Acts chapter eight, we're gonna read from verse 26 to the end of the chapter. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, and Archandas, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, reading, Isaias, Isaiah, the prophet. Then the spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaias. And said, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life was taken from the earth. And Eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speakest the prophet this? Of himself or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And Eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and Eunuch, and he baptized them. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, 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, and we pray the Lord would follow with us. Oh, and rich blessing this further reading of his word. Last Lord's Day, we consider the first part of this chapter, where Philip went and preached in Samaria. Remember, the church was driven out of Jerusalem. There was such an enmity from the authorities against the believers that they were driven out of Jerusalem, they were scattered. As a part of that being driven out, Philip went preaching in Samaria. And we discovered there that the gospel was received without prejudice, without the prejudice of those temple authorities, of those religious Jews, of those people who consider themselves to be so entitled and so worthy. and who rejected the gospel, whereas those Samaritans, and Samaritans were despised. They received the gospel without that prejudice. We also saw how the gospel comes without party. because the Holy Spirit was given to them in the same way as it had been given to the Jews beginning in Jerusalem on Pentecost. There's no distinction between the Samaritan believers and the Jewish believers. There's no distinction with the Gentile believers because there is one church. There is one church, there is one people. So also the gospel was out payment. And that wicked man, Simon, who intellectually assented to the gospel, that his heart was far from God, he had no understanding of grace and thought he might purchase the influence of the Spirit. That there is only one church is not somehow limiting, rather it's liberating, it's unifying. There is one spirit and therefore there is no division in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, not between Jew and Gentile, not between rich and poor, not between bond and free, not between male and female. We are all one in Christ Jesus. But then we come to the second part. of this chapter, and Philip has had this fruitful ministry in Samaria, and we're told the whole city rejoiced. And then he's sent, he's sent by the Spirit of God to a desert place. The priority here isn't how the angel spoke to him, but that it was clear that God directed him. And what happens here is unexpected because it makes no sense. Here's a man and he's taken from a fruitful ministry in the midst of many people and he's sent to the side of a road passing through a desert. But as we consider this, I want you to see the placing of God's people. Because God placed him there. And it makes no sense to us because you would say, surely, the fruitful ministry in Samaria, well, that's wonderful, keep at it, or go somewhere else like that. But don't wander off into the desert and stand at the side of a road. But God places his people. That's what we're being shown here. God places his people on purpose. And it's important to understand that God not only did so there by the working of the angel, but God does so today through the leading of the Spirit and the working of providence. I was reading of missionaries who went abroad, and there was a particular verse of scripture that stood out for them, and it made it so clear that they were to go and to minister in a certain place. And so they left home, and away they went. God led in that particular way. There's others, and it's through the working of providence. Or even, as we see at the beginning of the chapter, it's through the aggression and violence of persecution that spreads people. But in all these situations, we need to recognize the sovereign hand of our great God, that he places his people where he will have them. And I believe it's important that you understand that today, because this truth applies to you. You might say, why am I here? You might even say, if only I was there, I don't know where the there would be in your mind, but perhaps you can see somewhere where you could be more comfortable, where you could be more useful, where things would go better for you and you would serve more faithfully. It's important you understand that under the sovereign hand of God, he has brought you to where you are today because he has placed you. I can't tell you all the reasons for that, but this I know it's not an accident, because God doesn't make accidents. Perhaps you're in a position and the circumstances of your life seem so very unpromising, but God places his people. If we don't understand that, we will fail to expect God's blessing. We will not anticipate God's working. If we fail to understand that, we may fail to endeavor any service for the Lord because we feel we're in the wrong place. It's the wrong time. I'm the wrong person. If all these things change, then yes, maybe, but until these things change, and there's a kind of withdrawing into ourselves. Surely one of the clear lessons from this passage is this, God places his people, not always at the instruction of an angel from heaven, but under the working of the sovereign hand, he has placed you where you are today. You spend too much time worrying about the circumstances you're in and the environment you're in and all that's wrong about it. You have no time to think about the purpose for which you've been given life. physical life and spiritual life. And why is he giving you life? He's been giving you life so that you might be his witnesses. Every morning, you should awake and say, I am here today to be his witness. And it doesn't matter where you awake, or even how you awake, You might awake not in the best of health. You might awake facing a day of troubles. You might awake overwhelmed. And you should begin your day by saying, I am here to be his witness. You need to recognize the dignity of your calling. Writing to the church in Corinth, there's an unpromising environment to be in. Corinth, the name of Corinth was synonymous with immorality. To the church in Corinth, Paul wrote, see your calling brethren. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble were called. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, in the things which are not, to bring to naught things which are. That is why you are here, at this point of history, in this place, in this world, And it's why you shall remain here until your work here is done. Remember what the risen Lord said to the church in the beginning of Acts, in chapter one in verse eight? He said, ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in Samaria, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. There's no ambiguity about it, is there? You shall be. What was said then was not exclusive to the apostles, but was spoken to the apostles as they represented the whole church of which you and I are a part. Children, if there was a loch here and you knew there was no fish, it would be cruel, wouldn't it, to send someone to go and spend a day fishing? If you knew there was no fish to catch, it would be cruel to send someone with a fishing rod and all the equipment and the expectation that they might catch something. And the Lord said to his disciples, you shall be fishers of men. And he doesn't send them out to fish where there's no fish to catch. You see that illustrated in the Sea of Galilee. Remember there was a time when the disciples, they'd fished all night and they caught nothing. And yet the Lord said, cast your net out the other side of the boat. And that seemed to make no sense because fishing was done at night and now it was day. They'd fished all night and there was no fish in that part of the sea. And so it seemed to be just a waste of time. But it wasn't, was it? Because they cast a net and they brought in, well, such a haul of fish that they struggled to bring it in. The boat struggled to contain the weight of the fish. the placing of God's people. We're called to be witnesses or to change the image to be fishers of men. And he does not send us to fish where there is no fish to be caught. There's not always such a great haul of fish. Here's Philip and he's saying, to meet one man. Hitherto, as we've seen the narrative of Acts, it's spoken of thousands. Thousands saved on this occasion, thousands saved on that occasion, and multitudes which are beyond number saved on other occasions. And here it's only one man. But you know there's rejoicing in heaven over each sinner that is saved. The focus here is on one solitary man. But that brings us to remember, doesn't it, what the Lord said. He says, My word shall not return unto me void, empty, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in a thing whereto I sent it. When we think of the placing of God's people, we need to apply that to ourselves today. And we need to recognize that we are here today to be his witnesses. And we are to be his witnesses with a sense of expectation because his word, which has been given to us, will not return empty and void. Well, we see the placing of God's people, but I also want you to recognize from this passage the preparing of God's people. The preparing of God's people. Philip, he was sent to the middle of nowhere. He was sent to the most unlikely place, and he encountered, you might say, the most unlikely person. Verse 27, he arose and went, and behold, that word behold says look. It's saying, see this. It indicates a surprise. A man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all our treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, and was returning and sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. Now that's a surprise, isn't it? That's not what you would expect. Ethiopia, that was a reference not to the present day nation of Ethiopia, but to the territory south of Egypt. In large part, it's what we would call Sudan today. It's a thousand miles from the Mediterranean coast. It's five months journey from where they are. This man, he's an Ethiopian. And he's a eunuch. Now maybe not literally a eunuch, but certainly he is a servant, and that term could describe a man who had been castrated. But often the servants of the monarchs were castrated, so the term was used to describe a servant generically. But he was an officer of state. He was in charge of all the treasures. He was a man with huge authority and power. He'd be traveling with an entourage. This wasn't a fellow plodding his own solitary way across the desert. Behold, an Ethiopian eunuch. This great high figure of state. And he's returning from Jerusalem where he'd gone to worship. And now as he comes back, he's reading the scriptures. He's the word of God. Now Philip knows that he's reading Isaiah because reading in that day was always done aloud. We generally read silently, but then reading was reading aloud. And so as Philip runs beside the chariot, he overhears the passage that we read from Isaiah 53. of all the people, in all the places, and of all the passages of Scripture to read, Isaiah 53, which is so rich as it refers to the Savior. Why did this man go to Jerusalem? We're told he went to worship, but why did this man even think to go to Jerusalem to worship? Why did this man make such an effort, five months journey, to go to Jerusalem when he would be an outsider to worship? How did he even hear about the living God? The commentators can't explain him. And there's various interesting attempts to explain how it might be that this came about and who he might be. The commentators can't explain it. And we would almost certainly discount him. And yet here we have a man prepared by God. Here's a man seeking God. And all that has been in the background of that and brought him to this point, we do not know. Perhaps as he returns from Jerusalem, it's with a sense of disappointment at the hypocrisy of the priests and the scribes and the rulers, the Jews, who are at that point waging a war against the Church of Christ. Perhaps it's the disappointment, the fact that he would be excluded at the temple, an Ethiopian, and a eunuch. Or he could look from a distance. He couldn't enter in, there was no embracing of him, there's no place for him. Was he coming back disappointed because obviously his questions hadn't been answered? He's reading Isaiah the prophet, but he can't make sense of it. There's no one to teach him. Have you ever heard someone tell their Christian testimony? Perhaps you've told your own, and maybe you've told it a couple of times. And maybe with the telling of it, your testimony becomes longer, not because you've gone on longer in a Christian life, but actually because each time you tell it, you realize that it began back further than you ever thought. You see, a Christian testimony didn't begin that day you first heard the gospel, did it? When did it begin? Well, even before you heard the gospel, you were able to trace the working of God's spirit in your conscience. in your experience of life, in the frustrations that you discovered, in a curiosity that was stirring in your mind, in the testimony of the church around you and of individuals who maybe you saw something in. There's a real sense, isn't there, in which the whole of your life was a preparing for that point. Or even you could say the whole of all that went before you because even the circumstances of your birth and of your parents and of your heritage has all been a factor in bringing you to that point where God in his mercy opened your eyes to see the reality of his grace. And that's why I say that we can notice here the preparing of God's people. Because here's a man, and he's about to be converted. And God has evidently been preparing him. Not making him worthy to be converted, I don't mean that at all. Because no one is made ready in that way. But preparing him. in stirring him, disturbing him perhaps, driving him on, preparing him in his hopes and aspirations and his disappointments and his frustrations, preparing him through the sleepless nights. Behold, an Ethiopian Mr. Unlikely. Isn't it interesting that chapter nine tells us about another Mr. Unlikely? Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. Actually, when you think about it, isn't it the case that the entire church is comprised of Mr. and Mrs. Unlikely's? God, in his gracious mercy, is preparing individuals to hear his word. So that now, at the right time, in the right place, with time to listen, this hugely capable man is able to ask for help from Philip. This passage speaks about the placing of God's people. And it speaks about the preparing of God's people. It also speaks about the peace, the peace of God's people. Because here's a man and he evidently doesn't have peace. Here's a man, and he seems to have sought peace. He went to Jerusalem to worship, and now he's coming back, but he's coming back with perhaps more questions than he'd had before. And he's reading the prophet, and he doesn't know who he's being referred to. Is the prophet speaking about his own experience, or is he speaking about someone else? Philip said, do you understand what you read? He says, how can I understand unless somebody guide me? Verse 35, then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture. And he preached unto him, Jesus. We're not given the sermon, but we're given the text and we're given the topic. He preached unto him, Jesus. Here's a man, and he discovered peace, and he discovered peace when he discovered the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. These Old Testament scriptures all look forward with anticipation. They're rich and they're full in what they speak of concerning the Savior who was to come. Peace is found through discovering who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and how it is that we are reconciled to God through him by faith. Why was it so important to the Ethiopian eunuch to be baptised? because that was an acting upon the reality of his faith. It was a faith which was affirmed through his faithfulness, through his obedience. He wanted to identify with the church of the Lord Jesus Christ because he now belonged to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ because he believed the peace of God's people. It's interesting. We're told that after the baptism, verse 39, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. It seems that this removal of Philip, the word used here suggests a powerful removing. It's the same word that's used to describe what happened when Paul was set upon by a mob in Jerusalem and the Roman soldiers came and they snatched him from the mob. It's the very word that's used to describe Paul's experience in 2 Corinthians 12 where he says he was taken up into heaven. Verse 40, we're told that Philip was found at Azotus. It suggests that this was a sudden and mysterious removal. But you know it doesn't disturb the eunuch. That would disturb you or me, wouldn't it? But it doesn't disturb the eunuch. Do you know why? Because what he has can never be removed. What does he have? He has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's not contingent upon a preacher. It's not contingent upon his company. Here's a man and he's rejoicing. He went on his way rejoicing because his questions were answered. His soul was satisfied. We spoke last time about the baptism of the Spirit. There's no second blessing here. There's no subsequent giving of the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit is given at the moment of faith. We see Pentecost in the first part of this chapter and later with the Gentiles coming in. It's just emphasizing that there is one church. Those who have the Son have the Spirit, and those who have the Son and have the Spirit, God dwells in them. Philip was removed, but what he had would never be removed from him. That's why this passage speaks about the peace of God's people. Friends, we need to take time this morning, just a little time, as we consider this passage, to consider what it is that we have ourselves. Because this is our possession, this is our inheritance. Those who have the Son have the Spirit, and those who have the Son and the Spirit, well, God dwells in them. Reconciled through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, counted righteous. Peace with God. That's why we should start each day and say, I am his witness. Not because I am something in and of myself. but because of who he is and what he has done in and for me. And if that doesn't describe what you have today, friends, it describes what will be given to you today through faith in his name. If you would come and believe, not with an intellectual, cold, intellectual assent of Simon, the man who thought he could buy the spirit, but the faith which occupies the mind and the heart. A man of Ethiopia, a eunuch. And he's referred to throughout this passage as the eunuch. Why? Well, I think he's referred to as the yunar, to help you see that what we have here is gospel fulfillment. The starting place for Philip's sermon was Isaiah 53. But in Isaiah 56, it speaks about the son of a stranger being brought in. and being told not to worry or to despair, but there's a place in the gospel for them. And then he goes on to say, nor let this eunuch say, behold, I'm a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths and choose the things that please me and take hold of my covenant. Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place. and a name better than of sons and of daughters. And I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. The eunuch was brought in. It speaks of gospel fulfillment and it also speaks of gospel fullness, doesn't it? He was brought in and he went in his way rejoicing. Here's an answer to all the brokenness and the dryness of life. The placing of God's people, the preparing of God's people, and the peace of God's people. The focus in this passage is one solitary man. But it's one solitary man who's now on a mission. It's one solitary man who's now equipped with all the promises of God. You know it says in Psalm 68 in verse 31, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. And here's a man who turns to Ethiopia. And before he administered the treasures of the queen, Now it's the treasures of the king. Who knows what blessing followed. Isn't it exciting when the gospel enters not only an individual, embraces an individual, but embraces a family, embraces a line. Remember a friend saying who came from a very troubled past, and his father was a troubled man, his grandfather was a troubled man, he didn't know beyond that. But he was a troubled man, he says, I was a third generation of curse, and God and his mercy had grace upon me, and my children were brought up in a Christian home. And now I see my grandchildren brought up in Christian homes. The third generation of curse, says the third generation of blessing. And the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. And Philip continues his ministry. Chapter 21, he's still to be found in Caesarea, there he has four daughters. They too are believers and servants in the church. We need to finish this morning. But I hope that you don't think that once you get yourself in a better place, once the circumstances of life are all sorted out, then, maybe then, you can begin to serve the Lord. I hope as we study this passage this morning, that you will recognize, even though you may seem to be in a very unpromising position, It's as though you're standing at the edge of an empty road in a desert place. God has placed you, and that you will serve him, and that you will be his witness. That you serve him now, that you serve him today, that you serve him where he has placed you. Amen. Let's pray.