Acts 8:20
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Good evening, church. Our text today is Acts chapter 8, verse 20. Please turn with me there or look at the front of your bulletin. Short verse tonight. Luke writes this, But Peter said to him, May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. I think the main point of this text that we're in tonight is this. you can't purchase grace. You can't purchase grace. And in tonight's devotional, I want to break it down into two sub points. First, God's gifts are freely given to you. God's gifts are freely given to you. Our verse tonight is found in the middle of a passage in Acts that tells us about a magician named Simon. Simon had a pretty good gig. He would walk around, he would perform miracles seemingly magic is a better word and he even would stoop to calling himself great
so imagine a magician walking around doing magic tricks saying i am simon simon the great and philip arrives in samaria and philip starts to preach the gospel and people are saved they believe the gospel and they're baptized simon himself professes christ and is baptized and he begins to follow Philip around. And Philip and others, they're seeing signs and wonders being performed. And of course, Simon the magician, who called himself great, sees these incredible miracles and he's astounded. At this time, Peter and John are sent by the apostles to come and bear witness to the saving, to the salvation of the Samaritans. And when Peter and John arrive, they lay hands on these new christians these new christians receive the holy spirit and there are signs and wonders being done and at this point simon is absolutely blown away at what
he's seeing and he pulls aside peter and he makes him an offer effectively how do you do this how do i get in on this amazing action and that's when peter says to him may your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. See, Simon wanted to pay them to teach them how to do these incredible signs and wonders and he completely missed what was going on amongst him.
He didn't understand that there were no abilities to be purchased. That's not what was going on here. This wasn't magic. It was God's grace at work. The miracles that he witnessed at the hands of the apostles were a unique moment in history Christians receive the Holy Spirit when they are saved but a couple of times in the book of Acts we see a delayed receiving of the Holy Spirit we see it in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit first falls we see it here in Acts chapter 8 Paul refers to us as Christians as temples of the Holy Spirit so Christian when you are converted the Holy Spirit is given to you that is a gift but here in this specific situation this is a unique moment in history these are samaritans the samaritans were seen by the jews as half breeds who defiled the jewish religion this would have been an incredible incredible thing
for jewish background believers to witness the salvation of the samaritans and so that there could be no doubt to the authenticity of their salvation the apostles arrived to bear witness they lay hands to pray on them and these samaritans received the holy spirit friends the samaritans did not earn the holy spirit neither did philip nor peter nor john the salvation that they received and the holy spirit that was given to them were freely given. It wasn't something that anybody paid for. That's why Simon was missing out what was going on. Christians, I want to remind us right now for a few moments of the gifts that we have received from God. One of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible is in Ephesians chapter 1. In times of discouragement, in times where I'm just doubting in my own flesh
god's goodness in various times i go to ephesians 1 and i am reminded of the blessings we have just in one passage of scripture so for example christian we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place ephesians 1 3 we were chosen before the foundation of the world ephesians 1 4 we are holy and blameless before god holy and blameless before God verse 4 we were predestined for adoption verse 5 of Ephesians 1 we have been redeemed verse 7 we have been forgiven our trespasses verse 7 we have an inheritance verse 11 we're reminded that we were given the holy spirit verse 13 and we have hope verse 18 of ephesians 1 this is just one chapter of the bible and i don't have enough time to
expound all of the goodness and all of the meat that is in ephesians 1 but friends all of these are gifts that are given to us freely they were given to us not because of our works not because of anything we've done, but they were purchased for us by Jesus Christ. Have you ever found yourself believing that you needed to earn God's gift? Have you made it a habit in your own life when you're seeing a lack of whatever it is that you want in life to kind of measure up how am I doing in my spiritual disciplines? Maybe God's not giving me what I want in this specific area because I'm not trying enough in my daily walk with him. Maybe if I serve more in the community, or maybe if I serve more in our local church, then I'll receive God's favor. Maybe you're here tonight, it's Thanksgiving weekend,
you're here with a family member, and you don't call yourself a Christian. You may even want to call yourself a Christian, but you feel like you need to attain some level of morality before you can do that well that brings me to my second point we can't purchase god's gift by our works or our dollars we can't purchase god's gifts by our works or our dollars our flesh is wired to believe that we need to earn forgiveness that we need to earn it we see evidence in all the religions and cults that have been created by humans throughout history we read about idol worship in the old testament thousands of years ago we see works-based righteousness as the foundation of every man-made religion like islam and hinduism and buddhism and throughout the years man-made heresies have sought to infect biblical christianity
Whether it's the work-based righteousness of the Roman Catholic Church that has led millions upon millions of people to believe falsely in things like indulgences and the veneration of saints and purgatory, things we prayed about tonight. Or there's the prosperity heresy, which is rampant in the global south, that teaches that people can earn God's favor through financial gifts to just the right ministries. Friends, we cannot purchase our salvation through good deeds, nor do we believe that God materially and spiritually will reward you the more you give financially.
Our deeds and our dollars are insufficient. Let me say that again. Our deeds and our dollars are insufficient. The reality is that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Not fallen just a little bit. It's not like a little drop off of this step right here. The scriptures are clear that our sin has caused a separation between us and our God so that he cannot hear. As we sing in the song that we sing so often here, Living Hope, the first few lines, how great the chasm that lay between us, how high the mountain I could not climb.
That is a spiritual truth of our position before God apart from Jesus Christ. That's the reality of sin against an infinitely holy God. No deeds done, no money paid, even if it was every good work done and every bit of currency ever gathered for all of history and all into infinity. it would be insufficient to pay the debt that your sin and my sin created.
This time of year, we pay particular attention to the coming of Jesus to earth. He lived a perfect life. He shed his blood on the cross as a perfect sacrifice. Friend, he paid the debt that we could not pay. And salvation is offered freely as a gift to anyone who would put their faith and trust in his life and death and resurrection. And the Holy Spirit is given as a gift to every Christian, as Ephesians 1 says.
He's the guarantee of our inheritance. We're given the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are laid out in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4. And these gifts are given in different measure to Christians. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12, we aren't all given the same gifts. And these gifts that are given to us are for the building up of the church.
See, that's where Simon got it wrong. He's seeing miracles being formed and he's thinking, wow, I can benefit materially from performing these signs and these wonders. Friends, our spiritual gifts are best observed in our local congregation. They're not earned by deeds or by money. Even your spiritual gifts are given to you as a gift of God.
So what are some practical ways that we can live in light of these truths? I want to close with five brief points of application. Number one, check your heart to evaluate whether your thoughts and actions line up with your theology. You might be listening to me tonight and you might be saying, yes, I agree with everything that you say. But in the quietness of your heart, do you truly believe it? Do you truly believe it or do you find yourself weighing up the scales of justice in your own heart? If only I pray a little bit harder. Maybe if I double up my shifts in the local church, maybe then God would reward me. Do we often look for man's praise as we're exercising our giftings?
Maybe you did a stellar job in children's ministry and you're just wondering if the nursery supervisors are going to come up and pat you on the back and say, well done. Is that what you're looking for? Are you looking to glorify God with the gifts that he's given to you? Number two, thank God for the gifts that he's given to you. When's the last time that you have reflected not only on the spiritual gifts of salvation, but on the gifts of the spirit that he's given to you? Are you gifted in teaching? Have you thanked God for that gift?
As you evangelize others, are you not only praying that they would come to Christ, but are you also praising God for his gift of salvation to you and thanking him for giving you the boldness to share the gospel? Number three, this one's particularly hard for me at times, rejoice in the gifts that God has given others. We have a hard time with this as humans sometimes, don't we? How many of you have experienced Christmas and you've seen a sibling or maybe a spouse receive the gift that you wanted?
You're like, man, I really wanted that gift. And I would just encourage you, rejoice in the gifts that God has given to others. As you witness people in this local church exercising their giftedness, rejoice. Wow, I am so thankful that this brother or this sister has this gift. Leads me to my fourth point of practical application. Share God's gifts to you with this congregation.
Friends, if you're checking out Third Avenue Baptist Church and you're dipping the toes in here and you haven't yet become a member and you are a Christian, please join this church. And if this isn't the church for you, that's okay. Please join some local church. And serve in the church. Exercise your God-given gifts for the benefit of that congregation. Our statement of faith says this. We believe that Christians are to associate themselves into particular churches according to Christ's commandment.
That a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers bound together by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. and exercising the various gifts given them by the Holy Spirit for what? The building up of the church. I want to insert a quick warning here to people who desire certain gifts for their own status, rather for the benefit of others. Be very, very careful.
This isn't something that's unique to seminary students, but it's something that I find that is particularly burdensome to seminary students as they're seeing different giftedness play out in front of them. Maybe it's sitting in a preaching class or a preaching colloquium. Beware of jealousy and beware of desiring giftedness for your own elevation. I'm kind of midlife now. I know I don't look it, but I am mid-age. Don't laugh, it's true.
And I've just seen at this stage so many men fall because they went into ministry for the wrong reason. And they've taken the gifts that God has given them for his glory and not their own. And they have manipulated them to be all about themselves. And they are now a waste pile on the side of the road because God will not be mocked. He will not be mocked. I once heard a pastor as he was expounding the need for multi-campus churches, multi-site churches.
Why would I put a 4 out of 10 in that local church when they can have a 10 out of 10 like me on a video? He's no longer in ministry. He's disqualified. And his life is like rubble on the side of the road. I'm going to shave next time I preach. I'm sorry. Friends, we glorify God as we use the gifts he's given us to serve others. Simon missed the point. God was being glorified as this miracle was happening.
And what does he do? He's like, how do I get some of that glory for myself? Don't be like Simon. And finally, tell about God's greatest gift with the lost around you. Tell about God's greatest gift with the lost around you. If you truly believe the gospel is good news for salvation to all who believe, share that with others. And if you're nervous just about how to do that, there's a really easy way to implement this. Invite them to Louisville Christmas in a couple weeks. They're gonna hear the gospel. They're gonna hear the words of the gospel sung and then they're gonna hear the words of the gospel preached.
That is a very good way for you to dip your toes into evangelism. Friends, let's not miss the point of our gifts. They're to glorify God. They're to be made much of each other in the life of our local congregation. Not for the fame of Third Avenue Baptist Church, but for God's fame and for his renown. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your good gifts. For the gift of salvation.
For the gift of the Holy Spirit to be called temple of the Holy Spirit. To know that the spirit of the living God is living and active inside of us is a truth we truly cannot behold. Thank you for the gift of the Spirit. Lord, thank you for the gifts that we see used in this congregation to glorify you and make much of you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.