In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the importance of education and opportunities in the world. He shares a personal story about speaking at a school and being shocked by the poverty and lack of resources. The speaker then transitions to discussing the story of a man in the Bible who was not allowed to enter the House of God, but still found joy in his journey. The sermon emphasizes the need to make disciples of all nations and encourages the audience to serve the Lord and seek His blessings.

I would like to turn, if I may please, into the Acts of the Apostles, and I would like to read a verse or two in chapter 8, the story that we mostly refer to as the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. Chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles. I think it's always good, do not you, to remind ourselves of the words of the Lord Jesus. You remember way there, in the 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, he gives the commission for the church, and he says, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and go around with you always, even unto the end of the age. I remember when first converted, the elders in my own fellowships very desperately to instruct the young men and the young women in the importance of those words. We were reminded that if we wanted to know how important they were, we could always see how very quickly those that listened to them obeyed them. You will remember that the Lord said, Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and teaching them to observe, and how quickly they did it. I was told when I was at school, the same as you were, I presume, that all nations have originated from the three sons of Noah, Ham, Shem, and Japheth. Ham, the father of the colored nations, Shem, the father of the Jewish nations, Japheth, the father of the Gentile nations. And you will remember that when we come to Acts 8, we see the conversion of the son of Ham. When we come to chapter 9, we see the conversion of the son of Shem. When we come to chapter 10, we see the conversion of the son of Japheth, and the story of the eating of the immunas, the eighth chapter. Shem, the story, indeed, of the school of Tarsus, the ninth chapter. Japheth, the story of Poirier, the tenth chapter. And how important it is for us to remember, many disciples of all nations, how each one of them not only came to know Christ the Savior, but before the chapters are over, and before the chapters are over, there is the beginning of the teaching of all things whatsoever the Lord has taught. Well, we're going to look, if we may, please, at the first of this, as it were, this great portion, this eighth chapter of Acts. I will read, if I may, in verse 27, And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read as e'er the poppet. Then the spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the poppet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I expect some man to guide me? And he desired, Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the poppet this? Of himself, or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water. Would that hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down, both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of God caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Esotus, and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. Now may the Lord just add his blessing to the reading of his own precious word. Would you join me please in prayer before we consider the message? Shall we all pray? O God and Father, we rejoice that thou hast given to us thy word. We praise thee that thou hast not left us without a sure knowledge of thy purpose for us. We ask that this morning, as once again we look at a story that's so familiar, that the Spirit of God may so take the things of Christ and reveal them to us, that each one of us may realize that our God has something to say to us. Or we pray it may not be that he's speaking to someone else, but God grant that we may be conscious that he's speaking to us, and wilt thou give to us not only listening ears, and not only receptive hearts, but wilt thou please give to each one of us obedient wills that we may be the doers of the word of God. For Jesus' sake, Amen. It is a remarkable fact, but fact indeed, that the Bible consists again and again of great journeys. I think all of us will acknowledge that the opening chapters of the Bible are very much occupied with the journeys of men, of Abraham's journey, of Jacob's journey, of Joseph's journey. I think you will grant me that the journey of Moses is one of the most important of all journeys that we're told in the Bible. And when later we come to the journeys of such women as the Queen of Sheba, and remember that the Lord Jesus himself took that journey up and used it for our day and generation, and for a day and generation that's yet to come, I think we will acknowledge that the Bible consists of the stories of journeys. What can I say of the greatest of all journeys? The journey of the Christ of God from heaven to earth, and hallelujah from earth to heaven. But this morning, with your permission, and I trust with the help of God, I want us to consider another journey. The journey that a man took, and oh, what a journey it was. He never thought it was going to turn out like this, but it did turn out like this. It turned out to be a journey from darkness to light. For him, it turned out to be a journey from sorrow to joy, from religion to Christ. It seems to me that it's one of the most important journeys that you and I can ever consider, and I want to talk about that journey, if I may. The journey of this Ethiopian eunuch, the journey of a man who found himself in the darkness of a continent that knew not Christ, found at the end of his journey that he'd entered into the light of heaven, the journey of a man who found himself so overwhelmed with sorrow, for he went up to Jerusalem to worship, and sir, you will not forget, will you? You will not forget that when he got there, he wasn't even permitted into the outer court of a book of Leviticus that barred him forever, and the eunuch will enter in even to the outer court of the house of God. He who traveled those hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles, arrives in Jerusalem and wasn't even permitted to do what he desired to do, all fulfilled with sorrow. Yet, hallelujah, we read that he went away rejoicing. So, his journey, though it started with sorrow, finished with joy. The story of a man whose journey started with religion, going up to worship, and finding it so empty, and finished saying, I believe that he's the son of God, entering into the blessing of Christ. Now, I want to say four things, if I may, about this story. I think they're very important. I trust that they may be for each one of us, steps, as it were, on our journey to glory. I'm going to suggest that, first of all, this is the story of a great man who needed Jesus. We are living in days, is it not a fact? We're living in days when men and women imagine, if only they're great, they'll have no need. But, this is the story of a great man who needed Jesus. But, oh, hallelujah, it's the story of a good man who reached Jesus. I'm glad that. I'm glad one does not need to be great to be good. I say, I'm glad one doesn't need to be great to speak of Jesus, either. For, it's the story not only of a great man who needed Jesus, but it's the story of a good man who reached Jesus. And, then, as we read the story, something seems to happen, that that great man becomes conscious that he's a guilty man. The wonder is that he listens to the blessed preaching of the Christ on Calvary Cross. We find it's the story, not now, of a great man who needed Jesus, or a good man who preached Jesus, but it's the story of a guilty man who trusted Jesus. And, oh, bless God, the story comes to its close, and it comes to the close, surely, with the story of a glad man who, who followed Jesus, who followed Jesus. Firstly, then, it's the story of a great man who needed Jesus. I don't believe that any one of us could just casually read the portion that we've read, without coming to acknowledge this fact, that here was a man, an Ethiopian, who was, of truth, a great man. No, he had wealth. I know not how much wealth he had. I know he had charge of all the treasure of Queen Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, but I'm persuaded of this, that not only did he have charge of all the treasure of this queen, but in his own right, he was a man of wealth. It would have cost him a great amount of money to have taken the journey he did take, over a thousand miles, bringing with him servants to care for him, to watch over him, to care for his horses and his chariots. Or, then, it was a journey that was an extremely expensive journey. It was a journey that would have taken him, I have little doubt, within the realm of some three months to have made, and may be longer. So, here was a man who had immense wealth, and yet, despite his wealth, here was a man that had a deep need, a tremendous longing in his heart. It's been my joy in this, and some thirty other countries, to have preached the gospel. Sometimes amongst folk who know dire poverty, one would hope to share that poverty. Sometimes in lands where ambulance seems to be the very mark of that man. But, if I've learned this, I've learned this in the school experience, that a man may have all the wealth of the sea, and yet that wealth will never bring him the satisfaction that he would have lost. As I've found again and again in the homes of men and women who have so much of this world's goods, and they tend to be most abhorred, we still have a need. But, will you not admit this? That it is quite frequently amongst those that have the most of this world's goods, that marriage is taken up, that divorce, and all the things that are associated with it, are seen? Is it not apparent that you could have the wealth of the world, still have a need? And, here was a man who had wealth, but he had a need. He was a man that had honor. He was a man of position. A man that had charge of all the treasure, all the wealth of Queen Candace. A man who was respected. A man who would be trusted. A man whose word would be fond. I dare say, sir, I dare pray, madam, that the more we think this through, the more we have to acknowledge that here was a man who bore many of the marks of being a Christian. I hear people tell me, oh, as long as you do the best you can, as long as you're honest in business, as long indeed as you are careful with your friends and your neighbors, as long as in your own society you live for that which is good, then you'll be all right. Well, here was a man that did all that. The Queen trusted him with her wealth. The nation honored him, and accepted him as the Chancellor of itself. Yet, there was a deep, longing need in his heart. And, friend, I dare say this. I dare say that you and I are those that need to understand that there's no one can satisfy us but Jesus Christ. He was a man not only of wealth, a man not only of honor, but he was a man of education. You've got that, sir? I wonder how many of you here could have done it. I wonder how many of you here could have done it. He spoke, first of all, in Ethiopian tongues. But he went up to Jerusalem, and he arrived in the city of Jerusalem, and eventually he comes away from Jerusalem, and he comes in contact with a man, Philip the Deacon, who speaks to him, and does not speak to him in Hebrew, but speaks to him in Aramaic, and he understood it. Then he opened the Bible, and the Bible was written in Hebrew, and he could read it. Well, there are three aptitudes. As a matter of fact, he spoke not just, not just in a pure Aramaic language, he spoke in a colloquial Aramaic, and he understood it. He was a man of education. And in this land of where you almost found the goddess of education, let's remember this, that you may have the education to send your man to the moon, but you need something more than that to get the office, to get the glory. He had his wealth, he had his honor, he had his education, but all he had is need. Eighteen months ago, I found myself away in Australia. I was speaking at a school in Hackney, and I was a wreck to the student body. I was sitting in the headmaster's office, drinking a cup of tea with him, and, you know, having an annual talk. When he turned to conversation, he turned to conversation. He said, you know, Mr. Ford, I'm not a religious man. I don't know, sir, but I was very much struck by what you said to the children's man. Did you know I had my teacher's training during those hungry years of the 30s? When, like in your land, and I am sure like here in America, there was poverty, when depressions that were a rite of need ceased in our land, he said as a young student in college, I was absolutely sure that all the world needed was a little more education. All the world needed was a little more opportunity. All the world needed was a little more training in commerce and in jobs, and all the problems would be ironed out. He said, I've felt that for many long years, but these last few years, I have seen how absolutely ridiculous it's all turned out to be. Or said he, how pleased was the man who was the headmaster of a school. He said, you know, I look around the world today, and it is in the lands where they have the greatest education, in the lands where they have the greatest opportunity, in the lands where they have the greatest wealth, that they have the greatest wealth. It's not that. I'd like to take you sometimes to some of the little places I've been. I'd like to slip you away to Singapore, to take you to the islands of the Fiji. I'd like to take you around to the little backsides of way down there in Australia, and introduce you to some of those aboriginals, men that have no education and have no wealth. Do you know something? They don't have any job offers. They don't have any student loans. Do you know something more? They don't care a lot about having marriages breaking up. Is it not a fact that in my own land, that there was so much affluence? I can't speak it, or as I wouldn't speak, I am but a guest in your country. In my own land, where we have everything almost that it's necessary for a man to have, where he's sick and he can go to any doctor and it won't cost him a penny, slip him to a hospital and it won't cost him anything, man. The most major of surgery, where education is at the grasp of everyone, where anyone can go to university. When our homes break up and divorce, than at any time in the history of our land, it's the story of a good man who preached Jesus. I'm glad of that. Do you remember something about this, man? Do you know we're living in peculiar days? We're living in peculiar days. I used to think that I was associated with the folk who believed in the priesthood of every belief. I used to believe that I moved amongst people where there was an opportunity for gifts to be developed, where any young man, any young woman that had any gift towards God, there were elders of the fellowship who would care for them, would teach them, train them. And you know, brethren, sisters, the more I read my Bible, the more I realize that this is still God's plan. He has changed for nothing. And as I look at the Word of God and I see some of the things that sometimes happen, I wonder. I hear folk talk about deacons, you know, and elders and deacons, and I wonder sometimes wherever they get it from. They talk about deacons as though they just break upon tables. You know, they didn't find the creatures in the Acts of the Apostles. They were both deacons. You won't find a greater creature in the world than Simeon. You've got to read his great sermons of all the Sanhedrin passages. And I'll tell you something more. If you have a job, tell me whatever it weighs in on payments, whatever it weighs in on payments. This man, Philip. No, no, no, no, no, no, please. This is not Philip. This is not Philip the Apostle. This is Philip the deacon. He works time, he's a samaritan, a preacher, a revival king. Where do we get this business that a deacon is a person who never has anything to say for God? Never you forget, the word deacon is simply servant of the church, and you can serve God in the ministry of the Word, as well as serve God in waiting on tables. Oh, you brethren! Listen, let me say something. Let me say something very near my heart. You won't, you will accept this from me, I know, because it's sad, really, it's sad in the spirit of love. But, brethren, it's more important for you to take part in worship than to use your hymn book. So, I don't think there's need for me to say any more, is there? I don't think there's need for me to say any more. Oh, let's realize that God has something for each one of us, that you and I are those who need to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, and here he is, this man, this man, Philip. And did you know the church's the greatest preacher, almost, of his day? The scripture says this of him, he was man full of the Holy Ghost. Isn't that grand? No, no, there's no idea that here's a man not quite as spiritual as another, so he'll be a heathen and not an elf. A man full of the Holy Ghost, the scripture says this, he was a man full of wisdom, a man who went down to Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Isn't that lovely? He preached Christ unto them. Oh brethren, let's preach Christ, let's tell men and women of the Savior. And there down into Samaria he went, and he spoke surely not a creed, not a catechism, not a religion, not a ritualism, but he preached Christ. He spoke of his sinless life and manhood. He spoke of his sacrificial atoning death. He spoke of his glorious resurrection. He preached Christ unto the people. Oh what a good man. He preached Jesus. I'm glad I've got someone to offer to men and women. I'm glad I haven't come here to your land to preach to you a creed. I believe in Christ. I haven't come to preach a catechism. I haven't come to your land to preach just a religion, although please, I believe in religion with all my heart. I hope you are now insulted by having someone stand up here and say, I don't preach religion. Do you know what the Bible says religion is? The Bible says it's the visiting of the wilderness and the keeping yourself unspotted from the world. And if we don't preach that, it's about time we did it. If we don't preach that we ought to visit the parlor from the window and help those in need, and if we don't preach separation, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, it's about time we did it. Oh I preach religion, but listen, I don't preach religion saints. Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no. I haven't come to preach that religion saint. I've come that I might share with you something of the wonders of the Savior. A great man may need Jesus, but a good man will preach Jesus. And it's the story of a guilty man who trusted Jesus. How wonderful it was. This poor disappointed man who returned from Jerusalem, not being committed even to enter the outer court of the temple, there he sits in his chariot and he's reading in the prophecy of Isaiah. And if you see, sir, he's reading in the 53rd chapter, and if you see, sir, a servant of God who is so in touch with God that the Spirit would say, rather than join thyself to the chariot, and if you see, sir, he rather joins himself to the chariot. I think that's another reason. You know, when the Lord tells us to do something, he expects us to do it at once. Now, see, he doesn't only expect us to do it at once because, because he expects our obedience, but he expects us to do it at once because he knows that's the best time for us to do it. That's the easiest time for us to do it. Now, here was a man who was reading in the 53rd of Isaiah. He was in a chariot. I know not whether the chariot was trotting or whether it was walking. I only know this, that he had this man, Philip, to run and join himself to the chariot, and he ran. Now, if he'd have put off doing what God told him to do for two minutes, just for two minutes, by the time he'd have got to the chariot, what would have happened? The Ethiopian unit would have been out of the 53rd into the 54th. And shall I tell you something? Does not one of you have ever heard a gospel address on the 54th of Isaiah? Well, I've led conversational Bible readings through the Book of Isaiah, and we've taken it step-by-step through the 54th, but there's not one of you ever heard a gospel address on the 54th of Isaiah. It must be the most difficult chapter almost in the whole of the prophecy from which to preach the gospel. And tell me, what's the easiest chapter in the Bible? If you can't preach the gospel of the 54th of Isaiah, it's the stupidest chapter in the Bible to preach the gospel one. And God said to me, I know all about that. So, I'll give you an easy test. Right. Oh, let's make sure we do what God tells us to do, and make sure we do it at once, because it will be for his glory, and for us. We'll preach from the easiest chapter. This is a famous one. And he went, and he came to the 53rd, and the man looked, and inquiring, looked a second. Of whom writeth the prophet? Of whom speaketh the prophet? Himself or some other man? And beginning at the same scripture, he preached unto him Jesus. Isn't that lovely? Jesus. What is it we say to the children? J-E-S-U-S. Jesus exactly suits us sinners. That's what he preached to him. Jesus exactly suits us sinners. He started, first of all, as I may say, where he started away yonder in Samaria. He started with his spotless life and manhood. Jesus. He took him away there to that wonderful statement of the angels. They shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. He dared to remind him of an occasion when looking upon Jesus as he walked. John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, for he is going to reach the one who was led to the land of the slaughter, and of the sheep before her shearers is done. So he opened up his mouth, so he turned to tell him of Jesus, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. And, oh sir, madam, you will not forget it. You must forgive me for taking you out on this yet. But if you come with me back to the story of Meliah's mount, to where Abraham had placed his hand upon the shoulder of his wheel-axe, let up a hill to a wheel-axe who said, Father, the altar, the stakes, the fire, but where is the Lamb for us? Abraham said, God shall supply himself a Lamb, but you won't forget me. Oh, you won't forget me, because you'll never understand the Old Testament if you do. God didn't do it! God didn't do it! Abraham said, God shall supply himself a Lamb. So he was a Lamb, you poor, wise, poor, and miserly man. The story of Jesus had huge difference between a Lamb and a man. God supplied for Isaac a prostitute. Something else was bound to die for Isaac, but God didn't supply a Lamb that day. The promise still remains. God shall supply himself a Lamb. And right from the Old Testament, surely this is the question that's being asked, whether it be the morning sacrifice or the evening sacrifice, whether it be the Passover sacrifice, whatever sacrifice it was, this was the question. Is this the Lamb of God's appointed? Every one of them were Lambs of men appointed. But one day, oh hello there, one day looking upon Jesus as he walked, John says, he's kept his word, a thousand years of the day, and a day of the thousand years, when they behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the Lamb, and beginning at the same Scripture, what Scripture? He was led as a Lamb. He preached unto him, Jesus. Oh sir, I'm glad of this, that God loves you. Madam, I'm glad of this, that God couldn't love you more than he has loved you. He's loved you so much that he sent his own son, the Lamb of God, God with us, Immanuel. Ah, but he preached unto him, Jesus, they shall call his name Jesus, for he shall perish his people. I met them. Jesus, exactly two thousand, was there to tell of his cross. He went, and he took my sin and my sorrow, and made it his very own. He bore my burden to Calvary, and he suffered and died. Oh, the wonder of it all. Oh, the wonder of it all. Sir, madam, he preached unto him, Jesus. And then, the guilty man, suddenly realizing that he was a sinner, suddenly realizing that he needed a savior, suddenly understanding more than ever he'd understood before. He said, see, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest, and he said, I believe. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Oh, please, it is the belief, not of intellectualism. I get tired with that belief. As many of you know, I spend a large part of my year among undergraduates in Cambridge. When I left, and left a crowd of young men to carry on my work, as I came over here, almost the last thing I said to them. So, I gave them the charge, ere I left for America, just that weekly now. I said, listen, boys, God is not concerned with your error, concerned with your cleanliness. He's not concerned with your holiness, whether you're honest, concerned with your holiness. If you're going to be used to God, it's going to depend how clean you are. It's going to depend on holiness. Oh, well done. This man suddenly realized that despite his education, despite his wealth, despite his position, despite his acknowledgment of the Jewish religion, he was a sinner before God, and he did forget it. He said, I believe, and it was not an intellectual belief. There are so many of us to leave up here, you know, and we need a great sledgehammer to knock it down a few inches, so it gets in our heart. He and I give another blow, so it gets down into our feet, and we walk in the way of it. God wants you and I to live for Jesus. I believe it when I ask you. Do you believe? You know what it means to believe, don't you? Simply to trust one's life in. I'm prepared to trust my life in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Well, isn't that what Christ himself was always asking men to do? If there came to him one day, at least there was hope for him one day, a man that would fly in front of the disciples and ask her, who did sin, this man, or his parents that he was born of? And Jesus sprang and grabbed the dust he hid above and pressed it in the eyes of the man. So, don't let Jesus hurt you like that. You know, there's something's wrong with it. The thing that it's made of. Christ stooped down and got some dust. He meant it. I only know that when he came out of the false silo, he didn't know who it was. He couldn't see anything. And Jesus wasn't there. And then the persecution started, and everyone came at him. One day he met Jesus, and Jesus said to him, Not that, I say there, you had a wonderful healing. Not that, he didn't say that. He didn't say, O sir, have you been prepared to witness for me? O sir, have you been willing to suffer for me? Listen, he had a wonderful healing. He had witnessed the Lord. He'd been excommunicated excommunicated from the very house of God. He'd suffered for Christ. But Jesus said, have you done anything for me? He said, believe us that. And the son of man said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe? Jesus said, I will speak unto thee of thee. This is the question. Not that I've suffered. Not that I'm willing. Not that I'm full of your sins. But this is the question. Believe us that. This man said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. A guilty man who trusted, who believed in Jesus. May I say this? I'm glad that. Oh, hallelujah. You know, I'm glad of that. I'm glad knowing Jesus Christ doesn't make a man miserable. If you think I look miserable, it must be the indigestion or something. I don't know what it is. Nothing to do with Jesus. The wonder is this, that knowing Christ brings joy. A glad man for the scriptures says he went on his way rejoicing. A glad man who followed Jesus. Willing to follow him through the waters, having believed, having believed. Willing to follow him to go back to his own country and back to his own land. To say that Jesus is the son of God. I'm going to leave you. I'm going back to heaven. Go! This just like all the other nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Knowing you always, even to the end of the age. Sometimes, he believes and follows Jesus. May I ask, have you believed? You following Jesus? If not, oh sir, sir, why not? And why not? If tonight is the Lord's will, we're going to look at the Son of Jesus. Hand, check, dig. I'm not going to squeeze the two in if you'll give me an extra five minutes. And we'll see. Make disciples of all nations. Make sure of the Lord. Make sure of the Lord. As you talk to the Lord. And if by chance there's someone here and you're not sure. If I can help you, I'm your servant for Christ. I'd be so happy to speak with you. Shall we close with prayer? Oh God and Father, we bless thee again this morning for the wonders of thy word. We're so glad that those disciples were willing to obey what you say. And were willing to step out and make disciples of all nations. We praise thee for this man, sir, this deacon of the church, this preacher of the gospel, his life was touched that he had a fine daughter to also serve him. We bless thee for the consistency of a whole one to Jesus Christ. And we pray that each one of us may listen to what he said to us today. And be a mediocre human, those who will talk with us for his name's sake. Amen.