We live in a time in history where religion and spirituality seems to be at an all-time high. Everyone seems to have some sort of religious belief system – even if it’s something they found on the internet or something they made up themselves.
And to go along with all this spiritual searching is an endless parade of so-called religious authorities peddling their own form of answers to cosmic questions.
But just because someone says it ‘works’ for them, just because you bought a book at a Christian bookstore, just because someone says they’re a messenger of the Truth, doesn’t make it so. There are plenty of imposters out there leading people away from the Truth. [2]
[Mormons, JW’s, Kaballa, Scientology, etc.]
There are plenty of imposters out there leading people away from the Truth. Could you recognize them? Could you tell whether someone is true or false?
[3] Well this morning we’re going to look at a story about a missionary and a magician from Acts chapter eight. And as we examine the differences between these two miracle workers, it’ll help us be better equipped to recognize the true and false in our world today.
[Read Acts 8:4-13.]
So we have Philip, one of the seven men elected to care for the widows in the church, scattered because of the persecution that had broken out against the church. So he goes down to reach the Samaritans for the Lord. Philip was the church’s first real missionary and God gave him an incredible ministry of healing and evangelism there.
In that region there was also a worker of miracles named Simon - a man who used magic and sorcery to amaze the people. Simon came across the ministry of Philip and he himself was amazed at the miracles that Philip performed. So it says that he believed and was baptized and even started hanging around with Philip.
Sounds like Simon might have given up his sorcery to truly follow God. But the next few verses show us that his heart never really changed. [4]
[Read Acts 8:14-24.]
Incredibly strong language from Peter who immediately recognized Simon as a fake. You see, Simon just seemed to be amazed at Philip’s and the Apostles power to work miracles. He saw this as a new way to impress the people who called him “the great power of God”. So he thought he could purchase this power from the Apostles.
And even after Peter rebukes him for this, he doesn’t seem to humble himself and repent. He asks them to pray that nothing happens to him as they said.
Just because someone labels himself as a Christian doesn’t make it so. Just because someone says a prayer and gets baptized doesn’t mean they were sincere. Many people have made false claims of Christianity for selfish reasons. Simon is an example of this.
You know this Simon was believed by the early church fathers of the first and second centuries to be the one who tried to introduce the heresy of Gnosticism into the early church. And sadly, his false teachings led many people away from the Truth of Jesus Christ. If people would have just asked the right questions about this man, they would have realized that he was in fact a false teacher. So as we compare Simon to Philip, let’s ask a few questions that will help us detect the true and false teachers in our world today. Question number one:
[5] What did they do to draw a crowd? How did Philip and Simon get the people’s attention? Well, they worked miracles. Philip worked miracles by the power of God and Simon worked miracles through magic and sorcery.
Now we know from Scripture and even life experience that God is in the miracle-working business. God can, does and will do the miraculous in and through His people.
But what about magic and sorcery? Does that have any real power in the world today? Let’s not kid ourselves friends, demonic forces are at work today and can enable people to do supernatural things. Demonic forces can captivate people, but ultimately lead them into bondage. We don’t know what kind of miracles Simon was doing here, but they were amazing enough that the people called him “the great power of God”.
So both men were performing miracles amongst the public. But how did these miracles affect the people? [6] Well, Philip’s miracles brought deliverance, healing and joy. Simon’s miracles only brought astonishment.
[Read Acts 8:6-11.]
I think that both of these men got plenty of “oohs and ahs” when they’d perform a miracle. I think that the people were just as amazed to see a lame man walk as they were to see Simon do one of his tricks. But the difference is, with Simon that’s all you got. All you got with him was a show. All you came away with was a story to tell.
But when God moved through Philip you were healed from your sickness. When God moved through Philip you were freed from demonic possession. When God moved through Philip you were filled with joy. Man I’ll take that over a good show any day of the week!
Too many people in our world today are settling for the good show. If someone speaks good, sings good, tells a great story, flies in a personal jet, and does a couple of hammed-up miracles then they’re the person to follow!
How ridiculous. Just once would these religious superstars do something unscripted when the camera isn’t rolling. Just once I’d like to hear of them going into the pediatric aids ward in a hospital with no camera crew and healing every incurable kid in there.
Philip’s miracles actually helped people. Simon’s miracles just gave them something to talk about at work the next day. This helps us see who’s true and who’s false.
But one thing’s for sure, these miracles gave them a platform by which to speak. They had the people’s attention. So [7] what was the message they gave the people? Well, Philip gave them the gospel while Simon gave them Simon.
[Read Acts 8:5, 9.]
Philip had the people’s attention and he gave them the words of life. We have seen this and will continue to see this throughout the book of Acts. God works incredible miracles through his servants to give them a chance to preach the good news of Christ to the people. That’s all that was on Philip’s mind – how can I get the gospel to these people.
But Simon used his miracles to tell the people just how great he was. Some say he might have even had some sort of a messianic complex since the people thought he had God’s power. Regardless, he had a huge ego and his message to the people was himself!
That’s always a glaring red flag when it comes to detecting whether someone is true or false. If someone claims to be a messenger of God, yet talks more about himself than he does God, and seems to promote himself more than he promotes God, something’s wrong.
What’s the message people are giving? Is it, “Look at me and how awesome I am?” Or is it, “Look at God and how awesome He is!” The message shows true or false.
So how did these messages affect the people? [8] Well, when Philip gave the message of Jesus Christ people got saved. Sins were forgiven, lives were restored, souls were secured and people were saved! Simon’s message of self just made him more famous. His message didn’t help one single person. It just gave them someone to talk about.
[Read Acts 8:10-12.]
And this dynamic still works today. You give people the simple gospel message of how Jesus came to the earth, died for our sins and rose again to prove it and people will get saved. Lives will be radically changed! Look around you at the lives changed by the gospel!
But we also still have with us the cult of personality. Celebrities who are interesting, confident, and completely self-consumed. Their message is themselves. It doesn’t enrich anyone’s life, it doesn’t make an eternal difference, yet people still follow.
When you look around at the world and its religious leaders and teachers, do their followers talk more about God or more about their leader? Are their lives transformed by the message they’re getting or does the message they’re getting enslave them in some way. The Truth sets us free. The false enslaves us.
Well Philip and Simon are two completely different kinds of miracle workers. Philip works miracles to help people while giving them the Truth of God. Simon works miracles to impress people into liking himself. Just what motivates people to be like this? [9]
Philip was motivated by his love for God and others while Simon was motivated by his love for self.
[Read Acts 8:4-5.]
As a result of persecution, Philip had to leave his home. But instead of crying about it he saw it as an opportunity to reach people. And whom did he want to reach? The despised Samaritans. Remember, the Jews didn’t like the Samaritans, they didn’t associate with the Samaritans, and they wouldn’t even pass through their country when journeying in that direction. But Philip knew that God loved all people and that Jesus had said that, “they shall be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and throughout all the world.” Philip’s motivation was his love for God and for others. But what about Simon?
[Read Acts 8:18-19.]
Simon wanted to have the power the Apostles had. They were able to do things he couldn’t do through sorcery so he thought he could purchase this new trick that had come to his territory. Simon was motivated by self.
These things can help us detect whether someone is a true messenger of God or not. Are they helping people? Is their message biblical? Is their message effective? What’s their motivation? Let’s be wise to not get carried away by someone’s personality or unbiblical teachings. It’s just too important.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote concerning false teachers that were trying to influence the beliefs of the church. [10]
[Read Galatians 1:6-10.]
And just what is that gospel? [11]
[Gospel presentation, prayer.]
[Communion, Matthew 26:26-28.]
[Closing prayer.]
