1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,800 Good morning church. Today we're going to be reading 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,800 from Acts 8, verses 4 through 25. 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:09,960 And if you don't have a Bible with you, you can just use the 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,760 one in your seat and it'll be on page 862 5 00:00:24,130 --> 00:00:27,490 starting in verse 4. Now those who were scattered 6 00:00:27,490 --> 00:00:30,850 went about preaching the word Philip went down to the city of 7 00:00:30,850 --> 00:00:33,130 Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,640 And the crowds with 1 accord paid attention to what was being 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,680 said by Philip. When they heard him and saw the 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,960 signs that he did. For unclean spirits crying out 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,320 with a loud voice came out of many who had them, and many who 12 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,120 were paralysed or lame were healed. 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:49,440 So there was much joy in that city. 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,240 But there was a man named Simon who had previously practised 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,240 magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,560 he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,480 from the least to the greatest, saying this is the power of God 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,800 that is called great. And they paid attention to him 19 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,560 because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 20 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,360 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,400 Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,840 baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. 23 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,040 And after being baptized, he continued with Philip, and 24 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,840 seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,440 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,080 received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who 27 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,960 came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy 28 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:42,520 Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they 29 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,240 had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 30 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,520 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy 31 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,040 Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the 32 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,120 Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles hands, 33 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:58,320 he offered them money, saying, Give me this, give me this power 34 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,680 also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the 35 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,600 Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your 36 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,000 silver perish with you, because you thought that you could 37 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,800 obtain the gift of God with money. 38 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,920 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is 39 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,800 not right before God. Repent therefore of this 40 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,280 wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord, that if possible, the 41 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,160 intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 42 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,840 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness, and in the 43 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,960 bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, Pray for me 44 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,720 to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon 45 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,040 me. Now when they had testified and 46 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,880 spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, 47 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,400 preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 48 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:48,880 This is the word of the Lord. What's going on? 49 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,920 Port City family and friends, how are we doing? 50 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:52,880 Good. My name is Tanner. 51 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:54,880 I'm pumped to be with you and happy. 52 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,600 Back to school weekend. I'm a former educator. 53 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,120 I love it. Shout out the math. 54 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,320 And I just have quick three exhortations of how how to 55 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,680 approach a new school year. You could do this every day, but 56 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,760 with the school year, I want you to open your hands, open your 57 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:12,720 ears, get on your knees. Y'all say that with me. 58 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,760 Open your hands, open your ears, get on your knees. 59 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:18,640 OK, real quick. Here's what I mean by that. 60 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,760 Open your hands and say Lord, this is your year, not mine. 61 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,240 I want you to hit your goals. I want you to dominate. 62 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,680 I want you to have fun on the field. 63 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,400 I want you to get the grades. But y'all, we don't control how 64 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,280 the year goes, you know, we don't control the ACL tears 65 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,560 sometimes, you know it just does. 66 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,600 Life is hard on earth. So open your hands and give it 67 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:41,160 to the Lord and say this is your year. 68 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,160 Come what may doesn't mean you give up your ambition. 69 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,240 It just means God make this what you wanted to be and help me 70 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,120 become the person you have in mind for me to be in the midst 71 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,040 of what you intend to happen. Now let's open our ears. 72 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,640 What I mean by that, particularly to my students, 73 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,400 Here's what I want you to be thinking about. 74 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,640 Naturally, we walk into the room, we look for the friends, 75 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,000 we go to the lunch table and we just get in our rhythms of 76 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,080 comfort and we're afraid to be insecure or like and I get that. 77 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,000 I remember my first day of middle school was like 78 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,920 chillingly awkward, cringy. This is just brutal. 79 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,600 Like out of a movie. OK, like I totally get that. 80 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,400 And high school by the way, brutal memory of 9th grade first 81 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,200 day. But y'all, what we do when I say 82 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,440 open your ears? If the spirit dwells, you ask 83 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,960 the Lord, what do you want me to do in this room? 84 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:32,320 Who do you want me to sit with when you have choice? 85 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,200 Ask the Lord to invade that. Because naturally your flesh 86 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,760 gravitates to comfort and to ease, and you might miss out 87 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,480 some of what the Lord has for you. 88 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,760 Maybe He wants you to serve somebody on your team instead of 89 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,040 just sitting with the people you always sit with and chalk up 90 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,040 jokes with. So what might the Lord do 91 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,080 through you giving him that team or that class or whatever it is, 92 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,520 that rhythm, that lunch rhythm. And then lastly, get on your 93 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:54,880 knees and pray. Amen. 94 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,480 Parents, just pray. Just pray over this year that 95 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,120 the Lord will have His way in it. 96 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,240 And it's not y'all. God can do some amazing things, 97 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,320 and He's inviting us to join him in that when we pray. 98 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,200 So let's open our hands, let's open our ears, and let's get on 99 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,040 our knees and pray. So I'm gonna pray over your 100 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,600 school year. We'll do that a couple more 101 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,080 times today, I'm sure. Y'all life, this is where it 102 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,000 happens. If this stuff don't work on 103 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,360 Monday when we in math class, it don't matter. 104 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,840 You know what I mean? If it don't work when we're 105 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:25,560 sitting in the Zoom meeting with our coworkers, who cares? 106 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,120 You know, like life is worship, not just when we're gathering as 107 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:30,880 a church. Amen. 108 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,960 So let's pray, our Father, I pray right now, particularly 109 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,400 over students. God, would you teach them to 110 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,160 open their hands? Would you teach them to open 111 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:41,760 their ears? Would you teach them to get on 112 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:43,400 their knees? God, that you want to live life 113 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,560 with them, That you are more powerful than popular girls and 114 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,320 boys, That you are more powerful than what mommy and daddy think 115 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,200 of their test grades. You are more worthy than just 116 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,280 getting into college. God, life is so big and so good 117 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:57,760 and so fun and you are inviting them into so much. 118 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,320 I just pray by your spirit you'll grab their attention. 119 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,880 They will learn to live with open hands, open ears and on 120 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:04,880 their knees. And God bless these parents. 121 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,400 Help them to open their hands. God bless educators, give them 122 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,960 great endurance. Make them secure in Christ. 123 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,680 God, they don't need the approval of their peers or their 124 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,120 admin or their students. This year we love you. 125 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,560 Pray in Jesus name, Amen. Y'all We're we're marching 126 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,840 through in the book of Acts. And this is a massive moment in 127 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,520 world history today. I don't know if you knew that 128 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,120 the church is on the move. OK. 129 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,240 And so as we looked at last week, Steven gets stoned in 130 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,360 Jerusalem. And so there's a persecution 131 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,920 that breaks out. Now the movement is, is going to 132 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,040 Samaria. Somebody say Samaria, and if you 133 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,640 might remember, John 4, Jesus woman at the well, there's some 134 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,440 historical baggage between Jews and Samaritans that if the 135 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,800 gospel can't survive this test, it doesn't matter that it 136 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:51,840 survived the Stephen test. Does that make sense? 137 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,040 Acts 7, the church survived when Stephen was laid to rest, but 138 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,560 Acts 8, will it make it through the Samaria test? 139 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,640 We shall see. That is sort of the goal here. 140 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,200 Can the Spirit unite Jew and Samaritan around Jesus? 141 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,200 Can it do that? Can he do that? 142 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:08,920 Because the spirit is a person, as we'll see. 143 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,160 So I want to look at our story through three kind of lenses. 144 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,160 And we're going to, we're going to pull some things out of each 145 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,320 lens and that'll be our time. OK, first, we're going to talk 146 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,720 about Samaria. Second, we'll talk about the 147 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,080 Spirit. And 3rd, we'll talk about Simon. 148 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,880 If you are ready, Let me hear you say I'm ready. 149 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,920 OK, let's talk about Samaria, OK? 150 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,400 And verses four and five of our texts said this. 151 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,800 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word 152 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,720 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them 153 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,120 the Christ y'all. One of my goals for today is to 154 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,840 help you understand what Luke was doing when he wrote Acts. 155 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,040 OK? The spirit LED a man named Luke, 156 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,480 who wrote the book of Luke and the book of Acts, to write his 157 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,600 book in a particular way. So what we tend to do is we zoom 158 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:54,960 all the way in on a text. We immediately start asking 159 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,600 questions we have about miracles and about these different 160 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,320 things, which are good questions. 161 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,360 It's part of what Luke's doing. But you have to also zoom out to 162 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,000 see what Luke's doing. Does that make sense? 163 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,400 So I want to zoom out and help you understand what the book of 164 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,720 Acts is trying to communicate about who God is and what the 165 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:13,160 movement of the early church was. 166 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,280 So you can see the beauty of what's happening here 'cause 167 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,720 this is a massive shift in the book, and if you miss it, you'll 168 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,320 ask questions about the text that are good questions, but not 169 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:24,840 kind of the big questions. Does that make sense? 170 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:31,240 OK, Acts 1 verses 6 through 8 says this. 171 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,320 It's on page 855. If you're using one of our 172 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,400 Bibles, this is just a really important one because it's not 173 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,039 just a cool statement. Jesus says to his disciples, it 174 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,200 gives us a structure, a little bit of even what the book of 175 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,200 Acts is doing. OK, so check this out. 176 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,800 So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you 177 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,160 at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? 178 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,480 He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons 179 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,680 that the Father is fixed by his own authority, but you will 180 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,480 receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and 181 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,680 you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and 182 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:08,800 Samaria into the end of the earth. 183 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:13,000 OK, so just a recap. Jesus rises from the dead at the 184 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,640 end of Luke's first book. OK, Then Jesus says, hey, he 185 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,560 he's back risen for the dead for about 40 days with his 186 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:24,200 disciples, his students, his closest 11 followers. 187 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,240 And he says, y'all, I'm about to bounce. 188 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:28,960 So like, so is the Kingdom coming right now? 189 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:30,560 Like what's happening? Are you like, what are we doing? 190 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,600 What are we doing? And he's like, don't worry about 191 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:34,400 that. You will receive power and the 192 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,560 Holy Spirit comes upon. You will be my witnesses in 193 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:39,600 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth by any 194 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,240 leaves. OK, Now when you think about 195 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,640 that, OK. And remember our text says that 196 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,120 they were scattered to Samaria preaching the word, right? 197 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,760 OK, now go back with me to Acts 8 in our text. 198 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:54,600 I want to show you what's coming next week. 199 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,680 If you look at verse 26 of chapter 8, probably the the 200 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,800 Bible's header above that says something like this. 201 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,280 Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch. So we're going to see the gospel 202 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,760 go to Samaria, then we're going to see somebody from Ethiopia 203 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,560 who would have been an outcast from the temple get the gospel. 204 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,640 OK, Now look at Chapter 9. Your header probably says the 205 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,400 conversion of Saul. So we're going to see somebody 206 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,400 who was forcefully trying to kill Christians come to faith in 207 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,680 Christ. Go to chapter 10. 208 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,760 Look at the header there. It probably the first one says 209 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,720 Peter and Cornelius. Cornelius is known as a Gentile. 210 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,600 So now we've got the gospel going from a Samaritan village 211 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:42,360 to an Ethiopian eunuch to a Christian killing man. 212 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,560 So now it's going to a man named Cornelius. 213 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:49,600 And then last one, I'll show you Chapter 11, verses 19 and 20, 214 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:56,120 Chapter 11, verses 19 and 20. Now those who were scattered 215 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,640 because of the persecution that arose over Stephen, so all the 216 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,480 way back from from our sermon 2 weeks ago, traveled as far as 217 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,320 Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no 218 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,840 one except Jews, verse 20. But there were some of them men 219 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,040 of Cyprus and Cyrene who on coming to Antioch spoke to the 220 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,520 Helenus also preaching the Lord Jesus. 221 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,160 So just to translate a little bit the the movement is 222 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,040 spreading geographically, it's spreading ethnically, it's 223 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,280 spreading to those who are considered outsiders. 224 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:29,120 It's it's spreading to those who were like opposed to the church. 225 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,080 It's spreading to those multi ethnically. 226 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:34,600 It's spreading to those who are have nothing to do with Old 227 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,320 Testament Judaism. So what we're seeing is a moment 228 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,320 in Acts where Luke is trying to show us something. 229 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:44,040 So what am I showing you? I'm trying to show you what 230 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:45,800 Luke's showing us. You feel me Like, why am I doing 231 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:47,000 that? Because Luke did OK. 232 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:49,000 But if we don't zoom out, we won't see it. 233 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,600 And we just take each story in a slice, which is not bad. 234 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,360 But you got to zoom in and zoom out. 235 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:56,800 Y'all with me? Somebody say zoom in, zoom out. 236 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:02,280 OK, I got two things that Luke is trying to show us here in 237 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,800 Samaria. First one, the Triune God is 238 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:07,960 growing the movement geographically. 239 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,880 It's first thing you got to see. The movement is growing 240 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,640 geographically. Just exactly what Jesus said was 241 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,960 going to happen is happening. He said Jerusalem, all Judea and 242 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:19,080 Samaria to the ends of the earth. 243 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,760 That is happening by the end of the book of Acts. 244 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:23,400 A lot of people wonder why is Paul? 245 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:28,280 If you go read Acts 2627, he's on a boat getting bit by snakes 246 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,640 and he's on islands and fish. It's actually very strategic. 247 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,160 He's hopping island to island, OK. 248 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,560 And it's more in a story way. You're just watching. 249 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:39,640 The gospel is going everywhere, going to islands, it's going all 250 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,200 over the place, and he ends up in Rome by the end of the book. 251 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,000 The book of Acts is structured to communicate exactly what 252 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:47,520 Jesus said was going to happen is happening. 253 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,160 Does that make sense? The gospel is spreading to the 254 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,920 ends of the earth and it's getting there in direct ways and 255 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,360 indirect ways. If you look up a map of this, 256 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,280 it's almost like concentric circles of where it started and 257 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,400 you know, like another bigger circle, bigger circle, bigger 258 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,320 circle, bigger circle. And so that's part of what we're 259 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,600 trying to see. God the Father had a plan about 260 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,720 his Son, his resurrected son, to get all the fame and glory, and 261 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,760 he empowers his church by the Spirit to go spread that news. 262 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,680 Does that make sense? OK, second thing, Luke's trying 263 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:21,720 to show us the triune God is painting a beautiful picture of 264 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:26,600 unity around the cross. Y'all listen, somebody say 265 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,080 unity. It's very intentional that today 266 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,280 we're talking Samaria. We're going to talk about an 267 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:36,040 Ethiopian eunuch next week. Then we're going to talk about a 268 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,640 dude who hates Christians the next week who comes to faith. 269 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,760 Then we go pause our series for now. 270 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:42,760 But next year, when we pick this up again, we're going to talk 271 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,600 about a Gentile named Cornelius. He's uniting different types of 272 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,360 people who otherwise would have had no business talking to each 273 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:51,600 other. Does that make sense? 274 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,720 Jews and Samaritans hated each other. 275 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,360 As we'll see in today's text, Paul, Saul hated Christians. 276 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,280 Cornelius, Jews and Gentiles had no dealings with each other. 277 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,760 Peter, full of the Spirit, a Jesus lover, had to get a dream, 278 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,000 a vision from on high to convince him to take the gospel 279 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,960 to a Gentile named Cornelius. OK, So what we've got to see is 280 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,200 that this is a picture of what God wants to do. 281 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:23,480 He wants to set people free and unite them to each other. 282 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,160 He's not just setting them free and giving them a clean 283 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,760 conscience while they live life the way they used to live it. 284 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,560 Some people think they've gotten the gospel, but they still don't 285 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,400 love nobody but themselves. I don't know what you think you 286 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:35,400 got. You might have gotten the 287 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,080 message that God loves you, but what God is in the business of 288 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,960 doing is purchasing people out of sin and uniting them to each 289 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,640 other who otherwise would have had no business being together. 290 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,480 OK, and so that's what we're going to see. 291 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,200 And what was God's method to set Samaria free and bring them to 292 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,640 himself? We see in verse 5, Philip went 293 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,040 down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 294 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,720 And the crowds with 1 accord paid attention to what was being 295 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,080 said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he 296 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,320 did. For unclean spirits, crying out 297 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,200 with a loud voice came out with many who had them, and many who 298 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:10,640 were paralyzed or lame were healed. 299 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,360 So there was much joy in that city. 300 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,880 As you go back and read this text tonight, I hope you'll see 301 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,160 kind of this some things leave Samaria while something else is 302 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,920 coming in. There's this image almost of 303 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,880 like out with the old, in with the new. 304 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,840 We used to be impressed with Simon and his magic show. 305 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,880 We used to be impressed with kind of the the power of the 306 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,400 week, if you will. But when Philip comes and 307 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,040 proclaims to them the Christ, it's like that stuff's old news 308 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,240 now. Here is this good new news, and 309 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:41,840 this is what we're united to see. 310 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,480 Y'all. This is what was crazy in 311 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:47,480 Samaria is that Jesus died for Samaritans too, Y'all, The 312 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,960 gospel is that Jesus died for everybody who will put their 313 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,400 trust in Christ can have a relationship with him. 314 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:56,560 Philip comes there and starts preaching this message and he's 315 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,920 looking right at Samaritans who otherwise wanted nothing to do 316 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,720 with Jews, and he says Jesus died for y'all. 317 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,480 That's what he told him. He proclaimed to them the 318 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,400 Christ, that Jesus is king, that he's Savior, that he's the Lord, 319 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,760 that he died on a wooden cross to take their sin. 320 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,320 That's the news. He told them and they believed 321 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,480 it. They're like, I'm in, let's go 322 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:18,360 out with the old, in with the new. 323 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,240 We used to think Simon was awesome. 324 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,600 No more. You are speaking the truth. 325 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,880 Jesus died for the annoying people and even bad guys too. 326 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,080 But don't miss this friend. Jesus didn't just die for them, 327 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,360 He died for you. Y'all listen, at the end of our 328 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,680 service, we're going to talk today at the end of the sermon 329 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:37,680 about repentance. We're going to see that Simon 330 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:39,680 needed to repent. And some of y'all, I still think 331 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,800 the Lord is drawing you to repentance. 332 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:44,080 And there comes a time where you can. 333 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,000 The Samaritans didn't know nothing. 334 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:50,640 Here's what's amazing, people in Jerusalem who he just left knew 335 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:52,680 way more. And many of them didn't know 336 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,320 Jesus. And he comes to Samaria with a 337 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,960 simple message. Jesus is king, he is savior, you 338 00:16:57,960 --> 00:16:59,640 sinned against him. You need to know him. 339 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,280 And they repented and believed and trusted him. 340 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,560 You don't have to know a lot, but at some point you got to 341 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,359 make a decision. I will follow, I repent, I 342 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,640 choose Jesus, I see him as Savior. 343 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,119 I want to follow him. OK, so that's what's going down 344 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:19,240 in Samaria point #2 the Spirit, the spirit. 345 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,640 OK, versus, and this is a longer text. 346 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,760 We could do a lot of sermons on all of this stuff, but I want 347 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,240 y'all to kind of see the, the big picture of what, what's 348 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,200 going on here. So we saw that Simon kind of had 349 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,560 the, the, the power, so to speak, in Samaria, right? 350 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,680 Like he was he was doing these magic shows and it says that he 351 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,960 even comes to believe. And then in verse 14, this is 352 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,400 kind of a unique thing in Acts. OK says this. 353 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,000 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had 354 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,600 received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John who 355 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,800 came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy 356 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,640 Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they 357 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,800 had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 358 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,360 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy 359 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,440 Spirit. Y'all. 360 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,880 So we see this a few times in Acts but not every time. 361 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,760 In Acts I mean all the time people are are getting baptized 362 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,360 and believing in Christ and there is no kind of like second 363 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:17,560 y'all haven't received the Holy Spirit and hands being laid on 364 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,920 and apostles. And so this happens sometimes, 365 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:24,680 but not every time. So a little bit, y'all, I want 366 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,800 to give you just a way to think about this stuff. 367 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,800 And, and there's mystery in it, but there's also clarity, OK? 368 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,440 There's mystery with clarity, y'all, The book of Acts is 369 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,200 describing something that happened. 370 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,320 It's not prescribing what will always happen, OK. 371 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,160 And so as we move forward, I want to help you see kind of 372 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,440 our, our position, if you will, on, on this particular instance 373 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,840 of should you expect that? Should you feel like I need a 374 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,360 second experience with the Spirit to know that I have him, 375 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,560 we will answer that as best we can from the clarity in the New 376 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:00,480 Testament. So I feel the need to show you 377 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:06,320 that unity is a big deal and this moment in history is really 378 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,680 big. OK y'all, the the animosity 379 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,680 between Jew and Samaritan goes thousands of years back. 380 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,520 OK, It goes back all the way to 1st Kings 12 when the Kingdom 381 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:17,840 splits. It goes back to when the 382 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:23,000 Assyrian invasion happens in the 8th century BC and and basically 383 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,960 the Samaritans were viewed by Jews as kind of like a 1/2 breed 384 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,320 if you will. OK they weren't Jewish enough to 385 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,760 be Jewish. They weren't a full blown 386 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,960 outsider, but they the Samaritans overtime kind of 387 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,960 created their own like Judaism adjacent. 388 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,680 They had their own temple. They had their own stuff going 389 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,400 on. And you pick up on some of this 390 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,360 animosity even in John four with Jesus and that woman's 391 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:49,600 interaction where she's like, we know where the temple is. 392 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,960 And you Jews say this and Jesus is just really good at Jesus 393 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,880 juking. You ever heard that one? 394 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,600 But he's really good at being like, girl, that ain't what this 395 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,960 conversation is about. But actually the Jews are right. 396 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,640 He does slip that in there. I don't know if y'all remember 397 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,440 that. He says, Girl, we worship at 398 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,560 Jerusalem, but I love you. But kind of that highlights some 399 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,480 of the the tension that existed ethnically between these two 400 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,480 groups. OK, so the reason I tell you 401 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,400 that is I'm trying to get you to understand why might God have by 402 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,200 the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles go and put their 403 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,720 hands on them. There's this is a moment of 404 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:28,240 demonstrating the Spirit is saying these people are in and 405 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,640 it's doing it in a massively public way so that there's no 406 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,200 doubt for the sake of the unity of the church. 407 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,680 Y'all again, I just want to show you one more instance of some of 408 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:42,080 the animosity in Luke 9. Let me read this over you, Luke 409 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,120 951 to 56. You can write that down. 410 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:47,760 OK. This is a little interaction 411 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,320 during Jesus's ministry. When the days drew near for him 412 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,240 to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem, and he sent 413 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,240 messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the 414 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,640 Samaritans to make preparations for him. 415 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:02,600 But the people did not receive him because his face was set 416 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,640 toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and 417 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,640 John, somebody say John saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us 418 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,400 to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? 419 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,280 But he turned and rebuked, rebuked them and they went on to 420 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,200 another village. So just to be clear, John was 421 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,480 basically like, should we just wipe the Samaritans out Jesus, 422 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,080 because they ain't putting respect on your name and Jesus 423 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,880 like we good, let's keep moving. But who do the apostles say? 424 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,280 Let's sin to go lay their hands on the Samaritans so that they 425 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,280 might receive the Holy Spirit? Did you catch who it was? 426 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:37,720 Look at verse 14. Now, when the apostles at 427 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,240 Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they 428 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:46,400 sent to them Peter and John kind of a cool little moment of like 429 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:50,800 Peter is obviously a really, he's a big endorser of unity. 430 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,000 If he is there. That's, I mean, he's very 431 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,560 popular at this moment from a sermon back in Acts 2. 432 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,640 And then by sending John, it's, it's the Spirit's way of kind of 433 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,840 being like, hey, Jews get with the program that the gospel is 434 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,120 for all people, even you, John, pay attention to what I am 435 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:08,240 doing. So God is going the extra mile 436 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,440 here to show us that unity in the Gospel is miraculous. 437 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,160 It really is more than any miracle done in Samaria. 438 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:20,000 The greatest miracle is the the unity that happened at Samaria. 439 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:21,360 Does that make? Does that make sense? 440 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,520 So. Can we ask questions like, do 441 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,120 miracles happen today? Absolutely. 442 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:27,520 And they do. And we're going to talk about 443 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,200 that, OK? There's all kinds of things with 444 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,600 the Spirit that go on in our life and the Spirit's still the 445 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,200 same person. But this is not a text teaching 446 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,280 that once and forever you need a second baptism, the Holy Spirit. 447 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,920 That's not what the text is intended to do, OK, So any 448 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,200 conversations we need to have about the Holy Spirit are kind 449 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,200 of we just need to look at the whole Testament to have that 450 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:51,880 whole New Testament to have that conversation. 451 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,360 We don't just pull all of our theology from this one. 452 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:57,000 Does that make sense? So while on that topic, let me 453 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,560 give you 3 things we've feel about the Holy Spirit. 454 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,520 We believe about the Holy Spirit here based on the whole New 455 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,160 Testament at Port City. Here's three of them. 456 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,880 OK #1 The Holy Spirit is a person, dot, dot, dot. 457 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,680 So know him, get to know the Holy Spirit. 458 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,360 He is a person. Somebody say person, Yo, the 459 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:20,080 Spirit is a who, not an it. He's a person, not just a power. 460 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,920 He's a powerful person. But the Spirit is God, the Son 461 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,800 is God, the Father is God. God has always been Father, Son 462 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:33,080 and Holy Spirit. There's a term in a theological 463 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,520 term of continuationist. What that means is we believe 464 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,640 that the Spirit is the same then as he always was and will be. 465 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,280 The way that just makes total sense to me is that God is 466 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:46,960 unchanging. OK, God is simple. 467 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:50,240 God is undivided. It's not like he's 33% Spirit, 468 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:55,080 33% Son, 33% God. No, God is one in three persons, 469 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:59,200 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So the Spirit will always be who 470 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,560 he is. Now at the same time, the time 471 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,080 has changed in history. Does that make sense? 472 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,760 So what you have to keep in tension is that the time has 473 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,840 changed, but the Spirit has not. He, the person, has not changed 474 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,360 at all, and the time has changed. 475 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,840 The time of what the Spirit is doing and even what he was doing 476 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,680 in acts, in some ways is different than what he's doing 477 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,200 today. So do miracles still happen 478 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:27,240 today? Yes. 479 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,800 Does like. Supernatural, unbelievable 480 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,520 things happen all over the world, including in America, but 481 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,080 especially in some other contexts. 482 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,600 Absolutely. But do you need a second baptism 483 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,400 of the Holy Spirit to know that you're saved? 484 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,480 No, when you are, when you repent and believe and trust in 485 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,760 Jesus as Lord, you were baptized in the name of the Father and 486 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,560 the Son and the Holy Spirit you're in like there. 487 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,360 There is no secondary teaching in the New Testament that your 488 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:59,680 conscience needs to be found to bound to experience to know that 489 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,240 you're in with the Lord. You are in the Spirit has sealed 490 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,840 you. Second thing about the Holy 491 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:08,720 Spirit, the Holy Spirit feel fills those he has sealed. 492 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,360 Sometimes when I say fill it sounds like I'm saying feel. 493 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:14,040 Do you feel what I'm trying to feel? 494 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,600 Y'all feel that? OK. 495 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,680 The Holy Spirit fills those he has sealed, so seek him through 496 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,080 his word. Y'all. 497 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,120 What I just alluded to is that you are sealed by the Spirit at 498 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,400 conversion. When you trust in Christ, the 499 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,000 Holy Spirit indwells you. The illustration I've I've heard 500 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,480 of this that I thought was really good. 501 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,320 I don't know if iPhone still do this is like a 10 year old 502 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,360 illustration, but it was really helpful for me when you know 503 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,960 when you go to download an app and you go to the App Store and 504 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,080 then it's like downloading back in the day, it would do the 505 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,680 little like time clock is filling up. 506 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,160 You know what I'm talking about a little swivel and when it got 507 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,560 all full, that means you had it. OK, So what was explained to me 508 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,360 is that when you are, when you are saved in the name of the 509 00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:58,760 Father, Son of the Holy Spirit, every app that's ever going to 510 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,920 be on your phone in the Lord is on the phone is there like 511 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,840 you're you're, you're there is no earning more apps, if you 512 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,800 will, sanctification. Our life in the Spirit being 513 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,000 filled by the Spirit is just accessing that which you already 514 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,320 have access to. It's like the New Testament 515 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,600 teaches that those who are sealed by the Spirit, you need 516 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,400 to be filled like be filled by the one who has filled you. 517 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,920 Does that make sense? So it's not that we need a, an 518 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,760 experience, if you will. You just need ongoing filling of 519 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,920 the Holy Spirit. A good one for this is in 520 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,280 Ephesians 5 verses 15 through 21. 521 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,400 I'm not going to read it right now, but it does this dope 522 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,200 little thing where it says don't be drunk on wine, but be full of 523 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,400 the Spirit. And then you might ask, how do I 524 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:43,920 be full of the Spirit? Says singing songs and hymns and 525 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,800 spiritual songs to one another. The idea is as a community of 526 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,480 faith is full of the word of God, sealed by the Spirit of God 527 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,080 and communicating God's will to one another. 528 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,400 The Spirit indwells us, gives us the gifts we need, the power we 529 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,240 need, the authority we need to walk into sanctification and 530 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:04,600 becoming like Christ together. That's what the Spirit does. 531 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,720 That's who He is. Third thing about the Spirit. 532 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,360 The. Spirit fills the church to build 533 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:13,800 the church up and to live on mission. 534 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,440 It's all about church unity and missional living. 535 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,960 So love people y'all. If I could just tell you a pet 536 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,520 peeve and kind of the spirit filled conversation. 537 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,920 Sometimes it's like we just have to zoom out, guys. 538 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,400 God's goal for us is for us to love God and love people. 539 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,840 This Spirit fills us so that the church can be built up so that 540 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,680 we can be empowered to live on mission. 541 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,360 We can almost make it like, what experiences can we expect? 542 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:43,960 And I'm like, yeah, but if we're not focused on others, what 543 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,000 makes us think any of those things will happen? 544 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,280 Does the Spirit do that? Absolutely. 545 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,920 Why does he do that? For the building up of the 546 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:52,640 church and the empowerment of the mission. 547 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:58,440 So yes, please pray for all gifts, pray for all experiences 548 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:02,360 in so far as your heart is full of love towards neighbor and 549 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:06,000 giving your life away towards the church, towards friends who 550 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:07,680 don't know Jesus. Y'all, I'm gonna hit you with 551 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,480 the teacher thing I used to do. OK, Some of y'all might know 552 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,920 this meme. It's it's called Good day, Sir. 553 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,960 OK, Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory from 554 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,720 back in the day, the original. OK, you remember he he's a 555 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,680 little crazy looking with the puffy hair, right. 556 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,680 Well, at the end of the movie, he's at his desk and he's riding 557 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,560 and, and, you know, the old man and Charlie come up like Mr. 558 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,520 Wonka, did we win? He's like, no, you didn't. 559 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:35,040 Well, why? He was such a good kid. 560 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,920 All the stuff. He's like, no, wrong, Sir. 561 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,920 Wrong, Sir. You stole whatever that potion 562 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:42,800 is gone. And then he pulls out the old 563 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,760 thing and he reads off etcetera, etcetera. 564 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,680 And then the last thing he says is wrong, you lose. 565 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,840 Good day, Sir. What's the time with teaching? 566 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,360 When I was a teacher with three weeks to go, I would give the 567 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,520 longest speech you ever heard about. 568 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,520 Do not come for me after this date, May 10th. 569 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,880 I beg you to ask me for some extra credit or retake a quiz. 570 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,040 Please do it because I'll look at you and I will point at this 571 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,920 and I will read off everything on the syllabus and then say 572 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,680 good day, Sir. So I had a good day, Sir, right 573 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:14,640 behind my desk. Like please come to me after it. 574 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:15,600 May 10th. I will. 575 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,320 Good day, Sir. You so hard. 576 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,800 OK. Here is my good day Spur. 577 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:22,520 Good day Sir, full of the spirit. 578 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,200 I'm just being honest with you in spirit filled conversations. 579 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,360 If you are not loving the bride of Christ, the Church 580 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:36,160 sacrificially giving, picking up your cross, sharing the gospel, 581 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,880 asking the Lord to give to you for the purposes of building up 582 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,720 the church and adding to the church, I'm a good day Sir, you 583 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,080 you. Does that make sense? 584 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:47,320 Like that is who the Spirit is and what he's trying to do for 585 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:49,720 the church. It was never intended to be a 586 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:51,960 conversation just to argue about. 587 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,920 It's supposed to be a practical conversation that is important 588 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,080 for the purposes of the unity of the church and adding to the 589 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,680 church missionally. So if you want to be full of the 590 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,840 Spirit, grow in love for the word of God, give your life 591 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,520 away, live on mission, give money away, give and go and ask 592 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,600 the Lord to give you the authority, the power, the 593 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,120 graces, the gifts that you need to do that. 594 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,880 But if none of that's going on and you just want to like quiz 595 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,200 somebody, good day, Sir. Does that make sense? 596 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:24,600 Like good day Sir, I love you, Goodbye God's will for you my 597 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,560 friend, is not some sort of spiritual superstition, but to 598 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,000 be full of the spirit for the unity of the church and the 599 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,760 forwarding of his mission. And y'all, we have room to grow 600 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,880 on that here as a Church of just fostering an environment of what 601 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,400 do we need to fulfill the unity of the church and adding to the 602 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:42,320 church. God gives his church for those 603 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,160 purposes. We still need to grow on that. 604 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,920 We will keep growing in that. Welcome to being a New Testament 605 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,920 church #3. Simon. 606 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,040 Let's talk about Simon. Let's talk about Simon. 607 00:30:54,880 --> 00:31:00,600 Let's talk about Simon Simon. OK verse 18 Now when Simon saw 608 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:02,880 that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the 609 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:08,440 apostles hands, he offered them money, saying, Give me this 610 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,120 power also, so that anyone on whom I laid my hands may receive 611 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,040 the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, May your 612 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,720 silver perish with you, because you thought you could attain the 613 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,800 gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in 614 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,320 this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 615 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,720 Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to 616 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,800 the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be 617 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:31,760 forgiven you. For I see that you're in the 618 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,680 gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. 619 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,360 And Simon answered, Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what 620 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,280 you said may come upon me. I was reminded this week of the 621 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,760 term simony. I had not used that in a long 622 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:44,600 time or heard it. It literally comes from this 623 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,640 text with this idea of buying religious offices or power 624 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,400 through money like it comes from this. 625 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,920 This man thought he could get the power to give the Holy 626 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:55,680 Spirit through paying for it with money. 627 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,760 That is, that is a he gets his own word. 628 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,200 You simony, you. Let's use his name and put AY on 629 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,240 it. Why they choose why, I don't 630 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:05,960 know, but it's simony. OK? 631 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,840 What he did is simony. And what's confusing? 632 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,000 And again, this could become a theological debate. 633 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,800 Was Simon saved? Right. 634 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,120 Did he know Jesus prior to saying this foolishness? 635 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,800 And what's confusing is in verse 13, it says even Simon himself 636 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,160 believed, and after being baptized, he continued with 637 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,880 Philip and seeing signs of great miracles performed, he was 638 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:32,360 amazed. Now, I think it's a great 639 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:33,920 debate. I think it's a great question. 640 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,360 I have my thoughts. I have a hot take for you that 641 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,840 I'm not going to give you. I don't think it's the main 642 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:41,960 point of the text. I think the main point of a 643 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,960 story is to put you in it and feel the weight of it, which is 644 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:46,720 you need to repent. Does that make sense? 645 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:51,560 It's like, I think we're sitting there and we're feeling it sort 646 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,400 of feels Ananias and Sapphira ish, right? 647 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,480 But again, the Spirit's the same person different time. 648 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,800 This time when he does this, he don't drop dead or something 649 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,360 like they did back in Acts 5. Peter says you need to repent. 650 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:03,520 Your heart is not right. And we're kind of left on a 651 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,800 cliffhanger. OK, Now history tells us some 652 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:09,480 stuff about him and scholars kind of debate his impact in the 653 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:13,000 city, and we could talk about that quick theology. 654 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:16,160 I will tell you that repentant people keep repenting. 655 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:20,600 So. If there comes a moment where 656 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,320 you stop repenting or refuse to repent, you have to ask the 657 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:25,600 question if you ever did repent, that makes sense. 658 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,680 Repentant people keep repenting. So if he does not repent, he 659 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,040 never repented. That makes sense. 660 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,760 And I just want to say y'all, you could become a member of a 661 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,920 church. You a lot can happen in your 662 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:39,800 life. A real question we're going to 663 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:42,640 be asking during this time is like, are you repenting? 664 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,000 Don't just tell me you repented. Are you repenting? 665 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,800 OK, so Peter's warning should be our focus. 666 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:51,520 Here's three things about repentance. 667 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,760 And I'm done #1 Repentance is about your heart. 668 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:01,840 Somebody say heart? Verse. 21 You have neither part 669 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:05,640 nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 670 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,560 Verse 22 Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and 671 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,880 pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your 672 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,080 heart may be forgiven you. Yo, the Bible teaches that 673 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:19,000 everything you do flows from your heart. 674 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:26,199 Simon, don't get to say my bad, my bad, this ain't a my bad kind 675 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:28,880 of situation. You know, like y'all, the Bible 676 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,840 teaches that what we do isn't just 'cause we're in a mood. 677 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,440 It isn't just because you didn't have your coffee. 678 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,239 It isn't just because nobody's perfect. 679 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,920 It's because our hearts are wicked. 680 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,400 Peter also known as Simon, which is a little confusing. 681 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:47,040 Peter says to Simon, I can see the bitterness coming out of you 682 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,960 man. He basically says, I could see 683 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,520 you wrapped up in it. Isn't it so interesting? 684 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,880 Sometimes other people could see what we're wrapped up in more 685 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,679 than we can. You can see when somebody's 686 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:57,920 wrapped up in money, wrapped up in people needing to like them, 687 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,320 wrapped up in anxiety, wrapped up in their sin. 688 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,560 We see it almost oozing out of people. 689 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,120 You know, there's self love, their love for themselves, how 690 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,360 much they talk about themself. And y'all want to be clear about 691 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,400 repentance? Jesus saves us, not our 692 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,240 repentance. Repentance doesn't earn God's 693 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:17,160 love. So it's not like I I know I'm 694 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,280 safe because I repent it. What What saves you is the blood 695 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,440 of Jesus. What saves you is what Christ 696 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:24,560 has done. But the Bible calls us to 697 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,120 repent, so that makes sense. So it's important part of the 698 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,560 process. But our trust isn't in our 699 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,600 repentance, though it is necessary. 700 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:37,000 It's the part of the process we own for what our heart loves. 701 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:42,120 117th century writer said there were six ingredients of 702 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:43,360 repentance. So I'm gonna give them all to 703 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:48,600 you, OK? It's the site of sin, sorrow for 704 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:53,440 sin, confession of sin. Shame. 705 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:59,200 For sin, hatred of sin, and turning from sin. 706 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:03,000 You know, one of the things the Bible presents is that if God is 707 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:08,080 drawing you to himself, your taste buds change What you once 708 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,720 loved, you started to hate once you tolerated God. 709 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:12,560 Once you hated God, you didn't care for him. 710 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,600 He was the one you hated and tolerated and you put up with if 711 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,680 you had to or you were just ignorant of, didn't care. 712 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,320 And you loved your sin, you loved yourself, you loved your 713 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:26,160 image, you loved these things. And what begins to happen is you 714 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,720 realize sin and the Savior aren't for sharing. 715 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:31,640 I was made for Him, not for this. 716 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,600 And what God does is he changes your taste buds. 717 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:39,720 OK, he he gives you a love for him, but y'all a love for God is 718 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:43,080 also a hatred for sin. You can't love sin and and the 719 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,160 savior. Does that make sense? 720 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:46,800 So Christians, let's be clear. We know we're not better than 721 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,720 anybody else, right? And it's somebody we still sin. 722 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:51,720 But the difference should be we hate it. 723 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:57,520 That makes sense not we know we're not supposed to do it Even 724 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,760 that is not repentance. Repentance is not just mental, 725 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,440 it's a volitional turning of your will based on your taste 726 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,440 bud interaction with that which that is now detestable to you. 727 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:13,040 Does that make sense? So sin goes from sweet to sour. 728 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:17,720 You don't like it anymore. And did you notice Peter said 729 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,080 repent of this wickedness of yours that God may forgive you. 730 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:26,160 I think some of us are like maybe I thought God was 731 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:27,560 forgiving. I thought he, I thought he died 732 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,600 on the cross for my sins. And even a little bit that can 733 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,760 mess with your mind. But I think it speaks to the 734 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,160 when Peter says repent, he's saying I don't know what's going 735 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:36,320 to happen. You go repent. 736 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,000 I think he's not trying to just give him a formula to say this 737 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,240 right now and it all goes away. Peter ain't Jesus, Peter ain't 738 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:45,760 God. He's saying, hey, you need to go 739 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,040 before the Lord. Your heart is not right now. 740 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:52,080 Go the the old school way of thinking about repentance that 741 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,720 we need to bring back is that it was a process you needed to sit 742 00:37:55,720 --> 00:37:59,400 before the Lord in I can't make your conscience feel OK, but 743 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,800 just do this and you're repented and you you can know God loves 744 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:03,680 you. Does that make sense like it was 745 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,120 a matter of you sit before the Lord in these truths and what 746 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:11,240 Christ has done. I I'm not Peter's not the one 747 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,200 who dictates if you repented, God is. 748 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,640 Now. Second thing about repentance, 749 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:23,280 past amazement is no replacement for present repentance. 750 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,360 Past. Amazement is no replacement for 751 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:32,000 present repentance, The text said Simon was amazed by Philip. 752 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:34,840 I love the word amazed in our text as you read it, The night 753 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,160 happens three times. Samaria used to be amazed by 754 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,640 Simon. Samaria became amazed by Philip. 755 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,440 Simon was amazed by Philip. So again, if we are going to 756 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,240 debate some of the evidence that he might not be saved, is amazed 757 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,280 don't make you saved, You know what I mean? 758 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,960 But he was amazed. I imagine he could tell a story 759 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:54,240 one day, some stuff about Philip. 760 00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:56,880 And I know a lot of believers who sat in a lot of churches. 761 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,400 They tell me, the pastor they used to listen to, they tell me 762 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,880 the camps they've been to, they tell us their experiences in a 763 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,680 Christian culture. Y'all, that is not repentance. 764 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:14,240 We can't brag about or cling our consciences to our Bible 765 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:18,200 studies, to our to our music, to our to our all of the good 766 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,400 things, the churches we went to, the places we've been, the 767 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:22,880 ministry we used to be a part of. 768 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,880 Don't tell me of your past amazement. 769 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,000 Tell us of your current repentance, the sin that you 770 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,400 keep doing that you hate, and the ways that you want to see 771 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,280 the Savior take it away. And you're asking the Spirit to 772 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,760 change your heart. I think too many Christians have 773 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,280 past tales of enjoying some part of the Christian culture and no 774 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,840 signs of current tears over their hatred of sin and love for 775 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,760 Jesus. We just have. 776 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,280 Tales. No tears. 777 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:51,240 We got tales for days and our tear buckets are empty. 778 00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:56,560 You know, Augustine famously, they said by his night nightside 779 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,720 table was just this thing that walked him through nightly kind 780 00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:04,320 of repentance. Another early church historian 781 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:08,280 just talked about like, man, what makes us believers in a lot 782 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:10,160 of ways is our tears over our sin. 783 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:14,280 It's it's we're not less sinful, but what it does to us is 784 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:15,320 different. Does that make sense? 785 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:17,480 And one of our pastors, we were talking this morning. 786 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,240 Some people in church history have gotten wrong. 787 00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:21,840 It can make you so on the hunt for your sin and so 788 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,600 introspective and analyzing it. That's like that's also not the 789 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,560 you can get so far into the weeds of yourself that you don't 790 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,760 see others. Remember, the goal of life is to 791 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,240 love God, love people, be full of the Spirit for the purposes 792 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:36,840 of building up the church and adding to the number of the 793 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,480 church. But our hatred of sin is a huge 794 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,360 part of that. Does that make sense? 795 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:45,320 And I sense in the the, in the, in our, in our American kind of 796 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,400 church context, we've so assume the love of Jesus sometimes that 797 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,600 we don't sit with our sin. Does that make sense? 798 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:56,160 Like the goal as we sit in it is we're seeing what he's rescued 799 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:59,080 us from. Man, I hate this thing 'cause it 800 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:01,040 put my Savior on the tree. That makes sense. 801 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,320 I remember the first time I went and saw something I shouldn't 802 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,320 have saw with another friend after coming to Christ. 803 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,920 And he said this lie to me, 'cause I still had in my head 804 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:12,160 Christians can't do bad things. And what he said was like, man, 805 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:17,560 my heart hurt for Jesus while we watch that and I was like he was 806 00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:19,200 on a different wavelength than me. 807 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,560 Does that make sense? He was like Jesus died for the 808 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,120 things that was celebrating. So his heart wasn't think about 809 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:28,600 am IA bad person because I just watched that and do I need to go 810 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,480 do this act over here to feel good about my conscience? 811 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,400 He was walking with God in something and he was like, God, 812 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,480 this ain't you. You died for this. 813 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,240 Why am I partaking in that which you hate? 814 00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:42,160 It hurts me that this is celebrated. 815 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:45,120 Do you see how his heart was engaged in it, not just his mind 816 00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,560 and his conscience. Do you see that He knew his 817 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,240 heart was not right before God and he brought that to the Lord 818 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:56,160 and I that had a huge mark on me #3 repentance about turning from 819 00:41:56,160 --> 00:42:00,240 wickedness to God. Y'all again, our culture is not 820 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:02,240 going to tell us we're wicked. It's just not. 821 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,280 It's not. We all need some education. 822 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:07,760 You need some help. You need another shot. 823 00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,680 It's not going to tell us that our hearts are wicked and we 824 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:12,240 need to repent. I mean, this is not going to do 825 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,280 that. But Peter says repent therefore 826 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,560 of this wickedness of yours. Y'all. 827 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:21,920 That's what we need to do. We need we, we repent of sin 828 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:24,240 because we love God. There's two sides of the same 829 00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:27,480 coin, repentance and faith. We are grabbing God and letting 830 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:31,160 go of our sin, y'all. So to the believers in the room, 831 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:32,520 I want to talk to you for a second, y'all. 832 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:37,120 We are the ongoing repentant people and our heart gets caught 833 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,320 up and stuff. We're so weak, we're so fragile, 834 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,880 we're so fickle. We're just constantly clinging 835 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,840 to other things and y'all the Lord has given us superpowers, 836 00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:48,680 which is confession and just tell it like to the Lord first, 837 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:53,040 OK and repentance and then confession to other believers so 838 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,320 you can hear spoken over you. You're good, like you're loved. 839 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,240 Thank you for telling me and the Lord loves you. 840 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,280 Now we don't replace telling the Lord with telling others. 841 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,000 But once you've repented unto the Lord, you need to hear 842 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,000 you're forgiven. That's part of what the 843 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,520 communion table is every week that we practice here. 844 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:12,880 It's just to remind our consciences Christ died for your 845 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:15,360 sins. But y'all, he didn't die so we 846 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:17,440 could cover them up and act like we don't do it. 847 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:21,000 OK, the point is, let's walk it in openness that we got nothing 848 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,960 to hide and we've been forgiven. Now let's break the chain some 849 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,720 of this sin has in our lives by confessing it to one another. 850 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,320 Hey, I'm anxious about. I need you to pray for me about. 851 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,880 Hey, I gossiped about hey, I did this again. 852 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:35,480 Hey, I need your help on and I've gone to the Lord about 853 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,160 this, but I need you. I need you involved in this 854 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:42,600 unbelievers, some of y'all need to repent. 855 00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,920 You've heard plenty of Christian teaching. 856 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:49,760 You've heard plenty about who Christ is you. 857 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:54,720 You've heard y'all the Bible says taste and see that the Lord 858 00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:56,080 is good. There's something about 859 00:43:56,080 --> 00:44:01,120 repentance that can be tasting. Words are not tasting. 860 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,840 So I, I could give you a set of words to say, but I can't repent 861 00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:06,800 for you. And you could take those words 862 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:11,520 and still not be repentant. I want you to look at the cross 863 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:17,480 until you see Christ on it for you, for your sin and repent. 864 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:20,000 That's what I want for you. I want you to turn from your sin 865 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:24,000 into your Savior. And if this is happening in your 866 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,400 life, if you've been hearing the gospel for a while, if you've 867 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:29,320 been hearing that Christ died in your place, if you want to have 868 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,360 much joy in your life the way the Samaritans did, we would 869 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:34,920 love to talk to you about that. If you're like, I want that and 870 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:37,200 I don't know what to do and just genuinely want to have a 871 00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:40,200 conversation, we would love to talk with you about that, about 872 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:43,640 repenting. Your heart is. 873 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,280 Tied to sin and that must be unwedded. 874 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:49,400 Repentance leaves sin behind and God is where you're headed. 875 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:53,000 Y'all listen. Again. 876 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,520 Repentance doesn't save you, the blood of Jesus does. 877 00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:00,400 Y'all love the the the prodigal son story? 878 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:02,960 Send Luke 15. Go read that tonight if you want 879 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:05,040 to. But one of the things the text 880 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,160 says about a son who runs away parties. 881 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,360 Classic stuff. I've done it, did it. 882 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:13,640 And when you get far away, the Bible says that he came to his 883 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:16,080 senses. It's this idea that I recognize 884 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,640 how what I was doing was stupid, I've wasted my life. 885 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:21,480 But that in and of itself is not repentance, is it? 886 00:45:22,240 --> 00:45:25,320 If you want to use the saved language, when in the story is 887 00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:29,000 he saved? It's not even his going back 888 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,720 that does it. It's the idea that the Father 889 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:35,640 runs out to him and restores him to his sonship status. 890 00:45:35,640 --> 00:45:38,600 Does that make sense? So repentance isn't primarily 891 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,880 about you, it's about how God wants to rescue you. 892 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:45,800 So as we turn and go back, our confidence isn't in us and our 893 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:48,640 ability to turn. It's just saying, God, I've come 894 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:52,440 to my senses, you were right, I was wrong, I'm sorry, forgive 895 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:53,840 me. And then you run to Him, but 896 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:58,120 before you ever even finish your little speech in your head, He's 897 00:45:58,120 --> 00:45:59,760 running to you. That's the gospel. 898 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:03,040 It's not that you earned your way out of your sin through your 899 00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:06,080 hatred of your sin. It's that God has gifted you 900 00:46:06,080 --> 00:46:09,040 hatred of your sin. He has gifted you coming to your 901 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:10,760 senses. He has gifted you something 902 00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:12,200 before you even realize you have it. 903 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,560 And when you turn, He is waiting right there for some of you. 904 00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:19,200 It's time to turn. OK, I'm going to pray. 905 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:21,920 If you want to have a conversation with myself, any 906 00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,480 other pastors or people you've seen up here today, we will love 907 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,440 to speak with you. OK, let's pray. 908 00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:30,760 Our Father, we love you. Thank you, God that you were the 909 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:32,600 same yesterday and today and forever. 910 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,320 God, we pray, by the power of the Holy Spirit, people would 911 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,280 repent in our city. God, we pray. 912 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,120 People would see the glory of the gospel that Christ died in 913 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,040 our place. God, we put our trust not in our 914 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:44,640 repentance, but in your blood Jesus. 915 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:49,000 And I pray for my friends who need to come to saving faith in 916 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:51,400 Jesus Christ, who need to turn for the first time. 917 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:56,080 God, please have mercy on them. Please perform a miracle in 918 00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,760 their heart right now. Holy Spirit and God, for those 919 00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,160 of us who are in Christ, may we be repenting all the time. 920 00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,280 God, we have nothing to prove and nothing to hide. 921 00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:06,920 I just think the church, God, we're just trying to impress 922 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:10,520 each other so much. Let us become more broken and 923 00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:13,360 more needy just of grace. God, we run to you for grace. 924 00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:16,760 And then let us be honest with one another and allow ourselves 925 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:18,600 to minister to one another. We love you. 926 00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,640 We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.