WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:32.159 You take your Bible or your device and make your way to the Book of Acts. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:46.320 Book of Acts and chapter 8, before we witness, hear some testimonies and watch obedience taking place. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.359 We'll look at God's word briefly together. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:01:05.280 And as we do this, if if along the way you are led to consider baptism yourself, we have another baptismal service tentatively planned for January 3rd. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:14.959 So if that is of interest to you as we go through this morning, please see one of our pastors or elders, and we will gladly walk through that with you. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:31.920 Curious in that it leads us to many, many questions. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:37.200 If we can go through this passage without questions, then we're not really reading it. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.599 We're not really grasping what's going on. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:44.719 It leads to many questions, some that are answerable, some that aren't. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.560 Again, Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 26. 00:01:50.239 --> 00:02:01.120 The record of scripture says, An angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:03.920 This is a desert place. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:14.639 And he rose 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. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:24.000 He had come to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:28.000 And the spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:35.280 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:39.280 And he said, How can I unless someone guides me? 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.719 And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.159 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this comes from Isaiah 53, beginning in verse 7. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:56.159 Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:58.240 So he opens not his mouth. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.360 In his humiliation justice was denied him. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:03.919 Who can describe his generation? 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.680 For his life is taken away from the earth. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:14.000 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this? 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:17.199 About himself or someone else? 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.439 And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:29.919 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, Look, here is water. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:32.800 What prevents me from being baptized? 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:39.680 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:47.759 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. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:52.000 And Philip found himself in an entirely different place, Azotis. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:58.080 And as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.680 Amen. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.879 There are several curious elements of this account. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:09.039 The first is the timing of the event. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:20.879 If you look back to the beginning of this chapter, you will see that a man named Saul is working desperately to exterminate the Church of Christ. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:30.480 He's using every element, every authority, every power within his grasp to do away with Christians. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:44.800 It isn't until the next chapter, chapter nine, that God arrests that man, grants him the gift of faith, and turns him into the Apostle Paul. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:54.879 International missions, international evangelism is occurring before the Apostle Paul. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.959 That's one element that's strange. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:00.240 Why this timing? 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:11.600 Why at this point in church history, before the Apostle Paul ever goes out to the Gentile nations, why is Philip taken to this individual? 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:23.120 The second curious element is that the gospel went to Africa before it went to the rest of the Middle East to Asia and to Europe. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:35.839 In some ways, it reminds us of the book of Genesis, even, of Joseph being taken from the land of Canaan down into Egypt to prepare the way for his family. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:44.000 Joseph, years, decades later, would tell his brothers, God sent me before you to preserve life. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.759 You have to wonder, this is an unanswered question. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:06:00.720 You have to wonder, if God isn't sending Philip to this man so that this man might go to his home in Africa to preserve life, eternal life. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.439 Here, this this hitchhiker overran a chariot. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:25.040 That's odd. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.399 That's curious. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:35.759 And I I don't know about you, but I I wouldn't be so inclined to let someone I'd never met before push me down underneath the water. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:37.279 A little odd. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:40.800 There's a fourth curious element, though. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:47.920 In all of this, I think this is the most significant curious element. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:54.319 All of this happened because a man read his Bible. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:01.839 All of this happened because a man read his Bible. 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:11.120 If that doesn't convince you that the word of God is indeed living and active, then I don't know what will. 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.920 That's why we read our Bibles, because it is living and it is active. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:25.439 And here is a very clear demonstration of that activity of the living word of God. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:32.639 Now, as with many key characters in the biblical narrative, we we never know this Ethiopian's name. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:39.279 It's not recorded for us, it's not left for us to call this man by name. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:50.000 We're told that he had traveled a great distance to specifically go to Jerusalem to worship at God's temple in Jerusalem. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:08:01.360 He traveled a great distance to worship, and he began his journey home without the solution to the emptiness in his soul. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:09.040 That's like going to church and having a great day at church and going home feeling empty, that something's missing. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:11.279 You missed out on something. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:25.439 So while riding in the desert reading his Bible, he's approached by Philip, and with his help, he finds that a recently crucified criminal is the answer to all of his questions. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:40.639 By the end of this brief encounter, this Ethiopian man quit trusting in his own strength and surrendered himself to this crucified and risen man. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.600 And because of what God did within him, he went on his way rejoicing. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:53.360 His life was changed, his world was changed. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.360 God sent Philip out into the desert. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:00.879 Don't miss that little part at the end of verse 26. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:07.279 Luke, the historian, says, This is a desert place. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:09.840 Why does he say that? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.279 Again, if we can read this without asking questions, then we're missing everything. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.159 Why does he give that little sentence? 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.360 This is a desert place. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:23.600 Well, it's a desert place, and there's no people in the desert. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:28.159 There's not much traffic on this international highway. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:34.799 If it's in the desert, there's not much water for baptisms. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:44.399 If it's in the desert, there's not much help for your thirsty soul. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.360 But God intervened. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.519 He told Philip, go. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.399 I have something for you to do. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:55.679 Go on the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:56.879 This is a desert place. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.679 And so Philip, in obedience, goes. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:06.320 And in many ways, this is a prelude to what happens next in chapter 9 with the conversion of the Apostle Paul. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:13.919 God captures the heart of a man in the middle of nowhere to bring him to faith. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:21.679 It's an exemplification of John chapter 6, where Jesus says, no one can come to the Father unless the Father draws him. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.240 Well, here's a great illustration of that. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:35.360 If this Philip is the same Philip as chapter 6, which I believe it is, Philip was one of the first deacons of the church. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:40.000 But this deacon was gifted as a teacher and as an evangelist. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:48.639 And he was ordered by God out into the desert to meet a man who'd traveled over 200 miles from northern Africa to Jerusalem. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:55.039 Luke tells us he had come to worship. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:00.559 Verse 27, he had come to Jerusalem to worship. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.440 At the very least, this man is religious. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:08.320 That's probably the simplest statement that we can make. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.120 At the very least, he's a religious man. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.840 Even more than that, we begin to ask some more questions. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:16.080 Well, what kind of religious man is he? 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.559 Maybe he is a Gentile convert to Judaism. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:34.159 Maybe he's a North African and he's not in any way Jewish, but he has converted to the Jewish faith, and so he feels this necessity to come to Jerusalem as a proselyte to worship at Jerusalem. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:38.000 It's also possible that he is a man of Jewish descent. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:43.679 A large Jewish population existed for many, many centuries in northern Africa. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:52.320 Whatever the case, God instructed Philip to approach this man driving along in his chariot and speak to him. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:01.919 God reached out to this man and is drawing him to the truth, and God gave him the gift of faith by hearing. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.440 By hearing the word of truth. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:08.799 That may be you. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.600 That may be you. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:20.480 It's possible that God has drawn you here this morning because you, like this Ethiopian man, are searching for answers. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:26.639 Maybe you've read some of the Bible that you have and it doesn't make sense to you. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:35.679 Maybe you've been to worship and maybe you've given thanks this week and yet there's something missing in your life. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.840 Have you been looking high and low for something that brings sense to your life? 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:52.080 If you are, then you probably know very clearly that bringing sense to your life doesn't come through thrills. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.879 It doesn't come through family or friends. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.960 It doesn't come through through a bottle or pills. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:04.559 You won't even find it in religion or even being a good person. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.200 This man seemingly had all he could want. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:11.360 He's a wealthy man. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.639 In fact, he's in charge of a queen's treasure. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:17.679 He's got it made. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.639 This is before the days of self-automated driving. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:33.360 Somebody else is here in the chariot with him, driving his chariot, so he can sit back and read the Bible. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:34.480 He's got it made. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.679 He's got everything he needs, but something is missing. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:50.320 He had left the ritual of the temple in Jerusalem, having experienced the grand worship and the golden glory of Herod's magnificent temple, still searching for something more. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:14:02.080 He had, though, a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, or maybe it's just a part of the scroll, maybe it's a souvenir scroll from the temple. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.360 Maybe he had his own personal copy of Isaiah's book. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:13.519 That would have been very, very rare, but a wealthy person could potentially have his own copy. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:24.320 He's able to read, he's able to look at the words on the scroll and make sense of the words, but somehow there's a lack of understanding. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:31.600 He doesn't understand if Isaiah is speaking about himself or someone else entirely. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:37.519 He's reading Isaiah 53 about God's servant. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:43.519 In his mind, he's wondering, is this servant Isaiah or is this servant somebody else? 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:47.279 So God appoints Philip to provide the answers the man needs. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:56.399 Philip joins him in his chariot and asks him if he understands what he's reading. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:03.279 This is why we here at faith are so committed to expositional preaching and teaching. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:05.679 You have to understand. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.039 We want to make sense of what God says. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.120 And here's a man who's reading. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:17.440 He's familiar with the scripture text, but he doesn't understand. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.960 He's well educated. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:24.080 Most likely, he's very well educated. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.639 He clearly can read, most likely can write. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.039 He's a treasurer, so he can count. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.759 He's trustworthy. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.200 He's of high standing in society. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.399 But his response is evidence of his humility and his eagerness to understand. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.320 He says when he's asked, Do you understand? 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:46.799 He says, How can I unless someone guides me? 00:15:47.840 --> 00:16:00.159 And so Philip then uses this occasion not to tell the man about Isaiah, but to tell him all about Jesus. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:02.720 You see that? 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.039 Invited Philip to come up and sit with him, verse 31. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:10.080 Verse 34. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.000 He asks, Who does the prophet say this? 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:16.799 Philip opened his mouth, beginning with this scripture. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:23.440 He told him the gospel, the good news about Jesus. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:29.600 It seems as though Philip didn't stop with that particular portion of scripture. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.840 It's like a good preacher, he just can't stop talking. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.840 So he goes on to one passage and then the next. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:35.360 He says, Listen, let's start here. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:37.039 Let's start with Isaiah 53. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:38.399 Let me tell you about Jesus. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:40.240 But we're not just going to look at this passage. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:53.519 We're going to go through our whole testament and we're going to think about the passages that you are familiar with that point to a man I'm going to tell you about who was just crucified in the city of Jerusalem, who was buried, but now that tomb is empty. 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:55.919 Because he's alive. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:04.480 Philip certainly would have told him about the very recent events in Jerusalem. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.680 Where Jesus was crucified. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:16.400 Where there was an earthquake on the day he was crucified, and people came out of the tombs alive. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:24.079 He surely told him about Jesus being buried in the tomb, sealed and guarded by Roman soldiers. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:32.720 He surely told him about on the third day the women running to the tomb to see Jesus. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:41.119 Seeing Jesus. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:54.880 And about the rest of the disciples later, all seeing this Jesus, this crucified Jesus, even Thomas the doubter, understanding very clearly this is the risen Christ. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:06.160 He would have told them about God's Spirit working powerfully to bring people to faith in Jesus, and that they were baptized in demonstration of their new faith. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.680 That's all in the very first chapters of the book of Acts that have already happened. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.039 And as they're going along in the chariot, they pass by some water. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.799 Wait a minute, where are we? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:16.960 In the desert. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:26.640 Maybe this is some kind of oasis in the desert and there's a sufficient pond of water. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:38.240 I can't help but think that because of Luke's statement in verse 26, that sort of out-of-the-way statement that this is a desert place, that God provided this miraculously. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:39.680 Can't prove that. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.400 It's one of my questions that's unanswered. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:52.960 Just seems very, very odd that here they are in the middle of a desert, emphasized again, and behold, there's water. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.599 Whatever the case, the Ethiopian sees the water and he wants to be baptized. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.119 And you have to stop there again and ask some questions. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:05.359 Why? 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:15.519 Why do you stop your car on your way home by a small pond or a small lake and get yourself all wet with a stranger? 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:19.279 Why do you do that? 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:33.680 Why is that significant enough of a moment to stop everything that you're doing and go through this process to go in the water, under the water, and come back up? 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:38.400 Of course, those kinds of questions I think lead us to some particular answers. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:44.559 In this biblical culture, baptism was a demonstration of repentance. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:56.640 In other words, it it signified to everyone that was watching or had heard about it that the person being baptized had had a change of heart, had a change of mind. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:08.319 They understood that they had been going in a particular direction, and they came to grasp that that direction was the wrong direction, and they're now committing themselves to a new direction. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:18.799 And when we connect that with the New Testament and what it tells us about people believing in Jesus, it takes on an even fuller sense. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:26.640 Those who came to trust in Jesus as the one who died for their sins were baptized. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:36.000 They were taken down into the water, they were put under the water and brought back up as a picture of dying to themselves, being buried, and raised to new life in Christ. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:44.480 It was a way to identify themselves publicly with the one of whom Isaiah wrote, His life is taken away. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.000 This man, this Ethiopian man, repented. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.680 His old way of believing is gone. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.240 He believed what Philip explained. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:09.519 He believed that Isaiah was writing about Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and he now has faith in Jesus, and he wants to obey that new master and publicly demonstrate his newfound faith. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:10.480 Look at what he says. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.000 See, here's water. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:15.920 What prevents me from being baptized? 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:18.160 I love this statement. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:21.599 It's a wonderful attitude. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:44.400 This man saying, there's absolutely no reason that I can think of for me to not be baptized. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.519 I've repented of my direction in life. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:48.880 I've confessed my sins. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:50.160 I'm trusting in Christ. 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:53.759 Why in the world should I not be baptized? 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.240 God has provided water, He's provided faith. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.119 Let's go. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:11.920 See, here's a key difference between we who are convinced of believers' baptism versus those who are convinced of infant baptism. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:20.400 Believers' baptism comes after a personal trust in and an identification with Christ as one's Redeemer. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:22.480 It doesn't come before. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.720 This man wasn't baptized before. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:35.759 If he was Jewish or if he was a Jewish convert, he had some identification with the covenant community of Israel. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:41.039 But now he's saying that connection no longer matters. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:44.799 What matters is my connection to Christ. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.440 His prerequisite for baptism here is genuine faith. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.480 Do you sincerely believe? 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:03.119 This Ethiopian man professed his faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.039 He had heard the good news of Christ dying for him in that moment. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:15.200 And that news that God had spoken hundreds of years earlier through Isaiah now enters his heart and his mind. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.720 He has heard and he has been given the gift of faith through hearing. 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:26.000 He trusts in and identifies with Christ as his redeemer, and now he wants to be baptized. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:30.240 He wants to show that faith in a public way. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:36.240 By the way, this is the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:50.160 Matthew 28, Jesus tells his disciples, as you're going, wherever you go, as you're going, make disciples. 00:23:51.119 --> 00:24:03.519 And as you make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.839 Philip is fulfilling the great commission. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.079 He's been obedient to go. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.759 As he's going, he's made a disciple. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:17.759 And as he's made a disciple, he baptizes him. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:21.519 So here we see a great example of what baptism is supposed to be. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:32.079 They went down into the water, they came up out of the water, in a sense, then symbolizing the death, burial, and resurrection to new life. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.359 Doesn't do anything, it got him wet. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:48.319 It got him wet, but it publicly identified him with trusting in Christ, saying to the world, my faith is no longer in that golden temple in Jerusalem. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:53.680 My faith is now in the one who died for me. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:02.319 All because he read his Bible. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:07.519 And the man went on his way. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:11.759 And as he went on his way, he took the gospel with him to Africa. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:20.960 What a wonderful demonstration of the gospel of what God has called us all to do and to be. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:37.599 Today we have the privilege to identify with some individuals who are taking this step to celebrate with them that public identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:39.359 Let's pray together and for them. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:48.160 Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you, giving you thanks for who you are, for what you've done for us. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.319 Thank you that you are worthy of our trust. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.079 Thank you that you are worthy of our identifying with you. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:06.240 Lord, may we all together rejoice as this man rejoiced in this identification. 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:12.880 Lord, this world is full of hardship. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:19.200 It's full of grief and sorrow and pain. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:28.880 But when we identify with you, we come to understand there is a greater life coming. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:38.160 One that you have provided for all who trust in you because you paid for the sins of everyone who believes in you. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.119 We celebrate that this morning and ask that you will be honored and praised. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:44.960 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:45.839 Amen. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:51.680 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:58.640 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:03.039 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.