Obedience Always Brings Blessing!
“What hinders me from being baptized?” Acts 8:36 (NKJV)
The Book of Acts is one of my favorite books in the Bible. It is full of miracles as the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of people radically transforming their lives! The eighth chapter of Acts records such a story of life change. It began with an official from the government of Ethiopia coming to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple in a quest for God. He had two strikes against him according to Jewish law. He was a Gentile and a eunuch. He would have been considered an outcast with limited access to Temple worship. As a result, he left as empty as he came. But on the road through Gaza, as he was returning home, he was reading from the scroll of Isaiah continuing his search for God. Recognizing his honest quest, God spoke to one of His available servants, Philip. He told him to go and meet this official. Philip caught up with the caravan as they were in route back to Ethiopia.
Immediately, Philip noticed that the official was reading the scroll of Isaiah, so he asked the man if he understood what he was reading. The official invited Philip to join him in his chariot and explain what the prophet was speaking about. It was the most powerful Messianic prophecy in Isaiah found in Isaiah 53 describing the passion of the Christ who was to come and save us from our sins.
God was at work in the heart of this official, and He honored this man’s honest search for truth as He always will. Philip began at that very passage and explained to him all about Jesus. The official’s response was immediate! Look what happens. “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’" Acts 8:36 (NKJV)
I love it! There was no hesitation in this man’s faith and obedience! He wasn’t waiting to be baptized. He wanted to make a public profession that he was now a Christ follower to his entire caravan of servants traveling with him! Listen to his confession of faith. “Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’" (Vs. 37)
The Bible records what happened next in verse 38. “So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.”
Perhaps like this leading Government Official from Ethiopia, you too have pursued an honest quest for God. You tried religion and nothing changed. Your heart was as empty when you left as it was when you entered the church or temple. It’s not about religion. It’s all about a relationship that is intimate and personal between you and God. You can have that same fulfilling relationship through Jesus Christ just as this man did! Jesus died and rose again for you as well! When you receive Him by faith, simply confessing as this man did, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”, then you, too, can experience His life-transforming power!
When you do, you won’t hesitate to take the next step of obedience identifying with Christ in baptism. If you’ve taken that step, you know how refreshing it was to enter the water as a symbol of Christ’s death for you and come up out of the water with a vivid reminder of the risen Christ who indwells in you by faith! What a powerful picture of your connection with Christ! If you haven’t, I challenge you to take that step of obedience this weekend. If you’re in the Houston area, join us for our Fall Baptism Celebration at Woodlands Church following every service. You can REGISTER NOW. When you do, check out the video of this year’s Super Summer Baptism and celebrate with us the miracle of life change!
But that’s not the end of the story for this Ethiopian Eunuch. Following his baptism celebration, God had a very personal word of encouragement for him in the scroll of Isaiah that he had been reading. Just three chapters later, from the passage in Isaiah 53 where he read of a suffering servant who was sacrificed on his behalf to forgive him of his sins, he read what must have really affirmed his newfound faith. In Isaiah 56:3-8 (NLT), the prophet foretold, “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will never let me be part of His people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’ For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bless those eunuchs who keep My Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases Me and commit their lives to Me. I will give them—within the walls of My house— a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear! I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the LORD, who serve Him and love His name, who worship Him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to My covenant. I will bring them to My holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in My house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. For the Sovereign LORD, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides My people Israel.”
Imagine the blessing this Ethiopian Eunuch must have felt as God affirmed His love and acceptance of him! Obedience always brings blessing!