Okay, let's open our Bibles to
the book of Acts, chapter 8. called his disciples, the apostles,
to preach the gospel. That's what they were sent to
do. Although the Lord gave them extraordinary
powers, healing powers and so forth, yet their calling was
to preach the gospel. That's what they did. They went everywhere preaching
the gospel, and the Lord also called seventy others at one
time, and then there were deacons as well who went about preaching,
two of them, Stephen and Philip, the Lord used greatly to preach
the gospel. In verse 25 of chapter 8, it
says, Now when they had testified and preached the word of the
Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the gospel in many
villages. That's what they were sent to
do. Not socializers or organizers,
they were preachers. That's what they were sent to
do. And that's what they did, to preach the gospel. And the same is true today of
his true preachers. That's what they are, and that's
what they do. And verse 5, look at verse 5,
Philip was one of these deacons. And it says, Philip, verse 5,
went to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto the people
there. He was called to preach, and
preach he did. And what was his message? Well,
Christ. That's who true God-sent preachers
preach. That's what they preach, the
gospel of Christ. And so they did. And the Lord
sent Philip with a certain message to a certain man. In our story
this morning, the Lord sends a preacher like we saw in Romans
10. How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? The Lord sent Philip with the
message to a certain man. God has his sheep. He said, I
know them. and they'll hear my voice. And
they will hear his voice by preaching. Verse 27, it says, well, verse
26, The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, go
toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza, or Gaza, men say today, which is desert. And he arose,
Philip arose, and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia. a eunuch of
great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. And
this man had the charge of all her treasure, and he had come
to Jerusalem for to worship. He was a religious man, and he
had come to Jerusalem to worship, which everybody did who was religious,
came to Jerusalem. Now, it says, Behold a man. Behold,
that means stop and think about this, because this was a man,
and this is unusual. The Lord doesn't generally save
men like this. Not many wise, mighty, or noble
are called, the scripture said. Not many. This man was all three. He was wise in that he had charge
of the queen's treasure house. That's a treasure of a country.
You've got to be a wise man, don't you? Knowledgeable. Mighty. He was under authority. He had authority from the Queen. He was under the Queen herself.
Noble. Now, this eunuch is a person
who has devoted themselves completely to their religion. A eunuch. Completely separated themselves
and consecrated themselves to God. to their religion. So he was a very devout man. To be a eunuch, you had to be
very devout, very separated, very moral, very moral man. And he'd come to worship, it
said. He came to worship. He was religious, and he came
to worship God. He's all of these things. He's
devout, he's religious, he's separated, consecrated, he's
moral, but he's lost. He's lost. You can be all those
things and be lost, as are many today. He was lost. Many dedicated, devout, moral
religionists who don't know the truth, don't know Christ. But
God, who is rich in mercy, sent the
gospel to this man. sent the gospel to this eunuch.
Verse 28 says he was returning. The eunuch was returning from
Jerusalem. Apparently he didn't get much
out of the preaching there, if they did any preaching. The Pharisees
probably just read papers, you know. Dr. So-and-so stood up
and read a dissertation on superlapsarianism as opposed to infralapsarianism
in the third century BC. He didn't get anything. He didn't
hear anything. And he was returning. And he was reading, it says,
he's reading God's Word, reading Isaiah the prophet, sitting in
his chariot. Not sitting still, but the chariot
is going slowly, slow enough for him to read. He's sitting,
he's reading. Now, I wish more folks would
do that. I really do. I wish more folks would open
these books instead of just use them as a prop on the table.
I really do. Well, he walks. He was reading
God's Word. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Verse
29. And the Spirit said to Philip,
Go near. Now, Philip, you see, was sent
down to this area, and he didn't know why, but the Lord, through
the Holy Spirit, said, There's a chariot. Join yourself to that
chariot. Go up. Preach to that man in
that chariot. So it says that Philip ran. The chariot is moving through
the desert. Here is Philip a long way off.
He sees the chariot. He runs. The Lord sent him, and
he ran. It is urgent. Preaching of the
gospel is urgent to a man who has sinned. And he ran. And it
says, verse 29, verse 30, Philip ran thither to him, the chariot. and heard him reading. The eunuch
was reading out loud Isaiah. And Philip was, by this time
he had caught up to the chariot and was walking or trotting alongside
the chariot. The eunuch is reading out loud. Maybe he didn't notice him there
at first. And Philip heard him reading from Isaiah 53. And in verse 30, Philip said,
Understandest thou what thou readest? Do you understand what
you are reading? Now, he knows he's there. It's where you come from. And Philip said, Do you understand
what you are reading? And again, many do read God's
Word. Many do. Many make a practice
of reading God's Word, but most don't understand. And I wish
that more would ask what this eunuch asks. I wish they would. He said in verse 31, How can
I? No, I don't understand. You heard
me tell about that fellow I used to work with on a railroad. He
was all of these things, very devout and religious. Anyway, he was reading one time
on the job, which you're not supposed to be doing. He's supposed
to be working. Anyway, I came up to him, a young
believer. I wasn't being smart-aleck. It
just came to my mind. This right here came to my mind.
The fellow was reading, and I walked up to him and said, Do you understand
what you're reading? He got mad at me, buddy. There's
an older man here, this young fella comes up and says, and
he looked at me, daggers in his eyes. He said, I'll have you
know, I'm a born-again, tongue-talking, spirit-filled Christian. I said, oh. I didn't know. And I had to ask him again. I said, well, that's not what
I asked you. Do you understand what you're reading? I wish more people would say,
no, I don't understand. Would you tell me? Verse 31.
How can I except some man should guide me? Verse 31. And he desired
Philip. He asked Philip that he would
come up and sit in the chariot with me. Come, sit. He desired. Unless there's a
hunger and thirst, they'll be filled. Come. Yes. No, I don't
understand. Please come sit with me. Seek. The Lord said, you'll find. This
is not for those who already think they're found. And you
never quit seeking. If any man thinks he knows anything,
he knows nothing yet, as you ought to know. That includes
the preacher. Keep seeking. You keep asking, and you'll receive. Keep knocking, and the door of
knowledge will be opened. The place he was reading that
says was this, he was led, and he is quoting Isaiah 53, he was
led as a sheep to the slaughter like a lamb done before his shearer
so he opened not his mouth. Verse 33, in his humiliation
his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation
for his life is taken from the earth. And the unit answered
Philip and said, I pray thee, would you please tell me, I've
been reading this, but I don't understand, would you tell me
of whom speaketh the prophet? Who is Isaiah talking about,
himself or some other man? Would you please tell me, I don't
understand what this is all about. Then Philip, verse 35, opened
his mouth and began at the same scripture. Isaiah 53, and preached
unto him, Jesus. Let's go back there to Isaiah
53. We read it a while ago. Let's
go back there, and may the Lord enable me to preach as Philip
did on this passage. Actually, this needs to start
in chapter 52. This message starts in chapter
52. It says that Philip preached from that passage. It doesn't
mean just those verses. I believe Philip covered all
of them. Now, Isaiah 52, now, it says in verse 13, God said,
Behold My servant. My servant. And Philip, as he
was preaching, said to the unit, God's servant, his elect, which
Isaiah said in Isaiah 42, behold, my servant, mine elect, whom
I uphold. That's Jesus of Nazareth. You've
heard of him, haven't you? That's Jesus of Nazareth. That's
the Son of the Most High God who was with God from the beginning,
who is equal with God. yet in the form of God. And God
Almighty sent him to do a service to him, to do something for him. He is God's servant, Jesus of
Nazareth, come to save his people. Verse 13, My servant shall deal
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high, not by men, but by God. By God. Verse 14, My servant, and as
many were astonished at him, because his visage was marred,
so marred more than any man, his form more than the sons of
men. This Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, you've heard how that
he came down here and men took him and brutally beat him and
tortured him and eventually killed him. But speaking of Christ, verse
15, but he will sprinkle many nations, that is, his blood shall
be applied to many a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation,
and tongue under heaven. There will be a people not only
from Israel, but a people from the Gentiles, from Mesopotamia. There will be a people from Ethiopia. God has a people from Ethiopia.
God has a people from all over, many nations. And kings will
shut their mouths at him. Every mouth will be stopped. And that which hath not been
told them shall they see. That which they have not heard
shall they consider. This message of Christ crucified is going
to go throughout all the world. Now verse 1 of chapter 53. Who
hath believed this report then? Who hath believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Philip's preaching, I'm preaching,
various men are preaching the report right now. What is the
report? John said, this is the record
that God has given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. This is the report. This is the record. This is the
message. This is the message sent by God
to His people. It's of Christ crucified. This
is the gospel concerning His Son, declared to be the Son of
God with power. And this is the report. It's
what we're sent to do. Well, who hath believed it? Not
everybody believes it. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Philip said, Mr. Unit, Jesus Christ is the arm
of the Lord. That is, God says all through
the scriptures, he brought salvation by his mighty arm. The right
hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I'm quoting scripture. The right
hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right arm of the Lord hath
brought him salvation. Jesus Christ, and most people
are right-handed, and most of their strength is right here.
That's symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ as the arm of God's salvation,
the fist of his power, the hand of his power. His salvation is
in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the power of God,
sent by God, the hand of God. to save his people. He brought
them out with a high hand. Christ is that arm of the Lord. Well, who believes the report?
Whoever he reveals himself to. That's what Christ said. The
old men know it. The Son said to the Father, and
the Father to the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
This must be revealed. Everyone is hearing it this morning,
but not everyone will actually see Christ as The arm of the
Lord, their only hope. Verse 2 says, He shall grow up
before God as a tender plant. His beginnings are very meager. The arm of the Lord, the servant
of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth. You've heard how that he was
born upon this earth. You've heard the story, born
of a virgin. It's true. You know that there's
a movement out there today, it's a conspiracy. They're trying
to disprove. the virgin birth of Christ. Even
religionists, those who call themselves Christians, some say
they don't believe in the virgin birth of Christ. There is no
salvation unless Christ was born of a virgin. Why? That means he's a sinner like
you and I are. He had to be born of a virgin without the seed
of man. The seed was the Holy Spirit,
God. That holy thing, the scripture
said, the angel said, announced his birth. That holy thing is
of God, not man. He's not like man. He's holy,
separate from sinners. God became a man. He didn't begin
as a man. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh, but without sin. It's necessary that our substitute
be without sin. A sinless one. Spotless lamb. He had to be born of a virgin,
else we don't have a substitute. We don't have a sinless representative. They say he was, but his beginnings
were very meager. Verse 2, he grew up as a tender
plant, as a root out of dry ground. There's so much here, and we
don't have time to deal with it. Christ is that root of David,
isn't he, John? That root. That vine. planted by God, the tree of his
planting. But he grew up very eagerly like
a man, born in a cow stall, grew up as a child, grew into a man,
a root out of dry ground. Verse 2, this is important, he
hath no form nor comeliness when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. Any depiction of Jesus which
has him as a very handsome person, is an idol. Well, any picture
at all is an idol according to God's word. God says, don't make
any raven image. That means a picture, a statue,
anything, a sculpture of anything in heaven or earth. Don't make it. Don't do it. There's
no description of Jesus Christ in God's word. The only thing it tells us is
he wasn't beautiful to look at. And that's by design. God purposed
that. I don't have time. But that tabernacle
in the wilderness was a plain brown tent. And most people didn't
see anything about that tent, anything special. But boy, if
you go on the inside, it's gold and silver and precious stone.
His beauty was inward. The beauty of his person. Verse
2 says there's no beauty we should desire him. People saw him and
said, well, you're just a carpenter. You're just Jesus. You're just
Jesus. You're just like anybody else.
There was nothing outward about Jesus of Nazareth to distinguish
him as being a holy or pious person. Nothing. He didn't wear
special clothing. He didn't wear a fish hat or
a collar backwards. No, that's not it. He looked
and dressed like an ordinary man. And people thought, that's
just what he is. Oh, no. Oh, no. That's God. Read on. He's despised and rejected
of men. Everybody rejected him. We did. Everyone in this room did before
God showed us who he really is and our desperate need of him.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were,
our faces from him. as one not worthy of looking
at. He was despised and we esteemed him not. And Phillips may have said this. He said it wasn't for good works
which the peoples sought to kill Jesus Christ. It wasn't for good
works. He was a good man. But they killed him, they hated
him, despised him because of what he said, the truth. They
said, you're not God, you're just a man. And we're not in
your hands. And we will not have you reign
over us. But Christ said, no man comes unto the Father but
by me. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And
people hated that. They loved their own righteousness.
They loved their own religion. They loved their profession.
They loved this. They loved that. What they've done for God. And
they heard Jesus of Nazareth say, you can't get to God unless
I take you there. You can't get to God unless I
represent you. I am the great high priest of
whom all the others spoke of. They are they which testify of
me. All of God's Word speaks about me. And they say, we don't
like that. We'll get to God without you. And we'll kill you just as we
can. That's what they did. And that's what people say in
so many words today with all the religion that goes on. He's
despised and rejected. Surely, verse 4, though, he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Who's the hour here?
Look down at verse 8, the last line of verse 8. It says, The
transgression of my people was he stricken. Call his name Jesus,
he shall save his people from their sin. Verse 11, look at
this, By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many, not all, but many. Christ didn't come down here.
to try to save everybody. He came down here to save those
whom God Almighty gave to him. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. God gave him a people and he
came down to do this for them. Verse 12, the last line of verse
12 says, He bare the sin of many. He didn't bear the sin of everyone. You see that? Many. Not all,
but many, God's people. And he made intercession for
them, the transgressors. Go back to verse 5. So he was wounded for our, God's
people, believers, their transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. God said, The soul that sinneth
shall surely die. This is the wages we've earned.
The wages we've earned is death, soul death, to be cast out of
God's presence, to be put away by God. But God, rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved his people, sent Jesus
Christ to this earth to be made sin for them. He who knew no
sin was made sin for them, that they might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He was made their substitute,
sinless and holy, a spotless lamb. God transferred their guilt
to him. He was being punished for their
transgressions. He's their substitute. He was
being bruised for their iniquities. God says, I can't have peace
with these God-haters. God laid on Christ this chastisement
necessary for us to have peace with God. Rebels must be punished. Traitors must be shot and hung
for treason. And so were we all. But God chastised
him instead for his people. Substitute. That's what this
is all about. Substitution. Jesus Christ. Substitute for God's people.
Substitute. Substitute. Substitute. He took
our place, as the old illustration you've heard, that one-room schoolhouse
up in eastern Kentucky, as it used to be in many places in
Virginia and West Virginia. A little one-room schoolhouse,
and a new schoolteacher came. And it was a pretty rough bunch
of kids there. And as it is in a one-room school,
there are older kids and younger kids, big kids, little kids,
of all ages, shapes, and sizes. And a teacher came in and he
knew he was going to have trouble with this bunch if he didn't
do something. So the teacher said, well, the
first day he stood up and said, now we've got to make some rules
here. We've got to make some rules. We can't get by without
some rules. He said, can you all think of some rules that
we need around here? And somebody spoke up and said,
no cussing. Okay, he wrote that down. And
somebody spoke up and said, no lying. He wrote that down. Somebody said, no stealing. And
he wrote that down. And on and on it went. He wrote
those rules down. And then he said after that,
he said, now if you're going to have rules, you've got to
have something to enforce them. Rules are no good if everybody
breaks them and you don't have some punishment for breaking
them. You've got to be punished for breaking the rules in order
to enforce them. So he said, what's going to be
the punishment for stealing? What's the punishment? Somebody
said, ten licks across a naked back with a rod. The teacher said, it's a little
severe, isn't it? They all agreed, no, no, that's
good. Not steal. Ten licks with a rod
across a naked back. Well, in a day or two, somebody's
lunch turned up missing. Big Jim, one of the biggest boys
in the class, his lunch was missing. He came to the teacher and said,
Teacher, my lunch is missing. Somebody stole my lunch. Big
old Jim. And so the teacher gathered the
crowd, the class together and said,
Big Jim's lunch has turned up missing. Somebody stole his lunch,
he said. We've got to find out who it
is. And eventually they found out it was a little Johnny. One
of the smallest fellows in the class. Poor little fellow who
always wore a big old coat. Never did take that coat off.
Little Johnny was hungry, and he stole Big Jim's lunch. And
they found out, and they brought him up in front of the class. And the teacher said in front
of everybody, he said, Now Johnny, you heard the rules. You helped
make the rules. No stealing. And you've been
caught stealing. And Johnny, you've heard the punishment for
stealing. Ten licks across the back, naked back, with a rod. Johnny, take off your coat. He said, Teacher, don't make
me take my coat off. Johnny, you heard the rule. Take off
your coat. It's a naked bat." So he did. He didn't have a shirt
on. Poor. Naked. You could see the
bones in his back. The teacher said, I've got to
enforce this. The rule's got to be enforced or this will just...
So he took that rod and he reached back to haul off and hit Little
Johnny and Big Jim hollered out, wait a minute, teacher, don't
hit him, don't hit him. He said he stole my lunch. Can
I take his place? Would you let me take his place?
It's my lunch he stole. I know the punishment's got to
be served. Would you let me take his place? The teacher said,
I don't see why not. Anybody? No, don't object. So
Big Jim took off his coat and the muscles were ripped. Little Johnny ran up to Big Jim
and said, thank you, thank you so much for taking my licking. I love you forever. substitute. He took our licking and the rod
broke. The rod of God's justice and
wrath was poured out on him. The chastisement of our peace
was laid on him. He was oppressed, verse 7, and
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Christ stood before
Pilate. You know the story of how the
Christ stood before Pilate, his accuser, and after a while he
didn't say anything. Remember, Pilate and all his
witnesses were charging him with all sorts of false accusations.
And Christ didn't say anything? He could have. He could have
vindicated himself, couldn't he? He could have said, I'm not
guilty of any of those things. How dare he say those things?
Not guilty. He could have defended himself.
He could have counseled and wiped out that whole kangaroo court
right then and there, couldn't he? He could have turned the tables
immediately and had pilots shaking in his boots standing before
him. Who is the judge? But he didn't. He didn't. He
didn't say a word. The scripture says he opened
not his mouth. Why? He's my substitute. He's standing
there for me. When I stand before the accusations
of God's law and men and devils, I am guilty. I can't say anything
in my defense because I am absolute guilty. I must plead absolute
guilty. I must cast myself on the mercy
of the court. He received no mercy. I received
mercy. But he as my substitute opened
not his mouth. He said nothing because I can't
say anything. as a sheep before her shearers
is done. So he opened, if not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall
declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living." Mr. Eunuch and those who hear me
this morning, Jesus Christ, the sinner's substitute, the righteous
representative of God's people, was taken and nailed to a tree. and killed him. Cut off. He died. He was crucified. He had to. Now, it wasn't that
men killed him. Verse 10 says, It pleased the
Lord to bruise him. Men with wicked hands took and
crucified the Lord of glory, but they did what God determined
before to be done. They did what God determined. to do. God was killing his Son
in my place, in our place, in his people's place. He was cut
off. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. He
was killed. Verse 9, and he made his grave.
He was buried, buried in a grave. No deceit in his mouth, though,
no violence. Buried with the rich. A rich
man gave him his grave, a borrowed tomb. He just borrowed it. He
wasn't going to stay there long. Verse 10 says, it pleased the
Lord to do this, to bruise him. God hath put him to grief. When
God shall make his soul and offer him for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his day. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Mr. Unick and all those who hear
me, Jesus Christ did not stay dead. He rose from the grave. Three days later, just like he
said he would, he arose victorious over death. Just as he said, no man takes
my life from me, no man could keep him in the grave. He came
out as our High Priest out of the Holy of Holies, having accomplished
that eternal redemption for his people. And God accepted him.
He went back to the right hand of the Majesty on High where
he sits, interceding for his people right now. Successful. He poured out his soul. Verse
11, he shall see the travail of his soul. He shall be satisfied. By his knowledge, Christ's knowledge
of the law, knowledge of the Father, knowledge of our needs,
shall my righteous servant justify many, completely acquit them
of all charges, all guilt against them." Why? Because he bore their
iniquities. He took their punishment. They
weren't just forgiven, their sins were punished by him. says, I will divide him a portion
with the great, he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because
he poured out his soul unto death, he was numbered with the transgressors,
he bared the sin of many. He made intercession for those
transgressors. Jesus Christ did this for his
people. Turn back to Acts chapter 8 now,
okay? Acts chapter 8. This is what
Jesus Christ did. Jesus of Nazareth, substitute
and sent by God for his people. And that's where he is now. Well, who did he do this for?
He did it for all those who believe. All those who believe. God's elect, yes. Well, how they're
known is they believe. They hear, they believe, they
call, and the Lord saves them. Whosoever shall call, Jew or
Gentile, Jesus Christ is their substitute. And the Lord said
this. I know Philip said this to the
eunuch, as I say it to you. Philip said, The Lord told us
that go in all the world and preach the gospel. And I'm sent
out here in the desert to preach to you, Mr. Ethiopian. And the Lord told us, go into
all the world and preach the gospel, and he that believeth,
that is, who believes this report, this record, to whom the arm
of the Lord is revealed, he that believeth this, that Jesus Christ
is God's Son, God's sent one, God's salvation, the only hope
for guilty sinners, he that believeth and is baptized. Baptism, our
Lord told us to be baptized, all believers, which is a picture,
a confession of faith in Christ before everyone. It's a picture
of being crucified, buried under the water like Christ in death,
buried, raised to be a disciple of Christ from that day forward.
Everyone is baptized, immersed, as if covered in the blood of
Christ, and killed because of sin, yet rise wholly accepted
in the Everyone is baptized, confessing Christ. Christ said,
I will confess you before the angels in heaven. Well, they went on, verse 8. Now, Philip is preaching this
to him. In verse 36, they went on their
way. They were riding along, and they
came to a certain water. They came to a little pond or
something, enough water for both of them to get in. And the eunuch
said, hey, here's water. They're riding along, and the
eunuch said, there's a little pond right there. What doth hinder
me from being baptized? There's water. Here's water. What doth hinder me from being
baptized? And Philip said, well, it's verse 37. Now listen, young
people, and all, listen. This is all Philip said to him.
Now, the power was in the message, he said. Philip didn't ask him
to do anything. Philip didn't plead with this
man to, won't you accept? No, sir. The power was in that
preaching. And God took that and powerfully
operated on the heart of this eunuch and convicted him of his
sin and his need of Christ. He needs Christ and told him,
you've got to confess Christ too. And here they come to a
body of water and the eunuch said, wait, stop, here's water.
Can I confess Christ?" And Philip, all he said was, if you believe,
verse 37, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
Believe what? Everything he just preached.
Do you believe, Amanda? Sarah? Irene? Anybody else? I can tell you
every believer in here, I'll be nodding your head. Yes, I
believe. With all your heart, from the heart, have a heartfelt
need for Christ? He said, well, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. You may be baptized. You should.
It's a command. And verse 37, the eunuch answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do
you believe with all your heart? You see, with the heart man believe
it, and with the mouth confess, do you believe? Yes, I believe.
He had to tell Philip, yes, I believe. It's like each of these persons
came to me. I didn't ask them. I didn't plead
with them. We didn't make an emotional service
out of it and play music softly and trick them and make them
feel something to come down here. No, sir, every one of them. in
privacy, came to me and told me, I believe this gospel and
I need to confess Christ and back to him. That's the way it's
happening. You don't have to ask people. God's not a beggar and neither
are his preachers. Peter stood at Pentecost and
preached Christ. and sat down and the people cried
out to him, men and brethren, what must we do? What must we
do? Well, the eunuch said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe that? The salvation of God? And Philip,
upon hearing that, says, stop the chariot. Stop the chariot. Stand still. Stand still and see the salvation
of God. Stop the chariot. Somebody wants
to be baptized. Stop this Roman chariot. Somebody wants to confess Christ.
Isn't it a miracle? It's a miracle of God's And they
both went down into the water, it said, down into the water.
The word baptized means to immerse, not sprinkle. That's not a good
picture of what Christ did. Well, they went out into the
water, and Philip baptized the eunuch. And they came up out
of the water, and poor little eunuch was rejoicing. And Philip
left. His job was done, and the eunuch
went his way rejoicing. In what? Not Philip, but in what
God had done for him in Christ. Rejoice. Turn to hymn number 209. Remain seated. Let's sing grace greater than
our sin. Hymn 209. Harvest break of our loving Lord. Grace that exceeds our sin and
our guilt. Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured. There where the blood of the
Lamb was spilt. God of grace, grace that will
pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God of grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. Sin and despair, like the
sea waves roll, threaten the soul with infinite loss. Grace that is greater yet grace
untold, points to the refuge the mighty cross. Praise, praise God's praise,
praise that is greater than all within. Praise, praise God's
praise, praise that is greater than all our sin. Dark in the same that we cannot
hide But did a veil to wash it away Look, there is flowing a
crimson tide I could have known you maybe today Grace, grace,
God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace
that is greater than all our sin. Irene Davis told me many things. I wish you could have heard her
speaking to me, and I can't remember perfectly everything she said. What she said was that she's
so thankful that she met John. She said, the greatest reason
is because I wouldn't have heard the gospel if I hadn't met John. And she told me of her love for
this gospel and how she believes this gospel, having not heard
it before. now hearing it and believing
it, rejoicing in it, and loving this church as well. Is that
what you told me? And so much more, so much more.
A dear sister, wife, and so many things now. We rejoice in her
perfection. Irene Davis, upon your of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, in obedience to the divine commandment
of Christ Jesus our Lord, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is Amanda Taylor, an old
stranger here. She's been coming for some time
now, and we've witnessed her life begun. She sat in one of
the classes, and a teacher said she, from the beginning, showed
a keen interest in what she was hearing, asking pertinent, good
questions. And a few years later, now a
young adult, hearing this gospel, Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday,
she told me, she came and told me, I've believed this for a
long time now. I love what you're preaching.
Say what you go. And she said, I want to confess Christ. I believe
he's done something for me. So we rejoice in her. In obedience to the divine command
of Christ Jesus our Lord, and upon your profession of faith
in Him, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. I hope I can get through this one. Certainly no stranger. It's a
special blessing. It's a blessing when anybody
confesses Christ, but a special, special, special blessing when
our children do. And I rejoice over this one as
much as my own. attending here from a baby, she
was born here. And like me, grew up under the
gospel like so many, grew up under the truth, believing it
in the head, convinced of it, but with the heart man believed
the Scripture said. And there comes a time, in God's
good time, when even those who believed the truth in the head
had it brought home to the heart. And they're convicted in their
own heart of their own sin, not just believing facts, but in
their own heart of their own sin and need for pride. And they
hear the gospel in a different way, as something they need,
that they must have. And she, like myself and like
others who grew up under the truth, afraid of making a false
profession, and all of us are. Because this is serious. Those
who know the truth don't want to make a false confession. It's too serious. They're very
sincere about it. The fear of the Lord. That's
what the Lord creates in the hearts of all His people. They
all fear making a wrong confession. But this is not, as I so have
heard, this is not confessing ourselves. This is confessing
Christ. It's confessing our need of Christ.
All the fitness, the psalm says, that he requires is to feel your
need of him. And you just confess him, and
say, I need Christ, I believe Christ. And that's what she told
me, is that right? And one of our own, our daughter. Sarah Williams, in obedience
to the divine command of Christ Jesus our Lord, And upon your
profession of faith in him, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So to Stan Anderson, would you
dismiss this please? Heavenly Father, we must thank
you for all you've done for us this day. Thank you for the offering
you brought to us, this verse of the Lord Jesus Christ. For
we thank you that while the Christ has done it for all of us, for
we ask you to help us to live for Christ. for everything. Christ is all in all. Lord, we
thank you now for our pastor, for what he preached to us. Lord,
we ask now that you would help us, you guys, to direct us this
week. All that we say is that we'd be able to give honor and
glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we ask this
prayer in his name, for his name. Amen. Thank you. you