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Acts 8:26-40 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Alright, please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Acts chapter 8.
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! After a week off with a commissioning service, it's good to be back into our verse-by-verse exposition of Acts chapter 8.
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Our text for this morning is verse 26 through verse 40.
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Before I read this on our behalf, let me remind you that this is God's Word,
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that it was written for His glory and our good,
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that we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Now, as I read the text this morning, I'm going to stop and just make a couple of notes.
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For our benefit of understanding the text, I don't need to go back and do it at a later time.
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I am going to try to keep my comments brief.
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I think that's maybe a laughable statement on my part at this point.
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But I am going to try, at very least, because we do have some other matters to get to in our service today.
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But let me ask that we just quiet our hearts and our minds for a moment
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as we hear what God would say to us from His Word, beginning in verse 26.
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Now, an angel of the Lord said to Philip,
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Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
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This is a desert place.
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Now, this is the road that would have run from Jerusalem to Egypt.
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And there were two roads in this day that did so.
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One ran along the coast and the other through the desert.
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That's why Luke includes that insertion.
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This is a desert place.
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And that was to say that this was the least traveled path.
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An unlikely place to encounter another traveler.
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Verse 27.
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And he, being Philip, rose and went.
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And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,
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who was in charge of all her treasure.
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Now, in this day, Ethiopia was a larger kingdom than the modern-day country of Ethiopia.
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And it expanded just south of Egypt.
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So you think the journey from Israel to Egypt, Ethiopia being just south of this.
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The queen that this Ethiopian eunuch is a servant of, they call here Candace.
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This is not a proper name, but more like a title, like Caesar or Pharaoh.
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And he held a very powerful position.
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He was like the secretary of the treasury.
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And he had come to Jerusalem to worship.
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Last part of verse 27.
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Verse 28.
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And was returning, seated in his chariot.
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And he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
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And the Spirit said to Philip,
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Go over and join this chariot.
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So Philip ran to him and heard him reading.
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It was customary in this day to read aloud.
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He was reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,
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Do you understand what you are reading?
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And I picture this caravan traveling down the road and Philip running up to it,
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hearing him as he's running to it,
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and calling out to him,
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Do you understand what you're reading?
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And the caravan comes to a screeching halt.
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Verse 31.
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And he said,
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How can I unless someone guides me?
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And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
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Now, the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this.
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Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
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and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
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so he opens not his mouth.
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In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
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Who can describe his generation?
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For his life is taken away from the earth.
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And this is from Isaiah 53, verse 7 and 8.
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Verse 34.
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And the eunuch said to Philip,
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About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this?
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About himself or about someone else?
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Then Philip opened his mouth,
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and beginning with this scripture,
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he told him the good news about Jesus.
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And as they were going along the road,
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they came to some water.
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And the eunuch said,
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See, here is water.
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What prevents me from being baptized?
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And he commanded the chariot to stop,
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and they both went down into the water,
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Philip and the eunuch,
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and he baptized him.
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And when they came up out of the water,
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the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away,
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and the eunuch saw him no more,
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and went on his way rejoicing.
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But Philip found himself at Azotus,
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and as he passed through,
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he preached the gospel to all the towns
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until he came to Caesarea.
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Now, just as an interesting aside,
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there's some debate about whether
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Philip is Philip the Apostle,
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or Philip the Deacon,
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chosen amongst the men in chapter 6.
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I will argue that he is Philip the Deacon,
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because in Acts chapter 21,
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Paul visits his house in Caesarea.
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And there he's called Philip the Evangelist,
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not Philip the Apostle.
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So either he travels from Azotus to Caesarea,
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where his home already was,
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preaching the gospel as he goes,
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or he arrives there and decides
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it's a good place to settle.
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And that's where he stays and establishes a home.
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He's married.
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He has four daughters,
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Acts 21 tells us.
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Now, as we look at this text this morning,
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the structure for our study
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will be as follows.
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Number one, and I'll repeat these for you.
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Number one, the means of God's saving grace.
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Number two, the recipient of God's saving grace.
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And number three, the signs of God's saving grace.
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Or if you prefer, the evidences of God's saving grace.
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This morning, we have the privilege
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of observing the ethnic diversity
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of God's saving grace.
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Now, we timed out doing baptisms
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to this text this morning.
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I could not have possibly timed out
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the preaching of this text
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for some of the things that are happening
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in our country today.
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We have to look at the ethnic diversity
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of God's saving grace.
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He reaches across all ethnic barriers.
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God has always had a gracious purpose
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for all mankind.
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All mankind having rejected God's righteous rule,
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all deserving of damnation,
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all deserving of His wrath.
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He has always had a gracious purpose.
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Beloved, we should rejoice in that this morning.
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As I look across the room,
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I don't know if there are many
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or any ethnic Jews here this morning.
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I think we're all from a latitude
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a little higher than where Israel is located.
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Most of us.
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We're all beneficiaries of God
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having a gracious purpose for all mankind.
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For extending His mercy
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beyond the borders of ethnic Israel.
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He has never intended to only have a saving relationship
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with ethnic Israel.
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The presentation of this reality begins
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with the Abrahamic covenant
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in Genesis chapter 12,
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verses 1 through 3.
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The promise I've been talking about
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with the children in the Big Picture Story Bible,
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the promise that's going to be fulfilled in Christ,
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starts with that promise
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that God makes to Abraham
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who becomes Abraham.
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He says in Genesis 12, verse 1,
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The Lord said to Abraham,
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Go from your country and your kindred
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and your father's house
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to the land I will show you.
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And I will make of you a great nation.
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And I will bless you and make your name great
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so that you will be a blessing.
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I will bless those who bless you
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and him who dishonors you I will curse.
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And in you,
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all the families of the earth
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shall be blessed.
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We're the wonderful recipients
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of that promise
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made to Abraham on that day.
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And how did God intend to bless
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all the families of the earth
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in Abraham?
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With the saving grace,
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grace that comes through a descendant of Abraham,
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the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now let me remind you
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or catch you up
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if you haven't been with us,
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a bit of a summary of Acts to this point.
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If you want to flip,
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you can look at chapter 1.
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Jesus ascends.
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This is after he spent 40 days
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with the apostles.
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He ascends and he leaves a command
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for them to stay in Jerusalem
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and wait for the Spirit.
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Stay until the Spirit of God comes.
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Chapter 2, this happens.
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Ten days later,
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on the day of Pentecost,
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they receive the Spirit.
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They preach in various known languages.
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And as the people are amazed by it
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and confused by it,
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they say,
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what does this mean?
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And in the rest of chapter 2,
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Peter preaches.
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Many are saved.
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Thousands come to faith in Jesus Christ.
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And we get a bit of a taste
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of the fellowship of the church
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at the end of chapter 2.
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The way in which they loved each other
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and the way in which they had favor
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with the people in Jerusalem.
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In chapter 3,
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God orchestrates yet another stage
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for Peter to preach the Gospel on
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through the healing of a lame beggar.
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Peter and John going up to the temple
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just to pray,
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heal a lame beggar,
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and a crowd gathers.
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And once again,
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the Gospel is preached.
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Many respond in faith.
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But as a result of this,
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chapters 4 and 5,
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Peter and John are arrested
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and persecution begins in Jerusalem
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of the Christian faith.
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They're charged not to speak anymore
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in the name of Christ.
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Chapter 5, we see the arrest of the apostles.
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This time they're now beaten,
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charged again,
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and released.
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Chapter 6,
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the unity of the church
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is not functioning so well any longer.
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And there's some complaints arising.
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And so some deacons are selected
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to help serve food.
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And one of those deacons,
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a man named Stephen,
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is boldly proclaiming the Gospel.
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And he's debating in the synagogues.
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And he is arrested.
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He has a very brief trial
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in which he gives a rather rousing speech.
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I encourage you to read in chapter 7
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if you're not familiar with this.
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And then he's martyred.
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He's taken outside the city
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and he's stoned to death.
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And this is Stephen's speech.
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Stephen's martyrdom
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becomes this moment
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where the Gospel goes
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out of the walls of Jerusalem
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and to the nations.
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It begins at this point
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in the church's history.
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The persecution ramps up
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in chapter 8.
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And as a result,
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the church there in Jerusalem
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is scattered.
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And the Gospel goes forth.
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I've said to you that Stephen's martyrdom
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is the hinge that the gates swing on.
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And now the Gospel has expanded outward.
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Acts 1.8.
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Jesus says this to the disciples.
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You will receive power
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when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
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and you will be my witnesses
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in Jerusalem
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and in all Judea
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and Samaria
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and to the end of the earth.
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You will find it interesting
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that to this time
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and in this world,
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to the Romans,
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Ethiopia was the end of the earth.
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They had not yet traveled
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beyond that place.
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And I'm not suggesting
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that the Ethiopian eunuch
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coming to faith in Christ
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is the fulfillment of Acts 1.8.
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But in their thinking,
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boy, has the Gospel gone out.
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So let's look first
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at the means of God's saving grace.
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How is it that God works
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His purpose in the world?
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How is it that God brings about
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the salvation of His people?
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Now hear me,
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this is a work of God.
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It's wholly a work of God.
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But He uses means.
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And we can see all of those means
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at play in this text.
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So the first mean
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that God uses
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is that third part of the Trinity
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we call the Holy Spirit.
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The Spirit.
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We can see God's divine orchestration
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in saving the Ethiopian eunuch.
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What a divine encounter this is
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that Philip has.
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And it's given to him
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by instruction.
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An angel of the Lord
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says to Philip,
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rise and go toward the south
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to the road that goes down
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from Jerusalem to Gaza.
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Beloved, if you were given
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this command,
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you would say,
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why in the world
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would I go do such a thing?
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There's no reason for me
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to go to this place.
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It's a desert place.
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No one will be there.
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Verse 29,
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the Spirit says to Philip
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as the Ethiopian eunuch
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is going by,
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go over and join this chariot.
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We even see the spirits
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working in the eunuch's baptism.
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Going along.
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Presumably being discipled by Philip.
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Having responded in faith to Christ.
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He's now teaching him
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how it is that he should be obedient
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to that faith.
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Now that you've believed in Christ,
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you should be baptized.
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And just then they roll past
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a body of water.
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The eunuch says,
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what's stopping me
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from being baptized
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even now?
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And once he's baptized,
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the Spirit,
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this is verse 39,
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the Spirit of the Lord
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carries Philip away.
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We don't know exactly
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what that means,
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but it would seem
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that he snatched him.
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He's gone.
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And he reappears
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in another place.
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So the Spirit of God
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is used by God
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as part of the Trinity
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to bring about
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the salvation
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of his people.
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Beloved,
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all of us
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who have responded
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in faith to Christ
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have experienced
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this same miracle.
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Maybe not in the same way.
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I've never traveled
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a desert road
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in a chariot
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and had a man
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meet me,
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baptize me,
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and then disappear.
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But all the same,
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it's just as miraculous.
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We should rejoice
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in the great way
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that God orchestrated
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our salvation.
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The second meaning
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of God's saving grace
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is a servant.
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With the Spirit,
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we have a servant.
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God employs
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the obedience
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of his servants
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in the salvation
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of his people.
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God employs
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the obedience
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of his servants
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in the salvation
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of his people.
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If you have been
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around CFC much,
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you have heard me say
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that God does not
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need you.
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Don't belittle God
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by thinking
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that you're so important
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that he needs you
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to bring about
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the salvation
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of his people.
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But because he loves you,
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he uses you
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in that process.
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He wants you
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to experience
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his goodness
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in his saving work.
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And so he uses you
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to accomplish
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that very thing.
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So he uses a servant.
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In this case,
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it's Philip.
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And Philip is obedient.
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Verse 27 says,
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And he rose
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and went.
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Luke doesn't record
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any hesitation
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on his part.
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He's commanded to go.
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And he goes.
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In verse 30,
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I love,
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as he's told to go
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join the chariot,
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Philip runs to him.
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That's where I get
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this picture in my mind
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that he had to catch up
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to what was happening.
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But Philip runs to him.
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Here's what's happening.
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He's reading from the Scripture
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and he engages him immediately.
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Do you understand
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what you are reading?
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Philip likely is a very humble man,
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not a man of great education,
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not a man of great training.
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And here's this man,
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the secretary of the treasurer
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for Ethiopia.
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Picture that he's likely
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in a large caravan
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with soldiers protecting him.
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He's traveled a great distance.
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And Philip,
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emboldened by the Spirit,
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runs up and yells out,
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Do you understand
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what you are reading?
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And then he's used by God
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to explain the Scripture to him
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to present the good news
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of Jesus Christ.
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Beloved,
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in the same way
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we're to be used by God,
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we're to be obedient.
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Let me point out to you
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that Philip begins
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by asking a simple,
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pointed question.
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He just asks a question.
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Let me say,
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for those of you
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who have such a discomfort
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in sharing the Gospel,
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I wish that wasn't true.
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I wish that it worked
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in your heart
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in such a way
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that it had to bubble out.
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You had to speak about it.
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You just were looking
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for every possible opportunity
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to share the good news
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of Jesus Christ.
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But I know that sometimes
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it's uncomfortable.
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I know that sometimes
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we have to push in
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to those conversations.
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Let me just encourage you
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to ask pointed questions.
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Ask people what they believe
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and press at them
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to defend what they believe.
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A week ago today,
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Sunday afternoon,
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we did an Independence Day thing
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with Sam's family
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and she has a cousin
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and her husband
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that are spiritual.
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They often seem confused
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about what they believe.
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And I got into a question
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with her cousin Bonnie
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and she used the term
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I'm Catholic.
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Catholic-ish
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is what she was saying.
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I'm Catholic.
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And I just said,
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that is a fascinating term.
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I want to know
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what you mean by that.
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And so she told me
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and she launched into it
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and I just continued
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to ask her questions.
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I just kept saying,
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but do you believe?
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But what about?
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And I quoted the scripture to her
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and I just continued.
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And praise the Lord
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at the end of that.
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I do actually think
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that she's in the faith.
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I think she properly believes
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that her justification
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is found in Christ alone.
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But in the midst of that,
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her husband sat with us
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and he listened to everything
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that we had to say.
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At the end of this,
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he thanked me
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for the conversation that we had.
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I've got all kinds of plans
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for things to give them
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and literature
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to pile up on them.
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But it was just simple,
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pointed questions.
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Just ask questions.
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You see Philip do that here.
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And then in verse 40,
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after he's snatched away
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from this place,
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he finds himself in Azotus,
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he continues to preach the gospel.
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He goes to all the towns
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the way Luke records it,
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which I love that phrasing
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until he came to Caesarea.
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So we have the Spirit,
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we have a servant,
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and we have the Scripture.
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And we have the Scripture.
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And recall that the eunuch
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is returning from Jerusalem.
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He's traveled this great distance
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to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
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He's returning.
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He's reading the prophet Isaiah.
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He's reading it out loud,
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which was customary to do so.
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And he reads from Isaiah 53.
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It's verse 7 and 8.
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Like a sheep who was led to the slaughter,
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and like a lamb before its shears,
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is silent,
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so he opens not his mouth.
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In his humiliation,
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justice was denied him.
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Who can describe his generation?
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For his life is taken away
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from the earth.
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And what does Philip do?
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Verse 35.
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He opens his mouth.
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He doesn't launch into
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a philosophical debate with him.
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He begins with this Scripture,
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and he tells him the good news
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about Jesus.
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Beloved,
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our preaching of the Gospel,
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the means that God uses,
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right,
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is the good news of Jesus Christ
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found in the Scripture.
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That doesn't mean you have to quote it exactly,
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although I would encourage you to do so.
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But you need to speak the Bible to people,
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the Word of God to people.
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Ephesians 6.17,
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Paul encourages us to take up
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the sword of the Spirit,
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which is the Word of God.
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This is the tool
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that the Spirit of God wields
20:50
to bring people to faith
20:52
in Jesus Christ.
20:53
The way in which God displays
20:54
His gracious,
20:56
saving work
20:57
is using the Scripture.
21:01
Recall, beloved,
21:02
when Paul says in Romans 1.16,
21:03
for I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
21:05
Why?
21:06
For the same reason,
21:07
we should not be ashamed of the Gospel.
21:09
Speak the truth of God
21:10
to God's people from the Scripture,
21:13
for it is the power of God
21:15
for salvation
21:16
to everyone who believes.
21:18
The Jew first,
21:19
and also the Greek,
21:21
and the Ethiopian,
21:23
and those of us
21:24
from high latitudes
21:25
of this planet.
21:28
It's the Gospel message
21:29
that God uses to save people.
21:33
So we see these means of God
21:34
saving grace.
21:35
The Spirit,
21:37
a servant,
21:37
and the Scripture.
21:39
Secondly,
21:41
let's take a closer look
21:42
at the recipient
21:42
of God's saving grace.
21:45
Let's take a closer look
21:46
at the eunuch.
21:50
There's some distinguishing things
21:51
about him.
21:52
First,
21:54
that he's African.
21:56
A wonderful thing.
21:57
The first,
21:58
to our knowledge,
21:59
the first African convert.
22:03
I would love to know,
22:04
and there may be some sources
22:05
out there
22:05
that I have not had time
22:06
to look at,
22:06
but what happened
22:07
as a result
22:07
of this man
22:08
taking the Gospel
22:09
back to Ethiopia.
22:13
The Gospel shatters
22:14
all divides,
22:15
real or imagined.
22:18
It tears down
22:19
dividing walls
22:20
of ethnicity,
22:21
culture,
22:22
gender,
22:23
and skin color.
22:25
Praise God for that.
22:27
He was an African.
22:28
He was a seeker.
22:30
Right?
22:30
Remember,
22:31
first,
22:31
he's reading the Scripture.
22:32
He's got a copy
22:33
of the Scripture.
22:34
He's obtained.
22:35
He's reading the Scripture.
22:36
Secondly,
22:37
he's traveled
22:37
this great distance.
22:38
It's more than
22:39
a thousand miles
22:40
that he's journeyed.
22:41
It'd be a week plus
22:43
at least
22:43
for this man
22:44
to have traveled
22:44
to Jerusalem
22:45
for the worship of God.
22:47
He's seeking God.
22:50
Third,
22:51
he's a eunuch.
22:54
Do we all know
22:55
what a eunuch is?
22:55
I really don't want
22:58
to tell you
22:58
what a eunuch is.
22:58
I'm going to tell you.
23:02
A eunuch is a man
23:03
whose male genitalia
23:05
are removed
23:06
either due to an accident,
23:08
something happens
23:09
and needs to be removed,
23:10
or intentionally
23:11
in order to serve
23:12
in the role
23:13
of a eunuch.
23:15
This was most often done
23:17
so that these men
23:17
could serve
23:18
in close relation
23:19
to a queen
23:20
because he was no threat
23:21
to the throne.
23:22
He wasn't going to
23:23
bed the queen.
23:27
So here we see
23:28
this eunuch
23:28
serves the queen
23:29
in that very way
23:30
that we see
23:31
is called Candace.
23:33
So it's an interesting thing
23:34
about this man
23:36
that's given to us.
23:37
On first reading,
23:38
it seems more significant
23:39
to me that he's Ethiopian.
23:42
That detail sticks out to me
23:43
and jumps out at me,
23:44
but Luke really goes after
23:46
the fact that he's a eunuch.
23:48
I mean,
23:49
I feel like I could have done
23:50
without the detail altogether,
23:51
that it's not really
23:52
that important to me.
23:53
So why does Luke
23:55
repeatedly simply
23:57
call him a eunuch?
23:58
He could have called him
23:59
the Ethiopian
23:59
or Candace's treasurer
24:01
or many other
24:04
defining factors
24:05
about this man.
24:06
But he simply
24:07
calls him
24:08
the eunuch.
24:09
Notice verse 27,
24:10
verse 34,
24:11
verse 36,
24:12
verse 38,
24:13
and verse 39.
24:14
He repeats that phrase.
24:17
But I would encourage you
24:18
when you're studying
24:19
the Bible,
24:20
which I hope you do
24:20
on your own,
24:21
and you see things
24:21
like that,
24:22
to pause and question it.
24:23
Why?
24:24
Why does Luke
24:25
use that title
24:26
for this man
24:28
and use it so many times?
24:30
He wants the reader
24:30
to notice this man
24:32
is a eunuch.
24:33
We've got it, right?
24:34
We've seen it.
24:35
He's a eunuch.
24:37
This man from Ethiopia
24:38
serving this high position,
24:40
he's a seeker,
24:41
he's traveled all the way
24:42
to Jerusalem,
24:44
he's a student
24:45
of the Bible,
24:45
and he would have known
24:48
and he would have experienced
24:50
being in Jerusalem.
24:52
He would have been denied
24:54
access to temple worship.
24:55
Deuteronomy 23,
24:56
1.
24:57
You ready for some
24:58
more uncomfortable language?
24:59
No one whose testicles
25:00
are crushed
25:01
or whose male organ
25:03
is cut off
25:03
shall enter the assembly
25:05
of the Lord.
25:08
Not only is he not
25:10
ethnically Jewish,
25:11
he's an Ethiopian,
25:12
but he's an outcast
25:14
from temple worship
25:16
by God's own design.
25:20
Deuteronomy 23, 1.
25:22
So Luke's telling us
25:23
he's a eunuch,
25:24
he's a eunuch,
25:24
he's a eunuch, right?
25:26
And if we're familiar
25:26
with this reality,
25:27
Deuteronomy 23, 1,
25:29
it's significant
25:31
that he's reading
25:31
in the book of Isaiah.
25:33
In fact,
25:33
he might have been reading
25:34
in the book of Isaiah,
25:36
right?
25:37
He quotes from Isaiah 53,
25:39
it's this last
25:40
of four songs
25:41
of the suffering servant.
25:43
Those of us who are in Christ
25:44
are very aware
25:44
of who these are talking about.
25:46
He's not.
25:47
Is he talking about,
25:47
is the prophet
25:48
talking about himself?
25:50
Prophets were hated.
25:50
Is he talking about himself
25:51
or is he talking about
25:52
someone else?
25:55
And so,
25:56
he was likely familiar
25:57
just a couple of chapters later
26:00
and I want you to turn there
26:00
with me to Isaiah 56.
26:11
So try to place yourself
26:17
in his shoes,
26:19
at least in his feelings.
26:22
He's not ethically Jewish.
26:24
He's an Ethiopian.
26:26
He's a eunuch.
26:27
He's been forbidden
26:28
from temple worship.
26:32
And he picks up
26:33
a copy of Isaiah
26:33
and he reads
26:35
chapter 56,
26:36
beginning in verse 3.
26:38
Let not the foreigner
26:39
who has joined himself
26:41
to the Lord say,
26:42
The Lord will surely
26:43
separate me
26:44
from His people.
26:45
And let not the eunuch say,
26:49
Behold,
26:50
I am a dry tree.
26:52
For thus says the Lord,
26:55
To the eunuchs
26:56
who keep my Sabbaths,
26:57
who choose the things
26:58
that please me
26:59
and hold fast my covenant,
27:01
I will give in my house
27:03
and within my walls
27:04
a monument and a name
27:06
better than sons
27:07
and daughters.
27:09
I will give them
27:10
an everlasting name
27:11
that shall not
27:13
be cut off.
27:15
And so he finds
27:16
in Isaiah 56
27:17
this beautiful promise
27:19
and as he backs up
27:21
and he's reading
27:21
Isaiah 53
27:22
and trying to understand
27:23
how these things
27:25
come to pass,
27:26
he reads a song
27:28
of the suffering servant.
27:30
And so we ask the question,
27:31
Who is the suffering servant?
27:33
Is it the prophet
27:34
or is it someone else?
27:36
And Philip says to him,
27:37
It is Jesus,
27:38
the Christ.
27:40
Isn't that incredible?
27:42
Wonderful to know
27:43
the broader context
27:45
of the Scripture itself.
27:48
This recipient of God's
27:50
saving grace.
27:53
And for those of us
27:54
who are in Christ,
27:54
we just should be astounded
27:55
by this.
27:56
We should just have
27:58
our hearts warmed
27:59
by the great deal of love
28:00
that God pours out
28:02
for people of all kinds.
28:06
The outcasts.
28:07
He brings them in.
28:10
Many of us
28:11
have felt that
28:12
and rejoice in the fact
28:14
that we've been brought in.
28:16
If anyone in this room
28:17
is not in Christ,
28:19
an Ethiopian eunuch
28:21
was saved by God.
28:22
You are not beyond
28:23
His mercy.
28:24
So the means of God's
28:28
saving grace.
28:29
Secondly,
28:29
the recipient of God's
28:31
saving grace.
28:31
And third,
28:32
and lastly,
28:33
the signs of God's
28:35
saving grace
28:36
or the evidences
28:38
of God's saving grace.
28:41
And there's three
28:42
found in our text.
28:44
Number one,
28:45
there is a response
28:46
to the gospel,
28:47
to the good news
28:48
preached.
28:49
There's a response.
28:50
response.
28:51
And we see that.
28:52
We get a hint of that
28:53
in the fact
28:54
that the eunuch
28:55
wants to be baptized.
28:57
Philip has gone on
28:58
to explain to him
29:00
what ought to now happen
29:01
because he's placed faith
29:03
in Jesus Christ.
29:05
Now,
29:05
just quickly,
29:06
group participation.
29:07
How many of your translations
29:08
have a verse 37?
29:10
And you noticed
29:11
when I read it
29:11
that I jumped over.
29:13
Anybody?
29:15
Anybody?
29:16
Man, we have great translations.
29:17
Good for you.
29:18
Oh, we got one.
29:18
Sometimes it'll be
29:20
in a parenthesis
29:21
with an explanation,
29:23
a little parenthetical
29:24
or bracketed.
29:26
Verse 37
29:27
will likely say
29:28
something like this.
29:30
And Philip said,
29:32
this is a response
29:33
to verse 36,
29:33
See, here is water.
29:34
What prevents me
29:35
from being baptized?
29:36
Verse 37.
29:37
And Philip said,
29:38
If you believe
29:39
with all your heart,
29:39
you may.
29:41
And he answered and said,
29:42
I believe that Jesus Christ
29:44
is the Son of God.
29:46
And then verse 38.
29:47
And he commands
29:48
the chariot
29:48
to stop.
29:51
Now,
29:52
the reason that it's not in,
29:54
notice those little numbers
29:55
as you're reading
29:55
down through there,
29:56
that it's not in many
29:56
of your translations
29:57
but it is in some
29:58
or it is in there
29:58
with some brackets
29:59
and an explanation,
30:01
is because the earliest
30:02
and the most reliable
30:04
transcripts
30:04
do not include
30:05
verse 37.
30:07
Some later
30:08
copy of copy.
30:10
And translators
30:10
are very faithful
30:11
to the scripture.
30:12
They're very careful
30:13
about what they do
30:13
and don't include.
30:15
And I would argue
30:16
that it should be omitted
30:17
because those earliest
30:18
and most reliable
30:19
transcripts
30:20
do not have
30:21
that verse in there.
30:23
But,
30:24
all the same,
30:26
all the same,
30:27
he must have made
30:28
some profession
30:29
of faith.
30:32
Baptism
30:33
is not salvific.
30:34
It's a symbol.
30:35
It's a picture.
30:36
We're meant to see it
30:37
as that.
30:38
Something to rejoice in.
30:39
It's a beautiful thing
30:41
to do
30:42
but it's not salvific.
30:44
Simply being
30:45
dunked underwater
30:46
or sprinkled
30:47
or anything,
30:48
any nature of baptism
30:49
is not salvific.
30:52
Romans 10,
30:53
9 and 10.
30:55
Paul says,
30:55
if you confess
30:56
with your mouth
30:56
that Jesus is Lord
30:58
and believe in your heart
31:00
that God raised him
31:01
from the dead,
31:01
you will be saved.
31:03
For with the heart
31:05
one believes
31:06
and is justified
31:07
and with the mouth
31:08
one confesses
31:10
and is saved.
31:13
So,
31:13
a proper
31:14
sign of God's
31:16
saving grace
31:16
is a response.
31:18
A response
31:19
proclaiming
31:20
that Jesus
31:20
is the Christ,
31:22
believing in
31:22
his person
31:23
and
31:24
his work.
31:26
A second sign
31:27
of God's
31:28
saving grace
31:29
is obedience
31:30
to the gospel.
31:32
Response
31:33
to the gospel.
31:34
Obedience
31:34
to the gospel.
31:37
So,
31:37
what does he do?
31:37
He sees water.
31:38
Again,
31:39
I would argue
31:39
by the Spirit's
31:40
great orchestration,
31:41
he sees water
31:43
and he commands
31:44
the chariot to stop
31:45
and they both
31:46
went down
31:46
into the water.
31:49
Philip and the eunuch
31:50
and he baptized him
31:51
and then he came up
31:53
out of the water.
31:54
So,
31:54
there's obedience
31:55
to the gospel
31:55
and we see that
31:56
on Philip's part
31:57
as well.
31:57
Matthew 28,
31:58
18 through 20.
31:59
And Jesus came
32:00
and said to them,
32:01
people know this
32:01
as the Great Commission,
32:02
all authority
32:03
on heaven and earth
32:03
is given to me.
32:04
Go therefore
32:05
and make disciples
32:06
of all nations.
32:08
Here's Philip,
32:08
part of that process,
32:09
the Spirit of God
32:10
using him,
32:11
baptizing them
32:12
in the name
32:13
of the Father
32:13
and the Son
32:14
and the Holy Spirit.
32:15
Teachings to observe
32:16
all that I've commanded you
32:17
and behold,
32:18
I'm with you always
32:18
to the end of the age.
32:20
Philip is obedient
32:21
to the gospel.
32:25
This man professes
32:25
faith in Christ,
32:27
Philip says,
32:28
you need to get baptized.
32:29
The man says,
32:30
there's water
32:31
and they do it.
32:33
There's obedience
32:33
on the eunuch's part.
32:37
Matthew 3,
32:39
13 through 15.
32:42
Jesus,
32:43
the very beginning
32:44
of his ministry,
32:45
comes from Galilee
32:47
to the Jordan
32:47
to John.
32:48
The John we know
32:49
is John the Baptist.
32:50
There was not
32:51
a Baptist denomination
32:51
in that day.
32:53
Some will call him
32:54
John the Baptizer.
32:55
I appreciate that.
32:57
He comes to Jordan
32:58
to John
32:58
to be baptized by him.
33:00
Jesus, right?
33:02
Righteous, perfect.
33:03
He comes to John
33:03
to be baptized by him.
33:05
This was a baptism
33:05
of repentance, right?
33:07
It was meant to be
33:08
a picture of that.
33:11
14, Matthew 3.
33:13
John would have
33:14
prevented him saying,
33:15
I need to be baptized
33:16
by you.
33:17
And do you come to me?
33:18
But Jesus answered him.
33:20
So this is Jesus
33:21
in the Jewish faith,
33:24
a follower of God,
33:25
has not sinned.
33:26
He's not become
33:27
regenerate at this point.
33:30
Right?
33:30
But Jesus says,
33:31
let it be so now,
33:33
for thus it is fitting
33:34
for us to fulfill
33:36
all righteousness.
33:39
And the text says,
33:40
then John consented.
33:42
Right?
33:42
Jesus, our Lord,
33:45
set for us an example
33:46
in believer's baptism.
33:48
Right?
33:49
Professing faith
33:49
in Jesus Christ
33:50
and then being baptized
33:51
as a picture
33:52
of what has happened.
33:55
Right?
33:55
That we've been
33:56
laid to death,
33:59
our old self,
33:59
and that we've risen
34:00
to have life in Him.
34:04
So there's obedience
34:05
on Philip's part,
34:06
on the eunuch's part.
34:07
And then they were
34:08
obedient to the method.
34:11
They were obedient
34:11
to the method.
34:13
Now hear this.
34:14
They would have had
34:15
water with them.
34:17
They were traveling
34:18
the desert road.
34:19
And they could have
34:21
maintained their momentum
34:23
and Philip could have
34:25
sprinkled the eunuch.
34:29
Right?
34:29
That could have happened.
34:31
Right?
34:31
Lean your head back here.
34:32
Splash a little water
34:33
on your head.
34:34
But they stopped.
34:36
They saw water
34:37
and they stopped.
34:39
And the text says
34:40
that they went down
34:41
into the water
34:42
and then they came
34:43
up out
34:44
of the water.
34:45
water.
34:48
The Greek word
34:49
to baptize,
34:51
baptizo,
34:52
means to plunge
34:53
or immerse.
34:56
Some Greek scholars
34:57
who aren't Baptists,
34:59
I want to add.
35:00
Greek scholars,
35:01
not Baptists,
35:03
of different traditions
35:04
that don't do this
35:04
this way,
35:06
have rendered the word
35:07
to dunk repeatedly
35:09
or drown.
35:12
My addition
35:19
to that argument,
35:22
and I'm not upset
35:23
about it,
35:23
it doesn't matter,
35:24
I'm just telling you
35:24
why we go through
35:25
all the trouble
35:25
of filling this
35:27
giant cattle trough
35:29
with so much water
35:30
and cleaning up
35:32
afterwards.
35:34
It's meant to be
35:35
a picture of what's
35:36
happened.
35:36
We've been buried
35:37
with Christ
35:39
in his death
35:40
and we've been
35:41
raised to walk
35:42
in newness of life.
35:44
It pictures that
35:45
more clearly.
35:47
Tongue in cheek,
35:48
I've joked with you
35:49
that when we begin
35:50
to lay people
35:50
on the ground
35:51
when they die
35:51
and splash dirt
35:52
on their face,
35:54
and that's our method,
35:55
maybe we'll go
35:56
with that route.
35:58
But until then,
35:59
the picture is
36:00
so much clearer
36:01
and that's what people
36:02
are professing
36:02
when they're baptized.
36:04
I have placed
36:05
believing faith
36:05
in Jesus Christ.
36:07
I've been buried
36:08
with him in his death,
36:09
I've been raised
36:09
with him,
36:09
I've been set free
36:10
from sin and guilt
36:12
and all that accompanies it.
36:13
I've been reconciled
36:14
to God
36:15
in Christ.
36:17
So we see
36:18
response to the gospel,
36:20
obedience to the gospel,
36:21
and finally we see
36:22
rejoicing in the gospel.
36:25
The last part
36:26
of verse 39,
36:27
Philip's taken away
36:28
and the eunuch
36:28
saw him
36:29
no more,
36:31
which is just such
36:31
an interesting factual thing
36:33
that Luke records.
36:34
He's not astounded,
36:35
he just doesn't see him anymore,
36:36
and he went on his way
36:38
rejoicing.
36:40
He goes on his way
36:41
rejoicing.
36:42
Beloved,
36:43
those who place
36:43
believing faith in Christ
36:44
will rejoice
36:45
for that renewal
36:47
in their lives.
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Baptism
36:50
was an outer symbol
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of an inner reality,
36:53
and you can already see
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in the life of this man
36:56
who's reading from Isaiah,
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and he's troubled
36:58
by the text,
36:59
he gets an answer to it,
37:00
he responds in faith,
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he's baptized,
37:02
and now he rejoices.
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Romans 6, 3 and 4.
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Paul says,
37:10
Do you not know
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that all of us
37:12
who have been baptized
37:13
into Christ Jesus
37:14
were baptized
37:15
into his death?
37:17
We were buried,
37:18
therefore,
37:19
with him by baptism
37:20
into death
37:20
in order that,
37:21
just as Christ
37:22
was raised from the dead
37:23
by the glory of the Father,
37:26
we too might walk
37:27
in newness of life.
37:29
Let's pray together.