Living With One Foot In Eternity

LIVING WITH ONE FOOT IN ETERNITY

Acts 8:5-17

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A boy had a heated argument with his sister about who was going to get the last brownie. Their mother overheard the fuss and decided to teach them a deeper truth. She said, "What would Jesus do?"

2. The girl immediately answered, "That's easy. Jesus would just pray over the brownie and make 5000 more!"

B. TEXT

5Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed Christ there. 6When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8So there was great joy in that city. 9Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. 12But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 14When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them….15 [to] pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16because the Holy Spirit had not yet come [Gr. “fallen”] upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:5-9, 12-17

C. THESIS: PHILIP’S AWESOME LIFE

1. Philip was one of the seven deacons of the Church at Jerusalem. He was specially chosen to serve the church at Jerusalem because he was “a man full of wisdom, faith, and full of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:3,5).

2. When the persecution broke out against the Church, Philip didn’t just go into hiding, He became a preacher in a tremendous revival in Samaria with 1,000s saved and many miracles.

3. Later an angel appeared to him to send him to a desert road to convert the Ethiopian Treasurer. Then the Spirit supernaturally transported him 20 miles away to Azotus.

4. Philip’s life also produced four daughters who were all prophetesses and the apostle Paul received prophecies at his home (Acts 21:8).

5. Philip is an example of a person “Living With One Foot in Eternity.” I want us to look at four characteristics of a person who’s ‘living with one foot in eternity.’ First…

I. THEY LIFT UP JESUS

A. WHAT ARE YOU LIFTING UP?

1. Many people’s lives centers on themselves. If you talk to them, you hear what they think or what they’re doing; it’s all about them. But Philip, as a person with one foot in eternity, centered his life on Jesus!

2. He didn’t waste time talking about the latest sports team or the political situation. He didn’t get caught up in theology or focusing on certain sins. Instead, he pointed people straight to the answer – to Jesus!

3. It’s only lifting up Jesus that can set men & women free; it is only the preaching of Christ that can revolutionize a person’s life and change their base nature, making them desire to live for God.

B. WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT?

1. The Bible says that Philip “proclaimed” Christ. He determined to know nothing but Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).

2. The Word “proclaim” (vs. 5; kerusso) isn’t the word for evangelize, but “to be a herald,” to announce the Kingship of Christ! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

3. Jesus is eternal, co-existence w/ the Father, Creator, born of a Virgin. We need to make known His sinless life, His miracles, His atoning death, His resurrection & ascension!

4. ILLUSTRATION: He’s the ONLY SAVIOR-Acts 4:12; Jn. 14:6.

a. David Platt told about going to a Hindu temple and asking the Hindus how they get to heaven. David summarized their view for them in asking if they thought it was like a mountain with many paths that led to God.

b. They said, “Yes, that is what we think.” Then David said, “What if I told you that we can’t get to Him by any of those paths, but instead, God came down the mountain to get us!”

c. That is what Christianity is. All other religions are our attempts to get to God. Christianity is God coming to get us!

5. Jesus overthrew the powers of hell, took our transgressions away, nailing them to His cross, made peace between us and the Father!

6. The 2nd thing about people who “live with one foot in eternity” is that…

II. THEY INSPIRE HUNGER FOR GOD