All right, thank you guys for being here with us tonight. We're gonna be continuing our study in the book of Acts, and we're gonna be looking in Acts chapter eight, verses 26 to 40, where we are gonna be looking at the Ethiopian-Eunuchs conversion, which has always been one of my favorites to read about. It really, really is, especially since you really look at who the eunuch was. An amazing story we're going to be looking at. So as we continue our Bible study tonight in the book of Acts, again, we're in Acts 8, verses 26 through 40. Before we dive into our passage though tonight, I would like to take a little bit of time to recap who Luke has introduced us to so far, but also what has happened in the last two chapters. So in Acts chapter six, Luke introduced two individuals who played significant roles in the book of Acts. We saw Stephen, and now, and also Philip. Stephen was a bold, effective preacher whose sermon is the longest recorded in the entire book of Acts. He is known as the first Christian martyr, and his story is found in Acts 6 and 7. In Acts 8, we are reintroduced to Philip. His experiences in Samaria and with the Ethiopian eunuch provide a transitional point for the book and an underscore, and rather it underscores how the narrative of Acts begins to shift from a focus on Jerusalem to a focus on the ends of the earth. So thus far we've been really looking at what happened in Jerusalem, right? You see Acts through Acts 1-2 at Pentecost. We see Peter and John persecuted by the Sanhedrin. We saw a lot of wonderful things happening through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. in the early church in Jerusalem. Now it's kind of shifting focus outside of Jerusalem to the out to the uttermost parts of the earth. And last week we even saw how the gospel went out into Samaria. A third influential person is introduced in Acts chapter 8. That is Saul of Tarsus, who would later become known as the Apostle Paul, started out as a villain. He attended and affirmed the execution of Stephen before initiating his own personal campaign of terror against the church. As his story unfolded, though the power of the Holy Spirit was on full display, his encounter with the risen Jesus reminds readers that the Holy Spirit has the power to save even the worst sinners. That is a wonderful truth that we see from Saul, that the Holy Spirit saves even those who have persecuted the church. And it's an amazing thing. Paul is really the person that embodies the fact that there is no one so far outside of God's reach that he cannot reach with his grace. So Stephen's death in Acts chapter 7 was just the beginning of the persecution as the church's opponents grew bolder. While early church persecution was reserved for the apostles, each believer now lived under the threat of imprisonment, torture, and even death. Yet in awesome display of God's providence, this persecution actually led to the fulfillment of Jesus' command in chapter 1 verse 8. In chapter 1, verse 8, this is what Jesus said. In chapter 1, verse 8, He says, And so the persecution that happened in Jerusalem helped to lead to this fulfillment of His command. gospel truth, the whole, the gospel, the good news would be going to Samaria and also to the uttermost parts of the earth. It's amazing when we see the providence of God and how we use something that's terrible for his good, for his purpose. It kind of makes us feel better about what's going on in our country and around the world. Cause we know it's like, God, this is not sort of out of control mess. Your hand is in it. And even though we cannot see the master brush of this painting, you are in fact in control of it all. And it's all for your purpose and your glory. Driven from Jerusalem's persecution, Jesus' followers began to serve as witnesses beyond that city, moving into the regions of Samaria and Judah. Philip was an obedient agent of God's plan to spread the gospel to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Luke recorded that Philip healed the sick and cast out demons as he preached the gospel in Samaria, and the result was great joy in chapter 8, verse 8. of our chapter here. It says, so there was great joy, because unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame. They were healed. Great joy was in the city, and many people embraced the gospel that Philip was proclaiming. Luke shares another thing in chapter eight, just so we can have a full picture of what chapter eight is saying. He shares a perplexing story of Simon the sorcerer. Simon had performed sorcery all around Samaria and had quite a following. And many people embraced the gospel that Philip was proclaiming. Even Simon came to believe. After Peter and John placed hands on the people of Samaria so they could receive the Holy Spirit, Simon tried to buy this power from them. Peter strongly rebuked Simon, and Simon asked for Peter to pray for him. Whether Simon was truly repented is unclear. What is clear, however, is that the mission of Acts 1.8 was continuing to unfold. Jesus' followers had become witnesses in Judea and Samaria. And with Philip's obedience in today's session, they were beginning the work of spreading the good news around the world. And so that brings us to our passage we're gonna be at this evening. And so we're gonna be looking at chapter eight, verses 26 to 40. Let's go ahead and read 26 to 29 really quick. So starting off from the top here, the conversion of the Ethiopian official or the Ethiopian unit. Verse 26, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip to get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is the desert road. So he got up and he went, and there was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, and a high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. So let's stop here and just look at what we just read. Philip was commanded to get up and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is what they call in parentheses, the desert road. God providentially compels Philip to be Christ's witness in Samaria. In this passage, Luke used an even stronger language to describe God's next step for Philip. Despite the overwhelming success of his work in Samaria, God was completely uprooting his servant. So Samaria was located north of Jerusalem. The desert road was well to the south past Jerusalem. Moving so far from a prosperous ministry did not align with human logic, but it fits God's plan. Like Abraham centuries earlier, Philip got up and went, verse 27, in obedience to God's call. Isn't that a strange thing? You would think that Philip would be staying in Samaria. You got a huge, huge gospel ministry going on. Successful gospel ministry. Many people coming to Christ. And yet God has other plans for Philip. To our own human logic, it doesn't make sense. It's like, you're doing a good job over there. Why not stay over there in Samaria? but God has other plans. And as we have seen in our opening, when we were catching up to our passage, God knows what he's doing. And that's why we need to trust God because he knows what he's doing. It may not make sense to us when he moves us to certain places or through certain seasons of life, but it's true. God knows what he is doing. So Philip, being a faithful servant of Christ, obeys his command and goes the way the angel tells him to. There, Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch who is reading the book of Isaiah out loud. So we know who Philip is. Now we need to know who the Ethiopian eunuch is, right? So there are two actors, if you want to say, in this play, in this scene. It's Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. We know who Philip is. But who is the Ethiopian eunuch? The Ethiopian eunuch was a high official of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia. The word translated eunuch suggests that the man was emasculated, either because he was born that way, and that doesn't mean any kind of born sense of sexuality. That means that he may have had a birth defect that made him such a way. That's what that means when you say born that way, because there were some people with birth defects, and they were known as eunuchs. Also, he could have been made a eunuch by somebody else, but it's also possible that he was a voluntary eunuch rather than a physical one. In the ancient world, the term eunuch also referred to officials given responsibility for a nation's treasury. In that context, eunuch was a title, not a description of impotence. Since the Ethiopian was a high official of the queen, he may have served as a kind of finance minister, which we see what the Word of God says in verse 27, who was in charge of her entire treasury. But now we know who he is, but why was he there? Why was an Ethiopian eunuch on this road between Gaza and Well, like Nicholas in Acts chapter 6, the Ethiopian was probably also a convert to Judaism, a God-fearer. However, if he was a physical eunuch, he would have been barred from the temple, according to Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 1. And it would have been impossible for him to become a full member of the Jewish faith. He could have visited the temple, but he could not have entered. So it seems that he embraced Israel's God without fully converting to Judaism. However, the inclusion of non-Israelites in God's kingdom was always part of his plan. From the call to Abram, God's heart for the nations is clear. Through Philip, he gave this man a chance to experience a new relationship with him, but not in a temple on a desert road. But no, I want you guys to understand who Philip is about to witness to. Philip is about to witness to somebody with status, wealth, power, and influence. someone who is already a God-fearer, mind you, and if you know how the rest of the story plays out, you know that he comes to Christ, you know that this Ethiopian eunuch gets saved. This eunuch had the ability to influence and reach people that Philip can only dream about reaching. In fact, the only reason, going back to our study in Philippians, the only reason Paul is able to witness to the imperial guard is because he's in prison, and these guys are shackled to him. Again, imagine being shackled to the apostle Paul. And it's like, you thought the kid in your youth group when you were in Sunday school was annoying. Like, no, Paul wouldn't shut up about the gospel. But through God's providence, he gave Paul an avenue in which to witness to the household of Caesar and also to officials in Rome and the imperial guard Now imagine this, we know the Ethiopian eunuch gets saved. Imagine the impact he has for the gospel mission. Imagine the people he has influence over and who would listen to him. A high official is what the word of God calls this eunuch, who was in charge of her entire treasury, Candace, queen of Ethiopia. So God knows what he's doing, when he calls his servant to move somewhere. Philip was there for a reason. Philip was there to do God's work in this Ethiopian eunuch's life. Philip then received a command from the Holy Spirit to join the chariot that the Ethiopian eunuch was on. God's Spirit revealed God's purposes. He told Philip to join the Ethiopian in his chariot. Believers can be confident that the Holy Spirit direction always aligns with the will of God. When you're a Christian, why do we Why do we encourage you to follow the Holy Spirit, to follow the Holy Spirit, to know the Holy Spirit more intimately? Why does Jesus call the Holy Spirit a helper, a comforter, a counselor? It's because here's the thing, the Holy Spirit will never lead us astray. The Holy Spirit reveals God's purposes. When we are following God and we're sensitive to the Holy Spirit, sensitive to his leading, it's not gonna lead us astray. It's not. Because that's the Spirit of God in us, telling us what God wants us to do. He told Philip to join the Ethiopian in his chariot. Believers can be confident that the Holy Spirit's direction always aligns with the will of God. Since all believers have been commanded to make disciples, we know this from Matthew 28, verses 19 through 20, we're called to make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. And to be Jesus' witnesses, we see that again from Acts 1, verse 8. We can be sure that God wants to share the gospel whenever we have the opportunity. It is never a misleading of the spirit or a confusion on God's part when we feel the leading of the spirit to share the gospel with somebody. When you feel that nudge, that leading to witness to your children, to witness to your family, to witness to your friends, that's not something you should conflict with. That's the Holy Spirit saying that you need to tell them about Jesus. How many times have we been in family gatherings and that has been the case, where it's like, we feel that nudge to share the gospel with them, but we kind of push it down and we kind of ignore it. We, in very real sense, we are being disobedient to the Spirit of God. And so just be confident that you have that leading because the purposes of God are being fulfilled through the Spirit, through the leading of the Spirit. And so we can always be confident that the Spirit will lead us in the way that we should go. We can be sure that God wants us to share the gospel whenever we have the opportunity. The Holy Spirit's role in guiding us and empowering us makes that possible. Whether it takes us across the street or even across the globe, we are called to share the gospel. The mission field is is across your street. It's your next door neighbor. It's the mailman that comes by every morning or afternoon whenever they do show up. So like Philip, we need to be obedient to the Spirit's leading in our lives and to completely submit ourselves to the will of God. Even if that means letting go of fruitful ministry, you think about it, like, How many of us would do that? We have a fruitful ministry where we're at, and God says, I'm going to send you someplace else. You're like, Lord, I'm doing so good over here. How many of us will cling to that kind of fruitful ministry? And we would kind of push down the leading of the Spirit. Some application questions, how do we know when the Spirit is directing us to act? Well, the Holy Spirit always directs us to do things that are glorifying to God, such as sharing the gospel, reading our Bibles, praying to God, forgiving others, loving our spouses, loving God, loving others as ourselves, and we can go on and on and on. The Spirit will always lead us to do things that are glorifying to God, and that is why People fall into this trap of like, I think the Spirit's leading me to do X, Y, and Z. That's clearly against God's Holy Word, right? And it's like, that's not the Spirit leading you. That's your flesh leading you. And so that brings us to another big question that a lot of people have. How do I know if the Spirit's leading? How do I know if it's the Spirit that's leading and not just my own flesh? God's Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of God. God's Holy Spirit wrote the Word of God. Remember that all scripture is inspired by God through men by the leading of the Spirit. So when Paul writes to the Philippians, that's him being led of the Spirit, writing the letter to Philippians. Same thing with Luke writing Acts. We must use the Word of God as our metric in discerning between our leading and the Spirit's leading. because the Spirit of God is not gonna tell you to leave your wife. And we were just going through the voice of the reasons why, you know, that's permissible for divorce. But if a husband or a wife just says like, I just wanna divorce my husband because that's not the person I thought he was, or it's hard and I don't wanna do it anymore, or you know what, I think I found somebody better. And I think the Spirit's leading me to do that. And they come up with all those sort of excuses. But let me tell you this, That's not the Spirit's leading. And you can know that by going to the Word of God. The Word of God tells us and informs us, educates us on the Spirit of God, on our Savior, on God the Father. It informs us about who God is. And the more we know who God is, the more we can identify the Spirit's leading. We must also be careful not to over spiritualize everything by waiting for the spirit signal on every little decision, such as where should I eat here or there? There are some people who go to that extreme towards like they can't do anything without the spirits leading. When you look at them, it's like, you just need common sense. It's like, you should eat wherever you want. Right. But so we can fall into that trap too. And so we need to be sensitive to the spirit's leading, but let's, but let's also remember that God gives us common sense and God gives us a mind to use. And so, but that's how we can know if the spirit's leading or we are, it's through scripture. That's why. Over and over, Paul, right now in Philippians, in our next sermon, it's like, know Jesus. He's striving to know Jesus. He's constantly on that lifelong process and journey to knowing Jesus. That's the same thing with us. The more we know Christ, the better we can discern His will. That's why it's important for us to study our Bibles. So we're to be sensitive to the Spirit of God, but also we're to be sensitive, we're also to couple that with knowledge of God's Word, be sensitive to His Spirit's leading, be obedient to what God has called us to do. But also we need to be equipped with the knowledge of God's Word. This is something that Philip also shows us as we go through our next section here, verses 30-35. So, Philip is at the chariot now, and he says, when Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, do you understand what you're reading? He answers back in verse 31. How can I? He said, unless someone guides me. So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the scripture passage he was reading was this. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before its shear, so does he not open his mouth. In humiliation, justice was denied him. Who will describe his generation for his life is taken from the earth. The eunuch said to Philip, I ask you, who was this prophet saying this about, himself or someone else? Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus beginning with the scripture. Can you see what he did? He had knowledge of what he was reading. And because he had knowledge of what he was reading, he was able to point him better to Jesus. When Philip approached the chariot, the Ethiopian was reading the prophecies of Isaiah. Philip heard him because he was reading aloud. This was customary for people at the time. The fact that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading scripture conveys at least two truths about him. First, he was wealthy enough to afford his own copy of Isaiah. Remember, he's reading a copy of Isaiah on a chariot going back to where he was coming from. In the first century, to get a copy of Isaiah, it was very expensive in the first century. So we know that he had at least some wealth, which fits in with him being a high official of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, who was in charge of her entire treasury. But also, we can also conclude that he was very educated. Many in the ancient world were illiterate. So his ability to read ancient Hebrew suggests that he was in the upper echelon in terms of like education. So he was not only a wealthy person, he was an educated person. And so this leads us to verse 30. Philip asked if he understood what he was reading. Philip asked if he understood what he was reading. Teachers have always been a part of God's plan for his people. While Pentecost ushered in a new era, the New Testament emphasizes that teachers still have an important role in the church. People must understand the gospel before they can believe and call on the name of the Lord. God equips teachers to explain his message in ways that connect with those who are listening. And this is especially true in our modern generation, where they are asking the tough questions. They are seeking truth. There's a man, I believe his name is Shane Pruitt. He works a lot with student ministry, has written tons of books. And he says this, like 2020 did something to young people around the world. They made them realize that what they had and what they were living for was all for naught. And so many of them are looking for something more, some sort of truth. So these generations are asking the tough questions, and if you've ever been involved in student ministry, we were at Mission Dorado doing student ministry for about a year and a half, and some of the questions that they would have, they're tough questions, and they're questions that need to be answered. They're questions that they have, questions about their faith. And so And so, just getting back, okay, so we must know how to effectively communicate and explain the gospel to non-Christians. We have to know the insides and outs of the gospel, how to explain it, how to connect people with it, and how to communicate it effectively and clearly. And so that's what we're called to do as teachers. That's why in James chapter three, verse one, it said, and I'm quoting King James here, because that's just how I've memorized it, but it said, be not many masters, but they'll fall into greater condemnation. Putting that in plain English is like, let there not be so many teachers because teachers are held to a higher standard because they are teaching the word of God to people. I'm held to a higher standard. If you lead us small groups, you are held to a higher standard because you're teaching God's holy word to his people. And so in verse 31, actually says, do you understand? That's like an invitation. It's like, do you need help? And he says, how can I understand unless somebody guides me? With great humility, especially given the apparent wealth and position in his education, the Ethiopian expresses need for help. In verse 32, Luke notes that the Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53, a servant song. Isaiah 53 provides one of the clearest prophecies about Jesus' atoning work on the cross, in that the prophet emphasized that the Messiah would come as a substitute, becoming the sacrifice for the sins of those who would believe in him. The prophecy that the Messiah was silent before his accusers was fulfilled when Jesus refused to defend himself against false charges. We saw that in Matthew 27, verse 14, in the gospel of Mark 15, five, Luke 23, verse nine. So it's just God's providence. God set all this up. It's an Ethiopian eunuch of high regard and he's reading Isaiah, he's already a God-fearer, and he's reading the passage in Isaiah that's happened to be talking about Christ. God knows what he's doing when he sends his servants to the places he calls them to. And so beginning with scripture. And so I love it in verse 32. It's like when, after he reads it, sorry, verse 35 rather. I love it in verse 35, proceeds to tell him the good news about Jesus beginning with that scripture. He met him where he was at. The Ethiopians' question about the suffering servant gave Philip common ground to move forward. In evangelism, finding such connection points is an important step in sharing the gospel. With the spirits opening the door, Philip told the man about the gospel using the scriptures that he had been reading. Philip demonstrated two keys to effective witnessing. First, he met the man where he was at, building on the eunuch's knowledge of God, and his understanding of the word. Second, Philip had a solid knowledge of the scripture. Going back to what I was saying before, we need to study the scriptures to know our faith. Let me say, we cannot defend and proclaim our faith if we don't know what the faith says. And so he had solid knowledge of the scripture. Why? Because he was able to take that one. Remember, there's no chapter and verses here in when he was reading Isaiah. It was all just like there. And so he knew that section, he knew that was talking about Christ. One, he probably had a knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures, but also of course, he had the Holy Spirit guiding and directing him, bringing to the remembrance of things that Christ taught the disciples. And so by reading and studying the word of God regularly, we will build a wealth of biblical knowledge and wisdom to share. It's impossible to overstate the need to point the Bible point to the Bible when talking to others about Jesus. There is such a need for that, to point people to the scriptures when we are talking to them about Jesus. And so, relying on the scriptures ensures that we are sharing the truth while also demonstrating that our beliefs do not come from our own imaginations. So believers must use the Bible, the scriptures, to point people to Christ. Now you may ask the question, does that mean I have to lug around this big leather Bible everywhere I go if I'm gonna go witnessing? I was in a prison one time. I didn't go to prison, but I was ministering in a prison. You see, I didn't go to prison. So let's just, I have no record. I did the background, I was clean. But I had a big, thick Bible with me, because that's all I had. And we're going through pod to pod, just witnessing to the inmates there. The guards were there, so we were protected. But after a while, that thing gets heavy. And after a while, that thing becomes very cumbersome, right? And so how do we—what's an effective way to where we can get into that. But first, why is it important to point people to the Bible when sharing our faith with somebody? Well, like Philip, we need to point people to Jesus through not only our testimony of what God has done for us, but also what the Bible says with the Bible. It's the Word of God that holds the message of salvation in Christ. It's the Word of God that the Holy Spirit woos the hearts of sinful people. Sometimes we can think of this book as just like something we take to church, or we read every morning, or we take to Wednesday night services. But let me tell you this, the Word of God has power. The Word of God has power to change the hearts of man. So Romans 10, 14 says this, how then can they call on him they have not believed in? How can they believe without hearing about him? How can they hear without a preacher? How can they preach unless they are sent? It is written, how beautiful the feet of those who bring the good news, but not all obey the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed our message. So faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the message about Christ, through the word of God. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. The Word of God transforms our lives. The Word of God takes a baby in Christ and matures them into a mature Christian. So, and also there's a practical reason why we use the word of God to evangelize. It's when we witness to people, it gives us a solid foundation on where our witness, in which we can witness for the gospel. Well, we can know for certain what we are telling them is the truth, that we don't get things wrong, that we don't take things out of context, but it is also relies a reliable and trustworthy source, rather, in which we can proclaim our faith as the truth. Time and time again, the Word of God has proven itself to be true, absolutely true. And so what are some other ways that we could, that we can also use the Word of God in evangelism, right? What are some practical ways we can do? Well, scripture memorization and quotations are good. Gospel tracts are always a winner to use. I've used gospel tracts many times to lead people to Christ and also to talk to them about my faith. the verses for reference and everything and how to get saved on there. It's really good for new believers. But also, we have one of the most underutilized things in our possession is this, our smartphones. The Bible app on our phone and our smartphones are probably the most unutilized tool in our arsenal. We can look up information about biblical topics. We can have access to reliable commentaries, audio books by biblical teachers, biblical teachings from around the world. We have access to all that through our smartphone, through the internet. So in this day and age, when we have the printed word of God readily available at any Mardels across the country or any bookstore, they sell, they have at least a small section for Bibles. In an age where we have millions of gospel tracks to where we can have access to. In an age where the Bible, the word of God, is more accessible than ever before, we do not have an excuse here in America to not know our faith. Biblical illiteracy is on the rise in the West, meaning more and more young Christians don't know what their Bibles say. And I don't just mean teenagers. I'm talking about Christians in their 40s and 50s. been going to church all their lives, have little to no clue what the Bible says on specific topics. There is no excuse for that in the view of how accessible the Bible is for us today. We have a wonderful gift that God has given the church today here in 2024, and that's the sheer accessibility of the word of God to us. And so we need to utilize this So Philip's example reminds us that we need to rely on God's word to lead us and to use God's word as a foundation for our witness, and we will be more effective in sharing the gospel. And while some will resist and reject our message, others will respond positively. Again, if you know this story, you know that it does have a glorious ending through the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch. We look at Philip's obedience to the angel of the Lord and his sensitivity to the spirits leading. Philip here shows us also the importance of using the scriptures and knowing the scriptures when it comes to evangelism. From the way the passage flows, we can conclude that the response of the eunuch was a positive one with him believing on the name of Jesus for salvation and followed by his obedience through baptism. That's the next thing, isn't it? Willingness for a believer to go witness. Evangelism. The sinner's heart is wooed by the word of God and the spirit of God it's calling to them. They get saved, they put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. They repented of their sins and they turned to Jesus. The next step is baptism. So baptized, when they came to some water, the Ethiopian asked Philip about being baptized. Based on the gospel that Philip presented, the eunuch understood that he needed to be baptized as a follower of Jesus. The baptism did not save him, but it did serve as a proclamation that he had accepted Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. And so the reason why I don't open up with reading the scripture, we're about to get into that, is because I want you guys to be informed of this. So some ancient manuscripts do not include verse 37. Older manuscripts. Some older manuscripts do not include verses 37. Some translations, like the one I preach out of, the CSB, does not include the verse. Whether or not this verse was a part of Luke's original manuscript does not impact the following, that the normal New Testament pattern is that baptism follows a confession of personal faith. Baptism thus represents an inner reality that has already taken place. Now you may ask me, why is verse 37 not in there? Well, when the Bible was translated, they had only a set number of manuscripts. They were relatively younger manuscripts. Over the years, we have found older manuscripts of the New Testament that don't have certain verses in there, or they omit something. So when the thing is, when they had one of the copyists during the century added verse 37 to give clarity on what was happening, why he was being baptized. I say all of this to say this, whether you prefer to have a translation that includes verse 37, or you're good with like I am with the CSB, that does not in any way show that God's word is not perfect. God's word is perfect, it's inerrant, it is a closed canon, it has been delivered for all people at all times. God's word is perfect. And so, and really we don't have time to get into it, but when you understand the way translation and translating the scriptures worked in Bible translation, it makes sense to you of all this perceived controversy. And I say perceived because it's not controversial to me. And so let's go ahead and go and finish out our scripture reading. So 36 to 40 is where we're going to end. As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, look, there's water. What would keep me from being baptized? So going down again, verse 38, if you're following with me on a CSB, you'll see that. So he ordered the chariot to stop and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he was baptized. And so, and when they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, but he went on rejoicing. Philip appeared in Aztos, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all towns until he came to Caesarea. Now that is, we'll touch on that in just a moment. We're going to finish what we were talking about. really about baptism. But isn't it just wild that he gets baptized and the spirit whips Philip away. The eunuch doesn't see him anymore. He goes on rejoicing. And then Philip goes on his way to preach in other areas, other regions. Isn't that an amazing thing? It's like, oh, you had a fruitful ministry in Samaria. I need you to go here. All right, this is done. I'm going to whisk you away and I'm going to take you over to this area. And this is where you're going to continue your gospel mission. That would be a rollercoaster for me if I was Philip. It's like, don't I get to sleep at all, Lord? Or just, no, just keep going, okay. But baptism, Christian baptism is an immersion of believer. It's important that we get this right, because even now, there are some denominations that practice baptism differently than us. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in the water in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith and a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in the newness of life in Christ. That's what baptism does. So baptism doesn't save. It doesn't secure any part of your salvation. It is simply this, your public confession that you are a Christian. And back then, baptism was a big deal because it was you publicly confessing that you are following Christ as Messiah and Lord. and so that you believed in the gospel. And so verse 38 to 39, he went down into the water, came out of the water, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch had gone into the water. Then in verse 39, Luke explains that they came up out of the water. The image here is a practice, again, of immersion, just as Jesus was immersed by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, the Ethiopian was immersed by Philip. This is a vital truth to understand because baptism, again, symbolizes Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. And baptism fulfills that symbolism. And then it goes on in verse 39 again. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jesus at his baptism to mark the beginning of his public ministry in Luke 4.22. This time, the Spirit took Philip away to do more ministry elsewhere. Acts 8.4 reveals that God supernaturally transported him to Aztos. And in the Old Testament, this town was called Ashdod, and was a primary city of the Philistines. Philip shared the gospel there and along the Mediterranean coast until he settled in Caesarea. This is where Philip was when he hosted Paul in Acts chapter 21, verses eight through nine, after one of his missionary journeys. And I love the reaction of the Ethiopian eunuch. He went under, he came out, Philip was gone. It's like, that would be me baptizing somebody in the baptistery. They go up, they go out, and I just like run to the back to get changed. Like, where's the pastor? But despite the sudden disappearance, the Ethiopian unit continued his journey rejoicing. Rejoicing. Joy is a natural result of being tied with Christ. Isn't that what we get from the book of Philippians, what we've been going through? Being tied to Christ fills us with joy, despite circumstances. And so, and it should be a mark of every believer. While this man was a God-fearer who had embraced Judaism, he was the first recorded Christian convert outside of what they would call Jerusalem. And the first record of a Gentile accepting Christ was Cornelius, a Roman centurion led to the faith by Peter in Acts 10, which we're gonna get to eventually. But the application questions here is so great. But here's the point that we can get, is that as we are called to be obedient to the Spirit, to witness for Christ, and we're called to baptize new believers as a church. Baptism is one of the things that we're called to do as a church. And so believers demonstrate their faith in Christ through the act of baptism. Notice we demonstrate our faith. When someone gets baptized in a church, that's their public decoration that they are a Christian. That's why baptism is so important. If you get saved and you don't get baptized, you're in disobedience. Because Jesus even got baptized before he started his ministry. Jesus set the example, who are we not to follow it? And so what are some common misconceptions about baptism that baptism saves or baptism is just a way to join a church? Baptism is neither one of those. Baptism is your public declaration that you are a Christian. And it's very important that we publicly identify with Christ. Now, you do become a member of a church when you get baptized, after you get saved and baptized, you become a member of like, say if someone got saved here, they got baptized, they're a member of Pathway. But that's still their public decoration of being a Christian. Baptism holds so much meaning for the Christian. So if baptism doesn't wash away your sins, why is it such a pivotal moment of the Christian? Well, as I was saying before, because that's you telling the world the decision that you have made. That's you telling the world what God had done in your heart. That's you telling the world that you are no longer a slave of sin. Now you are a slave of Christ. That's telling the world through a public declaration that you, through the calling of the Spirit, have followed Jesus now. That's why it's so important. It's not just something that you do to join a church, and it's definitely not something that you do to wash away your sins, but it is you being taken that public stage of saying, I'm a Christian. And in an age like this, we need more people to stand up to say, I'm a Christian. and not just a cultural Christian, a true believer of Christ, a true Christian, a true disciple of Jesus. So what are the takeaways that we can get from this? One, believers should follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Without a shadow of doubt, that's what we need to do. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We need to obey God. We need to honor God through our faith and obedience, just the way that Philip did. And believers must use the Bible to point to Jesus. That's absolutely what needs to happen, isn't it? Believers must use the Bible to point to Jesus. That means we have to know the scriptures. That means we have to study the scriptures. That means that the scriptures have to be real to us. How many times do you look at your Bible and read it and you don't have reverence over who wrote the book? So many Christians lug around a Bible, read out of the Bible, take the Bible out of context, and they do it because, and they do it without reverence. They do it without knowing that this is the word of the God of the universe. This is how God has chosen to communicate to us his creation. This book is more than just a Christian manual. Christian instruction manual. It is the word of the living God. It is God breathed. We need to have reverence for it. That's why we study it. That's why we follow it. That's why we have to know it intimately. Believers demonstrate their faith in Christ through the act of baptism. It's so important that we as believers publicly identify with Christ. the true Christ, the Christ of the Bible, not this weird Marxist leftist Christ, this Christ of these progressive Christian churches, but the true Christ, the one that we read about in the gospels. You and me have this responsibility. So I'm gonna close out in prayer. Thank you guys for being here with us tonight. Father God, we come before you, Lord, and we thank you, Lord, for this time together. We thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, for the example of Philip to us to be a humble and submissive servant to your will and your glory. Lord, help us, Lord, to study, immerse ourselves, and know the scripture so intimately. Help us to teach our kids. Help us to teach our friends. Help us to teach our family. Help us, Lord, to be known as a Christian first before anything else. We are Christ followers, Lord. We are pilgrims in this world going on in this journey to ultimately be with you in glory. Lord, I pray that you would help us, Lord, to not be ashamed of your gospel, to not be ashamed to identify ourselves with you, and help us, Lord, to glorify you, to how we stand with you in every single way, that we're not ashamed of the word of God, we're not ashamed of the Bible, and we're not ashamed of the gospel. And we're not ashamed of the true Jesus that is in scripture. Lord, we love you. And I ask, Lord, you be with us, Lord. In your name we pray, and amen. Thank you guys.