Phillip Continues to Preach the Gospel

The Gospel is preached to an Ethiopian Man

As the gospel began to spread in the first century church, there were avenues whereby the Lord saw fit to evangelize different people groups, nations, and tongues in particular ways that could only be explained by simply saying “this was truly supernatural”

at pentacost, the holy spirit fell and gave the gift of tounges so that many nations and languages could hear the Gospel being preached for the very first time, and here some short time after Phillip has been set aside as a deacon, he is evangelizing others one soul at a time.

as part of the great commission, and providential fulfillment of that mission, God used individual people to evangelize the lost.

in acts 8, we see the fulfilling of Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 KJV 1900

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

not only have the apostles preached the word in jerusalem, but now: according to acts 8:1

The gospel was beginning to spread to other regions in Judea, and even Samaria

Acts 8:1 KJV 1900

1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

in today's passage, we will read of an Ethiopian man that will receive Christ, and then as a true believer will begin to evangelize even the uttermost parts of the earth.

Lets begin reading in Acts 8:26 ...

the convicting nature of the word . vs 26-28

This word, a living breathing, word. A powerful word, precious word most sure word. a Holy word, and a convicting word. the Ethiopian was reading out of the book of Isaiah, and did not understand the scriptures that were in front of him.

Understanding that not all Jews were Isrealies is important. There was a remnant that stayed in Isreal throughout the diaspora, and the group that stayed often looked down on those that had left, or never chose to return and live in their native land. Not only were there Samaritans that were looked down upon, but other nationalities that had practiced Judaism and were here at Jerusalem to worship. Such a one was this Ethiopian. Perhaps his queen was also here to worship.

There had either been a scroll that was brought out of Africa with this man, or he had picked one up here in Jerusalem. Either way, we see the compelling nature of the word towards a heart that God is getting ready to move upon and change forever. It was during a simple reading of this passage at a particular time in this long trek back to Ethiopia, that by happenstance, or by chance, or lets just say it was by coincidence, (((no…))) this was no accident that he was being primed by the scriptures at the same moment that Phillip was passing his way. It was by the wonderful sovereign nature of an all knowing God, that only He could plan for the conversion of this Ethiopian.

On a desert road, leading out of Jerusalem towards Gaza. Some would say this is not important, others would argue the location means nothing, and to many. This remains true, but to that man, the one who will believe in this passage, it means everything.

where can you point back to? where can you say “i was on that desert road, and the spirit of God moved across the pages of Scripture and revealed Himself to me?’ can you begin to tell me, the word of God performed, participated in , and perfected your life? or will you simply use the chorus to Johnny Cash’s ‘amazing grace’ sung at a funeral for bubba joe to look back and say. “that’s when ‘I” changed my direction. This isn’t funny, it may be cute, and it may be an extreme example in your mind of what many individuals are holding on to today, but I can assure you of this, people are holding on to much less than a gospel song, and believe they are eternally secure. I pray you have more than man centered theology, I pray we teach more then a shallow feel good, easy belief, free grace, and no repentance Gospel.

Can you say this?

we have assembled together in this sanctuary as a body whose head is christ, earnestly desiring to teach the scriptures, edify one another, and worship him alone.

or is there another reason you attend FTBC?

=Faith temple, what do you believe?

We believe the Holy Scriptures, namely the 66 books of the Old and New Testament, compose God’s complete written revelation to Man. The 39 Books of Old Testament confirmed in Scripture, consisting of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; and the 27 Books of the New Testament confirmed in Scripture consisting of the Gospel accounts and Apostolic letters do contain the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal to Man the wisdom of God, the nature and character of God, and the will of God.

We believe the Scriptures are inherent, infallible, and inspired in every word of the original writings.

All Scripture is God-Breathed and therefore serves as the final authority for the Christian’s Faith, Practice, and Worship.

Scripture is the source for all Doctrine and serves as the Christians correction and instruction in righteousness.

We believe the Scriptures are to be interpreted according to their contextual, grammatical-historical meaning. Though a specific passage of Scripture may have many applications, there is only one true or right interpretation. All Christians are to diligently study the scriptures for themselves under the illumination of the Spirit. All men stand under the judgment of Scripture by the authority of God

What is it I am trying to emphasize? The WORD of GOD must be evident in your conversion.

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 1900

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 KJV 1900

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

John 6:68–69 KJV 1900

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Psalm 119:11 KJV 1900

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

men have tried to stamp it out, rulers have burned it, kings have tortured those that read it, and for hundreds of generations, our ancestors have either been convicted and changed by it, or opposed to it and its source.

and lastly before wrapping up this point regarding the convicting nature of the word, let us take home something practical.

“preach the scriptures to your heart and stop letting your heart preach to you.” -Paul Washer

preach the scriptures to your mind, and stop letting vain thoughts of your mind preach to you.” - Paul Washer

the witness of the spirit. vs 29-35

I can not make us all understand what it is the Spirit does in our life. there are certain hard sayings that we will wrestle with in our lives, one of which is: the witness of the spirit.

John 3:6 KJV 1900

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

a man such as nicodemus, a religious scholar, could not understand it. he asked, can a man enter in to his mothers womb after he is born? our spiritual birth as described by Christ himself is of a spiritual nature.

John 3:8 KJV 1900

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

who directs the wind? who directs the spirit?

who understands the wind? who understands the spirit?

it may seem as if i am trying to show your lack of understanding of the spirit, and in a way, I am. In regards to salvation, the scriptures are very clear, only God calls man to himself. Man never calls himself to God.

Faith temple, what do you believe?

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts the world of sin because of their unbelief and reproves the world by righteousness and with judgment because of a risen Christ. The Spirit can be resisted and blasphemed.

He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.

We believe that Spirit is sent by the Father to the believer so that the believer may know God, receive a regenerated heart and know the immeasurable greatness of his power.

It is the Spirit that intercedes for every believer. It is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.

the response of the sinner. vs 36-40

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God and set apart from all other creation. We believe man was created as a perfect human, he was given a moral conscience, and the law was written on his heart through that conscience. We believe man had a nature of his own, absent of both Deity and Holiness and he was placed in the garden to work in it and oversee all other creation. Adam and Eve willfully broke the command of the Lord in the act of eating of the forbidden fruit and immediately were convicted by their own conscience. Their sin enacted the just wrath of God upon them resulting in an immediate spiritual death, and a certain physical death. In Adam's sin the entire human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. We believe all are conceived in sin, by nature are the children of wrath, are slaves to sin, and of a certainty they will die. We believe all men are sinners by birth and by choice, and, of themselves, utterly unable to remedy their lost condition.

We believe salvation is a work of God in the sinner that includes regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification. There is no salvation apart from the grace of God and a personal faith in the believer that is granted by God. It is through Christ’s substitutionary atonement, when His precious blood was shed on Calvary, that there is now forgiveness of sins to those that are His own. God’s redemptive plan of eternal life for His elect is not a secondary reaction to the fallen state of man, but rather a providentially decreed and merciful plan of goodness that He extends through Himself and for the glorification of Himself.

We believe salvation only comes by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

There must be a new birth whereby man becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus.

We believe this process is wrought by the Holy Spirit who convicts the individual of their sin, and the sinner responds in true repentance by turning from sin and towards their God. We believe those whom God has predestined unto eternal life, he will effectually call them out of their sin and death by His Word and living Spirit, He will take away their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they will turn from darkness unto light and from power of Satan to God. We believe the effectual regenerating call that brings about salvation is initiated by the grace of God, and will always perform its intended purpose in the heart of the believer.

The only appropriate response to the Spirits call, is a repenting heart and submissive will.

Bonus Question: what is a eunuch?

The eunuchs of the Bible were usually castrated males or those incapable of reproduction due to a birth defect. The purpose of intentional castration was to induce impotence and remove sexual desires It was a common practice in ancient times for rulers to castrate some of their servants and/or advisers in order to subdue and pacify them. It was especially common to castrate men who tended the royal harem. Queen Esther’s eunuchs are mentioned in Esther 4:4. (and of course the Ethiopian we read of tonight) In Matthew 19:12, Jesus mentions eunuchs in the context of whether it is good to marry. He says, “There are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Jesus identifies three types of “eunuchs” here: natural eunuchs (“born that way”), forced eunuchs (“made eunuchs by others”), and voluntary eunuchs (“those who choose”). Natural eunuchs include those who are born with a physical defect, but they also comprise those who are born with no real desire for marriage or sex.

Forced eunuchs are those who have been castrated for whatever reason.

Voluntary eunuchs are those who, in order to better serve the Lord in some capacity, choose to forego marriage. God calls some people to remain single (and therefore celibate). Paul speaks of those who serve the Lord in their unmarried state in 1 Corinthians 7:7—9. Some gay groups argue that Jesus was referring to homosexuals when He mentioned eunuchs who were “born that way.” However, the Bible never uses the words homosexual and eunuch interchangeably. Furthermore, eunuchs are never referred to in Scripture as being in sin, while homosexuality is universally condemned in both the Old and New Testaments.