In Acts 8, the preaching of the word of God is mentioned seven times. And the man at the center of most of those mentions was Philip—one of seven men appointed by the apostles to serve physical food so that the apostles could continue to serve spiritual food.

While Philip was serving, God was teaching him, training him, and forming him for what was next—not only to be the first great missionary in the church, but also to be the first great evangelist in the church.

Watch our study of Acts 8:20-46 as we consider how Philip surrendered to serving the Lord and how the Lord formed in Philip the internal integrity and sensitivity to be ready for anything at any time.

Within Christianity today, there is a temptation to focus on outward appearances that impress others and display success: buildings and budgets. But this is not what God sees, nor the metric He uses to measure success. He is neither blessed nor impressed by those things.

Although these are necessary aspects of ministry, finances and facilities should only facilitate the vision. When they become the focus of ministry, there is a risk of becoming emptied of God’s glory. It’s not about outward appearances; it’s about the heart. As a fellowship, we could have the biggest budget and the biggest building, but if those finances and that facility do not serve the heart of Jesus for His people, then it’s just empty of God’s glory.

The heart of Jesus for His people is found in a real relationship with Him, filled with the Spirit as we walk in the Spirit. It’s seen in lives cultivated with prayer, saturated in the Word, fellowship unhindered by sin, and communion with Him and one another out of the overflow of faith, hope, and love. This is what He is looking for in the heart of any fellowship of believers. This is how Jesus measures success.

The religious rulers during Jesus’ earthly ministry survived on the understanding that man looks at the outward appearance and can’t see the heart. But Jesus, being God, saw right through their hypocrisy and publicly called them out in front of the people they were supposed to serve.

In response, the chief priests, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes attempted to trick and trap Jesus. But time and time again, Jesus triumphed over their tricks and traps with the truth. One day, after enduring all their attacks, Jesus saw something rare and beautiful.

What did He see? Watch our study of Matthew 24:1-2 as we consider an act of sacrificial love so profound that it captivated Jesus’ attention.

Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites, a Greek theater word referring to actors who wore large masks to play parts contrary to their true selves.

The scribes and Pharisees pretended to be super-spiritual to intimidate and rule over the people. These individuals who should have been serving the people were only serving themselves.

And they were pretty good at deceiving the people. But Jesus looks at the heart. He sees their motives and hypocrisy and calls out these charlatans in righteous anger mixed with deep sorrow and great grief.

But it didn’t have to be this way. Jesus wanted to gather them, but they were not willing to come to Him (see Matthew 23:37-39). There is no value in clinging to a phony piety that attempts to deceive others and rule over others. There is a better way. The Apostle Paul’s life is a testimony to this fact. His legalistic righteousness was off the charts, yet this was the conclusion he made after meeting Jesus:

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith…” (Philippians 3:7-9)

Like Paul, let go of your self-righteousness. Gain Christ and be found in Him.