Please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter eight this morning, we'll look at the conversion and the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter eight verses twenty six to forty. Hopefully a familiar passage of Scripture, one that you all are aware of, one that should hopefully remind us of the gladness and the praise and the wonder of baptism and the salvation that Jesus has wrought. this glorious day. Well, I'll just pick up reading in Acts 8 at verse 26, and then we'll read to the end of the chapter.
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?
Philip Preaches Jesus
Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him.
The Ethiopian Converted and Baptized
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 a Zotus and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. Amen. Well, let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Opening Prayer
Our father, we come now to consider the Holy Scriptures and we confess that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. We stand in utter dependence upon the spirit of the living God. And we pray that you would send him forth powerfully even now to take the word of God and to make it alive in our hearts and in our minds. We thank you on this glad day, Father, for these eight people that want to publicly identify with our Lord Jesus in baptism.
We thank you for your grace and for your sovereignty. We thank you for your so great a salvation. We attribute nothing in terms of salvation to these eight. We attribute all the praise and all the glory to our triune God.
How we thank you that Jehovah saves. How we thank you that Christ came into this world to live and to die and to rise again. And certainly he is the reason that we gather together for this occasion. We just pray now that you would forgive us for all of our sins and cleanse us afresh in the blood of Christ and help us to think your thoughts after you.
And we ask in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as Pastor Cam said, I want to welcome everybody today to join us in this baptismal service. We have eight people that are going to go into the water today. Those people are Jonathan Hall, Mark Van Der Veen, Ellie Neils, Daniel Slootweg, Melissa Kroll, Mike Kroll, Tamara Kroll, and Hans Kroll. So, certainly it is a day of great rejoicing for us at the Free Grace Baptist Church.
Again, not in these people so much as in their Savior. We attribute all of the saving efficacy in redemption to the Lord of Glory. We don't look to these men or these women and say, well, you've made a good decision or you've operated well, you've done good works. No, we see God's handiwork.
We see God's mercy. In fact, when they go into that water and come out, it's almost like this is a trophy case, a display case where God is displaying His grace and His mercy in the saving of sinners. Well, for those of you who are not strangers to Christian theology, you will realize that baptism is a doctrine that has been debated over the centuries, and it probably will continue to be debated. I'm not against debating the doctrine of baptism, but I'm also for celebrating the doctrine, and that's what we're going to do today.
We're not going to engage in any polemics or any any. Why we do what is what we do is right. All that sort of thing. We want to celebrate today in the handiwork of our God in the saving of these centers.
Overview of Three Main Sections
Well, as we look at Acts chapter eight, the section of the narrative breaks down the three three main sections. The first is the Holy Spirit calls for his lack versus twenty six to thirty. I think we learn a theological truth here, one that I've already alluded to, that the sovereignty of God is absolutely crucial in the manner of salvation. This Ethiopian eunuch didn't just make a good decision for Jesus.
God, the Spirit, directed Philip to call this man out of darkness into marvelous light. Secondly, we see the Ethiopian pointed to Christ in verses 31 to 35. And the truth I see highlighted there is the necessity of the Christian gospel. You must hear the truth of the gospel in order to be saved.
God displays himself in creation. In fact, the psalmist says that the heavens declare the glory of God. Each and every time you look out at this created world, you see God's handiwork and his majesty. But that information in and of itself does not save you from your sins.
You must hear the gospel. You must hear the good news. In this particular occasion, Philip preaches Jesus from the prophet Isaiah. That's what the gospel is all about.
It's about Christ in his person and in his work. And then the third thing we see in the narrative is the Ethiopian converted and baptized in verses thirty six. Here I see the response of man to the gospel. It is true God is sovereign.
It is true that Christ alone saves sinners. It is true that God must grant the gifts of faith and repentance. It's also true that you as a sinner must believe. You must close with Christ.
You must venture on Him, venture holy. You must see Him as the only one who can save you from your sins. yourself at his feet for his mercy. So, those three lessons are taught here in Acts chapter 8.
The Holy Spirit Calls His Elect
Let's pick up the first one and the Holy Spirit calls for his elect. Notice 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. Philip was one of the men selected in Acts chapter 6. We might call him a deacon.
Though the word is not used, I believe that's the idea. See, in Acts chapter 6, there was a problem. Some widows were being neglected with reference to being served food. And the apostle said, it is not good for us to neglect the word of God in prayer in order to serve these widows.
They weren't saying it's wrong to serve widows, but what they were saying is that their primary responsibility was to give their attention to the study of the Word of God, to preaching it, and to praying. So they select these seven men in whom the Holy Spirit was, men of wisdom, and Philip was one of those men. And at the end of Acts chapter 6 and 7, we see Philip go to Samaria and he preaches the gospel and God is using him and blessing him. And after he is done in Samaria, he goes back to Jerusalem.
And so the angel then commands him to go to Gaza. Remember, Gaza was a place where the Philistines lived. Philip goes in obedience to his Lord. And then notice he identifies or
The Ethiopian's Condition and Inclusion
notice that the narrative identifies this man, the Ethiopian verse twenty seven. 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. He had come from Jerusalem. He was one who wanted to learn about the God of Israel.
But you see, this man had a couple of strikes against him. He had a couple of issues with reference to being able to approach God fully. See, the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 23, said that a eunuch could not enter into the assembly of the Lord. A eunuch could not enter into the assembly of the Lord.
Plus, this man was an Ethiopian, which meant that he was a Gentile. They couldn't enter into the very inner court of the house of God either. They could proselytize, they could come in among the people of God and gain some benefit, but they could never fully enter in. And, brethren, I think what Luke is doing here is showing us something about Jesus' reign, about the gospel era, about the fact that he is including now eunuchs and non-Jews.
He is including men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. That's one of the biblical theological themes going on here in Acts 8. It's all about inclusion. It's all about sinners from every place coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
And so this man, he has two strikes, but we might even add a third strike. It's not only an Ethiopian. He's not only a eunuch, but he's a sinner. And you may find yourself here today.
You're probably not an Ethiopian and you're probably not a eunuch. So those similarities aren't in common with this particular man. But where you find solidarity with this man is in the fact that you're a rebel against God. That's the great leveling.
There is not a one of us in this place who has escaped the taint of sin. The scripture says that all we like sheep have gone astray. We have all sought our own way. There is no fear of God before our eyes.
So you're not an Ethiopian. You're not a unit, but you are a sinner. And you need to hear what Peter or Philip rather says to this particular man. The spirit commands Philip to join with this Ethiopian.
And as he approaches him, he hears him reading the prophet Isaiah. It's common to read out loud in those particular days. And that brings us to the second consideration.
The Ethiopian Pointed to Christ
The Ethiopian pointed to Christ versus thirty one to thirty five. Notice the evangelist's question in verse 30.
The Necessity of Understanding the Gospel
Do you understand what you are reading? It's not good. We need to stop there for just a moment. I don't think we all understand the gospel.
That's my conviction. Having been a Christian for some years and serving Christ in the pastoral ministry, meeting people, I'm not always convinced that those who profess Christ even understand the gospel of Christ. Some people think we need Jesus to help us into heaven. Some people think we need moral reform.
We just need to do better things. We just need to avoid certain places. We just need to surround ourselves with better people. We just need to go to church.
We just need to read our Bibles. No, we need to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. The longer I live and move and have my great being, the more I am convinced it is all of Christ. Now, we all say that.
I said that when I was first converted. The longer you live the Christian life, I hope the more you'll recognize it's about Jesus. And this man has the wherewithal to invade the eunuch's face and said, do you understand what you're reading? And I love the eunuch's response.
He's not proud like us. If somebody were to ask you, do you understand the Bible that you're reading? Do you understand the sermons that you're hearing? What's one of the natural responses to get defensive?
Well, of course, I understand. I went to Sunday school. Of course, I understand. I go to catechism.
Of course, I understand. I go to church. Look at what the eunuch says here in verse 31. He said, How can I, unless someone guides me?
I need to be shown these things. I need to understand. See, humility comes and he doesn't give a rip at this point about appearances. He doesn't care to look like he's some polished guy that has it all figured out and everything is in order.
I suspect that's true of some of us here. We like to appear that we have it all in order. We like to appear that everything is well with us. Somebody would ask us, of course we understand.
Of course I know, of course. We almost get offended if somebody were to ask us, is it well with your soul? He says, how can I, unless someone guides me? It's got a humble honesty there.
A humble honesty. You have a humble honesty. You see yourself as this man. The fact that he's reading Isaiah 53 makes me believe that he was familiar with Isaiah 56.
Isaiah 56 is where God, through the prophet, says that the eunuchs will be brought in. This man's a eunuch. He's been able to at least observe externally Israel's God. Perhaps while he was in Jerusalem, he heard something about this Jesus as he's writing back home to serve Candace, which wasn't a proper name.
It was like Pharaoh or Caesar, the queen of Ethiopia, as he's writing back, he's earnest about his soul. He actually cares. Again, I think this is something we can learn from today. There is such an indifference in the world today about matters of eternity.
Ask somebody where they're going to get a job or where they're going to go to school or what they're going to have for dinner. And they're in deadly earnest. Some people plan out their lives to the minutest detail. And then when I'm fifty five, I'll do this and all that.
What about eternity when you fly into heaven and you meet the triune God who is holy, holy, holy? What will it be then? Well, I'll think about that another time. Can I just encourage you to learn something of deadly earnestness?
Your soul is the most important thing here today. Well, God's the most important Christ and his gospel are more important. But in terms of you and your relationship to the Lord, doesn't matter where you're going to work, doesn't matter where you're going to go to school. It matters what you think of Jesus Christ.
You may have come here with a curiosity just to watch people get baptized in a way that's a bit different than you're used to. You need to leave with more than a curiosity satisfied, you need to leave confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Whether you ever enter into that same pool or not, you need to come to the Redeemer for sinners. I love this.
How can I unless someone guides me? He asks Philip to come up and sit with him. Calvin contrasts the Ethiopians modesty, and he says in that he acknowledges his ignorance freely and frankly. He contrasts that modesty with one who is swollen headed with confidence in his own abilities.
Calvin says that is why the reading of Scriptures bears fruit with such a few people today, because scarcely one in a hundred is to be found who gladly submits himself to its teaching. I've met people before and tried to give them a Bible. I've got five Bibles. Do you read any of them?
It's going to be worse to go to hell with five Bibles on your shelf than no Bibles on your shelf. If you have one Bible, read it, learn it, study it. Seek out exposition of Scripture. You shouldn't want a preacher just to share his heart.
You should want a preacher who is going to open up the Scriptures by the power of the Spirit to show you the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. That's the crying need for our particular day. And then notice the place in the scripture, verse 32, which he read was this. And it's Isaiah 53, 7 and 8.
God is sovereign, brethren. What better place could a man be reading than this for Philip to come and hear him? I mean, you're all familiar to some degree with the scriptures. Isaiah, we could almost call him Isaiah, the apostle.
We could almost call his prophecy a gospel account, because in Isaiah 53, several hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, Isaiah preached substitutionary atonement. Isaiah preached one who would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He preached one upon whom we wouldn't cast our eyes and say what a glorious looking being he is. He has no form that we should be taken in with him.
He has no grandeur or majesty that we should all just surround him. He's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isaiah spoke these things, as I said, several hundred years before the coming of the Lord Jesus. So you gotta get the picture.
The eunuch is reading here. The eunuch is stirred up. The eunuch wants to seek after God. The eunuch has the Bible in his lap.
And the eunuch says, who's he talking about? This is most important. This was a man of great authority over a very kingdom. You know, sometimes we meet people.
I'm just so busy. I don't have time for religion. I'm so busy. I don't have time for that Bible.
I'm so busy. I don't have time to come to a Bible study. Oh, and this man who had this authority over a kingdom wasn't busy. He didn't have other pressing issues.
He didn't have other. I mean, if this guy was alive today, he would have had the Blackberry. He would have had the email going on, he would have been checking things, he would have been orchestrating things, he would have had a day timer, a calendar, he would have had a secretary, all these things, all this press upon him. And yet what's most important with the prophet Isaiah and who's he talking about?
That's what he says. Notice verse 34. So the eunuch answered him and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of some other man?
I want to know who this figure in Isaiah 53 is.
Isaiah 53 and Substitutionary Atonement
We turn back there for just a moment and we'll rehearse a few particulars about this servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53. Who has believed our report, verse one, and to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or homeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. It's not exactly what we find when we turn to the gospel accounts.
Not exactly the call that Jesus makes upon the man, the would-be follower. Jesus said, you know, the foxes have their holes and the birds of the air have their nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. John, in introducing him to us in John chapter one, having stated the fact that Jesus is very God, he says that he came to his own and his own received him not. He goes on in verse four.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed and stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. You see, that's most important in the chapter there. It's not as cruel treatment at the hands of men.
And I encourage you to study the latter portions of the gospel accounts. It's not necessarily the cruel treatment at the hands of men. It is the wrath and fury of almighty God. When Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane and he cries out to his father, take this cup from me.
It's not talking about the pain and infliction of punishment that he'll get from the hands of ungodly men. He's talking about the wrath and fury of his father, that cup that he would willingly drink on behalf of all those whom the father had given him. You see, the eunuch is reading this and he's scratching his head and he's wondering, is this Isaiah? Is this some contemporary of Isaiah?
Because the eunuch realizes that this man bore our griefs. This man carries our sorrows. We are steamed and stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions.
You see, the eunuch is thinking in the right spot here. He was wounded, not so that we'd be more handsome, not so that we would be more accommodated to society, or we'd have a better financial package. He was wounded for our transgressions. There is a strain of teaching out there under the name of Christianity, which says something like, come to Jesus and your life will get better.
Come to Jesus and you'll get more cars, or you'll get more houses, or you'll get more money. Come to Jesus or you'll get more comfort. That's not what the eunuch was looking for. In fact, the eunuch had all that.
He had a sin problem that he was keenly aware of. He goes on in verse five. 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 everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 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.
He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people, he was stricken.
You see why the eunuch now says to Philip, who's he talking about? Who's in view here? Have you come to that place? You're keenly aware of your sin doesn't mean because you've spent three years agonizing, but someone has said the Bible says you're a sinner.
You've known something of that sin, something of that transgression and iniquity, and you need a place to dump it. You need a place to unload it. You need a place to rid yourself of it. That's what the eunuchs say.
Who's he talking about? Notice Isaiah 53, verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. This is literally it.
Please, God, the father to bruise God, the son. The N.A.S. translates it. It pleased the Lord to crush him. You see what the eunuchs say, what what is the what is the rationale behind this whole transaction?
What's going on here in the prophet? He has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
That brings us back to consider in Acts 8 this eunuch's mindset. He's concerned about his sin. And notice the response of Philip. Acts chapter 8, verse 35.
Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him. You want the rationale behind this eunuch. Here it is. All we like sheep have gone astray.
Isaiah 56 or 53 6. That means you include it. We have all sinned against the Holy God. There is not a one of us who can claim goodness or rightness.
There is not a one of us who have performed according to the law of God. And as a result, God the Father sent God the Son, and God the Son came on a very specific mission. Theologians like to call this mission the covenant of grace. I don't know if Philip said that, but we can surmise that he said something to this effect.
From this scripture, he preached Jesus. He was wounded for our transgressions. The Lord has laid upon him the chastisement for our peace. In other words, the evangelist here is describing and in preaching Jesus, he is talking to him about substitutionary atonement.
That's the glory of the gospel message. God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That's the essence of the Christian message, not you need to perform better. You need to do more.
You need to believe this gospel. That's it. Yeah, you need to believe the gospel. You see, from this scripture, he preached the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ to this particular man.
He told him about his perfect life. He told him about his curse bearing death at Calvary. He told him about the empty tomb, the fact that he is risen, the fact that he ascended on high, the fact that he is exalted at the right hand of God most high and that that Ethiopian eunuch right now could believe that gospel and be saved. That's what Philip said to him.
You say, well, how do you know that? Because it just says he preached Jesus. When you compare the rest of the Bible, that's what preaching Jesus is all about. Preaching Jesus, again, is not self-help.
It's not moral reform. It is about the work, the life, the death, the resurrection of Christ. Go to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1 to 4, where Paul gives you a wonderful summary statement concerning the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ. He says, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believe in vain.
For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. That's what preaching Jesus is all about. Trace through the book of Acts, preaching Jesus meant telling sinners about the gospel, telling sinners about Jesus like death and resurrection, and then calling them to believe that message. The gospel isn't even God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
The gospel is about Jesus death and resurrection. And the truth is that if you believe that gospel, you will be saved. That's what Philip did on this particular day in Acts chapter eight in a larger fulfillment of God's word to save Gentiles, to save units under the glorious Redeemer King, Jesus Christ. And that brings us to consider finally His response to this notice verse thirty six.
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? So this preaching of Jesus obviously involves something about baptism because the Ethiopian eunuch initiates this. He asks about baptism and his question is framed correctly.
What hinders me? There's an implication that there are things that do hinder you. You shouldn't be baptized if you don't believe the gospel, which Philip will make clear in just a moment. You shouldn't be baptized if you think that water is magic.
If you think that water conveys some power or if the water itself is the agent to regenerate you, that should hinder you. If you have an incorrect understanding of the symbolism of baptism, you should study it before you engage in it. There are things that ought to hinder a man. A man who's living in open, ungodly, unrighteous sin gives evidence that he is not a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a result, this should hinder him. Right. So, the Ethiopian eunuch asks the question, and notice what Philip says, verse 37. If you believe with all your heart, you may.
If you have an NIV or an ESV, that is in your margin. If you believe with all your heart, you may. Isn't that a beautiful statement, too? We often make this big disconnect between the head and the heart.
You know, with the head, we believe, and with the heart, we just sort of love. You believe with your heart. The intellectual ability of the heart is to believe the gospel concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord. And this is what Philip says to him.
If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. A wonderful declaration. Prior to these brethren going into the water, they have either met with myself or Pastor Cam or with both of us together.
And we have, in essence, asked them this particular question. If you believe with all your heart, you may. And they have answered that in the affirmative. I will rehearse that with them in the water as a public testimony and as a public declaration.
But they, like this Ethiopian eunuch, don't just participate because everybody's doing it. They don't just do it because that's what people should do. They don't do it as some form of ritual or some form of rote. They don't do it as a ceremony that is meaningless.
They do it consciously. They do it as confessors of faith in Jesus Christ. They do it as those who have seen their transgression. They have seen their sin.
They have seen their iniquity. And they have seen a redeemer. That is the basis upon which men, women, boys and girls ought to be baptized. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
He maybe didn't believe, he didn't probably know all the intricacies that would be hammered out in later confessions and creeds and the doctrines of the church and all those things. But this much this man knew. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Is that beautiful?
Is that glorious? And notice the immediacy of it all. The immediacy of it all. This man was going to go to hell.
Oh, yes, he had an interest in the God of Israel, but an interest in the God of Israel does not save a sinner. You must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. So he's on his way to hell. Philip comes, opens the scripture, preaches Jesus to him.
He believes it and he's baptized. One man is well observed. The altar call, which is often used in Arminian churches and easy believism circles. The altar call where sinners are called forth to make a profession or to sign a card or to perhaps raise a hand or pray a prayer.
One man as well said that's not in the New Testament. What is in the New Testament is that sinners believe the gospel and they come and get baptized. It's beautiful. Glorious, it's wondrous.
It is an awesome reflection of what Tam read in Acts 2. They that gladly receive the word are baptized. This does not minimize the sovereignty of God. In fact, it underscores it because the Lord added to the church.
The only ones who believe this gospel, the only ones who lay hold of Christ are those who, by the grace of God, do so. Well, brethren, that is a brief exposition.
Application
We'll close with just a couple lessons and then we'll get these brethren up here and baptize them. I believe one of the first things we ought to observe about this encounter is that it demonstrates the Great Commission. So we're going to teach a little bit here. Remember the book of Matthew ends with that Great Commission.
Jesus said all authority and having it on Earth has been given unto me. That's the foundation upon which the commission stands. He has all authority. We like to think we have authority in our lives.
We like to think that we call the shots. We like to think that we're the captain of our own faith. Not so. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.
Based on that assertion, Jesus says, go, therefore, and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded. And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We get to the book of Acts, and you know what we see? Obedient Christians.
Praise God, he didn't just give that commission to our generation because we want to parse and argue over the verb go. Jesus says go. We want to say, oh, what do you mean by that, Lord? You mean I got to leave all my stuff?
Go. Jesus says, go talk to your neighbor. I don't know, Lord, I had a tough time with that. Go.
Well, they actually went, thankfully. And so the book of Acts records that. And as we said, this Ethiopian eunuch, who was a man who was a far off, has brought nine out through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Psalms are being fulfilled.
When you read the name Kush in the Psalter and in Isaiah chapter 11, that refers to Ethiopia. Luke is a theologian. He is showing us something of redemptive truth. He is showing us that Jesus is on his throne.
Jesus is building his church. Jesus is taking Ethiopian men and bringing them under his sway, under his rule and under his authority through the preaching of the gospel. The messianic age has come. One commentator says the house of prayer for all nations, which is referenced in Isaiah 56 in connection with the eunuchs coming in.
He says the house of prayer for all nations was not the product of Herod's construction in Jerusalem. He's talking about the temple that was still standing as this man was converted to Christ. So the house of prayer for all nations was not the product of Herod's construction in Jerusalem. It was located, among other places, at a wadi or a brook or a river beside 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.
Praise God for the unity of the Bible. This man is the first proof he would go back to Ethiopia with this message in his heart. We see when he leaves here, he is rejoicing. The baptismal service ought to be a time of celebration and rejoicing.
These eight brethren ought to skip their way out of here, singing praises to the God of heaven who has saved them from their sins. That is one of the most blessed things in the world, to publicly identify with the triune God, to be buried with Christ in the water of baptism, to be raised anew and to be committed to walk in newness of life. There is no greater testimony on the face of this earth. Marriage is great.
Getting wed together before God and witnesses is great. There's something about being wed to Christ through baptism. It's glorious. Spurgeon would refer to his baptistry or the baptismal pool.
Blessed, blessed pool. I hope you, brethren, think of it that way today. Blessed pool. We learn something as well with reference to evangelism.
For those of us who are Christians here, we need to be more like Philip. Now, I realize Philip was uniquely gifted, Philip was uniquely set apart, Philip was used by God, who is sovereign. You may not be called the full-time vocational preaching or teaching. You may not go to Vancouver or China.
You may not, you know, stop your vocation now and choose something else. There ought to be a degree of Philip in each and every one of us. Remember that man in John 9 who had been healed by Jesus? And he begins to be berated by the Pharisees and the scribes because they want to they want to make up.
They want to show Jesus as a fraud or as a fake or whatever. And they keep disputing with this particular man. Finally, the man says, I this is the vernacular. This is a bit of a free translation.
He said, I don't know what you're all on about this thing. I know I was blind and now I see. So what the essence of the gospel is, I was blind in my sin. I was dead in my transgression.
I loved sin. I loved hell. I loved Satan. I loved all the things that this world had to offer.
The passing pleasures of sin only had to do that. And I was right there on it. I broke every one of the Ten Commandments. But this much I know.
God saved me. God opened my eyes. God opened my heart. God caused me to see this Jesus of Isaiah 53.
God enabled me by his grace to cast my soul upon him. We all need to be more like Philip. We need to know the Bible. It's shameful the amount of biblical illiteracy among God's people today.
We can talk about the Knox, we can talk about the stock market, we can talk about anything and everything with a great degree of certainty and objectivity, but we get to the Bible and we're scratching our heads. I think it's somewhere in there. Do you realize the assault on the Christian faith going on in your generation? Do you realize the place you have in this world?
If you, by the grace of God, have His Spirit in you and you have His Word, you ought to be equipped. You want to take the scriptures. You want to think God's thoughts after him. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 16.
We have the mind of Christ. Christ doesn't think sloppy. Christ doesn't think fuzzy. Christ doesn't scratch his head and say, I think the Bible says this.
Christ knows his word and Christ's people best serve him when they with their heart believe in him and they understand his truth. One man is well said that if God has decreed happier days for us and if we may expect a world shaking and genuine spiritual awakening, I'm specifically pointing this out. I know there are many of you from other churches here. I personally could care less if you say, wow, those reform Baptist.
That's not the point. Take this in your heart. Pray for this in your churches. Let's fight the common enemy, which is Satan.
Let's fight the common enemy, which is hell. Christians spend a lot of time fighting each other. Let's join arms in sound doctrine, not some ecumenical garbage, but in the truth of Reformed theology and step forth in faith to shape the kingdoms of this world. Gordon Clark, 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.
It's not enough just to say, wow, I want the masses to be saved. He says, 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 knowledge of God's Word.
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. We need a return to the truth of Holy Scripture, of the gospel of free and sovereign grace. That's what we need. That's how I hope you pray.
That's how I hope you pray each and every day. God, cause your word to run swiftly and be glorified. That ought to be the prayer of God's people. And then finally, we learn something here of the doctrine of salvation.
You remember Paul in first Corinthians when he's highlighting the foolishness of the cross, he says, not many wise, not many noble are called. Right. Not many wise and not many noble, but some are. This is a wise and a noble man.
Matthew Henry comments, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but some are. That's what we find here. The gospel is to go everywhere. There's sort of this mindset that I've seen in evangelical Christianity today, almost like our centers are better than your centers.
Right. Unless you're really just pulling the people off the streets and getting them converted. Well, it's just not as good. Any sinner saved by God's grace is a miraculous testimony to his power and glory.
I love the diversity that's going into this tank today. I love the diversity in the way that God conquers souls. Notice salvation comes to men in crisis and men not in crisis. You don't have a crisis conversion.
One of the young fellows getting baptized today had known him since he was four. When I met with him, he said, you know, I can't remember. There wasn't a crisis conversion. He believed the gospel.
That's OK. You don't have to have some story that parallels Paul. You don't have to have an Isaac prophecy. You don't have to be wafted into the throne room of God.
You have to believe the gospel. Comes to men in crisis and men not in crisis. It comes at God's sovereign bidding. It comes by the word of God.
So I ask each one of you here today, do you understand this gospel? Do you understand the truth as it is in Jesus? And if the answer is yes, then I ask you, have you believed it? Have you believed this truth?
And if you say no, why not? What is there about this Jesus that you don't want? What is there about this Jesus that keeps you at bay? This Jesus says all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me.
I will certainly not cast out. See, he affirms sovereignty and he affirms the reality that when men comes, he won't cast them out. Don't leave here saying, well, I don't know if I'm predestined. I don't know if I'm elect.
I don't know if God has done a work in me. The idea is simple. Believe the truth. Believe the truth of the gospel and you will be saved.
That's what the Bible says. That's what the Bible says. Well, let us pray. And I'll ask the brethren to come up and we'll baptize.
Father, we thank you for the word of God and we thank you for the faith as it is in Jesus Christ. We know and confess that it's because of him and him only that we gather here on this day. And we would pray, God most high, that your spirit would be at work in our hearts, that we would wrestle with these truths and that we would believe concerning Christ. And Father, we just commit these eight souls to your care.
We ask that you would just bless them and cause them to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray in his name. Amen. Well, if the ladies will come up here, they have a room there to get changed in and then the men know where they're supposed to go and then just gather back into my office.
And Pastor Cam will come up and lead in a couple of songs while we change. They're preparing for the baptisms. We can sing a couple hymns. So please turn to 675 and you can stay seated. you.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord, A wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, Where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He is made with my word and my way. He moldeth me up, and I shall not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. He bindeth my soul in the cleft of the rock.
That shadows a dry, thirsting hand. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, And covers me there with His hand. And he offers me there with his hand. With numberless blessings each bow he crowns, And filled with a coldness divine.
I sing in my rapture, O glory to God, for such a Redeemer as mine. He hideth my soul in the path of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my light in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand. Enclosed in His brightness transported I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky.
This perfect salvation, this wonderful love, I'll shout with the millions of lives. Behind it, my soul, in the cleft of the rock, that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand. You may remain seated and you can turn in your hymn books to 599. 599 and we'll sing that hymn also together.
The sands of time are sleeping, the dawn of heaven breaks, The summer morn I've sighed for, the fair sweet morn awaits. Dark, dark, happy the midnight, but day's spring is at hand. and glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. A king there in his beauty without a veil is seen, It were a well-spent journey, those seven deaths lay between. The Lamb with His spare army Doth on Mount Zion stand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's hand.
O Christ, He is the fountain, the deep sweet well of love. As streams on earth I've tasted, more deep I'll drink of love. There to an ocean's fullness His mercy doth expand, And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. A bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face.
I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace. Not at the crown He gifted, but on His pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory, of Emmanuel's Lamb. Amen.
Usually we invite the children to come up and to sit down up here if they'd like to come up and get a better view, because basically baptism is that. It's a picture, a picture of what God does inwardly in terms of saving a sinner. Baptism communicates that verbally or externally. And it is a time to rejoice, a time to celebrate, and a time to actually see what's going on.
There's nothing odd or nothing mysterious. We welcome anybody and everybody to witness this glad occasion.
Confession Study
I do want to read a section out of our Confession of Faith. It's our church doctrinal standard. It's the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. I believe it highlights or gathers together the scriptural teaching on baptism very effectively says
Reading of 1689 LBCF on Baptism
baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be on to the party baptized important. If you remember in the narrative there in Acts 8. They weren't in a church. They weren't.
He still didn't say we gotta wait till we get to the church in Jerusalem. It is primarily an ordinance for the party who is being baptized. It's for the person themselves in the sight of God. Now there's a blessing and a corollary to that.
We do it in the church so everybody can witness along with it. But it is 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. It says, those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. Again, we saw that if you believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God.
The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. So that's just a good summary statement of what the Bible says concerning baptism.
Baptismal Service
I'll invite Jonathan Hall first. And I give them the opportunity to make a public statement themselves. Sometimes people aren't always free to speak publicly. So I have a series of questions that I asked five questions just to get their public confession of faith.
And I always like to say a little bit about the person themselves. And as I've come to know, the person is being baptized. As I said, I've known Jonathan since he was four. Thanks.
I'm confirming with him. And it's just been a blessing to me to see him grow up in our church. He's an active servant of Christ in our church in terms of all the computer stuff and web stuff and all of that. But that's not what qualifies him to be baptized.
It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we give God thanks and we give him praise and glory that he is working through the regular use of the means through preaching, through family worship, through all those means that we sometimes think, is God really in this? God really is in it. Jonathan, do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
Yes. Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve His punishment for your sins? Yes. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners, and rose on the third day?
Yes. Do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins? Yes. And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ?
Yes. Hold your notes. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Give me your hand.
Give me your hand. OK, Mark. I've come to know Mark very keenly because he asked my second oldest daughter to marry him. And this is a double blessing for me.
It's been an encouragement to get to know Mark. He is in many respects the exact guy. Well, he is the guy we prayed for for our daughter, Brittany. And he has confessed his faith in Jesus Christ.
And that's First and foremost, if anybody wants my daughters, they gotta confess and profess faith in Jesus Christ. So it's a great blessing today to be able to witness this and to see our young brother here identifying with the Lord. Do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Yes.
Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve His punishment for your sins? Yes. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners and rose on the third day? Yes.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins? Yes. And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ? Yes.
I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Be careful. Just within the last few months we've gotten to know Daniel and Ellie. And when Pastor Cam and I first met with them and we asked Ellie about her conversion there was some unction there.
Great earnestness to own Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And that just delights my heart to see that conviction and to see that willingness to identify with the Lord. She has a good testimony of how God brought her to know his dear son. Do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve his punishment for your sins? Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners and rose on the third day? And do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins? And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ?
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is Daniel. He is engaged to be married to Ellie. And it was, again, a great encouragement to talk with him the other day and to ask him some very pointed questions.
And he actually does want to say a few things. So. As I grew up, I went to church faithfully and hardened my heart. until I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Mexico when I was 15. I got home and was on a spiritual high, but lost all God in my life and didn't pursue Christian accompaniment.
I went downhill quickly and found myself depressed and suicidal and turned to secret sin, which I struggled with for years. But God found me and saved me from my sins. I don't have a big conversion story, but all I know is that it happened in September I had to reach the lowest point of my life before God would lift me up. My verse of comfort is, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for God is with me.
Throughout His death, they comforted me. I would like to thank key people God used to help me get to where I am today, and praise God for adopting me and leading me to Himself. Amen. You believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins?
Yes. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you. Another couple that has come to us are Mike and Melissa Kroll, especially known Melissa's parents for several years.
So God is sovereign in the way that he operates and brings people together. It's been a great blessing to be able to get to know Mike and Melissa and to hear their conversion and their testimony of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you want to say something? Okay.
Do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Yes. Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve His punishment for your sins? Yes.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners, and rose on the third day? Yes. Do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins? Yes.
And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ? Yes. Amen. I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
And this is Mike Kroll, Melissa's husband, and he also wanted to share a few words. Well, I don't have a great conversion story, nothing spectacular. Someone said I wasn't struck by lightning with ten people witnessing. But there was one thing I can say that changed my heart.
It was a few months ago and there was an obituary in a paper from a 14-year-old boy. And the first line was, so and so has gone to be with the Saviour. And I thought, it wouldn't leave me because I thought if I was to die tomorrow, my obituary wouldn't say that. And that Sunday morning we had a Bible study on justification and I'm sure a lot of good things were said and the only thing I remember is by the grace of God that I'm saved.
It doesn't matter how I grew up, what church I went to, None of that saved me. Sure, they're all a means, but it's His grace alone that I'm saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's why when He baptizes, it's my outward profession of His grace alone. Amen.
I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. While Mike is leaving and Tamara Kroll is coming into the water, I just want to mention one of the things that Mike said when we met with him is that it was the doctrine of justification by faith. That should make us as reformed people very happy. We're often accused of being into dry, dusty orthodoxy.
That is the power of God and the salvation. It is the truth of the gospel. And when sinners hear the truth and believe the truth, we ought to rejoice that God's word is being blessed and being honored in our midst. Hans and Tamara came to us as well recently and it's been a great blessing to get to know them.
I think they're the oldest of the three couples that have come from the Kroll family. We're going to have to work on the rest of the Kroll family, just kidding. But it's just been a real boon to our church to get to know them, to hear their interactions, to see them in Bible study, wanting to learn, wanting to grow, wanting to understand. There's nothing better in my mind than people, young people, that want the Bible.
That's a good thing, and we praise God for that. Do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Yes. Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve His punishment for your sins?
Yes. Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners, and rose on the third day? Yes. And do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins?
And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ? And this is Hans Kroll. He's married to Tamara, the tallest of the Kroll brothers, and I think the oldest of them as well. And again, just a great encouragement to see a seriousness with reference to the scriptures and a desire to know the truth and serve the Lord God of truth.
Do you believe there is one true and living God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Yes. Do you believe that you have sinned against God and justly deserve his punishment for your sins? Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived in obedience to God's law, died as a sacrifice and substitute for sinners, and rose on the third day?
And do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins? And do you commit to walk in obedience to God through faith in Jesus Christ? Amen. I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Closing Prayer
Well, we'll thank God in prayer, and then we'll close by singing the doxology. I do want to point out those last two questions. There is a specific order there. Do you believe in Jesus Christ alone to save you from your sins?
It's justification. That last question, do you commit to walk in obedience to God? through faith in Jesus Christ, that's sanctification. And we as the church need to help and encourage them in that particular walk in obedience. And they, likewise, are to help in the life and context of the local church.
So all of us have mutual responsibilities, one to another, to these newly baptized brethren of our local church. Well, let us pray. And then, as I said, we'll close singing the doxology. Our Father, we return thankfulness and praise and glory unto you.
God, what a great testimony to your converting power and to the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How we thank you that he came into this world to die for sinners and to rise again. How we thank you that by your grace, believers receive the forgiveness of sins. And we ask now that you would go with us, that you would watch over us, that you would bless us. as a local church, that you would fortify and strengthen this body, and that you would bless these new converts to the Lord Jesus and cause them to walk in obedience unto the Lord.
We pray now that you would go with each one here. We pray that you'd bless our time together as we eat, as we fellowship. We thank you for providing these good gifts to us, and we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Well, why don't we stand and sing the doxology together? Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him above, ye earthly foes. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts.
His Father is high and holy, God is one.