Matters of Faith: If We Would Only Believe

By Rev. J. Loren Russell, BA, MDiv

Acts 8: 36-38 NKJV

Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here 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.

To believe is to have a firm confidence of something. When we believe, we are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt and certain that what we believe is true. When belief is based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the result is everlasting life. Aaron Rogers tells a story of two men who mailed envelopes at the same time at the same post office (What Every Christian Ought to Know Day by Day). One letter was beautifully typed, elegant in language, and written on expensive paper. It even had a fragrance. The other was on cheap paper, hand-written with smudges and misspelled words. The elegant letter was not delivered, but the unpolished one was. It had a stamp, the other did not.

People are a lot like those two envelops. Looking good, sounding good, even smelling good, does not make you good! No matter how elegant or polished someone is, if they do not believe the Gospel story, they are like an envelope without a stamp. In order to get into the presence of the Lord, you must be stamped with the label, “Believer!”

Philip was a believer. He believed that whatever and wherever the Lord assigned him, the Lord would empower him and provide a way to accomplish his assignment. Once Philip explained to the Eunuch the prophetic word of the Messiah that he was reading from the book of Isaiah, the Eunuch became a believer. As soon as he saw a body of water, he asked “What hinders me from being baptized?”

The Lord sends the right message and the right messenger at the right moment for each one of us. If we would only believe.

Be Blessed!

Rev. J. Loren Russell is an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist hurches in the Bronx, President/CEO of J. Loren R Consulting, LLC, providing Church Financial & Strategic Consulting, and hosts “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” on Facebook LIVE, Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM. Be sure to Friend “Matters of Faith” on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Email us at mattersoffaith.mof@gmail.com. Order your copy of Matters of Faith: The Book at Book Blues.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email