[0:00] Today's reading is from Acts chapter 8, verses 26 to 40, and you can find it in page 1101 in your Bibles.
[0:18] Philip and the Ethiopian Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road, the desert road, that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
[0:30] So he started out, and on his way, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake, which means Queen of the Ethiopians.
[0:43] This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot, reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it.
[0:57] Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading? Philip asked.
[1:09] How can I? He said, unless someone explains it to me. So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of scripture the eunuch was reading.
[1:23] He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its sharer is silent. So he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice.
[1:37] Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth. The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?
[1:51] Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, Look, here is water.
[2:06] What can stand in the way of my being baptized? And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
[2:19] When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
[2:32] Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. This is the word of the Lord.
[2:47] Hallelujah. In my country, when we say hallelujah, you say amen. I will say it again. Hallelujah. Amen. And when we say praise the Lord, you still say amen.
[3:01] Praise the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen. My name is Simon Peter Dembe Yayesu, and I give glory to God for this opportunity, and mainly for coming to Glasgow.
[3:16] I've seen a number of things, and I feel it was worth a visit. When I came to Glasgow, I was welcomed by David Woodier and the wife, who have given me such great reception and treatment, a good bedroom, and a meal almost.
[3:39] And I loved the moments of, you know, reading Scripture before we had meals, you know. David always does a Scripture before we eat. And it is such a joy to do that.
[3:52] I also met Alan, Alan, a Ugandan brother. That one, we get so close because he speaks the language that I speak. So much of the time I was speaking in Uganda.
[4:05] Alan, thank you so much for that day. He took me around the entire city of Glasgow and, you know, had the drink, is it, IBM brew, that I enjoyed so much.
[4:19] Then, haggis, nips, and tatties. And I really enjoyed that moment with you, Alan. I also want to thank God for the meeting, the moment I had with Martin Ayers and the daughters, very wonderful daughters, and the wife, a very wonderful family.
[4:38] I loved the way the children are so ready to listen and learn a lot. And I know Hannah, Bethany, and Rachel were such great children. And then my meeting with Andy and Annie, I enjoyed every moment with them.
[4:53] And I found something so precious about them, you know, training pastors. And in Uganda, we have a number of pastors that really need training. So it was such a great thing to come to Glasgow.
[5:05] And I'm so glad that, you know, this morning we are here. And I want to appreciate you for choosing to come to church on Sunday. Thank you. Thank you. Can you turn to your neighbor and say, thank you for coming to church?
[5:21] Amen, amen, amen. My wife, I just got a WhatsApp message here from my wife, and she sends greetings to all of you.
[5:34] Praise the Lord. Now, I just want us to get into the portion that we have here together. But before we get into that, shall we pray?
[5:44] And of course, before we pray, we will do just one line of, Then sings my soul, how great thou art. O Lord, O Lord, my God, when I'm in awesome wonder, Consider all the works thy hand has made.
[6:12] Sing it as though you mean it.
[6:41] How great thou art. How great thou art. How great thou art. How great thou art. Then sings my soul. Then sings my soul.
[6:54] My Savior, go to thee. How great you art. How great thou art.
[7:08] How great thou art. Indeed, you are so great, O God. Silence the noise in my mind and open the eyes of my heart.
[7:23] Speak through me. Speak through me. In Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Now, from the scripture that we just read, I just chose a topic, which is the will of God to evangelize and disciple the world without boundaries.
[7:46] The will of God to evangelize and disciple the world without boundaries. And that is the scripture we read, Acts chapter 8, beginning at verse 26.
[8:00] Let me just go through it very fast. But an Ethiopian eunuch, unofficial, very prestigious person in Ethiopia, travels to Jerusalem to do what?
[8:13] To worship. Now, after the moment of worship, he is traveling back to Ethiopia just to keep you aware. Ethiopia is in Africa. So, he's traveling back to Ethiopia.
[8:25] And God speaks to Philip through an angel. You run, get closer to the chariot, and just be there. And as he got closer to the chariot, this Ethiopian official, this eunuch, was reading the scripture in Isaiah chapter 53.
[8:45] And Philip asks the Ethiopian eunuch, do you understand what you are reading? And he's like, how will I know unless someone is able to explain this to me?
[9:01] And, you know, Philip used the opportunity, went on to the chariot and explained the scripture. And the Ethiopian eunuch was able to understand this whole thing in Isaiah.
[9:17] And scripture says, when he saw water, he asked, what is that that hinders you from baptizing me now? And, you know, of course, Philip had no reason whatsoever to stop that.
[9:30] So, he went down, baptized him, and there was transformation. Every one of us seated under this voice, if you have been addressing your mind to the acts of the apostles, you know that Philip took the gospel to the Samaritan territory.
[9:47] God blessed his love and zeal to make Christ known beyond boundaries as many came to Christ and were baptized. The passage is one of the many where we see God sending an angel to his servant.
[10:03] The other may be maybe in Acts chapter 10, where God sends an angel to speak to Simon Peter, who went to Cornelius' home. Still, there is an element of a God who is not limited by anything, no boundaries whatsoever.
[10:19] Everyone thought that maybe in the house of Cornelius, no one should get there to preach you as unofficial and very serious individual of society. But by the power of the Lord, who is not limited by anything, Simon Peter was able to get there and preach.
[10:35] Now, in this particular portion, we see one where Philip was to travel to the deserted road that led south to Jerusalem, south of Jerusalem together.
[10:48] And God arranged a meeting between him and the Ethiopian official, who was traveling from home, traveling home after worship in Jerusalem.
[11:00] As many may be seated here, many outside of these walls. And God opened the heart of the Ethiopian eunuch to receive Christ.
[11:12] Now, from that passage, I just got four points that I want to talk about, and then I'll come to a conclusion. Number one is the God that we serve, the God that we gather to worship here together, can use any of us to evangelize the world if we are obedient to the Spirit.
[11:35] Let me say it again. The God that we worship can use any of us to reach out to anyone outside these walls, as long as we are open and we are obedient to the Spirit of the Lord.
[11:49] If we are obedient to what the Spirit is telling us, we will never be limited by any boundaries. Scripture says in Romans chapter 8, beginning at verse 14, that those that are led by the Spirit are the true sons of God.
[12:05] Now, I imagine Philip is on his way, and God speaks to him. And the only way he was able to tell that God is telling me to do this, he was connected to the Lord in the Spirit.
[12:19] Can I invite the three people that are going to help me explain this properly? Come on, clap for them as they come. Hallelujah. And Hannah is one of them.
[12:31] Praise the Lord. Now, just stand there. Just stand there. God has created each one of us in three persons. We have the flesh, we have the soul, and we have the Spirit.
[12:45] Isn't it? Okay? Now, if we are to connect with what God wants us to see and know, we must be in the Spirit, not in the flesh.
[12:57] Because in the flesh, Scripture says in Galatians chapter 5, beginning at verse 22, that the Spirit lasts against the flesh, and the flesh against the what? The Spirit.
[13:08] In other words, the two cannot be in one place at the same time. You get what I'm saying? If your life is like this, come on, go down. You are the soul.
[13:20] Okay. Spirit, soul, and... No. Spirit, soul, and flesh. You go down. You go down.
[13:31] Praise the Lord. Now, if your life is like this, you may not see what God wants you to do where you are. You may not be able to know what God is calling you to do.
[13:43] If your life, if it is the flesh that is up, and your spirit is down, and your soul is down, please go down. Praise the Lord.
[13:55] If it is your flesh that is up, you may not connect with God. Why? Because God is spirit. God is spirit. And he says, those who worship me must worship me in truth and what?
[14:07] And in spirit. So, if it is your flesh that is up, you see, the fruits of the flesh are what? Jealousness, bitterness, rage, anger.
[14:18] I mean, those things that make you crave, and you go away from what God desires you to do. But if your life is like this, please go down. Come on. If your life is like this, you can easily know what God is saying.
[14:34] You can easily know what God wants you to do. And that is exactly what was happening in the life of Philip, that he was able to tell what God is calling him to do. Thank you.
[14:45] God bless you. Amen. If we walk in the spirit, we will always see and know what God wants us to do. And what will keep us in the spirit?
[14:58] Fellowship. Let's keep in the presence of God. Let's join different fellowships and pray. Prayer will keep us in the presence of God. Reading the word of God. I imagine if Philip reached to this eunuch and he didn't know what Isaiah 53 was saying, it would be so hard for him, isn't it?
[15:16] So if you are to keep in the spirit, you must be connected to what connects you to God. And we can mention a few of them here. Prayer, worship, fellowship, and reading scripture, fasting, and many others that you can think about.
[15:32] And God desires that we remain before him and with him. Number two is acceptance of the invitation by the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip accepted.
[15:43] When this guy read the scripture and could not understand, Philip asked, do you understand what you're reading? And this guy is like, how will I understand unless someone comes to explain this to me?
[15:54] And he took it further in verse 31 and he invited him. He told him, come and join me. And behold, Philip left where he was and went to the chariot.
[16:07] If Philip rejected the invitation to the chariot, the Ethiopian eunuch would not have understood the scripture. That led him to a place of acceptance of the gospel. We have a story in Uganda, as the church of Uganda, about a letter that was written by the king of Uganda to Scotland, to the UK.
[16:27] Asking the queen to send people to come and preach the gospel. To bring us light. To bring us these truths. And I was thinking about this. If the queen of UK did not accept to send people.
[16:43] Way back in 1885. If they did come, Uganda would not see the gospel. As we talk today, Uganda has almost 87% of people that are Christians.
[16:59] Okay? And we don't take that for granted. But it's all because of the acceptance that was made by the queen of England to come and speak to us.
[17:12] But I want us to know, children of God, that God is calling each one of us seated under this voice to fulfill the great commission. To reach out to as many as possible.
[17:24] To accept to go out and leave our comfort zones and reach out to as many as possible. Because that is what he's calling us to do. There are souls beyond these walls that are at crossroads.
[17:38] That are just like the Ethiopian eunuch. They have a lot of questions. They are struggling to understand their faith. They have a lot of questions about who they are.
[17:49] Why they believe what they believe. And others have never had such truths that you know. But how will they know unless you go to them? Well, Rick Warren, in one of his famous books, he says, The measure and strength of a healthy church is not taken from how many they sit, but how they send out.
[18:10] How they reach out to as many as possible. In this line of Philip, it is kindly proof that when we accept our invitations, We can transform lives and make people come to know the truth in the word of the Lord.
[18:27] We have a saying in Uganda that says, Gossip the gospel until the gospel becomes the only gossip. In other words, let people hear Christ from you.
[18:40] Okay? As you have come to know this truth, don't sit with it. Don't keep it to yourself. Let someone in the train, Let someone where you are at your place of work, Let them know that you are a Christian, And let them follow this as the Lord may lead you.
[18:59] Number three is be ready in season and out of season To answer every question concerning your faith. Okay? In Acts chapter 8 verse 32, The passage that the eunuch was reading is from Isaiah chapter 53.
[19:20] And I want to read it for us. Isaiah chapter 53. Okay? And this is what it says. I will begin from verse 3. He was despised and rejected by mankind, A man of suffering and familiar with pain, Like one from whom people hide their faces.
[19:41] He was despised and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took upon our pain and bore our suffering.
[19:53] Yet we considered him punished by God, Stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgression. He was crushed for our iniquities.
[20:07] The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray.
[20:19] Each of us has turned to our own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet he did not open his mouth.
[20:32] He was led like a lamb to be slaughtered. And he as a sheep before its shears is silent. So he did not open his mouth by oppression and judgment.
[20:46] He was taken away. Yet he, yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living.
[20:56] For the transgression of man, he was punished. Now, if you can, if I could ask a question, Who do you think this prophet is talking about in this scripture in Isaiah?
[21:11] All of us can attest it is Christ, isn't it? It is the Lord. But you see, it is a prophecy that is in Isaiah. And this man, the Ethiopian eunuch, He has gone to Jerusalem to worship.
[21:30] He's going back to Ethiopia with a lot of questions in his mind. Just like any of us here can. You may be coming to church, But you have a lot of questions about your faith.
[21:42] You have a lot of questions about what you read. You have a lot of questions. And it may not be you. It may be someone else somewhere there. Okay? Now, this Ethiopian eunuch, A very important person in Ethiopia, Has questions.
[21:58] He is reading, And praise be to God that the time he came out to ask the question, There was someone to answer that question. And this is where I get the point, That every one of us must be ready in season, And in out of season, To answer the questions from others concerning our faith.
[22:21] The good news that is when he read this scripture, God had already sent Philip, By his spirit, To attend to that question, In verse 34.
[22:34] Now the question was, About whom does the prophet say this? About himself, Or about someone else? And in verse 35, Philip opened his mouth, And beginning with this scripture, I love that question, He began with the scripture that the eunuch was reading.
[22:51] Okay? Which is Isaiah 53, Crushed, You know, By his stripes, Who are healed. And the scripture says, He began with this scripture, And told him about the good news of who?
[23:04] Of Jesus Christ. I want you to know, Child of God, That there are many people out there, That can only receive Christ, If you listen to them, If you answer their questions, And you cannot answer questions, That you're not able to.
[23:25] In other words, You should be a kind of individual, That addresses your mind to the word of God. That you read scripture, That you help people understand. The scripture says in Romans chapter 10, Beginning at verse 14, Paul charges us that, How then will they call on him, That they have not believed?
[23:45] And how are they going to believe him, That they have not heard? So like the Ethiopian eunuch, Who was on his way back, From a moment of worship in Jerusalem, We have a lot of questions, From the word of God.
[24:02] If it is not you with questions, It is someone in your house. If it is not someone in your house, It is someone at your workplace. If it is not that one, Then someone that you're seated with, In that train.
[24:13] Or someone on the plane, As you travel. Or someone on the streets. I spent some time, I spent four years, On the streets of Kampala, As a beggar. But there was no one, Who came to speak to us about Christ.
[24:28] Every time I put up that can, For someone to put something in, I only wanted money. I didn't want anyone, To tell me about Christ. But I wish someone walks to me, And talk to me about Christ.
[24:39] Because if someone did that, Maybe I would, My thinking would change, About what I was doing. Someone is out there, And they expect, That you will speak to them.
[24:51] The right place to do this, Are the places of discipleship. And that is why, As a church of Uganda, We think it is very prudent, That we have people, That travel all the way from Uganda, To come and spend time, With the church here, In the area of discipleship.
[25:09] That we get back to the full stops, And the commas of the scriptures, That every one of us, Will grow together in the word. I love what I found in this church, I found two things, Number one, The growth groups.
[25:21] Now that is so, That is so wonderful, Because you are sure, That we will get back to scripture. Number two, I found something like, The roots. Okay, These are things that the church, In modern day time, Has rejected, And yet, Are the things, That are going to put the church, Back to its place.
[25:39] How I pray, That every one of us, Will embrace these things. But before, You go any further from that, How I wish that every one of us, Will be willing to help someone, Understand scripture.
[25:52] But of course, You can't help someone, To understand what you yourself, Don't know. That is why it is important, That you yourself, Love reading the scriptures. Love walking in the scriptures.
[26:03] So that you are one disciple, Of the scriptures, And you make another one, Who will make another one? In Uganda, We still have these things. I say, Be one, Make one, That will make one.
[26:17] In other words, Be a disciple, Of Christ Jesus. In other words, Be serious, About these things. Let Christ, Seat at the throne, Of your life. Let him be, The lord of your life.
[26:30] One of the problems, We have in Uganda, That many people, Profess Christ, But he is not, The lord of their lives. There are Christians, Because of their names, There are Christians, Because of a baptism card, There are Christians, Because of a confirmation card, Or because of a church, Oh, We go to this church, Every Sunday, And that is all.
[26:48] But God is looking, For men and women, That will have, A personal relationship, With him. That he will be seated, At the throne of their lives, That he will be, The lord of their lives.
[27:00] Now that is what it means, To be a disciple. You are a disciple, That is so much willing, To disciple another, That you are sure, Will disciple another.
[27:11] And when we do that, We are sure that, The next generation, Will be the kind of generation, That is rooted, In the word, Of God. Think about 70 years from now, Give a thought to that, I don't know where you will be, I don't know where I will be, But what I know, Is that, If we have, Gotten to the word of God, So deeply, And discipled one another, Carried each other, In the word of God, Even 70 years from now, Our children, And our great grandchildren, Will be fixed in the word.
[27:46] But if we do not do that, We may miss out, On the reality, Of the word of God. The right place to attend, To many of the questions, That are racing in our minds, Are those growth groups, Are those fellowships, Like roots, It is Jesus that is calling us, To get back, To that place.
[28:08] Okay, Everyone, Of us who is mature, Should have a Philip, In their lives. You need to have someone, That you can always ask questions, But you can also be a Philip, To someone.
[28:21] Praise the Lord. In my country, When I say praise the Lord, You say amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You see, Timothy was such a great minister, But he had a Paul in his life.
[28:34] Every time Timothy had a question, He knew where to go, And that was Paul. You can be a Paul to someone, But you can also be a Timothy, To someone. Praise the Lord.
[28:46] The Ethiopian eunuch, Was able to learn, And get questions, And get answers, From the questions that he had, Because Philip, Was available.
[28:56] The reverse is also true, That we can transform, Many lives, When we present ourselves, To answer questions. Help someone to grow, In their face, So that, They may not be swallowed, By the spirit of the world.
[29:12] You know, The spirit of the world, Is hoovering everywhere, People are taken by, All these things, I've just told you, As Uganda, We are struggling, You know, People are swallowed, By social media, Some of them don't even know, What it means, But, Man, I have a phone, Man, I'm on Twitter, I'm on TikTok, I'm on Facebook, I'm on WhatsApp, I am Instagram, I mean, Some of these people, Are swallowed by these things, And they're taking them, Down to destruction.
[29:40] That is why we think, If someone comes from here, To get there, They can touch those lives. Praise the Lord. And lastly, Is the issue of transformation.
[29:52] When the Ethiopian eunuch, Saw water, He demanded to be baptized, And Philip did not refuse. He said, Okay, Let's get out, And do this together. That is the power, Of transformation.
[30:04] Scripture says, In Romans chapter what? Romans chapter 12, Beginning at verse 2, That, Do not be conformed, To this world. Be transformed by the what? By the renewing, Of your mind.
[30:15] This guy is prestigious, This guy is a boss, In Ethiopia, This guy is so close, Scripture says, He was from the Kadankai, Which means, That he was from the royal place.
[30:27] Praise the Lord. But, This guy, Finds it so easy, That when he believed, What was spoken to him, By Philip, He was transformed.
[30:38] He was transformed, That he demanded a baptism. Okay, So, God is calling us, That we be the disciples, That he has called us to be, And change more others, To be disciples, Just as we are, But also support them, To support others, To become what they should be.
[30:56] Scripture does not proceed, To tell us, What happened in the life, Of the Ethiopian eunuch, After he was transformed. Scripture does not go ahead, To tell us, But from what we see today, In Ethiopia, I was making a very brief research, And I realized that, 63% of the Ethiopians, Are Christians.
[31:16] 63% of the people in Ethiopia, Are Christians. I just imagine, That this Ethiopian eunuch, Did not go back home, And you know, Say, Now for me, I am Christian, The rest should find their way out.
[31:31] No. He went back, And transformed more other lives. He went back, And preached the gospel, That was spoken to him. And almost 19% of the Ethiopians, Are not church goers.
[31:45] They are not just followers. They are believers, In this truth. And that shows, That the transformation, That occurred to the Ethiopian eunuch official, Was not buried with him.
[31:57] He must have reached out, To many lives, And kept them in the truth, Of the word. And that is why, We see Ethiopia, Thriving with Christianity. If we embrace, The truth, In the word of God, If we embrace, What God has spoken to us, Through his men and women, That he has called, In such a generation as this, We are sure, Of the next generation.
[32:21] We are sure, That these truths, Will be alive, 70 years from now. We are sure, That these truths, Will have life, Many years after here. Scripture says in what, In Psalm chapter 78, I think I want to read it, Psalm 78, Okay, And this is what it says, My people, Hear my teaching, Listen to the words, Of my mouth, I will open my mouth, With a parable, I will utter hidden things, From the old, Things we have heard, And known, Things our ancestors, Have told us, We will not hide them, From their descendants, We will tell them, To the next generation, The praiseworthy deeds, Of the Lord, His power, And the wonders, That he has done, He decreed statutes, For Jacob, And established the law, In Israel, Which he commanded, Our ancestors, To teach their children, So that the next generation,
[33:22] Would know them, Even children, Yet to be born, As we do this, It is not just about us, In fact, We are so much indebted, By the people, That will come after us, We must be ready, For what will happen, As you see, The way the world is, People are lifting up, Rights and freedoms, Above the truth, If we do not, Preserve the truth, If we do not, Keep our children, In the truth, And when we talk about, The truth, Someone said, I am the way, The truth, And the life, Who is that?
[33:56] That is the man, Jesus Christ, Isn't it? So if we don't keep, Our children, In this truth, Just imagine, What will happen, Years, After here, I therefore, Beseech you, By the mercies, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, That every one of us, Will be at the edges, Of our seats, To reach out, To the next person, Reach out, To that person, Train your children, Make them, The people, You want them to be, Do not allow, Your children, To be raised, By social media, Raise them, And bring them to church, Because in church, They will surely be raised, Into men, And women, That honor, The truth, Let me ask you to stand up, And we shall pray together, Now I'll ask the choir, To get up here, And we will, I'll just do one of those, And then I'll, They will proceed, There is a redeemer, And that redeemer, Is in each one of us,
[34:57] That redeemer, Is calling each one of us, It is a little personal, That you take, These truths, Far from you, That lives, Will be transformed, Let me ask you to just, Go before God, And begin, To pray, There is a redeemer, Thank you deswegen, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Father, Thank you, Father, forgive us Your Son.
[36:08] And leave Your Spirit here. The work on earth is done.
[36:22] Let me pray. Father, we thank You for the gift that You gave us. We pray that every one of us will take this so pertinent.
[36:36] That we will love this truth and never lift anything above the truth. That the truth will remain the truth. Here in Glasgow.
[36:50] And even in Uganda. That we shall not rise freedoms above the truth. But also that many will come to know Christ through each one of us.
[37:08] In Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Thank you, Koi. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.