1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:04,600 If you like to follow along in your Pew, Bible, or your 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:06,800 personal Bible, that's a wonderful thing. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,700 If you have trouble getting around with that and stay in 4 00:00:10,700 --> 00:00:13,100 with us, I'm going to try pretty much everything that you're 5 00:00:13,100 --> 00:00:16,100 going to see a just going to be the scriptures found. 6 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:18,700 That's convenient on everybody staying together and to make 7 00:00:18,700 --> 00:00:21,600 sure that you get a read. And no, this is what it says, 8 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,700 you know, one of the greatest blessings God has given to us, 9 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,400 is that the word of God is free to everybody? 10 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,900 You may say, well, I don't know. It costs about 35 bucks in the 11 00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:36,500 bookstore where I and looked but you can get one free. 12 00:00:37,700 --> 00:00:41,800 The Bible, God's word is literally to everybody Of All 13 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,800 Times, They languages that it's in. 14 00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:48,700 There's no excuse for us, not to understand and be able to go to 15 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:51,000 God's word. And sometimes when I talk with 16 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,800 with folks, they talk about, well, it's just so confusing to 17 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,200 me and I want you to know, there may be things that it's 18 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,400 difficult for us to tie together, but this story also 19 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,100 gives us insight into how to navigate the confusion that we 20 00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:09,200 might feel when we read. I'll draw your attention to Acts 21 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,700 chapter 8 and we're going to begin in verse 26. 22 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:16,000 Says, now, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, arise 23 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,700 and go toward the South along the road which goes down from 24 00:01:18,700 --> 00:01:23,400 Jerusalem to Gaza. This is Desert, so he arose and 25 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,000 went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great 26 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,900 Authority. Under Candace, the queen of the 27 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:32,800 okiya Ethiopians who had charge of all her Treasury and had come 28 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:38,600 to Jerusalem to worship. Now stop to say this as he comes 29 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,700 down and he as he's going along, there's a man of Ethiopia. 30 00:01:41,700 --> 00:01:45,300 This man, there's a this calls it, a eunuch here, some 31 00:01:45,300 --> 00:01:50,100 translations, call it. And I'm blanking right now. 32 00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:52,800 So I'm going to keep going. He has treasury of all he has 33 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,500 charge of over treasury. There's one of our preachers who 34 00:01:56,500 --> 00:01:59,200 calls him, the Secretary of Treasury converting, the 35 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,000 Secretary of Treasury. This person is someone who is no 36 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,500 doubt has an education level that is beyond, what would be 37 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:09,699 standard. He's someone who certainly has a 38 00:02:09,699 --> 00:02:12,600 place in the government whose far above whatever would be 39 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,400 normal for others. He's come to Jerusalem to 40 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:16,400 worship. Is this man? 41 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,800 A proselyte Is he a man who was a Jew that somehow relocated 42 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,500 into Ethiopia can tell you in my mind, Zion and what? 43 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:28,700 I personally think, this is an Ethiopian, man, a man who has 44 00:02:28,700 --> 00:02:32,400 some point was proselytized into the Jewish religion, and now, 45 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,500 he's going to Jerusalem, like, the Jews would do. 46 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,500 He's trying to learn about this new faith, that he's found in 47 00:02:38,500 --> 00:02:42,500 the one God of the universe. Because prior to that, no doubt 48 00:02:42,500 --> 00:02:45,600 he had been exposed to either some type of an idolatrous 49 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,100 concept or worldview. You that would have had one or 50 00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:53,400 many. And now he's learned about the 51 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,300 one. We don't know how long he's been 52 00:02:55,300 --> 00:02:56,800 this. Now, we don't know for sure that 53 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,700 he was a proselyte. I just think that about myself 54 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:03,900 But he's gone to Jerusalem to worship. 55 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,400 And now, as he goes back, the Bible says, he's returning now, 56 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,900 by the way, if I understand right, as the crow flies, Just 57 00:03:13,900 --> 00:03:16,900 doesn't just straight. If you're taking an airplane, 58 00:03:16,900 --> 00:03:19,200 this might have been 13 to 15 hundred miles. 59 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,900 If he was going by Chariot and taking it all by land without 60 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:29,400 the aid of the ship. And I'm not going to try to do 61 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,600 this, could have been a journey that took months. 62 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,300 We don't know how long exactly he's been reading, but he's 63 00:03:37,300 --> 00:03:40,900 sitting in his Chariot and he's reading, Isaiah, the prophet. 64 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,000 Now you can look in your Bible and you can read the book of 65 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,600 Isaiah just like he was doing. And the Bible says, the spirit 66 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:51,400 said to Philip go near an overtake this Chariot. 67 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 I want you to get up to him and so he goes near to overtake it. 68 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,800 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet. 69 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,800 Isaiah and said to, you understand what you're reading. 70 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,000 Now, I don't know if Philip was just super fast if this was a 71 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,600 miracle of the holy spirit that he could outsprint a chariot, or 72 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,000 if it's just such a long Cherry trip that this Chariot is 73 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,700 crawling. It's just better than walking 74 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:20,000 yourself. Some have even suggested this 75 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,500 night might not have even been horses that were pulling this 76 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:25,100 Chariot, that it was not uncommon that it would have been 77 00:04:25,100 --> 00:04:30,600 some type of fox or something like that, which might give an 78 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,800 image of how slowly this could have been moving. 79 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:34,800 It might not have taken a big argh run. 80 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,900 We don't know exactly but we know as he runs and comes near, 81 00:04:40,900 --> 00:04:43,200 he hears him reading the prophet. 82 00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:47,400 That means he's reading out loud. 83 00:04:49,300 --> 00:04:52,000 Do you ever get to where you're having trouble understanding 84 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,000 something and you've been reading it and your back and 85 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,100 forth over it? You're in the Bible and you're 86 00:04:56,100 --> 00:04:58,800 reading it and it's your mind, maybe it's going other places 87 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,100 you're distracted. You got all this and you think I 88 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:03,700 don't have a clue when I just read and so you read it again 89 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,500 and now you try to pay attention but it's harder to understand 90 00:05:06,500 --> 00:05:10,800 and it was the first time if you're like me when you're 91 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,300 really confused. Reading something pretty soon. 92 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:17,800 You'll be Reading it out loud. Not that it's really helping 93 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,800 anything other than its I do it. And some of you are shaking your 94 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,800 head, you do that too. I don't know if this is what's 95 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:29,400 going on with this Ethiopian nobleman Or if he's just reading 96 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:30,700 it. So the other people in his 97 00:05:30,700 --> 00:05:35,700 Entourage gets to hear it too. But Phil appears in reading it 98 00:05:36,100 --> 00:05:38,600 and he says, do you understand what you're reading? 99 00:05:38,900 --> 00:05:43,700 And he said, how can I unless someone guides me and he asked 100 00:05:43,700 --> 00:05:45,500 Philip to come up and sit with him. 101 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:49,300 Now we've already been introduced to this man. 102 00:05:49,300 --> 00:05:52,600 He's someone who's on the level of our Secretary of Treasury. 103 00:05:52,700 --> 00:05:57,300 Most undoubtedly, a matter of higher education, amount of 104 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:00,600 great Authority. We would typically see this 105 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:06,600 person in society and say, Well, they're intelligent We look at 106 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,200 this guy and we say he should be an intelligent person who's 107 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,100 capable under to understanding things. 108 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,200 And yet, he's reading Isaiah and he doesn't get it. 109 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,500 The reason I believe erring this point is because I want you to 110 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:21,300 understand when you don't get the Bible, it doesn't mean 111 00:06:21,300 --> 00:06:23,400 you're not intelligent enough to get it. 112 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,200 It doesn't mean that you don't have the capacity, it just means 113 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,700 that you need someone to help you connect the dots. 114 00:06:30,300 --> 00:06:33,800 Someone that perhaps is already spent that time been there. 115 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:37,300 They've been through that confusion and had someone help 116 00:06:37,300 --> 00:06:41,100 them understand it and I want you to understand what Philip 117 00:06:41,100 --> 00:06:43,300 did he came. And he asked him, Phillip Came 118 00:06:43,300 --> 00:06:46,000 and sit with him the place in the scripture, which he read was 119 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 this. He was led as a sheep to the 120 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,300 slaughter and as a lamb before Shearer is silent. 121 00:06:54,400 --> 00:07:00,300 So, he opened not his mouth. This was the place, the noblemen 122 00:07:00,300 --> 00:07:04,900 red in his humiliation. His Justice was taken away. 123 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:08,100 And who will declare his generation. 124 00:07:09,300 --> 00:07:11,500 For his life is taken from the Earth. 125 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,300 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I Ask of You, whom 126 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:20,700 does the prophet say this of himself or some other man? 127 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,800 Now, if you're familiar with this, this is an Isaiah chapter 128 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:31,300 53. And my intake on this is that 129 00:07:31,300 --> 00:07:37,400 he's already read 52 chapters. and he still hasn't figured out 130 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:43,200 who's been talked about, Is this Isaiah, is it somebody else? 131 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:47,600 Who is he talking about and Philip opened his mouth and 132 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,900 beginning. At this scripture preached Jesus 133 00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:53,800 to him told you as Isaiah 53, its verses 7 and 8 when I want 134 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,600 you to do now is go back and look at what he might have read. 135 00:07:57,700 --> 00:08:01,400 We can't go back to Isaiah chapter 1, but I think we've got 136 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,600 time this morning to start in Isaiah, chapter 52. 137 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,800 And we're going to pick up in verse 13. 138 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,700 I want to get a running start into Isaiah 53:7. 139 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:11,900 And eight. What had he been reading up to 140 00:08:11,900 --> 00:08:15,000 this point that now he's convinced that what he's saying 141 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,100 is either about himself or he's talking about somebody else. 142 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:20,400 If he's if he's talking about somebody else I want to 143 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,500 understand it. I want to get it now. 144 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:25,500 Put yourself in the place of this. 145 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:30,200 This perhaps a proselyte if it wasn't a proselyte and he was a 146 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,700 Jewish born and raised but he just been relocated to Ethiopia 147 00:08:33,700 --> 00:08:37,799 and somehow been managed to elevate himself within that 148 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:41,900 Society not only Place of stature and within the 149 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:44,200 government to be the treasury. Somebody says, well, you know, 150 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,500 maybe he wasn't. Maybe he wasn't that much of a 151 00:08:46,500 --> 00:08:49,200 deal, maybe he just nobody else wanted to count the money. 152 00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:53,000 You know, the fact is the very fact that he owns a scroll and 153 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,600 of Isaiah, That he's taking it with him. 154 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,300 Implies many scholars to say he was very wealthy. 155 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,500 You see, I told you we were very fortunate. 156 00:09:02,500 --> 00:09:04,600 Today, that pretty much I'm guessing everybody in this 157 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,500 audience has a Bible and I've already told you if you don't 158 00:09:07,500 --> 00:09:09,500 and you want one and you can't afford it, you'll have one for 159 00:09:09,500 --> 00:09:14,400 free this day. It wasn't like that back. 160 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:18,700 Then if you wanted a copy of the old scriptures, somebody had to 161 00:09:18,708 --> 00:09:22,500 be paid to write it out. That's a scribe. 162 00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:25,400 When you read about the scribes in the in the Bible, those are 163 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,600 people that thorough job their daily activity was writing and 164 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,500 copying the scripture. So there could be more copies of 165 00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:37,600 it to spread around because it was such a tedious long thing as 166 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,700 was expensive. And yet, this man is rich enough 167 00:09:40,700 --> 00:09:44,700 to own one. He's been reading it. 168 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,600 We're going to pick up what Isaiah 53. 169 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,000 What's he saying? Behold my servant shall deal. 170 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,600 Prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high 171 00:09:55,100 --> 00:09:56,900 just as many were astonished at you. 172 00:09:56,900 --> 00:10:01,600 So his visit was marked more than any man and his form more 173 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,400 than the sons of, man. Whoever he's reading about it 174 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,700 this time, he says he's going to deal prudently and he's going to 175 00:10:08,700 --> 00:10:10,800 be extolled he's going to be brought very high. 176 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,700 And yet though many years, Donna statute, his visit is going to 177 00:10:14,700 --> 00:10:17,400 be marred, more than any buddies has ever been more. 178 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,500 Do you know what the visages? It's the appearance. 179 00:10:20,700 --> 00:10:24,200 It's his form when you look at him, he's going to be marred 180 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,100 more than any of the sons of men. 181 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,800 So he shall sprinkle many nations Kings shall shut. 182 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,400 Their mouths at him. They're going to be quiet and 183 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,800 the listen for what had not been told them they shall see and 184 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,700 what they had not heard they shall consider. 185 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,600 There's a new message coming through. 186 00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:47,100 This one that even Kings will stop to listen to, we're dealing 187 00:10:47,100 --> 00:10:50,200 with an agent a time when the king spoke everybody else was 188 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,400 quiet, you didn't dare speak and open your mouth until you were 189 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,400 bitten by the king. But this man's different than 190 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,000 what he's talking about here is when he talks to the Kings will 191 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,000 be quiet, he's different and they're going to hear something. 192 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,500 That they never considered they will consider it. 193 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:10,800 Now, Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 1 and who has believed our 194 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:16,200 report And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. 195 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,000 This message, who's believed it. Now, you would think that that 196 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,500 could have been written in the year 2018, right? 197 00:11:23,500 --> 00:11:27,600 Today, because there's a lot of people in this in this state in 198 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,500 this world. And perhaps in this room, there 199 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:35,100 may be one or two or maybe more who have trouble believing this 200 00:11:35,100 --> 00:11:41,100 report. That's not a new problem. 201 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,900 People believing and being able to embrace the word of God is 202 00:11:45,900 --> 00:11:48,800 nothing new. It's been a challenge you read 203 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,900 the book of Jeremiah, you know, some people say Darwin was the 204 00:11:52,900 --> 00:11:57,600 first evolutionist, he's not read the book of Jeremiah, and 205 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,200 you'll find in the book of Jeremiah that when people were 206 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,600 confronted with their sin, That on that occasion. 207 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,700 The Bible says, they covered their faces, they turn to their 208 00:12:07,700 --> 00:12:09,400 back to him and they wouldn't listen. 209 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,400 And you know what they said, they said to the trees, you have 210 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,200 brought us forth and to the Rocks, we came from you. 211 00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:24,500 They denied being the product of a creative God and said we have 212 00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:26,700 just evolved from trees and rocks. 213 00:12:29,300 --> 00:12:31,800 Darling, Darwin was late to that party. 214 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,700 He just published more about it. Back in Isaiah 53. 215 00:12:39,700 --> 00:12:43,200 People weren't believing this in many cases and he says who will 216 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,000 the arm of the Lord even be revealed to this one? 217 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,400 He speaks of here is nowra being referred to as the arm of the 218 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,100 Lord. What is your arm do? 219 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,800 Your arm reaches out. Your arm is there so that when I 220 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,600 want something, my hand can reach my arm, puts my hand out 221 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:08,100 there, to take it, this one that he's talking about here, he's 222 00:13:08,100 --> 00:13:10,200 God's ability to reach out to man. 223 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:14,200 The arm of the Lord, he says, whose Cahoon will he be revealed 224 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,600 to for? He is grown up before him as a 225 00:13:16,608 --> 00:13:19,800 tender plant. And as a root out of the ground, 226 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,500 he has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is no 227 00:13:23,500 --> 00:13:25,400 beauty that we should desire him. 228 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:28,200 This. What he's talking about. 229 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,700 He says, he's before God before the Lord. 230 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:32,500 He's grown up like a tender plant. 231 00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:35,200 I love to Garden. Well, I don't know if I love to 232 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,900 Garden, as much as I love the produce that comes out of the 233 00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:41,400 garden. Because when you see those 234 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,200 tender plants, I see Tomatoes sea cucumbers. 235 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,700 I see the potential there and I can't wait for it. 236 00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:53,200 But really, when it's just a little plant, it's not that 237 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,200 great. I guess it must not be just 238 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,700 little plants in and of themselves are great because 239 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,200 when they grow up in the grass, I pull them out. 240 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:07,000 As a matter of fact, this this this idea as a root out of dry 241 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,100 ground that got these fruitless mulberry trees. 242 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:13,400 I put my backyard because they grow fast and I needed shade and 243 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:18,000 I didn't have a tree on two acres and so I thought fruitless 244 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,700 mulberries would be great and they were great for the first 245 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,700 eight years. And now, you know what's going 246 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:28,500 on with roots. They got big roots and they want 247 00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:30,700 to come up. And so, what I do, I get dirt 248 00:14:30,700 --> 00:14:33,300 and I try to cover them up and plant grass, so it comes over, 249 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:39,100 I've kind of given up. See, I don't like that route 250 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:44,200 appearing out of dry ground. And I feel bad when I think of 251 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,500 it in this life, because that's how people looked at the one 252 00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:51,400 that's being prophesied about. We just wanted to cover him up. 253 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,400 They don't want him. Who's going to accept this? 254 00:14:55,500 --> 00:14:57,800 He's despised and rejected by Men. 255 00:14:57,900 --> 00:15:01,800 A Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it 256 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,600 were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not 257 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,900 esteem him now specifically, contextual he's talking about 258 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:13,000 the Jews, the person whose lineage, and whose bloodline 259 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,300 they shared. He says, even his own family 260 00:15:15,300 --> 00:15:18,600 didn't accept him for this, is it any wonder that 2000 years 261 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,300 later? People are still struggling with 262 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:23,000 it. Who's going to believe this 263 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,600 report? Surely, he has borne our griefs 264 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:26,700 and carried our sorrows. Yet. 265 00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:30,400 We esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted. 266 00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,600 This Ethiopian nobleman was reading about this guy. 267 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,100 And he's saying, man, I mean this it seems like God loves me, 268 00:15:36,100 --> 00:15:38,900 but everybody else hates him and people they look at him and 269 00:15:38,900 --> 00:15:42,000 thought that God was afflicting him and striking him but he was 270 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,100 wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our 271 00:15:46,100 --> 00:15:48,500 iniquities. The chastisement for our peace 272 00:15:48,500 --> 00:15:52,500 was upon him and by his stripes We are healed. 273 00:15:54,700 --> 00:15:57,100 How is this working? How does all this happen? 274 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,400 All we, we like sheep have gone astray. 275 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:05,000 We have turned every one to his own way and the lord has laid on 276 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,100 him. The iniquity of us all. 277 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,300 No wonder. This Ethiopian nobleman is 278 00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:16,600 getting confusing. He wants to know who is this, 279 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,200 that was oppressed and he was afflicted yet. 280 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,600 He opened. Not his mouth, he was led as a 281 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,100 lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her Shearer's is 282 00:16:24,100 --> 00:16:26,300 silent. So he opened not his mouth. 283 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,100 You can picture this. This scene of this lamb that 284 00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:33,400 before they slaughter it. They want to be sure to get what 285 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,200 was of any value off of it. And so it would be sure. 286 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,100 And it just stands there without a bleep. 287 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,300 Ready to receive whatever happens. 288 00:16:48,300 --> 00:16:50,300 He says, this is what's going on. 289 00:16:51,300 --> 00:16:53,300 It's like a lamb led to the slaughter. 290 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,900 He was taken from prison and from judgment. 291 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,900 And who will declare his generation for. 292 00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:04,300 He was cut off from the land of the living, for the 293 00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:10,400 transgression of my people. He was stricken I know you've 294 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,400 heard Frank, teach on this. This idea of that he goes 295 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,500 through, he says he's taking, he doesn't even get his prison 296 00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:19,700 sentence. He doesn't even get what I think 297 00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:24,400 we would call in his, his ability to appeal, the 298 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:30,000 condemnation. He is and he is from the time 299 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,800 that they tell him he's going to die. 300 00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:37,200 He gets no justice and who's going to talk about his kids. 301 00:17:38,900 --> 00:17:41,500 Who's going to talk about the generation that he left behind 302 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:46,200 that will follow nobody? From he was cut off from the 303 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:52,000 land of the living. We had to bury a young man of 304 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:59,400 our congregation. At the end of December. 19 years 305 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,900 old, perfectly healthy and two months later. 306 00:18:01,900 --> 00:18:09,200 He's gone. No generation and Claire for 307 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,800 him. It's a hard thing to deal with. 308 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:22,700 God knows, Jesus knows. The things that we take great 309 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:26,400 joy in his humans in Our Generations, in our children and 310 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:32,000 grandchildren, and get to know that either, he was cut off from 311 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,900 the land of the living and why, for the transgression of my 312 00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:40,300 people, he was stricken Anything he did and they made his grave 313 00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:44,700 with the wicked but with the rich in his death because he had 314 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:49,500 done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth he was 315 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:52,400 killed. He was destroyed along with 316 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:58,100 wicked men. But at his death, he would go to 317 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:02,800 the place of the ridge. Now, I'm guessing that many of 318 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,500 you already know where this is headed. 319 00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,900 You already know how this story and I kind of gave it off away 320 00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:12,100 in the title were preaching Jesus and you know that this 321 00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:16,400 prophecy is fulfilled to a tee, you know, that pilot marveled 322 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:21,900 that he would answer, not a word When he could have, he had 323 00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:25,500 showed himself very capable in the synagogue, on many occasions 324 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:28,200 with the Pharisees, or with the Sadducees, or with the scribes, 325 00:19:28,300 --> 00:19:30,500 he could, he could stand before them all. 326 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:33,400 And they could not confound him and yet, when it came time for 327 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,500 him to die, he answered never a word. 328 00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:39,300 How did they know that hundreds of years? 329 00:19:39,300 --> 00:19:42,300 Beforehand, you say, well, Greg. I read novels. 330 00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:45,100 I mean, look, we've got some that have written books that are 331 00:19:45,108 --> 00:19:48,100 thousands of pages long. And they carry this store line 332 00:19:48,100 --> 00:19:51,200 from the beginning to the end. And so yeah, the Bible could do 333 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,700 it but that's not how the Bible worked. 334 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,800 I want you to understand in the history of the Bible and I can't 335 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,100 go in. This isn't about this but we 336 00:19:59,100 --> 00:20:02,500 have it in one tidy book, nowadays, that's not how it was 337 00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:04,900 accumulated. That's not how we received it. 338 00:20:04,900 --> 00:20:07,200 Do you realize that archaeologists have found Found 339 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,800 Scrolls of different eras of time and of different books that 340 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,700 have gone together to put these things. 341 00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:16,900 It wasn't like it was just this boom here it is when it comes to 342 00:20:16,900 --> 00:20:19,500 specially and particularly to the old Covenant and these 343 00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:23,900 prophecies and you can go and they Archaeology is to this day, 344 00:20:23,900 --> 00:20:26,900 still unraveling and finding and and unearthing areas. 345 00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:32,400 And these Scrolls that were written Hundreds of years before 346 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,700 Jesus would walk the face of the Earth prophesy of things that 347 00:20:36,700 --> 00:20:40,900 happen to the tee. Someone says well it's just 348 00:20:40,900 --> 00:20:43,400 carefully crafted. I mean so somebody read all 349 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,400 those books and they just made sure they made a man to go 350 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,100 through all that. How do you do that? 351 00:20:50,100 --> 00:20:52,200 What are you going to get the guy that's going to volunteer 352 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,000 for that job? And number two, how do you 353 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,700 really pull it off? Because the intelligent Jews 354 00:20:58,700 --> 00:21:01,500 among them would have. Put it with a snip that right in 355 00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:03,600 the bud. They didn't want him to be. 356 00:21:04,900 --> 00:21:06,900 That's clear. Not only from the Bible, That's 357 00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:11,900 clear from secular history. You see it just it goes to 358 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:16,800 cleanly. God expresses his power to us in 359 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,600 the universe. And when we look out and see the 360 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,100 things that are created, but he also expresses his power to us 361 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,400 in the revealed, written word that all through the history 362 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,000 pages of this, this Ethiopian nobleman is he's reading this 363 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:32,500 feel, it begins there. And now, I don't know if this is 364 00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:36,400 what Philip went on to preach. I personally believe it is and 365 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:40,100 he's beginning to explain this. Remember, this nobleman has just 366 00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:45,000 returning from Jerusalem. That's the place where all of 367 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,500 this took place, no doubt it still rumbles from all of that, 368 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,900 no doubt, they still talk about this, no doubt. 369 00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:53,100 This whole issue of Christianity. 370 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:59,000 The way is, in opposition to what he had been told and he's 371 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:00,700 up. He's aware of all these things 372 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,900 and now Philip is able to say you see where I'm talking about. 373 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,200 You see how this ties together, I'm convinced he went on. 374 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,700 It says yet. He it pleased the Lord to bruise 375 00:22:09,700 --> 00:22:12,200 him. It was the Lord's will that this 376 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,100 would happen. He would Bruised. 377 00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:17,500 And I hope is you picture as you understand the view of the 378 00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:19,800 Cross. His Visage was marred more than 379 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,200 any man. That means he's unrecognizable, 380 00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:27,800 he had bruises already Now, usually it takes at least me. 381 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,100 It takes a day or two before the Bruce gets going before you can 382 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:36,900 see it. On the day of his death, his 383 00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:38,500 bruises, that's how bad they beat him. 384 00:22:38,500 --> 00:22:41,400 Now, the only people I've seen that have been beaten so bad. 385 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:46,200 You see their bruises that day, Or Fighters that get in a ring 386 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,600 and literally Pummel each other. And by the time their press 387 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,600 conference, come you see in the bruises already but that's 388 00:22:52,600 --> 00:23:00,900 because they're just wailing or having been welded on I don't 389 00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:03,600 suppose, I will ever forget some of the images. 390 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:12,700 That I saw the riots that took place down Lala. so those people 391 00:23:12,700 --> 00:23:19,800 that were just brutally beaten, Immediately the bruises start to 392 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,800 show. This is what he looked like and 393 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,700 yet, it was the Lord's, will this would happen? 394 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,900 He's put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for 395 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:33,000 sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and 396 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,500 the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 397 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,300 Why did this have to be the way the righteous will of God would 398 00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:42,400 be accomplished. I cannot answer that. 399 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:52,100 But I can tell you this much. Is there any doubt in your mind 400 00:23:52,100 --> 00:23:53,700 that God? Loved Jesus Christ. 401 00:23:56,500 --> 00:24:05,400 His only begotten son. God. 402 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,100 So loved the world that he gave his only son to die, for our sin 403 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,700 and I'm convinced. That if God could see Jesus go 404 00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:19,300 through this. And see his will accomplished. 405 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,700 There is more to all that we go through in life than I 406 00:24:25,708 --> 00:24:29,500 understand. When it comes to tragedy. 407 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,900 When it comes to loss. When it comes to the things that 408 00:24:35,900 --> 00:24:40,000 make the human mind, say if God really loved me, he wouldn't and 409 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,600 you fill in the blank. If God really loved me, he would 410 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:53,000 have and you fill in your blank. We all have our blank There's 411 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,400 not a doubt in my mind that God love Jesus. 412 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,300 And there is nothing that any person on Earth has ever gone 413 00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:02,700 through. That's worse than what Jesus 414 00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:05,700 went through. Now, I'm not saying it's not 415 00:25:05,700 --> 00:25:07,700 bad. I'm not saying it's not horrific 416 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:11,000 whatever some people have gone through, but it's not any worse. 417 00:25:13,900 --> 00:25:20,400 He loved him. now, I sent the point I was going out, but I got 418 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:25,100 sick because on my mind Sometimes people say then why 419 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:29,300 then why? And again, I don't know why I'm 420 00:25:29,300 --> 00:25:32,200 going to give you a Greg. Branches half a Penny's worth. 421 00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:39,400 I am not convinced when I read the scriptures and I'm not 422 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,900 saying it's not didn't happen, but I'm not convinced that there 423 00:25:41,900 --> 00:25:45,500 was ever another Angel created after God, created Avenue me, 424 00:25:45,500 --> 00:25:51,700 Adam and Eve. He may have the scriptures don't 425 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:53,700 indicate that as a way I read them. 426 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,100 What we do know from scriptures that there was a great 427 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:00,200 destruction and there was a great division that happened in 428 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,500 heaven with Lucifer. With the angels that sinned. 429 00:26:06,700 --> 00:26:13,200 And the Angels were cast out. it appears to me that God decided 430 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:19,600 when he created mankind, That anymore created beings would be 431 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:26,400 created with choice. And if they chose him through 432 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,000 life on Earth than they would choose him through anything, 433 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,900 that might happen in that Eternal Realm. 434 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,800 If they deny him through a life on Earth than they would have 435 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,600 denied him in an eternal. And that will not happen again. 436 00:26:45,300 --> 00:26:47,700 Now I can't tell you if that's for sure the case but it helps 437 00:26:47,700 --> 00:26:49,900 me process and make sense out of some things. 438 00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:55,800 Because if I can't deal with being separated or in opposition 439 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:00,500 to my family here on Earth, even though I know God's word says, 440 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,800 what are the other than I wouldn't do it in an eternal 441 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,300 realm? When something came up with 442 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:08,700 people that I was close to or with beans that I was close to. 443 00:27:09,900 --> 00:27:12,700 And if I couldn't take something that I might not otherwise be 444 00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:16,500 able to understand and in my comprehension agree with, but 445 00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:19,400 still acquiesce to the word of God. 446 00:27:20,300 --> 00:27:22,800 In this life. Then I'm going to do it the 447 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:28,500 Eternal one either. Frankie coaches football and I 448 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:31,900 know I'm convinced in my mind that he puts his kids through 449 00:27:31,900 --> 00:27:34,400 some things that he knows is going to break them down. 450 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,100 Just to see if they'll keep fighting. 451 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,000 And just to see if they'll come out on the right side. and yes, 452 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,800 it'll make him stronger but you've just got to see where the 453 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,800 will is God needs to see where our will is. 454 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,200 And you know what? We need to see where our will is 455 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,900 Today, I don't know if that answers every question, but 456 00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:04,600 here's what I know, it does. Say, I know that the, when Jesus 457 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:10,100 suffered in a way that son comprehensible to me, God's will 458 00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:12,300 is accomplished in a prosper in his hand. 459 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:14,700 He shall leave. See the labor of his soul and be 460 00:28:14,700 --> 00:28:17,600 satisfied by his knowledge. My righteous servant shall 461 00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:21,500 justify many for. He shall bear their iniquities 462 00:28:21,900 --> 00:28:24,700 through this process. He says, therefore, I will 463 00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:27,900 divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the 464 00:28:27,900 --> 00:28:31,400 spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death. 465 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,900 He was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the 466 00:28:33,900 --> 00:28:37,000 sin of many and made intercession for the 467 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,100 transgressors this whole process. 468 00:28:39,700 --> 00:28:43,700 Brought about a Deliverance. Now, I don't know how long he 469 00:28:43,700 --> 00:28:47,100 preached but for times sake, I'm going to start skipping around 470 00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:48,700 on some things. My mind's eye is pretty 471 00:28:48,700 --> 00:28:51,500 convinced. He must have gotten through, you 472 00:28:51,500 --> 00:28:54,400 know, in the very next chapter, Isaiah 54 13. 473 00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:58,300 He says all your children should be taught by the Lord and great 474 00:28:58,300 --> 00:29:01,100 shall be the piece of your children in righteousness. 475 00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:04,100 You shall be established. You shall be far from oppression 476 00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:08,200 for you shall not fear, and from Terror, for it shall not come 477 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,500 near you. Isn't that what we need to know 478 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:14,900 that there is a Time coming when this won't come near me anymore? 479 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:18,800 When all these things can be put away when a time when the 480 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,700 children of Israel did not know peace. 481 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,700 He could prophesied through this Messiah through this Lord, that 482 00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:27,000 peace would come that people can't take away. 483 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,400 Isn't that what we really need to be assured of, no matter 484 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,400 where, how we grow up in life in America in the United States. 485 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,400 And we prayed and we're so grateful to be a part of it, you 486 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,600 know, when we read scriptures about how the wealthy and we 487 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,100 tend I don't know if I tend and maybe you do too to think, oh 488 00:29:45,100 --> 00:29:47,500 well, the wealthy that's like those people that live over on 489 00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:51,100 the hill have that huge house and they're really wealthy 490 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,800 you're right, I've heard some just last week, if you have 491 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,900 change in your pocket, Or change in the ashtray of your car or in 492 00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:07,100 a jar at home. If you have loose change, you 493 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:11,100 are in the top, 14 percent of the world's wealth. 494 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,300 Means there's eighty-six percent of the people that live on this 495 00:30:16,300 --> 00:30:19,500 Earth are less that have less than you do. 496 00:30:20,900 --> 00:30:26,800 And if you have a refrigerator, With your food in it, you're in 497 00:30:26,808 --> 00:30:31,400 the top 5%. Now that's hard for me to 498 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,400 imagine. I thought there's rich people 499 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,600 all over the world and you know, there are But it's mostly 500 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:43,000 poverty. Frankie can probably attest to 501 00:30:43,008 --> 00:30:46,600 that and places. He's been refrigerators a big 502 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:54,500 deal. People from most of the World 503 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,700 when they reach cell like this and there's a time they don't 504 00:30:57,700 --> 00:31:01,100 have to be worried about the next meal or oppression. 505 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,700 What Deliverance? That's promising. 506 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,200 Maybe he got down into verse 17. No weapon formed against you 507 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,300 shall prosper every tongue which Rises against you and judgement 508 00:31:12,300 --> 00:31:14,500 shall condemn. This is the heritage of the 509 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:17,800 Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is from me, says 510 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,500 the Lord, a time we only have to worry about the enemy anymore. 511 00:31:21,500 --> 00:31:26,500 No weapon. And we know today, through Jesus 512 00:31:26,500 --> 00:31:29,700 Christ, there is nothing anybody can do to us, to take away. 513 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:32,500 Our hope neither life nor death, nor principalities nor power 514 00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:35,700 nothing. The worst thing they can do, is 515 00:31:35,700 --> 00:31:41,700 kill us and set us free. This is the promise through this 516 00:31:41,700 --> 00:31:43,700 Messiah. Perhaps he got into verse 517 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,500 chapter 55 and 60 seek the Lord. While he may be found call upon 518 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:50,800 him. While he is near, let the wicked 519 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,200 forsake his way. And the unrighteous man, his 520 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,300 thoughts. Perhaps is this point Ethiopian 521 00:31:57,300 --> 00:31:59,500 nobleman saying, I get it. Yes, it does it all fit 522 00:31:59,500 --> 00:32:03,300 together. And then Phillips able to say 523 00:32:03,300 --> 00:32:06,500 well then seek him now. He's near you right now. 524 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,400 Maybe today you're at this point in this lesson you're seeing ik. 525 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,000 I can kind of get this I see and I believe that he is near to you 526 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,000 right now seek him while you can find him. 527 00:32:17,100 --> 00:32:19,900 If you're, if you have wickedness, don't say I'm just 528 00:32:19,900 --> 00:32:21,500 too bad. I can never make it. 529 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,800 Let the wicked forsake his way turn around, leave it behind 530 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,800 you. The scripture is full of 531 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,400 examples in the New Testament that say, and such were some of 532 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,000 you. But you've been washed and 533 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:39,300 you've been cleansed It doesn't matter, just put it behind you 534 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:45,100 and seek the Lord and the unrighteous, man, his thoughts. 535 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,400 Now, we have a tendency. And I'm going to talk to church 536 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:54,400 now. Church people, we come all the 537 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,300 time, maybe you're here, Sunday, morning, Sunday afternoon, 538 00:32:57,300 --> 00:33:00,700 Wednesday, night to and you don't really do all those wicked 539 00:33:00,700 --> 00:33:03,900 things but, you know, that there's a battle of your mind. 540 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,000 And I want you to know Temptation in of itself is not 541 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,900 sin. Giving into it. 542 00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:16,100 Dwelling on it. That's where the problem comes. 543 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:21,800 He says, let the unrighteous man, forsake his thoughts. 544 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:24,900 Someone might say, yeah, it doesn't really matter. 545 00:33:24,900 --> 00:33:30,000 It's just, it's just It's just what I think about or it's just 546 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,800 I would never really do it but I might fantasize. 547 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:38,900 Don't you forsake it? Number one, and most 548 00:33:38,900 --> 00:33:41,000 importantly, because the word of God says it. 549 00:33:42,300 --> 00:33:47,400 Number 2 and by experience. If you've been around and all 550 00:33:47,408 --> 00:33:49,400 that whether it's yourself or someone you've helped work 551 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:52,300 through it, when you continue to think about it, eventually 552 00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:57,600 you'll act on it and it builds a foundation, that is very, very, 553 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:02,000 very difficult to tear out. It haunts you. 554 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,200 There is a reason that the scriptures over and over talk 555 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,199 about the problem of that Sevilla Smith's and the problem 556 00:34:08,199 --> 00:34:11,900 of things we see with our eyes, this happened, this I'm talking 557 00:34:11,900 --> 00:34:16,000 about pornography Talking about things even when you don't use 558 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,600 printed or visual material anymore because you don't need 559 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,800 it. Now he says forsake, those 560 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,800 unrighteous thoughts, how do you do that? 561 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:28,100 When you catch yourself, you pray to Gods, forgive you for 562 00:34:28,100 --> 00:34:30,900 that sin and and the unrighteousness of your thoughts 563 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,699 and pray to him to help you think about something righteous. 564 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,500 And you might think that sounds easy, but if you've been through 565 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:42,199 it, you know, it's still not, but you maintain that and you 566 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,000 begin, you try to read the word something. 567 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,100 If you don't know, a one passage in particular just read anything 568 00:34:47,300 --> 00:34:50,500 fight through that. You can overcome the unrighteous 569 00:34:50,500 --> 00:34:53,800 need to forsake that thought and let them return to the Lord and 570 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:58,700 He will have mercy on me. He wants to be merciful to you 571 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,700 and to our God for he will abundantly pardon, he will 572 00:35:03,700 --> 00:35:05,600 forgive it and not only forgive it. 573 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:09,200 He's going to do it abundantly for my thoughts are not your 574 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,300 thoughts. Nor are your ways, my ways says 575 00:35:11,300 --> 00:35:13,600 the Lord for, as the heavens are higher than the earth. 576 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,000 So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your 577 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,700 thoughts. Now, I got to admit to you, they 578 00:35:19,700 --> 00:35:25,200 verses 8 and 9 At least it wasn't the community. 579 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:27,600 That's another story for another time. 580 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,800 I memorized, Hebrews 55 verses 8 and 9. 581 00:35:37,100 --> 00:35:42,200 Probably by the time I was 18. And you know what? 582 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,000 I memorized it on. I memorized it on a sermon about 583 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:51,600 the worship and that we need to do things the way God says, 584 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,000 because if we do it our own way, our thoughts are not his 585 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,000 thoughts and his ways are not our ways. 586 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:58,600 And as the heavens are higher than the earth says thoughts 587 00:35:58,600 --> 00:35:59,600 are. There are thoughts of his ways 588 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,000 that I always will just mess it up and you know what I believe 589 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:06,200 that's true. But it was a long time before I 590 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,600 realized those verses were tied into the mercy and forgiveness 591 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:14,200 and grace of God. Because Greg branch and maybe 592 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:15,900 you too. We have a hard time forgiving 593 00:36:15,900 --> 00:36:19,500 ourselves when we really mess up, we can just beat ourselves 594 00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:23,100 up for the rest of our life. And if we can do that to 595 00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:24,700 ourselves, we can do that to each other. 596 00:36:24,700 --> 00:36:28,300 To someone that really hurts us. We can just, we just can't get 597 00:36:28,300 --> 00:36:31,600 over it. At least, we think when we 598 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,800 finally realize we won't get over it and then maybe we got a 599 00:36:34,808 --> 00:36:41,200 chance to get over it. But God's not like that God's 600 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,800 ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts in our thoughts. 601 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,100 And he says, if if you'll forsake that Wicked way, if 602 00:36:47,100 --> 00:36:49,800 you'll forsake those Wicked thoughts, if you will return to 603 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,200 me, I will have mercy on you and I will abundantly pardon you, 604 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:59,500 because I'm not like you. I can do it, if you'll do it. 605 00:37:01,100 --> 00:37:04,600 That's his promise. I'd like to think that the 606 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:06,500 Ethiopian nobleman got to hear that. 607 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:12,800 And finally, Isaiah 59:20 Redeemer come to Zion and those 608 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,500 who from transgression. And Jacob says, the Lord asked 609 00:37:15,500 --> 00:37:17,900 for me, says the Lord, this is my Covenant with them. 610 00:37:18,500 --> 00:37:21,900 My spirit who is upon you and my words, which I put in your mouth 611 00:37:21,900 --> 00:37:24,800 shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of 612 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,900 your descendants nor from the mouth of your descendants. 613 00:37:27,900 --> 00:37:32,600 Descendants says the Lord from this time and forever. 614 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,200 I don't know how long the world's going to stand. 615 00:37:36,700 --> 00:37:40,000 And I would like to think that the Ethiopian nobleman got to 616 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:41,500 hear this. And in my mind's eye, I'm 617 00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:45,300 convinced he did I'll tell you why in a second. 618 00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:51,800 But he says from them, this is going to be this message and 619 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:56,600 this will go on this story. This preaching Jesus will never 620 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,800 stop says the Lord for now and forever. 621 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,600 I am not the first one to preach this sermon and I don't believe 622 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,300 I'll be the last and less time. It's immediately. 623 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:13,600 Because this message is going on and on, don't know how far he 624 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,100 went. But for time sake, I got to get 625 00:38:16,100 --> 00:38:19,300 back to what he did. Do in back in Acts chapter 8, 626 00:38:19,300 --> 00:38:21,800 says verse 36. Now, as they went down the road, 627 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,300 they came to some water and the eunuch said, see here is water. 628 00:38:25,300 --> 00:38:27,400 What hinders me from being baptized? 629 00:38:27,700 --> 00:38:32,200 You notice one thing we did not discuss and Isaiah is baptism. 630 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,700 Now, I already told you that this was a long trip, we're not 631 00:38:36,700 --> 00:38:39,900 told how long the Ethiopian nobleman and Phillip were riding 632 00:38:39,900 --> 00:38:43,600 along in this Chariot, is it possible that they'd even camped 633 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:49,100 out a few nights already? I don't know. but if they made 634 00:38:49,100 --> 00:38:51,800 it through the book of Isaiah and then into the New Covenant 635 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,400 to the point that he could teach baptism to him, we never even 636 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,700 got to that Isaiah, but Philip had by the time they come to a 637 00:39:00,700 --> 00:39:04,600 certain water, the eunuch says, well here's water, why can't I 638 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:06,800 be baptized? What hinders me? 639 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:08,800 What's stopping me? And Philip said, if you believe 640 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,200 with all your heart, you may he answered and said, I believe 641 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,800 that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by the time he got done. 642 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,400 And by the time they got to that pool of water, the Ethiopian 643 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,400 nobleman knew who was being spoken about in Isaiah 53. 644 00:39:24,100 --> 00:39:25,900 And he knew now that Jesus Christ. 645 00:39:25,900 --> 00:39:30,500 Not only was the one prophesied. He was indeed the Son of God. 646 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:34,200 And so he commanded the Chariot to stand still, and both Philip 647 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,700 and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him. 648 00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:40,900 Now that word baptize. I feel compelled to say this 649 00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:43,700 about it. It's literally just a 650 00:39:43,700 --> 00:39:47,000 transliteration that comes from the Greek word baptizo. 651 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,000 The translators have not always agreed on how to translate that 652 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,500 word because if you know much about religion you know, 653 00:39:53,500 --> 00:39:55,500 everybody's got a different way to quote-unquote. 654 00:39:55,500 --> 00:40:00,500 Baptized literally baptizo means to immerse to dip, or to plunge 655 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,500 in Romans, chapter, 6, verses, 1 through 6, you'll read that and 656 00:40:04,500 --> 00:40:07,100 you'll find out it's described as a burial. 657 00:40:09,300 --> 00:40:11,700 What happened here? When he baptized him, he stopped 658 00:40:11,700 --> 00:40:14,100 The Chariot. Philip, and the eunuch got out 659 00:40:14,100 --> 00:40:16,700 of the Chariot. They both went down into the 660 00:40:16,700 --> 00:40:21,100 water, both of them, and he either immersed, him, he dipped 661 00:40:21,100 --> 00:40:22,200 him. He plunged him. 662 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:31,800 He buried him in that water. Now I got to admit it's a one 663 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,700 more thing I'm getting off on tangents this morning. 664 00:40:33,700 --> 00:40:37,300 Some people say Greg, but you're making a work necessary for 665 00:40:37,300 --> 00:40:39,400 salvation and I know what the Bible says that works. 666 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,500 Aren't that. I want to tell you this morning, 667 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:46,500 I want you to tell me in your picture of what I just told you. 668 00:40:46,500 --> 00:40:53,000 What was the work of the this Ethiopian nobleman and went down 669 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:58,800 in the water with Billa. At what work did the Ethiopian 670 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:06,300 nobleman accomplish? I believed Philip was the one 671 00:41:06,300 --> 00:41:10,800 that had the job to do Ethiopian nobleman what did he have to do? 672 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:17,400 He had to surrender. He had to do what is otherwise 673 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,500 against our nature and allow somebody. 674 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:28,000 To Duncan. And when we were kids the Victor 675 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,700 was the one that got a donkey. Everybody else. 676 00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:35,100 You fought not to get dumped. When you come in obedience to 677 00:41:35,100 --> 00:41:39,100 the gospel. The least work you will do in 678 00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:42,700 your Christian life and in your life after belief is be 679 00:41:42,700 --> 00:41:47,200 baptized, you surrender in baptism, and whoever you want to 680 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,900 assist you in that process, they do the work. 681 00:41:51,300 --> 00:41:53,600 It takes work to believe because that means you're going to have 682 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:57,000 to invest some of your time and your energy and your mental 683 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:02,300 capacity to see if you'll believe when you confess and you 684 00:42:02,300 --> 00:42:05,200 get the courage to say that you believe Jesus Christ is the Son 685 00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:06,800 of God. Now that's putting an effort on 686 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:08,400 you. You you might call that work. 687 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:12,200 When you're asked to repent, Luke 13 and 3, Jesus said, 688 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,000 except you repent you will all likewise perish. 689 00:42:15,900 --> 00:42:20,900 Take some work. Not works of righteousness. 690 00:42:20,900 --> 00:42:24,400 It's works of faith. What's the difference in a work 691 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,000 of righteousness and work of Faith? 692 00:42:26,900 --> 00:42:29,100 It's not like and works righteousness. 693 00:42:29,100 --> 00:42:31,700 When I say that, I mean, we think, well, if I do this, then 694 00:42:31,700 --> 00:42:33,200 I learn it and he'll owe it to me. 695 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:36,100 No, there's nothing I can do that. 696 00:42:36,100 --> 00:42:38,300 I can earn this. Nothing you can do. 697 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,800 But works of faith means, I'm going to do that because I 698 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:45,300 believe that's the right thing to do. 699 00:42:47,300 --> 00:42:48,900 Do I mess up? Yeah. 700 00:42:49,300 --> 00:42:52,600 When you mess up what you do, you confess that fault? 701 00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:57,400 Pray one for another, the effectual fervent prayer of a 702 00:42:57,408 --> 00:43:01,300 righteous man availeth. Much first John 189 says if we 703 00:43:01,300 --> 00:43:02,600 confess our faults, he's faithful. 704 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:04,400 And just to forgive us and cleanse us of all 705 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,700 unrighteousness. You don't have to just keep 706 00:43:06,700 --> 00:43:11,600 being baptized Living the life that it's going to take some 707 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:16,400 faithful word. Baptism it takes surrender. 708 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:20,900 Tell me if there's not an image that more accurately reflects 709 00:43:20,900 --> 00:43:23,700 what God wants out of us. When we commit ourselves to 710 00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:25,700 Jesus. He says I want you to surrender 711 00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:29,300 your life, I want you to be willing to do what otherwise is 712 00:43:29,300 --> 00:43:34,100 against your nature to allow. In my mind, this picture of 713 00:43:34,100 --> 00:43:38,800 baptism that takes place is the perfect picture of what it means 714 00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:42,600 for you to be born again at Surrender, Your Life to God. 715 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:45,600 Last thing I want you to notice Philip and the eunuch went. 716 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:48,800 Now, do you realize today, there are some people that because the 717 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:50,400 preacher don't want to get his slack sweater. 718 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:51,700 Don't want to have to change clothes. 719 00:43:51,900 --> 00:43:54,200 They send people in by themself and they reach over. 720 00:43:57,100 --> 00:43:59,900 No, I'm not saying there aren't some situations that are trash 721 00:43:59,900 --> 00:44:02,200 cans. The only option I've heard of 722 00:44:02,207 --> 00:44:06,300 some pretty creative things but our pattern, they both went down 723 00:44:06,300 --> 00:44:08,700 in the water and he baptized in there. 724 00:44:08,900 --> 00:44:11,100 And when he came up out of the water, the spirit of the lord 725 00:44:11,100 --> 00:44:14,200 caught, Philip a waste of the eunuch, saw him no more and he 726 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,400 went hit on his way rejoicing. I've made a lot of trips in our 727 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,800 car between Oklahoma or the last 30 years, least twice a year 728 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:24,300 sometimes more and I can never think of a time I would have 729 00:44:24,300 --> 00:44:26,700 enjoyed getting soaking wet in the middle. 730 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,400 Of that trip and then jumping back in the Suburban to make the 731 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,800 rest of the drive. It's not something you do unless 732 00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:36,100 it's important, but that's exactly what happened here and 733 00:44:36,100 --> 00:44:39,500 that Ethiopian nobleman, he rejoiced the rest, his way home. 734 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:44,500 I don't know how long it took him to drive dry out, but he was 735 00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:48,400 a happy man. We thank you for listening to 736 00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:53,200 our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. 737 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:56,800 Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional 738 00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,100 information, or you would like to receive a free Bible 739 00:45:00,100 --> 00:45:05,500 correspondence, course by mail. Please email us at info at her 740 00:45:05,500 --> 00:45:08,000 Church of Christ Bakersfield.com. 741 00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:13,900 Our service times are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 742 00:45:13,900 --> 00:45:18,300 Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Please make plans to join us. 743 00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,000 We would love for you to be our honored guest.