Welcome back to Books of
the Book. Well, Mark, before the
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break we were taking about the
active role of the laity, the
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church members, not the apostles
in spreading the message of
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Christ there in the book of Acts
and we want to pick up in verse
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five of Acts chapter 8. So
here we find that there's a man
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named Phillip. It says, then
Phillip went down to the city
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of Samaria and preached Christ
to them. So this would not be an
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apostle but a lay person. He
was one of the seven but they
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were lay people, just like our
deacons today would be. And it
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says that the multitudes with
one accord, in verse 6, heeded
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the things spoken by Phillip and
it even talks about miracles and
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miraculous things that Phillip
was doing and the whole city
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was stirred up by the work
that was going done. Then it
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describes how in the city there
was a man named Simon who had
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previously practiced sorcery
in the city and everybody in the
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city from the least to the
greatest it says in verse 10
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said this man is the great power
of God. They were astonished by
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the supernatural things that
Simon the sorcerer was doing.
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Yet when Phillip came and
they heard his words they all
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believed Phillip. They believed
the gospel that he presented and
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even Simon believed what Phillip
was saying and all of them,
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including Simon, were baptized.
Now it gets interesting because
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in verse 14 Peter and John
the apostles who heard what was
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going on in Samaria came down
to Samaria and prayed that they
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might receive the Holy Spirit,
these believers there. And it
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says in verse 16, for as yet
he had fallen upon none of them.
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They had only been baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus. Then
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they laid hands on them and they
received the Holy Spirit. Now it
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is important to note that there
are other times in the Bible
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where they didn't lay hands on
them and they received the Holy
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Spirit and we'll get to that in
a later program. But right here
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I want to highlight what it says
just after this because in verse
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18 Simon seems excited about
what has just happened with
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the apostles laying their hands
on these believers and they
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received the Holy Spirit
and Simon is starting to see
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opportunity. Verse 18 says, And
when Simon saw that through the
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laying on of the apostles hands
the Holy Spirit was given he
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offered them money, of all
things, Saying give me this
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power also that anyone on whom
I lay hands may receive the Holy
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Spirit. It's interesting to me
that sometimes within the church
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we have people who come
from a business background or a
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secular background and they
come into the church and perhaps
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think that things should
operate the same way with the
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same type of scenarios of
promotion and everything else
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that happened in their work
place and it doesn't always work
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that way. Simon was here making
a little bit of a mistake in
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thinking that he could buy the
Holy Spirit; I should say a big
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mistake. In verse 20 it says,
But Peter said to him, your
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money perish with you because
that the gift of God could be
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purchased with money. You have
neither part nor portion in this
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matter and, notice this part;
for your heart is not right in
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the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this your
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wickedness and pray God if
perhaps the thought of your
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heart may be forgiven you for
I see that you are poisoned by
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bitterness and bound by iniquity
Then Simon answered and said,
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Pray to the Lord for me that
none of the things of which you
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have spoken may come upon
me. It's not that Simon wasn't
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wanting to be involved and
wanting the Holy Spirit but he
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was there for the wrong reasons.
And sometimes the reason and
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your intent makes all the
difference. I know some people
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they come to church and they
see the fellowship there and all
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the wonderful people and they
get to know certain people and
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you know perhaps they were in
an environment where they didn't
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have that and like wow I really
want this. I want to be a member
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of the church. I want to
be baptized. Well that's a
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wonderful thing to want to be
baptized but ultimately that's
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not the reason to be baptized.
And there are others who say
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you know what wow there's a nice
looking young lady here at this
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church. You know I'd like to
spend some time and I think if
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I'm going to have any chance
with her I'm going to have to
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become a member myself. So I
need to study and... So there
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are lots of different reasons
why people might get into
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religious faith and we need to
recognized that the power of the
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gospel and the benefits of the
church can only really come when
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the cost and the commitment
accompany them. So you really
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need commitment to understand
the cost of discipleship in
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order to really be able to
benefit from the gospel. There
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is no splitting of the two. We
need to recognize that there is
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a cost and there is a
commitment and there is no free
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gifts from the church that
really will bring peace into the
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soul. That's right and Peter
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understood that and it's
important I think as you've
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mentioned that that we will
find people and sometimes we
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ourselves don't realize our own
intentions toward certain things
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and there will be those who
want to be joined to the church
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without necessarily wanting to
be joined to Christ and humanly
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sometimes we just feel like well
I'm just glad they want to be
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around us and maybe by osmosis
they're going to get this
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Christianity thing and we don't
want to say anything. But Peter
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was very clear with Simon that
you have wrong motive and it may
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sound a little bit harsh if we
look at that. Peter, why weren't
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you more accepting and love him
into the church but Peter knew
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that he'd never come into the
church unless somebody pointed
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out that he needed a different
motive. When that was pointed
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out Simon himself said pray
for me and sought, perhaps, that
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different direction. Now we see
as this continues on in the book
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of Acts chapter 8, verse 26
tells us that Phillip moved on
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in his ministry. In fact, the
Lord moved him on. It says, An
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angel of the Lord spoke to
Phillip saying arise and go
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toward the south along the road
which goes down from Jerusalem
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to Gaza, this is desert. So he
arose and went and behold a man
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of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under Candace the
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queen of the Ethiopians who had
charge of all her treasury and
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had come to Jerusalem to worship
and was returning and sitting in
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his chariot. He was reading
Isaiah the prophet and the
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Spirit said to Phillip, Go near
and overtake the chariot. Now
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this whole account, I'm not
taking time to read through all
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of it is probably one of the
most well-known stories in the
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New Testament of baptism and
here is Phillip, again this lay
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person, who the Lord comes to
and tells him I want you to go
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and intercept this Ethiopian.
Why? Because the Lord knew that
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that Ethiopian eunuch was
seeking truth. It's interesting
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to me, Jim, how we see this.
For example, Ananias was sent
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to Saul and God told him the
specific place to go. Here we
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have the Lord seeing where this
seeker is and connecting him
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with somebody in the church.
It says, it tells him to go near
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and overtake his chariot. As
he comes near the man is reading
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and so the Lord tells Phillip
to go and Phillip goes. He just
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does what God tells him to do
and when he went without fully
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knowing what to expect when he
got there, the Lord provided the
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opportunity. I think there are
times he directs us to go and if
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we would just have the faith to
go where he says, he would open
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up the opportunities.
Yeah and I think that's a key
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point. As we pick up the account
in verse 30 it says, Phillip ran
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to him, heard him reading the
prophet Isaiah and said, do you
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understand what you are reading?
And he said, How can I unless
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someone guides me? And he asked
Phillip to come up and sit with
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him and the place in the
scripture which he read was this
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He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter and as a lamb before
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its shearer is silent so he
opened not his mouth. In his
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humiliation his justice was
taken away and who would declare
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his generation for his life
is taken from the earth. So the
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eunuch answered Phillip and
said I ask you of whom does the
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prophet say this, of himself
or of some other man? And so
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began this beautiful Bible study
that ultimately Phillip was
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enabled to give. I find it very
interesting that when Phillip
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came up to the eunuch and heard
him reading from Isaiah he said
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Do you understand what you are
reading? He actually probed a
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little bit, he probed a little
bit and sometimes we're afraid
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to do that. We think well people
are going to learn on their own
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and we just need to give them
space to do that and there's
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truth to that. Certainly the
Lord was working on the heart
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of this eunuch before Phillip
came around, but at the same
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time it makes me think of when
I experienced my own conversion.
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Because I was 22 years old. That
was a while back and I remember
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I was in the basement of my
parents' home and I hadn't read
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my Bible since I was a little
boy and probably curiosity got
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a hold of me and I read my Bible
and I experienced a conversion
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just from spending a few weeks
reading my Bible and it just
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gripped me right from the start
and you know what? I never had
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someone come and share
anything with me, I never had an
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evangelist come, I didn't have a
big meeting that drew me. I just
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read my Bible and the Lord
converted my soul. It tells me
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that there's power in the word
and the Lord will work on us
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individually. But having said
that, when I became connected
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to the church I needed the
writings of others and teachings
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of others and guidance. There
was so much that I was blessed
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by and benefitted by eventually
through that Church experience.
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So even though
works on us individually,
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He sends His people to share.
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What if Phillip had not
asked. Sometimes I wonder
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you know. There may be many
people who come to visit our
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churches who we run into and
different experiences in work or
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family who we see there might
be an interest but we just are
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friendly but we don't ask, would
you be open to studying the
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Bible together? You know there
would be so many opportunities.
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Sometimes I think there's a
good reason why we don't have
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opportunities to share the Bible
with people. And that's simply
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that we don't ask them. Right
here we see Phillip asking.
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And the eunuch is open. You
see the humility that he has.
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How can I unless someone guides
me and then Phillip begins to
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express in this scripture that
this is a Messianic passage.
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It's speaking of the Messiah.
You can see that that's a key
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that has begun to unlock the
early apostles because the way
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that the Messiah is spoken of
in these different passages and
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they're now able to share
because of what Jesus shared
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with them just how powerfully
these were fulfilled in the life
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of Christ. That's
right. So we find then as
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he preaches Christ that the
Ethiopian eunuch wants to be
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baptized and he says here's
water now what hinders me from
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being baptized and Phillip says
that if you believe with all
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your heart that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, you may be
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baptized. So he gets down
then and there and baptizes him.
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You know sometimes that creates
a question from people. It seems
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that we take more extensive time
to prepare people for baptism
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but we have to remember
that this eunuch had come to
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Jerusalem to worship it says
in verse 27. He had a working
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knowledge of the Lord. It
also tells us in verse 12 that
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Phillip is baptizing people who
believed concerning the kingdom
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of God and the name of Jesus.
Not just the name of Jesus.
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In other words there were
teachings associated with the
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kingdom of God that Phillip was
teaching and when the Ethiopian
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eunuch received those he was
baptized. It's important for us
00:12:18.09\00:12:21.76
to have an intelligent knowledge
of what we're committing to and
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when we do the Lord
opens the way for that baptism.
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Absolutely. You look at verse
39 and the chapter concludes.
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It says, Now when they came up
out of the water, the Spirit of
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of the Lord caught Phillip away
so that the eunuch saw him no
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more. In verse 40 it says,
Phillip was found in Azotas and
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passing through he preached in
all the cities until he came to
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Caesarea. So Phillip, this lay
person is active. He's moving
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again to share his faith. Would
to God that all of us would have
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that same spirit of
sharing our faith with others.
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We'll see you next
time on Books of the Book
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