You'll turn back with me now
to Acts chapter 8. If I have one desire above another, as I study, prepare to come and
preach to you, it is to have a clear understanding
of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I might communicate to you
that which I know to be so in my own heart. I study to that
end. That's what I hope to be able
to do. In Paul's farewell message to
the Ephesians, he said, I take you to record this day that I'm
pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God. I held back nothing profitable
to you. But I taught you, he said, publicly,
that's what we're doing this morning, and house to house.
And I think I could say that to you if I knew I were going
out to meet the Lord today. I think I could say the same
thing to you. I've met and preached and taught
you publicly and in your own home. sit in your own home and
talk to you about these things. Now the book of the Acts of the
Apostles is full of examples of how the gospel of Christ is
brought to man. This is what it is. This is the
Acts of the Apostles. These apostles went out preaching
the gospel and it gives all kinds of circumstances and all kinds
of examples. of how the gospel of Christ is
brought to men, and of its effects upon them who truly understand
it and believe. Now, there's something I want
to emphasize to you this morning, because this is the beginning
of our text, is that preaching is not accidental. It's not accidental. Preaching is ordained of God,
and His ministers are sent by Him and on His behalf. And neither is your hearing. Neither is your hearing. But
I'll hear when I get good and ready. Oh, no, you won't. Oh,
no, you won't. That's as much the work of God
as that preacher being sent to you to preach his gospel. Listen to this. A little further
over in the book of Acts, Paul went to preach to the church
at Antioch. And he did. And they were so
interested in what he was saying that they wanted him to stay
over and preach some more. So he did. But the Jews in there
were jealous. They were jealous of him. They
saw those multitudes. They saw their hunger and appetite
to hear Paul and Silas preach. And they got jealous. And so they said something to
Paul, and Paul said, seeing you judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, he said, lo, he said, I turn from you. It's
in the providence of God that I preach to you first. And I
did. But you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.
So behold, he said, now I turn to the Gentiles. For it is written,
and he unlocked the mystery of the Gentiles to those Gentile
hearers who'd been listening to him. And they, oh, they said
when they heard this, they were glad. They were glad. And listen to this, as many as
were ordained to eternal life believed. Who did? As many as made their decisions.
That ain't what that says. It says, as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Here in Acts chapter 8, verses
26 through 38, we have an example of what I've been telling you
this morning. This is an account written by Luke of the calling
of the Ethiopian Union. And there's four things here
in these verses that are common in the calling and conversion
of all New Testament saints. You'll find these four things
in the experience of every God-called saint. These things. The first thing I want you to
see is the providence of God in the calling of His saints.
Don't think about that much, do you? We don't think about
that much. Do you believe in the providence
of God? I ask myself as I study this,
do I really believe in the providence of God? Do I believe that all
these circumstances and all these things that are going on in this
world are in His control? Being dictated by Him? Well, the Bible says He does.
He says over in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11, in Christ we also
have obtained an inheritance being predestinated, now listen
to this, according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. Now here's what he's doing. Here's what he's doing. He's
saving a people that he chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world. But to do that, he works all
things. Does that make sense? Now, if
he's not in control of all things, then their salvation can't be
sure. But he is in control of all things.
And he not only sets up there an authority over all things,
but he worketh all things. And he does it after the counsel
of his own will. Our Lord said to the Jews, they
got upset at him. They were always upset at him,
but they got upset over what he was preaching. And our Lord
turned to him. He must have had about a half
a grin on his face. And he said, my father worketh
hitherto, and I work. You've got nothing that you can
do to hinder what God does in His property. My Father worketh, Christ said,
hitherto." He's working in you right now in your rejection of
me. And he's working in those who receive me. My Father worketh
hitherto and I work. Paul said, his calling and conversion
came when it pleased God. Isn't that what he said? What
about yours? What about mine? When did mine
come? Huh? When it pleased God. Calling and conversion is born
in the providence of God. How shall you hear, Paul said,
without a preacher? And how is he going to preach
if God doesn't send him? Now, that's where we're at. We're
at the mercy of God's providence. Look here in Acts chapter 8,
verse 25. And they, when they had testified
and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem and
preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. And the angel
of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward
the south unto a way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
which is desert. Right here, preserved forever
in the pages of God's holy word, is the providence of God in the
salvation of a chosen sinner. This is God's providence intervening
in the lives of both the preacher and the child of God, he intends
to save. Now, I don't pretend to know
all the things that have taken place and led up to this time,
and I would say at the very least it would be mind-boggling if
you did. because these things started
long before they were ever born. Actually, creation is an outgrowth
of this purpose of God in salvation in Christ. And it would be mind-boggling
to know everything that's happened to you from the time you were
born up to the point of your conversion. But the Holy Ghost simply picks
up his working in both the heart and mind of his ambassador and
in the heart of this chosen sinner. I often think back on the providence
of God that led me here some eight years ago, working in me
to make me willing and working in you to do the same. That's God's providence. God's
providence. I counted my coming then and
I count it now as an act of God's providence. Now worldly religion,
they entertain this idea of these things being accidental and circumstantial
and random and all these other things. That's why when they
hear you, they hear you like those philosophers heard Paul
over on Mars Hill. They hear you with that kind
of an ear, and they listen to what you've got to say, and they
say, well, we'll hear you again sometime on that. That's interesting.
That's interesting. Different than what I've been
hearing. We'll hear you again. We'll hear you again. They counted his words no differently
than the idolatrous men who had gone before him. But some heard him as God's messenger
that night. And those who did it, the Scripture
said, howbeit certain men clave to him. They held on to him, wouldn't
turn him loose. Paul said, I've got to go. They said, no. No. No. We want you to stay here
and preach to us. They held tightly to him. They
wouldn't let him go. Now, let me tell you something. When you in your heart believe
that the man addressing you from this pulpit is sin of God, it'll
change the way you hear him. Now, that's just so. It'll change
the way you hear him. Listen to this, James chapter
1 verse 18. Now He's already told us that
every good gift, every perfect gift, cometh down from above,
comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no bearableness,
neither shadow of turning, the unchangeable God, sends down
these gifts to men. Now listen, here's the very next
statement He makes, verse 18, of His own will, of His own will, begat He us
with the word of truth." That we should be a kind of first
fruit of His creatures. Now, what if? Let's do a what
if. What if, instead of listening
to what you consider some man's interpretation of the Bible,
you suddenly realize and believe that he's God's messenger to
you? This is God's ambassador as though
God did beseech you through Him. What if that should happen? What
if that should dawn in your heart? That God in His providence brought
you here and God in His providence brought me here to speak to you
personally and bring to you God's message to you. I've changed
the way you listen, won't I? Reveal to you that this is not
just some random meeting that came into play by the evolution
of circumstance. Many years ago down in Ball,
Louisiana, there were two brothers who came there and worshipped
with us. Tim and Mark Smith came there to that little church.
And after the service one night, I can't remember if it was a
weekday. I think it was a weekday. I think
it was a Wednesday night service. After that meeting, Tim came
to me. One was real tall and thin. The
other was kind of heavy set. The heavy set one was Tim. And
Tim came to me after service that night. And he said, for
whatever it's worth, he said, I believe what you're saying
is true. To my knowledge, that's the only comment I ever got out
of any either one of those two brothers the whole time I was
there. But he came to me that night
and he said, for whatever it's worth, he said, I believe what
you're saying is the truth. The next morning, he was driving
on his way to work. A lady was going fishing, had
her husband's boat behind the truck. She was over here on the
other side. This is a four-lane now, water in between. doing 60 mile an hour one way,
60 mile an hour the other way, the boat trailer came loose.
And when it hit the bottom of the road, the boat, or the trailer
and boat and everything skidded across that water, jumped up
on the other side, and the tongue of that trailer come right through
that windshield and stabbed that boy in the heart. Killed him
instantly. God sent that boy a message,
and it's the last message he ever heard. And according to
his confession, he believed. He believed. Another young boy down there
used to come with his brother, expert tile layer. And he joined the Navy, just
a young man, 18 years old. He joined the Navy and he was
stationed somewhere down around New Orleans or over in Biloxi,
I guess it was, over in that area. And he had one more leave
before he had to ship out. And he'd been there that Sunday,
and we'd all told him goodbye. But they gave him this weekend
pass, and he wanted to come home one more time before he went
out to sea. Got hit head on early in the morning by a log truck.
Killed him instantly. Never got here again. Never got
here again. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying that the gospel is not a random encounter. It's
sent by divine commission. Do you believe that? If you do, it'll change the way
you hear. And that gospel, I tell you,
this gospel was surely sent as a judgment to those unbelieving
Greeks on Mars Hill as it was to call out his elect which were
there also. The sin of God. Is there anybody
here today who does not believe that Philip was sent to that
Ethiopian eunuch and that their meeting was not arranged by God
Himself? Anybody here believe that? I
feel sorry for you if you do. This was God's arrangement. This
is something God determined to do before the foundation of the
world, set it in place, and something that He carried out. People in
my generation had no clear how significant these little places
in time are and the eternal consequences of them. He that believeth and
is baptized, it says, shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. So here's the first thing. And
I want you to see about this, and I hope God will write it
on your heart so you don't ever forget it, is the providence
of God in the preaching of the gospel. And here's the second
thing. God's messenger and the chosen sinner are brought together. I'm of the school of thought. I believe this is what the Word
of God teaches, that for every man, God has a man. He has a man that he's trained
and called and put into this world for no other reason than
to call you out. That's why God ordained him.
That's why God sent him. That's why God puts it in his
heart to study. That's why he's here. That's
why he raises up a church so that that man can do that very
thing. Acts 8, verse 27. And he arose and went. And behold,
that word means pause and consider. The Holy Ghost said, now you
consider this. You consider this. A man of Ethiopia,
a eunuch of great authority under the rule of Candacy, queen of
the Ethiopians, and of the house of the queen of Ethiopia, and
was in charge of all her treasures. Now here they are. Here they
are, under the providence of God. Here's these two, two men. Poles apart in their upbringing. At opposite ends in their station
of life. This man was somebody, this Ethiopian
eunuch. He was somebody. He was traveling
in a royal chariot and had servants all around him. It didn't say
he stopped the chariot, it says he commanded and the chariot
stood still. One of these men was royal, the
other one common. One was black, the other one
was white. One was wealthy, the other one poor. One was educated,
the other one not so much. One was surrounded by servants,
the other was standing there alone. And then consider this. This
eunuch was traveling. He was in motion. He wasn't sitting
still. God didn't tell Philip, go out
there and when you find somebody standing there looking up at
the sky, you stop and preach to him. This man was in motion.
He was moving. Way back to where he lived. And
then even further, he was in a desert. He was out in the middle of the
desert. And wonder of wonders, this heathen idolater was reading
the scriptures. How can these things be? They can be because God arranged
it. Because God worked in them. That's how it can be. And then
watch this. He was working in both men's
hearts for just this occasion. This man was reading. I've read
the Old Testament. I used to read in there when
I was a kid. It didn't make a lick of sense to me until I'd come
on a story about Samson or something, or something that I'd heard in
Bible class. That might make a little sense.
But the rest of it didn't make any sense. This one begat this
one and on and on it goes in there. And I'm just, what in
the world that got to do with anything? But he was working in this man's
heart. And when I think how large a volume contained in the Old
Testament, how unlikely it is that this man should land on
Isaiah 53. That's a pretty good bit of Bible
back there. All kinds of scriptures. All
kinds of scriptures. But this man was reading Isaiah
53. Sixty-six chapters in the book
of Isaiah, and he lands on Isaiah 53. One of the clearest accounts
in the Old Testament concerning the death of Christ, our Redeemer,
and he was reading this passage out loud. I read all the time, but I don't
very often read out loud unless I'm up here reading to you. This
man's sitting in his chariot, going down the road, servants
all around him, and he's reading out loud. I don't even know if
he was aware he was reading this out loud, but he was. Acts 8, 29. Then the Spirit said
unto Philip, go near. Join thyself to his chariot.
And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet
Isaiah. And he said, do you understand
what you're reading? Do you know what you're reading?
He might have been reading it over and over and over. I don't
know. I suspect that he was. seeing if he missed a word, seeing
why can't I understand what this is saying. Maybe he was, reading
it over and over and over. But Philip ran up, he said, do
you understand? And this man said, how can I? I wish I could find some folks
like that. How can I? Except some man should guide
me. And he, now listen to this, This
man of great authority, clothed in royal robe, sitting there
in a royal chariot, surrounded by servants. And here's this
common man. He'd been running. And here he
is. He's out in the desert. And he's
all sweaty. And he's running alongside this
chariot. And this man of great authority, listen, desired. He didn't say he just asked him
to come up. It said he desired. Philip, that
he would come up and sit with him. All right, here's the third thing.
The Gospel of Christ. Acts 8.32. 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 a
shearer, so he opened 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 he said, I pray thee, who's he talking about? Who's he talking
about in this scripture? Is he talking about himself,
or is he talking about somebody else? Who's he talking about? Acts 8.35. Then Philip opened
his mouth and began at the same passage and preached unto him
Jesus, that is, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ sent of God for the
salvation of his people. Salvation is understood as God
enables us to see our union with Him. Is He talking about Himself
or another? I would have just told him yes,
because that's what he was doing. He was talking about himself
and another. Salvation is understood as God
enables us to see our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. God Almighty,
by eternal covenant union, chose us in Christ before the world
began, made provision for us way back yonder in eternity.
Made a covenant for us, David said, which is ordered in all
things and sure. Ordained the means to accomplish
our salvation and reconciled us to God by the person and work
of His Son. And when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, and
in the body of a man, manifested that union, that covenant union,
He manifested in a body which was both God and man. That body given to Him was a
physical manifestation of that union given to us by the Father
before the world began. In that body is represented all
God's elect. When He appeared, we appeared. When He obeyed, we obeyed. When
He died, we died. When He arose, we arose. And
we were raised up with Him, ascended into glory with Him, and are
seated with Him right now in heavenly places at the right
hand of the Father. Our salvation and calling is
according to His own purpose and grace, Paul told Timothy,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
but was manifest That's what we're talking about, being manifest.
It was manifest by the appearance and the accomplishments of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who now brings life and immortality to life
through the gospel. Paul said, this hope of eternal
life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began,
hath in due times manifested this word through preaching. Philip got up in that chariot.
He didn't give a four-hour dissertation on the history of Israel and
the law. He preached Christ to him. He
grabbed that Scripture he was reading, and he preached Jesus
to him from that point forward. There's no point in preaching
anything else, is there? Nothing else can do you any good. I'm told all the time, you need
to preach on this, and you need to preach on that, and you need
to preach on something else. I can put a leash on my dog,
and he pretty much has to go wherever I pull him. I could
do that. I could do that here with the
law. I could do that. I could put the collar on your
neck and lead you around by the law. But it's not going to accomplish
anything. Not going to accomplish anything. Paul, he preached Christ to them.
Philip preached Christ to them. And there's no point in preaching
anything else because the Scripture said there's no salvation in
any other. None other name given among men
whereby we must be saved. What's the point in preaching
on something else? I'm telling you one more time
on this side of eternity that Jesus Christ is all. He's all. You want to know how to walk?
Walk in Christ. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in Him. You want to know how to praise
God? Praise God in Christ. He's the way, He's the truth,
He's the light. Now we've looked at God's providence,
we've looked at God's messenger, and we've looked at the gospel
preached to this chosen vessel. Now here's the fourth thing.
The eunuch believed. I don't know. I want to think
that Philip believed that he would believe, but I don't believe
that. I just don't. I don't think Philip
was expecting that eunuch to believe. Maybe he did. I hope
he did. But most of the time, I'm not.
I'm not. I don't know why. The eunuch believed. Acts chapter
8 verse 36, and as they went their way, they came under water. Here they are out in the middle
of the desert. Wasn't much water out there. When that eunuch saw
that water, Philip incorporated baptism into his message so tightly
woven that the very first thing that man wanted to do was be
baptized. They came unto certain water,
and the eunuch said, see, here's water. What does hinder me from
being baptized? My friend, I'm going to tell
you something. True saving faith is always accompanied by a sense
of urgency. Urgency to obey the commandments
of their Lord and Savior. Urgency to believe. Urgency to
repent. Urgency to bow. And urgency to
confess their Lord and Savior. They know where God found them
and what He called them out of. And they are anxious to be identified
with their Lord and His Church and His Messenger. Five souls
up in Missouri here a few weeks ago. All of them want to be baptized. Now here it is. What does hinder
me to be baptized? Well, you can if you really feel
a strong sense of sin and repentance. He didn't tell him that. I believe
he did. I believe God the Holy Spirit
convinced this man of sin. I believe he had a sense of sin.
But that's not what he told him about baptism. Well, you can if you join the
church. Put your name on the roll. Here, we have a pledge
card for you. I just wanted to see what all
these pledge cards said, so I looked it up on the internet. It's absolutely
ridiculous. Well, you can if you memorize
and recite our church covenant. He didn't mention any such thing
to us. So what then did Philip tell this man? And he told him
this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Acts 8, 37. 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. So he's an idolater. That said, he'd been to Jerusalem
to worship, and he had scriptures in his possession, so I'm going
to say the Jews had made a proselyte out of him or something. But
that old man, as confused as he was, the Lord sent a man to
preach the gospel to him. He gave him an understanding
of it, and that man commanded that chariot to stand still,
and they went down both into the water. He didn't go down
and get a cup filled with water and come up and sprinkle him
with it or pour it on him or throw it in his face. He took
him down and they both went down into the water and he baptized
him. He buried him beneath that water. I'm going to tell you something.
What you've experienced here today is as providential as Philip's
meeting with that eunuch. Everything that you can say of
that meeting with the unit, you can say of what's taking place
here today. I've showed you what God has
recorded about it. What's God going to record about
you? How will your encounter with
God's messenger be written? Do you understand what I've said
to you today? Do you understand how God can
save chosen sinners in His Son? Do you understand the life and
death and resurrection of Christ? Do you believe on Him? Do you
believe what I'm preaching to you is the truth? Do you know and believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ? When you do, when you do, I'm
confident that you'll tell me and you'll be anxious to confess
Him in baptism. May the Lord be pleased to bring
that to pass for his name's honor and glory. I ask you for Christ's
sake.