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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the house of God on the Sabbath day for those visiting for the baptism of our dear brother when we welcome you it's a good day for us it's been good to get to know our brother and to see God's grace in his life so that is going to occur this morning and then just by way of reminder on the 30th of September our evening service will be at 4 p.m. we'll have a joint service with the Surry Reformed Baptist Church they'll be coming here we'll have a worship service together and then a time of food and fellowship following well for our call to worship this morning you can turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah the prophet Isaiah chapter 56 Isaiah 56 I'll read verses 1 to 8 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 has utterly separated me from his people nor let the eunuchs say Here I am a dry tree for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath's and choose what pleased 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 that of sons and daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off also the sons of the foreigner who joined themselves to the Lord to serve him 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 then 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 the outcasts of Israel says yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him amen well please turn in your Trinity Psalter to Psalm 146 Psalm 146 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] well let us pray God Most High we gathered together on this day to praise and to glorify and to worship you we confess that you are from everlasting to everlasting we confess that you made the world and all things in it out of nothing by the word of your power in the space of six days and all very good we confess that you are in the heavens and you do whatever you please and you govern all your creatures and all their actions and we confess today that you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ we give praise to You Father for predestination an election and Sovereign Grace we give praise to you for the sending of the son of your love into this world to live to die to be raised the third day and we give praise to you for sending the Holy Spirit taking that finished work of the Lord Christ and applying it to those whom you have chosen all praise and honor and glory is to be given to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and we pray that today God would be enthroned upon the praises of the the Israel of God in this place we ask that you'd help us to approach you now in a way that is that is pleasing to you scripture calls us to worship you in an acceptable way and we cannot think for a moment that means acceptable to us with acceptable as defined by the true and living God give us reverence and trembling and fear before you acknowledging your holiness and give us great joy acknowledging your graciousness and your mercy in your kindness your gospel mercies reveal to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and that salvation that you have blessed us with father thank you for the forgiveness of sins thank you for the imputed righteousness of Christ thank you for fitting us to one day stand before the throne of Almighty God we ask that you would be glorified in this meeting together we ask that you would be exalted and praised and God we ask that you would be pleased to bless us with the presence and the power of your holy spirit we pray that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions now she would cleanse us in the blood for certainly God as we reflect upon Holy Scripture we know that you are a holy God sure I is too pure to approve any evil and looking at ourselves this is very discouraging but we rejoice that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared we rejoice that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so do that even now we pray and for any and all who have come here this morning that are not forgiven those who have not believed the gospel those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we appeal to a sovereign God to awaken them we pray that the Holy Spirit would be at work bringing that conviction of sin and showing forth the glory and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him we pray that not only in this place but other churches here in Chilliwack throughout Canada and to the ends of the earth Lord God that your gospel would run swiftly and be glorified that that word would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it and that men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation would come and taste and see that the Lord is good we know that you have purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number we know that the psalmist cried out to you that you would cause your face to shine upon the nation's and so we pray thus as well she would send forth this gospel and that it would go forth conquering and to conquer and that you would be glorified and praised in the salvation of sinners we ask as well father as we come here out of the world today may it may indeed be a day of rest for our weary Souls God we battle with temptation we battle with this world we battle with the devil and so father we pray that this would be a place where we could find peace and encouragement refreshment for our souls and that we would find stability in terms of our faith she would further conform us unto the image of your son the Lord Jesus she would send us from this place as willing witnesses in this crooked and perverse generation and grant us boldness those and who with whom we come into contact to hold forth the word of truth so encourage the spiritually downcast be with those that have physical trials in our local church there are several there are many and Lord we know that you know each of their particular needs and so we commit them to you and to the word of your grace and pray for their healing even more so god we pray for their renewal in the inner man but we know the Apostle he teaches us the outer man does decay day by day but the inner man is renewed and in this we give we give praise to you we also ask Lord in heaven that you would be merciful to the governing authorities in this nation it grieves us to see the sorts of wickedness on on display in society certainly days much like the days of the prophet Isaiah when men called good evil and evil good we would cry to you and your wrath that you would remember mercy she would save those in positions of government that they would kiss the son lest he be angry and they perish in his way when his wrath is kindled but a little and God we do pray for a day when abortion and euthanasia and sodomy and the various other attacks upon the law of God would be criminalized we know father that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and so we call upon you the one whose foundation or the foundation of his throne is righteousness and justice we ask that you would turn the hearts of men to the Lord Jesus Christ and may he indeed turn them to that blessed law that shows the glorious God of heaven and earth we ask that you would continue with us now we pray that you would bless and encourage our brother may this be a special day in his Christianity but even more so may we all stand amazed and may we marvel yet another trophy to the sovereign God of heaven and earth we know salvation is of the Lord we know it doesn't depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs but upon God who shows mercy and you do show mercy father and we can testify to that where we were dead in our trespasses and sins we were all liable to your just punishment and condemnation both in this life and that which is to come but you have shown us the glory of the Redeemer you have shown us the prophet priest and King you've shown us the mediator of the New Covenant you have shown us that one who is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 and we praise the God of heaven and earth for Amazing Grace we praise you that though it is not by works of righteousness or merit or law or keeping of particular rules that we will be accepted by God we are accepted in the beloved and all praise and glory is to the Father Son and Holy Spirit for so great a salvation bless us and help us as we sing help us with reference to the Word of God and help us as we see the gospel in many respects when it comes to Christian baptism and we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well you may turn in your Trinity hymnal to him number 582 five eight two again we'll stand as we sing together [Music] [Applause] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts where in Acts chapter eight this morning a wonderful passage dealing with Christian baptism the baptism or the rather the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch I'll read Acts 8 26 to 40 and then we'll look in some detail at what is happening in this particular chapter beginning in Acts chapter 8 at verse 26 now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza this is desert so he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians who had charge of all her Treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship was returning and sitting in his chariot he was reading Isaiah the prophet then the spirit said to Philip go near and overtake this chariot so Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said you understand what you were 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 Shearer is silent so he opened not his mouth in his humiliation his justice was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth so the eunuch answered Philip and said I ask you of whom does the prophet say this of himself or of some other man then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him now as they went down the road they came to some water and the eunuch said see here is water what hinders me from being baptized then Philip said if you believe with all your heart you may and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God so he commanded the chariot to stand still and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him now when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing but Philip was found at Azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea amen let us pray father we thank you for the written word and we pray for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit now we know that we stand in utter dependence upon you for our understanding of the Word of God so please grant the Spirit powerfully to each and every heart here for the saint may you encourage and strengthen our hearts and appreciation again for the marvelous grace of God for the unconverted we pray that today would be the day of salvation the Holy Spirit would be merciful to bring that conviction for sin and to show the glory of Jesus Christ is the one and whom alone there is salvation do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions and everything that darkens our understanding and help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord and we pray it in his most blessed name amen well baptisms are a wonderful time for the church to remember and to marvel at the grace of God most I this brother is not going into the water today because he is a law keeper it's not because he has merited the favor of God it's not because he has satisfied a certain amount of requirements but rather God in His grace and in His mercy has saved death no one will ever stand before God in heaven except those who are justified freely by grace in other words those who are forgiven of their of their sins and those who have been given the righteousness of Jesus Christ the gospel answer specifically to man's knee we have transgressed God's law we stand justly liable to his punishment to his cursed curse to his wrath but Christ came Christ lived in obedience to the law Christ died as a substitute as sacrifice on the cross and Christ was raised the third day so that all those who by God's grace believe on Jesus Christ will have everlasting life so this isn't just an external right to symbolize the achievements of a particular man but rather this is an illustration of or an external symbol of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord in the saving of sinners well let's look at the conversion of this Ethiopian eunuch I want to consider three things in verses 26 to 40 first the contact with the eunuch in verses 26 to 30 secondly the communication with the eunuch in verses 31 to 35 and then finally the conversion of the eunuch in verses 36 to 40 now that's what's highlighted in the passage the fact that he's a eunuch several times he's referred to that way and I hope to show you that when we see in this passage that Isaiah the prophet is being quoted it's not only that Isaiah is being quoted but Isaiah is being fulfilled the inclusion of eunuchs among the covenant people of God is what Isaiah 56 is all about and I think probably that's what this eunuch wants to know about he had just been in Jerusalem he was a proselyte that means he embraced Judaism or the Jewish religion so he had been in the city for worship but as one that was a eunuch he would be keenly aware to the fact that he was an outsider Deuteronomy 23 one forbade anyone who was emasculated or mutilated with reference to his private parts to enter into the very house of God so the very act of worship that this eunuch went through was a Maya a reminder to him that he was still an outsider he knew Deuteronomy 23 1 when he gets to Isaiah 53 we might possibly conclude that he read beyond that into Isaiah 56 and saw that guys like him would be included in the covenant promises of God so there's a whole bunch of stuff behind the scenes that Luke wants us to appreciate as we come to this passage it is the salvation it is the conversion of one particular unit but it's also very significant in light of the entirety of God's Holy Word so let's look first at the contact with the eunuch verses 26 to 30 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 now this Philip is one of the Deacons mentioned in act 6 and according to acts 840 he continues on in what's called evangelism and evangelist to somebody who tells people the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ he is identified identified that way and he ultimately settles in Caesarea we see that in verse 40 but also 21:8 highlights it that he that he settled there and then note with reference to the ethiopian again the identity he isn't in ethiopia he is an outsider in terms of the commonwealth of israel he is an outsider in terms of being a gentile but he's a double outsider because he's a gentile and a unit and that is problematic with reference to this particular fellow as I said he's cognizant of Deuteronomy 23 1 he's cognizant to the fact that he wasn't allowed to enter into the house of the Lord when he went for the worship of God and this man was wondering about these particular things and then just before we leave this point notice what we find here in verse 27 I'm sorry verse yeah verse 27 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 our treasury it's important to understand that as well Paul will tell us not many wise not many noble not many mighty are called but some are ok forget that as well the gospel comes to the destitute the gospel comes to the poor but it also comes to the rich not many wise not many noble not many mighty but some are this man had a lot of responsibilities this man was in a position of authority and this man was not beyond the hope of the Christian gospel I think there's always excesses with reference to our presentation of the gospel it's only for the downtrodden and poor and we exclude the rich or it's only for the rich and we exclude the downtrodden poor christ has come to save man from every tribe every tongue every people every nation from every economic strata that exists he saves poor people he saves middle-class people he saves rich people the issue isn't economics the issue is depravity and Christ's blood is able to save sinners so notice what we continue to read in the section here at verse 28 we read and sitting in his chariot he was reading Isaiah the prophet then the spirit said to Philip go near and overtake this chariot now did he say it audibly did everybody else around him/her could everybody else have heard him I don't know but the Spirit says to Philip to go to this man and I think this is consistent with what the Bible describes concerning God from the very beginning there's this mindset that God saves but he does it kind of grudgingly God's kind of a cosmic Ebenezer Scrooge he'll he'll dole out a few shekels from time to time but it's not really in his nature it's not really characteristic of God notice that the Spirit tells fill up to go to the eunuch this is consistent from the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned who tries to rectify it it's not Adam and Eve it's God who comes when the persons build the Tower of Babel to try to reach into the heavens who comes to fix the situation he does it by confounding the tongue but he does it primarily by calling Abram how does God respond to the saving of sinners is it out of character with him is it something that is not natural with him is it not characteristic that consistent with the essence of God look at the life and Ministry of Jesus how many times do we need Jesus to tell us that his mission was to come and deceit and to save that which was lost I mean how many times does that refrain come out in Matthew Mark Luke and John this idea that God is unwilling to save is not scriptural the very opposite is true God is in Christ according to the Apostle Paul reconciling the world to himself the Lord God most high is about salvation the Lord God most high engages in salvation the whole purpose and swath and plan of the universe is the glory of God in the salvation of his people by Jesus Christ our Lord so why would we come from the Bible and say well I don't think God wants to save sinners I don't think God wants to save me let me tell you if you're a sinner and you come to Jesus he will save you it's a beautiful thing John 6:37 all that the father has given me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out you ever had this thought this nagging doubt that well if I go to Jesus he may not accept me if you go to Jesus he will absolutely accept you because that's the reason he came the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost it wasn't fill up the evangelist with his heart brewing full of compassion that said I'm gonna go find this Ethiopian eunuch and bring the gospel to him it's the spirit who tells Philip to go to this man why because he's going to be a trophy to the saving grace of Almighty God now note the communication with the eunuch in verses 31 to 35 verse 30 Philip ran to him heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and then Philip says do you understand what you are reading I think this is good for us as Christians not everybody who reads necessarily understands I mean just read the news just watch any political debate see we're reading comprehension is probably at an all-time low I don't know that's a pretty broad statement I'm sure it wasn't great even a hundred years ago but but not everybody understands scripture this isn't a bad question that Philip asks do you understand what you are reading and thankfully the eunuch is honest pride which of course I know what I'm reading how dare you even ask me how dare you even suggest or infer and bligh that I don't understand what I'm of course I don't understand that's something that's good a humble honesty how can i unless someone guy me you know there's this approach with reference to Christianity this maverick a pro I don't need anybody just me and my Bible and the Holy Spirit now I'm not saying that the Bible of the Holy Spirit are unnecessary I'm not saying that at all but the Bible in the Holy Spirit called for it the church the Bible and the Holy Spirit have produced you know the various men of old who have written great commentaries and confessions and creeds that benefit the people of God today Christ ascended on high he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to man and we aren't to reject or resist those men under the guise of a super spiritual all I need is my Bible in the Holy Spirit some of the worst cultists in the world began that way all I need is my Bible and the Holy Spirit produces Mormonism well and you know the Book of Mormon Jehovah's Witnesses no Creed but but the Bible those are the worst kinds of people on the face of the earth theologically speaking brethren this man says no I don't understand if you're struggling in terms of Christianity you're struggling in terms of whether I'm saved or not you're struggling in terms of what does it mean to believe ask ask your parents ask your spouses ask the elders ask brethren sisters in the church that seemed to have you know the the bat on the ball ask questions because there's nothing more important than your souls eternal state we'll ask questions when it comes to our banker we'll ask questions when it comes to the terms of a contract we'll ask questions in terms of are there onions on this we'll ask a whole host of questions but when it comes to the very Bible and our acceptance with God we all assume like we know everything not the eunuch know how could I understand what somebody explains it to me it's a beautiful thing he asks Philip to come up and sit with them and then notice this is the perfect text right if you've ever done any evangelism or you've ever done any you know personal work or you've ever wanted to talk to somebody about Christianity it's probably not the case that they were sitting in reading Isaiah 53 or like that rich young ruler comes to Jesus what good thing I do to inherit eternal life I mean those are just ready to go well why is evangelist will hopefully nevertheless get to those sorts attacks but this man is reading the perfect text for this particular occasion so Isaiah the prophet chapter 53 verses 7 & 8 he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before it sure is silent so he opened not his mouth in his humiliation as justice was taken away and who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth John Gill wisely comments this prophet Isaiah is a very evangelical one and very delightful and profitable to read I hope that's your experience with Isaiah and with Gill many things are prophesied by him concerning the Messiah and particularly in the chapters in which the eunuch was reading now no this is the text and then the eunuch asks in verse 34 a most important question so the eunuch answered Philip and said I ask you of whom does the prophet say this of himself or of some other man again a great question who is this servant of Yahweh if you've read the prophet Isaiah you'll know there are four servant songs in the prophet Isaiah you have one in Isaiah 42 Isaiah 49 Isaiah 50 and then one in Isaiah 52 and 53 the servant songs of Yahweh there's a servant of the Lord each of those chapters highlight particular characteristics of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ that's why Gil says he's a very evangelical prophet we almost might call it the Gospel according to Isaiah because it presents specifically in Isaiah 53 the concept of substitutionary a curse bearing or atonement he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before it's Shearer is silent so he opened not his mouth this is where the whole vertical system was pointing the whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament was pointing it was pointing to the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world and that's why this eunuch is scratching his head a saying who is it is Isaiah writing about Isaiah or is he writing about some other man again this is like the perfect that could be given to an evangelist and this is what we have notice the evangelists answer in verse 35 then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him FF Bruce says at a time when not one line of any New Testament document had been written what Scripture could it could any evangelists have used more fittingly as a starting point for presenting the story of Jesus to one who did not know him again if you are engaged in evangelism good Isaiah 53 this idea well you know the Old Testament that was from back then and it's just so antiquated in it so not for us today is absolutely positively wrong there's so much Old Testament here in Acts chapter 8 if you don't understand it you're not going to appreciate the glory of Acts chapter 8 it's the fact that we have a book full of promise a book of anticipation called the Old Testament that the that the realization and the fulfillment in the New Testament is so amazing and so glorious and so Peter rather Philip uses this tax and he preaches Jesus to him now specifically he's reading Isaiah 53 which speaks of the humiliation of the servant in verses 1 to 3 the suffering of the servant in verses 4 to 6 the death of the servant verses 7 and 9 and then the triumph of the servant at the end of that servant song so you see the eunuch is sitting there he's returning from Jerusalem where he had worshiped he's a man of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians he's a eunuch he's twice removed from the people of God by virtue of his eunuch ISM and by virtue of his Gentile ISM and so he has this legitimate question and let's just stop here and ask this question have you wrestled with this but where's the eunuch knows by virtue of his reading of Deuteronomy 23 and by virtue of his now reading Isaiah 56 that that that I can be included and the eunuch is desirous to know these things I think one of the most distressing things about evangelism in North America is that people just don't care they just don't they don't think beyond today let alone eternity I mean they may think beyond today in terms of retirement terms of the next golf game in terms of their next date in terms of their next you know class the people by and large are materialistic in this day and age and I don't mean they just like to buy stuff but it's only the things that can be seen the things that can be touched the things that can be heard the things that can can be felt that move modern man so we come along and we say something like wow you should believe on the gospel you should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll have everlasting life and they say things like well my life's pretty good right now got a great wife got great kids got great dogs got great house I make six digits everything is peachy peachy came from me it's very tough for people even show any interest June that's out there I think it happens in the church too it can happen with kids who were brought up in the local church who hear gospel preaching every single week who sit or attend family worship every single day they hear these things and instead of being softened instead of being receptive and open and asking the questions how must our how can I be saved they just don't care are you like the eunuch today do you understand that you're removed from the house of God not physically in terms of going to a place of worship but in terms of acceptance with God being a part of the very temple built by God the very house that Jesus is putting together are you keenly aware of that if you are asked the question what must I do to be saved there's no shame in that there's no you know dishonor in that that's what this man is doing and Philip uses the opportunity now notice finally the conversion of the eunuch in verses 36 to 40 first the question so he preaches Jesus to him and we surmise that he believes because later on he does say that he believes but we also must infer or at least think that that Philip had said something to him about baptism or he was familiar with this practice now of the Christians being baptized and so in verse 36 he asks specifically the eunuch said see here is water what hinders me from being baptized and I think this is a great question John Calvin made this observation the eunuch Branly knew believing Branly knew converted Branly knew right off the assembly line of faith is asking what hinders me from being baptized he didn't have to be couldn't cajole he didn't have to be nagged he didn't have to be browbeating I mean it's kind of like that today you know people get convinced to believers baptism and they don't get baptized it's like what's the problem Christ has commanded it you're a believer do it what's the hold up what's the disconnect why the disobedience on the one hand we don't overemphasize baptism and make it you know sacramental in the sense that without baptism there is no salvation but on the other hand we shouldn't under emphasize the importance of baptism Christ said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age what was if Jesus commands it why would we well you know that's for another day this guy says what hinders me Calvin said if being instructed but a few hours he came to this point how filthy is the sluggishness of those men who suppress the faith which they have conceived having been taught five ten or twenty years and I think we also ought to at least infer there are things that do hinder baptism in other words the very question posed by this man and the fact that Philip gives him a condition highlights there are things that would disqualify a person from baptism one of them is no faith the very condition given by Philip is that if you believe in your heart so we might rightly infer that without no faith should be no baptism without no faith there ought not to be that plunge without no faith you are not to engage in that the issue at that point isn't whether I should get wet or not the issue is come to Jesus weary sinner get that with the supper am I fit am I ready should I take or what have you come to Jesus settle that and then baptism and the Supper just fall into place don't think you settle the whole issue as to whether or not you're in Christ and you have answers concerning baptism and the Supper it's a beautiful thing when you don't know if you're in Christ don't take the Supper don't get baptized either corner to the Savior believe on him so he asks the question what hinders me now notice verse 37 now verse 37 according to the margins of most Bibles is suspect in terms of its originality it is quoted by Ira næss in the second century in his against heresies he quotes acts 8:37 so we see very early that this was testified to there are at least in most of the Bible versions I checked there's a note telling you that you know most manuscripts don't contain this most of them don't even put it in the body of the text the NASB at least puts it in the body of the text and the NASB then has a marginal note the ESV at least the one I checked didn't even know it just goes from verse 36 to verse 38 and at least tell us why you've skipped a number so I don't think that this is a printing error but because of the early testimony with reference to irony --is because of its inclusion in the Greek manuscript tradition it's Scripture and I will preach it as such and this is the condition upon which Philip predicates baptism other words he says the eunuch says what hinders me from being baptized notice what Philip says in verse 37 Philip said if you believe with all your heart you may if you believe with all your heart you may again there's a bit of examination this doesn't mean you can't be baptized for eight years until you know for all truth that every sin you've ever commit know if you believe in your heart what does want to complicate things click on the one hand there's a problem when we just willy-nilly admit anybody to baptism but on the other hand a six month class before somebody gets baptized come on if you believe in your heart that's condition that's requisite you must believe if you believe in your heart and notice that we always associate the heart with the romantic and the emotional and the emo tivity with reference to the heart is the the seat of the intellect the heart is the inner man the heart is the the response mechanism to faith and in revealed propositions concerning who Jesus is and what he has done if if you believe in your heart he's not saying now if your head this and we make that dichotomy and the Bible doesn't there's not the head thanks rations and then the heart feels and mook know it's all one big conglomerate in Scripture defined or described in various aspects along the way don't make that mistake those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth with the intellect and with the affections now with the Spirit of God and the truth who is Jesus in other words those who worship must worse worship Trinitarian Trinitarian link you see brethren we cannot make dichotomies where the Bible doesn't if you believe in your heart think about it you think that way my head responds my heart feels not according to fill up your heart that responds to the gospel in belief it's your heart that responds to the gospel in faith that is the condition and then note the eunuchs confession here he says if you believe with all your heart you may and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God beautiful for its sublimity he doesn't say I believe the second London Baptist confession of faith the 1677 / 1688 I believe the Westminster can passion of faith I believe this I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God this is the confession this is the central confession of the Church of the Lord Jesus this is definitional other words you're not a believer if you don't believe this just like you weren't a Jew in the Old Testament if you didn't confess the Shema hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength without that confession you weren't a Jew and the same is true with reference to Christianity you may know about the faith you may be doctrinally in tune with the faith you may understand certain things taught with reference to the faith but you need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that he is the son of God and notice as well that it's so out there I believe that I've been remade I believe that I've been changed I I believe that I'm an I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God you see the objectivity involved when the serpent was lifted up into the wilderness Moses didn't say now look at yourself and make sure you're fit to look at the serpent now look at the serpent live it was outside of himself that's the glory of the Christian gospel it's not what the Spirit does in us that comes later but it's what Christ has done for us that life that death that resurrection that atonement that curse bearing that suffering the penalty of God's wrath and justice when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God that's it we're believers you know we have a confession of faith I've been asked before well good does do do people have to understand and hold to everything know typically you gotta just know what we're about but church membership is for those who believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God baptism is for those who believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God the supper is for those who believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God the church is for those who believe you see where I'm going it's those who believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God this Ethiopian eunuch twice removed from the very Assembly having been reminded of that by his frequent or his recent journey to Jerusalem knows Deuteronomy 23 is in the Bible knows probably that Isaiah 56 is in the Bible where the prophet envisions envisages a day where there will be inclusion of eunuchs and Gentiles and then he's reading Isaiah 53 and Phillip again look at the sovereignty of God almost said Phillip happens along nothing happens happenstance does it total didn't happen along the Spirit directed him this wasn't lucky any more than the man it was begging alms at the beautiful gate in acts 3 got lucky when Peter and John walked by no this is God this is God seeking and saving whom he purposes so this man's reading Phillip says do you understand no I don't understand can you explain it he preaches Jesus the man believes and now the man wants to be baptized and he asks what hinders me Phillip keeps it simple and that old strategy K is s it's a beautiful thing I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God now note the baptism itself in verses 38 and verse 38 and 39 so he commanded the chariot to stand still and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him now here's a famous author he said here we see the right used among the men of old in old time in baptism for they put all the body into the water so this author admits that the man of old in men of all time in baptism for they put all the body into the water other words they baptize that means immersed that wasn't John Gill who said that now wasn't Abraham booth that said that wasn't William betim that said that was John Calvin who said that John Calvin recognized that men in old time baptized this way they put the whole body into the water I want to get into a big debate or contest but baptism means immerse that's why we do that we don't have some vested interest all we got to fill up now use a lot another that the Bible calls us to that we'd probably easier just to sprinkle their poor it would have saved me a couple hours yesterday I came here to make sure that the water got to a certain level put our towel heating water elements in there make sure that nothing sets on fire and it'd be much easier to have a basin and just you know do like that but the Baptist just happened to love water it's that the Bible requires it now notice now when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing but Philip was found at Azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea now we see that the Spirit has other work for Philip as I said he ultimately ends up in Caesarea and he is an evangelist he is a man that goes about preaching the gospel but before we move to a few final thoughts in terms of application know the ethiopia ethiopian eunuch here this is the inevitable result this is the inevitable consequence of those who believe that jesus christ is the son of god look at what it says he didn't see Philip anymore and he went on his way rejoicing you ever just read the Psalms and I'm not talking about the Psalms of lament but the Psalms of Thanksgiving and the Psalms of praise and you read Paul and you think and my Christianity doesn't always look like there's just blessing god they're praising God we use reformed theology or what men call Calvinism is a weapon we like to beat up Armenians and Pelagians and we like to Shores our supremacy and our moral superiority and holding to the right truth Paul uses it as a reason to praise blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ he chose us in him before the foundation of the world in him we have acceptance the Spirit is that seal and guarantee the words Ephesian one three to fourteen isn't in the first place a polemic piece of theology it functions that way it's on the second place an apologetic a bit of theology its doxological in nature in other words it is the vehicle upon which or the the means by which Paul praises God the thought of Sovereign Grace the thought of predestination the thought of election the thought of blood atonement through the substitutionary work of Christ the thought of the power and the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit didn't make Paul first want to go pace post on Facebook and tell everybody how foolish they were it made him want to praise and made him want to worship it made him want to bless God you see that through the Psalms too don't you they're just praising and rejoicing and blessing it can even happen in the church you know we show up on Sunday morning and our minds are pulled in a thousand different directions the ham is called out of the psalm is called out and we're kind of fumbling through it but but our thoughts are elsewhere we need to capture our thoughts we need to govern our thoughts we need to get a grip on our passions and direct them to the true and living God this man was saved what do you save man do they rejoice they don't walk around miserable they don't carry lemons in their pocket so they can suck them every two minutes and look like the most desperately despondent of miserable people on the face of the earth no there are people saved by Sovereign Grace there are people conquered by precious blood there are people set apart as a holy nation a royal priesthood God's special possession and as a result they praise they worship they glorify brethren that eunuch teaches us a whole bunch well let's look finally at a few concluding thoughts first we ought to appreciate Acts chapter 8 in the narrative as a whole it demonstrates to us the progress of the kingdom of God we see in acts 1:8 sort of a parody programmatic statement Jesus says you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth that's what we're seeing in the call of this ithi Oh peon unit we're seeing the conquest of the uttermost parts of the earth yes the gospel is going to go to Europe we'll see that as we proceed in the book of Acts but we see it here going specifically to Africa the Ethiopians we see this prophesied in the Psalter Psalm 68 envoy's will come out of Egypt Ethiopia will quickly stretch out our hands to God so x1 he tells us what's going to happen in terms of the church it's going to be witness to in Jerusalem Judea Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth and that is precisely how the book of Acts falls out we see as well with reference to isaiah 50:6 the messianic kingdom is here it's not just that the Prophet is quoted isaiah 53:7 and 8 is quoted here specifically but it's being fulfilled you might have wondered why did he read Isaiah 56 at the outset of worship because I wanted you to see the backdrop for what's happening here yes it's great when we see individuals come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ it's also great when we see the fulfillment of Isaiah 56 in the conquest of this Ethiopian eunuch who was doubly removed from the house of God now being considered better than a son or daughter that's what Isaiah says Dennis Johnson made the observation 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 brook the site 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 yet you need to read the book of Acts that way you need to read it conscious of the Old Testament you need to realize that we have a book of anticipation that lends itself to the fulfillment and realization of the New Testament secondly we see the realization here of the Covenant promises of God in other words I could just say the Old Testament if there was no New Testament there'd be a whole lot of people scratching their heads for answers wouldn't they take for instance Jeremiah 31:31 234 God through the Prophet says he's going to make a new covenant not like the one that I make made with them before which they broke but in this new covenant essential features of covenant membership include the forgiveness of sins the knowledge of God and the law written upon the heart those are essential they were present in the Old Covenant but they weren't essential they weren't necessary you could be an esau you could be an Ishmaelite member not so in the new covenant god commands in the new covenant all shall know the lord in other words they'll be saved they'll be forgiven they'll have the knowledge of God written on their hearts they'll have the Holy Spirit internalize the law internalized by the power of the Spirit well where do we see that fulfilled at the supper don't we Jesus says this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for the remission of sins for many but then as well this inclusion of the eunuch imagine the eunuch in this passage sometimes we need to do that jump into somebody else's skin to kind of get the vibe right kind of feel what's happening here he knows he's excluded he's consciously aware of that exclusion but he lights on isaiah 50:6 he says wait a minute there's a time coming when i eunuch will be considered more valuable than even a son or daughter in the house of god there's a time coming when the house of God will be a house of prayer for all the nations you see the fulfillment here in acts 8 think isaiah 50:6 the next time you read this conversion of the ethiopian eunuch the covenant promises of God are realized in Christ Jesus second Corinthians 1:20 the Apostle says for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us and then I want to look sadly at the practice of Christian baptism in the Church of God I think there are several lines of evidence to help us in this pursuit in the book of Acts not neglecting Jeremiah 31 not neglecting Abraham not neglecting Moses not neglecting a large swath of sort of covenant theology that precedes ahead but brethren we ought to consider what scripture says concerning baptism in the Church of God notice here it takes place after conversion again this typically doesn't surprise anybody or shock anybody except when it comes to the infants of those who have been baptized I don't want to get into a long protracted debate but if you look at the pattern the conspicuous pattern in the book of Acts you will see belief then baptism belief then baptism belief then baptism what do you think Luke wants us to hear belief and then baptism again John Calvin said for baptism is as it were an accessory of faith and therefore it is later in order now I should be honest and say he goes on to assume infant baptism but the previous statement invalidates that if it's an accessory if it's something that accompanies if it is something that comes after or later in order then we have to assume that it takes place after conversion secondly baptism in the Church of God is conditioned by Philip upon faith it's conditioned by Philip upon faith not by race oh you're an Ethiopian - too bad for you your black skin you're you're destined to hell please do that you're a eunuch tough terrible sorry no it's not conditioned on eunuch or not not conditioned on Ethiopian or not Jew or not it's faith men from every tribe tongue people and nation as well it is an external sign that symbolizes God's internal grace we don't baptize in the hope that people will become saved this isn't baptismal regeneration there are sects that practice that soon as you're baptized then you'll be saved they often cite Mark's Gospel he who believes and is baptized will be saved but then Jesus goes on and says but he who does not believe will be condemned baptism is an accessory but the thief on the cross went to heaven without it it's a nest accessory for the living people of God but can someone go to heaven without baptism yes should you necessarily go to heaven without baptism no you should be baptized if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus and as well we celebrate it in the church but it's primarily for the person baptized isn't it notice what Philip does not say what hinders me well we're ten miles from the church in Jerusalem that's a hindrance we need to shimmy our way back to you know James and the button no it's for the party baptized in other words this is the day that the brother being baptized gets to reflect upon for the rest of his life as a means of grace in God's life not as a means of grace in terms of it was this saving efficacy that brought him that he's been saved and this is the external act our confession says baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to beat on to the party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him and his death and resurrection of his being engrafted into him of remission of sins and is giving up to God through Christ to live and walk in newness of life that is such a great and powerful impact statement in terms of the significance of baptism and I want to remind our brother it is an occasion of affirmation that you specifically will walk in newness of life I think we forget this we all got baptized when we believed and in our minds and our hearts and our sort of approach to that day we we were determined we're gonna follow Jesus we're gonna walk in newness of life we're gonna do the things that God calls us to do and then we leave the building and we go off on our own way we are a people prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love Paul uses baptism in Romans chapter 6 as an appeal to the people of God to remember that and therefore do not let the members of your body rain and lust don't present them as instruments of unrighteousness but rather present them as instruments of righteousness remember your baptism not because it's what saved but it's because it was the external testimony to God and Reverend that you are walking in newness of life this is a sober serious and the most blessed thing and then finally the power of the gospel it comes to the poor and to the well-off you kind of get that insert and well our ministry is to this group and our ministry is to this group and our ministry is to this group and I'm sure persons walking in here could say well their ministry is to white middle class people not by design we'd love to have black poor people and read rich people and every tribe tongue and people the nation you know just pick out one group and say okay this is where our efforts are gonna go I mean you know people I want to be a missionary in Hawaii oh yeah great I mean but it's legit isn't it it's not like Hawaiians are somehow immune to the need for the gospel I want to be you know a missionary in Beverly Hills because those people that they really do need the gospel there's a fundamental flaw in this approach where we sort of carve up the universe and say well you know my niche is for the whoever is standing in need of Jesus ought to get the gospel because it comes to men who were poor but it comes to men who are well-off it also comes to men in crisis and then not in crisis we sometimes get that I think kids especially brought up in the church you know I'm afraid to confess that I believe the gospel because I never really went out and did those horrible things and everybody else did are you believing that Jesus is the Son of God it's not necessary to have a crisis conversion can God save in a crisis yes does God save in a crisis yes but does God just save a ten-year-old along the way - yes now because we're so weird we respond more to the guy who was raised and he sold crack any visited prostitutes and person says I believe the gospel a tad and I've never stopped by the grace of God we're more amazed with the former and not so with the latter but that's a reflection on us not on God the Apostle Paul highlights that in the call and conversion of Timothy who was tutored in gospel truth at the knees of his grandmother and mother that's the same effectual power of God demonstrated as it was in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus we really are messed up I mean you may not be but somebody out there is we just respond to these really atrocious testimonies as a Wow God is so God's is glorious and saving a ten-year-old why don't we accept that why isn't that more as impressive oh yeah I was in the crowd I was in a bow wow God's grace really powerful some other say when I was 12 never really got into that you know what we're doing on wedding way we're making those children think they need a crisis kid you don't need a crisis you don't need to sell crack you don't need to visit prostitutes in order to make your conversion real no conversions are real when you're believing the gospel and when you don't go out and do those horrific things that's as real and then finally it comes to men as a result of God's sovereign grace the angel tells Philip where to go the Spirit tells Philip where to go the Lord God in His infinite wonder counseled mercy glory Majesty has the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53 and then he asks the question or Philip asks him be understanding how can i unless somebody helps me everything is calculated by God in this passage to show his willingness to save to show that he's about salvation to demonstrate that Jeanne is a real savior for real sinners if you're a real sinner this morning come to the real Savior in faith we'll let us pray father thank you for your word and thank you so much for this account of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch what a blessed testimony to the grace and the power and the sovereignty of God what a blessed testimony to the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ the Lord the one in whom all the Covenant promises of God are our yay and amen thank you that we not only have a book full of promise but we have a book full of answers of response of fulfillment of realization thank you for the old and the New Testaments and thank you Lord God for the salvation that you have freely given to wretches like us and we ask your blessing now in Jesus Holy Name Amen kam is going to come up and lead ahem well the women I change our clothes and get ready for the baptism you can remain seated you can turn in your hem books to him 402 that's the larger [Music] [Music] we do that because the the Baptism and the Supper are means by which the church sees the gospel we're told in the Bible to preach the gospel and preach the word read the word hear the word sing the word pray the word the sacraments are the means by which we see the word baptism being the initiation or entrance into the Church of Jesus Christ and then the Supper being that means by which God nourishes weary pilgrims along the way so that's why we typically ask for the little guys to see really a joy to see his growth to see his embrace of the truth colony of the truth with understanding Christian doctrine and just his desire yeah before coming to Christ I was born and raised in the church [Music] [Music] something was missing it went back to normal I lived an outward religious life but it was just an empty show like many around me about 10 years ago I started thinking about these things more and more questioning what is truth how are we saved what do we have to do is faith enough what is good preaching I listened to Boulder gospel preaching from various preachers around the world but still didn't get it I've researched a baptism issue and came to the conclusion that a believers only baptism is the only mode but I was still unsaved it became more and more of an issue so I spent more time reading Scripture listening to sermons talking with people praying and trying to figure out how to be saved is there still hope what does it mean to believe how do we believe what are things like the sinner's prayer and altar calls and are they really wrong do I need a certain level of misery and convictions before I could be saved did I need to wait for the spirit or to know if I was elect eventually I realized that faith does not require feelings or emotions as either a condition or proof now is the acceptable time to go to Jesus he does not cast anybody out waiting is not an option there is no specific magic formula or words to use we're to look and live trust and receive Christ by faith putting all our hopes for salvation on him it was a humbling experience to let both my understanding at proverbs 3 says trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him acknowledge him and he shall direct our path Jesus is not only able doctor will he never captain okay SP push they don't know the exact date time for spring of last year since coming to faith in Lourdes and slowly conformed to the image of Christ he's increased my love for others is teaching me how to pray gathering together with his people hearing sound preaching and learning theology brings joy while my life and walk is not perfect and there are many challenges to overcome yet I know that God is in control and is preparing me to walk to pass he has prepared in the light of his word everything that I have received including repentance faith and conversion is a gift from him there's nothing good in us to boast of we cannot take credit for anything everything we do is the work of the Spirit which is a hidden work of God to those here or perhaps are watching online or in the recording in the future if you're not a believer in your unsaved put your weapons and your excuses down you have heard it clearly from Pastor Butler and now is the acceptable time to trust in Jesus the angels in heaven will be rejoicing even though we might not feel anything different we need to look to Christ and trust him not looking at ourselves to measure our misery we can never know the depth of our misery we are deceitfully wicked we must respond to the gospel offer Jesus came to save sinners trust the facts of what Christ says throughout his word and stop rejecting him [Applause] baptize you in the name of the Father [Applause] one minute and we're gonna stand and sing the doxology of praise to God so let's bow in prayer father thank you for this sin to your power to your sovereignty into your love Lord God you did so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life thank you for your conquest and the life of king of wind kerkhof pray that you would continue to bless and strengthen our brother as he walks in newness of life we pray that there are others that would hear the Gospel message many others that would come to know that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior who does receive sinners and eats with them thank you for this great gospel thank you for your great grace in the dark side [Music]