Posts
“On that day, the church ... began to be persecuted, and all
the believers … were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Philip went to the city of Samaria and preached
about the Christ … But there was a man
named Simon in that city …”
Through persecution,
God was spreading His gospel. The Jews were intending to stop the Gospel, but God made sure
their schemes had the opposite effect.
So what of Simon? He
practiced magic and had become so successful at it that people were saying, “This
man has the powers of God, called ‘the Great Power’!” Satan had actually raised up a counterfeit.
Philip showed up in Samaria and began to preach, and men and
women believed and were baptized. “Simon himself believed and was baptized
… When he saw the miracles and the powerful things Philip did, Simon was amazed.”
Peter and John came to Samaria and after they laid hands on
the new believers, the Holy Spirit entered the hearts of those new believers.
Simon slipped up when he begged the apostles to grant him their same authority to lay hands
on people. If he believed, then what was going on??
My commentary said that there was no indication that he repented of his
sins, and he certainly did not believe with all his heart. His belief or faith was solely “in the miracles he saw Philip perform.”
Additionally, he wanted Peter and John to pray for him. My commentary said,
“A sinner who wants the prayers of others but who will not pray himself is not
going to enter God’s kingdom. This
episode only shows how close a
person can come to salvation and still
not be converted. Simon heard the Gospel, saw the miracles, gave a
profession of faith in Christ, and
was baptized, and yet he was never born
again.”
Father, help me to have discernment regarding this very
thing, particularly when I speak to those in our youth group. I so need to be able to see this happening
and help them to know the difference between what they’re
doing and real saving faith in Christ.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment