It's a privilege for me to be
here with you tonight. I want to thank, first of all, thank you for your love and concern for us, for your faithful
support over many, many years. say from my father, say from
my dad. He sends his greetings. And I'm
very thankful for what the Lord is doing here. And thankful for
the new building I want to be moving into. Thankful for that. And I'm thankful for this opportunity
to be here. The Lord has blessed us, given us this privilege to
be here. Last night I was asked what I
was going to preach. And now I don't know. I have a couple of messages and
I don't know which way to go. It's the same message. The same
message. But I think I'm going to ask
you to turn to Acts chapter 8. Turn to Acts chapter 8. You know, in this world, we have,
as believers, we have troubles and trials and heartaches. And I heard your prayer, Brother
Frank, asking the Lord to comfort His people. And what is it, I
want to ask this question, what is it that enables a man to go
through this world, go through this life rejoicing? What is it that enables a man
to go through all the troubles and all the trials, all the heartaches,
but nevertheless go through this world rejoicing? We read this, 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. This man went on his way rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoice. Can a man go through this life
rejoicing? How is it? Let's look here in
Acts chapter 8, verse 26. What is it that enables a man
to go through this life rejoicing? In Acts chapter 26, the angel of the Lord spake unto
Philip, saying, Arise, go towards the south the way that goeth
down from Jerusalem to Gaza. which is desert. What enables
a man to rejoice is a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To
know that my sins are put away, to know that my sins, the songwriter
wrote, My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin,
not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear
it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. What a glorious, what a glorious
salvation to be able to go through this world and no matter what
happens, in this life to know that my sins are put away. My
sins are put away. This man, this man the eunuch,
first of all, we see here in verse 26 that the angel of the
Lord spake unto Philip. When the Lord is going to save
His people, when the Lord is going to reveal Himself to one
of His people, how does He save them? He saves His people by
revealing Himself to them. giving them life. But when the
Lord is going to go after one of His sheep that is lost, He
sends them a man. He sends them a man. We read
that just now in John chapter 1. There was a man sent of God.
His name was John. A man must be sent. The Apostle
Paul wrote in Romans chapter 10 verse 13, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall
they call upon Him whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe except they hear? How will they believe on him
whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how is this man going to preach unless he is
sent? He has to be sent of God. So we see here in verse 26 that
the angel of the Lord sends Philip. And he says, Arise, go to the
south, the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which
is a desert. What an unlikely place to find
a man. What an unlikely place to find a man in the desert.
He was just in Jerusalem. We read that. He was just in
Jerusalem. It would seem that that would
be the place to find him. But now in a desert, that's not
a place where you easily find him. I haven't been in the desert,
but I have been at sea. And I have seen the pictures
of the desert and how the hills in the desert go up and down.
And you could easily miss a man. the same way at sea. You can
easily miss a man by the waves. But the Lord is going to cross
this man's path. This is the time of love. This
is the time when He is going to reveal Himself to this man
whom He chose from before the foundation of the world, who
was given to Him and who He redeemed. And now He will go and reveal
Himself through the preaching of the Word. And He sends this
man Philip. He says, Arise and go to the
desert. Go to the desert. And so Philip
arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch. This was an important man, a
man of great authority, the treasurer of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. And he was in charge of all her
treasury. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship. Now, in verse 39, we read that
he went away rejoicing, but he had come to Jerusalem to worship.
And we read here that he was going back reading, and we do
not read that he was rejoicing. And the first thing I want to
say about this is this, that religion, no matter what religion
it is, without Christ is dead. Religion without Christ is dead. A person can have doctrine and
write doctrine. But we don't arrive at the truth
through doctrine. We arrive at the truth through
Christ. He is the truth. He is the truth. This man had come back from Jerusalem. But what I see also in this is
that this man had gone to worship and he was reading. We read in
the text that he was returning, sitting in the chariot, reading
Isaiah the prophet. What I see here is grace before
grace. Grace before grace. Provenient
grace. What I see here is the Holy Spirit
preparing a man. Preparing a man to hear the gospel. When a man is going to hear the
gospel, the Holy Spirit goes before preparing the ground.
Our Lord gave that parable of the sower that went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some fell among the the wayside, and some fell
among the stony ground, and some fell among the thorny ground.
And bless God, some fell on good ground. But we know that by nature,
no man is good ground. The Holy Spirit is He who prepares
a man's heart to receive the Word by going before and plowing
up that hard ground. By going before and removing
the stumps of prejudice. thoughts, by going before and
removing the thorns that would choke out the Word, so that the
person is prepared to hear the Word. And he's coming back and
he's sitting, reading the prophet Isaiah, and then it says, The
Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself with this chariot.
And Philip ran dither to him, and heard him read the prophet
Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? Do you understand? Do you understand
what you're reading? Now, the faith, the faith of
God's elect, the faith that saves, is more than a mere understanding
of facts. But faith is not blind. We do
understand. John says in chapter 5 and verse
1, and we know, look at that, 1 John chapter 5 and verse 20.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an
understanding. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an understanding. We understand
who Jesus of Nazareth is. We know He is the Son of God. We understand that He is the
Son of God. Any man that denies Him That
he is God doesn't know God. There's no way of knowing God
apart from knowing Him in the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter
1 verse 18. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared
Him. We have this understanding. We know that He is, that we may
know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true.
Even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. So saving faith, we do have an
understanding. It's more than an understanding.
It's more than understanding. But we do understand. He said,
Do you understand what thou readest? And look at what this man answered.
He said, How can I, except some man should guide me? and he desired
Philip that he would come up and sit with him. I see a teachable
person there. I see a person that acknowledges
and recognizes, unless God shows me, I don't know anything. And
really, we're all that way. We don't know anything like we
should know. Thank God our salvation is not on our knowledge If we
put all our knowledge together, it would rattle in the thimble. But nevertheless, we do understand.
But this man said, How can I except a man show me? The Lord sits
His people down and gives them a teachable. And this man said,
How can I except a man should guide me? And desired Philip
that he should 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 shearers, so he opened
not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his
life was taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip
and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or some other man?" What a question. Who is this prophet
speaking of? of himself or another? In other
words, who is this Bible speaking of? Who is revealed in this Bible?
Who is it speaking of? What he's asking for is the key
of all knowledge, the key of all understanding, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's speaking of Him. Our Lord
said the disciples on the road to Emmaus, when He opened their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, He
opened their understanding concerning the Psalms, and the Law, and
the Prophets, and he expanded those things to those things
concerning himself. This Gospel is concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It says, verse 35, Then Philip
opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached
unto him Jesus. He preached unto him Jesus. I
want to take a liberty here, a little bit of liberty, as I
try to take what this man Philip said to this man, the eunuch.
He's reading from Isaiah 53. From Isaiah 53. And we're going
to go to Isaiah 53. And notice, it says here, well,
before you go there to Isaiah 53, he preached unto him Jesus. Now, this is not the Jesus that
is preached today in religion. He's not a poor, weak Jesus. The very first thing I believe,
the very first thing I believe, see now, I think to understand
this, is this man, the eunuch, had gone to Jerusalem. And in
all likelihood, he had rubbed shoulders with the elite in Jerusalem. the Pharisees and the rulers.
And I have no doubt in my mind that he heard of this man, Jesus
of Nazareth, who was crucified outside the city limits. And
the religious leaders said, you'll hear somewhere around there that
he was the Christ, but he was really an imposter. His disciples
came and stole him away. His disciples came and stole
him away. He's not really the Christ. And so what Philip is
showing here in Isaiah 53 that this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
is the Christ of God. He is the Christ. You mentioned this just a little
bit ago when you were reading. John the Baptist the next day
said, Behold the Lamb of God. He has the same message every
day. And when it says here that he
preached Jesus, I'm reading it like that. I'm
reading it like that. But He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you look over there in Acts chapter 8, verse 4, it says,
talking about the disciples, they were scattered abroad, went
everywhere preaching the Word. Well, what is it to preach the
Word? Tells us in verse 5. Then Philip,
this same man, went down to the city of Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. He preached Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the anointed, the Messiah. He is the Son of God. And I want
us to see this in Isaiah 53. Let's look over there to Isaiah
53. But we're not going to start
in Isaiah 53. I believe this chapter should
start in Isaiah 52 and verse 13. Here's where I'm going to take
the liberty. I believe this is what Philip said, Mr. Unick,
you ask the question, who is this speaking of? Of the prophet
or some other? He's speaking of that man, Jesus
of Nazareth, who you heard was an imposter. He's speaking of
that man that was taken outside the city gates and crucified. And I want to show you from the
Scriptures that this man fulfills this Scripture that you're reading.
This Scripture that you're reading. The first thing I want you to
know about Jesus of Nazareth is He is the Lord. He is the Lord. He is the servant
of Jehovah. He is the servant of Jehovah.
In verse 13 it says, Behold my servant. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold my servant. He shall deal
prudently Now, in the marginal reading, if you have one there,
it has a number two there. It says, or prosper. My servant
shall prosper. He is a successful, successful
Savior. He's the successful Lord Jesus
Christ. He shall prosper. If we're reading the heading,
you know, like in the newspaper, you have the heading. And when
you finish reading the heading and then you read the article
and it's telling you everything that's in the heading. Well, this is
what the heading is. The heading is Jesus of Nazareth
shall prosper. Not only shall he prosper in
everything that he does, he shall be exalted. That man, Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified and he was buried on the third day,
he rose from the dead. And he prospered. How prosperous
is he? He is sitting on the throne. He is sitting on the throne in
heaven. All authority, all power is given to him in heaven and
earth. That is what he said. And he
was taken up. He said, Go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not is condemned. He shall be exalted. and be extolled
very high. He has been given a name which
is above every name. And one day every knee shall
bow, and every tongue confess, in heaven and earth and everywhere,
and hell, that he is the Lord. The praise of God the Father.
Now, what does it say after? As many were astonished at thee. Astonished at thee. This is the stumbling block to
the Jews and to the Greeks' foolishness that God the Savior would die
that ignominious death on the cross, that that will save His
people in weakness. That is the Savior. Many will
be astonished. And to see Him there, to see
Him there on the cross, His visit was more marred than any man
in his form, more than the sons of men. So shall he sprinkle
many nations. So in doing that, he is going
to save many. He is going to save many. And
the kings shall shut their mouth at him for that which has not
been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard
they shall consider. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard. In other words, This would have
never entered into the mind of man. This is not the wisdom of
man. Man could have never devised
this plan. That would have never occurred
to him. They shall consider. Well, who is it? Verse 1 says,
Who is it that shall believe this message? Who's going to
believe the message is the Lord Jesus Christ? Mr. Eunuch, I'm telling you about
Jesus of Nazareth. Who's going to believe on Him?
Who's going to believe that He is the Christ of God? Who's going
to believe that He is Jehovah manifest in the flesh? The Word
was made flesh. Who's going to believe that?
Who's going to believe our report? Well, man by nature won't believe
this report. It's not in man to just say,
well, I think I'm going to believe. A man no more can decide to believe
than to make himself be born in the first place. A man cannot
decide, well, I think I'm going to believe. He can't. But who's
going to believe our report? And you here tonight that believe. Why is it that you believe? Why
is it that I believe? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? That's who believes. It's by
revelation. Who do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And he answers, some say, one
of the prophets. I'm paraphrasing. But he said,
Who do you say that I am? And Peter answered for every
believer, he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. And our Lord said, Blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Because flesh and blood didn't
reveal this to you, but my Father. It's a revelation. A man cannot
decide he's going to believe. This is by the revelation and
it's the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, giving life. We believe, a man believes when
God gives him life and not before. We don't believe to get life.
We believe because we have life. It's the evidence. It's the evidence. of the new birth, of the new
creation. Well, who's going to believe
because he shall grow up? The Lord Jesus Christ shall grow
up before him as a tender plant. A tender plant is something very
susceptible to be crushed and bruised, destroyed. If you walk
on a fresh little leaf plant, you'll crush it, you'll kill
it. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator, The One who has
all things, who has created all things, and for Him all things
can sit. By Him all things can sit. He
is the Creator, and yet here He is in a manger. And there
He is at the arms of Mary. The One who sustains Mary is
being sustained by Mary. And susceptible to being crushed. Herod tried to destroy Him. Herod
tried to destroy Him. Tried to kill all the babies
two years and under. He shall grow up as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. This Jesus is the Son
of David. This root out of a dry ground
that you're reading of here is talking about the root. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that root. He's the one, David, in the Scriptures,
the Messiah. And the Jews knew this. The Lord
said, Whose son is he? They said, the
son of David. Whose son is he? Whose son is
the Christ? He said, the son of David. They knew this. Well,
here is a fulfillment. He's of that root out of a dry
ground. When David was on the earth, his kingdom and his family
was as a big cedar. A big, beautiful cedar. And then
Solomon. And then now you have come down
through the time and you have Mary. the mother of the humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you have Joseph, the supposed
father, both of them of the house of David. But neither one of
them, as far as the society, there were no count. No count. As a root, no one would have
looked over there to see maybe he's coming out of there. And
they knew that he was to be born in Bethlehem, but they weren't
looking. They weren't looking. When the
wise men came, they didn't go looking. They just didn't believe
it. But here it is. As a root out
of a dry ground, he hath no form of comeliness, and when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire in him. He didn't
come in the palaces. He didn't come in the palaces.
They were astonished. They were surprised that he could speak to the lawyers,
to the teachers, when he was twelve years old. 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, and he was despised, and we esteemed
him not. Mr. Eunuch, he was rejected of
men. He said, The foxes have their
holes, and the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head. You know why He was despised
and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?
Because you and I, man, His people, His chosen people, and Adam,
we forfeited every benefit. We forfeited every blessing.
When in our Father we disobeyed God, we rebelled against God. And when He identified with His
people, He identified with them. He did nothing to leave his own
sorrows and his own grief. He knew what it was to be tempted
in all points, yet without sin. He knew what it was to hunger.
He knew what it was to be tired. He knew what it was to be thirsty.
Surely, He hath borne our griefs. He hath borne our griefs. When
He died on the cross, When He died on the cross, He
was not dying for anything that He did in Himself. He had done
no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. He is the
separate from sinners, the holy, holy Son of God. That holy thing, the angel said,
He is the holy, separate from sinners. And yet, when He died
on the cross, He died being made sin for us. He bore our sin in His own body. He was made sin for us. He had borne our griefs. Mr. Eunick, all the Old Testament,
not just here, all the Old Testament speaks of a need of a sacrifice
to put away sins. All the Old Testament, all the
tabernacle, all the sacrifices, they speak of one that would
come, that would put away the sins of his people. In the Old Testament, when the
priest laid his hand on the scapegoat and confessed the sins of his
people, this was a picture of Jesus of Nazareth. All the Scriptures
are fulfilled in him. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, and we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
our disobedience. He was bruised for our iniquities.
What it's talking about here is talking about substitution.
Substitution. Substitution and satisfaction. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
he died in the place of his sheep. He said, I am the good shepherd. This Good Shepherd gives His
life for His sheep. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. He has made peace
between God and His people by the blood of the cross. He has
made peace. This is what this is saying.
And by His stripes we are healed. That is to say, when He was healed,
we are healed. When He came up out of the grave,
we came up out of the grave. His people. Now, as for you and
I, all we, like sheep, have gone astray. This word, we, is talking
about His elect. We, His elect. If you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are this we. No one can believe
on Him and not be this we. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. What does that mean? What does that mean? Surely of
all the men that have been born in this world, surely of all
the men, think of how many billions of people are on the world right
now. Now think of all the billions of men that have lived. Surely
one man If there were all different ways, surely one would have the
right way. Oh, no. Oh, no. There is a way
that seems right to man, and the end thereof is destruction,
is death. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray.
We've all turned away. We've all turned to His own way. Not the way of God. His own way. That is to say that The natural
man, the Apostle Paul said this, the natural mind is an enmity
against God. The natural carnal mind is enmity
against God. What does that mean? Every mind,
there's a saying in Mexico, every mind is a different world. And
it's true. Every mind makes up a God of their own imagination. And it's never the true and living
God. Our minds are God-factories. God-factories. We imagine a God.
That's idolatry. Every one of us have gone away
in ourselves, have gone away after his own way. Gone away in his own way. And
the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought
as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shears
is dumped, so he opened not his mouth." What does this mean? He opened not his mouth. Mr. Eunick, in that trial, he opened
not his mouth to defend himself. What this shows is two things.
Number one, that he was guilty. He was guilty. But number two,
it shows this. Not for his own sin. He had no
sin. But for the sins of his people.
But number two, it shows this. His willingness to go to the
cross. He is the willing, loving servant
of his Father. He opened not his mouth. The Lord Jesus Christ said this.
No man takes my life from me. Mr. Eunick, those soldiers put
him on the cross and nailed him there, but they didn't have any
authority. Pilate said, don't you know I have authority? He
said, you don't have any authority. That's not given to you. You
don't have any authority. He went willingly, willingly
to the cross. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down and take it at this commandment
I have received from my Father. He went willingly to the cross.
He opened out his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And 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. That trial in Jerusalem was a
mock trial. They violated every precept of
the law. They could not get two men to
agree. They've dreamt up charges, and
they could not get two to agree. They could not get two to agree. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich was his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was he any deceit in his mouth. When he
died, what this is saying, he died and there were two malefactors
that were crucified alongside. Two malefactors. Though he did
no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Everything
that he said, he said, which of you convinces me of sin? Which
of you convinces me of sin? Is there anybody that can say
anything that he said was a lie? Which of you convinces me? He
did no sin. He had no lie. He did say no
lie. God justified. But what this is saying is that
he was crucified alongside two malefactors. When the soldiers came, you know,
the Jews, they said they wanted to take him down because the
Passover was coming and they didn't want to have this abomination.
So they wanted to speed up the death. The Romans were specialists
in slow death. And the death of the cross was
to be several days. But they wanted them to break
their legs so they would die sooner. But they went out and
they broke the first man's legs and he died right away. And they
broke the other man's legs and then they came to the Lord and
they were surprised. They were surprised because he
was dead already. He gave up the ghost. They were
surprised. So he stuck his lance inside
and out came blood and water. But they were surprised. There's
no man that has authority to dismiss his spirit but the Lord.
He said, Father, it is finished. He said, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And he gave up the ghost. This is the death that
he accomplished. You and I, we don't accomplish
anything in our death. But He accomplished salvation
for His people. In His death. Because He had
done no violence. What does it mean with the rich
in His death? Joseph of Arimathea was making
a tomb for himself. He's a rich man. And he wanted
to make himself a brand new tomb. And this tomb no man had ever
laid. So that no one would say somebody else came out. And Nicodemus
begged the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and put him in the grave.
And the Jews said they're going to take him. So they begged Caesar
to put some soldiers in front. They rolled a big stone in front.
Rolled a big stone in front of the grave. And there he was. There he was. Three days in the ground. Three
days in the ground. Mr. Eunick, all this that happened,
all this that happened, happened because God pleased to do it. This is what it says here in
verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. What does
it mean that God is pleased with the death of His Son? What does
it mean that God is pleased with the death of His Son? Well, here's
what it means. First of all, let me say this.
God is never pleased with the death of the wicked. Why? Because our death can never satisfy
God's justice. This is why hell is forever,
separation from God forever. Because God's justice never cries
out, I have enough payment. I have enough payment for the
sins, let him go. I have enough payment. But the Lord God is pleased with
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, because by that one offering,
He made perfect forever them that are sanctified. By that
one offering, God is pleased. It is in that sacrifice and that
shedding of His blood, and it's not the quantity of blood, but
the blood of who was shed on that cross. It's the blood of
God. By that one offering, He put
away the sins of His people. God is satisfied. The demands
are met. God is satisfied. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. It is the only way that a just
God can save sinners and still be just. This is what it says
in Romans 3. It says that he might be the
just and the justifier of him that believeth. This is the only
way that honors God's holy law. That his justice is vindicated.
It pleased the Lord to bruise him. There is no other way. to
be saved. There is no other name given
among men more than he must be saved. It pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He hath put him to grief when
he shall make his soul an offering for sin. Mr. Eunuch, here is what the Lord
Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, as awful as his sufferings
were in his body. They do not begin to compare
with the suffering he suffered in his soul. You and I, you and
I can never understand the depths, the depths of despair, the depths,
and I don't know if that's the right word, the depths of the
agony, what it is to be separated from God. Our Lord said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And the answer is, Thou art
holy. Thou art holy. He was made sin
for us. And he died. And his soul, you
know, when he went out to the garden of Gethsemane, just the
anticipation, just the anticipation of being made sin for his people,
his body, sweat, big drops of blood. So that the Lord sent
angels to minister to him. You and I, we don't know what
it is, really, to be sinners. We have an idea by the grace
of God who showed us. But I really do believe that
if we saw the awfulness of our sin, we would go nuts. We'd go
crazy. David said this, he said, I would
have fainted if I had not believed that I would see the goodness
of the Lord and the land of the living. Just to see who we are,
Here's who we are. By nature, we would kill God. By nature. By nature, if we could. This
is what man by nature did. When God turned His Son over
to the will of man, what did we say? Crucify. Crucify. Away with Him. We don't
want anything to do with Him. The soul. He made His soul an
offering for sin. Well, here's good news. He didn't
just come to die for sinners. Here's the gospel that we preach,
Mr. Eunick. how that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and how that He was
buried according to the Scriptures, and how He was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures. He is successful. My servant
shall prosper. That is the first thing we read.
My servant, in whatever he came to do, he did it. And he shall
prosper. Here is the thing. Look at this.
After he has made his soul an offering for sin, he shall see
his seed. He shall see his seed. If I die,
I'm not going to get to see my grandchildren. But after he dies, he's going
to see seed. He's going to see seed. Not only
shall he see seed, he shall prolong his days. How prolonged are his
days going to be? He ever liveth to make intercession
to all those that come to God by him. He lives forever. He died, but He arose again,
never to die again. He is victorious over death,
sin, the grave, over Satan. And the pleasure of the Lord.
What does that mean? Everything that God purposed
to do, He did it. Everything that God purposed
to do before the foundation of the world, He did it. It's accomplished. that's finished, shall prosper
in His hand. He is not a weak Jesus. He's not a Jesus that wants to
do something, won't you let Him. He is the Sovereign Lord, Jesus
Christ. He shall see the travail of His
soul and shall be satisfied. Travail of His soul and be satisfied. This has reference to do with
a woman in travail. I've never had a baby, but I'm
told that all the women who have babies, they go through travail,
pain. But when that baby is born, for
the joy of having brought a baby into the world, that pain is
gone. They rejoice. And they can only rejoice if
that baby is alive. There is no joy in stillbirth.
But this is what he's saying, the travail of his soul, all
the suffering that he suffered on the cross, he is not going
to be frustrated in that. He's not fretting, rubbing his
hands, hoping somebody will come. Oh no, he's satisfied. Not one. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I'll
know why it's cast out. He's going to have every one
of them be satisfied. And by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
By his knowledge. Mr. Enoch, do you understand
what this is saying? By his knowledge. We have knowledge,
but our knowledge is so little. It's his knowledge. It's his
knowledge of what God requires. It's his knowledge of the righteousness
that needs to be established here on the earth. Our only hope to stand before
God who is a consuming fire and to be accepted is to have the
righteousness of God. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
It is His knowledge of what God requires. He always did that
which pleased His Father. God the Father said, This is
My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He established righteousness. He fulfilled the law. When you
were over there in Jerusalem, they're going about to establish
their own righteousness and not submit it to the righteousness
of God. For Christ, this man, Jesus Christ, is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Everyone that
believes on Him, His righteousness, He is Jehovah, said Canaan. He is the righteousness of His
people. And by His knowledge, not only
of the righteousness that must be established, not only of the
payment that must be made, but the knowledge of you and me.
Who we are? Sinners. You know, a lot of times
I start a project and halfway through the project, I got to
admit I'm a failure. Because I started the project and then
something came up and I didn't have that in mind. I thought
I didn't know that was coming up and I just don't have the
ability to follow through. I just don't have the ability.
Can anyone think the Lord Jesus Christ was lacking in knowledge
as to what is required? He knew exactly what is required.
By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for He
shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, because of His doing
and dying on the cross, because of His establishing righteousness,
because of His pleasing, fulfilling God's will. Therefore, will I
divide him a portion. I divide with him a portion with
the grave. And he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because
he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with
the transgressors. And he bared the sin of many,
and made an intercession for the transgressors. God has raised
him up from the dead, and he has ascended. He's sitting on
the throne right now. He said, I'm coming again. I'm
coming again one day. He said, all authority is given
to me in heaven and earth. Go ye into all the world and
preach the gospel. Preach this message. You will
be witnesses of me, the Lord said. Go preach this gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. I could just see the eunuch say,
what's this baptism thing? What's this baptism thing? Well,
Mr. Eunuch, John the Baptist came
in the desert baptizing. Baptism of repentance. And the
Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, this baptism is the
way by the Lord gave to identify with Him, to confess Him. Confess
Him and identify with Him in His death and burial and resurrection.
This is how His disciples confess Him. Identify with Him. And they confessed, my only hope,
is that when he died, that was my death. And then when he was
buried, that's my burial. And when he rose, that's me raising. He's my life. This is what a
man is confessing. And it says, verse 36, chapter
8, And as they went on their way, they came into a certain
water. And the eunuch said, See? See? Here's water. What does
hinder me to be baptized? Here's water. What does hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest
with all thine heart, thou mayest. Before, he had said, Do you understand? But he didn't say, Mr. Enoch,
did you understand what I just got through saying? Did you understand
as we read? Did you understand that? He didn't
say that. It's more than an understanding.
It's believe with a heart. What is it to believe with a
heart? What is the heart of a man? The heart of a man is his whole
being. It's his whole being. It includes
the understanding. But it's more than the understanding.
It's the affection. Not only do I believe, not only
do I believe the gospel, but I love the gospel. I love this
way that God saves sinners. I wouldn't change a thing. To
Him be the glory. I wouldn't change a thing. I
love it. And not only do I understand it and I love it, but it's also
the volition or the will that I come to Him. No man has ever
believed God concerning Jesus Christ who has not come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And if a man says, I believe,
but I've never come to just deceiving yourself, Just this evening. Belief is belief from the heart. A man understands, but not only
understands, but loves. And how does he love it? God
puts His love. He sheds abroad His love in our
heart. He sheds abroad His love in our
heart. And when we will, it's because of Him. We will because
of Him. If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest." If you believe, you'll make. You know what this
eunuch said? And he said, I believe that Jesus
is the Christ. I believe that Jesus is the Son
of God. Blessed art thou. Blessed art
thou. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. But my Father, blessed art thou. He's blessed of God.
He believes. And notice the very first thing.
He wasn't waiting for an invitation. I already know what to do. He commanded. He said, stop this
car. There's going to be a burial right now. There's going to be
a burial. He wasn't waiting for an invitation.
He said, you're going to baptize me. I believe. And he commanded
the chariot to stand still. And they both went into the water.
and 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 up away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. And he
went on his way rejoicing." Go on his way rejoicing. How do
you rejoice? Rejoice in the Lord always. Rejoice
in the Lord always. Rejoicing in His and His sacrifice
that put away the sin, my sin. Rejoicing in His righteousness.
His righteousness is my righteousness. He is my righteousness. Rejoicing
in His provision. Rejoicing in His wisdom and His
direction. Whatever happens then. Whatever
happens then. Someone said, ever since I heard
the good news, I haven't heard any bad news. To know, to know
that my sins are put away. Rejoice in the Lord always. We
always have reason to rejoice, no matter what the circumstance.
That is what causes a man to be able to rejoice, is the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. To know God in Jesus Christ. I thank you for your love and
your support for us all these many years. I thank
the Lord for it. Thank you brother for having
me.