Used By God
Notes
Transcript
I ask that you grab your copy of God’s word and find Acts chapter 8. Today we will be looking at Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. I have always been very intrigued by this story. I love seeing the obedience that Philip shows in his ministry. He is not a trained and highly educated man but he is willing to go where God wants him to go. And this is how I want my life to be.
As we go through this text, we will see that Jesus is the one who was spoke of in the Old Testament and how he came and fulfilled what the prophets spoke of. We can rest in the fact that God kept his promises. We can see them throughout scripture with the coming of Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection.
I want to pose a question to you today. Why is it important that we are in tune with God and his plans for us? It is easy for us to just go with the whims that come and just do whatever we feel like. But why is it important for us to be listening for and following God’s will for our lives. In my sermons, I reflect quite a lot to people throughout history. Many of these people were used greatly by God in the advancement of the gospel. I am not saying that we should strive to try to have our names put in history books. But we must think, how are we setting ourselves up to be used by God. And this is why the overarching question we should have for ourselves when we look at the text we have today is why is it important that we are in tune with God and his plans for us?
Read text (Acts 8:26-40)
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.
Pray
As we go through this, we will see how God used Philip. I fully believe that God can use each and every one of us just like he used Philip. Our first point that we see in scripture is that we are to be...
1. Used by God in our Actions
1. Used by God in our Actions
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.
Because of the broadness of what Luke tells us here, we have to make an assumption that this visit was probably a vision in which an angel was telling Philip where to go. To go south on the road that went from Jerusalem to Gaza. So I don’t have a map for us to look at but if you were to leave Jerusalem to go to Samaria, it is due north. If you were to go to Gaza from Jerusalem, you would need to go southeast. So the direction that the angel was telling him was not to continue on the route that he was on, but to turn around and go back to where he came from and continue that way.
And the place that he was going was considered a desert place. Think about this, the angel of the Lord told him to leave the revival that was happening and go to the desert. This is a test of who we are being led by. If Philip was being led by his own desires and thoughts, why would he ever want to leave the revival that was taking place. But he was be led by the spirit of God. And as we will see, he will get to experience this wonderful event because of his obedience.
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
He was obedient to being used by God in his actions. And when he got to the road, he came across an Ethiopian eunuch. This is very profound. We see people groups in the bible and sometimes we just fly right past them but there is something that is just wonderful about this man if we pause for a second. Ethiopia was quite a distance from where Philip was. In fact, Ethiopia would be somewhere around the horn of Africa. So this man is a black man. This is another aspect of the spread of the mission that God had given the church. There was no discrimination as to who the gospel needed to go to. This man would have been a very important person in Ethiopia for being the person who handled the queens finances.
He had come to Jerusalem to worship. So there was Jewish influence in this mans life enough to worship God and was familiar with the Jewish bible because he was reading it.
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.”
So Philip went to this road not really knowing what God had in store for him. But he was open to being used by God however he could be. He didn’t know that God would put him in the situation with this man from Africa that was ready from Isaiah, but he was willing to see what God had in store.
When I think of chance encounters that were God ordained, I think of a story I once heard of a little primitive methodist church in England in 1850. It was a Sunday morning in January and there was a bad snowstorm that was coming through. The pastor of this little methodist church was not able to make it to service so one of the deacons was preaching. It just so happened that there was a young 15 year old boy who was walking down the street and the snowstorm got to be bad enough that he looked for the closest church to go into and it was this church. The deacon was no preacher, so he decided to stick to what God had given him, which was the bible. All he was doing was reading scripture. Isaiah 45:22 “22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” The young man heard those words of scripture, no highly educated preacher, no special music, no lights and computers screens. But the word of God and he was drawn into God by the Holy Spirit. And on that day, January 6th 1850, Charles Haddon Spurgeon was transformed by Jesus Christ and went on to be what some consider as the best preacher since Paul.
There are times when we feel led to do things. Maybe it is to pay for someones meal, or to help someone load their groceries in their car. Maybe you are led like I was yesterday to help someone for 13 hours move houses. Whatever you are led to do, let us be used by God in our actions. But we are also to be...
2. Used by God in our Words
2. Used by God in our Words
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
Philip saw an opportunity. The Ethiopian was reading out loud and Philip recognized what he was reading. So he asked him a very pointed question. He didn’t go up to him and ask him “how’s it going” and exchange small talk. He asked him if he understood what he was reading. Philip wanted to get to the heart of the matter. Philips words mattered and they especially matter in the scheme of eternity of this man from Ethiopia.
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
I think it is very evident in the time that we have spent in Acts that each and every believer is called to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Acts 1:8 “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.”” We have this example right here with Philip. He was being obedient to the Holy Spirit guiding him to this place and this opportunity was right before him. This man was reading scripture so Philip goes up to him and asks him if he understood what he was reading.
The question that Philip asks him cracks the door open and the Ethiopian opens it the rest of the way with his answer. “How can I, unless someone guides me?” He opens the door to Philip for what we would call personal evangelism.
We talk about evangelism and the thought of it can be very intimidating. The thought of talking to people about the gospel can be nerve racking. And then we have the big evangelists that come to mind like Billy Graham. And even though Philip has done that kind of evangelism too, that is not what he is doing here. He is having a conversation with someone, one on one. This is personal evangelism. Asking someone where they are at in the faith and pointing them in the right direction. And we are all called to do it. (examples of how and who to do it with)
neighbors when talking to them
waiters and waitresses that we frequent (prayer and follow up)
cashiers in checkout line
family members
No relationship is more valuable than someones relationship with Jesus. Don’t be afraid to ask them
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.”
This is part of Isaiah 53. This passage has been debated at length as to who the prophet was speaking of. Was he speaking about the nation of Israel, his own suffering, or of the coming Messiah. Philip was ready to give an answer to this. Philip knew who Isaiah was talking about. And when the Ethiopian asked him, he was able to answer him.
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.
Because of this personal interaction with this man, Philip was able to share the gospel with him. It says that he told him the good news about Jesus. The word gospel literally means “good news”. So what was this good news that he shared with this man? (gospel presentation with emphasis on substitutionary atonement)
You may think that you don’t have anyone that you can do this with. And I want to be honest and tell you that personal evangelism is not always the same. You may have those opportunities that just fall in your lap and you are able to share the gospel with them the first time you meet them. Or you may have to build a relationship with them. Like my friend Freddie. There is a gentlemen named Freddie that frequents some of the same places that I do. I remember the first time I met him, I was sitting at a table next to him and my friend leaned over just to say hello and he knew we were Christians and was extremely hostile towards having a conversation with us. The more I saw him after that, we slowly built up a relationship and we are friendly towards each other now. We have had gospel conversations since then, but he is still very hostile towards Christianity and religion in general. Does this mean that I give up? No, but this means that personal evangelism with this guy is going to be much different that the evangelism that I do with homeless people that I talk to in our parking lot out here that I may never see again.
In whatever situation we find ourself in with personal evangelism, let us be used by God in our words.
3. Used by God in our Obedience
3. Used by God in our Obedience
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?”
I love what happens here in this verse. We see them reach some water on the road. Philip has been sharing the gospel with him and clearly, baptism had come up in the conversation. So he asks about 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.
He baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch because he believed that Jesus was his savior. Baptism is a very important part in the life of the believer. It is a public profession of the work that God has done in someones life. Today, we have 2 people who are going to follow through in baptism. This is something to celebrate. It is a symbol of the life, death, and resurrection that Jesus had in our place. And because of him going to the cross, and in doing so taking our sinfulness onto himself while placing his righteousness on us, we are able to celebrate new life in Christ through baptism, just like Philip and the Ethiopian did.
Before we go farther into our text, I want to pause here. I use the English Standard Version to preach from. Many of you may still use the King James Version and that is perfectly fine. If you are using a KJV, then you definitely noticed that I never read verse 37. One of the initial thoughts you may have is that they “changed” the bible, and this is not true at all. When the KJV bible was translated, they fewer than 10 manuscripts of original text to use to translate it. That was in the early 1600’s. Naturally, there were many other manuscripts that have been discovered since. I don’t believe that anyone in here believes this but I think that it is good to remind us that the KJV is not the original text. I have heard people say being serious, that if it was good enough for Paul then it is good enough for them. Paul did not speak English.
So how do we get bibles today that do not have some of the same text in it that the KJV has. Because you will hear people say that they “changed” the bible or that they “took” verses out of the bible. Why is this? The handful of manuscripts that they were using had this verse or at least something close to this verse. But as discoveries have been made of earlier manuscripts, it is discovered that the earliest evidence of this verse being in a manuscript is not until the 6th century. There may have been parts of it in earlier manuscripts but, as a whole, this was not in a manuscript until the 6th century. We now have more manuscripts now that are older than the 6th century than younger. Which means that the vast majority of manuscripts do not contain this verse. They did not take out this verse or change this verse in newer bibles. They used all the manuscripts that we have now, including those used for the KJV, and came to the conclusion that because the vast majority of manuscripts did not have this verse (and others like it), that is does not belong right here.
But let’s look at it. (37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.) And you may be thinking that this is very important and that they shouldn’t have left this out. But I would ask if this is the only place in scripture that it says that you need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God to be baptized. This is not true. Acts 2:38 “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, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” They are not taking out doctrine when this verse is not in the newer translations. And if you hear someone say that in the newer translations, that they are trying to remove all of the verses that say that Jesus Christ is Lord, this is absurd. The process they use to go through the manuscripts and see what belongs in the bible is Textual Criticism. The job of this is not to try to disprove older versions or to rewrite the bible. What this is doing is giving us a translation of scripture that we can trust. I hope that this helps.
So they stop by the water and Philip baptizes the Ethiopian Eunuch.
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.
Here is one of the many places in scripture that we get one of our baptist distinctives. Baptism by immersion. The text tells us that they came up out of the water. This man was not baptized by sprinkling but he was fully submerged into water. Just like Jesus was when he was baptized and just like we will see here in a short time right behind me.
They came up out of the water and immediately, Philip was carried away by the spirit of the Lord. Yes, this is something that is hard for our minds to wrap around but all of a sudden, Philip is gone. This is not the only time in scripture that we see this, but it is not frequent. What we can get from this is that Philip did what he was supposed to. He had been used by God in the life of this man. So he was off to his next task. And this man went on his way rejoicing.
This mans life was changed. He had heard the gospel, believed the gospel, and had publicly displayed his change by being baptized. We don’t know what happened to this man after. I think we can assume that this man went on, just like Philip, and shared the gospel with others and furthered the spread of the good news of Jesus. But what happened to Philip?
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.
Azotus is something that we can put in the news that we hear even now. This is in what we call the Gaza strip. If you have watched or listened to the news in the last couple of weeks, you know this is a place of importance. And it was important then too, because we see the gospel spread through there with Philip. He continued to preach the gospel everywhere he went. He is being obedient in the call of the Christian to go and make disciples. Matt 28:19-20
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.”
This is our mandate. To make disciples. Philip does this with the Ethiopian Eunuch. And it is all centered around obedience. Philip being obedient to the spirits leading. If Philip had not listened to the Angel of the Lord and went to that road, there is the chance that the Ethiopian would not have heard the gospel. And then the gospel not be taken back to Ethiopia. What a tragedy that would have been just because of one mans disobedience. We do not know the implications that take place due to our disobedience. Let us be used by God in our obedience.
To wrap things up with our text today, Philip was not the only one who was obedient. The Ethiopian Eunuch was obedient as well. He was obedient in being baptized. And today, we are seeing two people be obedient in that as well. Scripture does not give us what happens after this encounter. We do not know if this man goes and joins himself to a gospel church. But here today, we have the Troutman family who are following through in baptism because they want to join themselves to our local gospel church. I want to ask them to come up here. Today is a celebration. We are baptizing them into church membership.
