Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let us please open our Bibles to the book of Acts and we are going by the grace of God to try to finish chapter 8 today as we are reading the second half of Acts chapter 8 beginning with verse 26 and the theme of this portion is Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch And I'm reading beginning from verse 26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, go towards the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert. And he arose, and he went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopian, 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 the prophet.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I except some men should guide me? And he desired, Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the Scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened 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 prophet this, of himself, or of some other man. And Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Yeshua. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, see here is water what does hinder me to be baptized and philip said if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayst and he answered and said i believe that Yeshua the Messiah 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 were 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 and philip was found at azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to Kessariah.

And that is the end of chapter 8. Beautiful chapter. This text especially is very precious because this text shows us how God in his wisdom leading a soul to find the Messiah Yeshua using the servant of God who uses the word of God. In fact, what we have here. In this chapter, we have God's Word being led by God's Spirit, using God's men or servant to present God's anointed Son, Yeshua the Messiah. Very beautiful thought we have here in this chapter. Now, let me just, first of all, by way of introduction, remind you and I that now, up till this point we have already seen in the book of Acts the presentation of the gospel to first of all the Jewish people our own people the nation of Israel Jerusalem and then now we've already learned earlier in prior portion in the first part of chapter 8 of the book of Acts that the message of the gospel was also presented to shomron to Samaria and now what we can see here from here on from chapter 8 and verse 26 on towards chapter 12 the presentation of the gospel to the area that we call Yehuda Judea and here we see how the Lord in his wisdom knows how to move on and to move his servant from one area of service to another area of service and we can immediately see how even in spite of the fact that there was so much blessing in Samaria God in his wisdom have decided to shift the ministry of Philip from the great work in the cities of.

Samaria to a completely isolated area in the desert where there was one man who needed to know that Yeshua is the Messiah. You will find this in ministry dear brothers and sisters that maybe the Lord used us in one area so much and there are many blessings in this area and yet God says listen the time has come for you to move into a different direction because I have for you something to do in another area with another person that have a great need that I prepared him to hear the message of the gospel. And so, if we will take and divide this portion that we have read, we have really three divisions.

From verses 26 to 40, the first division of this portion is found in verse 26 to 29. Philip, a servant of God, is being led by the Spirit of God to meet that eunuch, the Ethiopian eunuch in the wilderness now notice that first of all in verse 26 the angel of the Lord is speaking. To philip look it says and the angel of the Lord it's not the angel of the Lord we often have in the old testament the angel of the Lord always applied to Yeshua the Messiah here we have an angel an angel of the Lord spake unto philip and he said to him philip arise and go towards the south and to the way that is going down to Jerusalem and to Gaza, which is desert.

Isn't it amazing? Well, Philip was just now preaching in Samaria. Many of the Samaritans came to faith in Yeshua the Messiah. The Holy Spirit of God came and fell upon the Samaritan, the Shomronim, and he placed him into the body of Messiah. And now, in spite of the great work that was going in Shomron in Samaria, An angel of the Lord shifting the ministry of Philip from a great ministry to go to an individual that has a need in a desert. And you notice how beautiful to see that God knows every need that is found everywhere, and it is the God who called his servants to obey his word.

And you can see that he knows the need that existing in the hearts of one man and God is calling his servants to obey his word now look at philip philip could have said to the angel to the one who called him he could have said listen Lord how can i stop now the ministry right here things are going so well people getting saved people are going to be part of the body of Messiah how can i be shifting my ministry to the desert what is going on in the desert on the way to Gaza but the Lord gave him a word and the call of the Lord impressed upon the heart of philip is essential because otherwise philip will not be in the will of the Lord and so we find out in verses 27 and 28 the obedience of Philip to the word of the Lord it's so nice to see that remember brothers and sisters that Philip began his ministry as a servant if you remember in Acts.

Chapter 6 he was one of those individuals who were chosen by the assembly there to serve tables to minister to the people in the city of Jerusalem to the believers there he was chosen as a servant but you can see that God used him because of his faithfulness to go to preach the message in the Shomron in Samaria and now because of his faithfulness he lead him to an individual soul in the desert on the way to Gaza and so we see the obedience of Philip in verses 27 and 28 he arose notice no delay it reminds me of father Abraham so precious you remember with father Abraham in Genesis chapter 22 where God said to him take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and go and offer him upon the mountain which i will tell thee off and abram rose up early in the morning no delay obedience to the word of God bring blessing to the servant of God and here we see he arose and he went complete obedience upon this servant of.

God servant of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and he arose it says and he went and behold a man of ethiopia and unique of great authority under kandas the queen of the ethiopians who had charge of all her treasures had come to Jerusalem for to worship the Lord there you see philip had a great appointment to meet there was a man that was there that was ready to accept the Messiah that the holy Spirit of God was already working in his soul preparing him for the reception of the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, in his heart. And so Philip in obedience, he rose up and he went.

And what does he see? He looks and he sees a man, as it says here, of Ethiopia. He sees a eunuch that had much authority here in Ethiopia under the queen of Candace. And he was the one that had charge of all her treasure. And he came to the city of Jerusalem to worship. Now, a few things here about this verse. First of all, the thought of a eunuch. Now, what is a eunuch? According to the Bible, a eunuch is a person that is unable or was not able to perform physical relationship. He was castrated. And according to the Bible, if you turn with me for a moment to the book of Deuteronomy, just go for a moment to Deuteronomy chapter 23, You see what God in the law said to our people of all, the people of Israel in chapter 23 of the book of Deuteronomy.

He said this, verse 1, the first verse, he says, He that is wounded in the stones or has his private member cut off shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. In other words, God said to his people, to our own nation, Israel, when Israel came on the way to the promised land, he said to them, in giving them the law, he says, listen to Israel, he says, a eunuch will not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Not only eunuch, a child or son that was born in an illegitimate way, in verse 2, was not allowed. A Moabite could not enter, an Ammonite could not enter into the congregation, of Israel and we can see that this individual who was a eunuch went all the way from ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship the Lord knowing that the law said that the eunuch will not enter into the congregation of the Lord now another verse that i want to connect with this it is very important that is found in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, in chapter 19.

Look what Yeshua said about eunuch. Yeshua said in verse 11 and 12, when he ministered to his disciples, and he said to them, especially in verse 12, he said to them, For there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb. And there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men. And then he said, thirdly, And there be some eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. What the Lord is showing to us, again, three types of eunuchs that we have in the Bible. The first one is the one which was born with the inability to perform, to have children.

These are those that were born by nature. They were born this way. And then there were a second group of eunuchs, which usually in the olden time, those who served under Kings and those who were in authority, they are those eunuchs that were purposely made eunuchs in order that they will devote their time totally to serve the Kings. And the queens. And of course there was a third type of eunuch, that is a person who devoted himself totally to the kingdom of God, that he will completely, by the grace of God, will not have a family, will not have a wife or children, but totally devote their life for the kingdom of God.

Now from what we understand, most likely this eunuch, the one that had authority under candas the queen of ethiopia may have been the second type of unique that he was made unique by men and as he took this authority of candas the queen of ethiopia he could do his work his service without interference and so what we see he was the kind of a man that was serving faithfully the queen and he came to Jerusalem to worship now that is so beautiful because why did he come to worship and how did he know whom he is coming to worship and what brought him to understand that the city of Jerusalem is the place of worship I mean we can have all kind of things coming to our.

Mind one of the things that really come to my mind remind me of first king chapter 8 when king Shlomo the king of Israel after he finished to build the temple and he prayed to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and he said to him God if a stranger will come to this place from afar he says receive him in other words that God hear his prayer if he's going to come from afar to the city of Jerusalem to this place where the temple has been built God receive and hear the words of the stranger. The other thing that comes to mind, some suggest that this Ethiopian eunuch may have very well be a descendant of King Solomon.

If you remember the Queen of Sheba who came to find the wisdom of Solomon, some suggest perhaps he is a descendant of King Solomon through the Queen of the south the queen of Sheba but he came from afar and he came to the city of Jerusalem. And he came to worship in the city of Jerusalem now what do you think he saw when he got there to Jerusalem remember dear brothers and sisters that when he was going to Jerusalem at that time you know what was going on just recently prior to his coming the Messiah was rejected the worship in Jerusalem have been perhaps just like an external type of worship without deep reality in the heart and it was the ordinary type of routine that is going on like oftentimes going on in our own hearts in our own life just a routine you know i go to the church meeting i go to the place where the Bible is being read but there is no liberty and the spiritual desire to find the person of the Messiah there, and he was going there to the city of Jerusalem, and what do you think he saw?

He heard about the rejection of the Messiah. He saw the condition that existed in the city of Jerusalem, a merely mundane routine, going to the temple, going through the rituals. And of course, God was not pleased with this condition because he wanted the nation of Israel in love with him, serving him, recognizing him, not merely going through the routine, not merely going through the sacrificial system without the heart in it. But we can be the same way today in this present time. And so he was going up to the city of Jerusalem in verse 27, as we have read. So we find now in verse 28, he was returning.

He had left. I can just imagine leaving the city, leaving the mountain, and perhaps he was very discouraged and disappointed, because he came from about 200 miles, riding with horse and buggy, and coming with his servants to the city of Jerusalem, desiring to worship the king, to worship the Lord, but now he was returning. He was leaving Jerusalem, and you notice what it says in verse 28. It says there, he was returning, and he sat there in his chair, and he read Isaiah the prophet. Now believe me, dear brothers and sisters, he didn't have a complete Bible in his hand like you and I have. He didn't have, perhaps, a couple of Bibles like we have on our shelves.

He must have had just a portion of the scroll of Isaiah, Yeshua, Isaiah the prophet. And he was reading it. And it's so wonderful to see that he was desiring to know the will and the mind of God, reading the prophet Isaiah on the way back outside of the city of Jerusalem, reading the Scripture, reading the word of God. And so we find out that as he was coming down out of the city, on the way down towards the desert there, reading the prophet Isaiah, that in verse 29, the Holy Spirit spoke to Philip and told him what to do. It says in verse 29, And then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go and join thyself to this chariot.

Now it is amazing that the Holy Spirit speaks. Now we do not know how he spoke. But we do know that God, the Spirit, does speak. Whether he heard him in an audible voice or not i do not know but one thing for sure there was a conviction in his heart by the Spirit of God because the holy Spirit of God spake unto philip and said to him philip you go and you join yourself unto the chariot there are other passages in the book of Acts where the spirit is speaking for example in act chapter 13 in the first few verses the holy Spirit also spoke to the assembly in Antioch in Acts chapter 13 and verses 1 and 2 where it says now they were in the assembly that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simon, that was called Niger, and Lukos and Cyrene and Manin, which had been brought up with Herod the Tatarak and Saul.

As they ministered unto the Lord and they fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate unto me Barnabas and Shaul, for the work whereunto I have called them. Notice that the Spirit of God spoke to the assembly, to the believers there in the location called Antioch and said to them, I want you to separate unto me Shaul and Barnabas for the work of the ministry that I have for them. The Holy Spirit of God is a divine person. And while in the past he had been speaking perhaps more directly to the individuals or the assembly and maybe we don't hear today any audible voices but nevertheless the Spirit of God speaks he convicts us through his word through the Scriptures and so the holy Spirit of God spoke to philip and he said to him philip you join yourself unto the chariot go and join yourself unto the chariot and so how precious to see that in the first few verses 26 to 29 we see how the holy Spirit of God led the servant of God to the man that was ready to receive Yeshua the Messiah and so in the next portion of this Scripture in act chapter 8 from verse 30 to verse 35 we see philip preaching Yeshua to the ethiopian eunuch it says philip again notice no delay in the earlier verse 27 he arose and he went and now verse 30 he ran to him and here philip running to him in verse 30 and he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah.

At that time just like in many public places they read aloud the Scripture can you imagine the ethiopian eunuch is riding in his chariot is sitting there and he's reading aloud the Scripture even though the movement of the chariot in the desert moving along but he loudly read the Scripture it says here that philip heard him reading the prophet Isaiah what a lovely prophet is the prophet Isaiah Isaiah the prophet wrote about the Messiah about 750 years before Yeshua the Messiah came and the prophet Isaiah is one of the central prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures that gives us prophecies after prophecies concerning the person of the Messiah his first coming his second coming the suffering the rejection and the glory that should follow and he was reading the prophet Isaiah and philip asked him do you understand what you are reading how many times we can sit and read the Scripture and somehow we don't grasp certain things that the Lord want us to understand let alone an unbeliever an unbeliever cannot understand you.

Remember what we read in first Corinthians chapter two the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God neither can he their foolishness unto him because they are spiritually discerned he reads the text he read the prophet Isaiah but he cannot grasp it because spiritual truths are only being revealed by spiritual discernment as the Holy Spirit of God who revealed to us the Word of God no wonder why many times our own rabbis read the Hebrew Scripture they can quote it they can sing it they can rehearse it they can publicly say it but they don't grasp that it speak about someone that is very precious to the heart of God no wonder many of our families read the Scriptures but don't get a hold of what it means because spiritual truths are spiritually revealed by the holy Spirit of God and so he asked him the question do you understand what you are reading the understanding of the Scripture is essential and only the Lord can reveal this unto men only.

The holy Spirit of God so look at the honesty of the ethiopian eunuch look at his response he says in the next verse in verse 31 he says how can i understand that except some men should guide me and he desired philip that he would come up and sit with him it's so nice to see that he was getting ready he really longed to know what the Scripture says this will remind us of many that come across in our pathway in our life that we don't need to work hard to convince them about Yeshua the Messiah they are ready the Spirit of God have already prepared the ground ahead of time and they come your way without you even doing much except simply coming and sitting with them spending the time with them giving them your time so you can explain to them and allow the Spirit of God to work in their hearts and leading them ultimately to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah years ago i remember i had opportunities to share with people the message of the gospel with some.

I could read and i could share and i could speak and spend so much time and it doesn't seem to grasp they don't seem to get a hold of it but with others it seems to be like so easy because you just come and sit and you read with them they ask you questions and ultimately you lead them to know the Yeshua the Messiah seem to be without effort what's the different the one has hardened his or her heart not led by the Holy Spirit of God the other with a preparation by the Lord the heart is softened the Spirit of God has been moving and preparing them to accept Yeshua the Messiah Notice with Philip, he doesn't have to work hard in that sense.

He's simply obeying the Spirit of God's call to go into the desert plain to meet that man. He's going there and he's asking him, do you understand what you read? And he says, how can I understand except someone will guide me? So he wanted Philip to come up to sit with him in the chariot. This is also very unusual usually when you want to talk to somebody about Yeshua he says get away i don't want to hear about that here's a man who is inviting you to sit come sit with me explain to me tell me about what i was just reading so in this verse 31 he invited philip to sit with him and look at this in verse 32 and 33 are very precious verses because in these two verses, there is a quotation of Isaiah chapter 53.

It says, 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 his shearer, so he opened 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 he was reading one of the most precious texts brothers and sisters that is found in the Bible you notice how many times the word he is mentioned here about seven or eight times the word he is mentioned here in these two. Verses is actually Isaiah 53 verse 7b to Isaiah 53 verse 8a and these verses are very precious because it speaks to us of the sufferings of the son of God Yeshua the Messiah these verses really touch the strings of our hearts because it speaks to us about one that went to suffer on our behalf one that was willing to lay down his life rejected and despised in fact Isaiah chapter 53 in verse 3 says that he was a man of sorrows which had been acquainted with grief have you ever been misunderstood in your life have you ever felt that somebody rejected you and somebody set you side and somebody despise you this is nothing compared to what the son of God had to experience in his life he was like a sheep was led to the slaughter he didn't speak a word he could speak for himself but he didn't speak a word for himself you remember when Yeshua was on the cross many said he saved others himself he cannot save you remember when the two thieves.

Luke chapter 23 on the two sides of the cross of Yeshua the Messiah one of them railed at him and said to him if you are the son of God save yourself and us and you remember what the other one said dost not thou fear God seeing we are in the same condemnation but this man have done nothing amiss there was no reason for the Lord Jesus the Messiah to be taken to the cross and to be crucified for any fault of his own he laid down his life dear brothers and sisters voluntarily allowing people to take him away allowing people to be taking him from judgment to judgment and ultimately he allowed them to take his life away in John chapter 10 Yeshua said no man taketh away my life I lay it down of myself that I may take it back this commandment have I received from my father what a beautiful picture of the Messiah let's warm our hearts to see what he was willing to do.

For us and Isaiah the Hebrew prophet was writing about this man already 750 years prior to his coming he was writing about God's son Israel Mashiach the Savior of this world and so this is very precious the sheep which was led to the slaughter and so he was reading this and then notice that in the next verse the question of the eunuch to philip and he said in verse 34 and the eunuch answered and he said to philip i pray thee of whom does the prophet speak this does he speak this of himself or some other man he wanted to know whom does the prophet speaks about how wonderful that he wanted to know about this man that Isaiah spoke so vividly about and he asked philip philip tell me whom does the prophet speak about does he speak about himself or does he speak about another man and Philip had this greatest opportunity he had been already preaching in Samaria the crowds have come to hear about Jesus Philip have an opportunity to lead one.

Single searching soul he had the opportunity to lead him to Yeshua and he noticed with as simple as possible in verse 35 philip simply brothers and sisters listen to that verse 35 he just opened his mouth and he began he only began from the same Scripture Isaiah chapter 53 and he simply preached unto him Yeshua he was simply telling him about Yeshua the man that was born in Bethlehem the man who lived in Natseret the man who ministered in Galilee the man from Galilee the man who ministered in the temple area and shared the word of God among the people of Israel the man Jesus notice he doesn't say to him he is the son of God he doesn't speak about his divine nature even here he's strictly speaking to him about the humanity of Yeshua the Messiah and he preached unto him Yeshua whom does the prophet speaks about he preached unto him Yeshua you know we learn in the Scriptures that the prophets of Israel always wanted to find out about the promises that was given to them in the word of.

God. Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11 he was saying of which salvation the prophets have inquired and they search diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you they were searching what manner of time the spirit of the Messiah which was in them did signify when he testified beforehand of the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that should follow you know the Hebrew prophets long to find out about Yeshua the Messiah they were searching and searching and even though they received prophecies from the Lord they themselves did not yet understood it perfectly like you and i can understand this today because we have the complete canon of the word of God and so philip simply preached unto him Yeshua brothers and sisters you know you and i just simply need to speak of Yeshua no more no less we need just simply to present the person of the Messiah to those who are really interested in hearing.

Let the holy Spirit of God work in their lives and the Lord had promised that he will do so faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God and so finally here in the last verses here in verses 36 to 40 look at the response of this ethiopian eunuch to the words that philip shared with him by the way philip it says here he began with that same Scripture he must have read to him other passages he may be read to him Psalms he may have read to him went all the way to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 the seed of the woman he had read to him i'm sure other passages he opened the Scripture to him and he showed to him the fact that it's speaking the prophets are speaking about the Messiah so the response of the eunuch was simply this look in the next verse verse 36 As they went on their way, they came unto a certain water.

And the eunuch said, see, here is water. What does hinder me to be baptized? Now, between verse 35 and 36, it must have been that Philip had led the Ethiopian eunuch to Yeshua the Messiah. He must have accepted him, have invited him into his heart, recognized, oh yes, he is the promised Messiah, I want to have him into my life, I want to accept him. He lived and died and was buried and he rose again for my justification. He must have accepted the Messiah, Yeshua, right there and then in order for him to say to Philip in the next verse, what does hinder me to be baptized we have just yesterday we're talking about baptism some of us in our Bible class is very interesting and you notice by the way that there is no delay he have heard the message of the Scripture concerning Yeshua the Messiah he have accepted Yeshua the Messiah into his life into his heart understood that he died for his sins was buried and rose again and then immediately he sees water and he asked philip he says what does it hinder me to be baptized he understood the importance of baptism in the Greek baptism or meaning to be dipped to be placed under to be immersed to be submerged and he asked him what does it hinder me from being baptized now i remember just to make a comparison here for a moment many years ago when i've accepted Yeshua the Messiah and i was on a way to a conference and i haven't yet gotten baptized.

But i can tell you as a Jewish boy the Jewish man i had the fear to get baptized because to be baptized means in a sense of identifying with the one that our people reject and for a Jewish man to get baptized it's almost like cutting yourself off from the relationship to the nation according to the rabbis so i was driving with a brother and his daughter at that time to the conference and on the way to the conference i told this dear brother you know in my mind i thought i better deal with the baptism quietly that nobody will be, no publicly, you know, the best thing I'm going to ask him to baptize me on the way.

So I told him, dear brother, do me a favor. If you see some water on the way, can you baptize me, please? And this gracious brother was very gracious. He says, you know, I don't think it's a good idea, but you know, if you really insist, I wouldn't mind. I'll do so. Somehow the time passes by. I don't know if he went away where there is no water because he didn't want me to be baptized in a sense in secret on the side so we continue to the conference and when we arrived there was a large conference between a thousand to fifteen hundred people at that conference was in the united states and i remember i think you know the story that a little girl came to me at the dining room and said to me you know i'm going to get baptized and in my mind i said to her what in the world are you telling me this why are you bothering me with this you're going to get baptized?

Fine. Why are you coming and telling me? But it seems to be that the Lord had impressed, used this little girl to impress upon my heart the need to be baptized publicly, telling to the others that I decided to identify with the death and burial and resurrection of Yeshua, the Messiah. And that's what happened. There was a baptism there and I've asked to be. Baptized and i have publicly was baptized in front of nearly about a thousand people but it was hard for a Jew to do that because for us to be baptized unto the name of Jesus is in a sense saying to our rabbis why rabbis telling us in a sense the point of no return if you will but nevertheless baptism was not originated by the Gentile world it was already done in Israel John the baptizer had baptized before and others the first christian or messianic baptism did not start here in toronto it started there in the city of Jerusalem by first century Jewish believers and so philip he was asked by the ethiopian eunuch he said to him here is water what hinder me to be baptized so philip answered and by the way verse 37 is not found in the best manuscripts even though we have it here in uh Scripture but really most manuscripts do not include verse 37 that is found here in act chapter 8 look what it says there and philip said.

If you believe with all your heart you may and he answered and he said i believe that Yeshua the Messiah is the son of God really even though this verse is not found in the best manuscript but the truth of this verse remain the same the truth of this verse says in other passages of Scripture like Romans chapter 10 verses 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God had raised him from the dead you shall be saved in other words the truth of verse 37 is being taught elsewhere in the Bible even though in the primary manuscript this passage this verse 37 is not found there but the truth of it is still found in the Scripture He accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

He believed on him, confessed his sins, and now he wants to identify with the rejected Messiah in baptism, in Tevila. And so brothers and sisters in verse 38 he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water both philip and the eunuch and he baptized him you notice brothers and sisters there's no sprinkling here there's no dab here a little up there it is total immersion both of them went to the water he dipped him under baptism which strictly really speaks about to be placed under to be put into to be immersed and he put him under and then both of them came out of the water and the Bible tells us baptism is very important in testimony of identification with Yeshua the Messiah this is very important just allow me please to read just two verses in the Scripture concerning baptism Romans chapter 6 Paul in his teaching concerning baptism said in Romans 6 verse 3 and 4 don't you know that so many of us as were baptized into Yeshua the Messiah were baptized unto his death therefore we are buried.

With him in baptism into death that like as the Messiah was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life Paul really gave the Roman believers to understand what baptism means when we have been baptized symbolically by water baptism what we really say that we identify with the death of the Messiah he died i died with him he died for my sins i died with him because of sin he was buried placed under the water is symbolically of his burial and then he rose symbolically coming out of the water speaks of a resurrection in order to live in newness of life baptism doesn't take us to heaven but baptism symbolically saying i decided to follow Yeshua the Messiah there's another verse that I think should be read in connection with this in Colossians chapter 2, and I'll read just this one more verse there, Colossians chapter 2, and the verse is verse 12.

Paul, again, speaking about baptism, and he said, buried with him in baptism, where is also risen with him through. The faith of the operation of God who has raised him from the dead when we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah we are actually died with him we were buried with him and when he rose we symbolically have risen with him to live in newness of life and while we are still here in this world and sin still taking a grip over us because we still have the old nature but once we are going to be with the Lord we are no longer going to live a life that is dishonoring to the Lord no longer to sin any longer and so notice he baptized him in the name of the father and the son and the holy Spirit identifying with the rejected Messiah in his death burial and resurrection and so to conclude our chapter here in verse 39 the Spirit of God once he finished the work with the ethiopian eunuch the Spirit of God took philip away it says here and when they were come out of the water the Spirit of the Lord caught away philip.

Raptured him away that the eunuch saw him no more this is amazing it's another miracle here to see that the Spirit of God not only that he speak but he's active he removed philip from this location he removed him to another place where he had service for him this is a real miracle you know sometimes those who claim to be miracle workers i would like them to see them do what the Spirit of God did to philip removed him in miraculous way away from the situation from the time that he spent there with the ethiopian eunuch caught him away you know we have the same thought of the rapture of the church in first thessalonian chapter 4 will be caught away we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet Yeshua in the clouds.

And then the conclusion with regard to the Ethiopian eunuch, it says here in verse 39 that he went on his way rejoicing. Now, brothers and sisters, what do you think happened to this Ethiopian eunuch when you've gotten there to Ethiopia? Do you think everybody came to him and said, wow, I'm so happy for you. Now you believe in Yeshua we love you we follow you we want to hear from you in fact i believe that he experienced in his life perhaps some of the things that you and i experience in our life as believers rejection misunderstanding trials and challenges that we experience as believers but the beautiful lesson to see that he had joy in his heart he went on his way rejoicing he enjoyed the Lord internally even though situation were not necessarily easy for him in his life Philippians chapter 4 Paul says rejoice in the Lord always and again i say rejoice in the book of Nehemiah Nehemiah said to Israel in Nehemiah 8 the joy of the Lord is our strength is your strength and here we see the ethiopian eunuch rejoicing sometimes we need to learn from that that we also ask the Lord Lord give us the joy in our hearts that passes all understanding help me to focus not only on the external situation but also on what the Messiah have done.

For me and so here the conclusion in the last verse philip was found in azotus and he passing through preaching in all the cities until he came to cesarea or kesaria he continued on preaching he went all along in the villages preaching sharing the message of the messiahship of Yeshua all the way until he arrived to Kessaria. And interesting, the Lord moved him from a public place in Samaria to an individual meeting with an individual on the way to Gaza and back now to all the villages, up to the cities, up to the time that he arrived to the place that is called Kessaria. What a precious truth we learn here in this chapter 8 of the book of Acts.

If we learn anything today, we can just say and see how the Holy Spirit of God takes individuals to meet their need. It is God's Spirit who would use God's Word to move God's servant to speak about God's Son, Yeshua the Messiah. And here we see it being done step by step. Philip was used to lead a single man to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. May the Lord use us also in his ministry to lead others to come to find Yeshua as the Messiah. Can you say Amen to that? Amen.