Conversion of the ethiopian eunuch

Acts chapter 8 verse 26 and the angel of the Lord speak unto Philip saying he had been preaching in to the Samaritans and God had been blessing and he got a message from the angel saying arise go toward the south onto the way that go down from Jerusalem on to Gaza which is desert and he rose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia a eunuch of great authority under Candace Queen of Ethiopians who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship was returning and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah or Isaiah the prophet then the spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot and Philip ran further to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said understandest thou what thou readest and he said how can I except some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him now the place of the scripture which he read was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before shear 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 prophetess of himself or of some other man and 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 what doth hinder me to be baptized and Philip said if thou believest with all lying 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 and when they come up out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing I want to ask you a question about what we read who do you think went on his way rejoicing we just read and he went on his way rejoicing well I'm gonna suggest it was both of them because when the eunuch understood why Christ had died his little soul would be flooded with joy and there's no preacher that I know doesn't rejoice when someone tells them they got saved and so I take that word he to include the both of them went on their way rejoicing now this section of the book of the Acts to me is most interesting chapters 8 and 9 and 10 I could take you back to Genesis and chapter 9 and the writer says the sons of Noah were shot Jen and Han and Jephthah and of them was the whole earth overspread or populated so that in chapter 8 and 9 and 10 we see the work of God in this world in salvation in chapter 8 where we have read this Ethiopian a black man a son of Ham and chapter 9 that's all of Tarsus a son of Shem and in chapter 10 Japheth a son of Cornelius a son of Japheth and so the whole earth was overspread from the three sons of Noah and what I want to notice very simply and what we have read that there are three involvements in every conversion there's the Spirit of God there's the Word of God and there's the messenger maybe a preacher maybe a gospel track that may be the Spirit of God dealing in his own way so that in chapter 8 it's the Word of God that opens this man's understanding in chapter 9 is the Lord himself that speaks to Saul why persecute us thou me and it isn't long until he's saying who art thou Lord and then he's saying Lord what wilt thou have me to do and between those two expressions who art thou Lord and Lord what wilt thou have me to do God saved him and then if we had read in chapter 10 about Cornelius it was the message of the preacher that reached that man we could have read that when Peter came to where he was he spoke to him and he believed on the Lord Cornelius believed with all his house so there's a Spirit of God involved there's the Word of God involved and there's the messenger I want you to think about this man by the way the late hill Selassie the Emperor of Ethiopia was a born-again believer a real Christian and here's the first man that carried the gospel to Ethiopia a eunuch he heard about this city where the Word of God evidently was available at least he had heard about God and he travels this distance of about a thousand miles up to the city he's seeking God and where we broke in the reading he's returning back to Jerusalem disappointed he didn't find God but you know although he's disappointed God always sees an honest heart God sees when there's reality when there's an honest desire God always brings a seeking sinner and a seeking Savior together listen to these words the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Zacchaeus a seeking sinner the Savior came to the bottom of the tree and he said Zacchaeus may taste and come down and he came down and received him joyfully so if there's a anxious seeking soul in this meeting tonight there's some young people here and I've known you since you were born and I think you would really like to know you're going to be in heaven that right there's nothing else that matters when you come to the end of the road if you don't know the Savior you'll be lost forever you'll be cast into outer darkness to weep and to wail and to think I could have been saved but I missed it and so he's coming home riding in his chariot this man it says he was a eunuch of great authority under the Queen we'd likely call him the Secretary of the Treasury he had charged it says of all of her treasure and he's coming home in the chariot disappointed he went up seeking God but he didn't find God but he found something else he found a copy of the prophecy of Isaiah when I meet him in heaven I'm gonna know him I'm gonna say to you have mr. unit whatever your title is where did you get the scroll of Isaiah who gave it to you somebody must have given it to him and so he's riding along in his chariot and he's reading and by the way he's reading out loud how do I know that it says Philip heard him read and as he would unroll the scroll chapter one he would be reminded of man's sinnership before a holy God from the sole of the foot to the head no soundness nothing but wounds in his bruises and putrefying sores nothing to please God an absolute corrupt sinner he would read on when he got to chapter 6 he'd be reminded of a God who is holy those holy beings crying holy holy holy Lord God of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory and he would think God is so holy and I'm so sinful how can I ever be in heaven and then he kept on reading rolling and unrolling that scroll when he got to chapter 9 he would read about the greatness of this one his birth coming into the world wonderful counselor the mighty God the everlasting father the Prince of Peace he'd think of the coming into the world of the Christ when I got over for the further in the book to about chapter 440 he'd be reading about the greatness of creation the God who created all things who measured the heavens with a span the dust of the earth they're just measured weighed in his balances he put a little water in this hand and that's the mighty Atlantic and a little water here and that's the Pacific and he would think that I'm so sinful and God is so holy and so awesome how will I ever be able to get in his presence but he kept on reading now he's in chapter 53 that's when Philip came to the chariot he's reading about the sufferings of the Savior that glorious post portion that tells about the man of sorrows wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities I'm awful tempted to give my testimony 77 years ago the 14th of March 1938 at about five minutes to nine o'clock one Monday morning a burden soul as I read those verses Isaiah 53 and five my mother come into the bedroom she said Erica you saved yet I said no mom but I'd love to be and she just opened up a little Bible on the dresser and she said read these verses and put your name in and here's how I read it but he was wounded for my transgressions he was bruised for my iniquities the chastisement and I knew that meant judgment was all on him and I didn't finish the verse it just dawned on me that's why Jesus died know what happened no flashing lights no feeling just I realized I'll never be in hell I'm gonna be in heaven and if the Lord comes I'm ready and that's as fresh in my mind today as it was 77 years ago that's what he was reading and so he's as he's reading out loud Philip goes to the chariot at the urging of the Spirit and he said to him do you understand what you're reading how can I he said unless some man should guide me I don't understand it and Philip was a wise man he got up into the chariot beside him and he opened at the same Scriptures and it says when he opened to the Scriptures he read these words he was led as a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before years is dumb and the eunuch says who's he talking about who is he you know what it says Philip preached on to him Jesus Jesus nothing there about believing that's why you're not saved you're trying to believe mr. Oliver Smith that I preached with in early days saw hundreds of people say he was a hard-working farmer or he was saved murdered the English language he would often say believing never died for anybody my schoolteacher friend would say that's terrible grammar believing never died we'd say believing didn't die but that's what he would say believing never died for anybody but then he would say but Christ died you see it's the person of Christ it's not the believing God wants you to get occupied with a person he preached on to him Jesus you know what happened he understood for the first time that that man that went to the cross he died for me those words were written 700 years before he read them but they were living and then as they're riding along he says to Philip here's water what does hinder me to be baptized how did he know that well Philip must have told them that when a person is saved they should be baptized maybe you're here today and you're saved but you've never been baptized you know there's only one in the Bible that we read of that went to heaven and unbaptized believer that's the thief beside the Savior on the cross the Lord said today shan't I'll be with me in paradise but if he had lived a while he likely would have been baptized too he says what does hinder me to be baptized and they went down both into the water and it says when they come up the Lord caught away Philip and the eunuch saw him no more be a wonderful meeting if somebody would just simply take in that symbol truth that he took in I'm sinful God is holy I can never be in heaven as I am but there was one that came from the glory and he allowed cruel man to crucify him the scourges back and crown them with a crown of thorns and mr. Darby suggests about that crown that they wove together branches of that Jerusalem thorn bush and then they wrapped it around his head they didn't just gently place the crown on his head and then they took a reed from his hand he's a king will put a robe on him they put an old purple robe on him a king needs a scepter they put a reed in his hand and they bow their knee and they said hail king of the Jews and then they took that reed and they beat it into his brow man's inhumanity to the sinless Savior you know why he bore all of that because of your sin but then there was three dark hours the hymn writer says none of the ransomed will ever know how deep were those waters crossed and from 12 o'clock noon until 3 in the afternoon God pulled the shade down and darkened the whole earth and in those dark hours God laid upon him your sin and my sin and because the sinless Savior died my sinful soul is counted free and God the justice satisfied to look on Christ and pardon me you could be saved in this meeting simply by understanding that when he died he died for me when my wife was sick about a year ago now we had to get home help to help her with her walking and help her with her showers and whatever it was a young married woman about 33 years of age came one night she had three children when she found out I was a preacher she said you know Mr. McCullough there comes a time in your life when you feel something is missing well I said Natasha I can tell you what you need and I told her how she could be sure of being in heaven she came about three nights a week we had many conversations my dear wife told her how she had got saved as a girl of 11 through the words of Matthew 11 and 28 come on to me oh you that labor and our heavy laden I heavy laden and I will give you rest and she had all kinds of questions one night after a few weeks I ventured to give her a gospel tract God's way of salvation mr. warped used to say that's the only track he would give out because God blessed it so often so a few nights later she came to the door by this time she's calling me Eric she said Eric I'm saved I said you are tell me about it how do you know she said Jesus died for my sins I said is that right and she opened up God's way of salvation and she had highlighted these words I don't feel saved I know I'm saved because the Word of God says so and she's as happy as can be we're praying that God will save her husband you see you could take that in tonight it's what the Word of God says Christ died for the ungodly he bore our sin in his own body on the tree the Bible says it that's what makes it true you take him at his word tonight and you could leave this conference rejoicing knowing that all is well for eternity thank you for listening shall we pray our father we come now to the close of our conference and we thank thee for the kindness of God we thank thee we have heard the Shepherd's voice thy word has been blessed to our hearts and we long to see others gathered in we pray Lord for those who are not saved grant that even tonight some young one or older one will look away by faith to the cross and believe what God says the Lord's coming is very near we're waiting for that moment and how sad to think there are those that would be left behind help us as we sing a closing hymn together part us with thy blessing we give thanks to thee in the name of the Lord Jesus amen