Latest / Desoto Hills Baptist Church / SUNDAY - JUNE 29, 2025 "Are You Ready?" Acts 8:26-40

Transcript

SUNDAY - JUNE 29, 2025 "Are You Ready?" Acts 8:26-40 · Desoto Hills Baptist Church

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 am.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We hope you enjoy.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: God bless.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: If you have your Bibles this morning and I sure hope you do we're going to be in Acts, chapter 8.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: We're going to start reading in verse 26.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: As you turn there, you know my senior year of high school.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: South Pontotoc played seminary in the 2A Baseball State Championship.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: I was on the team, just in case you were wondering.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: We played.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: The first game was on a Tuesday night.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: We we played seminary came up to South Pontotoc.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: They beat us that night.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: So on Saturday we went down to seminary, which is just north of Hattiesburg, went down there and if, if we lost the first game, we were done.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: If we won the first game, we had to play the way they had it set up that year.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: We had to play a double header.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: And so we went down and we played the first game in a fantastic game.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I'll spare you the details.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: We won.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: So we turned around and had to play a double header.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: And Sonny, who was our eighth left-handed pitcher, he was really good.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: He just pitched a great game, seven inning game in an unrelenting heat.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Now it gets hot in North Mississippi and I don't mean to downplay that, but listen, south Mississippi heat and North Mississippi heat, if you've never experienced the difference in the two.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: It is different.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: It was so hot, and their field was kind of down in this little bowl, so there was no air moving, nothing, it was just steaming hot.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: And we finished the first game and Sonny looked at Coach Lyles and said Give me the ball, I'm going again.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And so, coach Lyles, he did.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: He gave him the ball and Sonny came out the second game of a doubleheader.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: He gave him the ball and Sonny came out that the second game of a doubleheader, and he pitched five of the best innings I had ever I've ever seen, until his body just said no more, can't do it anymore.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: There's something I want us to see about Sonny, though, and learn from him.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: One is, on that day when we we were playing that game, sonny was ready, he was ready, he had prepared and he was ready.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: How do I know he was ready?
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Because I was with Sonny in January and February when Coach Lyles made us run and run and run and run a little bit more and run a little bit more, and I knew that, physically, our endurance was there.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: We were prepared.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: He was ready to play.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: I also knew something else about Sonny Sonny was able to play.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Sonny was a hard worker.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: He had worked on pitching.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: He could throw every pitch that he threw.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: He threw it well.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: He could place it where he wanted to place it.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: He couldn't throw, he wasn't, it wasn't super fast, but he made it move and dance and do all these different kind of things.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: He had command of every pitch, threw it exactly where he wanted to throw it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Because he had worked on and perfected his craft, he was able to do it.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Third thing we see in Sonny is that day he was willing.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: He looked at Coach Lyles straight in the eyes and said give me the ball.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: And Coach Lyles didn't hesitate to hand that ball to him because he was ready and he was willing and he was able.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: As we come to our passage today, what we're going to see in this passage today is we're going to talk about Philip, and we've seen Philip already.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: We saw Philip be elected as one of the seven who was going to take care of the Hellenistic widows when they were not getting their proportion of food.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: We saw Philip, even last week, go to Samaria and share the gospel, where many became followers of Christ.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: And we saw where one guy, simon the magician he was intrigued by the gospel, yet he did not fully commit himself to Christ.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: But in our passage today, we see Philip again sharing the gospel.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: He shared the gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch and that eunuch then trusted in Christ.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: And while we see, this is a message about Philip and what Philip did, I hope, as the church, we can come and we can learn some things from Philip.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I hope that we can see that we must prepare to share the gospel so that when opportunities arise for us, we're ready.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Not just ready, but we're able and we are willing.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: See, here's the challenge for us, church.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Listen, if you got seriously, honest with yourself and I ask you the question are we all supposed to be sharing the gospel?
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: You couldn't deny that we are.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: What happens with us, church?
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: What happens with us all the time is we overlook or we pass up opportunities because we are not ready.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: We pass up opportunities because we are not able, and we pass up opportunities sometimes just because we are not willing.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: But what we see from Philip today and what we're going to see from Philip, is that that we must be ready, willing and able to share the gospel.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: The question that we want to answer this morning as we look at this passage.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: So then was how was Philip prepared?
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: How did he prepare himself?
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: What are the things that he did so that he would be ready, so that he would be willing, so that he would be able to share the gospel?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: So let's look at these.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: In acts, chapter 8, start reading in verse 26.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: If you are able this morning, I invite you to stand with us as we give honor to the reading of god's word.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: We're going to start in verse 26 and we're going to finish the chapter through verse 40.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: And now an angel of the Lord said to Philip Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: This is a desert place.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of an Ethiopian.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Let me start that verse again, verse 27.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: And he arose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: And the Spirit said to Philip Go over and join his chariot.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked do you understand what you are reading?
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: And he said to him how can I, unless someone guides me?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Now, the passage of scripture that he was reading was this Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearers is silent.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: So he opens not his mouth.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Who can describe his generation?
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: For his life is taken away from the earth.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: And the eunuch said to Philip about whom, I ask you, does this?
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Does the prophet this?
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: About Himself or about someone else?
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: And as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said See, here is water.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: What prevents me from being baptized?
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: And he commanded the chariot to stop.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch, and he baptized, baptized.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: And he commanded the chariot to stop.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: And when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way, rejoicing.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: But Philip found him at himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Let us pray, god, once again.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: We are honored to be gathered in your presence for this moment.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: We pray that now, as we have opened your word, god, we pray that we will begin with Scripture and share the good news about Jesus.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: We love you, jesus.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: It's in your name.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: We pray, amen, amen.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: So again, the question that we're seeking to answer, if we want to be ready, able and willing how was Philip prepared?
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: How did Philip prepare himself to do this?
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Well, first, we saw that he was ready.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Look in verses 26 through 29 again, he said an angel of the Lord said to Philip arise, go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: This is a desert place.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: And the spirit said to Philip go over and join his chariot.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: So I think there are three things that we see that Philip did to ready himself.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Here's what I think.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: We see what he did.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: He heard An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and he heard it.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Now you may say, grant, of course he heard An angel of the Lord speaks to you, you're going to hear it right.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I mean because think of other times when angels spoke to people in the Bible.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: It was a pretty traumatic experience for most of them.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Now we're not real sure that Luke doesn't tell us in Acts how the angel spoke to Philip.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: We just know that he spoke and Philip heard him.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Again, you say, granted, that's easy to hear the angel of the Lord.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: But listen, I'm convinced.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: I'm convinced that there are many times where God speaks to us and he moves us, and we don't hear it.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: We don't hear his prompting, we don't hear his moving, and it could be for several reasons.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: We may just be ignoring him, we may just not want to hear him, or we may be incapable of hearing him.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: But here's what I believe.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: I believe the more that we are in tune with the spirit of God, the more we hear the spirit of God when we are in a growing relationship with Jesus, when we are walking with the Father, when we are reading our Bible, when we are spending time in prayer, when we are growing in our relationship with Christ, when we are growing in our relationship with God, when God speaks to us, we are more likely to hear.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: I think that's where Philip was.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: We see him in a place where he is growing in his relationship with God.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: So when the angel spoke, he heard.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Not only did he hear, but he obeyed.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: See, the Spirit tells him then to go down to Gaza, to go down to this road in Gaza that is leading to Ethiopia, and he is going home and we here see Philip obey.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: John MacArthur describes this road to Gaza.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: He says there are actually two roads that lead from Jerusalem to Gaza, and the road to which Philip was told to go was the less traveled one.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: So here's Philip.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: He's told to go to this less traveled road that's going from Jerusalem to Gaza.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: It's a desert road, so that means it's dry, there's nothing there, and Gaza would have been the last stop for water before he makes the trek on to Egypt.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: And Philip did it.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: And you say big deal.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Well, understand what Philip's doing here?
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Philip has been in Samaria.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: If you don't know your geography of Israel, it is north of Jerusalem.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: He's not at Jerusalem, so he's traveling.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And it's not like he jumps on a little airplane and hops down to Gaza.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: It's not like he has a car and gets in and drives to Gaza.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: He's walking.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: So he leaves Samaria and starts walking to Gaza and understand also what's happening in Samaria.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: It's revival.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: There's revival.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Remember, just last week, many people had come to Christ because Philip was preaching in Samaria.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Many people had come to Christ because Philip was preaching in Samaria.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Many people had come to Christ and the ministry seems to be going well and everything seems to be awesome.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: And God says hey, I want you to go to Gaza.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: What I'm supposed to leave all this?
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: I'm supposed to leave what's happening here and go to Gaza, why?
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: But you know what Philip did?
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: He obeyed, he turned and he, he left and he obeyed.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Listen, and, and, and.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: If we are going to be ready to do what God has called us to do and share the gospel, listen, it call, he calls for obedience, and and I'm not saying there won't be times where we don't question what God is calling us to do.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: I'm pretty convinced Philip probably was doing that.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to say that.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: There's not times where you think, god, I don't understand what you're doing, and that's okay when we obey.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Philip obeyed.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: He got up, he left and he went to Gaza.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: When he saw the Ethiopian eunuch and the spirit said go join him, man, he ran up to the chariot.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: Ever thought about, could you picture that?
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, a chariot's being pulled by a horse right and it may not be dead out sprint, but it's probably not just moving as slowly as we walk.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Philip runs up to next to the chariot and he's running and he hears him speaking and starts talking to him while he's running beside the chariot.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Man had to look crazy, but he obeyed.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Third thing I think we see here is that he saw with the eyes of god.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: See, when he got to gaza he looked up and saw this chariot with this ethiopian eunuch coming down.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Now, et Ethiopia is probably not what we consider present-day Ethiopia.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: In Old Testament it's probably actually the kingdom of Cush, which is at the upper Nile, and so this guy he is in his chariot headed back to there and he was in charge of the treasury.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: John Pohlhill, the commentator, says he's probably like the finance, the secretary of finance for Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: He was a eunuch.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: We can probably assume that he was a God-fearer because he had gone to Jerusalem to worship, but because he was a eunuch, he would not ever be fully accepted into the community, into the community of the Israelites there.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: But when Philip saw him, he didn't see all those barriers and all those reasons not to share the gospel with him.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: He saw through the eyes of God and saw a man who had been created in the image of God, who needed to know Jesus.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: And he went and he shared Jesus.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: See, if we're going to be ready, if we're going to be ready to do the thing that God has called us to do, we need to listen, we need to be in a growing relationship with God so we are growing and we can hear His voice.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: We need to obey when we hear His voice and we need to stop looking with our eyes and look with the eyes of God.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: We need to stop seeing barriers and reasons not to share the gospel and see people who need Jesus and share the gospel.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: See, philip was ready.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: The next thing I think we see here is that he was able, he was able.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: He comes running up next to the chariot and hears the Ethiopian eunuch.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: He hears him reading from the prophet Isaiah and he asks hey, do you know what you're reading?
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: The eunuch says how can I know unless somebody explains it to me?
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: So he invites Philip up in the chariot and they read from Isaiah.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: And he asked a question again.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: The eunuch asked a question of Philip about to explain this.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: But here's the focus.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: I think here's what I want us to see this morning In verse 35, here's what Philip does this morning in verse 35.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Here's what Philip does.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: See, Philip was able because here's what happened.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: He began with Scripture.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: See, here's what we we claim this about Scripture.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: We make statements about Scripture and listen, whether you know it or not, and if you come to a Southern Baptist church, there are assumptions that are being made about Scripture.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: Maybe we should make those assumptions.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you some of those things.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Okay, we believe that Scripture is the inspired word of God.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: It is breathed out by God, that he used men to to pen, that he used men inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: We believe that scripture is God's revelation of himself, that God has revealed himself to the world.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: He revealed himself through Jesus Christ.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: We they saw Jesus, but now, through these words, through the words of scripture, god has revealed himself to us who have not seen Christ.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: If you want to know God, read scripture.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: If you want to see how God portrays himself, read scripture.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: If you want to see God, who is invisible and it takes a revelation of himself to see, read scripture.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: So so here's the thing if we are going to share about god to people, guess where we need to begin with his revelation of himself.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: We got to start here, we got to begin with scripture.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Paul tells us, tells us in Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: He says this for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Hear what he's saying.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: The gospel, the gospel which is God's revelation of himself.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: It is Jesus Christ who came.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: It is the good news about Jesus Christ.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: He is not ashamed of it because it is the power of God for salvation.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Hear me your words are not going to save anyone.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: Your words are not going to lead anyone to salvation.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: God's words will.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: It is the words of God that are the power.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: It is the words of God that are the power for salvation.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: And when we share the gospel, if we're going to be able to share the gospel, we've got to begin with scripture.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Now I know already some of you are thinking but Grant, I'm not a Bible scholar.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, we talked about this last week.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Philip wasn't either.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: Remember who Philip is.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: We're not talking about the apostle Philip.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: We are talking about a man who was serving in his church and people recognized his service, so they asked him to help take care of widows in the church.
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: And then we're talking about a man, just an ordinary man, that, because of persecution in the church, went out from Jerusalem and as he was going, he began sharing the gospel with people.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Ordinary man.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: And let me tell you this he's a Hellenistic Jew.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: You know what that means.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: He's not Jewish Jewish, he's Jewish that has been out in the Roman Empire, that has come back to Israel.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: He doesn't have the background that a lot of the Jewish Jews have.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: He's a Hellenistic Jew but he begins with Scripture.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you about my grandmom.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I called her Mamaw.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you about Mamaw.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Mamaw, she had some schooling.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: She went to high school and she went to normal college.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: Some of you, older folks, will know what a normal college is, some of you won't.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Normal colleges were colleges that were really created to teach teachers, to teach teachers, to teach.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: And so Mamaw went to a normal college and she was a school teacher.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Now she was married to a guy who was a farmer and actually didn't come to Christ until later in his life.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: They were married before Papa became a Christian.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: And let me tell you what I have.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: Esther Kate was in my office this morning and said what are those piece of papers that look like degrees up there?
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: I was like well, they're degrees.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: So what are they?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: She said I have a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies from Mississippi College.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I have a Master's of Divinity with a specialization in biblical languages from seminary at New Orleans, and my grandmother has forgotten more Scripture than I know.
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: She wasn't trained in it, but she loved her God enough to know that he has revealed Himself to all of us in the words of Scripture, and she took it seriously and she read and she studied God's Word.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: It doesn't require a degree, it requires a relationship.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Listen, this is God's revelation of himself to us.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: If you want to know God, know his word.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: Philip did.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: And because of that, know his word Philip did and because of that he was able to share scripture when the time came.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: But not only did he begin with scripture, see what it says there again, he began beginning with this scripture in verse 35.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: He told him the good news about Jesus.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Understand the scripture that he's reading, that they're reading from the prophet of Isaiah.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: He told him the good news about Jesus.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Understand the scripture that he's reading, that they're reading from the prophet of Isaiah.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: That was over 700 years from the time that Jesus was born.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Over 700 years from the time that Jesus was born.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: And you know who Isaiah was writing about Jesus.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Look all the scripture.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: All of it points us to Jesus.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Look, all of Scripture.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: All of it points us to Jesus, to this one singular event where Jesus came, he lived, he died, he arose.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: All of Scripture points us to that.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Paul tells us that in Romans, chapter 3, verse 21.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: He writes this but now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Do you know who?
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: The righteousness of God that was manifested apart from the law, do you know who?
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: The righteousness of God that was manifested apart from the law is Jesus.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: And then he goes on to say this about it, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: The law and the prophets bear witness to the righteousness of God who is Jesus?
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Listen, all of scripture points us to Jesus.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: Understand this.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: God doesn't need you to defend the Bible.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: He doesn't need a defense of His Word.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: God doesn't need us to defend Him to anybody.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Do you know what we're called to do?
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Not to defend the Bible, not to defend God.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: We are called to bear witness of jesus christ.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: We are called, and what philip did is, beginning with scripture, god's revelation of himself.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: He pointed the eunuch to jesus.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: That's what we are called to do.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: We are called to point people to jesus.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Paul tells us.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Paul writes it so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 2.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: Listen to what he says in verses 1 and 2.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Do you see that lofty speech?
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Do you know what that is?
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: The word of God?
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: He didn't come.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: He didn't come doing that with lofty speech and wisdom defending the word of God.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Do you know what he did?
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Instead, look at verse 2.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: Listen, I don't know what you know about Corinth, but it was a crazy place.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: The debauchery that was going on in Corinth is amazing.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: You look at places in our world today and go, whew, it's bad there.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Think of Corinth.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: Right, and Paul said I didn't come to defend the Bible.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: I didn't come to give you eloquent speech about the Bible or lofty speech about the Bible.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: I didn't come to give you all of that.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Instead, what I came to do is use the word of God, his revelation of himself, to point you to Jesus Christ and him crucified.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Philip was able, he was able to share the gospel.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: He was ready to share the gospel.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: He was ready because he was in this growing relationship with God that allowed him to hear and obey and see through the eyes of God.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: But he was also able Because he had spent time knowing God through the words of God and because he knew Jesus and understood Scripture was pointing people to Jesus.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: He was ready, he was able and finally, this morning, we see this he was willing, he was willing.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: He was willing as they are going along the road.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: As they're going along the road, in verse 36 says and they, as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the unit said see, here is water.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: What prevents me from being baptized?
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: And he commanded the chariot to stop.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch and he baptized him.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: When he came out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way, rejoicing.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: But Philip found himself in Azotus.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: As he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: See, philip, he understood because, because he had this relationship with Jesus and because he had been taught by the apostles, he probably knew the great commission.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: You know it.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and behold, I'm with you always, to the very end of the age.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: Philip probably knew that verse because god jesus gave it to the apostles before he went into heaven and I'm pretty sure if he sat under the teaching of the apostles he heard that.
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: He heard that passage, he heard that that commission from Jesus.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: So here's Philip, and that's what he did.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: He went and he shared the gospel and and upon belief of that eunuch, he said hey, what is what's keeping me from being baptized?
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: It's what the great commission called us to do and we understand this.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: Baptism didn't save the eunuch, it didn't have to, didn't have to happen for his salvation, but he was baptized because, as we talked last week, it showed his pledge of loyalty to the kingdom of God.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: Hey, I am, I am a believer, I have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: So they stopped and they baptized him.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Then it's so interesting, gosh, it says when he came up, philip was carried away.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Listen, yesterday we drove down.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: We had to drive down to Jackson, amber, eli, actually to Brandon, about a three hour drive down and three hour drive back in a day on the way home.
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: On the way home, I just started thinking man, I wish I could be in, like I Dream of Jeannie, and be there.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: I just wish it, it could happen, like I dream of Jeannie and be there.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: I just wish it could happen.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: And that's what happened to Philip.
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: I don't know if it was like disappearance, I don't know if it was like if he was flying through.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: We don't know that.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: But we know that he was carried away to another place.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: But here is what is striking to me about this Not the fact that Philip was carried away by the Spirit, because the Spirit can do that.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: Remember Elijah, remember Jesus.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, here's what amazes me, though.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: I can imagine.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: Could you imagine being the eunuch?
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: Come up out of the water?
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Philip's there, philip's not.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Can you imagine being Philip?
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Where am I?
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: But look at their reaction.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: That's what it said.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: The eunuch walked away, rejoicing.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: He didn't walk away, wondering where did Philip go?
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: Huh, he walked away rejoicing because now he had life.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: You see what Philip did.
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: Philip got up and started preaching in every village until he got to his destination.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: He was preaching Jesus Christ.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: Philip wasn't going down the road and said hey, let me tell you the coolest thing thing I baptized this dude and then I just disappeared and came back.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: I want that feeling again.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: Let me do that again.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: Pete Philip didn't didn't walk around going hey, man, it was awesome that that I shared the gospel with this.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: Let me tell you about sharing the gospel with this eunuch who became a Christian a a believer.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: He didn't do that.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: He didn't stop and he didn't tell everybody about what happened in Samaria.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: He didn't do that.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: Do you know what Philip did?
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in every village he went to.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: He was willing.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: He was willing to do what God had called him to do.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: He was willing to do what God had called him to do.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Church, hear me.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: I believe that God has called us to advance the kingdom of God by bearing witness about Jesus.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: He's called me to do it and he's called you to do it.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: He's called me to do it and he's called you to do it.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: May we be prepared in such a way that, when God calls us, we hear and we go and we share the gospel because we're ready, because we're able and because we're willing.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: I pray that that will be us.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: Listen, I don't know where you are today, maybe this morning.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: You are like the Ethiopian eunuch, though.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: While I believe God has called us to share the gospel and bear witness about him, you can't until you know him.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Listen, if you have never trusted Christ as your savior.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Understand this Jesus came According to Scripture.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: He died on the cross in accordance with the Scriptures.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: He was buried and in three days he arose, in accordance to Scripture, so that you may have life, because apart from Him you can't.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Jesus tells us I am the way, the truth and the life, and it is only with a relationship with Jesus that you find life.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: Listen, this morning, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: We're about to pray.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: We're going to sing a hymn of invitation.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: As we are singing, we invite you to come forward.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: We would love to share with you how you can begin a relationship with Jesus today.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: Or maybe this morning, you recognize and realize you are not prepared.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're willing but you're not able.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're willing but you're not able.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're able but you're unwilling.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: Either way, you're not fulfilling the commission to go and make disciples of all nations.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: Maybe this morning, what you need to do is you need to repent.
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: You can do that right in your seat.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: You can come, kneel at these steps.
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: You can come and I would love to pray with you, but I beg you to hear the call that we are supposed to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: We must be ready, we must be able and we must be willing, and if you are not today, I pray that you will work to being those things.
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: If you're looking for a church home, here's what's amazing is, we're not called to do this on our own.
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: God has given us the gift of the church to help us, to walk with us.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: If you don't have a church home, we invite you to come and unite with us here at DeSoto Hills as together, we seek to advance the kingdom of God by bearing witness to Jesus.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Whatever decision you have to make, we invite you to make as we sing this song of invitation.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: After this prayer, let's pray.
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: God, we thank you for today.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: We thank you for the opportunity that we have, God.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: You have given us an opportunity to tell people about you.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: You have given us an opportunity to proclaim your name, god.
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: All the tools that we need we have, god.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: We just need to be ready, god.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: We just need to be ready.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: We just need to be able, because we're in a growing relationship with you, god, and we need to be willing.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: God, help us this morning.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Give us the faith that we need to do whatever you're calling us to do.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: Jesus, it's in your name that we pray this morning.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Amen, stand with me this morning if you have a decision to make now is the time.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at DeSotoHillscom.