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welcome to everyone for our call to worship this morning you can turn in your Bibles to Isaiah the prophet chapter 56 Isaiah chap 56 welcome to the free Grace Baptist Church if you're visiting with us this morning we are thankful for your presence we have a baptism the baptism of Abigail stale uh star so we're very encouraged by that and as I said I want to read Isaiah 56 specifically veres 1 to8 thus says the Lord keep Justice and do righteousness for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil do not let the son of the Foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak saying the Lord is utterly separated me from his people nor let the unic say here I am a dry tree for thus says the Lord to the unic who keep my sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my Covenant even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than of Sons and Daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off also the sons of the Foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to the and to love the name of the Lord to be his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my Covenant even them I will bring to my Holy Mountain and make them joyful In My House of Prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my Altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him amen we'll please turn in your Trinity Himel to number 269 269 we'll stand as we sing together city of our GL sh [Music] all [Music] living etal sons and daughter and all Fe of [Music] see the and for glory and Sh that the Lord is [Music] near [Music] gra will glory [Music] in andure [Music] a couple of things to mention before we go to prayer we can praise God for his mercies and his Graces toward the ditto family it's a blessing to see JL here this morning already just having had brain surgery not even a week ago so God truly has heard the prayers of his people and we bless and praise him for that we can remember to pray for Don newfeld and then as well for Mr van Shake who is presently in the hospital Mrs Van shake phone this morning it looks as if he has some sort of a uh an infection so he has been admitted to chil chilak General so we'll continue or remember to pray for him so let us go to the throne of grace our blessed God and our Holy Father we come to you on this Lord's day and we come into your house and we acknowledge Father Son and Holy Spirit the one true and living God most glorious and most wondrous and most majestic and as everywhere the scripture testifies God is great and greatly to be praised we acknowledge that you are from Everlasting to Everlasting we acknowledge that you made this world and all things in it by the word of your power in the space of six days and all very good we acknowledge as well your Providence where you govern all your creatur creates and all their actions and where you are enthroned on high and you do whatever you please and on the Sabbath day we acknowledge in a special way the work of Redemption how we praise you father for your Sovereign Grace how we praise you that you sent this uh sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world to live and to die and to rise again and we praise you and thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who has called us effectually unto Christ and has shown us our sin and has shown us the necessity for that one who alone can forgive we pray that today all that we do and all that we think and say and the songs that we sing and the prayers that we offer and the word that we rally around would redown to the praise and the glory and the honor of Your Great Name we thank you as well that we not only get to hear the gospel today but in the sacraments in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper we get to see the gospel we get to see those things that you have done inwardly in a physical Manner and we pray that today you would be pleased to bless our gathering together we pray that you would encourage and sanctify your Saints you would build us up in our Most Holy Faith and conform us even more to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray for any and all who have come here this morning that are outside of Christ those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we don't appeal to them and their free will to make good choices we know that being dead they are unable so we appeal to the god of Heaven and Earth that one who has Sovereign strength and power the one whom the Salter says is able to make men willing in the day of his power and we pray to you Lord God most high that through the preaching of your word you would bring the conviction of sin and show Sinners the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 as that one alone who is able to save to the uttermost all draw near to God through him do this for your honor for your praise for your glory and for the good of souls we ask that you would just be pleased to help us all to worship you in spirit and in truth we know the scripture says we come to you in an acceptable manner that acceptable manner is defined by God and we would pray that our hearts would be filled with reverence with fear and with great joy as we celebrate the the the the Redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and transgressions we see your holy law and we see our lack of Conformity and we see our transgression so we confess those sins now trusting in the blood and in the merits and in the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ to wash us and to cleanse us and to purify us we pray our father that you would do this in a in a manner that is consistent with your holy will and that you would indeed cause us to reflect upon these things not just on the Lord's Day but each and every day that forgiveness of sins and that joy of the Lord that is ours we pray for the temporal needs in our church God there are many and we pray specifically for your blessing to be upon Mr van Shake we ask God that you would give great wisdom to his doctors we pray that they would be able to diagnose the problem and that father this brother would get the treatment that he needs and we pray that you would restore him to physical health and strength we pray for both he and M that you would just steady their hearts and give them that peace of Christ that does surpass all understanding and cause them to reflect upon the goodness and the kindness and the mercy of Our Lord even now we pray for Don newfeld we know he has ongoing struggles and we just commit him to you and pray that he would know The Nearness of God is his good that you would strengthen him with might in the inner man that you would cause him to reflect upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ may he find great encouragement from these things and may he be strengthened even spiritually and God we do pray that physically he would be restored to good health and God even as we see JL this morning we see an answer to prayer we have called upon you for many months concerning this little one and God you have indeed done exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think the idea that she's even present this morning is a testimony to the fact that our God hears and our God answers and our God is good to his people may Joe and Carolyn continue to find great comfort and joy in the presence of God and the in the the word of God and may they just indeed testify concerning the goodness of God continue to bless JL and give her strength and health and cause her to thrive and flourish and to grow physically strong and just continue to watch over this little one and one day God in heaven may she indeed make that good confession that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God Almighty we ask that you would be merciful to this nation we know that it is a day and age that does reflect what the prophet Isaiah encountered when he pronounced a woe upon those who call good evil and evil good God if these sins and these crimes grieve our hearts what must it do to the god of Heaven and Earth who is allog together holy we would pray that in your wrath you would remember mercy and we pray that you would send forth your gospel throughout this nation and we pray that you would turn men and women and boys and girls from their useless Idols to the true and the Living God we pray that you would revive your people in your churches and cause us to think your thoughts after you to be a prayerful people and to be a people of the truth of Holy scripture we pray that you would awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins and bring a multitude out of Darkness into Marvelous Light be with the persecuted Church those brothers and sisters that suffer for the cause of God and Truth in other countries we pray that you would surround them and uphold them and encourage their hearts and cause them never to shrink back from declaring the truth even in the midst of Affliction and trial and suffering God give them great grace and the ability to persevere in the midst of such things and may your glorious word run swiftly and be glorified throughout the Earth today may Jesus Christ continue to see the the travail of his soul and be satisfied and we pray in his Most Blessed name amen well please turn with me now in your Trinity Salter that's the red smaller book to number 130 Psalm 130 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] and stand in [Music] my I my soul the Lord my is in this word the for my soul forious shall [Music] all well you can turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 8 acts 8 we'll be considering this morning verses 26 to 40 the conversion of the Ethiopian unic this man whom Philip came to preached the gospel to and whom God saved by his grace and for his glory acts 8 beginning in verse 26 now an angel of the Lord spoke to Phillip 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 unic of great Authority Under Candice 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 Phillip 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 it sheer 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 unic answered philli and said I ask you of whom does 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 unic 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 unic went down into the water and he baptized him now when they came up out of the water the spirit of the lord caught philli away so that the Unix saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing but Philip was found at aotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to cesaria amen let us pray father we thank you for the written word and we pray that you would send now the Holy Spirit as we are are dependent upon Him to guide to lead to instruct to illumin our minds and our hearts as Jesus says in John 15 apart from him we can do nothing we can't understand the word apart from Divine Aid and we would cry out to you now to help us and to encourage our hearts and to strengthen us as we come to this particular passage again do forgive us for all of our sins and all unrighteousness and we pray that your grace would be evident in our minds and hearts we pray PR that your grace would be evident in the salvation of Sinners and we pray that in this you would receive the glory the honor and the praise and we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well Acts chapter 8 is certainly a very wonderful example or picture of God's grace and the salvation of Sinners we never testify and we do not believe that baptism saves people we believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone baptism is the external sign a visible representation of what God has done inwardly so as we Trace through this particular narrative and we see this Ethiopian unic baptized it is a visible expression of what God had done to him inside by his grace and for his glory and the same is true with young Abigail this morning the water doesn't change her the water isn't magical the water isn't special after after we complete the baptism this morning we'll open the faucet and all of that water will run out into the parking lot we once had a young man visit our church and he was a Roman Catholic boy and after the service that was a baptismal service he saw the water in the parking lot and that quite freaked him out he said what's all the holy water doing in the uh in the parking lot there well that's not holy water it's not special there's nothing that's been transformed we don't sprinkle some dust in there and thus invoke God's pres it's just a visible tangible element the way that the bread and the wine are visible tangible elements that represent to us spiritual truths and spiritual realities so I want to emphasize that we believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus now let's look at this conversion of the Ethiopian unic I want to look at three things this morning first the contact with the unic in in veres 26-30 secondly the communication with the unic in veres 31-35 and thirdly the conversion of the unic in verses 36 to 40 now I understand that not all the young people the children will understand what a unic is you can have that conversation over lunch but suffice it to say that in the Old Testament scriptures God forbid Unix from entering into the Assembly of the Lord do Deuteronomy 231 Isaiah 56 which I read at the outset of worship for tells a time when the Unix will no longer be prohibited from entering into the Assembly of the Lord it is quite intriguing that in the book of Acts chapter 8 not only is the unic reading the prophet Isaiah but the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled in the very conversion of this particular unit the Ethiopian Ness of the man is certainly significant but Luke is going to detail Gentile inclusion when he gets to acts 8 something else that is given to us in Isaiah 56 four times however the emphasis in our our text is on the fact that he's a unic again that should recall to our minds that at one time in the old Covenant system Unix were forbidden prohibited from coming into the Assembly of the Lord but through the prophet Isaiah God foretells a time when Unix will be brought nigh and that is the Messianic age and that's what Luke is emphasizing that the dawn of the Messianic Kingdom has come that with the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus his Ascension to the right hand of power on high he is now over all things as the davidic son who is building the house for God and the book of Acts is a record of the Risen or the power rather of the Risen Lord Jesus so that's sort of the context and what's going on in this particular section so of course in verses 26 to30 the angel bids Phillip to meet up with this particular unit uh after a time in Samaria an angel directs Philip toward the south from Jerusalem to Gaza Philip is one of the deacons mentioned in Acts chapter 6 and according to 8:40 he continues to preach and he finally settles in cesaria with his family he is called an evangelist in Acts 218 and an evangelist ultimately is somebody who tells the people the good news concerning Jesus so as we look at our text it says arise go down south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza this is Desert so he arose and be and behold a man of Ethiopia a unic of great Authority Under Candice the queen of the Ethiopians who had charge of all her Treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship was returning so that tells us something about the man that is in view now particularly it was common for Eastern Kings to utilize Unix they weren't a threat to the king's wives they weren't a threat to the persons in the herum KY says it was common until recent times for civil service and household duties under the monarchies of the Middle East to be largely delegated to a class of castrate deliberately groomed for these purposes they were trustworthy men as well we notice that he has great Authority Under candas later in First Corinthians Paul will say not many wise not many noble uh uh not many uh uh gifted ones are called but as Matthew Henry points out some are this man had great Authority operated under Candice which was was probably a title like Pharaoh or like Caesar and she was a queen and had Char and he had charge of her treasury note his spiritual condition it tells us that he had gone to Jerusalem to worship this is most likely to be understood as a God-fearing Gentile there were those Gentiles outside of Israel that were intrigued by the worship of Israel until they were circumcised until they took on all the particular ordinances of the Mosaic law they still stayed outside but nevertheless they could participate in some of those things notice that he is reading the prophet Isaiah very specifically and so then the spirit commands Phillip to run to meet and to contact him now notice secondly the communication with the unic verses 31-35 the Evangelist asks a good question so I think there's something for us to understand in this particular passage Beyond conversion and baptism if we are about winning Souls we ought to model ourselves after an evangelist like Phillip he comes to the man and he asks him if he understands what he reading I think especially in North America there is this assumption that everybody knows the gospel Brethren it's increasingly more of a pagan age where persons do not understand the gospel many have never heard the gospel and in some respects it's looking like a third world country in terms of spirituality it is not as common as it once was for persons to attend church and for persons to understand the message of the Gospel in some senses it's tough to find a good explanation of the Gospel within the professing church you hear all kinds of driil that the gospel is a good thing it makes me happy it's warm it's fuzzy it produces emotivity it is none of those things the gospel is a revealed message concerning the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ now when we believe the gospel by the grace of God there is emotivity when this unic is converted and this un unic is baptized it then indicates that he rejoices but our rejoicing isn't the gospel when somebody says to us what is the gospel it's not my feeling it's not my emotions it's not my well-being it's not my inner peace it is Christ crucified and Christ risen and Christ proclaimed and Christ called uh uh presented to men such that if they believe by the grace of of God they will be saved so Philip doesn't assume he asks the unic do you understand what you're reading now note the unic answers candidly openly and honestly again I think there's a lesson here how many of you have questions you don't understand but you're not going to ask no matter how many times we say you know ask Pastor Porter ask me text me call me write me you know carry your pigeon me visit whatever it is you can ask questions this man is candid and open enough to ask the questions because he knows what's at stake do you understand what's at stake if you don't get the gospel do you understand what's at stake if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus do you understand what's at stake if you die in your sins you go to a christless eternity forever and ever you go to hell the Bible doesn't hide these realities the Bible tells us it's a place of weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth it's a place described as outer Darkness it is a place where God's retributive justice is poured out upon the heads of those who have rebelled against his holy law so if you don't understand ask see the particular of this unic he says very specifically how can I unless someone guides me Calvin has a comment to the fact that men today are so full of Pride they would never admit they don't understand something if if you are so full of Pride that you will not admit that you don't understand something you're going to be a proud sinner ultimately entering into hell if you don't understand ask young people or children if you don't understand ask parents if you don't understand ask the Elders of the church ask men in the church instead of Milling about at the end of the service talking about the weather ask about the sermon ask about texts ask about the gospel ask about the realities of Heaven and Hell that's what marked this particular unic it's a humble honesty how can I unless someone guides me he has a desire to know he asks Philip to come up and sit with him now I submit since he's reading the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53 I don't think it's a stretch to understand that he might have been reading Isaiah 56 there's not a whole lot of distance there so this God fearer this man outside of Israel knows Deuteronomy 23 he knows that he self is barred from uh uh access to the assembly of the Lord but he has seen Isaiah 56 and he knows that there's a time or there's a there's a prophecy concerning the the the the fact that the Unix are now brought nigh you see what's welling up in his heart and soul he's probably saying how is this the case now thankfully he's in the answer in Isaiah 53 unic are drawn nigh or brought nigh and so are Gentiles brought nigh along with Jews because of the reality ities of Isaiah 53 the suffering servant of Yahweh whom Yahweh was ble pleased to bruise putting him to grief for the sins of all those who would believe on him so notice he has this perfect text he says in verse 32 or verse 31 he asked Philip to come up and sit with him the place in the scripture which he read was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its Shear is silent so he opened not his mouth in his humiliation his Justice was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth Isaiah 537 and 8 Gil says this prophet Isaiah is a very Evangelical one and very delightful and profitable to read think we'd all side with Gil gil on that wouldn't we very delightful and profitable to read many things are prophesied by him concerning the Messiah and particularly in the chapters in which the unic was reading imagine just for a moment you're in your daily life and you're Milling about and you're doing your thing and you happen to meet someone that seems right for the gospel and you come to them and you ask them do you understand the gospel and they say how can I unless someone explains it to me and they just happened to have Isaiah 53 opened in their lap I mean you couldn't get a better text could you could you could Isaiah or rather Phillip here have been given a better text Bruce says at a time when not one line of any new testament document had been written what scripture could any evangelist have used more fittingly as a starting point for presenting the story of Jesus to one who did not know him this wasn't lucky it wasn't an accident it was orchestrated by the Holy Spirit to call his elect in this case an Ethiopian unic onto himself through the proclamation of the truth so the man has this before him and then the unic in verse 34 answered philli and said I ask you of whom does the prophets say this of himself or of some other man it's a legitimate question we've been reared in the Christian tradition we have been steeped in the Christian faith where Isaiah 53 has been properly interpreted as referencing the Messiah Jesus Christ but in this particular instance having been in Jerusalem he didn't get an position of Isaiah 53 from a Christian perspective and there was traditionally many views concerning this personage identified in the prophet Isaiah some would suggest it was Isaiah some would suggest it was the nation of Israel and before we say well that just can't be yes in many respects it could be in Isaiah 49 it speaks concerning Israel and what's called a servant song of Yahweh which Isaiah 53 is in Isaiah 49 the servant is referred to as Israel now that makes sense when we move into the New Testament because Christ is not only the last Adam according to Paul in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 but Christ is Israel Christ does what Israel failed God puts Adam in the garden gives him a probation and Adam sins God puts Israel in the wilderness gives them prohibitions and they sin God sends his son as the second or last Adam as the Fulfillment of what Israel was supposed to be you see this in Matthew structuring of his gospel he connects Jesus in Matthew 1:1 both to David and Abraham and then he shows how Jesus goes into Egypt and Hosea says that out of my fir out of Egypt I have called my firstborn and then Jesus passes through the Wilderness and the or or passes through the waters of baptism which looks like is Israel going through the waters of the Red Sea and then Jesus goes out into the Wilderness similar to what Israel did did in the wilderness but instead of Jesus failing Jesus fulfills and so the the man the unic asks who's he speaking about who's he talking about and now notice what our text says concerning Philip's response it's beautiful then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him perhaps you've seen that thing of late you know preach the the gospel and when necessary use words that goes back to that Folly I was speaking about earlier you cannot preach the gospel without words somebody follows you around all day and watches your virtuous life they're still going to go to hell they need to hear the testimony concerning the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus he opened his mouth and from this text he preached Jesus to him he told him the Evangel he told him the gospel he told him the good news brethren as good as your life may be is not that great Sinners need to see they need to hear they need to understand the truth as it is in Jesus and by God's grace they need to believe that truth that's what brings them to everlasting life it's not our virtue it's not our goodness it's not our happiness it's not our fuzziness it is the message of Christ and him crucified so that's a a a statement that is full of driil when you know preach the gospel and if necessary or when necessary use words as if to suggest my life can preach blood atonement as if to suggest my life can preach golgatha as if to suggest that my life can preach the absolute and utter righteousness of Jesus Christ in his lawke keeping to the father's will no it can't we have to tell Sinners there's a sense where you got to open your mouth you've got to speak up you got to be a good Martin Luther know when to stand up know when to speak up and know when to shut up I think that's a good construct for p uh preachers and as well for evangelists notice he preaches Jesus from this passage I've already mentioned Isaiah 53 is what's called a servant song of Yahweh there's four of them in the prophet Isaiah they are found in Isaiah 42 4950 and then 52 and 53 they all give us various aspects or facets of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus you've all seen a diamond right everybody awake you're with me you can nod your head it's it's okay to pay attention and participate and look like you know that we're we're all here on board together you've all seen a diamond well one of the beauties of a diamond at least as I'm told it doesn't really do a whole lot for me but you hold it up and you turn it and you see it in various facets of light well that's what the servant songs of Isaiah do concerning Christ they give us various facets of what the servant of Yahweh is going to accomplish when he comes into this world that servant of course is the Lord Jesus Christ the longest of the songs is 52 and 53 and the focus of that particular song is the suffering servant who dies in the place of Sinners and who rises again again I cannot submit to you how much or cannot convince you enough that what the the the unic was reading and what Philip was preaching from was exactly what this man needed to hear because in that servant song in the prophet Isaiah we have the humiliation of the servant verses 1 to3 he's a man of Sorrows he's acquainted with grief isn't he he has no form no comeliness that we should desire him he's the son of God he is Heaven's darling and Heaven's Gem and yet he comes to his own and his own receive him not he is a Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief in his Earthly Ministry he says the foxes have holes and the birds have their their nest but the son of man has nowhere to lay his hand his state of humiliation wherein he takes on our Humanity wherein he takes on our nature with all of the common properties and or the essential properties and common common infirmities associated with that he leaves Heaven above to come into this world clothed in and with or rather assuming our nature as well Isaiah speaks of the suffering of the servant in Verses 4 to6 what happens to the servant according to the prophet we could turn there so I suspect that this was all included in Philip's presentation of the Gospel to this Ethiopian unic notice Isaiah 53 we see the humiliation verses 1 to3 notice suffering Verses 4 to 6 surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted you see that language there Smitten by God it's repeated in Isaiah 5311 the Lord Yahweh was ble pleased to to bruise him or rather verse 10 yes Lawless hands crucified Jesus yes the Jews Cried Out away with him away with him crucify him yes the Romans actually executed the the the the the penalty of death upon the Son of God but it was predetermined by the father was predetermined by God was an arrangement made before the foundation of the world that the sun would come that the sun would obey the son son would suffer the sun would die and the Sun would rise again surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all you see this is why it's good news see what Isaiah is not prophesying there's going to be a time where men come to their senses there's going to be a time when men exercise their free will there's going to be a time when men get better they engage in a bit of moral reform no the prophet says there's a time when the suffering servant will come and note the language that is employed it was a solitary thing for Christ he doesn't go with assistance he goes on his own it is substitutionary he bore our griefs he carried our sorrows he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities by his stripes we are healed verse 6 and he has laid on him the iniquity of us all it's comprehensive in nature everything that plagues a sinner every ity that affects a sinner our griefs our transgressions our iniquities our need for peace our healing the Lord Christ most high satisfies through his own suffering and death that's what verses 7 to9 go on to tell us concerning his death he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it shears is silent so he opened not his mouth you know those passion narratives where it tells us that Jesus says nothing yeah that's a good example for you to know how to keep your mouth shut when you're in a difficult situation but that's not the meaning in those narratives it's not moralistic it's not therapeutic learn to be a Jesus and don't make bad you know don't say bad things in the midst of H that's not it Christ is the silent suffering Lamb of God in accordance with Isaiah the prophet 53 he was oppressed he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it sheer as a silence so he opened not his mouth he was taken from prison and from judgment and who will decare his generation for he is cut off from the land he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken you see you're not going to heaven because you've gotten better you're going to heaven because God laid on him the iniquity of us all you're going to heaven because of what Luther called a great exchange he takes our sin our wretchedness our transgression and iniquity and he heaps it upon the Son of God and he punishes the Son of God such that when the Son of God dies he rises again and God takes his righteousness and gives it freely to us 2 Corinthians 5:21 is why you're going to heaven not because of moral Reformation Abigail's going into those Waters of baptism not because she's a good girl or the scares got lucky with a good one but because God made him Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him it is a blessed Divine forensic transaction where God heaps sin upon his son punishes him in our place and then takes that righteousness accomplished and applies it to us that's why Sinners go to heaven if you think for a moment that I'm going to try a little harder and get to heaven you don't understand sin and you don't understand the Holiness of God you don't understand the spirituality of the law or the comprehensiveness of the law your problem this morning if you are not a Believer is that you are not a Believer yes you're a sinner and a transgressor and one who is dead in their trespasses and sins the only hope for everlasting life is to look onto Jesus and live that's it isn't it what if you to come this morning and say okay you got to go home and you got to stop this stop this stop this stop this get rid of that get rid of that and then you'll be commended to God no that's to bring God down to our level and to elevate us to suggest that a little bit of habit modification is going to commend ourselves to God no we need to be saved we need to be cleansed we need to be washed we need to be purified we need that blood applied to us to cleanse Us in totality from all our sins but once we're washed once we're forgiven once we have been cleansed we need a righteousness that commends us to God and that's accomplished by our Lord we not only need his death we need his life it's one catechism famously asks what is justification justification is an act of God's free Grace wherein he pardons all our sins is there any news better to a pardoned sinner than that if I was a black Pastor in Southern California I'd say can I get an amen I mean come on we have been pardoned of all our sins my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord wherein he pardons all of our sins and justification continuing in the Shorter Catechism and he uh uh uh accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone that's the Glorious doctrine of justification by faith that is what I propose Phillip is preaching to this unic so we go back to chapter 8 in the book of Acts of course Philip would have highlighted the Triumph of the servant in verses 10 to 12 of Isaiah 53 but we must hasten on that brings us to consider with reference to the unic thirdly and finally the conversion of the unic notice in verse 36 now as they went down the road they came to some water and the unic said see here is water what hinders me from being baptized now we suppose that Philip spoke to the unic about baptism or that somehow in his meanderings around the unic had learned that these Christians they baptize I don't think it was divine revelation I don't think it was some special thing it's probably you know organic to their conversation as Philip gives him the Evangel as he preaches Jesus to him he explains what's happening in terms of God's Redemptive plan God's now saving people and those people are getting baptized and they're they're joining churches and they're continuing to to to serve the Lord and those communities and so the the unic sees the water and he asks the question what hinders me from being baptized now note the time frame involved here does he get converted at you know 25 or whatever this unix's age happen to be and wait for 15 years to get baptized does he get converted at you know the ripe age of 20 and then when he's 40 said well I'm going to come around to getting baptized now now he gets baptized Jay Adams in his book on preaching indicates that the early church didn't have altar calls there was no you know every head bowed every eye closed just raise your right hand they believed and were baptized that's the pattern in the apostolic preaching they believed and they were baptized we see the same thing here the supposition obviously which Philip will vet in verse 37 is that he believed that Jesus was the son of God but he but he sees the water and he doesn't say well you know I'm just going to ponder my move for 30 years this could have affected his livelihood could have affected him when he went back to Candace and said I've been baptized I've been washed in the blood I'm now a a believer in Jesus and I'm you know wanting to serve him that that could have affected his his livelihood it could have affected his family she he doesn't care when persons are conquered by Sovereign Grace they want to go into that water when person are saved by the Lamb of God they want to identify it they want to stand and testify they want to be baptized in the singular name of the Triune god father Son and Holy Spirit Calvin made this observation on the quickness of his baptism he says if being instructed but a few hours he came to this point how filthy is the sluggishness of those men who suppress the faith which they have conceived having been taught 5 10 or 20 years other words if you are a believer in Jesus and you have not been baptized you ought to ask with the unic what hinders me what's keeping me if it's your own laziness if it's your own Rebellion if it's your own sin against God you need to repent you need to set up an appointment so we can fill up the tank and dunk you for Jesus there's nothing somehow Meritor ious about putting obedience off why do we think that's okay why is it in our heads to think well I can obey God down the road no if God has saved you if he has conquered You by Grace then you obey him this is Jesus Commission in Matthew 28 go therefore and Make Disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always to the End of the Age isn't it intriguing how the book of Acts follows that specifically precisely that that the apostles go out they make disciples they baptize disciples they plant churches and then they instruct those disciples to obey all that Christ the lord has given by instruction it's a beautiful thing note there is an implication here that there are some things that may hinder one from being baptized when he says what hinders me from being baptized that implies that there are hindrances if you don't believe the gospel you shouldn't be baptized it's like we say at the supper if you are not a believer in Christ do not take the supper it's not to make you feel bad it's not to sin shame you it's not to make you run to your safe space rather it is to highlight the law of Christ Christ says that Believers get baptized Christ says that Believers go to the supper so in this instance he says what hinders me from being baptized now now notice verse 37 if you have anything other than the King James or the new King James you're going to have to look at your margin there's a variant reading and some suggest that 37 was never a part of the original text you can consult the authorities on the particular textual question but it is intriguing that irenaeus in his book against heresies dated from probably ad 130 to 200 quotes acts 837 to whatever we can deduce or conclude we see that it was an very early reading for irenaeus to be aware of it and for irus to quote it in his against heresies again ad 130 to 200 dates irenaeus so we're going to treat it as Germain to the text notice he asks the question what hinders me from being baptized Philip says if you believe with all your heart you may this is what I've just said this is what I've just suggested there is something that hinders you if you're not a Believer don't be baptized if you're not a Believer don't participate in the Lord's Supper your issue shouldn't be well I want to get baptized or I want to eat the Lord's Supper no the issue should should be I want to believe the gospel I want to look to Jesus I want to live I want to know everlasting life and once you've come to that place by the grace of God then get baptized then eat the supper so Philip lays this down as a particular condition if you believe with all your heart you may I love the answer the response he answers and says I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God isn't that a beautiful statement so simple but so profound this suggests Matthew 16 when Jesus says to the disciples who do men say that I the son of man am they said well you know some say Jeremiah some say one of the prophets some say John the Baptist Jesus moves from the general to the specific and he said but who do you say that I am and Peter makes that lofty confession of Faith he says you are the Christ the son of the Living God is what we have here he's the Christ the son of the Living God when Peter makes that declaration Jesus doesn't congratulate him for stumbling upon an un you know a fact that he had discovered he says blessed are you Simon bar Jonah for Flesh and Blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven has revealed this we must suppose the same thing with this unic he didn't just stumble on to this God is at work the spirit moves his heart he sees his sin he sees the Savior and by the grace of God he is saved and now he wants to go into the Waters of baptism Philip says if you believe he says I believe now notice what the text then indicates verse 38 so he commanded the Chariot to stand still and both philli and the unic went down into the water and he baptized him now this is suggestive of immersion which interestingly the Greek word baptizo means immersion why didn't they just translate it why did they transliterate it because there were doctrinal reasons governing their decision to transliterate rather them to translate imagine if every time in your Bible baptizo was translated as a MERS there wouldn't be a lot of questions concerning the mode Calvin even recognizes this in his commentary he said says here we see the right used among the men of old time in baptism for they put all the body into the water in third page 1320 of the institutes he says baptizo means immerse and then of course he goes on to explain that we're free to pour or sprinkle why why John well maybe one day we'll meet and sit and talk actually I don't think that's going to be our issue up there we're going to be in the presence of the Lamb no more debate about baptism isn't that wonderful no more debates about eschatology we just be in the presence of the king we'll just see the lamb and All His glory but it is intriguing notice as well they part ways philli goes to preach and as I've already mentioned the unic rejoices it's always my prayer probably shouldn't say always cuz I'm an a fallible human but typically I pray that when persons are baptized here it would be a memorable day that their hearts would be filled with joy that those who love them would be filled with joy there would be a time of rejoicing that tank preaches the Conquering grace of God that tank displays for us the heart of Our Father who has saved to the uttermost another sinner through his son the Lord Jesus Christ Paul appeals to baptism in Romans 6 when he argues for Christians to be holy you were baptized reflect on that day remember that day you died you were buried and you've been raised again no longer present your bodies or your your inst your your members as instruments of unrighteousness no you were baptized baptism is a means of Grace we ought to be able to look upon it remember and recollect and and consider what God and Christ has done for us and as well we ought to be able to Rejoice to Delight to thank and to praise our great God well just a couple of thoughts in conclusion in this section of the book of Acts again I think what we have here is the conquest of a particular sinner to show us the saving grace of God but there's some other things going on there's a theological context that we need to locate acts 8 in in the first place we see in the book of Acts the progress of the kingdom of God the statement in Acts 1:8 is programmatic and Jesus said you will be my Witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth that's how the book of Acts is outlined the ministry first is in Jerusalem and then when the the persecution comes under Saul of Tarsus they they move to Samaria and then Saul of Tarsus by the grace of God is conquered by God and he becomes the missionary to the Gentiles so from about acts 13 on we see the gospel go to the uttermost parts of the earth acts 18 is programmatic we see here as well the gospel goes from Judea to Samaria and specifically here to Africa this Ethiopian was a kushite the Salter proclaimed that envoys will come out of Egypt eth ethopia will quickly stretch out our hands to God and as well what is signaled here is that the kingdom of Messiah has arrived Dennis Johnson makes this observation note specifically in Isaiah 56 earlier he talked about God's house being a house of prayer for all nations Johnson says the House of Prayer for all nations was not the product of herod's construction in Jerusalem that's the second temple that was destroyed in ad70 he says it was located among other places at a w or a brook besides a Wilderness Road in Old Philistine territory where a castrated Ethiopian was cleansed for Priestly service through faith in the Lamb of God who was led like a sheep to the slaughter you see there's acts 8 the conversion of this unic but it's in a it's in a bigger context as well the prophetic word is fulfilled that mention that what we have in Acts 8 is not simply the citation of Isaiah 53 but the Fulfillment of Isaiah 56 the inclusion of Unix in the Covenant Promises of God this is good news this is an evidence that the comprehensiveness of the Gospel It Goes Forth to all the nations we'll see in Acts 10 even more clearly articulated the conversion of Cornelius who was a gentile Isaiah 56 speaks about that as as well you see what Luke The divinely Inspired historian is doing he is not only recording historical events but under the influence of Paul the Apostle he is giving us theology a Theology of covenantal fulfillment he is highlighting to us that Unix and Gentiles are included in the Covenant Promises of God because of the death of the Son of God the resurrection and the exaltation at the right hand of God that one who assumed the Throne of David according to Acts 2 is the one who orchestrates all that you now see and here in fact in Acts 1:1 you can read that for just a second because it's so important that we understand what we have in the book of Acts acts 1 the former account I made o Theophilus Luke wrote acts so when he refers to the former account he's referring to Luke The Gospel According to Luke he says the for account I made o theopus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach so if Luke records for us in Luke all that Jesus both began or began both to do and teach we must conclude that acts is a record of what Jesus continues both to do and teach so when we get to acts 8 and this unit comes out of Darkness into Marvelous Light yes it's a happy day to be sure but it's prophetic fulfillment it's god making good on his promises it's Isaiah 56 come to pass and we reader ought to appreciate that a third observation I'd like to make before we close actually I got a couple more we're going to go to about two if you're visiting you're probably rolling your eyes internally right now we're not going to two some of the Brethren here are probably going don't don't push your luck we may go to two the place of evangelism notice everybody wants to evangelize everybody wants Sinners included in the kingdom of God everybody wants to win souls then do it like Philip did know your Bible and preach the truth concerning Jesus be a Philip Dare To Be A Philip if you want to win souls to Christ One Man Gordon Clark says if God has decreed happier days for us and if we may expect a world shaking and genuine Spiritual Awakening then it is the author's belief that a Zeal four souls however necessary is not the sufficient condition have there not been devout Saints in every age numerous enough to carry on a Revival 12 such persons are plenty what distinguishes the aid ages from the period of the Reformation when nations were moved as they had not been since Paul preached in Ephesus Corinth and Rome is the latter's fullness of the knowledge of God's word yes you should want to see Souls saved but your want must be in concert with a knowledge of the truth he goes on to Echo an early Reformation thought when the plowman and the garage attendant know the Bible as well as the Theologian does and know it better than some contemporary theologians then the desired Awakening shall have already occurred and then chrysostom made this observation he contrasts the conversion of the Ethiopian with that of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9 he says verily one has reason to admire this unic for unlike Saul he had no Supernatural vision of Christ remember acts n Jesus appears to Saul on the road to Damascus not that that wasn't legit or it wasn't good but what costum is saying is that the the unic didn't have that what did he have he had the word of Truth for unlike Saul he had no Supernatural vision of Christ yet he believed so great a thing is the careful reading and the preaching of the scriptures we ought to observe with reference to the place of Christian baptism it takes place after conversion after faith and repentance Calvin makes this observation for baptism is as it were an apperance that's simply a word that means accessory you accessorize ladies when you get whatever it is you accessorize with and that's what He suggests that baptism is an app pertinence it is an accessory of faith and therefore it is later in order you get that Faith then baptism now on the next page he goes to argue doesn't even argue he assumes infinite inclusion our purpose here is not to engage in a full length poic of infant baptism but just to highlight the specific order it is conditioned by Philip upon Faith Barrett says there is no racial qualification for baptism but right belief is necessary he says what hinders me from being bapt baptized he doesn't say well you're not a Jew so you can't be oh you're an Ethiopian you can't be You' got black skin you you can't be no what's important what's necessary what's the one thing needful I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God as well in this particular account we notice something that our confession touches on with reference to baptism it's for the party baptized now we by God's grace get to participate and watch the pro uh the the event but notice he's not in a church is he I suspect that he ended up in a church but he's not in a church this leads the second London Confession to highlight this baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized certainly parents Rejoice friends Rejoice pastors Rejoice everybody rejoices but it's for the party that is baptized and as well it is an occasion of affirmation that you Abigail stale stare I don't know why I'm putting an L at the end of stare it's an easy name that you will walk or live and walk in newness of life for the confession goes on it is to be unto the party baptized listen a sign of his fellowship with him in his death and resurrection of his being engrafted into him of remission of sins and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life that's what you need to take away from this day those baptized those who are baptized ought to remember this I am not my own I have been bought with the blood of another therefore I am to glorify God in my body and in my soul and finally we see that the power of the Gospel comes to the poor but it also comes to the well-off the unic working for Candice was in a good position he wasn't down and out he wasn't you know a bum living on the side of the road gospel comes to bums living on the sides of the road but it also comes to Unix that have positions of prestige not many wise not many noble but some mat Henry says so we ought not to shrink back from preaching the whole Council of God to every sinner it's always amazed me that churches sort of have this you know Target sinner demographic we only minister to prostitutes we only minister to the down and out we we Minister the gospel to anybody will listen what do we see when we get to heaven according to the Book of Revelation men from every tribe tongue people and Nation different soda uh social strata different economic status all those things not withstanding it is the power of the Gospel to save those who believe so we preach it to whoever will listen by the grace of God praying that he saves the gospel comes to men in crisis and not in crisis it comes to men as a result of God's Sovereign plan it comes by the word of God you need to consider this reality this morning before we leave do you understand the gospel if you do then believe it do not tar do not wait do not consider your options but come to Christ by faith if you don't understand it then ask ask any of the brothers here ask the men in the church ask the ladies who who understand the truth as it is in Jesus say to them I don't quite get it so they can tell you that Christ came into this world Sinners to save he did so by his perfect life by his death in our place and by his resurrection from the dead and the scripture says that whoever looks to him in faith will have everlasting life well let us pray Our God and our father we thank you for your word we thank you for the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord we thank you for this opportunity to celebrate and to rejoice in your saving power demonstrated in the life of Abigail we just ask our God that this day would be memorable to her not only in terms of her joy and her delight and the things of God but also as a a reminder of what she has become because of your grace that she has died to sin that she has been buried with Christ that she's been risen or raised again and that she would walk in newness of life and that she would always be in dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ God save Sinners For Your Glory save Sinners for your your your exaltation and for your honor and we pray this through Christ Our Lord amen well Mr Lawson is going to come up and lead us in the singing of a hymn and then we're going to go get in the water there uh I would ask you if you if you have a little one in the nursery uh if you wouldn't mind going down and uh getting your little one in the nursery so that the nursery workers can be up here participating uh in the observance of the uh of this baptism uh so uh in the maybe in the in the first uh verse or second verse you could go down and and uh retrieve your child please uh turn in your hym books to uh hymn number 402 402 and I'll ask you to stand please [Music] am my was lost now was but now I see my heart and [Music] [Applause] [Music] Mye [Music] ders will me home and this [Music] and of joy and sh [Music] the [Music] [Music] go [Music] if the children want to come up closer so they can have a better view that's fine if not I guess that's fine too but just move on up and one man has well explained What's called the regulative principle of worship he says in worship we read the Bible we pray the Bible we sing the Bible we preach the Bible and we see the Bible and as I alluded to in the sermon we see the Bible in baptism and in the Lord's Supper I always rejoice in days like these when we get both ordinances tonight we will celebrate the supper and it is a blessing to not only see baptism but the supper and to understand what those things represent or signify for the people of God I did want to read the rest of our confession of Faith concerning of baptism 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 those who do actually profess rep repentance towards God faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance it's important for us to understand that sometimes uh our position is understood as adult baptism well certainly we'll baptize adults if they are believers in Christ but we will baptize non-adults as well if they are believers in Christ as it says those who do actually profess repentance towards God faith in and obedience to our lord Jesus are the only proper subjects of this ordinance it doesn't give a age it doesn't give a particular time frame it doesn't say only if they're 18 no we see this as teaching what is consistent with scripture that those who believe were baptized it says thirdly 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 fourthly immersion or dipping of the person in water is necessary to the due administration of this ORD ordinance now we're not beholden to this confession as if it does usurp the place of scripture we believe it is a Biblical confession we believe that it teaches us what scripture says I've already alluded to the Great Commission make disciples baptize those disciples and then teach those disciples that's fleshed out for us in the book of Acts and hopefully that's the sort of church polity or practice that we engage in Abigail will be baptized Abigail will be joined to the church wherein she will be taught hopefully all things that the Lord has commanded so now Abigail is going to say a few things okay I grew up in a home where the gospel was preached on a daily basis from the moment I can remember my parents been preaching to my siblings and I about God and salvation and through that preaching of the Gospel I came to understand that I was a sinner and even though I was born in two Christian families I needed to be saved from my own sins and God's Wrath I was saved around the age of 10 and my parents taught me that if I was saved fruits must be shown in my life and as I've grown as a Christian learning more and more about Christ each day I see that an important fruit is obedience to God and His word the Bible says that if I believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I must be baptized in Acts 2:38 it says and Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and I want to be obedient to the Commandment God puts before us and that's why I'm getting baptized today amen praise God just hold your okay I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit praise God why don't we stand here I'll pray and then we'll sing the doxology to conclude our service Our Father we thank you for this testimony and we thank you that this testimony comes not because of Abigail's Ingenuity but because of the graciousness and the kindness and the mercy of our God certainly Lord we give all praise to you for the Salvation of Sinners we give all praise to you for any and all who identify publicly with the Triune God and we do pray for Abigail that she would be obedient to your law by your spirit and For Your Glory and Honor help us as a church to hold each other accountable to exhort one another daily while it is called today lest we be hardened through the deceit of sin and may we grow together may we be obedient to that word that is taught to us and in so doing God may you be glorified in this local church and we pray these things through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen if everybody would stand and we'll close our service by singing the docy it's found on Roman numeral 16 in your hym book if you don't already know it very [Music] all Crees heav PR Father Son and Holy Ghost [Music] be seated for just a brief time of meditation