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Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina. You cannot purchase it.

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You cannot build it. You cannot steal it. You can accept it. And there's a lot of debate whether Simon really accepted Christ, because a lot of people they accept Jesus because it seems like the right thing to do, but it never really clicked. They never really accepted Christ. They never really surrendered their lives totally to Jesus. And then they tried to look like they're godly and pious and all this, but there's really no power there because they really aren't saved.

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When an athlete commits to a sport, they must put all their effort into training so that they can be the best player. Immediately, you can tell that they haven't been training because they look rusty and aren't playing up to their potential. Today, Pastor Carl says there are plenty of Christians who say they've accepted Jesus, but something doesn't click and they don't live for him. Just like an athlete, if you don't do the things to become closer to Christ, it'll be pretty evident in your life that you aren't truly following him. And now here's Pastor Carl.

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Well, it's time now to get into a study of God's Word. We are in the book of Acts. We'll be picking up in chapter 8, verse 4. Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Stephen was uh the first martyr of the faith. And when that happened, everybody dispersed. But they still had their faith, their new found faith. And they had the Holy Spirit and they had the word of God, and they went out. And even though they went out in fear, they found boldness and they proclaimed the good news everywhere they went. And sometimes things just happen in our lives where the Lord takes us from one place and puts us in another. But the message is still the same. We're to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're to preach the word wherever we go. Then Philip, here's Philip, he was the second deacon that was mentioned after Stephen. He went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Now, Samaria, you remember in the Gospels, the Samaritans were people that the Jews didn't want to associate with, because the Samaritans were kind of like half-Jew, half-breed. And they didn't really have the full blessing of God. They were really like Gentiles. They were just cursed of God, and we don't want to have anything to do with them. The first person that Jesus came to and declared who he was to was who? A Samaritan woman at the well. You remember that story? Jesus went to the Samaritans because Jesus not only has come to save Israel, but he's come to be the savior of the whole world. And again, at the beginning of Acts, it says you're to go and proclaim this gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world. Another reason why Philip might have gone up to Samaria is because the Jewish leaders who were persecuting the church don't want to have anything to do with Samaritans, so it was a really safe place to go. And so Philip went up there, he proclaimed the gospel, and they accepted it. Which is a miracle, because here is a Jew going to the Samaritans, proclaiming the new gospel, because he's no longer just a Jew, he's a fulfilled Jew. He's found the Messiah, he's going and declaring the Messiah to the dogs, which aren't dogs because his heart has been changed. He realizes that Christ has died for the whole world. And now he's proclaiming the gospel to them. And the other part of that miracle is they're receiving what he's saying. They're not saying, Who are you, a Jew, coming to tell us what to do? No, they realize he's a changed Jew. There's something different about this man. He had that same encounter that that lady had at the well. Her life was changed. And so they accepted the gospel and they were changed as well. And accompanying him were all these same miracles that accompanied Jesus. For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed, and there was great joy in that city. There is great joy when the power of Satan is defeated. Amen. And Philip came and he brought that to the people. The same thing that Jesus brought to them, because Jesus was now living in him, and Jesus was working through him, and lives were being changed. And when we realize the freedom that we have in the gospel, we naturally have great joy in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Amen. When we try to fix our own problems, we might find some success here and there, but for the most part, we get down and depressed about it because we mess it up even more. But when the Lord comes and he really changes us, really brings us healing, really casts out those demons from our life, then we have joy in him, because he has truly changed us from the inside out. Verse 8 But there was a certain man named Simon who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. Somehow this man, Simon, had these amazing powers to do amazing things, and I don't know if it's like magician tricks or if he was actually doing healing, but he was doing sorceries, and he did not know the Lord, so this was not the power of the Holy Spirit. This was demonic. This was demonic, and this was self-centered because it was all about him, because he was claiming that he was someone great. This guy had the influence, he had the charisma, he had the power and the signs, and people said, Yeah, he is great. He must have power. And he didn't, they didn't just say he has power from God. They said, This man is the great power of God. In other words, they thought he was. Well, what is the power? The power of God is the Holy Spirit. So they're thinking he is the Holy Spirit, he is God himself. And they were fooled. They were wrong. And he didn't say, No, I'm not God, I'm just doing this. He liked the attention. So this is the scene. This is the guy. And for a long time he had great power and authority. And verse 11 said, and they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. Verse 12. But when they believed Philip, and as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Now the truth of God comes. The truth is God is powerful, it changes us, and there are miracles coming alongside Philip. And Philip was not saying, Yeah, I'm a great man of power and God. He was saying, No, it's not me, it's the Lord that's doing these things through me. And this is the gospel, this is who Jesus is, this is what He's come to do. He's come to seek and save the lost, He's come to set captives free, and I'm here to declare Him to you. Will you accept the gospel? And they hear, and something stirs in their heart, and they say, This is really the truth. This is from God. And I sense it, and I'm convicted, I'm cut to my heart, and I know I'm a sinful person, and now I know that Jesus is God, and He became a man, and He took my sin upon the cross. And yes, I believe. And I want to obey. And the next thing that you do after you become a Christian is you become baptized. Because not only do you believe in your heart, but you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Baptism is a symbol of what has happened in you already as you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. And they did it. They were changed. And they kind of ignored Simon after that. But even Simon, he had a soft part in his heart, it sounds like. Simon himself also believed. It says he was a believer and baptized, and he continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. His life was all about these sorceries that he was part of for all these years. And so that's what makes him tick. Although he believed the gospel and he came to faith in Jesus Christ, he was kind of still distracted by the stuff. Do we get distracted by the stuff? Are we coming to the Lord with our list of things that we want him to do for us because he's our genie? He's not our genie. Are we backing up and are we gazing on his glory? Are we growing in our relationship with him? Or are we just worried about the stuff, the things he does for us? Because then our lives really aren't fully surrendered to him. They're about the things that he can do for us. And I'm all about him blessing me and giving me all the things that I want. But do you want Jesus? Do you want more of him? I think this is where Simon got stuck because he was so stuck in the stuff rather than the Savior. And now in verse 14, when the apostles who were in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as of yet he had not fallen upon none of them. And so word got back to Jerusalem that things were happening, the Lord was moving, the Holy Spirit was at work convicting lives and bringing people into the kingdom of God. And the apostles wanted to learn more about what was going on, so they sent Peter and John up there, and when they came, they prayed with the people. Now this is interesting because they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. And a side note there, you notice in verse 16, for as yet he had fallen upon none of them. He, referring to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is indeed a person, the third person of the Trinity. You can grieve the Holy Spirit, you can resist the Holy Spirit, He has feelings, He's part of the Trinity. The Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three in one. That is God. And we can grasp that, but we may not fully understand it. But that's where it is. And here's proof again that He is a person. So He, the Holy Spirit, had not fallen upon them yet. But when you receive the Lord, what is happening? The work of the Holy Spirit draws you unto Christ, right? The work of the Holy Spirit is what convicts you, is what cuts you to the heart to help you realize your sin and your need for a Savior. And when you accept Jesus Christ into your heart, it's the Holy Spirit that seals you unto the day of salvation, right? When you accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and seals you and saves you until your ultimate salvation when you see Jesus Christ face to face. Now this idea of the Holy Spirit falling upon you, what we saw in Acts chapter 2 and so forth, is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit giving us what we need to do the things that God has called us to do. And many times when people come to faith in the Lord, that happens at the same time. But as we see here, it's something that happens a little later on. And sometimes a Christian can go on their whole lives believing in Christ, being set for heaven, but not really having the power to live out their lives. They struggle with sin and they keep wondering was I am I really saved? It might be that the power of the Holy Spirit has not come upon you in this way that you need him to. And that's what had happened here. And Peter and John came and laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were water baptized, and now you could call it the baptism of the Holy Spirit that came upon them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were empowered with the Holy Spirit. Then in verse 17, they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. There we go. And then 18. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Now, again, he accepted the Lord, but he's still into this power thing. He's into this sorcery thing, and he sees the real power in the Holy Spirit, and he thinks he can buy it. The Holy Spirit is not for sale. The Holy Spirit is the grace of God that comes and empowers us for service. Grace, you know what grace means? It means gift. Grace is a gift from God. You cannot purchase it. So he's a little off, and now we see Peter straightening him out. In verse 20, Peter said to him, Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. For your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. Wow. Peter kind of let him have it, didn't he? But Peter, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, again had to make a point. Peter is the one that confronted Ananias and Sapphira, too, right? And they were lying to the Holy Spirit, and they dropped dead as a result. This is important for us to grasp that the gift of God is a gift. Salvation is a gift. We cannot earn salvation. Our works don't get us to heaven. Our works are a result of our relationship with our faith in Him. Our works are an outpouring of the Holy Spirit working in and through our lives. And yet we keep wanting to turn it around and we want to do something to please God. And I guess that's a noble thought, except for the fact there's nothing that we can do that can please God outside of trusting Him and having faith in Him. And this is important because we think we can manipulate God to do the things that we want to do and receive the praise and acceptance from Him that we think we deserve. What do we deserve? We deserve punishment. We need to go back to the beginning. Do you remember the story of Adam and Eve and the apple and how sin entered into God's creation? And from that point on, everything was upside down. And no matter what we did, we just made things worse. Because we were born into sin. We were sinners. What do sinners do? Sin. And God is holy and righteous and cannot have sin in his presence. So he became sin in order for us to become the righteousness of God. What a great exchange. But again, it's a gift that he gave to us, and it's not something that we can earn. You cannot purchase it, you cannot build it, you cannot steal it, you can accept it. And there's a lot of debate whether Simon really accepted Christ, because a lot of people they accept Jesus because it seems like the right thing to do, but it never really clicked. They never really accepted Christ. They never really surrendered their lives totally to Jesus. And then they tried to look like they're godly and pious and all this, but there's really no power there because they really aren't saved. It could be, on the other hand, that he did get saved, but there's a lot of growth to do. You know, when we are saved, we are sanctified, we are set apart, and we are justified before God the Father. When God the Father sees us, he sees Jesus, he sees perfection, he sees sinlessness, he sees righteousness. And that's how we can stand before God. But when I look at myself and say, well, there's some things in my life that are better than they used to be, but there's still a lot of work to be done. That's because I'm still being conformed into the image of Christ. I'm still being changed. Positionally, I'm perfect, but practically speaking, there's some work to be done. And that's where the sanctification happens, where he changes us day to day, grace by grace, faith by faith. And Simon could have very well been at this point where if he would have dropped dead right then, he would be in the presence of God, accepted in the beloved, because he's in Jesus. But practically speaking, he's got a lot to unlearn and now learn and apply to his life. So either way it is, the point is, either we're not saved and we're doing these things like the world, or we are saved and we're being distracted by Jesus by going off and doing these things again. Another way to put this is when Paul talks to the Galatians and he says, You foolish Galatians, you've begun in the spirit, but you want to perfect yourself in the flesh. You realize that there's nothing that you could do to save yourself, and you recognize that the cross was your answer, that Jesus already paid the price for your sin, and now you just need to accept it. It's the work of the Holy Spirit that was done in your life. And now you're sealed and you're set and you're saved. But then you go back to your old ways. You just you want to work your way into heaven. You want to please God by the things that you do instead of walking with Him and trusting in Him. If we're walking without our eyes on Jesus, without dependence on Jesus every day, if we're not walking like the first day that we came to faith in Jesus Christ, then we're not walking in the gospel, and it's not benefiting us. And it's part of what Peter is saying here. Either you're not saved, or you are saved, and you're not walking in a way that reflects that. So it's time for you to repent from your wickedness. And then he says in verse 23, For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. The Holy Spirit gave Peter an insight there. He was poisoned by bitterness. Now it's interesting, poison and bitterness have similar definitions. The definition of poison is bile or gall. You know that stuff that comes out when you have an infection and a cold and all that. It's like poisonous. And I mean we need to get it out of our system. Another word for it is wormwood, which is bitter. And you'll do a study on wormwood in the Bible. That comes up a lot, especially in the book of Revelation. Now, bitterness means extreme wickedness. Extreme wickedness. What was he influenced by all these years? By demonic forces, by the power of Satan. Is there anything more wicked than Satan himself? Who comes to kill, steal, and destroy? He thinks he's doing good things for people and building himself up, but it's killing people because it's telling them a lie. It's not the truth. And Peter says, you're stuck in that. You're not seeing the big truth. You grasp the gospel, but there's so much more to it that you need to apply to your life today. And you're bound up by iniquity. Jesus has come to set you free, but you're bound up in your iniquity, which means injustice of the judge. When the judge does not judge righteously, he judges with injustice. It's also an unrighteousness of the heart and life. What do you really believe? Do you really believe and understand the gospel? Or do you really believe the things that the world has taught you through the years and your own experience and this and that and your own theories of how things work? Peter's saying you're bound by iniquity. Be freed in Jesus' name. Repent. Turn from that false teaching and turn to the truth of the gospel. Because the cross is not only our answer for eternity, it's our answer for here and now. Living in the grace of Jesus Christ is not only to get us saved, but it's to aid us in our walk as he conforms us to his image. And Peter very boldly is saying, You're off base, man. You need to return to Christ. And then in verse 24, Simon answered and said, Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me. I don't know if he was just saying, Ah, just pray for me and I'll be alright. Or he was just so convicted that. He didn't want to approach the Lord himself, and he asked Peter, Would you pray for me? And that's what we're to do as the body of Christ, isn't it? To pray for one another. Or just spend time praying yourself. The most important thing, though, is to pray and to get right with the Lord and to recognize that I've taken the reins back. I've tried to work out my salvation in my own strength, in my flesh, in my fallenness, and it just doesn't work. I need to come back and grab a hold of the grace of God which He freely gives us. So in verse 25, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. So Peter and John, and I believe they take Philip back with him as well. They acknowledge the work that the Lord is doing in Samaria, and now they go back to Jerusalem to give a report. Now, verse 26, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. I think it's very interesting that Luke decided to add this comment on the side. This is desert. What had just happened to Philip? He has been used by God in mighty ways to bring many people to the Lord. People were coming, they want to hear from him. He's even, you know, defeating the power of the darkness and bringing that Simon guy into the light. And it's, you know, amazing things that are happening. I mean, he had a giant church, you know, thousands of people coming to hear. And now the Lord says, I want you to go to the desert where there's no big crowds. There's very little water to drink, very little satisfaction in the great works that you're doing. You see, life in Christ is not about the things that we do necessarily. It's not about the great crowds and the great numbers of influence that we have. Life in Christ is about being a willing vessel to go and to do whatever the Lord calls you to do. And wherever the Lord calls you to go.

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You've been listening to Come On Up with Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross. We're going through the book of Acts, which documents the life of the apostles and believers after Jesus Christ had died and was resurrected. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? He came to earth to live a sinless life, to be the blood sacrifice needed to save all of mankind. Jesus died, but more than that, he rose again and has given us a hope and a future. We are no longer under the law of Moses, and instead we have the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! If you'd like to learn more about Jesus, visit our website, themountaincross.com, and click on how to know God. Again, that's themountaincross.com. Another great and fun resource we have is Faith Film Night, featuring great Christian movies from yesterday and today at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. Join us on the first Monday of every month. Learn more at themountaincross.com or Faith Film Night on Facebook. Come on up is the radio outreach of the Mountain Cross, a ministry out of Waynesville, North Carolina, and we would love to meet you in person. We meet at the Smoky Mountain Cinema Sunday mornings at 10 in order to grow in our faith by simply going through the Word of God verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Learn more about us at themountaincross.com. Thanks for listening, and we hope you come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.