← Back to sermon library

Acts chapter 8, I'll begin reading 
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 eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. 
But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached 
in all the cities till he came to Caesarea." Amen. Now let us 
pray. Father, thank You for this written 
record of the conversion of this man. Thank You for what it teaches 
us concerning Your grace and Your mercy and the power of the 
Christian gospel. We would pray this morning that 
Your Spirit would work in our hearts, that we would stand in 
awe of Your sovereignty, of Your glory, of Your grace, and of 
Your mercy. Again, forgive us for our sins 
and our transgressions and fill us with your Holy Spirit so that 
we may receive with thankful hearts, with open hearts, the 
word of the living and true God. We know that word is able to 
crush the cedars of Lebanon. We know that word is able to 
crush the hardened hearts of sinners. We know, Lord God, that 
you are able. to make men willing in the day 
of your power. And we pray that you would do 
this for your glory, for your honor, for your praise. And we 
would ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, 
as I said, we've been studying the book of Acts in our Sunday 
morning services. And if you remember the larger 
context, in Acts chapter 6, there were seven men chosen to function 
as deacons. Two of those men were also preachers. 
One was named Stephen, and the focus is upon him in Acts chapter 
7. And the other preaching deacon 
or evangelist was a man by the name of Philip. And chapter 8 
details the life and ministry of Philip, at least at this particular 
juncture. We see that he went to Samaria. 
and there he preached the word, and there sinners were saved 
by the grace of God, and they identified in the waters of baptism 
with the God who had saved them. And then Simon Peter has a bit 
of a confrontation with a magician by the name of Simon Magus, and 
now we come back to the life and ministry of Philip, and we 
see this contact with this Ethiopian eunuch. So I want to first consider 
the meeting with the eunuch in verses 26 to 30. Secondly, the 
interaction with the eunuch in verses 30 to 35. And then finally, 
the conversion of the eunuch in verses 36 to 40. But if you 
look at this meeting, we noticed that the angel of the Lord, according 
to verse 26, spoke to Philip and said, go toward the south 
along the road, which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So God 
is active in extending the boundaries of the kingdom of God. That's 
the point in the book of Acts. You will be witnesses to me in 
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. Well, here as the angel directs Philip, we now 
have a man from Africa, a man from Ethiopia being called by 
grace. But I actually think the emphasis 
in this passage is on the fact that he was a eunuch. And I think 
that emphasis comes from Isaiah the prophet, chapter 56. Remember 
that this man, as a eunuch and as a proselyte to the Jewish 
religion, would know something keenly about his place with reference 
to the assembly of the Lord. Those who were emasculated were 
not allowed into the assembly of the Lord. So he understood 
that, but he's reading Isaiah 53 according to this passage. 
I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that he's also reading 
Isaiah 56. He sees himself in that passage. 
He sees a time spoken of by the prophet Isaiah where eunuchs 
will enter in to the very assembly of God Almighty. And I think 
that's a very encouraging thing for us to see. It's not just 
that the prophet Isaiah is being quoted here in Acts chapter 8, 
but the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled here in Acts chapter 
8 by the inclusion of this eunuch, by the inclusion of this Gentile. He wasn't a Jew. He wasn't from 
Israel. He was from Ethiopia. So he basically 
has two strikes against him. He's a Gentile and a eunuch. 
He has been removed from the very assembly of the Lord. And 
yet through the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
we see him brought nigh. We see him baptized. We see him 
added to the church. We see him as a man that is conquered 
by God's sovereign grace. It really is an encouraging passage. 
But notice as we look at this Ethiopian, his identity. Again, 
I think the emphasis is on the fact that he's a eunuch. This 
is indicated in verses 27, 34, 36, and 38. Luke is highlighting for us that 
the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled. Notice his spiritual condition. 
He was a proselyte to the Jewish religion. Proselyte means a convert. He saw the Jews' religion, he 
liked it, and he was a part of it. And he had just been returning 
from Jerusalem. He had been present at a time 
of feast. And yet, he was not able to go into that temple because 
of the fact that he was a eunuch. he was withdrawn, he was removed, 
though he was a proselyte, though he appreciated Israel's God, 
he couldn't be brought nigh the way that he is in the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then notice his present engagement. 
It says in verse 27, 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. He was a man 
of means, he was a man of responsibility, You know, the Apostle Paul in 
the book of 1 Corinthians says, not many wise, not many noble, 
but there are some. And though it may be difficult 
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, rich men 
do enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, in that passage in Luke's 
gospel, where Jesus says it would be easier for a camel to pass 
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into 
heaven, just on the heels of that, we see Jesus save Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a rich man, so 
you have an illustration of a camel passing through the eye of a 
needle, because with God all things are possible. But this 
Ethiopian eunuch was a man of means, he was a man of responsibility, 
he had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to 
worship, was returning, and notice present engagement at the end 
of verse 28, and sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah 
the prophet. I would submit that's probably 
one of the best prophets he could have been reading, especially 
the passage that he found himself in, which was specifically Isaiah 
53, as Luke goes on to indicate, for us. So as a proselyte and 
as a eunuch, he was keenly aware of Deuteronomy 23.1. He who is 
emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly 
of the Lord. But as a student of Isaiah the 
prophet, he sees himself in chapter 56. This is a crucial time in 
this man's life. And then notice what we find 
in verse 29. Then the Spirit said to Philip, 
go near and overtake this chariot. And I think what we ought to 
take away from this statement in verse 29 is that not only 
has God accomplished salvation through the doing and the dying 
and the rising of the Lord Jesus Christ, but God is in the business 
of applying that salvation. in the calling of sinners from 
every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. In other words, we 
must get it out of our heads that God has orchestrated this 
amazing plan of salvation, but nobody can come to Christ. Nobody 
can taste and see that the Lord is good. Nobody can actually 
do what God commands them to do in terms of believe on Him 
and repent from their sins. The Spirit directs Philip specifically 
to this Ethiopian eunuch who is twice removed from the assembly 
of God. It shows us that recurring theme 
throughout Scripture. God seeks and saves that which 
was lost. In the garden, Adam and Eve run 
from God. God comes to them. In Genesis 
11, the Babel Tower builders make this thing to reach up into 
the heavens, and God confounds them. And then God comes to Abram 
and says, in you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. 
It is God through the prophets who sends, or it's God through 
the prophets who testifies that Jesus is coming. And then in 
the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son, born of a 
woman, born under the law. What does this display to us 
and demonstrate but God's willingness to save? God is a gracious savior. We sing a hymn in the book and 
it says, venture on him, venture holy. Don't tarry, don't wait, 
don't resist, don't stand idly by. But as you hear the message 
of the gospel, believe it, look to the Lord Jesus Christ and 
live. You see the willingness in verse 29, when the spirit 
says to Philip, the evangelist, go near and overtake this chariot. This wasn't a hijacking or a 
chariot jacking. He wasn't telling him to try 
to get some money. The overtaking there means to 
come upon him with the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus 
Christ. You see, God comes and gets his people. God is the one 
who seeks and saves that which is lost. God is the father of 
the prodigal who, when he sees the son a long way off, runs 
from the porch, falls on the kid, kisses him, puts a ring 
on his finger, and orders the slaying of the fatted calf. That's 
how scripture portrays God. Not this God sitting on the porch 
yelling at his son, don't you dare come back here. I don't 
want anything to do with you. You took your share of the inheritance, 
and you went out and you squandered it. Stay off with the pigs where 
you belong. That's not how God is presented 
in Scripture, not even in the Old Testament. There are those 
sorts of people that think the Old Testament is filled with 
wrath and fury and judgment and anger. God's grace, God's compassion, 
God's goodness, God's kindness is evident all the way from Genesis 
to Malachi. God's grace is evident, it's 
manifest, it's powerfully displayed in Matthew to Revelation. The 
entirety of the Scripture sets forth this one true and living 
God who comes to seek and to save that which was lost. And 
that's what the Spirit directs Philip to hear. Now notice, secondly, 
the interaction with the eunuch. Verses 30 to 35. Notice what 
Philip says to him. Verse 30 says, So Philip ran 
to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. Again, this 
is one of those, you know, dream scenarios for the would-be evangelist. It's hard to engage, isn't it? 
At times, we get a little afraid or whatever. We're a bit timid. 
We're not always earnest to tell people about Jesus. I mean, this 
scenario is completely not like that. The Spirit tells him. He 
goes there, and within earshot, he hears him reading Isaiah the 
prophet, and it's Isaiah 53. Again, no evangelist since has 
probably had such a blessed sort of opening for their mission 
of mercy to bring to bear the gospel. But notice, he asks this 
question, do you understand what you are reading? And I think 
that's very important for the would-be evangelists and the 
witnesses among us. We cannot assume that everybody 
understands. We cannot assume that everybody 
knows the gospel, especially here in the West. I think that 
assumption, you know, a hundred years ago may have been okay. 
We might have been, you know, content that most persons in 
the Western world had been exposed to the scriptures at some point, 
but that's not the case nowadays. We see secular humanism, we see 
materialism, we see hedonism, we see all these isms that are 
contrary to the truth of God's Word, and at times we wonder, 
do they have any inkling whatsoever of the gospel of our Lord Jesus? 
You've bumped into and have talked to people that don't know the 
gospel. They don't know about Christ 
and Him crucified. They celebrate Christmas or Easter 
as a cultural sort of a thing, but they have no understanding 
of the incarnation. They have no understanding of 
the resurrection. They have not one connection 
with Paul's statement in Romans 4, that he was delivered up because 
of our offenses and raised for our justification. I think Philip 
sets a good example for us to follow. We cannot assume that 
everybody understands what they read. Of course, what he means 
is, do you understand the sacred text? Do you understand the implications 
of the prophet Isaiah? Do you understand what Isaiah 
is talking about in this particular instance? Now, note the Ethiopian's 
response. In the first place, he's honest, 
which is nice. Verse 31, how can I unless someone 
guides me? How can I? He's not afraid or 
ashamed to admit his ignorance. See, if you're proud and you 
think you know everything, but you don't, that pride is keeping 
you from the truth. There's no problem asking pastors 
or evangelists or men or women in the church about a passage 
or a text or the implications thereof. If you're so proud that 
you think you know everything, you are only ultimately hurting 
yourself. This eunuch was humble enough 
to say, well, how can I? Of course, I don't understand. Of course, I want more information. 
Of course, I want more knowledge. Of course, I want to receive 
the written word, that implanted word, which is able to produce 
by the Spirit's power life in my soul. Don't be proud and arrogant 
when it comes to religious things. I think that's somewhat symptomatic 
of people in general. You know, you have somebody come 
to you and they say, you know, I want to tell you about a better 
diet. And we get defensive. Well, what 
do you mean cakes and cookies and ice cream isn't a good diet? 
But we get defensive, don't we? We don't want anybody ever telling 
us anything that we don't want to hear. And yet this man says, 
how can I unless someone guides me, unless someone instruct me, 
unless someone teach me? Now, that's not to say you shouldn't 
read the Bible on your own. You should read the Bible on 
your own, but you should avail yourself of preaching. You should 
avail yourself of men who can teach the Bible. That is crucial, 
and this passage, I think, reflects that very, very candidly. Now, notice this man also had 
a desire. He says in verse 31, how can 
I unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up 
and sit with him. That's a desire, isn't it? I 
want to know. It's another thing that's somewhat 
frustrating today when you try to witness or testify or tell 
somebody about the gospel. They don't want to hear anything. 
I mean, not a word. Their lives are great. They live 
in Canada. They have cars. They've got houses. 
They've got wives. They've got kids. They've got 
everything in order. They don't want to hear it. Not so with 
this man. He had means. He was a man of 
great responsibility. He was a man that was well-respected 
in the court. All these things were true, and 
yet he has this desire. So he tells Philip, come up and 
sit with me. I wanna learn from the scriptures. 
I wanna learn from the Bible. I want to know what the prophet 
is speaking about in this particular instance. Now notice the text 
that was before him. In verse 32, 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. John Gill says, with reference 
to the prophet Isaiah, this prophet is a very evangelical one, and 
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. See, this isn't accidental. This 
is God's foreordination. This is divine appointment. He's 
reading the right text. The Spirit directs the right 
man to open to that text and from it preach Jesus, because 
that's what the man needed. Again, I think we have this concept 
of God that He's just always against and against and against 
and harsh. He's not. He seeks and saves 
that which was lost. He sends Philip to this man that 
was an outcast. You know, Philip doesn't say, 
well, you know, Lord, he's a Gentile and he's a eunuch and he's twice 
removed from the assembly of the Lord. We could just leave 
him there. He's still a proselyte. He still thinks Yahweh is God 
and all that sort of thing. No, Philip understands the stakes 
are high. And so Philip goes to him. And 
now notice what happens according to verse 34. So the eunuch, well, 
first the question. So the eunuch answered Philip 
and said, I ask you of whom does the prophet say this of himself 
or some other man? Now, this is a good question. 
For us as Christians that have been brought up in the church, 
we know Isaiah 53 is about Jesus, don't we? Well, at this particular 
time, that wasn't the consensus of all Israel. There was a whole 
group of people that had rejected Jesus. They had rejected the 
very Son of God and fulfilled what was actually written in 
Isaiah 53. So it wasn't common knowledge 
at this particular time to Jews or proselytes to Judaism that 
Jesus was that man that was spoken of in the prophet Isaiah. Now, 
certainly, Jesus applies texts in Isaiah to himself. And certainly, 
Philip and the apostles understood that Isaiah 53 was about Jesus. But for the eunuch, he didn't 
know. Was it about the prophet? Or was it about some other man? 
So it's a legitimate question. In other words, who is the prophet 
writing about? When we come to Isaiah 53, and 
we see this one that's a man of sorrows, he's acquainted with 
grief. When we see this one who went 
into a state of abject humiliation, When we see this one who suffered 
under the hands of wicked men, when we see this one who died, 
and we see this one who was raised from the dead, it is a legit 
question that the eunuch offers at this particular point, and 
that brings us to consider Philip's answer. Notice in verse 35, then 
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, 
preached Jesus to him. That's beautiful, isn't it? He 
preached Jesus to him. He didn't preach politics, and 
I'm not suggesting we can never do that. We should preach it 
to those who disagree with us as much as we can. I'm just kidding. 
He preached Jesus. That's everything in the church. 
That's everything for us as Christians. When persons ask us anything 
with reference to these sorts of things, we preach Jesus. We 
don't preach ourselves. We don't preach our experience. 
We don't preach our mysticism. We don't preach our feelings. 
We preach Jesus to them. We don't even preach our testimony. 
We can illustrate and say, I was a wretch. I was wandering. I 
was lost. I was dead. I was in darkness. And God constrained 
me by his grace to come and to taste and see that he's good. 
But the bottom line, as the people of God, we preach Jesus. And this text was absolutely 
appropriate for the task. There was no New Testament written 
at this particular time. So what better place for this 
Ethiopian eunuch to be reading and from whence Philip could 
preach than from Isaiah 53? The emphasis in the text, again 
John Gill says, "...the metaphors of sheep and lamb express the 
innocence, meekness, and patience of Christ in his sufferings and 
death, and his being like these when led to the slaughter, and 
dumb before the shearer, show his willingness to suffer and 
die for his people, and to become a sacrifice for their sins." 
It is about Jesus. And Philip preaches Jesus from 
this text. But notice he begins here. And 
we have to conclude that he also talked about water baptism. Because 
the Ethiopian eunuch sees water and says, what hinders me from 
being baptized? Well, this didn't pop into his 
head. He began with this text, the 
way that the Lord does in Luke's gospel, in Luke chapter 24. Beginning 
with the law, he continues through the prophets and shows how all 
these things have reference to him. And if you go back to Isaiah 
53, you will see that. The humiliation of the servant 
of Yahweh in verses 1 to 3. You see the suffering of the 
servant of Yahweh in verses 4 to 6. You have the death of the 
servant in verses 7 to 9. And then the triumph of the servant 
in verses 10 to 12. Well, who's that servant? Again, 
that was the big question that the Ethiopian eunuch asked, and 
Philip tells him, it's Jesus Christ. And that's not the only 
servant song in the prophet Isaiah. You have one in chapter 42, one 
in chapter 49, and one in chapter 50. And all of these are sort 
of angles by which the prophet sets forth Jesus Christ to Israel 
at that particular time. The Old Testament is a messianic 
book, and it sets forth the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in page 
after page. And that's what's happening in 
this particular instance. It really is glorious. If you're 
not a believer here this morning, may I encourage you to read the 
prophet Isaiah. May I encourage you to read Isaiah 
42. Read Isaiah 49. Read Isaiah 50. Read Isaiah 52 and 3. Now, read 
all of Isaiah. All 66 chapters are valuable. 
All are given by inspiration of God. All are profitable for 
doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. 
But those passages reflect who Jesus is. Those passages show 
us the Son of Man. Those passages introduce us to 
what we find on the pages of the New Testament. Jesus was 
a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. 
It was as the case that we hid our faces from Him. Instead of 
worshiping and praising and adoring Jesus, they cry out, away with 
Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Well, why does Jesus go through 
all of this according to the prophet Isaiah in 53? It's substitution. He stood in our place. All we 
like sheep had gone astray. The Lord lays upon Him the chastisement 
for our peace. He takes our wrath. He takes 
our curse. He takes our punishment. He takes 
the penalty. He takes the shame. He takes 
the suffering. He takes all that by His own work on our behalf. You see, Isaiah 53 is most profitable 
for anybody seeking after salvation. And the New Testament exposition 
of Isaiah 53 is absolutely profitable for anybody seeking after salvation. 
We talked in the last hour about effectual calling. Faith comes 
by what? Faith comes by hearing. and hearing 
by the Word of God. If you're not exposed to Scripture, 
if you're not exposed to the truth of the Gospel, get exposed 
to it! Put yourselves under good preaching. Put yourselves in the book. Listen 
to sermon audio. I mean, you have a whack of people 
out there that are preaching faithfully all over the earth. It's always intrigued me that 
there's a handful of celebrity preachers that we in Canada or 
in America like. When there's guys all over the 
earth engaged in faithful exposition and application of God's holy 
word, they're preaching Jesus to sinners. You need Jesus if 
you're a sinner. You need Jesus if you're a saint. 
You need Jesus always. If you learn one lesson from 
today, learn that. We need Jesus, right? We need 
Jesus. Now let's look finally at the 
conversion of this man. In other words, what happens 
with him? What happens to this eunuch? Verse 36, now as they 
went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch 
said, again, it's not the Ethiopian, not that I think that is not 
important to Luke, not that it's unimportant that Africa is being 
reached with the gospel, But it's that eunuchism, it's the 
Deuteronomy 23, exclusion from the assembly of the Lord, and 
the Isaiah 56, inclusion among the assembly of the Lord in this 
new covenant era ruled over by our Lord Jesus Christ. So he 
says, the eunuch said, see, here is water, what hinders me from 
being baptized? Again, we assume that Philip 
spoke about baptism, so the eunuch requests it. But the very question 
and Philip's response indicates that there are things that would 
hinder baptism. There are things that would hinder 
baptism, and the first and most glaring one is if you don't have 
faith. In other words, baptism isn't 
a converting ordinance. These young ladies are not entering 
into the water today to become Christians. That's not the case. They are already confessors of 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a sign, it's a symbol, 
it's a visible demonstration of what God has worked in their 
hearts. So by all means, if you have 
not believed the gospel, that's the first order of business. 
The issue is, there are things that ought to hinder baptism. And a lack of faith in the living 
Christ is something that should hinder you. It's not a magic 
rite. It's not hocus pocus. It's not 
sort of a sacramental thing, shared before, how one time, 
many years ago, we brought our neighbor boy to church with us, 
and he was a Roman Catholic. And after we finish with the 
baptism, there's a nozzle. It's hard to get to. You've got 
to lay down and use this weird wrench and sort of open it up. 
And then the water goes out in the parking lot. And this young 
Catholic boy was shocked. Holy water is going out in your 
parking lot. That's a wrong conception. It's 
water that's set apart for particular use when we baptize these two 
believers, but it's not something powerful or inherent in the water. There are things to hinder, and 
if you're not a believer, that's the first order of business. 
Believe the gospel. Now, notice that Philip highlights 
a condition. Philip highlights a condition. 
He says, the eunuch, 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. Now, you may have a Bible version that does not contain 
verse 37. It may go from verse 36 to verse 
38. It may be in the margin or it 
may be bracketed, but it will be highlighted that it's not 
the original text. So why does Pastor Butler preach 
it as if it is the original text? I'm not a professor or a doctor 
with reference to matters of textual criticism, but there 
are two arguments as to why I think it ought to be there. In the 
first place, a church father by the name of Irenaeus. Irenaeus 
was a man who lived in AD 130 and he died in AD 202. In his 
writings, he quotes Acts 8.37. Well, that would indicate that 
there was a manuscript or manuscripts that contained verse 37 in AD 
130 to 1202. That's an argument from antiquity. 
That's an argument that holds weight with me. And then as well 
a man by the name of Cyprian. And Cyprian lived about 200 to, 
let me get the dates here, 258. He quotes verse 37 as well. And it's intriguing because Irenaeus, 
I think, quotes the part where Philip lays down the condition. 
And then Cyprian quotes the part where the Ethiopian eunuch says, 
I do believe in all my heart. So the entirety of verse 37 is 
extant. That means it's present in the 
tradition of the fathers. Now, that's why we quote fathers 
from time to time with reference to textual variants. Because 
if there's a reading in our Bibles that is cited by somebody who 
lived AD 130 to 202, we conclude that that's an ancient text or 
an ancient reading of the text. It's like the long ending in 
Matthew's gospel, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the 
glory. Again, modern versions set that off as if it's not a 
part of Matthew's text. But the Didache, which was an 
early manual of Christian doctrine, which some scholars put at AD 
100, contains that long ending of Matthew. That's weighty information 
for us. And all that to say, verse 37 
should be in your Bibles. And so when Philip lays down 
this condition, I think we learn a couple of things. In the first 
place, there's a need for examination before one gets baptized. We 
do this with the supper, don't we? When it comes to that other 
ordinance in the context of the local church, we give warnings. 
Paul does in 1 Corinthians 11. Let a man examine himself. Let 
him see if he is worthy. If he is worthy, he can eat and 
drink this bread and cup. The same obtains with baptism. 
Again, we don't just let anybody jump into the tank. Well, you 
know, I feel like getting baptized today. Well, if you believe in 
your heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living 
God, then you may. See, we're not asking people 
to preach a Spurgeon sermon. We're not asking people to give 
a defense for substitutionary atonement and all the ins and 
outs of the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul and all the 
intricacies involved. We are asking people to give 
an expression of faith in this living Christ, in this one who 
lived and who died and who was raised the third day. They need 
to be able to do that or else they don't get baptized. as well 
the type of belief we ought to consider. John Gill, again, is 
helpful in this passage. He says, this faith should not 
be a mere historical and temporary faith, nor a feigned one, but 
a believing in Christ with the heart unto righteousness, or 
such a faith by which a soul relinquishes its own righteousness, 
and looks and goes unto Christ for righteousness, life, and 
salvation, and rests and relies upon him for them. That's a beautiful 
statement. I mean, you know, we think of 
John Gill, and he's just a writing of theology machine. I mean, 
commentaries and, you know, an exposition of Christian doctrine. 
In fact, if you get his body of practical and doctrinal theology, 
the first statement is, after having finished a commentary 
on the Bible, I figured I would now write a systematic theology. 
Think about what that means, having finished a commentary 
on the Bible. Not a book of the Bible, but 
on all 66 books of the Bible. Not a lot of dudes out there 
have done that. Gil did it, and then he wrote a systematic theology. 
But when he says here, it's so warm, it's so appealing, it's 
so blessed. He says, or such a faith by which 
a soul relinquishes its own righteousness. Isn't that what it's all about 
when sinners come to Christ? It's a candid and frank admission 
that I can't do this. I am not perfect. I am not righteous. I am not good. There is none 
good, no not one, and I don't try to squirm out from under 
that. If you are trusting in your righteousness, if you are 
trusting in your external compliance to the law of God, if you're 
trusting in some supposed merit on your part, may I gently, no, 
loudly say, get rid of it. Even the righteousnesses of the 
men of Israel of Isaiah's day were counted as unclean things. Even our righteousnesses are 
like filthy rags. They're not saying the things 
that we do, the sins, the lack of faithfulness to God. He's 
not saying those are like filthy rags. He's saying our righteousnesses, 
the things we actually get right, the external compliance to the 
law of God, the going to the tabernacle, the going to the 
temple, rather, the engagement of Sabbath day activities, all 
those things are like filthy rags in the sight of God. You 
have no righteousness. You have nothing to offer God. 
There is no good thing in you that you can say, well, look, 
Lord, I'm great here or I've done well here. You don't have 
that. Listen to Gil. Such a faith by 
which a soul relinquishes its own righteousness, wave the white 
flag, give up already, surrender, you don't have it. He goes on 
to say, and looks and goes unto Christ for righteousness, life, 
and salvation, and rests and relies upon him for them. That's 
what you should be after. But also intriguing in terms 
of what Philip says, if you believe with all your heart you may. 
Belief of the propositional revelation of Scripture. In other words, 
believe what the Bible says about everything, but the principal 
acts of saving faith have respect to the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
prophet, priest, and king, as the mediator of the new covenant. 
But notice what he says, if you believe in your heart, not if 
you've had these mountaintop experiences. We almost sang today, 
but I chose in favor of that other one. My hope is built on 
nothing less. Have you ever considered that 
first stanza? My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood 
and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest 
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. group of people out there 
that think that religion only always ever yields sweet frames. I'm on the opposite end, brethren. 
I realize that at times sweet frames are lacking. Praise God 
we're not commended to God by sweet frames. Praise God, our 
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest 
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock 
I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, including sweet 
frames, including our experiences, including our feelings. Martin 
Luther famously said, feelings come and feelings go and feelings 
are deceiving. My warrant is the word of God. 
None else is worth believing. I'm not suggesting there are 
never feelings, that there are never warm frames associated 
with Christianity or religion, but I am suggesting that better 
not be where your hope is. Your hope better be firmly upon 
Christ and his righteousness." Notice, if you believe in your 
heart. Not if you've had these experiences, not if you can do 
this, not... He doesn't get into all that. 
He doesn't get into the psychology behind it. He simply says, if 
you believe in your heart. Now, notice the confession of 
the eunuch. The confession of the eunuch is robust. He answered 
and he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Very 
similar to what we find in Matthew chapter 16. Remember, Jesus says 
to the disciples, he says, who do men say that I, the son of 
man, am? And they gave him a bunch of answers. And then he says, 
but who do you say that I am? And then Simon Peter says, Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Jesus says, 
Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal 
this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Well, this eunuch 
at this wadi, which means a brook, out in this desert, makes the 
same confession as Simon Peter. makes the same confession as 
the ladies going into this baptistry, makes the same confession as 
everybody who's ever been translated from the kingdom of darkness 
into the kingdom of the Son of His love. This is everything. 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. I would imagine 
that within this room there are various opinions on different 
things, not least of which is baptism. I'm sure that in this 
room, many of us have differences in terms of baptism. Who should 
be baptized? How should they be baptized? 
We can disagree on that and still end up together at the marriage 
supper of the Lamb. We cannot disagree on this confession. Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the living God. Jesus said, I am the way, the 
truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through 
me. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of 
the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone 
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why? Because 
in that gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith 
to faith. Remember I said, relinquish yours, because you ain't got 
any. It's in the gospel that the righteousness of God is revealed. 
And when Paul makes that statement in Romans 1, he doesn't mean 
the perfection or the attribute of God necessarily, he means 
the righteousness that God demands he provides in the gospel. That's 
the blessing of our salvation, that God made Jesus who knew 
no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. So this eunuch at this wadi makes 
this statement, and it's glorious. I believe that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. The belief that Jesus is the 
Messiah promised in the Old Testament, the belief that Jesus is the 
second person of the Trinity, as the Son of God and the belief 
that through Jesus, through Jesus and through Jesus alone, is the 
forgiveness of sins and the imputation of righteousness. In other words, 
through Jesus, our sins are forgiven. If you're a believer here this 
morning, that feels pretty good. I just said something about feelings, 
but I'm gonna bring feelings back for just a moment. It feels 
pretty good to be able to lay your head on your pillow at night 
and have that song on your lips. 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. Isn't that one of the chief boons of our religion is 
the forgiveness of sins? If you know yourselves rightly, 
you say, yeah, that's, oh boy, I really like that one. Yet Christianity, 
when we enter in by God's grace and we live the way that God 
calls us to, there's blessings, manifold blessings. And not always. 
There's times where there's hardship and heartache and trials and 
pain and suffering and all that. The one constant that we as God's 
people have is, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be 
feared. If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ today, may I 
invite you, may I encourage you, may I exhort you to come and 
taste and see that the Lord is good, to know what it is to have 
your sins blotted out. The Lord God Most High through 
the prophet says, I will blot out all your transgressions. 
David rehearsing the goodness of God in Psalm 103 tells us 
he doesn't or he hasn't dealt with us according to our sins. 
He hasn't rewarded us according to our transgression. As far 
as the East is from the West, so he has removed our iniquities. 
Brethren, as the people of God, isn't this something that at 
least internally causes us to leap for joy when we hear this 
reminder that we have been forgiven? John the Apostle tells us if 
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just Think about the language. If you and I were writing 1 John, 
we might say he's faithful and merciful. He's faithful and kind. He's faithful and good. What 
does justice have to do with it? Justice is everything to 
do with it. God is both just and the justifier 
of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. It would be unjust for 
God to not forgive someone who's been saved by the blood of Jesus. 
It's a just task on his part to forgive us when we come back 
to him. Again, that doesn't hopefully promote the idea that we can 
go out and sin, that grace may abound. But when we do sin, brethren, 
we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the 
righteous. This man understood the forgiveness 
of sins, and this man understood that not having his own righteousness, 
he will receive by God's grace the righteousness of Jesus Christ, 
by which he'll be clothed and enter in to that eternal kingdom. And then, of course, the response 
is Christian baptism, which we see there in 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. For those 
of you who will disagree with me on the mode of baptism, somebody 
on your side made this comment. Here we see the right used among 
the men of old time in baptism, for they put all the body into 
the water. John Calvin said that. He recognized 
that they put the whole body into the water. Page 1320 in 
the Battles Edition of the Institutes, he says that baptism means immerse. And of course, he goes on to 
argue that we don't have to immerse, we can sprinkle or pour, whatever. 
But the word means to immerse, and that's what happens in this 
particular context. Verse 38, both Philip and the 
eunuch went down into the water and he baptized them. Verses 
39 and 40 are interesting. Notice in verse 39, It sort of 
is reminiscent of the prophet Elijah. It's reminiscent of those 
spiriting away of the prophet in 1 Kings chapter 18. And then, 
of course, that chariot scene when he's whisked up into heaven. 
Well, the same sort of thing is here in verse 39. And I think 
it's probably designed to cause the eunuch to reflect on the 
supernaturalness of this. In other words, this wasn't accidental, 
this wasn't haphazard, this wasn't a chance meeting, but rather 
it was orchestrated by a sovereign God who is after His man, the 
eunuch. Verse 39, now when they came 
up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away 
so that the eunuch saw him no more. So the Spirit catches him 
away, he no longer sees Philip, but we see the inevitable consequence 
of this man's having been conquered by sovereign grace and having 
been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. What happens to the eunuch now? He goes on his 
way rejoicing. Again, brethren, that is not 
the common trajectory always in the Christian life. It seems 
to me that as Christians, we're always fighting on two sides. 
There's always enemies on either side. Yes, joy is associated 
with Christianity. Yes, joy is associated with ones 
having confessed faith in Jesus and having been baptized. Absolutely, 
joy is associated with our so great a salvation. But there 
is hardship. There is trial. There is sorrow. There are storms. And it's not 
the Christian response to have a big phony smile on your face 
when you've got bad or horrible news. There are difficulties 
associated with the Christian faith, but even in the midst 
of those difficulties, even in the midst of those sorrows and 
afflictions, the one constant remains, Christ is mine and I 
am his, and we can find joy even in those extenuating circumstances. So he goes away rejoicing and 
Philip goes away doing what Philip does. Verse 40, Philip was founded 
at Zotus and passing through, he preached in all the cities 
till he came to Caesarea. That was his task. That's what 
he was about. He was a preacher. He sees this 
man converted. He sees this man baptized. He 
sees the grace of God at work. He goes and he preaches in all 
the cities. He does seem to settle down in 
Caesarea. In chapter 21, Philip the Evangelist 
is referred to. He's got four daughters who prophesy. So he did all of this preaching. 
He seems to have settled in Caesarea. We don't know a whole lot about 
him beyond what it says there in Acts chapter 21. But in terms 
of Acts chapter 8, this man, identified by the church in Acts 
chapter 6, was not only a servant in the church, not only a deacon, 
but also an evangelist, a preacher of the gospel. And we see him 
in Samaria, and now we see him on this desert road with this 
Ethiopian eunuch. And God crowned his labors. God 
blessed his labors. God brought this dead man out 
of darkness into marvelous light, such that he confesses that Jesus 
is the Son of the true and living God, and he gets baptized in 
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Well, I 
just want to conclude with a few thoughts, and then we'll move 
to the baptism. First of all, this is progress in the kingdom 
of God. The book of Acts is exciting, isn't it? You've got this handful 
of men that have been told to testify to Jesus. Just a handful, 
12 men. Not armies of men. Didn't we 
learn this with Gideon? God doesn't need massive armies 
to accomplish his will. God can use a ragtag team of 
300 at the time of Gideon to accomplish His will. Well, God 
can use the same sort of thing in the New Covenant setting. 
These 12 men turned the world upside down. That's not just 
hyperbolic. That's not, you know, exaggeration. 
These 12 men did turn the world upside down. Obviously, we know 
it's Jesus, right? It's Jesus that turned the world 
upside down. But these 12 men went out and preached. These 
12 men went out and made disciples. These 12 men went out and founded 
churches. And what's happened? Again, we 
get grieved and saddened by what appears to be a lack of growth 
amongst the Christian church or numbers coming to the Lord. 
And we see in North America, perhaps, Islam is growing rapidly 
and all that sort of thing. There's a work of God going on 
all over the earth. The light of the gospel is going 
forth. Jesus is conquering the nations. 
The Psalter ain't wrong. He will have dominion from sea 
to sea. The knowledge of Yahweh will 
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. And you see that 
in Acts chapter 8. A man doubly removed from the 
assembly of God by virtue of the fact that he's in the Ethiopian 
and by virtue of the fact that he's a unit. We see coming to 
fruition. what Psalm 68, 31 says. Envoys will come out of Egypt. 
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God. You see, 
we see the progress of the kingdom of God in this instance. As well, 
we see that the messianic kingdom had arrived. What the prophet 
speaks in Isaiah 56 comes to pass. This eunuch now is brought 
nigh through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is brought nigh to 
a place where he wasn't previously authorized. One man, Dennis Johnson 
says, the house of prayer for all nations, that was the language 
of Isaiah 56. I know that was like almost an 
hour ago that I read that, but it's in there in Isaiah 56. God 
says, my house will be a house of prayer for, for what? For 
all the nations. See, we don't really fully enter 
into that sort of language in its original context. I mean, 
we already know, go therefore, make disciples of all the nations. 
But in Israel, at the time of the prophet Isaiah, yeah, there 
were promises that all the nations would be blessed. But they didn't 
have a fully developed, robust, sort of missionary enterprise 
mindset. They weren't thinking that their 
temple would be occupied by the nations, by the Gentiles. They 
didn't think that foreigners would be brought nigh. They didn't 
think that eunuchs would be included in the very house of God. So 
Johnson says, the house of prayer for all the nations, or all nations, 
was not the product of Herod's construction in Jerusalem. In 
other words, it wasn't that physical temple that was standing. It 
was located, among other places, at Awadi. Again, that means brook, 
beside a wilderness road in old Philistine territory. That's 
where we're at. That's where this eunuch is traveling. 
He's in 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. It's coming 
to fruition here. It's not just quoted here, but 
it's being fulfilled here. And then consider this in light 
of Stephen's sermon. Now we're really going way back. 
In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is accused of having blasphemed 
the law of God and the holy place. And so Stephen gives this detailed 
treatment of the law of God and the holy place. And he concludes 
by saying that God is not contained in houses built by men, that 
those temples or that tabernacle pointed forward to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. In fact, Solomon recognized this 
in 1 Kings 8, when he says, that all the peoples of the earth 
may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel. That 
was at the dedication of Israel's temple. And Solomon knew there 
was going to be a time when all the peoples of the earth would 
flock to that temple. Well, it's in Messiah. It's in 
the Lord Christ. It's in the seat of Abraham. 
This is the one in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. Secondly, and I would be remiss 
if I didn't remind us as Baptists why we do what we do. In terms 
of the practice of Christian baptism, say anything about Baptists, 
at least you got to give us this. Any chance we get, we'll talk 
to you about baptism. kind of like people that do certain 
exercise or certain lifestyle that you know it within five 
seconds, right? Oh, you're, you know, this. I 
mean, they're just chomping at the bit to tell you. Well, Baptists 
oftentimes are chomping at the bit to tell you what they believe 
concerning baptism. We have a covenantal view that 
yields our practice of believers' baptism. I don't have time to 
detail that covenantal view, but a few observations. Baptism 
takes place after conversion. Notice what happens here. The 
man confesses and then he's baptized. He's not baptized and then confesses. 
If you read through the book of Acts, you will see that conspicuous 
pattern. You will see over and over again, 
it's belief, then baptism. And that's why we baptize believers. John Calvin made the observation, 
for baptism is, as it were, an accessory of faith, and therefore 
it is later in order. Now, of course, to be fair, he 
goes on to assume infant baptism, that was a... Strange juxtaposition. The infant Baptist among us was 
like, you did it! You said it was Christian baptism. 
I made a mistake. Secondly, we need to understand 
it's conditioned by Philip upon faith. Faith. That's the prerequisite. That's why people get baptized, 
is because they believe the gospel. Again, it's not a converting 
ordinance. We don't put them in the tank to make them believers. 
We put them in the tank because they're believers. Barrett says 
there is no racial qualification for baptism, but right belief 
is necessary. Thirdly, it is an external sign 
that symbolizes God's internal grace. In a moment, we're going 
to move the pulpit. I'm going to invite the kids 
up here so they can get a better look. You think, well, that seems 
a bit disorderly. No, the whole point of baptism 
is to see the gospel. I don't want anything blocking 
the ability to see the gospel. We see it in the sacraments. 
We see it in the supper. We see it in baptism. It is an 
external, visible representation of what God in His grace has 
done to these young ladies' hearts. This is preaching a message concerning 
the conquest of God Almighty over rebel sinners. As well, 
it is primarily for the person baptized. Our confession makes 
that emphasis, and I think it's an intriguing one, and I think 
that this is probably the best sample text to validate that. Notice that Philip doesn't say, 
we got to get you to a church so we can baptize you. We gotta 
get you to Jerusalem right away, pronto, so we can get you, but 
that's not what happens. It's for the party baptized. We, as the brothers and sisters 
of these two ladies, get to participate, we get to watch, and hopefully 
our hearts are encouraged as we see God's handiwork in the 
salvation of these ladies. But it's for them. It is for 
them as a reminder of God's grace, of God's mercy. Our confession 
says, baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained 
by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, 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. For both Ashley and Melanie, 
This is a time for you, by the grace of God, to live and walk 
in newness of life. Paul's point, Romans 6, think 
back to that death, burial, and resurrection. When you think 
back to that death, burial, and resurrection, therefore, no longer 
let your instruments or no longer present your instruments or your 
members as instruments of unrighteousness. In other words, pondering God's 
converting hand in your life, pondering the visible representation 
of that in baptism, don't go out and sin. It should be an 
argument for holiness, for you, henceforth. And then finally, 
with reference to the power of the gospel, it comes to the poor, 
for sure, but it comes to the well-off. A few years ago, it 
seemed to me that the churches were playing this game of, you 
know, our centers are more important than your centers. We live in 
the most unchurched city ever, and we're going after, you know, 
these 19-year-old guys that only ever want to play video games. 
Well, what was sort of the idea that, you know, your garden variety 
centers aren't as special as ours? God's gospel is for sinners 
of every stripe. Black sinners, white sinners, 
Canadian sinners, African sinners, American sinners, I know, even 
American sinners. God's grace is powerful. Rich 
sinners, poor sinners, old sinners, young sinners, it's a glorious 
thing. Every tribe, every tongue, every 
people, every nation. Not many wise, not many noble, 
but some. Some wise, some noble. We can't 
exclude any people group from the reach of God's sovereign 
grace. We preach the gospel indiscriminately to all sinners everywhere, telling 
them the good news that Christ Jesus lived. Christ Jesus died. Christ Jesus was raised the third 
day. And if you believe on Him, you will be saved. That's what 
the book of Acts sets forth before us. That's what the book of Acts 
demonstrates from beginning to end. All of them preached Jesus. All of them trusted God. All 
of them saw the power of the Holy Spirit in taking dead sinners 
and making them alive. If you're a dead sinner today, 
look on to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for 
this account of the conversion and the baptism of this eunuch. 
Thank you for the occasion that brings us together, the Sabbath 
observance, of course, our church worship service unto you. and 
also this baptism of these two ladies. We pray that you would 
encourage their hearts, that you would strengthen them with 
might in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell richly in their 
hearts through faith. And God, for any and all who 
have not come to the Lord Jesus, we pray that today would be the 
day of salvation, that you by grace would bring them forth 
to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. 
And we pray in his most blessed name, amen.