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This is ERC Sundays, the 
messages at Emmaus Rd. 

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Church in DeWitt, Iowa. 
ERC is a Church of people 

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striving to grow in Jesus and 
make him known to others through

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our faith, words and actions. 
Find out more about our church 

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at emmausrdonline.org. 
Here's this week's message. 

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Today's reading is going to be 
from Acts 8. 

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Now those who were scattered 
went about preaching the word 

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Philip went down to the city of 
the Samaria and proclaim to them

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the Christ and the And the 
crowds with one accord paid 

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attention to what was being said
by Philip. 

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When they heard him and saw the 
signs that he did. 

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For unclean spirits crying out 
with a loud voice came out of 

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many who had them, and many who 
were paralyzed of lame were 

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healed. 
So there was much joy in that 

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city. 
But there was one man named 

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Simon who had previously 
practiced magic in the city and 

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amazed the people of Samaria, 
saying that he himself was 

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somebody great. 
They all paid attention to him 

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from the least to the greatest, 
saying this man is the power of 

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God that is called great. 
And they paid attention to him 

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because for a long time he had 
amazed them with his magic. 

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But when they believed Philip as
he preached good news about the 

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

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baptized, both men and women. 
Even Simon himself believed, and

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after being baptized he 
continued with Philip, and 

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seeing signs and great miracles 
performed, he was amazed. 

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Now when the apostles at 
Jerusalem heard that Samaria had

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to receive the word of God, they
sent to them Peter and John, who

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came down and prayed for them, 
that they might receive the Holy

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Spirit, for he had not yet 
fallen on any of them, but they 

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had only been baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus. 

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Then they laid their hands on 
them, and they received the Holy

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Spirit. 
Now when Simon saw that the 

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Spirit was given through the 
laying of the apostles hands, he

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offered them money, saying, Give
me the power also, so that 

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anyone on whom I lay my hands on
may receive the Holy Spirit. 

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But Peter said to him, May your 
silver perish with you, because 

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you thought that you could 
obtain the gift of God with 

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money. 
You have neither part nor lot in

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this matter, for your heart is 
not right before God. 

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Repent therefore the wickedness 
of yours, and pray that the Lord

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that it is possible that the 
intent of your heart may be 

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forgiven, forgiving you. 
For I see that you are the gall 

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of the bitterness, and in the 
bound of iniquity. 

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And Simon answered, Pray for me 
that the Lord, that nothing of 

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what you have said may come upon
me. 

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Now when they had testified and 
spoken the word of the Lord, 

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they returned to Jerusalem, 
preaching the gospel to many 

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villages of the Samaritans. 
Now an Angel of the Lord said to

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Philip, rise and go towards the 
South, to the road that goes 

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down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 
This is a desert place. 

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And he rose and went, and there 
was an Ethiopian, Ethiopian, and

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an Enoch, a court official of 
Candace, queen of The 

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Ethiopians, who was in charge of
all the treasures. 

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He had come to Jerusalem to 
worship and was returning see it

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in the chariot. 
And he was reading the prophet 

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Isaiah. 
And the Spirit said to Philip, 

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go over and join the chariot. 
So Philip ran to him and him 

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reading Isaiah the prophet, and 
asked, do you understand what 

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you were reading? 
And he said, how can I unless 

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someone guides me? 
And he invited Philip to come up

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and sit with him. 
Now the passage of the scripture

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that he was reading was this. 
Like a shepherd, like his sheep,

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he was led to the slaughter. 
And like a lamb before its 

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Shearer is silent, so he opened 
not his mouth. 

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And the humiliation, justice was
denied. 

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Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from 

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the earth. 
And the eunuch said to Philip, 

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About whom I ask you, does the 
prophet say this about himself 

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or about someone else? 
Then Philip opened his mouth, 

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and beginning with the 
Scripture, he told him the good 

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news about Jesus. 
And as they were going along the

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road, they came to some water. 
And the Enoch said, see here is 

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water what prevents me from 
being baptized? 

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And Philip said, If you believe 
with all your heart, you may, 

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and replied, I believe that 
Jesus Christ is a Son of God. 

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And he commanded the chariot to 
stop. 

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And they both went down the 
water into the water, Philip and

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the Enoch, and he baptized him. 
And when they came up of the 

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water, the Spirit of Lord 
carried Philip away, and the 

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Enoch saw him no more, and went 
on his way rejoicing. 

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Some of you that are new here 
and maybe some of you have been 

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here for a long time are asking 
yourself, are we just going to 

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sit here and watch this guy eat 
all day? 

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I don't know. 
Did you come to church today to 

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watch me eat? 
Did you come to church today to 

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watch the worship team eat 
today? 

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Do you come to church on Sundays
to watch Pastor Chris or I or 

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others even out there eat, be 
filled by the truth of the Word,

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and watch them consume and grow 
and be strengthened? 

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Are you here to watch me eat 
today, or are you yourself here 

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to be filled by the truth of 
God's Word? 

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This passage, this long passage 
that we just read, gives us 2 

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starkly different examples to 
how our life responds to the 

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Word of God and how that life is
lived out as a true follower of 

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Jesus. 
It starts off, if you remember, 

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last week we spent some time 
with Stephen. 

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He was ultimately martyred and 
killed for the faith that he 

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professed. 
And even yet, the church was 

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multiplied. 
We started in verse 4 today and 

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verse 3, Saul was ravaging the 
church and entering house after 

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house, dragging off men and 
women and committing them to 

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prison. 
The response to this adversity 

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and persecution is that the 
Christians were scattered for 

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fear, for just proximity reasons
for safety, to get out of 

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Jerusalem, to get out of the 
city and escape this threat. 

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Paul literally trying to kill 
off the church. 

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Philip. 
This is not the apostle Philip. 

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This is one of the one of the 
seven. 

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Steven and others were 
commissioned to go and help the 

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apostles. 
So this is a different Philip, 

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not one of the 12. 
He was just a regular guy. 

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He was just part of the church. 
He was a believer. 

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He was amongst friends and 
amongst his church family and he

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gets caught up in this scatter. 
He gets caught up in this 

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sending. 
Remember the mission at the 

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beginning of Acts was Jerusalem 
and Judea and Samaria and the 

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ends of the earth. 
So even in this oppression, even

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in this persecution, we see the 
plan of God being acted out. 

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It was through persecution that 
the church was scattered to 

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reach Samaria with the Word of 
God. 

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Though this may seem like a 
threat and and a step back for 

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this young church, God's still 
in control. 

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God's sovereignty in His plan is
still being acted out and the 

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Word is spreading and the church
is growing and multiplying. 

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It even tells us that it wasn't,
it wasn't the apostles who were 

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scattered. 
They kind of stayed and faced 

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against this oppression. 
They, they had a home base, kind

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of kind of a, a central 
communications hub to be able to

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communicate with the churches 
and the, and the smaller groups 

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of Christians that were going 
out. 

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So it wasn't even again, the 
quote UN quote best of the best,

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the most equipped, the most able
who were sent out to do this 

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thing having been changed by the
truth of God's word and having 

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this belief and faith in God 
qualified them to go out and 

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spread that word, spread that 
gospel. 

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Philip has a pretty interesting 
experience going to Samaria. 

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He meets this man named Simon 
who was a magician and and 

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within this we see he was 
practicing dark arts. 

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Now I'm not going to spend a 
whole lot of time on this, but 

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if you believe, and I hope you 
do, in the supernatural power of

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our God and the Holy Spirit, if 
you don't know, there are also 

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opposing forces, there are also 
evil supernatural powers that 

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can work out. 
OK Philip encounters a man who's

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regularly practicing these 
things and similarly is is 

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performing signs and wonders 
that capture the people's 

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imagination. 
But his actions are are for his 

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self benefit. 
They're from a place of evil, a 

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place and power of evil. 
They're not from God. 

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Seemingly powerful people are 
drawn to Simon and and and their

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attention is captured by his 
actions. 

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But verse 13, when Philip was 
preaching and teaching, even 

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Simon himself believed, though 
Simon was equipped with with 

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these dark powers and these and 
these things beyond 

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understanding, maybe even the 
word of God was greater. 

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The word of God captured his 
attention more than what he was 

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working out on his own, seeing 
the signs and great miracles 

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performed that Philip was doing 
that, that the other disciples 

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and believers were doing. 
Simon the magician was amazed. 

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He was even it was glitching. 
You're right. 

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Verse 15, please, from if you 
can. 

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Yeah. 
He was even baptized Simon the 

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magician. 
The apostles then heard of the 

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spreading of the word in 
Samaria. 

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They sent Peter and John. 
They came down and prayed for 

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this new body of believers that 
they might receive the Holy 

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Spirit for he had not yet fallen
on any of them, but they'd only 

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been baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. 

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This is a strange passage that I
could spend the next hour 

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dissecting. 
Chris and I've been doing a 

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Leftovers podcast on Mondays. 
We're going to dive into this. 

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How in the world do these 
believers not have the Holy 

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Spirit? 
That seems weird, right? 

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And we've said the same exact 
opposite thing in previous 

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weeks, right? 
If you are a believer, you have 

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the Holy Spirit. 
So what's going on here? 

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Not important for what we're 
doing right now. 

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There's, I'm not going to get 
into it more. 

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I'd like to cover it on Monday 
because I could go on for the 

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next hour about it. 
But I do want to point out 

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baptized only in the name of the
Lord Jesus. 

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Jesus did teach the disciples to
baptize in the name of the 

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Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. 

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And as we've talked about in the
previous week, there's there's 

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something different, an 
exception about the outpouring 

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of the Holy Spirit that had been
on the apostles, not your just 

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everyday run-of-the-mill 
Christian was walking around 

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healing people just by touching 
them, right? 

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So not literally what we're 
saying that the the believer was

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indwelt with the Holy Spirit, 
possessed the presence and the 

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seal of the Holy Spirit. 
We're going to dive deeper into 

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that. 
If you listen to the the podcast

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that we put out tomorrow, we'll 
talk about these verses more. 

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They did come though. 
Peter and John laid hands on the

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believers and they received the 
Holy Spirit. 

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They were now empowered. 
They were now sent out and Simon

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the magician saw that the spirit
was given through the laying on 

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of the apostles hands. 
He offered the money saying give

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me this power also so that 
anyone on whom I lay my hands 

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may receive the spirit. 
Same Simon, not 4 verses ago, it

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told us that he believed that he
was baptized, seemingly a 

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believer on the outside, 
seemingly someone walking in 

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faith. 
But this is the limit of his 

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understanding. 
He thinks that he can buy this 

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power and he's, and there's even
a little bit, I think starting 

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to creep in of the identity of 
his life. 

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He, he was a magician performing
signs and wonders, getting 

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attention and accolades from 
people about amazed at what he 

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could do. 
And he's come upon this Holy 

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Spirit power and he's come upon 
this new life. 

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He's come upon this eternal life
knowledge about Jesus. 

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And now he sees this option of, 
oh, but it could just, it could 

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just be the same as the, as the 
life that I was living. 

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But this is like, this is like 
real power. 

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I could keep doing the life that
I was doing, but I want, I want 

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this real power now. 
So can I buy this real power 

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from you guys? 
And can I, can I act in this 

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because it's, it's going to 
enhance the life that I was 

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already living. 
Let me add to it. 

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Peter's response is very severe.
May your silver perish with you 

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because you thought you could 
attain the gift of God with 

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money. 
You have neither part nor lot in

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this matter, for your heart is 
not right before God. 

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Someone who professed belief and
was baptized called out as not 

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having a right heart before God.
That's a scary proposition, but 

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if we believe the truth of God's
Word, somehow that's possible. 

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Somehow Simon was in that place 
of belief and being baptized and

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00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,400
he still didn't have it 
understood or figured out. 

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That can be scary. 
That can also be calming because

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he was a new believer. 
As we get to later with the 

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00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:51,720
Ethiopian eunuch and Philip, he 
also said how am I going to 

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00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,600
understand all this? 
I need someone to teach me. 

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00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,160
Simon in this moment thought he 
had everything he needed, 

234
00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:03,640
thought he had comprehension. 
I'm ready to go equip me with 

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00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:05,480
this power. 
It's going to enhance the life I

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00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,400
have. 
It's going to be maybe better 

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00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,960
than the life I had, but I want 
to buy it and I think that's 

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enough for me to have it. 
And then he takes even a deeper 

239
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:25,240
turn. 
Peter tells him to repent of 

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00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,840
this wickedness, that the intent
of your heart may be forgiven. 

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00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:36,000
And look at Simon's response. 
Simon answered verse 24. 

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00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,560
Pray for me to the Lord that 
nothing of what you have said 

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00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:47,880
may come upon me seemingly 
reasonable requests. 

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00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:53,360
We, we bring each other's 
requests in prayer on on on 

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00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,560
account of each other to the 
Lord all the time. 

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00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,680
But there's part of me that 
thinks that Simon was passing 

247
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:09,640
the buck here a little bit. 
He was confused and wrapped up 

248
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in a moment of watching the 
apostles eat. 

249
00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,720
He wasn't eating himself. 
He was not being filled by the 

250
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,760
truth of the words that they 
were saying. 

251
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,040
And there's part of me that 
thinks his request here, either 

252
00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:33,040
out of confusion or not 
understanding maybe the words to

253
00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,480
say part of his request, I think
is actually bad. 

254
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,800
Peter tells him to repent and 
Simon's response is in the vein 

255
00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,880
of actually you, you do it for 
me. 

256
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:51,440
I need you to repent for me. 
I need you to work out this 

257
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:57,600
salvation for me. 
And that's not how it works. 

258
00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,000
We actually don't hear any more 
about this. 

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00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,520
There's assumingly more 
interaction between them, but 

260
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,360
that's the end of the account. 
And Luke we hear no more of 

261
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:08,760
Simon or the apostles 
interaction with him. 

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00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:20,280
I started with this illustration
this morning, hoping, praying 

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00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,000
that those of you who join us on
Sundays, those, those of you 

264
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,320
that are part of our church 
community here are not living 

265
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:35,600
out your faith through me, are 
not living out your faith 

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00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:42,160
through Chris and the words that
we teach, the songs that are, 

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00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,280
that our worship team sings. 
Yes, they're meant to be an 

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00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:50,840
encouragement and a helper and a
guide and a fellowship with you 

269
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,200
all. 
But if your relationship with 

270
00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:02,480
God is defined by my 
understanding of the Bible and 

271
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,520
how I preach your teacher and 
encourage you in it, what 

272
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,080
happens to your faith when I'm 
gone? 

273
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,920
What happens to your faith if 
I'm no longer a part of your 

274
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:21,680
life? 
We cannot root our faith as 

275
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,200
Simon was in this response. 
You know what, Peter, John, you 

276
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:26,640
guys seemingly have this figured
out. 

277
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,080
You got signs and wonders, you 
got powers. 

278
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,280
You do it. 
You save me. 

279
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,200
You go to God and tell him what 
a great guy I really AM and that

280
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,200
I'm really sorry and that I 
still want him to save me. 

281
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,200
Simon in this moment was wanting
the apostles. 

282
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,080
He was intended to sit back and 
watch them eat, watch them 

283
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,680
commune with their God. 
He didn't get it. 

284
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,360
He wasn't being filled and 
nourished. 

285
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:12,880
He wasn't understanding. 
Then we move on. 

286
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,880
Philip has a very different 
interaction. 

287
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:23,560
Verse 26 Now an Angel of the 
Lord said to Philip, rise and go

288
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,560
toward the South to the road 
that goes down from Jerusalem to

289
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:27,720
Gaza. 
OK. 

290
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:33,240
Verse 29, we see the same thing.
And the Spirit said to Philip, 

291
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:40,280
go over and join this chariot. 
So Philips being guided, he's 

292
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:45,320
being directed, he's being LED, 
the Spirit is giving him 

293
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,680
instruction and he's faithfully 
following. 

294
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,960
The Holy Spirit did not drag 
Philip down the road to Gaza. 

295
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:02,000
The Holy Spirit did not push 
Philip into the chariot and say,

296
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:08,280
meet your new best friend. 
There was a guiding, there was 

297
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,880
instruction. 
Philip still had to do. 

298
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:18,640
Philip still had to go. 
Philip still had to talk and 

299
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:23,840
speak and teach. 
The Holy Spirit is a guide. 

300
00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:27,440
Jesus said He was leaving His 
Helper with us. 

301
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,840
He did not say the He was 
leaving his doer with us. 

302
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,840
Yes, it's by the power of the 
Holy Spirit that that the Word 

303
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,240
works and and works out 
salvation and changes hearts. 

304
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,840
It's not by any physical action 
or words that we can say that we

305
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,240
can bring about salvation in 
other people's lives, but 

306
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,760
through other ways. 
We do have to take action. 

307
00:24:54,160 --> 00:25:01,080
We must do ideally at the 
leading of the Holy Spirit. 

308
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,800
The eunuch has a much more 
humble response to the word of 

309
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,760
God. 
And I know this seems like a 

310
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,040
wildly idealistic scenario. 
I don't. 

311
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,440
I have never had a scenario 
actually in my life where I've 

312
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,280
gone up to a stranger who has 
the Bible open and they're like,

313
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,920
hey, I need some help over here.
Never experienced that. 

314
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:33,520
But that's what we see here, so 
it's possible the eunuch had a 

315
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,760
remarkably humble spirit about 
this. 

316
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,360
And I think we rightly assume 
most people don't want to ask 

317
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,120
for help. 
I think each of us understand 

318
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,520
the awkwardness of asking for 
help at times, too, especially 

319
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,280
with things that we don't know. 
This eunuch has a remarkably 

320
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,680
open mind to to Philip's 
question. 

321
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:55,880
Do you understand what you're 
reading? 

322
00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:00,680
He's like, I don't, I know, how 
am I supposed to understand this

323
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:09,080
unless someone helps me with it?
The door was open. 

324
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:15,080
Philip still had to act. 
Philip still had to explain and 

325
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,520
teach and encourage and share 
the good news. 

326
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,080
Philip opened his mouth. 
Verse 35 and beginning with the 

327
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,000
Scripture which reading in 
Isaiah, he told him about the 

328
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:36,440
good news of Jesus. 
The eunuchs response in verse 

329
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:42,040
36, they were going along the 
road, they came to some water 

330
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,480
and the eunuch said see here is 
water. 

331
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,920
What prevents me from being 
baptized. 

332
00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:50,840
That means a big part of the 
good news that Philip was 

333
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:56,600
talking about in verse 35 also 
landed on what happens in 

334
00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:58,840
baptism. 
We don't know the specifics of 

335
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,720
the words that Philip taught 
him. 

336
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,160
We know some of the words in or 
we know the passage in Isaiah 

337
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:10,080
that he was in talking about 
Jesus death and and the 

338
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,520
salvation then therein the need 
for Jesus's sacrifice. 

339
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,520
That led Philip into a 
discussion about how a believer 

340
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:23,240
is changed, how we are washed 
clean, how baptism is that 

341
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,920
worked out in an action, a 
declaration of physical action 

342
00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:32,080
of us being washed in the Holy 
Spirit, being washed with the 

343
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:37,720
blood of Jesus. 
The eunuch had understanding. 

344
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,760
Here is water, what prevents me 
from being baptized. 

345
00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,960
He didn't just sit back and 
watch Philip eat. 

346
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,600
He didn't just sit in awe of 
Philip's understanding. 

347
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:59,000
He said I want that too right 
now. 

348
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:06,520
Feed me. 
He wanted in. 

349
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:19,400
The next part of this gives me 
great pause about how we even 

350
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,280
really engage. 
And we were pretty. 

351
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,280
I don't want to say laid back 
engagement with baptism here, 

352
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,600
but at times I feel like we make
too much of it to be honest with

353
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:33,880
you, and it is a big deal. 
I don't want to say that baptism

354
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:39,240
isn't a big deal, but we see in 
this passage that it doesn't 

355
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,560
need all the formality that we 
sometimes throw into it. 

356
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,120
This wasn't a public place 
there. 

357
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,960
There weren't audiences to hear 
my great declaration of faith 

358
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,600
and my decision for Jesus. 
Then I need to do this in front 

359
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,160
of people so that they know what
I did. 

360
00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,800
It's not here. 
We didn't see Phillip say, yeah,

361
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,320
we can get you baptized. 
Like, let's meet every Sunday 

362
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,040
for the next six weeks, and 
we'll just make sure you know 

363
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,160
your stuff and what you actually
believe and what you're getting 

364
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:09,720
into. 
And then, yeah, we'll get you on

365
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:20,800
the calendar. 
He had belief in the truth. 

366
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,280
There was water and someone to 
baptize him in the name of the 

367
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:28,880
Father and the Son and the Holy 
Spirit. 

368
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,440
That's all that baptism needs to
be. 

369
00:29:41,940 --> 00:29:49,300
It is not at all about what 
we're doing in baptism. 

370
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,160
It's something for us to 
experience. 

371
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,880
Yes and no. 
OK, I am washed clean. 

372
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:04,000
I have been made new and it's 
something that God wants us to 

373
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,840
experience in that way. 
Yes, absolutely. 

374
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:14,120
But it has nothing to do with us
deciding to do it with what we 

375
00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:19,320
get out of out of baptism or the
declaration of look at me, look 

376
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:28,010
at the choice that I made. 
It's simply good. 

377
00:30:29,090 --> 00:30:32,970
And it's simply following the 
Commission that Jesus gave the 

378
00:30:32,970 --> 00:30:36,090
disciples. 
If you're going to make 

379
00:30:36,090 --> 00:30:39,010
disciples, you're going to 
baptize them in the name of the 

380
00:30:39,010 --> 00:30:42,800
Father and the Son and the Holy 
Spirit that they will experience

381
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,160
being washed, that they will be 
compelled to go and continue. 

382
00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:03,640
So church, the opening 
illustration, sequence, 

383
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,960
whatever, whatever you want to 
call it, I wasn't sure. 

384
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:16,520
I wasn't sure how it would land 
because honestly, I'm maybe 

385
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,880
pridefully confident of the 
maturity of believers in this 

386
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:25,320
room right now. 
I don't think you're here to 

387
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:32,560
just consume. 
By and large, I think there's a 

388
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,080
group of very mature believers 
here. 

389
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:42,840
But I did want to state it as a 
warning, as a guard, that that's

390
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:48,600
not what our gathering is for 
Philippians 212 is, is to work 

391
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:54,240
out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, not to watch 

392
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:58,640
others eat and work out their 
salvation with fear and 

393
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,400
trembling so that we can feel 
really good about that. 

394
00:32:07,260 --> 00:32:08,620
It's the airplane analogy, 
right? 

395
00:32:08,620 --> 00:32:12,600
Like you got to put your oxygen 
mask on 1st right before you can

396
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,880
save others. 
If you're encouraged by someone 

397
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,240
else in their faith, that's 
that's great, but where's yours?

398
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:36,720
So for you today, you who have 
been baptized, and I honestly 

399
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:42,640
don't care what church or 
location or where it has been. 

400
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:46,480
We believe that if you have been
baptized with water in the name 

401
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,680
of the Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit, doesn't matter if it's 

402
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,120
been a Catholic Church, a 
Methodist Church, it doesn't 

403
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,880
matter if it was on the side of 
the road by a chariot with a 

404
00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:00,520
puddle. 
You have been baptized and you 

405
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:05,880
have been washed clean. 
I was baptized Catholic at two 

406
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,480
years old. 
I no memory of it. 

407
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:13,240
It the actual moment and action 
of baptism I didn't experience. 

408
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,840
I don't, I don't know. 
But I know I'm washed clean. 

409
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,680
I know I've got the Holy Spirit 
inside of me. 

410
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:32,160
So those of you who have been 
baptized, this passage gives us 

411
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:37,400
two options. 
Are we living a life like Simon,

412
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,160
limiting our understanding and 
watching others work, watching 

413
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,600
others eat? 
Or we living a life like the the

414
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:52,960
Ethiopian all in right now. 
Sign me up. 

415
00:33:58,410 --> 00:34:02,370
Are we living a life like Philip
led by the voice of God? 

416
00:34:02,370 --> 00:34:04,090
How do you how do you hear the 
voice of God? 

417
00:34:05,330 --> 00:34:07,370
It's right here. 
This is what we got. 

418
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,000
How do we know that it's the 
voice of God? 

419
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:19,520
Well, does this prompting, does 
this leading? 

420
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,760
Does it sound like something God
would say? 

421
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,600
Does it sound like something God
would say? 

422
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:34,840
Hopefully Simon heard the words,
saw the powers and said, yeah, 

423
00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:40,480
that's really darn cool. 
I could, I could use them for my

424
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,440
life. 
I could perform real signs and 

425
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,639
wonders with this thing and just
go back to living my life the 

426
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,000
way it was. 
But like enhanced superpower, 

427
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:54,840
does that sound like the word of
God? 

428
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,480
He was doing it for him. 
He wasn't doing it for God. 

429
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:08,200
So those of you who are baptized
live like you're saved. 

430
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,040
Work out your salvation with 
fear and trembling. 

431
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:19,000
When the Spirit prompts you, 
He's not going to beat you over 

432
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:26,200
the head and drag you to do it. 
You got to move and you can 

433
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,160
because you're washed clean and 
you're empowered to go. 

434
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,920
I know that seems like a law 
statement that you that you got 

435
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:35,160
to do it, but what you know 
what? 

436
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,680
You've got the joy of the Lord 
wrapped inside you. 

437
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:44,720
You've been washed clean, and 
your mission now is to go to the

438
00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:47,200
ends of the earth. 
I'm sorry if you didn't read the

439
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,400
fine print. 
That's what you signed up for. 

440
00:35:56,720 --> 00:36:05,640
For those of you who have not 
been baptized as the Ethiopian 

441
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:09,520
again and maturity beyond his 
years that we would yes, for his

442
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:17,960
faith as he responded. 
See here is water what prevents 

443
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:22,440
me from being baptized. 
Yeah, they might have. 

444
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:24,360
We don't know what the water 
was. 

445
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,840
It might have been a river. 
They might have dunked full of 

446
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:29,040
it could have been a muddy 
puddle. 

447
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:34,320
We're not sure. 
I've been a part of both kinds 

448
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,920
of baptism, full on junkie and 
immersion. 

449
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,920
We usually just sprinkle here. 
I think both are equally 

450
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,960
effective. 
So for those of you in the room 

451
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:53,240
who haven't been baptized, see 
here is water and your view of 

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belief that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God. 

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What prevents you from being 
baptized today? 

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Thanks for listening to ERC 
Sundays. 

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To support the work God is doing
an Emmaus Rd. church, visit 

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emmausrdonline.org/giving.