Acts 08_26-40 Every Person Matters

Read Acts 8:26-40 – Comedian Steven Wright says, “Just for fun, when I have a kid, I want to put him in a stroller for twins, then run around the mall looking frantic like I lost the other one.” Pix that! It’s like Lu 15 about the shepherd who seeks one lost sheep, showing every person matters.

Acts 8 contrasts the false faith of Simon the magician with the genuine article found in the Ethiopian eunuch. It’s a wonderful pix of the relentless love of God for His own. You wouldn’t be here today if He didn’t care.

I. Spirit-led Servant

This account is interesting bc Philip is led first by an angel (26), then by the HS (29). It shows God is pulling all the stops to make sure this happens – but as always, it starts with Him. He’s lost a sheep, and He is going to find him.

But note, he uses a faithful servant. He doesn’t send the angel; he sends a man. Philip is pulled from a great revival in Samaria, and sent to the road that leads south out of Jerusalem toward Gaza. Ancient Gaza was destroyed in 93 BC and a new city built near the Mediterranean in 57 BC. Two roads led from Jerusalem to Gaza – one directly west, the other first south, then west but little used anymore. But that’s where Philip was sent -- from the center of the action to absolutely nowhere -- with no indication of why – just go.

Philip’s reaction? 27 “And he rose and went.” No questions, no complaints, He just went – a humble, faithful servant who became part of God’s sovereign plan to find a lost sheep. Paul says in Rom 10:14b: And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” God says in Rom 10:15b: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Feet emphasizes that sharing Christ usually involves going – reaching out. Those feet are beautiful to God.

This can be as simple as an invitation to church or a Bible study, or outreach. It can be helping someone in Christ’s name. Sharing a meal, sharing a book, a tract, a CD. It can be anything the Spirit leads us to do. It may look like a dessert road to us. But the question is will we follow the Spirit to what looks like nowhere.

Philip does, and finds the Treasury Sec for Ethiopia. This is not modern Ethiopia, but what today would be southern Egypt into the Sudan. “Candace” was not a name, but a royal title for the queen of the Ethiopians – like Pharaoh in Egypt. So Philip goes from leading a great revival in Samaria – preaching to thousands with astounding results, to the middle of nowhere chasing down a single man in a royal chariot. That’s a humble servant.

This man is as different from Philip as he could possibly be. He’s Gentile, black, foreign and – a eunuch, which would exempt him from most aspects of temple worship. To a Jew, he’s about as defiled as he could be. Jewish men were taught to pray every morning, “O Lord, I thank you that you didn’t make me a woman, a slave, or a Gentile.” But Philip didn’t hesitate. 30 “Philip ran to him.” He knew the gospel is blind to class, color, or ethnic distinction.

But what I love most about this account is the big picture. Philip was the Billy Graham of this revival, and God pull him away to find one man on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. And Philip gladly went. He was willing and eager to be the Lord’s instrument to find that one lost sheep. God loves the multitudes, Beloved. But God loves the individual just as well. He is, in the words of Francis Thompson, the hound of heaven, who will track down every one of His own. Every person matters. You do, or you’d not be here!

II. Sincere Seeker

We don’t know how this guy got on this road, but we can guess. He had a scroll of the OT – very rare in those days. As Minister of Finance to Candance – the queen mother of Ethiopia (Nubia) at that time, he had some resources – probably traveling with a retinue and in a royal chariot. Perhaps he was on the desert road to avoid the traffic on the usual crossroads from Syria to Egypt.

27d) “He had come to Jerusalem to worship” and was now returning home. Historical records show numerous Jews had gone to N. Africa during various dispersions. Synagogues sprang up; sometimes Gentiles got interested, and some became proselytes – Gentile converts to Judaism. This man must have been one, and he was serious enough to make a 1,000 mile trip to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, no doubt during a feast. He was a serious seeker after God – using all the considerable means at his disposal to do that.

But in Jerusalem, he found a bankrupt religion. It was ritual upon ritual, but without relationship. He’s leaving as he came, with a vast emptiness in his soul. The journey profited him nothing, as the journey into religion alone will always profit nothing. But he hadn’t give up. His search continued. He didn’t know it, but he had this promise from God. Jer 29:13: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Many seek God half-heartedly – interested only in what God can do for them. They have no promise from Him. But for those who really want Him – who will not give up the quest, the light will dawn. Saving faith involves a sincere seeker.

Martin Luther was one. Prior to his conversion he practically wore out his confessors. But in 1511 he was sent to Rome, excited at the prospect of seeing the center of his religious world, yelling “Hail, holy Rome” as he approached. But he was appalled by what he found there – clergy living luxurious, immoral lives, no interest in spiritual things. But his disappointment drove him to the same place it drove the eunuch – to the Word. Both eventually found a relationship with God – thru the authority of the Word.

The great French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, claimed it was“an indispensable obligation” for people to seek truth about God in their darkest doubts. He wrote: “There are only two kinds of people who can be called reasonable: Those who serve God with all their heart bc they know him and those who seek him with all their hearts bc they do not know him.” I pray you are one of those this morning. Serving bc you know Him; or seeking bc you don’t.

III. Sovereign Scripture

The eunuch was a sincere seeker. There are a lot of insincere seekers – who end up defining a false god by their preferences – people who say, “Well, my God would never do judge anyone. My God is a God of love.” Great, but where did you find this God – in your own mind! The true God has revealed Himself – in the Word He’s given. That’s where this man was seeking.

He went to the right place – the only place to find answers not bound by our physical limitations. Ultimate answers to ultimate questions about where we came from and where we are going demand an ultimate source. Scripture is sovereign in in revealing that which we could not otherwise know. It is the only place to find out with certainty what comes next.

The Word reveals the gospel that is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). And so for every sincere seeker we must get the Word to them – by sharing it, living it, preaching and teaching it. The Word brings spiritual enlightenment. Someone said of Spurgeon: “Here is a man who has not moved an inch forward in all his ministry, and at the close of the nineteenth century is teaching the theology of the first century.” He took it as the greatest compliment he ever received. For the sake of those we love, we must bring the Word to them by the way we learn it and live it.

IV. Suffering Savior

The eunuch was reading Isaiah, but he had a problem. Philip said, 30b) “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” He couldn’t understand what he was reading. The Bible was a closed book to him without explanation. So he asked, “What does this mean?” Great question.

He probably asked all over Jerusalem, but got no answer. They didn’t know. To the Jews of that time, Messiah was a powerful, political figure. The suffering servant of Isaiah was not, in their mind, connected with the mighty Son of David Messiah. They didn’t get it. Some held that the slaughtered lamb referred to the nation; others that it referred to Isaiah himself. But the concept of a suffering Messiah was foreign to Israel.

Not to Jesus. He knew He was the lamb of Isa 53. John identified him in Jn 1:29 as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He not only knew He was the suffering lamb; He knew why He would suffer – to take away sin. Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus knew Himself to be the Messianic Son of David. He also knew that meant before ascending the throne, He would have to die to ransom all who would believe in Him.

So, when the eunuch said, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this” (34), Philip had a ready answer. It was a perfect setup. So, “Beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” He preached Jesus who fulfilled what all those millions of sacrificed lambs promised – THE lamb who could take away the sin of the world. 33c) “For his life is taken away from the earth.” No better description of the fate of Jesus of Nazareth could have been given by any eyewitness – yet this was written 700 years beforehand.

But how is death good news? Well, Philip was “beginning with this Scripture.” But he surely did not end there. He surely went to 53:5 to show why Jesus died: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are [spiritually] healed. 6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” There’s the greatest new the world every heard. The only person who could die for your sins besides yourself did exactly that. All your iniquity, Mr. Eunuch, was laid on him. All your sin, Dave, was laid on Him. All your iniquity was laid on Him. He took it all for all who believe.

Good news? Yes, is it true? And how does a dead man help me? “Oh,” Philip must have said, “I’m glad you asked that question. He’s not dead.” Isa 53:10c: “He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days.” How can He see His offspring if He’s dead? How can his days be prolonged if He’s dead? Isa 53:12d: “He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” How can He bear sins in death, but then make intercession for sinners? How can all that be true? Because He didn’t stay dead. This points not only to an atoning death – but also to a victorious resurrection. That’s the best news of all. The grave is empty. He’s alive. My friends saw Him!

Without a suffering Savior there is no eternal life for anyone. But He did suffer. He did atone for sin – but then, He rose again. What a Savior! Do you think you can save yourself by your goodness?! Then you must repent – you must repent now – you must believe in the suffering Savior who gave His life for you and trust Him completely. Acts 4:12: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” You cannot be your own Savior. Only He can save you. Have you gotten the message? Have you put your trust in Him?

V. Surrendered Saint

Among Jesus’ last instructions was, “Make disciples and baptize and teach them.” Baptism is the outward sign of a surrendered heart. Philip was not shy about talking about that. Like Peter when the crowd at Pentecost wanted to know how to be saved: Acts 2:38: “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” The eunuch couldn’t wait for that chance. So, 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?” There is the first evidence of a truly changed heart – the desire to show outside what’s happened inside. Did that save him? Of course not. The thief on the cross was promised paradise that very day – and without baptism. But for those who have opportunity, what a great way to start new life in Christ – a surrendered saint.

Conc – Let’s close with this. Rom 3:11, on our own, “no one seeks for God.” He sent Jesus “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lu 19:10). Every sheep matters.

The great apologist, Josh McDowell entered college as an atheist, but challenged to examine the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection, he found the evidence pointed exactly the other direction. But he says, "That’s not what brought me to Christ. All it did was get my attention. It was like I slammed the door on God, and God put His foot in the door with the evidence. Once I was convinced the Bible was true, then I considered the message. In Jer 31, God says, ’I have loved you with an everlasting love, with tender kindness I have drawn you.’ What brought me to Christ was the love of God, not the evidence. The evidence showed me what was true. What motivated my belief was the realization I had that Saturday night in my dorm room: If I were the only person alive, Jesus still would have died for me. That’s what brought me to Christ.’" I pray it will bring you to Christ as well. Every person matters – especially you. Let’s pray.

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