Go with me to the book of Acts,
Acts chapter 8. This is a familiar
story to most of you, I'm sure. This is the story of a man, a
great man, who's somebody, and he's well known, a man of great
prestige and honor and fame, a rich man. He's a rich man.
He's in charge of a very wealthy queen's treasury, so he himself
was rich. He's a religious man. He's also
a religious man. But he didn't know God. He didn't know Christ. And that's
the story of many people. The front of your bulletin quotes
John 17 3. This is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he
hath sent. Our Lord is the one that said
that. He said this is life eternal. This is what it means to be saved,
to know the true God, meaning that there are many who don't
know God who is God. And it's certainly the case today
that churches, the religious world in general, doesn't really
know the God of this Bible. They talk about a God who wants
to be God if you let him be God, but that is not the God of the
Bible. The God of the Bible, the God
who is God, the true God, does as he will, with whom he will,
because he will, who worketh all things, Scripture says, after
the counsel of His own will. He's not subject to the will
of man. He doesn't do things by chance or randomly. He's ordered
everything, purposed everything. This is what the Scripture says
about God, doesn't it? That's the true God. And Jesus
Christ is no mere martyr. He's not someone who came and
tried to save people and lay down his life, and won't you
feel sorry for him, and won't you accept him, and he's standing
outside your heart's door, hoping you'll let him in, that is not
the Jesus Christ of Scripture. And this story describes him,
and this is preaching the truth, the true God, and Jesus Christ
that God sent to do something. to work out a work that God sent
him to do, and he did it. His last words on the cross were,
it is finished. He did what he came to do, what
God sent him to do. All right, this religious man
did not know that God. He didn't know the true God.
He didn't know Jesus Christ. He didn't know why he came. He
heard of Jesus like everybody else. This thing wasn't done
in a corner. It was known all over the world
that someone named Jesus died on the cross. But most people
just thought he was just a man. And he died and he stayed dead. That's not the Jesus Christ description. All right. But God sent him a
preacher. Here, a very simple outline.
My pastor used to tell us young preachers, Put this at the top
of your notes, K-I-S-S. Keep it simple, stupid. Keep it simple, stupid. Don't
get too complicated, just keep it simple. Well, very simply,
all right, three part outline. We've got a preacher, we've got
a seeker, and we've got a savior. That's what this story's about,
okay? A preacher, now the way God saves
What the world calls foolishness is what I'm doing right now.
Next to lawyers, preachers of the off-scouring of the earth.
And I admit it, I hate to be linked with these fools today.
They're in it for money and, you know, big buildings and all
this stuff. I hate for people to find out
I'm a preacher because of these fools out there. But the preaching
of the gospel, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ. It's the power of God and salvation. The Lord Jesus
Christ himself was a preacher, and he was no fool. He's the
wisdom of God, the power of God. And it's him I preach, not myself. That's like Brother David. We
preach not ourselves, Paul said, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, Supreme
Sovereign. Alright, this is what God please,
is pleased to use. 1 Corinthians 1.21, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. This
is what God use. This is how God use, and it's
a mystery, it's a miracle, use a man to stand it up, declaring
God's word, and somehow, someway, the Spirit of God breaks people's
heart over sin. It gives them repentance, causes
them to see what can't be seen, to hear the voice of the Son
of God, to believe what people hate. It's a miracle, but this is what
God uses. Please God by the foolishness
of a preacher. You know, my dad was my dad. For years. Still is. He still
is. Ninety-three, ninety-four or
so. And I sat under preaching after
preaching after preaching after preaching. And that's all it
was to me. He's just my dad. Like, Amanda, like that's your
dad. Okay? You hear a message, that's my
dad up there. One dad. It was more than my dad preaching. It was the Lord speaking through
him. And I wasn't hearing him as my dad. It was the Lord speaking
to me. And this is what he uses, these
earthen vessels. We have this treasure in earthen
vessel. The scripture said that the excellency
of the power, if God speaks to someone through a clay pot, You
know it's of the Lord. The disciples went out. They
were fishermen, you know. And the Lord told them, go out
and preach. And they did. It's Simon Peter. He said, am
I going to preach to all my old classmates? They know me. He's just Simon. But God spoke
to him. It was a miracle. We have a preacher. God, look at verse 4 here in
Acts chapter 8. They went everywhere, the apostles,
the church, those 70, went everywhere preaching the Word. See that?
Now the Word is Jesus Christ, as I said, as the song sung. He is the Word. Christ said,
they are they which testify of me, speaking of the Scripture.
It's all about Jesus Christ, the Old Testament. If I had time,
we'd go through all those types, but we don't have the time. They preached Christ. Verse 12,
it says, they believed Philip preaching the things concerning
the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. They were baptized. See that? They were all baptized. That's what Christ told people
to do. He said, he told the apostles,
go out, preach the gospel, he that believeth and is baptized. It's a confession of Christ crucified,
buried, and risen again. Both men and women, they did
that. But they went out preaching. Verse 25, Peter and John came
down to Samaria, and they came there and testified and preached
the word of the Lord. They preached the gospel. And
people believed, they believed what they were preaching, or
rather who, okay? So this is what God uses. All right, verse 26, here's our
story. The angel of the Lord spoke unto
Philem saying, arise and go toward the south under the way that
goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is a desert. And he went down there. The Lord
sent a preacher to this man. This man, now Romans 10, many
of you know, which says, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. What goes on to say, how shall
they call on him who will not heard? How shall they hear without
a preacher? How shall they preach except
to be sent? So the Lord, the Spirit of God told Simon Peter
to go down to the desert, Gaza, and there's gonna be somebody
there. that you're going to preach to. Wherever God has a people,
wherever God has a sheep, He sends a shepherd. He sends a
preacher. Now, I've come a long way to preach, and maybe, I hope
there's a eunuch in here. I hope there's someone in here
to hear it. The Lord sent this man a long way from New Caney,
Texas. That's a long way. Philip was
sent a long way to preach. Well, God had a man waiting.
He had a man waiting to hear him preach. That's how God speaks
to human beings, through the preaching of the word and through
a preacher. So he sent this preacher, all
right? There's a preacher. And he sent
to the desert, and that's what this world is called. The wilderness,
the desert. And he arose, verse 27, and he
went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under
Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, and in charge of all their treasure. And he had come to Jerusalem
to worship, and he was returning from Jerusalem, and he was sitting
in his chariot, and he was reading Isaiah the prophet. So this man
had come a seeker. He's a seeker. He'd come, it
says, to worship. He's come to Jerusalem. He's
a great man. He's a rich man. He's a religious man. He came
to worship, as men try to do. They say they do today. People
go all over the place and they find that we're looking for a
church. We're looking for this. We're looking for that. And they
go and they attend. But this man, like so many, he
doesn't know God. He doesn't know Jesus Christ.
He doesn't know why he came. But he's seeking. He's seeking. And he comes to Jerusalem. Now
he didn't hear the truth in Jerusalem. He didn't hear of Christ in the
temple, did he? He wasn't there. They weren't
preaching in the temple. Religion had run them all out
of town. Religions, the religious people are the ones who killed
Jesus Christ. They didn't want him. He's messing up their religious
playhouse. He exposed their facade of religion.
They were playing games. He called them scribes, Pharisees,
hypocrites, playing a part, acting a part, trying to be good religious
people. And our Lord exposed them. And so they killed him.
They did what God determined before to be done. But nevertheless,
Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the people and the Gentiles, they
all killed Jesus Christ. But God, the scripture said,
they did what God determined before to be done. They did what
God had them do to kill the Lamb of God. But they nailed Him on
a cross outside of Jerusalem, outside the camp. And Hebrews
13 says that very thing. That if we're going to hear the
truth, we're going to come to Christ, it's going to be outside
of mainstream religion. It's going to be outside of modern
religion. It's going to be outside of what
most people think is the truth, because it's not found there.
Truth has always been in the minority. Starting with Noah's Ark. I'm
sure the people said to Noah, you think you're right and everybody
else is wrong. You can't be right. There are
just eight of you people in that ark. What happened? Who did God love? He didn't love
the people outside the ark. He loved the people in the ark. They're the ones that God chose.
Those are the ones that God revealed the truth to. And the scripture
says, let God be true and every man a liar. The truth is not
in the majority, it's in the minority. When the Lord Jesus
Christ left this earth, you know how many people, the greatest
preacher ever to preach was the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't
Spurgeon, it was Christ. He who spake like no man spake.
Even his enemies admitted that. Sent by God, he said, I'm sent
to preach, and the preacher he was, of the truth, declaring
the truth. When he left this earth, you know how many people
were in that upper room? 120. 120. Is the truth in the
majority? No, sir. It was right there where
he was. Right there. So, the Lord sent
this preacher out into the desert, and it's just one man. Philip preached to this one man,
and that was it, and he left. One man. Well, he'd come to worship,
he'd come to Jerusalem, and he went home after going to Jerusalem
Empty. He went home empty. He hadn't
heard a thing. He didn't get a thing out of
all he heard. Formality and ceremonies and
all that they were going through, the motions. The truth wasn't
there. Christ wasn't there. He didn't
get anything. He went home just as empty as
he came. And many people in religion will
do just the same today. He'd come to worship. He is returning
and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah. He is a seeker. He is reading God's Word. Our
Lord said, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him
while he's near. Everyone, if you seek me, the
Lord said, with all your heart, I'll be found in it. This man
seeking, why was he seeking? You remember Psalm 27? And the
Lord said, David said, when you said to my heart, seek my face,
that's when I started seeking you, but not until then, not
until then. The Lord had him seeking, so
he sent him a man with the truth. And he's reading, he's sitting
in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet. Verse 29, the spirit
said to Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And
Philip ran. I love this picture, the chariot. This is a rich man, it's a pretty
big chariot. Maybe he had somebody driving
it for him. Did he hear the message? Maybe.
But anyway, he's rolling along and this eunuch is reading Isaiah
the prophet, Isaiah 53. And Philip runs, and running
alongside the chariot, hearing him read this. He's reading out
loud. This man's reading out loud. And he said to him, verse
30, Understandest thou what thou readest? Do you understand what
you're reading? And the man said, how can I?
Look at verse 31. How can I? He admitted, no, I
don't. Except some man should guide
me. Our Lord one time said, except
you receive the kingdom of God as a little child, you will not
enter the kingdom of God. If you don't receive the word
of God as a little child. No, I don't know. Teach me. You
know, little children are teachable. Very few people today, you can
tell them anything. Everybody's an expert on God,
aren't they? I read my Bible. I know my Bible. I can't quote
one verse. But this man was a seeker. He
said, no, I don't know. Would you tell me? Would you
tell me? Would you come up here and tell
me what I'm reading? I don't know. I told you I used to work on
the railroad. Worked there 12 years. Worked on the railroad.
And I always think of that song, working all the live long day.
But when I first understood the truth, I'd tell people about
it, talk to people. And one time I went into the
office and there was a man with his Bible open reading it. And
I walked up to him and I thought, maybe this is a eunuch. And I
said, do you understand what you're reading? Oh my, I questioned his, he rose
up, he said, I'll have you know, I'm a tongue-talking, born-again,
spirit-filled Christian. I said, oh, excuse me, I didn't
know that. I said, but you still didn't
answer what I asked you. Do you understand what you're
reading? Obviously he didn't understand what he read, or he
wouldn't have told me that. He wouldn't have bragged on himself.
He wouldn't have said, yeah, I'm somebody, I know. No, no.
He would have been meek and humble. Well, this man was meek and humble
and seeker. And he said, how can I? Would
you show me? So Philip got up in that chariot
with him. And the place, verse 32, he was
reading was this, verse 32. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, like a lamb before his shearers, so opened he not
his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. Who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth. And Eunuch answered Philip
and said, Tell me, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
Thea? Who is he talking about? Is he
speaking of himself? Is Isaiah talking about himself
or some other man? And Philip then opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. I want you to go back with me
to Isaiah 53. This is where the eunuch was
reading and this is what Philip preached to him. Go back there,
Isaiah 53. chapter is speaking of Jesus
Christ and him crucified. This is the gospel according
to Isaiah, like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. This is the gospel
according to Isaiah, speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Philip
began to preach unto him, unto that man named Jesus. You've
heard of him? Everybody's heard of it. Jesus
of Nazareth, ye men of Israel. Paul read that, didn't he, in
Acts 2. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth. Everybody's heard of it. That's who this is speaking of.
Mr. Eunick. You asked if this was
another man? It is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Read with me now. Who hath believed
our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Who believes the truth? I'll
tell you who believes the truth. It's who God reveals it to. Who
God chose to believe the truth. That's what he said. Most people
don't believe it. They don't receive it. As many
as receive it, John 1.13 says, they were born of God. God had
chosen them, revealed to them the arm of the Lord. Who's that?
That's the Lord Jesus Christ, the right hand of the Lord. False
preachers, false religion today say, Jesus, God has no hands
but your hands. That is a lie. God has hands,
alright, and you and I are in them. And everything and everyone
is in them. That's the arm of the Lord, it's
Jesus Christ who reigns and rules over everything and everyone.
Verse 2, it says, he shall grow up before God, before him as
a tender plant. Mr. Eunuch, that one named Jesus
of Nazareth is none other than God who was manifest in the flesh.
This is the creator of the world who became a man. He was born
of a virgin. I'm sure he's told him that in
Isaiah chapter 7 it speaks of a virgin conceiving and bearing
a child and his name shall be called Emmanuel. You've heard
of Mary, the mother of Jesus? She was a virgin. No man impregnated
her. God, that seed in her, was the
seed of God. That was the Son of God. Isaiah
chapter 9 says, a child is born, but the Son of God, the eternal
Son of God, was given. God was manifest in the flesh.
It's a miracle. It's a wonder. It's something
we cannot explain. But the very one who created
the world went into the womb of a woman. He's no mere man. This is God, and He did that
for a reason, for a purpose. He was sent by God to do a work
as a man for men, a work of redemption, a work of salvation. It says
he grew up, verse 2, as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. Oh my, this world is a dry ground,
a dark place, a sinful place. It says in verse 2, he hath no
form nor comeless. When we see him, there's no beauty
that we should desire him. He looked very common, he looked
very ordinary, he looked no different than anyone else. He looked like
a man. Outwardly he was not taller than
anybody else, he was not more handsome than anybody else, but
his beauty, his glory was not outward, it was inward. The beauty
and the glory of a perfect man, holy man, righteous man. The
Lord said about men, man is none righteous, no not one. None good,
no not one. But one, Jesus Christ. All right? Verse 2 says, When we shall see
Him, there is no beauty. Verse 3, He is despised and rejected
of men. A man of sorrow is acquainted
with grief. He was despised and rejected. We hid it as it were
our faces from Him, as one not worthy of our esteem. He was
despised, we esteemed Him not. The Lord Jesus Christ was not
loved by mankind, He was hated. As I said before, the reason
he was hated is the truth he preached. The truth about God,
the truth about man. Man's not good, like people say.
Man's born dead in sin. That God is holy, God is just,
and none deserve this salvation. If anyone's saved, it's by the
mercy of God, the grace of God. And there's only one way that's
going to happen is if Jesus Christ come down here and do this work
for him. He was despised and rejected
for preaching the truth. A man of sorrow is acquainted
with grief because God put on him this work of Redemption. Verse 4, Surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. I'm sure I know Philip said to
this eunuch, Do you remember how they crucified Jesus of Nazareth?
They crucified him as a blasphemer and a heretic. No, everybody
else was the blasphemer and the heretic. He's the only true one. We did assume Him smitten and
stricken of God. They said when they were standing
at the foot of the cross, if He'd be the Christ, let Him come
down from the cross. They thought, no, He's getting
what He deserves. No, He's not getting what He deserves. Jesus
Christ was getting what we deserve. That's why He came. Verse 5, but it says he was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
Who's he talking about here? Down in verse 8, the last line
says, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. My
people, all the way through here, he talks about those who are
sinners. All we like sheep, verse 6. Scripture
speaks, Christ very clearly says they're sheep and they're goats.
And Christ himself said, I lay down my life for the sheep, not
goats. Jesus Christ didn't die for every single human being.
He died for his people. He didn't come down here to try
to save anybody. He came down here to save somebody. He gave
many people. It's not who led him. It's who God gave him. For the
transgression of my people was he stricken. He laid down his
life as a substitute and God accepted that. Our transgressions,
but how do you know? How do you know who are God's
people? It's those who know they have these transgressions. It's
those who know they're like sheep that have gone astray. Read it, verse five, he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. Like we said the other night,
iniquity, iniquity, everything is wrong with us, nothing right
with us. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. We don't
make peace with God, Jesus Christ made peace with God. By His stripes
we are healed. Verse 6, all we like sheep have
gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way. Scripture says
there's a way that seemeth right to man, but the way is destruction. before God destroyed the world.
He looked down before Noah's ark. He said the whole world
had corrupted his way. The truth turned from the truth,
the true and living God. His scripture, the truth, all
turned away. That's now in him. And our Lord
said that, as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of
the Son of Man be. But some people, he reveals the
truth to. What's the truth? Christ said,
I am the truth. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And he said, no man can come
unto the Father except the, me, except the Father which has sent
me, draw him. And people didn't like that then
and they didn't like it now. God's people do. It says in verse 6, all we like
sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way,
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. That
is, all who know their transgression, that Christ took their place,
and like sheep have gone astray. He was oppressed, verse 7, and
afflicted, and he opened not his mouth, He's brought as a
lamb to the slaughter. I'm sure Philip said to the eunuch,
you've heard of John the Baptist. John preached one message, behold,
the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. What brought
the children of Israel out of Egypt, what distinguished them
from the Egyptians, what made them to differ from the Egyptians
was one thing. They were sinners just like the
Egyptians. But what brought them out, what
redeemed them, the reason God spared them was because of a
lamb, the blood on the doorpost and the lintels of their houses.
That's why God passed over them. And Jesus Christ is called the
Passover lamb. And John the Baptist was preaching
one day, and Jesus Christ came up to be baptized. And John said,
behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
Right there is the only way you're going to be saved. And He didn't
ask anybody to accept Him. He just said, Behold. Alright? He's led as a lamb to
the slaughter. Lamb of God. As a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. The Lord Jesus
Christ stood before the judges in that day to be judged and
sentenced and to hang on a cross by the way. Philip told the eunuch,
he hung on a cross on a tree because scripture says, cursed
is he that hangeth on a tree. And Jesus Christ was made a curse
for his people. The law is a curse. And he died
under the penalty of the broken law as a curse for God's people.
He was crucified. And he hung on that tree. And
before he did, he was standing before his judges and he opened
not his mouth. Why? If you and I stand before
the judgment of God, if you and I are forced to stand before
the judgment of God to be judged by the word of God perfectly,
we will have to keep our mouths shut. Romans 3, 19 says, whatsoever
things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law,
that every mouth might be stopped and the whole world guilty. We've
broken every commandment of God. Jesus Christ kept every commandment
of God, okay? But 2 Corinthians 5.21 says this,
but God made Him to be sin for us, His people, who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Here it is, Jesus
Christ. Here's the scale of justice,
Jesus Christ, okay? High and lifted up, holy and
righteous. God is well pleased for his righteousness
sake. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We have this sin that weighed
on all against us. We're guilty on every charge,
okay? And God laid on him the iniquity
of all his people. He bore it all. He made him to
be sin for us, he who knew no sin, that we might be raised
up, made the righteousness of God. It's called substitution.
It's called satisfaction. Christ satisfied the law perfectly,
and he was made a substitute. He gave us his righteousness,
and he took our sin, and God punished him. And whoever Jesus
Christ died for, they have no sin. I have no sin. Now that's it, plain and simple.
It's not you accepting it. It's God accepting it. Christ
didn't die as an offer to man. He died as an offering to God.
And God accepted it. God laid on Him the iniquity. And He opened not His mouth.
If you had to stand before the God who looks on the heart, God
who knows everything, would you want everything in your life
to be exposed? Right now, this morning, would
you like for all of your thoughts to be put on a screen right now
for everyone in here to see? God know. All right. And our Lord Jesus Christ was
our substitute. He, as it were, he went to the
cross and died with our deepest, darkest secrets. And it'll never be brought up.
Blotted out. Verse 8 says he was taken from
prison, from judgment, and he literally put in prison. We're
in captives, aren't we, in this world of sin, Satan, this world,
things, ourselves. Who shall declare his generation?
He was cut off out of the land of the living. The transgression
of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked.
Remember, he was crucified. Between two thieves, like a common
thief, he was not a thief, he's the only man that lived that
didn't rob God of his glory. Only man ever. We have. Pride is robbing God of all his
glory and all his honor. What do we have we haven't received?
Why would we be proud of anything? Whether it be our strength, our
beauty, our knowledge, our wisdom, our talents, we don't have anything
but what God gave us. And if we take credit for it,
it's pride and God hates it. We're robbing God of his honor
and his glory. Right? Christ was meek and lowly. He's the only man that ever lived
that could have been proud, and he wasn't. We're the robbers. And he was crucified between
two thieves, by the way, one of which he turned him immediately
by his power, by his choice. One man. Today you'll be with
me in paradise. He was in his death with the
rich, it says. There was a rich man, Mr. Eunick, named Joseph of Arimathea,
who had a tomb that no man had laid in. He came and took the
body of Christ, because God, after Christ was made sin, these
ones that were crucified, they took the bodies down and threw
them in a common grave. Threw them all in a common grave,
a pile of bodies, and then buried them. That's what they would
have done with the body of Jesus Christ. But God said, no. Not
doing that with my son. He suffered enough. And he's
going to be buried with honor. And he's going to be buried in
one tomb. An empty tomb. Nobody's ever been in it. So
that when he comes out of there, you'll know who was in it, and
you'll know who came out of it. Verse 10. Who did this stuff? But who did this to him? Verse
10 says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Peter at Pentecost
preached this message. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God by signs and
wonders and miracles. He said, you with wicked hands
have taken and crucified the Lord of glory, but you did what?
God determined before to be done. You did what God said must be
done. If I'm going to spare these sinners,
Jesus Christ is going to have to come. I'm going to send my
son to be their substitute, to be their lamb, to be their burnt
offering, to take their place, to be their righteousness, to
be their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, to
be their all. They can't do anything at all.
He's going to do it all, and he paid it all. That's why he
was sent. He didn't make an attempt. He
didn't make an attempt. He made an atonement. He didn't
make a down payment. He paid it in full for whomever
he did it for. And if you're a sinner, this
is good news. Many people sing that song, Jesus
paid it all. But if you have some crimes against
you, you know you can't do anything about, and you hear they're gone,
they're paid for. Oh, that's good news. God did
this. He did it for His people. His
mercy, His grace, His sovereign mercy and grace. It's called
substitution. He put Him to grave, verse 10.
He made His soul an offering for sin. And He'll see His seed. God said this through Isaiah
years before He came. He said, Mr. Eunuch, Isaiah is
prophesying of Jesus of Nazareth who came, that he would rise
from the grave, he'll see his seed, his people, that the Lord
God the Father will prolong his day, and the pleasure of the
Lord, what God sent him to do will prosper. Isaiah said it
before this in Isaiah 42, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. Christ did not, He's not standing
outside anybody's heart's door weeping, hoping you'll let Him
in. No sir! That's the Jesus men think, who
is Jesus. He is seated, Scripture says,
on the right hand of the majesty on high, expecting His enemies
to be made His foes. That's the Jesus Christ description. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in His hand. Verse 11, He'll see the travail
of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge, Jesus Christ
came. By His knowledge of the law,
by His knowledge of His people, His knowledge of God, whom He
knows, whom He foreknew, He'll justify many. He's going to make
them holy, righteous, unblameable, accepted by God Almighty. Why? Because He's going to bear
their iniquities. That's who Jesus Christ is. That's
why He came. And verse 12 says, because God
did this, I'll divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong. He's poured out his soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressor. He bare the sin
of many, and he made intercession for the transgressor. Mr. Unick,
and whoever's listening to this today, this is a faithful saying,
and everybody needs to hear it. That Jesus Christ came into this
world to save sinners, even the worse. And He did just that. Whoever He came to save, He saved
them. It just remains for them to find
out. Like this eunuch. God sent him this preacher. He's
one of God's people. That's why God sent him a preacher.
And he's hearing this message like you this morning. I hope
you are one of those. All right, and this is what Philip
said to him too. You know he said that. That our
Lord told us, he told me to go out and preach. He told Simon
Peter and James and John and Matthew and all the apostles,
go into all the world and preach the gospel, which is Jesus Christ.
And he said, he that believeth, and no one will believe unless
God gives them that faith. By grace he is saved through
faith, and that's not of yourself, it's a gift of God. It's a miracle
when anybody believes that. I'm a miracle that I believe
that. He that believeth, what? Not
a what, it's who. Christ is the only Savior. Christ
is your only hope. Christ is your only righteousness.
Christ is your only acceptance with God. Christ is all your
hope. If I get to heaven, it's going
to be 100% by Jesus Christ. Not me. I can't make it. He won't carry you 99 yards and
then hand you the football. No, you'll fumble. Isaiah 46 says, from the cradle
to your grave, He carries you. Christ said of Himself, He said,
I'm the great shepherd, I come, I leave the ninety and nine for
that one sheep in the wilderness. And I go after that one, like
this man. He said, when he finds it, not if he finds it, when
he finds it, what does he do? Come on little sheep, won't you
please go? No, he says he lays him on his shoulder. He takes
that one sheep, Brother Gene, and carries him all the way home.
He said, look what I've done. That sheep had no part in it.
It had nothing to do with it. How'd that sheep get there? How'd
that sheep get home? That sheep was prone to wander.
He did wander, and the Lord went out and found him. That's the
only reason he came back, because the Lord found him and put him
on his shoulder and took him all the way home. And he said,
rejoice with me. I have found my sheep. He was
lost. I found him. prodigal son. This
is my son that was lost, that was dead. I gave him life. He
was lost. I mean, lost means lost. You
ever been lost? Nobody's ever been found if they
haven't been lost. Lost means lost. You don't know the way.
If you knew the way, you couldn't get there. You're lost. Lost
means lost. Dead means dead. Christ said,
I have come that they might have life. Not offer life. My mother
didn't offer me life. She gave me life. Christ said,
I've come to give life, and he gives life. He said, Mr. Eunuch, he said to go into all the world
and preach the gospel, and he that believeth this Christ and
is baptized, Which is a confession. Baptism
doesn't save, but Jesus Christ said, he that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved. Can you be saved without being
baptized? No. You say, I don't understand. What's hard to understand
about it? Christ said, he that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved. Period. In other words, who really believes
Christ? We'll do what He says. We'll
want to. Won't they, Brother James? We'll
want to. This eunuch, Philip, didn't beg Him to be baptized.
The eunuch begged Him. And though baptism doesn't save,
anybody that really believes Christ said, I must be baptized,
I must confess. It'd be my privilege, it's my
honor. And it's a type, it's a picture,
it's a symbol. of how Christ was crucified,
and what you're saying here, when He was crucified, He took
my place. I should have been. And when
He was buried, put away for sin, that's me,
all the sin that comes short, I deserve to die, but Christ
was my substitute. And when He rose in newness of
light, I'm going to follow Him. I'm going to follow Him. He's
telling the world. Who wouldn't do that? And confessing in baptism
is not confessing yourself, it's not a feeling, it's not, you
know, if I feel right, it's not about you. You're not confessing
you, you're not confessing your faith, you're not confessing
your feeling, you're confessing Christ. You're just merely saying
that, I believe Jesus Christ is my only hope. It's like, a
man and a woman, they're supposedly in love, and the woman says,
well, let's get married. And the man says, I'm not ready
for that. Well, do you love me? Yes, I love you. Well then, let's
get married. Let's show everybody our commitment,
our love to one another. No, I'm not ready for that. Then
you don't love me. Right? It's just, that's it. It's a
public confession. That's all it is. And someday
you might feel up, someday you might feel down. It's not confessing
you. So many that I know were in false
religion and they heard this cry, they heard the true cry.
And they were baptized before, they didn't know Jesus cried,
didn't know the God of the Bible. And when they finally heard the
true cry, God, I want to confess this cry. They weren't re-baptized. They were finally confessing
Christ the right way. I know what I'm doing now. I
know whom I have believed. So he said, Mr. Eunuch, he that
believes and is baptized shall be saved. All right, they're
riding along and they come to a body of water and baptism is
not sprinkling, it's immersion. It's to be found in Christ. Verse
36, and the eunuch said to Phil, here's water. What doth hinder
me from being baptized? In verse 37, Philip said, if
you believe with all your heart, you may. Believe what? Everything
he just preached. Christ, substitute for sinners. You believe with all your heart? And he answered, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Yes, I believe. Do you? I do. I still believe I'm just as rotten
and wretched fella as I was when I got two classmates in here.
They knew me then and I don't feel much different than I was
then. They probably can't believe I'm standing up here. I can't
believe it. His prodigal son. What's your
confession, fella? Jesus Christ. That's it. I'm
a nothing, I'm a nobody, from nowhere, and I'm just trying
to tell everybody about somebody." Jesus cried. And Phillip said,
stop a chariot. And they both went down into
that water and they baptized him. According to your profession
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I baptize you, my brother," eunuch,
brother eunuch, in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Brought him up out of that water,
and it says Philip was gone. He left. Because preachers are
nothing and nobody, he just sent to tell a message. And this eunuch
never did see him again. But that eunuch went home rejoicing. And I don't think you're gonna
have any joy or rejoicing unless you confess Christ, if you believe
it. You're not gonna have any joy, no peace. Our Lord said,
if you don't confess me before me, I won't confess you. You're not gonna have any peace,
any comfort. Your peace is not because you're baptized, but
our Lord did say that, didn't he? If you do not confess me
before Christ, that means you're ashamed of me. But if you confess
me, I'll confess you. And I'll give you some reassurance.
You know why you love me? You know why you confess me?
Because I confessed you. Because I came for you. But not until then. Is this right? I know from experience. But I
hope the Bible is about Jesus Christ. The gospel is Jesus Christ. Salvation is Jesus Christ. Christ is all. Do you believe? Okay. May the Lord bless you.