Please stay tuned and at the end of the program we’ll let you know where to send your questions for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future Contending for the Faith. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. We turn now to our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts. Here again are Dave and Tom: In this, our Understanding the Scriptures segment we are in the Books of Acts chapter 8, and we are going to pick up with verse 9: “But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime 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, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.” Sounds like an interesting guy.
Dave:
Well, apparently he had some powers from some source, it certainly was not from God, “bewitched them with sorceries.” In other words, these were lying signs and wonders. So, it was quite appropriate that Philip would come with the real thing. I guess it would take that to convince these people.
Tom:
You don’t think this was just delusions, slight-of-hand, at which some would say today, O, no, there is no such thing as demonic power, some within the church, by the way.
Dave:
Well Tom, I can’t say for certain. It says he bewitched them, so they were deceived. So maybe, it was trickery, but whatever it was it had convinced them and they thought he was this great one, but he is going to see something that he can’t explain it away.
Tom:
Dave, when it says sorceries, he used sorcery verse 9, and bewitched them with sorceries. We know the scripture, Greek here, could relate to drugs; we know Revelation certainly indicates that. Pharmacia, and some say pharmacia, from which we get the word, pharmacy.
Dave:
Tom, I don’t know, but we do know that he had convinced these people that he had great supernatural powers and that he was some great person and he was the great power of God, this was what it says. By what means he did this, I don’t know, but they all gave heed and he had bewitched them with sorceries. Now I know that that word, pharmacia is used for sorceries, but I think it also could have some application besides drugs. In other words, I don’t think he fed drugs to them, I don’t know, Tom.
Tom:
Well then, let’s push on. Verse 12, “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 Dave, this gets a little bit confusing—somebody said, See, he believed, he became a believer, but we know from other verses, I’m thinking of John chapter 8:31,32, it says, And they believed on him, talking about the Jews, but they really didn’t truly believe, did they?
Dave:
Yeah, Tom, here again, it’s difficult to understand. It says, Simon himself believed and he was baptized, but it sounds as though he believed on the basis of the miracles. Maybe that means he hadn’t really understood, you know, the doctrine that Christ died for his sins. Once again, Tom, I don’t know, but we got a further hint of that a little bit later on, but he is watching these miracles and signs with great wonder, that the Lord is doing through Philip.
Tom:
Dave, what do you say to the person out there that says, I’m listening to these guys and they don’t seem to know what they are talking about.
Dave:
Well, Tom, we are trying to go by the Bible, and sometimes we must confess that we don’t say this very much, this program we’ve said it a lot, but sometimes there are things that are difficult to be understood. And I would say, in this case, the Bible is just telling us what happened, not giving us an analysis of the heart of Simon, but we get some hint of that in the following verses.
Tom:
We can certainly look to other verses to see if it bears upon this particular verse. So, I guess that’s what I’m kind of thinking for the sake of our listeners, we’re privileged to take them through the scriptures, we are not the end-all, be-all, we are not the final source here and we encourage them to be Bereans, to search the scriptures themselves, to check out what we say. These verses, this isn’t the gospel, in effect, these are not the basis doctrines of scripture, which are very clear and there’s no waffling around about them. But there are some things, because of the lack of information, we shouldn’t get too deeply involved in.
Dave:
And there were certain things that are happening here, Tom. This is the beginning of the church in Samaria, and this was not repeated on down through history, this was a beginning, and there were some special graces from God at that time. In verses 14-24: “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 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.” Well, you get some interesting indications there. He says, Your money perish with you. We see that Simon is mainly interested in miracles and these signs and wonders, which he pretended to do, I guess, he bewitched the people to deceive them. Now he would like to carry on in this miracle ministry; he has wrong motives. I would have to say, Tom, that’s the motive of many people today, they run from one place to another, pursuing signs and wonders, and there are so many young ministers who want to develop a signs and wonders ministry. That’s not it is all about. Now, Simon, he is willing even to pay for this. So, he doesn’t understand what is happening and Peter says, Your money perish with you—verse 21, Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. So, the heart has to be right, we talked about that earlier, and apparently his heart was not right.
Tom:
Dave, can we go back to verse 12, and just get your comment on this. “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.” But then later we see that they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit, how does that work?
Dave:
This is one of those very difficult passages.
Tom:
Boy, today is our day, Dave.
Dave:
Today is a tough day. There are those who say, Well, the apostles had to come to show the identification of the home church in Jerusalem, or the apostles with this. Again, I think this was a special instance, the beginning of the church, and why God caused this to happen, I don’t know, because it certainly doesn’t happen today. By one spirit we are all baptized into one body, 1 Corinthians 12, tells us. I believe that a person must be born of the Spirit of God to be saved, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This just has to be a special case, I don’t know, Tom, but it’s telling us what happened and the apostles recognized that. You know, there were signs and wonders to let people know that this was genuine, that it was identified with the apostles themselves, and with Jesus Christ and those He had chosen, and Tom, certainly this is not what goes on today. Now, there are people who believe that this is what goes on today: you get saved and then they lay hands on you and you receive the Holy Spirit. But there are enough instances in the Book of Acts where that did not happen, that that is not the norm, so this had to be a special case for some particular reason.
Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can tune in. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.
Does God love only some of us? His He already determined those elect who will live forever with Him in heaven? Are you one of the elect? And if not, is there anything you can do about it? The doctrine of Calvinism, its five-points, and their implications for the body of Christ are discussed and debated in two powerful books from Dave Hunt and The Berean Call. Debating Calvinism:, Five Points, Two Views, features a written debate between Dave Hunt and James White, published by Multnomah. In an easy to read format, Hunt and White exchange energetic letters addressing this long-argued topic. Co-author of The Seduction of Christianity, and co-host of Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Dave Hunt: The influence of Calvinism is growing greatly in the church today. It’s very important that we understand and we did debate in Calvinism so that you could have a debate in writing. You can go back and forth and read exactly what each side said, think it over carefully, rather than an emotional debate.
And in what some are calling, the definitive work on this topic, don’t miss Dave Hunt’s What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God. In this recently expanded and up-dated edition, Dave exhaustively documents the unscriptural nature of this doctrine, that comes perilously close to blasphemy. Once again, Dave Hunt: We did a new revised, up-dated edition of, What Love is This? because so many Calvinists were criticizing what I had said. I went through all of their criticisms and answered them, in this new and expanded version.
Debating Calvinism, Five Points, Two Views, and What Love is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God in e-book or hard cover are both available from The Berean Call. Information on how to order in just a moment. If you are a serious student of God’s Word, we offer a wide variety of items that you will find helpful, from books and tracts to audio and video tapes, CD-ROM, our internet website and much more. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us at our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast, ask for Program #3805, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. Get a pen or pencil ready, we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.
Next week, we’ll continue our series of programs based on Dave Hunt’s new book, Judgment Day, and, the truth about Palestine. In Religion in the News, 18 wheels of terror, we’ll take a look at that story and address the question: Can you be fooled by Satan? We hope you can join us. If you have questions or comments about this program, we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry, is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for tuning in and invite you to join us again next week. Until then, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily. You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us toll free at our order #877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible. Or, visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. Join us again next week for Search the Scriptures Daily, featuring Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon.
