We turn this morning to the book
of Acts, chapter 8, where we read of the account of the Ethiopian
eunuch and Philip's meeting with him. We read from verse 26, the
angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go
toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went, and behold,
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Kandache,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure,
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and
sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the prophet. Then the
spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot.
and Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet
Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he
said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired
Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of
the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to
the slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened
he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the
earth. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speakest the prophet this? Of
himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, see, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And he commanded the
chariot to stand still. And they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch. and he baptized him. And when they were come up out
of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that
the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. What an account this is, and
an example of how God can find his people wherever they are and bring his
message of salvation in the gospel of Christ unto them. Though they may be in darkness,
though they may be from a far country, though they may have no understanding
themselves, Jesus said, I am come to seek
and to find the lost sheep of Israel. He will come with his
gospel. He will send it forth by his
spirit through preachers whom he sends to find everyone for
whom he died. every one that the father gave
him, every one of his children chosen from the foundation of
the earth, he will find every one for whom he suffered and
died as the lamb of God. And he will bring them to hear
and bring them to believe and to confess. I believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. As God come unto you with his
gospel, as he sent a preacher unto you, to preach from the scriptures and
to preach unto you Jesus. As God opened your understanding
and given you faith, to see that which was once hidden from you. This man of Ethiopia was from
a far country. He was not from Jerusalem. He
was not a Jew. He was a Gentile from a great
distance. And God found him with his gospel. We read that Philip was commanded
to arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down
from Jerusalem unto Gaza which is desert. This is where he found him. From Jerusalem unto Gaza which
is desert. A dry and a barren land. We know today that Jerusalem
and Gaza is in our news. And spiritually speaking, it's as much a desert today as
it was then. Indeed, this is a picture of
the whole world. Wherever you are, and wherever
you're traveling, if you don't know Christ, if you haven't been
given his gospel, if God hasn't given you faith to believe on
him, then you find yourself in a dry and a barren land, in a
desert. That's where we are by nature.
And it doesn't matter who we are. It doesn't matter how great
we are in the world's eyes. It doesn't matter if we are,
as this man of Ethiopia, of great authority under the Queen of
the Ethiopians, have in charge of all her treasure. It doesn't
matter how high up we may be in this world or how much knowledge
or wisdom we may attain to. except God sends his preacher
to us with his word, we are in a dry and a barren land, a desert,
and we're dying, and we're lost, and we don't know our way. Is that where you are? Is that
where the Lord has taught you to feel that you are, or do you
think all is well? Maybe you are eating, drinking
and being merry. Maybe all is well, you amuse
yourself, you think all is well in your life. And the years tick
by and the hours tick by to the day when you will leave all that
you have here below and enter eternity and then what will you
have? Oh that God should teach us where
we are, the darkness we're in. the coldness we're in, the blindness
we have, the desert in which we dwell. But oh that God, having shown
us that, should be pleased as he did with this Ethiopian to
send a preacher like Philip to the desert. where we dwell and
bring the word of God that we might live. Philip was sent there
to the desert between Jerusalem and Gaza where an Ethiopian eunuch
was returning from Jerusalem back home without understanding. lost in
the darkness of this world. Philip arose and went and behold
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Kandace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning and
sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the prophet. This Ethiopian was a man of great
authority. In charge of all the Queen's
treasury, he was a man of great wealth, of great importance. And he'd gone to Jerusalem to
worship. The Lord had given him some desire
to go to Jerusalem to worship. Some understanding that there
is a God to be worshipped. And yet, what did he know? When he read the prophet Esaias,
and Philip said unto him, do you understand what you read?
He said, how can I? How can I? No matter how great a man he
may have been, no matter what riches he had, no matter what
access to understanding and knowledge he had, no matter the fact that
he even had the scriptures, for we read that there he was in
his chariot reading them, he had the scriptures. And he'd
been to Jerusalem, and yet still he understood not what he read. He could have gone to Jerusalem,
this man of authority, he could have commanded many to come unto
him and to teach him. No doubt he'd have gone to the
temple, he'd have gone to Jerusalem to worship and he'd have had
questions for the scribes and the Pharisees there. Those who
taught from the scriptures. He'd have had questions for them
and could they answer him? He went to those that should
have been able to tell him. Perhaps he'd been reading Esaias
on his way there. Perhaps he'd asked them about
this passage when he was in Jerusalem. And what did they tell him? Still
he does not know. You see, it doesn't matter where
we are. We can be in Ethiopia, we can
be in Gaza, we can be in Jerusalem. We can have the scriptures. We
can go to the churches and the priests and the scribes. We can
go to the learned men in this world, those in religion who
should know and we can ask and they don't know. And we don't
know and we're still in darkness. This man was on the road from
Jerusalem to Gaza on his way through a desert, lost and blind. And all that he had naturally,
his own authority, his own riches, his own wisdom had got him nowhere. And all the religion which he
turned to, he'd gone to the priests, he'd gone to the scribes, he'd
gone to Jerusalem, he had the scriptures. and got him nowhere. He had the scriptures, but he
understood them not. And yet, on his way home, in
the desert, God found him. God sent his word to him. God
sent his messenger to him in the darkness, in the desert. when he had nothing. We may come to a point in our
lives where we've tried all the water pots. We've gone to this
place, we've gone to that place, we've gone to this church, we've
gone to that church, we've read this book, we've read that book,
we've listened to this preacher, we've listened to that preacher.
We've tried to find out what is true. We may have studied
all the religions of the world. We may have turned to Islam and
to Buddhism and to Hinduism and to Christianity and to Judaism
and compared them and tried to work out which is right and where
the true God is. And still we're in darkness.
This man had been to Jerusalem where the Jews were. He's heading to Gaza where the
Philistines are. He came from Ethiopia. He'd have heard different people
speak different things. But it took a preacher sent of
God preaching Christ to save him. Today there are those in
Jerusalem full of their religion, full of their beliefs. And they
have the scriptures. And God's left them his word
in those scriptures. The Old Testament. But they don't
know Christ. Like the scribes and the Pharisees
in this day didn't know him and rejected him and cast him out. The Muslims, Islam, have their
Quran, which follows the Abrahamic tradition. It speaks of Abraham
and Moses, many of the prophets, even Jesus. They have a record
of the truth, and yet they don't know Christ. Because God must
send a preacher wherever you are, Jerusalem, Gaza, Ethiopia,
Great Britain, the United States, whichever part of the desert
you dwell in, God must send a preacher. It was a great blessing that
this man had been given the scriptures and that he could read Isaiah
the prophet in those scriptures and he read from Isaiah chapter
53 as we know it. He read this glorious prophecy
of Christ But until God came unto him by
Philip, he understood not. Then the Spirit said unto Philip,
go near and join thyself to this chariot. God sent a messenger,
a preacher, unto him in the desert. God found him. He had done his
own searching. He'd obtained the scriptures. He was reading them. He'd gone
to Jerusalem. He'd done all that he could,
and yet here he is in the desert. All that he did got him nowhere. All his efforts, his wisdom,
his understanding, his knowledge, his works, his will got him nowhere. And yet, left in the desert,
God sends Philip by the Spirit to find him. And Philip went
near. and joined himself to the chariot.
God sent him a messenger. Oh, has God sent you the gospel? If he has, what a blessing. What a blessing if God sends
us a preacher preaching Christ. It's a rare thing. The world
is in darkness and multitudes never hear. They may have their
churches, they may have their preachers, they may have their
scriptures, they may have all these things they turn to, but
just like those in Jerusalem, just like this Ethiopian, they
don't know what they're reading. They don't know what they're
hearing. And Philip ran thither to him,
and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except
some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. How can I understand? I need someone to show me who
this speaks of. Which man is the Prophet speaking
of? Himself or another? What does
it mean? He read from the place of the
scripture. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter and like a lamb done before his shearers so opened
he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his
life is taken from the earth. What a passage. And yet it meant nothing. The wonderful thing we see in
this Ethiopian's responsia is his humility. This great man
of great authority under the Queen of the Ethiopians who had
charge of all her treasure, this great man of importance that
rode in a chariot when approached by another who said, do you understand? what this is about said how can
I except some man should guide me he made no pretense he made
no claims he didn't pretend to know most of it but maybe not
quite clear on everything he didn't answer with some arrogance
like we naturally would But he confessed freely, I don't understand. And how can I accept some man
should guide me? This response is not natural.
It's very rare. God must bring us to this point
as he brought this Ethiopian to an end of our understanding. to an end of our wisdom, to an
end of our knowledge, to bring us to say, I don't know. I really don't know. Lord, help me. Teach me. Show me. Reveal thyself to me. Lead me to thy son. Lead me to
the truth. I don't know. How can I except some man should
guide me? Takes a great work of the spirit
to teach us what we are and where we are. That no matter what we
have by nature, no matter how greatly esteemed we are by others,
before God, we are nothing. that no matter what wealth and
opulence we may live in, no matter how much treasure we may have
in this earth, He had the charge of all the Queen's treasure,
no matter what we have, no matter how much treasure of our own
understanding and wisdom and knowledge we may have built up,
that ultimately we have nothing. It takes God to teach us that
no matter what it may appear outwardly, Spiritually we're
in a desert. And we're in a famine. A famine
of the Word of God. And we need a preacher to come
unto us and to preach Christ to us. And that we have no understanding. We're blind by nature. We're
deaf by nature. We're lame by nature. We cannot
walk. We cannot run. We cannot move. We cannot understand. We're dead
by nature. dead in our own trespasses and
sins have mercy upon me Lord a sinner have mercy upon me Lord
the sinner this is where this man was in a desert saying how can I understand Except
some man should guide me. Except God should send me a preacher
and make the truth known unto me. I'm blind. I'm without understanding. I'm lost. Oh that God should bring us there. Bring us to the point where we
truly confess that we are the sinner. Not just a sinner. Not a sinner just like everyone
else is a sinner. Putting us on the same level
no worse and better than some. Yes we're wrong but we haven't
done this and we haven't done that. Looking on others and saying
how could they do this? How could that man do that? But
looking at ourselves and saying we're the worst. We're the least. We're the vilest. We're the most
lost. We have nothing. We deserve condemnation. We deserve the wrath of God.
Have mercy upon me, Lord. Help, Lord. Well, the Lord had long begun
to send this man help. He'd given him a desire to know
the truth. He'd gone to Jerusalem to worship. He'd given him the scriptures.
He led him in those scriptures to Esaias. He caused him to read
and to ask, what does this passage mean? Who is this man spoken
of? And in the midst of the desert,
God sent him Philip to preach Jesus unto him. The place of the scripture which
he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
and like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened he not his
mouth. in his humiliation his judgment
was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his
life is taken from the earth what a passage to be led to what a picture of Christ in the
gospel as the Lamb of God as God's offering for sin as God's
offering for the sins of the elect the sins of his people God sent his son Jesus Christ
into this desert of a world, into this darkness that you and
I dwell in, and he sent him as a sheep to be led to the slaughter,
as a lamb who was done before his shearer, as a sacrifice to
be slain whose blood was shed, He was humiliated. His judgment
was taken away. God's wrath poured out upon him. His life was taken from the earth. God's own son was given as a
sacrifice for sinners. A sacrifice for this Ethiopian. A sacrifice for Philip who came
unto him preaching of Jesus. Was he given as a sacrifice for
you? What a picture we see in this
passage. The Lamb of God. How we see the
depths of the suffering of Christ. who silently he opened not his
mouth, he was taken by his accusers, he was taken by the scribes and
the Pharisees, he was taken as those who sought his death, he
was taken before that mob that cried out, crucify him, crucify
him. Away with this man, we will not
have him to reign over us. He was taken as a lamb to the
slaughter. He was nailed to a cross, nailed
to the tree. He was stripped and beaten and
bruised. He was whipped. He had a crown
of thorns put upon his head. And he was hung up to die. And he suffered it, silently. because he bore the sins of his
people as a sheep, as a lamb that was
offered for them. He was spotless. He was innocent. And yet he took their sin and
died the death that they should die. What a passage to be led
to. And yet he did not understand.
The eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speakest
the prophet this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. This passage speaks of Christ. who was crucified in Jerusalem
these past days. Philip knew him. Philip preached
him. All the prophets, all the scriptures,
spake of Jesus Christ. And all the prophets and all
the scriptures speak today of Jesus Christ. Philip preached
unto him to whom he was sent in the wilderness and he preached
unto him Jesus he preached Christ. We preach in this wilderness
of sin in the darkness in which we are found and we have one
message one message from this book No matter where we are,
in Genesis, in Revelation, wherever we may go, from Isaiah, Jeremiah,
no matter where we preach, there is one message, Christ and Christ
alone. One message. Of whom does this
man speak? Is it himself? or of another
man. He spoke of Christ and Christ
alone. Whether we be from Jerusalem,
whether we are in Gaza, whether we dwell in Ethiopia or any other
part of the world below, any other part of this barren desert,
There is one person of whom we need to hear one message we need
to believe. We need Christ and we need to
hear him preached. We need to know the Lamb of God. John with his two disciples saw
Jesus passing and cried out, behold, the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Oh, what a
sight, but oh, what a message. Has God come your way? Has he
taken the scriptures, which naturally speaking are a closed book to
us, a mysterious book and made them plain and shown
that every word, every prophecy, every command, every teaching,
all the words from start to finish are Christ and Christ alone. They all concern Him and His
salvation and they all concern our need to be washed in His
blood. The passage from which this Ethiopian
read, came right to the heart of the matter. It declared the
one who was led as a sheep to the slaughter. It declared the
one, Jesus Christ, who was like a lamb done before his shearer,
who opened not his mouth. It declared the one who in his
humiliation, his judgment was taken away. It declared the one
whose life was taken from the earth, it declared Christ but
it declared Christ and him crucified. Why did Christ come to give his
self, to give himself as an offering unto death on behalf of his people? He was crucified in order that
He should bear the sins of His people. He came into the desert
of this world, the darkness of this world, for this purpose,
to be nailed to this tree. That He should take away our
sin and bring in for His people the righteousness of God. He
came as a sheep offered up to the slaughter. He came to offer
His blood. He came to wash His people clean
from their sins. Oh, what a Saviour! And He accomplished
this salvation. All that was written of Him by
Isaiah he fulfilled to the uttermost. He accomplished this salvation.
His life was taken from the earth because the soul that sinneth,
it must die. And bearing the sin of his people,
he died on their behalf. But that death, that judgment
could not hold him. Because as God, He rose again
victorious, having taken away the judgment, having taken away
the sin, having taken away the offense, having taken away the
law and its condemnation, having taken away its curse and penalty,
having taken away everything that was against His people,
having destroyed all their enemies. The final enemy being death,
He rose victorious from the grave, He rose from the darkness. He
rose with everlasting life and righteousness. He rose as a shining
light that shines in the darkness. And having risen, he ascended
to glory and sent forth this gospel. And everyone for whom
he died, he will seek out. He will send forth his spirit,
who calls and sends forth Philips here and there. says unto them,
go to the desert from Jerusalem under Gaza, go to this one, go
to that one, find them where they are and preach unto them
Jesus. And so his gospel is preached. So he works So he finds out everyone
for whom he died. So he brings them to here. So he gives them faith. So he
gathers them into their church. So he gives them the water of
life to drink and the bread of heaven to eat. Has he found you? He found this Ethiopia. And as
they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And Eunuch said, See, water! What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. What was the effect of
Philip's preaching? What was the result of God sending
Philip to this Ethiopian? He believed that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. His eyes were opened. His understanding
was opened. He had faith to believe And he
asks to be baptised. He sees water and says, what
hinders me to be baptised? Why does he ask? Because he believed
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Philip preached unto
him Christ. From that passage he showed that
that man led as the sheep to the slaughter is Christ, the
Son of God, who came into this world to save sinners. such as
you and I. Dead lost sinners like this Ethiopian. Oh the faith that God gave him
in Jesus Christ. Until that day he was in darkness
in a desert. He had all the advantages He
was a man of great authority. He could read so much. He could visit Jerusalem and
the temple. He could go to the scribes and
the Pharisees. He had the scriptures and yet
he knew nothing. And yet when God sent his preacher
preaching Jesus unto him from the scriptures, he saw the scales
from off his eyes fell away. And God gave him sight. His ears
were opened. His legs moved. His heart was
full of understanding. He believed. He saw by faith. He knew. Oh, the power of the
gospel that can take a man in the darkness and bring him to
see. No matter where we are, no matter
how blind we are, no matter how hard a heart we may have, if
God sends this gospel as he sent it to this man, he can make the
hardest sinner believe. You see the Lord's provision
for him from start to finish. He'd put him in the way. He'd
given him the scriptures. He sent a preacher to him. And
now, believe in, he says see, here is water. See water. Water in a desert. Go toward the south unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza which is desert. And
then they came on their way to a certain water. Water in the
desert. God gave him water. God sent
this man the water of life. He sent him Christ. He sent him
a preacher to preach Christ unto him. And he gave him physical
water to be baptized in. They came unto a certain water. Not just any water. but a certain
water. They brought Him, God brought
Him unto Christ, the water of life. Has God brought you there? Has God brought you to Him? Has God brought you to this water
in the desert? In the desert in which you dwell,
in the desert of your understanding, in the desert of the darkness
of your sin, has God brought you to a certain water and caused
you to say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. What
hinders me to be baptized? We read, and he commanded the
chariot to stand still, And they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they
were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went
on his way rejoicing. There was no delay. This man
heard the gospel. He believed. and on the very
day on the same journey he was baptised. He believed in a saviour
who was baptised in death for him. He saw the billows of God's
wrath, the waters of God's wrath drown Christ on His behalf. He saw the fires of God's wrath
come down and consume Christ's sacrifice on His behalf. He saw the Lamb of God slain,
the blood shed. He saw the Lamb consumed by fire,
the burnt offering. He saw the baptism that Christ
must be baptised with. And he said, I must confess him. And he freely went under the
waters to say, I've been buried with Christ. All that I was has
been crucified with him. was dead in my sins but Christ
took me and I was slain with him my sins have been buried
I've been buried in the darkness buried in the grave with Christ
I've been buried under the waters of God's wrath it's all been
washed away and the blood has washed me from head to toe and
I'm alive I'm alive in Christ I believe that he is The Son
of God. I believe that He is that Lamb
that was led to the slaughter, that sheep that was slain for
me. I see Him. I see myself in Him. He's mine. Once baptized, we read that Philip
was caught away by the Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more. He saw him no more
and he went on his way rejoicing. Philip's taken away. This preacher
that brought the eunuch so much that pointed him in the scriptures
to Jesus. By whom God brought him salvation. By whom he was given faith. By that preaching, God preached
Jesus unto him and he lived. And yet that preacher's taken
away. And he saw him no more. Perhaps never more. He's left
alone. He's left alone in the wilderness. He's left alone in this desert
below. He's left alone. And yet we read, he went on his
way rejoicing. Rejoicing. He was not full of
sorrow because Philip then left him. He didn't say, come back,
I've more questions. But he rejoiced. Because he was
not alone. Once he was alone in the darkness
of this world without understanding. But Philip preached Jesus unto
him. And by the Spirit of God, Christ entered into his heart.
And he was one with him. Christ dwelt in him and he dwelt
in Christ. He lived. He was not alone. No matter what was around, No
matter what earthly appearance there may be, he was one with
Christ. Where are you? Are you in a desert? Has God taught you what you are,
that by nature you're nothing, nothing but the sinner? Has God
come in the scriptures and preached unto you the Lamb of God, preached
unto you Jesus? Has he given you faith in him? Has he given you life? Perhaps
you feel alone, perhaps you feel there are so few that believe
this, so few you know. You're in a wilderness, you're
in a desert. Where are others that believe
this gospel? Perhaps you feel alone. Well,
if you know Christ, If God in mercy has one day sent a preacher
with this gospel preaching Christ unto you, wherever you may be,
and even though that preacher may be taken away, and even though
you may be left, and even though it may seem hard, and even though
trials and tribulations may come upon you, and the journey you
journey on may seem so hard, may seem so lonely, even though
the way may seem so barren, If you've heard this gospel and
know this Christ as this Ethiopian did, God will give you grace
and mercy to go on your way, rejoice in. Doesn't matter whether
we're on our own in the wilderness, or in a crowd, it's the same
cause of rejoicing Christ and Christ alone, Christ the power
of God, Christ the lamb of God, Christ and his gospel. Oh God
be pleased to find us, to find you, in the darkness, in the
desert, wherever we may be, and preach unto us Jesus, and God
be pleased to give us that faith He gave this Ethiopian. Oh, that
we may be able by His grace to say with a certainty, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And though we may feel
alone, that we may have that in our heart that sends us on
our way, rejoicing in Christ our Saviour. Amen.