Let's open our Bibles again to
Acts chapter 8. Now the early church, the church
at Jerusalem, made up of apostles and prophets and the several
thousands who were converted at Pentecost. This church became
the target of great persecution. Stephen, one of the Lord's chief
apostles and disciples, was stoned. Let's look at it over here in
Acts 7. Acts 7, verse 58. Acts 7, and they cast him out
of the city. They stoned him. Acts 7, 58. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. This is
the first time we met Saul of Tarsus, the one who hated believers,
hated the gospel. First time we met Saul. And verse
59, And the stone Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
received my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep." This persecution and violence against the early
Church led these people to be scattered abroad throughout the
regions of Samaria and Judea, when this awful persecution at
the hands of Saul of Tarsus, and the chief priest, and the
death of Stephen, when this great persecution arose, people started
leaving the city, leaving Jerusalem. Let's read the next verse, Acts
8, verse 1. And Saul, Saul of Tarsus, conceding
unto his death, Stephen's And at that time there was a great
persecution against the church at Jerusalem. That's what I've
been telling you about. Great persecution. And they were
scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except
the apostles. The apostles stayed in Jerusalem. And devout men carried Stephen
to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for
Saul, we follow his awful path. It says he made havoc of the
church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committing
them to prison. So therefore, they that were
scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the gospel. They didn't
just run and hide. They went wherever they journeyed
They took this gospel with them. They went everywhere preaching
the gospel. Now was this not the good providence
of God that caused them to leave Jerusalem and go out into, as
our Lord told them, go into the highways and the hedges. Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every Christian. You
shall be witnesses, not just in Jerusalem. Well they were
pretty well holed up and satisfied and sitting at the feet of the
apostles and listening to them. But they were everywhere in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth preaching
the gospel. This was God's providence to
drive them out. Take the gospel like he told
them to the whole world. You see surely The wrath of God,
the wrath of God upon men will praise the Lord. Even God's wrath
upon Saul of Tarsus and these folks that raised up the church,
raised up enemies against them, it will praise the Lord. It all
served as a furtherance of the gospel. Let me show you that
in Philippians 1. Philippians 1. In Philippians
1 verse 12, listen to this. This is Paul talking about the
persecution that fell upon him. In Philippians 1 verse 12, he
said, But I want you to understand, brethren, I would that you should
understand that the things that happened to me, stoning and beaten
with rods and shipwreck and prison, the things that happen to me
have fallen out rather unto the prevalence of the gospel. So
that my bonds, my fetters, my chains in Christ are manifested
in all the palace and all of the places. So God's judgment and God's wrath was used to take
the gospel. It was religious persecution
that led many through the years to take the gospel to God's elect.
And actually, it was religious persecution that brought our
forefathers to this land of freedom. And we are blessed
because the Lord laid his hand upon the early believers and
drove them out to preach the gospel. That's so. All right, back to my text. All
right, verse 4 says they went everywhere, scattered abroad
everywhere, preaching the word. Now watch verse 5. Then Philip
went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
Philip Philip left Jerusalem and went down in Samaria and
preached the gospel as the Lord commanded him. And the people,
the people of Samaria, with one accord gave heed unto those things
which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he
did. Look at verse 12. But when they believed Philip,
preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name
of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women. That's what
our Lord said to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Preach the word. Preach
the word. Be instant, in season, out of
season. Preach the word. Preach the word. Because he said
also in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. to save them that believe. That's
how God saves people, by the preaching of the gospel. Years
ago, many years ago, I read a scripture in Psalm 135. Psalm 135. And it said this. It pleased the Lord. It pleased
the Lord. Whatsoever the Lord did, that's
what he pleased. Our God is in the heaven. He
hath done whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he. And I looked up in the concordance these scriptures
that talked about it pleased the Lord, it pleased the Lord.
How do it please the Lord? How is the Lord pleased? And
I found about five scriptures that had to do with it pleased
the Lord. The first one was in 1 Samuel. And this is what it
says, for the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's
sake, because it pleased the Lord to make you his people. That's how I came to be one of
his people. It pleased him to make you and
me his people. It pleased God to make you his
people. And then I found the second verse
says this, in Colossians 1, it said, It pleased the Lord that
in Christ should all fulness dwell. Almighty God has put all things
in Christ. The Father loves the Son and
has given all things into his hands. So it pleased God. Why
did God put everything in Christ? It pleased him. Why did he make
us his people? It pleased him. It pleased the
Lord. Let in Christ's shit all full in this way. The third one
I found is this. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
deserted of me and everybody, it was anybody, turned thumbs
down on him. And then he took him out and nailed him to a cross.
And he suffered and died for our sins. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's right. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. That's what he said over here in chapter 53 of Isaiah. Isaiah 53, verse 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grieve, when he shall make his soul an
offering for sin, and shall see his seed, and prolong his days,
and the pleasure of the Lord. How does God please? to do these
things shall prosper in his hands. I'm a believer because it pleases
the Lord. Christ Jesus is my only Savior, and everything I
need and have and God demands and requires is in Him. And it
pleased God to bruise Him. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
That pleased God. And then another scripture I
saw, it said this, in Galatians chapter 1. God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, was pleased to reveal his Son in me. Not just making us his people,
but making me his people. Pleased God to reveal his Son
in me. And that's what every one of
you are aware of this morning, it pleased God to reveal his
Son, not just to me, but in me. It pleased God to reveal his
Son to me. And then the fifth scripture
that I found just as vital as all the rest, just as important,
and that's what we're looking at right now, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. That's
how we're going to hear the word. That's how we're going to know
Christ. That's how we're going to be convicted of sin. That's
how we're going to have to know Christ Jesus. It pleases God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's
what he's saying here. These people went everywhere
preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel, preaching the word.
Turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Oh, the importance. of preaching the gospel. And
I know a lot of people are trying their best to get away from it.
They're giving themselves to music and entertainment and comedy
and all sorts of things. But it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them. Listen to Romans chapter 10 verse
12. There is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call on him, for whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Oh, it is written, how beautiful
and precious and wonderful. are the feet of them that come
bearing glad tidings, good things, preach the gospel of peace and
bring glad tidings of good things. That's God's pleasure. It pleased the Lord. All right,
back to my text, chapter 8. So here's Philip and all these
people. They've left Jerusalem and are now preaching the gospel
like God ordered them and commanded them to do. And God revealed
the gospel to a lot of people, a lot of people were saved. And
Philip was down there in Samaria in a powerful, what they used
to call revival, people were being saved. And the Lord came
to him and said, look at Acts chapter 8 verse 26. And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise! and go toward the south unto
the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert."
What in the world is Philip doing in the desert when there's so
many people up there reading his gospel? The angel of the
Lord spake to Philip, and the Lord told Philip to leave the
multitude, and to leave the great awakening, and go to the desert,
because God had called him and sent him to preach the gospel
to one man. One man. Do not despise the day of small
things, because nothing is small if God is in it. Let us not think
small thoughts of ourselves Let us think small thoughts of ourselves,
but let us think great things of God. Seekest thou great things for
thyself? Seek them not. Let us think small things of
ourselves and thoughts of ourselves, but great thoughts of God. One
of the greatest conversions that I've ever read about one of the
most unusual conversions. Speaking along this, in this
present vein, Charles Spurgeon was born in 1834 or something like that,
1834. He was brought up in a religious
home. His grandfather was a preacher
and his grandmother Grandmother and grandfather exerted great,
great influence over this young man. He studied the scriptures
and he memorized songs. His grandmother used to pay him
a pence for every hymn he memorized. And it broke her up. He had a
photographic, is that what you say, photographic memory? And so she had to quit giving
him a pence for every hymn he memorized. That's how, when you
read his book, he's always quoting hymns. His grandmother taught
him these hymns. And she started giving him a
pence for every five hymns that he memorized. But he didn't know
the gospel. He didn't know Christ. He was
religious and raised in the home, grandfather's picture, but he
didn't know Christ. And he was troubled over the
fact that he didn't know Christ, but he always attended the services
faithfully, regularly. And in 1850, January the 6th,
1850, Spurgeon started the church one Sunday morning and it was
snowing, pretty good size snow. And he realized, I read his testimony,
he realized that he wasn't going to get there on time. to where
he was going and where he was usually worshiped. And so he
stopped in. He wouldn't leave. He said, I
will not interrupt the worship of God's people by walking in
late. So he went into a church where he'd never been, a little
primitive Baptist chapel. I've seen pictures of it. He
wouldn't seat over 35 people, 40 maybe. But this young man,
troubled by conviction of sin and trouble in his spirit and
in his soul, he sat down towards the back of the building in a
pew. But the pastor wasn't there.
He couldn't make it because of the snow. Most of the people
weren't there, just a handful. But there sat this young man,
troubled in soul, seeking the Lord. And a lay preacher, they
called him, got up to preach. And he didn't have too much to
say as far as outline and this sort of thing, like a lot of
us do, but he did quote the scripture. And he preached on that scripture
over in Isaiah 45, 22, which says, look unto me and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth, because I'm God and there's none
else. Look unto me and be ye saved.
He kept saying that. And Spurgeon said, this old preacher,
this lay preacher, look back towards the back of that little,
that young man, that young man, 16 years old, trouble in soul
and spirit. And he said, young man, you're trouble in spirit and
trouble in soul, and you'll never get out of that trouble till
you look to Christ. Look to Christ and don't worry.
And Spurgeon said, I walked in there. But I literally flew out. I saw what the man said. I saw,
looked at Christ, looked at Christ, looked at Christ, and be his
savior. That's a seeking center, meeting
a sufficient Savior. Well, that's what we have here.
The angel of the Lord said to Philip, verse 27, listen, and
he arose, and he went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia,
a eunuch, of great authority, under Candacy, queen of the Ethiopians,
who had charge of all her treasure, he had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning and sitting
in his chariot, reading the scriptures, reading Isaiah the prophet, the
prophet I've been reading already here, 45, 50 foot. Then the Spirit
said to Philip, go near and join yourself to this chariot. All
right, now listen a minute. I don't know much about this
man, this eunuch. I do know some things about him.
I know he was not a Jew. He was a man of Ethiopia, actually
considered a pagan, a pagan nation, not a Jew. Secondly, he was a
man of great authority, great authority. He was a man of superior
intellect, I'm sure. And thirdly, he was a trusted
man. He was a man who had charge of
the treasury of that whole country. So he was a pagan, not Jew. He was a man of great authority
and a man trusted. He was a sincere trusting person. But most encouraging of all,
he was seeking the Lord. He wasn't just seeking a God,
the whole world was full of Gods. He was seeking the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. He was seeking the true and living
God. He had made a long journey by
chariot, many, many miles over the desert. He made a long journey
to Jerusalem because he felt that there, with all of these
priests, Sadducees, Pharisees, with all this lineage and genealogy
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He read Isaiah. He read the scriptures. He'd heard of David, all the
prophets. He made a long journey. He even
obtained a copy of the scriptures, on a roll or whatever he had
it on. But he had a copy of the scriptures
and was reading it. Spurgeon said this one time,
referring to this man's seeking the Lord through the scripture.
He said, Be true to truth as it comes to you. If God has given you only the
light of a candle, make good use of it. Those who are willing
to see God by whatever light he provides, that is the true
God and the true gospel and the gospel of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. The man who is willing to see God by the light which
he provides will soon be illuminated by the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus if he remains true to the revelation. Don't groan over your inability
to understand until you make full use of what he has given
you. That's important. So this man, he was making use of what God
had given him. He didn't understand what he
was reading, but he was reading. He was seeking the Lord, he was
reading the scriptures. All right, look at verse 29.
So verse 29 says this, Then the Spirit of the God said to Philip,
Go near, and join yourself to this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah. What
better scripture could a seeking sinner say than reading the gospel
according to Isaiah? And Philip said to him, listen,
do you understand what you're reading? Now, pause with me a
minute. Don't be offended. Please don't
be offended. Don't be offended if one of God's
servants who knows the gospel, who knows Christ, who knows the
truth, don't be offended if one of God's servants asks you, do
you understand what you're reading? This man here was an intelligent
man. He had to be, but he still didn't
understand. He was a queen servant. He was
reading by Christ, but he said, who is this? This man was an
important man, and I'm sure there are many friends of mine all
around the country that are important people, but they still don't
understand the This man was an influential man,
an honest man. He wasn't anybody's fool. Intelligent,
trusted, honest, but he didn't understand. And
Philip didn't hesitate to ask him, do you understand what you're
reading? That's where it's got to start.
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come and given
us an understanding that we may know him that is true, and we're
in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. He's got
to come and give us an understanding. Don't be offended when I stand
before you or others stand before you and say, Do you understand?
Do you understand? Because men by nature do not
understand the word of God. They understand a lot of things,
a lot of things, but they do not understand who they are,
who Christ is, and how God can be just and justify, and the
blood. They can't understand it. The
natural mind us not the things of God." Or he'll receive how
to build a submarine, or how to build an airplane, or how
to fly one, or how to do all these things, but he can't understand
how God can be just and justify folks like that. It has to be
revealed. So he replied, verse 31, Philip
said, Do you understand me? And he replied, he said, How
can I, except some man show me? No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me draw him, and I raise him up at the last
day. It is written, they shall be all taught of God. He that
hath learned of the Father, been taught of God, he'll come to
me. That's why this man's got to be taught of God, learned
of the Father. So listen to this, he desired
Philip, oh my brethren listen to me a minute, he desired Philip,
come up and sit with me. No pride here is there, no greater
than thou am I here, no arrogance here. Here is the itinerant picture,
the wandering Jew that was walking around, walking along through
the desert. And here's a man of intelligence,
intellect, wealth, rich beyond measure, powerful, who said to
this itinerant preacher, come up and sit with me. I got some
things that I need to hear. Come and sit with me. I always
said, don't be ashamed of the gospel, and don't be ashamed
of me, his, etc. I know some folks that, not here in this crowd, but a
lot of folks around town, that are kind of ashamed of the gospel,
and ashamed of the people who believe the gospel, and ashamed
of God's poor peacemakers. They kind of lift their noses
up a little bit about, he's just a preacher. He's not a very good one at that.
He's somebody. I tell you, we'll be safe when
we become nobodies, not somebody. Come sit with me. Come sit with
me. Oh, listen. And the place where
he read, The place where he read, in Scripture, verse 32, the place
where he read, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, as
a lamb done before her shearers, so he opened not his mouth. In
his humiliation, that's our Lord's humiliation, his judgment was
taken away. Oh, who shall declare his pedigree,
his generation, his life is taken from there. And the eunuch said to Philip,
I prayed you, oh, I prayed you. Of whom speaketh the prophet
this?" Who's he talking about, himself or some other man? Now I want you to listen very
carefully. Brother Mews used to say, don't
move a hand nor a hair. The moment, the moment that this
unit, in his humility and desire and seeking heart, the seeking
center, the gospel preacher whom God had sent, and he said, come
sit with me, I want to hear what you've got to say. That moment,
I wish I could impress, somebody said this, I wish I could impress
upon everybody the great power, responsibility, and blessedness
of this moment. This man, this eunuch, will hear
from God. He will hear from God. And you
and I, blessed as he is, will hear from God. And like him,
and we, will be brought into contact with the Lord Jesus in
his saving office. Here sits a seeking sinner. Here
sits an itinerant preacher. But here between them is the
Lord of God, God of glory, officiating in his saving office of redeeming
a sinner. What a moment. What a moment. He said, I'll give you a new
heart, put my spirit within you, and you'll never be the same
again. Never be the same again. Not
when this happens. Not when this moment and this
event takes place. When the sinner's there, and
the gospel's there, and Christ is there, the greatest moment
man will ever experience, and he'll never be the same. One who's met Christ in the gospel
will never be the same again. He will, by grace, be infinitely
blessed, even more, and more and more. But in rejection, he
will be infinitely cursed, more and more. But he'll never be
the same. He'll be better or he'll be worse,
but he'll never be the same. I know we preach and we say,
well, it's just a sermon. Well, maybe so. But please God, by
the fruit, it's just a preach and say that they believe. And
you're there, and he's there, and his gospel's there. It's
not just a sermon. He'll never be the same. Philip opened his mouth. Look,
look here, verse 35. Philip opened his mouth and began
to say in scripture and preach the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. He didn't tell his experiences
and he didn't deal with the fact how long he'd been traveling
to get there and the big revival he had up in Samaria. and how great he is, he said,
started right there and preached Christ. I don't know how long,
but he pushed it. Who he is, what he did, why he did it, where
he is now, he preached Christ. A young woman, a young woman,
young mother, answered her doorbell one evening. And she stood at the door and
talked for a few moments. Her husband was back in the den
reading the paper. And she talked for a few moments
at the door and then she closed the door. And she returned to
where her husband was reading the paper. And she just sat there. And stared straight ahead. Not a word. And her husband laid
his paper down, looked up and said, who was at the door? She said, a couple from the new
church down the street. Well, what did they want? Her
husband said. She said, well, they invited
me to attend their services and hear their pastor. And then the
man said to me, he asked me, do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? That's what he asked me. And
her husband said, well, did you tell him you belong to the church?
He didn't ask me that. Well, did you tell him you teach
Sunday school? She said, he didn't ask me that.
Did you tell him your brother's a preacher? She said, he didn't ask me that. He asked me if I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's what he asked me. And I said, no. No, I do not. In fact, I've never
ever truly been confronted with the question concerning who Jesus Christ is. That's the question, isn't it? He that believeth that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God is born of God. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see thy life, no matter if he does teach Sunday
school or his brother is a preacher or he belongs to the church. He said, Do you believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Well, this man did. Verse 36,
And as they went their way, they came to a certain water. And
the eunuch said, here's water. What's he need water for? He's
heard of Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection,
his blood cleansing our sins. He's heard of his righteousness
that gave us perfect standing before God, and he believed.
And he wanted to confess his Lord. He wanted to follow the
Lord in baptism. He wanted to clearly confess that he was dead
with Christ, buried with Christ, and risen to walk in Christ in
newness of life. And he said, Here's water, what
doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip answered him and hedged
about baptism with the only requirement, You don't have to come down here
and satisfy my curiosity about how you came to know Christ. You can't meet with the elders
and let them vote you into the church. There's one requirement for believing, for saving faith,
for baptism. And that is if you believe with
all your heart. If you believe on Christ, love
Christ, rest in Christ, find in him all you need. That's baptism. And that man answered. Not like
the young lady, because she didn't have the answer. But he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Several hours before that he
didn't. But he does now. And so he commanded
the chariot to stand still. And they went, both of them,
into the water. both Philip and the eunuch, and
he baptized them. What is it to confess Christ?
Well, it's to believe him with your heart. You believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
He that believeth on the Son hath life. Secondly, it's to
confess Christ with our mouth. To believe in our heart and confess
with our mouth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And confess
him and believe his baptism. And to identify with his people.
The eunuch went down into the water with Philip, with the servant
of God, the confessor and the preacher. You identify with God's people.
That's right. Believers believe in Christ with
their heart, they confess Him with their mouth, and they're
identified with His people. And then they continue. Look
at the last verse. Verse 39, and when they would
come out of the water, the Spirit of God caught Philip away. He
didn't see Philip anymore. Philip didn't send him a book
on how to be saved and know it. Philip didn't say, be sure and
call me and let me know how you make it, how you get along. We'll
get some people down there to help you out. on his way. Philip never saw
him again. But he saw the Lord. He knew
the Lord. He had the word. And I bet you
he met with some folks pretty soon and talked about the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's right. He continued. He
went on his way with him. He didn't need Philip now. He
had Christ. He didn't need Philip. Boy, he needed him one time.
But not now. And then you know what Philip
did? First, what he said, Philip was found at Azotus. Azotus. That's 30, 35 miles away. Desert. From Gesa. 35 miles away. What was he doing?
Bragging about the souls he'd won for Jesus. No. What did Philip do? What did
he do? Same thing he'd been doing all along. Preaching the gospel. Preaching the gospel. And leaving
the results to God. Preach the gospel. Go and preach
the word. Please God for the foolishness
of preaching to save them to believe. And I do know this.
I won't say that everybody who's ever been saved was saved by
hearing a preacher. But most of them are. Most of them are. How would it
be saved otherwise? Hearing one of God's apostles
who wrote the gospel. You're going to find a guy, you're
going to read it, or you're going to hear a living picture.