Book of Acts

The Book of Acts—Chapter 8-11

WEEK 14
RIPENING APPLES
All right, who likes apples? 
Have you ever bitten into a green apple (not a granny smith)
An apple that is not ripe, it wasn’t red, it was green. How did it taste?
Horrible! Horrible. Sour, tart, awful, texture was wrong. You know why? It wasn’t ready to be picked. It wasn’t ripe. It needed more time. 
It was in a process, and eventually it would have ripened, but it needed more time. It’s interesting, when we come to the teaching of the Bible, particularly the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, he says that people becoming Christians is like a harvest, and that people becoming Christians, they’re like fruit.
He uses a lot of this language, and what we see in the physical world is true in the spiritual world. We can’t make something ripe. It’s going to take time. We can’t make someone ripe for Jesus. It’s going to take time. And so we have to lovingly, patiently wait until someone is ripe, and then we pick them. We tell them about Jesus, we love them, serve them, inform them, instruct them, and then their heart’s open to Jesus as he’s been preparing them.
This is your story if you’re a Christian. This is what God is doing in your life today if you’re not a Christian. He’s preparing you to be part of the great harvest of Jesus and fruit on the tree of his resurrection. And what we see today in Acts 8:26–40—and if you’ve got a Bible, go there. We see what it’s like to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to evangelize.
When we talk about evangelism, we’re talking about this as a Christian talks to a non-Christian about Jesus. And you’re going to see a guy today who is in the process of becoming ripe for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is a man who is in process, and then God is going to send another man for the harvest, to pick the ripe fruit of this man’s life and to introduce him to Jesus. It’s an awesome text. All the texts of the Bible are awesome. This one’s awesome! It’s great because we get to see a person become a Christian.
I don’t know what is going on in your life. If you don’t know Jesus, you need Jesus. The most important thing, more important than anything, more important than everything is that you know Jesus. And today, we get to see the God—yes, he loves crowds, and we’ve seen thousands saved through the book of Acts. And today, the camera hones in on one guy. You know why? God doesn’t just love numbers, he loves faces and he loves you. And he loves you. And he’s got a plan to seek you, to serve you, and to save you. Not because you’re great, but because he’s great.
WHOM HAS GOD PUT IN FRONT OF YOU?
I want to start with the first question. Whom has God put in front of you? Here’s the story  
Acts 8:26. 
26 Now an angel of the Lord You know it’s going to be awesome when an angel shows up. That’s a great day. said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.  Middle of nowhere. 
27 And he rose and went. He’s obedient. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, Dude’s loaded, right? He’s rolling in an SUV with rims. Loaded. and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
Four characters, people, here. We need to meet each one.
1.    THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
First, the angel. The angel shows up, and the angel speaks, and the angel says to Philip. And don’t you wish there were more details? The angel told Philip to go and Philip went. You’re like, back up. Tell me about the angel conversation. I want more details. 
Angels are in the Bible. Do you believe in angels? Here’s what’s amazing: Most people believe in angels, but they don’t believe in demons. Demons are fallen, sinful, rebellious angels. God created angels. They’re not equal to God. They don’t share all his divine attributes. They’re not eternal. They have a beginning point in history and time. They’re made to be ministers and messengers on behalf of the Lord. As ministers, they serve, and as messengers, they speak. That’s what angels do.
Some angels became rebellious, proud, self-righteous, and independent. They rebelled against God. They were cast out of heaven. That includes now Satan and demons. 
So, dear friend, be careful. Test the spirits. 
1 John says, “Not every spirit is holy.” Not every spirit comes from the Lord being spiritual. It can actually be very dangerous. In addition to the angels, there are fallen angels. This is a holy, godly angel. He comes as a messenger and as a minister.
Some of you wonder, “Have I ever met an angel?” 
Hebrews 13:1-2 New Living Translation
1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

Here’s the key—without even knowing it. See, angels are spirit beings. They don’t indwell or inhabit a body as we do, but they can appear as a person if that is the assignment that the Lord has given to them.
Some of you have met angels and you didn’t even know it. Because their goal is not to draw attention to themselves, that’s what the demons do. Their goal is to let all of the attention, the focus, and the glory, and the emphasis be on Jesus. So sometimes their work is very quiet and very humble, sometimes very private. 
Our God is a supernatural God. Our God is a capable God. Our God is a living God. Our God is a miraculous God. Our God is a creative God. He sends an angel to Philip, tells Philip, “You’ve got to go somewhere. You’ve got something to do.”
2. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH: 
That brings us to the second person in the story, the Ethiopian eunuch. We don’t know the guy’s name, but here’s what we do know. Ethiopian, in that day it was Sudan or Egypt today in that region. Eunuch, OK?
Now, I’ve got to be careful how I explain this, but do become a eunuch you are castrated. And this was part of his employment contract. You really got to want the job.
Because the way it would work in that day, you’re working with the queen, you’re part of the court, you’re part of the kingdom. Well, there’s the queen, there’s the princesses, and there’s the harem, and if you’re a guy working in close proximity, you could find yourself a little interested in certain ladies, including the queen. And the king thought, I don’t want anybody getting involved with my lady or ladies, so they came up with this idea, “I’ll just castrate all the men.” And so to get the job, you had to be castrated.
So, here’s this Ethiopian eunuch. He is in the middle of nowhere. He’s from a godless nation. He works for a godless, Pagan queen. He would have been considered—in his culture, he would have been highly esteemed, but among God’s people he would have been lowly considered. Because in 
Deuteronomy 23:1 English Standard Version
1 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
it says that any guy who’s castrated himself can’t even enter into the worship assembly of God’s people. You know why? Because children are a blessing, we’re to be fruitful and multiply, and any guy who does that to himself, he doesn’t understand the will of God and the ways of God, so he’s not to be part of the worship of God. So, this guy’s in a bad place.
Here’s what we do find out, though: He’s a green apple turning red. Imagine traveling this long distance two thousand years ago in a chariot pulled by a horse over rough, Roman terrain. You got to really want to get there, amen? 
So this guy’s heart is opening up. He’s a green apple turning red. He’s like, “I’ve got to get to Jerusalem so—” and it says, “So he can worship God.”
Is he a believer? No, OK? If you’re here and you’re not a Christian, this is you. You’re here, you’ve traveled a distance, you’ve inconvenienced yourself. You’re here with God’s people. We’re here to worship Him. We love you. We’re so blessed and honored that you would join us.
On the way, he’s sitting in his chariot and he’s reading Isaiah. It would have been very difficult to get a book of the Bible in that day. The printing press was nowhere near invented yet. He’s not even Hebrew. He’s not a Jewish guy. He didn’t grow up with the Torah, not in his country. So, he’s making the 1,000 mile journey to get to Jerusalem to worship God, to meet God’s people, and along the way he’s reading the Bible. All right, he’s a green apple turning red. God’s working on him. God’s preparing him for the message of Jesus.
3. PHILIP: 
Thirdly, there is this guy named Philip. We met him in Acts 6. Godly guy, filled with the Holy Spirit, loves Jesus, missionary, minister, he’s an evangelist. And an angel comes to him and says, “I need you to go to the middle of nowhere.” They just had an explosion, lots of people become Christians, and he tells Philip, “Leave.” “Leave? We just—we just had this massive revival.” “Go to the middle of nowhere.” You know why?
There’s one person there that God loves. Isn’t that wonderful? That God loves one person enough that he’d put together an entire plan to go get that one person. And friends, if you’re here and you’re not a Christian, you’re one of those people that Jesus loves so much that he has been pursuing and preparing you because he wants you to become a Christian too.
Well, here’s what we know about Philip. He’s a Godly man and he raises Godly daughters. The last picture we have of him in 
Acts 21:8-9 New Living Translation
8 The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
That’s quite a lineup. What a legacy as a father. 
So, Phillip loves Jesus, he’s filled with the Holy Spirit, he raises four daughters who love Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, he does ministry with his four daughters who all love Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit. 
So Phillip obeyed God, left the many for the one. 

GOD USES PEOPLE TO SAVE PEOPLE
Two things I want you to know about this. 
Number one, God uses people to save people. If you want to boil Christianity down, here’s one way to do it. God saves sinners, right? God saves. We can speak about the Savior. We can serve on behalf of the Savior. So we can speak and serve, but only God can save, amen? We don’t save anybody. 
Philip is not going to save this guy, forgive his sin, give him access to the presence of God for all eternity. That’s not his responsibility. His responsibility is to speak and to serve. God uses people to save people.
Now, an angel was sent to Philip. Here’s what’s curious: An angel wasn’t sent to the Ethiopian eunuch. God could have went to the angel, “Angel, there’s a guy in a chariot reading Isaiah. Get him!” And the angel could have obeyed that and gone there, and sat in the chariot with the Ethiopian eunuch, and done a little Bible study and closed the deal. God didn’t work that way. Oftentimes, God doesn’t work that way. God sometimes sends an angel. There are lots of people in closed Muslim countries who are getting saved because they’re having dreams about Jesus or an angel shows up because God will jump over any obstacle that is set against the gospel to bring the good news of Jesus to those who don’t know him. 
But oftentimes, God works through his people. So, God sends the angel to Philip, and then the angel sends Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch.
Some may say, “Well, if God’s going to save them anyways, why should we speak? Why should we plant a church? Why should we send a missionary? Why should we preach the gospel? Why should we make an invitation? Why should we pursue them to talk about Jesus? If God’s going to save them, he’ll save them.” And God’s in heaven going, “I’m sovereign over the ends—who I will save—and the means—who I will send.” You are part of God’s sovereign plan for the salvation of someone else.
You say, “Well, God doesn’t need me.” Right, but He loves you so he wants to involve you so you can share in His joy. 
I told you all of these things you that you can have MY joy. 
There are things that I do that I involve my kids, and I don’t need them to help me with certain things. But I involve them because I love them, and what brings me joy, I want them to share in my joy by doing it with me. That’s what every good father does with a son or daughter that’s beloved. 
If you’re a Christian, you’re the beloved sons and daughters of God. God can save people without you, but he’s invited you and I to be part of his process. And we can speak, and we can serve, and we can watch him save, and then we share in his joy, and we learn a lot about our Father as we see him saving sinners, amen? What this does, this frees us up not to worry about the results and only worry about our faithfulness to what God has called us to.
EARN THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD
Number two, you don’t always have to earn the right to be heard. There’s this weird myth, “You can’t talk to me. You don’t even know me.” 
There is relational authority, but sometimes there’s just spiritual authority. Now, there are many case studies in the Bible of evangelism and how somebody becomes a Christian. This is only one.
There are other examples where somebody’s got a relationship, built a friendship, and trust is earned over time, and through the context of the relationship, you earn the right to be heard. And whole books have been written on this and I’m not against that, but here’s Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, right? 
 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 
Boom, no coffee. No seventeen months of Tuesdays at Starbucks. No, “Hey, I hate to offend you, and I know I need to earn the right to be heard, so I’m going to change the tire on your truck and help you move because then I can talk to you about Jesus in fifteen years after you feel like you’ve got enough credit, you know, Christmas cards, that you can trust me at the heart level.” “You’re going to hell. It’s going to be hot. We need to deal with this right now, OK?”
You’re going to see in a moment, he baptizes him and leaves, gone. It’s like, this might be like fifteen minutes. This is quick. And I need you to see that. Sometimes you’ll see somebody, they don’t know the Lord, they need to know the Lord. They don’t know about the Lord. And you go, “I don’t even know them. I don’t have a relationship with them. How many years—” No, just walk up. “Hey, I love you. I don’t have a lot of time. Hell’s hot. Forever’s a long time. You need Jesus. Let me talk to you about him. In or out?” Right?
Sometimes there needs to be a sense of urgency. And here it is. In God’s kindness, the heart of the Ethiopian eunuch, he’s becoming a red apple. He’s ready for that message. 
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT
Well, the fourth person is the Holy Spirit. It says that the Holy Spirit spoke to Philip and the Holy Spirit’s overseeing the process. Jesus said early on, you know, “You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You’ll be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.”
Here, the gospel’s going out, the good news about Jesus, to the Ethiopian eunuch. It’s starting to be fulfilled. The good news of Jesus is getting out to the nations of the earth through the person, the presence, the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s mentioned frequently.
Here he shows up again. 
The Holy Spirit is God, and the Holy Spirit is not just a force, the Holy Spirit a person. He doesn’t inhabit a physical body, but he has feelings, he has a will, and he can communicate with us. He’s God. He can be grieved, he can be resisted, he can be quenched, the Bible says. He’s God, and He not an impersonal force, He is a personal God. That’s why Jesus, in John 14, when he promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent, 
John 16:5-8 New Living Translation
5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.
Here is a fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, Notice all the pronouns “he”, not it.
So, the Holy Spirit is personal God, sent to bring the message of Jesus to God’s people and to bring the life of Jesus in and through God’s people. And here, the Holy Spirit shows up, and here’s what we read, that the Holy Spirit said to Philip: “Go over and join his chariot.” 
The Holy Spirit is speaking. 
How does the Holy Spirit speak? 
Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks to us internally, sometimes externally.  It can be a deep burden, a profound conviction, a heartbreaking longing. Sometimes it is in the form of a dream. 
Sometimes it is external. You get a vision, you get a visitation. The Lord shows up or you hear the voice of the Lord. And these are rare occurrences, and they are to be tested by Scripture and leadership because not every Spirit comes from the Lord, 1 John says.
There are times that the Lord tells us something, and here He is telling Philip something, and Philip obeys him. We want you to be filled by the Spirit. We want you to be led by the Spirit. We want you to be in a relationship with the Spirit, and that requires a deep, profound commitment to the WORD. And, when He speaks to you, you hear Him and obey Him, which is what Philip does.
Here’s my question: Who had God put in front of you? So, God puts the Ethiopian eunuch in the middle of nowhere in front of Philip. Whom has God put in front of you? Family, friends, neighbor, coworker. Who is God already preparing their heart, ripening their soul for his evangelistic harvest? Who is in front of you that you need to put your phone down so you can see them and initiate a conversation with them?
WHAT CAN YOU TEACH THEM? 
Next question, what can you teach them? 
30 So Philip ran to him Don’t you love that? To how many of you has God said, “I need you to do this,” you’re like, [groaning] Here’s Philip . . . I know I don’t run fast, but I’m trying to illustrate a point. Philip has instantaneous obedience. He’s really excited to do what the Lord said. Do you think it’s a little weird to walk up to a total stranger who’s of another culture and race, another people and religion, who’s rich and powerful governmental official and castrated? Any of this is an opportunity for awkwardness, amen? Oftentimes, we don’t talk to non-Christians, those of us who are Christians, because we don’t want to feel awkward. You know what? It’s better that we feel awkward and they meet Jesus than we don’t feel awkward and they don’t meet Jesus. I would trade awkwardness for conversion every time.
and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet The guy’s reading out loud. and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” This is amazing. He’s like, “I wish a Christian would show up and explain this Bible.” Do you know that there’s people like that all over the place? There’s people like that all over the place.
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is pretty awesome. “Hey, why don’t you climb up in my Escalade. I’ll turn the seat warmer on. We’ll walk through Isaiah.” 
32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
Oh, it just so happened to be he’s in Isaiah 53:7–8, which if you’re in the Old Testament, it comes of the wick. Boom! It’s amazing.
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
This is amazing. The guy’s sitting there reading the Bible.
This is like you walking into your favorite place that you frequent a lot. Where the people know you by name and there’s a person with a Bible. You’re like, “Why are you reading the Bible?” They answer, “I don’t know. All of a sudden, I’m interested in it.” 
“Oh, green apple going red. I know what’s going on here. Do you know what it means?”
 “No, I’m reading this part in John 3:16. “‘God so loved the world.’ “I don’t—Can’t make heads or tails of this. I wish somebody would explain it.” Right? Right? That’s what’s going on here. Philip’s like, “I can do this.”
The whole section of Isaiah 40–66 is about the suffering servant Jesus coming to serve us by suffering, dying, and rising in our place for our sins. The bull’s-eye of it all is the second half of Isaiah 53 through the end of—second half of Isaiah 52 through the end of Isaiah 53. He would live without sin. We would put him to death. He would be buried with the rich. He would rise from death. He would see the light of life and be satisfied. He would atone for our sin. He would justify us in the sight of God. He is our Savior and victorious King, and he’s really excited that he gets to do this for us. He’s reading this aloud. There are people like this all over the place. God is preparing them to hear about Jesus. They have questions.
THREE LESSONS 
So, three things I want you to learn from this, Christian and non-Christian.
1. GO TO THE PERSON
Number one, go to the person that the Holy Spirit sends you to.
Romans 10:14-15 New Living Translation
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

2. GIVE THEM A BIBLE / DOWNLOAD BIBLE APP?
Number two, give them a Bible. 
Hebrews 4:12 New Living Translation
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
One of the best gifts you can give somebody is a Bible. Get them a good Bible. If you love them, give them a good Bible. 
Who do you need to buy a Bible for? 
Who are you like, “They are so lost. They drive me crazy. Those people are nuts.” Buy them a Bible. 
We can argue with people about the Bible and be very frustrated that they don’t rightly understand the Bible. Maybe it’s because they don’t have a Bible. Don’t overlook the obvious. 
Colossians 3:16 New Living Translation
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Number two, go to the person the Holy Spirit sends you to, give them a Bible. 
3. TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS
Number three, answer their question by telling them about Jesus. I love what he says, right? 
34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 
The whole Bible is about Jesus. We believe in good advice. There are things you should do to improve your life. We believe in good deeds. There are things that we want to do to love and serve you. But make no mistake, this whole book, from beginning to end, it’s about the good news. It’s about Jesus Christ, who he is, what he has done. He is God become a man. He is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no way to the Father but through him. There is no other name by which we will be saved. And from beginning to end, the whole book, it’s all, always, only about Jesus, amen?
The Bible is true—it’s all about Jesus. When the book is open and Jesus is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit shows up because that’s the book he wrote and that’s the person he loves to glorify. And Philip does this. Here they are sitting in the chariot. God goes to all these lengths for one person’s salvation. He’s reading Isaiah. What’s it about? Jesus.
I need you to see that everything in this book is about Jesus. And if you give this book to anyone and then they have questions, the answer is always somehow connected back to the good news of the person and work of Jesus. And this—I don’t have time to do it, but I’m going to do it anyways as fast as I can. This includes events.
THE SACRIFICED LAMB
So when you see, in the Old Testament, Passover, where God’s people sacrificed a lamb, and they cover the doorpost of their home with blood so that the wrath of God would pass over them, that through the shedding of blood their sins would be atoned for, that all points to Jesus, our Passover Lamb who was slain. He died for our sin. His blood covers us so the wrath of God would pass over us.
When you see, in the Old Testament, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest, as the mediator, comes between God and the people, and he takes an animal, and he confesses the sins of the people, and he slaughters the animal as an atonement sacrifice as a substitute for guilty sinners, that’s us and that’s our Jesus. 
Jesus is our Day of Atonement. He is not only the High Priest, he is also the substitute sacrifice. And because of him alone, sin is atoned for. This includes titles. The whole section of Isaiah 53 is that Jesus is a lamb. That’s what he was reading. And then Jesus comes humbly and meekly. He leaves glory for humility. He enters into human history. And as he makes his way on the stage, John the Baptizer sees him and declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”
THE SUFFERING SERVANT
In addition to that title, there is also another title in Isaiah 40–66, of which he is reading, that Jesus is the Suffering Servant. And Jesus came to suffer, he came to be without sin, to suffer at the hands of sinners, to go to the cross and die in the place of sinners, and in so doing, he is the one who serves us through his suffering. It’s not just that Jesus is found in the events and the titles, but also the prophesies.
Dear friend, when this book was written, 25 percent of it was prophetic in nature, predicting the future because the God who knows the future is sovereign over it. He knows everything in intricate detail. There’s nothing that he does not know. There’s nothing that is beyond the reach of his sovereign rule. And the prophecies all point to Jesus, and no other religion has this kind of prophetic insight. 
The Bible stands alone. It is unique in all its authority because this is the book that the Holy Spirit has written. A few of these include the fact that 700 years before Jesus even walked on the earth, in Isaiah 7:14 it was prophesied that he would be born of a virgin and he would be Immanuel, God with us.
In addition, 
700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Micah 5:2 declared that he would come to the little town of Bethlehem. 
500 years before Jesus walked the earth in Zechariah 11:12–13, it was prophesied that he would be betrayed by a close friend for no less than 30 pieces of silver. 
1000 years before Jesus walked the earth and hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented, Psalm 22:16 declared that he would be pierced through his hand and feet, nailed. The carpenter nailed to a Roman cross. 
And in addition, we read in Isaiah 6 that Isaiah was called into ministry by the Lord Jesus. As he’s reading Isaiah in his chair, the Ethiopian eunuch is hearing the words of Isaiah.
Firstly, Isaiah heard these words, “Go and preach.” God revealed himself to Isaiah. He says, “I saw the Lord, high and exalted. “The train of his robe filled the temple. He was surrounded in glory. He was worshiped by angels.” That’s Isaiah 6.
You go to John 12, it says, “And he saw Jesus in all his glory.” So even the God who is commissioning Isaiah to write the book that the Ethiopian eunuch is reading is Jesus Christ in all his glory.
In addition, we see Jesus in theophanies. Before he enters into history through the womb of Mary, he makes certain cameo appearances. He walks with Abraham in Genesis 18. He wrestles with Jacob in Genesis 32. He speaks to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. In the days of Daniel, he enters into the fiery furnace in Daniel 3. And again, he is the one. He is the one who calls Isaiah into ministry.
He’s reading Isaiah 53:7–8. In the next section, it talks about after Jesus dies that he would be buried, that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb, and that he would rise, and after his suffering, he would see the light of life and be satisfied, that he would atone for sin, that he would make sinners friends, that he would make enemies into family. And all of the Bible is about Jesus.
A TYPE OF ADAM
The includes types. The first man in the Bible is Adam, and we’re all born with a sin nature into Adam. Jesus is called the last Adam, and we’re born again with a new nature through Jesus, the last Adam. The first Adam sinned in a garden; the last Adam bled for sin in a garden. The first Adam sinned at a tree; the last Adam atoned for our sin on a tree. The first Adam was made naked and unashamed; the last Adam was naked and bore our shame. The first Adam brought us thorns; the last Adam wore a crown of thorns. The first Adam brought us condemnation, but it’s through the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, that God alone brings us salvation.
When you see priests, it’s about Jesus, our great High Priest. When you see kings, it’s about Jesus, the King of kings. When you see prophets, it’s ultimately pointing to Jesus who is the very word of God. When you see shepherds, it reminds us of Jesus, the good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. When you see judges, they point to Jesus who is the Judge, alone the Judge of the living and the dead. And when you see the temple, the meeting place between God and man on the earth, it all points to Jesus who is God become a man and mediates between us and our God.
Friends, ultimately, this includes like service. So when you see Abel, who was godly, murdered by his brother, Jesus is the greater Abel who was God, murdered by his brothers. When you see Isaac, willing to carry his own wood on his back to lay down his life to honor his father, he is pointing to Jesus who carries the cross on his back and lays down his life at the will of the Father.
This is the bedrock of where we stand, Pebble Hill. The Bible is true—it’s all about Jesus. When the book is open and Jesus is proclaimed, the Holy Spirit shows up because that’s the book he wrote and that’s the person he loves to glorify. And Philip does this. Here they are sitting in the chariot. God goes to all these lengths for one person’s salvation. He’s reading Isaiah. What’s it about? Jesus.
ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
My last question, are you a Christian? 
Acts 8:36–40, 
36And as they were going along the road they came to some water, 
Think about this!!! They are in the middle of the desert, God provides water. You know why? God provides. 
And the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 
Sense of urgency. I need to become a Christian today. You need to become a Christian today. Today! Right, this is a divine appointment between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
Today, let me tell you this, why are you here? Because this is a divine appointment between you and God
God wants you to respond instantaneously. And he’s like, “I need to get baptized.” This shows the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus, how the Christian goes public to show externally what God has done internally. 
38“And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” 
They went down into the water. This is immersion, right? They dunk him, bring him up, just like Jesus was baptized. 
39“And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away.” 
I don’t know what this looks like. To me, it seems like Star Trek. I don’t know what happened. So you see what I’m saying here?
How many of you would be like, “Man, Philip you should stay with this guy. You should disciple him. You should walk with him.” No, you know why? He has the Holy Spirit now. 
Philip isn’t going to be with the guy, but the Holy Spirit will be with the guy and the Holy Spirit can take care of the guy, amen? 
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 New Living Translation
6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

God doesn’t need you. God doesn’t need me. He’ll use you and he’ll use me. But ultimately, if somebody belongs to Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in them, he will figure out the details. Rest assured in that. 
“And the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way”—what? “Rejoicing.” 
This is the mark of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer: rejoicing. Hey, my sins are forgiven! God loves me! He has a plan for me! I have entrance into his kingdom! Praise be to God! Jesus died for me! Jesus lives for me! Jesus judges me! I’ll stand before him! His righteousness is mine! On the cross, he took my place and put me in his place!
Some of you look only at all of your troubles and not your Savior, and you lack rejoicing. 
This guy’s whole life isn’t better. He’s still castrated, still got to go back to Ethiopia, 1,0000 mile road trip to work for a godless queen far away from the temple and God’s people. If he wants to be depressed, he can find a couple reasons for that. But instead, he’s rejoicing. Because I don’t care what your problem is, the biggest problem is not knowing Jesus. 
And once your biggest problem is dealt with, your other problems are still problems, but they’re problems in perspective. 
40“But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” He’s going to do this again and again and again.

First question, are you a Christian? 
Not born into a Christian family, born again into the family of God. Not sprinkled as a baby, but committed as an adult. Not a decision that your parents made, but the Holy Spirit compelled you to make. 
Are you a Christian? The Ethiopian was a moral guy. He was reading his Bible. He was going to worship. He was religious. It’s not about religion, it’s not about spirituality, it’s not about morality. It’s about you and Jesus. That’s what it’s all about.
Are you a Christian? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you love Jesus? Do you belong to Jesus? Have you submitted to Jesus? Have you surrendered to Jesus?