They’re Waiting

Below is an excerpt of the sermon “They’re Waiting” from Pastor Mike Ray at Hopewell Baptist Church on Sunday evening, 5/30/2021.

We’re in Acts Chapter 8. Acts Chapter number 8, and I want you to see this.

And I know Summer is starting this coming week, and I do hope everyone, I hope everyone, somehow gets a nice trip this Summer. I hope you get some kind of a break. Make some memories. Travel a little bit. Get a suntan if you need it. Do something special. Take some pictures. I’m just hoping you get to do that. And that’s not a sin. God wants His people to enjoy. He says, “I’ve given you richly all things to enjoy.” And if you can’t, you can take little mini-vacations all over here, and you can have little trips, and you can camp out in the backyard, and you can have a picnic in the living room. Yeah, sometimes you have to be creative. and so I hope it’s a great, great beginning to the Summer.

But let’s be faithful in church. If you’re traveling, be in the house of God. If you’re so remote that you’re way, way, way up in the mountains, listen online. If you can’t and that’s so remote, download a message from some preacher somewhere and listen to something. You just don’t want to lose ground in the next 90 days. We want to go into September saying, “What a Summer spiritually it’s been, and I have grown.” And that’s what we want.

So, in regards to some of that, let’s look at Acts for about the next half hour, maybe less. Acts Chapter number 8. Very familiar story. And the Book of Acts, of course, is what took place after Jesus ascended. I mean He has died on the cross, risen from the dead, three days later showed himself forty days to the believers, and then ascended to heaven. Then, immediately the book of Acts starts. This is the church he started. We have that little saying, “Have you ever seen the house that Jack built?” Well, this is the church that Jesus built. And so, here’s what’s going on. Here is a little episode, a little snapshot from this Church.

Acts 8:26–28 “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south…” Notice it didn’t save the north. God loves us south. You say, “Pastor, I’m from the south… Southern California. That’s not the south. He says, “go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. [27] And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, [28] Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.”

By the way, when’s the last time you dropped into a restaurant or you walked by a car and someone had their Bible open and they were reading it? That would be a rare thing, even in America today, to catch someone just publicly reading their Bible. That’s what he’s doing in his chariot.

And it says in verse 29, “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. [30] And Philip ran…” (Acts 8:29–30a) And that’s what God wants. Immediate, quick, and excited obedience. “…thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? [31] And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. [32] The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: [33] In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. [34] And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? [35] Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (Acts 8:29–35) You can find Jesus somewhere in every passage of Scripture if you look hard enough. Verse 36: “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:36–38)

This must have been immersion. I mean, if he sprinkled him, why would they both get the water waist-deep just to pick up a lot of water and sprinkle it? So anyway, there’s that.

And verse 39: “And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:39) It doesn’t say which one went on his way rejoicing. I think either one would be possible. The guy that got saved was probably rejoicing, I’m sure Philip who found him in the desert was also rejoicing.

I want to read one other verse, and then we’ll pray, and then we’ll get into this. Psalm 142:4. David says this, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, But there was no man that would know me: Refuge failed me; No man cared for my soul.”

What that passage actually means is this: David was saying, “Here I am. I’m hiding from King Saul. I’m in a cave. I’m all alone. And no one is coming to look for me.” A very sad verse. And he said, “No man cared for my soul.” I want to speak tonight on this subject: “They’re Waiting.” They’re waiting.

It was a eunuch, just happened to be going to church. He drove a long distance to hear something at the temple, came all the way back. He’s in a desert under a palm tree or something, I’m sure. And he’s reading the Bible, and he just happens to be in the place of the Old Testament that prophecies the crucifixion, Isaiah 53. And he just happens to be reading that, and it happens to be the Holy Spirit tells Philip. He says, “Go into the desert.” Why? He said, “Just go.” He didn’t see anybody. But after he traveled (I don’t know if his days or hours), he happened to see the chariot part. He happened to see the man reading. The man says, “Why don’t you come up and explain this to me.” And the guy got saved. He was waiting.

David was in the cave waiting. Usually, the message on Sunday morning and Sunday night are for us — like this morning, trying to help us with our issues. Tonight, the truth in the message tonight is mostly to help people who are not even here. They’re waiting.

You can listen to the rest of this sermon on our website, Or, you can watch archived services on Vimeo, YouTube, or audio podcast. Stay up to date by following us on Facebook or Instagram.

Hopewell Baptist Church is an Independent Baptist Church in Napa, California pastored by Mike Ray. It is Bible-based with a warm, friendly atmosphere. Hopewell is dedicated to bringing the water of life to the Napa Valley and beyond.