Morning to everyone. Beautiful sunny day. I think we had perhaps the first April Fool's joke this morning at our farm. About one o'clock this morning, my wife woke me up and she said, "What's that noise?" I wouldn't really care if the house was on fire; I just wanted to go back to sleep. So I said, "It's nothing. It's no problem." She said, "Is that thunder?" I said, "No, it's not thunder. Go to sleep." 

She woke me up again and I said, "Listen, the cat's got a toy. It's rolling on the floor downstairs. It's just a cat playing; go to sleep." But she jumped up, went downstairs, and ran back up and said, "The cows are on the deck." So we had cows running loose on our deck this morning at one o'clock. We were out enjoying the crisp full moon getting the cows back in.

So we're going to be looking at Acts chapter 8 this morning, verses 26 to 40. We're continuing our study in the book of Acts in chapter 8 with the story of Philip and the eunuch from Ethiopia. The book of Acts is all about Jesus continuing his work through his disciples. Remember when we began the book back in chapter 1, verse 1, Luke told Theophilus that he had written the former account, the Gospel of Luke, in order to record all that Jesus began to do and teach. The book of Acts is Luke's second volume, giving an account of the work that Jesus continued to do to build his church just as he promised.

So, what we've seen is a clear, consistent theme of this book, and as a daily continual activity of the disciples, is preaching Jesus, is making disciples. This is the very command that Jesus had given to the apostles in the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that he had taught.

In chapter 8 of Acts, we are in a transition period within the book. This book serves as a transition overall between Judaism and Christianity, between the old covenant and the new, between Israel and the church. But within the book, we find ourselves in a transition as well between Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth, between preaching to the Jews and preaching to the Samaritans, and then to the Gentiles. Between the ministry of the Apostle Peter and then Stephen and Philip, and on to Paul. 

The account of Philip's ministry here in this eighth chapter, as well as Stephen's sermon in chapter 7, serves as a moving out by means of persecution into Judea and Samaria, preaching Christ to Gentiles as Paul begins his ministry in chapter 9. One of the major lessons we learn in this chapter from Philip is that there is a consistency in the message, no matter who you are preaching to. It is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe, for the Jew first, but also for the Gentile. Jesus is always the message. 

And that's what we will see here in the last part of chapter 8 as Philip preaches Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch and gives us some clear, important examples for our ministries today. Let's look at verse 26 in chapter 8. It says, "Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, 'Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert.'" So he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. 

And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I unless someone guides me?" He asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his justice was taken away, and who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth." 

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man?" Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. 

Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." So he commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 

Now, when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to see the command. Second, the contact. Third, the Christ. And fourth, the consummation. 

Well, first in our text, we see the command: "Arise and go." This is the same command that we have today, my friends. Jesus said, "Go." Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Go. Make disciples of all nations. Go. We are to be going. Going into the world, into our jobs, our social interactions, our communities, into all the world. Go and preach Jesus. This is the command for every believer, and God gives us each unique opportunities to preach His message of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

You know, sometimes people will call me or they'll come to me, and they will ask me to go and witness to some relative or friend that they have. They ask me to go and talk with them, and that's fine, and I'm happy to do that and glad for the opportunity. But I often wonder, and usually tell people, perhaps God has put this person on your heart, created this relationship that you have with them, so that you can go and tell them about Jesus. 

We need to understand that God has empowered us all with the same Holy Spirit, has created unique opportunities, given specific burdens to us, and has given every believer the command to go and to preach the gospel. It seems to me that the norm in evangelical Christianity today has become for the pastor or elders to be witnesses, or for some parachurch ministry to go out and take the gospel to the world. These things are fine, but the clear New Testament method of God is for the pastor teacher to preach the Word, to teach and exhort and correct and rebuke, to teach the Word of God in order to equip the saints for the work of ministry.

That they may go out as individuals into this world and preach Jesus. It's my job to preach Jesus as in my individual interactions, in my sphere of influence or wherever I have opportunity, but my friend, it is equally your job to preach Jesus Christ. So we see the command: go into all the world and preach the gospel. He told Philip to go, and we see his response in verse 27. It says he arose and he went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, and he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake the chariot." So Philip ran to him, it says. The command came: "Go," and Philip got up and went. Obedience. Obedience to the command, my friends, to preach the gospel. Obedience to the opportunity that God had given him. 

I wonder, have you ever been in a situation where the Holy Spirit was leading you to talk with someone about Jesus? Maybe you're having a simple conversation, and they say something that indicates to you that they do not know the Lord, and they give you a window of opportunity, and the Holy Spirit prompts you and says, "Go, preach Jesus." These opportunities are around us all the time, my friends, and if we are praying for them, looking for them, and obedient to seize them by God's grace and power, we will see that God is working all the time to arrange details so that we might preach Jesus.

We look at this example of Philip and we say, "Well, God made that very clear to him, and he had the situation all arranged." But let me tell you, my brothers and sisters, He’s doing the same thing in your life and in mine all the time—preparing men, creating opportunities, and leading us, prompting us in our hearts to go and preach Jesus. The question is, are we looking? Are we praying? Are we willing to be obedient to the command to seize the opportunity? 

Philip was eager. He was obedient. In fact, it says he ran to the eunuch and his chariot. We have this command from Jesus for each one of us as well, and we have these opportunities all the time. We see the command, and next we see the contact in verse 30. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and he asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He said, "How can I unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit by him in his chariot. 

The place in the scripture he was reading was in Isaiah 53: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away, and who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth?" 

And the eunuch asked Philip, "Does the author speak of himself, this prophet? Is he speaking of himself or of some other man?" And Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. God had prepared this man. He had prepared this eunuch for this encounter. It's amazing to think about.

The word here that is translated "chariot" is not like we might think of a chariot. It's one of those seats on poles that men walk and carry. I read that from Africa, where this man had come to Jerusalem, it was almost 1,200 miles. He had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was seeking. He was looking for answers to the burning questions he had in his heart. He was seeking, my friends. 

Now, there's an important theological point here. We have talked often about the willingness of Jesus to save lost men. The scriptures say that Jesus came for the very purpose of seeking and saving the lost. They say that God is not willing that any man should perish, that God desires that all come to the knowledge of the truth. The scriptures say that no man may come unless the Father draws him. But it also says that anyone who comes, he will in no wise cast out. 

What we see over and over is that the reason that the majority of men do not come to faith, do not receive the gospel truth, and believe Jesus is not because God is not willing, not because God does not want them to be saved, or has not done some necessary thing for them to be saved. Man is not willing. That's the truth that we see over and over throughout God's Word. Jesus said, "How I have longed to gather you under my wings as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing." 

"You search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life, but they are those that speak of me," He says. "You're not willing to receive me." That's the problem. It's not a matter of evidence or lack of revelation or lack of will on God's part, but, my friends, it is a matter of the heart of a man.

This eunuch from Ethiopia is a tremendous example of this truth. He was willing. His heart was open. He was diligently seeking the truth, reading the scriptures, traveling so far to Jerusalem, 1,200 miles, to seek the truth. This was a very important man. He was a servant under the queen of the Ethiopians, entrusted with all her treasury. He traveled a long way, a hard journey, to find the God of Israel. 

He had apparently purchased a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and he was reading in that great 53rd chapter, seeking and studying as he was traveling home, trying to know the truth, to know the Savior. God had arranged all this, drawn this man by the power of the Spirit, got him to the place where he wanted him, and provided the evangelist to explain the gospel to him.

Notice what it says in verses 30 to 31. Philip says, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I unless someone guides me?" Romans 10:13 says, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? 

In verse 17, it says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." He was reading in Isaiah 53. What a great passage. Let's turn to that passage and see what it was that the eunuch, some 2,000 years ago, was reading in a scroll that was written over 700 years before his time. 

Isaiah 53 at verse 1: "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of the dry ground. He has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we did not esteem him. 

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgressions of my people he was stricken. They made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief. 

When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

What a tremendous Old Testament prophecy concerning Jesus the Savior, who suffered in our place for our sins, so that we might be made right with God. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. The place where the eunuch was reading, "That he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, he was silent, he opened not his mouth, his justice was taken away, and his life was taken from the earth." 

The eunuch asked Philip to explain, to answer the question, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or some other man? Please notice verse 35 in our text. It says, "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him." We see the command, we see the contact, and when Philip is given the opportunity, when the eunuch asks the question, what is the answer? The answer is Jesus, the Christ. He preached Jesus to him. 

This is so vitally important for us to understand. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us that we should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have within us. Now this verse is often used to promote the idea of apologetics, to give a defense, an argument, and evidence in different areas to show the Christian faith as true or correct. But let me ask you a question, my friend. What is the answer for the hope that you have within you? What is the answer for your faith, for your surety, for your security, and peace and joy? What is the answer for your hope? 

The answer is Jesus. That's the answer that we must preach and teach. When we come to men with a seeking heart, when God prepares opportunities, when they ask us about our hope, our answer must be Jesus. And what does it mean that he preached Jesus to him? 

We see something very important in verse 35. It says, "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him." Philip began where the eunuch was. He was reading the scripture in Isaiah about Jesus, about the Savior. Philip was able to take that opportunity to start at that very scripture and preach Jesus. 

This is what we must do as well, my friends. Whatever opportunity we have, wherever someone is, whatever their question is, we need to be able to start there and turn the conversation, the answer to their questions, to their real need, to Jesus, to the gospel. 

When I was writing these notes, I thought of an event many years ago where I learned this lesson. I was on a hunting trip with Pastor Krenz. I figure it must have been about 16 years ago that we traveled out to South Dakota to hunt pheasants with Jeff. It was a tremendous time of fellowship and hunting, and we shot a lot of pheasants in those few days. While we were there, a friend of Jeff's asked if he could come by to talk with us about some questions that he had about his faith. 

I don't know if you remember that, Pastor. He was involved in a reformed, I think it was a covenant church. He was to come the next evening, and that night I was praying for him, I was praying for the opportunity, but my thoughts and my plans were all around the doctrinal error that he was involved in. I was thinking about all that was wrong with Calvin and Luther and the church he was involved in and how we could show him this error. 

When he arrived at the house, we sat down and began to talk, and thankfully, Pastor Krenz did most of the talking. As I listened, I heard Pastor turn every question to the gospel, to the good news, over and over and over again. It was good to start where he was, it was good to answer his questions, but the point, the purpose, was to turn the conversation to the gospel. It was to show this man for whom Christ died that Jesus was the only answer for him. 

That was an important lesson for me. And we see it here in our text as well, where Philip started, where the eunuch was, and with his questions, but when he opened his mouth, he preached Jesus. 

The other important thing we see here is that he used the scriptures. Jesus said, as we quoted before, "The whole of the Bible is about Jesus, from beginning to end." It's all about Jesus and God's plan to save sinful men, to redeem them, to buy them back, and bring them back into a right relationship with Him. We need to be able to take the scriptures and explain what they mean, explain the truth about Jesus, who He is, and what He's done for us, and appeal to men to believe Him, to trust Him, to turn to Him. 

And this is what Philip did. From that great text in Isaiah 53, Philip explained that it was Jesus who died. It was Jesus who was bruised for our iniquities, who was led as a sheep to the slaughter, who was cut off for our transgressions. Philip was able to explain the substitutionary death of Christ in our place for our sins and tell that man that day that if he would turn to Jesus, if he would place his faith and trust in Him alone and what He accomplished on the cross, then he would be saved. 

This is the good news. This is the gospel. This is the truth about Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection. It is finished. He is risen. Yesterday, we were sitting around talking, and Bobbie was reading something on the internet, and she saw something about Easter, and she said, "Jesus is alive." Caitlin said, "No, not until Sunday." I thought that was interesting. I thought it was funny. I thought it was tragic. Many churches today are celebrating the resurrection of Christ, or some reasonable facsimile. 

But how many of them even know what the resurrection means? I thought about the religion I grew up in. On Friday there was nothing but mourning, incense, stations of the cross, fasting, waiting for resurrection Sunday. Today they are rejoicing in the resurrection, but they don't teach or believe the truth about the resurrection because, listen to this, my friends, they do not believe that Jesus finished the work. They do not believe that He paid for our sins. 

In fact, on this very day we're there rejoicing in the resurrection, putting on their purple robes and their big hats, the center of their whole worship is the Mass. And the definition of the Mass is a sacrifice. Do you know who they're going to sacrifice today on the altar? Do you know who that priest is going to take and kill on the altar today? It's Jesus. The doctrine and the very words of the priests utter are that Jesus is immolated, killed on the altar as a propitiation for our sins. He's sacrificed again and again in an unbloody manner. 

On the very day that they're worshiping and celebrating the resurrection, they're going to kill Him again. There's a lot of confusion in this world, in the realm of Christendom, my friends. But there are those who are searching, seeking the truth, who have a willing heart, and what they need is for a faithful believer to climb up into their chariot and sit down beside them and start at the Scriptures and preach the truth about Jesus. 

The good news, the gospel, that it is finished. That He paid the debt in full on the cross, that He was the full satisfactory payment for our sins, and that God showed that He was satisfied with His payment by raising Him from the dead. And by faith alone, in Jesus alone, not by any work of righteousness that we have done, not by any religious ceremony or rite or ritual, not by anything but the grace of God through faith in Jesus alone, can we be saved forever. 

He's risen, my friends. He was risen on Friday. He was risen on Saturday. He's risen today. He's risen tomorrow, and He alone by Himself, Hebrews 1 says, has accomplished our salvation by paying for our sins. The question is for every man, as it was for that eunuch on that day, will you believe Jesus alone? Will you place your faith in Him? 

That's the very thing that that eunuch did. God prepared the whole situation, the man. He brought Philip to him. He gave him the Word of God, and Philip preached Jesus to him, and my friends, he was obedient to the faith. He believed, he trusted Christ alone, and in this we see the consummation. 

Verse 35 with me, please. Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." 

That verse is not in some of the older texts in the majority texts that we get our New King James and King James from, but not in the critical texts. So verse 37 may not be there, but it's a doctrine that's clear throughout the scriptures. 

Verse 38: "So he commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea." 

The eunuch wanted to know God. He went to great lengths seeking the truth. God honored his desire by bringing Philip to him, and with a clear truth about Jesus, the mission was accomplished. The man believed, and he was saved. We see that his immediate desire was to profess that faith in an act of obedience, baptism. 

Notice the new believer asks, "Here is water; what hinders me from being baptized?" He had heard, he had believed. What is it that would hinder him, prevent him from being baptized? Nothing. And so he and Philip, note this, went down into the water. The whole point of water baptism, the New Testament biblical truth, is that water baptism is an outward profession and symbol of what has already happened in salvation. 

So when Philip took that eunuch down into the water and baptized him by immersion, down into the water, and up out of the water again, it was meant to picture his death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus Christ because of his faith in Jesus. And this is the biblical prescription for water baptism. 

We saw back in the first part of this chapter that Simon was baptized. Simon the sorcerer was baptized in water by Philip, but he was not saved. He believed in the works. He wanted the power for himself so that he could profit, but he did not have a faith that saves. His faith was not in Jesus alone and what he accomplished on the cross. Simon was baptized in water, but he was not saved. 

So it is not the waters of baptism that save a man. It is God's grace through faith that a man is saved. And water baptism is a public profession and a symbol of what has already happened in that man's life. The intent of God was to save this man. God organized the details. He moved the Ethiopian eunuch because of the willingness of his heart to Jerusalem and on that road to Gaza. God brought his evangelist, Philip, to this man. He prepared the eunuch. He even had him reading Isaiah's scroll at chapter 53. 

Philip was faithful to open his mouth and preach Jesus. And God's intent was brought to consummation when this man believed, when he placed his faith in Jesus. And water baptism was his first act of obedience after coming to faith. 

Last Tuesday, we studied in Matthew 28 and ended our study of that gospel. And those last verses of the book, called the Great Commission, and in that passage, Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all that he has commanded. 

Baptism is so closely associated with salvation in the scriptures. All through the book of Acts, we see that men believe and they are baptized immediately. I wonder sometimes why it's not that way in the church today or if we neglect teaching this doctrine as often as we should. But clearly, it is Jesus' command that every believer be baptized in a public profession in an identification with Jesus Christ. 

Verses 39 to 40, we see that the consummation of this meeting had come, that it was complete in its intent and purpose. Look at verse 39. "Now, when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea." 

The Lord, in a miracle, caught Philip away and took him up to Azotus, and on his way up to Caesarea, what was he doing? What was Philip doing? Preaching in every city. Preaching Jesus. You see, it didn't matter where he went. It didn't matter where he was. It didn't matter where God took him. Even if he caught him away and planted him somewhere else, he was fulfilling the command of Christ. He was preaching the gospel to every creature. 

This was who he was, and this is how the early church operated—going out and preaching Jesus everywhere they were found. And what about the Ethiopian eunuch? What happened to him? He went back to Africa, and tradition holds that he was the evangelist that began the great growth of the church in that region in the beginning of Christianity. He went as a new disciple of Jesus and preached Jesus as well, and many were saved, and the gospel went forth. 

This is Jesus' plan—multiplication through disciples, making disciples by preaching the gospel. This is what we see in our text today: a wonderful example for us of what we are to be about and how we are to be about it—seeing the command, the contact, the Christ, and the consummation. 

God has us here in this time, in this place, for the same purpose: to obey Him, to seek and to seize those opportunities that He provides to preach Jesus and to see God work out His plan of salvation for every man that will believe Him. 

Father, we're so thankful for the gospel, thankful for Jesus, our salvation, thankful for all that you've done, and we're thankful to you that our sin debt was paid in full by Him on the cross and that He conquered sin and death and hell and was raised on the third day for our justification. 

Father, thank you that you are our Father, that we can know you, we can have peace with you, we can come to you and find help, that we can depend on you and trust in you, that we will spend eternity with you in heaven.