Preaching Jesus - Greg Branch

If you like to follow along in your Pew, Bible, or your

personal Bible, that's a wonderful thing.

If you have trouble getting around with that and stay in

with us, I'm going to try pretty much everything that you're

going to see a just going to be the scriptures found.

That's convenient on everybody staying together and to make

sure that you get a read. And no, this is what it says,

you know, one of the greatest blessings God has given to us,

is that the word of God is free to everybody?

You may say, well, I don't know. It costs about 35 bucks in the

bookstore where I and looked but you can get one free.

The Bible, God's word is literally to everybody Of All

Times, They languages that it's in.

There's no excuse for us, not to understand and be able to go to

God's word. And sometimes when I talk with

with folks, they talk about, well, it's just so confusing to

me and I want you to know, there may be things that it's

difficult for us to tie together, but this story also

gives us insight into how to navigate the confusion that we

might feel when we read. I'll draw your attention to Acts

Acts 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8 and we're going to begin in verse 26.

Says, now, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, arise

and go toward the South along the road which goes down from

Jerusalem to Gaza. This is Desert, so he arose and

went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great

Authority. Under Candace, the queen of the

okiya Ethiopians who had charge of all her Treasury and had come

to Jerusalem to worship. Now stop to say this as he comes

down and he as he's going along, there's a man of Ethiopia.

This man, there's a this calls it, a eunuch here, some

translations, call it. And I'm blanking right now.

So I'm going to keep going. He has treasury of all he has

charge of over treasury. There's one of our preachers who

calls him, the Secretary of Treasury converting, the

Secretary of Treasury. This person is someone who is no

doubt has an education level that is beyond, what would be

standard. He's someone who certainly has a

place in the government whose far above whatever would be

normal for others. He's come to Jerusalem to

worship. Is this man?

A proselyte Is he a man who was a Jew that somehow relocated

into Ethiopia can tell you in my mind, Zion and what?

I personally think, this is an Ethiopian, man, a man who has

some point was proselytized into the Jewish religion, and now,

he's going to Jerusalem, like, the Jews would do.

He's trying to learn about this new faith, that he's found in

the one God of the universe. Because prior to that, no doubt

he had been exposed to either some type of an idolatrous

concept or worldview. You that would have had one or

many. And now he's learned about the

one. We don't know how long he's been

this. Now, we don't know for sure that

he was a proselyte. I just think that about myself

But he's gone to Jerusalem to worship.

And now, as he goes back, the Bible says, he's returning now,

by the way, if I understand right, as the crow flies, Just

doesn't just straight. If you're taking an airplane,

this might have been 13 to 15 hundred miles.

If he was going by Chariot and taking it all by land without

the aid of the ship. And I'm not going to try to do

this, could have been a journey that took months.

We don't know how long exactly he's been reading, but he's

sitting in his Chariot and he's reading, Isaiah, the prophet.

Now you can look in your Bible and you can read the book of

Isaiah just like he was doing. And the Bible says, the spirit

said to Philip go near an overtake this Chariot.

I want you to get up to him and so he goes near to overtake it.

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet.

Isaiah and said to, you understand what you're reading.

Now, I don't know if Philip was just super fast if this was a

miracle of the holy spirit that he could outsprint a chariot, or

if it's just such a long Cherry trip that this Chariot is

crawling. It's just better than walking

yourself. Some have even suggested this

night might not have even been horses that were pulling this

Chariot, that it was not uncommon that it would have been

some type of fox or something like that, which might give an

image of how slowly this could have been moving.

It might not have taken a big argh run.

We don't know exactly but we know as he runs and comes near,

he hears him reading the prophet.

That means he's reading out loud.

Do you ever get to where you're having trouble understanding

something and you've been reading it and your back and

forth over it? You're in the Bible and you're

reading it and it's your mind, maybe it's going other places

you're distracted. You got all this and you think I

don't have a clue when I just read and so you read it again

and now you try to pay attention but it's harder to understand

and it was the first time if you're like me when you're

really confused. Reading something pretty soon.

You'll be Reading it out loud. Not that it's really helping

anything other than its I do it. And some of you are shaking your

head, you do that too. I don't know if this is what's

going on with this Ethiopian nobleman Or if he's just reading

it. So the other people in his

Entourage gets to hear it too. But Phil appears in reading it

and he says, do you understand what you're reading?

And he said, how can I unless someone guides me and he asked

Philip to come up and sit with him.

Now we've already been introduced to this man.

He's someone who's on the level of our Secretary of Treasury.

Most undoubtedly, a matter of higher education, amount of

great Authority. We would typically see this

person in society and say, Well, they're intelligent We look at

this guy and we say he should be an intelligent person who's

capable under to understanding things.

And yet, he's reading Isaiah and he doesn't get it.

The reason I believe erring this point is because I want you to

understand when you don't get the Bible, it doesn't mean

you're not intelligent enough to get it.

It doesn't mean that you don't have the capacity, it just means

that you need someone to help you connect the dots.

Someone that perhaps is already spent that time been there.

They've been through that confusion and had someone help

them understand it and I want you to understand what Philip

did he came. And he asked him, Phillip Came

and sit with him the place in the scripture, which he read was

this. He was led as a sheep to the

slaughter and as a lamb before Shearer is silent.

So, he opened not his mouth. This was the place, the noblemen

red in his humiliation. His Justice was taken away.

And who will declare his generation.

For his life is taken from the Earth.

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I Ask of You, whom

does the prophet say this of himself or some other man?

Now, if you're familiar with this, this is an Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

53. And my intake on this is that

he's already read 52 chapters. and he still hasn't figured out

who's been talked about, Is this Isaiah, is it somebody else?

Who is he talking about and Philip opened his mouth and

beginning. At this scripture preached Jesus

to him told you as Isaiah 53, its verses 7 and 8 when I want

you to do now is go back and look at what he might have read.

We can't go back to Isaiah chapter 1, but I think we've got

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

time this morning to start in Isaiah, chapter 52.

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

And we're going to pick up in verse 13.

I want to get a running start into Isaiah 53:7.

Isaiah 53:7

And eight. What had he been reading up to

this point that now he's convinced that what he's saying

is either about himself or he's talking about somebody else.

If he's if he's talking about somebody else I want to

understand it. I want to get it now.

Put yourself in the place of this.

This perhaps a proselyte if it wasn't a proselyte and he was a

Jewish born and raised but he just been relocated to Ethiopia

and somehow been managed to elevate himself within that

Society not only Place of stature and within the

government to be the treasury. Somebody says, well, you know,

maybe he wasn't. Maybe he wasn't that much of a

deal, maybe he just nobody else wanted to count the money.

You know, the fact is the very fact that he owns a scroll and

of Isaiah, That he's taking it with him.

Implies many scholars to say he was very wealthy.

You see, I told you we were very fortunate.

Today, that pretty much I'm guessing everybody in this

audience has a Bible and I've already told you if you don't

and you want one and you can't afford it, you'll have one for

free this day. It wasn't like that back.

Then if you wanted a copy of the old scriptures, somebody had to

be paid to write it out. That's a scribe.

When you read about the scribes in the in the Bible, those are

people that thorough job their daily activity was writing and

copying the scripture. So there could be more copies of

it to spread around because it was such a tedious long thing as

was expensive. And yet, this man is rich enough

to own one. He's been reading it.

We're going to pick up what Isaiah 53.

What's he saying? Behold my servant shall deal.

Prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high

just as many were astonished at you.

So his visit was marked more than any man and his form more

than the sons of, man. Whoever he's reading about it

this time, he says he's going to deal prudently and he's going to

be extolled he's going to be brought very high.

And yet though many years, Donna statute, his visit is going to

be marred, more than any buddies has ever been more.

Do you know what the visages? It's the appearance.

It's his form when you look at him, he's going to be marred

more than any of the sons of men.

So he shall sprinkle many nations Kings shall shut.

Their mouths at him. They're going to be quiet and

the listen for what had not been told them they shall see and

what they had not heard they shall consider.

There's a new message coming through.

This one that even Kings will stop to listen to, we're dealing

with an agent a time when the king spoke everybody else was

quiet, you didn't dare speak and open your mouth until you were

bitten by the king. But this man's different than

what he's talking about here is when he talks to the Kings will

be quiet, he's different and they're going to hear something.

That they never considered they will consider it.

Now, Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 1 and who has believed our

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

report And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed.

This message, who's believed it. Now, you would think that that

could have been written in the year 2018, right?

Today, because there's a lot of people in this in this state in

this world. And perhaps in this room, there

may be one or two or maybe more who have trouble believing this

report. That's not a new problem.

People believing and being able to embrace the word of God is

nothing new. It's been a challenge you read

the book of Jeremiah, you know, some people say Darwin was the

first evolutionist, he's not read the book of Jeremiah, and

you'll find in the book of Jeremiah that when people were

confronted with their sin, That on that occasion.

The Bible says, they covered their faces, they turn to their

back to him and they wouldn't listen.

And you know what they said, they said to the trees, you have

brought us forth and to the Rocks, we came from you.

They denied being the product of a creative God and said we have

just evolved from trees and rocks.

Darling, Darwin was late to that party.

He just published more about it. Back in Isaiah 53.

People weren't believing this in many cases and he says who will

the arm of the Lord even be revealed to this one?

He speaks of here is nowra being referred to as the arm of the

Lord. What is your arm do?

Your arm reaches out. Your arm is there so that when I

want something, my hand can reach my arm, puts my hand out

there, to take it, this one that he's talking about here, he's

God's ability to reach out to man.

The arm of the Lord, he says, whose Cahoon will he be revealed

to for? He is grown up before him as a

tender plant. And as a root out of the ground,

he has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is no

beauty that we should desire him.

This. What he's talking about.

He says, he's before God before the Lord.

He's grown up like a tender plant.

I love to Garden. Well, I don't know if I love to

Garden, as much as I love the produce that comes out of the

garden. Because when you see those

tender plants, I see Tomatoes sea cucumbers.

I see the potential there and I can't wait for it.

But really, when it's just a little plant, it's not that

great. I guess it must not be just

little plants in and of themselves are great because

when they grow up in the grass, I pull them out.

As a matter of fact, this this this idea as a root out of dry

ground that got these fruitless mulberry trees.

I put my backyard because they grow fast and I needed shade and

I didn't have a tree on two acres and so I thought fruitless

mulberries would be great and they were great for the first

eight years. And now, you know what's going

on with roots. They got big roots and they want

to come up. And so, what I do, I get dirt

and I try to cover them up and plant grass, so it comes over,

I've kind of given up. See, I don't like that route

appearing out of dry ground. And I feel bad when I think of

it in this life, because that's how people looked at the one

that's being prophesied about. We just wanted to cover him up.

They don't want him. Who's going to accept this?

He's despised and rejected by Men.

A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it

were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not

esteem him now specifically, contextual he's talking about

the Jews, the person whose lineage, and whose bloodline

they shared. He says, even his own family

didn't accept him for this, is it any wonder that 2000 years

later? People are still struggling with

it. Who's going to believe this

report? Surely, he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows. Yet.

We esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted.

This Ethiopian nobleman was reading about this guy.

And he's saying, man, I mean this it seems like God loves me,

but everybody else hates him and people they look at him and

thought that God was afflicting him and striking him but he was

wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our

iniquities. The chastisement for our peace

was upon him and by his stripes We are healed.

How is this working? How does all this happen?

All we, we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way and the lord has laid on

him. The iniquity of us all.

No wonder. This Ethiopian nobleman is

getting confusing. He wants to know who is this,

that was oppressed and he was afflicted yet.

He opened. Not his mouth, he was led as a

lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her Shearer's is

silent. So he opened not his mouth.

You can picture this. This scene of this lamb that

before they slaughter it. They want to be sure to get what

was of any value off of it. And so it would be sure.

And it just stands there without a bleep.

Ready to receive whatever happens.

He says, this is what's going on.

It's like a lamb led to the slaughter.

He was taken from prison and from judgment.

And who will declare his generation for.

He was cut off from the land of the living, for the

transgression of my people. He was stricken I know you've

heard Frank, teach on this. This idea of that he goes

through, he says he's taking, he doesn't even get his prison

sentence. He doesn't even get what I think

we would call in his, his ability to appeal, the

condemnation. He is and he is from the time

that they tell him he's going to die.

He gets no justice and who's going to talk about his kids.

Who's going to talk about the generation that he left behind

that will follow nobody? From he was cut off from the

land of the living. We had to bury a young man of

our congregation. At the end of December. 19 years

old, perfectly healthy and two months later.

He's gone. No generation and Claire for

him. It's a hard thing to deal with.

God knows, Jesus knows. The things that we take great

joy in his humans in Our Generations, in our children and

grandchildren, and get to know that either, he was cut off from

the land of the living and why, for the transgression of my

people, he was stricken Anything he did and they made his grave

with the wicked but with the rich in his death because he had

done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth he was

killed. He was destroyed along with

wicked men. But at his death, he would go to

the place of the ridge. Now, I'm guessing that many of

you already know where this is headed.

You already know how this story and I kind of gave it off away

in the title were preaching Jesus and you know that this

prophecy is fulfilled to a tee, you know, that pilot marveled

that he would answer, not a word When he could have, he had

showed himself very capable in the synagogue, on many occasions

with the Pharisees, or with the Sadducees, or with the scribes,

he could, he could stand before them all.

And they could not confound him and yet, when it came time for

him to die, he answered never a word.

How did they know that hundreds of years?

Beforehand, you say, well, Greg. I read novels.

I mean, look, we've got some that have written books that are

thousands of pages long. And they carry this store line

from the beginning to the end. And so yeah, the Bible could do

it but that's not how the Bible worked.

I want you to understand in the history of the Bible and I can't

go in. This isn't about this but we

have it in one tidy book, nowadays, that's not how it was

accumulated. That's not how we received it.

Do you realize that archaeologists have found Found

Scrolls of different eras of time and of different books that

have gone together to put these things.

It wasn't like it was just this boom here it is when it comes to

specially and particularly to the old Covenant and these

prophecies and you can go and they Archaeology is to this day,

still unraveling and finding and and unearthing areas.

And these Scrolls that were written Hundreds of years before

Jesus would walk the face of the Earth prophesy of things that

happen to the tee. Someone says well it's just

carefully crafted. I mean so somebody read all

those books and they just made sure they made a man to go

through all that. How do you do that?

What are you going to get the guy that's going to volunteer

for that job? And number two, how do you

really pull it off? Because the intelligent Jews

among them would have. Put it with a snip that right in

the bud. They didn't want him to be.

That's clear. Not only from the Bible, That's

clear from secular history. You see it just it goes to

cleanly. God expresses his power to us in

the universe. And when we look out and see the

things that are created, but he also expresses his power to us

in the revealed, written word that all through the history

pages of this, this Ethiopian nobleman is he's reading this

feel, it begins there. And now, I don't know if this is

what Philip went on to preach. I personally believe it is and

he's beginning to explain this. Remember, this nobleman has just

returning from Jerusalem. That's the place where all of

this took place, no doubt it still rumbles from all of that,

no doubt, they still talk about this, no doubt.

This whole issue of Christianity.

The way is, in opposition to what he had been told and he's

up. He's aware of all these things

and now Philip is able to say you see where I'm talking about.

You see how this ties together, I'm convinced he went on.

It says yet. He it pleased the Lord to bruise

him. It was the Lord's will that this

would happen. He would Bruised.

And I hope is you picture as you understand the view of the

Cross. His Visage was marred more than

any man. That means he's unrecognizable,

he had bruises already Now, usually it takes at least me.

It takes a day or two before the Bruce gets going before you can

see it. On the day of his death, his

bruises, that's how bad they beat him.

Now, the only people I've seen that have been beaten so bad.

You see their bruises that day, Or Fighters that get in a ring

and literally Pummel each other. And by the time their press

conference, come you see in the bruises already but that's

because they're just wailing or having been welded on I don't

suppose, I will ever forget some of the images.

That I saw the riots that took place down Lala. so those people

that were just brutally beaten, Immediately the bruises start to

show. This is what he looked like and

yet, it was the Lord's, will this would happen?

He's put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for

sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and

the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Why did this have to be the way the righteous will of God would

be accomplished. I cannot answer that.

But I can tell you this much. Is there any doubt in your mind

that God? Loved Jesus Christ.

His only begotten son. God.

So loved the world that he gave his only son to die, for our sin

and I'm convinced. That if God could see Jesus go

through this. And see his will accomplished.

There is more to all that we go through in life than I

understand. When it comes to tragedy.

When it comes to loss. When it comes to the things that

make the human mind, say if God really loved me, he wouldn't and

you fill in the blank. If God really loved me, he would

have and you fill in your blank. We all have our blank There's

not a doubt in my mind that God love Jesus.

And there is nothing that any person on Earth has ever gone

through. That's worse than what Jesus

went through. Now, I'm not saying it's not

bad. I'm not saying it's not horrific

whatever some people have gone through, but it's not any worse.

He loved him. now, I sent the point I was going out, but I got

sick because on my mind Sometimes people say then why

then why? And again, I don't know why I'm

going to give you a Greg. Branches half a Penny's worth.

I am not convinced when I read the scriptures and I'm not

saying it's not didn't happen, but I'm not convinced that there

was ever another Angel created after God, created Avenue me,

Adam and Eve. He may have the scriptures don't

indicate that as a way I read them.

What we do know from scriptures that there was a great

destruction and there was a great division that happened in

heaven with Lucifer. With the angels that sinned.

And the Angels were cast out. it appears to me that God decided

when he created mankind, That anymore created beings would be

created with choice. And if they chose him through

life on Earth than they would choose him through anything,

that might happen in that Eternal Realm.

If they deny him through a life on Earth than they would have

denied him in an eternal. And that will not happen again.

Now I can't tell you if that's for sure the case but it helps

me process and make sense out of some things.

Because if I can't deal with being separated or in opposition

to my family here on Earth, even though I know God's word says,

what are the other than I wouldn't do it in an eternal

realm? When something came up with

people that I was close to or with beans that I was close to.

And if I couldn't take something that I might not otherwise be

able to understand and in my comprehension agree with, but

still acquiesce to the word of God.

In this life. Then I'm going to do it the

Eternal one either. Frankie coaches football and I

know I'm convinced in my mind that he puts his kids through

some things that he knows is going to break them down.

Just to see if they'll keep fighting.

And just to see if they'll come out on the right side. and yes,

it'll make him stronger but you've just got to see where the

will is God needs to see where our will is.

And you know what? We need to see where our will is

Today, I don't know if that answers every question, but

here's what I know, it does. Say, I know that the, when Jesus

suffered in a way that son comprehensible to me, God's will

is accomplished in a prosper in his hand.

He shall leave. See the labor of his soul and be

satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant shall

justify many for. He shall bear their iniquities

through this process. He says, therefore, I will

divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the

spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death.

He was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the

sin of many and made intercession for the

transgressors this whole process.

Brought about a Deliverance. Now, I don't know how long he

preached but for times sake, I'm going to start skipping around

on some things. My mind's eye is pretty

convinced. He must have gotten through, you

know, in the very next chapter, Isaiah 54 13.

He says all your children should be taught by the Lord and great

shall be the piece of your children in righteousness.

You shall be established. You shall be far from oppression

for you shall not fear, and from Terror, for it shall not come

near you. Isn't that what we need to know

that there is a Time coming when this won't come near me anymore?

When all these things can be put away when a time when the

children of Israel did not know peace.

He could prophesied through this Messiah through this Lord, that

peace would come that people can't take away.

Isn't that what we really need to be assured of, no matter

where, how we grow up in life in America in the United States.

And we prayed and we're so grateful to be a part of it, you

know, when we read scriptures about how the wealthy and we

tend I don't know if I tend and maybe you do too to think, oh

well, the wealthy that's like those people that live over on

the hill have that huge house and they're really wealthy

you're right, I've heard some just last week, if you have

change in your pocket, Or change in the ashtray of your car or in

a jar at home. If you have loose change, you

are in the top, 14 percent of the world's wealth.

Means there's eighty-six percent of the people that live on this

Earth are less that have less than you do.

And if you have a refrigerator, With your food in it, you're in

the top 5%. Now that's hard for me to

imagine. I thought there's rich people

all over the world and you know, there are But it's mostly

poverty. Frankie can probably attest to

that and places. He's been refrigerators a big

deal. People from most of the World

when they reach cell like this and there's a time they don't

have to be worried about the next meal or oppression.

What Deliverance? That's promising.

Maybe he got down into verse 17. No weapon formed against you

shall prosper every tongue which Rises against you and judgement

shall condemn. This is the heritage of the

Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is from me, says

the Lord, a time we only have to worry about the enemy anymore.

No weapon. And we know today, through Jesus

Christ, there is nothing anybody can do to us, to take away.

Our hope neither life nor death, nor principalities nor power

nothing. The worst thing they can do, is

kill us and set us free. This is the promise through this

Messiah. Perhaps he got into verse

chapter 55 and 60 seek the Lord. While he may be found call upon

him. While he is near, let the wicked

forsake his way. And the unrighteous man, his

thoughts. Perhaps is this point Ethiopian

nobleman saying, I get it. Yes, it does it all fit

together. And then Phillips able to say

well then seek him now. He's near you right now.

Maybe today you're at this point in this lesson you're seeing ik.

I can kind of get this I see and I believe that he is near to you

right now seek him while you can find him.

If you're, if you have wickedness, don't say I'm just

too bad. I can never make it.

Let the wicked forsake his way turn around, leave it behind

you. The scripture is full of

examples in the New Testament that say, and such were some of

you. But you've been washed and

you've been cleansed It doesn't matter, just put it behind you

and seek the Lord and the unrighteous, man, his thoughts.

Now, we have a tendency. And I'm going to talk to church

now. Church people, we come all the

time, maybe you're here, Sunday, morning, Sunday afternoon,

Wednesday, night to and you don't really do all those wicked

things but, you know, that there's a battle of your mind.

And I want you to know Temptation in of itself is not

sin. Giving into it.

Dwelling on it. That's where the problem comes.

He says, let the unrighteous man, forsake his thoughts.

Someone might say, yeah, it doesn't really matter.

It's just, it's just It's just what I think about or it's just

I would never really do it but I might fantasize.

Don't you forsake it? Number one, and most

importantly, because the word of God says it.

Number 2 and by experience. If you've been around and all

that whether it's yourself or someone you've helped work

through it, when you continue to think about it, eventually

you'll act on it and it builds a foundation, that is very, very,

very difficult to tear out. It haunts you.

There is a reason that the scriptures over and over talk

about the problem of that Sevilla Smith's and the problem

of things we see with our eyes, this happened, this I'm talking

about pornography Talking about things even when you don't use

printed or visual material anymore because you don't need

it. Now he says forsake, those

unrighteous thoughts, how do you do that?

When you catch yourself, you pray to Gods, forgive you for

that sin and and the unrighteousness of your thoughts

and pray to him to help you think about something righteous.

And you might think that sounds easy, but if you've been through

it, you know, it's still not, but you maintain that and you

begin, you try to read the word something.

If you don't know, a one passage in particular just read anything

fight through that. You can overcome the unrighteous

need to forsake that thought and let them return to the Lord and

He will have mercy on me. He wants to be merciful to you

and to our God for he will abundantly pardon, he will

forgive it and not only forgive it.

He's going to do it abundantly for my thoughts are not your

thoughts. Nor are your ways, my ways says

the Lord for, as the heavens are higher than the earth.

So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your

thoughts. Now, I got to admit to you, they

verses 8 and 9 At least it wasn't the community.

That's another story for another time.

I memorized, Hebrews 55 verses 8 and 9.

Probably by the time I was 18. And you know what?

I memorized it on. I memorized it on a sermon about

the worship and that we need to do things the way God says,

because if we do it our own way, our thoughts are not his

thoughts and his ways are not our ways.

And as the heavens are higher than the earth says thoughts

are. There are thoughts of his ways

that I always will just mess it up and you know what I believe

that's true. But it was a long time before I

realized those verses were tied into the mercy and forgiveness

and grace of God. Because Greg branch and maybe

you too. We have a hard time forgiving

ourselves when we really mess up, we can just beat ourselves

up for the rest of our life. And if we can do that to

ourselves, we can do that to each other.

To someone that really hurts us. We can just, we just can't get

over it. At least, we think when we

finally realize we won't get over it and then maybe we got a

chance to get over it. But God's not like that God's

ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts in our thoughts.

And he says, if if you'll forsake that Wicked way, if

you'll forsake those Wicked thoughts, if you will return to

me, I will have mercy on you and I will abundantly pardon you,

because I'm not like you. I can do it, if you'll do it.

That's his promise. I'd like to think that the

Ethiopian nobleman got to hear that.

And finally, Isaiah 59:20 Redeemer come to Zion and those

Isaiah 59:20

who from transgression. And Jacob says, the Lord asked

for me, says the Lord, this is my Covenant with them.

My spirit who is upon you and my words, which I put in your mouth

shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of

your descendants nor from the mouth of your descendants.

Descendants says the Lord from this time and forever.

I don't know how long the world's going to stand.

And I would like to think that the Ethiopian nobleman got to

hear this. And in my mind's eye, I'm

convinced he did I'll tell you why in a second.

But he says from them, this is going to be this message and

this will go on this story. This preaching Jesus will never

stop says the Lord for now and forever.

I am not the first one to preach this sermon and I don't believe

I'll be the last and less time. It's immediately.

Because this message is going on and on, don't know how far he

went. But for time sake, I got to get

back to what he did. Do in back in Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

says verse 36. Now, as they went down the road,

they came to some water and the eunuch said, see here is water.

What hinders me from being baptized?

You notice one thing we did not discuss and Isaiah is baptism.

Now, I already told you that this was a long trip, we're not

told how long the Ethiopian nobleman and Phillip were riding

along in this Chariot, is it possible that they'd even camped

out a few nights already? I don't know. but if they made

it through the book of Isaiah and then into the New Covenant

to the point that he could teach baptism to him, we never even

got to that Isaiah, but Philip had by the time they come to a

certain water, the eunuch says, well here's water, why can't I

be baptized? What hinders me?

What's stopping me? And Philip said, if you believe

with all your heart, you may he answered and said, I believe

that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by the time he got done.

And by the time they got to that pool of water, the Ethiopian

nobleman knew who was being spoken about in Isaiah 53.

And he knew now that Jesus Christ.

Not only was the one prophesied. He was indeed the Son of God.

And so he commanded the Chariot to stand still, and both Philip

and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him.

Now that word baptize. I feel compelled to say this

about it. It's literally just a

transliteration that comes from the Greek word baptizo.

The translators have not always agreed on how to translate that

word because if you know much about religion you know,

everybody's got a different way to quote-unquote.

Baptized literally baptizo means to immerse to dip, or to plunge

in Romans, chapter, 6, verses, 1 through 6, you'll read that and

you'll find out it's described as a burial.

What happened here? When he baptized him, he stopped

The Chariot. Philip, and the eunuch got out

of the Chariot. They both went down into the

water, both of them, and he either immersed, him, he dipped

him. He plunged him.

He buried him in that water. Now I got to admit it's a one

more thing I'm getting off on tangents this morning.

Some people say Greg, but you're making a work necessary for

salvation and I know what the Bible says that works.

Aren't that. I want to tell you this morning,

I want you to tell me in your picture of what I just told you.

What was the work of the this Ethiopian nobleman and went down

in the water with Billa. At what work did the Ethiopian

nobleman accomplish? I believed Philip was the one

that had the job to do Ethiopian nobleman what did he have to do?

He had to surrender. He had to do what is otherwise

against our nature and allow somebody.

To Duncan. And when we were kids the Victor

was the one that got a donkey. Everybody else.

You fought not to get dumped. When you come in obedience to

the gospel. The least work you will do in

your Christian life and in your life after belief is be

baptized, you surrender in baptism, and whoever you want to

assist you in that process, they do the work.

It takes work to believe because that means you're going to have

to invest some of your time and your energy and your mental

capacity to see if you'll believe when you confess and you

get the courage to say that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son

of God. Now that's putting an effort on

you. You you might call that work.

When you're asked to repent, Luke 13 and 3, Jesus said,

except you repent you will all likewise perish.

Take some work. Not works of righteousness.

It's works of faith. What's the difference in a work

of righteousness and work of Faith?

It's not like and works righteousness.

When I say that, I mean, we think, well, if I do this, then

I learn it and he'll owe it to me.

No, there's nothing I can do that.

I can earn this. Nothing you can do.

But works of faith means, I'm going to do that because I

believe that's the right thing to do.

Do I mess up? Yeah.

When you mess up what you do, you confess that fault?

Pray one for another, the effectual fervent prayer of a

righteous man availeth. Much first John 189 says if we

confess our faults, he's faithful.

And just to forgive us and cleanse us of all

unrighteousness. You don't have to just keep

being baptized Living the life that it's going to take some

faithful word. Baptism it takes surrender.

Tell me if there's not an image that more accurately reflects

what God wants out of us. When we commit ourselves to

Jesus. He says I want you to surrender

your life, I want you to be willing to do what otherwise is

against your nature to allow. In my mind, this picture of

baptism that takes place is the perfect picture of what it means

for you to be born again at Surrender, Your Life to God.

Last thing I want you to notice Philip and the eunuch went.

Now, do you realize today, there are some people that because the

preacher don't want to get his slack sweater.

Don't want to have to change clothes.

They send people in by themself and they reach over.

No, I'm not saying there aren't some situations that are trash

cans. The only option I've heard of

some pretty creative things but our pattern, they both went down

in the water and he baptized in there.

And when he came up out of the water, the spirit of the lord

caught, Philip a waste of the eunuch, saw him no more and he

went hit on his way rejoicing. I've made a lot of trips in our

car between Oklahoma or the last 30 years, least twice a year

sometimes more and I can never think of a time I would have

enjoyed getting soaking wet in the middle.

Of that trip and then jumping back in the Suburban to make the

rest of the drive. It's not something you do unless

it's important, but that's exactly what happened here and

that Ethiopian nobleman, he rejoiced the rest, his way home.

I don't know how long it took him to drive dry out, but he was

a happy man. We thank you for listening to

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