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Amen, so we're continuing on in acts here and of course acts verses 1 through 4 are really just kind of Summary of what we've seen over the last couple chapters verses 6 chapter 6 and 6 and 7 of course last week we saw Stephen being martyred and Verse 1 it says there at Saul was consenting into his death if you remember that was who they they had laid his Clothes at his feet right and at that time there was a great persecution against the church was at Jerusalem And they were all scattered abroad throughout all the throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the Apostles now Of course you know there's a couple things here right in this first verse won't spend a lot of time on it, but The great persecution is kind of kicked off by the fact that Stephen has been martyred So we're kind of moving forward in the story It's not like it's just from one day to the next so it's telling us You know what really got this great persecution going was the fact that Stephen had been martyred okay, but Also the other thing I want to point out before I kind of make some of my first points here Is that at the end of verse 1 it says except the apostles right? That's a really key verse or a portion of that scripture right there What says except the apostles the bible is very clearly pointing out the fact that the apostles? Stayed behind they were not spread out through the regions of Judea and Samaria They didn't go into the regions outside of Jerusalem. They kind of hunkered down there and stayed there, and if you remember That's not what they were supposed to do they were told You know of course to go to the lost house or the lost sheep of the house of Israel and to preach to them But we also know that Jesus taught that if they would not were not to be received they were to you know Shake the dust from off their feet and move on to a more receptive area But the apostles here they kind of make an error right and it's whereby sitting in there and not being spread out not going Out into all the world as they were commanded to do okay And you might kind of just read over that and think oh, that's just you know It's just telling us what they did, but the Bible. You know doesn't record everything that everybody does obviously So when it points out something that somebody or a group of people did it's for a reason So you have to kind of ask yourself. What's the reason that it's telling us that everybody else went? Except the apostles why you know why is the Bible pointing that out? Well? It's trying to show us I believe That they kind of fell short in this area, and that's why you know the latter half of acts You know very shortly here because from being the acts of the apostles the acts of Paul basically You know a few other characters But really the book the bulk of the book of Acts is about who we read about in verse 1 right and Saul This can't say you know who later becomes Paul, right? You know he's the one that kind of carries the mission going forward. He's the one that's sent in the Gentiles He's the one that takes the gospel in all the world of course there were others that joined him But God kind of had to use him to Do what the apostles failed to do and that's a whole sermon in and of itself You know we are given the opportunity to serve God You know and if we don't if we're not gonna serve God you know God might just shelve us and go find somebody else That's willing Maybe even somebody that at first glance. We would kind of dismiss as unusable. I mean Saul here is He's the one that's bringing break cross persecution Verse 3 Saul he made great havoc of the church entering into every house and hailing men and women And committed them to prison So when you first read about Saul if you hadn't read the Bible already you've kind of scratched your head Or you would at least think you know this guy isn't probably the guy that God's gonna use he seems to me of course Is an enemy of the gospel at this point, but you know God goes on to use them the application I'm making here is that when the Apostles decide to just kind of Sit on their duff and just be comfortable and just take it easy and not go into all the world as they were commanded to Do you know God eventually starts to work to find somebody else that will carry out his mission That's how important God's mission is you know getting the gospel out is that he wants to use people he's gonna use whatever Vessel is willing to carry the message. You know and that should be a great encouragement to us We should never think that we can't be used by God no matter who we are no matter What kind of background we have no matter what kind of mistakes? We may have made you know or things we haven't done in the past Maybe it's you know even things that we would feel unqualified because we didn't have a certain Background or certain upbringing or something like that. You know Saul here is somebody that's making havoc of the church You know he's literally hauling men and women to prison who are probably gonna be first you know put to death eventually, too I mean he's a murderer essentially he's having people and he's an enemy of the gospel But who pens most of the New Testament? Who is probably the greatest Christian that has ever lived outside of Christ? Gospel Paul you know I mean that's I understand some matter opinion, but it's a pretty popular one, and I haven't heard anybody argue that You know when you're being used to pen the vast majority of the New Testament. You know you are a very You know influential and person that's being used mightily by God right, but how does he start out right? He starts out an enemy, but why does God use him well because the people that God had trained We've got people that God had ordained the guy the people that God had charged to go out and preach God's gospel You know they just kind of sat around They didn't really want to go out and do the hard work going to these different places of course We're gonna read about a guy that does do that Philip and some others But let's so let's get into that but first of all the other thing I want to point out here is that notice what the persecution led to right there was the great Persecution against the church was that which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad right at first glance You might look at that and say man the persecution is bad the persecution This is a this is a setback to the gospel right, but in reality That's what that persecution that God allowed to come in is what you know accomplished the mission of bringing the gospel the rest of the world So you got to learn to kind of always look on the bright side sometimes. You know God will use Negative things in order to accomplish his will right Look at the end of verse 4 therefore they that were scattered abroad. You know they weren't going of their own accord They were you know the idea of being scattered is like someone's taking you and throwing you right It's like being scattered in the wind that persecution is essentially just thrusting and they not out rather than you know Giving up their lives or being hauled off the prisoners that well Let's just get out of here, but that led to what them going everywhere preaching the word Okay, so the persecution leads to what more preaching, okay? It kind of reminded me of Exodus remember when they had the cruel task masters And Exodus chapter 1 and the more they afflicted them the more the children of Israel multiplied You know that and that's how you have to that's a really good way to look at persecution You know obviously we've never gone through anything even close to this no one I don't know anybody personally that's been well. I got to take that back I do know somebody that's been hauled off to jail for preaching the gospel right, but you know it's not like they're being you know Killed or you know it's not to this level obviously where the whole church is being scattered right? We've never been through that right, but it's a good principle here about persecution well when that comes you can either get frightful You can get scared you could quit the Christian life. You could quit the church You know you wouldn't be the first one to do it Or you can look at it this way that hey, maybe God's got a greater purpose Think about some of the people that we do know that have gone through what we would call persecution today You know our mild form of persecution and look I'm not saying I'm not making light of it You know I I personally have experienced a little bit you know Online blowback you know when people start to you know threaten you and say hey We're gonna you know expose you for all the preaching that you've done It's like well I'm the one that put it out there to begin with right, but when you start to get that blowback You know when people are tagging the local news agencies in your sermons and trying to get you know the public at large to take notice And there's that potential that you're gonna go viral for something that you said some you know controversial subject you know I'm not gonna say you're lying that that might not make me a little nervous right and Obviously we've seen other people You know who've gone through similar things that have preached hard sermons that have taken a righteous stand for the white word of God And have got against you know the the tide of our culture And have been you know blasted out there Internationally even where they're you know just being taken out You know and just just put out there all across the world even and having you know Protests and all kinds of things happening right You know you could either think about that and go well that makes me nervous I don't know if I want to be a part of a church like that You know that might meet me as a preacher say oh, I don't know if I want to preach a sermon like that I don't know if I want to go through that kind of persecution obviously no one wants to go through that right But you know if we're gonna go through it And we will all they that live God in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution to some degree or another We're gonna go through it anyway So you might as well you know learn something from the story that when they went through persecution They were scattered abroad and went preaching right and same thing today when we go viral or whatever It's just more you got to look at it like that more people are hearing the word More people are gonna hear the preaching of God's Word more people are gonna be tuned into You know got biblical preaching right? So you got to kind of think of it that way you say well You know for every 10,000 people that leave some negative comment or dislike for the you know for every 100 emails or voicemails Or whatever for every every bit of persecution we get if like out of those 10,000 one person Gets saved or one person You know gets curious about the things of God or one maybe even backslidden You know lukewarm Christian gets fired up or maybe one person learns the truth You know that's worth it You know I doubt anybody in this early church is saying man. It would have been nice to just stay at Jerusalem with the Apostles Looking back at the time. They might have thought that'd be nice Hey if this persecution happen we get to sit here, and we could just continue to you know provide every man We could just continue to pool our resources and just give to every man as he has need and just have a great big mega Church here in Jerusalem, and just have a great time You know and just preach the word here But you know they might have thought that that a time But after the persecution came after they were scattered abroad after they saw you know all of these Gentiles get saved they saw churches started all across the world there. They probably would look back and say no It's worth it all It was worth all the you know every person I got hauled off of jail You know everybody that got persecuted you know it was worth it because the word of God went forth And that's I have to look at it Reaching other people comes at a price You know if we're gonna reach great multitudes of people a lot of times it comes at a price That's the way you got to look at it You know if this church is something I preach or something like that eventually one day perhaps goes viral And we get a bunch of black thing you know backlash of persecution you know if news crews search new news crews start showing up at my front door if protesters start start showing up on our sidewalk What we need to do is just say hey at least we're reaching more fit good the message is getting out there There's no such thing as bad press That you got it, and you got to settle these things. I'm preaching this I know it's nothing new, but you have to think about this and you have to settle this in your heart beforehand Otherwise when it does come you know you're gonna. You're gonna quit. I mean I have to do the same thing I have to sit there and say hey, I'm gonna continue to put the preaching out there I'm not gonna hold back I'm gonna continue to preach the whole counsel the Word of God and whatever happens happens because if you start to you know if you don't Predetermine these things when that does come And then you'll say you know it might be one of those guys. Oh, sorry You know I was young and immature You know I was zealous, but I didn't have knowledge You know be one of these preachers that backpedals on a on the Word of God. Okay. We don't want to be that guy Reaching people comes at a great price and the greater the reach the greater the price okay, but you know that and obviously That's talking about you know You know that's in a very specific context that application about you know Preaching some hot sermon that just goes out there and a lot of people get saved, but think about Maybe even reaching people on a smaller scale okay like soul winning Soul winning reaching people getting the gospel out there. It's gonna come at a price You know that that's that's a good application for all of us You know if we're gonna reach this city in Tucson if we're gonna see soul save It's gonna require us having to pay some price. We're gonna have to sacrifice our time. We're gonna have to sacrifice our energy We're gonna have to go out there and preach the gospel if we're gonna reach people. That's the only way it's done I mean, that's what we see in the story. I mean, that's what Philip the evangelist is doing okay Well, let's move along here verse 5 then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake hearing and seeing the miracles what you did for unclean spirits crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and Many taking with palsies and that were lame were healed and there was great joy in that city And I just I love verse 8 You know it's like all these great things are happening It's like and then God just puts that in there, and there was great joy in that city But what brought the joy? What was you know what initially got the joke that that verse 8 what what what made that happen? What made verse 8 possible? verses 1 through 4 People being persecuted people being scattered people going out there and preaching abroad right that's what led to great joy Yeah, I know it's Philip and all the healing that he did But the only reason he's there because he was scattered abroad. He's one of the servants in Jerusalem He's one of the you know the deacons we saw ordained in chapter 6 the only reason he's here in City of Samaria preaching to them and doing these miracles is because he was scattered abroad with the rest of them the persecution is Ultimately what led to joy in that city, okay? And Philip you know he's a great example of somebody that's that's just a minister. He's out there. Just doing the work he's out there helping people and He's a great example of that okay of being somebody that ministers for the sake of others, okay? I mean, that's what it means to be a minister. Why do we do what we do? Why do we preach? Why do we? You know Get involved in local church. Why do we get involved in program? For others that's what the ministry is you minister for others? Look at verse 9 there It says, but there was a certain man called Simon which before time in the same city used sorcery And bewitched the people of Samaria giving out that himself was some great one now It's important to pay attention to the details when it comes to Simon the sorcerer because there's controversy around this character People will teach you that this guy who really didn't get saved okay, so pay attention the details here He gave out of himself that he was some great one, okay? So he's out there kind of he's a self promoter right and he's out there saying I'm so great and he's using sorcery to do it right the dark arts And it worked verse 10 to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest Saying this man is the great power of God, so that's his reputation. He's a great one. He's the great power of God Everybody thinks this about this guy. He's got him all bewitched. He's got them all fooled verse 12 Well verse 11 and they and to him they had regard because of 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 so Philip kind of comes in and breaks the spell right he gets them saved and As a result Simon is kind of losing his clout. He doesn't have as much pull right They're saying oh this you're no longer the great one. It's Jesus. It's Philip. That's preaching Jesus right He's converting them away from him now notice verse 13 Then Simon himself believed also so was say with Simon a saved guy Yes, right why because he believed right isn't that the standard we'd hold everybody to What we say hey, you know are you are you sure you're hundred percent your way to heaven you know yeah Well, I because I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ You think you could ever lose it no We would we anyone said that to us if that was the just if anyone else was described this way that they believed on Jesus Christ we'd say they're saved You know and a lot of even Baptist will say that right that a lot I mean, that's a that's a sound Baptist doctrine salvation by grace through faith right faith alone And yet so many Baptist when they read Simon the story about Simon the source will say well. He wasn't really safe Right but who is telling us first of all that Simon believed well, it's the narrator of Scripture You know this isn't some third part. You know this isn't some character within the story saying oh Simon believed This is the Bible saying it. This is the Holy Spirit saying Simon believes so we know Simon believed so Simon saved right we know that about it and When he was baptized so then you have Philip who's a pretty good soul winner I? Mean he's the guy that God he's gonna use to go to the Ethiopian eunuch in just a few verses right He's the guy that's gonna later become known as Philip the evangelist This guy knows when he should baptize now obviously we might baptize unsaved people from time to time. I'm not saying that But he's not just out there. Just you know he's not Billy Sunday Just like come down the path and just shake my hand brother. You're saying You know he's not just dunking people willy-nilly right. He's not just trying to rack up numbers Okay, obviously Philip here Knows what he's doing, and he's this guy's getting so Simon gets saved then he gets baptized likely all likelihood It was Philip that baptized him all right, or you know he was approved So we've got some pretty good evidence so far that Simon was saved. He believed the gospel right we know baptism doesn't save But you know that's just a sign that probably the people around him said yeah, he's saved Let's go ahead and baptize him. We're baptizing him because he is saved right. We don't baptize unsaved people He continued with Philip and wondered beholding the miracles and signs which were done so now he's hanging around with Philip Okay, now some people say oh well He's just in it to try to get you know this power that he has and he does want the power right But what does the Bible tell us about him he believed? he was baptized and Then he continues with Philip What and wondered beholding the miracles and the signs which were done, okay, so he's just hanging out with Philip He doesn't necessarily say that the reason why he hung around with Philip is just so he could try to get this Purchase the holy the power of the Holy Spirit with money So you could kind of get back as former prestige right the people The Bible is making it real clear here that he is a saved man I believe that no one will ever convince me this guy wasn't saved Okay because the Bible's the one that's telling us he believed I mean how many scriptures tell us the only thing you have to do is believe It's the some of the most famous ones right. I mean should we just go to John 1 and start reading tonight Because we'll be here all night. Just going through every verse that tells us. It's by faith alone Whosoever believeth you know he that believeth is not condemned. You know he that believeth hath everlasting life So there you know that's why I believe he's saved because the Bible says he believed Let's move on with the story there, okay So now when the Apostles verse 14 which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God They said 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 And when Simon saw that the delaying on of the Apostles hands that the Holy Ghost was given he offered them money Okay, so who is it that gives the power of the Holy Ghost in the story? It's not Philip right, it's the Apostles Peter and John So he's hanging out with Philip, and then the Apostles come and he sees this laying on it So it's not like he even knew this was a possibility Right because some people might say oh, that's why he continued with Philip right because he wants to just get this power or something like that Well, we see that the power comes later and not by the hand of Philip, okay? So he sees this and He offers them money saying give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands He may receive the Holy Ghost right Now that's not necessarily a bad request is it I Mean I wish it were that easy as a preacher You know someone is pastoring a church to be able to say receive the Holy Ghost Just walk up individuals. Just put my hands on them and just fill them with the spirit You know it's not really a bet on the surface. It sounds good right I mean wouldn't that be great Just I mean I thought I could get every person in the room filled with the Holy Spirit by just putting my hands On them and saying receive the Holy Spirit just filling with the spirit I mean How much You know that's one You know I but I think there was maybe some other motives here that he had we'll see here in a minute And Peter kind of sees through it, right? But Peter said in 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 sight of God Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee For I perceive thou in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity So this is a really harsh rebuke, right? When he says hey give me this power how much money and he just I mean I mean I've preached some hard sermons You know and I've had to have some hard conversations I don't think I've ever sat anyone down and said you know what you're in the gall of bitterness You're in the bond of iniquity. You know I've never that's a pretty harsh review, right? But notice how Simon responds verse 24 then Simon answered Simon said pray to the Lord for me That none of these things that she has spoken of come upon me, right? So here's a guy who could take rebuke right? Here's a guy who can be told who can hear something negative about himself and deal with it Who do you think you are Peter? Oh? Mr.. Big Shot there, you know He Took it Right which kind of shows you that he's he's actually maybe a good guy. Yeah, I know he starts out as a sorcerer He's you know he starts out bad, but who else did we just read about verse one guy named Saul? And he wasn't a very good guy either and God used him right I mean We really want to think about it. You know Saul was way worse than Simon the sorcerer the story I mean yes, Simon's using sorcery, and he's been witching the people But at least he's kind of wanting to hey give people the Holy Ghost and he you know he's being able to take rebuke Saul's like having people arrested and hauled off jail People always want to pick on this guy, but you know what he's actually at least not as bad in my book as Saul was And he could take the rebuke But we know he saved why because he believed That's the only thing that you have to do right now. Let's say, but why is he telling him to repent here? Why is Peter telling to repent therefore? You know of this thigh wickedness Well look at the words because it seems like Peter's being real specific about what it means repent of right? Because people hear that word repent They just want to instantly you know make up to say all that remains means you know just Repent of your sin feel sorry for you know how bad you are or something like that And it just means turn means quit doing that right change directions And Peter says repent therefore of this thigh wickedness to me. It seems like he's being really specific Your request to be able to give this power by the laying on of hands You know in trying to buy that with money. That's your wickedness. That's what you need to repent of this foolish notion this mentality That you can just buy the power of God right And look we should all make sure that you know we don't have something similar in our hearts You know if we really want the power of God. It's not gonna. Just it's not earned with just cheaply If we want the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you know we have to keep God's commandments We have to walk in the spirit. We can't we have to you know mortify the deeds of the flesh We have to die daily. We have to confess continue to confess our sin and forsake sin We have to be reading our Bibles and praying it'd be you know it'd be a lot easier to just fork over some money You know like it was something you know me think all there were subscriptions that people have today You know the odd of you know audible books, and you know all the streaming services And you know just all the different people just pay the monthly fee You know fifteen dollars here twenty bucks here just to be able to download this have that delivered. You know get them Amazon Prime It's cheap Right it's easy That's not how you're gonna get the Holy Spirit You know you put in your tithe in this high plate does not mean that you're gonna You know be filled with the spirit you showing up to church It's not gonna mean that you're gonna walk out of here and be filled with the spirit That's cheap to think that that's how easy it is to get power the Holy Spirit in your life It takes work takes effort right So that's kind of his wickedness here This is his foolish mentality just thinking oh, I can just purchase the power of the Holy Ghost You know he wants specifically the ability to lay these lay hands on people and have these you know He has no part in that matter one. He's not an apostle okay I'm just making the application that if we want the fullness of the Holy Ghost in our lives We if we want the fruit of the spirit in our lives It's not it's gonna take more than money. It's gonna take more than church attendance It can take an actual authentic real genuine walk with God That's what God's gonna bless That's who God's gonna fill with the Holy Spirit, okay? And there's nothing wrong with wanting that I think you know him wanting this you know was not necessarily a bad thing now You know maybe I need to kind of back Maybe I'm at the backtrack a little bit on that one, but because when you kind of look at this you know his wickedness is He wants the power right Because you remember what what was his former reputation this man is the great power of God right? And Rather than just saying oh, he's unsaved. You know to me. It just seems like All that means is that you know he's it's like a Christian who just kind of wants his former life back a little bit Christians do this They covet or they miss the old life Right they get saved you know they get they get on fire They get they get zealous for God they start coming to church and I start soul winning and start living for things of God Then enough time goes by and it's kind of and the Christian life gets real, and then it's not a you know the honeymoon ends So to speak and the real work of living the Christian life begins And they start thinking about man You know I kind of miss being able to just go out and sin and not have to show up at church You know just do whatever I want on my Sundays I have to worry about sewing they these are starting to think about the former life People do this all the time this happens in the Christian life Okay, that's what I kind of see here with Simon sorcerer give me this power because that's what he was known for that was what he used to have used to have power That's people said man. This guy's a great power of God. He wants that old status fact Sometimes Christians do the same thing Right and and I'll just read to you from Romans 7. It's gonna have you turn there, but It says in Romans chapter 7. It's a bit of a tongue twister If you want to turn there in verse 14 It says for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal sold under sin, okay Paul said I am carnal not I used to be carnal, but now I'm never carnal anymore No, he he is carnal For that which I do I allow not You know those things that I want to do I don't I don't do them for what I would that I do not There's things I want to do there's things I know I should do, but I don't do those things Because I'm carnal, but what I hate that I do the things. I don't want to do anymore. I end up doing them If I then do that which is which I would not I consent on the law that it is good right that the law is right to condemn because I Do what I would not Now then it is no more I that do it, but that sin that used to dwell in me But when I once I got saved I stopped sinning right wrong Sin dwelleth in me we still have sin For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing Look, there's no good thing in your flesh. Isn't that what Paul just said? In your flesh, there's no good thing. So if you just start living your life for the flesh No, nothing good is gonna come of it. You might have the pleasures of sin for a season You might have some fun. You might not have the burden of bearing your cross daily, but you know what? There's nothing good. Nothing spiritual is gonna come out of it If you live for the flesh all that's gonna come out of it is carnality and sin That's all you're gonna get out of it And people have to be reminded this because they do what Simon the sorcerer does They start thinking about their former prestige I started thinking about the way things used to be I used to have this power I used to be able to do this sin I used to be able to go out and do this and do that and I didn't feel guilty about it and I didn't have to have all these rules. I didn't have all these commandments I have to worry about filled with the Holy Spirit, you know It was just life was so much easier. The way of the transgressor is hard But Christians get you know, these foolish notions in their head that you know Oh going out and living a life of sin must be so much easier. It must be so much easier than living the Christian life They start to covet the things that are out there in the world They start to covet the things that you know, the unsaved are doing. They're envious at the wicked They start to think oh it must be nice not have to go to church It must be nice not to have to dress this way It must be nice to be able to just watch whatever I want listen to whatever I want drink whatever I want smoke Whatever I want and sleep with whoever I want to Must be nice to be able to go out there and just indulge in all the sin That's a that's a dumb way of thinking Because it's the flesh. It's carnality and there's no good thing in it You know, that's kind of why Peter's rebuking this guy so hard. So that's a wicked way to think Repent of this wickedness repent of this desire to just go back to your old ways and look old habits die hard Old habits die hard, you know, just cuz you get saved doesn't mean all those bad habits just go away It just means you have the power now to actually get the victory over them You have the promises of Scripture you have the indwelling the Spirit if you want the victory it's there But you're gonna have to pray you're gonna have to find that way of escape that you'll be able to bear it You're gonna have to go after that that's gonna take effort He says, you know, he's in the gall of bitterness he's coveting the former life You know, I don't want my Christian life to be described as that Just live at me living in the gall of bitterness Just bitter about all the things that I don't get to do anymore now that I'm saved and I have to have these standards Just bitter about all the things that I never got to do that Everybody else got to do because I'm a Christian and we have these standards That's the gall of bitterness It's a bitter way to live Just go go through life just envying the wicked Just wishing I could go do that and wishing I could do that and not have all these rules And look Christians do this young people do this older people do this they all do it From time to time. We've probably all been guilty to some degree or another, you know, I just don't want this to be the You know the overall You know description of my life just a bitter person who's just bitter about the fact that they couldn't do everything all the wicked do Then you just start wishing for sin wishing things are different. Well, you know what be careful what you wish for You might just get it probably heard that one for hey the backslider and heart shall be filled with his own ways Where does that start in the heart the backslider in heart You know if we start wishing for all these things and getting the golf bitterness and start desiring all these things You know what? We're probably just gonna end up right in the midst of it And we'll probably get all that sin and all those things so we can just drop all those standards and quit You know serving God, you know, you can have that you can go do that Be careful what you wish for you might just get filled with it You might just end up with it you might just end up out there partying and drinking and sleeping around and cut and you know what else you get you get to have all the sin and you get to have all the consequences too and Because you're saved and because you know better because you've been under the preaching like this You Know what the God's punishment will be even more harsh Unto whosoever much is given of him shall also much be more be required The more, you know the more Accountable you are That's why you got to preach this because that's a scary thought think about it You know if fear is the only thing that's gonna keep you in line in the Christian life. So be it And if you have to get to the end of your Christian life kind of bitter But all the things you didn't get to do or had to do You know what that bitterness is still better than what the world is gonna the stuff it's gonna bring to you But it's gonna fill your life with the heartache And his problem he was in the gall of bitterness right and he was in the bond of iniquity the bond of iniquity a A Bond is like something that you know binds you right? It's like it's got a hold on you iniquity has got this guide nailed down What what is it that Simon the sorcerer it wants here? He's company You know covetousness is something that will find you it will reach out and grab you and take hold of you and just Just you know have you go in all kinds of different directions We have you know take heed and Beware of covetousness for a man's life consists if not in the abundance of his possessions You know our life is not just the things that we own But isn't that exactly what the world wants us to do to just chase after things and money Cars and homes and games and pleasures, and that's that's all the world has to offer stuff things pleasure Look I'm not against those things. I kind of like having a house You know I like having a car you know my life doesn't revolve around that stuff You know and if that's what we find ourselves chasing you know it might be that we're just in the bond of iniquity Because that's what Simon the sorcerer is doing he's just coveting what he can't have Give me the Holy Ghost get here. Here's some money Give me what I can't have that's covetousness You Say you know that's that's the proper way to apply Simon the sorcerer We could say or debate or was he saved wasn't he say well Let me tell you why it wasn't safe and completely missed the point Bible says he believed he was saved the warning that we get from Simon the sorcerer is is that even a saved person? Could still be subject to being a bitter covetous person You Let's move on story though because we got you got to wrap this up tonight says in verse 25 and they when they had testified and preached the word of Lord returned to Jerusalem and Preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying arise and go to the south which unto the way unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza which is desert I love I love verses 26 and 27 right the angels spake unto Philip and said arise and go Arise and go verse 27, and he arose and went I love Philip Philip is such a great example of just obedience and just Whatever it takes, and he's just no questions asked and just does it You know that that's that is the truth you want to be blessed be obedient Do what God says and you God will use you You know God will use you in a great way I believe that if we would if we would arise and go if we would just do what God said And stop being like Simon the sorcerer and coveting and being bitter and being you know Held in the bond of iniquity and just wishing for all the things we can't have and just you know wanting to be like other people You know if we'd stop doing that and just do what God told us, you know, we'd be used mightily by God You know, I love I love that I wish it was that simple of people man I wish I could get people to go soul winning that easily Go soul winning, okay Well, I could just preach it one time as I had to say it once every person hey arise and go done You know then we could move on to a lot of other things when it comes to preaching, right? But obviously this is a bit of an ideal So he rose and went verse 27 and behold a man of Ethiopia a Eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasure had come to Jerusalem for to worship So he's there worshipping, you know, he's seeking after God and it says in verse 28 He was returning and sitting in his chariot in his chariot read Isaiah's the prophet Then the spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot Verse 30 and Philip ran thither to heat him to him. Excuse me and heard him repeat Prophet Isaiah's now it says he ran to him You know, this would probably exclude me from you know, if I was there they'd be like, let's get on a guy If I was Philip, it wouldn't be me because that running bit it happened But did the spirit tell him to run? Hey run, you know, no Phil just did it right Obviously he ran because he needed to this is a chariot. It's probably going faster than you could walk, right? it's kind of the whole point and It's like and Philip didn't go. Well, could you've gotten me closer? You know, why did you drop me off so far? I mean think about it the Holy Spirit could have just taken Philip and put him immediately in the chariot Just right next to this guy right But you know Philip had to put forth some effort He Had to rise and go because we see at the end of the chapter like that after he gets this guy saved the spirit just Catches him up takes him away. He just disappears right? It's like well, why couldn't we start out that way? Why doesn't the story why don't you just why do you have to be have make me a rise and go? No, why do I have to run to the chariot? right Because we have to put forth effort in order to see great things from God You know, we have to endure persecution We have to go we have to put forth effort and that's when people are gonna get saved and look there's divine appointments out there That's what this is. I Mean the Holy Spirit knew where the Ethiopian eunuch was. He knew where he was gonna be. He's telling Philip to go And I believe that you know, if we'll arise and go God will just engineer things Just make people cross our paths. He'll cause the tire to go flat. He'll make the phone ring You know, someone will get that random call you God can do I mean God can do anything And God can engineer if we'll rise and go God will just start to use us Maybe not every single time But if we continue to give God opportunity to use us God will use us You know, this isn't we didn't just meet Philip. Philip was serving remember where did Philip start? Just serving right just being humble servant And now after he's been faithful after he's been dutiful after he's been doing what he's supposed to just being obedient now God's gonna use him in this great way. He's got this divine appointment I mean, how many people have you heard preach how many people have you heard talk about the story? One of the most famous stories in the Bible in the New Testament at least if not the whole Bible The Ethiopian unit it's one. It's a very well-known story. So many servants been preached about Philip in a positive light I Mean what you know, what a great way to be used by God as an example of somebody who's being used mightily by God But where did he start serving being faithful? Rising going putting forth the effort if we'll do the same thing God Will make divine appointments for us You know and I'm thinking about other Experiences other people have relayed to me. I've heard over the years I'm thinking about in my own life times I've got out soul-winning and run into people or was like they were a spot in life where it was just like they were primed But you know the pump was primed they were just the low-hanging fruit and they're so grateful that you came I mean, I remember being on the reservation Mike was the guy's name You know just west of window rock Remember knocking this guy's door just going about our business. I think Karen you were with me got a bag of clothes from him Right. I knocked on his door guy didn't answer and then I so I start to leave because it's down this little two-track You know, it's out there and another car is coming towards us and it's the guy's wife And she says well you he's there when you please go back He's because he's like he had gotten jumped in town a couple weeks earlier Like carjacked like pulled out of the car and beaten nearly to death. They had a life flight him to some hospital he almost died and So he's he's dealing with trauma like PTSD He didn't want to come to the door because he didn't know what he was like he was afraid But his wife, you know, we I mean if I had left five minutes earlier if she had left five minutes earlier We would have missed each other You know, I'm just doing I'm supposed to do just go out there taking people on the rez serving God just going knocking the doors You know just going to this door and I believe God just makes people cross paths Look that lady his wife came and and stopped us on the two-track talking She said will you please go back and talk to him? I went back the guy got saved The guy was so grateful I pretty sure I went and visited him again the next trip and he told me he's like all I'm not afraid anymore He said before you came and knocked on my door that day like things I would hear things outside And I was I was scared like guy was having serious Trauma because he had gone through this, you know traumatic event. I mean getting yanked out of your car and beaten to an inch of your life That's not something just get over Okay, very fearful person But it all happened, you know, and I'm not trying to lift myself up I'm just saying look if if God can use me like that he can do with anybody Anybody any fillet can be a fillet Anybody can just arise and go and be faithful and God will start to use them in ways That they never thought possible You know, maybe they're not gonna have the power to just lay hands on people and fill up with the Holy Spirit like Peter and John But you know what there might be some Ethiopian eunuch out there that you can go join yourself to and and make clear the scripture and get them saved and Change their eternal destiny. I mean that's a pretty big deal. I Mean think what would I rather do? I'm just thinking out loud right now What would I rather have the ability to do just go around on each one of you and just lay my hands and just Fill you with the Holy Spirit Or to go out there and get people saved if I had to choose one or the other You know what? I choose to go get people saved They said oh you could you could fill everyone in the room with the Holy Spirit Just by you know laying hands on them If you did you could do that or you can go out and preach the gospel But you can't do both which is I'd say I'd go preach the gospel Because you might I might fill you with the Holy Spirit today and tomorrow you just grieve the Holy Spirit Next day you could you know, not be filled the Holy Spirit who knows what we're gonna do day to day You know, if I go out and preach the gospel and get people saved that's permanent that's a condition that's never gonna change They're not gonna go to hell Right and look there's people out there that if we would just arise and go they would get saved and they would not go to hell I Think that's sometimes what we lose sight of Is that if we don't go our gospel is hid to them that are lost We'll still be saved, but people are literally gonna die and go to a literal hell for eternity and suffer unimaginable torment For eternity Right, they're gonna go there and there's people that would would would not go there if we would go Not Calvinists here. Oh if they're gonna get saved they'll get saved If God really wants him saved hello God wants everyone to get saved So why isn't everybody saved then? Because we are ambassadors for Christ. He's committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation You know, that's the value of the sole winner it's a necessity You know what makes a soul winner so valuable the fact that he's needed Right How should I call on him and whom they have not believed and how should they believe in him who they have not heard And how shall they hear without a preacher? You know people would call people would believe but they won't do it without a preacher And how shall they preach except they be sent saying sure preach about this a lot Well, you know I'm not the Holy Spirit. I can't just say arise and go and then you just arise and go People have to constantly be reminded rise and go arise and go arise and go people are going to hell People are gonna die and go to hell that would didn't have to go there if we would arise and go That's the reality that we're living in And it's a sad one it means you break our heart To think that people are gonna die and go to hell Because we didn't go reach them and look I understand we can't get everybody saved, but I'm saying this there are people that would get saved if we'll go and If we don't go those people will not get saved fact And you know what's no matter how much we go and how many people we get saved that's always gonna be the case Because there's always gonna be people we could have reached that we didn't do that We didn't reach That's always gonna be the case right and I understand we're all busy. We all have lives We all go through things And sometimes it's easier than sometimes it's not but you know what the one fact always remains constant People will get saved if we'll go Maybe not every single time we go But if we keep going and going and going and going and going people are gonna get saved There's gonna be these divine appointments And God can even engineer circumstances. I believe that just like in the story God wasn't like hey Philip a rising going. Let's see what happens. Maybe you'll run into somebody No, he knew where that where the eunuch was he knew where Philip was hey, let's make this happen But what if Philip had just said well, it's so far Go running Somebody else do it Nobody else would have done it Oh People will find God if they want to this guy's literally coming back from Jerusalem He's there worshiping God and he's unsaved He's literally got the Bible in his lap reading it and he can't understand it Because it takes a preacher folks. It takes somebody to show them from the Word of God how to be saved No matter how good their intentions Look at verse 32 and the place the scripture He read was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb done before his shears to open He not his mouth and his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth and You the eunuch answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speaketh the prophet this of himself or some other man Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus right He's expounding the Word of God. That's what needs to happen for people to get saved Otherwise, you know, let's just let's just rent a helicopter Let's just go down to Davis math math. Um, I say it Air Force Base and Just see if we can get a big c130 You know see how much that is and we'll just load it up with a bunch of Bible tracks And then we'll just go litter the city, right? Let's just take all the Bibles that we have and just start throwing them at people on their doors and just trying to Hopefully they'll read it get saved No, it took somebody the guys literally got the Bible in his lap and and somebody else has to come along They'll say well, let me explain it to you So, well that doesn't that that's why did God make it so hard Well, you know the the hard part was done by Jesus I mean did we just read that He was the one that was led as a sheep to the slaughter He was the one that was was judged to take away from the earth his his life is taken He's the one that literally laid down his life Sounds to me like he did the hard part. All we got to do is arise and go Well, I don't know what to say. I don't say it. Well, just you know how to get saved, right? Well, just tell them how to get saved The more you do it the better you'll get at it these you'll get and the more you'll enjoy it and the more people get saved Verse 36 and as they went on their way They came into a certain water and the eunuch said see here is water What does hinder me to be baptized and Philip said if thou believeth with all thine heart just like Simon the sorcerer did Thou mayest and he answered said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, right? So this is a great proof text, you know, if you're ever out there and someone brings up baptism You ever explain baptism just have this mark in your Bible This is such a great picture of you know This is such a great picture of you know, you have to get saved and then you get baptized it's not the other way around and then it's a great picture of the fact that he verse 38 and he commanded the chariot to stand still and They went down into the water both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized them It's a great and so it's a great example of baptism that come in the fact that it comes after salvation And it's by immersion, right? That should be pretty obvious It's by emergent how you say how's the Bible well they went down into the water because if it's just sprinkling it's like He would have said hey stay here. You know, I'm gonna just go get some water. He just don't Just give him a raspberry You know, I baptized you name of the father the son of the Holy Ghost It's sprinkling it's water Right. It's a little crass little crude. That's not how I want to be baptized even if it was by sprinkling You know Let me just you know get you got a look at him. I probably he probably had water with him Done So it's a great proof text for that, right? And let's wrap it up here and when they're come up out of the water the Spirit of Lord caught away Philip and The eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing And just like earlier when he came that wherever Philip goes he's bringing joy Wherever he goes people end up rejoicing he goes that city there was great rejoicing he goes and listens to God and and it goes under this chariot runs the chariot preaches the gospel and The unit goes away rejoicing And this goes back to what I said earlier that we don't minister for ourselves Look if you're not gonna go soul-wetting if your thought is well, what am I gonna get out of this? maybe blisters And the door slam your face you might get called that's what you're gonna get out of it Have dogs chase you had that I Mean, there's all kinds of story There's all kind of we could just start thinking about all the negative things that happen when we go soul-wetting Is that why we do it though for the positive experiences? Look, they're not all gonna be Mike out there on window rock right There's gonna be some people that's it's not it's sometimes it's not gonna be fun, but that's not why we do it It's so that other people can go away rejoicing so we can bring joy to other people we can bring the joy of salvation To other people that's what it means to be a minister of Christ to minister to others We don't do it for ourselves We don't do it because it's fun. We don't do it and look sometimes soul-wetting can be a lot of fun Honestly again You make great memories out soul-wetting I've had a lot of fun You Know you can spend time with people you go on these missions trips And look if Tucson's got you burnt out if it's just if it's too hard and I get it Tucson's kind of a tough town Got gates. I've never seen people with so many dogs and all my life. I Mean good night. We were down here on the south side, you know a month or two ago I don't know. It was a few few months back now You know over here and it's just like I remember we're standing at intersection It was like you're being barked at by pit bulls from like all on all four sides Multiple dogs, it's probably like a half dozen dogs all barking at us. It was with my family right? Remember that we're standing just And then you go to Detroit where it's like it's illegal to have a gate that goes past the front of your house and Like I did I saw the only dogs I saw were like this big Everyone's super receptive. It's like this is great You know, so I get it this isn't exactly the most receptive town but you know what there's still people out there to get saved You got the numbers to prove it. I Don't think these people are coming back and lying to me You know They can't all be the rez they can't all be Detroit They can't all be these super receptive areas, but there are people out there get safe, you know, it could be down in Mexico You can go there, you know, if this has got you worn down Maybe it's time to think about going somewhere where you can get some people saved and be reminded of why we do what we do And get that zeal back and get that fire lit again Instead of just thinking about how nice it would be to not have to worry about any of this and just end up living a Bitter Christian life. I don't want that for anybody So he snatched away and You know unit goes on rejoicing But Philip was found at as Otis and said well that's enough for me. I'm done I did my fair share, you know, I'm passing through he preached in all the cities so they came to Caesarea I Love Philip the evangelist, you know, I'm getting ahead of myself in Acts 21 I'll just read you in verse 8. Well, we see there when Paul eventually comes to him and stays in his house He's known as Philip the evangelist. All right. This is how he's described in Acts 21 verse 8 and We entered into how at the house of Philip the evangelist which was one of the seven and abode with him So it's like he's got these two kind of things that he's known for one. He's an evangelist and he was one of the seven Right, but he started out as one of the seven, you know Philip is probably look Is there other other Phillips in the Bible? Yeah, there was an apostle named Philip. We don't hear about him after acts one You know, he was in the upper room and then that's it You know, there's Philip who was the son of Herod the Great, but he's not a good guy That's not the Philip. We want to pattern our lives after okay the Philip that we know best is this Philip and Why do we know him best? Because of the fact that he was an evangelist and that he was a servant he gets talked about more than any other Philip And there was literally an apostle named Philip But here we're learning about a completely different Philip He's the one that's better known because the fact that he served and he was a soul winner He was one of the seven the servant in his local church Ministering the people in his church and he was going out and winning souls and just spreading joy everywhere. He went I love Philip. He's one of my favorite characters He's somebody to model ourselves after you know, sometimes we get some we've learned some things about people We have characters in the Bible. It's kind of like Their whole purpose in life was to serve as a warning to others. Right? That's not what we want for ourselves You know, but then you have characters like Philip. It was like a beacon of light be like this guy Well, what did he do He served and he won souls You know, it's interesting that Simon and Philip in the story. They're both saved You Know one was rebuked the other was praised Right got to save guys the story. That's really what it's about. You got two guys who are saved one gets his face ripped By the Apostle Peter told him to gets told to repent right called wicked And then you have another one who's just you know, essentially being praised as being lifted up Having his greatest works recorded for everyone to read about lift it up as an example being an evangelist You know the dip what made the difference their motives? One asked what's in it for me? What can I get out of this being saved business? I'm saved Can I get some of that power you got can I get some of that prestige you got what's in this for me? You know, that's the guy that got rebuked That's what made the difference between these two their motives the other guy Philip. He was in it for everybody else He isn't it to minister he was in it to preach a rise and go I'll go I got a run I'll run You know one live for self The other lived for others Which one are we gonna be? I think that's two great examples of You know, we as Christians we can go in either direction And we could just go down the path and end up in the call of bitterness and the bond of iniquity Or we can forget about self and not make life all about the cares and pleasures of this life And now let the word get choked out and we can go ahead and be that good and faithful ground and bring forth fruit You know by living for others and not living for self and be like Philip. Let's go ahead and close in order prayer