A Look At The Holy Spirit Series

Acts 8:9-25

A Look at the Holy Spirit

Introduction

A. (Look at TV and Read Title)

B. Boy if that does not catch you attention I don’t know what will

C. Is that possible?

D. I thought once you were born again everything was cool?

E. Wow, today passage, I will confess, really cause some intense pondering

F. I usually am working on one sermon, well starting another sermon

G. Since I did not have to preach last week, I have been pondering this text longer then I normally get to

H. Let me be totally honest with you guys

I. This portion of Acts has some really difficult concepts to grasp

J. It is not one of those read and get it immediately passages

K. I give you are warning, some of what I am going to say is going to totally frustrate a lot of you

L. You will get mad, I will probably raise more questions then I will answer.

M. But this passage is very vital to us

N. Today we are going to look at 3 Questions about the Holy Spirit

O. We will look at:

a. Is the Holy Spirit Greater Then the “great power”

b. When does the Holy Spirit Come

c. How Much Does the Holy Spirit Cost

I. Is The Holy Spirit greater then the “great power”? (9-13)

A. Explanation

1. Philip was having a very fruitful ministry down in Samaria

2. As we ended 2 weeks ago we said that there was great joy in that city

3. Because of this, there were many people who were interested in what was going on

4. One of them was Simon

a) Simon was a sorcerer

(1) Now do not equate a sorcerer to a modern day magician,

(2) Most magicians today use slight of hand methods to trick you

(3) Simon was the psychics, chanelers, palm reader séances participator, tarot card, horoscope type of sorcerer

b) Simon had built up quite a lucrative business

(1) He had people from all walks of life interested, and by interested we mean paying customers, thinking that he had divine power, they even called him the “great Power”

5. Soon Simon Inc. started to go down hill, he started to loose his fan base

6. All these people started to follow Phillip

7. Being the smart business man that Simon was, he went and checked out the completion

8. Wow! This Philip guy has some good tricks

9. Simon long for what Phillip Had

10. He wanted that ability, that power, Simon realized that his powers he had being the “great power” were no match for what Phillip Had

B. Application

11. What can we learn from this?

12. I want you to look at vs. 13. You notice it says, “Simon himself believed and was baptized”.

a) Now here is the question that this passage raises

b) Was Simon Saved?

c) Sure he raised his hand during the invitation and even came down front at the Alter and “prayed” the sinner prayer

d) Heck he even went so far as to be baptized

e) But was he saved?

f) His actions later in the passage would bring make you wonder, would make you doubt the sincerity of his commitment

g) But note the Bible says that he was, and the Bible doesn’t lie. If that is the case then it is possible to loose your salvation

h) So was he saved, and then loosed his salvation? Or was it never a genuine conversation?

(1) We just don’t know!

(2) Only God know the condition of a person’s heart

i) Now what we can clearly see in this passage is the motives for Simon believing and being baptized

(1) It was for the power

(2) It was for the signs and wonders

13. We must be careful in what we use as motives for our salvation, and for telling others about salvation

14. Salvation is not an End

15. Salvation is a beginning

16. That is a concept that has been misinterpreted for a long time know

17. The Goal of salvation is not a ticket to Heaven

18. The Goal of Salvation is relationship with the Creator

19. The Goal of Salvation is not getting “great powers”

20. The Goal of Salvation is serving God

21. WE also see that Simon, even thought he was an accomplished sorcerer recognized that his powers were no match for the Holy Spirit powers

22. You will not find anything greater then the Holy Spirit

23. I need to make this warning to all of you

24. We are not to be “dabbling” in psychics, channelers, palm reader séances participator, tarot card, horoscope type of sorcerer

a) These are the powers that Simon was using

b) Like it or not, these are the powers that the Devil has