I'll give you the page number, it's 1138. And 1138, so we're gonna look at this story this morning. And it begins in verse 26, it says, 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. We haven't read the kind of complete story yet, but there's three individuals that are in this story. So we have the spirit of God called the angel of the Lord, In verse 26, you'll see him called the Spirit as well. So that person is the Holy Ghost. That is the third person of the Trinity. You might have heard that before, that God is three and God is one. So you have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is very active in our day as Jesus was in his earthly ministry. The Spirit of God is active now. And so at the baptism today, as we baptize outside later, you may hear me say all three names of the Godhead because the Bible says in Matthew 28, verse 18, Jesus said, all power is given unto thee in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and, lo, I'm with you always, even unto the end of the world. All right, so God the Spirit is God, just like God the Father is God, God the Son is God, and it's the Spirit of God that's very active, again, in our day and what's here in this story that takes place in the book of Acts. And so he's the one that the Bible's speaking about when it says the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip. The second person that we have in this story is the preacher of the gospel, right, the human instrument that God would use to proclaim Christ in this story. And so who Phil is, he's one of the first seven deacons that was in the early church. And so basically a deacon is somebody that helps take the load off the pastor of a ministry by assisting in different work that needs to be done. There was a need in the early church for men that would help with the, kind of like a soup kitchen idea, and serving the widows and providing food for them. And so they called some men to do that, but they didn't. Philip is one of those. Acts 6.5, it says that the same includes the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, that's the man here, and Pope Corus, and Decaner, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. So if you want to know, we're the first seven deacons in the early church. The Bible lists them, and so Philip was one of those. Sometimes you think, well, a deacon just helps serve. Well, actually, the deacons often would help preach, and so this man was a preacher. He was itinerant, evangelist, that would travel. God used him. Remarkably, Acts 8, verse 5, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. That's where Philip is when our story begins, and there's an awakening that's taking place in that city, really a revival. Many people that didn't expect to come and encounter Christ are getting saved, they're receiving Jesus Christ, their Savior. So he's saying, many people make that decision that we talked about a little bit this morning, salvation and putting your faith in Christ, and then God is gonna come in, in his life, the Spirit of God, and direct him to do something, as we'll see. So he's the second person. We got the Holy Spirit, and we've got Philip, and then we have a man that needs salvation. This man's name is the Ethiopian eunuch, and he's the focus of our consideration this morning, so we'll wait to kind of introduce him to us as we'll see him throughout the story. And so this man needs salvation. Again, salvation is the point where a sinner receives God's forgiveness and God's gift of everlasting life. You might wonder about that term saved, salvation. Why do we use terms like that in the Bible name? And it's because we've got to be rescued from something which, again, we've looked at a little bit, and that is the consequences of our sin, our decisions against God. Not just physically the consequences, but eternally the consequences. Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death. All right, so wages, we understand that terminology. If you go to a job and you work so many hours, You get your wages. It's what you deserve because of your work Okay, you don't if you don't get your wages you say I I get my wages because they are my wages I earn them by my labor the Bible says what we have earned and what we will get there's not a doubt that Will receive it is death and that's what we've earned for our transgression against God John 3.18 speaks about it this way, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And so this morning, Somebody that's been saved and born again is under no condemnation. There's no judgment against them. But somebody that has not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, it's not that in the future that that sentence will be established. It's that God says that that condemnation or that judgment against us is functioning right now. The Bible says condemned already. And so again, why would somebody have to get saved? Because they're on death row eternally. They're sentenced to eternity in the lake of fire, so they need to be saved from that very sentence. Revelation 20.15, again, a verse I already quoted this morning. written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So when the Bible speaks about eternity away from God, it is a literal fire. There's a lot of religions today that teach against that. Job's witnesses would be one of those that just say, when an unbeliever dies without God or salvation, that they just go in the grave. Well, that's not what the Bible speaks about. The Bible speaks about a story of a rich man that perished, and the Bible says, and in hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. So the Word of God's very clear that it's not just death, Physically that is God's judgment is eternal punishment For our sin it says in 2 Thessalonians 1 9 who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power The truth is today that somebody in this life is saved disappointed to them wants to die, but after that the judgment But once you die, it's too late. So when somebody goes to hell, there's no do-over, there's no second chance. It's everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. The glory of His power is today that anybody can get saved. somebody preach or teach the Word of God and tell them about Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ did, that in this life God can save anybody from their sin, but that when somebody goes to hell it's forever too late to come back and to get saved. And so we need that salvation. Every single one of us needs to be saved. So that's what we're talking about when we use that terminology. So we have a man, an Ethiopian eunuch, that needs to get saved. Now in our story, I like the terminology divine appointment. I don't know if you've heard that terminology before. What we are reading about is a divine appointment. It's something that when God orchestrates it in such a way that a sinner is brought into contact with the preacher of the gospel, not having a stance or whatever, it's not just that, oh, you know, this occurred, but that God designed it, that God orchestrated it, that God very purposely brought a sinner into contact with the preaching of the gospel for the purpose getting saved. God did that. That is a divine appointment. You know, and it's somebody that's lost that is getting saved. And that term lost, you might hear that sometimes as well, is someone who's not following God's leading in their lives. Isaiah 53 verse 6 says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid unto him the iniquity of us all. So somebody that's lost, Like we talked about this morning, somebody that is seeking after their own way, and man's way is not God's way. Man's way is not go to the house of God, worship God as God intended, and believe everything that the Bible says about that. Man's way is a way from God. It's a way to do other things. It's a way to do sinful things. And so that person that is lost is not following God's leading in their lives. Someone who is lost does not recognize the voice of the good shepherd. John 10, 27 says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Again, as we talked about this morning, the Spirit of God says, hey, that's sin, get away from that. Somebody that is a Christian understands that's God, and so I need to obey God. And I want to follow God's leading, so as God speaks to me about that, I want to obey God. But an unbeliever is not somebody that is sensitive to the leading of God as God is speaking, because that's not their shepherd, because they're not following that shepherd in their life. Again, there's somebody that is lost. There's somebody that is lost and somebody who's walking down a dangerous path that leads to destruction. Matthew 7 verse 13 says, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in there at, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leads to life everlasting. And few there be that find it. We tend to think as human beings that the majority are right, that in our day, the majority has turned its back on God. The majority say there is no God. The majority say evolution is true. The majority say a lot of things that are contrary to this book. And if the majority was right, the Bible would be wrong. But the Bible says, though, the wicked join hand to hand, yet their iniquity shall not be unpunished because of the truth that, again, we've already considered this morning. So they're walking down a path that leads, the Bible says, to destruction. And many there be that go in there, narrows the way that leads to life everlasting. Few there be that find it. Why do they not find it? Because they're lost and they're going away from God. Again, I spoke to that unsaved man and I already shared something what he said about transgenderism. this morning, but he also said this, he said, I've gotten away from the alcohol because I see my friends, they go, they get drunk, they have three bad days at work and they're wondering why can't I get ahead in my life and things like that. It was interesting, again, as I spoke with him that he had some insight into truth and realized the physical dangers of of some of the vices that are in life, but sadly, not yet, as he turned his life to Christ to follow Jesus as the way and the answer that really avoids not just physical problems in life, but eternal problems in hell. Jesus said in John 14, verse 6, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. There's not another way that we can talk about this morning that I can say, it's okay if you go that path or that path or that path. The only thing I can say as a preacher of the gospel this morning is that Jesus is the way. The way of the cross is the only way. It's only through the shed blood of Jesus and what he did on the cross for us that anybody can get to heaven because Jesus is the only way to God. 1 John 5, 12 says it this way, that half the sun, half life, He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. As I stood and preached on the streets of Edinburgh yesterday afternoon, there was a lot of people that were down there, and I said this, I said, if I could see your heart, and I could see who has Christ in their heart or not, I would understand, as I stood there, how many it would be that are on their way to heaven, how many it would be that have God's gift of everlasting life, because if the Son is present, Jesus Christ, that they are certainly going to heaven. If Jesus Christ is not there, then very sadly, they're certainly going to hell. Matthew 7, 23 says, even religious people will stand before the Lord and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name done many mighty works and these different things that were religious things that they sincerely did for God and they maybe even did them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they had not established that relationship with God by faith through Christ's death. on the cross for them, they were just very religious in their life, but the Bible says in Matthew 7, 23, then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, no relationship, depart from me, ye that were iniquity. So again, a divine appointment is somebody that's lost, being brought into contact with a preacher of the gospel for the point of the conversion of their soul so that they would receive God's gift of everlasting life. And so would you be surprised at that today to think God cares that much that you would work in somebody's life like that? You'll notice as you look up that we're in the midst of a building project, and it's gonna get better, all right? And to us, this is better. We've seen what this was before, and we're very thankful for what God's helped us to accomplish. But a family just came and visited us here, and they worked for two weeks with us on this property. They were a tremendous blessing. And Josh Rowley, as he got here, he had a little bit of A shopping culture shock, you know, because in the States he does this kind of work all the time, but you get over here in a different culture for him and where do I get what I need and what are the different parts called and how do we assemble these things and so it's very common in the United States to have door frames that are pre-built with all the hardware and places already cut out and the door that fits them and everything like that. So we went to Travis Perkins right around the corner. God's blessed us with incredible shopping right very close to our facility. And so we get to Travis Perkins and say to the man there, you know, we'd like to get this. And he goes, okay, maybe in England. and everything and he goes wait a second and he goes walking out back and to kind of a side area that was very dusty very dirty and I guess oh look we've got one and let's see do we have a door yes we have a door you know so there's a door there's a door frame it's perfect for what we needed and he said this you are very lucky And I said to him, I said, well, I get what you're saying. I said, but I prefer to look at that and say God providentially provided exactly what we needed. Surprisingly to him, he looked at it and thought, oh, you know, we don't have that, but God had it there for us. Benson installed the door this week, praise God, and so it's working, it's functioning, we're using it. But God did that. This building is a testimony of what God can do, providentially. Two years ago, we had 18,000 pounds, and we were praying that God would provide a building for us in Longhead. We're asking God to meet that need. We made an offer, a cash offer on the bank building in Lonehead, 265,000 pounds, because God so incredibly provided for us, not through us begging people and saying, you got to send us money, you got to help us out or anything like that. Just a letter from my pastor and an announcement of the need that was there. And God just incredibly worked to the point that God's allowed us to not just get the property that we have here, but do it up there. There is no way that this could be in this happening without God. And so it might not surprise us today that God, the God that in a physical way answers prayer, provides incredibly. We've seen God do that numerous times. It's also a God that very actively is seeking to work in the lives of people. We see divine appointments in the Bible. I mentioned one this morning about Jesus Christ and the woman at the well. And in that story, God brought the woman into contact with the gospel through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. But you remember in the story, it says, I must needs go through Samaria. What was that? That was a divine appointment. God had a need, it was gonna be not just that lady's life, but the other Samaritans that were there that needed Jesus Christ, that came out of that city, and this woman went back and testified what God had done, and God used that woman strategically to reach many people for Christ. You see Jesus going to the demonic of Gadara. And if you know the story, Jesus goes through an incredible storm with his disciples, gets over there. And it's just a man that his demon possessed that is in the tombs. He's cutting himself and things. And he's the only man that gets saved. But the Bible says when Jesus left that place, that man that was naked, they couldn't chain up. because he would break the chains of Sunderland. He had power that was demonic. But when Jesus set him free from that, by God's grace, he was clothed in his right mind. And he said to Jesus, when the people said to him, get out of here, we don't want you here because of a circumstance that had happened. He wanted to go with Jesus. And Jesus said, no, I want you to stay here and minister to these 10 cities on this side of the Sea of Galilee and share the gospel. He was a strategic person that God wanted to reach. Just one person that Jesus Christ came across and reached that became a preacher. of the gospel, this is my appointment. Zacchaeus, remember that story in Luke 19, verse 5, when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and he saw him and he said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Zacchaeus didn't know that. Zacchaeus was curious. I mean, he climbed up in a tree, because he wanted to see who Jesus was. And surprisingly, Jesus comes by, and Jesus knows his name, looks at this man, a leader of the publicans, a man that had influence that God would later, I'm sure, use for his glory. But God, in his mercy, looked up and saved a man that was a thief. He was a tax collector. He had robbed people. But Jesus said, today, I've got to go to your house. And Zacchaeus got right with the Lord on that day. In the book of Acts, let me just our story here, but Ananias, remember, went to Saul of Tarsus and divine acquaintance with him, God said, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to show him how great things he must suffer for my namesake. This man, Saul of Tarsus, that would become the apostle Paul. Ananias, I want you to go to him. He said, I can't go to him. He's here to kill Christians. He's here to put them in prison. But God said, I have chosen him. He's a chosen vessel unto me. It was a divine appointment for Ananias to go to minister to Saul, as God said. Peter, you know the story with Cornelius, if you're familiar with the book of Acts. and how Cornelius is seeking after God. He's a Gentile. He's a Roman centurion. He's a leader of a hundred soldiers, but he's a God-fearing man, but he's not saved. He doesn't know Jesus Christ as his Savior. He's crying out in prayer to God, and God says, send for Peter. And Peter, a Jew who would not go to the Gentiles normally, a Jew that had prejudice against those people, God had a divine appointment for Peter to take the gospel to Cornelius. In Samaria, great things God's doing. God's going to take him away from that to reach a certain individual because that man needed to get saved. What I want to encourage us about this morning is you need to take divine appointments when God gives them. All right, so there are many times where God is at work in somebody's life and God has an opportunity to give them the gospel, but God does that through us and that as believers, as that opportunity comes, that we need to take those opportunities that God gives. Have you heard God's spirit speaking to you about speaking to somebody about Christ? Are you obedient when God does that and go and tell that person? about Jesus, similar to what we heard in Sunday School this morning. Continuing that thought in our morning message here, let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to work in our hearts as we look at the Word of God. Father, I just ask that the Spirit of God would speak to our hearts as we look at some points from this story this morning. Father, it might be that somebody is here and they've not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Father, what a joy it would be if today would be the day that they put their faith in Jesus Christ and what Christ did for them on the cross. But Father, those of us that are saved, we've got a responsibility that we heard about already in the Sunday school hour, that we need to be the light and we need to carry the gospel. And Father, more specifically to the point of this message, that we need to be aware when there is a divine work of God that would seek to make an appointment between a preacher of the gospel and a lost sinner. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would make us sensitive, that we take those opportunities and that we see the reasons why in this text of scripture. I pray for the children in their class. God bless Mrs. Schor as she watches over them. Lord, that they have a good time, that they enjoy their class. And Lord, that you work in their little hearts. But Father, in our hearts this morning, it's my desire, and I know it's your desire, that you speak to every heart that's here. And so Father, would you just take away any distracting thoughts or ideas or things like that, things that would hinder anything during this time. But I pray that you'd help me to preach biblically, practically, lovingly and powerfully the truth of the word of God. And Father, we commit this time to you now. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. All right. So some points about taking divine appointments. You need to take divine appointments because everyone needs to hear the gospel. Everyone needs to hear the gospel. And so it says in verse 27, as Philip obeys God's spirit came and said, I'm going to send you out into this desert place and go to Gaza. And so on he goes and it says, and behold, that means that he saw something. All right. His eyes looked at something. And what he sees is the third person in this story that we're talking about, the Ethiopian eunuch that's there. person that he's to reach. Very interestingly, God's Spirit didn't say why he was to go out into the desert, but that he knew Philip well enough to say, if I tell Philip to go, he'll go. And Philip gets there and like, ah, okay, this is the reason. It's a gospel opportunity to tell somebody about Jesus. And so he sees the person that he's to reach. Again, we haven't considered the eunuch, so let's talk about who he is. First of all, his person. The Bible says that he's a man. God's Spirit doesn't use gender neutral pronouns, okay? God's Spirit doesn't say they or it or anything like that. The Bible says about man and woman, the Bible says in Genesis 127, so God created man in his own image and the image of God created him. Male and female created he, them. Genders are specific to God's creation. God gave us the genders that we have. So as we look at this foray, we have a man, it's not a boy. This is not somebody that got saved in their childhood. Somebody that came to faith in their childhood. This is a grown-up. This is a God this morning that God desires to reach children. We're going to have a week focused on that this week as we teach the Bible to children that just like me, as I shared my testimony, the Spirit of God can speak to the hearts of these little kids and they can get saved, praise God. The Bible says in Mark 10 14, when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased with his disciples who had said, keep the kids away from Christ, he's too busy kind of idea. Jesus was troubled by that. He said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such as the kingdom of God." And so Jesus desires that this week as we do that ministry. That's a very important part of what we do as a church is presenting the gospel to kids. But I praise God. God doesn't just want to reach kids. God desires to reach adults. God desires to reach men. He desires to reach women. In fact, the Bible says in Matthew 18 verse 3, Jesus said again, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In other words, if you don't come to that simple childlike faith, and I praise God, a child is very quick to believe God. The child is very quick to accept what the Bible says about God. But the Bible says that we've got to become like that in our hearts, where we have a tender heart that would say, I'm just going to believe God. And what God says in the beginning, God created that there is a lawgiver, that there is a judge, that someday I want to stand before that judge, that Jesus Christ died for me. But the great truth about that is God desires to save kids and God desires to save adults. We see his person. He's man. We see his nationality. It says of Ethiopia. You know, nationalities aren't something that we should be ashamed of. You might notice that I don't have a Scottish accent. I hear that a lot when I tell people I've been over here since 2010. They're like, the accent hasn't gone away or changed or anything like that. We have different nationalities that we are, and our church, praise God, is open to every nationality. And Christianity understands that we're all one race. We come from Adam. And later we come from Noah in the flood. And that we all can trace our ancestry back through those individuals. But there are different cultures, aren't there not? There's different nationalities. And that's not something to be ashamed of. That's something that's wonderful that God has designed. And so the scripture says, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Why? Because God desires to reach people in every place. In Revelation 5 verse 9, the Bible says that in heaven, there's gonna be different nationalities that are represented, in fact, every nation. Revelation 5 verse 9 says, they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And so very interestingly in heaven, I've heard people say, what's the language gonna be in heaven? But it's, I don't know what the language is gonna be, but it's multicultural. God desires the gospel to go around the world because in every people group, there are people that will be saved, that will trust Christ. This man was a man of Ethiopia. And so his person, his nationality, then we see his position, verse 27. It says, in eunuch of great authority, under Canada's queen of the Ethiopians. Now, this man was powerful. In our parliament, this would be like a cabinet minister. This is maybe the minister of finance or the treasurer, the exchequer, you know, the person that is over the finance of that nation. Again, he's a very powerful man. He's got a high position of great honor. I praise God today that God desires to reach people of all classes. God desires to reach people that are poor, and we see in the Bible many times somebody like the beggar Lazarus, or a beggar that was a blind man, or somebody like that that was infirmed, trusting in Christ, God praise God, the gospel isn't just for somebody that maybe recognizes very quickly their need because of their poverty, but that the gospel is for all classes. That there have been Christians in high class society in the past that we had an MP, in England that was named William Wilberforce, that was a Christian, that was good friends with the man that wrote Amazing Grace, John Newton, that helped abolish slavery in Britain. And so praise God today, this man, we look at the story, he's like, wow, this guy's way up there, but God had the gospel for him. So his position and then his privilege. It says in verse 27, it says, we have the charge of all her treasure. And I look at that and I think, well, I don't think he was poor, I think he was wealthy. Because otherwise, a temptation would be really great to reach into those funds and to take some of those funds for himself. And the Bible already says that he has a high position that's there. And so he's got a high position of trust that all the finances of that kingdom of Ethiopia are under his control. So he has authority over that. So again, I think he was probably, a wealthy man. But you know, maybe even as we've already discussed this morning, Matthew 16 verse 26 says, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for a soul? You know, what could you offer to God today? A lot of people live their life for finance. They live their life for fame and popularity and things like that. But just imagine someday you stand before a God. Does your fame get you into heaven? No. Does your finance get you to heaven? No. And so, I mean, these things, they might be okay in life, certainly fame could be okay, finance could be okay, but they're not the thing that is needed. So this man maybe kind of had everything. He had a great position, he had a great finance, but yet there was something lacking in his life because he was not saved. And so what do I say to us this morning about the gospel? Why do we need to take those divine appointments that God gives? We need to take them because everybody needs to hear the gospel. whether they're high up in society, whether they're a man or a woman, whether they're of different races or whatever, whoever they are, they need to hear about Christ. And then secondly, you need to take divine appointments because some are seeking spiritual answers. Verse 27, it says, and he come to Jerusalem for worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the prophet. As I read about this man, I see a man that's on a spiritual journey of sorts. There's something happening in his life that he's seeking answers, he's seeking truth. Why do I suspect that this morning? Well, he came to Jerusalem. What's Jerusalem? Jerusalem's the city of God. It's the place that the temple that God was worshiped in, where God said, my presence shall be there forever. It's a place that in the future, Jesus Christ is gonna come back. He's gonna reign on this earth in that very city. It's a very important city called the city of God in the Bible. know how far to get there to be there in that city why because he's there's something there he's seeking something he came to worship the Bible says so again he has a desire to be rightly related to God what worship is is giving to God what God deserves and that's man being brought into a right relationship with God again by faith through Jesus Christ he doesn't know about that but he's trying to get to God he wants to worship part I wonder if this man in Jerusalem had prayed to God and said, God, please, I'd like to know, I'd like to understand how to be rightly related to you. I wanna worship you. I think there's a spiritual journey again taking place in his heart. Maybe like Cornelius, he had prayed that prayer, but certainly the worship and prayer go together. So there was a prayer taking place. I believe, again, part of that probably was him saying to God, God, I desire to know you, to worship you as I should. And so he'd come to find answers. He bought it on his escrow. It would cost about three denarius, three days wage to get a scroll back in that day because that's how long it would take somebody to copy the book of Isaiah as a copy, as the scribe. And so he's got that scroll and he's investigating it. He's reading about Jehovah God, the God that created, the God that designed, the God that gave life. And I think in Jerusalem, he's probably hearing some things maybe about the life of Christ. And so God's doing something in this man's life and it's happening. We're jumping into the story at the point of this, but God was already behind the scenes working in this man's life. And again, I suspect he'd heard a little bit about Jesus, but he didn't know who that was. And I kind of wonder who had impacted this man with truth. Why Jerusalem? Why come there? Why the worship of Jehovah God? Why was that? And I suspect, again, that probably maybe somehow, some way in Ethiopia, God in his mercy had allowed that man to hear some truth, maybe through an individual. The Bible speaks about that. 1 Corinthians 3, 5 says, who then is Paul? Who is Apollos? But ministers by whom he believed, even as the Lord gave to every man, he said this, I have planted Apollos' water, but God gave the increase. And it's not just that, maybe, and praise God, we're jumping into the end of the story where this man's gonna trust Christ as his Savior, but probably at some point it's like he's been impacted by somebody speaking to him about God, and then somebody else speaking to him about God, to the point where finally, as he focuses in, God brings him to the point of conversion as he expresses the truth to him about Jesus Christ, because that's how God works. You know, as we take divine appointments, we're going to be involved in that process of getting in there. Somebody's got some spiritual questions and they're wondering what's going on. And they're investigating, just like this man reading that Isaiah scroll. You know, I praise God about this man's salvation. I would say this, the likelihood of his salvation increased when he began to seek God. When he began by faith to pursue after God, I would encourage anybody that maybe isn't saved or doesn't know God as in that personal way, I would say to anybody like that, hey, by faith, begin to go to God in faith, pray to God and say, okay, God, I will trust you to help me to come to understanding of who you are. I'm gonna read a Bible, I'm gonna go to church, I'm gonna do what I can, but I'm asking you, please help me to understand. That's the best way for somebody to come to faith. Jeremiah 29, 13. says, and ye shall seek me and find me when ye search for me with all your heart. There ought to be in the heart of somebody that desires truth, that what we see in the Ethiopian eunuch, that he's beginning to investigate that. And praise God as believers, we need to be in tune with God's spirit because we don't understand the prayer that that person's prayed. They said to God, God, help me to understand that God in his mercy is directing us. I was at Edinburgh Castle up above the dog cemetery That's there. And I started to speak to a lady that was beside me about the Lord. It was the divine appointment that God gave me. And this is many years ago. But I remember what she said to me. She said, you know what? We're having this conversation about God. But it's not a conversation I can have with my son, but my son believes like you do. And it was interesting to me that, you know, in that case, it wasn't that that person was praying, help me to understand, it was that she had a son that was praying for her salvation, asking God, God, get involved in my mom's salvation, that God, by His grace, by preaching the gospel, to have an opportunity to speak to her about something that they couldn't speak about because God did that. Praise God, you know, for how God works like that. And so you don't know if somebody's praying for that person, you don't know if they themselves are beginning to investigate, but there's answers that they need that God's allowed us to maybe go and just kind of answer some of the questions that they've got. So you need to take those opportunities. And then you need to take divine appointments because God in his mercy is seeking to save the lost. Verse 29, it says, then the Spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. If this chariot returns to Ethiopia, it's possible that the heart of this man kind of hardens up, you know, he's kind of open to God, thinking about God, seeking God. But if this chariot goes back to Ethiopia without him understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ and what Christ did, there's every possibility that that seed that was sown in his heart is just gonna go cold, it's not gonna bear fruit, he's not gonna get saved, he's just gonna go back to his life as it was. But God didn't allow that, praise God, right? the Ethiopian eunuch, that preacher of the gospel. You know, God is passionate about seeing the lost get saved. Mark 6, verse 34 says, Jesus, when he came out and saw much people, he was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd. Jesus looked at them and said, they're lost. They don't have a guide that's in their life. And that stirred up the heart of Jesus. Luke 19, verse 10 says, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. I wonder this morning, Christians, do we care? It's a very sad thing to think about in our service this morning. Do we really care about those that would die without Christ? 2018 religious identification statistics here in Scotland, this is going back five years. I would say in five years it's changed, not just some, it's changed a lot. But they said 51% no religion. Well, if somebody's irreligious, is there any chance that they put their faith in Jesus Christ? No. 22% Church of Scotland, Church of Scotland has held hands with those that oppose this book, the Bible, in some instances. When you have the Church of Scotland saying that homosexuality is okay, and that they're gonna allow for homosexuals to be married in the church, the Church of Scotland, I wanna say this, praise God, has had a tremendous impact. this nation. I can tell you the Church of Scotland history may be better than a lot of people that attend the Church of Scotland. There have been men and women in the past that have stood upon this book as the authority, but very sadly, the Church of Scotland has departed in many ways from this book. 14% of this nation are Roman Catholic. Again, Roman Catholicism teaches work salvation. That if you're a good person that God will accept and that that is salvation. 10% are other Christian, so Lord again, 4% another religion and definitely lost. Again, I can't make that sound better than it is. I can't flatter those that are parts of religions that despise the book, that have turned their back on God. And so as we look at that statistic, we'd understand this this morning, that the vast majority of Scots need Jesus Christ as their Savior. Again, is there anything in our heart this morning that is burdened about that, that says, by God's grace, I wanna do something about that, because Jesus Christ is burdened to reach them. I'm reading about a man named Charles Kalman. telegraph operator, very talented, doing very well in business. He was rising up and up and up in the management of the telegraph office where he worked, and they would move him nationally in the United States to key places because he was of such use to them. But he got saved, and God began to work in his life. He got burdened about souls, and he desired to reach his co-workers and take divine appointments and tell them about Christ. And so his first attempt to reach somebody, it says this, back and forth through the length of the room, Charles walked before he could summon enough courage to speak to him. Finally, for half an hour, he stood beside his desk, engaged in a one-sided conversation. Doubtless, the young man was astonished to find someone talking to him about his soul, for he never made any reply. Charles left the office feeling downhearted over his first attempt to win his soul. But the following night, when he returned home, almost the first words he said were, to his wife. Oh, I have something wonderful to tell you. The young man I talked with last night came to me as soon as I entered the office. He said, I went home last night after a conversation and did just what you told me. It's all settled. I gave myself to Christ. All right. That man later served God with Charles Kalman as a missionary in Japan. But he led another man to war within that week. Two had been won to the Lord in less than a week. What encouragement from so little effort, Charles Sowell took fire from that very week he became the sole winner of the rarest and most original title. In his business-like manner, he began a systematic effort to win his men, recognizing that men are not saved in bundles, but one by one. Charles Coleman got burdened about, said, I'm not gonna let my mates go to hell, and so I'm gonna begin to speak to them about Jesus Christ. For him, it was like stepping out of his comfort zone, but he realized, for them to be reached is what we heard this morning. They've gotta hear the gospel. They've gotta be told the truth about Jesus Christ, and so he began to do that, and God, in his mercy, began to use him as a soul winner. You need to take divine appointments because God in his mercy is seeking to save the lost, but then you need to take divine appointments because men have questions that need answers. And so again, in verse 30, it says, And Philip ran fither to him, heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and he said, Understandest thou what thou readest? He said, how can I, except some man should guide me, and he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. So you got the eunuch going along, he's got the Isaiah scroll, he's been to Jerusalem, he's heard about Jesus Christ, and he's reading the scriptures, and there's a work that's taking place, but he doesn't understand the Bible as he's opening it up, and he makes a statement, he says, how can I, except some man should guide me? You know what he said was actually true beyond what he understood. The Bible says about somebody that's not saved, it says in 1 Corinthians 2.14, it says, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because their spirits are discerned. Again, I preached on the streets of Edinburgh yesterday. I look out, I see people, I just understand this, even as I proclaim the truth of the word of God, that without a work of the spirit of God, opening the hearts and minds of people, why would somebody turn away from the alcohol? Why would they turn away from the fornication? Why would they turn away from the lies? Why would they turn from a life that is against God? It has to be in the mercy of God, God working in their heart. But as God works, God has to open their mind because their heart is set against God. The natural man receiveth not the things in the spirit of God. It's foolishness to them. I had some fun experiences yesterday as people come by and they say some things to me as I'm standing on the street preaching. Because they look at it, one of the guys said, sing us a song. So I sang my first soul on the streets of Edinburgh yesterday as I sang Amazing Grace. And I mean, to them, it's just a big hoo-ha and a big laugh or something like that. And it takes the mercy of God to work in their heart and to begin to open up their minds and be like, Wow. But as God does that, there's gonna be questions that they have. They're like, I can't understand this. And God again brings that person along to speak to them. So this man's reading Isaiah. He's reading a passage that is 700 years old before Christ came and just been fulfilled in Jesus. And so he's reading it, written 700 years before, just fulfilled in Christ in Jerusalem. And so he's reading about verse 32, the place of the scripture which he read was this. It's Isaiah 53. It's a story of a man. A man was gonna be slaughtered. It says he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. This man would not speak to defend himself. It says, like a lamb done before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. A man would not get a fair trial because of his humility, verse 33. In his humility, his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And then a man would die and be taken away from the earth. It says, and who shall declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch looks at that and he says, who's it speaking about? Because again, I think he probably heard about Jesus. He's asking that question, is the prophet speaking about himself? He's speaking about some other man. Verse 34 says that, and then verse 35, it says, and Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. This prophecy was fulfilled in Christ. Again, One of the great things that God's given to us in his word is prophecy. That God said hundreds of years before it would take place, what would take place, and so the man's reading it, he's reading this prophecy and it's fulfilling Christ, and Phil begins, at that scripture, he begins to preach unto him Jesus. Jesus died for your sins, Isaiah 53, five says, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace is upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. It spoke about his death and his resurrection in Isaiah 53 verse 9, it says, he made his grave with the wicked. And when Jesus Christ died, who was crucified beside him? Two things. And he was made, the Bible says, not just with the wicked in his death, but with the rich in his death. How did that take place? Well, remember that rich man was standing by when Jesus Christ was crucified, that member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea, and when he and saw the cross and the crucifixion, he said, Jesus gets my tomb, a new tomb that was hewn out of limestone. It was buried nearby and where they would bury the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he was buried with the rich in his death. The Bible said that 700 years before it took place, it took place in the death of Jesus Christ. And so again, He gets this truth, and then Jesus rose from the dead. Who shall declare his generation? For he is taken from the earth. Not only did he rise from the dead, but he ascended up into glory. And so this morning, has there ever been a time when you understand that truth that Enoch was talking about? He said, who is this man? Where you put your faith in Jesus Christ. And again, as believers, you gotta capitalize on those opportunities where the Spirit of God is speaking to somebody's heart and explains to them the answers to the questions that they may have about God. And that brings us to our baptismal text this morning, and we'll conclude here this morning. God used his church as the light. And so, God uses, we need to take divine appointments because God is growing the church through his church. It was a deacon in the church that brought this man to saving faith, verse 36. It says, as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. The eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? We're going to have a baptismal service, praise God, right after this, as we conclude here this morning. But the question would be, who can be baptized? And there's a lot of churches, again, that they'll sprinkle an infant or things like that, or christen an infant. But the Bible speaks about that when you read the book of Acts, every single person that is baptized in the book of Acts is somebody that has personally put their faith in Jesus Christ. And so the question is asked by the eunuch, he said, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he said this, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. So if I were to ask you based on the scripture this morning, what is the condition for somebody to be baptized? The condition is that they have personally put their faith in Jesus Christ. If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. Can an infant believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as an infant? They can't personally give that testimony either to say, I have put my faith in Jesus Christ. And so this man though says, I believe that Jesus is the Christ and puts a definite statement to that. Based on that statement of faith, they go down into the water and the eunuch baptizes them. Again, how did he baptize them? Well, he said this, he said, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? I'll tell you this, he didn't hold up a canteen, right? They're traveling through a desert and say, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? He looks at a body of water and says, see, there is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? The Bible says that they went down into the water and they came up out of the water. It says about Jesus Christ at his baptism that they went into that river and again, he was immersed and put under the water. Why is that important? Because what we'll witness out there in just a few minutes is a picture of the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's an image. It's an image that shows that the old man has died with Christ and that he's rising again to walk in newness of life. There's a beautiful picture there, but it's also the ordinance that Christ gave is a believer's baptism by immersion. And so praise God, when somebody trusts Christ as their Savior, they might have been christened or something like that in the past, but then it's important for them to take that step of obedience and say, but I'm gonna follow what the scripture said, And the scripture says, if thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest, and then get into that water and to be baptized. And so God did that through his church as the eunuch was baptized. Now, this is surmising, but the Bible says that the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Okay, when he went on his way rejoicing, he went with Christ as his savior. He went with an understanding of what the gospel is all about. So as he gets back to Ethiopia, what is he? He's somebody like Philip that is going to serve God and say, as God gives opportunity to speak to somebody, he's going to take that opportunity for the Lord. Charles Kalman, it said in the story, it said he made opportunities to speak to them, his co-workers, about their soul's welfare. He did not wait for a convenient season, but he prayed and made advance toward them. He kept a list of several hundred whom he remembered in prayer every day. This was followed by personal effort, and few escaped heart-to-heart talks over the subject that matters most. Such faithful work produced results. His enthusiasm was not one that blazed and then died, but a steady, unabated force that entered into every part of his being. In less than six months, he had personally led 75 of his fellow workers to the Lord. All were hand-picked fruit. He carried out this personal work in odd moments as he felt the time belonged to the company. Not once was there the slightest criticism that he neglected business, but he kept an eye open for those moments every night when it was necessary for them to be kept steadily at the telegraph key, when it was not necessary. He learned to use such gaps and capitalized on every minute to sow the seed with full assurance of a harvest. The power of God was behind it. A real revival grew steadily in the office without the aid of a preacher and without a prayer room. Why do I read that story? Because he wasn't a preacher at that point. He became a preacher. But he was a man that loved God and believed God and took divine appointments, and God used them to reach many for Christ. And so God helped us to look at the story this morning and say, God's actively doing that. Let's participate in that as God gives us opportunity. And let's go to the Lord in prayer. With heads bowed, please, and eyes closed, I just wanna ask you a couple questions this morning. The first is this, is there anybody this morning that, having heard the truth of the gospel, maybe for the first time, didn't really understand what church was about, that you need to personally accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Is there anybody this morning that would say, you know, I've never done that, and I've never accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, but I'd like to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior today? And everybody's eyes are closed this morning, so nobody's looking about. Would you just acknowledge that this morning by raising your hand and saying, I see today that I'm a sinner, that my sins separated me from God. I need Jesus Christ as my Savior. I know if I died right now, I'd go to hell, but I don't want to go to hell. I want to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. Anybody like that tonight, this morning? As believers as well, I just want to encourage us that maybe God spoke to your heart about taking divine appointments. This guy gave it, maybe to this point, maybe you've never really witnessed anybody that used to have God in that way, just like Philip was with the Ethiopian unit. May the Spirit of God speak to your heart about soul winning. Is there anybody that by uplifted hand would say, you know, God spoke to my heart about that. I want to take divine appointments when God gives them. Anybody like that this morning? All right, let's go to morning prayer. Father, I praise you for your grace this morning. I thank you for this story that we've been able to look at. It's warm in here this morning. It's the first time, Lord, that it's actually been hot in this building. And I want to thank you for the heat, but I pray that that would detract from our hearts understanding your truth this morning. I thought it might be the Spirit of God is speaking to somebody's heart about salvation. Maybe they're not ready to make that decision yet of trusting Christ. But I pray, Lord, if they fully understand the gospel, I pray they not put it off with that. Maybe just like the man in the story that I read about, they go home and think about it and accept Jesus Christ in the privacy of their home and bow their knee and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. And Father, for us as believers, I just pray, Lord, would you give us divine appointments, those opportunities to express the truth of the gospel to those that need to hear. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing a chorus twice through. It's just a simple