Now Is The Time February 3, 2019

Overview

Now Is the Time

Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26–40 is no story of luck or coincidence. It is a string of divine appointments: Philip is called away from fruitful ministry in Samaria to a deserted road; the eunuch happens to be reading the very passage of Isaiah that points to the suffering Messiah; and water appears at the moment the gospel has been proclaimed. Philip does not delay or question. He goes when called, speaks when invited, and acts when the opportunity is given. Had he procrastinated even a single day, the appointment would have been missed.

When the eunuch sees water, he asks, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" The answer is nothing—and Philip baptizes him on the spot. This sets a clear scriptural pattern. Christ's command in Matthew 28:19–20 places no age restriction on baptism, and in Acts 2:38–39 Peter calls his hearers to repent and be baptized, with the promise extending to entire households. If you have not yet been baptized, or your children have not been baptized, the time is now. There is no good reason to delay what God has commanded and freely offers.

After the baptism, the eunuch "went on his way rejoicing"—not dwelling on Philip's sudden departure, but celebrating his new life in Christ. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us, anyone in Christ is a new creation. This is why Scripture commands joy without qualification: Philippians 4:4–7, 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, and 1 Peter 1:8 all call us to rejoice always, in every circumstance. Job loss, addiction, a parent's diagnosis—none of these are reasons to celebrate, yet we can still rejoice because the peace of God guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. When is the time to rejoice? Now.

Philip's work didn't end with one convert. He continued preaching from Azotus all the way to Caesarea, just as the eunuch carried the good news home to Ethiopia. The win was never Philip's to keep—it was God's, claiming his own through faithful, unhesitating proclamation. The same call rests on every believer. You may not be called to vocational ministry, but you are called to proclaim Christ wherever God places you. Jesus himself did not procrastinate: at the appointed time he was born, ministered, suffered, died, and rose again for our salvation. He kept his divine appointment with us. So now is the time—to be baptized, to baptize, to rejoice, and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with whomever God brings across our path.

Transcript

So we're going to have a really quick confession moment. 0s

This is not rhetorical. 4s

You don't have to shout it out. 5s

But raise your hand. 7s

Who here is a procrastinator? 9s

Yep. 13s

It is always good to know that we're not alone. 13s

That we have brothers and sisters that procrastinate with us. 17s

And we can talk about that later. 21s

But now I'm going to take a moment 23s

and share with you. 25s

I grew up in a household that 26s

was kind of a procrastinating household 28s

and throwing my parents under the bus here. 31s

But a light would go out and stands out distinctly in my mind. 35s

A light would go out in the hallway 39s

and it would be out for a month, a month. 40s

And we had a long haul. 43s

And when it was dark, when it was nighttime, 45s

that was a long, dark haul to go down. 47s

And there was nothing we could do about it. 49s

The light bulb was out. 52s

And when I got married, a light went out in one of our lamps. 53s

And immediately, Keith changed it. 58s

And I was amazed. 60s

I didn't know that you could actually change a light bulb 63s

the moment it went out. 66s

It opened a whole new world for me. 68s

It was really, really incredible. 71s

I always thought that what's the point 75s

in doing something today when you can just do it tomorrow? 78s

That's OK, right? 81s

Well, a little recap from last week 83s

just to get us to where we are today. 86s

Philip was in Samaria. 90s

And he was preaching the gospel along with the apostles. 92s

And they saw a lot of fruitfulness happening. 95s

They saw a lot of conversions. 98s

They saw a lot of transformation. 99s

Things were happening. 101s

And then all of a sudden, out of the blue, 103s

Philip was called by the Lord to go to an all-but abandon road. 105s

And he didn't ask why. 112s

And he didn't question it. 114s

He didn't know why, but he just went. 116s

He just went. 120s

As I was studying this text, I came across a sermon 122s

on this text entitled, Philip the Lucky Evangelist. 126s

I thought there is nothing lucky about this. 131s

There's no luck involved. 135s

This meeting between Philip and the Unic 136s

was not a chance. 139s

In counters, we heard last week, Philip had a divine appointment. 141s

God had called him to meet the Ethiopian Unic 147s

on that old road at that specific time. 151s

There was nothing lucky, nothing chance about it. 155s

The Unic had as much of a divine appointment 159s

with Philip as he did with the word of God. 163s

There's no coincidence that the Unic 168s

happened to be reading from Isaiah when he saw Philip. 170s

There was no coincidence that he was reading about, 175s

or from a passage that prophesied the exact Messiah, 178s

when Philip came alongside him. 183s

And there was no coincidence, no luck involved, 186s

that Philip was there to answer questions that the Unic had. 190s

What if Philip hadn't gone when he was called? 195s

What if Philip procrastinated in heading to that old road? 199s

If he had stayed in Samaria just one more day, 205s

just to see a little more transformation happening there, 209s

the Unic would have been gone. 213s

He would have been on his way. 215s

He would have still had his questions unanswered. 216s

And he would not have gone on to his home 220s

to share the good news. 223s

The divine appointment would have been completely missed. 225s

Last week, Pastor Eibel said that you would have 230s

divine appointments over this past week. 233s

Did you? 237s

Did you have those appointments? 238s

Did you have those opportunities 240s

where you were at that crossroad of perplexity 242s

and opportunity to share the gospel? 245s

When Philip arrived at his divine appointment, 249s

he was invited to come and sit with the Ethiopian, 251s

answering questions and proclaiming Jesus Christ 255s

as the promised Messiah. 258s

And we pick up here, verse 35, 261s

then Philip began to speak and starting with this scripture. 264s

He proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 267s

As they were going along the road, they came to some water. 271s

And the Unic said, look, here is water. 274s

What is to prevent me from being baptized? 277s

He commanded the chariot to stop and both of them, 281s

Philip and the Unic went down into the water 284s

and Philip baptized him. 286s

As Philip answered the Unic's questions 289s

and made the proclamation of Jesus Christ, 291s

that is the proclamation that Jesus Christ 294s

was crucified for sin, that he died upon the cross, 297s

was raised from the tomb, ascended to the Father 300s

and would come again. 304s

As he told that gospel of Jesus, 305s

they came to some water. 310s

Now that does not sound like a coincidence, doesn't. 313s

Another divine appointment, there are a lot 317s

of divine appointments happening in this text. 320s

So they come to the water and what does the Unic do? 324s

He stops everything. 328s

He stops everything and he says, here's water. 330s

Is there anything preventing me from being baptized? 333s

Is there any reason why I should not be baptized right here 336s

right now? 341s

Now, if I were to pose that question to you, 343s

is there any reason this Unic should not be baptized? 346s

You would respond with a resounding no. 349s

Of course, he should be baptized. 352s

Get that man in the water immediately. 354s

But if I pose the question elsewhere, 358s

we might get a little bit of a different response. 361s

A few years back, I knew a little girl. 366s

She was six, seven, eight during the time 370s

that I knew her best. 372s

And she loved Jesus. 375s

She loved Jesus. 378s

She could be very naughty because, as you know, 379s

kids can tend to be naughty. 381s

They have their moments, but she loved the Lord. 384s

And she wanted to be baptized so badly 387s

and she talked to her parents. 390s

And she said, I want to be baptized 392s

and her dad said, no, you're not ready. 393s

And so then they went and talked to the youth pastor 397s

and she said, I want to be baptized 399s

and the youth pastor said, no, you're not ready. 401s

Every single week, at least once a week, 406s

she would tell her parents, I want to be baptized. 409s

I love Jesus, I want to be baptized. 412s

And every single week, at least once a week, 414s

she was denied. 417s

Why? 420s

What prevented her from being baptized? 421s

Why did her parents and her pastor insist 424s

on delaying her baptism? 427s

Was there a good reason to procrastinate? 432s

Her being baptized? 435s

When is the right time to baptize? 438s

In our church, we've witnessed people of all ages. 442s

Go through the waters, pass through the waters 446s

of baptism. 448s

When Christ instituted baptism, he did not give age restrictions 449s

or guidelines. 455s

He said, in Matthew 28, go therefore 456s

and make disciples of all nations, 459s

baptizing them in the name of the Father, 463s

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 466s

and teaching them to obey everything 468s

that I have commanded you and remember, 470s

I am with you always to the end of the age. 474s

In the book of Acts, we see it where whole households 478s

are baptized. 481s

And it says, whole households, it doesn't say the mom and dad, 483s

the grandparents, those who finally were at an age 487s

where they could accept a baptism. 490s

It was everyone in the household, children, infants, 492s

servants, everyone, whole households in Acts 2, 497s

when Peter is delivering a sermon after pentacost 501s

and he cuts to the heart of those who are hearing the crowd. 504s

They say, what should we do? 510s

What should we do? 511s

And he responds with repent and be baptized. 511s

Repent and be baptized. 518s

When the unit asked Philip, is there anything preventing him 521s

from being baptized? 527s

Philip did not delay. 528s

He got into the water with the unit 531s

and he baptized them right then, right there, 532s

at that very moment. 536s

Philip's divine appointment was first to proclaim 540s

the gospel of Jesus Christ, 544s

and then to baptize the Ethiopian who had heard that good word. 547s

There was no need to delay or procrastinate 554s

because the time was that very moment. 557s

So when is the time to baptize? 562s

If you have not yet crossed through the waters of baptism, 567s

then now, now is the time for you to be baptized. 570s

If your children have not been baptized, 575s

then now, now is the time to baptize them. 579s

We continue in our text, Philip and the unit 585s

went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 587s

When they came up out of the water, 590s

the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, 592s

the unit saw him no more and went on his way, 595s

rejoicing. 600s

How beautiful, how beautiful is that? 602s

This immediate opportunity to preach Jesus 605s

and immediate opportunity to baptize a new believer 607s

and immediately, Philip is moved on, 611s

taken to his next divine appointment. 615s

And even though his preacher is whisked away, 619s

what does the unit do? 622s

The Ethiopian unit went on his way, rejoicing. 623s

He was rejoicing. 628s

He didn't dwell on the confusion of Philip, 629s

all of a sudden not there. 632s

And that had to be really confusing. 634s

One second, Philip is there pouring water on his head 636s

and all of a sudden he's gone. 640s

That's very confusing, little mind blowing. 642s

And yet he didn't dwell on that. 646s

He rejoiced. 647s

He rejoiced because he had been washed 649s

in the cleansing waters of baptism. 651s

He was rejoicing because he was a forgiven child of God. 654s

He was rejoicing because he was a new creation. 659s

As we all are, as it's promised in second Corinthians, 663s

if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. 667s

Everything old has passed away. 671s

See everything has become new. 673s

Instead of mourning the loss of his new friend, 677s

he rejoiced at the newfound relationship 681s

he had with God. 685s

He rejoiced because as a redeemed child of the Father, 688s

it is always time to rejoice. 692s

Always time to rejoice. 696s

And that doesn't apply to the unit alone. 698s

In Philippians, it says, rejoice in the Lord, 703s

always, again, I will say, rejoice. 706s

Let your gentleness be made known to everyone. 710s

The Lord is near. 713s

Do not worry about anything, but in everything, 714s

by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 717s

let your requests be made known to God. 721s

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 723s

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 728s

In first, that salonians, it says, rejoice, always. 732s

Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances. 736s

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, for you. 740s

First Peter, although you have not seen him, you love him. 746s

And even though you do not see him now, 752s

you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable 755s

and glorious joy. 759s

You are called to rejoice. 763s

And not one of those texts that I just read 767s

has a stipulation of when it is appropriate 770s

to not rejoice, to not give thanks. 773s

Or when we can procrastinate our rejoicing, 778s

put it off for a little while. 782s

In fact, it's quite the opposite, isn't it? 784s

Rejoice in the Lord always, rejoice, always giving thanks 788s

in all circumstances, rejoice with an indescribable joy. 794s

Sometimes we think we have reasons why we shouldn't rejoice. 801s

You just lost your job. 806s

You're addicted to pornography. 808s

Your mom just got a diagnosis of dementia. 810s

And not any of those circumstances are a reason to celebrate. 815s

Those circumstances do not bring joy. 821s

And yet we're called to rejoice always in all circumstances. 825s

How is this possible? 831s

Well, let's look back at what that scripture just told us. 834s

It said in everything by prayer and supplication 837s

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 839s

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 843s

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 849s

When you're heart and your mind is guarded by Christ Jesus, 856s

that is reason to rejoice. 862s

That is reason to give thanks and praise. 866s

And we're promised that we're promised we're assured that all are guarded. 871s

You are guarded. 878s

Your mind, your heart is guarded. 880s

And so you can rejoice. 883s

So when is the time to rejoice? 885s

Now, now is the time to rejoice. 889s

The spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. 894s

The unix saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing, 897s

looking at verse 40, but Philip found himself at a zootus. 902s

And as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news 907s

to all the towns until he came to Cessaria. 910s

With his baptism done, so was Philip's mission with the unix. 914s

But did that mean that Philip's mission was done? 918s

No, of course not. 923s

Of course not. 925s

He found himself in a new town, and he ventured on to another new area. 925s

And the entire time that he traveled, what did he do? 931s

He proclaimed the good news of Jesus, Christ, and his evangelism helped 935s

to open up activity along the entire coast. 941s

Philip had a divine appointment with the unix. 947s

But his work was hardly finished. 950s

It remained the right time for him to preach no matter where he went, 954s

or who he met. 960s

Guess what? 963s

The same applies for you. 964s

And for me, the time is now. 966s

Can you imagine if after one of his wonderful sermons, 970s

Pastor Eibel said, well, I think people liked that one. 975s

They seem to really hear me this time. 980s

So I think I'm done. 983s

Not going to show up next week. 985s

My work is finished. 987s

No, of course not. 989s

It's silly to think about, because we all know 990s

that Pastor Eibel has a very strong work ethic. 992s

He doesn't procrastinate. 995s

But we also know that his call to preach is not finished with one sermon. 997s

His call to preach, the good news, is not finished 1002s

when we have one convert. 1005s

His call to preach never ends. 1009s

Now your ministry or your vocation may not be in full-time ministry. 1014s

And that's okay. 1018s

Not everyone is called to preach full-time as a vocation. 1019s

But we are all called to preach and proclaim the good news. 1024s

We are all proclaimers of the word. 1030s

Always. 1033s

So think again. 1035s

Last week sermon, it prepared you. 1035s

It prepared you to look for the divine appointments 1039s

throughout the week that would come into your life. 1043s

Did you have them? 1047s

Did you have them? 1050s

Did you act on them? 1050s

Did you procrastinate? 1053s

I'll talk to them another time. 1055s

I'll share later. 1057s

Did you think your job was done? 1061s

If you did share the good news, were you able to be done? 1063s

Or did you find that there was another divine appointment waiting 1072s

around the corner? 1077s

Philip didn't stop with his win with the unique because the win really wasn't his. 1080s

It was God's win to claim his own. 1087s

It was the Unix win to be counted among the saints. 1090s

How many more did God claim his own through Phillips Proclamation as he continued on his way 1094s

proclaiming the good news? 1101s

How many people were claimed as God's own through that unit as he went back to Ethiopia, 1103s

sharing his experience, sharing what he had learned about Jesus Christ? 1111s

The good news, the proclamation of the good news was never finished. 1118s

Is never finished? 1125s

The only time to stop proclaiming the good news is when we are called home 1127s

or when Jesus returns. 1132s

He's not back right now. 1136s

So our job is not finished. 1139s

The proclamation is not done. 1141s

So when is the time to share the gospel? 1143s

Now, now is the time to preach and proclaim the good news of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. 1149s

Now is the time. 1158s

Such a simple, simple story, Philip and the Unix. 1161s

There are complexities to it. 1166s

The complexity of divine appointment, the complexity of Phillips obedience 1168s

to this call that he didn't understand yet didn't question complexity to that 1173s

proclamation of making sense of Isaiah for the Unix, answering his questions, showing how this is 1179s

Jesus Christ, the Messiah that is foretold. 1187s

But amidst all that complexity, there's a simplicity. 1190s

A simple story, Philip was called. 1196s

He responded immediately. 1199s

He proclaimed the good news of salvation. 1201s

The Ethiopian was baptized without hesitation. 1204s

The Ethiopian continued down his path rejoicing. 1208s

Philip went down his new path continuing to proclaim Jesus. 1212s

There is no hesitation. 1218s

No procrastination in any of this. 1220s

This is a scriptural precedent for not procrastinating. 1225s

But it's not the only one. 1229s

At an exact time in history, Jesus was born and entered into this world. 1233s

At an exact time, he began his ministry. 1238s

There was an exact time when he traveled throughout Galilee 1244s

and Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem teaching and healing and casting out demons. 1248s

And then at an exact time he was betrayed. 1255s

He was convicted. He was executed upon the cross. 1259s

And died. 1264s

And buried was buried. 1266s

And then at an exact time, he was raised again to new life, 1268s

conquering your sin, conquering my sin. 1275s

Jesus did not hesitate. 1280s

He did not procrastinate. 1283s

He charged forward, knowing fully well what light ahead of him. 1287s

But he did it. When he was supposed to, he had a divine appointment for us. 1293s

He had a divine appointment. 1302s

So the time is now. 1307s

The time is now. It is time to proclaim this news of Jesus Christ. 1309s

It is time now to be baptized or to baptize our children. 1316s

Our loved ones. 1324s

Baptize any who have heard this word. 1325s

The time is now. The time to rejoice. 1328s

The time to rejoice in the Lord as the new creations that we are. 1331s

The time is now. No matter if it is tomorrow or the next day or the next day. 1337s

The time is always the right time because it is the time 1346s

that we have been appointed for. 1350s

Divinely to share the good news, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with 1353s

whomever God has appointed it proper and right for us to come in contact with. 1358s

So now is the time. Now is the time that we continue on our paths never ceasing 1364s

to proclaim Jesus Christ as our risen Savior and Vord. 1371s