Sunday Sermon
easter sunday morning 12 april 2009
Acts 8v1-25
Life in the Shadow of the Easter Event : persecution.
Thus far we have noted the picture that Luke builds of the early church.
It was a church full of Great Grace, Great Fear and Great Growth.
Then Luke moves on to describe certain individuals in the early church.
Last time we saw the magnificent Stephen, the 1st martyr of the Church.
We noted he became the great man he was because of the Great Saviour he flowed.
Christ was his vision, his all in all, and in seeing Him he lived a powerful life and died with great grace and forgiveness in his heart, even though it was a horrible and painful death.
· Next Luke moves on to give us a picture of Philip who was also one of the 7 chosen men, who were to help deal with the care of the widows.
Thus we can note right at the start that this man was also a man of great calibre!
He was full of the Spirit, full of wisdom and he too had a great reputation.
But to begin with we need to pick up the story line: Stephen has been murdered and following that a great persecution brakes out in the church v1!
Saul is in charge of this persecution v3.
· Then we have a very interesting detail:
v4 all those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went!
Up until Stephen is was really just the apostles who are spoken of as preaching but now all the church are doing it!
· This was an emergency situation, the church was in threat of extinction, so all the believers were telling the gospel!
· Are we in less a dangerous position today? The church in Scotland may well be on the verge of extinction, we all need to be about the business of preaching the gospel.
1A) Philips first mission v5-8
V5 Goes to Samaria and preaches Jesus the Messiah there.
· Jesus is the focus of all his work! His vision and motivation, Jesus.
V6 when the crowds see the wonders, they listen to what he says!
· The means through which we bring the message is vital.
V7-8 the signs were healing miracles, which led to great joy.
Picture of Philip: a wonderworking preacher of the gospel who leaves great joy in his wake!
App:
a. Vision and message needs to be Jesus.
b. Means need to be authentic and consistent with the message. Mainly that is a matter of our character.
c. what are we aiming for? To bring people “great joy”. To serve others!
B) Philips mission further explained: v9-13
V9-11 Simon was some kind of magician who fooled the people into thinking he was someone great.
V12 -13 But, Philips ministry pulls the people from Simon and Simon himself becomes a follower. Simon became the one who astonished others to be the one who was astonished himself.
· Difference between the two?
Simon was an entertainer who worked for his own glory.
Philip also performed great signs, but he had a message and knowledge to impart.
He sought to bring people freedom in Gods Kingdom v12. Worked for Gods glory.
App:
Signs and wonders are not the most important factor in the gospel!
Signs and wonders can be copied by unbelievers, and they can lead to people following for the wrong reasons! As we will see with Simon.
The real work of mission is bringing the Message! Philip was telling people about the Kingdom of God – the same message Jesus proclaimed!
· The message? Jesus is the Saviour, through him life with God is now open!
C) Philips mission given apostolic stamp of approval. V14-17
V14 Peter and John come to check out the work.
V15-17 they pray for the believers to receive the Holy Spirit.
This was like a second Pentecost. The Samaritan outpouring of the Spirit.
The gospel was breaking ethnic barriers now.
The Samaritans acceptance into the church comes without much drama! Later we see a bit more concern when the Gentiles are accepted, but Samaritans are accepted easily.
App:
This outpouring of the Spirit on the Samaritans is further proof of the Message.
Anyone can come for salvation!
D) 1st problem arises with one of the followers! V18-24
· V18-19 Simon wants to buy the power he saw the apostles had
· V20-23 his request is met with a sharp rebuke!
V20 he thought he could buy God’s gift! Working on the wrong mindset.
V21 his heart was not right before God – thus he was not really converted, he followed because of the signs not the message.
V22 he is called to repent – to change his way of thinking!
V23 he was full of bitterness (possibly because his fame had gone), captive to sin – his old lifestyle still ruled and enslaved him.
V24 – Simons response was a good as far as it went! But it still did not show a desire to get right with God, just escape from some bad consequence!
App:
The problem with Simon was a lack of acceptance of the Message.
He only saw the signs and forgot the Saviour!
The solution? Repent, change your way of thinking, look to the Saviour.
Being a Christian is not about status or influence or any power we might get.
Being a Christian is all about Jesus and His glory.
easter sunday evening 12 april 2009
Col 1v3-8
Intro:
Last time we saw the opening that Paul makes to his letter.
We saw him delight in his work as an apostle of the Lord and in his calling to that work.
We also saw how he addresses the Colossians as those who were “holy and faithful”.
This week we see something of Paul’ s prayer for them, the manner of their living and the role of knowledge and information in all this!
1) Paul next describes his Prayer that he makes for the Colossians v3-4
He gives thanks to God for them! When he prays for them he thanks God for them!
His prayer is directed to God, the Father of Jesus, and is full of thankfulness.
Why? V4
Because he has heard good things about them!
He has not even met them, but the hearing of good news has lifted his soul to praise God for them! What was the good news about them? Basically that they were true Christians.
They had faith in Jesus and they had actions to prove that faith – they loved the saints!
App:
Time and again the scripture calls us to give thanks to God.
The very fact that we can call God Father, should lift our souls to give thanks.
But there is no point in giving thanks out of politeness!
Paul gave thanks for real reasons! He heard of their faith and love!
We should make it a matter of pray that the Lord would give us some conversions to give thanks and praise for! Until such time we can’t pray with the reasons Paul prays!
But we can plead to God for salvation, and give thanks that he calls us so to ask!
2) then he describes the root cause of their faith and love v5-6
He was able to give great thanks for them because they had faith in Jesus and love for the saints. But where did these things come from?
It came from the gospel v5. They had heard the good news of forgiveness, which had filled them with great hope, which in turn enabled them to live by faith, that is they trusted Jesus and so they were then able to love the saints!
They heard the gospel, it filled them with hope, they trusted God and loved one another!
What was the Gospel they heard? “God’s grace in all its truth” – Gods grace? Unmerited favour, yes, but what was that? It was Jesus – and what he has done for us on the cross!
The story of God’s grace in all its fullness is the story of Jesus:
So hearing what God had done for them in Jesus, filled them with Hope! – the wow factor!
Thus they learned to trust God – if God has given us Jesus then He must be totally good!
He must be worthy of our trust. And in learning that for themselves, there was then an overflow of love for one another.
Further, Paul links their transformed lives to their grasp of the Gospel v6.
They “understood Gods grace in all its truth”. They had such hope, faith and love, because they really grasped the truth of the gospel!
App:
a. note the role of understanding:
What great characteristics the Colossians had: full of faith, hope and love!
We can have that too, the more we understand the wonder of the Good News.
The Good News is the story of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus!
Just consider that for a moment, what God has done for us!
Beware of the spirit of the age that despises knowledge. That just wants to be always practical! The fact is we cannot have a practical faith unless we understand the gospel, and the more we understand the better!
· However, don’t take that to mean a head knowledge alone.
Our true understanding of the gospel is tested by our obedience towards it.
b. note also the role of hope. Hope is seen as a driving force in the life of the Christian.
We are called to live in hope of further glory and greater salvation.
3) then Paul describes the means through which they received the Good News. V7-8.
It did not come to them out of nowhere! The gospel was preached to them by Epaphras!
A servant of Jesus had come to them, telling the good news of Jesus v7.
Then Epaphras had told Paul all about the Colossians v8.
The Gospel is the news about what God has done, but that news dies unless it is told to others who then believe.
App:
· We live in an age where we need to tell the Message again.
The Gospel in Scotland is on the brink of extinction and already dead in many parts because it is simply not know anymore!
· The work of the Gospel is dependent on the flow of information
The Colossians believed because they were told the good news, Paul then carried on the ministry through his writing because he was told about them by Epaphras.
We need to remember that words are powerful. And that the Gospel needs to be told!
