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[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message by David Entry. Every true revival is a product of the strong preaching of God's word.! May you receive a word from this message that will spark a revival in you.

[0:12] In the book of Acts chapter 8. Thank you, Jesus. Acts 8, 26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go towards the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza, which is desert.

[0:40] And he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.

[0:59] was returning and sitting in his chariots, read Esaias, the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join yourself to the chariot.

[1:14] And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

[1:26] And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

[1:38] The place of the scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dam before his shearest, so opened he not his mouth.

[1:52] In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.

[2:03] And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself, or of some other man?

[2:15] Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water.

[2:34] What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine hearts, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

[2:48] And he commanded the chariots to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

[2:59] And when they were come 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.

[3:11] But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

[3:23] Here ends the reading of God's word. Shall we please pray? Father, thank you so much for giving us the privilege to get into the word. We pray that give us illumination, understanding, enlightenment.

[3:36] For you said in your word that the entrance of your word brings light and gives understanding to the simple. Oh, teach us to know your word so we can apply our hearts unto wisdom.

[3:50] As your word is taught, let confusion be dispelled. Let doubt be removed. Let faith rise. Let manifestations of your power and your glory be the common occurrence as your word is taught.

[4:07] We pray, take us into avenues and chambers in your word which natural men can take us. We pray, give us understanding. Give us help.

[4:20] For our help is in your name. Thank you that our lives will be the same again. We are contacting dimensions of grace. That can only come through the teaching of your word.

[4:32] to the glory of your name in Jesus' name. Amen. It feels, it feels like the reading is so sweet.

[4:46] It feels like this is a reading that doesn't need explanation. It's so sweet and so nice. In our previous session, we saw how Philip, one of the seven who were chosen to serve tables.

[5:07] In Acts chapter 6, we are introduced to the seven starting with Stephen and then Philip. And then in Acts chapter 7, it was primarily about Stephen.

[5:20] Then in Acts chapter 8, we are introduced to Philip. So practically, almost all of Acts chapter 8 is Philip. Acts chapter 7 is Stephen.

[5:31] Acts chapter 8 is Philip. And then you'll find out later that Acts chapter 9 is the conversion of the greatest missionary. But Philip, we can see, was the first person to embark on a missionary trip.

[5:47] He introduced the church or missions in the church. Philip. So let's look at Philip again. We saw how he went down to Samaria, not because he planned to travel there, but because they were all scattering.

[6:01] And he ended up in Samaria. And we saw in our previous teaching how he preached in Samaria and even the sorcerer got attracted to follow him.

[6:14] And the whole city had so much joy because the word of God had come. So we saw the impact God made through Philip's ministry in Samaria.

[6:26] But something interesting happened. For God to make sure or to make a statement that what was happening in Samaria, even though the Samaritans and the Jews don't, they don't agree, they are not in good terms.

[6:41] God wanted to make sure that what had started in Samaria was intricately linked to what he had started in Jerusalem. As I said, so Peter and John, God, they didn't give them the Holy Spirit until Peter and John got there and prayed for them that they might receive, verse 17, that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

[7:05] But God could have given them that already. God wanted it to be clear to the Jews in Jerusalem that what is happening in Samaria is not different from what is happening in Jerusalem. And he wanted those in Samaria to also know that you are not detached from Jerusalem.

[7:20] So don't do your own thing. It's one body. One body. By one spirit have we been baptized into one body as the scriptures say in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13.

[7:32] In Ephesians chapter 4 it says that there is one spirit. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 4 and 5 it says one spirit. So it's the same spirit who is awake in the church in Jerusalem who is also at work in the church in Samaria.

[7:46] And so one thing that I want to draw your attention to is after all that Simon the Sostra did, you know Simon the Sostra, I didn't get to tell you that there is a word called psi-money.

[7:58] Psi-money is to give money for church position or for promotion. So let's say you want to be a bishop, you pay, yeah. Psi-money is to give money so that you can be made a pastor.

[8:10] Give money so you can be made a bishop. It was quite common in the Middle Ages where, it's still common someplace now, where people pay their way to church authorities, ag-bishops, popes, bishops, they pay their way, they give them money so someone can be in the church not born again but can give money.

[8:29] Listen, I like that position. Can you make me a bishop? They pay, yeah. It's called psi-money and that tells you where it came from. It was derived from Simon Magus. Simon Magus, the magician who tried to buy office in the church, tried to buy relevance in the church, tried to buy importance in the church with his money.

[8:50] Psi-money, it is the buying or selling of advantages such as paid positions in the church. So, you are buying advantage by paying and getting into the, that's just for your information.

[9:04] So, Simon is a, it's a word that came from Simon. Now, after Simon Magus was rebuked, I saw something in verse 25 that really thrilled my heart. Bible says, Peter and John and when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel in many villages.

[9:25] That's Simon and John. See, preaching was very regular. They actually, after they went to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit baptism, they testified and preached the word of the, they testified and preached the word of the Lord.

[9:40] That's what they were actually doing. That's what the church life really is. The church life is about learning more of Christ from scripture.

[9:52] From scripture. Getting to know Jesus more and more. So, as I said at that time, it is necessary to, not minimize, a serious church must find every means to potentially eliminate pulpit entertainment and have Bible-centered preaching.

[10:13] Bible, I taught you the other time that one of the main signs of a true church is its biblical practices and biblical teachings.

[10:24] That's one of the main signs of a quality and a genuine church. The preaching is very biblical and it explains what the scripture says. So, these guys, that's their normal life.

[10:37] After they testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and it's like from villages preaching, preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel.

[10:48] I believe God will be also working miracles. But focus was not given to the miracle, but the focus of giving to the preaching. Because the miracles are not essential. What are miracles without preaching? Yes, yes, yes.

[11:01] Satan can do it. Satan can do it. But God can use preaching without miracles. He does miracles to bring attention to the preaching.

[11:12] Miracles are signs. So, Bible says that, as I spoke about in verse 12, I like that text so much. but when they had believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of, that's what he was preaching.

[11:28] Nothing else. He was preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus. Both men and women were baptized. Why? Someone, Margo's himself, got baptized and following Philip, wondering and following and was amazing, seeing the miracles.

[11:46] But you see, when someone, the social was mentioned, Bible put emphasis on miracles. That's what was brought in your attention, as I said. But when you look at the verse 12, Bible says that we believe the preaching.

[11:57] He was preaching and explaining the verse 12 that he taught the things concerning the kingdom and that's why they were baptized, based on that, not based on the miracles. And so, miracles are not important, they are essential, they are necessary, but you can be saved without miracles.

[12:16] But you can, and then you, you can have miracles without being saved. You can have miracles without being saved. In fact, there are people who are following Jesus Christ, and when he multiplied the bread, he multiplied bread and fed them.

[12:30] John chapter 6, from verse 66, or something, the Bible says, and the disciples left him, they didn't follow him again. Meanwhile, from verse 20, they came to make him a king. They said, Jesus, they wanted to make, because of bread, they ate.

[12:43] when they saw the yeah, chapter 6, of John, verse 24, no, it can't be 24, 24, 25, 26, somewhere. Bible says that they decided to give him political advantage.

[12:58] Verse 15 he said, and Jesus, okay, so verse 15 says that when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he left there, so you can't, no, he left there.

[13:12] he left and went to the mountains alone. They wanted to make him king. Why? Because of the food they had eaten. These same people, these same people, in the verse 16, after Jesus taught, he taught them heavily from verse 30, about I'm the bread, your father's ate manna, I'm the bread that came from heaven, I'm the bread, unless you eat me, you don't have life, unless you drink my blood, and by verse 64, they said, this is a hard saying, who can listen to this?

[13:41] We don't like this preaching, they said, we don't like this preaching, this preaching is, ah, yeah, it says that, and therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, they said, this is a hard saying, who can understand this?

[13:56] It is his preaching, they followed him to come and eat more, and he diverted their focus to this preaching, because God can't help you without the preaching of his word, it's the word, the word, the word, your spiritual growth is determined by your word growth, growth, and understanding scripture, so, in fact, in Acts chapter 14, can you imagine, that they came, they said, the gods, from verse 17, verse 14, the gods have come down to us in human flesh, after Paul did a miracle and healed somebody as Lystra, they came to come and, verse 11, they came to come and sacrifice the priests of Zeus and Jupiter, they came, because they said Paul was Zeus and then, they called Barnabas Zeus and called Paul Hermes, yeah, Hermes the one in the shop, maybe Gucci, so they called Paul, because he was the chasteel, and they came to sacrifice, oxen, they are coming to perform sacrifice, and Paul had to, they ripped their garments, they said, please stop this, we are look at us, nothing special about us, we are actually preaching and telling you to turn away from this vain behavior, now, because of the miracle, you see what miracle can do, because of the miracle, you are coming to make us, in fact, bring your staff, what we are trying to preach you away from, the human nature was now bringing to make, because they are so impressed with us, they didn't allow that, then, some enemies came from

[15:34] Lystra, and came and polluted these same people who said they are gods, do you know how the story ended, they caught Paul and beat him, they stoned him, yes, they stole Paul and dragged him, look, it is only verse 14, he said, don't do this to us, five verses downwards, why are you doing this to us, in the verse 15, four verses downwards, they stoned him, the same people who saw the miracle were so impressed, because they will not listen to preaching, because they will not listen to preaching, they stoned the one who was coming to deliver the message from God to them, and so it's important to understand that they went every village preaching, the work of God rises and falls on the preaching, not just preaching, but 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, first two words, first three words, first three words, if you get tired of hearing this phrase,

[16:36] I'm sorry, you are even about to get more tired, you hear it, whether they are tired of hearing the word, whether they are interested in hearing the word or not, whether they are in the mood to hear the word or not, whether the word feels old fashioned to them or not, don't change it, he told us what to preach, pastor, man of God, Christian brother, Christian sister, preach the word, not politics, not therapy sessions, not motivational talk, no, not financial relief, not social justice, not racial justice, preach the word, that's all, anything outside of the word and a man of God gets into, he has diverted, doesn't matter how wonderful, how loving, people like saying it, that's no matter, once you are out of the word, you are out of the message, so you can be preaching, but not preaching

[17:50] God's message, when you are traveling, and you go to the airport, there's something called gate, gate 16A, gate 14A, gate 10, gate 11, gate 27, some of it is gate 63, so many different gates, you have to walk and walk and walk and 63B, 63C, gates, but if you are having a conversation with your friend, and your plane is departing from gate 7A, and you go to gate 6A, gate 16A, you know, it's just small, but you end up in a different direction from where you are going, the same way, if the word of God, we don't focus on the word of God, and add a little bit, a little, just a little deviation, it can end as very far from what God has planned us to be, that is why, don't, I'm about to introduce a new concept here, don't spare or celebrate, don't celebrate or spare a preacher who is not focusing on the word. Don't spare them.

[19:00] Don't spare me. If I go of the word, don't spare me. Sometimes let your face share as precious, what's that? Yeah, and so, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and so, can you stop the rant? It's nice to hear all the stories, but, you know, can you stop the rant?

[19:19] So, it's important, church, a growing Christian never spares a preacher if he goes, if migrates a little bit of the word.

[19:31] It's not like we attack the person, it's not like we are upset with the person, but you don't have proof of that, because this, you know, I was teaching, one of the first days I was teaching something, that when you are preaching, a pastor is supposed to keep one finger on their Bible.

[19:45] Even me now have to stop moving around, and as I'm preaching, as I'm speaking, my finger must be on the Bible. I'm speaking one, just in case I need this hand to do illustration, so I remove it, this one must go there, and keep, because it must be the word.

[20:01] And the word, preach the word. Hallelujah. Clap for Jesus. I heard a Christian theologian say that the preaching time is a very serious time.

[20:14] It's not meant to be funny. It's not meant to, it's not a comedy session. It's not popular. If you are here for popular entertainment, I think you might not like it.

[20:26] We all have to move away from excessive entertainment. There are times we'll come to church, short praise and worship, the word. Some people are not happy.

[20:36] You know the way moms, you didn't like veg, moms say, you eat it. You still eat the veg. Some of us, you only like dessert.

[20:50] So, then Bible says, look at this, the main point I want to, Philip got such a heavy endorsement from the Jerusalem apostles. They came all the way to endorse what he was doing.

[21:02] That was a big breakthrough. After the endorsement, that is when he's even had to start the departmental movements and make sure things are, you know, he has to buy a throne and make sure his chair is special.

[21:14] He has to, he has to, because the thing is working. Then Bible says that, verse 26 of Acts chapter 8, and an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip.

[21:25] Oh yeah, speak to me. Angel. Say, arise and go towards the south. Ah, go towards the south, along the road, which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

[21:37] Now remember, where was he at this moment? Samaria. You remember how Samaria is? Towards the north. So, north of Judea. And Jerusalem is in Judea.

[21:48] And it's in Samaria. And now they said, go towards the south, along the road that goes to Jerusalem. So it's almost going back on yourself to Jerusalem. And then go past Jerusalem.

[22:01] And now you are going south because Gaza is south. It was the major route between Judea towards Africa through Egypt. So, Gaza Strip.

[22:11] They said you go to Gaza Strip. And it's a desert road. Desert road there means almost like a deserted road. People hardly use that road. Put you on the screen.

[22:22] The scripture. Now, an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, arise and go towards the south along the road which goes down to Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.

[22:35] Look, he was in a buzzing city. Things were working. Things were working. I mean, he was a big guy. The whole city gave him attention.

[22:47] When he was coming, he had several, if he was today, he would have a lot of security guards. Living a very mean, powerful life. It's not bad in itself, but very comfortable.

[23:00] Then an angel comes to him after all the approval God has given him by apostolic approval, angel comes to him that, you know, there are some people when I send, they wouldn't like to go. But you, you didn't mind serving tables.

[23:13] Even though you had so much depth into scripture, you found yourself in Samaria, look at the revival you have brought. I want to trust something to you. God wanted to start a missionary move.

[23:25] He said, you, I can send you on a mission. And you walk away from everything because of where your heart is. Philip walked away from all.

[23:35] So angel said, move, thank you guys, move towards Gaza. Verse 27, and he arose and went. This is an interesting guy. As soon as he was told to move, he arose and went.

[23:49] He arose, let's not say he arose and went. He arose and went. Say it again. He arose and went. Will you arise and go? Will you arose and went?

[24:02] One day, can it be said about you that you arose and went? Even though where you were seems more lucrative. Can that be said about us?

[24:13] Oh God, help us. So he arose and went. Verse 27, and he arose and went and behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority and Akandes, queen of Ethiopia.

[24:30] Now, a few points I want to bring to your attention. Ethiopia there is not the same as the modern day Ethiopia. Ethiopia there at that time is really almost all of Sahara, Africa, as far as possible low.

[24:45] So practically in the scripture, anytime you see Ethiopia, it's the kingdom and the land of the Cush. Isaiah chapter 18 verse 1. Cush is one of the sons of Ham, Noah's son.

[24:59] So it says that, woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings which is beyond the river of Ethiopia. And then yesterday's Bible reading in Isaiah chapter 56, you will see Cush being represented about 4, I think verse 4, 5, 6, or 3, 4, 5, you can see Cush was mentioned there.

[25:19] Cush is actually the African or the dark-skinned man. Yeah, in the Bible. So anytime you come across Cush in the Bible, it's talking about the dark-skinned man God created him to.

[25:32] So he said, get up. And when he was going, he met, when he traveled, the Bible says that there was this Ethiopian Enoch. Now, so Ethiopia first.

[25:44] Ethiopia was south of Egypt all down there. All that area was usually in Bible times called Ethiopia. Now, what's that Enoch? And Enoch is a man who has been, I think the word is, not cast, is castrated, but there's another biblical word.

[26:05] Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 1 in the New King James Version. Deuteronomy is, yeah, emasculated. That's the word, emasculated. Yeah.

[26:15] By crushing or mutilation. You don't want to see New Living Translation. It's okay.

[26:32] Take it off the screen. It's okay. It's okay. Now, just for information, it was a common thing in those days where some men are castrated.

[26:48] They are called eunuchs. what produces their testosterone, their hormones, their testicles, is removed. So, eventually, it's not anymore male.

[26:59] So, they usually tend to have a lot of feminine features. They can be very, very, like, rosy and, you know. When I was a boy, I told you, we used to have sheep at home.

[27:11] We had to have sheep. So, I was a shepherd boy. So, shepherding started a lot. David was a shepherd boy. The only thing is, the only thing is, I didn't have a harp. But, some of the things we used to do to the sheep is to castrate them.

[27:30] So, they become, they grow very, when they are lambs, male, you castrate them, take out their, their testicles, and they can grow, become very big, but they can't produce child.

[27:42] And, Bible says that, a eunuch, or someone who has been castrated, or emasculated, should not come into the congregation of the assembly of the Lord. She didn't come.

[27:54] Did you see how serious God takes reproduction? If, they have, made you, fertile, of purpose, so you can't, because, it's a sign that God likes us to reproduce.

[28:09] Anything that, that's why Jesus gets their fig tree. So, that's for another time. So, that's an eunuch. That's very important. And those days, they had eunuchs, to take care, they are the ones who normally would take care of their queens.

[28:24] Some of them, they birthed their queens, they take care, because they are not dangerous, they are sterile. So, it's either that, or some, are used for religious purposes, some are priests.

[28:39] You know, so, they didn't want a priest to have any problem. And it is, so, not in Israel, but in the pagan territory. So, it was a common practice in the pagan territory.

[28:49] So, this is a eunuch. But this guy is not a priest. This guy was a very big politician. Now, the Bible says that he was a great authority under Candace.

[29:00] What's Candace? Candace was like a title given to the queen. those days, the Ethiopians believed their kings came directly from their son god, S-U-N, was the son of the son god.

[29:16] So, they are not, the king is not supposed to work. So, it's like he rules, but doesn't reign. He's just like a ceremonial figure. So, and it doesn't work because it's very important.

[29:28] It's like a special person in those days. And, so then, the queen is the one who reigns and sees to the ruling of the everything, the kingdom and everything.

[29:38] So, it's the queen. And now, that queen, as soon as you become that queen, you are given that title like a Candace. So, this guy was a big person, very prominent person under the authority of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians.

[29:54] And, he was in charge of the treasury. He was the chancellor of the exchequer. He was a big guy. Big guy. However, something interesting about this guy was that he would travel miles, about 1,500 miles those days on horse and chariots.

[30:11] And, it's not the chariot to fight. It's the one, the carriage. So, it's almost like the speed of a bicycle. And, you are traveling, let's say, from here to Spain on a bicycle.

[30:22] You can't tell the number of miles it will take you. And, you see his level of devotion to go all the way to Jerusalem for worship one. Bible didn't tell us whether he was a Jew or not, but he was Ethiopian.

[30:34] Those days, you know, there are some Jews who were taken to captivity and some theologists believe that some of them were Jews by Ethiopian Jews. Many also believe that this man was like, he was not satisfied with the pagan religion he's seen.

[30:49] He wanted something better. Just like Paul went to Mars Hill. They said to the unknown God. They were practicing things, but they still felt dissatisfied. nothing satisfies, no religion satisfies morally, no religion satisfies spiritually, and no religion satisfies naturally.

[31:06] Anytime you practice any religion, you still feel a gap as something is missing until you find Jesus. So this man was looking for God and he knew about the Jews, so he practiced that he wasn't a Jew, he might not be a Jew, and potentially not a proselyte.

[31:25] Who is a proselyte? A proselyte is a pagan or a Gentile who have converted to practice Judaism like a Jew. You go through rituals. But obviously, because of this man's eunuch emasculation, he is not likely to.

[31:43] So when he goes to the temple, obviously he can't be inside because proselytes are not inside. There's a wall. So he will be on the outer side, but he doesn't mind. He will travel weeks and months just to go and worship.

[31:53] And there's one that I told you, the traveling or festivals where Jews have to travel and people travel from all over the world, the Jews, two of them were Pentecost and Passover.

[32:07] And did you realize that Passover is 15 days away from Pentecost? And Jesus was killed at Passover and then all he goes came out, Pentecost. So usually, when you travel and go to Jerusalem, you are likely to stay for at least six weeks or seven weeks so you can enjoy Passover and also have Pentecost before you go.

[32:26] So he spent a bit of time and he was a rich man, a prominent man. He was a rich man. And because he had now finished and so it was likely he would have been around the third time Jesus was being executed.

[32:40] He still would have been around after the day of Pentecost. He would have been around there. So he had finished worshiping or whatever he was doing if the Bible says went to worship. And he was on his way back to Ethiopia because in those days people traveled to Jerusalem to go and worship.

[32:56] Acts chapter 24 verse 11 Paul said he was actually going to worship. So they go to worship because you may ascertain that it's no more than 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

[33:09] They go. They try. It's common. So this guy has just finished worship. Let's go to the text again in Acts chapter. Is somebody learning something? The Bible says that verse 28 was returning and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah.

[33:23] As he has there in the King James is Isaiah the prophet. He was reading. Now this is another thing I want you to realize. Those days it's not books. It was scrolls. And the scrolls were kept in the synagogue.

[33:36] Yeah, in the synagogue and special places. Unless very, very rich people who can afford a scroll. so you can buy Isaiah. You can buy Jeremiah. You can buy Lamentations. We have got this luxury of having everything.

[33:49] Some of us now even have it on our electronic media. Yeah. Those days it is hard to find those days. You have to go. And so he has bought a scroll here he could afford it.

[34:01] And from Jerusalem he was busy reading. And number two the way they used to read was reading aloud like I told you on Thursday. Sometimes practice reading out loud. So he was reading aloud.

[34:13] He was reading aloud. So let's look at the text again. So Bible says that he was returning and sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said to Philip go near and join yourself to this chariot.

[34:29] Did you see the way the spirit was so influential in the works of the church? In Acts chapter 13 as they ministered and fasted the Holy Spirit said separate unto me Barnabas and Saul.

[34:41] In Acts chapter 8 verse 39 Acts 8 39 the Bible said that when they came out of the world the spirit of the Lord caught Philip. The spirit seems to be the main brain behind everything that is working.

[34:53] In Acts you remember Acts chapter 16 verse 6 and 7 they tried to preach in the territories of Galatia and when we had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia they were when they had gone through they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit.

[35:07] And look at the next verse. the next verse says that after they had come to Mysia they tried to go through but but the spirit so you can see how the spirit was actually the one in charge.

[35:20] That's why when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter Peter said you have lied to the Holy Spirit because he's the main person the main controller the main brain behind church work.

[35:32] So the angel this is interesting you know we didn't even explore how did the angel speak to him it's not necessary. Verse 27 the angel from the Lord told Philip how did he speak to him is he vision is he dream did he see a physical person those are the things that easily the natural human nature or the human nature likes that can lead to sorcery.

[35:56] How did he speak how did he speak to him it's not necessary forget about the experiences and get the message God's message is one point so now after angel speaking to him Bible says that the spirit also spoke to him when he got there that go run the spirit said to him go near and take over this give me the kj I prefer the kj this overtake okay go overtake this chariot go near and he joined himself to the chariot the spirit said go that's not what he was riding his chariot I believe that you might believe with me that's likely he may have a lot of bodyguards because to travel in that road you might have bodyguards and he's a big guy but he went and I don't know all the details are not necessary scripture doesn't give it but the spirit said go near the chariot let's see the verse 20 the next verse so Philip ran let's all say Philip ran the first thing you have to realize is Philip went now he ran the Holy Spirit said go he ran that's what determines how successful you are in the things of God sometimes we delay sometimes we are like a days ago sometimes we are maybe you know God is telling you to do something brother sister run therein lies your prosperity and your blessings therein lies the quality of how God will manifest himself the state of our obedience the nature of our obedience will determine the dimension or the magnitude of glory that will be lavished on us by God

[37:34] Philip run he said he should run and he ran so you see three key players in this text we have read so far number one is God number two is who is who I can't hear you are you sleeping number two is Philip God and the Holy Spirit is the same God angel the supernature and then number three is who the eunuch thank you someone are sleeping who is the one sleeping is there somebody sleeping the eunuch say the eunuch the eunuch I want you to notice that the eunuch was minding his business but because he was a seeker God has provoked a searching in his heart and look God went to Philip having a good time in Samaria told him travel go and meet this guy we naturally don't go to God you know in Genesis chapter 3 verse 11 it was God who came and said

[38:36] Adam where are you Adam said the woman you have it I had him called the woman then God went to Eve Eve God always comes to us God came to Noah and said Noah build the ark God came to Abraham Abraham was living in the era of the childish minding his own business God came to him he didn't go looking for God God came to him Noah God came to him Abraham God came to him and the word of the Lord you can't see all Moses was minding his own business family business he has gotten this wonderful wife and father in law amazing he was enjoying it and God appears to him God keeps coming God keeps coming and this Ethiopian it was God who sought him God went to Philip said there's somebody I want it's not coincidence you are going on this mission because there's one person oh he's the God of the crowd and the God of the individual he's the God of the crowd he cares about the crowd what was happening in Samaria crowd at the same time there's one person somewhere in the desert road and God said

[39:44] I equally care about you I'm going to reach out to you I don't know who I'm preaching to but I believe God has a plan to reach out to you God has a plan to do something about your life and your ministry God reached out to this Ethiopian union went to disrupt Philip's life it wasn't a disruption but in the natural it might look like a disruption he said go so God is a God of love he will always reach out to us he will always trust to let us know he is the unchanging God he doesn't change he is merciful he is kind he is good he will travel he will move any land to come and find you I know one of these days God somebody is going to have an encounter!

[40:32] make it a delight in fighting you God will find them God trust God and leave the details to him I don't know who I'm preaching to so clearly you can see the sovereign work of God here and then you can see the submissive will of the servant of God Philip God told him go he was submissive and he went but this is all God who started it God is the one and so

[41:36] God goes to Philip and sends Philip and then quickly let's look back at the text and Philip ran to him and said do you understand what you are reading watch this this guy is someone who definitely must have been exposed to idolatry pagan religion and all that and it wasn't enough so now he went towards the Jews the Jewish God because there's something about the Jewish God let me tell you something please this is necessary to know okay God when God called Abraham he told him in Genesis chapter 12 in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed say in you so God clearly told Abraham and the plan of God besides watch this besides the fact that within his loins the Messiah was coming God's plan for the

[42:36] Jews Abraham and his descendants was to use them to spread the knowledge of God amongst other nations but the Jews went topsy topsy they either go and they don't want to have anything to do with the people or they go and adopt their gods so the Jews kept failing God because the knowledge of the Lord the oracles of God was committed to the Jews so that the world might be blessed through the Jews they will know more about this Jewish God they will know more about tell us about your God so one of the reasons why God chose the Jews is for making the knowledge of God known to other nations but the Jews failed God so when God raised the church he said I'm going to use the church to send the knowledge of myself to all the nations and so he started with sending Philip remember he said you shall receive the power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you shall be witness you of this the scroll just like the

[44:25] Jews in the synagogue at the time of Jesus they had the scroll but they didn't understand what they were reading they couldn't understand because Bible says that until this day when Moses is read 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 a veil verse 13 and 14 a veil covers their face but verse 16 said yet never when they turn to the Lord hallelujah when they turn to the!

[44:50] the veil says in Luke chapter 24 verse 45 Bible says and he opened their understanding wow that they might comprehend the scriptures and the Bible says look at the next verse that they might comprehend the scriptures then he said unto them it is written he was not pointing to them in scripture previously they read it couldn't see it they read Isaiah!

[45:15] couldn't understand it the same thing was happening to this Ethiopian Enoch he was reading the book of Isaiah he invested into the scroll of Isaiah reading it but didn't understand it so Philip goes to him he said do you understand what you are reading he said how can I how can I accept some man guide me oh hallelujah hallelujah that is the job of an an an an an an an Christian will guide you into scripture not away from scripture it doesn't matter what they do in your life if it doesn't end you up in scripture and appreciating Christ in scripture that is why the Holy Ghost came in John chapter 16 verse 13 he said when he came he will guide oh I feel like preaching it is the same Greek word guide that was used job of the Holy Spirit so it makes sense when

[46:17] Philip was full of the Holy Spirit said go to the church join yourself to that chariots join yourself to that chariots not for political advantage but for gospel missions he joined himself to the chariots and heard him reading he said do you understand how can I it says somebody explains it and the!

[46:34] Bible says that Philip came the place of the scripture which he was reading he was actually reading Isaiah 53 as I told you last Thursday is the first gospel or the fifth gospel Isaiah so without Matthew Mark Luke and John somebody was still doing gospel he was still reading the gospel and he was reading from Isaiah chapter 53 and he had what the Bible talk about was the verse 7 and verse 8 but he wasn't only reading verse 7 and 8 he was actually reading the entirety of the scripture Isaiah 53 talks about Jesus' incarnation it talks about Jesus' crucifixion it talks about Jesus' burial it talks about Jesus' resurrection it covers the core aspects of the gospel it's all embedded there so the guy was reading it and then he says so when

[47:37] Philip came to him and he said how can I understand except somebody guides me and Bible says that he was reading the place where he said he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb damp before he sheareth so he opened not his mouth in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generations for his life was taken from the earth who is the prophet talking about is he himself or somebody else those days the Jews used to believe that that was a scripture referring to them the things they would go to and some rabbis also believe that it was potentially the Messiah and others also believe that it was Jeremiah Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet so some believe maybe so but they are not sure so he was even a Jew now he's asking I'm reading this thing and the man who is writing it's like he's writing about somebody who is this but that thing is very interesting it's not himself it's himself or somebody or somebody can you explain this to me ah hallelujah it says it says that of himself or someone and then verse 35

[48:53] Bible says that then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture preached Jesus to him preached Jesus Jesus is in the scripture he preached that means he didn't say Jesus but he explained and expounded the revelation about Jesus and explained how God loved us he taught him matters of faith and this man's faith kept alive in Jesus he believed Jesus finally Eureka Eureka Eureka finally I found the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle in my life the man found the man found he believed Jesus because Philip preached Jesus from the text the text was the subject the text was the focus the text was the direction the text was the guide he spoke from the text not into the text he spoke from the text and Jesus emerged out of the text the man was guided by the teaching of

[49:58] Philip to find Jesus Bible said from that scripture so you see God was working behind the scenes prepared the man's heart how come he was reading that scripture at that time prepared Philip moved Philip God was the one working behind the scenes Philip met them it looked like coincidence but not coincidence Philip met the guy and then guess what God worked behind the scene Philip was obedient and then the man was open humble teach me and then they ended up in scripture and everything that's where everything unfolds they ended up in scripture and as he preached Jesus they were going I want to run up now watch this and Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this I like that that's so powerful but because of that I don't want to belabor that scripture that's preaching beginning at this scripture beginning at this scripture that's why I found out that great teachers and it's a custom of stable churches that understand dimensions or dynamics of theology to read scripture first before preaching because the preaching is meant to explain the scripture so that's why many when you go to some of the traditional churches they will read the scripture then they try to explain the scripture read the scripture most people have different styles and so

[51:29] God can be preached okay but that is why I make it my custom that when I want to preach after we say this is my Bible I read the scripture when I finish reading the scripture all right God now let's pray God show us and then from there we go into the scripture and my responsibility is to stay on the text or sometimes I can get excited I've been carried off one or two times which you know already and even now as I'm saying this I'm still being carried off now but stay on the scripture beginning at that scripture beginning at this scripture beginning at this scripture beginning at this scripture from the Old Testament he preached!

[52:13] from the Old Testament who told you there is there this book is about him he is there he there Peter preached from the Old Testament Paul preached from the Old Testament Stephen preached from the Old Testament all their preaching was based on the Old Testament Christ the same Christ yesterday today and forever everything the gospel is in the Old Testament Galatians chapter 3 verse 7 and 8 talks about therefore the gospel was preached to Abraham for the scripture foreseeing that God would justify Gentiles by faith preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand the gospel from this scripture he preached Christ from this scripture he preached

[53:14] Jesus Philip is a Jesus preacher oh may God make us all like Philip and quickly look at the next verse now as they went down the road there's something else that came up they came to some water remember that's a desert area God orchestrated that they'll see some water somewhere some oasis must appear somewhere because somebody's ready to walk in full obedience so as they were going watch the text very carefully as they went down the road they came to some water and the Enoch said see see here is water because it wasn't a common thing they would see here is water what hinders me from being he introduced baptism that means they were having the discourse they were having a discourse he has understood what it means to be baptized he has understood because Jesus said go into the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that have commanded you and

[54:22] Lord are with you to the end of the ages teach them baptize so when he was see that's why don't let us move away from the word of God your breakthrough is word determined your peace is word determined your longevity is word determined your future is word determined keep the word as your focus and he taught them about baptism he says baptize them and can you imagine if this man had left who was going to baptize him in the desert God made a provision and you can imagine his excitement when he saw the water he said sing sing sing here is water here is water see here is water he came he spent money buying the scroll

[55:24] Simon the sorcerer wanted to spend money to buy the gift he bought the word Simon wants the gift so he didn't have a place there this man look at how the thing is ending he saw and that means baptism was so essential to the Christian life and it is Jesus said baptizing them in the original Greek sounds like into the name of the father the son and of the holy so we baptize we are baptized into the trinity we are baptized what do baptize in we are baptized into the trinity and watch this another interesting word that is about when you study the book of Acts they baptize in the name of Jesus into the name of Jesus so they Galatians chapter 3 verse 27 see how he puts it Galatians 3 27 says that for let's go we are baptized we are baptized did you see that you are baptized into him when you are being baptized you are being buried into him you are being put into

[56:38] Christ when you bury a person it is not death and burial which one comes first did you say burial death and burial which one comes first so when a person dies they bury but in Christianity we are buried we are buried in Christ we are buried in Christ we are buried in Christ so we are baptized into the Trinity we are baptized into Christ and I want to submit to you Romans chapter 6 verse 4 we baptized into his death we are baptized into his death baptized into what he says therefore we are buried with him through baptism where into this I told you baptism burial come before the death!

[57:33] buried with baptism into his death 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13 it says that we are baptized by one spirit into his body one spirit for by one spirit where we all baptized in no I'm drawing attention to that into for God so for God so love for God so John 3 16 for God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever the original Greek is believes into him you believe into him you put on Christ you are found in Paul that Paul said that I might be found in him not having my own righteousness being found in him you believe into Christ so we are baptized into Christ we are baptized into the trinity we are baptized into the body we are baptized into his death it's all the same you are in

[58:42] Christ you are in his death so he said see see here it's water and look at his expression what hinders me from being baptized what hinders me and Philip said if you believe with all your heart that's all it requires all your heart that's it that's all it takes if you believe all your heart and he answered look at the belief that means he's been taught something deep there are things that no religion accepts apart from our work with God the only thing that determines whether God in other words believing that Jesus is God he said you want to baptize you got to believe that and he answered and said I believe that Jesus said hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah I believe that

[59:43] Jesus is the son of God let's say that together I believe that Jesus is my soul please say that loud I believe that Jesus some of you are not saying let's say that loud as again I believe!

[59:57] Jesus my soul let's all say I believe that Jesus is the son of God hallelujah hallelujah I believe that Jesus is the son of God he is the son of God he died on the cross for me he was rejected from my forgiveness he was bruised for my iniquities the chastisement of my peace was upon him by his choice I was healed I believe that Jesus is the son of God I believe that Jesus is the son of God I believe that Jesus is the son of God died he died because we're talking about

[61:09] Isaiah it's more about his death his crucifixion the way he suffered look at the last verse verse verse it says that therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul out of death and he was numbered with the transgressions and he bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressions He bore the sins!

[61:40] This must be the Son of God This must be the Son of God That's what determines whether you are Christian or not whether you go to church or not whether your father is a pastor or a push-up what determines whether you are Christian is if you believe genuinely with all your heart that Jesus is the Son of God the Christ the Son of the living voy on that thing, on the chariot.

[62:39] They went down, down, going down into the water. And he was baptized. And look at the next verse. Now when they have come out of the water, that means they went into the water. When they have come up, thank you very much, up, out, so they went down into.

[62:55] Baptized by mission to identify with his burial. So we are baptized into his death. Burial and resurrection. And then the spirit of God caught Philip away. So the Enoch should have been worried. Ah, where's the guy? No.

[63:11] He couldn't be bothered. He couldn't be bothered. He couldn't be bothered. Oh, this is one of the reasons why he should be praying for me. And praying for all genuine men of God. That we don't end up trying to draw attention to ourselves.

[63:25] We shouldn't be the center of the work of God. Philip left. And the man was fine. The man was fine. He has met the Jesus Philip came to introduce.

[63:36] Philip, thank you so much. I love you so much. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel. But what I found, even if you are not there, I always remember what you've done for me. But this is, this is what I, Jesus is enough.

[63:48] Jesus is enough for me. Jesus is enough for me. I pray you come to church every time and find Jesus. Not a pastor. Not nice people.

[64:00] It's good. All those things. But, Jesus, if you didn't find Jesus, you actually didn't come to church. And you'll find Jesus if the Bible is closed.

[64:12] From this scripture, he preached Christ. And, the Spirit took Philip away so that the Enoch did not see him anymore. But he couldn't be bothered.

[64:23] The guy, you see the same thing that happened in verse 8. There was great joy in the city. This man went. And historians, Bible historians believe that all that territory became a pastor, opened many branches in Ethiopia and established the Christian church in Africa.

[64:40] That one man. That one man. You might think one thing you do for one person might be something little. Don't underestimate what God can use you to trigger.

[64:51] Yes, that's. Where are the Philips? Let the Philips arise. Let the Philips, they are obedient servants and they don't mind the sacrifices. And, Philip now find himself, the Spirit told him to go to a place called, not Azontos.

[65:07] Not Azonto, okay. Azontos. He found himself in Azontos passing through. Listen, he didn't stop preaching. He preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

[65:21] That's where he settled. So in chapter 21, verse 9, verse 8 and 9, they were in Caesarea. Philip, the evangelist, he had to protest. The next day, he went to the company of the departed and came to Caesarea and entered into the house.

[65:36] Philip, the evangelist. And now, can you imagine, he had seven, one of the seven, and he stayed there and he had daughters. How many daughters? Four virgin daughters who prophesied.

[65:50] Yeah. He was such a pure man of God, his daughters were manifesting it. His daughters were manifesting it. He was in Caesarea. He has preached.

[66:02] And that's the last time. Really, we didn't hear much about Philip because it's not about him. It's not about him. It's the message. He went everywhere still preaching. When the apostles left Samaria, they went through all the regions preaching the message.

[66:15] Philip, after this experience, he didn't cross his leg. He went everywhere preaching, preaching. The essence of your living as a Christian is the message of Christ and the testimony of Christ in your mouth.

[66:28] Don't be a secret service Christian. Well, I've gone way beyond my time. Did you receive something? Come on, let's give Jesus praise. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

[66:41] Hallelujah! Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. We pray you have been revived towards God. You can connect with David Entry on all relevant social media platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn.

[66:57] You can also hear more messages from David Entry on all relevant streaming platforms and the Carriage Church app. Don't forget to like and share the message. You bless. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.