What prevents you?

Psalm 22:25–31 / Acts 8:26–40

Why no v37?

Not found in a Bible text until the 6th century

Desiderius Erasmus included in his Greek NT in 1516, thinking it was omitted from the texts he had because it was included in some of the notes in the margins

So, v37 was not in the original inspired text that Luke wrote, but the content of v37 was known, and indicated by clues in the text itself.

Who is prevented from entering the assembly of The Lord?

Deuteronomy 23

Males with genital birth defects or mutilation

Males with genital mutilation

No one born to unwed parents.

No one of mixed heritage with enemies of Israel

No Gentiles with a few exceptions (Edomites & Egyptians)

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Revelation 21:7–8 “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

Acts 8:36 “And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?””

Being baptized ~ Being welcomed into the the Assembly ~ A recognition and confirmation citizenship and inheritance of the Kingdom of God.

What prevents me? - Everything about you.

To this point, the question was about who this Ethiopian was, what he was, and what he had done, and in every respect he was prevented. Not allowed. Forbidden.

The question is also now who are you?

Whether in regards to being saved, or about being baptized, or even about actively participating in the local church ministry.

WHO and what are you? What have you done?

The Ethiopian was seeking

He went to Jerusalem to worship

He was reading scripture

He was asking Philip questions

Acts 26:14 “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”

How then is anyone allowed?

Isaiah 56:1–8 “1 Thus says the Lord: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, …”

Isaiah ministered ~ 700 years before this.

So either Moses and Isaiah didn’t serve the same god, or God is inconsistent, or He changed his mind, but 700 years later the Ethiopian is still prevented in Jerusalem, so what if anything has changed?

Jesus is the Difference!!

Isaiah 53:1 “1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Isaiah 53:7–8 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”

Acts 8:34 “And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

Not because of who I am, But because of what You've done. Not because of what I've done, But because of who You are.

Acts 8:35 “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”

When Philip was convinced then that the man truly believed; that he was born again he demanded the chariot stop so that he could baptize the man

It is neither the case then, that God no longer cares about sin and its effects on this world.

Quite the opposite; Out of love for His creation, He has sent the way of escape; the way of acceptance instead of prevention in Jesus; by believing the gospel.

John 15:5–6 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Propitiation - an act to regain favor; to appease the wrath of God

He (Jesus) was the perfect one; no flaws or deformities; no law breaking; nothing to prevent Him. He is accepted, and all who are His are accepted in Him.

Jesus is the propitiation for our sins

Jesus is the propitiation for our flaws

Jesus is the propitiation for our failures

God is rescuing men and women and boys and girls through faith, and will one day restore creation itself. All because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus makes it possible.

Because the Ethiopian believed the gospel, he was in Christ. Now NOTHING prevented him from baptism, from open worship, from serving The Lord.

Now the question to you is, what is preventing you?

There is nothing in your person or your past that Christ Jesus has not made propitiation for.

There is no flaw or failure that prevents you.