Acts chapter 8. I want to begin reading in verse
26, and I want to read the remainder of this chapter. You remember
the context of this passage that I'm reading and this incident.
A man by the name of Philip, one of the deacons, had gone
down to Samaria to preach to them. There had been a great
revival. And in the midst of this revival,
the Lord spoke to Philip and sent him down into the desert
to preach to this one man. And that's what our message is
concerning this morning. But I want to read verse 26 through
verse 40. And I want to read this whole
passage, not only for you, but I heard a man from Iran. He was on the radio and he was
telling about he was talking to some Christians, some believers
there. And he said, God is doing a work
there. It's a secret work. They can't
even have Bibles. He was talking to this one lady
and she called him on the telephone. And he said he noticed she kept
quoting scripture. Said she just quoted scriptures
and quoted scriptures. And he asked her, said, what
can I do for you? Is there some way I can help
you? She said, I want a Bible. Can you find some way to get
me a Bible? And he said, Lady, you've quoted all kinds of Scripture
to me and you don't have a Bible? She said, I've never seen a Bible.
And he said, How are you quoting these Scriptures? She said, I'm
getting online. I'm getting on the Internet.
And when creatures read their text, I write it down. When he quotes a Scripture, I
stop and write it down and I memorize it. And she said, That's my Bible. So it's a blessing to think as
I read my text this morning here, In your hearing, it may be that
somebody in Iran writes this down and memorizes it. So let's
read our Bibles together. Acts chapter 8 and look in verse
26. And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go towards 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, man eunuch of great authority under Candace,
queen of Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure,
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship. And he was returning
and setting in his chariot, and he read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip,
Go near, and join yourself to this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and
said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How
can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip
that he would come up and sit with him. 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 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.
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. And he commanded the
chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And they went
up out of the water, and the Spirit of the Lord caught away
Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way
rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus,
and passing through, He preached in all the cities till he came
to Caesarea." Now, that's our reading, and that's our message
this morning out of this text. And one thing you've noticed
here, you'll notice two places here in my text. This happens
so often in the book of Acts. You read this, and it's amazing
how the Lord spake directly to these men. You read here that
in verse 26, that angel of the Lord spake unto Philip. The Lord often used angels. They
are ministering spirits. And often an angel even appeared
physically, unloosed the apostles who were in prison, and set them
free. They often gave them instructions
as to what to do. Angels are ministering spirits.
In chapter 5, in verse 18 and 20, you remember the incident
there when an angel came to Peter and John in the prison, led them
out of prison, and said, Go preach in the temple the words of this
life. And we often read in the Scriptures
where these apostles and others had dreams. They dreamed. Brother Larry talked this morning
about dreams. The Lord used dreams and visions
to direct His apostles and Christians throughout the book of Acts.
And that's why we're told these false prophets bragged about
having dreams. Satan is a counterfeiter, ain't
he? False prophets are counterfeiters of the real thing. The Lord often
used dreams and visions What does Satan do? He gives false
dreams and he gives false visions. You remember when Peter was ready
to go down to Cornelius's? No, he wasn't ready, was he?
But the Lord sent him a dream and convinced him to go down
to Cornelius. He sent Cornelius a dream and
a vision that he should send for Peter to preach the Word
to him. So your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams." Angels, dreams, visions,
and look here in verse 29 again what he said. Then the Spirit
said unto Philip. This was the Spirit of the Lord
speaking directly to him. Now I doubt seriously it was
an audible voice. But he heard the Spirit speak
to his conscience, to his heart. He made him to know it's the
Spirit. Now, could the Lord do this in
our day? Could He speak in visions to
us? Could we have a dream to instruct us? Could the Holy Spirit
speak directly to us? Well, of course He could. I'd
be the last one to say that God could not use these means to
do that with. You may have a dream or you may
see a vision. The Holy Spirit may speak directly
to you. But I tell you this, we best
be careful, haven't we? Because God has another way,
His chief way, that He speaks to us in our day. We don't deny
that He used dreams in the Scripture. We don't deny that He used vision.
We don't deny that He spoke directly to men by His Spirit. But what's
His chief way of speaking to us today? What's His only infallible
way of speaking to us? It's His Word, isn't it? It's
His Scripture, the Word of God. And you know, these visions and
these dreams and the Holy Spirit speaking, you know what His intent
was. His intent was for the Word to
be preached. The angel spoke unto Philip and
said, you go down to the old Gaza road, down towards Gaza. Why was he sending him down there?
To preach. He didn't know it at the time.
He just said, go. When the Spirit spoke and said,
join yourself to that chariot, what was the end of that? To
preach. And when Cornelius was needing
the gospel, he had this vision. But what was that vision? What
was the end of that vision? What was its purpose? Was He
telling him, I'm going to get you a new car? You're going to
have health and you're going to have wealth? No! He said in
this vision, you call for one Simon, Peter, he's up there in
Joppa, and he's going to come and tell you words whereby you
and your house shall be saved. What in the Lord did this save
him by vision? We never read that God saved anybody by vision.
We never read that God saved anybody by speaking directly
to them. He always uses the preaching of His gospel, doesn't He? He shall tell you words whereby
you and all your house. Now, if you have a vision, I'd
be careful with it. I mean, if you see, if you have
a dream tonight that Bruce Crabtree is supposed to give you a thousand
dollars tomorrow, And you come and tell me about it, you better
give me chapter and verse. Dave's got a nice truck out there,
a big Silverado. And if he wants to give me that
truck because he said he saw a vision that he should, go ahead.
I won't question it. I've got an old bicycle he can
have for transportation. But I just about bet you if he
had a dream, he'd be a check in the Scripture, wouldn't you,
Dave? And these men had one infallible
rule. It wasn't their dreams. It wasn't
their visions. It wasn't hearing voices. I tell
you, people have got themselves in trouble hearing voices, haven't
they? They've got themselves committed, or they've gone to
jail for hearing voices. Examine by the Scripture. And you know what's unique about
these visions and these dreams and when the Spirit spoke directly
to them? It always was the truth. It always resulted in that which
was God's glory, and it never did fail. The angel said, you
go down to the old Gaza road, something's going to happen.
And it happened. When God's in a dream, it'll be a true dream.
If He gives you a vision, if you hear His voice, it'll be
the truth. It won't err. Let's see some
things concerning our text this morning. First of all, let's see this.
Some interesting things concerning this unit and his circumstances.
We're told here that he'd been up to Jerusalem to worship. Now
this is an amazing thing. We're told that there in the
text. That he'd been to Jerusalem to worship and he was going home.
Now isn't it a strange thing that here was a man who went
up to worship and he had drove, they're not for sure how many
hundreds of miles, all the way from Ethiopia. He had gone up
to Jerusalem to worship. And he worshipped and was going
home. But here's the thing about his worship. He did not know
the Lord Jesus Christ. You wonder what his worship was
about, don't you? You say, Bruce, how do you know
he didn't know it? Well, he said he didn't know it. He is reading
from the book of Isaiah. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Now, if I asked
the youngest Christian in here this morning, who is that? You'd
tell me, couldn't you? You'd say, well, that's Jesus
Christ. He was wounded for our transgressions. Every believer
knows that. This man didn't know that. Who
is this man speaking of? Of himself or somebody else?
And yet he had gone up to Jerusalem to worship. He worshipped in
singing. He worshipped in praying. He
worshipped in giving. He worshipped in what he heard.
And yet, all along, he didn't know the Lord of glory. What
does that tell us about his worship? It must have been in vain. It
must have been empty. In vain do they worship Me, teaching
for doctrine the commandments of men." Oh, we're here to worship
this morning, aren't we? God give us grace to worship
with understanding and worship in faith. But if we don't know
the Lord, how can we worship Him? How can we worship Him? The second thing we notice that's
sort of unique about this man where he finally heard the gospel. This is amazing. He had been
up to Jerusalem, and at this time of year, no doubt, there
was a large crowd there, probably some kind of festival or feast. And he was there at Jerusalem
where the law was being talked about and read, but he never heard
the gospel there. But you know something? The gospel
was preached there. There were multitudes of believers
in preaching at Jerusalem. The church had grown. Thousands
had been added to it. And there was no doubt churches
and houses where the gospel was preached. But you know something?
This man never heard the gospel. Where did he hear the gospel?
When he got away from the crowd. When he got away from religion.
When he got away from others and got alone on the old Gaza
road. This word desert, it means deserted. This was the old Gaza road. There
was a new Gaza road, but this was the old Gaza road. And nobody
hardly traveled it. And here this man was, And now,
in this deserted, desolate place, here is where he hears the gospel. Now, isn't that amazing? You
know one of the best things that God can do for a man and a woman? You know one of the best things
God can do for a man or a woman? Send them a hard rain where they
can't get outside and mow the yard. where they can't wash the
vehicle, where they can't hold the garden, where they can't
go play, that they are shut up in their houses with nothing
in their hands but a Bible. They get away from the crowd.
They get away from their busy schedule. And they have nothing
there between them and between their eyes. but God's Word. And
they begin to read and search. What is this book about? Who is this book about? That's what we need to do, ain't
it? We need to be got along on the
old Gaza Road, a place that's deserted, away from everything.
And isn't that encouraging to us as we see so many through
the years come here and they leave And they never come back. And you say, oh, they were under
the sound of the gospel, but they never heard it. And they
may never be back. That's no hindrance to the Lord.
He can still shut them up in their bedrooms of the night.
He can get them in a desolate place and begin to speak to their
heart through His Word. Just like He did this man. He
left the turmoil. the religious activities that
was going on. And he heard the gospel in a
desolate place. Something else about this man,
we are told in verse 30 and verse 31, his whole attitude about
being taught. Did you notice this? Boy, he
recognized how ignorant he was. He recognized that he knew nothing. And not only Was he willing to
sit and listen to God's preacher? He desired it. He desired it. Do you understand what you're
reading? How can I except some man teach me? He said, please,
come up and sit with me and teach me. I'll tell you one thing. The Lord don't save a man. apart
from the preaching of the gospel, does he? He has chosen by the
foolishness of preaching to save them which believe. And you know
something? A man will never be established
in the faith. He will never grow in grace and
knowledge as he should if he is not set in under the preaching
of the gospel. Now, you know this, people, and
I've experienced this myself, and some of you have experienced
this. You can sit home. You've got no place to go worship.
You've got no place to sit down and listen to a God-called preacher
preach the Word of God to you. You may stay home and read your
Bible and have prayer with your family. You may read commentaries,
and you may learn a lot. But I tell you this, I tell you
this, you'll never grow in grace and knowledge as you should. until you sit under the preaching
of God's Word. Ain't that so? And He makes us to know this.
I remember when I was first converted, the Lord first saved me. One
of the first things I thought, man, I've got to sit under the
Gospel. I still feel that way today.
Don't you? My greatest burden is to have
to sit under my own preaching too much. That's what bothers
me more than anything. But here was this man that recognized,
I need to be taught. That's God's way. That's God's
way. This is why such a responsibility,
Larry, is laid on the preacher. Man, what a responsibility is
laid on the preacher. Because God is ordained to call
a man and teach him, and you go teach others. What a responsibility
that I tell people the truth. And what a responsibility you
have to hear, to sit and be still and listen while the Word of
God is being preached. I have a responsibility and you
have a responsibility to sit and listen. If a man is seeking the Lord,
I tell you what he should do. Go get on the gospel. If a man
wants to grow in grace and knowledge, go sit under the gospel. That's
the way God uses. He uses that means, doesn't He?
It brings us to the next point. What is the gospel? What is it
to preach the gospel? Well, here in verse 32 and verse
33, we find out what the gospel is, and we find out what it is
to preach the gospel. Look here in verse 32 with me
again. And the place of the scripture which he read was this, he was
led as a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb done before his sherds,
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." Now did you notice there the
pronouns? He is led. before the sharers, he is done,
he opened not his mouth. Eight times in one and one-half
verses, this man is mentioned. What does that tell us? That
the gospel is concerning a person. He, him, he, his. It's about a person. And what
does it mean to preach the gospel? It means to preach that person. Read on what he said. Verse 34,
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom
speaketh the prophet? Of himself, or some other man.
And Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scriptures,
and preached unto him Jesus. Boy, he was puzzled about this
man, wasn't he? He was puzzled. This is a mysterious
man. He's such a paradox. I've been
reading about this man. I've never seen anybody like
this man. Who is this man? Well, look with
me over where he was reading, old Acts chapter 8, and look
quickly with me in Isaiah chapter 53 at the passage where he was
reading. Look what he says in verse 2
of Isaiah chapter 53. This is where he was reading.
And you imagine, here's a man from Ethiopia. He knows nothing. He's not been around the gospel. He reads the Bible and he has
no idea what it says, what it means, who it's presented to.
And then he reads about this man. And I want you to notice
what a paradox, what a mystery he is. First of all, look here
in verse 2. Look at the appearance of this
man that he's reading about. He shall grow up before him,
before the Lord, as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry
ground, and here's his appearance. He has no farm, nor comeliness. When you see him, he's not built
like a male model. He's not a handsome man. No comeliness
about it. His facial expression, his appearance,
his countenance, it's dark. It doesn't glow. He's lived there
in the east where the hot sun's been shining on him. His face
is leathery. It's more like leather than skin. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty. He's not a magnificent person. There's no sparkle in his eyes. If you saw him in a crowd, you'd
never pick him out as being anybody. There's no beauty about this
man. He's a nobody as far as all appearance
is concerned. Look at people's feelings about
him in verse 3. This is what people thought about
him. He is despised and rejected of
men He's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Nobody
liked him. They couldn't tell you why. They
just didn't like him. But not only did they not like
him, they hated him. Oh, he said, not only others,
but we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised. And
we esteemed him not. He wasn't a handsome man. Nobody
liked him. Look now in verse 4. Look at
his attitude towards others. Look what a sympathizing man
he was. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was a thoughtful man. He would
sympathize with the poor. He helped people. He relieved
the oppressed. He bore the sorrows and griefs
of others. But oh, what does this mean?
Can you imagine the poor eunuch reading this? Yet we did esteem
him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted. What was that
about? What was that about? Why does
God seem to be picking on him? Why does God seem to be oppressing
him and grieving him? Oh, and look in verse 5. What
a mystery this is. He tells us here that he suffered
for sins of others, but he was wounded for our transgression.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. He suffered. He
was punished for other men's sins. Where is the justice in
that? Other men commit sins and He
suffered for them. Who is this man? What kind of
man is this? And then He said, His sufferings
brings peace, and with His stripes we are healed. Our sin-sick souls
are healed by His sufferings and His wounds. Look in verse
6. Oh, we let sheep have gone astray.
We have turned every one to his own way. And look at the mystery
of this. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. What a mystery that is. Who can
do such a thing? Who can take the sins of all
his people and lay them on one man? Who is this man? Who is? Verse 7 describes his demeanor. Look at his demeanor under all
of this being despised and rejected and afflicted of God. He was
oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, as the sheep before her shearers is done, so opened
he not his mouth. He never defended himself. He
never lashed out. He never threatened to get even.
He suffered in silence. For this eunuch had never heard
of such a man. He had certainly never seen such a man. Who is
this man? And then verse 8, look at this.
This is the climax. 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 was killed. He was slain. He died. He was cut off. And look in verse 9. We know
what this means, but this poor man looked upon this as a mystery. Look in verse 9. He made his
grave with a wicked. He was associated in some way
with the wicked and even with the rich in his death. But oh, look at this in the last
part of verse 9. Look at something else about
this man. He had no sin of his own. He was innocent himself. He was holy himself. Because
he hath done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Man, done no violence? Have you ever done violence to
God? Have you ever done violence to His law? All of us have, haven't we? Have you ever been a hypocrite?
Have you ever spoke words of hypocrisy? Have you ever pretended,
not him, He did no violence to God. The
law of God, the Word of God, the ways of God. He magnified
the law and made it honorable. Every word he spoke was truthful. Man of life. What kind of man
is this? What kind of man is he? And then in verse 10, things
begin to change. Look at this. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. If he has no sin, why did God
bruise him? If he never did any wrong to
God, why did God bruise him? And it pleased God to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. But look at this. When thou shalt
make his soul not offering for sin. This man no doubt had heard
of animal sacrifices to atone for sin. But a man's soul? God made his soul a sacrifice
for sin. How can this be? This is a mystery. How can a man give his soul to
atone for sin? But notice how things here begin
to change in the last part of verse 10. He shall see his seed
crossed as a seed. He has a family. He has a people. And God sees them. And God shall
prolong His days. What in the world does that mean?
I thought God killed Him. I thought He died. I thought
He was buried. What does this mean? Is He going
to raise Him from the dead or something? He's going to prolong
His days. And look at this. The pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in this man's hand. Ain't this amazing? Can you see
the paradox? God smites him. He's stricken
of God and afflicted. And the pleasure of God now prospers
in his hand. And notice verse 11 and verse
12. This is amazing. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. And look at this. For the mere
sake of this man, God is going to save sinners. He's going to
justify sinners. He is going to wash sinners from
all their sins. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. Therefore
I am going to divide him a portion, a great portion, even everything,
with the great. And he shall divide the small
with the strong, because he has poured out his soul unto death.
He was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sins of many and
made intercessions for the transgressors. That's what Philip preached to
this man, this eunuch. Who is this man? Who is this paradox of a man?
Who is this mysterious man? Who is he? He's Jesus. He's Jesus. He preached unto
him, Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, born of a
virgin. This is him. Long before He came,
this was prophesied of Him. But who is Jesus? Turn back to my text. Look back
in my text again. Who is this Jesus? Boy, Philip
could have stopped and just said, he preached unto Him, Jesus.
And we would have never known who this Jesus is. Just that
He was a man. A holy man. But He was more than
that, wasn't He? He is more than a great prophet.
He was that. He is more than just a mighty
holy man. Look who He was. Look in verse
36. And they went on their way, and
they came to a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here
is water. Water hinders me from being baptized. And Philip said,
If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Oh, man. Now he sees. Now he sees who
this man is. He is a man. Yes, he's a man. But he's the Son of God. He's
the eternal Son of God. The mystery's cleared up, isn't
it? He came and took our humanity and was our representative. He took our sorrows. He took
our sins. He took our sicknesses. He took
the judgment of God in His own body and was punished for our
sins. He died and was buried. And God
raised Him and exalted Him to heaven and said, This is My Son. Sit on My right hand till I make
your enemies your flesh. That's what, that's who Philip
preached to this man. And oh, his heart was opened.
And he saw this suffering man, this sin-atoning man, was none
other than the eternal Son of God. That's wonderful, ain't it? He saw it. You say, Bruce, how
in the world could one man, sitting in the back of a chariot, teaching
this to another man, how could he come to see it so quickly?
He didn't have to go to seminar. He didn't have to grab him a
commentary. How could his understanding have been enlightened so quickly? It's revelation, ain't it? It's
by revelation. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? You say just about everybody
believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Nobody believes
it apart from Revelation. And yet this is where we start
our Christian journey, isn't it? The Lord Jesus asked Peter, whom
do men say that I am? Lord, they're saying all kinds
of things about you. People just don't know you. They're saying
you're this property or you're that man or this man. They don't
know you, Lord. Peter, who do you say I am? For
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. How did that
old fisherman know that? My Father has revealed this to
you. How did this eunuch who was so
confused about this man come to see who he was and what he
did? Revelation. Revelation. This is why we don't bother you,
dear sinner. This is why we preach to you and leave you alone. This
is why we shut you up to revelation. You cannot learn this. It must
be revealed. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ,
you've got eternal life. But you know Him by revelation.
You know Him by revelation. The mystery is cleared up. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son You know, this is the only criteria
I know for water baptism. What hinders me from being baptized? I don't know what Philip had
said about water baptism. Maybe he'd heard about it up
in Jerusalem. I don't know. But he says, I
want to be baptized. Is there some reason that you
won't baptize me? Only one condition. Just one
condition. Now listen, there's just one
condition placed upon water baptism. If you believe with all your
heart, you can be baptized. I don't baptize unbelievers.
I don't baptize babies. I baptize those who believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and they believe it with all
their heart. Do you believe that? And I'll
baptize you. I'll baptize you. What is baptism? Listen to these three or four
things to see if this ain't so. A young believer can't articulate
what a baptism is. But these are some things that's
true about what a baptism is. And if they're not true in you,
you shouldn't have been baptized. But if you're here and you're
converted, these things are true and you'll recognize them. First
of all, we must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's what qualifies us for
baptism. Then our baptism is a profession
of that faith. Ain't that what this text teaches
us? When Anthony goes under the water this morning, what's he
confessing? I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. If you don't
believe that, don't be baptized. If you believe that, you need
to be baptized. Secondly, baptism is the way
we openly and physically identify the work of the Son of God. What does our baptism show for?
The work of Christ. What work? His death, His burial,
and His resurrection. When I put Anthony under, he's
dead. That's why we bury him in water. He's in the grave. He's out of
sight. That's what we do with our dead.
We put them out of sight. Christ died. They put him in
a tomb out of sight. The third day he rose. I'll pull
Anthony up. And by his going under and raising
again, he is professing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
died. He was buried. And he rose again. That's the physical way we profess
Christ. Thirdly is this, baptism is our
profession of union with Jesus Christ. There is a scriptural
teaching that what Christ did, His people did in Him. He was
their representative. When He suffered upon the cross,
they suffered. When He was crucified, they were
crucified. When He was buried, they were
buried. When He arose, There rose in him. You find that in
Romans chapter 6. When Anthony comes here and is
baptized, he not only shows forth the work of Christ, but he says,
when he was doing that work, I was one with him. Fourthly, when Jesus Christ arose
from that physical grave in his physical resurrection, He arose
to a new life. Things changed in Him. There
was a radical change. He was dead. He was in this body,
breathless. They put Him in the tomb, lifeless. But that third morning, things
changed. And they never were the same
again. He arose in a glorified body, a new body, the same body,
but a glorified body. What is baptism? Baptism is this. I have died. I have been buried
with Christ. I am now risen to walk in newness
of life. My life is not the same life
anymore. I used to be dead in sins, and
now I'm dead to sins. I used to be dead to God. I used
to hate God. But now He's changed my heart.
He's given me a new heart. He's raised me spiritually. I'm
a new man. And now I'm going to show it.
I'm going to show it. If we baptize Anthony and he
continues on in sin, he's a hypocrite, ain't he? And his baptism was
nothing. It was useless. This shows I'm
a new creature in the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn't know all that
when I was baptized, but I wish I did. I wish somebody had sat
me down and said, Bruce, here's what you're doing. Here's what
you're doing. How do we baptize? You notice
here in verse 38 and verse 9, they went down into the water,
both of them. Now, dear Matthew Henry, I love
him. We use him all the time. But he was one who loved sprinkling. And he said they went to the
water, and because neither of them had proper vessels to hold
water in, now he knew that I don't know, and therefore he could
not sprinkle him, so they had to go about ankle deep in the
water, and then he sprinkled him with his hands. Oh, dear
Matthew Henry. They went down into the water,
then they came up out of the water, And when we bury somebody,
we don't sprinkle dirt on their head, do we? What do we do? We bury them. We bury them. This was the first black man
that Philip ever baptized in all probability. He baptized
him and he went on his way. He was a very influential man
over the whole treasure of this queen of Ethiopia. And don't
you imagine he took the gospel and had a great influence over
people who were under him. I'm going to baptize my first
black man today. And I'm just as happy to baptize
him as Philip was the man he baptized. And I hope, Anthony, the Lord
blesses you as the Lord blessed this man, no doubt. God bless these words. Let's
pray.