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Well, you can turn in your Bibles 
to Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, we'll be considering 
this morning verses 26 to 40, the conversion of the Ethiopian 
eunuch, this man whom Philip came to preach the gospel to 
and whom God saved by his grace and for his glory. Acts chapter 
8, beginning in verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke 
to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the 
road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, 
a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, 
the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, 
and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting 
in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the 
Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot. So 
Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and 
said, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, 
How can I, unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come 
up and sit with him. The place in the scripture which 
he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, 
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his 
mouth. In his humiliation, his justice 
was taken away. And who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the 
earth. So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of 
whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, 
and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as 
they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch 
said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then 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. So he commanded the chariot 
to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch 
went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they 
came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip 
away, so that the eunuchs 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. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for the written Word, and we pray that You would send 
now the Holy Spirit, as we are dependent upon Him to guide, 
to lead, to instruct, to illumine our minds and our hearts. As 
Jesus says in John 15, apart from Him we can do nothing. We 
can't understand the Word apart from divine aid. And we would 
cry out to you now to help us and to encourage our hearts and 
to strengthen us as we come to this particular passage. Again, 
do forgive us for all of our sins and all unrighteousness. 
We pray that Your grace would be evident in our minds and hearts. 
We pray that Your grace would be evident in the salvation of 
sinners. We pray that in this You would receive the glory, 
the honor, and the praise. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Well, Acts chapter 8 is 
certainly a very wonderful example or picture of God's grace in 
the salvation of sinners. We never testify and we do not 
believe that baptism saves people. We believe that salvation is 
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Baptism is the external sign, 
a visible representation of what God has done inwardly. So as 
we trace through this particular narrative and we see this Ethiopian 
eunuch baptized, it is a visible expression of what God had done 
to him inside, by His grace and for His glory. And the same is 
true with young Abigail this morning. The water doesn't change 
her, the water isn't magical, the water isn't special. After 
we complete the baptism this morning, we'll open the faucet, 
and all of that water will run out into the parking lot. We 
once had a young man visit our church, and he was a Roman Catholic 
boy. And after the service, that was a baptismal service, he saw 
the water in the parking lot and that quite freaked him out. 
He said, what's all the holy water doing in the parking lot 
there? Well, that's not holy water. It's not special. There's nothing 
that's been transformed. We don't sprinkle some dust in 
there and thus invoke God's presence. It's just a visible tangible 
element, the way that the bread and the wine are visible, tangible 
elements that represent to us spiritual truths and spiritual 
realities. So, I want to emphasize that 
we believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. Now, 
let's look at this conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. I want 
to look at three things this morning. First, the contact with 
the eunuch in verses 26 to 30. Secondly, the communication with 
the eunuch in verses 31 to 35. And thirdly, the conversion of 
the eunuch in verses 36 to 40. Now, I understand that not all 
the young people, the children, will understand what a eunuch 
is. You can have that conversation over lunch, but suffice it to 
say that in the Old Testament Scriptures, God forbid eunuchs 
from entering into the assembly of the Lord. Deuteronomy 23.1. 
Isaiah 56, which I read at the outset of worship, foretells a time when the eunuchs 
will no longer be prohibited from entering into the assembly 
of the Lord. It is quite intriguing that in 
the book of Acts, chapter 8, not only is the eunuch reading 
the prophet Isaiah, but the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled in 
the very conversion of this particular eunuch. The Ethiopian-ness of 
the man is certainly significant. But Luke is going to detail Gentile 
inclusion when he gets to Acts 8, something else that is given 
to us in Isaiah 56. Four times, however, the emphasis 
in our text is on the fact that he's a eunuch. Again, that should 
recall to our minds that at one time in the old covenant system, 
eunuchs were forbidden, prohibited from coming into the assembly 
of the Lord. But through the prophet Isaiah, God foretells 
a time when eunuchs will be brought nigh, and that is the messianic 
age, and that's what Luke is emphasizing. that the dawn of 
the messianic kingdom has come, that with the life and the death 
and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, His ascension to the right 
hand of power on high, He is now over all things as the Davidic 
Son, who is building the house for God, and the book of Acts 
is a record of the power of the risen Lord Jesus. So that's sort 
of the context in what's going on in this particular section. So of course in verses 26 to 
30 the angel bids Philip to meet up with this particular unit. 
After a time in Samaria, an angel directs Philip toward the south 
from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip is one of the deacons 
mentioned in Acts chapter 6, and according to 840, he continues 
to preach, and he finally settles in Caesarea with his family. 
He is called an evangelist in Acts 21.8, and an evangelist 
ultimately is somebody who tells the people the good news concerning 
Jesus. So as we look at our text, it 
says, Arise, go down south along the road which goes down from 
Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and 
behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, 
the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury 
and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. So that 
tells us something about the man that is in view. Now, particularly, 
it was common for Eastern kings to utilize eunuchs. They weren't 
a threat to the king's wives. They weren't a threat to the 
persons in the harem. Keddie says, it was common until 
recent times for civil service and household duties under the 
monarchies of the Middle East to be largely delegated to a 
class of castrati deliberately groomed for these purposes. They 
were trustworthy men. As well, we notice that he has 
great authority under Candace. Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul 
will say, not many wise, not many noble, not many gifted ones 
are called. But as Matthew Henry points out, 
some are. This man had great authority, 
operated under Candace, was probably a title like Pharaoh or like 
Caesar, and she was a queen and he had charge of her treasury. 
Note his spiritual condition. It tells us that he had gone 
to Jerusalem to worship. This is most likely to be understood 
as a God-fearing Gentile. There were those Gentiles outside 
of Israel that were intrigued by the worship of Israel. Until 
they were circumcised, until they took on all the particular 
ordinances of the Mosaic Law, they still stayed outside, but 
nevertheless they could participate in some of those things. Notice 
that he is reading the prophet Isaiah, very specifically. And so, then the Spirit commands 
Philip to run to meet and to contact him. Now notice, secondly, 
the communication with the eunuch, verses 31 to 35. The evangelist 
asks a good question. So I think there's something 
for us to understand in this particular passage beyond conversion 
and baptism. If we're about winning souls, 
we ought to model ourselves after an evangelist like Philip. He 
comes to the man and he asks him if he understands what he's 
reading. I think, especially in North America, there is this 
assumption that everybody knows the gospel. Brethren, it's increasingly 
more of a pagan age where persons do not understand the gospel, 
many have never heard the gospel, and in some respects it's looking 
like a third world country in terms of spirituality. It is 
not as common as it once was for persons to attend church 
and for persons to understand the message of the gospel. In 
some senses, it's tough to find a good explanation of the gospel 
within the professing church. You hear all kinds of drivel, 
that the gospel is a good thing, it makes me happy, it's warm, 
it's fuzzy, it produces emotivity. It is none of those things. The 
gospel is a revealed message concerning the person and the 
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we believe the gospel 
by the grace of God, there is emotivity. When this eunuch is 
converted and this eunuch is baptized, it then indicates that 
he rejoices. But our rejoicing isn't the Gospel. When somebody says to us, what 
is the Gospel? It's not my feeling, it's not 
my emotions, it's not my well-being, it's not my inner peace. It is 
Christ crucified, and Christ risen, and Christ proclaimed, 
and Christ presented the men such that if they believe by 
the grace of God, they will be saved. So Philip doesn't assume. He asks the eunuch, do you understand 
what you're reading? Now note, the eunuch answers 
candidly, openly, and honestly. Again, I think there's a lesson 
here. How many of you have questions you don't understand, but you're 
not going to ask? No matter how many times we say, 
you know, ask Pastor Porter, ask me, text me, call me, write 
me, you know, carry your pigeon me, visit, whatever it is, you 
can ask questions. This man is candid and open enough 
to ask the questions because he knows what's at stake. Do 
you understand what's at stake if you don't get the gospel? 
Do you understand what's at stake if you don't believe on the Lord 
Jesus? Do you understand what's at stake if you die in your sins? 
You go to a Christless eternity forever and ever. You go to hell. The Bible doesn't hide these 
realities. The Bible tells us it's a place 
of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's a place described 
as outer darkness. It is a place where God's retributive 
justice is poured out upon the heads of those who have rebelled 
against His holy law. So if you don't understand, ask. 
See the particularness of this eunuch. He says very specifically, 
how can I unless someone guides me? Calvin has a comment to the 
effect that men today are so full of pride they would never 
admit they don't understand something. If you are so full of pride that 
you will not admit that you don't understand something, you're 
going to be a proud sinner ultimately entering into hell. If you don't 
understand, ask. Young people or children, if 
you don't understand, ask parents. If you don't understand, ask 
the elders of the church. Ask men in the church. Instead 
of milling about at the end of the service talking about the 
weather, Ask about the sermon. Ask about texts. Ask about the 
gospel. Ask about the realities of heaven 
and hell. That's what marked this particular 
eunuch. It's a humble honesty. How can 
I, unless someone guides me? He has a desire to know. He asks 
Philip to come up and sit with him. Now I submit, since he's 
reading the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53, I don't think it's 
a stretch to understand that he might have been reading Isaiah 
56. There's not a whole lot of distance there. So this God-fearer, 
this man outside of Israel, knows Deuteronomy 23. He knows that 
he himself is barred from access to the assembly of the Lord. 
But he has seen Isaiah 56. And he knows that there's a time, 
or there's a prophecy concerning the fact that the eunuchs are 
now brought nigh. You see what's welling up in 
his heart and soul. He's probably saying, how is 
this the case? Now thankfully, he's in the answer 
in Isaiah 53. Eunuchs are drawn nigh, or brought 
nigh, and so are Gentiles brought nigh, along with Jews, because 
of the realities of Isaiah 53. The suffering servant of Yahweh, 
whom Yahweh was pleased to bruise, putting him to grief for the 
sins of all those who would believe on him. So notice, he has this 
perfect text. He says in verse 32 or verse 
31, he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in 
the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to 
the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, 
so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice 
was taken away, and who will declare his generation? For his 
life is taken from the earth. Isaiah 53, 7 and 8. Gil says, This prophet, Isaiah, is a very 
evangelical one, and very delightful and profitable to read. We'd 
all side with Gil on that, wouldn't we? Very delightful and profitable 
to read. Many things are prophesied by 
him concerning the Messiah, and particularly in the chapters 
in which the eunuch was reading. Imagine, just for a moment, you're 
in your daily life, and you're milling about, and you're doing 
your thing, and you happen to meet someone that seems right 
for the gospel. And you come to them, and you 
ask them, do you understand the gospel? And they say, how can 
I unless someone explains it to me? And they just happened 
to have Isaiah 53 opened in their lap. I mean, you couldn't get 
a better text, could you? Could you? Could Isaiah, or rather 
Philip here, have been given a better text? Bruce says, at 
a time when not one line of any New Testament document had been 
written, what scripture could any evangelist have used more 
fittingly as a starting point for presenting the story of Jesus 
to one who did not know Him? This wasn't lucky, it wasn't 
an accident, it was orchestrated by the Holy Spirit to call His 
elect, in this case an Ethiopian eunuch, onto Himself through 
the proclamation of the truth. So the man has this before him. And then the eunuch, in verse 
34, answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet 
say this? Of himself or of some other man? It's a legitimate question. We've 
been reared in the Christian tradition. We have been steeped 
in the Christian faith where Isaiah 53 has been properly interpreted 
as referencing the Messiah, Jesus Christ. But in this particular 
instance, having been in Jerusalem, he didn't get an exposition of 
Isaiah 53 from a Christian perspective, and there was traditionally many 
views concerning this personage identified in the prophet Isaiah. Some would suggest it was Isaiah, 
some would suggest it was the nation of Israel. And before 
we say, well, that just can't be, yes, in many respects it 
could be. In Isaiah 49, it speaks concerning 
Israel. In what's called the Servant 
Song of Yahweh, which Isaiah 53 is, in Isaiah 49, the servant 
is referred to as Israel. Now, that makes sense when we 
move into the New Testament, because Christ is not only the 
last Adam, according to Paul in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 
15, but Christ is Israel. Christ does what Israel failed. God puts Adam in the garden, 
gives him a probation, and Adam sins. God puts Israel in the 
wilderness, gives them prohibitions, and they sin. God sends His Son 
as the second or last Adam, as the fulfillment of what Israel 
was supposed to be. You see this in Matthew's structuring 
of his Gospel. He connects Jesus in Matthew 
1-1, both to David and Abraham. And then he shows how Jesus goes 
into Egypt. And Hosea says that, out of Egypt 
I have called my firstborn. And then Jesus passes through 
the waters of baptism, which looks like Israel going through 
the waters of the Red Sea. And then Jesus goes out into 
the wilderness, similar to what Israel did in the wilderness. 
But instead of Jesus failing, Jesus fulfills. And so the man, 
the eunuch asks, who's he speaking about? Who's he talking about? 
And now notice what our text says concerning Philip's response. 
It's beautiful. Then Philip opened his mouth 
and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him. Perhaps 
you've seen that thing of late. You know, preach the gospel and 
when necessary use words. That goes back to that folly 
I was speaking about earlier. You cannot preach the gospel 
without words. Somebody follows you around all 
day and watches your virtuous life, they're still going to 
go to hell. They need to hear the testimony 
concerning the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus. 
He opened his mouth and from this text, he preached Jesus 
to him. He told him the evangel, he told 
him the gospel, he told him the good news. Brethren, as good 
as your life may be, it's not that great. Sinners need to see, 
they need to hear, they need to understand the truth as it 
is in Jesus. And by God's grace, they need 
to believe that truth. That's what brings them to everlasting 
life. It's not our virtue, it's not 
our goodness, it's not our happiness, it's not our fuzziness. It is 
the message of Christ and Him crucified. So that's a statement 
that is full of drivel. Preach the gospel, and if necessary, 
or when necessary, use words. As if to suggest my life can 
preach blood atonement. As if to suggest my life can 
preach Golgotha. As if to suggest that my life 
can preach the absolute and utter righteousness of Jesus Christ 
in his law-keeping to the Father's will. No, it can't! We have to 
tell sinners! There's a sense where you've 
got to open your mouth, you've got to speak up, you've got to 
be a good Martin Luther. Know when to stand up, know when 
to speak up, and know when to shut up. I think that's a good 
construct for preachers and as well for evangelists. Notice, 
he preaches Jesus from this passage. I've already mentioned, Isaiah 
53 is what's called a servant song of Yahweh. There's four 
of them in the prophet Isaiah. They are found in Isaiah 42, 
49, 50, and then 52 and 53. They all give us various aspects 
or facets of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. You've 
all seen a diamond, right? Everybody awake? You're with 
me? You can nod your head. It's okay 
to pay attention and participate and look like, you know, that 
we're all here on board together. You've all seen a diamond. Well, 
one of the beauties of a diamond, at least as I'm told, it doesn't 
really do a lot for me, but you hold it up and you turn it and 
you see it in various facets of light. Well, that's what the 
servant songs of Isaiah do concerning Christ. They give us various 
facets of what the servant of Yahweh is going to accomplish 
when he comes into this world. That servant, of course, is the 
Lord Jesus Christ. The longest of the songs is 52 
and 53, and the focus of that particular song is the suffering 
servant who dies in the place of sinners and who rises again. Again, I cannot submit to you 
how much or cannot convince you enough that what the eunuch was 
reading and what Philip was preaching from was exactly what this man 
needed to hear. Because in that servant's song, 
in the prophet Isaiah, we have the humiliation of the servant. 
Verses 1 to 3. He's a man of sorrows. He's acquainted 
with grief, isn't he? There's no form, no comeliness 
that we should desire him. He's the son of God. He is heaven's 
darling and heaven's gem, and yet He comes to His own and His 
own receive Him not. He is a man of sorrows, acquainted 
with grief in His earthly ministry. He says the foxes have holes 
and the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere 
to lay His head. His state of humiliation, wherein He takes 
on our humanity, wherein He takes on our nature with all of the 
common properties, or the essential properties and common infirmities 
associated with that. He leaves heaven above to come 
into this world clothed in and with, or rather assuming, our 
nature. As well, Isaiah speaks of the 
suffering of the servant in verses 4 to 6. What happens to the servant, 
according to the prophet? We could turn there. I suspect 
that this was all included in Philip's presentation of the 
gospel to this Ethiopian eunuch. Notice Isaiah 53, we see the 
humiliation, verses 1 to 3. Notice suffering, verses 4 to 
6. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet 
we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. See that 
language there, smitten by God? It's repeated in Isaiah 53, 11. The Lord, Yahweh, was pleased 
to bruise Him. Or rather, verse 10. Yes, lawless 
hands crucified Jesus. Yes, the Jews cried out, away 
with him, away with him, crucify him. Yes, the Romans actually 
executed the penalty of death upon the Son of God. But it was 
predetermined by the Father. It was predetermined by God. It was an arrangement made before 
the foundation of the world that the Son would come, that the 
Son would obey, the Son would suffer, the Son would die, and 
the Son would rise again. Surely He has borne our griefs 
and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten 
by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. 
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes 
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. 
We have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has 
laid on Him the iniquity of us all." You see, this is why it's 
good news. See what Isaiah is not prophesying? 
There's going to be a time where men come to their senses. There's 
going to be a time when men exercise their free will. There's going 
to be a time when men get better. They engage in a bit of moral 
reform. No, the prophet says there's a time when the suffering 
servant will come. And note the language that is 
employed. It was a solitary thing for Christ. He doesn't go with 
assistance. He goes on His own. It is substitutionary. He bore our griefs. He carried 
our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. By His stripes we are healed, 
verse 6, and He has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. It's 
comprehensive in nature. Everything that plagues a sinner, 
every malady that affects a sinner, our griefs, our transgressions, 
our iniquities, our need for peace, our healing, the Lord 
Christ Most High satisfies through His own suffering and death. 
That's what verses 7 to 9 go on to tell us concerning his 
death. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened 
not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter 
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So he opened not his 
mouth. You know those passion narratives 
where it tells us that Jesus says nothing. Yeah, that's a 
good example for you to know how to keep your mouth shut when 
you're in a difficult situation, but that's not the meaning in 
those narratives. It's not moralistic, it's not therapeutic. Learn to 
be a Jesus and don't say bad things in the midst of all. That's 
not it. Christ is the silent, suffering Lamb of God, in accordance 
with Isaiah the prophet 53. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, 
yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and as a sheep before its shearer's silence, so he opened not his 
mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will 
declare His generation? For He is cut off from the land. 
He was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions 
of My people He was stricken. You see, you're not going to 
heaven because you've gotten better. You're going to heaven 
because God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. You're going to heaven 
because of what Luther called a great exchange. He takes our 
sin, our wretchedness, our transgression and iniquity, and he heaps it 
upon the Son of God. And he punishes the Son of God 
such that when the Son of God dies, He rises again. And God 
takes His righteousness and gives it freely to us. 2 Corinthians 
5.21 is why you're going to heaven, not because of moral reformation. 
Abigail's going into those waters of baptism, not because she's 
a good girl, or the stairs got lucky with a good one, but because 
God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that 
we might become the righteousness of God in Him. It is a blessed, 
divine, forensic transaction where God heaps sin upon His 
Son, punishes Him in our place, and then takes that righteousness 
accomplished and applies it to us. That's why sinners go to 
heaven. If you think for a moment that 
I'm going to try a little harder and get to heaven, you don't 
understand sin and you don't understand the holiness of God. 
You don't understand the spirituality of the law or the comprehensiveness 
of the law. Your problem this morning, if 
you are not a believer, is that you are not a believer! Yes, 
you're a sinner and a transgressor and one who is dead in their 
trespasses and sins. The only hope for everlasting 
life is to look unto Jesus That's it, isn't it? What if you'd have 
come this morning and said, okay, you've got to go home and you've 
got to stop this, stop this, stop this, stop this, get rid of that, 
get rid of that, and then you'll be commended to God. No. That's 
to bring God down to our level and to elevate us, to suggest 
that a little bit of habit modification is going to commend ourselves 
to God. No, we need to be saved. We need to be cleansed, we need 
to be washed, we need to be purified. We need that blood applied to 
us to cleanse us in totality from all our sins. But once we're 
washed, once we're forgiven, once we have been cleansed, we 
need a righteousness that commends us to God, and that's accomplished 
by our Lord. We not only need His death, we 
need His life. When catechism famously asks, 
what is justification? Justification is an act of God's 
free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins. Is there any news 
better to a pardon sinner than that? If I was a black pastor 
in Southern California, I'd say, can I get an amen? I mean, come 
on. We have been pardoned of all 
our sins. My sin, oh the bliss of this 
glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed 
to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise 
the Lord. wherein he pardons all of our 
sins and justification, continuing in the shorter catechism, and 
he accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. That's the glorious 
doctrine of justification by faith. That is what I propose 
Philip is preaching to this eunuch. So we go back to chapter 8 in 
the book of Acts. Of course, Philip would have 
highlighted the triumph of the servant in verses 10 to 12 of 
Isaiah 53, but we must hasten on. That brings us to consider, 
with reference to the eunuch, thirdly and finally, the conversion 
of the eunuch. Notice in verse 36. Now, as they 
went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch 
said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Now, we suppose that Philip spoke 
to the eunuch about baptism, or that somehow, in his meanderings 
around, the eunuch had learned that these Christians, they baptize. 
I don't think it was divine revelation. I don't think it was some special 
thing. It's probably, you know, organic to their conversation 
as Philip gives him the evangelist. He preaches Jesus to him. He 
explains what's happening in terms of God's redemptive plan. 
God's now saving people and those people are getting baptized and 
they're joining churches and they're continuing to serve the 
Lord in those communities. And so the eunuch sees the water 
and he asks the question, what hinders me from being baptized? Now, note the time frame involved 
here. Does he get converted at, you 
know, 25, or whatever this eunuch's age happened to be, and wait 
for 15 years to get baptized? Does he get converted at, you 
know, the ripe age of 20, and then when he's 40, say, well, 
I'm going to come around to getting baptized now. No, he gets baptized. J. Adams, in his book on preaching, 
indicates that the early church didn't have altar calls, There 
was no, you know, every head bowed, every eye closed, just 
raise your right hand. They believed and were baptized. That's the pattern in the apostolic 
preaching. They believed and they were baptized. 
We see the same thing here. The supposition, obviously, which 
Philip will vet in verse 37, is that he believed that Jesus 
was the Son of God. But he sees the water, and he 
doesn't say, well, you know, I'm just going to ponder my move 
for 30 years. This could have affected his 
livelihood. It could have affected him when he went back to Candace 
and said, I've been baptized. I've been washed in the blood. 
I'm now a believer in Jesus and I'm, you know, wanting to serve 
Him. That could have affected his livelihood. It could have 
affected his family. But you see, he doesn't care. When persons are conquered by 
sovereign grace, they want to go into that water. When persons 
are saved by the Lamb of God, they want to identify it. They 
want to stand and testify. They want to be baptized in the 
singular name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
Calvin made this observation on the quickness of his baptism. He says, if being instructed 
but a few hours, he came to this point, how filthy is the sluggishness 
of those men who suppress the faith which they have conceived, 
having been taught five, ten, or twenty years. In other words, 
if you are a believer in Jesus and you have not been baptized, 
you ought to ask with the eunuch, what hinders me? What's keeping 
me? If it's your own laziness, if 
it's your own rebellion, if it's your own sin against God, you 
need to repent and you need to set up an appointment so we can 
fill up the tank and dunk you for Jesus. There is nothing somehow 
meritorious about putting obedience off. Why do we think that's okay? Why is it in our heads to think, 
well, I can obey God down the road? No, if God has saved you, 
if he has conquered you by grace, then you obey him. This is Jesus' 
commission in Matthew 28. Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to 
observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with 
you always, even to the end of the age. Isn't it intriguing 
how the book of Acts follows that specifically, precisely? That the apostles go out, they 
make disciples, they baptize disciples, they plant churches, 
and then they instruct those disciples to obey all that Christ 
the Lord has given by instruction. It's a beautiful thing. Note, 
there is an implication here, that there are some things that 
may hinder one from being baptized. When he says, what hinders me 
from being baptized, that implies that there are hindrances. If 
you don't believe the gospel, you shouldn't be baptized. It's 
like we say at the supper, if you are not a believer in Christ, 
do not take the supper. It's not to make you feel bad. 
It's not to sin shame you. It's not to make you run to your 
safe space. Rather, it is to highlight the 
law of Christ. Christ says that believers get 
baptized. Christ says that believers go 
to the supper. So in this instance, he says, 
what hinders me from being baptized? Now notice verse 37. If you have 
anything other than the King James or the New King James, 
you're going to have to look at your margin. There's a variant reading, 
and some suggest that 37 was never a part of the original 
text. You can consult the authorities on the particular textual question, 
but it is intriguing. that Irenaeus, in his book Against 
Heresies, dated from probably A.D. 130 to 200, quotes Acts 
8.37. So whatever we can deduce or 
conclude, we see that it was a very early reading for Irenaeus 
to be aware of it and for Irenaeus to quote it in his Against Heresies. Again, A.D. 130-200, dates Irenaeus. So we're going to treat it as 
germane to the text. Notice, he asks the question, 
what hinders me from being baptized? Philip says, if you believe with 
all your heart, you may. This is what I've just said. 
This is what I've just suggested. There is something that hinders 
you. If you're not a believer, don't be baptized. If you're 
not a believer, don't participate in the Lord's Supper. Your issue 
shouldn't be, well, I want to get baptized, or I want to eat 
the Lord's Supper. No, the issue should be, I want to believe 
the gospel. I want to look to Jesus. I want 
to live. I want to know everlasting life. And once you've come to 
that place by the grace of God, then get baptized. Then eat the 
supper. So Philip lays this down as a 
particular condition. If you believe with all your 
heart, you may. I love the answer, the response. He answers and says, I believe 
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Isn't that a beautiful 
statement? So simple, but so profound. This suggests Matthew 16, when 
Jesus says to the disciples, who do men say that I, the Son 
of Man, am? They say, well, you know, some say Jeremiah, some 
say one of the prophets, some say John the Baptist. Jesus moves 
from the general to the specific, and he says, but who do you say 
that I am? And Peter makes that lofty confession 
of faith. He says, you are the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. This is what we have here. He's the Christ, the Son of the 
living God. When Peter makes that declaration, 
Jesus doesn't congratulate him for stumbling upon a fact that 
he had discovered. He says, Blessed are you, Simon 
Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 
my Father who is in heaven has revealed this. We must suppose 
the same thing with this eunuch. He didn't just stumble onto this. 
God is at work. The Spirit moves his heart. He 
sees his sin. He sees the Savior. And by the 
grace of God, he is saved. And now he wants to go into the 
waters of baptism. Philip says, if you believe. 
He says, I believe. Now notice what the text then 
indicates. Verse 38, So he commanded the 
chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down 
into the water, and he baptized him. Now this is suggestive of 
immersion, which interestingly, the great word baptizo means 
immersion. Why didn't they just translate 
it? Why did they transliterate it? Because there were doctrinal 
reasons governing their decision to transliterate rather than 
to translate. Imagine if every time in your 
Bible, baptizo was translated as immerse, there wouldn't be 
a lot of questions concerning the mode. Calvin even recognizes 
this in his commentary. He says, here we see the rite 
used among the men of old time and baptism, for they put all 
the body into the water. In page 1320 of the Institutes, 
he says, baptizo means immerse. And then, of course, he goes 
on to explain that we're free to pour or sprinkle. Why? Why, 
John? Well, maybe one day we'll meet 
and sit and talk. Actually, I don't think that's 
going to be our issue up there. We're going to be in the presence 
of the Lamb. No more debates about baptism. 
Isn't that wonderful? No more debates about eschatology. 
We'll just be in the presence of the King. We'll just see the 
Lamb in all His glory. But it is intriguing. Notice as well. They part ways. Philip goes to preach. And as 
I've already mentioned, the eunuch rejoices. It's always my prayer. Probably shouldn't say always, 
because I'm a fallible human. But typically I pray that when 
persons are baptized here, it would be a memorable day. That 
their hearts would be filled with joy. That those who love 
them would be filled with joy. There will be a time of rejoicing. 
That tank preaches the conquering grace of God. That tank displays 
for us the heart of our Father who has saved to the uttermost 
another sinner through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul appeals 
to baptism in Romans 6 when he argues for Christians to be holy. You were baptized. Reflect on 
that day. Remember that day. You died, 
you were buried, and you've been raised again. No longer present 
your bodies or your members as instruments of unrighteousness. 
No, you were baptized. Baptism's a means of grace. We ought to be able to look upon 
it, remember and recollect and consider what God and Christ 
has done for us. And as well, we ought to be able 
to rejoice. to delight, to thank, and to 
praise our great God. Well, just a couple of thoughts 
in conclusion. In this section of the book of 
Acts, again, I think what we have here is the conquest of 
a particular sinner to show us the saving grace of God, but 
there's some other things going on. There's a theological context 
that we need to locate Acts 8 in. In the first place, we see in 
the book of Acts the progress of the kingdom of God. The statement 
in Acts 1.8 is programmatic. Jesus said, you will be my witnesses 
in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. That's how the book of Acts is outlined. The ministry 
first is in Jerusalem, and then when the persecution comes under 
Saul of Tarsus, they move to Judea-Samaria, and then Saul 
of Tarsus, by the grace of God, is conquered by God, and he becomes 
the missionary to the Gentiles. So from about Acts 13 on, we 
see the gospel go to the uttermost parts of the earth. Acts 1.8 
is programmatic. We see here as well the Gospel 
goes from Judea to Samaria, and specifically here to Africa. 
This Ethiopian was a Cushite. The Psalter proclaimed that envoys 
will come out of Egypt. Ethiopia will quickly stretch 
out her hands to God. And as well, what is signaled 
here is that the Kingdom of Messiah has arrived. Dennis Johnson makes 
this observation. Note specifically in Isaiah 56 
earlier, he talked about God's house being a house of prayer 
for all nations. Johnson says the house of prayer 
for all nations was not the product of Herod's construction in Jerusalem. That's the second temple that 
was destroyed in A.D. 70. He says it was located, among 
other places, at a wadi, or a brook, besides a wilderness road in 
old Philistine territory, where a castrated Ethiopian was cleansed 
for priestly service through faith in the Lamb of God, who 
was led like a sheep to the slaughter." You see, there's Acts 8, the 
conversion of this eunuch, but it's in a bigger context as well. The prophetic word is fulfilled, 
it's mentioned. That what we have in Acts 8 is 
not simply the citation of Isaiah 53, but the fulfillment of Isaiah 
56. The inclusion of eunuchs in the covenant promises of God. 
This is good news. This is an evidence that the 
comprehensiveness of the gospel, it goes forth to all the nations. 
We'll see in Acts 10, even more clearly articulated, the conversion 
of Cornelius, who was a Gentile. Isaiah 56 speaks about that as 
well. You see what Luke, the divinely 
inspired historian, is doing. He is not only recording historical 
events, but under the influence of Paul the Apostle, he is giving 
us theology, a theology of covenantal fulfillment. He is highlighting 
to us that eunuchs and Gentiles are included in the covenant 
promises of God because of the death of the Son of God, the 
resurrection, and the exaltation at the right hand of God. That 
One who assumed the throne of David, according to Acts 2, is 
the One who orchestrates all that you now see and hear. In 
fact, in Acts 1.1, you can read that for just a second because 
it's so important that we understand what we have in the book of Acts. 
Acts 1.1, the former account I made, O Theophilus. Luke wrote 
Acts. So when he refers to the former 
account, he's referring to Luke, the Gospel according to Luke. 
He says, the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus 
began both to do and teach. So if Luke records for us in 
Luke all that Jesus both began, or began both to do and teach, 
we must conclude that Acts is a record of what Jesus continues 
both to do and teach. So when we get to Acts 8 and 
this unit comes out of darkness into marvelous light, yes, it's 
a happy day to be sure, but it's prophetic fulfillment. It's God 
making good on His promises. It's Isaiah 56, come to pass. And we reader ought to appreciate 
that. A third observation I'd like 
to make before we close. Actually, I've got a couple more. 
We're going to go to about two. If you're visiting, you're probably 
rolling your eyes internally right now. We're not going to 
two. Some of the brethren here are probably going, don't push 
your luck. We may go to two. The place of 
evangelism. Notice. Everybody wants to evangelize. Everybody wants sinners included 
in the kingdom of God. Everybody wants to win souls. 
Then do it like Philip did. Know your Bible and preach the 
truth concerning Jesus. Be a Philip. Dare to be a Philip 
if you want to win souls to Christ. One man, Gordon Clark, says, 
If God has decreed happier days for us, and if we may expect 
a world-shaking and genuine spiritual awakening, then it is the author's 
belief that a zeal for souls, however necessary, is not the 
sufficient condition. Have there not been devout saints 
in every age, numerous enough to carry on a revival? Twelve 
such persons are plenty. What distinguishes the arid ages 
from the period of the Reformation, when nations were moved as they 
had not been since Paul preached in Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome, 
is the latter's fullness of the knowledge of God's Word. Yes, you should want to see souls 
saved, but your want must be in concert with a knowledge of 
the truth. He goes on, to echo an early 
Reformation thought, when the plowman and the garage attendant 
know the Bible as well as the theologian does, and know it 
better than some contemporary theologians, then the desired 
awakening shall have already occurred. And then Chrysostom 
made this observation. He contrasts the conversion of 
the Ethiopian with that of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9. He says, 
Verily, one has reason to admire this eunuch. For unlike Saul, 
he had no supernatural vision of Christ. Remember Acts 9? Jesus appears to Saul on the 
road to Damascus. Not that that wasn't legit or 
it wasn't good, but what Chrysostom is saying is that the eunuch 
didn't have that. What did he have? He had the 
word of truth. For unlike Saul, he had no supernatural 
vision of Christ, yet he believed. So great a thing is the careful 
reading and the preaching of the Scriptures. We ought to observe, 
with reference to the place of Christian baptism, it takes place 
after conversion, after faith and repentance. Calvin makes 
this observation. For baptism is, as it were, an 
appurtenance. That's simply a word that means 
accessory. You accessorize. Ladies, when 
you get whatever it is, you accessorize with. And that's what he suggests, 
that baptism is an appurtenance. It is an accessory of faith. And therefore, it is later in 
order. You get that? Faith, then baptism. Now, on the next page, he goes 
to argue, doesn't even argue, he assumes infant inclusion. 
Our purpose here is not to engage in a full-length polemic of infant 
baptism, but just to highlight the specific order. It is conditioned 
by Philip upon faith. Barrett says, there is no racial 
qualification for baptism, but right belief is necessary. He 
says, what hinders me from being baptized? He doesn't say, well, 
you're not a Jew, so you can't be. Oh, you're an Ethiopian. You can't be. You've got black 
skin. You can't be. No. What's important? What's necessary? 
What's the one thing needful? I believe that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. As well, in this particular account, 
we notice something that our confession touches on with reference 
to baptism. It's for the party baptized. 
Now, we, by God's grace, get to participate and watch the 
event. But notice he's not in a church, 
is he? I suspect that he ended up in a church, but he's not 
in a church. This leads to the Second London 
Confession to highlight this. Baptism is an ordinance of the 
New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized. Certainly parents rejoice, friends 
rejoice, pastors rejoice, everybody rejoices, but it's for the party 
that is baptized. and as well. It is an occasion 
of affirmation that you, Abigail Stale, Stare, I don't know why 
I'm putting an L at the end of Stare, it's an easy name, that 
you will walk or live and walk in newness of life. For the confession 
goes on. It is to be unto the party baptized. Listen. a sign of His fellowship 
with Him in His death and resurrection, of His being engrafted into Him, 
of remission of sins, and of His giving up unto God through 
Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. That's what 
you need to take away from this day. Those baptized, those who 
are baptized, ought to remember this. I am not my own. I have 
been bought with the blood of another. Therefore, I am to glorify 
God in my body and in my soul. And finally, we see that the 
power of the gospel comes to the poor, but it also comes to 
the well-off. The eunuch working for Candace 
was in a good position. He wasn't down and out. He wasn't, 
you know, a bum living on the side of the road. Gospel comes 
to bums living on the sides of the road, but it also comes to 
eunuchs that have positions of prestige. Not many wise, not 
many noble, but some, Matthew Henry says. So we ought not to 
shrink back from preaching the whole counsel of God to every 
sinner. It's always amazed me that churches sort of have this, 
you know, target sinner demographic. We only minister to prostitutes. 
We only minister to the down and out. We minister the gospel 
to anybody who'll listen. What do we see when we get to 
heaven? According to the book of Revelation, men from every tribe, 
tongue, people and nation. different social strata, different 
economic status, all those things, notwithstanding, it is the power 
of the Gospel to save those who believe. So we preach it to whoever 
will listen, by the grace of God, praying that he saves. The 
Gospel comes to men in crisis and not in crisis. It comes to 
men as a result of God's sovereign plan. It comes by the Word of 
God. You need to consider this reality, 
this morning, before we leave. Do you understand the gospel? If you do, then believe it. Do not tarry, do not wait, do 
not consider your options, but come to Christ by faith. If you 
don't understand it, then ask. Ask any of the brothers here. 
Ask the men in the church. Ask the ladies who understand 
the truth as it is in Jesus. Say to them, I don't quite get 
it. So they can tell you that Christ 
came into this world, sinners to save. He did so by His perfect 
life, by His death in our place, and by His resurrection from 
the dead. And the Scripture says that whoever 
looks to Him in faith, will have everlasting life. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for the gospel of 
Jesus Christ our Lord. We thank you for this opportunity 
to celebrate and to rejoice in your saving power demonstrated 
in the life of Abigail. We just ask our God that this 
day would be memorable to her not only in terms of her joy 
and her delight in the things of God, but also as a reminder 
of what she has become because of your grace, that she has died 
to sin, that she has been buried with Christ, that she's been 
raised again, and that she would walk in newness of life, and 
that she would always be in dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. God, 
save sinners for your glory. Save sinners for your exaltation 
and for your honor. And we pray this through Christ 
our Lord. Amen.