Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY
Real Life Community Church, is a church located in Richmond, Kentucky. Our fellowship is comprised of authentic followers of Jesus Christ who aim to glorify God in all that we do. We have a desire to reach our community, meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of those who are hurting.What to Expect in a Service Our Sunday Morning services include a time of dynamic, blended worship. We have a full praise band, consisting of real Christ-followers who are committed to worshiping God, not just through song, but in every area of their lives. Each service will include a relevant, Bible-based message, that will inspire and challenge those who hear it. Come casually or formally dressed… however you are most comfortable. We hope to see you soon!
Real Life Community Church Richmond, KY
Acts | Part 12 | The Significance of One
Acts 8:26-40
A seemingly random detour forever changed the course of Christianity's spread into Africa. When Philip was divinely redirected from a thriving revival in Samaria to a deserted road, he couldn't have imagined the eternal significance of this one-on-one encounter with an Ethiopian court official.
The Ethiopian eunuch represents the extraordinary lengths some will go in searching for God. Having traveled approximately 1,500 miles by chariot to worship in Jerusalem—a journey consuming months of his life—he was returning home still spiritually hungry, reading from Isaiah's prophecies but unable to understand their meaning. Despite his wealth, power, and religious dedication, something was missing.
What unfolds is a master class in divine orchestration. Philip finds the eunuch reading precisely the passage that prophesies about Jesus' sacrificial death. When Philip explains how Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy, the Ethiopian immediately responds with faith and requests baptism—a particularly meaningful moment considering that as a eunuch, he had been excluded from full participation in Jewish worship under Old Testament law.
This narrative powerfully illustrates how God values individual souls. He redirected Philip from mass conversions to focus on one searching person, demonstrating that in God's economy, the one is worth pursuing with the same passion as the multitude. The text simply states that after his baptism, the Ethiopian "went on his way rejoicing"—he had finally found what he was looking for.
The implications are profound for today's believers. Your willingness to follow God's prompting, even when it seems illogical, might be the divine appointment someone has been praying for. You don't need theological credentials like the apostles—Philip was "just" a deacon who was faithful with what God had given him. Most historians believe this Ethiopian became Christianity's first African convert, potentially carrying the gospel to what was then considered "the ends of the earth."
Who is the "Ethiopian eunuch" in your life? One conversation could change not just a life, but potentially reach the nations.
The scripture reading this morning is from Acts, the 8th chapter, verses 26 through 40. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip Rise, go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he arose and went. This is a desert place. And he arose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia, who was in charge of all of her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, he was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip go over and join this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah, the prophet, and he asked do you understand what you're reading? And he said how can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Speaker 1:Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter. Like a lamb before its shearers is silent. So he opened, not his mouth In his humiliation. Justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life was taken away from the earth.
Speaker 1:And the eunuch said to Philip About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this About himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and began with the scripture. He told them the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water. And the eunuch said See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop and they both went down into the water, philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way, rejoicing. But Philip found himself in Nazareth and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2:Thanks be to God. You may be seated.
Speaker 1:Now, what's dangerous is whenever a pastor gives a preacher a microphone laughter, laughter. But I want to point it's dangerous, it's whenever a pastor gives a preacher a microphone. But I want to point out something With the multitude of times that I read this scripture, I saw something this morning.
Speaker 1:Don't take my points now. That amazed me, and Chris won't have to preach when I get through. But we read that Philip found himself in Asherah Can you imagine being transported by the Spirit? And yet he preached the gospel. That amazed me. He didn't tell his testimony about this great experience he had. He preached the gospel and that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Amen. Well, I did not have that point in my sermon. So the point there is be faithful and you can teleport Praise the Lord. Well, god not only cares about the multitudes, but he cares about the individual. God cares about individuals, our pastors. Along with our wives, last month, we had the privilege opportunity to go to Asheville, north Carolina. There, in the beautiful mountains, to the Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center, we went to a pastor's conference and the campus is breathtaking. But to me, the most beautiful place on the campus is the Billy Graham Prayer Chapel. It's this sanctuary where Billy Graham himself and countless others have spent hours upon hours in prayer, in worship. At the bottom of that building is a museum that kind of chronicles the life and ministry of Billy Graham, and so as you're walking through the basement there, you're going to see picture after picture of these large crusades where thousands of people are there and each night hundreds, if not thousands, of people are coming to the Lord.
Speaker 2:As a matter of fact, I did some research and do you know that Billy Graham has preached to more people than anybody else live? Do you know that he preached in his lifetime to some 215 million people, with millions of those people professing Christ. Now I'm grateful for the legacy of Billy Graham his integrity all those years without scandal, his faithfulness to preach the gospel all around the world without scandal. His faithfulness to preach the gospel all around the world. And when thousands of people in an evening or a weekend come to the Lord, how many know that's reason to celebrate. But I want you to know this when one sinner repents, there is reason to rejoice.
Speaker 2:Jesus said in Luke 15, 10, so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. There's a party in heaven. So here's what that means for us today there have been five parties in heaven because of what's happened in this church over the last two months, because five individuals have come down, given their heart to the Lord, hallelujah. Individuals have come down, given their heart to the Lord, hallelujah. And so I want you to know today you may never be a Billy Graham, you may never stand behind a pulpit like this and share Christ with some 100 people, but I'll tell you this you still play a vital role as an individual Christian to Christ's mission to spread the gospel to the nations to the ends of the earth.
Speaker 2:When you share the gospel with somebody across from a coffee table or with your neighbor on his or her front porch, or in your living room or on an airplane, and somebody repents. The Lord has just used you to make an eternal difference in somebody's life and you never know. One life is wonderful, but you never know the ripple effect. Somebody led Billy Graham to the Lord. What Mordecai Ham Ron claims that he was related to him, but his name is spelled with one M. We added him.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:All right, I got you. So listen, guys, we are all called to preach the gospel, every one of us. You may not be called to vocational preaching, but it is incumbent upon every Christian to share the gospel with the lost. God cares about the one, not just the multitudes. In the book of Acts we're moving kind of section by section through this wonderful historical account of the early church and so far up to the through the beginning of chapter eight, the book is generally been about the multitudes being saved.
Speaker 2:Remember Acts, chapter two Peter, uh, under the unction of the Holy spirit, preaches a dynamite message. Uh, people are cut to the heart. They say, peter, what do we do? And he said repent and be baptized. And that's exactly what 3000 men plus women and children did. You flip the page and Peter and John are making their way to the temple to pray. When they come up on a lame man, been paralyzed since birth, they say to him, in the name of jesus, rise up and walk. And he gets up and he starts rejoicing a guy that couldn't walk since birth. Well, that draws a crowd, amen. And so peter and john use that miracle as a platform and they preach again the gospel 2 000 more men plus women and children that are added to the church, and on and on it goes. By the time the deacons are appointed in Acts, chapter 6, it is estimated that the church just in Jerusalem is 20,000 people strong. Then in Acts, chapter 8, the gospel we see moves out of Jerusalem on to Judea and then to Samaria, and there's this revival going on and multitudes are coming to the Lord, and that's through verse 25 in chapter eight. But today there's a shift and God moves away from the multitudes and he shows us the value of one. He shows us the value of one. Here's the's the outline.
Speaker 2:Today I'm going to unpack this. God, in this story, uses one Christian, philip, because God is pursuing one person, this eunuch, so that he can lead him to one person who can transform his life, namely Jesus Christ. I'll say it exactly like it's on the screen God uses one Christian Philip in pursuit of one man, the Ethiopian eunuch. That he, the eunuch, would be transformed by one, the Lord Jesus Christ. The significance of one. Let's start here. God uses one Christian by the name of Philip. Who is Philip? Well, philip is not one of the apostles who was mentioned in the gospels. There was an apostle named Philip, but this is not him.
Speaker 2:This Philip was appointed in Acts chapter six as one of the deacons, the servants who would take care of the food distribution to the widows, the Hellenistic widows, in the early church. You know, the church is growing, some people are falling through the cracks and so they choose Philip and six other men out of thousands of people to take care of these needs. That tells us something about him, doesn't it? And that allowed the apostles to commit to prayer in the word. But I want you to know that Philip, throughout Acts, if he's anything, he is a faithful man of God. He's faithful to the Lord and to the call that God has on his life. So in Acts chapter 6, he is a faithful deacon, a man, it says, of the spirit and wisdom. Then, as we saw last week in Acts chapter 8, we saw last week in Acts chapter 8, god calls Philip to, he uses Philip in Samaria and Philip, god uses Philip the deacon, not the apostle to do miracles. And Philip I mean people are being delivered, demons are being cast out and people are being healed by the droves, and he preaches the gospel faithfully. As Jack pointed out earlier, even at this point he doesn't say look what I'm doing, all these miracles. He points people beyond himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't read now, today, by the way, god calls him on this solo journey, we'll unpack that. But we don't read about Philip again until chapter 21. And in chapter 21, luke, who wrote the book of Acts, calls Philip Philip, not the deacon, but the evangelist, philip the evangelist. And you know what Philip does in chapter 21? Get this Philip, who started as a deacon. He houses Paul and Luke and their companions as they're on this missionary journey. Imagine Apostle Paul knocking on your door, right. I mean, here's what I want you to see Every step of the way Philip has been faithful.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 16, that one who is faithful in very little will be faithful in much. That's what we see in the story. So I would just tell you today that you know, don't wait to say well, you know, when the Lord calls me to do something big, to start some ministry, then I'll be faithful. Just be faithful right now. Be faithful in prayer, be faithful in Bible study, be faithful in sharing your faith within your neighborhood job wherever you meet lost people, be faithful in whatever God has called you to do in this church, in whatever capacity you're serving in, come early, stay late. Just be faithful. Capacity you're serving in, come early, stay late, just be faithful. Often, the Lord, as we are faithful, he will give us more and more responsibility. And that's what we see in the story.
Speaker 2:Not only is Philip faithful, but he's trustworthy. He's excuse me, yeah, he is trustworthy, but he trusts God. He just has a habit of trusting God. So you go back God. He just has a habit of trusting God. So you go back. Remember, philip's a deacon. He's doing a great job and things are going well. He's serving God with all his heart. And all of a sudden, the enemies of Christianity come against the church and people are being dragged out of their homes.
Speaker 2:The scripture says and so all these Jews, these multitudes of people, flee Jerusalem and they go throughout Judea and they go to Samaria. And what's interesting here is Philip who's serving. He doesn't question God and say Lord, why would this happen to me? Why do I got to leave Jerusalem? Why would you not smite these people who are persecuting us? Lord, I'm serving you and you're going to let this happen? He doesn't do that. He just trusts the Lord. He doesn't understand why the Lord's sending him where he's sending him, but he trusts God and God had a plan.
Speaker 2:Remember the thesis and the outline for the book of Acts is found in verse eight. That says Jesus to his apostles when the Holy Spirit's come upon you, you will receive power and you'll be what Witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the other most parts of the earth. This is going to get good in just a moment, but right now, what's God's plan? The believers scatter. Well, guess where they go Judea and Samaria. He trusts God. Well, he trusts him again in the story today. Look at verse 8, or, excuse me, verse 26 in chapter 8. Now an angel of the Lord. So Philip is in Samaria. Now an angel of the Lord says to Philip Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Speaker 2:This is a desert place and he rose and he went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure, and he came to Jerusalem to worship. The angel of the Lord said to Philip go down this road to Gaza. Now, gaza was one of the main five cities of the Philistines. All right, it had been. The old Gaza had been destroyed and the new one had been built, closer to the coast actually. But historians tell us that there were two roads that went from Jerusalem to Gaza. One had, for all intents and purposes, been abandoned, the other was highly traveled. Guess which one? The angel tells Philip to go down the deserted road. Now, just think about this for a moment. Philip is in Samaria and he's in the driver's seat for all that's going on. I guess he's in the passenger seat, god's in the driver's seat, but he's the head of this massive great awakening. People are being healed, delivered, all this stuff. Think about that. And all of a sudden, in the midst, at the peak of this, an angel shows up to Philip and says oh, by the way, god's pulling you out of here and he's going to send you down the desert road where nobody travels. How would you respond to that? I miss the Lord, right. So why? God probably had to send an angel to make sure he knew that. He knew that he knew this was God. Now that'd be like when Billy Graham was alive, calling him from a you know, let's say, crusade in Louisville and saying, hey, I want you to go to Jackson County or to Hazard, the small town, right County, or to Hazard, the small town, right. That's what happens. But look at Peter's response. I mean he had to be mind blown here, like Lord. What You're going to take me from this to a deserted road. Here's all it says in verse 27. And he rose and went. Oh boy, that we would have that much trust in the Lord. And he rose and he went. The implication is, this was immediate. Perhaps this is speculation, but I think the angel came to Peter in a dream because I think he was laying down and as soon as he woke up, he just gets out of bed and goes no waffles and bacon, are you hungry? No eggs. He just goes immediately. And oh, beloved that we would obey God immediately when he calls us to do something. It's so, so vital. Amen, trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to do what Trust and obey. So the question is why would God send uh, now that we have the whole story this one Christian Philip down this deserted road, this one Christian Philip, down this deserted road? That's a question worth asking here. It is Because God is in pursuit of one man, takes him from revival to a deserted road for one man, because God is not just caring here about the masses, but he cares about the individual. He cares about you individually, amen. So he's in pursuit of this Ethiopian eunuch. So look at verses 27 and 28 again. And he rose and went and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure, and he had come to Jerusalem to worship. So what do we know about this man? We don't know his name, but we do know he's an Ethiopian. Now, hear me, this is not modern day Ethiopia.
Speaker 2:Okay, dr Crane, this is not the country that's kind of in the horn of Africa. Dr Craig Keener points out that the Greek term here applied to all of Africa south of Egypt. All right, and the particular kingdom in view here is called Nubia. Are you with me? It's called Nubia, so here's what's so interesting. Watch this. In the ancient world, nubia, this part of Africa, was considered the end of the earth.
Speaker 2:Now let's go back to Acts, chapter 8. To his apostles, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, where Philip serves as a deacon, then in Judea, and then in Samaria, where Philip goes, and the uttermost parts of the earth, which at this point is Africa. God is using one man, not an apostle, not a pastor, a deacon, just a man who is faithful and a man who trusts God. Oh, the significance of one. Do you know that scholars believe that this could have been the first dark-skinned African to come into the kingdom of God? Beyond that, this is the first full Gentile that's come into the kingdom of God. Oh, god is using Philip to break down social and racial barriers. Amen, because the kingdom is a worldwide religion.
Speaker 2:I wasn't going to share this, but I'm going to share this with you. Tim Keller, I heard him in a sermon. He was quoting a professor I don't remember the guy's name from Yale. He's a Christian guy and he did some research, and the argument is that Christianity, of all the major religions, is the only truly worldwide religion. And here's what he means.
Speaker 2:All other religions outside of Christianity are overwhelmingly contained roughly where the religion started. Now, watch this 96% of all Muslims live in the Middle East, africa and South Asia. So generally, where the Islamic faith started, it's been generally contained there. 88% of Buddhists live in East Asia. 98% of Hindus live in India or South Asia. You see this, but watch this. Christianity 25% of Christians are in Central and South America, the Caribbean. 22% of Christians reside in Africa. 15% are in Asia and that number is rapidly growing. And do you know that only 12% of Christians are in North America, 20-something percent in Europe? Beloved, this is a worldwide religion. In other words, no culture, no one people group has the hold on Christianity. It's for the whole world, red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Amen. And God is using Philip, a deacon who's just been faithful in the little things, to pursue a man who's searching for God, and then the gospel will go to Africa, where now 22% of Christians reside.
Speaker 2:Wow, he's an Ethiopian. Beyond that, quickly, he's a man of influence and power. It says here he's a court official of Candace, the queen. Now, candace is not her name. Do you know somebody named Candace. It's not her name, it's a title. It's much like emperor All right.
Speaker 2:He was over the treasury of the Ethiopian people, of the queen's money. He's like the CFO, chief financial officer, like he's somebody right. He's a court official and, beyond this Gulp, he's a eunuch. You know what that means. Young people cover your ears. He was castrated, all right. Now that is like what in the world? But in the ancient world it was not uncommon from for a man of high power, particularly in the um what would you say Royal courts to be castrated. And here's one of the reasons um, this stops him from let's say let's say it positively this keeps him focused on what needs to be focused on. See, they knew men right, all right, I digress. So he's a man of influence and power. He's wealthy. As a court official, he would have been taken care of.
Speaker 2:Now, when Philip finds him, he's in a chariot and only the, you know, top class, upper class, got to ride in chariots. Everybody else it was a donkey, or you're walking in sandals right, or barefoot. So this would be, and he's got his own driver. Like this is, he's got it. This would be like you having your own chauffeur and he's driving you around all the time in your brand new Bentley. All right, shake your head, new Bentley. All right, shake your head at me. Act like you're happy to be at church this morning. All right, there we go. So this guy's wealthy and beyond that. This is surprising. Maybe he's extremely religious.
Speaker 2:Where was he coming back from when Philip came upon him From Jerusalem? And Luke tells us what he was doing he was there to worship, watch this Full Gentile, not a Jew, but at some point he came across some Jewish people and he became really interested in knowing the one true God of Israel, yahweh Jehovah, yahweh Jehovah. And so he, with all of his heart, pursues the true and living God. And it says that he went so from Nabia to Jerusalem to worship. Now, are you with me? This gets crazy.
Speaker 2:Historians estimate that this trip would have been up to casey 1500 miles that is roughly the distance, uh, cheryl and john, from here to tucson. Is that is that close? About 1500 miles now? I lived in tucson and it took me two and a half days in a U-Haul truck and I was like, are we ever going to get there? Nikki and I flew out to Tucson to see some friends just a couple of months ago and it took us four hours in a plane from Atlanta and I felt like it was an eternity.
Speaker 2:Do you know how long it would have taken they estimate this guy to get from Navia, south Africa, to Jerusalem Conservatively one month, riding in a chariot on a deserted road. Why did he go there? Just to worship? So a month there, a month back, and it's likely that he stayed there a month to make it worth his while. He didn't just go to one church service and leave. So get this Conservatively. This man is so hungry for God that he takes Bob a quarter of his year, leaves his business a quarter of a year to say I want to know this God. And my point is he's way more religious than most of us in America. We have, like what? A five-minute, ten-minute, maybe 45-minute drive to church. And do you know that the average Christian quote-unquote goes to church twice a month? This church, I mean we have 150 people that call this church home. And look at it today. And if you're watching online, this is for you, watch this. Well, why don't they come to church? Here's the excuses I hear all the time. Well, it was raining.
Speaker 1:It's not here.
Speaker 2:Or it's too cold and I don't want to get out, or it's a really warm day, it's the first one of the year. We want to be at the park and just enjoy it with our family. I figured out that there's just a there's got to. There's like a window of like eight degrees where people will come to church. I've heard the excuse. Well, I had company, I have company. Well, bring them. Bring them. Let them know that Jesus is first in your life. Let them know that Jesus is first in your life. Well, I've got the sniffles. Come on and on and on. I stayed up late. That's on you. It's my only day to be with family. Well, bring them to church. What better way to spend time with family?
Speaker 2:Here's a guy oh man, I get off my soapbox here. Here's a guy. It's not even a jew and he drives 1500 miles right in a chariot that he might know this god. He's wealthy, he's a man of power and influence and he's religious. But here's what I want you to see he's still empty at this point. He's empty. According to Deuteronomy, chapter 1, no castrated man could be welcomed into the assembly. He would not driving all that way, he could not have become a full Jewish convert. He didn't have access to the temple. So you drive 1,500 miles to Tucson to attend a church and they won't let you in. But I love this. On the way back he's so hungry for God, discouraged as he must be. He somehow obtained a scroll of Isaiah and he's reading through the scroll, trying to figure out how he can know this great God.
Speaker 2:U2's Bono. Anybody U2? All right, bono wrote years ago a very popular song and it's about his faith journey. Bono talks quite a bit about faith and you know it talks about him climbing the highest mountain, swimming the deepest sea and the end of every verse as he's on this journey for satisfaction and happiness. Every verse ends with the words that are the title of the song.
Speaker 2:I still haven't found what I'm looking for. High and low, that's the mantra, that's the song that the Ethiopian has to be singing here. I searched high and low, 1,500 miles, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for. And he's searching the scriptures going God, where are you? How can I know you? But here's the great news God uses one man, philip, because he's in pursuit of one man. The eunuch Pulls him out of revival because this one man is seeking him, seek and you will find.
Speaker 2:In 29, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit tells Philip, think of this. The chariot's moving and the Spirit says, hey, strange man, stranger danger, run. Have him roll down the window and jump in the chariot. I was thinking about the old Westerns, you know, when the cowboys are riding next to a train and they're, like you know, trying to get on a cart or whatever. Listen, imagine this. The chariot's going and he's running. Hey, hey, slow down, slow down, let me. What are you reading? Go to this man. You know what I thought here. The man has searched high and low for God and he can't find him. So, god, god finds the eunuch, he runs to him. You, you didn't find God, god found you, amen, amen. So here's what happens Philip's on the deserted road and he just so happens to come across a eunuch who's seeking God, who just so happens to be reading a passage We'll look at it in a second From Isaiah 53. Which just so happens to be about the Messiah whom this man is looking for. No, it didn't just so happen. There are no coincidences with God. Let me just tell you a story that happened just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2:I generally wear a suit jacket on Sunday mornings. That's where my anointing comes from, I think. Or I wear a sweater. By the way, God doesn't give a rip about that, it's about what's in here. Amen, but I wear it so you all won't be mad at me. I think it was three weeks ago. I went to my closet. This is going to sound like mystical to some of you, but I went to my, won't you, jan? You'll get this, you'll love this.
Speaker 2:I go to my closet and I'm standing there looking for my suit jacket and I sense the Lord telling me not to wear a suit jacket. If you were mad at me, you, three weeks ago, you talked to God. I'm looking and there's hanging in front of me a long sleeve black shirt that I feel like the Lord wants me to wear. I don't even know if I would have said it was the Lord. I think I assumed that, but I just felt nudged. And then I saw some black jeans that I don't think I've ever worn to church I think I've only worn them twice and I felt the Lord wanted me to dress like Johnny Cash. And then I looked down, jeff, and I had tennis shoes at the bottom of my closet. Boy, it's getting heretical and I feel the Lord nudged me to wear black tennis shoes. They were kind of dressy.
Speaker 2:Well, I get to church and I don't let me say one other thing If I were to dress without a suit jacket, generally my wife would not let me out the door. Chris, you sure you don't want to wear a suit jacket? And she's not really asking. She's not suggesting, she's telling me what to do Because she doesn't know what Paul says about husbands and wives in that relationship in Ephesians, chapter 5. Is she in here? She left. Thank you, yara. So she says nothing to me about it. I get out without a lecture Because she tells me you know change, can you imagine? God told me to wear this, come on. So I think nothing else about this, and we sing and I preach this and we sing and I preach.
Speaker 2:At the end of the service, a young man who had not been to church came into the VIP room and we started talking and the first time he had been here and he was hungry, searching, searching for something. He said I'm empty and we have what he's searching for here. He said one of the reasons and we have what he's searching for here. He said one of the reasons I didn't go to a particular church is because I didn't have anything to wear. Do you want to guess what he was wearing? Black shirt, black pants and tennis shoes. And I looked at him and I said, brother, you're wearing exactly what the preacher's wearing. Do you think that was a coincidence? Exactly what the preacher's wearing. Do you think that was a coincidence? Do you know?
Speaker 2:God, that morning, in his foreknowledge and his power and his sovereignty, wanted this young man who, by the way, got saved that day, wanted him to be saved so much that the Holy Spirit would tell me what to wear to church. Oh, what a God we serve, and that's exactly what happens here, desert Road. Lord, what are you doing? Serve, and that's exactly what happens here, desert road. What are you doing? He's pursuing one man, because the one matters Isaiah 53. Let's look at it here, verse 31. Excuse me, 32.
Speaker 2:Now the passage of scripture that he was reading just so happens to be like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens, not his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away. Now let me just man. I'm sorry I'm preaching so long, but this is so rich. Do you know? I'm sure this is not the first time in this long trip that he's been through this scroll. I won't take you there, you can read this later. But do you know?
Speaker 2:In chapter 63, so it's talking about this figure, this messianic figure who will come and bear the sins of his people. Now, remember, the eunuch has been rejected into the assembly of the Jews as a castrated man. But in chapter 63, this is so amazing Do you know that Isaiah starts talking about prophetically how the eunuch is going to be brought in, how something's going to happen, that this messianic figure is going to do something that will allow the one who's been excluded in to the kingdom. Do you know one of the greatest tragedies of this man being a eunuch? It shows his commitment.
Speaker 2:In the ancient world it wasn't individualistic like it is now. Your success and your prominence came not by what you yourself did, but by your family. Life was about family. It was about your name going on in a legacy. And this man had no hope of having children. He had no hope of having a family. His lineage would be when he passed away. But do you know what it says in Isaiah 63? It says for the eunuch, he will have something better than sons and daughters, brothers, sister, because he's going to be brought into the family of God.
Speaker 2:And so you can hear this man as he's reading this oh, this is great, but what in the world does it mean? And so he asked Philip about whom, I ask you? Verse 34, does this prophet say this? Is it about himself or someone else? So what does Philip tell him? He doesn't talk about the man upstairs. Well, this is about the big man upstairs. He doesn't talk about God in general. He doesn't tell him I just want you to know. God has a purpose for your life. What's he say? Verse 35, and Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture, he told him about the good news of Jesus. He didn't need to hear about philip's ministry, he didn't need to hear about the sacrificial system in the temple. He just needed to hear about jesus, because jesus is the one who will change your life. So so here's what happens. Here's what happens God uses one man, philip, to reach one man, namely the eunuch, so that that man could be pointed to the one man that can transform his life Jesus Christ. Oh, the significance of one. And finally, how does the eunuch respond? Verse 36.
Speaker 2:And as they were going along the road, so're still, you know, like he's not slowing down, he's got. I don't know if philip's like hanging on the side or what, but but he says this uh, as they were going on the road, they came to some water by chance. There's an oasis. It's a desert road, there's an oasis. And Philip looks down, pastor Jack, and he says what's stopping me right now from being baptized? Now, why would he ask that? Oh, this is rich, connor, you can go ahead and come to the keyboard, so I'll quit, listen to me. He comes to this water and he says you've told me about Jesus. Do I have to go through confirmation class or anything, or can I just right now go in the water? I don't understand every doctrine, but I know who Jesus is and I know about his death and I know about his burial and I know about his resurrection and I know that Isaiah 53 is talking about him and I know this is the way I get into the kingdom. Can I be baptized right now? Very first thing jesus asked us to do after repenting is to be baptized, and that's what he wants to do.
Speaker 2:But there's something deeper going on here under the old covenant, in in the old testament, what was the sign of the covenant? That you belong to God's people? For the male it was circumcision, and the eunuch, because he could not become a full convert, could not be circumcised, and every single day he was reminded that I can't get to this God of Israel, they won't let me in. But what's the sign of the new covenant? It's baptism. Oh oh, I've been excluded for so long. And this new sign is a covenant. You mean, I can be baptized, me? I can become a full convert. I can come into Me. I can become a full convert, I can come into the kingdom. There's some water, let's go swimming.
Speaker 2:God uses one man, philip, in pursuit of one man, the eunuch, to point him to one man who can transform his life. So what happens after that? Philip is jacked, is transported, teleported, pretty cool. And Philip comes out of the water. He doesn't even discuss, like hey, where'd he go? He's so enamored with Jesus and all the Bible says about him we never hear about him again. He went away rejoicing. When people see Jesus for who he is, they tend to want him, the man that was rejected in Jerusalem after 1500 miles of travel, a month's journey, a man who could never be a full Jewish convert, could never fully know the true and living God as far as he knew, and a man who was scratching his head on the way back reading the book of Isaiah going. I don't understand it. But one man, philip, used of God, says oh, I know who this is about. It's about Jesus, it's about Jesus. And at the end of this, philip goes down confused and a bit, or as he's driving, riding, he's confused and despondent and downhearted and heavy laden. But when he comes out of the water here's all the scripture says he went away rejoicing. He finally found what he was looking for.
Speaker 2:Beloved, you are significant in the kingdom of God. If you're faithful, if you'll trust God, if you'll take seriously what he's asked you to do, you can reach one person and make an eternal difference in their life. And to reach one person, you have to know the one true Savior Church won't change them. So I want to just leave you with this. Here's your to-do for the week. I want you to prayerfully, I want you to pray for a lost person in your life and I want you to share the gospel this week, and if you can't do this, I'm going to give you a get-out-of-jail-free card right here. If I'm going to give you a get out of jail free card right here If you say I don't feel comfortable, we want to help you, as pastors, get comfortable. So come see us.
Speaker 2:But next week is Easter and I don't know why. But people who are not Christians, people who never come any other time of the year, will come on Easter If you invite them. And next week we just so happen to be on the text where the Apostle Paul, the chief of sinners, as he calls himself, is radically saved and transformed by Jesus. So you bring the sinner who thinks they're beyond salvation and let them hear about how the one who killed sinners was saved. Sinners was saved. May God use each one of you to reach one that the world may be transformed by Jesus.