It's been a wonderful worship
service already. One that I've enjoyed. The singing,
the reading. Thank you. You outlined my text actually.
Outlined the message. I'm going to say it in a little
bit different way. Why are we here? God help us
if he's not here with us. In the reading, in the singing,
in the preaching, in the listening, in the worship. that we'll worship
a God of our own hands, no different than a marble idol built, a God
of our own minds, a God of our own imagination. God help us. God be with us. Turn with me,
if you would, to two different passages. Hold your finger in
one. Turn first to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, and hold your
finger there. And while your finger is there
in Acts chapter 8, turn over to Ephesians chapter 3. While you're turning, I bring
love from the congregation at Hurricane Road Grace Church and
from my family who had planned to be here with me today. We
had a last minute change of plans, so I'm flying solo today, but
they'll be with me, Lord willing, next time. I was telling a couple
people, my sweet daughter, my 10-year-old daughter, would have
ridden with me this morning because she didn't want me riding by
myself. But we're having a celebration for a man in our congregations
graduating high school and going off to the military. And I didn't
want her to miss that. So she's at home. But if it was
her will and if it was my will, we'd all be here worshiping together.
So from your family at Hurricane Road Grace Church, I bring love
and prayer. and their greetings as well. Again, our text today is actually
in Acts chapter 8, but we're going to start in Ephesians chapter
3. These verses here in Ephesians
chapter 3 come to me frequently, nearly every time that we meet
to worship. I find myself thinking of these
verses here in Ephesians chapter 3. Let's start, we'll just read
these verses together, starting in verse 14 of Ephesians chapter
3. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God, now unto him that is able to do exceeding,
abundantly, above all. that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church, by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen. I think of that verse there in
verse 20. I reference this a lot. I'll
do it again. If I'm called to be here again,
I'll reference this verse again. I think of it a lot. How amazing
would it be if we were able to see a God that was able to do all that we ask or think. Now
that would be amazing, but that's not what the scripture says.
Scripture says our God is able to do above all that we ask or
think, but that's not what the scripture says. The scripture
said our God is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think,
but that's not what the scripture says. The scripture says our
God is able to do exceeding, abundantly, above all that we
ask or think. What are we doing here today?
That's my first question. What are we doing here today?
We're here to see that God in Christ. In our text, in Acts,
that's what the eunuch asks. Who is this man? Who is this
man that Isaiah is speaking of? Is it of himself or of another
prophet? Who is this man? Who is this
that does exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think? It's Christ. That's why we're
here today. We're here to see Christ. In
the verse right above that, Ephesians 3.19 says, To know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God. To know that which passeth knowledge. To know the unknowable. To know
the unknowable. That we might be filled with
all the fullness of God. We meet here praying that we
hear these words, Lord help us, not only with these ears, not
only with these minds, but that we hear a word from God. What
are we doing here? We meet that we may hear Christ.
We meet that we may know the unknowable, which is Christ. We meet that we might be filled
with all the fullness of God. And what is that, the fullness
of God? Colossians 2 and I'll just quote this we don't take
a couple minutes turn into it Colossians 2 verses 8 and 9 says
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit
after the tradition of men After the rudiments of the world and
not after Christ for in him that is in Christ dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily So there in Ephesians 3 verse
19, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. And
Colossians defines that. What is all the fullness of God?
That's Christ. That we may hear of Christ, that
we may know Christ, that we may be filled with Christ. That's
why we're here. That's why we're here. We're here to worship God. We're
here to worship God because that's only right. He's due our worship.
He's due our worship. And how do we do that? Through
Christ in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
We're here to know, there also in verse 18, we're here to know
what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ, which
is unknowable. That's unknowable to our human
minds, unknowable. We're here that we might be filled
with Christ. Why are we here? We're here that
we might worship and by His grace we might be filled with Christ.
With only Christ. And with Christ only. Does that
make sense? Only Christ. And Christ only.
Not the God of our natural minds. Not the God that Mike read about.
The marble gods, whether they be statues or totem poles, or
a God that answers to me, they're all the same. They're made up
gods. Not God's little G. Not the God of our natural minds.
What does verse 20 say there in Ephesians? All that we ask
or think. All that we ask or think. If
God leaves us alone, the very best of us, the best of us, who
are altogether vanity. Isn't that what the scripture
says? Man is the best state, altogether vanity. The best of
us will come and worship a God that does exactly that, that
provides all that I ask or think. Well, if a God is limited to
performing that which I ask or think, then I'm God. That's not
God. I'm God. Left to ourselves, and
that's exactly what we'll do every time. How many churches
strike that? I'm sorry I said that. How many
church buildings? I passed by on my drive here
today, and every day. And I hope, I hope that Christ
is there in some of them. I pray that he is. I have to
admit that I'm not all that optimistic, sadly, sadly. Left to myself,
that's exactly where I am, worshiping a God of my own mind, who can
do all that I ask or think. Not the God of this Bible, not
Christ, exceeding abundantly above all that I ask or think. That's who we come to worship.
A God that's limited to performing what I ask or think is not God. Left to myself, left to ourselves,
in our fallen nature, given to us, inherited through our Father
Adam, left to ourselves, the best of us, the kindest of us,
the smartest of us, the wisest of us, who understand that we
are separate from God. The savages have understood that,
right? Throughout history of time, everyone
has understood that we are separate from God. The best of us will
spend our entire lives working to clear our conscience, working
just to clear our conscience, as if God's holiness is somehow
on par with my conscience, as if our standard of what is good
and holy the same realm of existence. That's what we think by nature.
We think that God is altogether like us. He's not. He's holy.
Another definition for holy is other. He's other. Left to ourselves,
we'll spend our entire lives working to clear, just to clear
our conscience. As if my clear conscience somehow
gives me a right to stand before a holy God. What did Isaiah say?
Woe is me when he saw a holy God. Woe is me. I'm a man of
unclean lips. I dwell amongst the people of
unclean lips. What was me? I'll spend my entire life just
trying to clear my conscience. Just driving here today, when
you're heading out to the parking lot, take a look at my car and
you'll see a second white shirt hanging in the back. And there's
a second tie in the trunk. And there's a second pair of
glasses in the front seat. There's a second set of notes sitting
right over there. Because I'm a mess. I can't even drive three
hours without spilling coffee on my shirt. Right? Because I'm wired that way. That's
my nature. I'm going to lose my notes. I'm
going to break my glasses. Yet, we understand that logically,
right? We understand that in our minds.
We cannot be clean. We understand that in our minds.
Yet our evil heart says, oh, I can be clean before a holy
God. How dreadfully, deadfully foolish
is that? left to ourselves. But that's not why we're here.
We're here to worship unto that God, unto that God who does exceeding
abundantly above all that I can ask or think. We're here to worship
that God. And who is that? Now turn back
over. Now we turn over to our text
in Acts. You can take your marker out of Ephesians. I'll refer
back to that verse a few times, but we're going to spend more
of our time here in Acts chapter 8. Who is that? Look there in verse
34. The eunuch answered Philip and
said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Who is that? Of whom speaketh the prophet
this, of himself or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus.
That's why we're here, to worship that God. The eunuch was asking, who is,
who is the fullness of God? Philip opened his mouth and preached
unto him, Jesus. And again, that's why we're here,
to worship this same Jesus that Philip and the eunuch worshiped. The same Jesus that revealed
himself to the eunuch hasn't changed. There's no reason for
perfection to ever change. If he revealed himself to this
sinful eunuch, if he revealed himself to sinful Philip, perhaps
he'll reveal himself to this sinner. He hasn't changed. Sin hasn't changed. Perhaps he'll
reveal himself to this sinner. Let's start up, stay in chapter
eight there of Acts. Let's read through beginning
in verse 26. 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,
a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,
who had the charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem
for to worship. He was returning and sitting
in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. He's reading him
out loud. Then the spirit said unto Philip,
go near and join thyself under this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and
said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And the eunuch
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 where he read was this, in Isaiah, he was led as
a sheep to the slaughter. Like a lamb done before his shearer,
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 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.
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? Philip said, Thou believest with
all thine heart, thou mayest. He answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He commanded the chariot
to stand still. They went down both into the
water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. The Lord called Philip to come
preach to the eunuch while the eunuch was traveling back from
Jerusalem. And obviously, the eunuch had
some sort of head knowledge. He had a head knowledge. He was
reading Isaiah. He went to Jerusalem for worship.
He knew where the Lord was found. He had some sort of head knowledge. But by God's grace, he wasn't
at peace with that. He was seeking the Messiah in
Isaiah. And he was reading out loud.
And Philip was sent to him. A willing preacher sent to an
ear that God has prepared. And when Philip asked him, do
you understand? Do you understand what you're
reading? The eunuch answered, no. How can I unless I be taught? It's our prayer, and it's God's
blessing when sinners are brought to this helpless realization.
My goodness, how can I? How can I understand? When we
sinners are brought to this helpless realization, that left to ourselves,
we can't know God. Just as God is exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, just as He is above, we fallen
sons of Adam are exceeding abundantly below all that we could ask or
possibly think. We're exceeding abundantly worse
than we have a knowledge of. How can man come to God? Not
only are we incapable of finding out who God is, we're unwilling, we're incapable
because we're just as treasonous as our father Adam was. We will
not come. We will not come. Isn't that
what Christ said in John chapter five? The impotent man was by
the pool and Christ asked him, will thou be made whole? He was
by the pool at Bethsaida. Christ said to him, will thou
be made whole? The impotent man replied, I can't. That's a blessed
position. That's a good position to be
in, to realize I can't. I can't because I'm not able.
I can't because I'm not worthy. I can't because I won't. I can't. I'm unable. We need to realize
I can't. Christ made him whole. He made
that lame man by the pool. Christ made him whole. And when
the Jews found out about it, the first thing they did was
they sought to kill him for it. They sought to kill Christ for
making that man whole. Because all of their hope, the
Jews, all the Jews' hope, all the Jews' confidence, all the
Jews' peace, was all tied up in the law. It was tied up in
keeping the Sabbath, which Christ didn't when he healed that man.
It was tied up in their knowledge of the scriptures. What a dangerous
thing to get confidence from that. These Jews If you and I,
if I'm left alone, these Jews represent the best of me. If
I'm left alone, these Jews represent the best of us. Come up with
a salvation that put their God in a position that their God
was able to do all that they ask or thought. And what they
ask their God to do is to reward me for who I am, reward me for
my works, reward me for my motives, reward me for me. That was all
that they are able to ask or think of their God and their
God will. But that's not our God. For them, salvation was
a response. Salvation is simply God's response
to what they did do or what they didn't do. Salvation is God's
response to man's action. That's why the Jews were so angry.
The Lord was tearing that down. They would not let go of that.
And neither will we, left to ourselves. We'll not let go of
whatever our hope is. Will not, will not let go of
that and cling to Christ for mercy. Christ told them, these
Jews, he said, you do, you search the scriptures, you do. In them,
you think you have eternal life. But these scriptures, they are
that which testify of me. And you will not come to me that
you might have life. You will not. Left alone, we
will not come. We will not come. We won't will
to, right? We won't will to come, and we
also will to not come. Both. Does that make sense? We
will not, and we will not to. Just as our father Adam. We will
not to. It's not our will. What's today's
bulletin? Perfect. The article in today's bulletin
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
I'll read it here to you. You'll keep this at home too
and read it I Rejoice to declare to all men everywhere that any
sinner in all the world who will call upon Christ in true faith
shall be saved Absolutely It's your responsibility to believe
on Christ It's Christ's right it's your responsibility to believe
on Christ and Yet I know that no man ever can or will call
upon Christ in faith of his own accord. He has neither the desire
nor the ability to do so by nature. Scripture says, the scripture
I just quoted, you will not come to me that you might have life.
No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw
him. Therefore, if any man believes
on Christ, Thank God. His faith must be the result
of the gracious and irresistible operation of God upon his heart.
Faith is the gift of God. That is what I am saying. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
why we're here. It's our will to not come. Left to ourselves, it's our will
to not come to Christ. But that's not what the eunuch
said. The Lord revealed to him that he's powerless, and when
Philip asked him, do you understand? The eunuch said, no. How can
I? How can I? Proverbs 9 says, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge
of the holy is understanding. The eunuch was given a knowledge,
an understanding of the holy. The Lord revealed to the eunuch
that he is lost and he can't approach unto God. Again, no
right to, no will to, no ability to. Can't approach unto God. Enoch said, I don't have the
right. I don't have the power. I don't
know the way. I'm no different than that impotent
man by the pool. And even if I had the will, how
can I? How can I? How can a sinner approach
unto God Almighty? And God sent to this unit peace.
He sends to us peace. Peace. Philip sent Philip to
him. And what did Philip do? Look
here in verse 35. How can I come? Philip tells
us, then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture
and preached unto him Jesus. There's our answer. There's our
hope. There's our peace. He preached unto him, Jesus.
And what was Philip's message to the unit? Look back there
in verse 32. The place in the scripture which
he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
and like a lamb dumbed before his shearer, so opened he not
his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. and who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.' And the eunuch answered,
Philip, and 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." Turn with me to this text that the eunuch was
reading in Isaiah. It's Isaiah chapter 53. We'll look at the same text that
the that the eunuch was reading, and we'll pray that the Lord
reveals himself to us just as he did to the eunuch. From this text, Philip preached
Jesus Christ. He preached Jesus Christ, the
one true Messiah. Christ is the one true Messiah
who was born of a virgin, was made under the law, perfectly
obeyed the law, successfully suffered and died for the sins
of every one of his people. That successful Messiah, the
only true Messiah who provides everlasting righteousness before
God for all of his people, who obtained eternal redemption,
who is now risen from the dead, ascended to heaven, seated on
the right hand of God, making intercession for us. He preached that Jesus, the one
true Messiah. Let's look here through Isaiah
chapter 53, just a few verses at a time. I'll make a couple
comments as we go through. Let's read together the first
three verses of Isaiah chapter 53. 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 a 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, rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. If we're
left alone, we will despise and reject Christ. We'll despise
and reject God. Why? Because he is holy, and
we are not. One definition I mentioned earlier
of that word holy is other. Other, other from us. God is
other from us. He is holy and we are not. He
is good and right and all powerful. And we are not. He is deserving
of worship and praise and glory and honor. And just like our
father, Adam, left to ourselves, our nature is such that we will
despise him for all of that. He has the right to do with us
what he will. And we will stop at nothing. In our nature, we
will stop at nothing to take that right from Him. That's evidenced
by Adam's attempt to overthrow God in the garden. That's exactly
what that was. Adam's attempt to overthrow God in the garden.
By Cain's attempt to earn equality with God. I'll be on the same
footing with you because I am on the same footing with you.
That's what Cain said. Our father's murder of the one holy one, Jesus
Christ, when he was here on this earth, our fathers murdered him.
When Pilate delivered Christ to be crucified, scripture says,
then answered all the people and said, his blood be on us
and on our children. And it is. It is. We're the children. By our own
response, by my response, Whatever our hope is, it shows itself
as this morning people together meeting under any name other
than Jesus. Other than the Holy Sovereign Jesus Christ the Sovereign. It can be called whatever name
that you want to call it. It can be called Baptist, Catholic,
Methodist. It can be called Hindu. It can be called... It can be
called Calvinism. It can be called whatever it
is. It can be, God help me. It can be cold disinterest. It
can be ignoring the fact that I'm a sinner before a holy, just,
sovereign God. Ignoring that fact and searing
my conscience doesn't make it not true. Left to ourselves, though, that
might be my hope. We put our hope anywhere. other than altogether Christ. And it just goes to show that
left to ourselves, that's what we're trying to do, strip God
of his rightful power and title and authority. Scripture says, left to ourselves,
we will say, we will not have this man reign over us. We'll
have anything else. We'll not have this man reign
over us. He is holy. God is holy. God is other. He's exceeding
abundantly above holy. He charges His angels with folly.
He's holy in a way we cannot comprehend. He is holy. And we
are not. In our sin, we despise Christ.
And just like these first three chapters here say, we esteem
Him not. We despise Him. We esteem Him
not. Enoch said, who is this man? This man's Christ. because
Philip preached unto him Jesus. This is Christ. Let's look at
verses four and five. Surely he had 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. With his stripes we are healed. We saw Christ. We saw Christ as smitten of God,
afflicted and abandoned by God as a result of his own blasphemy.
We saw Christ as afflicted and abandoned of God. But his suffering
was not for sins he had committed. His suffering was for our sins,
our sins and our transgressions, our iniquities, the sins which
we have committed. and the righteous worship which
we have omitted. The sins of commission and omission. What we have done and what we
have not done is all sin. It's all sin. Christ died for
all those sins. All those sins were laid on him. Scripture said Christ hath borne
our grief and carried our sorrows. How did he carry our sorrows?
Our sorrows. When Christ was made sin, Peter
says, who his own self, this is in 1 Peter chapter two, who
his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. How
did he carry our sorrows? He bear our sin in his holy perfect
body, his sinless body, he carried our sin. Christ carried the sorrow
that we should feel, that we should feel for our sin in a
way that we can never feel. In His perfect body, He carried
my sin and my sorrow that I should have over the sin, that I just
have maybe a touch of. I don't have any concept of the
depth of the sorrow I should feel before a holy God for my
sinfulness. Christ does. He knows that sorrow. He carried it. Surely He hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Look here 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.
If you have a center reference in your Bible, my center reference
says, for that word laid, made the iniquity of us all to meet
on him. Surely he hath borne our grief,
carried our sorrows. What prompted Christ to take
our sin? It's all of, salvation is of
the Lord. It is all of Christ, from the
design, from the covenant, from the doing, to the calling, to
the keeping. It is all of Christ. It is none of us. What prompted
Christ to take our sin? Was it because we asked? Was
it something we did? Was it my belief? I had an acquaintance say something
to the effect of this, I'll paraphrase, years ago. Salvation is quite
a reward for your belief. Salvation is not a reward for
my belief. My belief is the evidence of
the reward. Got it totally in the wrong order.
Was it our belief that prompted Christ to then take my sin as
a response to my belief? No. Scripture says, all we like
sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. All we like sheep have gone astray. Christ didn't take
our sin as a response to us, as if I'm the catalyst. It was
God's mercy alone. It was always God's mercy. His
mercy covenant made before the world ever began. God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. That mercy covenant made before
the world ever began. Do you notice who's not in that
covenant? Me. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit making a mercy covenant before the world ever
began. I'm not part of this covenant.
I'm the recipient of the grace of this covenant. The covenants
between them, God the Father choosing a people, God the Son
dying and saving a people, God the Holy Spirit calling a people.
It's God's work for God's glory. My belief is evidence of that.
I'm the recipient of that grace. Never the cause of any action.
My goodness, isn't that just painful to say? That God would
respond to me? Are you kidding? We know that in our heads. You
couldn't get the mayor of Danville to respond to you, could you?
I mean, I couldn't. I couldn't get the mayor of Ashland
to take my phone call if I tried, for pity's sake. That's a little
nothing town. but our arrogance, and it's worse
than that, our sinfulness, and it's worse than that, our evil
nature, thinks that God will respond to me. That's not the God of this Bible.
Praise Him, that is not the God that we worship in Christ. What prompted Christ to take
our sin? Not me. Christ prompted Christ to take
our sin. God's goodness compelled Christ to take our sin and display
his mercy. To put his mercy and love and
goodness on full display by saving the most vile. Isn't that what
we're saying? The most vile of sinners. His
goodness on full display for all to see by saving the most
vile, because he would, because he's good, because he's merciful. The Lord hath laid on him, on
Christ, the iniquity of us all. Look here in verse seven. He
was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
He's brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, 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. He made his grave with the wicked,
with the rich in his death. Because he hath done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth. This great injustice done
by man, bear with me, great injustice done by man, the greatest injustice
ever done by man, that this perfect man, Jesus Christ, who had done
no violence, no deceit was even found in his mouth. No violence,
no deceit, would be falsely judged, would be imprisoned, would be
scourged, would be spat upon, would have a mocking crown of
thorns shoved down into his head and his beard ripped out of his
face. was slapped, was ridiculed, was
tormented, and was finally crucified in the most humiliating, undignified
death a person can possibly suffer. The greatest injustice ever done
by man. While he was being crucified,
by the creatures whose very breath he was providing, while he was
praying for his people who were there doing it, While he was
praying for them, Father forgive them, they know not what they
do. And he did. While he was praying and saving
the thief on the cross right next to him. While he was praying
for forgiveness for his apostles who had abandoned him. While
he was alone, dealing with God the Father in judgment. Most unjust thing ever. that
we, humanity, have ever done. We poured out our hatred on His
holiness on that cross. Just poured it out, unfettered.
That His goodness would be so violently despised. What a horrible
injustice by man. All because He is holy and we
are not. We will not come to Him. What
a horrible injustice. Because we love darkness rather
than light. Horrible injustice. perfect picture
of the depths of our depravity, of our sin nature, poured out
this horrible injustice on Christ. Christ opened not His mouth.
He opened not His mouth. Why? He opened not His mouth. How could God, the Son, tolerate
such injustice? He never would. never would tolerate
injustice. He opened not his mouth, because
before God the Father, his soul's suffering was just. It was just. Horrible injustice done by man.
But he was suffered, he was crucified, he suffered justly before God
the Father. The greatest injustice by man
was God's absolute justice. Our sin was not made as if to
meet on him. This is not a picture of a sin
sacrifice like the bulls and like the goats and the doves.
This isn't a picture of a sin sacrifice. Christ is the sin
sacrifice. Our sin was made to meet on him. He bore it in his body on the
tree and God the Father dealt with him in justice and put our
sin away. The sacrifice is finished and
Christ said so. It is finished when Christ bear our sin God
the Father sacrificed him in justice justice Isaiah says by
his stripes we are healed Christ didn't fix the symptoms Getting
a little bit older so I'm going to the doctor a little bit more
often now I'm starting to know a little bit about that They
treat the symptoms an awful lot The symptoms, the symptoms, the
symptoms. Why am I having this headache?
Why does my back keep going out? Why? Ah, they just treat the
symptoms. Take a pill, treat the symptoms. That's not what
Christ did. No, no, no. He bore our sin away. As far as the east is from the
west, behind God's back, in the depths. He bore it away by His
sacrifice. By His stripes we are healed.
Christ didn't fix the symptoms. He fixed the problem, our sin
problem. He took our sin away. By His stripes we are healed.
Finally, look here in the last few verses, starting in chapter
10, or excuse me, verse 10, Isaiah 53. Yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide
the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bear the sin
of many, and made intercession for their transgressions. He,
he, he, he, he. All what Christ did, what Christ
did, what Christ did. It pleased God to bruise Christ?
Yes. It pleased God, the Father, to
bruise God, the Son. God's justice fulfilled, satisfied
against sin. All right here, all on Christ.
God's mercy and love fulfilled forever towards his people. Adam's
curse destroyed, God's mercy and love displayed. God is pleased. God is satisfied. And Christ
lives ever making intercession for us. ever lives making intercession
for us. Not that God needs reminded.
Sin is gone. Sin is no more. Not that God
needs reminded or that new sins are popping up that need to be
covered again. That's not Christ making intercession
for us. No, Christ lives as an ever-present
display of mercy. The living sacrifice. The living
sacrifice that put away sin. Turn over to Hebrews with me. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, we'll read
four verses, starting in verse 10. By the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Christ Jesus once. And every
priest standeth daily, ministering, and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God from henceforth, expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool." Perfected forever, them that
are sanctified. Turn back to our text in Acts. And we'll finish up here in Acts,
Acts chapter 8. Philip preached unto the eunuch
this same Jesus. This same Jesus, the one who
made the mercy covenant, the one who was born of a woman,
made like unto man, made man, just as much man, you've heard,
just as much man as if he were never God, just as much God as
if he were never man, made the God man here on earth, lived
and died under the law according to the law, took away our sin
for his people. This same Jesus. was successfully
raised from the dead and sits on the right hand of God even
now, making intercession for us. This same Jesus. That's who
Philip preached unto the eunuch. God doesn't change. It's this
same Jesus. Perfection has no need to change.
The eunuch was saved by this same Jesus that everyone's saved
by. The same Jesus that he came to is the same Christ Jesus,
Lord Jesus, that I come to. And he saves people in the same
manner. He saved the eunuch in the same manner that he saves
people right now, today. Philip preached unto him Jesus.
Look here in verses 36 and 37. And 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 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
doth hinder me? What doth hinder me from coming
to Christ? It was this word, hinder, that
a couple months ago drew me to this text that we're looking
at today. I was at a place in Ashland. I was driving. It was
someplace I've never been before. And I was coming out of a store.
And it's a weird little downhill. And you come to a stop sign.
And it's odd the way all the roads come in at awkward angles.
And I was sitting there at the stop sign. There was not another
car around. And I just sat there. Because I was a little distracted.
And I just couldn't quite get myself to go. So I had to stop. And I'm sitting there at the
stop sign all by myself, no other cars. And I'm thinking to myself. This is what I thought to myself.
What's hindering me from going? That was the word that came to
my head. What's hindering me from going here? Why aren't I
going? So I stopped and I looked around. And I remembered the
four-way stop sign rules, right? And I started thinking through
all that. What's hindering me from going here? Then I noticed there's
another little road coming in here from an apartment building.
It's a five-way stop. But this fifth way doesn't have
a stop sign. So it's a four-way stop with another entrance coming
in. And somewhere, even though I
wasn't totally paying attention to my driving, somewhere in my mind,
I recognized that this is going to take some special thought.
So then I looked, and I went through all the driving laws
in my mind. Is anybody on the right? Is anybody else here?
Who was the first here? Is anybody coming down this road because
they don't have a stop sign? And I realized all the laws were
fulfilled. I could go. What doth hinder
me? And that's what brought me here.
The answer is this. If the law has been satisfied,
nothing enters you. I like little stories like that
every now and then, because my memory is so bad. Now, whenever
I'm at a stop sign, that crosses my mind. The law has been satisfied. And I see Christ again, even
when I'm out driving. And I hope you all do, too. That's
why I share it. If the law has been satisfied,
go. Come to Christ. Nothing's hindering
you. The law's been satisfied. This
word hindered, it's translated a few different ways in the Bible
as forbid. What doth forbid me from coming
to Christ? That the law's been satisfied, nothing. What doth
prevent me? What doth keep me? from coming
to Christ. What doth restrain me from coming
to Christ? This same word, forbid, is also,
I love this translation, it's translated refuse. Will I be
refused? What doth refuse me from coming
to Christ? If the law has been satisfied, absolutely nothing. Come to Christ. If you've come
a million times, come to Christ. Come to Christ. What doth hinder
me? The law has been satisfied. Nothing hinders a sinner from
coming to Christ for mercy. Nothing forbids, nothing keeps,
nothing prevents, nothing restrains. Christ never refuses sinners
to come to him for mercy. Christ never refuses sinners
to come to him for mercy. Never. Never. How a sinner guilty
before God being told that nothing hinders me from coming to Christ,
that is above all that I could ask or think, right? But Christ is exceeding abundantly
above all that we could ask or think. So not only is nothing
hindering me, nothing is hindering a sinner from coming to Christ.
Rather, we are called to do exactly that. We are called to do so. Not only is sinner, not only
is nothing keeping you from coming to Christ, sinner, Christ is
calling you to come to him for mercy. Do come. You're called
to do so. It's right and it's proper that
you come to Christ for mercy. It's right and it's proper that
I come to Christ for mercy. My goodness, how else could a
human stand here and talk about Christ? If it wasn't right and
proper to do so, if we're not called to come to Him because
the law is satisfied, if we're not called to come to Him for
mercy, not only are you not prevented from coming, you're called to
do so. Come to Christ. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, this is
a faithful saying. Meaning it was true then, and
it's true now, and it'll be true tomorrow. This is a faithful
saying. It's worthy of all acceptation.
Everyone should accept this. It's true, and it's worthy to
be accepted by everyone. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That's a faithful saying. It's worthy to be accepted. Sinner,
come. Whom he calls, he will not hinder.
whom he calls he will in no wise cast out. That's what the scripture
says, right? Sinner come to Christ. I'm gonna poach some words from
John Gill here. He says, nothing should hinder,
not anything on his side, on the sinner's side, not a sense
of his own unworthiness, not a sense of his own unworthiness.
That'll never be otherwise, but rather that'll increase. So sinner,
don't let your sense of unworthiness keep you. That's not hindering
you, it's not. Rather, that's going to increase.
Don't let the corruptions of your own heart and nature, which
will always remain as long as we're in this body, that doesn't
hinder us from coming to Christ. Nor fears of falling away, that
doesn't hinder us from coming to Christ. Since there cannot
be any more danger after baptism than before baptism, Christ is
the same who is always able to keep from it. Not fears of falling
away, not the reproaches of this world, which should be esteemed
above riches. Reproaches of this world should
be esteemed above riches, not as a hindrance from us coming
to Christ. More especially, since to be ashamed of Christ, his
word and his ordinance, is highly resented by him, not the reproaches
of this world, not the opposition of relatives and friends, who,
although there to be regarded and listened to in civil matters,
should have no sway whatsoever. in religious ones to move for
the cause of Christ. Not our unworthiness, not our
corrupt nature and hearts, not fears of falling away, not reproaches
of the world, not opposition of relatives and friends. Who
would hinder me from, what would hinder me from coming to Christ?
The law? Am I allowed to come before God?
Romans 10, chapter four, chapter 10, verse four says, For Christ
is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The
law doesn't keep me from coming to Christ. The law says come.
The law doesn't keep me from coming to Christ. My sin, am
I worthy to come before God? Colossians 1 says, giving thanks
unto the Father which hath made us meet, made us worthy, made
us worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Not my sin. God? Will God prevent
me from coming? I heard a story, a silly story
the other day, of when Henry Winkler met Mick Jagger. Henry
Winkler, the Fonz, met Mick Jagger, famous rock star. For those of
you who are younger than me, you don't remember. And he met him in a
restaurant, and Henry Winkler, the Fonz, walked up to Mick Jagger
and introduced himself. And Mick Jagger didn't even raise
his head from his meal. He didn't even look at him. Fonz is a star. I thought Mick
Jagger is a star, right? Mick Jagger didn't even give
him the time of day. Didn't even give him eye contact. Again,
silly story to prove a point. Am I thinking that about my God?
Because certainly he'd be right, right? In his holiness to not
even acknowledge my presence. Do I even have a right to come
before God? Do I? Here in Isaiah chapter
55, let's read these together. Isaiah chapter 55. Will God prevent me from coming? Look here in verse one of Isaiah
chapter 55. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye.
Buy and eat, yea, come. Buy wine and milk without money
and without price. What's verse three say? Incline
your ear, and come unto me, here, and your soul shall live. And
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. Look here in verses six and seven. Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye, you, call. upon him while he is near. Let
the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return unto the Lord. He will have mercy upon him and
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Will God prevent us
from coming to him in Christ? Absolutely not. And it's easy to say And I catch
myself, I'm not picking on anybody, I'm picking on myself. I'll pick
on myself. It's easy to say, oh boy, God can't possibly accept
me. He just doesn't know the depth
of my cold heart. And perhaps on a good day I'm saying
that in humility. Maybe. Some days it's probably
false humility. But maybe, maybe in my humility,
I'm saying that God can't possibly accept me. You don't know. You don't know my heart. God
can't possibly accept me. What a horrible misrepresentation
of him. That may be a good representation
of me, but a horrible misrepresentation of him. If my nine-year-old son,
if I went to pick him up at school, And he walked out in the parking
lot and said, ah, dad, don't hit me. Don't punch me. Don't
lock me in the basement. What? I've never done that. Where's this coming from? This
is what I would say to him. Is that my character? One that
would do that? Is that my character, one that
would hit my boy and lock him in the basement? No, of course
it's not. That's not my character. Is God
turning away a sinner in Christ, his character? No. It's not. It's not. So thankfully, he doesn't let
us do that. Where I look into myself and
I say, there's no, when I look at myself, all I see is there's
no reason for him to accept me. There's no way he will accept.
All I see is negative, negative, negative, negative. When I look
at myself, there is no peace. Thank God there is no peace.
When I look at his character in Christ, that's where peace
is, and that's the only place where peace is. Never anything
to myself, always everything to him, right? It's not his character
to turn away sinners that come to him in Christ. What would
hinder me from coming to Christ? My unbelief? After all, and this
word, every time I see it here in the scripture, always makes
me catch my breath a little bit. What did Philip say to the eunuch?
The eunuch asked Philip, is there anything that would hinder me?
And Philip's answer started with the word if, if thou. Every time I see if thou, I cringe
just a little bit. Just like when I'm reading through
the scripture and I see but God, and I smile, because I know something
good's coming. Here's all of me. Here is everything
that I deserve but God. And when I see if thou, I start
to hold my breath a little bit because if there is anything
that is contingent on me, I won't do it. I won't be able to do
it. So when I see if thou, and I start to read that as something
contingent on something that I have to bring to the table,
I get nervous. If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest. Was the eunuch's degree of belief
a condition for coming to Christ? Better question is, is my degree
of belief a condition for me coming to Christ? If it is, I mean, what about
my grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer's for nine years and
didn't know her own name? She didn't have any, there was
no belief left. There was nothing left but a
shell of a human. There's nothing she could have held on to. And
I might find myself in the exact same situation. Even if it's
not Alzheimer's, there's nothing I can hold on to. Even on my
best day, with all my strength, I can't hold on to him. Lord
help me, I want to. I can't hold on to him. So is
the degree of my belief a condition? What does hinder me from coming
to Christ? That degree of my belief? In Mark, Mark says, Straightway,
the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. And you're right. Your belief
is not enough to recommend you before God. If my hope, if our
hope is the strength of my belief, then I'm always going to be disappointed.
God won't have that, that he won't have my hope being the
strength of my belief. It's not our belief that allows
us into God's presence. It's Christ alone. The faith
that he gives me is evidence of Christ's work. Never the cause.
It's the evidence of Christ's work. Never grounds of our standing
before God. Would that father say, Lord,
I do believe. Help thou mine unbelief. What will hinder? My flesh? My flesh can't come
before God. Corinthians says, Now this I
say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. We must
be born again. And as it is with all of salvation,
being born again is of Christ also. First Peter says, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again, hath birthed us again,
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead.
Chapter 23 of that same chapter in Peter, First Peter says, being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Christ satisfying
the law, so that the law doesn't find me guilty before God Almighty.
That's above all that I could possibly ask or think. Christ
satisfying the law, and if you will, wiping my sin slate clean,
Christ satisfying the law is above all that I could ask or
think. But Christ is exceeding abundantly above all that I could
ask or think. Christ satisfied the law by putting
away our sin and he makes us worthy. by imputing Himself to
us as our righteousness. Christ is born in us. He gives
us a new heart, a new nature that seeks after Him. We're born
again of incorruptible seed. My old nature is still here.
Lord, help thou mine unbelief. My old nature is here. Lord,
help thou mine unbelief. By His grace, by His goodness,
He's given a new nature. not as my righteousness. Christ
is my righteousness. He's given me life to seek Him.
In closing, the path to salvation is narrow. The path to salvation
is narrow. As I said earlier, it's Christ
only, and it's only Christ. But Christ has already satisfied
every condition, every condition that would hinder a sinner, just
as the road to the city of refuge, right? It was marked clearly. There was nothing hindering to
the sender. There was one road. There was
one road there. It was clearly marked and it
was graded. Nothing whatsoever hindering.
Sender come to Christ. Amen. Let's pray before we...