Alright, open up with me to Acts
chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. We've all met together here at
the river because a brother and a sister want to confess the
Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. And this is a special occasion.
It really is. This is an occasion that our
Lord divinely purposed before the foundation of the world.
Think about that. He knew this was gonna happen
before the foundation of the world. He ordered all of our
steps and predetermined our paths to bring us all together to witness
this confession of union with Him. Isn't that wonderful? I
thank our God that He's allowed me to be here. I really do. I'm quite positive that this
is going to be an occasion that we're not going to soon forget. There is nothing special in the
actual act of baptism. And baptism is a very special
thing. There's nothing vital about being
in this brown, muddy water. But everything is vital about
being in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord was baptized when Brother
Paul was just praying, I was envisioning that. Can you imagine
him walking down to the river? And John said, don't do this. He said, suffer it to be so,
we must fulfill all Scripture. And in His baptism, He confessed
His union to us. That's what He did. And He's commanded us to be baptized
and confess our union to Him. And he gave us a wonderful example
of conversion and confession right here in Acts chapter eight.
Look at verse 26. It says, and the angel of the
Lord spake unto Philip. That's how this whole thing starts. It's not of blood, it's not of
bloodline, family, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. That's how this whole thing starts.
Verse 26 says, 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 desert. And he
arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia,
and 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." This Ethiopian eunuch. This was a powerful man. It says, of a great authority,
under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. A man, it says, who had charge
of all her treasure. This was a trusted man. This
was a wise man. But he was a eunuch. A eunuch was a sterile slave. He could not produce children.
There was no life in him. He was dead. Studying this, I thought about
a man named Naaman. You don't have to turn there,
but just listen to this. In 2 Kings chapter 5, verse 1, it says,
Captain of the host of the King of Syria was a great man with
his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance
unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor,
but he was a leper. A leper. He was a sinner. Well, right here in our text,
the end of verse 27 says, this Ethiopian eunuch had come to
Jerusalem for to worship. And verse 28 says, was returning
and sitting in his chariot, read Isaiah the prophet. What a book to read. What a book to read. Verse 29 says, then the Spirit
said unto Philip, the Holy Spirit of God did all this, ordered
all the steps, crossed His path with the gospel, sent the messenger
with the message, prepared his heart to receive the love of
the truth with humility. Verse 29 says, 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. The first service that Brother
Dickey attended was Sunday night, November the
11th. And the reason I know that is
because we have the same birthday. And the first time I ever talked
to him was on our birthday, November the 9th. Probably the best conversation
of my life. Two nights later, I had driven down from Rocky
Mount and he shows up to service. And we read from the prophet
Isaiah that night. We were in Isaiah chapter 40.
Turn over to Isaiah 40 with me. This is the place of the scripture
which we read. Isaiah 40, we started by reading verse 18. It says, to whom then will you
liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto him? And then we went back to verse
12. It says, who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his
hand? and metered out heaven with the
span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance."
You look at all these hills out here, all of them are weighed
perfectly in the balance. Verse 13 says, "...who hath directed
the Spirit of the Lord? or being his counselor, hath
taught him? with whom took he counsel, and
who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment,
and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding.
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted
as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles
as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted
to him less than nothing in vanity. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto him?" That's something, isn't it? That whole service, Dickie's
eyes were about this big around. And he kept looking back at Earl,
and Earl was smiling at him like, I told you so. This God is God. You remember that? Then April came the next Sunday
morning with Dickie. Seven days later, November the
18th. Today is August the 18th. That
was exactly nine months ago to the day I believe a seed was
planted. And nine months later, confession
is made. Well, back in our text, Acts
chapter 8, verse 30 says, 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. The place of the scripture which
he read was this. They read from a different chapter
in Isaiah. They read from Isaiah 53. And the subject of that scripture
is the subject of our message every single time. It's the means of our salvation. And it's what we are confessing
in baptism. Verse 32 says, the place of the
scripture which he read was this, God, the God who became a man,
Christ Jesus the Lord, the Holy One, the Sinless One, the Pure
One, the Spotless One. Verse 32 says, He was led as
a sheep to the slaughter. For me. That's hard to imagine, isn't
it? That's hard to imagine. It says, and like a lamb dumb
before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. Why did he do that? For you. Verse 33 says, in his humiliation,
his judgment, the judge of the earth, his judgment was taken
away for you. And he was judged for you. It says, and who shall declare
his generation? For His life is taken from the
earth. He died for you. I pray He died for me. You believe that, don't you? You believe He did all that,
everything, for you. You're not confessing baptism.
you're confessing Christ. And everything He did for me. Verse 34 says, And the eunuch
answered Philip and 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."
At some point, you stopped hearing Gabe Stoniker, didn't you? You
started hearing Jesus Christ. Verse 36 says, and as they went
on their way, they came unto a certain water. Brother Earl, I wonder why you
felt so impressed to buy this property. If it wasn't for any other reason,
you made a good purchase. Verse 36, 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 that's exactly what you said
to me on the phone. He said, do you see any reason
why I can't be baptized? And this was my answer to you.
Verse 37, 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 does that mean? What did he mean by that? Do you have a marginal reference
in your Bible? Mine says Matthew 14, 33. Turn
over there to Matthew 14. And when our Lord was brought before
the council, the high priest, his name was Caiaphas, asked
him point blank, He said, I adjure thee by the living God that thou
tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. And that was
the high priest. He had no idea who the Son of
God was, no idea. Mark's account of that same place,
Caiaphas said it like this. Art thou the Christ, the Son
of the Blessed? God is blessed. He is the Blessed
One. Are you His Son? Are you God's lesser? They had
no idea what it meant to say that He was the Son of God. Our Lord told the woman at the
well, you worship, but you don't know what. You don't know what. Anybody can say, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Then there was a time, another
time, when two men came to our Lord who were possessed with
devils, and they said unto Him, What have we to do with Thee,
Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment
us before the time? They knew who He was. They knew
He was the Son of God. They believed in Him, but they
didn't believe on Him. That's not what that eunuch meant
when he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Here's what he meant. Matthew 14, look at verse 22. And straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the
other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he
had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, Come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind, boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they
were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were
in the ship came and worshiped him saying of a truth, thou art
the son of God. Peter wasn't believing Him with
all his mind. He needed Him right now. I need
Him right now. All my heart, right now. He cried, I need You. I trust
You. I look to You. I hope in You.
You are my God. You are the God equal to your
Father, one with your Father, the Son of the Trinity. All my
desire, all my life is in you. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. That's what that eunuch cried
out. That's what he believed with all his heart. Go back over
to our text, Acts chapter 8, verse 37 says, 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 Azotus,
and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came
to Caesarea." Is that what you believe? Then let's both go down into
the water and confess Him. All right. Brother Tony is gonna
lead us in a song. We're gonna sing, Come Thou Fount.
Help him and sing loud, okay? Let's all stand together. Come Thou Fount.