Acts 8:1-25

I'm so thankful to be back, and I hope you've come this morning to hear the Word of God and to submit yourself to it.

We've been worshiping through song and through music, but just a reminder that we really believe here that you also worship God by listening to His Word and by heeding to what it says and being encouraged by it and obedient to it.

And I'm worshiping along with you. We are here for this and not for any other reason to make ourselves known or to make anything else known but Jesus known.

And so just join me again just in a word of prayer.

Father, we love you. We thank you for the chance to gather this morning.

We thank you for the redemption that we have in Jesus, and I pray that you would fight off all distractions and things like what we might eat later or who we might hang out with later,

what we might do after this is over, but you would allow us to be all here, Lord, and to hear your Word and that you would be lifted up.

In Christ's name, amen.

So we're returning to the book of Acts this morning.

We find ourselves in chapter 8, so go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

And in case you're new on the scene, and just sort of a reminder, I'm not going to give you a big overview of Acts,

but just to remember that this is like the second book that Luke wrote.

We have the Gospel of Luke, and then he wrote this as an account of the early history of the church and the Acts of the Apostles.

And so Christ has resurrected.

He has commissioned His disciples to go out and to make disciples.

And then they literally watch Him ascend into heaven, and He empowers them to go out and to plant the church.

The Holy Spirit comes.

And so the apostles have been preaching the Gospel, making disciples in Jerusalem for the most part,

in just the area of Jerusalem.

So the Gospel hasn't quite gone out of the city yet in some ways,

other than some others that have might have taken it out there.

And two weeks ago, we looked at the martyrdom of Stephen, the first martyr of the church.

Nathan preached on that.

And just as a quick recap, he was arrested by the Jewish council for preaching the Gospel

and for doing miracles in the name of Jesus.

And so they bring him in front of this very intimidating council,

and they ask him to basically give an account for what he's doing,

whereon Stephen goes on to give this incredible explanation and exposition of the Old Testament.

Like he walks literally through the Old Testament

and says that the message that he wants them to see was all these Old Testament prophets

and messengers from God, they were pointing to the Messiah,

the Messiah that you just killed.

And you're no different than the people who killed the prophets.

You've ignored them, you've put them aside, and you're just as guilty.

You've killed the Messiah.

And then he offers them no repentance.

It's just almost like an act of judgment.

And then they're outraged.

Obviously, they're very, very angry.

And without even obeying the law of the day,

they drag Stephen out and they stone him to death.

And so, just interesting, the stoning that takes place,

where we read it just in the previous chapter,

that he was put to death.

It's a very vivid word.

It's a medical word that means like destruction.

It reveals that like Stephen just wasn't killed quietly,

it means that he was literally destroyed by these men.

It wasn't an easy death, in other words.

And very vivid word.

It was horrific.

It was utterly terrible as the stones fell on him

and pretty much just mangled him to the ground.

And he was the first martyr.

And if you remember the very beginning of the book of Acts,

when Jesus is commissioning his disciples,

he says,

You will be my witnesses.

You will be my witnesses.

And just as a reminder,

the word witness that he uses is the word martyr,

which means martyr.

Like, you will be my martyrs,

is what Jesus tells them.

You will go out.

You will die.

You will be persecuted and executed and imprisoned for my namesake.

So how would you like to get that commission?

Many of us in our flesh would probably run from that.

But they saw it as an honor to carry the name of Jesus.

So Stephen became the first witness, really, in the church.

And this execution, this martyrdom kind of sparks a large-scale persecution from the Jews in Jerusalem,

from the leading Jews in Jerusalem.

And it lasts for the next four chapters in the book of Acts.

It's not necessarily from Rome.

It's from the Jews.

And so it just carries on.

Stephen was the first.

And so it goes on.

And if we read,

starting in our text today,

in chapter 8,

we're just going to go verses 1 through 25.

So just follow along.

This is just a story.

So this is easy just to follow.

And starting in verse 1 of chapter 8,

it says,

So just so you know,

this word,

devout men,

it probably doesn't refer to other believers.

It refers to probably,

this is a term used for pious Jews,

that probably spells that a lot of the Jews,

some Jews there probably thought that the death and the execution of Stephen was wrong and unjust.

And so they took Stephen's body away to bury it.

In verse 3,

But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house.

He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

And the crowds with one accord pay attention to what was being said by Philip.

And when they heard him,

they saw the signs that he did.

For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them.

And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.

So there was much joy in that city.

But there was a man named Simon who was previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria,

saying that he himself was somebody great.

They all paid attention to him for the least to the greatest,

saying,

This man is the power of God that is called great.

And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

But when they believed Philip,

as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ,

they were baptized,

they were baptized,

both men and women.

Even Simon himself believed.

And after being baptized,

he continued with Philip.

And seeing signs and great miracles performed,

he was amazed.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God,

they sent Peter and John,

who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

For he had not yet fallen on any of them,

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

Then they laid their hands on them,

and they received the Holy Spirit.

Now when Simon saw the Spirit had been given throughout the laying on of hands of the apostles' hands,

he offered them money,

saying,

Give me this power also,

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

But Peter said to him,

May your silver perish with you,

because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money.

You have neither part nor lot in this matter,

for your heart is not in the right before God.

Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours,

and pray that the Lord, if possible,

the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness,

and in the bond of iniquity.

And Simon answered,

Pray for me to the Lord,

that none of what you have said may come upon me.

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

they returned to Jerusalem,

preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

And that's our text today.

And so, hopefully,

we will be able to pull some good things out of this,

and to apply to our lives today.

But this persecution that started,

it eventually ended up spreading the gospel.

And that's what we have to see here.

So we're going to kind of take a bird's eye view,

and see the big picture is that persecution started,

and because of that, the gospel moved out beyond Jerusalem.

And then, it zooms in closer to the life of Philip,

who wasn't an apostle, but a deacon,

one of the deacons chosen in the previous chapters and acts,

like Stephen was.

And he was the first one, actually,

in the scripture to be called an evangelist.

In chapter 21, he's called Philip an evangelist.

So as the persecution arose in Jerusalem,

the gospel was taken out.

So, to the Samaritans,

and then later on in this chapter,

that Nathan will get to eventually,

an Ethiopian.

So one of the first African converts.

So praise God.

And so that's what we're working with.

So there's four things that we're going to look at today

in the text.

But the first one, number one,

is that God uses persecution

to spread the gospel.

And you see that in the first four verses

of this chapter.

So what do you think at this point?

If persecution started

and you were being arrested,

beaten, thrown in prison

for the sake of Christ,

what would you do?

Would you panic and say,

oh man, our religious freedom

has been taken away,

so we better be quiet

and not talk about Jesus anymore.

We better lay low

and hopefully not be recognized

by the authorities.

What would be your reaction?

Well, that didn't silence him.

This didn't stop it.

It actually fueled it.

And so we see that

in the verses

they were scattered

and they went about preaching the word.

So, really cool.

I've always said this

to a lot of the college students,

but I think that so many of us

feel we use the term

of the generation

that I don't really like,

but the word awkward.

It's like a most overkill word

in our language today.

So, just try to use that

in a good way.

But, a lot of us think

that it's awkward

to share the gospel

because it's become a method

or a gimmick

and you've divorced it

from your real life.

It's not just something

that flows out of your life.

It's something that

you pull apart

and say,

I've got to do this method

or this gimmick.

It's not a natural outflow

of your language

and your life.

But this implies,

the Greek here,

is the idea

that they went gossiping

the good news.

Just happening

in the natural way

that conversations unfold.

So, a small little narrative.

There's this man

and he shows up

in Galilee, for example.

And, like,

everyone knows everybody

and he comes up and says,

hey, why are you here?

We don't recognize you.

And he says,

I've come from Jerusalem

with my family.

Did you hear about

what happened in Jerusalem?

I know there's a lot of stuff

going on about Jesus of Nazareth

and that he might be alive

and all that.

And then the man says,

well, he actually is alive.

He's been seen.

And Stephen was killed,

one of our brothers.

And this has started

a persecution.

So, if it was up to me,

I would have just stayed

and died with Stephen.

But I had to think about

my wife and my children.

And so we fled

and now we're here.

So, you're willing

to die for this?

You actually believe this?

And yes, I am.

And here's why I believe that.

And so,

this is just the natural way

the conversation unfolds.

They went about gossiping

the good news of Christ

in just natural ways.

So,

question for us.

Why didn't Operation

Search and Destroy

Christians succeed?

Plenty of other movements

throughout history

have gotten a lot of hype

and a lot of startup,

but then they died.

Many, many,

actually.

And so,

why not this?

Why did this little group

of followers

from a dead carpenter

from Galilee,

why did it not die out?

Because

God,

it's God's mission

to take Christ

to the ends

of the earth.

It's God's mission

to take the gospel

to all the nations.

This isn't a mission

of man.

It's a mission

of God.

As it said,

as the rabbi

pointed out

in Acts 5,

as they were talking

about what to do

with all these Christians,

he says,

in the present age,

I tell you,

keep away from these men

and let them alone.

For if this is a plan

or undertaking of man,

it will fail.

But if it is of God,

you will not be able

to overthrow them.

You might even be found

opposing God.

This idea that

if man started this,

it will fail.

But if God started it,

you won't be able

to stop it.

And you might even

be found opposing God.

Robert Coleman

wrote the classic book,

Master Plan of Evangelism.

Listen to what he wrote.

He said,

World evangelism

is the divinely ordered

goal for us all.

Not only is it attainable,

it is inevitable.

Whether or not

we believe it,

one day the gospel

of the kingdom

will be heard

to the ends

of the earth.

The God of the universe

will not be defeated

in his purpose.

Any activity

not in step

with God's design

for humanity

is destined

to futility.

The sooner we realize this

and align our way

with his,

the sooner

we will be relevant

to eternity.

He's saying

it is inevitable.

God's mission

will accomplish

what it set out to do

and it won't be stopped.

So our suffering

is inevitable

to reach the world

but our mission

is unstoppable.

I want to just,

there's several examples

today.

In 1985,

there was a Bulgarian

pastor,

Horacio Kosevic.

He was arrested

for preaching

the gospel

in his church.

I understand Romania

is under the control

of communist Russia

at the time

and communism

is seeking to put out

the gospel flame.

So he was in prison

for just about a year

and while he was there,

he shared Christ

with the other prisoners,

he shared Christ

with his interrogators

and his torturers

and many came to believe

in Christ

while he was in prison.

And this is something

that he said,

both prisoners

and jailers

asked many questions

and it turned out

that we had more

fruitful ministry

there in prison

than we ever could have had

inside a church.

God was better served

by our presence

in the prison

than if we had been free.

And that's just

how God works.

He works

through persecution

to accomplish

his will

and it's something

that can't be stopped.

So,

the message here,

okay,

is not just

that God

often turns

our setbacks

into victories.

The message

for us

also

is that sometimes

our freedom,

our safety,

our comfort,

our prosperity

can often

cause tremendous

sluggishness

and apathy

to the gospel mission.

Obviously,

I'm not ungrateful

for the liberty

and the freedom

we have.

Most of you

know me,

know I have

a family

that have shed

blood for this country

and many friends

that are today,

so I'm grateful

to live where we live

and to have

the religious liberty

we do.

But at the same time,

often,

a lot of the stuff

that we think,

like prosperity,

wealth,

we think those things

will kind of speed

the gospel mission.

And sometimes it does,

but more than often

it doesn't.

It actually,

the very thing we think

will help it

ends up creating

lethargy

and weakness

and apathy

and a preoccupation

with our comfort

and our ease

rather than

going and taking

the gospel forward.

So millions

of our brothers

and sisters

around the world

still suffer like this.

Just open your eyes.

Like,

it's everywhere.

North Korea,

China,

North Africa,

Middle East,

India,

Pakistan.

Just open your eyes.

Like,

these are places

where even today

they're being killed

in prison,

persecuted

by their family,

by their neighbors.

And this isn't

impersonal to me either.

A lot of my,

I have a few friends

that are in some

very hard places

right now.

My friend,

also,

who some of you

have met,

he's from Kyrgyzstan.

He's,

I won't tell you

where he is right now,

but I'll just tell you

he's in Central Asia,

so figure out

where he is.

But,

he came here

many years ago

and he spoke to

a large group

of college students

right here

and he said,

you know,

here in America

when you become

a Christian,

you walk an aisle,

you pray a prayer,

you take a seat

and you just

attend things.

He said,

it's very easy.

He said,

but in Asia,

if you're going

to become a Christian

first,

you're going to be

kicked out

of your family,

you'll be ostracized

by your family,

your community

will also turn you out

and not take you in,

and the government

will either

imprison you

or kill you

or not allow you

to work.

And he's like,

when someone says

that they believe

in Jesus

and they want

to follow Jesus,

if they go through

all of that

and they're still

trusting in Jesus,

we know that

they're a real Christian.

That's like what he said.

And that was just

convicting to me.

Never sell the gospel

cheaply to anyone

because it's costing

many people their lives

as it did in this time

like Stephen and others.

So,

for example,

this is a quote

by Charles Spurgeon

and one that's like

been in my head

for years and years.

But he said,

for the Christian,

prosperity is much harder

to bear

than adversity.

Many a man

will pass through

trouble and trial

and praise God

under it,

who,

when he who is

tried with no trouble,

will forget his God,

decline in grace,

and grow almost

a worldling.

Believe me,

there is no such trial,

no greater trial

than no trial.

And so,

prosperity,

you know,

we want to be thankful

for it,

but if we're not

using it for the

advancement of the gospel

and not being

graciously thankful for it

and using it for God's cause

and we make it an idol,

we put it on the throne,

God will deal with us.

So,

we possess so much

in this country

that has dulled

our senses

to the things of God.

In this Disneyland,

literally,

of a country sometimes,

Satan has Christians

focused on

what they can't take

out of this world

instead of Christ

being enough

and storing up

treasures for eternity.

So,

though persecution

can have harmful

physical effects,

it's just a well-known fact

that prosperity

tends to,

throughout the history,

slow down the mission

of Christ

instead of speeding it up.

So,

let's not be that way.

So,

the point

is not that we should

just seek out

physical persecution,

but the point

is that we should

just be very careful

and wary

of how we use

the wealth

that God has given us

to not allow it

to control us,

but for us

to control it

for the glory of God.

So,

that's the first one.

It's persecution

spreads,

right,

and the gospel

goes out.

So,

God uses persecution

to spread the gospel,

number one.

Number two,

the gospel

can save

persecutors.

This is verse

one and three.

We see that

Saul was there,

and most all of us

know who this is,

and he was approving.

He was like,

yes,

do this,

kill this guy,

silence him.

And then later on,

he was ravaging the church,

entering house,

dragging people off,

committing them to prison.

This is Saul of Tarsus.

So,

in the midst

of this persecution,

we get a brief glimpse

of the man

who would

become the apostle Paul.

Saul of Tarsus,

one of the most

religious elite

of the day.

He was educated

under the best,

and he knew it all,

and he was a Pharisee,

the most religious zeal,

but he was wrong.

Just because you're

religiously zeal,

it doesn't mean you're right.

And it says here

that he was ravaging

the church.

And this is an idea

of havoc.

It literally means

to exercise brutal,

sadistic cruelty,

is what this means.

It wasn't like he was like,

come on,

you Christians.

He was literally

brutalizing these people.

It's also used

in ancient Greek literature

of a wild boar

being on a rampage

and ravaging a vineyard,

and the idea of an animal

savagely tearing

somebody apart.

That's what this language

is used for.

This is what Saul

is doing.

And the church.

The same word is here.

So he was a scary man.

He could say that he

literally tore the church apart.

Not a man you'd want

to encounter.

Yet, we know

that as Saul

set out to annihilate

the church,

to annihilate the Savior

that he hates,

he ends up meeting Jesus

on the Damascus road,

and he's graciously saved

by the very man

he set out to destroy,

right?

And after these great

acts of evil,

as we've always seen,

free and willful

acts of evil,

God uses to serve

his purpose

every time.

And this is a great example.

So Christ saved this man

and made him

to be the Apostle Paul.

Made him a lover

of men.

A lover of Christ.

One of the most

radical conversions ever.

So, just briefly,

hold your hand here,

but look at 1 Timothy

real quick.

This story is coming up soon,

so I don't want to spend

too much time on it,

but in Acts 1 Timothy,

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Before I read this,

1 Timothy, chapter 1,

1 Timothy 1:12

verse 12.

Before I read this,

I just want to ask you

a question.

Do you feel like,

I know there's people

here who do,

because in a room

this size,

there is no way

at all

that Christ

could save me

and forgive me

for the things

I have done

in my life.

I have felt

that way before.

I would be ashamed

even if people

knew what I have done.

And the fact that

this person

can just take away

my sin,

that's just an

overwhelming thought.

I just don't think

it's possible.

Well, this man

we're reading about

literally was going out

and ripping Christians

apart and hated Jesus.

And yet,

he found mercy

in Christ.

1 Timothy 1, 12.

Read this.

This is Paul,

the very man we read

about writing this

years later

after he was converted.

He says,

I thank him

who has given me strength,

Christ Jesus,

our Lord,

because he judged me

faithful,

appointing me

to his service.

Though formerly,

listen to this,

I was a blasphemer

and persecutor

and an insolent

opponent.

But I received mercy

because I acted

ignorantly in unbelief.

And the grace

of our Lord

overflowed for me

with the faith

and love

that are in Christ Jesus.

Here it is.

The saying is trustworthy

and deserving

of full acceptance

that Christ Jesus

came into the world

to save sinners

of whom I

am the foremost.

But I received mercy

for this reason

that in me

as the foremost,

Jesus Christ

might display

his perfect patience

as an example

to those who believe

in him

to eternal life.

You hear that?

He's like,

Jesus saved me

so that in the future

people like here today

can look at Paul

and be like,

if God has the grace

and power to save

a man like that,

I can also be saved.

That's what this

is saying.

To the king of ages,

immortal,

invisible,

the only God

be honor and glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

So listen,

there's no matter

what you've done,

you're not beyond

the tidal wave

of God's grace

to overtake you today.

In Isaiah,

it says,

Behold,

the Lord's hand

is not shortened

that he cannot save

or his ear so dull

that he cannot hear.

God can do it.

Alright?

So throw yourself

at Christ.

Come to him.

Alright?

Number three,

moving through

number two,

number three,

the gospel can save

outcasts.

The gospel can save

outcasts.

And we see this

when Philip takes

the gospel

to the Samaritans,

even just down

in verses five

through eight.

So,

most of you

Bible people

out here,

you know the Samaritans

are,

so I won't give you

a long,

boring history lesson

on how they became

Samaritans,

but just so you know,

they were like

half-breed Jews

because hundreds

of years before

when the Assyrians

conquered this area,

they put Gentiles

there who began

to intermarry

and mix with

the remaining

Jewish population

that was there.

And so,

Jews looked at them

as half-breeds,

unclean,

we don't want to

associate with them,

we don't like them,

and so,

they had their own

little form,

I guess,

of like Judaism,

they had their own

temple,

that they worshipped

that,

but it wasn't

really the truth,

it was sort of

a mix of a lot

of different things,

it really wasn't

the worship

of the real God.

And so,

Jews who hated

them,

right,

Philip goes

and he brings

the gospel to them,

the Samaritans,

the outcasts

of their society,

really,

and he followed

the footsteps

of Jesus,

really,

because Jesus

was also the one

who brought the gospel

to these people

in himself.

and what happens,

you see there,

there was much joy

in that city

because of what

happened.

So,

that shows us

that no matter

who you are,

if you feel

ostracized,

if you feel

outcast,

Christ is also

there for you,

to bring you

into the people

of God.

And so,

a brief note

inside of this,

because it's in our text,

but it's not the main

focus,

what's going on here

when it says,

you know,

they believe

and they are baptized,

but they didn't receive

the Holy Spirit yet,

because that seems

to be inconsistent

with what we believe

about baptism.

We believe here

that like when

the Holy Spirit

comes and regenerates

you,

causes you to be

born again,

when you hear the gospel

that he takes up

residence in you,

so,

which Nathan

will be speaking

about pretty soon

in the next part

of our chapter.

So,

why did this happen?

Well,

this seems to be

a very unique case

in the early church

where God,

in his wisdom,

chose to withhold

the giving of the Spirit

until the apostles arrived,

so that there could be

unity between the Jewish

church in Jerusalem

and the Samaritans.

And,

why though?

Like,

why is that important?

If this hadn't happened,

the Samaritans

might have continued

to think that they

were operating

spiritually apart from

the Jews in Jerusalem.

Or,

the believers in Jerusalem

might have not really

accepted them

as brothers and sisters

either.

So,

the Spirit had fallen

immediately when they

received Christ.

There had been no

connection between the two.

And so,

by the coming of

Peter and John

and the giving

of the Spirit,

the Jewish believers

are linked

with the Samaritan

believers.

believers.

So,

now there's not

two separate churches

but one church,

one covenant

member family

all together,

Jew and Gentile.

So,

that division

and that hatred

was healed

because of the gospel.

But,

it also established

the apostolic authority

of Peter and John

as the apostles.

They came

and they did this.

Jesus gave them

that authority

to do that.

So,

this healed

that division

that was there

so there wasn't

two separate things

going on.

So,

come talk to me

later more about that

if you want to know more

but we'll stop there

just to keep moving

forward.

So,

last thing,

number four,

the gospel

can be misunderstood

as it goes forward.

So,

this is verse 9

through 11,

18 through 24.

We get a picture

of this man

called Simon,

the magician

and he was called

the great one

and he was amazed

by the people

of Samaria.

He's just the word

sorcery here

which means

just magic

and it's just

sort of a religion

that came from

the Medo-Persian

empire,

sort of a combination

of astrology,

horoscope,

science mixed

with,

you know,

just superstition,

spells,

charms,

incantations.

Like,

if he had had

a 1-800 number

back then,

he would have

been the guy

to call.

So,

it seems like

he believed.

It says he believed.

Right?

Then later on,

Peter gives this

huge indictment

against him.

Peter responds

to him by saying,

like,

may your silver

perish with you.

It's almost

as if he's saying

to hell with you

and your silver

because you thought

you could obtain

the grace,

the gift of God

with money.

So,

Simon mistook

Jesus

as a bill of goods,

a cheap commodity

that he could add

the tricks

to his repertoire

that he had

already.

You can't buy

the grace of God.

You have to come

and lay down

all your pride

and all the stuff

that you think

you can do

to impress God.

You have to lay it down

and come to God

in God's way,

which is only

through Christ,

by grace,

through faith.

So,

he was only

obsessed

with the supernatural.

He thought this

would be a cool way

for him to add

some tricks

to the show

he put on.

Peter says,

you have no,

you neither part

nor lot

in this matter

for your heart

is not right

before God.

You have no share

in this.

Your heart

is crooked.

So,

then he calls

him,

repent,

right?

Repent of this

wickedness.

Maybe,

perhaps,

God may forgive

you.

And so,

repent,

we are familiar

with this term,

to turn away

from your sin,

to change

the thinking

about why

you do what

you do.

It's not just

changing your

actions,

so follow me

on this.

It's not just

changing your

thinking,

it's just changing

your feelings

towards that

action as well.

So,

example,

it's not just

saying,

stop acting

prideful,

it's saying,

hate your pride,

because not only

does it destroy

you and hurt

others,

but it dishonors

God.

So,

it's not just,

okay,

I need to come

across like I'm

not prideful,

you need to

hate and despise

your pride,

because it

dishonors the

Lord and it

hurts other

people.

That's what

he's saying,

repent,

turn away

from your

sin,

you're rotten,

you're twisted,

you're enslaved,

that's what

Peter tells

him.

And so,

then he says,

well,

may none of

this happen

to me,

we don't

really know

what happened

to him,

but,

just an

example,

that there

is in the

scripture,

a believing

that is not

real believing,

a faith that

is not real

faith.

we see in

Luke 18,

or Luke 8,

that is sort

of a picture of

the parable of the

soils where the

gospel goes out,

and Jesus says,

the ones on the

rock are those

who when they

heard the word,

receive it with joy,

but then they have

no root,

they believe for a

little while,

and in time of

temptation,

they fall away.

So it seems like

something good is

going on,

but then when trials

come,

temptation come,

they fall away,

it's not real.

So is your

faith in Christ

real?

Are you sure

of it?

Are you trusting

Christ,

loving Christ?

So in conclusion,

here's just a few

things,

like there is a

very strong

warning,

scattered throughout

the Old Testament

and New Testament,

that there are a

lot of people who

think that they are

right with God,

and they're not.

There are people who

genuinely think they

have Christ,

and they don't.

Jesus said that on

the judgment day,

many people are

going to come to

him and say,

Lord, Lord,

we did this in

your name,

we did this for

you,

and he will say,

I will declare to

them,

depart from me,

you worker of

lawlessness,

I never knew you.

Very scary words.

So how can you be

sure,

you can be sure,

that your faith is

real in Christ.

Luke's warning here

is that there is a

faith that is not

saved.

Make sure you don't

have that faith,

that you have the

real faith.

Come to Jesus on

his terms,

not your terms,

for your heart is

not right before

God.

Right?

Make sure your

faith is real,

and stop playing

games with God.

Repent of your

sin,

change the way you

think about these

things,

and submit to God.

You can't buy this

with money,

you can't buy this

by good works.

It's the free

grace of God.

This is a free

offer of salvation

in Christ,

and the last thing

we're going to look at,

just turn to Isaiah

55 real quick.

If Simon had read

this, it might

have helped him,

but Isaiah 55,

the very opposite

of buying the

grace of God,

there's a picture

here.

A call to repent

of our sins,

renounce it,

and turn to God,

and to lay down

your sin,

and lay hold

of Christ.

Isaiah 55,

Isaiah 55:1

verse 1,

this is an invitation

from God.

Come,

everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters,

and he who has no

money,

come,

buy,

eat.

Come,

buy wine and milk

without money

and without price.

Why do you spend

your money for that

which is not bread,

and your labor for that

which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently

to me,

and eat what is good.

Delight yourselves

in rich food.

Incline your ear,

come to me.

Hear,

that your soul

may live.

Jump down to verse 6.

Seek the Lord

while he may be found.

Call upon him

while he is near.

Let the wicked

forsake his way,

and the unrighteous

man his thoughts.

Let him return

to the Lord.

Listen to this.

So that he may

have compassion on him,

and to our God,

for he will abundantly

part.

God is ready.

Come,

eat,

buy for free

from God.

Come to Christ.

You're not coming to me.

I have no supernatural power.

You're coming to Christ.

I'm only a messenger

to tell you

that God loves you,

Christ died for you,

and that he will forgive you

and receive you now.

And so,

the last comfort

that we can look at

from this

for those of us

who are in Christ

is that

our mission

to the world

is literally

unstoppable

because it is

God's purpose

to take the gospel

to all the nations.

And just a story

that I can't,

I really think

I'm just supposed

to put it in here.

I was kind of

holding it in my hand

lightly earlier.

But also,

during the communist regime,

there was a man

named Joseph Son,

another Romanian pastor.

I recommend this book.

It's called

Suffering,

Martyrdom,

and the rewards

in heaven.

But,

he was being interrogated.

He was in prison

for a long time.

And he was doing

the same thing,

loving,

speaking Christ

to the interrogators.

And this is something

he wrote in the book.

He said,

during an early interrogation,

I had told an officer

who was threatening

to kill me,

Sir,

let me explain

how I see this issue.

Your supreme weapon

is killing.

My supreme weapon

is dying.

Here's how it works.

You know that my sermons

are on tape

and they have spread

all over the country.

And if you kill me,

those sermons

will be sprinkled

with my blood.

Everyone will know

I died for my preaching.

And everyone who has

a copy of that tape

will pick it up

and say,

I better listen to this again

because this man

sealed it with his very life.

So, Sir,

my sermons

will speak ten times

louder than before.

I will actually rejoice

in this supreme victory

if you kill me.

After I said this,

the interrogator

sent me home.

Another officer

who was interrogating

a pastor friend of mine

told him,

We know that Mr. Song

would love to be a martyr,

but we are not that foolish

as to fulfill his wish.

I stopped to consider

the meaning

of that statement.

I remembered how

for many years

I was afraid of dying.

I had kept a low profile

because I wanted

so badly to live

and I had wasted

my life

and inactivity.

But now

that I have placed

my life on the altar

and decided

I was ready

to die

for the gospel,

they were telling me

that I,

they would not kill me.

I could go wherever

I wanted in the country

and preach

wherever I wanted

knowing I was safe.

As long as I tried

to save my life,

I was losing it.

And now

I see dying

as gain.

You can't stop

a people

who believe that.

You let me live,

I'm going to preach

Christ everywhere.

Kill me?

That's what he says.

And the guy

obviously walked away

and set him free.

So,

this is God's mission

and that it's unstoppable

and we need to

throw ourselves into it.

We need to have

more confidence in this.

this is what

gives me courage

to go on the campus

to hard places

and talk to people

who are either hostile

or crazy

because it's God's mission.

What are they going to do?

Nothing.

They have nothing.

They speak wind, right?

This is the word of God.

Throw yourself

into the cause of God.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.