The Final Deception Before Jesus Returns | Rc Sproul Teaching Series

This morning, instead of reading from uh chapter 1, 14-28 of Mark's Gospel, I'll only read verses 14 through 20. And so I'll ask the congregation to stand for the reading of the word of God.

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." And as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther from there, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him. He who has ears to hear the word of God, let him hear. Please be seated. Let us pray now. Oh God, as we turn our attention to the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in Galilee, we pray that though the account is brief, that the power of it may penetrate our minds and our hearts for Jesus' sake and for ours. Amen.

I was reading the paper this morning and there was an article that caught my attention about a course that's now being offered in a school in Kansas, and the title of the course, as the paper reported, was this: "Intelligent Design, Creation, and Other Religious Mythologies." And in that course title, the biblical account of creation and of God was relegated to the category of myth. Well, myths have their place in cultural history. Myths can be very effective to communicate a moral truth, a spiritual insight. But at the very heart of Judaism in the Old Testament is the rejection of myth as the context for divine revelation. Rather, biblical religion finds as its context for religious truth real space and time. Christianity is married to history. If it is not historical in its foundational assertions, then it is worth less than any myth. And so we notice here that as Mark begins to give the history of Jesus' public ministry, it's important to notice that the context for it is not mythological, but historical.

Scholars have been quick to point out that the gospel record comes to us clothed not in the forms of ordinary history, but rather it's a particular type of record that the scholars call redemptive history. But because it's redemptive history, some have sought to indicate that it's not really historical. But we are quick to point out that even though it is redemptive history, it is redemptive history. That the sphere in which God reveals his work of redemption is real space and time. Real history. And that's at the heart of this announcement here in chapter 1. This is the beginning of Jesus' Galilean ministry that Mark introduces by putting this comment in advance. After John was put in prison, then Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." Although this is a very brief saying here and really just these couple of verses that I've just read to you again, these verses are worthy of far, far more exposition than I can possibly do justice to in a brief sermon on Sunday morning. In a word, though these words are brief, they are loaded with theological significance.

Let me begin first of all by calling attention to Mark's statement that when Jesus came to Galilee, he was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And if you have your Bibles with you, some of you will have a different reading there. Instead of saying "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God," it will say simply in your Bible, "preaching the gospel of God." Now, why is there a difference in different English translations? Why do some translations say "the gospel of the kingdom of God" and others simply say "the gospel of God"? Now, I'm going to explain to you why, and this may bother you until you get a deeper understanding of it. What we have here in this chapter is what's called a textual variant. You understand that we do not have in our possession today the original gospel that Mark wrote, but rather that gospel was copied and copied and copied and copied in this country and that country and very carefully copied down through the ages so that there may be 2,000 extant copies of the Gospel of Mark. Well, they don't always read in perfect verbal agreement one to another. We don't have any brief as Christians for the special inspiration or infallibility of copies or of translations. But there are various schools of copies. And those who seek to reconstruct the original text, which is a science in and of itself, pay considerations to all kinds of technical points to determine what in all probability was in the original manuscript. And here's one of those rare occasions where the textual evidence for the words "gospel of the kingdom of God" or "gospel of God" are almost 50-50 in balancing them out to make an intellectual judgment about what was in the original. Relax. There's no significant difference in the meaning of the text which of the two you settle on. But some translators say no. The original simply said that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God while others insert "the gospel of the kingdom of God" because in the second half of the sentence the phrase "kingdom of God" appears. So both are true in the sense that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God, which was the gospel of the kingdom of God. There's no difference theologically, content-wise, in those two readings.

But just to point this out, that if we look at the option that Jesus came preaching the gospel of God, I like that for the very simple reason that that's the same way the Apostle Paul begins his letter to the Romans, where Paul sees himself as set apart to the gospel of God. And why that is significant is this: that the gospel of God, ladies and gentlemen, is not the good news about God. Rather, the grammar that is used here is possessive. It means it is the gospel that belongs to God. God is its author. God is its owner. God is the one who is giving this message. Not John the Baptist, and not even Jesus. It's not Jesus' gospel as such. It's the Father's gospel that the Son is now declaring.

Also notice in passing, as I mentioned in the first week that we looked at this, that Mark developed this whole literary genre called the gospel, which was a kind of writing. But we also see that then the term gospel refers to the coming of the kingdom of God. And finally, in the epistles, the term gospel points to the person and work of Jesus. It becomes then the gospel of Jesus Christ. But early on, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, when Jesus comes preaching the gospel of God, the content of that good news, the content of that announcement, is the coming of the kingdom of God. It's the gospel of the kingdom. If there's any motif that runs all through the Old Testament and is fulfilled perfectly in the New Testament, it is that central idea of the coming kingdom of God. Well, what does that mean? What are we talking about when we're talking about the kingdom of God? Didn't the kingdom of God always exist? Hasn't God been the Lord God omnipotent who reigns from all eternity? Well, of course. But when the Old Testament speaks of the coming kingdom of God, it refers to God, who is the King of the universe, of his personal visitation to this fallen world to manifest the rule of redemption that he brings to pass with the coming Messiah. And so the people of Israel in the Old Testament looked forward to the day when God's rule would be manifest here on earth in the coming of his anointed one. And so now John, who had announced the coming of the kingdom and is now in prison, Jesus follows in his footsteps, comes into Galilee preaching the gospel of God. And he preaches the kingdom, saying, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel."

Oh, just the first phrase, "the time is fulfilled." Back in the middle of the 20th century, a Swiss scholar who undertook the task of answering existential theologians who were trying to snatch the biblical message out of the context of history and make it basically mythological in a theology of timelessness. This Swiss scholar said, "No, you can't do that and be true to the documents themselves, because Christianity, as I said earlier, is totally tied to real history." And this Swiss theologian by the name of Oscar Cullmann wrote three books, a trilogy dealing with this subject, including "Salvation in History," "Christology," but the first of the three volumes was entitled simply "Christ and Time." It was one of the most important works of the 20th century, "Christ and Time," in which Professor Cullmann examined all of the time frame references in the New Testament. And he noticed, for example, that there are two basic words in the Greek language that are translated by the English word "time." There's the word "chronos," and you've heard that term. You know what a chronicle is, or a chronology, or a chronometer, which is a wristwatch. "Chronos" refers to the moment-by-moment passing of time, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year by year, just ordinary time is "chronos." But in addition to that word for time, there's a special word in the Greek for time that is the word "kairos." And the word "kairos" means a particular moment in time that is so important, so significant, that it defines everything that comes after it. And we don't really have corresponding distinctions in the English language that are exact to "chronos" and "kairos." The closest thing we have are this: the term "historic" and "historical." And you notice how many times the newscasters mess this up. You know, they'll say that the assassination of John Kennedy was a historical event. Well, of course, it was a historical event. Everything that takes place in space and time is historical, but not everything that takes place in history is historic. Nobody's going to write a book talking about the significance of R.C. Sproul preaching at St. Andrew's Chapel this morning. I'm doing it in real time. This is a chronological event. My preaching this morning is historical, but I guarantee you it's not historic. For it to be historic, it has to be something so important, so momentous, that it shapes history. Of course, the most kairotic event in all of history was the birth of Jesus. In fact, all of history is defined by that moment, isn't it? We talk about the year of our Lord, AD, BC. Christ's birth is the dividing line of history in the Western world. His death on the cross is a kairotic moment. His resurrection is a kairotic moment. In the Old Testament, the Exodus of Israel was a kairotic event. Well, this is what Mark has in view because he uses the word "kairos" here. Because when Jesus comes preaching the kingdom of God, Jesus makes this announcement: "The kairos is fulfilled." And the word that he uses there is the word "pleroma," which means "super fullness." If I give you a glass and say, "Go and fill this glass with water, please." I hope you don't fill it to the brim, because if you fill it to the brim, and you try to hand it to me, it's going to spill out over the top and onto the floor and make me wet, the floor wet, everything else wet. When we fill a coffee cup or fill a glass, we leave some room at the top so that we can maneuver it without spilling it. But that's not "pleroma." When you fill something in the sense of "pleroma," it's bursting at the seams. It's spilling out over the edge. There is no margin left that isn't totally filled. And what Jesus is saying when he comes into Galilee, he says to these people, "The kairos and the pleroma have come together." Time. History. All of history up until this moment has been prepared by the Lord God omnipotent, the Creator of the universe, who stands over all time and space. That God has so prepared history for this moment that that moment has now occurred. The time is right now. The time is fulfilled for the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Let's read how he says it: "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand." Again, the word there, if you look at it carefully, means "near." And it's near. It has a two-fold reference. The kingdom of God is not at hand or near simply in terms of the clock. It is that, remember, the time is fulfilled, and that time is at hand. The kairotic moment is right now, and the kingdom of God is near. But not just temporally, but it's physically at hand. How's that? What Jesus is saying here, the kingdom of God is at hand because the King is right here. The King of the kingdom is in your midst. You can reach out and touch it. The long-awaited Messiah is here. That's what Mark is indicating with Jesus' words when he says, "The time has been fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand." And that moment where the King comes brings the most profound crisis to every Jew in Israel that they've ever experienced. The word "crisis" comes from the Greek "krisis," which means "judgment." And when Jesus comes and the kingdom breaks through and the Messiah appears, it is the most critical moment in human history. It brings the most profound crisis that any human being can ever face. And that crisis or judgment comes down to this: those who receive Him receive eternal life; those who do not pass into the judgment of God. And so Jesus is saying to the Jews, "Your crisis is right now." And he says it to everybody in the world today who ever hears of Jesus. It's a crisis. You cannot hear the gospel and walk away indifferent. When you receive the gospel, it is the greatest moment of your lifetime. When you do not receive the gospel, it's the greatest judgment upon you. The gospel is a two-edged sword. And what Jesus is saying here, "You're not ready for the coming of the kingdom. Therefore, repent and believe." Those are the two things that are absolutely necessary to receive the Savior. The coming of Christ requires repentance and faith by all who hear of Him. You know, it bothers me today when I see so much of evangelism that is going on, so-called gospeling in this world. If you want to have purpose for your life, if you want to have a personal relationship with Jesus, do you want to have a meaningful relationship with God? Then come forward to the altar, raise your hand, sign a card, pray the sinner's prayer. We bunch all that stuff together and call it cheap grace because what is noticeably absent from those attempts to evangelize are any serious call to repentance. You cannot enter the kingdom of God without repentance, without fleeing from your sin and putting your trust in Christ and in Christ alone. This is how our Lord himself did evangelism. He announced the gospel and then he said, "Your response must be repent and believe."

Then quickly Mark moves on to the calling of the first disciples of Jesus. We read, "As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, that's Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.'" Now, who among you has never heard that story? You've all heard that. It's taking place by the Sea of Galilee, an inland lake really, that's about 13 miles long and about 7 miles wide. One of the most productive bodies of water in the ancient world for the fishing industry. In the year 68, when the Romans were invading the land of Palestine, Josephus made the observation that they commandeered some 250 fishing boats from the Sea of Galilee. That just mentions the ones they commandeered. There were a lot of fishermen going fishing in the Sea of Galilee. It was a huge industry in the ancient world. In fact, there were so many varieties of fish in the Sea of Galilee that were not found elsewhere that the fish that were caught in that sea were exported to other countries. We think of the disciples as poverty-stricken fishermen that are trying to eke out a living like people standing along Lake Monroe trying to catch their dinner in the afternoon. No, these men were businessmen, and they had lucrative businesses with respect to the fishing industry from the Sea of Galilee. Josephus also remarked about the great beauty surrounding the sea, how fertile was the district watered by the lake and so on. And he said it was the pride of nature. If you've ever been to the Sea of Galilee, you would understand even today what Josephus was saying towards the end of the first century.

Well, it's on that occasion by the shores of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus walks along the shore and he sees two men, Simon and the patron saint of our church, Andrew. And they are casting their nets into the sea. These nets were about 15 feet in radius in diameter, I should say. And on the edges of these nets, which were circular, there were these weights that held them down, and the fisherman would throw them in a circular motion, and they would land on the surface of the water, and the weights would sink down to the bottom and sort of close up the uh nets, catching several fish in the nets. There were two kinds. Well, there's several kinds, but the two most common kind had a rope right in the middle of the net. So, after the net sank to the ground, the fisherman would just stand there, pull that rope in the middle. The outer hems of the nets would close, trapping the fish, and they would pull it to the surface, get their catch, and sell it in the marketplace. A more primitive form was that the men would take these nets, throw them into the water. They didn't have a rope in the middle of it. They would have to dive down in the water and scoop up the net together and bring net and fish to the surface before they ran out of breath. But I suspect that in this case with Simon and Andrew, that they had the more efficient nets that they were using. And Jesus observes them and he says to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed him. And then Mark goes on to say, "He went a little further and he saw James the son of Zebedee, John his brother, who were also in the boat mending their nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him."

Again, what's going on here? Jesus is calling disciples. Now, we hear about the 12 disciples and we talk about the 12 apostles. And so lots of folks think that a disciple is just another word for an apostle, or an apostle is another word for disciple. But that's not the case. Jesus had at least 70 disciples, and many of them were never included in the apostolic band, because a disciple was a student, a learner. The word "disciple" means somebody who's under the discipline of a tutor or of a rabbi. And so Jesus goes out as a rabbi and he enrolls disciples into his rabbinic school. There are a couple of things we need to understand about this. In the first place, in the ancient Jewish world, rabbis never went out and recruited students. Students would apply to study with a rabbi, just as we do in our educational systems today, and they would have to jump through hoops, pass examinations, make sure that they were qualified before they would be accepted to study under Hillel or Akiba or Gamaliel, or whoever. But in this case, this rabbi, who's different from any other rabbi in Israel, he goes out and handpicks his students. "I want you. I want you. I want you. You're fishing for fish. Follow me and I'll have you fishing for men."

Now, the words "follow me" are also interesting because there's a literal sense to them. We think back to ancient Greece and the great cultural center of Athens. Plato established his academy there, where students would come through the gates, and across the gates at the top it would say, "Let none but geometers enter here," and they would enroll in Plato's school and study under the master. And of course, his most brilliant and famous student was Aristotle. Well, later on, Aristotle started his own school in Athens called the Lyceum. But Aristotle was different from his teacher because he was called a "peripatetic" philosopher. Now, everybody knows what a peripatetic philosopher is. Not a pathetic philosopher. Many of them are pathetic, but this is "peripatetic." It means somebody who walks around. Because what Aristotle would do is that he would walk while he was lecturing, and his students would follow along behind him with their little notepads, taking down notes, trying to consign them to memory and so on. Well, Jesus was a peripatetic rabbi, and so he would go from town to town, and on the way he would lecture, and his disciples would literally follow him. They'd walk behind him, memorize the terse aphorisms that Jesus would teach, and the parables that he would give. They would commit them to memory. That's why so much of the teaching of Jesus survived in the oral tradition after his death before his words were written down, because his disciples were skilled in memorizing his teaching, because that was their task. But not only when he called them to discipleship did he call them to learn at his feet, but also a disciple of a rabbi was a servant. He would take care of the shoes of the professor. Make sure that the professor had his evening meals prepared for him. And wherever the professor went, the students would go, the disciples would go and serve their master. That's why Jesus would say, "Is the servant above his master?" No. So, it was a rigorous pursuit. And Jesus walks up to Simon and Andrew. He says, "Follow me. Come into my school. Be my student. Be my servant." Without any further discussion, Simon puts down the net. Andrew puts down the net and leaves to follow Jesus. They go down the road a little further. There's James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and they're in their father's boat with the father and the father's servants. And Jesus says to James and John, "Come on, you follow me." Can you imagine the astonishment of Zebedee, his sons whom he has prepared this business for? "Get out of the boat." They leave their father. Zebedee's scratching his head, and all he has left are the servants, the hard hands, not his sons. He watches him walk down the road in the distance with two other fellas that he knew were fishermen and this rabbi. And away they go.

Some of you saw the movie 50 years ago, "A Man Called Peter." It was about the Senate chaplain, Peter Marshall, who was a famous preacher in the middle of the 20th century. His sermons were so lyrical that they called him "Twittering Birds Marshall." And his widow, when he died young, his widow, Catherine Marshall, had a book of sermons of Peter Marshall's published under the title "Mr. Jones Meet the Master." It's one of the first books I read after my conversion in 1957. And there was a sermon in there from Peter Marshall. I'll never forget. He tells a story, a modern-day story that takes place in the waterfront, I believe, of Baltimore, in the shop of a man by the name of Joe Bots. Joe's a fishmonger. He loves the business. It's a lucrative business. Every morning he goes in and he unlocks his store, puts the "open" sign on the door, and the aroma of fresh fish hits him. It's packed in ice, the brine, all of that that was part of the trade. Like if you would go to Seattle and watch the fishmongers in the market there where they're throwing the day's catch to each other. Joe Bots loved all of this. And this one morning, he was preparing his shop for business when the bell rang over the door, and he looked up, and this strange-looking man in a blue serge suit walks in the door and looks at Joe, and he said, "Joe, close the shop and come with me." Marshall said, "When Joe Bots saw this man, he said there was something about him. He couldn't ask any questions. He couldn't proffer an argument. Instead, he took off his apron, sat it down in a chair, went over and turned the sign from 'open' to 'closed,' and left his shop forever to follow the man in the blue serge suit." This was Peter Marshall's modern parable of what happened by the Sea of Galilee when Jesus said to four men, "From this day forward, you're mine. You serve me. You're my students." And every Christian who has come after that is called to be a disciple of Christ, to be a servant of Him, to leave everything, to go after the Christ. Let's pray. Oh God, that you would give us hearts to follow Him body and soul wherever He leads us, to learn whatever He teaches us, to serve whatever He commands us to do. We know that You have called us, as You called Simon and Andrew, James and John, to be His disciples. Give us the grace to be faithful to that call. Amen.

Well, this morning we're going to continue with our study in the book of Acts. We're going to look at chapter 24. And contrary to what it says in the bulletin, I'm beginning my reading at verse 1 and reading through verse 21.

Now after five days, Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. And these gave evidence to the governor against Paul. And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusations saying, "Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight. We accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your courtesy a few words from us. For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself, you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him." And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so.

Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered, "Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, because you may ascertain that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone, nor inciting the crowds, either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. And this being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. And now, after many years, I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation, in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob, nor with tumults. They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. Or else, let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council. Unless it is for this one statement which I cried out standing among them concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged by you this day."

Again, he who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear. Again, we plead with You, O God, to bridge the gap of 2,000 years and thousands of miles of culture that we can understand clearly what was going on in this moment of trial for Your anointed apostle. Bridge that gap of time and space and apply the essence of what we hear today to us, even now. For we ask it in the name of Christ. Amen.

You remember that when Paul visited Jerusalem, that those who were hostile towards him during his missionary journey to Asia Minor in Ephesus drove him out of the city. And now those pilgrims came for the feast to Jerusalem and reported to the Jews who were there in authority that this Paul was a troublemaker and incited a riot, by which they sought to take Paul's life. And you recall how that the Roman governor Claudius Lysias interceded and rescued Paul from this mob, brought him into custody, and then finding that Paul was a Roman citizen, under cover of night and with an entourage of 470 soldiers, sent him up to a hearing before Felix, the governor of the whole land. And once Paul was there, then Felix ordered that those who were bringing charges against Paul would also come the 60 miles to Caesarea and give their testimony in person. That's where we left off. And now in chapter 24, we read of the arrival of Ananias with his entourage for the occasion of bearing witness against Paul.

"After five days, Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul." Now, this Tertullus, though he has a Greek name, is a Jewish attorney. He's a professional. He's a hired gun that the Sanhedrin enlisted to come and bring charges against Paul as the prosecuting attorney. Now, I want us to pay attention to how Tertullus proceeds in giving his evidence to the governor. "When he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying..." Listen to this: "Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace." Let me just stop there for a second. If you pay attention, hypocrisy is dripping from the tongue of this attorney. You can always tell when this attorney was lying. He was moving his lips. And he starts right in praising this Roman governor as being the agent who brings peace to Israel. The Pax Romana had come. And of course, the thing that the Jews hated worse than the fact that they were an occupied nation by foreign troops. And the peace that they experienced was at the cost of Roman domination. Even the Roman historian Tacitus said of Felix and his cohorts that "everywhere they went, they brought a desert and called it peace." Now, remember how this land is basically a desert region. But through the centuries of agricultural labor of the Jewish people, they had transformed the desert into a beautiful agrarian setting with trees and gardens and so on. But when the Romans invaded Israel in the latter years of the decade of the 60s, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD, they completely denuded the land because their way of battle was to lay siege to the walled cities. And while the city was besieged, the Roman soldiers would camp outside the walls until foodstuffs and water and the rest of the supplies became so scarce that the inhabitants of the city were weakened and ready for conquest. But while the soldiers were waiting, they cut down every tree in sight, used it to roast marshmallows and to keep themselves warm at night. You think of Jesus in His night of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. That whole slope of Mount Gethsemane was covered by huge olive trees, three, 400 years old, almost like a dense forest of olive trees. By the time Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, there was not a single olive tree left on the Mount of Olives. Stripped and barren. A desert. And Tacitus had it right. Said, "You make the place a desert and you call it peace."

Well, here is this attorney who's prosecuting Paul thanking the Roman magistrate, saying, "Oh, we thank you for the wonderful peace that you've brought." By the way, Felix, who I said last week was so ruthless and so cruel in putting down Jewish disputes, was not too long after that recalled to Rome after the death of Claudius. And a new emperor came to the throne in Rome who was concerned that Felix was too brutal. Guess who? Give you a hand. His nickname throughout the empire, which I believe finds its way into the Bible, was the beast, Nero Caesar. Felix was too cruel for Nero's blood. And so Nero recalled him and replaced him with Festus, whom we'll meet, God willing, in the weeks to come. But in any case, this man goes on with his dishonest praise. "Prosperity is being brought to this nation." Now, the English text I have says, "by your foresight," but the actual word there is "providence." This man's supposed to be a Jew. He's supposed to be somebody who understands that it's by God's providence that prosperity ever comes to a land. That any benefit that we enjoy in this world comes from the goodness of God and from His mercy. But now this Jewish attorney betrays his own Judaism by heaping this praise upon the Roman government, saying, "We acknowledge your providence as the cause of our prosperity. We accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness." It's a wonder that Felix didn't say, "Gag me with a spoon to tell us." And finally, the orator says, "Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your mercy a few words from us." And then he gives his testimony regarding Paul. Here's what he said: "We have found this man a plague." Now, some of you may have a different translation where it says in the English in your Bible, "We have found this man to be a pest." And you know what a pest is like, that gets under your skin like a gnat. You want to get rid of him with a fly swatter or something. He just won't let you alone. Everybody knows what it means to be pestered by somebody. But in this case, the translation "pest" is far too weak. The word "plague" is much better, because what Tertullus is saying about Paul is that the man is a pestilence on the earth. He's a plague like the bubonic plague. Like the plague that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle Ages. Can't get rid of him. Everywhere he goes, dissension occurs, and we're sick of it. So Paul is called a plague.

You know, this past week I was watching Fox News one night with Cutie Pie and uh Combmes, and they had Dr. James Dobson on Fox News. This was after the Senate compromise. And Dr. Dr. Dobson was very distressed about this compromise, and he was being interviewed, and I thought he handled himself with great dignity and without any rancor, without any bitterness. And it was told to him about some of the rancorous things that were said about him by some members of the Senate and members of the media recently, calling Jim Dobson the "modern Christian Ayatollah," and how he's this extremist who is anti-American, and on and on. And they said, "Well, Dr. Dobson, what do you think about that?" He said, "Well," he said, "That's just name-calling." He said, "It doesn't get to the substance of what the issues are." Have you noticed that you live in a world now that anybody can voice their opinion in the public square except an evangelical Christian? If you're faithful to Christ in the public square, you are going to be called somebody who brings dissension, and you will be regarded as the plague. Now, I say this to you because we have enjoyed a tremendous measure of freedom and protection in this country for centuries. That protection supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution. But I don't think I'm a Jeremiah to think that the day is coming, and probably sooner than I know, when those protections will go away. And we need to be ready for it, because whenever people really are faithful to the gospel, the world sees them first as pests, and then as a plague. And that's the charge against Paul. "Paul, this man is a plague. Creates dissension among all the Jews throughout the world. He's a ringleader of that sect, that cult of the Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to the law." Notice a little shift here in the accusation. When Paul was brought before Claudius Lysias in Jerusalem, the charge was that he did defile the temple, that he had taken a Gentile into the inner chamber of the temple. That wasn't true. It was a false charge. But now, since there was nobody to back that up, Tertullus says he tried to defile the temple. But we, who are committed to the Jewish law, we stopped him, called him into account, and wanted to put him on trial according to our law. Didn't say anything about that. They gathered a mob together and tried to kill Paul. And he said, "Until we were interrupted by one of your fellows, this Claudius Lysias, Roman there, who intervened with violence to grab Paul out of our midst." Just the exact opposite of what happened. I mean, Tertullus just didn't know how to tell the truth, even part of the truth, and he said everything but the truth when he was bearing false witness against the Apostle Paul. So, finally, all the Jews agreed with the charges he brought.

And then Paul, we are told, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, gave his reply. Now, notice that it's often said that a person who defends himself is a fool for a client. And it's always wise to have somebody else speak in your defense than to speak yourself. But in this case, the Sanhedrin hired the hottest gun they could find to be the prosecutor. And Paul's left to defend himself without any professional help from any attorney. He has no advocate. But I wonder if on that day he remembered the occasion of a similar tribunal when Stephen was martyred. And when the stones were falling off the body of St. Stephen, the heavens opened, and he looked up, and he saw his Advocate, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, standing in his defense. He had no one to defend him on earth, but Christ himself to defend him in heaven. And Christ had promised Paul that Christ would be his advocate. So though it was Paul who was saying the words, he was saying them in the power and in the presence of the Holy Ghost, who was a much better defense attorney than anyone else Paul could ever find. And listen to how he proceeds. He said, "Inasmuch as I know that you've been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself." Now, he gives a slight tip of the hat to the magistrate, which is customary in antiquity and even throughout the ages. Uh, we remember when John Calvin wrote his famous "Institutes of the Christian Religion," he wrote a dedication page to the King of France. But of course, in that dedication, he didn't slop all over the king and compliment him for every wicked thing he ever did, but rather he appealed to the king's sense of justice to stop the persecution of innocent Christians among the Huguenots. And so Paul is saying, "Hey, I'm glad that I can speak here because you're not a stranger. You've been around for a lot of years. You understand the Jewish people. You have some knowledge about our affairs. And so you'll maybe understand what's going on here when I give my defense."

First of all, you'll probably ascertain that it's been no more than 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. I haven't had enough time in Jerusalem to cause all this trouble that I'm being accused of. No one's saying that they ever saw me preach once when I was in Jerusalem. I didn't address the multitude. I didn't even go into the synagogue while I was in town, which is what I normally do when I'm on my journeys. Seven of those days were times given to purification so that I could go and offer my sacrifices in the temple, where I went for purification. And I was in the midst of being purified when they came in and arrested me. There weren't any Gentiles there with me. I didn't do anything to defile the temple. And by the way, all these charges about dissension and being a plague, they all stem back from these people from Asia Minor, from Ephesus, that came to Jerusalem and laid these charges there. And these people who are here bearing witness to me are giving you hearsay. Why don't you go get those people from Ephesus and bring them here to make the case? He said, "And I appeared before this tribunal, and they found me guilty of none of these things. The only wrongdoing they were upset about was I cried out concerning the resurrection of the dead. I am being judged by you this day."

Now, ladies and gentlemen, you can't help but see the parallel here between the trial of Paul and the trial of Jesus. This unbridled hostility that the Jewish leaders were giving towards Paul was the same venom, the same hatred that they expressed toward Jesus. And what was it about? It was about who understood the Bible correctly. Jesus was tried as a heretic according to Jewish law. The charges against Paul here before the government is that Paul is not faithful to the Bible. He said, "Wait a minute. All my life I'm committed to God. I'm committed to every word of the Old Testament. I believe everything the prophets wrote. I believe everything in the Law. I have no desire to do anything against the Old Testament. Do you know what the issue was? The issue was what the Old Testament said about the Messiah. Jesus says, 'I'm the Messiah.' Paul says Jesus is the Messiah. Ananias, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, the Sadducees said, 'You're not the Messiah.'" I don't know how many times I hear people say to me today, in the interest of peace, to say, "Well, you know, the Jews believe in the Old Testament, we believe in the New Testament." Not so fast. The issue between Jesus and the Pharisees was, "Who believes in the Old Testament?" Jews said, "We believe in the Old Testament, Jesus. We follow Moses, not you. We're the children of Abraham, not you." What did Jesus say? "Hey, if you followed Moses, you would follow me. Because Moses wrote of me. You say you're the children of Abraham. You're not the children of Abraham. You're the children of your father, the devil. Because if you were the children of Abraham, you would rejoice in the things Abraham rejoiced in. And Abraham rejoiced to see my day." Jesus claimed to be the true Israel. And Paul is making the same claim here. Don't talk to me about being a cult. Don't talk to me about being a sect. What I'm preaching here is pure, unvarnished, historic Judaism in its fulfillment in the Messiah.

I had a dear friend, a Jewish friend, so close. We called her "Aunt," Aunt Gert. She was like Annie Mae. She was a piece of work. I was talking to her once about Jesus. And she said, "Oh, I see. Stop that stuff." She said, "I wish there never been a Jesus so that we have to be divided over that stuff." Said, "What difference does it make?" You know, she was in a way prophetic about where our society is today, because our society says, "It doesn't make any difference." And if you say it makes a difference, you're anti-Semitic or something. There's absolutely no excuse biblically for any Christian to hate a Jew. No excuse biblically whatsoever for any Christian ever to be involved in the persecution of a Jew, or of a Muslim, or of a Hindu, or of a Buddhist, or anybody else. We're called to treat everybody out there as our neighbor and to love them as much as we love ourselves. But it's one thing to say "love them." It's another thing to say "there's no difference." Modern Judaism is based on a conscious rejection of the messianic claims of Jesus. What difference does it make? I say Jesus is the Messiah. You say He's not. Let me tell you something. First of all, then I hate to even have to insult your intelligence to say this to you, but if you say Jesus is not the Messiah and I say Jesus is the Messiah, one of us is wrong, and one of us is against God at that point. Because if Jesus is not the Messiah, and we come here today to worship Jesus as the Son of God, and He's not the Son of God and He's not the Messiah, we are false witnesses of God, and we are idolaters in the extreme. If Jesus is the Messiah, and somebody rejects that, they're rejecting the only Son of God and calling Him a false prophet. And the consequences of that are eternal. But we live in a culture that says it doesn't.

No matter what you believe, just as long as you're sincere. Beloved, the devil is sincere. He sincerely hates Christ and everything Christ stands for. You can't embrace Christ and with him embrace every pretender to the kingdom of God. At some point, you've got to be a pest to the world. At some point, you're going to have to take a stand and say, "I know in whom I have believed. And as for me, my only hope in life and death is in Christ."

You don't have to hate people that differ with you. No. Called to love them. But I remember somebody giving a series of lectures on the life of the Apostle Paul. And he used the name of Paul as an acrostic to describe the character of the Apostle Paul. He used his name, Paul. P-A-U-L. P, he said, is for polluted because Paul was the chief of sinners and he saw himself as polluted by his sin. A represents his apostolic task and ministry. U represents the character of the apostle as being uncompromising because we see this life that's been unfolded before us is that Paul asks no quarter and gives none. He never compromises. And even here, before this hostile group, again he bears witness to Christ without compromise. And he said, "The L stands for loving." Paul's the most loving Christian that ever walked the face of the earth. He took an oath saying, "I bear witness to you by the mercies of God that I would trade my salvation for the salvation of my kinsmen according to the flesh, Israel." He said, "I preach to my Jewish neighbors, my Jewish kinsmen, my Jewish friends. I preach them Christ not because I hate them, but because I love them."

Now, this man who gave this acrostic said it this way. He said, "Usually, when people say something like this, they'll say, 'Paul was uncompromising, but he was also loving.' No, no. He was uncompromising with the truth of God. Therefore, loving." So, you've been taught since you were this high that to be uncompromising with respect to Christ is to be unloving. That's a lie. If you love Christ and if you love people, then you will never compromise his gospel. Let Paul be an example for us in our own day.

Let's pray. Our Father, we've irritated people. We've annoyed people. We've pestered people. But nobody calls us a plague because we've been very, very careful not to give offense. And yet, we sometimes fail to be concerned about being an offense to you. Father, cure us from arrogance, but give to us boldness. Take away bigotry, but give to us confidence. Give to us fidelity to your Son, your only begotten Son, our only hope in life and death. Amen.

Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. And then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city, and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. And then Simon himself also believed. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

Now, when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet, he had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you, for I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."

And then Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me." And so, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. He then that has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear it.

In the text that I've just read for you this morning, there's not one sermon, but at least three. And as time permits, I'll try to preach all three of them. But I made a deal with my wife this morning that if I were pressed for time, I would do the first two and finish it up, God willing, next week. Because this section of the scripture that I just read is packed with very important content for our understanding and for our edification.

First of all, look at where we started at verse four. "Therefore, those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word." Now, that statement presupposes something that was already told us by Luke earlier on in the chapter. Let's go back to chapter 8, verse 1, where we read, "Now Saul was consenting to his death," again referring to the martyrdom of Stephen. And then we read, "And at that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except whom? Except the apostles."

When this great persecution, of which the martyrdom of Stephen was a part, arose against the nascent church there in Jerusalem, we are told by Luke that they were scattered. They were all scattered. That is, the whole Christian community was scattered throughout the regions outside of Jerusalem and into Samaria, except the apostles. For reasons that Luke doesn't give to us, the apostles themselves remained in the city of Jerusalem, while the rank and file were trying to escape for their lives.

Now we come to where we started this morning with verse four. Listen to this. "Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." The persecution that forced the Christian community to flee from Jerusalem was one of the main causes of the rapid expansion of the Christian faith in the early part of the church's life, because those who were scattered everywhere they went, they went proclaiming the gospel of Christ. Now, remember, this was the rank and file. It wasn't the apostles. It was the laity of the church that was carrying the message abroad of the ministry of Jesus.

You know, the task of the minister, of the pastor, is to teach, to preach, to equip the laity for ministry. The ministry of Christ is given to the whole church. Every one of you who is in Christ is to be a participant, not a spectator, in the outreach ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what we were looking at during our missions conference, that it's not just the paid professionals who have been entrusted with the gospel, but it's the whole church who has been given that task. That's how the church was built. And that's how the church always will be built. When the people of God are mobilized to go into the marketplace, into their offices, among their friends, into their communities as Christians proclaiming the word of God.

There's no place in the kingdom of God for secret service Christians or for what I call "Clara Call Christians," where only their hairdresser knows for sure. You know, people say, "Well, I like to keep my faith as a private and personal matter." That's impossible. If it's true faith, it must be personal. But the faith of a Christian, beloved, can never be private. But we have been called to bear witness to Christ, to let it be known where our allegiance is, so that there's no doubt about it. And here we see the model in the early church.

Well, as this expansion takes place, we hear about Philip. And the Philip that is referred to here is one of the seven who was set apart to be a deacon. Remember, we looked at that a few weeks ago. And those of you sitting in that back row back there where you have those reserve signs on the seat that said they're reserved for the deacons. We think of the deacons often as being those who wait on tables to make it possible for the apostles to go ahead and do the proclamation of the gospel and to do the preaching and the teaching and so on. Oh, the biblical deacon not only takes care of business and handling the needs of the church and of the needy, but in the New Testament, the deacons were also evangelists, preachers. And we hear now, just as we had heard in the case of Stephen, who was a deacon, proclaiming the word of God. Now we hear of the ministry of Philip that takes place in Samaria.

So, Philip went down to the city of Samaria. Whether it was the city itself or a city in Samaria is difficult to discern in the Greek, but that's immaterial right now. And he preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles that he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, many who were paralyzed, and many of the lame were healed. And there was great joy in the city because the city had been under demonic oppression. And that demonic oppression manifested itself in many ways: the demonic possession itself, as well as great outbreaks of disease and paralysis and other calamities of that sort. And so, when that cloud was lifted by the power of God, the whole city was awakened to the things of Christ and they were relieved from this oppression. There was a great victory against Satan, and joy came into that community.

The miracle of demon exorcism, which was a far cry from Rosemary's Baby in the first century, was one of specific and particular significance. Do you remember when Jesus astonished everybody by his power and ability to cast out demons from people? He made this comment: "If you see me casting out Satan by the finger of God, which that is, by the power of the Holy Ghost, then you know what? Then you know the kingdom of God has come upon you." So that Jesus attached singular significance to that particular miracle as a manifestation of the breakthrough of the divine kingdom. And that ministry that he began was continued by the apostles and the apostolic entourage with the deacons here in Samaria with these miracles that were taking place.

But there was a certain man called Simon. There's almost a tone that's ominous when we read this line. But after this great joy, "But there was a certain fellow in this city whose name was Simon." You can almost sense that there's going to be a shift in the mood of the writer. "Who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great." Now, in Christian history, this man is known as Simon Magus, or Simon the Magician. And we're told that he had an incredible hold over the people of this town in Samaria because of the sorcery that he had performed. And he had persuaded the people that he was something, maybe an avatar, maybe an incarnation of some supreme power.

Now, notice also that Luke was aware that earlier in the narratives of the scripture, we had particularly in Matthew's gospel, the record of the coming of the Magi to the scene in Bethlehem, where they brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And if you remember during the Advent season, I talked about those people from the East, the Magi, and who they were. And for all intents and purposes, the Magi were those people who were acquainted with the oriental arts of the East that were something of a mixture of science and the occult. Astronomy on the one hand, astrology on the other. So that those who were quote "Magi" or "magicians" were trained in the art of sleight of mind and then the art of prestidigitation, what we call magic in the entertainment world today. But we don't believe, I hope we don't believe, that the magicians who earn their living by performing amazing stunts on television or on the stages of this country really have any supernatural power to bring something out of nothing or to make things disappear.

Now, I had an uncle who was a magician. Every time he walked down the street, he turned into a bar. Just wanted to see who was listening. But we understand that this business of magic is a carefully crafted skill by people who master sleight of hand. And I know something about the business because I had a next-door neighbor whose job was to be a cabinet maker for magicians, and he would show me all of the little tricks and hinges and trap doors and places and how they would perform some of these amazing stunts. And I'm not going to destroy your future enjoyment of entertainment by revealing some of the most basic of these tricks, but the idea that smoke and mirrors are used a lot is prevalent in the world of contemporary magic. But it was also the same thing in antiquity. These magicians had no supernatural power. But Simon claimed to have supernatural power. And I'm sure he astonished the people with his tricks and his delusions, his sleight of hand, and the arts. And he probably was somewhat skilled in whatever science was popular in the day and a way in which he could use scientific principles to fool the people into believing.

Unfortunately, I know a firsthand account of a very dear friend of mine who was gunned down in Ethiopia after 50 years of missionary service to the natives of that country, who always had his biggest problem in evangelism back in the interior of Ethiopia and in the Sudan among the tribes of the region by having to deal with the witch doctors who practiced their arts, and the witch doctors with their hocus pocus had the people living in terror. They were afraid of his power. And my friend, the missionary, was always brought into confrontation with these pagan witch doctors. So, one day he decided to have it out with the local witch doctor. And so he got a large piece of cotton in a bundle and he buried several match heads in the cotton. And then at noon day, he came out and stood before the tribe with this piece of cotton in his hand, took a magnifying glass out of his pocket, focused the rays of the sun on the match heads, and the things start on fire. Well, you know, the witch doctor ran for cover because he saw real magic here. I said, "That was a good trick, but that was duplicitous. You know, that's not the way we're supposed to proclaim the gospel to people." But he said, "I was just trying to fight fire with fire, literally, in that occasion." But people are easily, easily amazed by some of the most simple tricks that magicians know how to perform.

Now, Simon Magus knew that his power was bogus. I wonder about some of those people out there who make their living performing miracles today in the name of Christ, that when you investigate them carefully, find out more often than not that they're less than authentic. I wonder if they know, or if you claim, if I would stand here today and claim to be healing you, it's almost inevitable that somebody would respond and say, "Well, you know, while you were saying that, my headache went away, and you give me the feedback, and pretty soon I start believing my own stickick." That happens. But for the most part, fraudulent sorcerers, whether they be in the name of Christ or against the name of Christ, know that they don't have the power that they claim to have. And obviously, Simon Magus was one.

Now, I have just a couple minutes to try to finish this third point. Simon saw the real thing, and he said, "I want that." Now, it also said that all of these people in Samaria believed when Philip gave these miracles and so on. And it said, listed among the believers, Simon. It said, "And Simon believed, too." And so, the problem we have here, here's a man who is said by scripture to be a believer, who then turns right around and comes to Peter. And when Peter and John come up from Jerusalem and said, "How much does it cost for me to get that power?" And he offers them money to secure the power of the Holy Ghost that he had witnessed when the apostles laid hands on the Samaritan believers and the second Pentecost took place. The Pentecost now not among the Jews, but the Pentecost that now falls on the Samaritans. I'll speak more about that later on, but not today. But in any case, they see the hands of Peter and John, and Simon tries to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever heard the word "Simony"? The term simony. One of the great problems in the 16th century church, one of the great points of corruption that provoked the Reformation was the widespread practice within the church of simony, particularly among the Medici popes, and for which the present church recognizes, and one of the benefits of the Council of Trent after the Protestant Reformation was to clean up this problem of simony in the church. But the whole indulgence controversy was linked to the sale of church offices by the Pope to particular people. One man in Germany, who was already too young to be a bishop and canon law was violated when he was made bishop, and then he bought a second bishopric, and when he sought to be the Archbishop of Mainz, he offered the Pope so many ducats of gold, and he now had a triple play. He had a bishop, three sees where he controlled most of Germany. And part of the whole business of the indulgences was to raise money for St. Peter's, but also to help this guy in Germany to pay off his debts that he had paid to Rome to buy this office of bishops. Well, one of the things that happened and was corrected by the Council of Trent was that that practice of simony was forbidden from then on. And it was called simony.

Going back to this text where the man named Simon tried to buy the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, listen to the rebuke of Peter upon him. He said, "First of all, give me this power also, that anyone in whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you." Now, that's known as a biblical euphemism. Really, what Peter was saying was, "You and your money can go to hell." That's how strong this text is here. Peter placed an anathema upon Simon. The strongest possible judgment that an apostle could utter was now uttered against Simon Magus for this sin. Said, "Your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money."

Do you know how many people there are today who think that God can be bought? Who think that the gifts of God can be purchased by our donations? Build a wing on the church. Build the whole church. Let me write out a check, pastor, thinking that it will ensure someone's salvation. Now, I don't want to deter you from writing out those checks. We need them. But don't ever think that any tithe, any gift, any purchase can buy God. Because, beloved, God is simply not for sale. The grace of God cannot be earned. It can't be borrowed. It can't be achieved. It can't be merited. And it certainly cannot be bought. Saved by the purchase of the blood of the Son of God.

"You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and pray to God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you, for I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity."

Now, quickly, Luke had said just a few passages earlier that Simon Magus believed, but was it saving faith? James tells us that even the demons believe in the sense that they assent and acknowledge intellectually the truth of God. But that kind of faith is not saving faith. Simon believed in the power of God. Simon believed that it was God who was working through Philip. There's no question about that. But he had no saving faith in his heart. He couldn't possibly have this wicked of a response to the seeing of manifestation of the power of God. And Peter knew right away that his profession of faith was spurious. It was not real. Says, "Your heart is not right with God. And God sees your heart." In other words, here's one of these people who has made a profession of faith while his heart remains a heart of stone. Peter says, "Simon, God can see what's in there. And what God sees is poison. He sees a venomous heart inside of you. He sees a bitter heart and a heart that is in bondage to that sin and that poison." You see, anyone who has true faith has been born again. And anyone who has been born again, though they may sin and still fall and slip up, is no longer a bondservant to sin. But Simon Peter looked at Simon Magus and he said, "You're still a slave to sin, and you better repent, and you better pray that God will forgive you of this crime."

And Simon answered and said, "Will you pray the Lord for me that none of the things that you have spoken may come upon me?" Now, that sounds like maybe he is repenting. He may be, or maybe not. Everything else we learned about him so far was his repentance and faith went only so far as his vested interests. In light of that fact, that the New Testament never mentions this man again in any salutary way, leaves us to suggest that whatever he did here was at best a response of attrition. Like the little child who repents when he gets his hand caught in the cookie jar. He says, "Oh, Mama, don't spank me. Don't spank me. Don't spank me." That's not true repentance. That's the kind of repentance we call attrition, where somebody repents in order to escape punishment, in order to get a ticket out of hell, to flee from the wrath of God, not because their heart has been moved to sorrow for having offended God. And I think we're left to conclude that when Simon Peter walked away from Simon Magus, Simon Magus walked away still in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage to sin. But he was the exception among the Samaritans, because on that day, the Lord visited his spirit mightily upon those who did believe.

He who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, keep us from such sins of presumption. Keep us from an empty and meaningless profession of faith where our hearts are not in it. Teach us, O God, that there's nothing we could ever do to purchase your grace or earn your forgiveness. But thank you for the power and the presence of the Holy Ghost, who applies to us the riches of the One who could purchase our redemption. We thank you for that in his name. Amen.

We're going to continue our study of the Gospel according to St. Luke this morning. We're beginning a new chapter, chapter 15. But instead of starting at verse one, I'm going to start at verse 11 and read through verse 32, which is Luke's record of the parable of the prodigal son. Now, I have not forgotten that there are two shorter parables that Jesus gives before the parable of the prodigal son, and I will therefore incorporate those prefatory parables in the sermon this morning. But for our purposes now, we'll be looking, beginning at verse 11 through verse 32. And I would ask the congregation, please, to stand for the reading of the word of God.

"Then he said, 'A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, "Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me." And so he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate. But no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.'" And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found." And they began to be merry. And now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, "Your brother has come." And because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf." But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, "Lo, these many years I've been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him." And he said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should be merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."

What a magnificent story this is. No wonder it is one of the two more popular of the parables of Jesus, along with the parable of the Good Samaritan, because in this story, we read our story and of the blessed grace of God. This is His word, His truth that carries His authority. Please embrace it as such and be seated. Let us pray again.

Our Father, we call upon you, and once again, we ask for your help. We've heard your truth. We've listened to your word, but we have built a shield around our souls, lest that word would pierce it. And so we ask now that by your Spirit you would cut through that shield, that your word may find a resting place in our souls. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The context of this parable, that follows the two shorter ones, had to do once again with a confrontation that Jesus had with the Pharisees and the scribes. At the beginning of chapter 15, we read that "all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus in order to hear him." But the Pharisees and the scribes complained about this and they said, "This man receives sinners and he eats with them." And that's the reason Jesus gives these three parables in chapter 15, because he had just heard this criticism that he had associated with tax collectors and with sinners, not only associating them with them, but actually sharing meals with them. This made the scribes and the Pharisees aghast, because it violated every principle that they held precious, where they practiced a kind of spiritual apartheid in which they actually believed that salvation came through segregation, by keeping oneself a perfect distance from anyone who was tainted with evil of any kind. And they saw Jesus spending time with the sinners and with the tax collectors. He hung out with them, as it were, not because he wanted to be like them. But Jesus went to these sinners because he was driven by compassion. This was his mission. He said on another occasion, "I came to seek and to save the lost. Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but these people need me." And so that's where he spent his time.

Now, in responding to this vigorous criticism that came to him from the scribes and the Pharisees, he told two brief parables before the larger one that we've just read. The first was the parable of the lost sheep. Listen to it briefly. "He said this parable to them, saying, 'What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls his neighbors together and says to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost." And I say to you, likewise, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance.'"

It's a simple story taken from the common activity of the land that was filled with sheep and with shepherds. How many times do the scriptures liken God and ultimately Christ to the shepherd of our souls? So Jesus said, "This is a simple thing. Which one of you, if you owned a hundred sheep and one of your sheep wandered away and was lost, wouldn't leave the 99 that were safe in the sheepfold and go out and pursue through the darkness or through the heat of the day, searching everywhere for that one sheep that was lost? You would keep looking. It wouldn't be a casual search. You wouldn't just spend five minutes looking about the landscape to see if you see this little sheep scurrying here and there. No, you'd keep looking and looking and looking until you found it. Unless you're a hireling. Unless you were simply being paid to take care of somebody else's sheep. Then if you lost one, you may think, 'Well, what's one out of a hundred? It's only 1%.' The sheep owner will probably never even notice that this one was gone. But if you're a good shepherd, you can count. And you know your sheep, and your sheep know your voice. So that if one strays and gets lost in the wilderness, you're on a holy pursuit until you find him. And when you find him, you don't take your shepherd's crook and beat him over the head with it. You don't scold the sheep. The sheep's probably bleeding, frightened to death, being separated from the flock and the shepherd. And when you find that sheep trembling, you stoop over and you reach down and you pick up that lamb and you put him around your neck and hold his feet and you bring him home. And when you bring him home, you can't wait to tell your friends. You say, 'I found him.' Do you know the sheep that wandered away? I lost him, but I went out and I looked and I looked and I searched and I searched until finally I found him, and here he is. Come rejoice with me.' And Jesus says that not only do his neighbors rejoice with him, but he says, 'In like manner, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance.'"

Now, there's a dispute about who the 99 just persons represent. Do they represent righteous people in the world who have no need of the gospel, who have no need of the tender mercies and compassion of the good shepherd? I don't think so, because in that case, you couldn't find 99 of those in the whole world. So this could only refer to those who have been justified, those who have come safely home to the Savior and now reside in His church, as it were. But every congregation has those who stray. Some stray because they never were converted in the first place. As John said, "Those who went out from us were never really among us." But even when we believe, as we do in the perseverance of the saints, because the Lord preserves those who are His, we acknowledge that even the truly converted person may fall into serious and deep sin and stray from the kingdom of God and from Christ, as some of us have. But when that happens, the hound of heaven will not stay home. The song and the hymn of the church is not "Leave them alone, and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them." No, the church sings, "There were 90 and nine who safely lay in the shelter of the fold. But there was one lost sheep on that hill far away, far off from the streets of gold." And that one who strays from the fellowship of the church, from the means of grace, and from the community of Jesus, is sought by the Lord until he is found and brought home. This is about compassion. This is about the love of Christ for His people.

He says, "And in like manner, it's like this woman who also suffers a loss. What woman? He says, 'Having 10 silver coins. If she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it.'" Now, the first little parable, it's only 1% of the sheepfold that is lost, only 1% of that valuable collection had disappeared. Now it's 10%. This poor woman only has 10 silver coins. One silver coin was the equivalent of a day's wages of a laborer in the ancient world. So in the parable, Jesus is describing a woman who is virtually destitute. She has 10 coins to her name. That's it. She doesn't have an IRA or an annuity or a highly salaried position. Her life savings amounts to the wages of 10 days' labor. And if you lose 10% of that, you have lost something exceedingly valuable. And so this woman's first reaction is panic. Can't find the coin. A whole day's work. 10% of her net worth gone. She lives in a small house with a dirt floor, crude furniture. She turns the furniture upside down. She grabs a broom. She goes to the dirt floor. She sweeps this corner and that corner. She then lights a lamp and holds it close, looking at every nook and cranny in her house with the hope that she'll see that little glitter of silver. Not like my wife when she loses an earring. It's not going to change her lifestyle. It still requires me to turn heaven and earth upside down to find that one earring. You guys are laughing. You're married to the same kind of woman. I understand that. We don't like to lose anything that we consider valuable. But the reason why the shepherd went looking for the sheep and the reason why this woman took the trouble to search for this coin was because the shepherd cared for his sheep. And this woman valued this coin. And so she diligently searches after it. And we read in verse nine, "And when she has found it, she doesn't just get down in her. And thank God, she runs out her front door and she goes to her next-door neighbor and the neighbor next to her and says, 'Come on over. We're having a party. I found that money that I lost. It was there all along. Nobody stole it. And so rejoice with me, for I have found the peace that I lost.'" Jesus said, "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

What's the point? Jesus is saying to these religious leaders, "What's wrong with you? You complain when I seek the lost, while every angel in heaven is rejoicing." No wonder he called them the children of the devil. Because every time Christ finds one who is lost and brings it to Himself, the angels rejoice and the devil complains. We all know that sheep are valuable. We all know that money is valuable, but it's just stuff. But sheep and silver cannot compare with the value of a human being. And so these many parables were simply prefatory, a warm-up for the big one, which he begins in verse 11. And don't panic about the hour, because I have no intention whatsoever of finishing this parable this morning. I'm not going to do a whole chapter in Luke in one day. No way. So, we're just going to begin our study of the prodigal son.

So, now Jesus comes to the larger story and he said, "A certain man had two sons." Now, it's not one out of a hundred or one out of ten, but it's one out of two. "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' And so he divided to them his livelihood." Now, you hear what's happening here in the ancient world. Just as is the case today, inheritances were passed down to children and grandchildren on following the death of the owner of the estate. On rare occasions, though, of course, the wealthy owner could give a trust fund to his children or give them certain gifts in advance. But it was exceedingly rare that anybody would give the entire inheritance to a child before he died. That would mean liquidating all of his assets in order to distribute them among his heirs. It would usually, in such cases, involve a potential long-term loss of the real value of the estate. But that didn't bother this son. He said, "Father, I want my inheritance, and I want it now. I don't want to have to wait until you die. I may be too old to enjoy it. I want to enjoy my portion of your legacy. Now."

Let me pause for a second. What we have here, folks, is a case of a young man who did not believe in delayed gratification. He wanted it, and he wanted it now, so he could spend it now. Remember a few weeks ago, I told you of R.C. Sproul Jr.'s law of hermeneutics, that if you find something in the Bible, if you see someone who's acting stupidly, that's you, that's me. When we read this story, we want to identify with the father or with the good brother until he gets mean. And we certainly don't want to identify ourselves with this profligate young man who is flagrant in wasting his father's inheritance. We don't want to identify with this young boy who doesn't want to defer or delay gratification. We're not at all like him. When we have interest payments on our credit cards, when we spend money that we don't have, when we live beyond our means and actually steal from our creditors by delaying our payment to them, there's an old adage that "fast pay makes for good friends." I've been working over the past couple of months with a contractor on a job, and each portion of the job he finishes, he wants paid that day, even though 10 times at least he failed to show up on the days that he says he's going to be there. Nevertheless, I paid him the day he asked for until the last time. I said, "You keep saying you're going to do something, you don't do it. You keep saying you're going to be here and you don't come. But when you do come, you want paid right now." And he said, "Well, I'm sorry. He says, 'It's been raining and we're delayed.'" I said, "Really? I got news for you." He said, "What?" I says, "It's been raining on my bank account and on my checkbook, and you're not getting another dime until you get over here and do what you said you're going to do." But we do this, don't we? Credit card debt, ladies and gentlemen, is an epidemic in America. It's crippling to people. But credit card debt comes when we live beyond our means. When we become prodigal and profligate, just like this man in the story. That's bad stewardship. It's not how God wants His people to live. But in any case, never mind for the moment the application. It'll haunt you later. But in this case, the young man says, "Give me the portion of goods that falls to me." The incredible part of this story is that the father agrees to it. The father allows his son to go with his inheritance.

And so, a few days later, the younger son gathered everything together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. Let me just stop there for a second. The first thing this young man does after he receives his early inheritance and gathers it together is that he leaves the house. He leaves the confines of his family. He leaves the restraints of his parents. And he doesn't just go to the next town where somebody might know him. He goes to a far country where he's anonymous. He goes into the darkness where no one can see him, so he can do the things that he always wanted to do without restraint. Every year I see the news accounts of spring break at Fort Lauderdale and here in Daytona, and you see the news showing the unbridled debauchery of these college kids far from school, far from home. And you know that the TV cameras can only show so much and get away with it on their broadcasts. And so they leave to your imagination all the rest that is going on in this endless partying syndrome. And you see these kids having a great time. And every time I see it, I think, I wonder if their parents are watching this on television. I wonder if their parents know what they're financing on spring break. Oh, I'm sure there are some parents that do know and say, "Go ahead. Have a great time. Do whatever you want." But you wonder how many parents who care about their kids have any idea what they're doing when they go into a far country. This young man went to a far country where nobody knew him so he could have the mother of all parties. And he was like a sailor on shore leave with a pocket full of money, no restraints, and certainly finances were not a restraint. But there, we are told, in this far country, he wasted his possessions with prodigal living. A prodigal is somebody who is involved in radical waste, lavish waste. He's wasting his money, his father's money. He's wasting his time. But far worse, beloved, he's wasting his life. We learn later on in the parable that he consumed his wealth in riotous living and in harlotry and lost it all till he became penniless and had to live with the pigs. Everybody in this room has known someone that you love, care about, who's gone off the deep end into this kind of lifestyle. And you see them in misery, in shame, and often in jail. And you still see them with hardened hearts. And you wonder, what's it going to take to get them to the end of themselves, till they hit bottom and realize the enormity of this waste? Is there anything more tragic, beloved, than a wasted life? It's one thing to waste a paycheck, but to waste a life is the tragedy of all tragedies. But Jesus is telling this story because He cares about people like that. The Pharisees could care less about a young man wasting his fortune and living with the pigs. But the Lord of glory cared about this young man.