The Opposite of Growth | October 12, 2025 AM

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The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist

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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.

How about we get to the Word of God this morning?

All right, Acts chapter 8, Are you there this morning?

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Say Amen if you're there this morning, All right, good,

because I'm not there. I'm in Mark chapter 3.

Mark 3 · chapter mention

All right, so I'll get there here in just a moment.

But I'm glad you're there in Acts chapter #8 we've been

talking here at Liberty over the last several weeks about the

issue of growth, how important it is for us to spiritually

grow. Listen, you can't be stagnant in

your spiritual life. If you're not growing, you're

regressing. If you're a neutral, it's like

being a neutral on a hill, isn't it?

You're not going forward, you're not standing still, you're going

backwards. And so it's important that once

you come to trust Jesus Christ, your Savior, and by the way, we

all must trust Jesus Christ as our Savior.

But it's so important that once you trust Christ as your Savior,

that you grow. And that we saw that the Holy

Spirit is the one who helps us grow because in and of

ourselves, we can't do it on our own right because of our flesh

and the battles that we have with our flesh.

But there's the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, who helps us

to be the people that we ought to be.

And that we're not going to be perfect that, well, we're not

going to be perfect until we see that scene.

The brother Vince, just read it in Acts Revelation chapter #4

we're not going to be perfect until that time when we're in

glory. But in the meantime, we can keep

growing and trying to be more Christ like.

And that's what I want to continue to talk about this

morning. But we're going to kind of take

a little bit of A twist of what we've been taking as we've gone

through the book of Acts and we've looked at Peter's growth

this morning. I want us to look at the

opposition to growth because there is some opposition to

growth. Some of you might have found out

over the last few weeks as you really tried within your heart

to purpose to grow in your Christian life.

You found that, well, Satan doesn't like you growing so

much. Satan doesn't like it when

you're walking with the Lord. He doesn't like it when you are

doing right and you're reading your Bible and you're praying

and you're going to church and you're saying no to sin and

you're putting off the old manner of living and you're

putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible says Satan doesn't like that, but when you don't

grow, that's a real issue. Many of you know our son AJ, and

I say many of you because I know there's several of you who are

new here to liberty, but our son AJ has special needs.

That's why we started the special needs conference and had

such an emphasis on that, because it was really something

that was never on our radar before a JS diagnosis back in

2014. But I remember specifically

several years ago going to the doctor, and AJ has several

doctors and specialists. Just that alone keeps us very

busy trying to go to all of his doctors and specialists and

therapists and all the different things that go along with that.

But I remember when they took out his growth chart one day and

they showed us where he plotted on the growth chart.

Now, you know, there's percentiles, and if you're at

the 99th percentile, well, that's a healthy person.

Amen. We'll just leave it at that,

right? But at the other end, if you're

at the first percentile, that's someone that is at the lowest

rank. So out of 100 people that that

would be the smallest as far as weight or as far as height.

Now, we knew AJ was a little boy and we knew that, but it was

shocking to me to find out that he was at the first percentile

for height. And the first.

Percentile for weight. And I remember looking at the

doctor and saying something like this, hey, no big deal.

I mean, who cares, right? I mean, he'll grow when he

grows, right? Maybe he should grow.

Maybe he shouldn't grow. Pastor, Say pastor, how sick are

you this morning? No, that's not what I said.

That's not what I said at all. That's not what Diane said.

You know what we? Realized this is a problem.

Because if he's not growing properly.

Then his life is not going to be all that it ought to be.

It was an alarm that went off in our life that that growth had

stopped in its tracks when growth should have been

commencing in a way that was at least average to what other

children's growth was. You know, it was assigned to us.

There were some oppositions to his growth and we had to figure

out what those were and identify those and try to help him the

very best that we could. Well, here this morning, if

you're not growing, if we've been talking about this for the

last five weeks, these issues of growth and we've been talking

about it over and over and over again.

And you can't really identify one area in your spiritual life

where you've seen some growth or one area of your life or you

have attempted to grow. And maybe there's been some ups

and downs like a stock market, if you will, that it kind of

goes up and kind of goes down. But the general trend line is

that you're going up. If you haven't seen that there's

some issues of you being in a very low percentile.

No, no, not that we're comparing ourselves among ourselves or

your spiritual life to my spiritual life, because that's

folly. That's a fool's errand.

But we are saying this morning, if you're not growing, there's

reasons why. And you better identify those so

that you can, by God's grace, confess those to the Lord and so

that you can grow in the way that God wants you to grow.

Well, we're going to read Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

So why don't you stand, please, for the reading of the God's

Word? If you're able, Acts chapter 8

Acts 8 · chapter mention

will begin in verse #1. And the word of God says, and

Saul was consenting unto his death.

Now that his there is Stephen. Stephen became the first martyr

in chapter #7 And at that time there was a great persecution

against the church who was at Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of

Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

But you can see a real change here, can't you?

Where the church was growing in Jerusalem, everything was

growing great. But now because of persecution,

they're scattering. And Satan probably no doubt

thinks this is a wonderful thing he doesn't realize.

Is the seeds. Of the growth of the Kingdom of

God have now just spread. Every time persecution comes to

God's church, it doesn't burn out, it only grows more.

And we see that here his soul he made for havoc upon the church,

entering into every house and hailing men and women,

committing them to prison. Therefore they that were

scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word you say that

soul guy, he sounds pretty bad. Well, spoiler alert, his life's

going to change here in a little bit.

All right. Verse #5 Then Philip went down

to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them.

And the people with 1 accord gave heed unto those things

which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did

for unclean. Here it's crying with loud voice

came out of many that were possessed with them, and many

had taken with palsies, and that were lame or healed.

And there was great joy in that city.

Boy, when people come to know Jesus Christ, there is great

joy. And that's what happened here.

And there was a certain man named Simon.

Now this is not Simon Peter. We're going to come to find out

in a moment that he is Simon the sorcerer.

That's a much different man than Simon Peter, which before time

in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of

Samaria, giving that himself was some great one, to whom they all

gave heed from the least of the greatest saying, This man is the

great power of God, and to him they had regard, because that of

long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning

the Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were

baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed

also, and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and

wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria

had received the word of God, they sent unto Peter and John,

who when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might

receive the Holy Ghost, for as yet he was fallen upon none of

them. Only they were baptized in the

name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on

them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

And when Simon, this is Simon the sorcerer, saw that through

laying on of the apostles hands, the Holy Ghost was given.

He offered the money saying, give me this power also, that on

whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

Now we're going to find out what Peter said about that in just a

moment, but I will just give you a little bit of insight.

It wasn't pleasant because here's a man who has claimed

that he's come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, but what he

really craves is more power. More power, Not more growth, but

more power. And so we're going to look at

this in just a moment. And while I do have some very

definite beliefs about who this Simon the Sorcerer was, I do

believe that we can look at some of the characteristics of his

life and find, if we're not careful, that those same

characteristics can even be found in us as believers.

And can impede our growth in Jesus.

Will you be seated? And let's go ahead and pray

together. Heavenly Father, do thank you

for this morning. I do just ask for you to be able

to give me the help that I need. And Lord, certainly that's true

every week, but it is true today most especially.

But I know what needs to be preached today.

I feel very strongly about it. And I do pray that you would

help me to preach it in a way that's honoring to you, that's

clear to these people and that gives.

But no doubt that salvation is needed for everyone, salvation

through Christ, and that once we are saved, we need to find these

oppositions to our growth so that we can eliminate them and

be who you've called us to be. Thank you again for this time.

These people, these visitors, these returning visitors, we

thank you for them all and we ask it all in Jesus name, Amen.

Simon the sorcerer was a strange man who had a very strange

problem. In fact, he had three

characteristics of which made him such a problem.

And as we look at these this morning, first of all, I want to

see this. He was a man who was deceptive.

He was a man who was deceptive. This man was a deceiver who had

the people of Samaria believing that in essence he was of God.

Do you remember, we just saw that here just a few moments

ago, that the people there of Samaria and remember Samaria was

not part of Israel that had that weird relationship with Israel

that several 100 years ago they had remained in the land when

most of the Israelites had been carried away.

They'd intermarried in the land. And now there's that, that great

racial tension that takes place there in the in Galilee.

And most people wouldn't even walk through Samaria, let alone

share the Gospel with someone from Samaria.

That's why it was so impactful in John chapter 4 when Jesus

John 4 · chapter mention

said I must need to go to Samaria because he knew that he

must share himself with everyone.

By the way, it's still true today, red and yellow, black and

white, they're all precious in his sight.

And that Jesus Christ is the answer for everyone, no matter

where they've come from, no matter what language they speak,

that Jesus Christ isn't just the savior of America or isn't just

a savior of a certain color of people, but Jesus Christ is the

savior of all for all time. And so the gospel is there being

spread in Samaria, and people are getting saved.

By the way, when you preach the gospel, you see twice it said

they preach the gospel and they preach Christ.

What do we do here at Liberty Baptist Church?

We want to preach the gospel, which means this, we preach

Christ. That's why we don't get up here

and have a fireside chat. That's why we don't get up here

and have an interpretive dance. Listen, you don't want to see me

dance anyway. Amen.

All right. That's why we don't have those

kind of things. What do we do?

We. Preach the word, because it's

the word preach that changes lives.

Romans chapter 10, How shall they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10 · chapter mention

And that's what happens in Samaria.

And people are getting saved. Scores of people are getting

saved. And it says that this man, Simon

the sorcerer there is watching, and he's paying attention very

carefully. And it says in verse #12 But

when they, the people of Samaria, believe Philip

preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name

of Jesus Christ, they were back baptized men and women.

Verse 13 says then Simon himself believed also and when he was

baptized, he continued with Phillip and wondered beholding

the miracles and signs which were done.

Now sure, have we seen Peter doing some great miracles in the

past? There's no doubt that we have.

What we just saw last week that people were trotting the halt in

the lame out into the streets just hoping and praying that

Peter shadow would pass over them because they believed they

would be healed. And many of them were healed of

the maladies they had during that time.

But I will say this, while certainly God has signs and

wonders and they're very real things, Satan also is a great

imitator of God and he tries to imitate the things of God,

although certainly he is not God.

God, you can go back to Pharaoh's, I almost said

Pharaoh's physicians. I don't know that he had

physicians. Maybe maybe I need a physician

this morning. Amen.

Pharaoh's magicians. And what did Moses do?

He threw down the rod of God and it became a serpent.

And the magician said we can do that too.

And through their own demonic sorcery, we're able to do that.

But at the same time, they found out that the rod of God ate

their rods, didn't they, showing who was really in charge.

And by the way, the more those plagues continued, the more

those magicians showed. Well, they really didn't have

the power that did. That was no, no doubt

whatsoever, the witch of Endor. We looked at before with Saul,

King Saul, not the Saul that was mentioned here earlier in the

chapter, but King Saul. She was able through some sort

of conjuring to be able to either bring up Samuel himself

or perhaps just someone who resembled Samuel.

But we do know this, that there was some sort of demonic

activity that was connected to this witch of Endor.

Someday there will be an Antichrist during the seven-year

Tribulation, and he will try to even mimic the very resurrection

of Jesus Christ. We see over and over Satan has

this idea to copy the very things of God, and here is the

sorcerer and what is he doing? He is having a front row seat

and he's a part of it, you say. But pastor, hold on a second,

hold on a second. It says here that he believed,

so didn't he become a believer? Well, I want to remind you that

when we read the Word of God, we always read the Word of God in

context, that when we see a verse that we want to make sure

we match up the verses with other verses.

I'm going to explain to you more in detail in a few moments why I

believe that he was not a true believer in Jesus Christ.

He sure believed, but he necessarily was not a believer

in Jesus Christ. Do you know it's possible to

believe that Jesus Christ existed?

Do you know it's possible to believe that even Jesus Christ

was God and is God, but never to call upon him yourself to be

your savior. Listen, salvation isn't just

about well, I agree with the historical account.

It's not just why I believe what the word of God says.

I just I just I've always believed these things.

Our family has been Christians. This is what people says say all

the time. But may I also remind you that

James chapter 2 verse 19 says they'll believe us that there is

James 2:19

one God. Thou doest well.

But listen, the devils also believe and tremble.

Do you think Satan understands that the Jesus Christ was real?

You want to talk about a front row seat?

Satan had one. But over and over again, it was

shown that Jesus Christ was God and the devil is not, no matter

how hard he tries, no matter how hard he tries to ascend to

become the most high. And so us this morning, listen,

when it comes this issue of deception, you know it's

possible and we'll even look at delusion here in just a moment.

But it's possible to deceive yourself into delusion, thinking

you are a believer when you're not.

Say, Pastor, are you trying to convince us that we're not saved

this morning? I have no intention whatsoever

to convince anyone that they are not saved this morning.

If you are saved, listen, I can't talk you out of it because

you're saved. I can't take it away from you.

I can't talk you out of it. I can't snatch it away from you.

I don't have that kind of power. No way.

No, Sir, I don't have that. What I am saying this morning is

that I'll just give my own testimony.

That was 16 years old and I knew Jesus Christ, and I thought, I

love Jesus Christ and I believe that he existed.

But I just knew from my own perspective as a Lutheran that

the only way to achieve heaven was to work was to make sure

that I had been baptized and make sure that I was confirmed,

to make sure that I was taking the Lord's Supper every other

week. And I believe that it was Jesus

and those things that would get me to heaven.

Guess what? I have been deceived.

And deception is a very real impediment to growth.

Why? Because you're deceived about,

even in this case, what the gospel is all about, that thou

shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, not with someone

else's mouth. Thou shalt confess with thy

mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God

hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved.

Listen, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,

and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If I could just walk around with gospel tracts and tell people,

listen, read the prayer on the back and as long as you read it,

you go to heaven. It would be so easy to make sure

everyone was going to heaven because they're confessing with

the mouth. But it's not just the mouth,

it's believing that in the heart as well.

If it was just about baptizing people, we would go across the

street to Easton Pool and Spa where they got that nice show

pool over there and we make everybody go through the water

and everybody be saved. But that's not what it is.

It's I am going to call upon Jesus Christ to save me because

I believe only He can save me from my sins, that there's no

good within me because of the sinful nature within me.

In fact, quite the opposite. The sinful nature within me is

sending me on a road straight ahead.

It's only through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Don't be deceived by what people are saying.

And here is a man who was a deceiver and he deceived himself

so much that he also, number 2, was a man who was delusional.

A man who was delusional. Now if I deceive you, that means

I've tricked you. But if I am deluded, that means

this. I've tricked myself.

It's one thing to trick other people, It's another thing to

pull the wool over your own eyes.

What's the definition of delusion?

Having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions.

And further listen to this. Maintaining fixed false beliefs

even when confronted with facts. Maintaining fixed false beliefs

even when confronted with facts. Being delusional is deceiving

yourself even in the face of the truth.

Peter comes and he sees Simon the Sorcerer does that.

Peter has even greater power than Simon the Sorcerer has.

You say what? Why do you say power?

Because Simon the Sorcerer did not understand that the power

Peter wielded was not like the power that Simon the Sorcerer

had before. You're talking about apples and

oranges here. It wasn't just that Peter was

stronger than Simon the Sorcerer was.

We're talking about power that came from two different sources.

We're talking about AC and DC. We're talking about things that

don't mix. I don't know what that means,

but I think Jay does. All right, So I don't know.

So he's an electrician. All right.

I know these are things that don't mix.

Say man, is what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is not one

is a preference or 1 is better in other situations.

We could say that with power. That's not true with the Lord.

It's not one is just preferable to the other.

No, the Lord is the Lord and there are no other Lords.

The Lord your God is 1 God, the Bible says.

And so here is Philip and it says in verse #15 who when they

were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy

Ghost. Now you say, what's going on

here, pastor? And I believe without going too

deep into it, this morning the Bible tells us that Jesus gave

what were called the keys of the Kingdom to Peter.

And it says in Matthew 1619. And we even read the verse

before this last week in Sunday school.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.

And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in

heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose

on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

There are three basic groups of people that we find in the Word

of God. We find the Jews, and then the

Samaritans, who were partial Jews, and then the Gentiles.

And really the the Samaritans were Gentiles.

But we do find that there are these three specific groups that

Jesus constantly works with and in fact mentions in the Great

Commission in Acts chapter one verse 8, every time the Holy

Spirit came down on one of these.

Groups. Peter was there, whether it was

in Acts chapter 2 with the Jews on the day of Pentecost, here in

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 8 with the Samaritans, or in Acts chapter

Acts 8 · chapter mention Acts 10 · chapter mention

10 when a man named Cornelius. Who was a Gentile wants to just

know what does it mean to be saved?

And the Lord sends Peter his way and again the Holy Ghost falls.

What do we see? Well, listen, we see now that

when you are a believer that the Holy Ghost immediately becomes

part of your life, that he tabernacles within you.

Now the moment you get saved, the Holy Spirit lives inside of

you. He's the earnest of your

inheritance. He's the down payment of heaven.

There's no doubt about that. But at this time, as God is

still working in this transitional time, what do we

see? The Gentiles, or rather the

Jews, Peter is there. The Holy Spirit, Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

the Samaritans, Peter is there. Acts chapter 10, the Gentiles,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

Peter is there. And so here is Peter with this

power. But where did that power come

from? It came from Jesus in Acts, or

rather in Matthew chapter 16 verse #19 So Simon sees this,

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Simon the sorcerer and says this, if I give you a little bit

of money, could I have this too? Now what a difference from

Peter. Peter had that power not because

of money. He had that power because he

walked with God. Peter had power not because of

something that was within his pocket.

He's the one who said. Silver and gold have I none, but

such as I have I give thee. And here is Simon, the sorcerer

says. I like that.

I want that for myself. I'll pay a little bit of money.

What happened? He was so used to deceiving

other people, he's now deceived himself.

God's power and protection, by the way, don't come from money,

from trinkets, or from icons. Think of first Samuel chapter #4

and the Israelites were in a bad way.

The Philistines were about to take over, and they said this,

let's get out the Ark of the Covenant.

Let's put it out front. And if we put out from the

battlefield, we can't lose. The problem with the people of

Israel at that time is they were more concerned about the Ark of

the Covenant than they were of the God of the Ark of the

Covenant. They were using the ark of the

Covenant like a lucky horseshoe or rabbit's foot.

And God says, if you have that low regard for me, then what I

will do is make sure you lose in battle and you lose the ark of

the Covenant. Never in God's Word could

someone conjure up God's power through money or through items.

Listen, a. A Christian cross is a wonderful

token of your faith. If you wear a.

Cross or you have a cross. I'm certainly not preaching

against that this morning, but I will say this, that is not your

protection. Your protection is the God.

Of the cross. Not having that there.

Well, pastor, I give to the church.

I give 10% and listen, certainly it's biblical for us to give,

but may I remind you that it's not your protection money.

I'm talking about protection. You know what I mean?

Someone going from house to house and you know, say, hey,

it's a beautiful house here. Would be a shame if something

happened to it. And I said, well, what?

What does that mean? And before you know it, you're

giving some protection money. Listen, your tithes and

offerings are not protection money to make sure that you've

got God on your side. We give to the Lord because he's

given so much to us. We give to the Lord out of

abundance of love for what he's done in our lives, not out of

duty, but out of joy, because the Bible says that the Lord

loves a cheerful giver. But here's a man who said this.

A little bit of money and maybe I can have what he has.

See, all Simon wanted was power for control.

He had control. He had power.

Someone came along with God's power and now God was in control

because those people now listen, God's never out of control.

But do you understand what I'm saying in that situation?

I want to be make sure you understand in that situation, as

people are giving their lives to the Lord, the whole dynamic is

changing. He's losing his control over

those people. And I believe, and we'll see in

a moment from his response to Peter's rebuke, we'll see in

just a moment that that that he had no desire to truly serve the

Lord. He just saw his own prestige

slipping. He said, I'll do whatever I can.

Listen, beware those who name the name of the cross but don't

follow the way of the cross. Beware those who name the name

of Jesus Christ but don't preach the word for He is the living

word. Beware, Beware who you find

sermons from online. Beware who you listen to

Christian podcast. Beware what books you read.

You say, pastor, are you trying to control?

Us is this mind control? Is this some kind of cult or

something like that? Quite the opposite.

But what I'm saying is this is make sure that you are being

influenced by those who believe that Jesus Christ is God and who

believe that this this is God's word.

Make sure you're being influenced by the right types of

people. Because there are some Simon the

Sorcerer's out there who maybe are believers, but what they're

trying to do is line their pockets.

You say, well, who are those? We'll turn on the TV.

You'll find most of them. They'll tell you to sow a little

seed or to give a little bit of money and that you'll get rich.

And the only thing that happens is that he gets rich or she gets

rich, and all those people that have been following along lose

out. On hard earned money.

What happened delusion. I believe that some of those

false teachers and false prophets truly have deluded

themselves. Why?

Well, because Jesus said in those days there will be some

that would say, Lord, Lord, have we not cast out demons in our in

your name and in your name have we not done many wonderful works

and he'll say depart from me. I never knew you and they seem

to be surprised by this what's happened.

They deluded themselves thinking they were doing God's work.

Do we know someone like that? Well, Saul, the beginning of the

chapter, he thought he was doing God's work until he met Jesus

and realized I'm not doing God's work by persecuting the

Christians. I need to get on board and be a

believer myself. I need to preach the cross of

Christ. And his life changed forever.

Simon the sorcerer was a deceiver.

He was delusional, but he was also this and listen very

carefully about this. He was defiant in the face of

correction. He was defiant.

So he says Peter, Hey, little bit of money, right, man, let's

make this happen. And he's probably imagining that

that's the way most of his transactions normally work, to

be able to just grease someone's palm and he could get what he

wanted. But he never met someone like

Peter before. Peter didn't entertain the

thought. Peter didn't even think about

it. He didn't have to say like like

Balaam. Let me go and pray about this

for a little bit. No, he knew what the answer was.

It says in verse #19 let's pick up where we left off.

And actually verse #20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish

with thee. He says, listen, you could take

your money to the grave and I won't take it.

I don't want any part of it. Because thou has thought that

with the gift of God that that the gift of God may be purchased

with money. Now listen, why do I think he's

not saved? Well, here's an example.

Thou hast neither no part nor lots of this matter, for thy

heart is not right in the sight of God.

He's basically saying this, you're not amongst this group

here, you are not amongst those and look at it continues on,

because he says, repent therefore of this thy wickedness

and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be

forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in

the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.

Now Peter is not holding back. Peter is not pulling any punches

here. He's saying, listen, man, you

let your money perish with you. You're not part of us.

You're not part of this group. But listen what he says.

You can be part of this group. You can be with us.

What do you need to do? You need to repent of what

you've done. You need to to confess what you

were doing here and truly come to be with the Lord.

And this is the chance where Simon the sorcerer should have

had the scales come off of his eyes, much like it happened to

Saul here in just a little while, that his eyes should have

been open and say, wow, I wanted Jesus for the power.

What I should have wanted was Jesus.

I wanted Peter. So I I wanted Jesus so I could

get more money in my pocket. I should have just wanted Jesus.

That is not Jesus and but just Jesus alone.

Again, that's what salvation is about.

And this is chance. Peter makes an altar call of 1.

He says call, call upon him. He'll forgive you.

And then they answered Simon and he said, pray ye to the Lord for

me that none of those things which you have spoken come upon

me. Now I'll make something very

clear here this morning as you're a pastor and you say,

well, I just started coming here.

I'm glad to be here. Pastor, you may not be a member

here at Liberty Baptist Church, but I will tell you this.

I'm glad to be able to to teach and preach to the word of God

and to pray for you when you have needs.

It's my privilege to be able to do so.

But I will say this, if you come to me and say, Pastor, I've

committed sin, Pastor, I've done some things wrong, will you,

will you forgive me for them? My answer to you would be that

is not within my power to do so. There is no box here in this

room where I sit on one side and you sit on the other.

In my office there are two chairs.

They're fairly comfortable, but nowhere will you see a veil

between them or between my desk and where you sit.

Why? Because I do not have the power

to forgive sins. I stand not in the place of

Christ, even as my own Lutheran pastor would say for 16 years,

as we would confess our sins, not privately like I just

mentioned, but publicly, where they would be in our order of

service, a place where you silently confessed your sins.

And the pastor after that silent confession would say, I in the

place of the Lord Jesus Christ, do forgive you of your sins.

And listen friend, that's blasphemy that I can't stand

here this morning and say I will forgive you your sins.

I will pray for you that God will put His word in your heart

to the place where you realize you need to repent.

But the Bible says this, that we can boldly come before the

throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to

help in time of need. And here's a man, and I believe

this is the clincher, why he wasn't saved.

He couldn't even go to the Lord. Himself, he said this.

I think I need you to help me, Peter, because I can't go talk

to him. Listen, if you're saved, you

could talk to him today. In fact, if you're saved, I'd

encourage you, you need to talk to him today.

He wants to. He wants to, as the creator of

the universe, have a relationship with you, Say,

well, if he knows so much, then why do I need to talk to him?

Because he knows everything that well.

Sure, he does. But could you ever just imagine

that maybe although he does know everything about you and is

intimately acquainted with you better than you know yourself,

that he simply wants to talk to you and you to him?

He just desires that, you know, there's not many things that my

children can come to me about asking me for that I don't

already know about. There's not a lot of things they

can talk to me about that I don't already know, especially

when they're young and their needs are so great, like a, you

know, play DoH, you know, Dad, can you, can we get some play

DoH? Dad, can we get some ice cream?

You know, you know. It's not a surprise when they

asked me for ice cream. They could do it every day, say

during the winter it could be a Blizzard.

And they would want ice cream. They'd want a Blizzard, probably

is what they would want from Dairy Queen.

We'd have to drive out somewhere and get it.

No, no. But you know what?

I still love to be able to hear them come to me, say, Dad, could

I have this, Dad? Could we fellowship together?

Can we talk together? Boy, as a dad, I love that.

And you know what? I find out as I get older, too.

And as the children start to get a little bit further away, I

sure do love hearing from them. I love it when they call even

they may have maybe a time zone or two away.

I'd love to get a text from him and a call.

Well, guess what? Our Heavenly Father, he desires

to hear us and beckons us if we're saved to come.

And here's a Simon the sorcerer. Peter says get right with God

and he says this. I'd rather not, but maybe you

can help me. What is he doing?

He has decided to push away God Almighty.

He was not just a deceiver. He was not just delusional.

But we also see that in the end he was defiant against the very

things of God. He wasn't sorry.

This wasn't repentance. Second Corinthians 710 says for

godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented

of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

When I was a kid and I'd get in trouble in school and it

happened once in a while. But anyway, OK, it happened more

than I'd like to admit. But I have one teacher in

particular. And of course he was from New

England and moved to Florida. But I would say, Mr. Carver, I'm

sorry. I didn't say, Adam, you're not

sorry. You're sorry you got caught.

And boy, I hated that, because every time he said it, he was so

incredibly right. I wasn't sorry, I didn't want

demerit. I wasn't sorry I didn't want

attention. I wasn't sorry, I didn't want to

talk to my. Parents in car line.

And so I thought if I just said I'm sorry.

Maybe to smooth everything over, But the next hour I'd still be

talking to class because I had important things to talk about.

Like, OK, I had nothing important to talk about.

I was 15 years old, but I thought I did so much more than

learning about math and science and those kinds of things.

I wasn't sorry. No godly sorrow means this.

I'm truly sorry against the Lord.

What did Joseph say when Potiphar's wife came upon him?

He said this. How can I do this great sin

against the Lord now? He declined the sin, but he

recognized who his sin was against.

He was not defiant. So here's Peter.

Peter's powerful, but Simon had deceptive power.

Peter knew the word of God, but Simon was delusional.

Peter was humble and meek, but Simon was defiant.

So you might ask yourself this question this morning.

Well, Pastor, that's great, but what on earth does this have to

do with me today? Well, there's a couple different

things. First of all, don't deceive

yourself that you are in the faith.

If you are not in the faith, the way the Word of God says that

you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, that the salvation is

not through the church, by the way, it's not through any

church. No, you do not have to come

through the gates of Liberty Baptist Church to go through the

gates of heaven. Thank the Lord for that, by the

way, because our we don't have any gates around here actually.

And so thank the Lord that that's the case, but it's not

through the Catholic Church, it's not through the

Presbyterian Church, it's not through the Unitarian Church,

it's not through any type of faith.

It is only through Jesus Christ and Christ alone.

And the only reason I have confidence in us as Bible

believing Baptist is because it's our job to preach what the

word of God says how it. Teaches salvation and the power

that we have here is not of our own, but it's on us saying this

is how you get saved. So if you don't know Jesus

Christ today, listen, don't be deceived by others.

Don't delude yourself that you're in the faith.

Listen, don't, don't put God at arm's length and say no, I won't

get saved. Just like Peter, even to this

man who was in the gall of bitterness.

Even this man who was trying to give a little bit of money to

get power, Peter said this even you can get right with God.

And he said I'd rather not, but if you can do it for me, if I

could get you saved today, I would.

If I could make you saved, if I could get you and put you down

on your knees and say. Get saved today.

Use is what you need. You could even repeat a prayer

and get back up just as lost. I can't do it for you.

I wish I could. You know who else wish they

could? Saul, who later became Paul, he

says. My burden for my people is so

great. He said I would accept penalty

of death and hell if they could be saved.

Book of Romans, listen, unbelievable.

I can't do it and if Paul can't do it, I sure can't do it.

You have to decide for yourself. Listen, don't be defiant against

the things of God. Call upon Jesus Christ to save

you from your sins today. But I might.

Remind you that we talked about stopping growth in our tracks

and that's really about believers, isn't it?

It's about believers, you know, the posture of Simon the

sorcerer is also one that we can take up as believers as well.

And when we do, we will not grow.

When you deceive yourself that you're doing OK, when you're

not, that deception turns into delusion.

In fact, I'm doing very well. In fact, I might be one of the

best people in this church. In fact, I might be one of the

most spiritual people I know. Can I just help you?

If you're the one of the most spiritual people you know,

either you don't know many people or you've deluded

yourself. Because I look around at others

and I'm going to talk about other pastors.

I'm just talking about other people who are believers,

steady, rock solid believers. And I look at them and say that

faith encourages me. That faith speaks to me.

No, no, not, not that I'm going to follow them, but the way they

follow Christ instructs me how to follow Christ.

We, we just looked at that on Wednesday night, didn't we?

Follow me as I follow Christ. Don't delude yourself, Romans

12/3 says for I say that. Through the grace given unto me

to every man that is among you, not to think himself more highly

than he ought to think, but to deal soberly according as God

hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

And what talks about dealing with things soberly?

It's not talking about not being drunk, although certainly the

Bible is very clear about our consumption of alcohol and

avoiding it. But it says even beyond that,

you need to be clear headed about where you are spiritually.

Now you need to be clear headed about where you are and make

sure you are not thinking too highly of yourself.

Why? Because you can get to the place

of delusion. If we say we have no sin first

John 18, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in US.

Don't be defiant. Why?

Because the very next verse says, but if we confess our sin,

He is faithful and just. You're not faithful and you're

not just. How dare you, Pastor, if it will

help? I'm not faithful and I'm not

just either. Only He is faithful and just,

faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all

righteousness. If you're a believer who has not

grown, don't deceive yourself. He wants you to confess it to

Him today. And you don't have to go through

a long process for forgiveness. He'll forgive you today.

In fact, he'll forgive you when you come before him with godly

sorrow. That worketh repentance.

If you have heart disease, it's hard to grow.

I'm not talking about this kind of heart disease.

I'm talking about if you have spiritual heart disease.

My dad was 38 years old. He was about 185 lbs.

He worked for Frito Lay. He was a strong man.

He was playing church softball for that very same church I was

talking about on a Sunday afternoon because, well,

Lutheran's don't have Sunday night church, so that they do

have Sunday afternoon softball and bowling, but there was no

church. But my dad was playing Sunday

afternoon softball. And like that, in a moment, he

was brought to the ground. Why?

Heart disease, a heart attack, by God's grace, where he was,

was just across the street from a Medical Center, from a

hospital. If it wasn't for the fact that

he was that quick, they used the paddles on him twice to be able

to revive him. My dad, 72 today, he's alive.

I'm thankful for it. There's been a lot of advances

that have taken place since that time in 1988 when my dad had his

heart attack. But I tell you, it came upon him

and he didn't realize it until it was too late.

You know what I worry about with spiritual heart disease?

When you deceive yourself and you're deluded, and then you

come defiant that you think you're doing OK, and then in a

moment you find out you're not Why?

Because God's going to strike me down.

Well, I don't know that I would put it necessarily like that,

but I will say this, that Hebrews 12 says that he corrects

his own, and it's not because he hates you, but it's because he

loves you so much. Well, it sure would seem if he

loves me, that he would be a little bit more indulgent with

me. Do you think that's a good way

to parent? If Peyton had her way, she would

want candy and ice cream and pizza and all of those things

that she wants every single day. And Dad?

Don't you love me? I do love you.

That's why I'm taking the pizza box away from you.

I do love you. That's why Daddy's not going at

10:00 at night to go get you ice cream on a Friday night.

Now, do we have treats? Of course we do.

We have a lot of treats and a lot of fun as a family.

But I do recognize that just indulging her every whim isn't

love. It's actually quite the

opposite. Well, if God loved me, He just

leave me alone. He loves you too much to do

that. Believer.

He will bring chastisement and judgment in your life, not

because he's vengeful and wants to make sure you don't have a

good life. He's doing it because he's just.

And he loves you. And he does want you to have a

good life. He wants you to grow.

Don't deceive yourself. Don't delude yourself.

Don't be defiant. Well, Pastor, how do I know

what's right? How do I know what's right?

Can I give you the answer? The answer is right Here.

You have 66 books that tell you what's right.

Right here. Tells you what's right.

Tells you what's wrong. Gives you encouragement to do

what's right. Gives you encouragement to stay

away from what's wrong. You want to make sure you're

looking right. Look here, in the perfect law of

liberty, there are times I get ready for church and I'll say

this and I'll be done. You know, we have two cats.

I don't know if anyone's heard about it. 2 cats.

Callie and Toby. All right, where's, where's AJ?

All right, but I've never been I I love cats, but we've never had

one that's shed. And that's kind of a problem at

our house now with Toby. This this man eating cat that we

have at our house is huge. He's lovable, but he's huge.

And there are times on Sunday morning I'm getting ready to go.

I've got a lot on my mind. I got a lot going on up here.

Some of you don't wonder sometimes what's going on up

here, but on a Sunday morning, there's a lot going on up here.

Because I want to make sure I'm ready for what God has laid on

my heart. And I'll get to church.

I'll walk around. Nobody said nothing.

Because if you don't watch, we have men's prayer.

And men don't tell men when they don't look right.

You know, that's just kind of the way it is for the most part.

But some of you do because you're critical.

But that's OK. But so, but all joking aside,

it's usually my wife who shows up after men's prayer and says

this. Have you looked at your jacket?

You know, just that question. Obviously not if you're asking.

You know, I guess I haven't looked at my jacket, cat hair

all over it. So now I have to keep a roller

in my office to make sure. What does that mean?

I didn't look into the mirror. And so I missed something that

was obvious to everyone else. You know, unless you look into

James 125 calls this the perfect law of liberty.

Whosoever looketh into the perfect law of liberty and

continue it therein, he shall not be a forgetful hearer, but a

doer of the work. This man shall be blessed in his

deed. You can't have an open heart and

read this word and delude yourself because it's the mirror

that shows you who you are. You cannot have the word of God

in your life and that's why you need to be reading it everyday.

Believer, you can be reading it every day.

You start with a few verses. If you haven't done it before,

start with a chapter. Whatever it is, read the word of

God because it'll help you not to deceive yourself.

It'll help you not to delude yourself.

And you, if you don't have a defiant heart, guess what, You

will grow. Thank you for listening to the

sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.

If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we

can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at

[email protected]. Or you can visit us this Sunday

at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.

May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.