richmond better off because real life is here?
Speaker 2: Let me just make it a little bit more personal for you today.
Speaker 2: Are the people in your, let's say, sphere of influence?
Speaker 2: Are they better off because you're in their life, because of your relationship with the Lord, jesus Christ Boy, that's what I want in my personal life, that's what I want for real life.
Speaker 2: In our text today we find the early church, a group of Christians profoundly impacting a city.
Speaker 2: In Acts 8, in our text, the church extends beyond Jerusalem and now moves into Judea and Samaria.
Speaker 2: And Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, he talks about in the first several verses of chapter eight.
Speaker 2: He talks about the ministry that's happening by the church in Samaria and then in verse eight, he pens these words.
Speaker 2: In verse 8, he pens these words so there was much joy in that city.
Speaker 2: Notice he doesn't say so.
Speaker 2: The converts had much joy.
Speaker 2: The new believers had so much joy.
Speaker 2: Of course they had joy.
Speaker 2: The city was greatly impacted in a positive way because of the church's presence in Samaria.
Speaker 2: This should be the norm.
Speaker 2: In Proverbs 11, verse 10, it says when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
Speaker 2: Oh that as we prosper and we grow, god is blessing us.
Speaker 2: Listen, my heart is not just that we would grow in numbers here and that we would be able to build bigger buildings and all of those things.
Speaker 2: No, my aim is that as God prospers us, that the city will feel it, that our joy and what we have will echo, reverberate throughout Richmond and the surrounding counties.
Speaker 2: I think we can learn some things.
Speaker 2: I hope you want to impact your city along with me, but we can learn some things from the early church in our text today.
Speaker 2: So let me just quickly give you three principles, three principles of an impactful church.
Speaker 2: Number one an impactful church proclaims the gospel without prejudice.
Speaker 2: Verses one through three tell us that persecution was fiercely ramped up in Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: You've got thousands upon thousands of believers.
Speaker 2: Stephen, as we read, talked about last week, was just martyred and people are being dragged out of their homes and imprisoned and all of these different things beaten, and so all these believers scatter Multitudes except the apostles.
Speaker 2: The apostles stay.
Speaker 2: Well, what the enemy means for harm, god means for good.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 2: What happens?
Speaker 2: You remember in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8?
Speaker 2: That's like the theme verse for the book of Acts.
Speaker 2: It serves as an outline.
Speaker 2: Jesus said to his apostles when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, judea, samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Speaker 2: Up to this point the gospel has pretty much been contained to Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: But now the believers are run out of Jerusalem by their persecutors, which is meant to hurt them, but God just uses it to fulfill his mission.
Speaker 2: So when things look chaotic in your life, just remember God's throne has not been abdicated, his purposes have not been thwarted.
Speaker 2: Amen, amen.
Speaker 2: What did the believers do when they were scattered?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 2: Look at verse four.
Speaker 2: Now those who were scattered.
Speaker 2: What'd they go about doing?
Speaker 2: Preaching the word.
Speaker 2: Now Jesus in Acts 1.8, he was talking to whom when he said you'll be my witnesses, the apostles.
Speaker 2: So it might be tempting to assume that when Jesus says that you know what, that the gospel needs to be preached in all these places and to the uttermost parts of the earth, that that is the job of the apostle or the pastor or the evangelist.
Speaker 2: But who's doing the preaching here?
Speaker 2: The ordinary believers.
Speaker 2: The apostles aren't even there.
Speaker 2: They're in Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: But all of these believers, who are scattered, go to Samaria and Judea and they preach the gospel, tell people about Jesus Philip, who is a deacon, not an apostle.
Speaker 2: In verse 5, it says that he went around proclaiming Christ.
Speaker 2: Not all of you are called to vocational ministry, but every one of you, if you are in Christ, you are called to proclaim the Lord, jesus Christ, to those who are far from God.
Speaker 2: So here it is.
Speaker 2: You can write this down.
Speaker 2: It is incumbent upon every believer to share the gospel.
Speaker 2: And you know what?
Speaker 2: If we want to truly transform a city, the only way that's going to happen is by the power of the gospel.
Speaker 2: Romans 1, verse 16, for I'm not ashamed, paul writes of the gospel, for it is the power of God and to salvation for all who believe, first the Jew, and then to the Greek or the Gentile.
Speaker 2: You know, christians should be nice.
Speaker 2: Christians should do nice things.
Speaker 2: Some of you need to write this down.
Speaker 2: But listen, those things in themselves will not transform a city.
Speaker 2: Worldly, people can be nice.
Speaker 2: Worldly, people serve relentlessly other people.
Speaker 2: That doesn't.
Speaker 2: It helps the city, but it doesn't transform a city.
Speaker 2: What transforms a city is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 2: And so we must share the gospel and we must do it without prejudice.
Speaker 2: The people who are scattered, remember who are going into these cities and preaching the gospel.
Speaker 2: They are Jewish Christians, and so you may not see anything about prejudice in here or avoiding prejudice, but it's there.
Speaker 2: Many of you know this, but maybe some of you don't, so I'll just mention it.
Speaker 2: So the Jews, many of them who are scattered, are in Samaria preaching the gospel, and there is bad blood.
Speaker 2: There has been bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Speaker 2: The Jews have a great disdain for the Samaritan people.
Speaker 2: The Samaritans were Jewish people who then intermarried with Gentiles at some point in Jewish history.
Speaker 2: By the way, do you know?
Speaker 2: There's still a sect of Samaritans in Israel?
Speaker 2: There's about 800 to 900 Samaritans left.
Speaker 2: Fun fact, the Jews intermarried with Gentiles and they developed their own sect of Judaism.
Speaker 2: The Samaritans only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as scripture, the Torah, okay.
Speaker 2: So they basically denied the lion's share of the Hebrew Bible.
Speaker 2: That the Jews said is the word of God.
Speaker 2: The tension was so what would you say?
Speaker 2: Deep or intense that's the word I'm looking for Between these two groups.
Speaker 2: So, when you were going from Judea to Galilee, the quickest route would be to go through Samaria.
Speaker 2: Now, the Jews most people would go through Samaria from place to place, but the Jews, the devout Jews, they would go the long way around, the more treacherous way, just to avoid coming into contact with a Samaritan.
Speaker 2: If you ever just you know this is real life If you ever had somebody that you see them in the grocery store and you just go to the other side, or you leave or you go to another grocery store.
Speaker 2: Thank you for your confession.
Speaker 2: Did you see Hunter in there?
Speaker 2: Guys, listen, taking the long way around, how many of you like take the scenic route?
Speaker 2: Sometimes I love it.
Speaker 2: Nikki gets so mad at me.
Speaker 2: Like I like taking the old country.
Speaker 2: It can take an hour to get somewhere that would normally take five minutes if you go through town, and I'll take it, just because I love to drive, I love the scenery.
Speaker 2: You know what, though, back in the ancient world, when you don't have, you know, a car or truck or SUV or minivan, when you're walking or riding on the back of an animal.
Speaker 2: You're not taking the scenic route You're.
Speaker 2: You're getting to.
Speaker 2: You know you're going to take the shortest distance to get to a point A, to point B.
Speaker 2: That's how much the Jews loathed the Samaritans, loathed the Samaritans.
Speaker 2: And yet here are these brand new Christians making a beeline to Samaria.
Speaker 2: Listen to me there is no room in the church for prejudice.
Speaker 2: Let me point out one more thing.
Speaker 2: Look at verse 14.
Speaker 2: Now, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received for them the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, two of the apostles 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.
Speaker 2: Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they received the spirit.
Speaker 2: Now when Simon we'll talk about Simon in a moment 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 spirit.
Speaker 2: This is curious.
Speaker 2: What is this all about?
Speaker 2: You remember in Acts 2, when Peter preached and all the people were cut to the heart and they wanted to know what do we do with this?
Speaker 2: Peter didn't say.
Speaker 2: All he said was repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: He did not say repent, be baptized and let us lay hands on you.
Speaker 2: There's no indication that the 3,000 men, plus women and children, who were saved on Pentecost, that the apostles laid hands on every single one of them.
Speaker 2: I guess they did baptize them, so in some sense they had contact, but there's nowhere in the scripture that tells us that that has to happen in order to receive the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: Why did they go then?
Speaker 2: Why did Peter and John leave Jerusalem and come all the way to Samaria?
Speaker 2: I'll tell you why.
Speaker 2: Because the apostles needed to validate that the Samaritans were welcome into the kingdom of God just as much as the Jew.
Speaker 2: We know.
Speaker 2: When the apostles laid hands on the Samaritans, we know something happened, some outward manifestation happened.
Speaker 2: What was it?
Speaker 2: The reason we know that, by the way, is because Simon wanted to buy the power.
Speaker 2: Nothing happened like why would I want that?
Speaker 2: You know, something miraculous happened.
Speaker 2: So what was it?
Speaker 2: We don't know, but I just want to speculate.
Speaker 2: I think it was the gift of tongues.
Speaker 2: Why Not?
Speaker 2: Because every believer that gets the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues.
Speaker 2: That's not the reason.
Speaker 2: The reason is this I think that the Samaritans had to have their own mini Pentecost.
Speaker 2: And here's why.
Speaker 2: Because if they didn't experience, you know, when the gospel broke into their people, if they didn't experience something similar to what the Jews experienced, they would have always been seen as second-tier Christians.
Speaker 2: So I think, as the gospel is breaking into Samaria, I think that's what's happening here, but the point is the apostles wanted to validate that.
Speaker 2: Listen, think of this.
Speaker 2: Not only do they go to Samaria, but they are welcoming them into the kingdom of God, which means we hated each other, but now we're brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the family.
Speaker 2: That's what Christianity should do.
Speaker 2: Pretty unbelievable, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Listen, our world is so divided.
Speaker 2: How many know that we need to be part of bringing people together that will bring joy to a city?
Speaker 2: John piper, wonderful pastor, one of my favorite preachers, grew up in Greenville, south Carolina.
Speaker 2: John is in his late 70s and so he grew up when Greenville was plagued with deep racism.
Speaker 2: Piper recalls that when he was nine, segregation was just so rampant Public swimming pools, drinking fountains, schools, hospital waiting rooms, dental waiting rooms and the like.
Speaker 2: They were all extremely segregated.
Speaker 2: As bad as that news was, the worst news is that that segregation bled over into the church.
Speaker 2: There's a university, fundamentalist university, conservative Christian university, called Bob Jones Jones, right there in Greenville and Greenville.
Speaker 2: Do you know that they would not enroll black students until 1971?
Speaker 2: Are you stinking kidding me?
Speaker 2: When they started enrolling black students, they would only enroll for a long time married people, lest a single person marry someone not of their race.
Speaker 2: How embarrassing, how horrible.
Speaker 2: John Piper's church, his fundamentalist church, in 1962, voted 1962, guys, this isn't that long ago voted to not allow black people to come to their church.
Speaker 2: Here's what he writes.
Speaker 2: Piper so heartbreaking, he says, as I recall, my mother was the lone voice on a Wednesday night to vote on this motion, to vote no on this motion.
Speaker 2: He said in December of that year my sister was married in that church and my mother invited Lucy's whole family to come.
Speaker 2: Lucy was an African-American lady very close to the Pipers, he writes.
Speaker 2: They came to the wedding and I remember an incredibly tense and awkward moment as they came to the door of the foyer, which must have taken incredible courage.
Speaker 2: The ushers didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2: One was about to usher them to the balcony, which had barely been used since the church was built.
Speaker 2: He writes my mother, all five feet two inches of her, intervened by herself, took the family by the arm and seated them right on the main floor and he said oh, how thankful I am for the conviction and courage of my gutsy Yankee, fundamentalist mother.
Speaker 2: You know, prejudice is generally not that overt, but let me just be honest.
Speaker 2: Every one of us, every single person, at some point is tempted to allow prejudice to creep into their life.
Speaker 2: It may not be race, it might be race.
Speaker 2: It might be prejudice against a political party, a gender, and we could go on and on.
Speaker 2: In a social class.
Speaker 2: I'll say it again, there's no room for prejudice within the church.
Speaker 2: I better move on.
Speaker 2: Number two an impactful church must accompany the word with deeds.
Speaker 2: Verses six and seven.
Speaker 2: And the crowds, with one accord, paid attention what was being said by phil Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did, for unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them and many were who were paralyzed or lame, were healed.
Speaker 2: If we do not minister to the physical, let's say practical needs of others.
Speaker 2: They will generally not listen to what we have to say.
Speaker 2: You think.
Speaker 2: Look at the life of Jesus on the earth.
Speaker 2: Did he not minister to the physical needs of people?
Speaker 2: Didn't he heal the sick?
Speaker 2: Didn't he feed the hungry?
Speaker 2: Didn't he welcome the outcast?
Speaker 2: Didn't he go to the broken and the marginalized?
Speaker 2: Blessed is the poor.
Speaker 2: He did, and in John 14, 15, and 16 and other places in the New Testament, it's clear that Jesus expects his followers to emulate him.
Speaker 2: In that sense we are called to bear fruit, which means in part, yes, again, we are to preach the word, but we ought to care not just for the spiritual but the physical needs of people.
Speaker 2: You know, our church can be great joy to the city when we compassionately and sacrificially, by the spirit, work to meet the practical needs of other people, when you guys serve the homeless like you have, when you you remember the some of you that have been here a while remember the.
Speaker 2: We used to go to the halfway house.
Speaker 2: These were inmates that were transitioning back into the normal world and I would go there with a couple other people we teach, but then they started coming to church pre-COVID, I'm telling you, I was there for several years and I'm telling you the way that you guys ministered to them, it absolutely changed the atmosphere of that place, absolutely changed it.
Speaker 2: See, when we take care of the needs of people, the city rejoices when we do those things.
Speaker 2: We've got to guard from something.
Speaker 2: We've got to guard from pointing the finger to ourselves, let's say wanting the glory for ourselves.
Speaker 2: We must point others when we serve them, onto the glory of Christ.
Speaker 2: In our text we see two men that are pointed out, particularly One, philip, as we've seen, the deacon, and then this man by the name of Simon, simon the magician.
Speaker 2: Philip, when he ministered we've already seen that he's done these great signs and wonders, but his aim in doing so was to point people beyond himself onto the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: In verse 12, it says they believe this would be the Samaritans.
Speaker 2: They believe Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom and the name of Jesus, and they were baptized, both men and women.
Speaker 2: Philip was about pointing people on to the Lord and we know that because they were baptized, they were expressing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: But then we have Simon the horoscope writer, simon the sorcerer, simon the David Copperfield the magician, acts 8, verses 9 through 11.
Speaker 2: There was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying watch this, that he himself was somebody great.
Speaker 2: And they all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying this man is the power of God and it's called great.
Speaker 2: And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed people with his magic.
Speaker 2: You see a theme here.
Speaker 2: It's all about Simon.
Speaker 2: Now you could argue well, that's before he responded to the gospel, because it does say that Simon was one of the ones who believed and was baptized.
Speaker 2: Okay, but as we read earlier, when the apostles came and laid hands on the people and they received the Holy Spirit, what did Simon want, you remember?
Speaker 2: He said oh, how much for that power, how much can I give you?
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 2: Because Simon's heart had not really changed.
Speaker 2: He still wanted the glory, he wanted the spotlight, he wanted the attention.
Speaker 2: The motive behind serving people really matters, really matters.
Speaker 2: Okay, how many have ever seen the old black and white movie citizen cane?
Speaker 2: Anybody?
Speaker 2: Uh, it's very, very popular movie.
Speaker 2: Um, it tells the story of a, a fictional character named charles foster cane, who became rich beyond his wildest dreams.
Speaker 2: He bought several newspaper organizations around the country and other businesses and he just man, he was loaded and he also had he wielded some political power.
Speaker 2: He never was voted in the office, but man, he took the stage and he was claimed to be fighting for the working man and he was super generous with his money.
Speaker 2: I mean, he helped as many people as he could.
Speaker 2: But yet he had built a mansion and at the end of his life he died in this big mansion alone.
Speaker 2: You say, well, why would somebody so generous be abandoned like that?
Speaker 2: Well, the people figured out that Foster Kane served them.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, this comes to a head At the very end of the movie.
Speaker 2: Cain's second wife, susan Alexander, is divorcing him and she's got her bags packed and she breaks the news to him and she's walking out the door and he stops her and he says I love you, please don't leave.
Speaker 2: And here's how she responds Love you, don't love anybody, me or anybody else.
Speaker 2: You want to be loved.
Speaker 2: That's all you want.
Speaker 2: And he replied I am Charles Foster Kane.
Speaker 2: Whatever you want, just name it and it's yours Only.
Speaker 2: Love me, don't expect me to love you.
Speaker 2: It's a bit of honesty, and I just wonder how many Christians some we all have to guard from when we serve other people.
Speaker 2: Oh, isn't it tempting to do so so that we can be seen as loving and kind and generous and that people would lavish us with praise something we have to fight every day, something preachers have to fight every time they get behind the pulpit.
Speaker 2: That we would preach out of a love for you and a love for God, that we wouldn't do this to hear, oh, what a great speaker after church, but that we would do this so that somebody might declare, oh, what a great savior we have.
Speaker 2: It's a fight we all have to battle with.
Speaker 2: We must point people in our serving, not to our church, so that they say, oh man, real life man, they're just awesome.
Speaker 2: No, we point them on to jesus christ.
Speaker 2: It's not a marketing ploy to serve people.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's about jesus.
Speaker 2: Which brings me to my final point.
Speaker 2: Only transformed people can transform a city.
Speaker 2: Verse 13,.
Speaker 2: Even Simon himself believed.
Speaker 2: So this is Simon the sorcerer.
Speaker 2: And after being baptized, he continued with Philip and, seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
Speaker 2: So just keep track of this, simon.
Speaker 2: In many ways doesn't he here appear to be a Christian, believed, baptized.
Speaker 2: He follows Philip, which means he joins a community, for all intents and purposes a local church, and he's even amazed as he sees the signs of God.
Speaker 2: Amazed.
Speaker 2: Yet the apostles reveal they discern that his faith is a sham.
Speaker 2: So look, I think it's verse 20.
Speaker 2: Peter says to him, when he tries to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: He says May your silver perish with you, boy.
Speaker 2: Those are strong words, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
Speaker 2: Now listen to what Peter says.
Speaker 2: You have neither part nor lot in this matter.
Speaker 2: We talk all the time about being a real follower of Jesus rather than a nominal Christian.
Speaker 2: It's what keeps me, as a pastor, up at night.
Speaker 2: This guy looks saved.
Speaker 2: He probably even convinced himself that he was saved, but he wasn't.
Speaker 2: He says.
Speaker 2: Peter says your heart is not right before God.
Speaker 2: A true Christian doesn't just have change outwardly.
Speaker 2: That's called moralism.
Speaker 2: A true Christian has a heart that is changed by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: So Peter cries out to him repent, therefore, of this wickedness and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven.
Speaker 2: Now watch this.
Speaker 2: I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity.
Speaker 2: So here it is.
Speaker 2: His heart's not right.
Speaker 2: He's still eaten up with bitterness, jealous, mad Not the sign of a Christian bitter, and he's in the bond of iniquity.
Speaker 2: Now, christians sin from time to time, but the Bible is clear that when you become a Christian you are no longer bound by sin.
Speaker 2: He is still in the bond of iniquity.
Speaker 2: And what this tells us and please listen to me, oh, church goer church membership will not save you.
Speaker 2: Baptism will not save you.
Speaker 2: It's faith alone that saves you.
Speaker 2: Is baptism important?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: But it's not the water, it's not holy water Come on, this comes out of the tap.
Speaker 2: It's not even bottled water.
Speaker 2: If you don't have faith in God, if you have not repented of your sins, you go down a dry center and you come up a wet center.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 2: We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in christ alone.
Speaker 2: And watch this even simon's level of belief won't save you.
Speaker 2: He doesn't say he believed, doesn't john 3, 16 say that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Speaker 2: Yep, that's why we have to take the whole Bible in context.
Speaker 2: The Bible also says repent and believe.
Speaker 2: The gospel Peter said repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: See, repentance and belief.
Speaker 2: They're two sides of the same coin.
Speaker 2: Simon believed intellectually in Christ.
Speaker 2: He was seeing these miracles.
Speaker 2: He believed in the power of God.
Speaker 2: But doesn't James say that the demons of hell believe and they shudder with fear?
Speaker 2: I believe Simon didn't even have demonic faith because he believes, but he's not even scared until the very end.
Speaker 2: It's intellectual belief.
Speaker 2: Let me just say that that kind of Christian, who's a name-only Simon kind of Christian, will not change a city.
Speaker 2: Watch this.
Speaker 2: We cannot give someone, we can't give a city something we don't have.
Speaker 2: If we're going to bring joy to a city, we've got to have the joy of Christ.
Speaker 2: If we're going to bring peace to the city, we've got to have the peace of Christ.
Speaker 2: If we're going to be unity to the city, we can't be prejudice.
Speaker 2: We've got to be united.
Speaker 2: We've got to be, as we like to say around here, real, real.
Speaker 2: If you're here today and I just listen, you might come to church every week.
Speaker 2: And let me say this my goal is never to get true christians to doubt their salvation.
Speaker 2: I believe we can have an assurance in Christ, but I just want you to know.
Speaker 2: You can come here week after week after week, and you know what I think the most sobering text is in the Bible.
Speaker 2: It's Matthew, I believe, chapter 7, when Jesus says Many will say to me on that day, the day of judgment, lord, lord, listen to me, church.
Speaker 2: And he'll say turn from me, I never knew you.
Speaker 2: What's their response?
Speaker 2: Lord, we did mighty works in your name.
Speaker 2: We cast out demons in your name.
Speaker 2: Anybody done that this week?
Speaker 2: Yet those people, we'd say well, that person's saved, look what they did.
Speaker 2: Nope, miracles are not the litmus test for a true believer.
Speaker 2: Turn from me, you doer of iniquity.
Speaker 2: Jesus will say I never knew you.
Speaker 2: So for us, what would that say?
Speaker 2: Well, some of you might say on that day, I hope not.
Speaker 2: I hope you hear well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker 2: But if you don't repent, you might hear on that day turn from me, I never knew you.
Speaker 2: But, lord, we went to church every week.
Speaker 2: Lord, we taught Sunday school.
Speaker 2: Lord, I preached.
Speaker 2: Preaching doesn't save anybody, you know.
Speaker 2: It doesn't save the preacher.
Speaker 2: Lord, I greeted at the door.
Speaker 2: Lord man, I was faithful, I even sat up front.
Speaker 2: You get extra points for that, but it doesn't save you, guys.
Speaker 2: Only the gospel is the power of God to salvation.
Speaker 2: And to receive the gospel you've got to repent, which means you turn from your sin and you turn to the Lord.
Speaker 2: He's not just Savior of your life, he has to be Lord of your life, which means you get off the throne of your own life.
Speaker 2: You don't live like you want.
Speaker 2: Does baptism save you?
Speaker 2: The water doesn't, but people say, well, is it necessary for salvation?
Speaker 2: Why do you ask?
Speaker 2: Jesus said do it, do it.
Speaker 2: Well, do I have to go to church to be a Christian?
Speaker 2: Why do you ask?
Speaker 2: That's a stupid question.
Speaker 2: The Bible says do not forsake the gathering together.
Speaker 2: It's dumb, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Hunter?
Speaker 2: Quit asking stuff.
Speaker 2: Do I have to?
Speaker 2: What you're wanting to do is get to heaven by the skin of your teeth.
Speaker 2: That's not a Christian.
Speaker 2: A Christian says oh Lord, I want to do everything, every jot and tittle, that you've asked me to do, lord, to do everything, every jot and tittle that you've asked me to do, lord, I want to do it.
Speaker 2: So may we be real followers of Jesus, who preached the word to the lost, who served the people with compassion and without prejudice, and may you and may I be transformed people.
Speaker 2: And then, by God's grace, let's transform Richmond.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 2: I want AI someday soon to tell somebody in Richmond you need help Get to real life.
Speaker 2: Hallelujah, stand with me.