Full Sermon The Holy Spirit Regularly Sends People to Help Us Learn More About Jesus based on Acts 8:26-40

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Isolated people today. In today’s world people seem to be more isolated than in the past. The new inventions of smartphones and computers promised to bring people together, but many people seem to be spending more time by themselves. People text messages to others rather than talk to them on the phone or visit them in person. People spend a lot of time looking at Youtube videos and Facebook and other websites on their computers instead of talking to people face to face. Even in small towns there are people moving in and out of town regularly and neighbors do not get together very often if at all. In small towns where people used to know everyone, now there are people that no one knows. People seem to be content to spend a lot of time looking at their smartphones and computers.

II. Miss out on telling others about Jesus. When we live more isolated lives, then we miss out on some of the times when we could be telling others about the problem of sin and wrongdoing and about the good news of forgiveness through Jesus.

III. Acts 8 account of Ethiopian and Philip. The Bible lesson from Acts 8 gives us an interesting account of an Ethiopian official riding in a chariot and reading words from the prophet named Isaiah. This Ethiopian was in charge of the treasures of the Queen of Ethiopia. He had gone to worship in Jerusalem and he was heading home to Ethiopia in Africa. The Holy Spirit sent Philip to talk to the man.

IV. Reading aloud from Isaiah. Reading aloud was the usual way of reading back then. People in that part of the world still read aloud today. Philip asked the Ethiopian man if he understood what he was reading. The Ethiopian was having trouble understanding what he was reading from the prophet Isaiah and he needed someone to guide him. He invited Philip to sit with him in his chariot and help him to better understand what he was reading.

V. High school Bible study about John’s Gospel. I remember a time back in my high school days in Billings, Montana, when I attended a Bible study led by our Vicar at Mount Olive Lutheran Church. Our church was only a couple blocks from the high school. We met for a Bible study about the Gospel of John once a week before we went to school. The usual people at the Bible study were my brother and I and the Vicar. I still like to study the Gospel of John today. Going to that weekly Bible study helped to influence me to become a Lutheran pastor. My brother has attended Lutheran churches ever since that time as well. The Vicar probably was discouraged that he only had two people in the High School Bible class. Sometimes we have a little influence on a few people and we wish we could more influence on more people, but God can do amazing things with only a few people.

VI. Philip helped Ethiopian better understand Isaiah. Philip made the most out of his time with the Ethiopian official. He helped the man to better understand what he was reading from the prophet Isaiah in what we call the Old Testament of the Bible today.

VII. Read Acts 8:32-34 and comment. Acts 8:32–34 tells us, “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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.’ And the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’”

Bible scholars still debate that same question today. Was this section of Isaiah the prophet referring to the prophet himself or to someone else? Most LCMS Bible scholars and pastors agree with the way Philip interpreted Isaiah. Acts 8:35 states, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” In other words, Philip used this section of Scripture to tell the Ethiopian official the good news about Jesus and not about the prophet Isaiah.

VIII. Isaiah 53 and Suffering Servant, Jesus. This section of Isaiah 53 is referred to as one of the Suffering Servant passages that point to the saving work of Jesus around 700 years later. Jesus was like a sheep led to the slaughter when He carried His cross to the place outside of Jerusalem where He was nailed to that cross until He died. Jesus did not open His mouth to complain as He carried His cross to the place of His execution. Jesus willingly went to the place of His crucifixion to pay the full price to redeem us from our many sins and wrongs. Jesus was laughed at and made fun of as He suffered and died on that cross. Justice was denied Jesus, because Jesus was innocent of all the charges against Him. The good news about Jesus is not only that He died on a cross to redeem us from our sins and wrongs. The good news about Jesus is that He was raised from the dead on the third day to forgive us for all of our sins and wrongs. That good news about Jesus dying and rising for us is the best news we could ever hear.

IX. Ethiopian wanted to be baptized. After hearing the good news about Jesus based on Isaiah 53, the Ethiopian man wanted to be baptized. When they came to some water, Philip baptized the man and the man was now an adopted child of God. The Ethiopian man went home rejoicing. Still today there is a Christian Church in Ethiopia. That one Ethiopian official told his fellow Ethiopians the good news about Jesus. Ethiopians are still baptized today. Ethiopians still worship Jesus today.

X. Conclusion. We all still have someone that guides us in better understanding of what the Bible teaches us about Jesus. Maybe you have many people among your friends and family who guide you in better understanding what trusting and following Jesus is all about. Maybe that person is a parent or a family member or a pastor. We can thank God regularly for the Holy Spirit sending people to us to help us better understand about Jesus. We also can pray for God to send us to others to help them better understand Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.