INTRO.- ILL.- In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation for Easter and Passover holidays and decided to contact the local ACLU about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while the atheists had no holiday to celebrate.
The ACLU jumped on the opportunity to once again pick up the cause of the godless and assigned their sharpest attorneys to the case.
The case was brought before a wise judge who after listening to the long, passionate presentation of the ACLU lawyers, promptly banged his gavel and declared, "Case dismissed!"
The lead ACLU lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. And the Jews--in addition to Passover they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah ...and yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!"
The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said "Obviously your client is too confused to know about, or for that matter, even celebrate the atheists’ holiday!"
The ACLU lawyer pompously said "We are aware of no such holiday for atheists, just when might that be, your honor?"
The judge said "Well it comes every year on exactly the same date - April 1st!" (smart judge!)
It’s always great when good conquers evil, isn’t it? And good will conquer evil. Ultimately and eventually God will conquer ALL the evil in this world. When God is in it, good always and ultimately conquers evil. Want proof? Here a few examples.
- God delivered righteous Noah and his family from the destruction of the flood.
- God scattered the people of the earth after the tower of Babel because they were getting too big for their own britches.
- God rescued Lot and his two daughters from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mrs. Lot made a fatal mistake, however.
- Joseph was delivered by God from his hateful brothers and eventually made the ruler over all of Egypt.
- God delivered the shepherd boy David from the giant Goliath with only a slingshot.
- God delivered the three Hebrew boys from the fiery furnace when they refused to fall down and worship an image of gold.
- Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because he would not fall down and worship king Darius, but God shut the mouths of those lions and Daniel was unharmed. And the stories go on and on.
PROP.- In our text, let’s consider the procedure of how good conquered evil.
1- Philip preached - that’s the good
2- Simon boasted - that’s the bad
3- People believed - that’s the good
4- Simon backslid - that’s the bad
5- Peter warned - that’s the good
I. PHILIP PREACHED - THAT’S THE GOOD
4Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Philip preached the Word. He preached Jesus as the Christ, the savior. That’s good! In fact, that’s probably one of the best things that could be done in our day and time. Why? Because people need to hear about Christ in order to believe and obey and be saved.
Rom. 10:14-15 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
ILL.- I’m not sure if you got the whole story but our Austin Sandy went forward at the commitment time at church camp this summer. He said he wanted to become a minister, a preacher of the gospel. I asked him here in church if anything happened at church camp. And he said he got a pretty girlfriend. After church I asked him if he told his parents. He said, "No," so he went and told them. I said, "What did they say?" They said, "Where are you going to get the money to go to Bible College?" (that story may have changed now)
If somebody wants to preach then we should encourage them all we can, because this world needs more preaching of the gospel of Christ.
ILL.- Martin Luther is reported to have said, “Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to His honor and not to applause.... Although I am old (he was 48) and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach.”
I don’t care how long it is, but the gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be preached.
The problem is that most of our preaching is done to people who are already Christians. Philip the evangelist preached primarily to non-Christian audiences. And the real point is that every Christian is responsible for preaching Christ or presenting Christ outside the church services.
ILL.- As Robert Speer said, "Any man who has a religion is bound to do one of two things with it: change it or spread it. If it isn’t true, he must give it up. If it is true, he must give it away."
How do we do this? By speaking. By witnessing. By talking about Christ and Christianity out in the world and on the job. If there ever was a time to talk, it’s now. IT MUST BE DONE.
II. SIMON BOASTED - THAT’S THE BAD
ILL.- Allan, a mechanic, was removing a cylinder head from a Harley-Davidson motorbike, when he spotted a world-famous heart surgeon in his garage. The heart surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike.
Allan shouted across the garage, ’Hey Doc can I ask you a question?’ The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to Allan. Allan straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, ’So Doc, look at this engine. I also can open hearts, take valves out, fix ’em, put in new parts and when I finish this will work just like a new one. ’So how come I work for a pittance and you get the really big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?’
The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over and whispered in Allan’s ear, ’Try doing it with the engine running.’
Now that’s boasting. In that doctor’s case, his boasting was somewhat acceptable. However, most of the time boasting about yourself, your skills, etc. is not acceptable.
9Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." 11They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.
Simon boasted that he was someone great. Who does that sound like? Any time we go around boasting about who we are, how smart we are, how much money we have, what we can do, etc. we are headed for big trouble. We are robbing God of His rightful glory and we’re in league with the devil. If we do well in life, it’s because of Him and He deserves the glory.
Prov. 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." In God’s eyes, the way up and down.
I Cor. 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
III. PEOPLE BELIEVED - THAT’S THE GOOD
12But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Simon himself believed and was baptized.
Any time people believe in Christ and are baptized into Him, that’s good! That’s what we are working for. But how to get people to believe in Christ is the million dollar question.
They believed Philip as he preached the good news. Perhaps the problem is believability. Are we believable when we talk about Christ?
Being believable means that we first must believe the message of Christ in order to pass it on. Are we fully convinced? Do we believe that the message of Christ is the most important thing in the world? Do we truly believe in life after death? If so, what makes us believable?
ILL.- As you all know, the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death was August 16th. It was reported that some 75,000 people migrated to Memphis from around the world to visit Graceland and buy memorabilia. Here is one story from a lady who came from England.
Lillian Dunk, a 65-year-old homemaker from Birmingham, England, said she and her financial-broker husband have traveled to Tupelo every year since 1997 to feed her Elvis addiction.
"I’m just absolutely mad about Mr. Presley," said Dunk, who uses her favorite Elvis tune, the inspirational "If I Can Dream," as her cell phone ring tone.
Dunk said she and her husband are traveling with her sister and sister’s husband for the 10-day trip. They are staying at a casino hotel in Tunica, about 20 miles south of Memphis. And, she wasn’t shy in saying she and her husband were planning to spend about 4,000 British pounds _ roughly $8,000 _ not including air fare.
"I get withdrawal symptoms if I don’t come every year," she said in a telephone interview from the birthplace. "I just absolutely love the place. I adore it. I just feel so relaxed here." (I could relax a lot more at home with that $8000 in my pocket!) And I’ll bet when she gets home she’ll feel completely drained: drained of energy and drained of money.
Brothers and sisters, that is one seriously addicted woman! She has fallen in love with Elvis and no doubt, will fill your ear with stories of her devotion and admiration. SHE’S ALREADY MADE A BELIEVER OUT OF ME.
But what about us? Are we believable when it comes to our faith in Christ? What if someone were to ask you about your faith?
Suppose you said to a work associate, "I believe in Jesus. I go to church too." "Well, how often do you go to church?" "I generally try to go twice a month." Do you honestly think that sounds devoted to your faith? If we are not devoted to Christ and the church then when we speak on behalf of Christ we will not have the believability factor that a more devoted person would have.
If, for example, you said, "I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He died on the cross for the sins of the world." And then were so committed that you went to church every Sunday; then your testimony and faith would be more believable.
Commitment, excitement, urgency, sincerity, spending money, etc. all these and perhaps more make us believable. GOD HELP US THEN TO BECOME MORE BELIEVABLE WHEN WE SPEAK ABOUT CHRIST AND ETERNAL LIFE.
IV. SIMON BACKSLID - THAT’S THE BAD
14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
ILL.- The famous poet Goethe was once asked, “What will destroy poetry?” He answered, “Poets,” and added, “Poetry will flourish when there are inspired poets.” So in Christianity, the cause of Christ will be damaged when people who call Christ Lord don’t do what He says.
ILL.- Many years ago in Missouri I was called to preach a funeral of a man who was a member of another church in town. It was a Baptist family. They didn’t have a preacher at that time and asked if I would speak. I consented. As I recall, it was a funeral of a young man who suffered a sudden heart attack and died. I went to call on the family at their home and as soon as I got in the door the father of the deceased said, "Come on in. We’re all backslidden Baptists. We haven’t been to church in a long time."
Wow! His words threw me for a loop. I really didn’t know how to respond or even if I should respond to those words. Being backslidden as far as Christ is concerned is not a good thing.
ILL.- It’s been said that between an airplane and every other form of locomotion and transportation there is one great contrast. The automobile, the locomotive, the speedboat, and the great battleship—all can come to a standstill without danger, and they can all reverse their engines, or their power, and go backwards.
But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up. It dare not stand still. If it loses its momentum and forward-drive, then it crashes. The only safety for the airplane is in its forward and upward motion. And the only safe direction for the Christian to take is forward and upward. If he stops, or if he begins to slip and goes backward, he is in danger.
V. PETER WARNED - THAT’S THE GOOD
20Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." 24Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me."
Peter plainly warned Simon about his sin. He tried to buy something that wasn’t his. He wanted more glory for himself.
ILL.- Some time ago, Sam Harney, pastor of Grace Brethren Church of Toppenish, Washington, gave mothers in his congregation large wooden paddles and warned them about sparing the rod and spoiling the child. He warned, “The time is come to leave the Dr. Spock philosophy of child raising and return to the Biblical principle of ‘train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ ”
That preacher was smart to warn his people about warning their children. Warning is not much fun and not many want to do it, but some warning is needed in order to save people from danger and even the danger of hell fire.
Jude 22-23 "Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."
ILL.- It pays to heed a warning. Argentinean race driver Juan Manuel Fangio discovered that after the opening lap of the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. As he approached a dangerous bend for the second time, Fangio noticed that something was wrong. The faces of the spectators, which he usually saw as a whitish blur as he drove by, were all turned away from him.
"If they are not looking at me," Fangio thought, "they must be looking at something more interesting around the corner." So he braked hard and carefully rounded the bend, where he saw that his split second assessment had been accurate. The road was blocked by a massive pileup.
Whether Simon paid heed to Peter’s warning or not, we do not know. But it’s a smart person who pays heed to God’s warning, whether given in scripture or in person.
In a sense, all Christians are in the warning business. We warn, teach and tell our kids. And sometimes, we even care enough about others that we try to warn them of the dangers of this life. And we should. It’s not easy. It’s not enjoyable but sometimes, we should do this.
I Thess. 5:14 "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone."
CONCLUSION------------------
ILL.- President Ronald Reagan once said, "Here’s my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose."
And God’s strategy on the war with Satan is: God wins/we win, the devil looses. Good conquers all evil because God conquers all evil. So be it.
