 So, we are going to be reading from Acts chapter 8 starting with verse 26 down to verse 40. Before we get into those verses, let me give you guys just a backdrop or a bit of a history leading all the way up to the life of Philip and the eunuch and how the Lord orchestrated all this and just blessed the whole situation. So, in Acts chapter 8 verse 1, the second half of verse 1, it says, at that time a great persecution arose against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, and except for the apostles, they remained in Jerusalem. Now, we know that nothing escapes God's hands, right? God is sovereign, God is in control, God sits on his throne, and so this persecution that's taking place against the church caused the disciples and the men of God that were coming to faith to be scattered, and they went throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, and then in verse 3, it says, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women committing them to prison. So, we see that there's a great persecution, they're coming against the church of Christ, and Saul here is causing a great havoc against the church. The word havoc means a widespread destruction. So, Saul was on it, man, he was coming heavily against the church and entering the houses and dragging off men and women committing them to prison. In verse 4, it says, therefore those who were scattered, they went everywhere preaching, they went everywhere preaching the Word. So, we see the purpose behind the persecution. Like I said, God sits in his throne, God is sovereign, his persecution is taking place, Saul's causing havoc, but those that were scattered, they went everywhere preaching the Word. I mean, that verse really convicts me and confronts me and reminds me that wherever I am, there's my ministry. I'm to reflect the life of Jesus, I'm to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, what are all going to be super evangelists or billy grams or greglorians? By the way, the greatest evangelist is the Holy Spirit, but we're all called to share our faith wherever God would have us. So, therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word. And verse 5 says, then Philip, you guys, here we get Philip, we're introduced to Philip, then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ. We know that these are the words, the fulfillment of the words of Jesus, right? When Jesus spoke to the disciples and acts, chapter 1 verse 8, and when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in Judea, and to the ends of the earth. That's the mission, that's the commission that Christ has given us as a church. So then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and he preached Christ to them. In verse 6, we see, and the multitudes with one accord heated the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did say that signs and wonders will follow his disciples. You guys believe God still does miracles? He does them every day. The fact that we wake up, the fact that we're breathing, the fact that we're thinking, the fact that we're reasoning, God is constantly doing miracles in and throughout our lives. Here there wasn't, you know, radical miracles taking place right there. And then, and so Philip went down to Samaria, he's preaching Christ, multitudes with one accord heated the things spoken by Philip. We are to be faithful to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of what great persecution arises against the church, or what affliction comes against the church, or to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 6, they heated to the things spoken by Philip. The Bible says that faith comes by the hearing the word of God. In verse 8, it says, and there was great joy in that city. Truly there is joy in the presence of God, but there is power living in the presence of God. And down in verse 11, it says, and they heated him because he had astonished them with his sorcerers a long time, right, speaking of Simon. And verse 12 says, but when they believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed. We know that he was not truly believing in the gospel of Christ, but he was believing because he felt he can get some power for his own gain. And so we see that as Philip goes to Samaria, he's preaching the gospel, he also finds himself confronting this man who was deceiving the people in Samaria. And if you recall when the disciples asked Jesus, what would be your sign of your return, right? And he tells them, take heed to yourself that no one deceives you. The answer was deception, spiritual deception. And we see that taking place huge in our world. This guy, Simon, was deceiving the people there in Samaria and they all believed him to be some type of great power from God. In verse 20, it says, but Peter said to him, your money perished with you. After Simon, after the apostles had come over to Samaria, they rebuked Simon. And in verse 22 it says, repent therefore of this, your wickedness and pray, God, if perhaps you would be forgiven for your sin, were to be faithful to preach repentance and share the good news in regards of the gospel. People need to repent. God requires for people to turn away from their wickedness and place their faith in Christ. In verse 25 it says, so when they had testified and preached the word, the word they were testified in the Greek is the word, and that word means to testify on behalf of experience. In this case on behalf of divine experience, they knew the Lord that they were experiencing the power of God. And it says they preached the word of the Lord and they returned to Jerusalem preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritan. So you see these men were taking advantage of the time as they traveled, they preached as they went, they preached as they returned, they preached. And the church, I do believe they were to be busy today preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, wherever God would have us. And so now in verse 26, so we're going to read this together from verse 26 down to verse 40, then I'll come back and break these verses down verse by verse. Amen? So let's read verse 26 says now in angel. An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, arise and go towards the south along the road, which goes down from Jerusalem to Gesa or to the Gaza Strip. And this is desert. So he arose and went and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot and he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, do you understand what you are reading? And he said, how can I, unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him in the place in the scripture, which he was reading was this Isaiah 53, right? He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And then and as a as a lamb before Syria is silent. So he opened not his mouth in his humiliation. His justice was taken away. And who will declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth? Verse 34 says, So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you of whom does the prophet say, say this of, of himself or of some other man. And then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, see here, there is water. What hinders me from being baptized? 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. So he commanded the chariot to stand still and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found in Asatis and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. Father God, we thank you, Lord. We thank you God for your goodness. We thank you God for your spirit, Lord. We thank you for your presence. Father God, we do pray that you will speak to us, Lord, as we go back and forth with these verses, Lord, we ask this in Jesus' most precious name. And we all say amen. So we know from just a backdrop of this chapter that there is a great persecution, sauce causing havoc, the word is being preached in Samaria, which was really breaking barriers, right? Because the Samaritans were despised by the Jews. The Bible does tell us that in Christ, we're one, right? In Galatians chapter five, it says that there is neither Greek nor Jew, but in Christ we are one. So there was barriers that were being broken in regards to the Jews despising the Samaritans. Another barrier was being broken between the Jews and the Hellenists. So Jesus, the Holy Spirit, there was power taking and people's lives were being brought together. Now I'll tell you, we struggle with this. At work, I got a boss and this man's a white man, okay? I'm not racist, but this man's just a white man. And he's my boss and I was afraid to share the gospel with him. He's the boss. He has authority. He's a millionaire man. And I don't want to tell him about Jesus. First of all, I'm going to lose my job if I do. So, you know, I was going around preaching to others at my job site and telling them about Jesus and sharing with them what God had done in my life and where God delivered me from. But when he came down to speaking to my boss, I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it. And so I started praying. So I started praying and they called me to the office and they wrote me up and gave me a ride up and said, hey listen, Andres, you cannot be talking about Jesus anymore or inviting people to your church because we're going to fire you. I said, oh man, I got a wife, I got kids, you know, and what do I do Lord? I can't quiet myself. I've experienced the power of God. He delivered me from gangs and drugs and jail and all that mess that I was in for almost 20 years. I can't. I was sitting in jail facing a double life sentence and thinking I was never going to get out man. And it was in that darkest place in the place where I felt there was no hope and didn't want to continue living. That's where Jesus reached and touched my heart. So I can't quiet myself. I can't silence myself that of what Christ has done in me. So I started praying Lord, I can't listen to this man. I didn't listen to you. So the next day I go back to work and guess what? My co-workers start coming and asking me questions. Hey, what does the Bible say about this? Is it true that Jesus and I was like, Oh Lord, I get it. I get it. Lord, you want me to keep talking about you to these people? And so I did. So in my mind, I thought, well, if they call me to the office, I'm going to say, Hey, listen, I didn't, they're asking me that they're asking me about Jesus. They're asking me about the Bible. And so I'm just telling them, you know, and that was going to be my excuse, right? And so then time went by and I remember I was sitting, we were in the break time and the Lord just spoke to my heart and asked me to share a verse with this man and he was top dog there. And so I said, Hey, Mike, listen, I'm going to share something with you. And I said, Hey, what profit does a man have if he gains everything in this world but loses his soul? And he looks at me and he goes, Andres, that is a good quote. I said a quote, Mike, that's a Bible verse and the only one that can save man is Jesus Christ, right? And so I'm thinking, man, I'm just waiting for him to say, go to my office, you're gone, right? So the whole day I was worried about him calling me over the intercom and him calling me into my office to tell me, Hey, sign your papers, you're gone, you're done here. So he did call my name over the intercom. And so then I go, I said, man, what am I going to tell my wife, my kids? But then you kind of feel, man, well, it's for the Lord, you know, preaching the gospel, man, right? Like the apostles when they were brought into the council and they were beaten, they were left and they were rejoicing because they counted it worthy to suffer for the Lord. So he calls me up and I go up there and tells me, shut the door. I shut the door and he starts telling me and giving me testimony how his twin brother had been preaching the gospel of Jesus to him for 15 years, but he had his heart hardened. And I'm like, man, you know, and he goes, you know what I realized? And you were willing to risk your job and your family were telling me about Jesus Christ. And he starts crying and I'm like, oh my God, you're not going to fire everything. He goes, no, you know. So he surrendered his life to the Lord and, you know, he retired from that job, man. Yeah, yeah, praise the Lord. God is good, man. And so the Bible says he desires for all people to come to repentance. And so we see there was barriers being broken here. And so for me, that was a barrier being broken for me there at my job site and the Lord touched his man's heart. He resigned from that job and he went to go work for a nonprofit Christian organization where they raise funds for small churches that need finances. Then I wondered, God, why do you bring them to our church? We need those ties, man. He's a millionaire, Lord. So now in verse 2060, guys, after all this took place that we read in the first part of chapter 8, verse 26 says this, now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. And we know that Philip was preaching the gospel of Samaria and there was multitudes coming to faith. There was revival, there was an awakening. Philip was busy. But I love the fact that Philip is attentive to the voice of the angel. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. I've seen many ministers and people in ministry fall in love more with the ministry than with God. And Philip here is attentive to say, now the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying arise and go towards the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. And this is a desert road. You're going down this desert road, Philip. And then the second part says, verse 27 says, so he arose and went. I mean, it doesn't matter how busy we might be in ministry. What God is doing. God is still wanting to do more. There's multitudes, there's revival, there's a great work of the Spirit of God in the life of Philip. And God calls Philip and says, arise and go towards the south along the road and take this desert road, probably dangerous, risky for his life, but Philip is going to go. You see the immediate obedience of Philip where it says that he arose and he went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under condense, the queen of Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship. So we know that Philip is hearing from the Lord, he gets up and he takes off and he goes as the angel of the Lord instructed him and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority. Number one, this Ethiopian, this eunuch was a man who had great authority and he was under Candice, the queen of Ethiopians. Candice is not her name, that's right, the title of the mother, the queen of mother. So there, how do you say that? No, no, the queen mother, there you go. And so the queen of Ethiopians who had charge of all her treasures, his man had authority, he was running finances and he had influence and had come to Jerusalem to worship. So we know he was converted over to Judaism, he was a religious man and he was really seeking out the Lord, a searching heart. The Bible does say that in first Chronicles chapter 28 verse 9 it says, and you Solomon, my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searches all heart and understands every plan and thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you. This eunuch was truly seeking the one true God. Though he was a man of authority, a man of influence, a man of money, he was seeking the one true God of Israel. And believe me, there is people out that are hungry for God. And God has looked to you, to us to share his word, his truth, his gospel to a world that needs it. Verse 28 says, this man was returning and he was sitting in his chariot and he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Well, he comes over and he doesn't really find what he was looking for because it is only God right who can fulfill the heart. It is only him who can satisfy the heart but he found the word and he buys a scroll and scrolls back in those days were expensive. So this man was really seeking to know who the Lord is. And we know that it is God who causes the desire in us, right? It is him who called you. It is him who has chosen us. And so as he's sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. And then verse 29, the second time then the spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake his chariot. The first time it was the angel of the Lord. The second time now it's the spirit of talk about being sensitive and attentive to the spirit of God or to the voice of God. What's distracting you today? What's distracting? What's distracting me? We did chapter 10 earlier at the church and by the way the church is being blessed you guys. I didn't want to go to that to that city where God has me now. That's the city where I committed all my crimes and violence and gangbanging and we were trying to move towards more of a safer city and we just didn't fit in that place anymore and then someone calls me says hey Andres there is a building for for Lees there in the city of Maywood. And so when they said Maywood to me it was like when in here it came out the other because I'm not going back to the city. There's too much problems that I got myself involved there. We come to know that God is at work mightily and causing a revival and an awakening in that city. And I am privileged and grateful man. Yeah praise the Lord amen. So I'll give you guys a quick testimony. So we were at this place and we didn't fit in the morning I prayed and I said God you asked me to open up a Spanish service. I'm fluent English and Spanish so I teach in English and I teach in Spanish. And we didn't fit in this hotel and so I prayed and like a day or two later I get a phone call this guy tells me hey there's this building available in the city of Maywood. So when he said Maywood I said you know that I disregarded that. And then a couple of hours later I remembered that I had prayed and I asked God that we needed a place where we can fit and I said no. I said no. You're sending me back to Maywood Lord. I don't want to go back over there Lord. Something's going to happen to me or my family or my kids Lord. You know what I've done in the past. Before that I got in shot in the church. I had gotten threatened by some guys to leave the church. So I don't want to go through that anymore. I'm trying to move to a safe place right. B. why is the bible says. But there is no plan B. It's plan A what God says and that's it. And so I just kind of felt in my heart man I knew that God was going to send me back over there. And so I go over I called I made an appointment. I went over there man wearing shorts sandals a dirty shirt you know to present myself like that before the people that were going to show me the place really just showing a negative attitude towards it right. And so they're asking for you know a certain amount of money and papers and all that we didn't have all that. And so I said listen you know we we're praying we're trusting in the Lord. And this is all I got. And if you can make it happen I have I don't have the deposit. We don't have the insurance. I don't have the monthly income you're asking me for. But we do have is this and this and this and that. And she looked at me she goes well talk to the board of people and we'll see what what they're going to say. And so to make a long story short she called me two weeks after when she goes this time it was Pastor Andres when she first saw me she was like are you the guy that she was kind of you know a little bit startled and so this time it was a pastor Andres if you want the building the building is yours. And you know just to move in there to see the work of God there was this one guy in particular that I had many fights with I had shootouts with him from corner to corner. I mean just horrible things you guys and I was afraid to run into him so I started praying for him. I said Lord we're moving back over there we're going to be there officially and I don't know what's going to happen if I run into this guy because he was just as crazy as I was when I was out there doing my thing right. And so I'm praying and my wife and I and my family go over to Walmart and I'm walking I tell my wife I forgot what I was going to the car for but I said I got to go to the car and get something and I'm walking over there and remember me and this guy hated each other. I would park down the street from his house because I wanted to take him out that's how bad I hated this guy okay and I literally had shootouts from him from across the street with one another one time he came and stood in front of my house and he shot up my house you know look no one was there but there was a hate and so I'm praying for him and I'm in Walmart and I told my wife I got to go get some from the car so I started walking down the aisle and guess what here comes this guy and I'm like oh lord my heart started pumping bad and I'm like you know he saw him and he does this you know how the homies there may start mad doggy right and start so he starts looking at me like this and he pulls up his fist and I'm like man Lord you know and said God be with me so I walk right up to him and I stuck on my hand and I said hey Pete I'm so sorry forgive me for everything I've ever done to you and he looks at me he looks at me he goes so you are christian and I go yes he goes me too and I was like praise the lord and I hugged him you know he started praying and so you see when you obey the Lord you'll see the work of God you'll see the work of God even though I was afraid I put my fist to the side man I just and you trust God and now he's come to the church um he's done some painting for us he's met some of the brothers and family they're at the church and we had breakfast and dinner and we uh did some testimony and it's brought healing to the city and people are like wow man these guys literally hated each other there's a couple of officers that I used to run from there in the city matter of fact I got into shootouts with some of these officers man and and though they hated me I hated them with one of them I did a documentary for us USC and he literally called me a monster that was his that's how he viewed me and um uh so when I first got out I ran into him and told him hey the Lord changed my life and he goes yeah you've been out for six months and for a long time he didn't believe me and we're going on 13 years and um uh also the Lord has restored our relationship where we've gotten to do some stuff at some juvenile halls we've had some dinners we've had some breakfast now we kind of joke around and it's just beautiful what God does God has given us the minister of reconciliation rights and um so Jesus said love your enemies we gotta practice that you guys and uh for me I've gotten my taste in that because like I said God has restored these relationships that are healthy for our community you guys um so okay so verse uh 29 then the spirit said to Philip go near and overtake this cherry so we need to be attentive church attentive sensitive to the voice of God and have a submissive will a willing heart to obey that which God is asking us to do there's people you work with there's family you know there's people we've been into all the time and they need Christ don't let the enemy say it in silence your voice though don't compromise your walk be a clean instrument a holy instrument and God will use your life powerfully as the spirit spoke to Philip in verse 30 it says so Philip ran to him what do you do he ran talk about eagerness talk about joy talk about a desire with eager to serve the Lord now i ran into people that act like they want to serve God and we're not in Hollywood we're not going to get no star nothing like that man you know it God I don't have this desire I don't have this eager Lord give it to me Lord set me on fire Lord give me a longing give me a desire Lord we're living in some very serious times great deception everywhere you ask people what do they think about Jesus why he was a historical historical figure he was a good man he was a prophet he was this he was that deception and many people are believing it just like the people were believing in its a merit to that man Simon and the gospel was preached to Philip and then the elders came and the rebuke this man and repent from your sin Simon I've had my shares to share with people that govern our city and I've been able to share with the mayor and some of his councilmen and I remember going over and sharing he said hey listen man God has doing a work in the city you know and it would be good if you can repent from your sin put your faith in Christ and let's work together we said well he's he don't need Jesus and he rejected the gospel and recently they just did an audit I don't know if you guys saw it on the news they raided his house they raided his businesses he's now in questioned and I remember sharing with them and saying hey listen listen man God loves you I love you man but there's a work of God in the city the city here doesn't need in a sense more money to change people's lives the city here needs hope it needs Jesus and it's Christ and you're the leader you need to turn away from your sin receive Jesus and be a blessing to our city but he said no and so now there's consequences God deals with people day in day out and so we need to be sensitive you guys to the spirit of God God has divine appointments for us daily God doesn't get tired he doesn't grow weary and remember telling a guy told me uh he goes man you need to leave God alone he's busy oh he's not you know he's looking to save people redeem people transform people just like he did with all of us right just like he did with every single one of us have a story we all have a testimony we've all had we've all had divine experiences so we can testify the greek word martyr today we can testify on behalf of divine experience and so it says that Philip ran you guys and so uh well I mean just what an eager a joy in regards of serving God so Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said do you understand what you are reading and verse 31 says and he said how can I unless someone guides me we're reading the book of Romans you know how will they know no one goes how will they understand him no one tells them or teaches them and so here we see that as Philip obeys the voice of the spirit uh he runs to him and he hears that he's reading the prophet Isaiah and he said do you understand what you are reading listen we are two disciple people and disciple men within the scriptures you we can't disciple men outside of scripture we disciple men through the word of God and in in the heart of Philip I believe his desire is to what to preach the gospel to him and to share and give him insight of who Isaiah is talking about so we ask him the question do you understand what you are reading and verse 31 says and the eunuch said how can I unless someone guides me I don't know what this passage is talking about I'm confused I don't know if it's talking about Isaiah or Israel or someone else you see a searching heart a hunger for the truth there's people like that out there and they're around us at work at home out in our communities in our cities the problem today with a lot of brothers and sisters in the church is we're distracted we're distracted and we're busy here and busy there and we don't have that availability or that openness or that sensitive to the spirit of God kind of like in chapter 10 right when Peter is about to pray and says he got really hungry doesn't that happen when it's time to pray or read oh the phone oh my neighbor oh i'm hungry we need to have a life of discipline and God's word in prayer uh Cornelius is a perfect example of that in chapter 10 um verse one and verse two it says there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius a centurion of what was called the Italian regiment a devout man and one who feared God with all his household who gave arms generously to the people and prayed to God always a committed man a dedicated man to the one true God he was a captain this is actually these this Italian regiment was known to be loyal loyal a devout man and one who feared God with all his household this in his life his commitment his dedication him being a man who feared God influenced his household our faith needs to be contagious our lives need to question other people's beliefs and so this man Cornelius was one who also was generously giving a generous man and um and a man who prayed always that needs to be us church amen okay now so um after the Ethiopian says you know how can i unless someone guides me so he says and he asks Philip to come up and sit with him and then verse 32 says the place in the scripture which he was reading was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as he land before it sure is silent so he opened not his mouth in his humiliation his justice was taken away and who would declare his generation from his for his life is taken from the earth and we know that that's talking of no other than Jesus Christ our Lord our king our savior i was over in israel uh last year the group of brothers and my prayer was this god i'm going over to israel yes i'm excited i'm emotional i want to see all that i've been reading in the bible and um but i also want to preach the gospel lord i pray that you would open up doors that you would place jews that i can share the gospel with and so as we got into the plane the brothers sat down with brothers and i'm like man who am i gonna say i'm looking to see if i get you know a cool brother but i didn't get no brothers everyone else had brothers that they knew they there was a long flight i'd never been a plane 16 hours my first time dude i was i needed some comfort man but i didn't get it so the lord brought me three jews as they sat right next to me and then i remembered i prayed and asked god that he would put jews in my past so i can preach the gospel to them and ask them why they keep denying jesus and so before we got off the plane those men had accepted christ the guy says andres we want the god you serve and i said yes names jesus bro you gotta repent stop living a life without christ and accept christ and the lord blessed them you guys and then as we went over there um we know we land and man it was my first time so when the plane started shaking you know i was like god i knew you were going to gather us all up together and take us home and we're gone i'm not going to that i was afraid and um so we landed we get to israel and remember my prayer was god used me to preach the gospel lord it was a couple of times where the lord called us out at night time and i said oh man one of the brothers goes are you serious bro and i said yeah let's go man let's go tell people about christ so we went under the city of david the outside walls of jerusalem and telling people about christ there was this one uh this took place we were we went to the food courts and um there was like four jews sitting there and they kept looking at me and they started laughing at me while they were looking at me so i'm like why are they laughing at me do i got something on my face well they were making fun of me there was you know they were saying what what a dumb guy wrote on his face you know and i i kind of you know read that and i kind of discerned that that's what they were doing and so but i try to talk to them i try to communicate with them but um they just didn't understand english and i was going to try and share the gospel with them and so anyways you know i kind of figure out you know i told the guy let's go started walking walking away and then these uh this guy and this uh this couple comes behind me taps him on my shoulder and he goes hey how are you and i turn around oh you speak english and i was surprised right and so i started talking to them and and you know he told me hey i saw i go he he asked me um you know those guys were making fun of you right and i said yeah i did they were huh you what were they saying he goes they were talking about your face and how dumb you are why would you do that and i like i figured and he goes but you were cool about it and i said yeah man you know what i really was looking uh i was i was looking at that as an opportunity to talk to them about jesus do you know jesus and i started telling him about the lord and by the time we got to the light he wanted to accept jesus christ you know god you guys want to use every single one of us and then there was our tour guy our tour guy our tour guy's name was ronnie Simmons you guys heard about that guy okay so ronnie Simmons is really known in israel he's written many good books regarding the history of israel and so you know um you don't believe in christ and um so i started you know talking with them and asking him you know questions about you know uh their their culture and their beliefs and stuff like that and so it came to the point where i was going to preach the gospel to him and so after all that talking going back and forth and looking at israel and looking at israel chapter 53 you know um i actually look ronnie look at forget about your nation and your beliefs and all that why do you deny jesus and he tells me because the bible says that when messiah comes there was going to be peace and when jesus came there was no peace and i said that's where you misunderstand scripture the peace that god is given is the peace that we have in christ were forgiven and were redeemed christ has made peace between us and god and we have the peace of god through christ and so i start going back and forth with him like that and um i think maybe the second day no the last day uh that we were there in israel i i went you know um and hugged him and said ronnie god loves you bro i love you man the churcher loves you bro you're a good historian you you know i enjoyed what you were teaching but that's not going to get you to heaven you keep rejecting christ you will end up in hell and i said consider the gospel ronnie consider the gospel is in your insight your knowledge your nation all that is keeping you from seeing the truth in the bible open up your heart ronnie and he looked at me his eyes got watery and he put his hand on me and he goes oh andres i will because we were going back and forth i mean every day and uh pastor david zemora you guys know him he was right behind me and he was about to tell me to leave him alone but the lord rebuked him and said no you leave undress alone let him tell him about jesus and then zemora said man andres has to be one of the most persistent christians that i know and so you know he told me that and you guys check this out i was blessed by that and i've been praying for him i've been sending him emails and uh you guys remember when harvey hid in texas well i saw a post on facebook and i saw that there was a um a need for a dumpster truck for a yeah for a dumpster and so then i get all spiritual and i started praying god provide for a dumpster truck and in my prayer the lord says go but lord i was praying for provision not for me to go over there right and the church is doing good there's revival there's people coming people are getting saved people are reconciling kind of like philip there's people there's people getting blessed you know and so um so i tell my wife hey honey i man the lord wants me to go to texas and i gotta i gotta buy a ticket i gotta go and then check this out she was afraid for me to go by myself because i was gonna go by myself and she starts praying god please send somebody with him and at that moment that matter right there calls me brother henry and he goes hey i'm going to texas with you so i bought a ticket for him and we took off like a four in the morning to texas and then i came back i flew back and my second time flying back out there i'm in the i'm at at the airport and i'm with robert this time another younger brother and i'm walking out of the airport and the airport's loading guess who i run into ronnie simmonds from israel and i looked at him and i said ronnie he goes undress you know and i'm like man bro jesus is so pursuing you bro did you repent already ronnie did you accept christ and he's getting all red and he goes i still have some time left because he said he was gonna take a whole year to consider the gospel so keep praying for ronnie man but i know god is on the move you guys right we sing the song god is on the move hallelujah right he's on the movie guys and he wants to work through us so yeah so now um in verse 34 says so the eunuch answered philip and said i ask you of whom does the prophet say this of himself or of some other man and that's truly what what was going on at the time people were talking that that passage is talking about israel or the prophet himself but we know that is talking about christ right and then verse 38 says then philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture in a practical note for us here is that when we open up our mouths it's open up starting with scripture amen i remember going back and forth i worked with some guy and everything he told me the lord was just giving me a bible verse and a bible verse and he would say this and a bible verse and a bible verse he goes man bro you got a bible verse for everything he was mad right but to me i was like testimony is this true we need to always start with scripture a preacher i forgot who is what his name was but he said he said as a preacher you have nothing good to say outside of the bible and i'm like oh man i don't know if i fully agree with that but you know what listen i know that we need to start with scripture with the word of god not with our opinion not with what i feel not with what i think simply what the word of god says because there's many people that end up placing their faith in what they think and what they feel and what seems to be right our faith is to be founded in scripture period nothing else the word of god and so then fill up open this mouth and beginning at this scripture preach jesus to him and that needs to be us once again church preaching the gospel wherever god would have you i have learned you're preaching the gospel there is going to be people that are going to reject the message that are going to not like what you're saying but you know what that's healthy for us it's healthy it helps us to grow it helps us to draw close closer to god it does and i remember being at the church and these guys came in they started shooting at me and people in the church there and they sent me a message that i had to leave in 30 days or they were going to take me out i was afraid i got a wife i got kids my life's in danger i don't want to die god already saved me you know i want to live now for the lord what do i do do i leave or do i stay i look to god and i look to hear from the lord the scripture so i prayed and of course you ain't going nowhere andress you are going to stay here i said okay lord that means god was going to protect me so these men that really wanted to come and take me out they committed a crime somewhere else and one got 16 years one got 20 years in prison now i wasn't happy for that but i was thankful they got protected me and you know i felt okay now so god has promised he will never leave you or forsake you he is with you wherever you go and through the preaching and going through these experiences of being rejected and being you know uh afflicted or people coming against the message it would help you grow spiritually your confidence your faith your trust in god will grow and then i remember coming to the new place like i said i didn't want to come back to mable some guy passed us by and pulled out a gun in front of the church right there and i'm like i kind of knew that was going to happen and so we um you know it didn't go so well but at least we got to pray for him and he ended up coming to church and receiving jesus and he moved out and i'm praying that god is working with him wherever god has him right now so um we see there's power you guys in the name of christ this guy passes by pulls out a gun in front of me in front of one of my brother's daughter and it's like man and we start praying and then god touches his heart and he comes to church and has breakfast with us at church you know the power of the spirit of god it convicts people it touches people's hearts and now verse 36 says um now as they went down the road they came to some water and the eunuch said see here is water philip what hinders me from being baptized that was what else do i need to do to be baptized philip and i talk about the excitement right here this eunuch want to express his faith in christ wanted to publicly announce that he was a believer in jesus see here is water philip what hinders me or what needs to be done philip that i would be baptized and 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 we should be longing and yearning to hear those words from people we preach to you know when i when i get when the lord sends me out there without we're in church every day we got service monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday sunday monday uh we have proactive ministries in regards of boxing kickboxing uh piano classes drum classes guitar classes vocal classes art classes we're busy in scripture you don't see jesus going around telling people i love you he demonstrated it he demonstrated his love to people and so these classes and you see that we're doing they're they're free you know and we're telling our community through these uh works we love you guys we love god we love you guys and we care for your kids we want to get them involved in these classes in these music classes you know the kids they're you know stuck on these games like digital cocaine these days and so it's been a blessing to see that the community responding to that and as god brings these people and they come with your kids we get to pray for them we get to pray for them we get to share the gospel of jesus christ with them and my prayer is god as you bring these people and as they sign up for kickboxing or boxing or piano or guitar whatever it is lord will you touch their hearts and will they respond and accept and confess jesus and believe with other hearts that jesus is the son of god and it's been happening you know as we're praying for people sharing with people people opening up their hearts asking for prayer confessing i mean just amazing the love of christ needs to be demonstrated by the church amen wouldn't you guys just love a revival out of love man and so 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 and then verse 38 says so he commanded the chariot to stand still to stop stop the car by the way it was a 1964 Chevy Impala it was convertible not just kidding but he says stop stop this car i mean this guy's excited man he really been convicted in his heart with the spirit of the lord and he come to know the truth of jesus so he commanded the chariot to stand still stop the car then it says and both philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him and so it says now when they came up out of the water the spirit of the lord caught philip away so you know and both philip and the eunuch went down into the water so we're to baptize people we need to go down the water with them together because we do them right i told the guys this the next time we baptize i'm going to go down there with them you repent brother okay now you're gonna we're gonna stay down here but he went down with them and both philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him and verse 39 says now when they came up out of the water the spirit of the lord caught philip and what a supernatural work of the spirit of god right philip is gone the lord takes him caught away listen may that be us may we be caught away by the spirit of god and the spirit of god came upon the apostles literally means when the spirit is governing you when he's governing our life and that is him who is leading the bible says we don't know where the wind blows or where it comes from right but we see the effects of it and that's how the holy spirit works where you see the holy spirit doing work there you go pastor chuck smith said ask god for discernment ask him to show you where the holy spirit is leading and just get in there that's where it's at you and i don't leave the holy spirit you and i don't tell the holy spirit what to do we ask god to give us discernment to open up our hearts and minds to the leading of god's spirits and so the spirit of the lord caught philip away so that the eunuch saw him no more you can imagine the eunuch right man did you know he's accepted the lord he believes in jesus he just got baptized and then now philip is just gone like that by the power of god and it says after he sees that he sees sin philip no more he went on his way rejoicing why his faith was not in philip his faith within jesus we don't lead people to us we lead people to christ i've been in churches where all they talk about is their pastor or the elder we need to be talking about jesus it's him he's the shepherd it's him it's christ and so here philip philip is caught away with the spirit like i said may that be us you guys may that be us may we be caught up with the spirit of god every day of our lives may we wake up in the morning god show me thy way show me thy love show me thy power lord here is thy servant here is the i surrender right we just finished worshiping the lord telling him we surrender lord okay let's live it out let's live it out man i've always been challenged by that quote that eight w tozer said when he's preaching to the congregation telling the congregation christians don't tell lies you guys heard that one before christians don't tell lies in the church is saying yes amen they only come to church and sing them and in my heart in my mind i'm like man you know lord help me lord help me i i need you lord desperately lord lead me lord show me that way show me that love show me that power lead me in that path lord every day we have that opportunity and so may we be caught up caught away you guys with the spirit of god and uh so philip went on his way rejoicing and his the reason why he takes off rejoicing was because his faith was in christ not in philip it was in the lord he had a true encounter with the truth of jesus christ and then verse 40 says but philip was found in asatis and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to cesarean and like we said earlier through the persecution all the brothers were scattered right and they were scattered to judaea to samaria um uh from jesus to samaria to judaea and here to the ends of the earth the very words of jesus from chapter one verse eight and you will be witnesses to me in other words your lives will be a reflection of minds it's that is that the case with us today you remember when philip uh when uh was a john yeah uh peter and john when they were brought before the council and the elders the leaders what did they say we realized that they had been with jesus we've realized that they had been with jesus may that be us you guys may our lives be the faith that we profess be contagious and convict others in hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 it says and without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to god must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him i am to believe there's two different things you can believe in god and or believe god we we believe in god yet we have faith in christ god is called as god has chosen every single one of you guys what a beautiful thing it is right psalms chapter 65 verse 4 blessed is the man that's been chosen by god he called us he chose us we're only responding to the lord but without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to god must believe that he exists but i'm also to believe all that god says two different things believing in god and believing what god says if god tells me there's power in the name of jesus i'm going to believe that and it's going to be seen when i practice that god says there's power in the spirit of i'm going to believe that god says pray i'm going to pray god says preach i'm going to preach because i believe we need to believe the lord and so last verse verse 40 says but philip was found in assautas and passing through you guys passing through what are we doing as we're passing through our cities our neighborhoods our schools our communities through our family are we preaching or have we grown weary are we tired because people are responding we need to continue you guys paul the apostle tells timothy to preach the gospel to be ready in season and out of sea in other words always be ready to share the good news of jesus christ so philip was found in assautas and passing through he preached in all the cities till he came to cesarean faithfulness to the gospel of jesus christ now i will tell you this um when i was sitting in jail and i figured man i'm not going to get out anymore i'm done i'm through here and i remember being in the city in that jail cell and remembering all those times my mother spoke to me and said andres you need to stop doing this andres you need to change andres you need to do this and i never listened i've always mocked my mom my mom always told me god's going to change your life when the andres and you're going to be a preacher for the lord i said mom you're crazy i am a gangbanger and i'm going to die a gangbanger who's crazy now should always tell me you know a loving mother who cares for her child you know this was her hope this was her faith this was she believed that god can do in my life and so i was sitting in this jail cell and i remember you know um in my heart feeling man what if i would have listened well what if i would have listened to my mother what if i would have went to church what if i would have accepted jesus into my heart because i was in a cell and i was there by myself no one came to preach to me i it was a work now i know it was a work of the holy spirit because i started asking myself what's happening why am i feeling like this i'm supposed to be tough and i'm supposed to be hard and i'm not supposed to be crying but i was i was hurt and i came to realize there was a little boy inside crying for help abandon as a child abuse as a child molested as a child left by my father as a child we're up in the streets and i was 10 years old i found acceptance in the gang and i found love there though i was deceived i found it there and i was willing to die for the gang i was willing to do all that was asked of me because i would get a pat on the back that my father never gave me and so um being in there and the holy spirit tugging in my heart you know what's happening right and so i responded to that and i prayed and i said god man if you could forgive me please lord i don't know if there's hope for me i don't know if you can forgive me of all the things i've done i just don't know and i hadn't experienced i didn't encounter with the lord i went to fifth grade school i never learned how to read my my my reading was horrible um so when i prayed and i just sensed and i knew god was there with me tugging at my heart he took in this burden this weight off of me and i just had it having this praying and i can hear the echo of god's voice and someone had given me a bible that i had in my personals and i opened i picked up that bible when i started reading i started reading and i started i read through the whole gospel of matthew and i understood i didn't know how to read i couldn't comprehend that i remember what god was there with me and then how am i going to tell the rest of the guys that i don't want nothing to do with without a raise my hand in there to get involved with politics and uh you know whatever i tell the rest of these guys that are facing the death penalty or life in prison who are in their angry and they're violent and just looking for an opportunity some of you guys know what i'm talking about it's looking for an opportunity to take off on somebody or hurt somebody what am i going to do lord and so i prayed and the lord said just like you served your gang you're going to serve me in this place man and i got fired up it was like the big homie telling me you're going to go okay lord let's do it lord and so i got out of my sound i went to every cell as it gave me my 15 minute walk and i started telling everyone in every cell about jesus christ and ever since we haven't stopped my wife and i am this is what god has called the church to do preach the gospel Philip was evangelizing he was filled with the spirit of god he was faithful to the call he was sensitive to god's voice he was faithful to the message he started with scripture there was persecution there was havoc there was affliction but there was joy because the presence of god was with them but there's also power as we live in the presence of god the bible says dual crisis dwelling me now dwelling you amen