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I’m going to invite you to Acts chapter eight is where we’re going to be together this morning. Acts chapter eight. And, you know, as we think about this week of Thanksgiving and you’re going to have a lot of more interaction, usually this type of week with people. And sometimes we’re in environments when, when we might not get along with people as well as other environments during Thanksgiving. What I’ve been talking about is your in-laws, right? Like, just. I’m teasing. I’m sure you’ve all got wonderful in-laws, but. But there comes times in life, especially as we’re rubbing shoulders more with people that there’s opportunity for tension, there’s opportunity for division, there’s opportunity for things that are not pleasing to the Lord. But also in the midst of the mess of what gatherings can be. Sometimes there’s a beautiful place for transformation to be made known in Jesus. And the the means by which God desires to see that work in this world is through his people. And who better? Who better to be the mouthpiece than God’s people? Because if you know him, you get the opportunity to declare him. And you know, God in general, I think, loves to work through people because we’re made in his image, but more particularly his people, because you’re remade through the cross. And so you get the beauty, even in the midst of brokenness, to demonstrate the greatness of who God is. And when you turn to Acts chapter eight, that’s really what this chapter is about.
If you remember how the story of Acts chapter eight started, we’ve been seeing the persecution against the church continuing to rise until it ultimately gets to the end of chapter seven, which leads to the martyrdom of Stephen. And now it breaks open on on all of the church. And Saul is going after Christians, arresting him, throwing him in jail, finding them martyred. And so there’s this great persecution that breaks out. And we would look at a situation like that and think, how in the world can can the goodness of God be made known here? This might be the ending of Christianity, but what we discover is actually the catalyst for expanding the gospel around the world, this really helps us begin to understand how did the gospel go from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth? And we begin to see it through, through persecution. I mean, in the intensity of that moment, people are going to be thinking to themselves, it’s over, we’re done. We’re finished. But but when you look at this, this, this passage, you realize, but that that wasn’t the end. This was actually this was actually what God used for people to continue to experience transformation. And it’s the same in your own life that when you think about some of the challenges you might have, some of the conflict and relationships, sometimes when you get together when you walk in the way that God calls you to walk, God can do a beautiful thing through that.
And so how does how does that look for for you and for me? And and not only not only do we see this in Acts chapter eight as this story continues to unfold, but we’re also going to read about the Ethiopian eunuch. And for those that are geographically challenged, Ethiopia is in Africa, right? So so we’re learning how the gospel goes from from the Middle East. Now. Now it’s journeying to Africa. And this particular time period Ethiopia was was shaped different than it is now, and some of this region would have been into Sudan. And so this Ethiopian Sudan region, this is the gospel going to this location, which would have been about 1200 kilometers minimum from from this Jerusalem area. So gospel’s going into into Africa. And when you study early Christianity, you find out that the gospel really expanded across the those those three continents that come together in the Middle East area early into Christianity. Right. So like here we’re reading in Acts chapter eight about the gospel going to Africa. And then if you study early Christianity, you find with the disciple Thomas that the he took the gospel to east into India. He was actually martyred in southeastern India. And so that’s why sometimes you’ll meet Christians from other parts of the world, that when they become believers, they’ll change their name to identify with their Christian identity.
And a lot of believers you’ll find in India will take the name Thomas to to honor how the gospel originally came to to India through the disciple Thomas. And then and then even when you study in the second missionary journey. So in the book of Acts, you’ll see Paul goes on three missionary journeys that are recorded in Acts. And on his second journey he crosses over into Philippi, into into what is Europe at that point. And so that you see the gospel spreading forth into Europe. And so it goes around the the known Roman Empire at the time. And, you know, it’s interesting when you study Christianity in terms of other world religions, maybe if you look at the predominant world religions, one of the things I find unique about all of them, except for Christianity, is that they’re they’re primarily focused on a, on a, an, an area or region. And I think a lot of that reason is because certain cultures are trying to determine some of the answers to to life’s big questions. Where did I come from? Where am I going and why do bad things happen? You know, all those different answers and they sort of develop within their own cultural context, these religious beliefs, they start to bring some kind of faith into that. And and when you look at the different religions in the, in the world, for example, if you were to study Hinduism, what’s interesting about Hinduism, someone comes to you and says, I’m a Hindu.
They’re 95% likely to live in India because the majority of Hinduism, though it’s one of the major religions of the world, majority of Hinduism is in India. And what you find is you study a lot of these world religions as they’re shaped uniquely for a particular culture predominantly. And so when you’re outside of that cultural context, it’s it’s it’s hard for it to necessarily fit in other cultural contexts. So Hinduism, predominantly India or you study, you study Buddhism and Buddhism. 98% of Buddhists live in the in Asia and predominantly in the southern parts of of Asia. And so 98% of of Buddhists live within Asia. And then and then when you study Islam, about 80% of Muslims live. Middle East, North Africa and in the Asia Pacific. In fact, Indonesia has the highest number of Muslims in the world. And so you see this concentration of religions in a in a set area. But but that’s not true with Christianity. When you look at Christianity, I was reading, by the way, this statistic, I read all this in an article this week looking this up. But Christianity, it broke. It broke the population of Christianity down like this, that 39% of Christian population lives in North America, Europe and Australia. So 39% of Christianity is in North America, Europe and Australia.
In those continents, 61% of Christianity lives in the remaining continents of of South America, Africa and Asia. And I know I left off Antarctica, but nobody cares, right? So? So 61% lives lives in South America, Africa and Asia. And so you see, Christianity is really spread all over the world. And when we ask the question, well, how is that? Why is it in localized for some religions, Christianity all over? And I think it is because a lot of religions are shaped in the uniqueness of, of a particular cultural context. It fits in a cultural context, but Christianity wasn’t shaped that way. And the reason one of the foundational reasons, it’s true. And also we have the Spirit of God moving in people and that that works right as it expands. Right. But one of the things that also, from a practical sense in terms of Christianity that really helps speak into cultures is that Jesus isn’t married to our marries us to a methodology in how we reach people. Right? There’s there’s elements to how we gather in worship. So we want God’s word and and prayer and and fellowship and all those things are important. But how it relates to cultural context, we have the freedom to to learn how to adapt in different cultures in order that the gospel can go forward. And so you see, this spread of Christianity as the Spirit of God is made known in this world.
And and the way that the church moves and it’s incredible. And so here you are seeing this in Acts. So we think about how the gospel transforms. It’s not limited by conflict. It’s not limited by people group. And then and then in particular to this story we’re going to read about the Ethiopian eunuch. I want us to see how the story gets personal. Meaning, as you’re reading in the book of Acts, the first eight chapters, you’re seeing thousands of people come to know the Lord, right? It’s 3000. Come to know the Lord. After the first message Peter preaches and then 5000 come to know the Lord. At the second sermon, Peter preaches, and then they go to Samaria. And now all the Samaritans are coming to the Lord, all these people coming to know the Lord. And so there’s this corporate idea of God collectively and people. And that’s what we see here this morning. But also we recognize the uniqueness of this story. And what do we mean by that is we all have our own individual stories of how we’ve come to to know the Lord. And it’s beautiful, right? If we get if we get to spend time in just fellowship, we could just celebrate. And in hearing each other’s stories. And what led us to come to know Jesus and this Ethiopian eunuch is, is that that unique story of of how the gospel finds him, how Christ finds him.
And you’re certainly seeing that it’s the Spirit of God that’s leading this. But if we’re going to participate in what God desires to do in this world and and God calls us to that right, God calls you and me into this. You look at your world today and we think, man, it is falling apart fast and it just feels like it’s just coming apart at the seams. And and I don’t want the trajectory that we’re on. I want things to be better. I want life to be transformed in the Lord. And so how do we experience that gospel movement? As the Spirit of God wants to work through the people of God to accomplish the will of God. What can I give you? I’m going to give you point number one. We’re going to read this passage together. But but number one, this is how it starts in our participation. Number one is be compassionate. Be compassionate, which really takes a move of the spirit in our life. Because when you’re gathered with people and people don’t always do or say what you want, it’s hard to respond in a way that isn’t in the flesh sometimes. But if you want to see transformation, it starts with being compassionate. And this is what we see in the life of the eunuch. It says in verse 26, now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, rise, go towards the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Let me just start there and say, Recognize the Spirit of God moving and even even without the spirit, saying to you verbally, I want to move in this world, and I want to move in your life, and I and I, and I want to move in. You know, Lehigh and surrounding towns. I want to move in northern Utah County. When you read God’s Word, you understand that is the heart of the Lord. And so, God, how do we participate in that in this particular part of the century, the Bible, the New Testament is being written. And so God saying this in the New Testament is important. But now that you see, you can see this repeated so many times in Scripture, we know this is God’s heart for others. And so the Spirit of God moves in this way. And he says, go from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he rose and went, and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace or Candace is how we pronounce it today. Queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning seating in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was like this like a sheep.
He was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent. So he opens his mouth, and in his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. And as you look at this particular story, one of the things that I find rather unique is the way that God has called Philip to go participate in this. And there’s there’s a few reasons for this. One is when you just think about what Philip has experienced in his church community, this is not the kind of moment that I would expect God to say. Now, there’s one person on this random road I want you to go talk to, because up to this point, if you remember, the reason we know about Philip is because Philip was selected in his church to be a leader in a certain capacity. And what I mean by that is Philip in Jerusalem, you remember 3000 come to the Lord and 5000 at one time. And even more people just continuing to know the Lord. The church is growing rapidly, and so they start appointing these leaders to help, help direct the church. And Philip is one of those. And so you’ve got all these people to care for, right? And now all of a sudden, there’s persecution that’s broken out. And now all these people are on the run and they’re trying to get their feet back under them.
And so Philip is, you know, he’s got this concern for the persecution the body’s going under, all these people being scattered, and then they find themselves in the region of Samaria. And while they’re dealing with all the things that they’ve gone through, they start sharing the gospel in Samaria. And now all these Samaritans come to know the Lord. I mean, there’s it’s just like a it’s a, a beautiful mess that’s taking place, but there’s all sorts of things that you could just get busy in the body of Christ with. How many people are coming to the Lord and all the things that are happening, and all of a sudden God hits the pause button on that and says, Philip, I want you to go down to this random road that no one really ever uses. In fact, it’s a desert road. If you if you take some time to study this particular time period, you’ll know this is not the only road from Jerusalem to Gaza. In fact, this was a road that’s infrequently traveled upon. If you want to, you want the road that has less bumps, that more people are going down. That would be different from this. And so this this individual is kind of lonely traveling on this road. And so God calls Philip to go meet someone in the middle of nowhere.
Out of all the people Philip could have ministered to. And I think that’s incredible how God works. And there’s there’s time where we pay attention to the crowd. But but at the same time, while while God cares for everybody, he loves us each uniquely in a way that might make you feel like you’re the only one. How incredible and deep his love becomes. And so this is Philip being the hands and feet of the Lord in this moment to to pursue this individual. And then when you consider this individual, he is he’s a unique individual that Philip would be ministering to in some ways it would not even relate to. This is not someone Philip would necessarily pursue. But but this this unique we we we find out with the way it’s described in this passage, some of the things that are unique about him. He’s this word unique, sort of over history, kind of becomes a junk drawer word in a way. It can refer to even someone in a position like a prime minister in ruling. Now this this particular individual we find rules under one named Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He has a he’s an official in in her kingdom. And Candace we’ve we know is not this is actually not a name. My sister’s actually named Candace. But this is not a name. This is this is actually a title. And so this would be a ruler that served with the king.
It’s like a position alongside of a pharaoh or a Caesar. And so this, this individual, this woman was a ruler in Ethiopia, this unique served under her. And so this this eunuch would have been a a person of great power and influence. He would have been a highly educated individual. Because we see in the story he’s reading. And this wasn’t a common thing that people would do during this day, have the ability to read. And not only is he reading, but he’s so well off that it tells us he has a scroll with him. And during this particular time period, this this would have been expensive to have, like if you were fortunate enough to know how to read during this century, the place that you would have to go to do that was not your own home, because most people couldn’t even afford scrolls to put in their home. They would have to go to a place where these scrolls would be kept. And usually it’s some kind of library setting. And so that you would go there and that would be the place that you were allowed to read. But this eunuch is traveling with the scroll and not just any scroll. He’s traveling with a Hebrew scroll, which would have been very unique for a Gentile to have a Hebrew scroll. I did a little digging on this before I got up here today to find out.
What would it cost to own an Isaiah scroll today if if during the same time period the same methodology was used and how it was created because you don’t have printing presses. And so knowing that all that would have to go into having a scroll, it’s it’s estimated this scroll would have been somewhere around 24ft long. And you would have to hire a scribe. Then there was expensive ink that was used. It was written on animal skin that would have to be stretched over and over and then sewn together. And on the lighter end. It’s estimated that this just one scroll in Isaiah would have cost somewhere at least $30,000, somewhere between 30 to $70,000 to own just one copy of the scroll of Isaiah. And so it’s it’s speaking to just how well off this individual must be. Right. And I don’t even know how he’s doing this because I know some of us when we travel. You might have been traveling for Thanksgiving, I don’t know, but when we travel, like in the luxury of our vehicles with shocks and air conditioning, some of us can’t even read in that environment. Could you imagine on the the the the road less traveled, how bumpy that would be in the back of a chair where you’re like, I’m going to pull out my $70,000 scroll. I don’t know if this is like a flex or what he’s trying to do in this moment, but I can’t think of any moment where I’m like, I’m going to take the most expensive item I own on the Bumpiest road I can find, and I’m going to read this for a minute.
Like. But but but that also speaks. It also speaks to the desperation of this person. It speaks to the hunger inside of him that he would be willing to take some of his fortune and spend such lavish money on the Word of God for the hope of knowing him. I mean, it tells you in this story why he was going to Jerusalem. Verse verse 27, it says at the very end it’s not for business. He went to Jerusalem to worship. He traveled a minimum of 1200 kilometers kilometers to get there, and on the most conservative estimate, would have taken them at least two months. And this is not like he bought a brand new car. He was like, it’s time for a road trip, and if I need anything, don’t worry, I’ll just pull over at the gas station and Walmart. I mean, to go on a trip like this, there would have been. Had to have been ample preparation to be able to supply for you for two months on that journey. And so this is just one way, right. So to get to Jerusalem would have taken a minimum of two months. And then he who knows how long he would have spent there, spent there.
Because if you’re going to travel that far, you’re going to stay for a little bit. And then in order to get back home, how much preparation that would take in getting supplies and being able to make that trek back to where you came from. I mean, he’s likely away from home at least six months. And when you think he’s got a position in this royal court, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know how many jobs you’re like. You know what? I’ve I’ve developed some PTO. I’m going to take about six months off. Right. There’s no employer that’s going to be like. And your job’s going to be here when you get back, right? I mean, it’s just no one’s going to hold that for you. And so for this individual to to be willing to travel that far is speaking to how much he’s he’s desperate in his life to want to know the Lord and and not only that, I don’t know if he knew this in Jewish law before he went or not, but Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse one, there’s there’s there’s laws against Gentiles going into the temple, and they’re specially laws against eunuchs being able to go into the temple. So he would have traveled all of this way and never be able to go in and worship. How much he was longing in his life for something more.
I mean, when you even think about the position that he has as a eunuch, there’s a few different ways someone can take that title. Sometimes you could be born this way. Sometimes you could be a slave and forced into this position. And then there’s a third option to be willing. And there’s no way to really know what this individual how this took place. But could you imagine if he was willing to just give up certain freedoms in his life in order to become a eunuch, to climb that corporate ladder? And here he goes all the way to the top thinking, you know, at some point I’m going to reach the pinnacle, and finally, finally, I’m going to be satisfied. And he climbs all his way up in the kingdom and during. During the days of eunuchs, eunuchs were embraced into dynasties because it was. It was thought that eunuchs would not be a threat to a family and their dynasty as they ruled in an area because they could have no children, and so eunuchs were. It was a common practice in the rulership of kings and queens to have eunuchs that would rule alongside them. But here he goes, climbing the corporate ladder, only to discover when he gets to the top. He’s still empty on the inside, and desperately he takes his wealth to purchase a scroll to hopefully discover the purpose for which he exists to find a greater meaning in his life.
Because you never know what’s happening in the heart of people. It’s what makes compassion such a critical practice for the life of God’s people. And sometimes you you rub shoulders with those that might be a little pricklier than others, but that kind of an attitude is communicating something that’s happening within their soul. And it’s not until someone is willing to sacrifice of their time or their life that you’re able to help someone take that next step to discover where they are in life, and to help them find who Jesus is. And this is who Philip becomes. Is that bridge between the brokenness of this man and the grace of God? And you think about wanting to see a change in this world. We we we can easily see. I mean, you turn on the TV for two seconds and the direction of our country, it’s a negative direction. It’s it seems to be falling apart. And I want to be a person that’s a part of change. And not just temporal change. Eternal change, one that transforms the heart of people. And it starts in our journey with a place of compassion, meeting people where they’re at, understanding where they’re coming from. In fact, when this individual is reading the scroll, this eunuch he’s reading, it tells you from Isaiah 53, specifically verse seven. But this would have been a very powerful section to read, especially in recognizing this unique no doubt likely found some things related to Jesus when he goes to Jerusalem.
He likely heard what took place in the life of Jesus, and now he’s he’s pursuing this. He’s looking for answers, and he turns to one of the most powerful passages of the Bible for which he could discover this. In Isaiah chapter 40 to chapter 55 is known as the Suffering Servant section of Scripture. And it comes to a culminating point when you read chapter 52 and 53, which deals with the the death of the Messiah, for you and for me, and specifically talks about the crucifixion of Jesus hundreds of years before the crucifixion even was invented. And it gives very, very detailed account of what Christ is going to do for us. And he’s looking at this, and he’s trying to put all the pieces together and understanding how he fits in this. And I like to think when you read this, this section of Isaiah, as soon as you get out of the Suffering Servant section, it comes to this place of hope in chapter 56, and it starts speaking to us in our brokenness. And it says in chapter 56 verse three, it says, let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, the Lord will surely exclude me from his people, and let no eunuch complain, I am only a dry tree. And in this moment that’s everything this eunuch represents to the outside world, right? Because he’s traveled to Jerusalem all the way from Ethiopia, and he’s traveled as a eunuch.
And you read this, this particular verse, this this verse is saying that God doesn’t call you to be an outsider, but God invites you in to belong to him and in whatever excuse or whatever, whatever title or identity the world wants to put on you. What Jesus wants to see is you and him, and there’s nothing that will separate you from what Christ has accomplished for you on the cross, if you would receive him. And so this eunuch’s going through this passage of Scripture, and he he’s he’s wanting to to discover the greatness of this God. And as he’s looking through these, these passages, Philip is is coming alongside him. Which brings me to point number two and participating is this we need to initiate and invite. We need to initiate invite. Let me just say these first two points, guys. They’re not rocket science, right. Be compassionate. I mean, we shouldn’t even have to say that, should we? But, but but there’s something about when you really understand the road someone has walked and you come alongside them. It’s this beautiful place to let the glory of God be made known. Compassion is critical, but also that that you would initiate and invite. And what we mean by that is like you don’t you don’t just say, your prayer shouldn’t just look like this.
God, if a chariot happens to pass by me today, and in that chariot happens to be someone reading the Bible, and that person just happens to ask me a question, then God, I’ll answer it. So, God, help me to come across that one person who’s going to be in a chariot reading a scroll today, right? Like, that’s that’s not really taking initiative. Taking initiative is going out of your way. And I love this story because verse 29 and 30, I try I try to imagine this where it doesn’t come across as crazy, but I can’t I can’t conjure it up in my mind because look at this, it says, 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 asked, do you understand what you’re reading? Could you imagine if this were you in the back of a chariot and you’re like, you’re really into the scroll and you’re you’re in deep thought and your soul’s churning and dark and you, you’re like, man, I got to figure this out. You’re just looking, looking, looking. And all of a sudden you look over to your chariot and there’s this head poking over at you, and it’s like, hey, what’s going on? What are you reading? Like, it’s like, this is not. This is not an easy vehicle to come up beside.
Right? This is this is a chariot on the move. So Philip is like, running next to this thing and just peeking over like, hey, what’s what’s going on over there? Right? This is an awkward moment, but but this guy takes it in stride and just responds back to him, and but I want you to see that that Philip is taking initiative. This is not convenient. I mean, some of us, we might say, I’m willing to share Jesus anywhere with anybody. I’ll do that. And if if God immediately says, well, it’s going to require you to run literally right next to a vehicle, you’re like anybody. But like, I am not into, can I do this in less than 50 yards? Right. Like we’re maybe not into that distance. We have some limitations sometimes, but. But Philip is willing to go wherever you lead. Whatever you called me to, he he’s he’s taken the initiative. And and then when you consider the complexity of this, this is not this is not a situation where you might say Philip should feel comfortable because it’s a Gentile he’s talking to. It’s a dignitary, it’s someone from another country. This is an individual who’s who’s physically altered their their body because they believed it would benefit them. And Philip goes above and beyond to meet them where they are, to help them discover the grace of God, the way that he also was able to discover the grace of God.
So he he takes initiative, and he’s also invitational. I mean, look what he does. Verse 30, you see him running, he ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the scroll. And then look what it says. Do you understand what you’re reading? And so, so he’s invitational in and coming to the person and trying to meet them where they’re at, or he’s not just showing beside him saying, oh, Isaiah, scroll, let me just regurgitate to you everything that I believe. But rather he’s trying to discover where the individual is at and if if there’s a willingness there to listen to what he can share. And it’s the same for us. We try to say this even in our culture, certain cultures, you can be pushier than than other cultures. Cultures are unique. One of the things I think about American culture today is, is that it’s a it’s a fairly jaded culture where people are more and more reluctant to want to trust someone. Especially get this if you’ve ever come from another religion because you don’t want to be burned twice, and so there’s going to be this reluctance in you to want to believe in anything else. Again, because of that. And how you engage in that moment is critical. And we’re not trying to force ourselves on people, but we’re trying to discover, is there a hunger in your heart at all to want to know the truth of who Jesus is, and sometimes you might ask this question of what you believe isn’t true.
Would you want to know? Other times, you might ask a little softer question and saying do you how do you determine what’s true? Or maybe you could just frankly say, Who is Jesus? Let’s just have a conversation about who is Jesus. But but you want to discover is there a willingness in your heart to even want a dialog over this topic so we can talk about who that biblical Jesus is and what he’s done for you? Because more than anything, what people need to discover is the purpose for which they exist. And that can’t be found without a true relationship with the Lord. And you don’t have a true relationship with the Lord apart from Christ. Who better to share that than one who knows Jesus? You take an initiative and and you invite. Can I tell you? Over my years in living in Utah, one of the most powerful ways I’ve seen God work in the lives of people in transforming is get this when someone invites their friend to church, You just invite one of your neighbors, one of your friends, to to come with you to to sit among God’s people. And I think that helps for a few reasons, is one, whenever you come into a new space it’s always kind of different at first, sometimes maybe even weird.
You got to just figure out how to fit right. And when you got a friend there, it just makes it easier. And especially if that group does end up being weird, you’re like, well, your group’s weird, but at least we’re still friends, right? That can help. But it also helps you in being able to belong to community. And there is this preset idea, especially where we live, there’s a preset idea on what the Christian church is about, that all that it really takes for someone to get over that hump is just an invitation from someone who loves them and cares about them to come through the door, where they’re going to be willing to put up a little bit with something they’re not they’re a little bit leery of. But when they come in the door, what they discover is some of the preconceived ideas that they had didn’t actually play themselves out, and that the church is far greater than they had anticipated. And so personal invitation is a powerful tool to take that kind of initiative. And let me give you this last point, because I just got a few minutes and I need to close here, but be collective without compromise. Be collective without compromise. And what we mean by that is we don’t we don’t apologize for what we believe as a church. It’s it’s what defines who we are.
And so that’s, that’s ultimately what frees us. And so we don’t want to apologize for it. Rather we want to celebrate it. And we want to invite people into that, to be collective, to see how God can expand this community. And and this is what happens in verse 36 as they’re going along the road. They came to some water and the eunuch said, see here, here’s water. What prevents me from being baptized in verse 38? And he commanded the chariot to stop. And they went down, went both went down into the water, and 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 Azotus, and as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. There is sometimes most pastors that come to the Bible. I’m like, oh, I can understand how this works out. I’ll read verse 39 and 40. I’m like, I don’t. This is like first Star Trek episode, I think. I don’t know, he teleported somehow, but but I want you to pay attention. Like the first. The first part of this is really what’s beautiful here, because the eunuch is asking Philip. He’s saying, what’s preventing me from being baptized? But this is a loaded question.
What he’s what he’s getting at is what? What things do I need to check off on the religious box in order to be accepted by God? Or if I wanted to go after and the Lord and just demonstrate that through baptism. Is God really going to love me? Is God really going to receive me? And on the back end of this, Philip is saying to him, absolutely, because it’s not about what you do, it’s about what he’s done and baptism becomes this beautiful representation of all of that, because it’s more than just about you as an individual. It’s how you belong to a collective community in Jesus together. And what I mean by that is baptism for the life of the believer is an important step in all of our lives, because what it’s saying is, it’s declaring to the world that Jesus is yours and you belong to him. We don’t get baptized in order to be to to be saved. We get baptized because we are saved. Meaning, what Jesus accomplished for me on the cross is enough. And I don’t go into water because I’m worthy. I go into the water because he was worthy and he took on the great exchange for me, his life so that I could find freedom in him. Forgiveness and new identity. And so baptism is a place of celebration, what Christ has done. But it’s more than that.
It’s also it’s also identifying collectively with his people as a community. And so here, here’s Philip inviting him to participate in what God has called him to be, this guy who has felt lost, who has felt like an outsider who’s who felt like he didn’t belong, who was looking for more to life. He’s climbing the corporate ladder and it’s broken, and he’s desperate to the point he spent his wealth to have this scroll to to know is there a God who loves me at all? And what he’s discovering is the freedom that only he can have in Jesus. And guys, you’re the bearer of that message. You. You’re the deliverer that God has chosen in this world to meet other people on these desert roads that they could understand the the love of who God is. I’ll share this in close. I think I’ve used this illustration before, but I’m using a little bit different way. This is Brian Welch, who is the lead guitarist of Korn. Right. So for the four of you that still listen to Korn, I’m just kidding. We are dated, aren’t we? If you’re under the age of 30. I’m just kidding. It’s all right. It’s okay to feel old sometimes. So. So the lead guitarist of Korn. And there was a time in his life where he was addicted to meth and cocaine and in a broken place. He walked into a church and the pastor of the church shared the gospel with him.
And then he prayed for him. And Bryan went home and dropped to his knees and cried out to Jesus to save him. And he said, at that moment, all of his desires for his addictions went away, and his life was radically transformed in Christ. And he left the band Korn. And he focused on his own relationship in Jesus and raising his daughter before the Lord. Now he’s since rejoined the band. He went throughout those years raising his daughter, and then he went back to the band, and now he travels with the band as using it as a platform to represent the Lord wherever he goes. But regarding his life, he said this at one point before Christ. He said I was a millionaire on the outside and suicidal on the inside. He had climbed the ladder with everything that the world had to offer, and when he got there, he realized he was the same broken man. Can I just encourage you, as God’s people and all the things that might rub you raw and frustrate you with the world? We can respond in that, or we can react in that. Reacting in that produces something not of the Lord, but responding gives us the beautiful place of demonstrating what the gospel is. As the power of God desires to move in this world, we get to participate in that. If we would, people would be compassionate, take initiative to invite and bring people in to God has called him, called all of us to be.