Acts 8:26-40 "You Are Taller When You Kneel to Christ"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful

that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either

by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray

for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,

I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,

they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will

do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a

non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't

hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the

types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

Let's just bow our heads in prayer. Father, as we look at your Word, we ask that your Holy Spirit

would lead us and guide us into all truth. Father, we know that we need the gospel and your Word to

become more and more real to our hearts and our minds, so that we will have a reformation and

renewing and revitalization of our mind, that we might know the truth, that we might avoid lies,

that we might flee all foolishness and idolatry, and knowing you and knowing the truth,

that we would learn to walk in freedom. Father, we ask that you would continue to do this wonderful

work in our lives, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. I think Victor forgot his

glasses up here, actually. Or somebody did. When I was ordained 100 million years ago,

in the Diocese of Ottawa at the time, I mean, the Diocese of Ottawa still exists, but I'm no longer

obviously in the Diocese of Ottawa. They didn't pay starting clergy very much. We were paid quite

poorly, actually, some of the lowest in the country. And I really felt that I was called to be a minister.

But what I wasn't prepared for, I'd never owned a car before, by the way, actually. We'd just lived

downtown, and we walked or took public transit everywhere. And one of the conditions of my

employment was to get a car, which ended up being a rust bucket that kept breaking down.

And I was prepared to learn all of the different, you know, stresses of being a minister, and how to

be a minister, and how to lead people, and preach, and all of that type of stuff. But what caught me by

surprise was struggling with having no money, with having very little money, and not being able to do

very much about it. Because one of the conditions of my employment was that I had to have a car,

and another condition of my employment was that I wasn't allowed to have another job.

And I remember it was very hard. We weren't living paycheck to paycheck. We were,

we would get into debt, and then, anyway, you don't have to hear all my tales of woe.

But I have such clear memories of looking around. We were just living in a little dinky sub,

little dinky condo subdivision. And, and it sort of felt as if it was impossible that I would ever get

ahead. Like, I actually really remember, with the house that we were renting, has, it was a house that

included a fridge and a stove. And I, I was worried that if I went to my, my next posting, and I had to

buy a fridge and a stove, we couldn't afford to buy them, buy one. I, I remember very clearly how,

how hard that was for us. And there's a lot of people in our, in our society today that would be

very similar. And probably some of you have also lived through times like that. And sometimes the

biblical teaching comes across to people in a way which is very dispiriting. It, it, it, it isn't

hopeful, but it sucks hope out of you. And the story that we're about to look at today is a story

that at first glance is one that would suck hope out of you and could easily dispirit you if you don't

understand it in the right context. So it would be very helpful if you open your Bibles. We're going

to be looking at Acts chapter 8 verses 26 and following. Acts chapter 8 verses 26 and following.

Acts 8:26 Acts 8:26

And what's just happened in, in this book, as I said before, Acts is, was originally written as an

eyewitness-based history of the first 30 or so years of the Jesus movement. It was written while many

eyewitnesses were still alive and could comment on it. We have this, this version of it. And, and so in

this story, what's just happened is they've told this remarkable story of this fellow Philip who had

to flee Jerusalem because of a profound persecution that was causing Christians to be thrown into jail or

even killed. And he is one of the people who flees that. And as he flees, he tells people about the

story of Jesus, why this story of Jesus, who he is, what he taught, what he, why he died, his resurrection,

why this is profoundly good news for people. And he comes to this place, as I talked about last week,

the main city in Samaria. And he tells this story. And as he's telling this story, God used him in a very

powerful way. There were many miracles that were done through Philip's prayers. There were demons

that were oppressing people, that people were released from demonization. And the number of

Christians went from just Philip being there, and I'm guessing probably he had a wife and some kids,

but that little family to all of a sudden, there was a very large number of people who all were now

calling themselves Christians and, and really growing in the faith. And this is where the story

takes up. That's sort of the context. And then we come to this very next verse, which is verse 26.

Now an angel of the Lord, an angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise and go toward the south,

to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. Now just sort of pause here.

Here's where Christianity, how stories in the Bible can be very dispiriting to people.

I mean, like just, just imagine for a second, we sent somebody out to be a church planter,

and they go to a particular city and, and, and there's no, no like church. And then before you

know it, there's like 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 people. And then all of a sudden, this person

connected to our church calls us up and says, you know, I think God's telling me to go to this place.

And, and we say, oh, I've never heard of that place. And he said, oh, well that, that's because

it's a wilderness area. There's no people there, but I think God's calling me to go there. What,

what advice would we give him? We'd say, I don't think you're hearing God right.

Just be honest. That's probably what we would say. We'd probably say to him, it makes absolutely no

sense to go from a place where there's, I don't know, a thousand people now who are following Christ,

and you're having this great success. Why would you leave that and go now to a wilderness area,

a desert area where there's no people? All there are people occasionally going down this road.

This, this is the road that would take people from Jerusalem to Egypt and you have to go through

a desert wilderness area. And we would say that that probably is just not hearing God.

And, and part of the reason we think that way, well, you know, obviously you have to, you have to be

careful when you think you're hearing from God. And, but, but we also have to be careful about our

advice. You see, the, the primary cultural story of Canada, not the primary, one of the main cultural

stories of Canada, the stories that we Canadians believe is that we want to get better. We want to

progress. We want to, we want to, you know, we want to manage our time better. We want to get

promotions. We want to have more money. We want to have a nice house. We want to have, you know,

the right number of kids, you know, after we have the married, the right person. And, and so there's

lots of stuff in the newspapers and other types of places. These are the types of degrees you should

get. These are the workshops that you go to. This is how you learn how to network. This is how you

learn how to manage your money. This is how you learn to manage your diet and manage your exercise

and all of these types of things. And so the goal of all of it is, is that you, you will get those

promotions. You will get those advancements. You will get the house. You will get all of these types

of things. In some ways, my unhappiness when I was starting out ministry was because I believed that

cultural story. And where I was right now, it didn't seem as if it would ever lead to it.

And so because we believe this cultural story, when we look at something like this,

God appearing, God telling Philip to leave all of this success to go to a desert place.

Well, you know, we Christians, we go, okay, well, we have to believe this, but it's a very

dispiriting type of thing. Is God calling me to diminish myself? Is God calling me to not take

that promotion, but in fact to ask for a demotion? Like, is God asking me to do things that are going

to diminish me, that are going to hurt me? And there have been lots of people within the church

throughout the years who have in fact said that, right? There's been whole strains of spirituality

that say that, you know, the highest Christian life is the life that you never marry.

For instance, you take a vow of lifelong celibacy and you take vows of poverty. And those are people

who do that are in fact the spiritually elite, and that's what you should strive for. So there have

been voices within the church that have really emphasized this aspect of being profoundly counter-cultural.

But both are in error in different ways. First of all, the Bible does not mean to dispirit you.

It means to give you hope. It's not going to be up on the screen because I didn't think of asking her

to put it up, but there's this very wonderful text in Romans, Romans chapter 15, verse 4 to 6,

Romans 15:4–6

that goes like this. It's a very good verse to memorize or to meditate upon.

And it goes like this, Romans 15, verses 4 to 6.

Romans 15:4–6

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,

that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another,

in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ. So God doesn't give stories like this to...

He's giving us wisdom.

Here's a couple of things.

First of all,

money and positions of power

are in many ways, from a Christian point of view, neutral.

We Canadians don't really accept that. I mean, we're good Canadians, so we would say that we accept that obviously people who live in a rich area of the city aren't better than people who live in a poor area of the city.

That the single mom trying to deal with her kids and having to be on social assistance isn't somehow lower than the really well put together, polished people who live in a richer part of the city.

As good Canadians, we wouldn't want to say that the poor person is defective in any type of way in a moral sense.

But we're not really being honest when we say that.

It's almost always the case that for those of us who have money, those of us who are healthy,

those of us who have positions of power, that on one level, we and others do tend to think that we are somehow better than others.

We do put moral worth on money.

The Bible puts no moral worth on money.

None.

A rich person is not more moral than a poor person, per se.

Having lots of money isn't making you more morally worthwhile than those who don't have as much money.

In some ways, as well, even things like physical health and having power and prestige are in many ways morally neutral.

As we all know, you can get sick and have all sorts of problems that will lead to your death.

And that doesn't mean that you're somehow inferior to those who make lots of money.

The Bible paints a very, very different type of picture.

One of the things which makes it hard for us to understand the Christian faith is to understand that God is playing the long game with us.

He's not giving you these instructions so that you will be massively successful in the way that Canadians understand success.

God wants to form you to live with him for all eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.

That's how God wants to form you.

That's what he does.

That's his long-term plan.

I mean, we live in such an immediate time that to have our needs frustrated or to not be able to accomplish some of these things can be very discouraging.

Like, it's very interesting.

Like, in those times when I was very, very heavy-hearted about this, I didn't think of the fact that when I came to the church, there was no youth group.

And by that point in time, this was about, like, I remember thinking about this a lot between my second and third year because I was thinking about the fact that I was going to have to move.

But by the time I left that church, I had two youth groups, junior high and a high school group, centered around the Bible.

It's funny.

I didn't sort of think to myself, well, God's actually using me in this profound way to make a difference in these teenagers.

All I was thinking about was that I couldn't afford a fridge because I couldn't afford a fridge or a new car.

There was somehow something fundamentally bad with me, not that God was using me with having very little money to make a difference in the kids and whatever else I might have done, you know, with my sermons and other types of counseling.

The point of all of this is that we're based on an understanding of human life that says that sometimes to get higher up, you've got to go down.

Not sometimes.

To go higher, you've got to go lower.

It's teaching us that if I want to truly be tall, I will never be truly tall unless I bow to Jesus.

That when I get on my knees before Jesus, I am taller than when I stand upright, ignoring Christ or even defying him or pursuing some type of idol.

And that's because we understand that this profound story that is in fact the good news that makes us right with God is this.

That God, the Son of God, in complete and utter harmony with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, in a union of profound love, that God, the Son of God, seeing this profound need of human beings made in God's image,

and that we could not save ourselves, that God, that God, the Son of God set aside his appearance as God, his prerogatives, the worship that he was due, the honor that he was due.

He set all of those things aside, but remaining fully God, he went down.

He came down from heaven, so to speak.

And he humbled himself to the point of taking into himself not just our human nature in an abstract sense, but that he came down so low that the one who created the entire universe,

actually the flesh that he took into himself began not with a mighty warrior, not with the wisest, most powerful human being on the planet,

not the strongest, but as I got, a fertilized cell in the womb of Mary.

How low could God go?

But the story continues.

This wonderful story continues as God can go even lower than that.

In fact, he will do lower than that to pursue you because he loves you.

He will live a fully human life, but not as a rich person or a powerful person or a person with lots of prestige,

but as a lower working class person.

In an obscure part of the Roman Empire as a people who are conquered.

And he will live that life until his public ministry begins when he is 30-ish.

And then he will have this three or so year ministry where he performs miracles.

He teaches wonderful things.

He makes profound differences in people's lives.

But it all culminates with while he's doing all of those things,

not only are some people enamored with him and drawn to him,

but many people, very powerful people, come to hate him.

And so he comes to die upon the cross.

And so we see that God, the Son of God, as he descends lower and lower to the point of being a zygote

and then a human being, because all human beings begin as a zygote.

That's how every human being is.

We begin as a zygote and we go until we die.

That's what it means to be a human being.

And Jesus dies on the cross.

He actually experiences death.

And part of this profound good news is that we understand that when Jesus dies this death,

that he himself had never rebelled against God.

He had never done anything wrong in his entire life.

There was no person who could say to him validly and fairly that he had ever hurt them.

He had only done good.

He had only told the truth.

He had been, in a sense, pure.

And so when he dies on the cross, this profound mystery is that he's dying as a sacrifice for you and me,

who are far from perfect and who are all going to die and have done things that should not have been done

and have failed to do things that should really be done.

And understand shame and wrongdoing and being wronged and reproof and confusion and foolishness and idolatry

and all of those things.

And Jesus dies for us.

He dies for you and me.

And when he dies for you and me, it means that, in a very real sense,

all of that comes on him and the punishment that you and I deserve is laid on him.

And so he dies the death of a wrongdoer, even though himself, he has never done anything wrong.

And he dies.

And how much low can he go?

He can go even lower than that because he goes and he dies and he tastes everything there is to taste of death.

But at the end of tasting everything there is to taste of death, he rises from the dead.

There have been many people who have died, clinically died, and come back to life.

It's called near-death experiences.

There's lots of medical literature around that that really happens.

In fact, if you're curious about it, the latest Sean McDowell video is of a doctor who thought that those things didn't happen but studied it and now has come to the conclusion that people really do die.

And have this, and then are in a period of time with death and then come back to this side of life and talk about it in ways that can't be explained scientifically.

It must be something that happens.

But Jesus is very different.

He dies and experiences everything there is to experience of death.

But then he emerges on the far side of death, alive.

He does not die again.

And now, so it is that even now, 2,000 years later, when you hear the story of Jesus and you know that he is alive, he's ascended into heaven, he's going to come again.

You can call out to him and you can ask him that he will be your savior and your lord.

That his death will stand for your, that I can call out to him and say, Jesus, may your death, your life and death and resurrection, may you take me for yourself.

May it stand for me.

May I be yours.

May I believe that this is the plan of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and the action of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit so that human beings like me who are far from God can be made right with you.

May it help me to, Father, I believe it.

I want that.

You've led me to want it.

I give myself to you.

And Jesus does.

But notice, then, you come to have this understanding of that what reconciles you with God is this profound story of dissent, of dissent, of dissent, of dissent.

But the result of all of that dissent is this offer that lifts you high.

That it doesn't matter if you're a Down syndrome believer.

It doesn't matter if you're on the edge of dementia.

It doesn't matter if you're very rich.

It doesn't matter if you're brilliant.

It doesn't matter if you're poor.

It doesn't matter if you're physically broken or physically excellent.

Every single one of us, we were really made to know our creator and to be with him forever.

And there is no other way of being made right with our creator other than putting our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when we put our faith and trust in him, the final word about you or I will not be physically broken, physically incapable, poor, broken, Down syndrome, dementia.

The final word about us when we die is that Jesus will look at you and he will look at me and he will say,

Welcome, daughter. Welcome, son. I am so glad that you are now here and you will be with me face to face forever.

As the father smiles at us. That's the final word about us in Christ.

So we're taught this very profound story of...

See, in a sense, what happens is in our Canadian cultural story, we want to progress, we want to progress, and we want to progress.

But unless that's tempered by some just very, very basic virtues, unless it's tempered by us being willing to die to things, die to our anger, die to our greed, die to wanting to despise others, die to seeing people as rivals.

Unless we're willing to die to those things, even our possessing more money or getting more power will often come at the expense of just becoming more alone.

And living a more empty life.

And so what we see here in this particular story, the very heart of the story, there's another heart that we're going to get to in a moment.

The whole story begins

because God

tells Philip to do something

that in his flesh would not seem right.

But the Lord asked Philip

to die to himself and say yes.

And that's how the story begins.

This act of him

being willing to say yes

to the Father's command.

You know,

the whole Christian life is that God...

It isn't that God wants to diminish you.

The whole Christian life is that

we don't realize

the way to real health.

Every single person in Canada wants to be

generous.

But nobody wants to give away their money.

And we all want to have

power, but we also want to have power

and have people like us.

We want to have our own way,

but we'd like to be married and have a love relationship.

You know, you go on and on and on and on.

There's all these things that

require us

to have a type of death

if we're to actually succeed

in getting what we really want.

And the gospel gives a context for that.

It gives a story.

And not just a story,

but a presence.

Christ is with us.

See, here it's a very, very different thing

if Christ says to me,

George, just remember who I am.

How much I love you.

Like, I love you so much, George,

that I left heaven for you.

I became a human being for you.

I took my human nature,

your human nature.

I suffered for you.

I died on the cross for you.

I tasted all of death for you.

I did all of that for you

because I love you.

And I am the God,

the Son of God.

I, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

I'm the one who created all things

and saw human beings when they fell

and brought ruin into their own life.

And I pursued you because I love you.

So will you trust me

with my teaching on money?

Will you trust me

that you have to give

some of your money away

for the local church

and for the furtherance of the gospel

and for the relief of the poor?

Will you trust me?

Will you trust me

in the area of your sexuality?

Will you trust me?

Will you trust me

in how you spend your time

that your life will be not

more unfulfilled

because you give up time on Sunday

and for spiritual friendships?

Will you trust me?

Will you trust me?

Remember how much I love you.

You see, that's the context for it.

You see, human beings

in their flesh

understand on one level

that there's this riddle

or enigma in existence

that you can get all the promotions

and make all the money

and end up with a terribly alone

and meaningless life

and die with no friends.

That you can get to that point

where you're not even sure

if you can marry somebody

if they want to marry you

because of your money

or if they might want to marry you

because they actually love you.

And you can get in positions of power

and you wonder

if people ever tell you the truth

or are they just trying to flatter you?

And so they understand

there has to be some types of deaths

that go on

where you don't get your own will all the time,

where you listen,

where you're kind

and where you're generous.

And one of the things

which the gospel sets forth

is that we have this person, Jesus.

We have his teaching

and his example

and his presence

to help us navigate those things

and to set really helpful limits on them.

So the story continues

and it continues

in addressing another very important fear

and need that we have.

So you look at it again,

God asks us,

God asks Philip

to do something that makes,

well, it just doesn't seem right.

But Philip trusts the Lord

that the Lord Jesus Christ loves him

and that the Lord Jesus Christ

is preparing Philip

to spend eternity with him.

And so in verse 27,

Philip rises and goes.

And there was an Ethiopian eunuch,

a court official of Candace,

queen of the Ethiopians,

who was in charge

of all her treasure.

He had come to Jerusalem

to worship

and was returning

seated in his chariot

and he was reading

the prophet Isaiah.

And the Holy Spirit

said to Philip,

go over and join this chariot.

So Philip ran to him

and heard him reading

Isaiah the prophet

and asked him,

do you understand

what you're reading?

Just as a bit of an aside,

I'm not up to date

on all my scholarship,

but I understand

that in the Confessions

of Augustine

written in the,

I think,

late 300s,

there's a famous scene

in there

where he observes

somebody reading silently.

And it,

I believe,

unless it's been changed,

it's one of the first times

in literature

that people observed

somebody reading silently.

They hadn't figured that out.

Everybody read out loud.

Nobody would have just sat

in the living room

reading quietly.

They would have read out loud.

That's just how you read.

That's how he knew.

He didn't have a word

of knowledge in this case.

He just knew,

he knew the Ethiopian eunuch

was reading Isaiah

because he could hear

him reading it

and he knew the Bible.

He knew the quote.

So Philip,

verse 30 again,

heard him reading Isaiah

and the prophet

and asked,

do you understand

what you're reading?

And the eunuch said,

how can I,

unless someone guides me?

And the eunuch

invited Philip

to come up

and sit with him.

Now the passage

of the scripture

that he was reading

was this,

like a sheep

he was led

to the slaughter

and like a lamb

before its shearer

is silent,

so he opens

not his mouth.

In his humiliation,

justice was denied him.

Who can describe

his generation

for his life

is taken away

from the earth?

And the eunuch

said to Philip,

about whom,

I ask,

does the prophet

say this

about himself

or about someone else?

Now just sort of

pause here

for a second.

See,

one of the things

which is very profound

about this story,

which we desperately

need to hear,

see,

people can be

in very,

very large churches

and they can hear

about all these

successful Christians

and all these other

things that are going,

but they themselves

might feel,

does God actually

really care about me?

See,

one of the things

which is so important

about this story

is that Philip

leaves the nameless

crowds to go

to one man

because this one man

matters to God.

Right?

You matter to God.

You and your uniqueness,

your particularity,

your struggles,

your sins,

your hopes,

your dreams,

your fears.

You matter to God.

Christ comes

not to pursue

humanity in general.

He doesn't come

to pursue a crowd.

He came

to pursue

Louise,

to pursue

Josiah,

to pursue

Diane,

to pursue

George,

to pursue

Victor.

He comes

to pursue

you.

And we see

this very powerfully

formed just in

that the story

structures us

to understand

that he comes

and seeks

particular people.

but he also

comes to

pursue

those people

who,

through their

own actions

or just

through the way

that life

has beaten

them up,

now feel

very far

from God.

And that was

this Ethiopian

eunuch.

You have to know

a few other things

in background

to understand

this.

This Ethiopian

eunuch

was obviously,

even though he

was from

Ethiopia,

he was part

of the Jewish

world.

He might have

been born

Jewish or

whatever it is,

he was part

of the Jewish

world.

And a eunuch

means that he's

been castrated.

And in the

religious practices

of the day,

it means that he

could never

become a full

Jew.

He could never

worship at the

heart of worship

in the Jewish

faith.

He couldn't.

And in fact,

whether he

had originally

made this

decision,

he could never

make decisions

all the time,

you know,

I could pursue

the promotions

and pursue all

of those things

and it might

damage my

marriage,

but at the

end of the

day,

I'd much

rather have

these promotions

than my

marriage.

People don't

normally consciously

say that,

but they

unconsciously act

that way.

Sometimes they

consciously say

it.

And they end

up making

choices and

choices and

choices,

which leaves

them alone.

And in that

particular world,

today you

could be the

head of the

Privy Council

or the head

of Apple and

you don't have

to be castrated.

But in those

days you had

to be.

And he

would have

just said,

you know,

it's worth

it.

It's worth

it.

The food,

the cultural

experiences,

the allure of

power,

the clothing,

the house,

the servants,

it's worth

it.

And so maybe

sometime after

that he now

has a bit of

a serious

reflection upon

all of that.

Those of you

of a certain

age remember

Paul Henderson

and Paul Henderson

became very famous

in Canada in the

70s.

He was already

a good hockey

player,

but he got

the tie-breaking

goals to help

Canada come

back and beat

the Soviet Union

in the first

ever contest

between Canada

and the Soviet

Union in hockey.

He got the

three goals

that won the

last three games

that they needed

to win the

series.

He won all

of them.

He got all

of those goals.

In fact,

Wilfrid Laurier

University used

to be called

Waterloo Lutheran

University,

and this was

all just after

Paul Henderson

did these things.

They did a poll

of the university

students about

how they wanted

to rename

the university,

and the clear

winner was that

it should be

called Paul

Henderson

University.

But the

Board of

Governors

nixed it and

said it had

to keep the

same letters,

so they made

it Wilfrid

Laurier

University.

But Paul

Henderson

became a

Christian because

he'd reached

the pinnacle

of hockey and

fame, and

he said,

is that all

there is?

Is that all

there is?

Is that all

there is?

And so this

man who's

willingly probably

pursued castration

so he could have

this senior level

of government

comes later on

to this tragic

state of affairs

where he

now wants

meaning, but

he actually,

when he goes

to Jerusalem

to worship,

and he's

rich enough

that he can

afford a

scroll of

Isaiah,

which means

he's become

very wealthy

to be able

to afford

his own

scroll of

the book

of Isaiah,

but when he

went there

he couldn't

be fully in

the temple,

he had to

be in the

outskirts

in the

temple of

the Gentiles.

He longed

to be close

to God

but could

not be

close to

God.

And so

this part

that he read,

and he

probably was

reading it

over and

over and

over again

because when

it says

in verse

33,

in his

humiliation

justice was

denied him,

who can

describe his

generation for

his life is

taken away

from the

earth?

What that

is actually

saying is

this man

died before

he could

have any

children,

no progeny,

nobody to

follow him.

That's what

that means.

He died so

it means he

will have no

children or

grandchildren or

great-grandchildren.

He dies in a

sense childless.

And this is

obviously,

that's partially

why he's

probably saying,

who's he

talking about?

Is the prophet

talking about

himself or

someone else?

Because in

some ways he

understands he's

talking about

himself.

You see,

this is the

other thing why

this story is

so profound

about how

in fact there's a

God who wants

to bring the

losers of the

world, the

ones who've been

defeated and

crushed by the

Canadian cultural

story, and

been created by,

that have been

devastated by the

idols that we

have followed.

followed.

And now at

some point in

time we feel

like our life

is over and

we're a failure

and we're far

from God and

far from our

hopes and far

from our

dreams and

God comes and

says there can

be new life

for you.

There are many

people in this

connected to our

church who would

love to have

children and

can't.

Either because

they can't find

someone to marry

or because they

married and

discovered that

they were

childless.

they just

can't have

children.

And if that

children are a

great good but

if children become

an idol to you

and the Canadian

cultural story

becomes an idol to

you, it deepens

your disappointment

and that feeling

like you just are

second or third

or fourth or

fifth class.

And it can be

very, very hard.

I speak as a

man who felt

that how could I

ever afford a

fridge?

And we also

live at a

cultural moment

where many

people in

pursuit of

what they think

is the good

life are

turning themselves

into eunuchs.

And all of the

smart people of

Canada say that

if you as a

young man want

to cut off

your penis,

that's a good

thing and will

support you.

If you're a

woman and you

want to remove

your breasts

and remove

your vagina,

that that's a

good thing for

you.

And those

things, the

statistics show

they're still

depressed afterwards.

And you end up

feeling far from

God.

And you end up

feeling far from

God.

And you end up

feeling far from

God.

And you end up

feeling far from

God.

And you end up

feeling far from

God.

This part that he

is reading is from

one of the most,

maybe the most

profound part.

You should go

back and read

it later.

Isaiah 52,

Isaiah 52:13

verse 13 to

chapter 53,

verse 12.

It's maybe that

nobody reading that

can understand that

it refers to

anybody other than

Jesus.

And it describes

this good story

that I began the

whole sermon with

about how Jesus

comes and

pursues you.

And he doesn't

look at you and

say, I'm not

interested in you

because you're

childless.

I'm not interested

in you because you

haven't been able to

marry.

I'm not interested

in you because

you've made

yourself into a

eunuch.

I'm not interested

in you because

you've ruined your

life with alcohol.

I'm not interested

in you because

you've ruined your

life by pursuing

power and prestige.

Jesus doesn't

come and say that.

He comes and

says, dear one, I

love you.

I died for you.

And if you put

your faith and

trust in me, you

will not be far

off.

I will bring you

to the Father's

heart.

the Holy Spirit

will indwell you.

And in me, you

will be part of my

people and you

will be part of the

new heaven and the

new earth that goes

on for all eternity.

And that's my

heart for you.

That's my heart

for you.

Verse 35,

then Philip opened

his mouth and

beginning with the

scripture, he told

the eunuch the good

news about Jesus.

And as they were

going along the

road, obviously

there's some time

that's passed, an

hour, two hours,

three hours.

They come to some

water and the eunuch

said, see here is

water.

What prevents me

from being baptized?

He's given his life

to Christ.

And the eunuch commands

the chariot to stop

and they both went

down into the water,

Philip and eunuch.

And Philip baptized the

eunuch.

He was not far from

God.

He belonged to Christ.

He was close to the

Father's heart.

He knew the Father's

profound love for him.

You see, in Christ,

the final word about

you will not be

failure.

It's hard when God

asks us to do things

in his word that goes

against our

inclinations.

And a lot of times

we don't do it.

And hopefully over time

we learn to do it

more and more.

but he, and he

hasn't given us

stories like this so

we will feel like

failures, but to

encourage us to

remember Jesus, to

remember that in

Christ we can come

together on a Sunday

morning saying

together, Father, you

are our refuge and

our strength.

I haven't had a good

week and I give you

thanks and praise that

in Christ you will

never let me go.

And I give you

thanks and praise that

my final destiny is to

be yours.

Thank you that

Jesus will be with me

this week and let's

live this week.

I thank you.

Make your hope of

glory more real to my

life.

That's the Christian

life.

That's the power of

this story.

Invite you to stand.

Just whether here or

online, just want to

encourage you.

Jesus, I want to

give you a prayer of

this.

And I want to say to

you, Jesus, I've heard

this about you.

Be my Savior and my

Lord.

Help me to lay my

whole life, give me my

whole life to you.

Be my Savior and Lord.

And Jesus takes you.

And in some ways the

rest of the Christian

life is also just saying

that.

Not that we become his.

Once he takes us, he

never lets us go.

But, you know, that's

in a sense what we do

on a Sunday.

Jesus, I want you to,

you know, this week I

often live by my own

desires and my own

plans.

And I would have been

way wiser if I just

trusted you as my

Savior and Lord.

So, Father, forgive me.

Help me to walk this

week trusting you as my

Savior and my Lord.

You begin and you walk

the same way.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you so

much for Jesus.

Thank you that he

doesn't just care for us

as a church or because

we're all from Canada,

we're all from Africa,

we're all from Europe or

wherever, Father, that you

love each of us particular

and in an individual way

that you know us not in

general, but you know us.

You see our lives, you

see our past, you see

our present, you see

our future and you love

us and you are for us.

You are for us in your

Son.

And we ask, Father, that

this story of who Jesus

is and what he did for

us, that that might

become more and more

real to our hearts and

form how we view money

and how we view sexuality

and how we view family

life and careers and

time.

Father, may that form us.

And Father, we give you

thanks and praise that

it's not just a story that

informs us, but that the

Holy Spirit is present in

our lives and we believe

in Christ and that Christ

walks with us.

And Father, we ask that you

help us to keep in step

with the Spirit and to

trust that our loving

Savior, Jesus, is with us

as we do each day and we

do each moment in each

day.

So Father, we ask that you

help us to die to ourself

and obey you, learning to

live for your glory,

knowing that as we bow to

Jesus, you make us tall.

And we ask all these things

in the name of Jesus, your

Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

We don't have any formal

intercessions, but we should

spend some time in prayer.

So if you would just take a

posture of prayer, let's just,

what I'm going to say is,

Lord, in your mercy.

And when I say, Lord, in your

mercy, if you would respond,

hear our prayer.

Let's pray.

Father, we give you thanks

and praise for the country

of Canada.

We know, Father, that there

are things in Canada which

are very sinful.

But Father, we give you

thanks so we can be part of

this country.

We commend into your hands

our Prime Minister, the

Premiers of Ontario and

Quebec, the Mayors of

Ottawa and Gatineau.

We commend into your hands

all who work on Parliament

Hill and all who work in the

civil service.

Father, we commend them

into your hands.

We commend into your hands

the business leaders and the

leaders of the arts and

education and all that make

Canada Canada.

Father, we commend them into

your hands.

We ask that your Holy Spirit,

Father, would help them to

pursue that which leads to

true peace and prosperity and

justice and mercy in our

country.

And that our prosperity would

be used, Father, to help those

around the world who are in

great need.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, we know that there are

many Christians who are

suffering persecution.

We know that today in places

like India and Pakistan, in

North Korea and in Iran and

China, that there is much

persecution of our brothers and

sisters in Christ.

Father, we commend these, our

brothers and sisters, into your

hands.

We ask that you would protect

them, that you would sucker

them, that you would give them

courage.

Father, we are humbled by their

courage.

And we ask that you would turn

their persecutors away from

persecution and turn their

hearts to Jesus.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, we give you thanks and

praise for our church.

We thank you, Father, that we are

not the only church in the city.

We ask that you would grow the

bonds of affection between our

church and all gospel-shaped,

gospel-sharing churches in this

city.

And we ask, Father, for

ourselves, that you would grant

us reformation and renewal and

revival.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, we thank and praise you

for churches around the world.

We thank you for our unity with

churches all over, Father, through

the Global Anglican Futures

Movement.

We thank you, Father, that we are

part of a diocese.

But most of all, Father, we thank

you for missionaries.

And we ask your blessing upon

those in our congregation that

have gone out to be missionaries and

those whom we support as

missionaries.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, you have put us in

positions where we have

obligations to pray for people,

for our neighbors, our family

members, our friends, our

co-workers.

Father, we ask that you teach

us and help us to pray for

them.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, we pray for those who do

not yet know Jesus as Savior and

Lord.

We ask that you would lead us to

pray for certain people and give

us opportunities to share the

good news of Christ, not trusting

in our own power or wisdom, but

trusting in your word and the

moving of your Holy Spirit.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

Father, we come before you with

our own needs, needs for

direction, needs to help to deal

with alcohol or addiction, needs

to do, Father, around our personal

lives and decisions about jobs and

futures, particular sins that are

really oppressing us.

Father, we commend ourselves into

your hands at this time.

We bring our own needs before

you.

We ask that your Holy Spirit

would move and work in our

lives so that we might live free

lives for your glory.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our

prayer.

We ask all of these things in the

name of Jesus, your Son and our

Savior, our only mediator and

advocate.

We ask all of these things in the

name of Jesus.

Amen.

We ask all of us for the next

Lord, our welcome.

We ask all this things in the

frente e every time that we

pray for our people, our

Lord, our mercy with us through

our God, the Father, our

Lord, the Lord with theеци師, your

쪽, your heart, the God, our

God is the continuit of the

kingdom to the kingdom of desire and

the soul, our trust.

It's so sweet.

We ask all the people that they

read to do today.

Remember, call on faith,

the Lord, what we are

going to happen to be

крепcity in the guild.