Was Simon a True Believer?

Search the Scriptures Daily Program 3905d.mp3 Transcript follows: Please stay with us 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.  Now our final segment:       UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts.  Here again are Dave and Tom:  This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment and we are in the Book of Acts chapter 8.  Dave, last week we read through 24, and we could start with 25, but I want to just back up a second.  The last two verses:  “For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of  iniquity.”  This is Peter speaking to Simon, who was into the occult, into sorcery, into false signs and wonders.       Dave: And deceived these people in Samaria.       Tom: Right, and he was a  man of reputation for just those things.  Verse 24 says, “Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.”  You know, Dave, I think this interesting from the standpoint that it looks like Simon had become a believer.  Verse 13 says, “Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.”  But when you look at his actions here you see that his whole interest in believing and responding to what Peter had said was all about self, all about what he wanted, what he could get out of it.       Dave: Yeah, Tom, it’s difficult to say, you see there are people on both sides.  He offered Peter money so that he would be able to buy this talent and be able to cause people to receive the Holy Spirit by laying his hands on them and in verse 20, Peter said, My money perish with thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money, not talking about perishing.  Then he said, “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter:  for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”  Now what that means, you wouldn’t be able to lay hands on people and have these miracles happen, or whether it means he is not even a Christian, but yet he seems to repent, and he says, Pray to the Lord that none of these things will come upon me,       Tom: But it’s still a self-serving kind of thing, not that we don’t pray that way sometimes.       Dave: Well yes, but Tom, it’s possible for a true Christian to be self-centered, that’s the problem.  So, he could be a false believer like we have in John chapter 2, where it says, When Jesus was in Jerusalem to peace day, seeing and hearing the miracles he did, many believed in His name.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, He knew all men, He knew what was in them, because no man had to tell Him what was in their hearts.  So apparently, although it says they believed on His name, that they were not real Christians.  And you get the same thing in John 8, where it says in verse 30, “As He spake these words, many believed on Him.”  In verse 31, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in  my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  And we know the story, they began to argue, they said, oh we’ve not been in bondage to anybody.  Well, they are under the heel of Rome, they don’t seem to recognize that. And finally, verse 59, the last verse in the chapter, these people of whom it said they believed on Him, they take up stones to stone Jesus. In verse 44, “Jesus said, You are of your father the devil, and the works of your father you will do.”  So obviously, every time the Bible says someone believed on Him it doesn’t mean that they believed the truth, they believed the saving faith, it could indicate a false belief, a false profession.  So, which was true of Simon?  It’s hard to say, because Peter says, you have no lot nor part in this matter.  But Simon is repenting and he asked him to pray, I don’t want that to happen to me.  So, he’s not arguing, but he is repenting.  So I think Simon probably turned out well in the end, we hope so, but it’s a lesson to all of us.  See, what he wanted to do was, he wanted to use the gifts of God to his own ends, maybe he was going to charge for doing this.       Tom: Or become a man of reputations it says he was prior to coming to the  Lord, if, indeed, he did.       Dave: But Tom, there are plenty of people on TV, plenty of people in pulpits, pastors even, who, I’m afraid, use the gospel, use God’s Word to feather their own nests, to get something for themselves.  Now, are they saved or are they not saved, only the Lord knows.  But this is a warning and a good example.       Tom: Verse 25:  “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.  Dave, this was an act of obedience and we know, early in Acts, they aren’t going out to the Gentiles, out to the other nations, but this seems to be a first indication that the least of the Gentiles, those who the Jews traditionally had rejected, but now these believers were open to.       Dave: Well, of course Jesus had brought the gospel to the Samaritans, the woman at the well, and so forth.  So I suppose that wasn’t such a big step because these people were sort of looked upon as half Jews, or whatever kind of a mixed race.  But when you get up to chapter 10, and Peter goes into the house of Cornelius, the Gentile, wow, then the sparks fly with the other apostles.  But they, at least, are beginning to do that.  Jesus had said, Go into all the world.  They don’t understand that, and yet it is all through the Old Testament.  For example, go way back to Genesis 12, verse 3, “In thee and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.”  Well, there it is.  If you went to Psalm 22, it’s talking about the crucifixion of Christ, “They pierced my hands and my feet,” and verse 27 says, “All the world will remember, they will turn to the Lord.”  In other words, there will be a remembrance of this crucifixion throughout all of the world.  Or, if you went to Malachi 1:11, it says, “From the rising of the sun, even to the going down of the same, God says, My name will be great among the Gentiles.”  So, all through the Old Testament you have the indication that the Messiah will redeem the whole world, that the Messiah will not exclusively be for the Jews.  And, Jesus Himself had said, Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.  But I’m getting ahead of us here, Tom.  They didn’t understand that at all.  Acts 8:26:  “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”       Tom: Now Dave, is that territory that the scripture is referring to, is it similar or is it the same as the Gaza we’ve just addressed, and which the Jews are being removed, as we speak?       Dave: Well, Gaza was one of  five cities of the Philistines.  Gath, you remember, that’s where Goliath came from and he had four brothers.  So Gaza then, somehow, that region took on that name, and I would say, Yes, that would be the same area.       Tom: “And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet the prophet.”             Dave: Well, Tom, God knows this man’s heart, He knew Simon’s heart and He knows this man’s heart.  He knows this man is going to open his heart to Christ, and so He brings Philip right there.  I’ve had that happen, you’ve had that happen.  So often that the Lord sits me next to someone on an airplane.  Now, it’s  not that He transports me there miraculously, or he causes the other person to get on a different plane, although sometimes the plane I’m on won’t fly and I have to get on another one, you know.  So that does happen, but this is God bringing two people together.  And you know, I’ve said it many times, Tom, I sometimes say it to the person I am sitting next to.  I can prove the existence of God by who He sits me next to on airplanes, and the very fact that you are sitting next to me is part of that proof, because how many people on this plane are really interested in what we are talking about, it would open their hearts.  So, next week we will have to get into this story, remarkable situation because right at that moment the Ethiopian is reading about Christ, reading about the One who is going to die for the sins of the world.  And this is when Philip appears, comes right along there and he asks him a good question, but we will get into that.       Tom:  And it’s a great encouragement knowing that all you need to be is open and willing and God will provide the answers for you.       Dave: Amen.       Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can join us.  This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.       Does God love only some of us?  Has 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 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 updated 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 updated 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.  And now, to tell you more about our ministry, here is TBC’ Administrative Director Tom McMahon:  The name, The Berean Call, is taken from the Book of Acts Chapter 17 verses 10 and 11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek city of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica.  To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah sent from God.  They were commended for being noble or fair minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically, because they searched the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle saying was found in God’s Word.  That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry.  Our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior.       Gary: Are you sincerely seeking the Shepherd? Or simply following the flock.  Can you find the Bible at the box office?  The new book from The Berean Call by T. A. McMahon, Showtime for the Sheep? The Church and the Passion of the Christ, challenges readers.  Is Mel Gibson’s blockbuster film true to the Bible?  Have cinematic biblical ethics become the super tools of today’s evangelism?  This important new book looks at the increasing use of entertainment and amusement to teach the Word of God, and the expanding efforts to make the gospel message more seeker sensitive;  the advancing use of ecumenism and the resultant confusion between Catholicism and Biblical Christianity; the  multiplying affect of doctrinal error through increasingly popular paraphrased Bibles, and the proliferation of visual renditions of scripture.  Executive Director of The Berean Call, and co-author of, The Seduction of Christianity, T. A. McMahon:  The title of the book is a question, Showtime for the Sheep? And I’m asking the question and I have a great concern, having a media background myself, that maybe we are moving into something which, even though it has elements in it that seem to refer to scripture, is it entertainment, is it for amusement, and do those elements draw us away from God’s truth?       This book calls the shepherds and the sheep of Christ to reconsider their rush into media driven ways of doing church contrary to God’s ways.  Read this Berean’s response to Bible movie mania, Showtime for the Sheep? The Church and the Passion of the Christ, by T. A. 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McMahon and Martin and Deidre Bobgan.  In Religion in the News, which is better, a psychiatrist or a witch doctor?  We’ll take a look at that story and address the question:  If you can’t make decisions, which psychotherapy should you choose?  We hope you can tune in.  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 joining us and invite you to tune in again next week.   In the meantime, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily.  For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at  PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708.  Call us toll free at our order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org.