Open your Bibles with me to Acts
chapter 8 While you're turning there I
I Have to say I was I was Excited when I seen Chris get out of
the truck for because for a short minute. I thought I might get
to hear him preach this evening But I'm certainly thankful you
led the singing Acts chapter 8, beginning in
verse 26. And 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 a desert.
And he arose, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under Candace, 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. And he read Isaiah
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
Isaiah 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. And 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 he said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh 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. One subject, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as they went on their way,
they came into 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. But Philip was found at his odes,
and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came
to Caesarea." I want us to look here this evening at Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
The Lord willing, I want us to draw our attention to one particular
verse here this evening. Look at verse 36 of Acts chapter
8. The eunuch asked this question.
It says, As they went on their way, they came into a certain
water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder
me to be baptized? That's the title of my message,
What Doth Hinder Me to Be Baptized? And I pray the Spirit of God
will enable us to answer, see the answer to this question here
this evening. I want us to see three things.
First, what were the events leading up to this eunuch asking the
question, what doth hinder me to be baptized? Second, What
are the natural objections that we come up with that will hinder
a man or a woman from being baptized, from confessing Christ? And then
third, Philip's answer, the messenger of God, he has answered to this
question, what doth hinder me to be baptized? So first, what
led up to this question? What brought him to this question? In verse 26, we see that the
Spirit of God sent one of God's messengers. The angel of the
Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south
unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem. In the book of
John, the scriptures say he must needs
go through Samaria. Every time, every time we see,
every time we see a sinner in need, we see God sending one
of his messengers to that one in need. In another place, Paul
and Silas were placed in prison. They're for that prison guard
to preach the gospel. To preach the gospel. And over
the years, not just in God's word, but by experience, we've
seen God raise up men to preach the gospel in places that we
never would imagine. He sends his messenger to his
sheep and he calls his people together by his grace. We read
this, we read this, how shall they hear without a preacher
and how shall they preach except they be sent? He sends his messenger to his
sheep. Then we see that this messenger,
he brings forth the message. The message from God's Word,
and it's a message concerning the Lamb. The Lamb. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. The Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. It's the same Lamb that Abraham
told Isaac about back there in the Old Testament. He said this,
God will provide himself a Lamb for a burnt offering. The Lord
Jesus Christ, he is the lamb of God. He is God. The Lord provides
that lamb for himself. He's both just and justifier. And the Lord will provide, the
Lord will see to it. He'll see to it, he'll see the
redemption of his sheep. He'll see that his law is honored,
that his justice is satisfied, that his covenant is fulfilled.
the eternal glory of His dear Son. He declared on the cross,
it is finished. As He hung there, the sacrifice
for His people. The Lord will provide Himself
a Lamb. And this is declared, this truth
is declared throughout God's Word. And the eunuch, the eunuch
on this day is reading about a Lamb. If you look at verse
27, You'll see the eunuch, he was returning from Jerusalem,
the holy land as men would call it. He had come to Jerusalem
for the worship and he was returning. And it would appear that he knew
nothing more when he come back as when he went there. Maybe
he felt a little bit holier, as men say they do. Again, they
call it the holy lands, but I assure you it's just as sinful as the
land we live in. In fact, if anything, it's an
idol for men to take a track to. But when Philip asked him,
he said, do you understand what you're reading? Listen to his
reply. He said, how can I? How can I
accept some man should guide me, accept some man should teach
me? We notice here that this eunuch,
he had a teachable spirit. This eunuch, if you think about
it, he was somebody. I mean, he's a man of great,
we read he's a man of great authority, a man of wealth, a man who had
charge of all the Queen's treasure. And Philip asked him, Do you
understand what you're reading? You know, imagine a man without
a teachable spirit to ask that question, someone who is far
above everybody else like that. And you say, do you understand
what you're reading, what the natural response is going to
be? Of course I do. Who are you to
even ask me such a question? Not too long ago, there was a
man in one of our school buildings. He was a resource officer. I'd
never seen him there before. Never before had I seen him.
And I tried to offer a few suggestions to him, just a few things that
I thought might be helpful for him, make his day a little bit
easier. And his reply was this. I've
worked in schools before. And I thought, he knows what
he's doing, doesn't he? Yeah. But by nature, by nature,
that's how we respond to everything. That's how we respond to God's
Word. I heard, I think it was Scott
Richardson up in Fairmont, he was at a McDonald's and he saw
a man reading one day. And he said he sat there and
he ate and he went over and he asked the fellow at some point,
Do you understand what you're reading? And the fellow just
blew up, just blew up. But listen, this man, this man,
he says, how can I? How can I accept some man should
guide me? Oh, that the Lord would give
us that, that he would give us a humble and teachable spirit,
a desire to know more, to know more of him. Philip opened his
mouth. Look at verse 35. Philip opened
his mouth and he began at the same scripture and he preached
unto him Jesus. He preached unto him the Lord
Jesus Christ. He preached the gospel to this
eunuch. You know, as I was studying and
preparing this message, I wondered how many men had went to Jerusalem for that
same meeting. How many of them had loaded up
and went down there and came back in the same condition? How
many of them went empty and came back empty? How many other chariots
were lined up on the road that day? Maybe they had the book
of Isaiah open. Maybe they were reading. Maybe
not. But how many, how many were there
in one of those chariots, maybe caught up in something that they
had heard or something that they had seen, but they hadn't heard
of Christ. They had not heard of the Savior. Yet this one man, this one particular
man, this eunuch, on this particular day, a particular man on a particular
day, in this particular place, He's going to hear the gospel.
He's an object. He's an object of God's mercy. And there he sits, with his copy
of Isaiah 53, reading, searching the scriptures, and Almighty
God sends His messenger. He gives this eunuch a teachable
spirit. He prepares that soil. You know, you just don't throw
a seed on the ground and it grows. That soil has to be prepared,
and God had prepared his heart to receive the word. And he preaches
the gospel to him. He preaches the truth to him.
Isn't that what God's done for many of us sitting here this
evening? Aren't we thankful? Aren't we
thankful that he's been merciful? Aren't you thankful that Almighty
God has given you this place? This place to come together,
this place to gather together and a faithful pastor to continually
and boldly preach God's Word. Brady and I, our youngest one
Brady, we were driving around here not too long ago and there
was a sign out in front of a building And it said this, it said, Christian
Comedian. And Brady turned to me and he
said, Dad, what is that? What is that? And we agreed it
could be, it's entertainment. That's all that is. That's all
that is. And honestly, probably some of
the things that are said in that building, a comedian couldn't
say anything worse than what would be said to men. entertainment. I believe his brother Henry used
to refer to that as people entertaining sinners on the road to hell. Let us never be anything but thankful that
we have a place to worship, that we have faithful men to declare
God's Word. And this eunuch on this day,
he's got a man that's going to preach the gospel to him. Ever wonder why me? Why would
God be, why would He show me mercy? Why would the Lord be
merciful to me? I can't imagine if that wasn't
on that eunuch's heart that day. Well, Paul said this in his letter
to the Galatians, he said, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me." How did I end up here? How did I end up under
the sound of the Gospel? I wonder how many times the eunuch
looked back on that day, on what had happened that day, but probably
not so much that day, but just the fact that God showed mercy
to him. God sends His messenger. He sends
His messenger to His sheep. He declares His gospel to them. And look here, it says Philip
ran to Him. Ran to Him. You know there's
a sense of urgency, isn't there? You think about that. If somebody
was laying out there in the parking lot having a heart attack, would
we just stand around and watch? Or would somebody run to Him?
Run to Him? Jimmy, you do that in your work.
You run to them. There's urgency. You don't walk
to these things. In God's gospel, sinners, men
are dying. He ran to him. He ran to him. Do you understand what you're
reading? And he says, how can I? Except
some man should guide me. And then Philip opened his mouth.
And he began at the same scripture. And he preached to him. One thing, one thing is needful,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was reading there in Isaiah
53 about he who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He who
had no sin, he who knew no sin, who did no sin, yet he was made
sin. The sinner's substitute. As our
substitute, he was smitten, stricken of God and afflicted. Sin must
be punished. How awful sin must be, it must
be punished even when it's found on God's dear son, his only begotten
son. It must be punished. And as our
substitute and our representative, he bore our sin. He bore our
sin in his body on the tree. He stood in our place. and made full satisfaction. Full
satisfaction was made. He reconciled us to God by the
obedience of His death. Turn over to Isaiah 53. Look at verse 11 of Isaiah 53. Here we read, he was wounded for our transgressions. Isaiah 53 verse 5, he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we're healed. Why? Why? Because of my sin. Why did he have to suffer? Why
did he have to die? For the sins of his people. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we've turned every one of us to our own way, and the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Look at verse 11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied." Satisfied. By his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquity. One message, one message, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Back in Acts chapter 8 verse
5, Philip went down to the city of Samaria. And he preached,
what did he preach, what was his message? He preached Christ,
Christ to them. Robert Hawker was born in 1753
and he died in 1827. And he said this, oh that modern
preachers would do the same. That's what he said, oh that
modern preachers would do the same, just preach Christ and
Christ alone. forget about building buildings,
forget about all these other things, creating self-righteous
people and all that, all that garbage, and just preach Christ
and Christ alone. Well, what leads up to this eunuch's
question? A seeking sinner. God sending
forth his messenger to preach Christ from the scriptures. God
giving that eunuch a heart to receive his word, a teachable
spirit, God in grace giving faith to believe. And the eunuch says,
what does hinder me? What does hinder me from being
baptized? What would hinder me from identifying with my Lord
and Savior in his death, burial, and resurrection? What would
hinder me from publicly confessing the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing
him as my only hope? That leads me to my second point.
What hinders a man from confessing Christ? What hinders a man? Is
it my unworthiness? Could it be my unworthiness that
would hinder me? We read about that Canaanite
woman this morning, over there in Matthew, and she came to the
Master and she said, have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. And our Lord replied and He said,
I'm not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And what did she say? She said, Lord, help me. Help
me. And our Lord replied again. He
said, it's not meat to take the children's bread and cast it
to dogs. And what did she say? She said,
truth, Lord. That's the truth. I'm a dog.
And can't we all, can't we all enter into that? Can't we all
say that? I'm a dog. I'm not worthy. Yet the dogs
eat from the crumbs that fall from the master's table. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke to
her and he said, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. What doth hinder me? Maybe it's
the corruption of my heart. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He's
talking about himself there. Is it the corruption of my heart?
Is it my fear of falling away that would hinder me? I'd confess
him, but I know my heart and fear that I would fall away. Turn to the book of Jude. Look at verse 24 of Jude. Here we read, Now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, power, both
now and ever. Amen. Am I afraid of falling away?
Well, if I'm looking to myself, the answer to that question is
absolutely yes. But he keeps his people under
him that is able to keep you from falling. What does hinder
me? Is it the reproach of this world? Is it the opposition of family
and friends? Philippians 3, 8, Paul said in
his letter to the Philippians, he said, yea, doubtless, I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, whom
I've suffered the loss of all things. None of these things matter.
I don't count any of these things dear to me." He said, he said,
I count them, I count them but done. Walk out in the pasture
field, that which you get all over your shoes, he said, I count
it but done. that I may win Christ and be
found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I may know Him and Him alone. Maybe your former life, maybe
my former life or my conversation would hinder me. You know, David
must have entered into that thought. He prayed to the Lord and he
said, remember not the sins of my youth. I believe he could
have just as easily said, remember not the sins of my youth, remember
not the sins of my middle age, remember not the sins of my old
age, remember not the sins of my youth. Remember what Nathan
said to David? David said, I've sinned against
the Lord. He wrote in the Psalms, he said, against thee and thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. But what did
Nathan say to him? All this must have brought joy
to David's heart. He said, the Lord hath put away
thy sin. Maybe you might ask this, is
his grace, is his grace enough for me? Is His grace enough for
a sinner like me? Turn to 2 Corinthians 12. The Lord told Paul, he said,
my grace, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is
made perfect in thy weakness. Is his grace enough? His grace
is sufficient. It's enough. I believe it's Tom
Harding said, when he said, what's that mean? He said, it's enough
to get the job done. His grace is sufficient. What doth hinder me from being
baptized? My last point. Look at Philip's
answer. He said, if you believe with
all your heart, he that believeth on the Son
hath life. When we read of Abraham, all
the way back there in the Old Testament, Abraham believed God. What do we know about Abraham?
Abraham was an idolater. Nothing to commend him to God,
but God called on him to leave his country, his family, his
father's house. The Lord spoke to him and he
said this, I am thy exceeding and great reward. Believe. Believe. Believe in Christ is
coming to Christ. Just like that Canaanite woman,
she came to him. She cried for mercy. And guess
what she received? She received mercy. Peter cried. He said, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life. Believing Christ is receiving
Christ. We read, as many as received
him, to them gave he power, the right, the privilege to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Believing
Christ is looking to Christ. Back there in Isaiah we read,
look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. I'm
God and there is none else. Believing Christ is committing
to Christ. Committing to Him. Paul said,
I know whom I believe and I'm persuaded that He's able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him. Lock, stock and barrel. I've committed it. unto him. My confidence, my confidence
is not in my way, not in my walk, not in my works, not in this
world. My confidence is in Christ and
Christ alone. Do you believe with all your
heart? In closing, Brother Henry wrote
an article several years ago and I thought this was appropriate. He said a man can be saved and
not know whether he is a pre, post, or a millenniast, but a
man cannot be saved who does not know Christ. A man can be
saved without a love for Tulip, but a man cannot be saved without
a love for Christ. A man can be saved who refuses
the lordship of elders, but a man cannot be saved who refuses the
Lordship of Christ. A man can be saved who does not
enter into the rest of your Sabbath, but a man cannot be saved who
has not ceased from his labors and entered into the rest which
can only be found in Christ who is our Sabbath. What does hinder
me to be baptized? Philip said, if you believe with
all your heart, thou mayest. And that eunuch answered. He
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. All right. I pray God will bless his word.