WEBVTT 00:00:00.119 --> 00:00:02.524 Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church. 00:00:02.524 --> 00:00:07.113 Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 am. 00:00:07.113 --> 00:00:11.208 You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service. 00:00:11.208 --> 00:00:12.711 We hope you enjoy. 00:00:12.711 --> 00:00:13.932 God bless. 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:20.132 If you have your Bibles this morning and I sure hope you do we're going to be in Acts, chapter 8. 00:00:20.132 --> 00:00:24.248 We're going to start reading in verse 26. 00:00:24.248 --> 00:00:32.799 As you turn there, you know my senior year of high school. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:38.640 South Pontotoc played seminary in the 2A Baseball State Championship. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.555 I was on the team, just in case you were wondering. 00:00:42.555 --> 00:00:43.401 We played. 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:44.203 The first game was on a Tuesday night. 00:00:44.203 --> 00:00:46.149 We we played seminary came up to South Pontotoc. 00:00:46.149 --> 00:00:47.526 They beat us that night. 00:00:47.526 --> 00:00:56.970 So on Saturday we went down to seminary, which is just north of Hattiesburg, went down there and if, if we lost the first game, we were done. 00:00:56.970 --> 00:01:00.530 If we won the first game, we had to play the way they had it set up that year. 00:01:00.530 --> 00:01:02.145 We had to play a double header. 00:01:02.145 --> 00:01:08.546 And so we went down and we played the first game in a fantastic game. 00:01:08.546 --> 00:01:09.828 I'll spare you the details. 00:01:09.828 --> 00:01:10.632 We won. 00:01:10.632 --> 00:01:14.040 So we turned around and had to play a double header. 00:01:15.123 --> 00:01:19.510 And Sonny, who was our eighth left-handed pitcher, he was really good. 00:01:19.510 --> 00:01:26.572 He just pitched a great game, seven inning game in an unrelenting heat. 00:01:26.572 --> 00:01:35.746 Now it gets hot in North Mississippi and I don't mean to downplay that, but listen, south Mississippi heat and North Mississippi heat, if you've never experienced the difference in the two. 00:01:35.746 --> 00:01:36.509 It is different. 00:01:36.509 --> 00:01:48.289 It was so hot, and their field was kind of down in this little bowl, so there was no air moving, nothing, it was just steaming hot. 00:01:48.289 --> 00:01:56.269 And we finished the first game and Sonny looked at Coach Lyles and said Give me the ball, I'm going again. 00:01:56.269 --> 00:01:59.772 And so, coach Lyles, he did. 00:01:59.772 --> 00:02:04.771 He gave him the ball and Sonny came out the second game of a doubleheader. 00:02:04.771 --> 00:02:16.622 He gave him the ball and Sonny came out that the second game of a doubleheader, and he pitched five of the best innings I had ever I've ever seen, until his body just said no more, can't do it anymore. 00:02:17.183 --> 00:02:20.790 There's something I want us to see about Sonny, though, and learn from him. 00:02:20.790 --> 00:02:36.221 One is, on that day when we we were playing that game, sonny was ready, he was ready, he had prepared and he was ready. 00:02:36.221 --> 00:02:36.782 How do I know he was ready? 00:02:36.782 --> 00:02:52.111 Because I was with Sonny in January and February when Coach Lyles made us run and run and run and run a little bit more and run a little bit more, and I knew that, physically, our endurance was there. 00:02:52.111 --> 00:02:53.444 We were prepared. 00:02:53.444 --> 00:02:55.487 He was ready to play. 00:02:55.487 --> 00:03:01.207 I also knew something else about Sonny Sonny was able to play. 00:03:01.207 --> 00:03:03.580 Sonny was a hard worker. 00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:05.747 He had worked on pitching. 00:03:05.747 --> 00:03:07.984 He could throw every pitch that he threw. 00:03:07.984 --> 00:03:08.945 He threw it well. 00:03:08.945 --> 00:03:11.592 He could place it where he wanted to place it. 00:03:11.592 --> 00:03:18.361 He couldn't throw, he wasn't, it wasn't super fast, but he made it move and dance and do all these different kind of things. 00:03:18.361 --> 00:03:22.348 He had command of every pitch, threw it exactly where he wanted to throw it. 00:03:22.348 --> 00:03:28.181 Because he had worked on and perfected his craft, he was able to do it. 00:03:28.181 --> 00:03:34.074 Third thing we see in Sonny is that day he was willing. 00:03:34.074 --> 00:03:39.408 He looked at Coach Lyles straight in the eyes and said give me the ball. 00:03:39.408 --> 00:03:48.774 And Coach Lyles didn't hesitate to hand that ball to him because he was ready and he was willing and he was able. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:58.379 As we come to our passage today, what we're going to see in this passage today is we're going to talk about Philip, and we've seen Philip already. 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:08.126 We saw Philip be elected as one of the seven who was going to take care of the Hellenistic widows when they were not getting their proportion of food. 00:04:08.126 --> 00:04:17.088 We saw Philip, even last week, go to Samaria and share the gospel, where many became followers of Christ. 00:04:17.088 --> 00:04:25.012 And we saw where one guy, simon the magician he was intrigued by the gospel, yet he did not fully commit himself to Christ. 00:04:25.012 --> 00:04:29.180 But in our passage today, we see Philip again sharing the gospel. 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:36.434 He shared the gospel with an Ethiopian eunuch and that eunuch then trusted in Christ. 00:04:36.434 --> 00:04:45.079 And while we see, this is a message about Philip and what Philip did, I hope, as the church, we can come and we can learn some things from Philip. 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:55.451 I hope that we can see that we must prepare to share the gospel so that when opportunities arise for us, we're ready. 00:04:55.451 --> 00:05:00.632 Not just ready, but we're able and we are willing. 00:05:00.632 --> 00:05:03.387 See, here's the challenge for us, church. 00:05:03.387 --> 00:05:18.660 Listen, if you got seriously, honest with yourself and I ask you the question are we all supposed to be sharing the gospel? 00:05:18.660 --> 00:05:23.100 You couldn't deny that we are. 00:05:23.100 --> 00:05:29.884 What happens with us, church? 00:05:29.884 --> 00:05:33.178 What happens with us all the time is we overlook or we pass up opportunities because we are not ready. 00:05:33.178 --> 00:05:41.800 We pass up opportunities because we are not able, and we pass up opportunities sometimes just because we are not willing. 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:49.490 But what we see from Philip today and what we're going to see from Philip, is that that we must be ready, willing and able to share the gospel. 00:05:49.490 --> 00:05:52.259 The question that we want to answer this morning as we look at this passage. 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:55.266 So then was how was Philip prepared? 00:05:55.266 --> 00:05:57.711 How did he prepare himself? 00:05:57.711 --> 00:06:05.379 What are the things that he did so that he would be ready, so that he would be willing, so that he would be able to share the gospel? 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:07.807 So let's look at these. 00:06:08.007 --> 00:06:11.315 In acts, chapter 8, start reading in verse 26. 00:06:11.315 --> 00:06:16.810 If you are able this morning, I invite you to stand with us as we give honor to the reading of god's word. 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:20.485 We're going to start in verse 26 and we're going to finish the chapter through verse 40. 00:06:20.485 --> 00:06:30.091 And now an angel of the Lord said to Philip Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:06:30.091 --> 00:06:32.005 This is a desert place. 00:06:32.005 --> 00:06:39.612 And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of an Ethiopian. 00:06:39.612 --> 00:06:44.391 Let me start that verse again, verse 27. 00:06:44.391 --> 00:06:53.228 And he arose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. 00:06:53.228 --> 00:06:59.934 He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 00:06:59.934 --> 00:07:03.930 And the Spirit said to Philip Go over and join his chariot. 00:07:03.930 --> 00:07:10.333 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked do you understand what you are reading? 00:07:10.333 --> 00:07:14.511 And he said to him how can I, unless someone guides me? 00:07:14.511 --> 00:07:17.608 And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:27.040 Now, the passage of scripture that he was reading was this Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearers is silent. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:29.004 So he opens not his mouth. 00:07:29.004 --> 00:07:32.209 In his humiliation, justice was denied him. 00:07:32.209 --> 00:07:35.040 Who can describe his generation? 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.846 For his life is taken away from the earth. 00:07:37.846 --> 00:07:42.103 And the eunuch said to Philip about whom, I ask you, does this? 00:07:42.103 --> 00:07:43.526 Does the prophet this? 00:07:43.526 --> 00:07:46.653 About Himself or about someone else? 00:07:46.653 --> 00:07:53.709 Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. 00:07:53.709 --> 00:07:58.947 And as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said See, here is water. 00:07:58.947 --> 00:08:01.249 What prevents me from being baptized? 00:08:01.249 --> 00:08:03.427 And he commanded the chariot to stop. 00:08:03.427 --> 00:08:05.076 And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch, and he baptized, baptized. 00:08:05.076 --> 00:08:05.423 And he commanded the chariot to stop. 00:08:05.423 --> 00:08:07.869 And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 00:08:07.869 --> 00:08:16.072 And when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way, rejoicing. 00:08:16.072 --> 00:08:27.654 But Philip found him at himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 00:08:28.154 --> 00:08:30.963 Let us pray, god, once again. 00:08:30.963 --> 00:08:34.451 We are honored to be gathered in your presence for this moment. 00:08:34.451 --> 00:08:45.327 We pray that now, as we have opened your word, god, we pray that we will begin with Scripture and share the good news about Jesus. 00:08:45.327 --> 00:08:48.142 We love you, jesus. 00:08:48.142 --> 00:08:48.764 It's in your name. 00:08:48.764 --> 00:08:52.859 We pray, amen, amen. 00:08:56.381 --> 00:09:03.366 So again, the question that we're seeking to answer, if we want to be ready, able and willing how was Philip prepared? 00:09:03.366 --> 00:09:05.707 How did Philip prepare himself to do this? 00:09:05.707 --> 00:09:08.683 Well, first, we saw that he was ready. 00:09:08.683 --> 00:09:17.655 Look in verses 26 through 29 again, he said an angel of the Lord said to Philip arise, go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:09:17.655 --> 00:09:19.480 This is a desert place. 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:30.807 And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. 00:09:30.807 --> 00:09:38.710 He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 00:09:38.710 --> 00:09:42.971 And the spirit said to Philip go over and join his chariot. 00:09:42.971 --> 00:09:49.133 So I think there are three things that we see that Philip did to ready himself. 00:09:49.133 --> 00:09:50.701 Here's what I think. 00:09:50.701 --> 00:09:51.785 We see what he did. 00:09:52.248 --> 00:09:57.509 He heard An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and he heard it. 00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:06.130 Now you may say, grant, of course he heard An angel of the Lord speaks to you, you're going to hear it right. 00:10:06.130 --> 00:10:11.032 I mean because think of other times when angels spoke to people in the Bible. 00:10:11.032 --> 00:10:13.788 It was a pretty traumatic experience for most of them. 00:10:13.788 --> 00:10:19.932 Now we're not real sure that Luke doesn't tell us in Acts how the angel spoke to Philip. 00:10:19.932 --> 00:10:24.070 We just know that he spoke and Philip heard him. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:28.544 Again, you say, granted, that's easy to hear the angel of the Lord. 00:10:28.544 --> 00:10:29.629 But listen, I'm convinced. 00:10:29.629 --> 00:10:38.129 I'm convinced that there are many times where God speaks to us and he moves us, and we don't hear it. 00:10:38.129 --> 00:10:44.889 We don't hear his prompting, we don't hear his moving, and it could be for several reasons. 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:51.410 We may just be ignoring him, we may just not want to hear him, or we may be incapable of hearing him. 00:10:51.410 --> 00:10:53.302 But here's what I believe. 00:10:53.302 --> 00:11:19.567 I believe the more that we are in tune with the spirit of God, the more we hear the spirit of God when we are in a growing relationship with Jesus, when we are walking with the Father, when we are reading our Bible, when we are spending time in prayer, when we are growing in our relationship with Christ, when we are growing in our relationship with God, when God speaks to us, we are more likely to hear. 00:11:19.567 --> 00:11:22.456 I think that's where Philip was. 00:11:22.456 --> 00:11:28.022 We see him in a place where he is growing in his relationship with God. 00:11:28.022 --> 00:11:31.019 So when the angel spoke, he heard. 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:35.519 Not only did he hear, but he obeyed. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:49.740 See, the Spirit tells him then to go down to Gaza, to go down to this road in Gaza that is leading to Ethiopia, and he is going home and we here see Philip obey. 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:52.839 John MacArthur describes this road to Gaza. 00:11:52.839 --> 00:12:01.158 He says there are actually two roads that lead from Jerusalem to Gaza, and the road to which Philip was told to go was the less traveled one. 00:12:01.158 --> 00:12:03.003 So here's Philip. 00:12:03.003 --> 00:12:08.273 He's told to go to this less traveled road that's going from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:12:08.273 --> 00:12:17.979 It's a desert road, so that means it's dry, there's nothing there, and Gaza would have been the last stop for water before he makes the trek on to Egypt. 00:12:17.979 --> 00:12:19.981 And Philip did it. 00:12:19.981 --> 00:12:22.532 And you say big deal. 00:12:22.552 --> 00:12:24.894 Well, understand what Philip's doing here? 00:12:24.894 --> 00:12:27.558 Philip has been in Samaria. 00:12:27.558 --> 00:12:31.544 If you don't know your geography of Israel, it is north of Jerusalem. 00:12:31.544 --> 00:12:36.990 He's not at Jerusalem, so he's traveling. 00:12:36.990 --> 00:12:40.942 And it's not like he jumps on a little airplane and hops down to Gaza. 00:12:40.942 --> 00:12:45.419 It's not like he has a car and gets in and drives to Gaza. 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:46.482 He's walking. 00:12:46.482 --> 00:12:56.303 So he leaves Samaria and starts walking to Gaza and understand also what's happening in Samaria. 00:12:56.303 --> 00:12:57.592 It's revival. 00:12:57.592 --> 00:13:00.119 There's revival. 00:13:00.178 --> 00:13:05.618 Remember, just last week, many people had come to Christ because Philip was preaching in Samaria. 00:13:05.618 --> 00:13:07.149 Many people had come to Christ because Philip was preaching in Samaria. 00:13:07.149 --> 00:13:12.962 Many people had come to Christ and the ministry seems to be going well and everything seems to be awesome. 00:13:12.962 --> 00:13:15.899 And God says hey, I want you to go to Gaza. 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:18.937 What I'm supposed to leave all this? 00:13:18.937 --> 00:13:22.359 I'm supposed to leave what's happening here and go to Gaza, why? 00:13:22.359 --> 00:13:32.413 But you know what Philip did? 00:13:32.413 --> 00:13:34.457 He obeyed, he turned and he, he left and he obeyed. 00:13:34.457 --> 00:13:35.561 Listen, and, and, and. 00:13:35.561 --> 00:13:48.605 If we are going to be ready to do what God has called us to do and share the gospel, listen, it call, he calls for obedience, and and I'm not saying there won't be times where we don't question what God is calling us to do. 00:13:48.605 --> 00:13:51.879 I'm pretty convinced Philip probably was doing that. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:54.894 I'm not going to say that. 00:13:54.894 --> 00:14:04.893 There's not times where you think, god, I don't understand what you're doing, and that's okay when we obey. 00:14:04.893 --> 00:14:07.780 Philip obeyed. 00:14:07.780 --> 00:14:12.360 He got up, he left and he went to Gaza. 00:14:13.551 --> 00:14:20.836 When he saw the Ethiopian eunuch and the spirit said go join him, man, he ran up to the chariot. 00:14:20.836 --> 00:14:24.418 Ever thought about, could you picture that? 00:14:24.418 --> 00:14:34.693 I mean, you know, a chariot's being pulled by a horse right and it may not be dead out sprint, but it's probably not just moving as slowly as we walk. 00:14:34.693 --> 00:14:42.355 Philip runs up to next to the chariot and he's running and he hears him speaking and starts talking to him while he's running beside the chariot. 00:14:42.355 --> 00:14:47.763 Man had to look crazy, but he obeyed. 00:14:49.767 --> 00:14:55.418 Third thing I think we see here is that he saw with the eyes of god. 00:14:55.418 --> 00:15:02.575 See, when he got to gaza he looked up and saw this chariot with this ethiopian eunuch coming down. 00:15:02.575 --> 00:15:08.684 Now, et Ethiopia is probably not what we consider present-day Ethiopia. 00:15:08.684 --> 00:15:24.480 In Old Testament it's probably actually the kingdom of Cush, which is at the upper Nile, and so this guy he is in his chariot headed back to there and he was in charge of the treasury. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:33.562 John Pohlhill, the commentator, says he's probably like the finance, the secretary of finance for Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. 00:15:35.231 --> 00:15:35.855 He was a eunuch. 00:15:35.855 --> 00:15:54.014 We can probably assume that he was a God-fearer because he had gone to Jerusalem to worship, but because he was a eunuch, he would not ever be fully accepted into the community, into the community of the Israelites there. 00:15:54.014 --> 00:16:04.857 But when Philip saw him, he didn't see all those barriers and all those reasons not to share the gospel with him. 00:16:04.857 --> 00:16:14.783 He saw through the eyes of God and saw a man who had been created in the image of God, who needed to know Jesus. 00:16:14.783 --> 00:16:19.114 And he went and he shared Jesus. 00:16:19.114 --> 00:16:36.120 See, if we're going to be ready, if we're going to be ready to do the thing that God has called us to do, we need to listen, we need to be in a growing relationship with God so we are growing and we can hear His voice. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:47.039 We need to obey when we hear His voice and we need to stop looking with our eyes and look with the eyes of God. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:56.904 We need to stop seeing barriers and reasons not to share the gospel and see people who need Jesus and share the gospel. 00:16:56.904 --> 00:16:59.495 See, philip was ready. 00:17:02.211 --> 00:17:08.203 The next thing I think we see here is that he was able, he was able. 00:17:08.203 --> 00:17:13.609 He comes running up next to the chariot and hears the Ethiopian eunuch. 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:20.040 He hears him reading from the prophet Isaiah and he asks hey, do you know what you're reading? 00:17:20.040 --> 00:17:25.461 The eunuch says how can I know unless somebody explains it to me? 00:17:25.461 --> 00:17:30.603 So he invites Philip up in the chariot and they read from Isaiah. 00:17:30.603 --> 00:17:32.935 And he asked a question again. 00:17:32.935 --> 00:17:36.339 The eunuch asked a question of Philip about to explain this. 00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:38.517 But here's the focus. 00:17:38.517 --> 00:17:51.512 I think here's what I want us to see this morning In verse 35, here's what Philip does this morning in verse 35. 00:17:51.512 --> 00:17:52.134 Here's what Philip does. 00:17:52.134 --> 00:17:55.118 Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. 00:17:55.118 --> 00:17:59.351 See, Philip was able because here's what happened. 00:17:59.351 --> 00:18:03.756 He began with Scripture. 00:18:05.798 --> 00:18:08.383 See, here's what we we claim this about Scripture. 00:18:08.383 --> 00:18:17.419 We make statements about Scripture and listen, whether you know it or not, and if you come to a Southern Baptist church, there are assumptions that are being made about Scripture. 00:18:17.419 --> 00:18:19.116 Maybe we should make those assumptions. 00:18:19.116 --> 00:18:21.176 Let me tell you some of those things. 00:18:21.176 --> 00:18:25.739 Okay, we believe that Scripture is the inspired word of God. 00:18:25.739 --> 00:18:34.569 It is breathed out by God, that he used men to to pen, that he used men inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words. 00:18:34.569 --> 00:18:41.630 We believe that scripture is God's revelation of himself, that God has revealed himself to the world. 00:18:41.630 --> 00:18:44.038 He revealed himself through Jesus Christ. 00:18:44.038 --> 00:18:52.230 We they saw Jesus, but now, through these words, through the words of scripture, god has revealed himself to us who have not seen Christ. 00:18:52.230 --> 00:18:54.740 If you want to know God, read scripture. 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:58.131 If you want to see how God portrays himself, read scripture. 00:18:58.131 --> 00:19:04.178 If you want to see God, who is invisible and it takes a revelation of himself to see, read scripture. 00:19:04.178 --> 00:19:14.769 So so here's the thing if we are going to share about god to people, guess where we need to begin with his revelation of himself. 00:19:14.769 --> 00:19:21.721 We got to start here, we got to begin with scripture. 00:19:21.780 --> 00:19:27.710 Paul tells us, tells us in Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:44.991 He says this for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith. 00:19:44.991 --> 00:19:52.303 For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 00:19:52.303 --> 00:19:55.693 Hear what he's saying. 00:19:55.693 --> 00:20:01.740 The gospel, the gospel which is God's revelation of himself. 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:03.396 It is Jesus Christ who came. 00:20:03.396 --> 00:20:05.609 It is the good news about Jesus Christ. 00:20:05.609 --> 00:20:11.382 He is not ashamed of it because it is the power of God for salvation. 00:20:11.382 --> 00:20:16.875 Hear me your words are not going to save anyone. 00:20:16.875 --> 00:20:22.200 Your words are not going to lead anyone to salvation. 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:24.561 God's words will. 00:20:24.561 --> 00:20:29.527 It is the words of God that are the power. 00:20:29.527 --> 00:20:33.981 It is the words of God that are the power for salvation. 00:20:33.981 --> 00:20:42.053 And when we share the gospel, if we're going to be able to share the gospel, we've got to begin with scripture. 00:20:43.616 --> 00:20:48.297 Now I know already some of you are thinking but Grant, I'm not a Bible scholar. 00:20:48.297 --> 00:20:53.517 Okay, we talked about this last week. 00:20:53.517 --> 00:20:54.460 Philip wasn't either. 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:56.955 Remember who Philip is. 00:20:56.955 --> 00:21:00.236 We're not talking about the apostle Philip. 00:21:00.236 --> 00:21:10.820 We are talking about a man who was serving in his church and people recognized his service, so they asked him to help take care of widows in the church. 00:21:10.820 --> 00:21:24.238 And then we're talking about a man, just an ordinary man, that, because of persecution in the church, went out from Jerusalem and as he was going, he began sharing the gospel with people. 00:21:24.238 --> 00:21:26.201 Ordinary man. 00:21:26.201 --> 00:21:29.974 And let me tell you this he's a Hellenistic Jew. 00:21:29.974 --> 00:21:31.619 You know what that means. 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:41.423 He's not Jewish Jewish, he's Jewish that has been out in the Roman Empire, that has come back to Israel. 00:21:41.423 --> 00:21:47.241 He doesn't have the background that a lot of the Jewish Jews have. 00:21:47.241 --> 00:21:53.932 He's a Hellenistic Jew but he begins with Scripture. 00:21:53.953 --> 00:21:57.299 Let me tell you about my grandmom. 00:21:57.299 --> 00:21:59.824 I called her Mamaw. 00:21:59.824 --> 00:22:02.894 I'll tell you about Mamaw. 00:22:02.894 --> 00:22:07.979 Mamaw, she had some schooling. 00:22:07.979 --> 00:22:11.059 She went to high school and she went to normal college. 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:14.780 Some of you, older folks, will know what a normal college is, some of you won't. 00:22:14.780 --> 00:22:22.176 Normal colleges were colleges that were really created to teach teachers, to teach teachers, to teach. 00:22:22.176 --> 00:22:28.020 And so Mamaw went to a normal college and she was a school teacher. 00:22:28.020 --> 00:22:39.162 Now she was married to a guy who was a farmer and actually didn't come to Christ until later in his life. 00:22:39.162 --> 00:22:43.760 They were married before Papa became a Christian. 00:22:43.760 --> 00:22:51.355 And let me tell you what I have. 00:22:52.498 --> 00:22:58.580 Esther Kate was in my office this morning and said what are those piece of papers that look like degrees up there? 00:22:58.580 --> 00:22:59.814 I was like well, they're degrees. 00:22:59.814 --> 00:23:01.599 So what are they? 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:07.542 She said I have a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies from Mississippi College. 00:23:07.542 --> 00:23:26.204 I have a Master's of Divinity with a specialization in biblical languages from seminary at New Orleans, and my grandmother has forgotten more Scripture than I know. 00:23:26.204 --> 00:23:44.601 She wasn't trained in it, but she loved her God enough to know that he has revealed Himself to all of us in the words of Scripture, and she took it seriously and she read and she studied God's Word. 00:23:44.601 --> 00:23:52.398 It doesn't require a degree, it requires a relationship. 00:23:55.412 --> 00:23:59.301 Listen, this is God's revelation of himself to us. 00:23:59.301 --> 00:24:03.000 If you want to know God, know his word. 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.798 Philip did. 00:24:05.798 --> 00:24:11.381 And because of that, know his word Philip did and because of that he was able to share scripture when the time came. 00:24:11.381 --> 00:24:20.560 But not only did he begin with scripture, see what it says there again, he began beginning with this scripture in verse 35. 00:24:20.560 --> 00:24:22.431 He told him the good news about Jesus. 00:24:22.431 --> 00:24:24.814 Understand the scripture that he's reading, that they're reading from the prophet of Isaiah. 00:24:24.814 --> 00:24:25.834 He told him the good news about Jesus. 00:24:25.834 --> 00:24:30.057 Understand the scripture that he's reading, that they're reading from the prophet of Isaiah. 00:24:30.057 --> 00:24:34.281 That was over 700 years from the time that Jesus was born. 00:24:34.281 --> 00:24:37.865 Over 700 years from the time that Jesus was born. 00:24:37.865 --> 00:24:41.410 And you know who Isaiah was writing about Jesus. 00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:42.290 Look all the scripture. 00:24:42.290 --> 00:24:43.011 All of it points us to Jesus. 00:24:43.011 --> 00:24:44.453 Look, all of Scripture. 00:24:44.453 --> 00:24:53.546 All of it points us to Jesus, to this one singular event where Jesus came, he lived, he died, he arose. 00:24:53.546 --> 00:24:56.393 All of Scripture points us to that. 00:24:56.393 --> 00:24:58.800 Paul tells us that in Romans, chapter 3, verse 21. 00:24:58.800 --> 00:25:02.902 He writes this but now, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. 00:25:02.902 --> 00:25:03.303 Do you know who? 00:25:03.303 --> 00:25:05.127 The righteousness of God that was manifested apart from the law, do you know who? 00:25:05.127 --> 00:25:09.758 The righteousness of God that was manifested apart from the law is Jesus. 00:25:09.758 --> 00:25:18.798 And then he goes on to say this about it, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. 00:25:18.798 --> 00:25:24.035 The law and the prophets bear witness to the righteousness of God who is Jesus? 00:25:24.035 --> 00:25:28.324 Listen, all of scripture points us to Jesus. 00:25:28.324 --> 00:25:29.573 Understand this. 00:25:29.573 --> 00:25:32.300 God doesn't need you to defend the Bible. 00:25:32.300 --> 00:25:36.017 He doesn't need a defense of His Word. 00:25:36.017 --> 00:25:39.378 God doesn't need us to defend Him to anybody. 00:25:39.378 --> 00:25:41.276 Do you know what we're called to do? 00:25:41.276 --> 00:25:43.939 Not to defend the Bible, not to defend God. 00:25:43.939 --> 00:25:46.778 We are called to bear witness of jesus christ. 00:25:46.778 --> 00:25:53.569 We are called, and what philip did is, beginning with scripture, god's revelation of himself. 00:25:53.569 --> 00:25:56.394 He pointed the eunuch to jesus. 00:25:56.394 --> 00:25:59.259 That's what we are called to do. 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:03.271 We are called to point people to jesus. 00:26:03.271 --> 00:26:04.375 Paul tells us. 00:26:04.375 --> 00:26:07.561 Paul writes it so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 2. 00:26:07.561 --> 00:26:10.297 Listen to what he says in verses 1 and 2. 00:26:11.050 --> 00:26:20.285 And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 00:26:20.285 --> 00:26:23.057 Do you see that lofty speech? 00:26:23.057 --> 00:26:25.797 I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 00:26:25.797 --> 00:26:26.699 Do you know what that is? 00:26:26.699 --> 00:26:27.781 The word of God? 00:26:27.781 --> 00:26:28.896 He didn't come. 00:26:28.896 --> 00:26:34.721 He didn't come doing that with lofty speech and wisdom defending the word of God. 00:26:34.721 --> 00:26:35.461 Do you know what he did? 00:26:35.461 --> 00:26:36.463 Instead, look at verse 2. 00:26:36.463 --> 00:26:44.789 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:48.122 Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 00:26:48.122 --> 00:26:58.390 Listen, I don't know what you know about Corinth, but it was a crazy place. 00:26:58.390 --> 00:27:00.032 The debauchery that was going on in Corinth is amazing. 00:27:00.032 --> 00:27:03.701 You look at places in our world today and go, whew, it's bad there. 00:27:03.701 --> 00:27:06.866 Think of Corinth. 00:27:06.866 --> 00:27:11.961 Right, and Paul said I didn't come to defend the Bible. 00:27:11.961 --> 00:27:17.782 I didn't come to give you eloquent speech about the Bible or lofty speech about the Bible. 00:27:17.782 --> 00:27:19.978 I didn't come to give you all of that. 00:27:19.978 --> 00:27:28.924 Instead, what I came to do is use the word of God, his revelation of himself, to point you to Jesus Christ and him crucified. 00:27:31.290 --> 00:27:34.817 Philip was able, he was able to share the gospel. 00:27:34.817 --> 00:27:36.396 He was ready to share the gospel. 00:27:36.396 --> 00:27:46.321 He was ready because he was in this growing relationship with God that allowed him to hear and obey and see through the eyes of God. 00:27:46.321 --> 00:28:02.344 But he was also able Because he had spent time knowing God through the words of God and because he knew Jesus and understood Scripture was pointing people to Jesus. 00:28:02.344 --> 00:28:14.556 He was ready, he was able and finally, this morning, we see this he was willing, he was willing. 00:28:14.556 --> 00:28:18.570 He was willing as they are going along the road. 00:28:18.570 --> 00:28:30.622 As they're going along the road, in verse 36 says and they, as they were going along the road, they came to some water and the unit said see, here is water. 00:28:30.622 --> 00:28:32.930 What prevents me from being baptized? 00:28:32.930 --> 00:28:34.875 And he commanded the chariot to stop. 00:28:34.875 --> 00:28:39.492 And they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch and he baptized him. 00:28:39.492 --> 00:28:47.417 When he came out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way, rejoicing. 00:28:48.339 --> 00:28:50.144 But Philip found himself in Azotus. 00:28:50.144 --> 00:28:56.212 As he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 00:28:56.212 --> 00:29:07.849 See, philip, he understood because, because he had this relationship with Jesus and because he had been taught by the apostles, he probably knew the great commission. 00:29:07.849 --> 00:29:09.234 You know it. 00:29:09.234 --> 00:29:20.781 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and behold, I'm with you always, to the very end of the age. 00:29:20.781 --> 00:29:30.055 Philip probably knew that verse because god jesus gave it to the apostles before he went into heaven and I'm pretty sure if he sat under the teaching of the apostles he heard that. 00:29:30.055 --> 00:29:35.315 He heard that passage, he heard that that commission from Jesus. 00:29:35.315 --> 00:29:37.839 So here's Philip, and that's what he did. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:46.410 He went and he shared the gospel and and upon belief of that eunuch, he said hey, what is what's keeping me from being baptized? 00:29:46.410 --> 00:29:49.681 It's what the great commission called us to do and we understand this. 00:29:49.681 --> 00:30:00.736 Baptism didn't save the eunuch, it didn't have to, didn't have to happen for his salvation, but he was baptized because, as we talked last week, it showed his pledge of loyalty to the kingdom of God. 00:30:00.736 --> 00:30:07.492 Hey, I am, I am a believer, I have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. 00:30:07.492 --> 00:30:11.921 So they stopped and they baptized him. 00:30:15.753 --> 00:30:28.821 Then it's so interesting, gosh, it says when he came up, philip was carried away. 00:30:28.821 --> 00:30:29.763 Listen, yesterday we drove down. 00:30:29.763 --> 00:30:41.221 We had to drive down to Jackson, amber, eli, actually to Brandon, about a three hour drive down and three hour drive back in a day on the way home. 00:30:41.221 --> 00:30:51.740 On the way home, I just started thinking man, I wish I could be in, like I Dream of Jeannie, and be there. 00:30:51.740 --> 00:30:55.509 I just wish it, it could happen, like I dream of Jeannie and be there. 00:30:55.509 --> 00:30:57.451 I just wish it could happen. 00:30:57.451 --> 00:30:58.731 And that's what happened to Philip. 00:30:58.731 --> 00:31:07.198 I don't know if it was like disappearance, I don't know if it was like if he was flying through. 00:31:07.198 --> 00:31:08.159 We don't know that. 00:31:08.159 --> 00:31:11.881 But we know that he was carried away to another place. 00:31:12.221 --> 00:31:20.708 But here is what is striking to me about this Not the fact that Philip was carried away by the Spirit, because the Spirit can do that. 00:31:20.708 --> 00:31:24.794 Remember Elijah, remember Jesus. 00:31:24.794 --> 00:31:29.681 I mean, here's what amazes me, though. 00:31:29.681 --> 00:31:31.242 I can imagine. 00:31:31.242 --> 00:31:33.025 Could you imagine being the eunuch? 00:31:33.025 --> 00:31:37.222 Come up out of the water? 00:31:37.222 --> 00:31:37.990 Philip's there, philip's not. 00:31:37.990 --> 00:31:43.846 Can you imagine being Philip? 00:31:43.846 --> 00:31:47.258 Where am I? 00:31:47.258 --> 00:31:48.441 But look at their reaction. 00:31:48.441 --> 00:31:55.118 That's what it said. 00:31:55.118 --> 00:31:56.445 The eunuch walked away, rejoicing. 00:31:56.445 --> 00:32:03.689 He didn't walk away, wondering where did Philip go? 00:32:03.689 --> 00:32:09.648 Huh, he walked away rejoicing because now he had life. 00:32:09.648 --> 00:32:26.042 You see what Philip did. 00:32:26.083 --> 00:32:28.167 Philip got up and started preaching in every village until he got to his destination. 00:32:28.167 --> 00:32:29.069 He was preaching Jesus Christ. 00:32:29.069 --> 00:32:33.932 Philip wasn't going down the road and said hey, let me tell you the coolest thing thing I baptized this dude and then I just disappeared and came back. 00:32:33.932 --> 00:32:36.838 I want that feeling again. 00:32:36.838 --> 00:32:38.563 Let me do that again. 00:32:38.563 --> 00:32:45.605 Pete Philip didn't didn't walk around going hey, man, it was awesome that that I shared the gospel with this. 00:32:45.785 --> 00:32:49.894 Let me tell you about sharing the gospel with this eunuch who became a Christian a a believer. 00:32:49.894 --> 00:32:50.935 He didn't do that. 00:32:50.935 --> 00:32:54.801 He didn't stop and he didn't tell everybody about what happened in Samaria. 00:32:54.801 --> 00:32:55.923 He didn't do that. 00:32:55.923 --> 00:32:57.371 Do you know what Philip did? 00:32:57.371 --> 00:33:02.619 He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in every village he went to. 00:33:02.619 --> 00:33:06.085 He was willing. 00:33:06.085 --> 00:33:10.739 He was willing to do what God had called him to do. 00:33:10.739 --> 00:33:14.990 He was willing to do what God had called him to do. 00:33:19.564 --> 00:33:20.046 Church, hear me. 00:33:20.046 --> 00:33:26.460 I believe that God has called us to advance the kingdom of God by bearing witness about Jesus. 00:33:26.460 --> 00:33:30.346 He's called me to do it and he's called you to do it. 00:33:30.346 --> 00:33:36.589 He's called me to do it and he's called you to do it. 00:33:36.589 --> 00:33:53.017 May we be prepared in such a way that, when God calls us, we hear and we go and we share the gospel because we're ready, because we're able and because we're willing. 00:33:53.017 --> 00:33:56.356 I pray that that will be us. 00:33:59.411 --> 00:34:05.150 Listen, I don't know where you are today, maybe this morning. 00:34:05.150 --> 00:34:09.063 You are like the Ethiopian eunuch, though. 00:34:09.063 --> 00:34:18.619 While I believe God has called us to share the gospel and bear witness about him, you can't until you know him. 00:34:18.619 --> 00:34:24.019 Listen, if you have never trusted Christ as your savior. 00:34:24.019 --> 00:34:34.771 Understand this Jesus came According to Scripture. 00:34:34.771 --> 00:34:40.302 He died on the cross in accordance with the Scriptures. 00:34:40.302 --> 00:34:53.976 He was buried and in three days he arose, in accordance to Scripture, so that you may have life, because apart from Him you can't. 00:34:53.976 --> 00:35:04.592 Jesus tells us I am the way, the truth and the life, and it is only with a relationship with Jesus that you find life. 00:35:06.318 --> 00:35:09.476 Listen, this morning, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior. 00:35:09.476 --> 00:35:10.561 We're about to pray. 00:35:10.561 --> 00:35:12.277 We're going to sing a hymn of invitation. 00:35:12.277 --> 00:35:14.918 As we are singing, we invite you to come forward. 00:35:14.918 --> 00:35:20.202 We would love to share with you how you can begin a relationship with Jesus today. 00:35:23.612 --> 00:35:29.079 Or maybe this morning, you recognize and realize you are not prepared. 00:35:29.079 --> 00:35:33.782 Maybe you're willing but you're not able. 00:35:33.782 --> 00:35:34.769