Questions & Answers 3067

Guest (Male): Acts Chapter 8 says that Simon, who was once a sorcerer, also believed the gospel that Philip preached in Samaria. But was he really saved? Did he have an actual conversion or was he only saying he believed? Well, stay with us and find out.
Guest (Male): This is the question and answer program with Dr. J. Vernon McGee, a ministry of the Thru the Bible Radio Network. We begin today's program with a question from a listener in Charleston, West Virginia who writes, "Could you please explain why you left the Presbyterian Church US? I would be interested to know."
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: At that time I gave a message when I was pastor of the Church of the Open Door. I preached one Sunday night on the subject, "Why I left the Presbyterian Church," and there were 4,000 people present that night. I'm confident most of them were Presbyterians. I did not attempt to speak in a belligerent manner. I just stated forthrightly the reasons that I had for leaving the Presbyterian church. In the meantime, I had become pastor of an independent church, the Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles. Now, there was no big sacrifice on my part. In fact, some of the extreme fundamentalists—one man put in his magazine that I would not leave the Presbyterian church, he was sure, because I'd give up a big pension. Well, may I say to you that that never even entered into my decision at all because at that time it never was a great big pension. I made really no sacrifice at all. I was pastor of actually at that time probably the largest church in this area, so the Presbyterian church had nothing to offer me. However, they did offer me this: I was also teaching at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. The committee said to me that they insisted that I desist teaching there and that if I wanted to return to a Presbyterian church, they would see that I got a good church. I mean, they were very nice about it, you know. But I told them that I was going to leave, that I'd made up my mind to withdraw. And my reasons were several, and I can't mention them all, but I can mention two or three of them to you. Number one was because of the intrusion of liberalism into the denomination, and the trend was in that direction. It was definitely going liberal, and of course, everything since then has indicated that. They have made several decisions in which they have lost the support of a great many right-thinking people. And when they had the homosexual issue up, believe me, they got cold feet as the reason they didn't pass that. It's not because apparently the liberal majority wanted it, but they felt like they'd probably have to close down their mission department because they were getting a lot of flak that was flying about the fact that there were many that were ready to withdraw because of that. Well, that's the number one reason. And the number two reason is that no longer could a man who held my viewpoints as a fundamentalist, no longer could he function in the denomination. I was withheld from committees, I was never given any opportunity to serve at all because of my position. I found myself—you can talk about how broad-minded the liberal is, but I lived with him a long time. He's not broad-minded. The biggest bigot in the world that I have ever met are liberals, and they boast of being liberal. Believe me, when they got control of the denomination, they really put us fundamentalists down. I saw I had no future at all. And number three, I found out I was being an example to young men. In fact, this is the thing that I'd hear: "Well, Dr. McGee is in the Presbyterian church and I don't see why I can't study for the ministry in the Presbyterian church." But of course, if they had come along when I did, they would have had the freedom that I did have. But I made the statement that no young man entering that denomination's ministry could any longer be a pastor of a church unless he supported a liberal Christian education program and accepted the liberal literature. I did not want my influence to be that way. Now, those are three of the reasons, and I think they're good and sufficient reasons of why I withdrew from the church. I did not make a fight of it. I was not unfrocked; I just withdrew. I didn't feel like and have never felt that I should go out with my boxing gloves on fighting this issue. I'm not called to do that. A man in the denomination who spent all of his life just fighting, always bringing up motions, bringing up issues of trying to stave off the intrusion of liberalism—well, he didn't succeed. And he told me before he died, he said, "I feel like I've wasted a great deal of my ministry in fighting a losing battle." Well, I didn't want to fight a losing battle. I want to be on the winning side, and I'm on the Lord's side. So, I thank God that I took the step that I did, and I've never regretted one moment, not for one moment. And I would not go back into the denomination for anything in the world. I can assure you that. It's too good to be on the outside.
Guest (Male): Our next question comes to us from Camden, New Jersey. The listener writes, "Could you explain the differences between the temple and the synagogue?"
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, when the children of Israel were in the land of Israel, they built a temple under Solomon, and that was the place of worship. In fact, long before the temple was built and before they were even in the land, in the Mosaic system, God said that wherever they were, that the males were to go up to Jerusalem three times a year. That was at Passover and Tabernacles and also Pentecost. Those were the three feasts that they were always to attend. They could miss other things, but not those three. Well, they came up to the temple to worship. Now, when Nebuchadnezzar came in about 590 before he destroyed the temple, and then the children of Israel were taken into captivity, they had no temple. So, what are they going to do? Well, it was during that period that synagogues arose, and a synagogue means it's just where people gathered together, where they come together. So the synagogue arose and it became the place of worship. Actually, after the destruction of Herod's temple in 70 AD, the children of Israel have had really no central place of worship under the Mosaic system. As a result, synagogues have sprung up all over the world wherever Jews live. And that is actually the difference.
Guest (Male): We now turn to a question from a listener in Amarillo, Texas. She writes, "Why did the Israelites cry out for meat to eat when they had all of their sheep and cattle?"
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: May I say to you that you will recall that at the time that Noah took two of each living thing came to him on the ark, and he didn't take them, they just came to him. In time of great danger, animals come down where men are. I've been up at Yosemite in the wintertime here, and when there's snow up in the mountain, you see the deer down there in the valley. Actually, you can get very close to them because that takes place. Now, what happened here was that the animals came to Noah, but it also said that he took seven of the clean animals. Why did he take seven? So he'd have certain animals for sacrifice. Now, the children of Israel are going through the wilderness. I have a notion they were losing animals as they went through the wilderness. That would be reasonable to expect that. And they did keep animals for sacrifice, but beyond that, they would not decimate their flocks because I don't think they had that many sheep or that many cattle for the simple reason that you must understand that each family would want at least two, a male and a female, in order to start breeding a herd of cattle, flock of sheep, and that sort of thing. So again, you have a very practical question and to me there's a very practical answer to it. They had every reason, very frankly, not to eat their animals, and that was of course, I'm sure, a requirement that they were not to do that.
Guest (Male): We now turn to a question that comes from a listener in Albany, New York. She writes, "Jesus speaks about his suffering and death and at the same time he speaks about his resurrection after three days. Could you please explain what Old Testament scriptures were fulfilled when Jesus was raised to life on the third day?"
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, if you're anxious to find the third day, I don't think you'll find that mentioned, but you will find that there is a prophecy of his resurrection. And I'll turn to it; it's in the 16th Psalm. And it's one of the Psalms of David, and let me begin reading it at verse 8: "I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." Now, on the day of Pentecost, when Simon Peter preached his sermon on that day, he used that scripture for the resurrection of Christ. And in Acts 2:29, he says, "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell [or Hades], neither his flesh did see corruption." Now, Peter interprets that as a prophecy of the resurrection. Now Isaiah had something to say in the 25th chapter about "he'll swallow up death in victory," and Paul interprets that in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, and he quotes it in connection with the resurrection of believers in the church, which began with the resurrection of Christ because he says "Christ the firstfruits, afterward they." Now, you have many types of resurrection in the Old Testament. One of the most notable, of course, is the time that Aaron put his rod, you remember, along with the other representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Holy Place, and his was the only one that came to life. And the badge of his priesthood and his authority was on that rod that came to life. Now, that's a type of the Lord Jesus. He's declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. And he was not a priest when he was here on earth; he's a priest after his resurrection. Now, you have actually—and I'm not going to read it, it's the 17th chapter of the book of Numbers that tells about that. Then you have many types of the resurrection on the third day. We're told that when Abraham offered his son, now he didn't actually kill him, but when God told him, he says, "You get down to the mount at Moriah," and Abraham went there. Then we're told in Genesis 22:4, "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off." And on that day he offered Isaac and he was given back to him alive. You have the death and resurrection taught there. And if you will take a concordance and take the word "third" and look at the time of the offerings which speak of Christ at the many times—I'm not going to do that, but you turn to a concordance to the word "third" and notice how many times in the offerings the word "third" occurs. And so you have the type given there and then a definite statement of the resurrection by, I think, both David and Isaiah.
Guest (Male): This next question comes to us from a listener in Stroud, Oklahoma. He writes, "Our Sunday school class was studying in Acts chapter 8. In verse 13 it mentions that Simon himself also believed. Yet in your book on Acts you state that Simon was not a true believer. This caused quite a discussion in our class. Could you please explain your position?"
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I think that we probably ought to turn to that 8th chapter of the book of Acts and look at several things that are there. We have the ministry actually of Philip who was a deacon and was mightily used of God in going into Samaria. And we have here that record, and I think probably I should read this to get it before us in order that we might get the total picture. Verse 9 is where I begin: "But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries." "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and 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 them 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." Now, they here, of course, are the apostles that came down, Peter and John. And then verse 18: "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." And then he says to him, "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." Then answered Simon and said, "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me." And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. Now, there are several things here that when we went over it that we could not go into in a great deal of detail. And very candidly the question that seemed to disturb your class, I think, is so clearly answered here. It says that he believed after the others that were there believed, and he did not receive the Holy Spirit. None of them did there, and I'll mention that in just a moment and the reason why. And then when the apostles came down and he saw what was taking place, he wanted to buy that gift. In other words, he has been a religious racketeer, if you please. And he thinks this can be bought with money. And the apostles immediately, Peter put his finger right on the thing that was wrong and said to him, "Your heart is not right," and he told him to repent. He says, "I perceive you're in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." Now, I can't think of language, friends, that describes an unsaved person more. And I judge from the record here it doesn't say he believed after this and trusted Christ and received the Holy Spirit. I take it that he was not saved at all. I have to assume that from the record that is given here. And now let me say that the reason that the apostles came down and the reason they didn't receive the Holy Spirit under the preaching of Philip—and I think this is important to understand all of this here and it may help with the problem that you've mentioned—why was it essential for the apostles to come down and why didn't they receive the Holy Spirit? Well, you have actually three records of the apostles being present when the Holy Spirit came upon those that believed. That's on the day of Pentecost, that was in the home of Cornelius, and we have it here in this 8th chapter among the Samaritans. Now, you remember the Lord Jesus said that when the gospel goes out, it's to be preached first in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria—don't bypass Samaria—and then the ends of the earth. Now the gospel has gone to the Jew and at Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit has come, there's a church there. Now Samaria and Jerusalem were at great odds. The woman at the well, you remember, called attention to that. She said to Jesus, "Some say we're to worship God in this mountain. Some think that we ought to go down to Jerusalem. Tell me where's the place to worship?" You see, there was a big difference there. Now, if under the preaching of Philip here at the very beginning you would soon have a Samaritan church that would be divorced from Jerusalem church. They divided, of course, later on soon enough and believe me the church of Jesus Christ is certainly fractured today in its different segments throughout the world. But here at the very beginning it would have been tragic indeed. So the Holy Spirit didn't come until the apostles came down. That is to show that Jerusalem and Samaria now are in agreement. That's the reason it was withheld under the preaching of Philip, although these people had trusted Christ. But Paul was able to say later, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his." But now that the apostles have come, they identify themselves with this so that you can't say now that there's a difference between the Jerusalem church and the church in Samaria. They're the same because here come the apostles. And then it was an apostle that first went to a Gentile. It was an apostle, Apostle Paul, that went throughout the Roman Empire, you see. And now that gives credence and authority to this gospel that was being preached. Now this fellow Simon was on the sidelines, saw all this. He saw the people believing and were baptized. He joined in, you know. He's not going to fight city hall; he's going to join city hall. So he joins with them. He's not converted. And you have that same situation today in our churches. People join churches for many different reasons. I think I can say this: the man that was a former senator from Georgia, I was in school with one of his brothers, and he was studying for the ministry. And he said that another brother when he graduated from one of the outstanding law schools in the North, they were talked to about practical things and one of the things said to them was this: "When you go to a town and hang out your shingle and begin as an attorney, be sure and go join the church. Now, it doesn't make any difference who you see there, but it'll make a whole lot of difference who sees you there." You see, it has nothing in the world to do with being converted. Now, that is Simon's condition exactly. He was not converted, and there's a question of whether he ever was. I think the record makes it clear that this man probably never was converted. Now I've spent time with that because here's a Sunday school class, and my book has not cleared it up for them, and I hope what I've said today has been just a little helpful.
Guest (Male): Well, that brings us to the end of another questions and answers program. We hope that you've been stimulated to dig deeper into God's word for the answers to your own questions. If you'd like help in your studies, we do have a number of resources by Dr. McGee that are available for you. To receive our resource catalog, just call us and leave a voicemail message with your name, address, and the call letters of this station. Now be sure to join us this week on the Thru the Bible radio program as we continue Dr. McGee's five-year journey through the whole word of God, chapter by chapter, book by book. For notes and outlines and the catalog, call 1-800-65-BIBLE anytime or write to Questions and Answers. For those in the US, Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. The internet's a great tool for keeping up with us on Facebook and Twitter, which you can link to by going to ttb.org and look for our iPhone app as well. Until the same time next week, we pray that God will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.
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