Stand Still - Acts 8:26-39

Acts 8:26–39 (KJV (WS))

26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 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. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

Introduction

Philip is hanging out in the midst of a revival in Samaria.

He had been used by God to break that Jewish-only barrier that had existed in the early days of Christianity.

Though the Jews had upheld generations of discrimination against the Samaritans, Philip had found them to be brothers in Christ.

Everything was going well and exciting changes were taking place.

I seriously doubt that Philip had any real desire to leave where he was.

Then he received a visit from an angel.

God sends an angel to send a man to do his will.

Philip is told by the angel to arise and go.

He is directed by a heavenly messenger to move from the place where God was using him.

God tells him to leave the multitudes for a special mission.

This mission will take him from the coastal towns of Samaria to the desert roads of Gaza.

There were two roads that led from Jerusalem to Gaza.

One was populated and well used.

The other was deserted and rarely used.

This is the road that the angel directs Philip to travel.

There are no other details given.

Leave where you are.

Travel this deserted road.

Philip obeyed the words of the angel.

Philip was an obedient servant.

He was a Christian unafraid to go where he was sent.

He was told to arise and go, so he arose and went.

Philip is making his way along the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.

How long was he walking?

How far down the road did he make it before he saw a change in the scenery?

We don’t know, but we have strong reason to believe that when he finally did see something, it was pretty impressive.

Vs 27 gives a full description of the man Philip was about to meet.

Philip wouldn’t have known this right off.

He would have to learn this through talking with the man.

Luke identifies him clearly, which gives the reader a good idea of what Philip must have seen.

The man that he is about to interact with is an important officer in the court of Candace of Ethiopia.

Candace is a title for an office like Pharaoh or Caesar.

Ethiopia, at this time, would have been more in line geographically with Sudan.

This man is identified as the treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia.

He was also identified as an Ethiopian himself.

This is important because some have tried to say he was a Jew.

The word for Ethiopian actually refers to a man with burned, blackened skin.

It is very unlikely that he is traveling in a lone chariot along this desert road.

A man like this doesn’t take a 400 mile roundtrip alone.

He would have been surrounded with a caravan.

There would have been Ethiopian soldiers.

Merchants

Secretarial personnel

Servants.

To most travelers, this would have been an intimidating procession.

They wouldn’t have known that this man had been in Jerusalem worshipping the Lord.

I want to be careful not to read too much into this passage.

I think there is a possibility that this man was disappointed by what he experienced there.

Luke tells us that though this man was of great authority (duvastns) he faced a significant obstacle to fully accepted worship.

He was a eunuch.

Eunuchs were not allowed to worship with the assembly.

They had to stand even further away, not technically even allowed inside the temple.

We will see in a moment even more frustration for this man.

This important man’s entourage is the first thing that Philip had seen for miles.

What was he thinking?

Did he have any inclination that this is why he was on the road.

He didn’t have to wonder for long.

Then he receives a word from the Spirit.

He had previously been directed by an angel.

Now it’s the Spirit that speaks to him.

The Spirit tells Philip to approach the chariot and engage with the rider.

Now, this wasn’t a war chariot.

It was probably a flat bed cart with a canopy.

It was designed for a slower more luxurious ride.

This is fitting for a passenger of such importance.

Philip obeyed the words of the Spirit.

He probably surprised the entire coalition by running right up to the chariot.

Other passers-by had tried to avoid them.

Philip walks up and starts talking.

Let’s switch our focus now to the Ethiopian man.

Philip has obeyed the angel.

He has submitted to the Spirit.

What will be the result.

The Ethiopian man is on his way home from a disappointing pilgrimage.

He had heard of the god of the Jews and His power.

Maybe he had intended to go to Jerusalem to become a proselyte.

His condition had prevented him from becoming a full Jewish proselyte.

But he had managed to acquire a copy of one of the Jewish holy books.

Now, he tries to read it on the trip home.

This wasn’t just any holy book that this man was reading.

He is reading the word of God.

It appears that he has a copy of the book Isaiah.

As was customary for a student in those days, he was reading aloud.

He is so tuned in that he doesn’t even notice the Jewish man walking alongside the chariot.

That is, until the stranger asks him if he understands what he is reading.

The Ethiopian expresses his neediness to Philip.

How can I understand what I am reading?

I need someone to guide me.

What great humility.

He invites Philip into the chariot with him.

Immediately Philip jumps in and begins to talk with the man.

He first discovers where the man has been reading.

He’s reading the book of Isaiah.

Specifically, he is reading Isaiah 53:7-8

Isaiah 53:7–8 KJV (WS)

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Now you will notice some slight differences from what our Bible says in those verses and the way they read to the Ethiopian man.

Our Bible is translated from the Masoretic text, the traditional Hebrew reading.

There is another version of the OT called the Septuagint.

This was a greek translation of the OT.

The Ethiopian man probably didn’t read or speak Hebrew, so he bought what he could read, which was the Septuagint.

After reading those verses, though, the man has one question.

Is the prophet speaking of himself or someone else?

If there was any doubt in his mind, Philip knew in that moment that this is what God had planned for his sudden travel.

This foreign man was in need of salvation, he was practically begging someone to share the gospel with him.

Philip proceeded to embark from that passage on a message about Jesus.

We don’t know how long they talked.

They must have had significant back and forth.

No doubt, Philip rehearsed what he knew of Jesus’ life.

I’m sure he even shared his own testimony with the Ethiopian man.

Maybe he even led right up the conversion and subsequent baptism of the Samaritans.

Maybe it was the inclusion of the Samaritans, maybe it was the rejection of the Messiah by the same people who had rejected him, but something clicked and connected with the man.

He knew that he wanted to be a part of what Philip was telling him about.

He wanted to receive the gospel message.

As this dawned on him, they just happened to be coming up to a body of water.

The treasurer says to Philip, “look, here is water, what’s stopping me from getting baptized right now.”

Philip says, “If you believe, then nothing.”

This leads to immediate action from this great and powerful man.

I imagine this man preparing to get up.

As he does, he says “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

He couldn’t become a Jewish proselyte, but he could become a child of God.

He orders the chariot to stand still.

He and Philip went down to the water and Philip baptized him in front of all his men.

You can be sure that all of his men were watching this all happen.

This is the whole reason for baptism.

It was never to add something to salvation.

It has always been an outward means of showing the faith in our souls.

If they weren’t shocked by the sudden outburst of action by their boss, they were all surprised when Philip disappeared without a trace after the baptism.

It was also quite noticeable that there was a change in their boss.

Maybe they had picked up on his disappointment in Jerusalem.

They definitely picked up on his rejoicing after his visit with the strange man that had ridden in his chariot.

Interpretation

There are three voices of instruction in this passage to go along with three instances of obedience.

Philip was told to by an angel to arise and go to the desert, and he went.

Philip was told by the Spirit to go and join himself to the chariot, and he ran thither.

The Ethiopian was told by the scriptures (with Philip’s help) that he needed to be saved, and he believed immediately.

How did obedience work out in the three examples that we have seen today?

Philip obeyed and powerful government official from a foreign nation got saved.

The treasurer obeyed and he traded a life of disappointment and frustration for a life of fulfilment and rejoicing.

In both cases, blessings were preceded by obedience.

Application

To the Christians in the room this morning, do you see what happens when we obey God.

Obedience of believers leads to the conversion of unbelievers.

Philip was told to go and he went.

He met the Ethiopian who stopped in his tracks to receive Jesus.

A Christian who goes will lead to sinners who stop.

If you a believer, what is the area of your life where God is telling you to obey him?

He can use a variety of voices to speak to you.

Regardless of the voice, the question is your response.

Perhaps there is an unbeliever that is here today.

You’re in the best place you could be.

Maybe you feel a little like this powerful man from Africa.

You’ve tried to fit in with religion in the past, but you’ve never felt like you’ve fit.

I would hope that you would find our church to be a welcoming place.

My first priority is not to point you to our church as the answer to your spiritual needs.

Instead, this morning, I want to point you to Jesus.

Just as Philip did on that chariot all those years ago.

The answer to your biggest problems is found in that fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

He came to this earth and lived a sinless life.

This made it possible for him to serve as a substitute for us.

He died and took God’s punishment for the sins of every person that has ever lived upon himself.

He was then buried for three days, but on the third day he rose again.

This is truth and fact.

The question is what will you do with it?

My prayer is that you will do what this man did.

You’ll tell whatever is going on within or around to stand still.

In a moment you will come up here to the front of the church and you’ll say these words, What must I do to be saved?

I or one of our members will go with you to God so that you can repent of your sins and receive forgiveness.

How did this man react to obedience to the word?

He went away rejoicing.

What does obedience look like for you this morning?