Dressed in beauty not my own.
What a glorious thought that is. Stand before His throne,
accepted, accepted totally in the Beloved, our blessed Savior
Jesus Christ. Now, turn back to the book of
Acts chapter 8. I'm sure that many of you have
heard a message from this chapter. We went through this book of
Acts ten years ago, and I brought a study from this chapter. But you know the Word of God
never wears out. It's always fresh and new. And as I studied this again and
looked at this again, the Lord blessed me with a message for
you from this eighth chapter of the book of Acts. Now, Philip,
God's servant, had been called to preach the gospel to many
in this city of Samaria. Notice Acts chapter 8 verse 5. Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Many in that
city, I don't know how many people lived in that city, how many
people heard the gospel and believed, but a good number did, because
it says down in verse 8, there was great joy in that city. Philip was busy about the ministry
of the gospel, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Also,
God sent two apostles, Peter and John, down to this same city
with this same message. Look down at verse 14. With this
same message, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter
and John. They're also to preach the gospel to this city of Samaria.
And when they came, look at verse 25 of Acts 8. And when they had
testified and preached the word of the Lord, the gospel, always
about preaching Christ, they returned to Jerusalem, and while
they did, they preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. Philip was busy preaching. This
city was rejoicing. There was a lot going on in that
city. But God picks Philip up by special
intervention somehow and sends him away from this city, away
from this many, down into a desert country to preach to one man. One man. One man. Who is this man? Well, it says
in the 27th verse, who is this man that God would despise, that
God would think so much? of this one man and set his heart
and love on this one man that God would send him a gospel preacher.
Who is this man? Well, it says in verse 27, that
Philip arose and went, and behold, he beheld a man. This man's a sinner. This man's
in need of salvation. He's from the country of Ethiopia.
He's a eunuch. He has great authority in this
country. He's a politician. He's a man
with education, and he's working for someone that's the queen
named Candacy, who had charge of all her treasure, and he had
come to Jerusalem to worship. There's a lot revealed about
who this man is and where he's from, what he did for his living. But I tell you more than that,
God didn't send Philip down to this man because he was somebody
among this world who maybe could influence somebody else. No doubt
this man had influence in his home country. But I tell you
who this one man is. He is a chosen sinner of God. God chose him in all eternity
and God set his heart on this one sheep to call him out with
the gospel. I tell you who this man was.
who this man was, one for whom the Lord Jesus Christ came and
died. He died for the ungodly. This
is one of the sheep that the Lord Jesus Christ said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. That's who this man is. He's
a black man. He's from Ethiopia. He's an important
man. He has charge of all the treasure
of this queen of this country. But more than that, he's one
who will be given a new heart to believe the gospel and to
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. For he makes this profession,
in verse 37, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. No man can say he's the Christ
but by the Spirit of God. You see who this one man is?
Chosen of God. One for whom the Lord Jesus Christ
came and died. Sacrificed for his sin. One who's
given a new heart to believe the gospel. One who gladly confesses
the Lord Jesus Christ in believer's baptism. He commanded that chariot
to stand still and said, what hinders me from confessing my
Lord in believer's baptism? And think about this. Who is
this man? He is one right now who is glorified
with Christ in heaven. That's who this one man is. You
see, he's a special man, isn't he? A special man, loved of God,
chosen of God. What a glorious conversion story
this is. But you know, this is the story
of every one of God's elect who have heard the gospel and who
have believed the gospel, who are called to Christ. They will
hear, they will believe, they will confess the Lord Jesus Christ,
and as it says in verse 39, He went on his way. He saw Philip
no more, but he went on his way rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Isn't that the life story of
every believer who's heard the gospel, who believes the gospel,
who confesses Christ publicly? We go on our way rejoicing. Rejoicing in our blessed Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's my first point in
this message. We see the sovereign providence
of God ordered all the events in this one special meeting.
One special meeting. You see, all things are of God.
Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. Philip and
the eunuch met together. Was it by chance? Was it an accident? No, they met together by the
decree of God. Notice verse 26. In our text,
Acts chapter 8, the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying,
Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down
from Jerusalem unto this desert land down in Gaza. God sent this man. This is no
chance meeting. This was the ordained decree
of God. And he rose and went, and behold,
here's this man. Here's this man. And then in
verse 29, the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself
to the chariot. And verse 30, Philip ran and
heard him read. You see, this was ordained of
God. My friend, if you have heard
the gospel of God saving sovereign grace in Christ, it's no accident
that you're here. It's no accident that I'm standing
here telling you the truth. This was ordained and decreed
of Almighty. God. Secondly, the Lord had already
created an interest in this man's heart. Now you think about this.
Before Philip ever got there, God had already begun to plow
the ground of his heart, of that stony heart. God was already
working on this man. He created an interest in his
heart, a hunger in his heart, to seek the truth. For it says
in verse 27, This man went all the way from down south, the
south part of the country in Ethiopia, and he traveled all
the way to Jerusalem. Now this was a hard trip. He went all the way to Jerusalem
to worship God. You see, God had already created
an interest in this man. Most people think that this man
was a Jewish apostolate. He wasn't a born Jew, but he
was a converted Jew, and he went to Jerusalem to observe one of
those feast days, either Pentecost, or the Feast of Tabernacles,
or the Day of Atonement. He was walking in what light
God had given him. He went to worship God. The second
thing I see about this man, you see, God is already working on
this man. The second thing I see about
this man, it says, In verse 28, he was returning, sitting in
his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Now, where
did he get this copy of Scripture at? I don't have any clue. But I know this, he was interested
in what was being said, what was written he was interested
in. Some of the old writers wondered how this man was sitting there
reading this Hebrew text. And I thought about this. Maybe
somebody had translated into that portion of scripture into
his language. And he had been to Jerusalem when someone handed
him a tract and said, here, you need to read this. I tell you
what, despise not the day of small things. Despise not the
day of small things. Someone gave him a copy of the
Scripture in his language that he could read, and when he returned
home, he was sitting there reading that and meditating upon it. Something else I know about this
man, he had a willingness to be taught in verse 30 and verse
31, when Philip ran to him and asked him, do you understand
what you're reading? You know, this man was somebody
important, this man. He could have said, well, who
are you? You don't know who I am? You see, this man had a willingness
to learn, for it says in verse 31, How can I except some man
should guide me? And he desired, Philip, that
he would come up and sit with him and teach him. He had a willingness
to submit to the Word of God and to hear from God's servant. You know, this man had great
understanding in economics. He had great understanding in
politics. Do you have any understanding
of the gospel? He says, nope, somebody needs to teach me. You
see the submissive nature of this man's heart, vowing, willing
to hear and to listen. May we never ever graduate above
sitting at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ and to hear a word
from Him. To hear a word from Him. had
a willingness to be taught of God, to be led of God, this humility
of heart, this is grace working in him before Philip ever got
on the scene. You see that? You know what?
The old timers had a word for that. Grace before grace. They had a word for it. They
called it pervenient grace. Preceding grace. And that's what's
going on here. God was working on his heart,
plowing the ground, and when Philip came with the gospel,
with the seed, with the word of life, it was planted in that
heart, and it brought forth fruit unto life. You see, that's the
repetitive story of all those who have heard the gospel and
believe the gospel. God works on the heart. And you see the providence of
God in this. Philip and the eunuch, they met
together by the decree of God. God created an interest in his
heart. Thirdly, the Lord even ordained.
Now you think about this. What's Philip going to preach
that day? What is he going to take from the text that day?
God even arranged the text, the Scripture, that Philip would
preach from that day. Isaiah 53. Look down here at
verse 35. Philip opened his mouth. and
began at the same scripture and preached unto him the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't this an amazing miracle of grace? The second point is this. The
first point was this meeting was arranged with God. Secondly,
the focus of all God-honoring preaching that God has ordained
is the message of Jesus Christ. And that's what he says in verse
35. He came, Philip, and he opened
his mouth, and when he did, he began at that very same word
of God in Isaiah 53 and preached to him that this lamb that was
led to the slaughter, in his humiliation, in his humanity,
he was judged guilty by God, bearing our sin. This is the
Lamb of God that takes away our sin. That's the message. that
he preached to the eunuch that day, was it not? Substitute,
Jesus Christ. We need a substitute. Philip
preached unto him, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior. You see, he preached unto him
who he is. He's the only Savior. Remember
back, turn back to chapter 4, verse 12. He preached unto him that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all Scripture, that there
is salvation in none other. Acts chapter 4 verse 12, neither
is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved in Christ. He preached Christ is not A way,
he preached the Lord Jesus Christ as the way, the Lamb, the truth,
and the life. He not only preached and set
forth who he is in his humility, the God-man, the mediator, God-made
flesh, but he declared unto him what he accomplished. What he
accomplished in his humiliation, in judgment, he was taken away. what he accomplished. Remember
what we read in Isaiah 53? Wounded for our transgression,
bruised for our iniquity. It pleased God to bruise him
on our behalf, to put away our sin. And with his stripes we
are healed. He preached Christ unto him,
who he is, what he accomplished, all of salvation, and I think
also, not written here, but I think because of the whole message
of the book of Acts, he preached Christ exalted and victorious. Because that's the message of
all preaching through the book of Acts. This same Jesus whom
you crucified is made both Lord and Christ. God raised Him up
from the dead. He's a victorious Christ. This
is the one that we rest in. So he preached the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the power of God and the
salvation. He preached to this man Philip, and God gave him
grace to hear it, and God gave him grace to believe it. My third
point is this. Salvation is a heart work. Salvation
is a heart work. Look at verse 36. As they went
on their way, they came to certain water, and the eunuch said, See,
here's water. Now you think about this. Where were they? desert land,
a desert country, and here's water. I don't know. A miracle of grace. Here's water. Here's water. What does hinder
me? Now, here's the question. What
does hinder me to be baptized? Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is a heart work. What He has done for us and what
He is doing in us. It's of the Lord. Now, in verse
36, here's a good question. Here's a good question in verse
36, and I want you to consider this and take it personally.
What does hinder you from confessing Christ in believer's baptism? That's a good question. What
does hinder me from confessing Christ in baptism? Well, someone might think, well,
my sins. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ died
for sinners. He died for the ungodly. Well,
you might say, well, what does hinder me? Well, you know, my
corruption, my vile nature. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
came to seek and to save not the righteous, but the sinner. He came to call sinners unto
repentance. We know that in our flesh dwelleth
no good thing. What does hinder? you from confessing
Christ? Your sin? If you're a believer,
Christ put away your sin. Your corruption? Your vile nature? We came to seek and save those
who were lost and sinners. How about my past? Does your
past hinder you? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. What does hinder you from being
baptized? What will others think? My friend,
faith is not taken up with what others think. Faith is taken
up with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
it's a good question. What does hinder me? What would
hinder you from confessing Christ in believer's baptism? Look at verse 37. Here's Philip's
good answer. Here's a good answer. A good
question with a good answer. Verse 37. Philip said, If you believe with all your
heart, if you believe with all your heart, these two words,
thou mayest, they literally mean, if you believe with all your
heart, it's lawful, it's right, it's a command of God. It's a
good answer. If you believe with all your
heart, baptism is lawful, good, and right to follow Christ in
baptism. Good, it's right, it's proper,
it's the thing to do. We're commanded to believe the
gospel and to confess it. And here's a good confession,
look at verse 37 again. So a good question, a good answer,
and here's a good confession. He said, and he answered and
said, I believe, I believe, I believe. What did he believe? He believed
the gospel. He believed what Philip preached
that day about Jesus Christ. He is God, my Savior, who was
wounded for me, bruised for me, and put away my sin. I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe. You know,
that's a miracle. That's a miracle of grace. We
believe according to the working of God's mighty power. He declared that he truly, sincerely
believed with the heart that Jesus Christ is the only Savior
of sinners. He believed. Turn over here to
2 Timothy. Look at this. Who do we believe? We believe Him. We believe Christ. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, it's God who
saved us, 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to God's own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began,
but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality
to life through the gospel. Whereunto I am appointed a preacher,
and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed." I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded, saving faith is persuaded, that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. I'm persuaded. I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus Christ is
God in the flesh, the only begotten, well-beloved Son of the Lord,
of God Almighty, the only begotten of God. I believe that Jesus,
the Savior, He's the Christ, the one Son of God. That's a
good confession. That's a good confession. How do we confess faith in Christ? How do you and I confess faith
in Christ? Turn over here to Romans 10. How do we confess faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ? Well, with the heart. With the
heart. Look here at Romans 10, verse
6. The righteousness which is of
faith, Romans 10, 6, speaketh on this why? Say not in thy heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring
Christ up again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the
word of faith which we preach, that thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, and believe in thy heart. that God had raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." How do we confess Christ? With
the heart. With the mouth. Thirdly, in identification
with Christ in believer's baptism. Fourthly, by identifying with
the gospel, by identifying with the gospel, where the gospel
is preached. Assemble yourselves together with those in where
the gospel is preached. How do we confess Christ? With
the heart, with the mouth, by believer's baptism, by identifying
with His gospel, with His people, and continuing in the faith. That's how we confess Christ.
We're continually confessing Him as we walk in this life and
live in this life as believers. Now, turn back to the book of
Acts again, chapter 8. Salvation is a heart work. He
believed in his heart. Do you believe with all your
heart that Jesus is the Christ? Here's my last point. And as
I was looking for a word to use to describe baptism, look at
verse 38 of Acts 8, verse 38. He commanded the chariot to stand
still. And they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. Baptism is for believers. And
let me tell you, my friend, it's not an option. It's a command. He commanded the chariot to stand
still and they went down to the water. Now, find Matthew 28. Look at this here. Matthew 28. It's a commandment. It's a delight for the believer
to confess his Lord in believer's baptism, his death, burial and
resurrection. Matthew 28, look at this here,
verse 18. Matthew 28, verse 18. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father. What are we to teach them? Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Teach all nations.
Where are we to go? Everywhere. Go in all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit." Look
at verse 20, "...teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have..." What's that word? "...commanded you." You see,
baptism, we're commanded to preach the gospel, and those who hear
it and believe it with the heart, they're commanded to be obedient
to their Lord. And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the earth. Now, turn to one other scripture
on that. Mark 16. Mark 16. Verse 15. He says this, Go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16, 15.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be condemned." Baptism for believers is a commandment
of God. Now, we know this. We know that
baptism is not essential to salvation. Christ is our Savior. But it
is essential to obedience unto the Lord. We know it does not
put away sin. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. We know it does not put us in
Christ, but of Him are you in Christ, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. We know it does
not merit us salvation, salvation by the free grace of God in Christ. However, it is the only biblical
way to confess faith in Christ. And that's submitting to believers'
baptism. Now, we're not baptized to be saved, to
be justified, but we're baptized because we have been saved by
God's grace. Now, you remember how we started
in the book of Acts. Turn back to Acts chapter 2.
And when they heard the gospel, when they heard the gospel, they
heard Peter preach that day at Pentecost. They heard the truth,
they heard the Word, they heard the Gospel. God had made that
same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Verse 36,
God, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. This is God's Lamb that takes
away the sin of God's people. Verse 37, Now when they heard
this, they were cut to the heart, pricked in their heart, and they
said, and to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and
brethren, what shall we do? Believe the gospel. Believe it
and confess it. Peter said unto them, repent
and confess Christ. Repent, same thing he's saying
here, believe the gospel. If you believe with all your
heart, repent, believe, and be baptized. Every one of you who've
heard it, who believe it, and do so in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, He is the Savior, because our sins have been remitted
by Christ. It's not saying here that our
sins are put away by our repentance or our baptism. They both look
back to Jesus Christ as the only sacrifice for sin. For the remission
of sins, and you shall receive this precious gift, gift of the
Spirit. For the promises unto you and
to your children, to all that are far off, as many as the Lord
our God shall call." Now, do you believe the gospel? I'm asking you personally. Do
you believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? in your heart
and with all your heart. Well, preacher, how can I know
if I believe with all my heart? Now, let me ask you this question.
Do you have any other hope before God but Jesus Christ alone? Well, no. And what more can you
ask for? That's believing with all your
heart, is it not? If you have no other hope but
Christ, that's what it is to believe with the heart. to believe
with heart. Do you believe the gospel? Is
Christ all your hope? If you do, and you have not yet
confessed Christ in believer's baptism, I urge you to do so. What does hinder you? What does
hinder you from confessing Christ in believer's baptism? Well,
this man did. Look what it says here in verse
39. They went both down into the water, both Philip and the
eunuch. Baptism is by immersion. They went down and it buried
him under that watery grave and brought him up, and it pictures
the death, burial, and glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit
of the Lord caught Philip away. Philip went up to Caesarea preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this man, this believer,
this eunuch, he went on his way rejoicing, rejoicing in the Lord
Jesus. And Philip went on preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, what a blessed way to live. He went on his way. You know,
he went down to his house. Remember what our Lord said to
that one man, go home to your friend and tell how great things
the Lord had done for you. What do you reckon that man did
when he got back to Ethiopia? He went back and he told his
family and his friends and his queen, I've heard the gospel.
Some of the old historians wrote about this man, it's not a an
inspired account, but some of the old Jewish historians said
that this man, we don't even know his name, just this man,
he was a believer in Christ. But he went back and he preached
the gospel there in Ethiopia for many years, and many believed. You know, back in the early days
of the early church, some of the strongest churches in the
first centuries of Christianity were in northern Africa. You
reckon that man had something to do with it? Preaching the
gospel. God used that servant to go back
to his brethren and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.