The Joy of Salvation

avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. Avant-garde. There's peace that outlasts darkness. Sing it together. There's peace that outlasts darkness. Hope that's in the blood. There's future courage that's mine today that Jesus Christ has won. So I can face tomorrow. For tomorrow's in your hands. All I need you will provide. Just like you always have. We're fighting a battle. Come on. Oh, I'm fighting a battle that you've already won. No matter what comes my way, I will overcome. I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. I'm fighting a battle you've already won. Oh. There's mercy in the way. A metaphor today. When it's gone, I know you're gone. You are my hope and say.

When the sea is raging, your spirit is my help. He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ. I'll say that it is well. Oh, I know that it is well. I'm fighting a battle that you've already won. No matter what comes my way, I will overcome. I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. I'm fighting a battle you've already won. Oh, I know how the story ends. We will be with you again. Amen. You're my Savior, my defense. No more fear in life or death. I know how the story ends. Come on. I know how the story ends. I know how the story ends. We will be with you again. You're my Savior. You're my Savior, my defense. No more fear in life or death. Come on, church. We proclaim it this morning. Oh, I know how the story ends. We will be with you again. You're my Savior. You're my Savior, my defense. No more fear in life or death. In life or death, I know how this story ends. We know how it ends.

Oh, I'm fighting a battle that you already won. No matter what comes my way, I will overcome. I don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done. I'm fighting a battle you already won. I'm fighting a battle you already won. Oh. Come on. We'll give a praise this morning, won't we? Let's sing together. For my waking breath, for my daily bread, I depend on you. Oh, I depend on you. For the sun to rise, for my sleep at night, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you. You're the way. Come on. You're the way, the truth, and the life. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bread. You are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. Where the spirit leads as I'm following, I depend on you. Oh, I depend on you. I depend on you. For the victory's still in front of me. I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you. You're the way, the truth, and the life. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bread. You are the vine.

Draw me close and teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my all, my treasure, my rise. I am yours forever. You're mine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. When I pass through death, as I enter rest, I depend on you. Oh, I depend on you. For eternal life, to be raised with Christ. I depend on you. Yes, Lord, I depend on you. You're the way, the truth, and the life. You're the well that never runs dry. I'm the bread. You are the vine. Draw me close and teach me to abide. Be my strength, my song in the night. ♪ A song in the night ♪ ♪ Be my all, my treasure, my prize ♪ ♪ I am yours whenever you're by ♪ ♪ Draw me close and teach me to abide ♪ ♪ Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Won't you teach me to abide ♪ ♪ Draw me close and teach me to abide ♪ ♪ Teach me to abide ♪ ♪ I love you, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh your mercy never fails me ♪ ♪ All my days I've been held in your hands ♪ ♪ From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head ♪ ♪ I will sing of the goodness of God ♪

Let's do that church, sing of his goodness. ♪ That all my life you have been faithful ♪ ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ Oh I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ I, I love your voice ♪ ♪ You have led me through the fire and in darkness night ♪ ♪ You are close like no other, I've known you as a father ♪ ♪ I've known you as my faith, my happiness, in the goodness of God ♪ ♪ All my life you have been faithful ♪ ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ Oh I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Oh I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ With my life laid down, I surrender now ♪ ♪ I give you everything, your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ When my life break down, surrender down, I give you everything ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after, it's running after me ♪ ♪ All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ There'll be no man that I can't be with, oh I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ There'll be no man that I can't be with, oh I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God, oh I'm gonna sing ♪ ♪ Of the goodness of God ♪ Oh, I come to sing ♪ Of the goodness of God

Can you thank the Lord for His goodness this morning? He's so good to us. Thank you. ♪ Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ And worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ He's worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ We live for You ♪ We live for You ♪ Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ Jesus, the only one who could ever sing ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ We live for You ♪ We live for You ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ There is none beside You ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ And show me who You are ♪ And fill me with Your heart ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ Jesus, the only one who could ever sing ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ We live for You ♪ We live for You ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ There is none beside You ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ And show me who You are ♪ And fill me with Your heart

♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ And I will build my life upon Your love ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ I will put my trust in You alone ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ I will build my life upon Your love ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ I will put my trust in You alone ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ There is none beside You ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ And show me who You are ♪ And fill me with Your heart ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ Holy, there is no one like You ♪ There is none beside You ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ And show me who You are ♪ And fill me with Your heart ♪ And lead me in Your love to those around me ♪ Open your heart and lead me ♪ In Your love to those around me Well, today is a special day. Today is Big Summer Sunday. We've been doing this now for about the last, gosh, eight years or so, to celebrate on a Sunday night at the end of July. I don't want to be a bearer of bad news, but the end of July, the 1st of August,

that's kind of the end of summer because school gets back into full swing in early August. And so we like to have an end of summer celebration. We have the volleyball tournament, King of the Beach, the sand volleyball tournament, and then we have the outdoor activities for families and for kids to have a good time. And then we have outdoor baptism. And that is such a special time that we get to celebrate as people come forward to give a testimony through baptism that they've given their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ. So when we gather tonight to see those get baptized, we rejoice in the Lord. We rejoice with the Lord that that person is saying, Jesus Christ has changed my life. And it's still not too late to be a part of those outdoor baptisms. Well, you know, when Jesus comes into a life, he always brings change, wonderful change. Some may remember the hymn by Rufus McDaniel. You probably didn't know he wrote this, but the song says, what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. I have light in my soul for which long I have sought since Jesus came into my heart. And then the refrain, since Jesus came into my heart, since Jesus came into my heart. Floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll since Jesus came into my heart.

I wanna talk today about the joy of salvation. And I wanna ask you very candidly, do you have it? Have you experienced the joy of salvation? Is Jesus Christ real to you? And are you looking to him and rejoicing in him even today? Now, the Bible says in Romans 10, 13, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Now, we wanna look at a passage of scripture, a very important passage of scripture in Acts chapter eight. As a story, it's an interesting story about a man from Ethiopia, the Ethiopian eunuch, who is a big shot, and he ends up coming into this personal relationship with Jesus Christ in a divine appointment with the evangelist, Philip. And it is so cool how God works this together. And then the story ends with the Ethiopian eunuch being baptized and having great joy. This is what the scripture says. Acts chapter eight, I'll begin reading in verse 26. So Philip was sent to Samaria, and he's experiencing a great crusade there. People are getting saved, and it's just awesome. And it says in verse 26, but an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road. So he got up and went. And there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candacy, queen of the Ethiopians,

who was in charge of all her treasure. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship. And he was returning and sitting in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the spirit said to Philip, go up and join this chariot. Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, well, how could I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of scripture, which he was reading was this, Isaiah 53. He was led as a sheep to slaughter and as a lamb before its shears is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will relate his generation for his life is removed from the earth? And the eunuch answered Philip and said, please tell me of whom does this prophet say this, of himself or someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, he preached Jesus to him. And as they went along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, look, water, what prevents me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And he ordered the chariot to stop

and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus. And as he passed through, he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Now, what do we learn from this tremendous story, the salvation of this Ethiopian eunuch, this man from the kingdom of Cush? It's really Sudan, if you put it on a map today where he was, not in Ethiopia, but he's called the Ethiopian eunuch. What do we learn from this great story? Well, there's something in theological circles called a divine appointment. It's where God brings people together so that that person can hear the gospel and respond. This is a classic example of a divine appointment. So three lessons that we see here. Number one, the Lord is at work in a divine appointment. God is at work. Now, it's very obvious that God orchestrated these two guys getting together. God is at work behind the scenes putting these guys together. So let's look first at the Ethiopian eunuch. So the Lord works to prepare the sinner,

and that's who the Ethiopian eunuch was. He was a sinner. He was an unbeliever, but he was a seeking sinner because we know of him that he traveled to Jerusalem to worship. Now, this guy is a big shot because he is in charge of all the queen's treasure. She was a very wealthy queen. This is a wealthy area, this kingdom of Cush. And so he's a big shot and he's a wealthy guy. He's got an entourage on his way to Jerusalem and back. He owns a copy of the scroll of Isaiah, which would have cost a lot of money. He has wealth, he has means, he has position. And when you think about him coming from where he lived, a place called Meroe, I think that's how you pronounce it, in this part of Sudan, all the way up to Jerusalem. I have a map that shows you how far he had to travel. So he is down there on the left-hand side, Meroe, M-E-R-O-E. That was the capital of the kingdom of Cush, where Candacy, that's not her name, that's a title like Pharaoh or Caesar. Candacy is queen there. And he travels from there all the way up through Egypt to Jerusalem. It's about 1,200 plus miles. Now he's got a chariot, which is a two-wheeled vehicle, a two-wheeled carriage pulled by horses, and he's got an entourage of people. It would have taken him to go 1,200 miles,

it would have probably taken him two months. Two months there, two months back. What are you going to do for two months? I'm going to the temple in Jerusalem to worship. He's a pagan, he comes from a pagan area. No doubt that kingdom of Cush was influenced by Egypt, and Egypt had all their false gods. But he's coming to worship, and he's spending an incredible amount of money to do that, and an incredible amount of time. The Lord says in Jeremiah 29, 13, and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. And we could say of this Ethiopian eunuch, he is searching for the Lord with all his heart. He's responding to the light that God had given him. So the Lord works to prepare the sinner to break up the fallow ground in the heart, prepare the heart to receive the message. And then he also works to provide the soul winner. And in the account, Philip is the soul winner. And Philip, what is Philip doing? Well, Philip had gone to Samaria. You remember what the Lord said? You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, Acts 1, 8. And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth. So the gospel goes from Jerusalem, Acts 2,

in the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes, and 3,000 are baptized, saved and baptized. And then it goes to Judea, and then it goes to Samaria. Samaritans were Jewish half-breeds, half-Jew, half-Gentile. The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans because they have cooties, they're impure, they've polluted themselves. And so from Samaria, then it goes to the Gentile world. As we read, the Ethiopian eunuch would be one of those in the Gentile world. And then Cornelius, Acts chapter 10, he and his family, that goes into the Gentile world. to see the gospel expanding. Well, Philip had gone to Samaria and he preached Jesus and he was casting out demons and he was performing miracles and the people were blown away and they started to put their faith and trust in Jesus. And the Bible says there was great rejoicing in that city. Man, he's leading a crusade like Billy Graham when he came to Los Angeles so many years ago. And an angel of the Lord says to Philip in the midst of all this says to Philip, well, Philip, get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road. So he got up and went. Now, if I had been Philip, I would have said, wait, say it again. Where do you want me to go?

I mean, everything's happening here in Samaria. You want me to get up and go? It's about 90 miles. We have a graph or a map that shows you how far the guy had to travel. So he's way up at the top in Samaria. He has to go down to Jerusalem and then down to Gaza. And not only is he going all that distance, that would have probably taken him a week. And then he says to go to a desert road. It's like, Lord, Samaria, there are a lot of people here. Doesn't Henry Blackaby say, find where God is working and join him? I don't think, God, you're working in the desert road, which means not very many people are on that road. You want me to go there? He doesn't argue at all. He just does it. He is ready to go. Yes, Lord, that's his answer. I remember talking to my friend, John Bassanio, who's in heaven now. He was pastor at First Baptist Houston for so many years. And John got to be a wonderful friend, just such a super guy. And I remember calling him one time and I said, John, I gotta ask you a favor. He said, Jeff, for you, the answer is yes. Now, what's the favor? He was just ready to do whatever

because he knew he could trust me. I wasn't gonna ask him to do something. I said, I need you to get up and go to a desert road called Gaza. No, I didn't tell him that. But I love that about him. The answer is yes. Now, what do you want me to do? That's the way Philip was. And Jesus said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Well, Philip called Jesus Lord. And as soon as he heard from the Lord, he said yes, and he went. And the Lord is working through all of this. This is a divine appointment. He's working on the eunuch's heart. He's working to provide the soul winner. And Philip is going to go to him. Second lesson. The Lord wants us to be ready for a divine appointment. It says, so he got up and went. And he was, verse 28, and he, the Ethiopian eunuch was sitting in his chariot and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the spirit said to Philip, go up and join this chariot. Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet. And he said to him, do you understand what you are reading? The Lord wants us to be ready for a divine appointment.

Now, when I was in seminary, Paige Patterson was the president of Southeastern Seminary when I was there. And he encouraged us as students. He said, hey, guys, gals, three things you need to pray every day. You need to pray, number one, God, use me as a witness today. Give me an opportunity to witness for you today. Number two, Lord, show me when that opportunity is before me so I don't miss it. And number three, God, help me to not chicken out when the opportunity comes. So three good things to pray, to get you ready, to be thinking in terms of a witness. That's what we're here on this earth for. When they said to Jesus, Lord, is it at this time that you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? He said, it's not for you to know times or epics which the father has fixed by his own authority, but you shall be my witnesses. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses. That's our purpose on this earth, to be his witness. And so we have to be ready for a divine appointment. Now, the first thing that faces you, that faces me, that faces any of us when it comes to a divine appointment is the fear of broaching the question with a person about that person's soul. I ran across a story about Dwight L. Moody. Dwight L. Moody was the Billy Graham of his day.

Dwight L. Moody was asking a man one day about his soul. And the man said, the condition of my soul is no business of yours. And Dwight L. Moody said. It is exactly my business. I am in the business of souls. And the man looked closely at him and said, well, then you must be Dwight L. Moody. He said, I am and my business is souls. Well, that's true for every Christian. Our business is souls. If we can put it in those crude terms, we're called into the ministry. We're called to be his witnesses and to be his witness, you have to overcome fear. You have it. I have it. We have it. And we must overcome the fear and ask that initial question. Did you notice? The Holy Spirit says to Philip, okay, Philip, here you are. And God has this timed out. He has it timed out so perfectly because the Ethiopian comes 1,200 plus miles, took him two months to get to Jerusalem. He's coming back and he sends to Philip the message. Hey Philip, here you're in Samaria. I need you to come down about 90 miles to go to this desert road and he times it just perfectly and he comes across at the desert road, this chariot and this entourage go up to the chariot and he hears them because those guys would

read out loud and he hears them reading from Isaiah the prophet, Isaiah chapter 53. That is the key chapter in the whole Old Testament. Obviously in the book of Isaiah, but really in the Old Testament, the whole Old Testament about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross and he's reading that and the Spirit says go up and join this chariot. So he does and he asked the question, do you understand what you are reading? That opened up a conversation and the man said, well, how could I unless someone guides me and he invites Philip into his chariot. You know asking that question, we have to be ready. And so when the opportunity comes, so Lord give me an opportunity to tell somebody about you. Lord help me to know when that opportunity is before me and Lord help me not chicken out. And so it's always that initial question. Okay, how do I get into this with this person? You know, it can be abrupt like changing gears without a clutch and just all of a sudden it's like there's nothing that led into this and you're just asking me or it can be more natural. One of the things I've shared this many many times. One of the things I learned from Ada Ferguson is when you're at a restaurant and when your food comes you ask the waitress the waiter. Hey, we're going to pray before our meal. Is there anything that we can pray about for you? That's not a threatening question. That's not a finger in your face.

Do you know Jesus, turn or burn? It's not like that. Can I pray for you? And you know, sometimes I've asked people and they say no. I was like, okay. Well, that's fine. No tip for you. No, I don't do that. I still give them a good tip. But most often they'll say yeah, and sometimes they want to stay and pray there at the table with you. I had somebody at Ironwood tell me they said, you know, you're one of the many that ask about praying. What church do you go to? I said I go to First Baptist sometimes and they said well, you know, it's that church where people have asked me. Can I pray for you? It's always that church. I thought man that is so cool. So we're we're known for asking that question. Well that question can lead into a witness for Jesus Christ. So we must overcome our fear and ask the question. Now you think about it. Okay. So here I'm Philip the evangelist. I hear from an angel. I got to go make a 90-mile trip to a desert road. He doesn't get any more information. Now 90 miles, you know how far it is? If I said hey tonight, today after the service, I need you

to walk to Sulphur Springs to go to Brahms. They'll be closed when you get there, but just go there. That's a hundred miles from here. That would take you a long time. That would take you about a week. You're walking and okay, I'll do it. That's the way Philip and he times it just perfectly. So as soon as he gets to the desert road, all of a sudden he comes across the entourage. He hears the guy reading go up attach yourself. Okay. Do you understand what you're reading and it couldn't be teed up any more than this because he's reading from Isaiah 53 says in verse 32. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this. He was led as a sheep to slaughter and as a lamb before its shears is silence So he does not open his mouth in Humiliation his judgment was taken away who will relate his generation for his life is removed from the earth The eunuch answered Philip and said please tell me of whom does the Prophet say this of himself or of someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture. He preached Jesus to him Listen, we must be prepared To preach Jesus and tell people about Jesus You don't have to know a lot about Jesus as a Christian if you've received the gift of eternal life You're able to tell somebody what the Lord has done for you. You can tell them about Jesus who is mighty to save Many of us are afraid to do that because we say well, I don't know enough What if they ask me a hard question then hey, here's a really good answer to a hard question, I don't know I Asked a good question. I don't know. Let me find out. I'll do some research. I'll see if I can find out I don't know. I mean the person asking the question and evidently they don't know either So you're just you're okay, and I don't know it's okay to not know

But we need to be ready to preach Jesus We need to know the gospel which first Corinthians 15 is about his his life his death his burial his resurrection On the third day how he died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day That is the gospel. And so we need to be able to communicate that to a person Philip knew how to do that. He preached Jesus to this guy He didn't preach ten ways to have a better marriage He didn't preach five ways to financial peace He didn't preach Why I'm glad to be a Baptist. He preached Jesus. That's what people need. They need Jesus They need to know about Jesus and what he did why he came what he did for them on the cross That's what people need Now an angel verse 26 an Angel of the Lord spoke to Philip initially when he was in Samaria Now you could ask you or you could form this question. It's like well Lord There's a big deal for Philip to go all the way down there Why wouldn't you just send the angel? Because we could have bypassed Philip the angel is gonna be a lot better He can move it doesn't take him a week to go 90 miles. He can just go there like that and Surely an angel is going to be able to communicate the gospel better than Philip could And we think like that and that that's a normal thought pattern But did you know God doesn't ordain angels to preach the gospel? They don't do that You're not going to find the angels preaching the gospel telling people about the grace of God and how to be saved That's what we do You say why is that? It's because angels have never been saved Angels are created beings they're created holy angels now a third of them fell in the rebellion with Lucifer who became Satan and those Those angels that went with Lucifer became demons, but God's holy angels have been made holy

They don't know anything about salvation They don't know anything experientially about grace because they've never experienced it So God gives to you and to me though to those recipients of his grace his mercy his forgiveness And it's cleansing. He says you tell other people what is evangelism evangelism? It's one beggar telling another beggar where he found she found bread Angels can't do that. You and I can do that. I love this song. That's called. Holy. Holy is what the angels sing Says there is singing up in heaven such as we have never known Where the angels sing the praises of the Lamb upon the throne Their sweet harps are ever tuneful and their voice is always clear Oh that we might be more like them while we serve the master here Holy holy is what the angels sing and I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring But when I sing redemption story They will fold their wings For angels never felt the joys that my salvation brings God has us to share he tapped Philip to share and it was at a great sacrifice And a great cause for him to go there and he went without any kind of argument without any kind of well I'll do it later type thing. He just went and he was ready to preach Jesus to this man The Bible says in Acts chapter 10 verses 42 and 43. This is Peter We're talking to the Cornelius and his family. It says, he ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly to testify that this is the one, Jesus, who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins. And he preached Jesus. And this Ethiopian eunuch, this big shot, who's over all the treasury of Candace, he is listening on the edge of his seat

and he is putting his faith and trust in Jesus. That is obvious. He heard the message. He was seeking, and you'll seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. And God sent him a witness, and it was a divine appointment. And he heard the gospel and he's put his faith and trust in Jesus. And then it says in verse 36, as they went along the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, look, water, what prevents me from being baptized? And in the Greek construction, he didn't say it once. He was saying it over and over. Hey, look, look, there's water. Hey, hey, what prevents me from being baptized? Hey, Philip, I could be baptized. What prevents me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Now that's in brackets because that means it was not in the original. It was added later. Somebody added it in so that people would understand, but it's kept in there in brackets to let you know that this is part of the gospel message. This is part of the truth of God

that we see in the New Testament. Baptism is not for those that want to be saved. Okay, if I get baptized, then I get saved. No, it's believers baptism. So Philip told him, hey, you can't get baptized unless you believe. And he says, I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the son of God. That's why we call it believers baptism. And that brings me to lesson number three. The Lord wants us to give a testimony through baptism. Once we hear the message, once we receive the message, once we put our faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone, then the Lord says, all right, give a testimony through baptism. So baptism is only for those who have believed. It's believers baptism. Baptism doesn't save you, Jesus saves you. Baptism is the first thing that you and I are commanded to do to show that we are saved. Now, does the mode of baptism, does it matter? You've seen people get baptized in TV or maybe in person where they, a lot of times I was born Catholic. And so after two weeks, I was put there and went before the church and they poured water over my head. In a lot of churches, they'll do that. You just get some water sprinkled on top of your head and that is baptism. Well, that's not what it was for the Ethiopian eunuch.

We always tell people in membership class, listen, we're not asking you to do anything that's not in the Bible. Show me in the Bible where anyone was ever sprinkled. They're not sprinkled, they're always immersed. And so you know the Ethiopian eunuch, a man of power and means and wealth. If you're going on a 1200 mile journey, guess what you bring with you? Water, right? You don't go without water, hoping that the 7-Eleven is open, there is no 7-Eleven, there's no place to go. So you bring a lot of water with you. And so if he wanted to be baptized and the mode didn't matter, he would have just said, hey, Philip, look, I got a jug of water. Let's pour it in this bowl, you can pour it over my head and then I can be baptized. That's not how it works. He sees a pool of water and he says, look, water, what prevents me from being baptized? If you really believe, you may. And they went down into the water. Why is baptism by immersion in the Bible? It's because of what it pictures. Baptism is a visible expression of an invisible reality. So what do you mean by that? Okay, I'm 17 years old, I hear the gospel. And I come back from a Young Life meeting where the guy shared his testimony

and he asked people to raise their hand if they wanted to receive Christ. I didn't really know what that meant, but I raised my hand. And I came home, I'm all by myself in my bedroom and the Lord spoke to my heart and he said, Jeff, if you died, you wouldn't go to heaven. You have no basis to go to heaven. You're trying to get to heaven by your good works and it doesn't work that way. And I realized that I was a sinner and I was lost. I was on the highway to hell and I got on my knees and I said, Jesus saved me and he did. I gave my life to him and he gave his life to me and I was there and I didn't see with my physical eyes any of it. It's all spiritual. It's all invisible. And so the Lord says that's an invisible reality. Now, I want you to give a visible representation of what happened to you. You died to your old way of life. You go under the water. You have a brand new life in Christ. You come up out of the water, buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life. That's why it's in a pool of water because it pictures death burial and resurrection. It's only for those who have been saved. The people that tell you you have to be baptized to be saved need to read in Acts chapter 10 where Cornelius and his family believed on the Lord and received the Holy Spirit and

the evidence was they began to speak languages they hadn't studied and the people that were with Peter the Jews were amazed that the gospel would go to Gentiles and they said no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized. Can they? They've received the Holy Spirit just as we have. Now, what is a Christian? Somebody who's received the Holy Spirit. I mean if you've received the Holy Spirit you're saved and so they were saved received the Holy Spirit. They hadn't been baptized yet. Then they were baptized after that to give a testimony to the fact that they belong to Christ. Well, that's what this guy did. He believed and he was baptized and it says that as soon as they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away and he wasn't there anymore and but the Ethiopian eunuch was like, okay. I mean he was just he no longer saw him but went on his way rejoicing. He had the joy of salvation. Now get this baptism is our declaration that we're not ashamed of Jesus. That's what he asked us to do. First thing he asked us to do. Some people get saved and then they say well, all right, I'll get saved but I'm not going to get baptized. Well, what do you mean? You're not going to get baptized? No, I don't want to do that.

I don't want to be the center of attention. You're not the center of attention. Jesus is the center of attention. Well, yeah, I just want to be one of those under the radar kind of guys and nobody really knows and I just kind of not going to stand up and be that public about it. Well, have you really received Christ? Why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do the things that I say if you've really received Jesus and that's the first thing he asked you to do to give a testimony to the world that you belong to him. You're saying no, maybe you haven't received Jesus. Because if you've received Jesus, you're not ashamed of him. Do you remember in the movie Elf? When Elf came into his dad's meeting, disrupted his dad's meeting and said, I'm in love. I'm in love and I don't care who knows. That's what baptism is. I'm in love with Jesus and I want the world to know that he has saved me and saved me from what? Saved me from death and hell and separation from him forever. Be to me as the song says a double cure, saved from wrath and make me pure. He does both those things. He saves us from death and hell as it says in John chapter five verse 24. Jesus said truly truly I say to you, he who believes in me and on him who sent me has everlasting life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life. And we're never going to stand in judgment because Jesus

took all of our judgment and as Chris preached through Romans chapter 8, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life and Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death. We give a testimony through baptism that says Lord, I'm not ashamed of you. You have saved me and I want everyone to know it. Jesus said whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his father with the Holy Angels. The Ethiopian eunuch wasn't ashamed. He was chomping at the bit to get into the water to let the world know that he belongs to Jesus. Listen some critical questions each of us needs to answer number one. As you search your heart, have you sincerely put your faith and trust in Jesus, and Jesus alone for salvation? As the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16 said to Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Number two, have you been baptized by immersion since receiving Christ? Have you followed the Lord in baptism? In the Bible, that was always very soon afterward. They would trust Christ, and then they would be baptized. Has that happened for you? You say, well, Pastor Jeff, I've never done that.

Well, hey, guess what? You're on a good Sunday. It's big summer Sunday. You can do it tonight. You don't have to wait. You don't have to wait till next week. You can do that tonight, and we will celebrate with you. It has to be real in your heart. As Philip said, if you really believe you may, and the eunuch said, I believe that Jesus is the son of God. And then thirdly, will you start praying for divine appointments, and be willing and ready to tell people about Jesus? If we pray for divine appointments, if we look for divine appointments, if we're asking God for divine appointments, guess what? They're gonna start coming our way because the Lord saved us to be his witnesses. And as we talk about in our church, shine and share. Shine is how you live. Share is what comes out of your mouth. We need to have both. We need to live a Christian life and let our light so shine among men that they may see our good works and glorify our father who's in heaven. And then we need to share. We need to step through the fear and ask that question, whatever that question may be. How many in this room would say, I can do that? I will do that.

My hand is up. I will share Jesus and let God use me to bring some friends, to bring some friends, some neighbors, some loved ones, some person that I just meet on the street corner to faith in Jesus Christ. Now we come to the most important question of all. Have you turned from sin and selfishness and given your heart and life to Jesus? Listen, if not, today is the day for you. Just pray this simple prayer from your heart. Lord Jesus, I need you. I know that I'm a sinner and I can't save myself, but I believe Jesus that you are God in the flesh. I believe you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. And right now I ask you to forgive me and save me, come into my life, change me, make me the person you want me to be. I surrender my life to you. And I promise to follow you all the days I have left. Now, if you pray that kind of prayer and mean it, the Lord will come in and your life will never be the same. Listen, I would love to hear from you. So please contact me and share with me what's going on so we can pray for you. And if you are ever in the Texarkana area, we would love for you to visit us live and in person at FBC Texarkana. Listen, you really are important to God and you're important to us.

And we're here for you.