There Is Only One / There Was An Ethiopian

Articles

Kent Heaton / Kevin Heaton
08/25/24 - The Zephyrhills Beacon

(by Kent Heaton)

In the antique world, owning the only copy of an ancient manuscript or possessing the only artifact from the ancient world suggests great value. If there is only one copy of a piece of music from Beethoven, scholars would recognize its great worth. There is only one original Constitution of the United States signed by the early fathers. The value of one is evident. There is only one God. There is only one Savior. There is only one book containing the word of God. There is only one church. There is only one way to salvation. There is only one eternal rest.

The Bible is the only place the principle of one is denied by those who accept it in every other part of life. From the garden of Eden God told man there was only one way of truth. “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17). Man chose to ignore that law and was expelled from the garden. There was one truth and because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were punished.

When Moses brought the Law to the people of God in Exodus 20 the first commandment was “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). The prophet Isaiah declared the word of the Lord: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). There is no other God but Jehovah God. There is no Allah, no Buddha, no other God but the one true God.

There is only one Savior. Jesus plainly taught the oneness of His relationship with the Father in John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus is the only way to the Father; the only truth that comes from the Father; and the only life man can have is through Jesus Christ. There is only one way man can find the Father and that is in Christ. That leaves out Moses, Elijah, the Pope, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, George Bush and Kent Heaton.

The Bible is the only book given to man that reveals the mind of God. Paul said, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). There is no other revelation from God (2 Peter 1:13-21). Paul warned that angels were not permitted to change the word of God (Galatians 1:8-9). This leaves out the Koran, the Book of Mormon or disciplines written by man as inspired revelations from God.

There is only one church. Ephesians 4:4 says there is “one body” and Ephesians 1:22-23 says the body is the church. There is only one New Testament church. Jesus said He would build “My church” and He died for only one church (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28). There is only one church that is nearly 2,000 years old and the churches of men cannot make that claim.

There is only one way to salvation. The book of Acts is filled with stories of those who obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that delivered them from sin. Upon hearing the word of God they believed it and confessed Christ as their Savior; repenting of their sins and having their sins washed away in the waters of baptism became children of God (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10; Luke 13:3; Romans 6:3-6). There is only one place of eternal rest – Heaven (Revelation 21-22).

There Was An Ethiopian

(by Kevin Heaton)

When we open our Bibles to the eighth chapter of the book of Acts, we find in verses 26-27 that "an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' This is a desert place. And he rose and went."

When Philip arrived in that place, this is what he found: "an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah" (Acts 8:27-28). The angel led Philip to a man who was obviously religious and mostly acquainted with the word of God. The Holy Spirit then told Philip "Go over and join this chariot" (Acts 8:29).

So we have an Ethiopian man traveling down the road, going about his way, reading from the Scriptures and Philip, a total stranger to the Ethiopian I'm sure, is about to stop his chariot and interrupt his reading. "Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'" (Acts 8:30). Now the Ethiopian could have been offended by Philip's question, after all the eunuch was a high-standing individual, intelligent, and important. He certainly could have brushed Philip off with a "of course I understand it!" But, he didn't. This is what he said: "'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: 'Like a sheep He was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation justice was denied Him. Who can describe His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth.' And the eunuch said to Philip, 'About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?'" (Acts 8:31-34). The Ethiopian was honest and willing to ask for help in his studies. He could have just guessed what his own opinion was and stuck with that, but he was unwilling to do so. He didn't know who it was talking about. He was willing to study and inquire.

So what did Philip do? "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus" (Acts 8:35). We do not know exactly what Philip said, but seeing that it was the good news of Jesus Christ then we can be sure that Philip taught him that the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 53 is Jesus. He taught him about how Jesus came to this earth, born of a virgin. He told him about Jesus' teachings, power, and love. He taught him about how Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and how God the Father raised Him from the dead. Philip obviously taught the eunuch about having faith in Jesus and being baptized in water for the forgiveness of sins based on what happened next:

"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?' And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he replied, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:36-39).

The Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing! Why? Because he had just been taught the wonderful news of God's grace in Jesus Christ. He believed the good news of Jesus. And he obeyed the good news of Jesus by believing on Him and being baptized into Christ. He certainly had much to rejoice about, as do all who hear, believe, and obey the good news of Jesus Christ.

Are you rejoicing because you have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ? If so, give thanks to God for His wonderful love and mercy! If not, I ask this, what hinders you from believing and being baptized like the Ethiopian was? You too can obey the gospel and go your way rejoicing. If you believe and have faith in Jesus, then heed the words spoken to Paul, "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16).