Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26–40 ESV

26 Now 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. 27 And he rose and went. And there was 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 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “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. 32 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. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 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. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

When I read a text like this I think of a few things off the top of my head…

Follow the Spirit…

Be ready...

Know your bible...

Philip as we read last time took the gospel to Samaria if you remember I said he began to fulfill Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now today’s text we see him literally take it to the end of the earth. and you might say this man only went to Gaza and that is true, but he witnessed to someone who was from the end of the earth, or atleast that is what Jews and Gentiles believed at the time.

Ethiopia at the time was considered to be the end of the earth. We know from Rev 7:9 that the gospel will in fact reach all the nations one day.. This is what it says..

Revelation 7:9 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

So by the prompting of the Holy Spirit Philip goes…

Now scholars say… The city of Gaza, one of five important Philistine cities, had been destroyed by Alexander the Great. As a result, the road that went originally from Jerusalem to Gaza was by this time in almost complete disuse because a new road in that direction had been built. Nobody went on the old Gaza road anymore, so it was almost as if God were directing Philip into the middle of the desert for no apparent reason. But Philip obeyed the commandment of the Lord and went down from Samaria past Jerusalem and made his way along the road.

Now this man was a Eunuch a court official of Candace the Queen who was in charge of all her treasure. This guy was a big deal. During that time the king of Ethiopia did not take care of the nation, he was treated like a God, the queen ruled, and this Eunuch was given great power, now this man did not worship the king he was a worshiper of God.

He may have been a jew that was in the dispersion, or may have been a gentile, but never the less he somewhere became a follower of Judaism.

And while he was on his chariot he was reading Isaiah. During that time it was very common for people to read aloud because it was very challenging to read the manuscripts.

Now we don’t know how he got the manuscript but we know from the bible that this man could not enter the temple because he was a eunuch (dt)

As he reads this aloud Philipp is drawn to him, and he asks him a simple question…

Do you understand what you are reading?

Never estimate the power of using questions when you are witnessing…

So the Eunuch tells him how can I unless someone guides me… This is where one of those things I said when we started really matters...

So he invited Philip to come and sit with him.

Now he is reading one of the strongest texts in the Old Testament about Jesus and we only get part of it here in the text, but for a better understanding we need to go to the whole Chapter Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 ESV

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 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 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. 7 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? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

If you thought you were reading from the new testament you would be wrong.. This was written 600 to 800 years before Christ in fact they have manuscripts that date before the time of Jesus. and Philip because he knows the bible well goes to explain how this text is about Jesus…

Explain....

https://www.crossway.org/articles/glimpsing-the-gospel-in-every-book-of-the-bible/

Philip did not have the gospels he had a knowledge of how Jesus fit into the Old Testament scriptures. Something we need to have as well.

So the same spirit who worked in Philip must have came and worked in this Eunuch heart because his response seems to be one of Belief.

Remember Jesus great commission Matt 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Baptism is a physical response to a inward response. When someone was saved during that time Scholars say.. people who were coming for the first time to the covenant community as adults, before they could receive the sign of that new covenant, had to make a profession of faith. That is still true in the church today. In the early church, when Gentiles were converted they made a profession of faith, then they were baptized, and after that they were welcomed into the fellowship of the church and immersed in what was called the Didache, the teaching of the Apostles and the disciples. They did not have to know the Old Testament; they had only to embrace Jesus, be baptized, and come into the church, and then they were taught all the Old Testament.

Acts Baptized

New Testament scholar Oscar Cullman discovered in the early church’s liturgy something called a “hindrance formula.” It goes back to Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples with respect to little ones. When little children were trying to crowd around Jesus and get His attention, the disciples shooed them away. Jesus rebuked His disciples and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14). Cullman points out that in the early church no one had to jump through doctrinal hoops in order to be brought into the fellowship. What was required for membership was minimal. If there was no clear hindrance or barrier to people’s joining the church, and if they made a profession of faith in Christ, they were given baptism and welcomed into the community, even as Gentiles, and then received their more full instruction. So when Philip told the eunuch, “If you believe with all your heart, you may,” and the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” Philip and the eunuch got out of the chariot and went over to the water, and Philip baptized the eunuch.

After Philip is Baptized we see one of the most interesting things happen in all of scripture, and that is he is carried away, and the eunuch saw him no more, God had a divine appointment for this eunuch Philip was faithful, and then the Lord sent them on his way.

Follow the Spirit…

Be ready...

Know your bible...