Turn back with me over to Acts
8. This has always been a very intriguing
passage of scripture to me. I know it's hard whenever we
read it to enter into what it's saying first time. I've had the
advantage of reading it and reading it and reading it and reading
it, but I've always wondered at why this passage says what
it says. And I know now. And I don't want
this to be educational, but it was for me. And I pray that the
Lord would make this a blessing. But tonight we're going to look
at belief of the truth in baptism. belief of the truth in baptism
and what makes the difference over whether or not it's true
belief in true baptism or a false belief in a false baptism. Look at verse 1, let's read up
to where we're going to begin at verse 9. Chapter 8 verse 1,
Saul was consenting unto Stephen's death and at that time there
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.
And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen
to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and
hailing men and women, committed them to prison. 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
a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them,
and many taken with palsies that were lame were healed, and there
was great joy in that city. Now verse 9 says, 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. Sorcery means magic. He was a
magician. And it says he bewitched. That
means he astounded people. Just astounded him. And he made
him believe that he was some great one. And what that means
is he was a false prophet. That's what it means. He was
a false prophet. A magician is nothing more than a professional
liar. That's what a magician is, right?
I am going to solve this person in half. I'm just kidding. That's what he is. I'm gonna
make this rabbit disappear. Did he really? No. He's a professional
liar. He's a man who astonishes people
with his lies and so is a false prophet. So is a false prophet. Oh, the spirit has got me speaking
gibberish. Does he really? No. No. He doesn't. God called me on
the telephone last night. I heard a man on, when I was
a kid, I heard a man on TV say that. God called me on the telephone
last night. Did he really? No. No. He's lying. Don't you worry. God loves everybody. Does he really? No. No. Lies. All lies. Verse nine, 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 to whom they all gave heed. Our Lord said, you let a man
come in his own name, pushing his own name and you'll receive
him. And he's right. You know what
name Benny hand pushes Benny hand. Do you know what name Joyce
Meyer pushes? Joyce Meyer. Verse 10 says, To whom they all
gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is
the great power of God. That's what every false preacher
on the face of this planet wants men and women to believe, that
he is some great one and that he is the great power of God.
when the truth of the matter is they're all just sinners.
They're all just sinners, just like the rest of us. We're all
just sinners in the hands of God. That's all we are. Verse
11 says, and to him they had regard because that of 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 started listening to Philip
preach the things of the Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ.
And they'd been listening to Simon preach his lies and preach
his lies, but when Philip opened up the Word of God to them, they
went everywhere preaching the Word. Simon didn't open up the
Word of God. He couldn't preach from the Word
of God. And when Philip opened up the word of God and the things
concerning the kingdom of God, and when he preached Christ to
them, it exposed all of those lies. That's when it hit these
people in Samaria. We have been lied to. And they
quit following Simon and they turned to the true and living
God. Verse 12 says, But when they
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God, In the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women. Now, what does that mean, they
were baptized? Well, here is the definition of that word in
the concordance. A concordance is a Bible dictionary,
a Hebrew and a Greek Bible dictionary. All right, here's what that word
means right here in this verse. It means to make whelmed, as
in overwhelmed. fully wet, to cover wholly with
a fluid, to moisten, to dip. So it's talking about water baptism. All right. Look at verse 36 right
here in Acts chapter eight. And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water and the eunuch said, see, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized
in water? Now why did they do that? Why
did they do that? Why were they baptized in water? Turn with me over to Acts chapter
10. Acts chapter 10, look at verse
44. While Peter yet spake these words,
the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they
of the circumcision, that's the Jews, which believed were astonished
as many as came with Peter because that on the Gentiles also was
poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak
with tongues and magnify God Then answered Peter, can any
man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received
the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he asked them if they would
like to be baptized. That's not what it says. Can any man forbid water that
these should not be baptized which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we? And he recommended to them that
it would probably be best if they were baptized. It says in verse 48, he commanded
them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. In the name of the
Lord, not in their own name, not I have decided that I want
to be baptized so I can be saved and I've made my choice and I'm
trusting in my choice. True baptism says God chose me. Why do you want to be baptized?
I want to be baptized because God chose me and God put me in
Christ so that I could die in Christ. so that I could be buried
in Christ, so that I could rise with Christ, so that I could
live in Christ. Let me show you that over in
Acts 19. Go with me over to Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19 verse 1 says,
And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul,
having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus. And finding
certain disciples, he said unto them, Have you received the Holy
Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, We have
not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And
he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they
said unto John's baptism. The Christian way. Everybody's
doing it. Verse 4, Then Paul said, John
verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, a changed mind
about God, saying unto the people that they should believe on him
which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus and
everything that that means, the God-man. Paul declared unto them
what John was preaching. He wasn't preaching a Christian
way. He was preaching a man. He was preaching a work. He said,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Verse 5, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus. The true belief brought on the
one true baptism. They realized that a false confession
is no confession at all. It's no confession at all. So
that's why believers who've left the lies of religion and have
turned to the truth and the true and living God, that's why they
confess all of that in baptism. I renounce my past, I renounce
everything I believed, and I just confess Christ. That's it. And they do that because it's
a commandment. It's a commandment of God. Is there any salvation
in the tap water? No. Salvation is in Christ. Does a person have to be baptized
in order to be saved? No. No. A person has to be baptized to
obey God. That's it. Jared and Lauren are
going to get married soon. Does it scare you when I say
your name? Do you have to get married in order to be in love
and live together for the rest of your life? No. No. You have to get married in order
to obey God. People fall in love and live
together all the time, right? You have to get married in order
to obey God. The love is already there. The desire to be together
is already there. You have to confess that before
God and men in the ceremony of marriage to obey God. That's
why we do these things, these commandments. It's to obey God.
Alright, go back with me to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8 verse 12. But when they believed Philip
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, the things
concerning the kingdom of God, what things is he talking about? What things did Philip preach
to him? Go over to Luke 24. I've always loved this. You know
it well, but I love this. Luke 24, look at verse 15. And it came to pass that while
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went
with them, but their eyes were holding that they should not
know him. And he said unto them, what manner of communications
are these that you have one to another as you walk and are sad?
And to one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said
unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known
the things which are come to pass there in these days? And
he said unto them, What things? What things? And they said unto
him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed,
and word before God and all the people. He was perfect. He was
sinless. And how the chief priest and
our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and have crucified
him. He died. He died on a cross at
Calvary. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel. It was. He did. And beside all this, today is
the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women
also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulcher.
And when they found not his body, they came saying that he had
also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulcher
and found it even so as the women had said, but him they saw not. He's not there. He's risen. Verse 25, then he said unto them,
O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered
instead of you? Ought not Christ to have suffered
instead of you? And then after that, to enter
into His glory. That's what Philip preached unto
them. That's what he preached. Back over in Acts chapter 8,
verse 12 says, But when they believed Philip preaching the
things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ,
they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself
believed also. This magician, Simon. I'm just going to go ahead and
tell you that he made a false profession. It says he believed
also, and it says he was baptized. But verse 21, if you look right
here at Acts 8 verse 21, Peter said, Thou hast neither part
nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight
of God. He made a false profession. But he believed something. He
believed something, like so many do. You can go to most any church,
And ask somebody in that church, do you believe that Jesus Christ
was born of a virgin? And they'll say yes. Yeah. And they mean it. Ask them, do
you honestly believe that he was dead and he arose from the
grave? And they will say yes. And they
mean it. They have a historical belief. I believe those facts. They believe something, but the
scripture says the devils believe. That's what the scripture says.
Verse 13, then Simon himself believed also, and when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles
and signs which were done. He wondered at all these signs.
I thought about those sorcerers and magicians in Exodus, when
Moses was going in, and those magicians of Pharaoh, they finally
acknowledged to him, this is the finger of God. That's what
they said. We know it is. They knew they
were liars. They were magicians. And they
said, what he's doing, we can't do it. This is the finger of
God. But even though they acknowledged
that to Pharaoh, it didn't change the fact that their heart was
still hard, just like Pharaoh's. And this man right here, the
heart of his soul is just as hard as Pharaoh's. Verse 14 says,
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. That is the part that has always
intrigued me. They believed. And they were
baptized, and then Peter and John came down to pray for them
that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Now that's not saying
that they believed and they were baptized, but the Holy Ghost
hadn't come to them yet. It's not saying that. The only
way that a sinner can believe is through the Holy Ghost. That's
the only way. That's the work of the Spirit. He will convince men of sin,
of righteousness. The Holy Ghost is the one who
lays hold of a sinner and immerses that sinner into Christ. That is the spiritual baptism. Whenever a sinner gets in water,
they're making a confession of something. They are confessing
outwardly what the Spirit has done spiritually. Okay? When that spirit takes
a sinner and puts that sinner in Christ, that sinner has been
baptized into Christ, immersed into Christ. The Holy Ghost had
already come to them, but He had not given them the gifts,
these miraculous gifts to perform miracles, speaking in tongues
and healing the sick. Now turn with me over to Mark
16. Mark 16, look at verse 15. Our Lord said
unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they
cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.
They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." He said
these will be the signs that will confirm the gospel. It's
going to go into all the world. And men and women, or men who
know this gospel and who can preach this gospel, they're going
to take it into places that have never heard this gospel, ever. Places that speak languages that
these preachers cannot speak, not natively. But they're going to be able
to go into these places and perfectly declare the gospel in whatever
language they go to. These gifts of tongues and he
said my spiritual word is going to be proven by physical things.
The sick are going to be healed. We have been reading in Acts
how they were bringing all these sick people to Peter and laying
them out in the streets and he was walking around healing them.
The sick are going to be healed. The dead are going to be raised.
They raised dead people. The blind are going to see. And
he said, my word is going to be confirmed in the hearts of
my people. This gospel is going to go out
free from the law. The Old Testament is law, law,
law, and the gospel is free from. How do we know this is from God?
You see that blind person? Okay. Now, does he still confirm his
word this way? Does he still prove his word
this way? You could walk into one church,
and you're gonna see men smacking each other in the forehead, trying
to cast devils out of each other. And their mouth is just rambling
in an obnoxious way, and they're calling it new tongues. What
that's supposed to be is a new language that we're all gonna
start speaking that we've never spoken before. And they got each
other laid out in the floor, and they're laying hands on each
other, trying to heal each other. Is that the work of God? Really? Is that God confirming His Word? Really? You can walk into another
church and there's going to be a pastor up there holding a rattlesnake
while he preaches and he's going to get bit and he's eventually
going to die because he will resist medical treatment. Is
that God confirming His Word? Here's the answer, okay? Go with
me back to Acts chapter 8. Here's the answer. Verse 17 says, Then laid they
their hands on them, this is Peter and John, and they received
the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through
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. God gave the apostles
the ability to transfer these miraculous gifts. They could
do them and they could give you the ability to do them. They
could give it to other men, but the other man could not transfer
them to anybody else. They could do them, but they
couldn't give them. Verse 6 here in Acts chapter
8 says, the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which
Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Philip
had the gifts of the Holy Ghost. but he couldn't give them to
anybody else. That's why in verse 14, the apostles which were at
Jerusalem sent Peter and John, two apostles, so that the gospel
would spread mightily and be believed and be confirmed by
signs and wonders throughout Samaria. When the apostles died,
And when the men that they gave these gifts to died and they
went out and the apostles during this time were writing the New
Testament, it had not been written yet. Okay? And we believe that the things
that Paul said and the things that Peter said and the things
that John said are the things that Jesus Christ is saying.
We believe it's the Word of God. And God used signs and wonders
to convince the world of this. This is the Word of God. Paul
said it, yeah I know, but it's the Word of God. Okay? When the apostles died, And when
the men that they gave the gifts to died, the gifts of confirmation
ended. They ended. They are no more. That's why our Bible says what
it says about these things. And that's why men who do them
right now are in error. They are no more. The men who
do them right now are just magicians. Lying to people. Now here's the
problem for this man, Simon. He believed the signs and the
wonders, but he did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. He wanted the gifts, but he didn't
want the giver. That's the difference. That's
the difference in a true belief in a false belief. He wanted
the glory, but he didn't want the glory of God. Does that make
sense? He wanted redemption. Who doesn't
want redemption? He wanted redemption, but he
didn't want the redeemer. The whole world wants heaven.
The whole world wants heaven. The heart of a true believer
wants him. The difference in a faith that
is unto life, everybody believes something. The difference in
a faith that's unto life, in a faith that's unto death is
in this heart. It's in this heart. That's the
difference right here. It is found in the heart. Verse
18 says, When Simon saw that through 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 you have spoken come upon me. That's what
Pharaoh said. That's what Pharaoh said. He
didn't say, oh, I have sinned against God. Oh God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. He didn't say that. Here's what
he said. You pray that none of these things which you have said
come upon me. He wanted forgiveness. The whole
world wants forgiveness. The heart of a true believer
wants the forgiver. If I could just have him. If
I could just have him. I acknowledge my transgressions,
my sin is ever before me. Against thee, the only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight." You know, it's one
thing to believe that Christ died for sinners. It's another
thing altogether to believe that Christ died for me. I am the
sinner. I'm the sinner. That's a heart that's right with
God. That's what a heart that's right with God is. It's a heart
that is in agreement with God. You're right. This word is right. I'm the center. And Christ is
the savior. You're right. I can do nothing. And he does everything you're
right. David said, Create in me a clean heart, one that agrees
with God, one that believes Him, one that confesses Him. Verse
25 says, And they, when they had testified and preached the
word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel
in many villages of the Samaritans. The gospel started spreading
over all the world. Aren't we glad that the gospel
didn't stay in Jerusalem? But that God sent it over here,
too. Maybe it'll start to spread here.
Maybe so. I hope the Lord will bless that.
Let's all stand together.