Good morning. Today's scripture reading is taken from Acts chapter 8 verses 4 to 25.
! Please follow along in your Bible or the church Bible. Our passage can be found on page 862 in the church Bible.
Acts chapter 8 starting in verse 4 we read
Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.
And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.
For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them.
And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.
But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria saying that he himself was somebody great.
They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest saying this man is the power of God that is called great.
And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.
But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ,
they were baptized both men and women.
Even Simon himself believed and after being baptized he continued with Philip.
And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God,
they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands,
he offered them money, saying,
Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.
But Peter said to him,
May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.
You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible,
the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.
For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.
And Simon answered,
Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.
Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord,
they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
This is the word of God.
Thank you, Kristen.
You guys hear me okay?
Is that good?
All right.
Hello, good morning.
Good morning.
My name is Oscar.
I serve here at Watermark as one of the elders,
and it is a great joy to be spending this time worshiping God together,
and it's my great privilege to be sharing God's word.
Come join me.
Let's pray as we look at God's word.
Father, we give this time to you, Lord.
We ask that your spirit would open up the eyes of our hearts to see the beauty of Christ.
Help us, God, to see where we perhaps are turning away from you,
and bring us back to you, Lord.
May the beauty of our great Savior, Jesus, come through this message.
I pray that I would speak clearly and articulately, Lord.
I pray that my heart would come through.
But I pray that ultimately, Lord, your message will come through, not mine.
May this message be an arrow pointing all of us to Jesus.
In his name we pray.
Amen.
So today we're continuing the book of Acts,
this marvelous book which paints a very detailed picture
of how the ministry of Jesus continued after his ascension into heaven,
which is through his church, by the power of his spirit.
Last week, Niels took us through Acts 6 and 7.
6-7?
A big turning point.
No youth here, unfortunately.
With the killing, a big turning point.
With the killing of Stephen and the subsequent violent persecution,
acting not as a deterrent, but actually as a key catalyst for something new.
For the first time, the gospel was to go outside of Jerusalem
into the rest of the world according to God's plan.
And this is good news.
This was good news for the people back then,
and it is good news for us here in Hong Kong
because it means that we too can receive the good news of Jesus.
And today now we're looking at Acts chapter 8, the first part of it,
and we'll see how the gospel advances in more detail.
We'll start at a high level,
and then we will slowly drill down, and we'll get personal.
Think of today's message as you're looking through a satellite telescope from space at the earth.
You first see an entire country, and then you zoom in, and then you see a city,
and then you zoom in yet again, and you'll see a neighborhood,
and people actually having conversations.
That is sort of hopefully how this message will flow.
So how does the gospel advance?
Well, we'll look at that in initially two ways.
First, through God's people sharing Jesus,
and second, through the unity of the church.
Now, as we read, as the result of this persecution in Jerusalem,
these early followers of Jesus, except the apostles,
were scattered to Judea and Samaria.
The apostles stayed in Jerusalem,
but incredibly, the rest of the church members,
in the face of persecution and in a foreign land,
they didn't hide away nor simply focus on self-preservation.
No, they boldly shared the gospel of Jesus wherever they went.
Not the apostles, not the senior leadership,
but regular church members.
Verse 4, those who were scattered, i.e. church members,
not the apostles.
Next slide, please.
Not the apostles went about preaching the word.
By the way, the word preaching here
doesn't mean that everyone gave 30-minute sermons
on Sunday morning.
It reflects a general rhythm of sharing Jesus,
the good news, in daily life.
And there is one church member in particular,
Philip, who went to Samaria.
By the way, this is not Philip the apostle.
This is Philip, one of the seven deacons,
from Acts chapter 6,
similar to Stephen, who we saw last week.
And here, in Samaria,
Philip the deacon,
he finds himself in this foreign land.
But because of his personal conviction
in the good news of Jesus,
because of his great belief in the power of Jesus,
not to just change lives,
but to save lives,
and because of his view that the gospel
wasn't just to the Jews,
but to all people, including Samaritans,
and because of his desire to help save souls,
Philip boldly proclaimed to them the Christ.
And along with proclaiming Jesus,
Philip prayed for healing and deliverance
from unclean spirits,
and many unbelievable things happened in those days.
And so in Samaria,
through Philip,
by the power of God's spirit,
the gospel of our Lord Jesus
expanded to this foreign people.
Many people believed,
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,
just like we do here at Watermark,
and there was much joy in that city.
This is how the gospel advances
through God's people sharing Jesus.
Was Philip anyone particularly special?
What we don't know is educational background,
although he wasn't an apostle.
He was a deacon.
He was a godly man.
But his main role back in Jerusalem
probably wasn't teaching and preaching
on a daily basis.
It was likely serving the church community
in tangible ways,
like serving food.
But always proclaiming Christ.
It wasn't simply social justice.
It was caring for the marginalized.
But his overarching message
was always Jesus first.
And then after Stephen's death,
when the great persecution happened,
Philip went to Samaria.
He didn't hide away.
He didn't fear for his life.
He goes out and he proclaimed to them
the Christ.
So the question here is for us,
how is God calling you?
In your own life,
through your relationships,
at work,
at school,
or with your family and friends,
how is God calling you,
like Philip,
to share his good news
of himself?
For this is how the gospel advances,
through God's people sharing Jesus.
The second way the gospel advances
is through the unity of God's people,
his church.
Due to the persecution in Jerusalem,
we saw that Philip went to Samaria.
There's a map again.
Samaria was 15 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
But Jews and Samaritans were not besties.
Far from it.
The Jews thought of Samaritans
as half-breeds,
half-Jew,
and half-infidel.
If you recall the story
in the book of John,
chapter 4,
Jesus meets the woman at the well,
a Samaritan woman.
He approaches her
and asks her for a drink,
to which she responds,
how is it that you,
a Jew,
ask for a drink from me,
a woman of Samaria?
And then the writer John says,
for Jews have no dealings
with Samaritans.
The animosity between Jews
and Samaritans
went back hundreds of years.
And so although Jesus,
back in Acts chapter 1,
if you recall,
Jesus said the gospel
was spread far and wide,
outside Jerusalem,
to the ends of the earth.
But let's be realistic.
It's hard for people
of different cultures
to get along,
never mind two people
that had tension
for hundreds of years.
Look in our day
at the human level conflicts
that we have
due to different views
on politics,
race,
religion,
sexuality.
Years ago,
I went to a football match
in Rome in Italy.
And as I was watching the match,
the two opposing fans,
they literally were
punching each other
in the stands
during the match.
And that's sport,
not even race or religion.
But the apostles
back in Jerusalem,
they were aware
of this tension,
obviously.
And when they heard
of the Samaritans
believing in Jesus,
they sent Peter and John,
two senior apostles,
all the way from Jerusalem
to Samaria
for one main purpose,
to pray for the Samaritans
to receive the Holy Spirit.
For it says,
in verse 16,
for he,
the Holy Spirit,
had not yet fallen
on any of them,
but they had only
been baptized
in the name
of the Lord Jesus.
What on earth
is going on here?
This raises
two questions,
at least.
First,
why did Peter and John
come all the way
from Jerusalem
to pray for the Samaritans
to receive the Holy Spirit?
Are Peter and John
micromanaging Philip?
And second,
and more perplexing,
why do Peter and John
need to pray
for the Spirit
to fall on these
new believers
in Samaria?
On question two,
isn't it true
that since the day
of Pentecost,
in Acts chapter two,
when a person
believes in Jesus,
don't they receive
the Holy Spirit
at that moment?
Peter said,
in Acts chapter two,
repent and be baptized
every one of you
in the name
of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness
of your sins
and you will receive
the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
Paul said
in Romans eight,
anyone who does not
have the Spirit
of Christ,
he does not belong
to him.
There is a consistent
theme in the New Testament.
Believe in Jesus
and the Spirit of God
will dwell
in you.
Normally,
it's one step.
But here in Acts chapter eight,
there appears to be
a two-step process.
First,
the Samaritans believe
and are baptized
and then second,
they receive the Holy Spirit
when Peter and John
prayed for them.
You guys following me?
Everyone okay?
Yeah?
It's a bit dense
and confusing,
but here we go.
We'll continue on.
Back to our two questions.
Why did Peter and John
come all the way
from Jerusalem
to pray for the Samaritans
to receive the Holy Spirit?
And second,
why did the Samaritans
receive the Holy Spirit
in this abnormal
two-step process?
Well,
Bible scholars
have debated
these verses
for quite a long time
and the interpretation
is by no means settled.
But here is what
is the most likely
explanation.
Remember,
the Jews
and Samaritans
were at odds
for hundreds
and hundreds
of years.
But as the gospel
expanded
outside Jerusalem
as Jesus prophesied,
amazingly,
the Samaritan people,
they heard the gospel
and they believed
in this Jewish Messiah.
And somehow,
God in his sovereignty
held back his spirit
from the Samaritans
such that Peter and John
would have to travel
all the way
50 kilometers
from Jerusalem
to come and pray
for the Samaritans
to receive his spirit
so that
all the Samaritans
present at that time
would witness
the great power
of God.
And all those
Jewish believers
back in Jerusalem
would hear the chatter
that this people,
the Samaritans,
this foreign people
once looked down upon
by the Jews,
once considered
second-class citizens
by the Jews,
were now of one faith,
one heart,
one spirit,
and one Savior,
Jesus Christ.
So Peter and John
came from Jerusalem
to pray for these
new Samaritan believers
to receive the Holy Spirit
which welcomed them
into Jesus' family,
his church.
Let me try to illustrate it
in this way.
Imagine you are applying
for your very first job.
You land in a job interview
with Apple in Hong Kong,
but you're an outsider.
Your family are poor immigrants.
You're a university dropout.
You even have a criminal record
for stealing food
to try to provide
for your family.
But somehow,
you interview
and you land the job.
But you're understandably
a bit insecure.
You have imposter syndrome.
You're worried that
the folks at Apple
will realize
that you're actually
not really worthy
to work there.
But on your first day,
you're at your cubicle,
you're hunched over
coding on your laptop,
and guess who comes over?
Tim Cook,
the CEO.
He's flown all the way in
from the US of A
just to see you.
And he says to you,
hey,
welcome to Apple.
I'd love to take you out
for lunch
to welcome you here.
And then,
we're going to call
a global,
company-wide Zoom call
so that everyone at Apple
can welcome you
into the Apple community.
You are now
one of us.
Welcome to Apple.
Now,
that is kind of
what happened,
kind of what happened
with the Samaritans,
except the Samaritans.
It was more than
just a welcome party.
It was a healing party.
You see,
that event
crystallized
the restoration
and healing
between two deeply
divided people groups,
two deeply divided
ethnic and religious groups,
breaking down the walls
that stood
for hundreds of years.
A similar thing happens,
event happens,
in Acts chapter 10.
We'll look at that
a bit later on
in a few weeks.
God sent Peter
all the way
to Caesarea
to share the gospel
to the Roman centurion,
Cornelius.
And there,
for the first time,
the gospel moves
not just outside Jerusalem
to Judea
or Samaria
to half-Jews,
the gospel moves
to non-Jews,
to Gentiles.
And what happens?
As Peter's preaching,
the Holy Spirit
falls on Cornelius
and all of his close friends
and family.
The Holy Spirit
falls like a seal
to publicly display
the inclusion
of another people group
into God's family,
his church.
This is how
the gospel advances
through the unity
of God's church.
Now,
it's important to mention
that this event
does not happen anymore,
mainly because
this was the first time
the gospel expanded
to Samaritans
and then to the Gentiles.
And hence,
these were unique
one-time events.
But what does happen today
is that when we believe
in Jesus,
we become baptized.
We get baptized.
Baptism is a public declaration
of our faith in Jesus,
right?
For us to say
and for our church family
to say back to us
among many things
that we are unified
and united
in one church.
in the family of God.
Okay.
So now,
what does this all mean
for us here
at Watermark?
Well,
look around.
Look around the sanctuary.
You can actually do it.
You can actually do it
if you want to.
We are a picture
of God,
unified church.
Look at us.
We are from many different
countries,
nationalities,
and backgrounds.
We are from different
demographic spheres,
different educational backgrounds,
different histories.
but all welcomed
by God
into his church family
and unified together.
And second,
isn't this unity
such a powerful
and attractive message
to a world
that is so fragmented
and broken?
when we care for one another,
when we actually reconcile
very difficult relationships
and conflicts,
we're telling the world,
I'm doing this.
I'm caring for those
that are not easy
to care about
or different than me.
I'm doing that
because there is one person,
Jesus,
who cares so much more
for me
that he gave
his very life for me.
And so I desire
to honor him
and to care
and love
and accept others.
Isn't that a beautiful picture
of God's church?
And isn't that
a beautiful invitation
to God's church?
This is how the gospel advances
through the unity
of God's church.
Okay,
so,
now,
we've seen the big picture
of how the gospel
is advancing
and going out
according to God's plan.
But now,
what does that look like?
How does that happen
on a micro level?
Well,
we're now introduced
to a man named Simon,
a magician,
who,
for a long time,
amazed the people
of Samaria
with his magic.
People were so amazed
by him
that they said,
this man
is the power of God
that is called great.
Some believe Simon
was some sort of demigod.
But then Philip the deacon
shows up
proclaiming Jesus
and many
people,
as we saw earlier,
believed in Jesus
and were baptized.
And even Simon the magician
believed
and was baptized.
And it says in verse 13
that he continued
with Philip.
Simon used to amaze people
with his magic
and now he's amazed
by Jesus.
Or was he?
Later on,
Simon sees the power
of God's spirit
move
when the apostles
lay hands
on the Samaritans.
And you can imagine
Simon's eyes
grow wide.
The passage
doesn't say
what he saw,
but we know
from the rest of Acts
that when God's spirit
falls on people,
there are outward signs.
Boldness
to proclaim the gospel,
praising God
unceasingly,
speaking in tongues.
And so,
like Gollum
in Lord of the Rings,
Simon wants that power.
Simon needs that power.
Simon offers Peter
and John money
for that power.
And of course,
Peter strongly
rebukes Simon.
So what drove Simon
to want this power?
Well,
we read that his magic
amazed the people
of Samaria
and that he loved
the attention
because it made him
feel great.
It made him feel
that he himself
was somebody great.
Verse 9.
And so when he sees
the even greater power
of God's spirit,
he wants it
not to bless others,
but to impress people
even more.
Because what made
Simon most happy,
what made him
most content,
gave him most joy,
was when people
thought highly of him.
He wanted to be known
as somebody great.
Martin Luther wrote this,
whatever your heart
clings to and confides in,
that is really your God.
Meaning,
whatever you fundamentally
believe will make you
most happy.
That is what drives
your decisions
and possibly the entire
direction of your life.
You will pursue
and cling to
what you adore.
And for Simon,
he pursued
and he clung to
having a good self-image.
His God
was his own self-image.
Now,
wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Didn't we read
in verse 13
that Simon believed
in Jesus?
Wasn't he baptized?
Wasn't he amazed
by the signs
and the miracles?
That he saw?
Didn't he continue
with Philip?
And this is where
this passage
gets quite personal
and challenging.
If you know
this parable,
parable of the sower,
Jesus said,
Jesus spoke about
actually this very
heart condition.
Jesus said that
God's word,
the gospel,
is like a seed
which a farmer grows.
Some seed
falls on the path
but has no roots
and is taken
away immediately.
Other seed
falls on rocky
ground
but persecution
causes that person
who receives
God's word
to also fall away.
And then there
is God's word
that falls
on thorns.
These are people
where they hear
the word,
the gospel,
but the cares
of the world
and the deceitfulness
of riches
and the desire
for other things
enter in
and choke the word
and it proves
unfruitful.
And this third way,
the seed that is choked,
describes exactly
Simon the magician.
When Simon first
heard the news,
the good news
of Jesus,
he probably thought,
oh, that's great news.
I'll follow Jesus.
When he saw the signs
and the miracles,
he thought,
he was amazed.
But like in the parable,
the gospel never found
any roots in his heart
because it was crowded out
by his desire
to promote
his self-image.
You see,
Simon wanted
the power
of Jesus,
but he wasn't willing
to take up
the cross
of Jesus.
He wasn't willing
to give up
his self-promotion
and self-image.
And so the apostle
Peter
tells Simon,
your heart
is not right
before God,
which can also
be translated as
your heart
is not straight
with God.
You have
a crooked heart.
Peter then has
some even stronger
words for Simon,
which tells us
that although Simon
professed to believe
in Jesus,
although he was
even baptized,
he wasn't actually
saved
or born again.
Simon's heart
never turned
towards Jesus.
He wasn't
a true Christian.
Peter says to Simon
in verse 23,
you were in the
gall of bitterness,
which suggests
someone who is
wretched,
and you were in
the bond of
iniquity,
which suggests
Simon was a
prisoner of sin
in bondage.
And this is,
let's be honest,
this is challenging,
is it not?
But being born
again,
becoming a Christian
is not just
a one-time
verbal acknowledgement
and then we just
think and live
as before.
It's a heart
that turns away
from our own
selfish desires
towards Jesus
and on that
new path
and in that
new life,
we seek to
honor him
and to submit
to his authority
and the way
we speak,
the way we live,
the decisions
we make
reflect the
inner reality
of this new
path that
we're on.
John Piper
says this
about Simon
the magician.
Piper says,
at the root
of Simon's
false faith
was a heart
problem.
He was a man
with a crooked
heart who
willfully suppressed
the knowledge
of the true God
whose spirit
cannot be bought.
Deep down,
he still wanted
to be a great
power broker.
You see,
Simon never
loved Jesus.
He just loved
what he thought
Jesus could give
him.
Power to boost
his self-image.
Now,
notice though,
that although
Peter rebuked
Simon quite
harshly,
he doesn't just
leave him there.
He advises
Simon to repent
and to pray
to the Lord
that if possible,
the intent
of your heart
may be forgiven
you.
In spite of
Simon's sin,
all is not
lost.
There is
another chance.
Repent.
This is the
same simple
and consistent
gospel message
throughout the
book of Acts
and throughout
the entire
Bible.
Repent.
Peter in Acts
2,
repent and
be baptized.
Peter in Acts
3,
repent and
therefore turn
back that
your sins
may be blotted
out.
John the
Baptist,
repent for
the kingdom
of God
is near.
Yes,
your heart
is dark.
My heart
is dark.
Yes,
you're in
bondage.
Your selfish
desires.
Yes,
your heart
is crooked.
It's not
straight.
But the
true repentance
that you may
have missed
the first
time,
it is still
on offer.
It is still
there for you
to take
today.
You have a
second chance.
The wonderful
forgiveness of
Jesus that you
missed before,
it is on offer
for you today,
but you must
repent.
But what does
Simon do
instead?
said he
doesn't pray
to God
for forgiveness.
He doesn't
acknowledge his
offense against
God.
He says to
Peter,
you pray for
me.
You pray for
me that I
won't be
punished.
But true
repentance,
friends,
is not simply
trying to avoid
punishment.
True repentance
is omitting
the offense,
owning the
mistake,
and asking
but not
demanding
forgiveness.
True repentance
is omitting
the offense,
owning the
mistake,
and asking
but not
demanding
forgiveness.
You see,
this story,
this little
vignette about
Simon is a
sharp warning
for us.
You see,
the Bible
oftentimes doesn't
end a passage
or a book
with a neat
little bow
or fairytale
ending.
We're often
left with
a challenge.
Consider the
prodigal son
story,
right?
The older
brother at
the end
of that
story,
even though
he served
his father
faithfully
in the
fields,
his heart
was cold
towards his
father.
He never
loved his
father.
Or consider
Jonah.
We just
went over
Jonah last
couple weeks.
Consider
Jonah.
He was a
prophet.
He knew
God's word
inside out,
but his
heart never
loved God.
God.
He actually
was angry
at God.
These
teachings are
meant to
provoke us
to look
inward
at our
own
hearts.
It's the
same here
today as
well with
Simon the
magician.
So today
we've seen
how the
gospel advances.
It's going
from Jerusalem
to Samaria
to the rest
of the
Gentile world
and it
has come
to us
here in
Hong
Kong.
the gospel
is for
anyone
and everyone.
The offer
of Jesus
is to
all people
one life
at a
time.
One life
at a
time.
But as
the gospel
confronts
the idols
of our
hearts,
we must
make a
choice.
Will we
tear down
those idols
and submit
to the
authority
of Jesus?
Will we
cast our
idols aside
and make
that sacrifice
and love
and trust
Christ above
all?
And so as
we reflect
on Simon,
two questions
for us to
consider.
First,
what do you
crave most?
What makes
you most
content?
Is it
promoting your
own self
image like
Simon?
Or maybe
something
else?
If you
crave
financial
security,
as an
example,
you will
make big
sacrifices
to make
more money.
If you
crave
relational
intimacy,
above all,
you will
make big
compromises
to pursue
what you
adore.
I've
actually
done both
in my
life.
Often
the things
that we
care about
most,
that are
most important
to us,
health,
job,
money,
relationships,
children's
education,
and success,
these are
the very
things that
choke us
from knowing
and experiencing
the goodness
of God.
Second,
are we
amazed by
what happens
in church?
Or are we
amazed by
Jesus?
I do think
we have an
amazing church,
by the way.
But like
Simon the
magician,
we can
marvel at
the signs
and the
wonders,
and we
can miss
the giver
of the
signs.
Simon
marveled
at the
arrow,
but he
missed what
the arrow
was pointing
towards.
See,
everything we
do here
at Watermark,
the preaching,
the music
worship,
our great
kids ministry,
our gospel
community,
even this
building,
everything we
do at
Watermark
is like
an arrow
pointing not
at ourselves,
but pointing
towards Jesus.
Everything we
do as a
church community
is to point
each other
back to
the only
one who
can save
us from
our wandering
and sinful
hearts,
and that is
the person
of Jesus,
our Lord
and Savior.
So we've
looked at
how the
gospel advances
through people
sharing Jesus,
through the
unity of
God's church,
and one
life at
a time.
As we
close,
I have one
final thought,
and that is
comparing
Philip and
Simon.
Philip's only
mentioned in
Acts three
times.
Philip is
mentioned
twice in
Acts chapter
eight.
We'll look
at it next
week as
well.
And then
he's
mentioned
once in
Acts 21.
And in
Acts 21,
that's 20
years after
today's
passage.
In that
chapter,
the apostle
Paul goes
on a trip
and he
visits
Philip.
Philip's
living in
Caesarea
at that
time.
He's an
older,
more seasoned
man.
He has
four grown
daughters.
And in
Acts 21,
Philip,
his title's
different now.
He's called
Philip the
Evangelist.
Philip the
Evangelist.
And this
name signifies
his faithfulness
in expanding
the gospel of
Jesus for the
intervening two
decades that
aren't mentioned
in the book of
Acts.
Imagine the
lives that
Philip impacted
through sharing
the gospel,
preaching the
good news of
Jesus.
But then
consider Simon
the magician.
As we learn
after hearing the
gospel, Simon
doesn't really
believe.
Simon isn't
mentioned anywhere
else in the
Bible.
But other
historical
documents,
in other
historical
documents,
there are
indications that
after this
episode in
Acts chapter
8, Simon
founds a
religion called
Gnosticism.
It's an
ancient spiritual
movement that
is anchored in
the belief that
salvation comes
from mystical
!
And Simon
claimed to be
some sort of
teacher of
Gnosticism.
It sounds
like he
still only
cared about
his self
image.
It's very
likely that
Simon fell
away, never
turned and
repented towards
Jesus, and
his life ended
in death and
destruction.
You see,
Philip loved
Jesus and
pointed people
towards Jesus.
Simon loved
mainly himself
and pointed
people to
himself.
For Simon,
it was all
about Simon.
For Philip,
it was all
about Jesus.
Jesus.
And so
here, as
we close,
some final
questions for
us to think
about and
meditate over.
First, is
your faith
rooted in
the person
of Christ,
or is your
faith merely
because of
the benefits
of Christ?
Is your
faith how
Jesus can
make you a
better person,
friend, son,
daughter, father,
mother?
How you can
make your life
more comfortable?
Or is
your faith
centered on
the wonderful
person,
the wonderful
person and
sacrifice of
our Lord
Jesus?
Second, how
do you actually
relate to
Jesus?
Meaning, when
you pray or
read his
word or when
you spend time
with God,
which we all
do, right?
Okay,
Joby does.
Are you simply
asking Jesus
to help you
to get by in
life?
Are you
simply asking
him for
favors to
do this
or that?
Or are you
worshipful?
Are you
delighting in
him?
Are you
enjoying him?
Are you
satisfied in
him?
And third
and final,
when you
consider the
great commission
from Jesus
in Matthew
28,
go make
disciples of
all nations,
baptizing them
in the name
of the Father,
Son, and the
Holy Spirit.
Or when you
consider the
great proclamation
of Jesus in
Acts chapter 1,
you'll be my
witnesses in
Jerusalem,
Judea,
Samaria,
and to the
ends of the
earth.
What is your
honest reaction?
Overwhelmed?
Someone else's
job?
I used to
think I don't
have it all
together.
I'm so busy
and no one
has it all
together.
But today,
more than ever,
I'll tell you,
friends,
I'm convicted
and I'm also
excited.
I look out
there and I
see the
brokenness and
the pain in
this world.
I see
friends,
I see
family members,
I see
acquaintances,
I see the
world out
there running
after and
pursuing things
that never
satisfy,
that never
give us
true joy.
They're always
fleeting and
always fail us.
But I see
one solution.
I see one
solution and
one solution
only, and
that is
believing in,
trusting, and
loving the
person of
Jesus Christ.
that's the
one solution.
Today, I'm
more convinced
than ever of
what Philip
saw.
The offer of
Jesus trumps
anything this
world can
offer.
And so,
Watermark,
may our
prayer be
that may
God's Spirit
give us the
strength to
submit to
Jesus, to
love and trust
him above
all, and to
honor his
calling, to
share his
wonderful message
of salvation
and grace
to all.
Let's pray
together.
Father God,
Lord Jesus,
Holy Spirit,
it's a
challenging
message, God,
we admit.
Your word is
challenging.
Sometimes it
hits us with a
ton of bricks.
And we
ask God, as
we digest and
meditate, that
we would not
just let it
go by us,
that we
would honestly
reflect on
how you want
to speak to
all of us,
Lord.
All of us,
God, we
admit there
are things in
our life that
we are not
proud of, and
there are
things, God,
that are holding
us back from
knowing you.
There are
thorns in
our heart that
we are adoring
above you,
Lord.
Help us, God,
to be a
people that
bring those
to you,
that have the
strength to
lay them down
at your feet,
and to
honor you
above all,
because you
are worthy
of honor
and praise.
As we
continue the
service, God,
Spirit, please
be with us.
Illuminate our
hearts.
Help us to
see our own
sin.
Help us to
see the
wonderful beauty
of Jesus.
In his name
we pray.
Amen.