Acts | Chapter 8

Acts Vs. 8:1-4 

“Shattered and scattered”

Intro

Vs. 1 Now the Church was devastated at the loss of Stephen. They had forgotten the words of Jesus that they were to be His witnesses in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Preferring to stay in Jerusalem. So for three years they stayed in Jerusalem, until this event. 

            So God allows Saul to vote for the death of Stephen and all looks lost as this just inspires Saul all the more. But you know what, all it did was blow air onto a burning fire scattering the embers everywhere. 

Vs. 2 Furthermore even non-Christians became more open to the truth as they openly defied the religious leaders by openly weeping for a condemned man. You see, the life of Christ as seen in Stephen’s death was at work.

Vs. 3 Saul set out to destroy the Church and no one was safe including women. We are told in Acts 26:11 that he, “punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, persecuted them even to foreign cities.” Did you get that? He threatened some of them and forced them to renounce Jesus. Hey, you think God can’t forgive what you have done? You think that you have committed the unpardonable sin? Well, evidently Paul had not as God forgave Him and changed his life. So? Well that means if you will allow Jesus He will change your life as well!

Vs. 4 Look at this! There is a distribution problem in the Church, a bottle neck if you will. To many believers in one spot and a need to reach the world. So what is God going to do? Well He allows persecution to drive the believers back to where they came and everywhere they go they tell folks about Jesus. 

When we started looking for a spot to build we wanted to go where no one else was. Everybody was moving closer to where the college was going to be built. That’s Ok but I wanted to go where there was not a Church down the street. But we find that when the Lord is moving us, no matter how He does so, He will already have been there before us preparing the soil, watering the crop, so that He can bring in an increase. So maybe your job is ending and you have to get a new job, hey sounds like God is at work. The place where we live is just not big enough. You get the picture? I love the fact that every day in Christ is a brand new day with great opportunities for our growth in Him and His growth in the world. So how about we be ready to LIVE for Jesus? Has your life been shattered lately? You’ve been scattered around a lot? Well wherever you go shattered and scattered do so telling everyone about Jesus!  

Acts Ch. 8:5

 “Witnesses in Judea and Samaria”

Vs. 5-8 Great joy in the city

Vs. 9-13 A weed in the garden

Vs. 14-25 How much for the Holy Spirit?

Intro.

Now you will remember that we left off with the death of Stephen. I’ve thought about that phrase a lot over the last week and perhaps we have it all wrong? You see I kind of think what the last four verses of chapter seven reveal is not how Stephen died but rather the way in which he entered life. As a matter of fact the old Stephen had died the moment he received Jesus.

Then in the first four verses of chapter eight we are introduced to a man who will be used by God powerfully, Saul of Tarsus. The immediate effect of the persecution of the Hellenists, “Greek cultured Jews”, was V 4; “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” The long-term effect of this is, the chief man that is doing the persecution is going to become one with those that he had been persecuting and advance the gospel to the ends of the earth. Now let me get this straight; “The Sanhedrin (highest court of the day) silences the voice of Stephen that was upsetting a city, but in so doing they launched a missionary effort that would eventually upset the world!” One author put it this way; “Persecution is the wind that carries the embers of the gospel to the world!”

Do you get the picture that God is so far out in front of Satan and his bunch? The next time you’re having a rotten day remember that won’t you. Perhaps God is doing a work that you don’t see? In the little book of Habakkuk God says something to the prophet who had been shown the pending doom by the Babylonians to Judah because of the pride of her heart. Right there in the 5th verse of chapter 1, before God reveals to him the destruction and captivity of the nation. God says to Habakkuk, “Look among the nations and watch; Be utterly astounded! For I will work in your days what you would not believe, though it were told to you.” Is that not great? I mean the events of our lives blow us out and yet God is working a work that even if He told you personally you would not believe it.

Vs. 5-8 Great joy in the city

Vs. 5 The word “then” is one of those timing words. It tells us that at the same time the Hellenistic believers were being scattered, preaching the word as they went; God was sending Philip to Samaria, (one of the seven men selected along with Stephen as a servant back in chapter six). Why Samaria? Why Philip?

I just came back from a pastor’s conference where Calvary pastors from all over the world were gathered. One of the most interesting things for me is to listen to the stories of why and how God got them to the cities they now serve in. I’ve got to tell you, watching God work in history is a hobby of mine. It fascinates me. So here are a few details that may help to answer the above two questions.

• Samaria was the result of the divided kingdom sometime after the reign of Solomon. In fact we are told in 1 Kings 16:24 that it was the first capital of the Northern Kingdom which was made up of all the ten tribes except for Judah and Benjamin. Simply put Samaria existed as a result of a split! So what does God always like to do with those that are separated? Does He not leave the 99 and go after the one?

• Samaria was spiritually lost and culturally lost. They had endured over 150 years of idolatry so God gave them over to an idolatrous nation, “Assyria”. Now what’s interesting is the practice of the Assyrians when they conquered a nation. You see they would deport all the wealthy and influential people back to Assyria leaving only the lower class remnant. Then they would take a bunch of folks from other countries in which they had conquered and move them in. So? Well effectively this would destroy the culture as they would then inter-marry with the other nations brought in. And indeed the Samaritans were a bunch of half breeds culturally and religiously.

• Furthermore the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. When the Jews came back to repopulate the land after the Babylonian captivity and under the direction of Ezra and Nehemiah started to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple they refused to let the Samaritans help them. So they built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. 

• Now God had begun to bridge this gap by sending his Son to them.

• Back in John 4:4 as Jesus departed from Judea on his way to Galilee he told His disciples that, “He needed to go through Samaria.” Wow, how that must have tripped these boys out. “Samaria, Samaria, have you been in the sun too long!” You see the Jews would rather go the opposite direction rather than go through Samaria.

• Jesus had already started verbally to change their hearts concerning the Samaritans. In Luke 10 Jesus instead of telling racial jokes about the Samaritans, (“You heard the one about the Samaritan that went into a bar”), told a story making the Samaritan the good guy, (Good Samaritan).

• Then in Luke 17 as Jesus passed again through Samaria He came to a village where there were 10 lepers, (you remember the story?) All of them were cleansed but only the Samaritan fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.

• Then of course there is the familiar story in John 4 that we have already alluded to as Jesus went to Samaria and met up with the Samaritan woman at the well.

• Now the obvious change of heart that Jesus had towards the Samaritans is no more obvious then when in John 8:48 the religious leaders accuse Him of being a Samaritan.

So where am I going with this? Well it’s easy, God wants to restore that which is split, lost, and hated. And here is where it gets radical, he wants to use those who have been the ones that they are split, lost and hated from.

Folks, six years have gone by since Jesus did His work in Samaria. So what has been going on down there? Well we know that in John 4 the woman at the well “left her waterpot, went back into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.” Furthermore we are told that, “many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified.” In fact they urged Him to stay with them and He stayed there two days longer and many more believed because of His own word. Yeh? Well no doubt there began to be a following there in Samaria.

So the problem was not the Samaritans it was those that He was going to get to do the job, His disciples. Remember they are the ones that upon returning with some food found Jesus talking to the woman and “marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” Why did they not say anything? Because they knew that His heart was to reach the Samaritans but that was not their heart so He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

You see the problem is not in changing the hearts of sinners, no it’s in changing the hearts of His servants! This is no more better illustrated then in the 9th chapter of Luke where Jesus, sent messengers before Him into a village of the Samaritans, but they would not receive Him. And when James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But Jesus rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” It took six years for them to be ready and what’s funny is that God is going to send John down with the fire of the Holy Spirit and He’s going to consume them in His love.

 So God sends a saved Hellenistic Jew named Philip who understood what it meant to be hated, simply because you are from a different culture. And Philip the servant became Philip the evangelist. How? I submit to you that God had allowed circumstances to come into his life that transformed him, you see he could relate! Perhaps you have been wondering why that guy or gal has not been responding to the gospel and you have been praying that God might change their heart, may I suggest that you change your prayer to include God changing your heart? Prayer is not about changing God’s heart or someone else’s heart, it is about changing my heart!

Vs. 6-8 Now I love this section because Luke outlines three marks of the work of effective ministry in Philip there in Samaria.

Vs. 6 Truth that draws: It says, “the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip.” The Word of God spoken by Philip literally “held their mind” not tickled their ears. There was substance to what he was saying that caused them to sit up and pay attention. 

What Philip preached we are told here was threefold:

Vs. 5 “Christ to them”: He heralded Jesus as the long awaited messiah, something that many of them had already come to believe six years earlier. 

Vs. 6-7 Power that transforms: Notice that the word held their ears and minds but truth as seen in power changed their hearts. Now how can we sum up all of what God was doing in Philip with the miracles in which he did? Well lets see in verse 7: Unclean spirits came out, those that were paralyzed and lame were healed. So when the unclean spirits came out they were delivered. And when the paralyzed and lame were healed they were set free. So as Philip proclaimed the truth about Jesus those folks listening to him saw the effects of the truth that delivers and sets free those that respond to it. Those miracles were signs that the Word of God could do what Philip proclaimed it could. You see that? If God can deliver and set free in the physical world then He can do so in the spiritual world as well. So as Jesus said in John 8:36, “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”     

Vs. 8 Joy in spite of circumstances: This then was the outcome of those that the word healed their minds and truth transformed their hearts, “great joy”! Did these folks stop being Samaritans? No, they were still going to have to deal with the same old stuff they always did so the joy was in spite of circumstances. The Gospel means, “Good news” so when you hear good news what is a natural response? Joy! Hey, the hallmark of the work of God is always joy. It is the first one of the eight characteristics that describe the fruit, love. 

Vs. 9-13 A weed in the garden

Vs. 9-11 Look at the little word “but” here. Now Luke is going to tell the story of Simon “but” he is contrasting him against the true believers he just spoke about. And what a scary story this is. Many times people ask about who will be in heaven and what many want to know is how close do you have to get to the mark to make it in. One of my favorite T.V. shows when I was growing up was “Get Smart”. 

Maxwell Smart always said kind of the same things and one of his favorite sayings when being shot at was, “You missed me be this much!” Simon will forever go down in the Bible as a guy that missed heaven by 18 inches. Eighteen inches? Yeh, that’s about the distance from your head to your heart. I think there are going to be a lot of people that are going to miss heaven by only eighteen inches!  

         Now Luke gives us a sketch of Simon right here in these verses:

Vs. 9a EXALTED HIMSELF: He was a guy that was involved in the occult for what he could get out of it. Now we know this because the word “sorcery” is not the word normally used which is a word which means drug abuse. Instead it is the word which means magic. Simon’s sorcery was a mixture of sleight of hand with superstition. He wanted to have people think he was great, that was his aim and it worked for a long time.   

 Vs. 9b-10 SELF DECEIVED: He was a guy that tricked himself. Simply put, people thought he was someone special by his use of sleight of hand and other things and even though he knew it was a trick he started believing it himself. Pride is mentioned some 116 times in the Bible and it’s never associated with something good. Amazing how today we have transformed the word to be a positive virtue! 

Vs. 11 WIDE FOLLOWING THROUGH FAKE POWER: The length of time that he had swayed them only added to his self-delusion. For a long time they all from the least to the greatest believed him to be someone that was god-like. Face the facts here, Simon was the biggest name in Samaria and it was all because of what people saw him do. So? Well just because some guy has sold some books, has a crusade ministry and is very popular does not make him of God.

Vs. 12a “Things concerning the kingdom of God”: But now Philip told them of God’s sovereign rule and how people will enter heaven.

Vs. 12b “And the name of Jesus”: Lastly he proclaimed to them that Jesus alone provides entrance into heaven through His death and resurrection. 

Vs. 13 WAS A FRAUD: Then he became part of the Church. Now notice that his conversion follows all of the right things to the point that Philip even baptizes him. There are three marks listed here that we would normally associate only with true believers:

Vs. 13a “Simon himself also believed”: Simon made a profession of faith in Jesus. Now I’m not sure but no doubt he saw his audience and thus his popularity was slipping away to Jesus who Philip was proclaiming. How radical was this? I mean Simon had been preaching Simon for years and now Philip comes, has better tricks and does not proclaim himself but Jesus instead.

Vs. 13a “Was baptized”: Simon not only made a profession of faith he also showed an outward sign of obedience in being publicly identified with the death of Jesus.

Vs. 13b “He continued with Philip”: Simon faithfully attended Church. I mean he was there whenever Philip was there. There was a consistency seen in his life.  

Folks this could fit a lot of people could it not? Right on the heels of true conversion comes Satan planting a weed in the garden. And may I just say that he was in a very hard spot as he looked just like the rest of the young plants. I’m told that darnel (a poison weed), and wheat look almost the same in their early stages and it’s not until the plant becomes mature that you can tell that darnel has no fruit or grain.  

Vs. 14-25 How much for the Holy Spirit?

Vs. 14-17 Now is God not good or what? Do you get the picture? The work in Samaria had grown so big that the Church there in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to check it out. They were still in Jerusalem because the persecution was mainly against the Hellenistic believers. The question is why did God save these Samaritans but not empower them, (verse 16)? Well I can think of a very good reason, had they received the empowerment at the same time of conversion because of the hatred of the two groups there would have been two churches instead of one. So God in His wisdom wants Peter and Mr. “Fire from heaven” himself to go down to welcome the new believers. In fact God had them lay hands on those dirty old Samaritans! Wow, is that cool or what? These Samaritans were in every way born again; they had not yet received the Holy Spirit, which was for service. There needs to be an acceptance of each other so God made sure that right there in the beginning He brought the leaders of the Church to them.   

Vs. 18-25 Now lets get back to Simon. In verse 13b we are told that he was hanging around Philip because he was amazed at the miracles and signs that were being done. In other words he was trying to pick up on the trick. Furthermore when he saw the empowerment of the Holy Spirit into the lives of his fellow Samaritans he wanted to buy a franchise. You see Simon thought of the Holy Spirit as a power he could use to rule over people instead of a Person who would rule over his life in power!

         So Peter quite literally says, “To hell with you and your money!” Man is that ever tough, where was Peter’s loving people where they are at stuff? Well it’s right in the next statement he says to Simon, “You are not right with God your profession does not match your heart so repent from your damning condition that you may be truly a believer!” (Verses 21-22). Peter goes on to say that  Simon’s problem was pride.

Vs. 24 The sad thing is that even with this golden opportunity Simon does not become a believer. Notice that he is only concerned about the consequences of his sin not turning from it. Neither will he pray himself instead he asks Peter to do so. Church history tells us that he never did repent and went on to be a bitter enemy of the true Church, forming what was later called Gnosticism. There is one thing that his name will always be remembered for though “Simony”.  The definition of which is buying position or power within the Church. Ever since this time Simon’s name has been synonymous with “the attempt to turn the spiritual into the commercial trying to traffic in the things of God.” There are still those today that think they can buy God’s favor with their good works or deeds. Hey, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is free. What is sad is that Simon could have been delivered and set free and instead of the majesty of Jesus he chose the magic of this world!

Vs. 25 Man I love this as Peter and John head back to Jerusalem they stop along every little village preaching Jesus. Folks may we too allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts!

Acts 8:26-30

“Fruit in the desert”

Vs. 26-29 The Spirits preparation

Intro.

People have made a living out of understanding cultural trends. The idea is that if you can see how a people group is wired you can use that information to sell them products that they otherwise would not be interested in. Everything from deodorant to cars is marketed based upon understanding trends. The Church has wholeheartedly bought into the same concept, polls are taken, and studies are done, all with the aim of reaching the target audience. Now that’s all interesting stuff but is it the way that God works? It seems to me that if you want to be effective in worldly techniques then you will no doubt attract the world, but if you employ God’s method you will reach the world! Attracting the world and reaching the world are two very different things.

         In Genesis 5:32 we are introduced to Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Then after the flood destroyed the earth’s population we are told in 9:19 that from these three sons the whole earth was populated. So the entire earth’s population is descended from these three guys, in fact Genesis 10 even tells us some of their later family ancestors. So if you don’t like your nose or something, blame it on old Japheth, Ham or Shem.

• From Japheth came the gentile nationalities of most of Europe and India.

• From Ham came those nationalities that are from the Arab countries and Africa.

• Lastly from Shem came many of the Arab countries and of course the Jewish people.

So what is your point pastor? Well namely this, Jesus had spoken about His desire for them to go and make disciples of all the nations, and to be witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Yeah? Well in chapters 8-10 of Acts we see these three family origins being brought to faith in Christ.

• The Ethiopian is a descendant of Ham.

•  Saul (Paul) in chapter 9 is a descendant of Shem.

• Cornelius, the Roman centurion, is a descendant of Japheth.

So in these next three chapters we are starting to see what one day all of us will hear in the song of the redeemed of Rev. 5:9, “You…have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Furthermore we shall not see any polls taken or any marketing techniques but what you will see is the same three elements employed in reaching each and every culture.

• THE SPIRIT OF GOD

• THE WORD OF GOD

• THE SERVANT OF GOD

 

Vs. 26-29 The Spirit’s preparation

         The Spirit’s preparation is twofold:

Vs. 26-27a, 29 The Servant

Vs. 27b-28 The Seeker

Vs. 26-27a Now I suppose if you are new to the Word of God or new to this teaching in Acts then these verses are not ones that will grab your attention. But to me these are verses that just jump off the page at me. No, it’s not the part that says; “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip.” You see, I don’t have a problem with that at all, but what I do struggle with is what the angel of the Lord told him to do, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” You see Philip was hot in Samaria, I mean this guy was part of the greatest work of God since Pentecost. Philip was the MAN; right in the middle of this great work of God and the Lord says, “Go to the desert”.

Now what is obvious is that the Holy Spirit was very specific about His arranging the circumstances. Luke, who is writing to a gentile not familiar to the area, makes sure that he understands how radical this move of the Holy Spirit was by adding the words, “This is desert.” You see there had been an old Gaza that was destroyed in 93 BC and a new Gaza had been built 35 miles south and on the coast. So the road started out from Jerusalem to Egypt and then eventually went all the way to Ethiopia (modern day Sudan). It was a 55 mile walk from Jerusalem to Gaza but there was a fork in the road, so to speak, and the Holy Spirit directed Philip to take the road that went by way of the old destroyed Gaza.

 Do you get it? Well the Holy Spirit tells Philip to take the road less traveled, abandoned if you will, in the desert. Philip had been hot in Samaria now he was going to be hot literally in old Gaza! Hey folks, say what you want but no one is able to proclaim that Philip’s move was because of his clever strategic planning and polling of the best places to do an evangelistic crusade. No, in fact if I had been Philip I would have said, “Lord, no way, man there is nothing and no one down there, so this can’t be from You.” But instead we read, “So he arose and went.” Wow, that’s the Lord preparing the heart of a servant. I love it; It did not matter “where” Philip was going or “what” he was to do, all that mattered was “Who” he was obeying. It was all about serving the Lord.

 In fact let’s trace the Lord’s work in the life of Philip:

• Served, waiting tables in Jerusalem “Practically”

• Served, as an evangelist in Samaria  “Publicly”

• Served, as a teacher to the Ethiopian on a deserted road in Gaza “Personally”

• Served, as a father to his four daughters in Caesarea (Acts 21:9) “Parentally”

You see it did not matter where he was or what he was doing you will always find Philip serving the Lord in obedience. How about you? Does it matter to you what you do for the Lord or where you do it? “Hey, I’m just a mother or a father, I don’t do anything for the Lord!” Or, “I just work a 9 to 5 job. I don’t do anything for the Lord!” Well don’t tell Philip that! Col. 3:23 says, “whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” What an encouragement for you and I to just obey the Lord to go and do what He wants!

Vs. 29 Look at this verse carefully. The Lord is leading Philip the evangelist one step at a time. Do you see that? I mean all the Holy Spirit says to start with is, “Go to the desert!” “That’s it! I mean what do you want me to do?” “Go to the desert!” “Yeh, Yeh, I got that part but what do you want me to do once I get there? Lord, Lord I’m not hearing You! Uh, You seem to be fading!” Oh, saints don’t miss this or you may miss out, God prepares His servant for His work by giving them simple directions that we must follow. 

We will never be prepared if we don’t follow. You see a servant follows His master! I believe that more than any fancy new church growth plan we need to get back to what we see right here, “the Holy Spirit to lead us!” The Holy Spirit will always lead us to where He has already gone before us preparing hearts, and then He will call us up to where He already is. Hey, saints, we ought to all want to go where the Holy Spirit is moving and that may not fit the Church Growth stuff, in fact it may be to some deserted road in Gaza!   

Vs. 27b-28 The Seeker

Vs. 27b Now we come to how the Holy Spirit had prepared the heart of the seeker. 

In this Luke tells us some important practical facts about our guy:

• SEARCHING FOR TRUTH: Ethiopian. The guy was an African from an area we call Sudan today. Thus he was a gentile in an area that worshiped the king as a god.

• INTELLIGENT: Eunuch. The word describes a person devoted to their service and to get there he had to have been extremely intelligent. Along with this being a high government official would have meant that he was not traveling alone he had an entourage.

• AUTHORITY and RESPONSIBILITY: In Charge of the treasury of the Queen. This guy was the secretary of the treasury. Now we know that in that culture he was the highest man in the land. So this guy had great authority and responsibility in his country.

Vs. 28 The above verse gives you a bit of his personal background but Luke also gives you some insight on his spiritual background.

Vs. 27b SEARCHING FOR GOD: He “had come to Jerusalem to worship.” As I said before this guy was searching, noting that he had traveled 200 miles in search of true worship brings out that fact. This guy had commitment and resolve. I mean he really wanted to find out the answers. We are not sure because of background how much he was able to take in the worship in the temple, but no doubt he was severely disappointed. He had traveled 200 miles in search of true worship, possibly risked persecution for his search and all he finds are dead rituals and pride. “Man, I’ve traveled 200 miles for this?” Hey, folks, do you ever stop to think of what people’s impression of our Christianity might be? Do people meet us, or come to Calvary Chapel and still walk away with an empty heart?

Vs. 28 HUNGRY FOR THE WORD: “he was reading Isaiah the prophet.” Think of his disappointment at what he saw at the temple, yet he had purchased the scroll of Isaiah. These were hard to come by and very expensive, but he had gone through the difficulty and expenses to get it. What’s even more revealing is that he has already started poring over it searching for the truth. The longer I’m a pastor the more convinced I’ve become that what people are truly searching for is TRUTH. What saddens me is that they rarely find that in Church. Almost every time we have a visitor they come up to me afterward and say that they so much enjoyed Bible teaching.

Hey did you pick up on this? The Word of God was already in the Chariot with the seeker and all that was missing was the servant of God with the Spirit of God! The Spirit of God was already running ahead of Philip in the heart of the Eunuch and Philip was sent to catch up to the work. God uses two great gifts to bring people to the knowledge of Him, The word of God and teachers.   

Acts 8:31-40

“Fruit in the desert”

Vs. 30-36 The Word’s penetration

Vs. 37-40 The servant’s presentation

Intro

As we saw last week God has a clear and simple plan to reach the world.

 It involves a threefold plan:

• The Spirit of God

• The Word of God

• The servant of God

We were looking at the “Spirit’s preparation” as seen in the “servant of God”  as well as His work in the “seeker of God”. Folks, I’m sure all of us can remember those classes we took in school where what we learned has no application in our lives today. But in Christ there are no wasted lessons every day is an opportunity for us to grow in the Spirit’s preparation.

         The other day I watched a  boxing match between a young and inexperienced fighter and a one-time world champion. Prior to the fight all the experts were solidly predicting a loss for the young fellow who had very few amateur bouts and only a handful of professional ones, (none of them had gone past the 4th round). The fight was anything but predictable as the young man deservedly won a unanimous 12 round decision. Afterward they interviewed him to find out how he accomplished the victory.

His reply spoke to my heart, “I trained to go the distance and I followed my manager’s advice!” I’m reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthian’s “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Hey, how about it, are you training to go the distance and follow your manager’s advice? If we are to be at all successful in reaching the world we will need to do both.  

Vs. 30-36 The Word’s penetration

Vs. 30 At the Spirit’s prompting Philip is seen running up to the chariot and when he gets up close to it he hears the Eunuch reading Isaiah. Now, look at Philip’s question closely, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He does not say, “What’s ya reading?” So? Well that tells us that Philip knew the portion of scripture as it was being read. For the Word to be effective in non-believers it needs to be effective in the heart of the servant of God as well! You see God has supplied great gifts to bring people into the knowledge of Him, The Word of God and teachers. 

Now I can draw two important points from this:

Philip knew enough of the Word of God to meet the seeker where he was.  Paul exhorted the young pastor Timothy by saying, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” I was challenged this year at the pastor’s conference when Jon Courson shared that the Word of God was his hobby. A hobby is something that you look forward to and enjoy spending your time doing. So how about it, is God’s Word your hobby? 

Philip was excited about the opportunity. (He ran to him.) Look at this, the Holy Spirit sends him out into the middle of nowhere then tells him to draw near to the chariot. So Philip says, “Yeh sure thing Lord I’ll take care of it, left a big ministry in Samaria for a stupid chariot in the desert, but I’m right on it!” God say’s “Go” and Philip goes. God says, “Go near” and Philip runs! Hey, brothers and sisters, is there enthusiasm in your opportunity to serve the Lord or do you look at the Sunday school list the day before and say, “Darn got to teach in Sunday school?” I’ve got to tell you this action of Philip brings conviction to my heart. The opportunity God has given you to share His word ought to pump you up. This stuff cranks me up man and I can’t believe it sometimes that He gives me the opportunity to share it with you all!

Vs. 31 This is an amazing profession from the Eunuch don’t you think. I mean you are.

• In the middle of no where

• Seeking truth

• Frustrated in what you seen in Jerusalem

• Not understanding what you’ve been reading

Do you see where I’m going with this? Have you ever been there in your attempt to comprehend something? Come on now you’re trying to program the VCR and you have even gotten so desperate that you’re now reading the manual they supplied for you. It’s hot, you’re tired and frustrated when your 9 year old comes up and says, “What’re you doing?” “Trying to set the clock on the tape machine!” “Do you understand how to do it?” “No, dear sweet little child, why don’t you come over here and share with me how to do it right!” Remember this guy was the 2nd highest leader in his country. This is huge as it reveals the hunger of his heart.

         Folks, may I make an observation that may apply to some of you? Don’t get all-proud if you are reading your Bibles because if you are not UNDERSTANDING what you read then it’s not doing you any good. But instead of denying your struggle, come and seek out someone to guide you! This is why God has placed teachers to explain the Bible within the body of Christ. Oh and buy the way where do you think teachers learned the Word? I can tell you from seeking out those who could explain it to them!

So the Eunuch invites Philip to come up and explain the Word he had just been reading. Now Luke has already recorded for us in verse 25 a threefold way in which the Word of God should be explained to those who lack understanding.

Peter and John we are told, “testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

Testified:  That is they shared their experience with the Word in their lives. Simply put they spoke of what Jesus had done for them. Hey, you don’t know much scripture yet? Well, share what you do know, how He has changed your life!

Preached the word of the Lord: Now the word “preached” here is an unfortunate translation, as the word really means to “speak or talk”. So here is another way you can help a person who does not understand the Bible “speak the Word of the Lord” to them. Give out the Word! This is why we at Calvary Chapel go verse by verse through the Bible just giving out the Word to you!

 Preaching the gospel: Here the word used is the one where we get our word “evangelize” and it means to declare or proclaim. You see, it’s more authoritative. But look at what is authoritative, “good news”! Hey, you ought to be authoritative on “good news”. Can you imagine the state going up to the fellow, who just won the 141 million dollar lottery and saying, “Hey you might have just won the lottery!” No way, they preached the “good news” to him and then they told him that over ½ of it was going back to the government in taxes.

Vs. 32-33 Now as you read on down to verse 35 we are told that “Philip opened his mouth, and began at this Scripture.” Do you get that? Philip did not say, “Cool verse bud, but let me show you this verse!” No he started right where the Eunuch was at. The fact that we are again told in verse 35 that Philip “preached Jesus to him”, tells us that Philip had to interpret or explain the passage to him. Now as you go to that verse back in Isaiah 53 and read those 12 verses in the chapter and they are clearly speaking about Jesus the Lamb of God and they were written hundreds of years prior to Jesus fulfilling them.

Vs. 34 The Eunuch had enough understanding to question the given interpretation of the day which is as he asks Philip:

• himself

• or of some other man

You see Isaiah had died at the hands of the religious leaders, so some thought he spoke of himself; while others claimed that it was a reference to one of the other prophets. Today the Rabbis like to say that it speaks of the nation itself, but they have always had a hard time seeing that the Messiah Jesus would suffer and die by their own hands. Yet in Zech. 12:10 the prophet proclaims that one day they, “will look on Me whom they pierced, they will mourn for me as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Vs. 35 Wow, look at this verse, “Then Philip opened his mouth, ….preached Jesus to him.” That tells me that Philip was a great listener. I mean he waited until the Eunuch asked the question and then Philip made sure that he did not preach his pet doctrine or himself. No, he preached Jesus to him! Notice that Philip does not tell him what to do instead he tells him what God has done for him! It is only after the Eunuch asks about baptism that Philip responds.

Let’s look at several insights that Philip gives us as he opens his mouth and shares Jesus to the Eunuch:

Vs. 26 PRAYERFULLY: Though it does not say this specifically it is safe to say that Philip’s sharing Jesus was bathed in prayer. I mean everything was instigated as the Spirit moved him along. Before you go and open your mouth to share Jesus, might I suggest you open your mouth to the Lord? 

Vs. 27, 29 OBEDIANTLY: Obviously when the Lord said go Philip went and as the Lord said Philip spoke. Hey, folks, your coworkers are never going to hear about Jesus unless you obey, go and open your mouth.

Vs. 30 BOLDLY: Remember that this was a high government official with a big entourage. Now it’s one thing to approach some guy by himself that is on the same station of life as you are and quite another thing to go up to the head of the company you work for and start sharing Jesus with them.

Vs. 31, 35 PLAINLY: Philip made sure that he did not make this complicated, so he just spoke Jesus to him. The Eunuch needed a guide not a know it all. A good guide is one that leads you to discover the truth for yourself! So Philip explained and brought him to the place where he saw Jesus as who Isaiah was speaking of. So how did Philip accomplish this?

Vs. 35 “beginning at this Scripture”: CENTER ON THE WORD OF GOD. Philip centered his message around truth not opinions or experiences. Philip heard him read aloud and brought him to the truth contained in those verses and went on from there.

Vs. 35 “preached Jesus”: CENTERED ON JESUS. Hey, when Philip opened his mouth it was to point the Eunuch to Jesus and not to his Church in Samaria or some new program.

Vs. 36 “What hinders me from being baptized?” CENTERED IT AROUND A RESPONSE. Philip made sure that at the end of his guiding the Eunuch through the Word of God centered upon Jesus that he had an opportunity to respond to the promises of God! When we share with a person we need to do so in a way that invites them to want to go the way of trusting in Jesus. I mean that is the aim or goal of our sharing even if the person we are sharing with is a Christian we still want them to trust Jesus in their lives.

Vs. 37-40 The servant’s presentation

Vs. 37a Some of the manuscripts don’t have this verse in them but I still think that Philip must have said something like this. After all, he had just been duped into Simon’s profession. Even though the Eunuch was ready to openly identify himself with Jesus, Philip wanted to make sure that he understood exactly what he was doing.

         Now I’ve got to say that this impresses me, why? Well because all too often today we well meaning evangelicals are so desperate to get folks to respond to the gospel that we just want them to pray the sinner’s prayer and notch our spiritual belts. Hey, Philip wanted to make sure that the Eunuch’s request was anchored in the move of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and not the convincing intellectual argument. Is it possible for us to win the argument and lose the soul?

 The devil will allow faith in the head as long as it’s not truth in the heart! Now the word heart here refers to the center of our emotion, intellect and will. Paul said to the Corinthians “We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” You get it? Faith in the head must come to fruition as truth in the heart.

Now you will notice several things that are associated with true conversion:

Vs. 36-37 FAITH: The Eunuch’s response shows a willingness to trust Jesus to the point of verbally saying that he will submit his life to Him.

Vs. 37 CONFESSION: Notice the absolute conviction in the Eunuch’s statement. It’s not, “I think He might be God-like.” No it’s “I’m putting my absolute trust in Him because He alone is God the Son!”. You see it’s not Jesus plus anything, it’s Jesus and Him only!  

Vs. 38 OBEDIANCE: Faith and confession led to obedience. Faith and confession that does not lead to obedience in our lives is not salvation! You see baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. Now think of this in light of the fact that he is the 2nd most important leader in his nation and he is with his entourage. It is like you getting baptized before all of the people who are under you at work. Let me press this point a bit, if there has been no change in your behavior and you are a professing believer then you might want to rethink what you have done. The gospel is exclusive by its very nature and if you have truly responded then you are not going to be the same. Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Vs. 39 JOY: Immediately there was the fruit of the Spirit in his life, joy! In other words there was a clear example of change in his life. The Eunuch went back 200 miles rejoicing in the Lord. He came searching and he left found!

Vs. 39-40 So what happened to these two?

 Well we are told that the Eunuch saw Philip no more and Church history tells us that he went back to his own country of Ethiopia (Sudan) where he started a Church and helped reach his country for Jesus.

 Now what’s radical is that he did so with out:

• The Bible, except for Isaiah

• Professionals

• Marketing plans

No, he had only what God had given him and you know what that’s all you and I ever have. Remember what Jesus says in Luke 12:48, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” You see each of you have more than what God used to reach the nation of Ethiopia.

 Philip, we are told, is “caught away by the Spirit of the Lord”. Now the word “caught away” is the same one as in 1 Thess. 4:17 where we are told by Paul that, “We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” In Latin the word is translated into the word where we get our word “rapture”. So was this a rapture or catching away of Philip some 20 miles away to Azotus? Well to be honest I’m not sure. You can read it this way if you want and I have no problem with the Lord doing that. But neither does it have to be read that way. I have been so full of the joy of the Lord upon having Him use me that I have missed turn off’s and time has passed by like nothing.

What I do find interesting is that according to these verses Philip does not go back to Samaria instead he heads up the coast until he comes to Caesarea, which is still by the sea. And it is here that we know according to Acts 21:8 he made his home. Now when Donna and I were in Israel a year ago I can see why he made it his home as it was a beautiful port town right on the Mediterranean Sea, no doubt he liked surfing! So as he goes Philip preaches in all the cities along the way and guess who is going to come in again and reap the benefit of Philip’s preaching?

Well in Acts 10 it will be Peter as he is staying at Simon the tanner’s house in Joppa when, (after having a vision from the Lord), he receives an invitation by Cornelius the centurion to go to Caesarea. So you can again see Philip serving the work of the Lord. I love to see how God works like this don’t you? Paul would later comment on this very thing by saying, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” May we follow the Spirit of God, allowing the Word of God to change us, the servants of God.