Acts chapter 8, the saving of a sinner. The title of the message, The
Saving of a Sinner. When Frank had mentioned to me
that Tiffany had wanted to confess
Christ, I thought about this portion of Scripture. I thought
about that eunuch. And I want us to look at this
for a little bit this morning. No one hears the gospel by accident. No one. You do not just stumble
upon the gospel. God sends the gospel to whom he will, when he will. There's a time, it says in Ecclesiastes,
to be born. There's a time for that seed
to be planted. There's a time for God to give
the increase. There's a time for that center,
that sheep, to come to know its redeemer. It is God who gives the hearing
ear. It is God who gives the seeing eye.
It is God who gives the believing heart. Faith, it says in Ephesians
chapter 2, is the gift of God. It's of God. If you believe the
gospel, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God gave that
to you. That's a gift of God. Salvation is of the Lord. The
flesh can only produce flesh. That's what our Lord said. It
cannot produce spirit. It cannot produce anything spiritual. It can only produce flesh. This
is why we preach the gospel. You hear the gospel, and one here, one there. is born
again, born of the Spirit. And that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Now, first, I want to point out
the providence of God with this eunuch. And it's the same with
all God's children. It works the same with all his
children. First, there was an interest
created Here is a eunuch from Africa. Has nothing to do with the Jewish
Jews or the Jewish religion at all. But this man was given an
interest. He became interested in the Jewish
religion. He became interested in the Jewish
God. He became interested in all this that had to do with
what we know as the gospel. All the types and the pictures.
He did not know God yet. He didn't know him yet, but there
was an interest created. God had created an interest.
Now, when he created that, we don't know. At what time he did,
we don't know. But we know this, an interest
was created. And then the Spirit of God drew
him. He went up to Jerusalem for to
worship. That's why he went there. Doesn't
say anything about him going up there on business. He went
up there for one reason, to worship. I heard Henry say one time, he
went away just as empty as he came, because it was gone. They were just going through
formality. There was nothing left. There was nothing left.
It was like an empty shell. But he went up there for the
worship. And while he's up there, he gets a hold of one of the
most important things he could ever have gotten a hold of, the
Word of God. The Word of God. And he's reading
Isaiah 53, and it dawned on me as I was reading this to you
how educated this man had to be to read in the Jewish language. He was reading their writings.
This man was educated. He knew how to read their language. God saw to it that whatever time
he was educated, it was for this one reason. His education was
for this one reason, to read Isaiah 53, to read the word of
God, hear the gospel, come to faith in Christ. And then God
sent him a preacher. If God's going to save any sinner,
God's going to send him a preacher now. He was going to send him
a preacher, and he heard the message. He was given the message
by which God saves sinners. You know God doesn't save men
by just any message. Now, you're not going to stand
in this pulpit and just preach anything and God saves somebody. That's
not going to happen. God saves sinners by one gospel, by one
message. It's the message of substitution
and satisfaction. Any other message is not going
to do. It's not going to happen. God saves men when they hear
of Christ and Him what? Crucified. That's what Paul said
to the Corinthians. I don't want to know anything
among you that says this, except this. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. All this, all of this is being
orchestrated by the Holy Spirit of God. God is moving all these parts
and all this that's going on to bring this preacher, Philip,
to this eunuch to hear the gospel and to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's orchestrating the whole
thing. This happens in the life of every one of his sheep. Every
one of them. This is not a chance meeting.
And we see that. And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, go toward the south unto the way
that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. God
has prepared a preacher, and God has sent a preacher, and
he's sending him to this eunuch. Now, Philip at this particular
time doesn't know it. He just knows he's going down
to the desert. He doesn't question why. He doesn't, you know, why
would you go preach in a desert? Why would you leave a city of
a lot of people and go preach in a desert? Because I have one
sheep out there wandering in the desert. And I'm going to
get him. I'm going to fetch him. You're
going to go fetch him. That's what you're going to do. This is not a chance meeting.
This is Christ crossing the path of one of his sheep on purpose. It's time to be born. It's time
to be born. Now, I got four points, and we'll
try to be brief. First of all, the book he was
reading. He was reading not any book. He was reading the Word of God.
He was reading the same Word you and I read. Turn over to
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, I'll show you what
he was reading. Let me read this. In Isaiah 53,
who hath believed thy report, and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant.
And you just picture now, in your mind, you picture this man
in this chariot, with his horse just going along slowly, and
he's reading this. See, you could do that and drive
a chariot. You can't do this and drive a
car. Don't do this and drive a car. But you can do this and
drive a chariot. So he's letting that chariot
roll down the road, that horse. I'm sure the horse knows his
way back home. And he's reading this. And here is what he's,
we have the message the man was reading, written right here.
And who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant
and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire
him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from
him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But 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 are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned to everyone to his own way, and the Lord has
laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers
had done, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison
and from judgment. Who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken." This is what he was reading,
this chapter. It's what I just read to you. He was reading the Word of God. He was reading the book. There's no book compared to this
book. Don't ever compare even a commentary. Even that commentary
is not to be compared to this book. I didn't learn Christ out
of a commentary. I learned Christ out of the Word
of God. This is where we learn Christ. This is where we come
to know Christ. And the book he was reading reveals
my sin in Adam. How did I become a sinner? Did I become a certain age of
accountability? And then sin? Is that how I became
a sinner? No. I was born one. I was born in sin, as David said,
and shaped in iniquity. I was born lost. I was born sinful. I inherited a sinful nature. Where did I learn that from?
How do I know that? I learned it from this book.
I learned what happened in the fall. When Adam fell, I learned
that Adam was the representative of the whole human race. And
when he sinned, I sinned. When he fell, I fell. When he
rebelled, I rebelled. I learned that. I did not know
that until I understood the gospel. People who fight against representation
do not understand the gospel. They don't understand it. In
Romans chapter 5, look over here in Romans chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5, listen to
this. In verse 12, wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, that one man is Adam, and death by sin, and so death
passeth upon all men, for they all have sinned." Now look over
in verse 19, "'For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners.'" When was I made a sinner? In Adam. In Adam. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. That's how I'm made righteous,
by the obedience of Christ. Just as I was made a sinner by
the disobedience of Adam, I'm made righteous by the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I learned that how? From
this book. This book. And then in this book, this book
reveals my sins. You see, I said it revealed my
sin. in Adam, but it also reveals my sins, what I am, what I do. You know, sin is what I am. Sins
is what I do because of what I am. It reveals my sin. Look over
in Romans chapter 3. In verse 23. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All have sinned. And if we haven't done it outwardly,
we've done it inwardly. If we haven't done it by action,
we've done it by thought. Christ said to look on a woman
to lust after her, you've committed adultery already in your heart.
To hate your brothers out of cause, you've committed murder.
So I've never shot anybody. You ever wanted to? Have you
ever wanted to shoot somebody? You know you have. Sins. It's what we do because
of what we are. Before we are given light through
the entrance of God's Word, we call sins mistakes. They're not
mistakes. They're sins. It's sins. We call them blunders. It's not
a blunder. It's sin. That's what it is. It's what I do. It's what I do. However, when we have the light
of His Word, we see our sins as sins, as against God, as rebellion. I'm guilty. with no excuse, no
excuses. We make no excuses. I sin because
of who and what I am, and that's what I do. I'm not only guilty by birth,
I'm guilty by practice. Oh, Paul said, oh wretched man
that I am, that I am. But this book also reveals my
Savior. I just read it to you in Isaiah 53. It reveals my sin
in Adam. It reveals my sins, what I do. And it reveals my Savior, how
God can save me and be a just God. Be a just God. I read to you, He was wounded
for our transgressions, bruised, tormented for our iniquities. That's in this book. Make much
of this book. You can lay all other books aside,
but not this one. Not this one. This is His Word. And secondly, the question He
asked. He asked this question in verse
34. I'll go back there. In verse
34, He's reading this. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of
himself or of some other man? Who is he talking about? Who
is this man that he is speaking of? Is he speaking about himself?
Is this something he's going to endure? Is he speaking about
someone else? But he knew this. He knew this. He's speaking about a certain
person. He says, Philip, who's he talking
about? Who's he talking about? We must find out who this man
is. Who is this man spoken of in
Isaiah 53? Who is he? Turn over to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 3. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, this
book tells us who this man is. Verse 16, and without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. Who is this man? God. God will manifest in the flesh. Justified in the Spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, lived on in the world,
received up into glory." Who is this man? This man is Almighty
God. That's what he's telling this
eunuch. This eunuch is reading this and he's saying, and Phelps
says to him, this man is Almighty God. He's Almighty God, the creator
of heaven and earth. Our creator. That's who He is. He's God in
the flesh. Look over in John chapter 1. John chapter 1. Look in verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, And the Word was God. Now look down
at verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The Word was God, was made flesh. Flesh. This man whom the prophet is writing about.
is God in the flesh. God became our substitute. God
became our salvation. That's what the psalmist says,
God has become my salvation. And then thirdly, the message
he heard. Oh, God sent him a message. The
message by which he's pleased to save sinners. In verse 35,
then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture.
And he preached unto him Jesus. Jesus. He preached unto him that
that man who is God is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. That man
that was hanging on a cross, that man that was condemned to
die, that man Spoken of here in Isaiah 53 is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He preached unto
him, he's that prophet that Moses said, you come. And I'm sure,
I'm sure that Philip, when he's speaking to this eunuch, I'm
sure he reaches back and he takes the Passover and he applies it
to Christ. He takes all those sacrificial
lambs. and he applies it to Christ. He takes the high priest and
he applies it to Christ, who is our high priest. He takes
the kingship of David and uses him as the type of Christ. He applies all that to Christ
that's in the Old Testament. All the pictures and the shadows
and the types, he applies to the Lord Jesus Christ. He applies
it to him. As that man is sitting there
in that chariot, and he's listening to Philip apply the Old Testament
scriptures to Christ, God is opening up his eyes. God is opening
up his ears. And he sees. He hears. He understands. He understands the gospel. He
understands what those types of pictures mean. He understands,
for the first time in his life, he understands who God is, who
Jesus Christ is, and what he is, and his need of Christ. He understands it. He understands. He understands about that ram
being caught in the thicket. When Abraham was offering up
Isaac, his only son, his only beloved son, and he's got him
bound to the altar there. Abraham has that knife drawn
back and just about ready to stab him. He's going to kill
him. And God stops him. And God shows
him a ram caught in a thicket. And he lets Isaac up. off that altar, unties him, goes
over and takes that ram out of that thicket that's caught in
everybody's horns. And he brings that ram over there and he kills
that ram in his place. That's substitution. Christ dying
for me. And I assure you, if Christ died
for me, I'm going to be saved. I'm going to say, if he hung
on the cross and he satisfied God's justice on my behalf, then
how can I perish? If the justice of God, if the
law of God is satisfied with me through the death of Christ, how could I perish? It can't
happen. The law can't condemn you twice.
My sins didn't condemn me for my sins. That can't happen. Not
at all. Oh, the Lord said this, Abraham
saw my day and he was glad. And I believe it was when he
was right there with his author and Isaac. As I said, Abraham
received him in a like figure being raised up. And then Peter at Pentecost,
turn over there in Acts chapter 2. Here's the message he heard.
Here in verse 22, Acts chapter 2, "'Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did buy him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know. him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken by wicked hands and crucified him." Why
don't you look over here in verse 36? I don't have time to read
that whole chapter, but whenever you have time, read it. Therefore,
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ,
he seated on the throne. Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, men and brethren, What shall we do? What shall we do? Then Peter
said unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ. For the remission of sins you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's the message
he heard. He heard the message of substitution. Peter took Isaiah 53 and he began
to preach Christ to him. He preached unto him Jesus. Jesus. And then last of all, the confession
he made. Look back here in Acts chapter
8. The confession he made after
hearing this message. And no doubt, during this message,
Peter has spoken to him of baptism. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. Peter spoke to him about that,
being identified with Christ. This is how we confess Christ
right here, baptism. This is the way we publicly confess
Christ is through believers' baptism, following the Lord's
command. There is no power in baptism that doesn't save us.
There's no saving power in it. But I have confidence in no one
who refuses to be baptized and calls himself a believer. That's
rank rebellion because the Lord said, do it. He said, do it.
But anyway, here in verse 36, and as they went on their way,
they came into a certain water and the eunuchs said, see, here's
water. What does hinder me to be baptized?
What is the hindrance here? Is there a hindrance here? And
Philip said, if thou believest with all thine
heart, you may. That's the only fence around
it, if you believe. Same way with the Lord's table.
Taking the Lord's table, do you believe? Do you believe? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? And right here's the way you
confess it. This is the true way of confessing Christ. Philip said, if thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe.
You know, he doesn't say, well, let me tell you what I believe. You can stand here all day and
tell me what you believe. That doesn't really mean anything. Abraham said,
it said, Abraham believed God. Abraham believed what God said
it, Abraham believed it. But he said this, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He's the Messiah. He's the Redeemer. I believe that Jesus Christ is
that man spoken of in Isaiah 53. And I believe that that man
is God in human flesh. I believe that. And they said,
whoa, stop that horse. And he commanded the chariots
to stand still. They went both down into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them. 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. He went
on his way rejoicing, and Philip went on preaching the gospel.
He went to the next place. He went to the next place. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, and we confess it right here in the waters of
baptism. This is Tiffany Springer. Tiffany
has been my niece for 25 years. Now she's my sister in Christ.
And I have, as David, sat before the Lord and said to him, O God,
give me thanks. A little over two years ago,
Tiffany suddenly realized she did not know God. She didn't
know anything about Him. So she bought a Bible. That's
a good idea, isn't it? If you want to know God, find
out what He says about Himself through His Word. She bought
a Bible, and she began to read it. But just like the Ethiopian
eunuch, She didn't understand what she read, except some man
should guide her. So she went looking for someone.
She was preaching the gospel around her hometown. She went
from place to place and she would call Janet or me and talk to
us about what she heard. She maybe asked me to look if
they had a website or listen to some of their messages online.
In one of those conversations she told me, I don't know what
the truth is exactly, but that's not it. And I told her, you're
right, that's not it. And during that time, Janet suggested
that she listen to Sermon Audio. She signed on to Sermon Audio.
There's a lot of preachers on Sermon Audio. And she thought,
well, I know my uncle, I'll listen to him. And she listened to our
lessons here at Hurricane Road. Soon she began listening to our
pastor, many of the other men who preach the gospel that we
know and love. And she listened for two years. And she called
me a few weeks ago, and she told me, I'd like to come to Kentucky,
and I want you to baptize me. She said, I've been listening
for two years. She said, I believe that God
is holy. God's sovereign. He's just. He's right. And he chose a people
out of Adam's fallen race to redeem. That's easy to believe,
she said. I read God's Word. That's obvious.
She said, I believe I'm a sinner. I read God's word and I look
at myself. That's easy to believe I'm a
sinner. She said, I believe that Christ came into the world to
save sinners. I read his word. That's easy to believe. She said,
what I have not been able to believe all this time is that
God would do that for me. How could God do something so
wonderful for a sinner like me? She said, I just couldn't believe
that. And she said, I don't know if revealed is the right word
or not, but he's revealed that to me, that Christ died for my
sin, that he shed his blood to put away my sin. And all my hope
of salvation is in him. And she said, I have to be baptized. And I said, yes, you do. Anyone
who believes God like that, anyone who trusts Christ like that must
be baptized. That's His commandment to follow
Him in believers' baptism. And it's our joy. It's a joy
to confess Him. That when He died, I died in
Him. When He was buried, I was buried
in Him. And when He rose, I rose in Him. It's her joy and it's our joy
to have some small part in this, what God's done for Tiffany. Tiffany Springer, upon the divine
commandment of Christ our Savior, and upon your profession of faith
in Him, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Now I've asked Brother Dan Morgan,
he's going to close in prayer for us, and Dan's going to wrap
Tiffany and Hal right here. When Dan dismisses us in prayer,
y'all come by. Some people say, congratulations. I'm like, well, you've welcomed
us into the family of God.