Pentecost—The New Church: The Birth of the New Testament Church: Philip and the Ethiopian Acts 8: 26-40; Isaiah 53

We continue to follow the expansion of God the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts in pushing the church out of Jerusalem and expanding the conentric rings of ministry from Jews to Gentiles, focusing on the non-Jewish but observant Samaritans and Ethiopians.

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Sunday September 22, 2024

Pentecost: The New Church Series

Review

Samaria: Signs, Spirits, Simony, and Salvation. Acts 8: 9-18

Acts 8:7

Acts 8:7 NKJV

7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.

In our passage in Acts chapter eight, these unclean spirits come out, and there is a deliverance. Why? because they are announcing the gospel and the Messiah. This is all part of what the Messiah would bring, and the result is great joy in the city. But then we are told about a certain man called Simon who previously practiced sorcery in the city.

Acts 8:9

Acts 8:9 NKJV

9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,

The word here for “sorcery” is the verb mageuo [μαγεύω] from which we get our word “magic.”

It ultimately derives from a Persian word for a Median tribe called the Magi, who eventually rose to a place of political prominence in the government of the Parthian empire.

so they were the ones who chose the kings. They were the most powerful of the tribes. Because of their expertise in astrology and sorcery, their name became associated with that.

So that is how we develop the verb mageuo, which is the idea of practicing magic. This was not just some sleight of hand; they were truly practicing a demon-empowered magic.

The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was a major Iranian political and cultural power from 247 BC to 224 AD. It was founded by Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia, which was then a province under the Seleucid Empire.

At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates River (in what is now central-eastern Turkey) to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire was strategically located on the Silk Road, making it a significant center for trade and commerce between the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty of China.

The Parthians adopted a mix of Persian, Hellenistic, and regional cultures, which influenced their art, architecture, and religious practices. They were known for their unique and highly effective cavalry tactics, particularly the “Parthian shot,” in which mounted archers would shoot arrows backward while retreating.

The Parthian Empire eventually fell to the Sasanian Empire in 224 CE.

The Sasanian Empire, also known as the Sassanid Empire, was the last pre-Islamic Persian empire, lasting from 224 AD to 651 AD. It was founded by Ardashir I, who overthrew the Parthian Empire and established a new dynasty named after his ancestor, Sasan.

At its height, the Sasanian Empire encompassed present-day Iran and Iraq. It extended from the Levant to the Indian subcontinent, South Arabia to the Caucasus and Central Asia. The empire was known for its centralized government, revitalization of Zoroastrianism as the state religion, and significant cultural achievements in art, architecture, and scholarship.

The Sasanian Empire was a significant rival to the Roman (later Byzantine) Empire and engaged in numerous conflicts with them. It eventually fell to the Arab Rashidun Caliphate in 651 AD.

The other word used for “sorcery” in the New Testament, besides the verb mageuo [μαγεύω] from which we get our word “magic” is pharmakeia [φαρμακεία], from which we get our word “pharmacy.”

Pharmakeia refers to the fact that they used hallucinogenic drugs in their religious system to have an out-of-body ecstatic experience where they would contact the demons. That is the emphasis here in pharmakeia .

The Greek term for ecstasy is ἔκστασις (ekstasis). It is derived from the Greek words ἐκ (ek), meaning “out,” and στάσις (stasis), meaning “a standing” or "a state". Together, they convey the idea of being “outside oneself” or experiencing a state of being removed from one’s normal condition.

We need to understand this in the context of the old sin nature, so we are going to Galatians 5:

Galatians 5:19-21

Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now in this passage, we see that The flesh expresses itself in sexual immorality and indecency (adultery, fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness). Lewdness is translated “lasciviousness” in the King James and debauchery in the NIV. It connotes an open, shameless, brazen display of these evils.

Then we have idolatrous and occult worship (sorcery), which being listed immediately after the sexual sins probably includes the male and female prostitution so often a part of heathen religion.

Sorcery here, or witchcraft in the KJV and NIV is the translation of the Greek word pharmakeia from which “pharmacy” comes. In these ancient-to-us times the worship of evil powers was accompanied by the use of drugs to create trances. This vice will also be prominent in the Tribulation period

Then there are other acts like murders, drunkenness, and wild carousing (revelries).

But it also manifests itself in such socially acceptable sins as hatred, wrath (anger), selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies (Gk. haireseis, “false beliefs” or “factions”), even envy.

I want to point out, while we are in this passage, that we have a series of eight descriptions, Eight societal evils that are then listed (the last one in Gal. 5:21).

Hatred (echthrai) is in the plural form, denoting primarily a feeling of enmity between groups.

Discord (eris) is the natural result of “hatred” and no doubt a problem in the Galatian church.

Jealousy (zēlos) refers not to the godly form but to the sinful and self-centered type. (These two words, eris and zelos, are also listed in Rom. 13:13.)

Fits of rage (thymoi) or outbursts of temper, often come as a final eruption of smoldering jealousy.

Selfish ambition (eritheiai) is a self-aggrandizing attitude which shows itself in working to get ahead at other’s expense (cf. Phil. 2:3).

Dissensions (dichostasiai) and factions (haireseis) describe what happens when people quarrel over issues or personalities, causing hurtful divisions.

5:21. Envy (phthonoi) is an evil feeling, a wrongful desire to possess what belongs to someone else.

Thus the sinful nature is seen to be responsible for the breakdown of interpersonal relationships in homes, churches, and in public society.

Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV

**And the like** shows that this is a representative rather than a complete list of such sins (read 1 Cor. 6:9, 10 for a different listing).

Revelation 9:21

Revelation 9:21 NKJV

21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation 18:23

Revelation 18:23 NKJV

23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

So, let’s return with this information and continue looking at our passage in Acts:

Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13 NKJV

13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

He is a believer. But is he? That is the question. And it is greatly debated. Those in the Lordship and Calvinism camps cannot accept that He is saved. Those in the Armenian, Pentecostal, Wesleyan, Nazarene, etc. traditions say that he probably wasn’t saved, but that if he was, he lost his salvation.

Simon Magus becomes the bogeyman in early Christianity.

When Iranaeus wrote in his book Against the Heretics in about 160-170 AD, Simon Magus was cited as the originator of Gnosticism. Iranaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of the Apostle John.

So whether it is the historical Simon Magus who became apostate and then got involved in all kinds of Gnosticism or simply that his name was used and coopted by Gnostics, by the second century, Simon Magus is understood to be the wicked witch of the East.

He is everybody’s evil person.

There are volumes written about Simon Magus and all of his Gnosticism, magic, demonism, and the occult, and everything finds a home in Simon Magus.

So it is assumed that the Simon Magus of the legends is historically this Simon Magus. There is no evidence to prove that, but the thing is, if he becomes this horrible heretic, then almost every Christian and every theologian we talk to says Simon wasn’t a believer.

We don’t know.

Anybody can commit any sin. The issue isn’t what sins we have committed but whether we have trusted in Christ to pay for the sins.

The Lord Jesus Christ either paid for all of sins, or He didn’t pay for any of them.

We have to understand that throughout Scripture, the emphasis is always on "believe", and it doesn’t say Simon superficially believed or Simon partially believed, or Simon fooled everybody into thinking he believed; it says Simon believed

Simon and Salvation: When is belief, not Belief. Acts 8:9-18

When is belief not belief?

Or, is belief in Christ ever not belief in Christ? That is really at the heart at this whole debate that is termed free grace versus lordship. Some people have said that free grace sounds like a redundancy. Well, the infallible, inerrant Word of God sounds redundant. We have to keep adding these adjectives for clarity because the enemy's tactic is always to change the meaning of words. That is why words are so important. Often the battle is on vocabulary: how you form questions. For example, the question: when is belief, not belief? That sounds like an affirmation that there was a time when belief could not be belief. It’s not, we know that, but it sort of sounds that way. How we state things and use words tends to shift and shape the debate. The debate is about belief in Jesus Christ for salvation, which is the sole and necessary condition.

Non-Christians have trouble with that because, basically, they want to do it their way. It is an authority issue. God says, ‘I have a plan for salvation and there is only one way.’ Non-Christians think that they’re good enough.

Isaiah 64:6 says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and if we can’t do anything to be saved we have to rely exclusively on the work of someone else.

Isaiah 64:6

Isaiah 64:6 NKJV

6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Reliance on someone else is trust; it is believing that they are the ones who can save us. When anything is added to that, we are saying that the belief in what this other person has done isn’t enough; we have to add to it. So, that completely dilutes and destroys the faith.

But some will question: Is this “true” faith?

There are a couple of different issues in faith.

One is that some distinguish between “faith and saving faith”, that the kind of faith that saves is different from the kind of faith we have in everyday life.

But we have to question where the Bible says that?

Where does this idea come from? When the Scripture uses the terms “believe” and “faith,” it means something other than what the average person on the street who hears the Koine Greek's common language would understand.

These so-called scholars or experts try to insist that, ‘Oh, the faith they’re talking about isn’t the same kind of faith they talk about day in and day out.’ Where would they get the idea that somehow it is a different kind of faith?

They go to one or two places in Scripture to try to defend this, and one of those is this passage, which discusses Simon's salvation and belief.

As a reminder of where we are, Philip has gone north to Samaria. This is just radical, one of the most radical socially revolutionary things that could take place because of the hatred, animosity, and enmity that existed between the Samaritans and the Jews. They had had centuries of hostility toward one another. What Philip has recognized is that Jesus Christ has died for everyone. That means that as Christians, there is no basis for any kind of prejudice or ethnic or cultural bias in giving out the gospel.

Demonism can be categorized in two different ways.

There is passive demon influence, which is the influence of demonic/satanic thought through the world system of thinking—various philosophies and religions of the world system.

That would be more of a passive or indirect demonic influence.

Then, there is a more active demonic influence when a person is intentionally and volitionally pursuing activities that he knows involve him in the occult or demonic activity.

The term “occult” is a word that, at its core meaning, refers to something that is hidden, something not seen, and so it comes to apply to a certain kind of knowledge, a hidden or secret knowledge. It was a word that was often associated with Gnosticism. Gnosticism has the same idea: if you want health and happiness, you have to latch on to a special formula, a secret doctrine, and then you can have that. In its technical application, the word “occult” has come to refer to supernatural or magical powers—not magical powers like David Copperfield has, but magical powers like Satan has where they are tapping into true supernatural beings.

In Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, there is a very strong prohibition to the Jews against being involved in any occult activity. Such involvement was to be punishable by death because it basically would bring cancerous destruction into the Jewish community.

End of 1st Service 8/22/2024

Deuteronomy 18:9

Deuteronomy 18:9 NKJV

9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.

The Canaanites were practicing such things. It was part of their religion. Theirs was a demonic culture, and this was why God was authorizing the annihilation of the Canaanites, every man, woman, and child. They had become a malignant sore on the body of humanity. God had given them 400 years since the time of Abraham to turn to Him, and they continued to become more perverse, so now it was time for judgment. Similarly, the native Americans were debauched, perverse, and demonic. It was the same in Mexico with the Aztecs, who had human sacrifices.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14

Deuteronomy 18:10–14 NKJV

10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.

The reason they were to be driven out was because they listened to soothsayers and diviners.

Other passages in the Scriptures talk about different practices of divination. We have several examples in Daniel with the Magi. The Magi were a Median tribe that specialized in astrology and fortune-telling.

In Ezekiel 21:21 we are told about the practice of the king of Babylon.

Ezekiel 21:21

Ezekiel 21:21 NKJV

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver.

This was common –practice for decision-making in the ancient world. The magicians were quite powerful in their own right. Whether or not they were tapping into demonic power, we don’t know. The wise men in Egypt were, and they could imitate a certain number of the plagues that Moses brought upon the Egyptians. That is seen in passages like Exodus 7:11, 22 where the Egyptians basically copied whatever Moses did.

Exodus 7:11, 22

Exodus 7:11 NKJV

11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

Exodus 7:22 NKJV

22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

But by the time of the later plagues in Exodus 8:18 and 9:11, they could not duplicate the plague of the vermin, the lice, or the boils. They could only go so far. Satan’s power is always going to be limited by God.

Exodus 8:18, 9:11

Exodus 8:18 NKJV

18 Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.

Exodus 9:11 NKJV

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

If somebody was involved with witchcraft, the penalty was death.

Exodus 22:18

Exodus 22:18 NKJV

18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

Simon is a sorcerer. Acts 8:9

Acts 8:9

Acts 8:9 NKJV

9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,

The term “practicing magic” is a verb that is formed from the word for Magi; it is the word mage [μαγεύω]. It meant, at that time, to practice magic. We don't know whether he was practicing a very sophisticated legerdemain, sleight of hand, skillful deception, or involved in some demonic connection. We don’t know. Based on the text, he is probably just a good trickster.

The other word used in Scripture for sorcery that we find in the list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 is pharmakeia referring to the use of certain kinds of drugs to bring about mind control, hallucination, getting in touch with the demonic side.

Then, we are told that Simon himself believed. Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13 NKJV

13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

He was baptized, so his belief isn’t different from anybody else’s. Philip doesn’t see him as different from anybody else, even though he is a well-known sorcerer.

Acts 8:13 NKJV

13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

The purpose of signs and wonders is to give convicting evidence of the message's truth. The whole Gospel of John is written around signs. In Acts 2:22 we read.

Acts 2:22

Acts 2:22 NKJV

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

In other words, there is nothing wrong with pointing out the miracles that Jesus did or coming to faith based on those miracles. They were part of the signs of an apostle.

We remind you of

2 Corinthians 12:12

2 Corinthians 12:12 NKJV

12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

The only ones other than the eleven who performed miracles were Philip and Stephen, and that is because they were apostolic associates, a unique role that applied to those chosen in Acts chapter six.

When it comes to belief, we should pay attention to how the word “belief” is used in Acts. Is there any basis for saying that there can be a kind of belief in the gospel that doesn’t get you saved?

After Peter has preached the gospel on the day of Pentecost and 3000 were believed, we are told:

Acts 2:44

Acts 2:44 NKJV

44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,

The Lordship sect will come back and say that it was all genuine belief. They want to read some adverb into the sentence—all who truly believed. The Bible never says truly believed, genuinely believed the gospel; it just talks about those who believed.

Acts 4:4, 32

Acts 4:4 NKJV

4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Acts 4:32 NKJV

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

So, again and again, it is simply believing in the message that Jesus is the Messiah, and there is no qualifying factor.

Acts 5:14

Acts 5:14 NKJV

14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Being added to the Lord is being added to the body of Christ.

Acts 8:12-13

Acts 8:12–13 NKJV

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

Luke does not distinguish Simon from the rest of those who believe in terms of his belief.

Acts 9:42

Acts 9:42 NKJV

42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.

Acts 10:43

Acts 10:43 NKJV

43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”

Notice he [Peter] doesn’t say those who believe in Him for eternal life. Here, he is talking about believing for the remission of sins.

Acts 13:12

Acts 13:12 NKJV

12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Acts 13:39

Acts 13:39 NKJV

39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Everyone who believes, not everyone who believes sincerely, believes genuinely, or believes with a commitment to the Lordship of Christ.

When we look at what happened with Simon, it says Simon believed and continued with Philip. After this, he is going to fall. So people will say, "Ah, but it wasn’t genuine faith."

Then there is a Simon Magus who shows up 100 years later in church history that is a progenitor of Gnosticism. All of these Gnostic miracles and teachings are attributed to him. But we don’t know if that is a legend or anything factual about it. But people will say: How can he be a false teacher like that and be saved. It is easy, because getting saved doesn’t mean you are always going to behave the way you should behave.

When we read here of Simon, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God,” the Aramaic word for the “power” was a word that the Samaritans often used as a substitute for God. It was a circumlocution.

Instead of saying the word “God,” they would say “Power.” They would make statements like, “Great is the great Power.” So when we look at that sentence at the end of verse 10, it should be punctuated as This man is “the Great Power of God.”

That term, the Great Power of God, was a term for the one who was the expression of God in the Old Testament. It was used to denote an angel. Remember that in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is distinct from Yahweh, yet both are fully divine. In almost all cases, the angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. So, this idea that there is an angelic representation of God was one they called “the Great Power of God.” And they are assigning that name to Simon. So Simon has a sort of pretension to messianic claims here. But he comes in contact with the real Messiah, Jesus Christ, and trusts in Him.

He is converted, he trusts in Christ, and then, when he sees what happens when Peter and John come, and the Holy Spirit baptizes them, he wants to buy that power. That is where we get the term “simony,” which developed in the Middle Ages for those who wished to purchase church offices.

We move forward in our text in Acts Chapter Eight:

Receiving the Spirit in Samaria. Acts 8: 14-18

Acts 8:14

Acts 8:14 NKJV

14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

There is an important word there, receive—lambano, which Luke uses in relation to the Holy Spirit and accepting the truth of the Scripture. It is a word synonym for belief; it is accepting something as true. They have heard that the Samaritans had received or accepted the Word of God. It might be even clearer if we say God's message because they are talking about the gospel message that Philip had proclaimed. So they sent Peter and John. Why? All that had happened was that they had trusted in Christ as the Messiah, and now, the apostles were going to send Peter and John there.

Acts 8:15

Acts 8:15 NKJV

15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

So what has happened? First, they believed, then Peter and John came, and then they received the Holy Spirit. They did not receive the Holy Spirit, the ministries of the Holy Spirit for the church-age believer, at the instant of faith. Today, we do. Others did at that time. If you were Jewish and trusted in Christ, you immediately received the Holy Spirit, but these are not Jews; they are a separate ethnic group not really viewed as Gentiles but not really Jews either. And especially because of the ethnic hostility that existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, it was important for God to demonstrate that they were of equal stature and equal position in the body of Christ with the Jewish Christians.

Then, there is a parenthetical explanation.

Acts 8:16

Acts 8:16 NKJV

16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

This shows that this ethnic group has been baptized, and it was not by the Holy Spirit because they hadn’t received Him. The only baptism this could refer to would be a believer’s baptism or water baptism, which is by immersion. So what has happened is that Philip has proclaimed the gospel, they have believed the gospel, they have been baptized in terms of immersion as believer’s baptism, then Peter and John come and pay hands on them, and

Acts 8:17

Acts 8:17 NKJV

17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

It is important to understand how this fits within the structure of the book of Acts because there are actually four “Pentecosts” in Acts. One is related to the Jewish people in Acts 2, one to the Samaritans in Acts 8, one to the Gentiles in Acts 10, and one to Jewish believers in the diaspora in Acts chapter 19. One of the reasons we want to see this is because, within the modern Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, the claim is made that the gift of tongues experience is what happens when you get the Holy Spirit.

So there are two different works of grace in this system of theology: one is related to salvation or justification when you believe in Jesus, and then a second work of grace sometime after you are justified, and that is when you get the rest of the package—receiving the Holy Spirit. And they believe the necessary sign for receiving the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. Charismatic and Pentecostal are not synonyms. A Pentecostal gets the Holy Spirit, signified by speaking in tongues, but he separates into another denomination—Assembly of God, United Pentecostal Church in America. Charismatics stayed in their denominations, so there were Baptist charismatics, Catholic charismatics, Presbyterian charismatics, etc. They stayed in their denominations but still held that speaking in tongues was the necessary sign of receiving the Holy Spirit, which was a second work of grace. The claim was that there was a set pattern: you get saved, there was an initial work of grace, and then when you dedicate your life or some other spiritual experience, you then receive the second blessing, second work of grace, you receive the Holy Spirit, and you necessarily speak in tongues. That was their pattern, and they would go to Acts.

But the point is, that is not the pattern in Acts.

In Acts 2 it starts off with only the twelve in 2:1 who are already believers. There is a noise like a tornado coming through in 2:2, and then there is this visible manifestation like flames of fire over each of the eleven disciples. Then we are told that they are filled with the Holy Spirit at that point, and then they speak with these other languages they don't know.

There is no laying on of hands and no mention of water baptism until Acts 2:38, when Peter says, "Repent and believe and let each one be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." So, Acts 2:38 is the first mention of baptism. It has to be water baptism, not Spirit baptism. Spirit baptism is what happened when the Spirit came; water baptism depicts through a physical ritual the spiritual truth of spiritual baptism.

Then, we have the order of events in Samaria. First, the Samaritans believed, and then we are told they were baptized by water. There is still no mention of the Holy Spirit. They had not even received the Holy Spirit, we are told, in fact. Then Peter and John came from Jerusalem a few days later, prayed for them, and laid hands on them (there is no laying on of hands in Acts 2), and then they received the Holy Spirit, vs. 15-17.

But there is no speaking in tongues; it is not mentioned. Some people say it had to have happened there because it happened in other places. But if it is not mentioned, we can’t know that it did happen. In the other three places, the Holy Spirit specifically informed us that it happened, and we ought to assume that it didn’t happen in Samaria. And there is a reason for that—if we understand the purpose of tongues.

In Acts 10, Peter is commissioned and authorized by God to take the gospel to the unclean Gentiles, to the house of Cornelius. Peter goes up there and starts to proclaim the gospel and explain who Jesus is, and they believe while they are sitting there listening.

Scripture says that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, and that expression describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

So Peter proclaims the gospel, they believe and while they are hearing, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and then they spoke in tongues and praised God. Praising God is a generic term. It doesn’t mean they said, “Praise God.” That is a superficial concept. If we go to the praise psalms, most of them after Psalm 100 are praise psalms, and they describe what God has done. That is how we praise God. We describe the works of God and what He has done; we don’t just say, “Praise God.” There are many Christians who go through this sort of infantile kind of language thing, and we need to realize that it is a characteristic of babyhood. Those who have had a child know that that child is going to talk like a baby and they are going to repeat things that they hear other people say. So, notice the order here. They are baptized by water after they speak in tongues. In Samaria, they didn’t speak in tongues, and they were baptized with water first, and there was no laying on of hands.

In Acts 19, we see Paul's situation in Ephesus. These disciples or students of John the Baptist come to Paul, and they have only heard of the baptism of John the Baptist. And they were baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist (a water baptism which was by immersion), and they had already believed. They believed in an Old Testament gospel but hadn’t heard anything about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Paul explains that Jesus is the Messiah, explains the Holy Spirit, and then says they need to be baptized. He doesn’t wait for them to go through a ten-week orientation class because they already have a sound theological understanding of the Scripture. They just needed to get the last couple of pieces in place in terms of who Jesus was and the Holy Spirit, and so they are baptized by water in the name of Jesus in Acts 19:5. Then Paul laid hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came, they spoke in tongues (languages) and were prophesying.

We need to ask: What is going on here with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues, and why does it happen to the Jews, the Gentiles, and these Old Testament saints but not to the Samaritans? There is an answer to that, but we have to understand the purpose of speaking in tongues.

Acts 2:38

Acts 2:38 NKJV

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This goes back to Deuteronomy 30. Israel was promised the kingdom and the blessings that would come with the new covenant, which was related to giving the “new” Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that this would happen when Israel turned. This was a challenge to the Jewish people to turn and accept God and reject their idolatry.

Acts 2:38 NKJV

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word for “receive” is λαμβάνω — lambano, a generic term for receiving the Holy Spirit. It refers to the whole package of the Holy Spirit’s ministries in the church age: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, baptism by the Holy Spirit, filling by the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, etc. All of these are part of just receiving the Holy Spirit. He tells them to be baptized.

In verse 41 of that chapter, we are told that three thousand were saved. That is a lot of people, and they weren’t spending any time waiting to baptize them.

In Acts 10, the Cornelius episode, Peter says immediately after they believe, “Can anyone forbid water to them?” And they immediately get baptized.

We will see at the end of Acts chapter eight that Philip goes down and clarifies the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. As soon as the Ethiopians believed, he was baptized by water baptism.

So, where did people get baptized on the day of Pentecost? We are told that they were outside the temple, on the temple steps, and they had ritual baths that the Jews used before they went into the temple. There were more than 30 of them.

The purpose of tongues. Paul clarifies this in 1 Corinthians 14:20, 21.

1 Corinthians 14:20-21

What is important about speaking in languages? It wasn’t what was said. Paul doesn’t say here that they were given the gift of languages so they could explain the gospel to people who speak a foreign language. There is no evidence of that anywhere in Scripture. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says not to do this when an unbeliever is present because he is going to think you’re nuts, you’re drunk, whatever. Its purpose wasn’t for evangelism.

1 Corinthians 14:20 NKJV

20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

In other words, don’t be immature in your understanding. Know what the Word of God says. On the other hand, in terms of malice and mental attitude sins, being an infant shouldn’t characterize your life at all. Be mature in understanding.

1 Corinthians 14:21 NKJV

21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

God is speaking to the Jews. The context of that quote comes from Deuteronomy 28:49-50 which is part of the discipline God said He will bring upon Israel if they reject Him.

Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Deuteronomy 28:49–50 NKJV

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.

Part of that discipline is that they will hear the Word of God, which is not in Hebrew.

When God called out to Abraham, He said, ‘From now on, I am dealing with the people in the world via Abraham and the Jewish people,’ all of the Scripture was given in Hebrew with a few portions in Aramaic.

And what God is saying here is that if they continue to reject Him He was going to bring foreign powers who would conquer them and they would hear Gentile languages where they shouldn’t hear Gentile languages in the temple mount, proclaiming the truth of God.

They should be hearing it from their own prophets, but they have rejected that, and now they are going to hear it from a conquering nation.

In Isaiah 28:11-12 Isaiah reiterates the same prophecy. The Assyrian threat is on the horizon, and Isaiah predicts the destruction of Judea by the Babylonians in the future.

Isaiah 28:11-12

Isaiah 28:11–12 NKJV

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, 12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.

That terminology is an offer of the kingdom. Isaiah predicted that God would bring the offer of the kingdom, but they would not hear it, and as a result of that, they would hear the Scripture taught in Gentile languages. This means the special position of the Jews will be taken away.

Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Deuteronomy 28:49–50 NKJV

This prediction is based on the law. That is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 14:21.

1 Corinthians 14:21 NKJV

21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

Tongues, the hearing of Scripture not in Hebrew (in a Gentile language), was a sign of judgment. It didn’t matter what was said; it was that Scripture was taught as a sign of judgment to Israel. They hear it on the temple mount on the day of Pentecost. Judgment is coming. The Gentiles are speaking in other Gentile languages.

That is the same issue in Acts 10.

John the Baptist’s disciples also speak different languages (Acts 19), which will reverberate in the Jewish communities in Asia Minor.

End of 2nd Service 9/22/2024

Sunday September 29, 2024

Pentecost: The New Church Series

Review

Samaria: Signs, Spirits, Simony, and Salvation. Acts 8: 9-18

We have reviewed the Signs of the Apostels that Philip was gifted with to reflect the designated authority of the Apostles with which He shared the gospel. This is called plenipoteniate or plenipotentiary authority or power.

Plenipotentiary coriginates from the Latin words plenus (meaning “full”) and potentia (meaning “power”)

The term plenipotentiary can be used both as a noun and an adjective:

As a noun: It refers to a person, especially a diplomat, who has been given full power to act independently on behalf of their government, typically in a foreign country. For example, an ambassador plenipotentiary has the authority to sign treaties and make decisions without needing further approval.

As an adjective: It describes someone or something that has full power to take independent action. For instance, a minister with plenipotentiary powers can make decisions and take actions without needing to consult others.

This is the power which has been given to the Apostles, signified by the signs and wonders they performed by the authority and in the ministry of the HaMoshiach of Israel. The Messiah delegated His power to them that they might fulfill His plan for the church, what we call the great commission.

Interestingly this is the authoritative power that was given to the 12 apostles to represent Him during His earthly 1st advent Messianic Ministry in Israel.

Also, interestingly we find that there is a plenitpotentiary power that was delegated to Peter, that we will encounter in this next section of Acts.

Now let’s jump into our text in Acts 8, and read the passage that we have come to

Acts 8:14-25

Acts 8:14–25 NKJV

14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” 25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

Last week we reviewed how It is important to understand how this fits within the structure of the book of Acts because there are actually four “Pentecosts” in Acts.

The four “Pentecosts” in Acts.

One is related to the Jewish people in Acts 2,

One to the Samaritans in Acts 8,

One to the Gentiles in Acts 10,

and one to Jewish believers in the diaspora in Acts chapter 19.

One reasons that you want to see this is because, within the modern Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, the claim is made that the gift of tongues experience is what happens when you get the Holy Spirit.

So in Pentecostal-Charismatic system of theology there are two different works of grace:

one related to salvation or justification when you believe in Christ Jesus,

and a second work of grace sometime after you are justified, and that is when you get the rest of the package—receiving the Holy Spirit.

And they believe the necessary sign for receiving the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues.

Charismatic and Pentecostal are not synonyms. A Pentecostal gets the Holy Spirit, signified by speaking in tongues, but he separates into another denomination—Assembly of God, United Pentecostal Church in America, Foursquare Church, Apostolic Faith, etc..

Charismatics stayed in their denominations, so there were Baptist charismatics, Catholic charismatics, Presbyterian charismatics, etc. They stayed in their denominations but still held that speaking in tongues was the necessary sign of receiving the Holy Spirit, which was a second work of grace.

The claim was that there was a set pattern: you get saved, there was an initial work of grace, and then when you dedicate your life or some other spiritual experience, you then receive the second blessing, second work of grace, you receive the Holy Spirit, and you necessarily speak in tongues.

That was their pattern, and they would go to Acts to justify it.

But the point is, that is not the pattern in Acts.

The Pattern seen in Acts 2

Then we are told that they are filled with the Holy Spirit at that point, and then they speak with these other languages they don't know.

There is no laying on of hands and no mention of water baptism until Acts 2:38, when Peter says, "Repent and believe and let each one be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

So, Acts 2:38 is the first mention of baptism, which has to be water baptism, not Spirit baptism. Spirit baptism is what happened when the Spirit came; water baptism depicts through a physical ritual the spiritual truth of spiritual baptism.

Then, we have the order of events in Samaria.

First, the Samaritans believed, and then we are told they were baptized by water.

There is still no mention of the Holy Spirit.

They had not even received the Holy Spirit, we are told, in fact.

Then Peter and John came from Jerusalem a few days later, prayed for them, and laid hands on them (there is no laying on of hands in Acts 2), and then they received the Holy Spirit, Acts 8: 15-17.

But there is no speaking in tongues; it is not mentioned.

Some people say it had to have happened there because it happened in other places. But if isn’t mentioned, so we can’t know or say that it did happen.

In the other three outpourings or Pentecosts, the Holy Spirit specifically informed us that it happened, so we are guided by the text that it did not happen in Samaria.

To understand why, we must understand the purpose of tongues.

Scripture says that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, and that expression describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

Peter proclaims the gospel, they believe and while they are hearing him, the Holy Spirit falls upon them, and they speak in tongues and praised God.

Again, reviewing from last week, Praising God is a generic term. It doesn’t mean they said, “Praise God.”

That is a superficial concept.

If we go to the praise psalms, most of them after Psalm 100 are praise psalms, and they describe what God has done. These are called the Works of God.

Notice what it says in Acts 2:11-12.

Acts 2:11-12

Acts 2:11–12 NKJV

11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

That is how we praise God. We describe the works of God and what He has done; we don’t just say, “Praise God.”

So, notice the order here.

They are baptized by water after they speak in tongues.

In Samaria, they didn’t speak in tongues, and they were baptized with water first, and there was no laying on of hands.

In Acts 19, we see Paul's situation in Ephesus. These disciples or students of John the Baptist come to Paul, and they have only heard of the baptism of John the Baptist.

And they were baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist (a water baptism which was by immersion), and they had already believed.

They believed in an Old Testament gospel about a coming Messiah but hadn’t heard anything about Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

Paul explains that Jesus is the Messiah, explains the Holy Spirit, and then says they need to be baptized.

And so they are baptized by water in the name of Jesus in Acts 19:2-6 .

Acts 19:2-6

Acts 19:2–6 NKJV

2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

Then Paul laid hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came, they spoke in tongues (languages) and were prophesying.

So, repeating last week,What is going on here with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the speaking in tongues, and why does it happen to the Jews, the Gentiles, and these Old Testament saints but not to the Samaritans?

There is an answer to that, but we have to understand the purpose of speaking in tongues, which is hugely misunderstood, to understand this.

Acts 2:38

Acts 2:38 NKJV

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38 NKJV

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

All of these are part of just receiving the Holy Spirit.

He tells them to be baptized in water and receive the grace package of the Holy Spirit’s church age ministry.

So water baptism, was a passage from the Old Testament era to the the New Testament by means of identification with the recognition that Yeshua-Jesus was the HaMoshiach.

In verse 41 of Chapter 2 we are told that three thousand were saved. That is a lot of people, and they weren’t spending any time waiting to baptize them.

In Acts 10, the Cornelius episode, Peter says immediately after they believe, “Can anyone forbid water to them?” And they immediately get baptized.

We will see at the end of Acts chapter eight that Philip goes down and clarifies the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. As soon as the Ethiopians believed, he was baptized by water baptism.

Now, let’s concentrate on the purpose of tongues.

Paul clarifies this in 1 Corinthians 14:20, 21.

1 Corinthians 14:20-21

There is no evidence of that anywhere in Scripture. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says not to do this when an unbeliever is present because he is going to think you’re out of your right mind, or you’re drunk, or something. The purpose of tongues wasn’t for evangelism.

1 Corinthians 14:20 NKJV

20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

1 Corinthians 14:21 NKJV

21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

Paul is quoting God speaking to the Jews about the purpose of Tongues from Deuteronomy 28:49-50 which is part of the discipline God said He will bring upon Israel if they reject Him.

Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Deuteronomy 28:49–50 NKJV

Part of that discipline is that they will hear the Word of God, but not in their own tongue of Hebrew.

When God chose Abraham, He essentially was saying that, ‘From now on, I am dealing with the people in the world via Abraham and the Jewish people,’ so that all of the Scripture is given in Hebrew with a few portions in Aramaic, which is a semetic step brother language to Hebrew, that was used by all of the Assyrian and Babylonian and Persian empires. In fact, modern day Farsi, spoken by Iranians today, does have some significant influence from Aramaic mixed in with the dominant Arabic influence.

But what God is saying here is that if they continue to reject Him He was going to bring foreign powers who would conquer them and they would hear Gentile languages where they shouldn’t hear Gentile languages in the temple mount, proclaiming the truth of God.

They should be hearing it from their own prophets, but they have rejected that, and now they are going to hear it from a conquering nation.

In Isaiah 28:11-12 Isaiah reiterates the same prophecy. The Assyrian threat is on the horizon, and Isaiah predicts the destruction of Judea by the Babylonians in the future.

Isaiah 28:11-12

Isaiah 28:11–12 NKJV

We see this fulfilled in Acts 2, in that Israel had rejected the offer of the kingdom through their Messiah, their Moshiach Yeshua-Jesus. Therefore the new work of God the Holy Spirit is to speak of the wonders of God in other languages. This is a sign of the judgement of the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Deuteronomy 28:49–50 NKJV

This prediction is based on the law. That is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 14:21.

1 Corinthians 14:21 NKJV

21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

Tongues, the hearing of Scripture not in Hebrew (in a Gentile language), was a sign of judgment. It didn’t matter what was said; it was that Scripture was taught as a sign of judgment to Israel. They hear it on the temple mount on the day of Pentecost. This is a sign that Judgment is coming. Jews are speaking in other Gentile languages.

That is the same issue in Acts 10.

John the Baptist’s disciples also speak different languages (Acts 19), which will reverberate in the Jewish communities in Asia Minor.

Why is their no speaking in tongues, in Gentile languages among the Samaritans? Because the Samaritans are a sort of bastard ethnic spin-off from the Jews, they are neither Jew nor Gentile. The announcement of significance is what happened on the day of Pentecost; it is what happens among the Jews and what happens among the Gentiles in front of Jews.

I think this is very important and worth noting, and we have covered this before in this study when we were covering Chapter 2.

It is noteworthy that when Peter arrived in Caesarea to meet Cornelius and the other Gentile believers, that he brought with him a constituency of Jews from Joppa.

Notice this in Acts 10:23, I’ll start reading in verse 21

Acts 10:21-23

Acts 10:21–23 NKJV

21 Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” 23 Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

These are Jews. There is not argument about this, because the only people Peter had been with up to this moment were Jews. And his Jewish brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

We jump down in the narrative to verse 44.

Acts 10:44–48 NKJV

44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Who is Peter addressing in verse 47? The Jews from Joppa.

Now the Gentiles don’t have any need of being informed of judgement, but those who are Jews who are present do.

As the Church body is spreading, and being authenticated by Peter, the Jews are being reminded that judgement has come to Israel, to Jerusalem, and that there will be a future full scale diaspera of all Jews from israel.

But back to our study in Acts 8, the Samaritans are in a kind of ethnic no-man’s-land, and so there is no need for them to hear a message related to judgment. They are not Jews to be cast out from the land.

Beyond that, only Peter and John are present when Peter autenticates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them, there are no other Jews who need to witness the curse of Gentile tongues.

So they don’t speak in tongues. It doesn’t fit the purpose God had for speaking in tongues.

All of this leads to an understanding of the receiving and baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we will discuss next.

The What and When in the Baptism of the Spirit? Acts 8:14-18

Acts 8:14-16

Acts 8:14–16 NKJV

They are saved but they don’t have the indwelling, the filling, the baptism—nothing to do with the Holy Spirit in terms of the church age yet. It was not because of any sin in their life, because they didn’t fully trust Jesus, or because they just got part of the grace package at justification and there had to be a second work of grace. It doesn’t have anything to do with that. That was fundamentally the Pentecostal error: splitting the distribution of God’s grace to the believer and getting part of it at salvation and a secondary act of dedication.

Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:3 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Every spiritual blessing means that none were left out, and we get everything as a package deal at the instant of salvation.

But Acts is a transition book. We are moving from one dispensation, the dispensation of Israel, to a new dispensation. There is a new start. There is a little bit of overlap here because the age of the Mosaic Law ends at the cross, so there is no longer a purpose for the ritual sacrifices and everything that went along with the Mosaic Law. But the temple was still in existence on the temple mount. There was still the function of the Levitical priesthood.

There is no contradiction in the minds of Peter, John, Paul, or anyone else that there is a conflict between the gospel of grace and bringing Thanksgiving sacrifices.

Paul wasn’t bringing atonement sacrifices.

He was bringing Thanksgiving sacrifices to the temple. As long as the temple was there, it was the site for worshipping God—until God removed it, and that didn’t happen until AD 70.

From 33 to 70, there was this transition period that, while it was in the church age, clearly had things going on that would not become normative in the church age. One of these was that there were different things that happened in different order at salvation.

In Acts chapter two, the Holy Spirit initially only falls upon the twelve. This was spread out as the day of Pentecost proceeded. They were already believers. The outpouring was evidenced by a noise like wind, and there was a visible representation in the tongues of fire. After that, we are told they were filled with the Spirit. This was a different word for filling than in Ephesians 5:18.

Ephesians 5:18

Ephesians 5:18 NKJV

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

The word pimpleni [pimplhni] always precedes some vocal utterance, statement, or speaking. It is related more to some inspiration type talk than to the ongoing filling of the Holy Spirit of Ephesians 5:18. They were filled with the Spirit, spoke in tongues, and there was no laying on of hands.

Water baptism is only mentioned late in the events in Acts 2:38.

In Acts chapter eight, the passage we are in, the Samaritans believed, are baptized by water almost immediately, but three or four days go by before Peter and John arrive. Peter and John lay hands on them, and then they receive the Holy Spirit. There is clearly a distinction of three or four days between their justification and regeneration, and then several days later, they receive the Holy Spirit. But there is no mention of tongues.

If we read Pentecostal writers, they say everything else was there, so tongues would have been there also. That is reading things into the text, and you can’t do that.

There is no justification for saying tongues were there.

If the Holy Spirit is connecting these dots all the way through, if we are coming to the text with a view that the Holy Spirit has inspired it, then He is telling us what we need to know.

He talks about tongues in Acts 2, Acts 10, and Acts 19, and not here; if they had occurred here, why wouldn’t He mention it?

What He is doing in each of these as He talks about the reception of the Holy Spirit, which is the thread that ties these together, is to show that the Jews in Acts 2, the Samaritans in Acts 8, the Gentiles in Acts 10, and Old Testament believers as evidenced by John the Baptist’s disciples as they come to Paul in Acts 19, these all come into the same body of Christ on the foundation of apostolic authority.

There is only one apostolic foundation and one apostolic leadership. This is what Paul says in Ephesians 2:12: .

Ephesians 2:12

Ephesians 2:12 NKJV

12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

the apostles and prophets lay the foundation of the church. So the Holy Spirit ties these together in what He says. It is important to pay attention to what He says and what He leaves out.

So here, there is no mention of speaking in tongues, and this is related to the fact that tongues were designed to be a sign, not what was said. People often don’t hear that because, for so long, people have thought that the purpose of tongues was to communicate the gospel.

But that is not what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14.

It is not what is being said; it is that divine revelation and content are not being said in Hebrew, and because it is not being said in Hebrew and it is being said in a Gentile language and a result of the Holy Spirit, it is a sign of judgment on Israel. Up to this point, every time God had revealed Himself to the Jews and revealed His Word, it was always in Hebrew through the Hebrew prophets. But now it is going to be in Gentile languages. So there are no tongues in the case of the Samaritans because they are a sort of half-breed ethnic no-man’s land situation. It was important with the Gentiles.

If Jesus died in AD 33 and you were an Old Testament saint living in Macedonia and died between 33 and 50 when Paul got there, you were an Old Testament believer.

The gospel hadn’t arrived to you yet. You didn’t just automatically become a New Testament church-age believer just because of a calendar date. Here are these Old Testament saints in Acts 19, disciples of John the Baptist who were clearly presented in the text as saints, but they haven’t heard anything about Jesus.

They had just heard John the Baptist’s message, and they believed that, making them Old Testament believers.

They are in transition.

We will never understand the book if we don’t understand the transition in Acts. It is different because it is a transition event.

That is why people have made mistakes going to Acts as a foundation for doctrine. It is not a foundation for doctrine unless it is confirmed clearly through what is said later in the epistles because it deals with how God is transitioning from the Old Testament dispensation of Israel to the church age dispensation, which is the present age.

So, we want to look at the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the mechanics. We may not think it is so important, but it is always important to make sure we clearly understand what the Word of God says about whatever it talks about.

First of all, we must understand that the baptism of the Holy Spirit did not occur in the Old Testament. Baptism is a word that has a literal meaning and it has a figurative connotation. The literal meaning is to dip, plunge, or immerse. It was used in many different ways but had a symbolic significance of identification.

The literal plunging or immersion, which occurred in the baptism of John the Baptist and water baptism for believer’s baptism, is to teach the principle of identification with the message of either John or the message of the gospel.

The baptism by means of the Holy Spirit did not occur in the Old Testament because it is an identification, as we will see, with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Since Jesus had not died, been buried, or resurrected, there could be no identification with that.

The first baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred on the day of Pentecost. It is indicated by non-technical language, such as receiving the Holy Spirit. The reason for that is that there are numerous ministries of God, the Holy Spirit, for church-age believers, and none of those transpired before the day of Pentecost.

So the reception of the Holy Spirit includes indwelling, filling, baptism by the Holy Spirit, and the reception of spiritual gifts, and all of this happened instantly on the day of Pentecost, first to the apostles and then to other believers.

This doctrine of baptism by the Holy Spirit has become controversial in modern times because of the teaching of the Pentecostal-charismatic movement. It is important to understand these technically-defined terms. A Pentecostal is the original movement, and “Pentecostal” meant that you believed there was a work of grace after salvation identified by speaking in languages.

That act is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you got that, you quit your denomination and went off and joined a distinct Pentecostal denomination. The Charismatic movement, though, has the same view that you get a second work of grace identified as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, necessarily evidenced by speaking in tongues, but you don’t leave your denomination.

It is important to understand that in classic Pentecostal-Charismatic theology, there are two works that happen. Something happens at salvation, and something happens after salvation. If they are challenged biblically, we talk about what John the Baptist said about Jesus: that Jesus would baptize by the Spirit, and then in 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says that we have all been baptized by one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The way the English translates 1 Corinthians 12:13 makes it look like the Spirit does the baptizing. So, in Pentecostal theology, there is a baptism that Jesus did, predicted by John, and then there was this other baptism that Paul talks about. They really have two different baptisms.

The problem derives from the English translation in the KJV because in Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist said,

Matthew 3:11

Matthew 3:11 NKJV

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

In the Greek text of Matthew 3:11 the preposition translated “with” is en [e)n] – en pneumati for “in water” and en pneumati for “the Holy Spirit.” But it is translated with the English preposition “with.”

When we get to 1 Corinthians 12:13, we read:

1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The trouble is the Greek is the same in both passages.

If you don’t know Greek it looks like it is “by the Spirit” in 1 Corinthians 12 and it is “with the Spirit” in the Gospels: two different things.

Matthew 3:11 NKJV

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

uses en pneumati [e)n pneumati] (en always governs the dative case), which really expresses instrumentality. What did John the Baptist use to baptize or identify his converts with his message?

The instrument he used was water. What instrument is Jesus going to use? He is going to use the Holy Spirit. We have to keep that parallel going on between water and the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, “For by one Spirit,”

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

but it is the exact same Greek phrase.

The problem was that one person was translating the KJV in the Gospels, and somebody else was translating the Pauline epistles. The person in the Gospels liked the English preposition “with,” and the translator of 1 Corinthians liked the English preposition “by,” so they translated the same Greek phrase two different ways into English. People untutored in Greek looked at this and said we have two different baptisms. This is the problem with Pentecostal-Charismatic theology. It ends up with two baptisms of the Holy Spirit: one “with” the Holy Spirit at salvation and another “by” the Holy Spirit after salvation.

In 1 Corinthians, we have this phrase, “For by one Spirit.” We always translate it “by means of one Spirit” because that conveys the idea of instrumentality. We are “all baptized into one body,” and Paul uses the verb baptizo [βαπτίζω] in the aorist tense, indicating that he is viewing it as completely in the past. He traced the use of this first person plural pronoun all the way through 1 Corinthians from the beginning to the end talking about himself and anybody in the Corinthians church—all those nasty, carnal Corinthians. Paul includes them all and says, “we were all baptized into one body” – past tense. So, it is clear that this verse is talking about something that applies to anyone and everyone who is a believer. They have all been identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

The word “into” is the Greek preposition eis [εἰς], which indicates the direction or goal of something. The point is that we have a sort of formula statement. There is a verb that tells us the kind of action.

Then there is another statement that tells us the instrument used to accomplish the action, indicated by the en clause. Then, another preposition indicates the future goal or state, which is the result of this action of baptism. We get messed up in English because we handle passive verbs a little differently in English. We see that baptizo is an aorist passive indicative. An active voice verb means that the subject acts as the verb.

John hit the golf ball with (by means of) the golf club.

The verb is “hit.”

John is the grammatical subject of the verb.

So (in the active voice) John performs the action of hitting the golf ball. The grammatical direct object of the verb receives the action of the verb.

John hit the golf ball with (expressing the instrument of how he hit the ball), but if we turn it around and change the active voice verb to a passive voice verb, we have to change where we put the subject and the object.

If we reverse it and say, The golf ball was hit with (or by) the golf club, the ball is now the grammatical subject, but it receives the action of the passive voice verb.

“Was hit” is now a passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb. When we change that over and say that the golf ball was hit by John, John is no longer the grammatical subject of the verb, but he is still the one who performs the action.

So grammatically, this is called being the agent—he is the agent who performs the action, but in a passive voice, he is not the grammatical subject. So we say, The golf ball (subject) was hit (passive verb) by John.

Notice that in English, we use the preposition “by” to describe the agent who performs the action of the verb. You can also use “by” to express the instrument. Confusing! The first “by” is different from the second “by.” This is a problem we encounter in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

In Greek, the performer or the agent, if it is a passive verb, will always be indicated by hupo [u(po].

It is technical. Greek is not going to let us miss who the agent of the action is; it is always going to be expressed by the preposition hupo, not by men. En tells us what he hit it with. So when 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit,” it doesn’t use hupo, indicating that the Spirit performs the action of baptism.

It says the same as in Matthew 3:11 where John said, “The one who comes after me will baptize you en pneumati—“by the Spirit.” It is in every Gospel; it is in Acts chapter one.

Matthew 3:11 NKJV

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

En pneumati is technical, which indicates the instrument used to bring about the baptism.

In 1 Corinthians 12:13 it doesn’t say hupo because it is not telling us that the Spirit does the baptizing. It doesn’t tell us who does the baptizing because that is not Paul’s point. He leaves the agent out of his statement there because he is emphasizing the fact that it has all been accomplished by the Spirit because it is this use of the Holy Spirit in identifying us with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection that is the foundation of the unity of the body of Christ. That happens with the Jews, then the Samaritans, the Gentiles, and then the disciples of John the Baptist. This is why Paul can say this is one body; there are not four bodies, not four distinct Pentecosts. There is one event, and it is all at the hands of the apostles, showing that there is only one body.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is first prophesied by John the Baptist at the incarnation. Jesus Christ states it almost identically in Acts 1:5.

Acts 1:5

Acts 1:5 NKJV

5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

In each instance, this baptism by means of the Holy Spirit is all future. In Acts chapter one, Jesus said, "You will be baptized by the Holy Spirit." It has already happened by the time we get to Acts chapter eight.

When does it happen? Acts chapter two.

In Matthew 3:11, the subject of the active voice verb is Jesus Christ. He is the one who is going to perform the action.

Matthew 3:11 NKJV

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John said, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Who performs the action?

Jesus does.

Who does He use to perform the action?

The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is viewed grammatically as an instrument even though he is a person.

The fire in Matthew 3:11 is a future judgment.

John said: I baptize you (active voice verb). John performs the action and he does it with water.

To understand what Jesus does with the Holy Spirit, we must understand what John the Baptist did with the water. That is the visual training aid to understand something that happens in the invisible spiritual realm. John takes a person and plunges/immerses them into the water. It is literal water, but it is also a symbol or picture of the total cleansing of this person from sin. Then, when this person comes up out of the water, he is in a new state—in this case, a state of repentance.

So he has gone from an old state of being non-repentant to being cleansed of sin (symbolized by being plunged into the water). He comes out of the water and is identified in a new state. When John says, “I baptize you with water,” it is for the end goal of repentance, the new state. He compares that with what Jesus will do: “He who is coming after me …. will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (future tense) – just as John baptized with water. So, the role of the Holy Spirit is analogous to the role of the water. What was the role of the water? To cleanse ceremonially, ritually, from sin. What is the Holy Spirit going to do at the instant of salvation? He cleanses us positionally of all sin. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is this picture of an identification that takes place where the Holy Spirit is used in the same way that water was used by John the Baptist to bring about this cleansing and into this new state.

1 Corinthians 10:2

1 Corinthians 10:2 NKJV

2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

“and all were baptized (passive voice) into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

This is a dry baptism, the ones who got wet died.

“… into Moses,”

the new state,

“by means of the cloud and by means of the sea.”

The agents that affected their identification with Moses were the cloud and the water, a reference to the pillar of fire, the cloud, and the Red Sea. The idea of going through the Red Sea following the cloud is identifying the Israelites with Moses.

1 Corinthians 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV

13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

In terms of mechanics, Jesus Christ uses the Holy Spirit to identify the believer with Christ, just as John the Baptist used water to identify the believer with repentance. It is identification that is so important.

John the Baptist uses water to identify the person with repentance; Jesus Christ uses the Holy Spirit to identify the person with Himself in terms of His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus does the baptizing, and there is only one baptism. The baptism that John predicted in Matthew 3:11 and Jesus predicted in Acts 1:5 is the same baptism that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

We are all united in this universal body of Christ. Unification among believers is achieved by the baptism by means of the Holy Spirit. Positionally we are all one in Christ.

Ephesians 4:5

Ephesians 4:5 NKJV

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

The baptism Paul is talking about isn’t water baptism; it is baptism by means of God the Holy Spirit because that is what makes us one body in Christ.

This has implications such as in Galatians 3:23, 25.

Galatians 3:23-25

Galatians 3:23–25 NKJV

23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

It doesn’t mean that ethnic distinction, gender distinction, or social distinction is eradicated. Still, these are no longer relevant regarding the individual’s relationship to God as they were under the Mosaic Law. In terms of the body of Christ, there aren’t these distinctions. There are in terms of roles but not in terms of our personal relationship to God. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit provides retroactive (it goes back) identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, which is the basis, then, of the victory over the sin nature—Romans 6:3-5.

Romans 6:3-5

Romans 6:3–5 NKJV

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

The baptism of the Holy Spirit begins the church age, distinguishing it from all previous ages.

It is also the basis for positional truth, i.e., our identification with Christ, which becomes the foundation for these challenges and exhortations to live the spiritual life.

It is not an experience of any kind. We can’t look back and say we felt it. We didn’t even know what it was until we studied Scripture, and God's revelation tells us about it. The bottom line is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit places us in Christ as a new creature, a new status, in His body, and that is what is being formed. Christ uses the Holy Spirit as a means of cleansing and identification.

Sunday October 6, 2024

Pentecost: The New Church Series

Review

Last week we finished looking at the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The baptism of the Holy Spirit begins the church age, distinguishing it from all previous ages.

It is also the basis for positional truth, i.e., our identification with Christ, which becomes the foundation for the NT challenges and exhortations to live the spiritual life.

It is not an experience of any kind. We can’t look back and say we felt it.

We didn’t even know what it was until we studied Scripture, and God's revelation tells us about it. The bottom line is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit places us in Christ as a new creature, a new status, in His body, and that is what is being formed. Christ uses the Holy Spirit as a means of cleansing and identification.

This week we move forward in our journey through Acts

Simon and Philip in Samaria: Acts 8:14-25

In our exposition of Acts 8, we come back to look at Simon, his conversion, and then his immediate fall into confusion and sin, as well as a few things related to more clearly understanding the gospel. Then, we will move to the next section. Both are tied together, showing the expansion of the church. Acts is about the birth and the expansion of the church as it is overseen by the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. They move out from Jerusalem, and we learn at the beginning of chapter eight that this is because of persecution that breaks out in Jerusalem against the Christians. At this stage, the church is still one hundred percent a Jewish church.

As we get into this chapter, we see an expansion north into Samaria. The key player is Philip, one of the six chosen to help distribute financial aid to Hellenistic widows in chapter 6. Another who was mentioned there is Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. A proselyte—at this time, there were different levels—probably meant a proselyte of the gate, who was pretty much accepting all of Judaism, but they stopped short of circumcision.

There were other designations:

Proselyte of the Gate: גר תושב (Ger Toshav): This term refers explicitly to a Gentile who lives among Jews in the Land of Israel and formally accepts the Seven Laws of Noah in the presence of a Jewish court. A Ger Toshav is considered a “resident alien” with a recognized legal status within the Jewish community, often enjoying certain protections and privileges.

Noachides: בני נח(B’nei Noach): This term refers to Gentiles who observe the Seven Laws of Noah, which are a set of universal moral laws given to all humanity1. These laws include prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, sexual immorality, theft, eating flesh torn from a living animal, and the requirement to establish courts of justice. Noachides are not necessarily living among Jews or formally recognized by a Jewish community.

God-Fearers: יראי שמים (Yirei Shamayim) or φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν (Phoboumenoi ton Theon): These were Gentiles who were sympathetic to Judaism and participated in some Jewish practices but did not fully convert, often stopping short of circumcision. This would include Cornelius and his household.

Righteous Proselyte: גר צדק (Ger Tzedek): These were Gentiles who fully converted to Judaism, including undergoing circumcision and committing to follow the entire Mosaic Law.

Mityahadim: מִתְיַהֲדִים (Mityahadim): This term, found in the Book of Esther, refers to those who “became Jews” or adopted Jewish practices and beliefs, though it is less clear whether this term implies complete conversion or a more general adoption of Jewish customs. The term Mityahadim (מִתְיַהֲדִים) appears in the Book of Esther (Esther 8:17 ) and refers to Gentiles who “became Jews” or adopted Jewish practices and beliefs.

Esther 8:17 NKJV

17 And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.

The root of the Hebrew word מִתְיַהֲדִים (mityahadim) is the same as that of יהודי (Yehudi), which means "Jew". This term is often interpreted to mean that these Gentiles converted to Judaism. However, it may not necessarily imply a total conversion in the sense of undergoing circumcision and following all Mosaic laws.

Thinking about the big picture in Acts again, we start in Jerusalem and then go to Samaria and Judea. Then, once Paul becomes saved, they go outside of that. He goes to Antioch, and there, the church is still Jewish because it is not until Acts chapter ten that Luke emphasizes that Cornelius and what occurs at his household are the first inclusion of Gentiles into this new entity known as the church.

Luke emphasizes the church's expansion with both the Samaritans and the Ethiopians. These two groups are not fully Jewish but are not considered Gentiles either. We do not look at the Gentiles until Acts 10.

In Acts 8:14-17, we hear the story of Peter and John coming to Samaria.

There has already been a response to the gospel. We are introduced to Simon in verse 9, who previously practiced sorcery, so he is into the demonic arts. He identified himself according to his title, “the Great Power of God.” He was claiming this title for himself as an incarnation of God himself—not like Jesus, who is the Son of God, but he was claiming to be God himself. He had impressed everybody in the area. He was widely known and infamous, and when Philip came, he was evangelizing, proclaiming the gospel, and the response was that the people believed. Notice verse 12:

Acts 8:12

Acts 8:12 NKJV

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

“They” is the Samaritans, the subject of the verb. They believe Philip as he preaches the things concerning the kingdom of God, which is roughly analogous to the gospel at this point, and the name of Jesus Christ.

Both men and women are baptized—water baptism as a sign that they have accepted Jesus as the Messiah.

The verb “believed” is used over 35 times in Acts, and it talks about the response to the gospel message every single time. All that is required for a person to be saved is to believe. This is in John’s Gospel, who writes toward the end of the Gospel:

John 20:31

John 20:31 NKJV

31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

This one verb, to believe, is mentioned as the sole condition for eternal life over 95 times in the Gospel of John.

Believe doesn’t mean to commit. You don’t get that out of any dictionary. Believe means to accept something to be true, to trust it, to rely upon that as being true.

Some people come along, and they say that the problem is that people have a head faith and not a heart faith.

The problem with that is they are mixing metaphors of Scripture.

Heart in the Scripture is used as a metaphor for the soul, and it primarily has its meaning probably 75 percent of the time in Scripture as the thinking part of the soul, not the emotional part of the soul.

A head belief is considered the intellect, and the heart is juxtaposed in that kind of sentence with something else. It is not emotion because you can’t believe with emotion.

Belief is not an emotion; belief is purely and simply an intellectual activity. It involves an understanding of what you are believing. You can’t believe what you don’t understand. We may not fully comprehend what we believe.

We believe that Jesus rose from the dead. We cannot fully understand how that took place, but we can comprehend it enough to understand what it means to be resurrected from the dead. We can’t explain the dynamics of the process and what happens medically, but we can understand what took place and choose to believe that or not believe that.

So, belief doesn’t mean that we understand comprehensively or exhaustively, but it does mean that we understand the general concept expressed in the belief statement.

So, everything we believe is represented by what philosophers call a propositional statement. A propositional statement is a technical term in philosophy, and a proposition is an indicative mood sentence. It is a statement about reality that can either be proven or disproved.

If I ask the question: Is it snowing outside? Can you prove that?

You can’t, it’s a question.

How about an instruction: Go to the store and get some milk to bring home.

Can you prove that to be right or wrong?

You can’t prove either, because it is a command.

So you can’t prove a question right or wrong, but if we say it is snowing outside, we can prove or disprove it.

It is provable or disprovable. There is a God who exists in heaven. Can you prove that or not? In some sense, you can. Eventually, it will be demonstrated to be true one way or the other. But you may not see it right now; you may not have empirical evidence, but you hear it from authority so that you can believe it or not.

It is always amazing to hear some people who are too smart for their own good, or think they are, which is actually nothing more than arrogance, who think: I am only going to believe something I can see, or touch, or personally experience.

That is insane because every one of us believes thousands and thousands of things to be true that we have no evidence of whatsoever.

We grow up learning that way. When you are a little child, and your parents begin to teach you things, you take it by faith, which is how it is. Later on, some of those things are proven to be correct or incorrect, but there are many things that we all believe about life that cannot be proven in any empirical sense, be true or false.

There are several scientific concepts many people accept without personally verifying them:

Quantum Mechanics: Most accept the principles of quantum mechanics, like wave-particle duality, without truly understanding or witnessing the phenomena.

Relativity: Einstein’s theories of relativity are fundamental to physics, yet the idea that time can dilate and space can bend is far from everyday experience.

Evolution: The theory of evolution by natural selection is widely accepted, but few have personally studied fossil records or genetic mutations in detail.

Vaccines: Most people trust vaccines and their development, without having direct knowledge of the complex biological processes involved.

Global Warming: Many believe in the scientific consensus on climate change, even if they’ve never studied the climate data themselves.

We often rely on the expertise of scientists and the consensus within the scientific community to guide our understanding of these complex issues. These are all ultimately belief in authority because of an inability to deal with facts.

However, there are some people who, despite the evidence, want to invalidate statements such as Jesus is the Messiah or statements that you can validate or invalidate. There are always people who will not believe something, no matter how much evidence you present.

In the context of talking to somebody about the Lord, a question to ask is, what would it take for you to be convinced that God exists or that Jesus was God? Because Jesus performed not just the miracles that we are told about in Scripture, but we are told in various texts that He performed numerous miracles. And He performed the kinds of miracles that can’t be counterfeited.

One is in John chapter nine, where He gives sight to the blind man. That is a significant miracle that is recorded because, according to rabbinical thought at the time, it was one of the unique signs of the Messiah that could not be counterfeited or duplicated in any way. It would be a clear understanding that the person who did that was the Messiah.

But then the issue is: do you believe it or not? Belief is related to a sentence that is provable or falsifiable. It is related to a proposition. Jesus is the Messiah. You either can believe it, or you can not believe it. There is evidence to support that claim, which John writes about in the Gospel of John.

John 20:30-31

John 20:30–31 NKJV

30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

It is by believing in a clear stand-alone condition. It is the sole condition for regeneration, justification, and eternal salvation, moving from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Acts 8:12

Acts 8:12 NKJV

12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.

We have no doubt whatsoever that those who believed were saved.

Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13 NKJV

13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

It is just this simple in the Greek text. Nothing else is added, and no funny little word is used there; it is just a straightforward statement that as part of the larger group that believed and was baptized, we have “Simon himself also believed.”

The conjunction kai [καὶ] is just a word to add to the previous group. From the large group that believed, Luke is now focusing on this one individual, Simon, who also believed.

“ … and after being baptized, he continued with Philip …”

So, there is a continuation there. He is following along. There is no indication there is anything odd or unusual about Simon yet.

“… and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.”

Acts 8:14

Acts 8:14 NKJV

14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

The object of this receive in verse 15 is different from, the object of the receive in verse 14. In verse 14 they were receiving the Word of God, believing the message of God, but in verse 15 they haven’t received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:15

Acts 8:15 NKJV

15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

The term for receiving the Holy Spirit goes back to Acts chapter two and what happened with the apostles when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So this is called the Samaritan Pentecost, but there is a different order of events and no speaking in tongues or gentile languages. Why? Because it involves the Samaritans.

Acts 8:16-17

Acts 8:16–17 NKJV

16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Except for Simon? It’s not there. It’s not there even in any corrupted manuscript. So, there is no exception.

Acts 8:18

Acts 8:18 NKJV

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

So he is present and not being singled out as one who did not receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:18 NKJV

18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

Does this mean he is not saved? Not at all. There is not any verbiage, yet that would indicate that he is not saved.

Stupid, sinful, carnal?

Yes, but nothing here says he was not saved. He is doing what so many Christians do today. He is doing what many Christians do today. We see it all the time. They become saved but still live in the pig stye they were saved from because they don’t know anything. Their thinking, values, and ideas are all shaped by the culture around them, and they don’t have any biblical values yet. Their default position will be returning to what they were before they were saved.

End of 1st Service 10/6/2024

Romans 6:11

Romans 6:11 NKJV

11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul is telling believers that they need to think, realize, and consider the fact that a change has taken place, and they are now to think about themselves as dead to sin. He makes this even clearer in the next verse.

Romans 6:12

Romans 6:12 NKJV

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

In other words, it is a choice. We can choose to continue to sin, to live as we were before we were saved.

Romans 6:13-14

Romans 6:13–14 NKJV

13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:16-18

Romans 6:16–18 NKJV

16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

However, he is telling them that they still have a problem.

Romans 6:22

Romans 6:22 NKJV

22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

The problem is that they have not always presented themselves with righteousness and obedience. So, as believers, we can sin just like we did before we were saved because we don’t understand and haven’t learned the difference. This is what was going on here with Simon.

Simon wants this power. He has a background of being involved with sorcery, these demonic arts where money could be used to purchase things and to be taught skills so that one could continue to fool people and practice black arts to become wealthy by taking advantage of people. Simon sees these miracles and thinks just like any average person would in terms of his limited frame of reference. It is not that he is not saved; it is that he has no knowledge.

Acts 8:19

Acts 8:19 NKJV

19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

He thinks he can get rich doing this.

Numerous people are Christians but are living in sin, and they’re wrong.

Acts 8:20

Acts 8:20 NKJV

20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!

He doesn’t say, “because you are not saved,” he says because he thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money.

Now, the gift of God that he is talking about here isn’t the gift of salvation; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is very clear from what happened in the previous verse.

Where this gets a little interesting is the word “perish,” because it is the Greek word apollumi [ἀπώλειαν], which is related to the word usually translated “eternal perishing,” e.g. John 3:16

John 3:16

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

, “not perish,” or relating to Judas Iscariot where he is called “the son of perdition,” another form of that same word. So, in many cases, it has that sense of eternal punishment, but not always.

Acts 8:21

Acts 8:21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”

Acts 8:21 NKJV

21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

What does “no part or portion” mean? The key is the three words: perish, part, and portion. We should be warned that there are people we will read who are generally pretty good at expositing the Word that didn’t get this.

Two quotes were given as an exercise in discernment and critical thinking.

It is always important to know some things about the people we are reading and also know some dates. In about 1981, the Bible Knowledge Commentary came out. It is excellent in many ways. Different faculty members of Dallas Theological Seminary wrote each commentary on each book.

The opening page says, “Edited by John Walvoord and Roy Zuck.” However, there are things within the commentary with which we disagree.

For example, John Martin later demonstrated that he had already given up dispensationalism but didn’t have the integrity to say so when he wrote the commentary on Isaiah. He denied that Isaiah chapter fourteen related to the fall of Satan.

This has become popular with different people, and others have refuted it.

Just because there is a variety of positions and a variety of scholars who take these positions doesn’t mean we are agnostic. Many sheep in the pew get a bit uneasy: Well, how do we know what is right?

You learn how to think and evaluate evidence like a good lawyer or a reasonable jury, and you evaluate the evidence. You weigh the arguments on each side and continuously study because there is always information you could learn that would reinforce your case. Still, you are always open to learning and improving your understanding of the truth.

Stanley Toussaint wrote the Bible Knowledge Commentary on Acts. He was a great teacher. He understands free grace. But that is why dates are essential.

This was written in the late eighties, and the thing that broke open the free grace versus lordship debate, where a lot of things started to get hammered out and clarified and understood, did not occur until about 1982 when Zane Hodges wrote a book called The Gospel Under Siege.

This was one of those ground-breaking books that became quite controversial among students at Dallas Seminary. People committed to Calvinism had a problem with it because it points out some issues with some forms of Calvinism. But not all forms of Calvinism have necessarily been of a lordship type. A lot of things were worked out.

There were young men in that group, like Bob Wilkin, who later became the head of the Grace Evangelical Society. In his doctoral dissertation, he wrote about the use of metanoia [metanoia], the word for repent in the New Testament.

This was a 300-plus page, heavily documented doctoral dissertation, and he pointed out that this was not a word related to getting saved. If repenting is necessary to get saved, why does the Gospel of John never speak of it?

If John is the source of understanding the key to getting saved, then the fact that he never uses the word “repent” is significant. It is not important; it is not relevant to that concept.

Some people will come along and say repent clearly means to change your mind, so it would relate to the idea of changing your mind from rejecting Christ to believing in Christ. Yes, if you want to limit it to that, that could be true, but that is not primarily how it is used in Scripture. It is used of the people of God turning from disobedience to obedience. That is its primary usage in the Scripture.

But this is what Stanley Toussaint wrote:

“The language of this verse where Peter says, ‘You have no part or share in this ministry implies Simon was not a Christian. For similar terminology, see Deuteronomy 12:12; 14:17, ‘just as the Levites had no inheritance in the promised land.’

Deuteronomy 12:12

Deuteronomy 12:12 NKJV

12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

Deuteronomy 14:27

Deuteronomy 14:27 NKJV

27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

But they were still in the promised land; they were still Jews. He misses the point there. He gets it close enough that it is inheritance, but inheritance doesn’t equal entry into the land. Levites were allowed to enter the land, but they weren’t given a portion of or inheritance in the land, and it wasn’t a punishment.

The adverb perhaps does not mean God is reluctant to forgive sin; the question is whether Simon would repent of his heart’s intention.

He misses the point.

Here is Arnold Fruchtenbaum in commentary on our passage:

“The picture is of Simon sticking closely to Philip to find out the secret of his power. The question arises: What does it mean when it says that Simon believed? Did he become a true believer?”

You cannot find in the original text of Scripture where you have an adjectival or an adverbial qualification on either the noun “believe” or the verb “believe.” Never does it say you need to be a true believer in Jesus. Not once! Some translators have added that in English, but it is not in the original. There is never a qualification. You don’t have to have genuine belief or sincere belief or true belief; it is always simply you have to believe. Believe means to accept it as being true.

It is not that you believe it is true; that is what the Bible says.

I believe that Charles Darwin said that men evolved from monkeys. But I don’t believe that men evolved from monkeys. Those are two different statements. Many people believe Christianity teaches that Jesus was the Son of God; many people believe that the Bible says you have to believe in Jesus to be saved, but they don’t believe personally in Jesus to save them.

“What did he come to believe?

What did the text say here?

Acts 8:12

Acts 8:12 “But when they [The Samaritans] believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.”

If we trace that always through Acts, it is always expressing the content of the gospel

Acts 8:13

Acts 8:13 NKJV

13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

But this is what Arnold says:

“What did he come to believe? Ultimately, he believed that Jesus was “the Great Power of God.”

That is not what the text says.

Going back to verse 10, it says,

Acts 8:10 NKJV

10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”

But nowhere does it say that Simon thought that Jesus was the Great Power of God. That connection is never made anywhere in the text.

He Continues:

“But this was not saving faith. Simon's problem was that the more he watched Philip perform signs and miracles, the more the wonder of it all grew in his mind, and eventually, a desire developed within him to be able to do the same. However, what Simon believed did not require saving faith. To believe that Jesus was the great power of God is not enough to save anyone.”

The text does not say he believed that Jesus was the Great Power of God. So, he is reading things into the text that aren’t there. He concludes:

One must believe that He died as our substitute, and one must trust what Yeshua did on the cross for our salvation and nothing else.

That is the free grace gospel right there; he has it nailed. But he messes up earlier. This is not recent material. These kinds of things related to the gospel have been clarified.

Acts 8:20-21

Acts 8:20–21 NKJV

20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

The identical terminology is used for Simon’s belief as for all other saving faiths in Acts. The key is understanding the technical sense of these two words in verse 21.

The word “part” is meris [merij] from meros [meroj], and “portion " is the word kleros [klhroj], the word for inheritance.

Meros is the word that designated the part or portion that was given to someone in their inheritance.

Luke 15 is part of three stories that Jesus tells about lost things—a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The first thing to note is that they were all owned by the owner before being lost. That is salvation. So this isn’t talking about how to become owned by the owner, how the owner came to own the sheep, how the woman came to own the coin, or how the lost son became the father's son. It talks about what happens when there is a break in the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep, the woman and the coin, and the lost son.

Luke 15:11-12

Luke 15:11–12 NKJV

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.

What does the son want? He wants his share of the inheritance. The word meros was a technical term used in a legal will to describe what portion/share went to somebody.

Where would Peter get this terminology?

John 13:8

John 13:8 NKJV

8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Jesus is saying, “You have no inheritance with me.” He is not saying, “You are not saved.”

The bottom line is that you have an eternal destiny in heaven when you are saved. But God promises certain rewards and incentivized blessings for believers to be obedient and to grow to maturity.

This is what 1 Corinthians 3 and the judgment seat of Christ is all about. If we walk with the Lord and grow and mature, there are additional blessings and rewards that God will distribute to us in heaven. But if we don’t, we are going to lose them.

The difference is, will we live based on God and His Word and dependence on the Holy Spirit? Or are we going to do it based on legalism, based on thinking we can buy God’s favor or earn God’s favor?

Peter is making the point here, that Simon is operating on his unbelieving mentality that he can buy the favor of God. Peter is saying that if you continue to operate that way, you will not have any inheritance in the kingdom; you will be a failure as a believer. Y

ou are going to get there, but you will be like that last category that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3: saved but not have anything in terms of rewards.

So what is the solution? He is addressing a believer. He doesn‘t say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Why? He is already saved.

Stephen Geer, the new Executive Director of Aerial Ministries, wrote a commentary on the book of Acts. He takes the same position as explained above that Peter wasn’t trying to tell Simon how to get saved. He says,

Note that Peter did not prevail upon Simon to trust Christ. Simon’s faith is assumed.

Acts 8:22-24

Acts 8:22–24 NKJV

22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.”

He doesn’t seem impressed; he doesn’t seem to change, and that is the last we hear of him. But does that mean he is not a believer? No, there are a lot of people who are never mentioned again. It just means they never play any additional role in Luke’s narrative.

Acts 8:25

Acts 8:25 NKJV

25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

LALEO is teaching. Now they are moving from evangelism to teaching more about what the Word of God teaches. Euangelizo is evangelism.

End of 10/6/2024 2nd Service

Sunday October 13, 2024

Pentecost: The New Church Series

Review

Philip and the Ethiopian. Acts 8: 26-40; Isaiah 53

This is the continued story of how God the Holy Spirit is expanding the earthly church.

Acts 1:8 was the final marching order from the Lord Jesus Christ to the apostles: that they were to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and then they were to be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria and then to the uttermost part of the earth.

We have looked at two areas of expansion that have taken place as a result of the persecution. The first is the movement into Samaria. As we go through this section of Acts, we need to think about how the Holy Spirit is working more overtly in these episodes, but there is no mention of the Holy Spirit guiding or directing Philip in vv. 4, 5.

Acts 8:4-5

Acts 8:4–5 NKJV

4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.

The message in Acts is that the Holy Spirit is always working behind the scenes but it is in a covert manner. It is not something that is known or seen until after the fact; we only know it from its results. In the early church in this transition period, there were times when there was a more overt direction from God the Holy Spirit. But as we read through Acts and the epistles that is rare. This rarity challenges the common misconception that the Holy Spirit's movement was overt in the first century, especially in light of a lot of theological trends of the 20th century.

As we get into the episode in the latter part of this chapter we see the Holy Spirit overtly, actively, consciously, in a manner that was known to Philip, moving him from one location to another. This kind of expression in the book of Acts, while disappearing by the time we get to the mid part of the book, underscores the importance of the Holy Spirit's guidance in the early church's expansion. By the time we reach chapters 12, 13, and 14, the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in this manner. So that was part of the transition that was taking place.

The Holy Spirit is only mentioned as overtly moving the apostles in specific directions a few times or as God directing them through the appearance of an angel. Then, in this episode of Philip going to the Ethiopian eunuch, we have both overt direct direction and directive guidance from an angel of the Lord (v. 26), Acts 8:26.

Acts 8:26

Acts 8:26 NKJV

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

and then we have the Holy Spirit’s guidance coming up just a few verses later in v. 29.

Acts 8:29

Acts 8:29 NKJV

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

But for those who want to tell us that overt ministry is supposed to be the standard operating procedure for the church, the problem with that view is that there are few references to an overt ministry of God the Holy Spirit like this in the early part of Acts, and then that overt activity is not mentioned anymore.

And God operating overtly is not that normative even in the book's first part.

God directing overtly is not the expected, normal routine.

We need to ask why the Holy Spirit isn’t mentioned as having a more overt guidance pattern in the rest of the New Testament.

Why isn’t the Holy Spirit mentioned as utilizing a more overt guidance pattern in the New Testament?

It is just not there. When we look at it in light of some of the things we see in Acts 2, 4, 8, and 10 with Cornelius, what we see is that this sort of overt divine guidance is very rare in even the very early apostolic period.

The normal mode of God’s direction is more covert, more behind the scenes where the effect is felt more than any sort of sense of specific direction revelation from God. It is mostly from either circumstance or, as they understood what the mission was, they tried to just go forward and accomplish the mission as it seemed best to them.

This is how we see Philip making the first decision. He moves up and goes to Samaria on his own initiative. There is no direct overt guidance from the Holy Spirit, he just moves up there in contrast to what takes place in the second half.

After finishing the ministry in Samaria Peter and John are going to leave and go back to Jerusalem, and all that we are told at the end of that section in verse 25 is

Acts 8:25

Acts 8:25 NKJV

25 So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.

But we are not told what happens to Philip.

He travels with them back to Jerusalem or stays up in central Samaria and continues his ministry there. Or, we know later on that Caesarea by the Sea was his home later on and he may have already moved there, so he might have already moved there. We don’t know exactly what happened to Philip once they finished this ministry in Samaria.

We do know that the curtain goes down at the end of verse 25 and then opens again with the scene in verse 26. So, there is something of a time-lapse in the text at that point.

The second event that is brought up is the direction that God gave to Philip to move to the southern part of Judea.

Acts 8:26

Acts 8:26 NKJV

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

The guidance given here to Philip comes from an angel of the Lord is expressly stated by the indicative verb. Now, this angel is not the same as the angel of the Lord that we have in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is very clear that the term “angel of the Lord” has an article with it, so “THE angel of the Lord” and speaks of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, whereas here, it just speaks of an angel who is sent from God to guide Philip.

This would be overt guidance. The Angel speaks as we understand speaking from the normal usage of the term. This would be a verbal, audible direction given to Philip, and the angel would have appeared to him. That is the normative situation whenever an angel gives guidance, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament.

It is not some internal impression or subjective feeling.

It has been frequently taken in different ways. People will tell you that an Angel told them such and such or to do thus and so, and they are talking about mystical impressions that they “receive” from angels.

Many use this text as support for that perplexing belief.

What happens in those cases, is that because of the way some traditions and some people have read certain things, they read them into the text. But all the text says is that an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “saying.”

If we want to understand this, we must see how these words and this phraseology of an angel speaking are used in other places in Scripture. In every other place where it is used, there is an appearance of an angel and an external objective, an audible statement by the angel. So this is not some sort of mystical, subjective divine guidance through feelings; it is overt special revelation via an angel.

Verse 26 doesn’t mean Philip is in Jerusalem, it just tells us that this is the main road that went from Jerusalem to Gaza. The last little statement in the English says this was desert. Interestingly, it is unclear how that phrase relates to the rest of the sentence in Greek. The word “desert” grammatically could relate to either Gaza or to “road.” If it related to “road,” it would be speaking about the desert part of the road where it went through the desert.

If it referred to Gaza then it would be referring to the ancient city of Gaza. Gaza is where Samson was imprisoned and ultimately brought down the temple of the Philistines. Gaza was destroyed in 96 BC by one of the Hasmonean rulers, Alexander Jannaeus, and the new city of Gaza was not rebuilt until approximately 56 BC by the Romans, and it was a few miles south of the ancient city that had been the city of the Philistines. In other words, if it is rebuilt 56 BC, that is after Acts 15, and definitely way after Acts 8. There is no city of Gaza, just city ruins and the area known as

Somewhere along this roadway, Philip is going to meet up with the Ethiopians. Even at the time of the New Testament, the excavation of part of the ancient site of Gaza was often referred to, to distinguish this site from the new city, and this site was referred to as “desert Gaza.” So when the text reads, “This is desert,” it is probably talking about the road to desert Gaza, not the desert road to Gaza.

Gaza is only mentioned this one time in the Scripture, but, of course, we see it mentioned almost every day in the newspaper, usually about the Gaza strip, which has been given over to complete Palestinian Authority control with HAMAS, a derivative of the Muslim Brotherhood, running Gaza.

The angel gives him an order, and Philip responds. This is how every believer should respond when the Word of God directs us as to what to do. We should recognize that this is a direction from God and a normative pattern in our lives.

Acts 8:27

Acts 8:26–27 NKJV

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

There is obviously divine guidance behind the scenes, and there will be an intersection of the path of Philip and this Ethiopian.

But we don’t read that he arose and went, AND the Holy Spirit guided him to this eunuch. We know what is happening behind the scenes, but it is not overt. The text doesn’t make a point of always saying those things. In fact the emphasis is on the obedience of Phillip.

The reason for saying that is one of the things observed is that you can always tell when some people are brand new believers.

They are enthusiastic and very excited about the Christian life, which is always refreshing. But it is often found that there are people who think they have to talk in particular “Christian” verbiage. They might say “Praise the Lord” in every other sentence, say “Amen” and “Isn’t God wonderful,” and every time something has happened, they say, the Lord did this, the Lord did that.

Scripture doesn’t even do that. This shows the new believer’s enthusiasm, but hopefully, they will kind of calm down after a bit of time and recognize that using verbiage like that has no spiritual value one way or the other.

This verse is essential for setting up and understanding the background and context to answer and address some of the issues here.

We sometimes see in commentaries comments like, “We can see Philip’s yieldedness to the Spirit’s control and his obedience.” We don’t know how the commentator can see it because there is no mention of yieldedness. There is mention of his obedience but no mention of the Holy Spirit. It is a response to the angel. This is the subtle way in which people read things into the text. We have to be careful not to read things into the text.

Part of the issue is that people have an inability to reconcile how God (including God the Holy Spirit) works covertly in our lives because they can’t reconcile the idea of free will with sovereignty.

They typically don’t even realize that this is happening in their thinking.

This is largely the baggage that comes from the influence of Calvinism and the idea of determinism that comes from a non grace orientation. The idea of God’s Irresistable Grace diminishes the role of human responsibility and the need for operational faith in the life of the believer. The idea of Limited Atonement restricts the idea of the availability of God’s grace — people can’t fathom how God’s grace is constantly flowing and working.

Frankly, the Arminians aren’t any better, since they completely neglect grace as well, and put the burden solely on man.

But we understand that with volitional response we are enabled to take advantage of God’s magnificent grace enablement and empowerment. This is what we see in the text here: Phillip Arose, active voice, which is a positive volitional response that embraces grace. God’s provision is always manifest as we respond with a positive volition. God in His eternal breadth is not limited in His omniscience and omnipotence breadth of capacity and therefore is always able to create a matrix of grace that surrounds us and penetrates every aspect of our life.

Our passage and the action of Phillip is an unquestioning obedience that can be seen in Genesis 22:3.

Genesis 22:3

Genesis 22:3 NKJV

3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Here we again have the idea of no hesitation, but immediate response.

Part of the reason for this is going back to the doctrine of SHEMA which we reviewed in James 2 and Hebrews 11. There is a doctrine that can be heard and yet not acted upon which James condemns. The Old Testament of Shema is that what you hear you do. It begins with Abraham and continues as an irrepressible concept. The idea of hearing and not doing is simply anathema.

James 1:21-22

James 1:21–22 NKJV

21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

In terms of the obedience of faith, As we see in verse 29, the Holy Spirit plays a key role in this encounter as well, but don’t confuse the Holy Spirit with the angel in verse 26.

Acts 8:29

Acts 8:29 NKJV

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Now back to verse 27.

Acts 8:27 NKJV

27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,

It is interesting to understand the background of the man from Ethiopia. We would think of this man as a Gentile, but the Scriptures are very clear when we get to Acts chapter 10 that the first Gentiles to be saved and to become part of the church are the members of Cornelius’s household. So this isn’t a Gentile. We are still seeing the church's expansion in a primarily Jewish context.

Ethiopia in Scripture doesn’t refer specifically to the modern state of Ethiopia but mainly to the modern nation of Sudan. It is the area called Cush in the Old Testament, also called Nubea in Scripture. It extends south of the first cataract on the Nile, so it is more in the area of the nation of Khartoum.

The Greek word for Ethiopia is aithiops [Αἰθίοψ], which has as its primary meaning “burnt face.” So it was a normal expectation of any reader at this time that if you were speaking of any of the Ethiopian people, then you were speaking of dark-skinned people who were from this area south of Egypt.

A question that we should ask because of the significance of what is going on in Scripture related to Jews and Gentiles is, just exactly what is the identity of this Ethiopian?

The first option is that he is Jewish.

We don’t think that is the case, but we do think that is a possibility. We have seen this in modern times. There is a considerable number of Ethiopians who were air-lifted to Israel back in the eighties and nineties and are considered by the Jews to be Jewish. So we ought to ask the question:

What is the basis for this claim to be Jewish, and what exactly is their identification?

Two significant operations took place back in the late twentieth century. The first occurred in 1984 and 1985 and was a secret operation known as Operation Moses. This involved a massive airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel over several months, and approximately 8,500 Jews were taken to Israel. But when information about this leaked out to the press, due to international pressure, the Jewish community shut down the operation. Then, about six years later, in May of 1991, due to the persecution of these people, there was a massive airlift that took place known as Operation Solomon. Over 24 hours, the Israelis did a massive airlift of 35,000 Ethiopians into Israel and set all kinds of records in doing that.

There have been several suggestions as to who these people are. Some have suggested that they were members of the ten lost tribes (a reference to the ten tribes that were in the northern kingdom of Israel, which was conquered in 722 BC by the Assyrians) who were removed from their traditional homeland and resettled in different areas of the Assyrian empire.

The Assyrian empire was the area that goes from Iraq, Syria, and Iran, which is the opposite of Ethiopia and northern Africa. So, they are probably not members of the ten lost tribes.

A second option has to do with the legends that have been carried on down through the centuries by the Ethiopian people and the group that refer to themselves as the House of Israel where they trace their origins back to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba—that Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had a child.

When the Queen of Sheba was pregnant by Solomon, she went back to Ethiopia, where she had a son, and this was the beginning of this dynasty that extended down to Haile Selassie, who was the last emperor of Ethiopia. Nobody is sure how much of that is true.

There is another option, and that is that this is the product of intermarriage between Jews who left Judea with Jeremiah for Egypt when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC, and then when some of the Jews who went to Egypt later went further south into the area of Ethiopia. There is also the view that there were a number of converts in the entourage that would have accompanied the Queen of Sheba to the court of Solomon, that there was a large number of these people who converted to biblical Judaism, and that when they went back to Ethiopia, they followed that, became a little bit segregated in their culture and continued down through the ages. There has been a lot of speculation as to who these Ethiopian Jews are, but we don’t have enough information about them.

One of the interesting things about this community is that it is very clear that they have a very ancient claim to being Jewish. They practice all of the Mosaic Law and the customs of Judaism, but it is not a second temple period Judaism, not a rabbinical form of Judaism. They have no understanding or awareness of any of the standard rabbinic practices in the time of Christ or the period just before Christ. They do not know the rabbinic laws enacted after the Old Testament period ended. They only know of Old Testament Judaism. Another reason we can know that their origins are ancient is partially based on the account in Acts chapter eight, the story of Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch and his evident Jewish awareness and knowledge of Judaism in Ethiopia, and an awareness to the degree that this Ethiopian eunuch who was a very highly place court official has made a pilgrimage to one of the annual feast days to Jerusalem to worship at the temple.

So, there are four options for identifying this Ethiopian.

The first is that he truly was a Jew. That is probably not likely.

A second way in which a Gentile could become a Jew or be considered Jewish was to become a full proselyte to Judaism.

In this case, they would accept all of the Torah, customs, and practices of the Jews, and this would be a complete part of their life and religion. This is probably not the case with the Ethiopian because, most likely, he was a eunuch—that is not just a title for somebody who was in a role of personal servitude to the royal family, though he most probably was—and if he was a eunuch then, according to Deuteronomy 23:1, he would not be allowed to enter into the inner courts of the temple to worship. He could have gone only as far as the courtyard of the Gentiles. So, he could not be a full proselyte to Judaism if he was a eunuch.

This would mean that the third option would be most likely, and this was a reference to a proselyte of the gate, someone who was a Gentile but believed in and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For the most part, they accepted the customs and practices of Judaism, but they did not have to submit to the rite of circumcision.

Again, here is what we showed you last week about categories of proselytes.

When we come to Cornelius in Acts chapter ten, we are told that Cornelius was a God-fearer. He is not considered a proselyte or a proselyte of the gate but a Gentile who worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob alone, who lived as best they could according to the laws of the Torah but did not necessarily have to follow or accept all of the customs and practices of the Jews. This explains why he has his copy of Isaiah. This would have been extremely rare in the ancient world. Usually, only a person of some wealth or means could own their own copy.

Acts 8:28

Acts 8:28 NKJV

28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

The term that is used for reading there fits with the regular usage of the word at this time when he was reading it out loud. One of the reasons they read out loud was that this facilitated memory, and they would memorize the Scripture. There was an emphasis in the culture to learn by rote memory.

Today, if you are in education and say anything about rote memory, you are considered somewhat antiquated, and yet most people who were educated and made most of the brilliant discoveries and inventions upon which everything modern is built came up through education systems built on rote memory. So, this should not be looked down upon by modern education schemes. It teaches how to learn and how to retain things. The more we memorize things the more we will remember things. The more we train our mind to remember things the easier it will become and the more we will remember. And who knows what kind of an impact that might have down through the years if we get Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia? As with Scripture, the same applies to hymns. People should memorize hymns. So, it is important to get this into the soul through Bible memory and learning hymns.

As Philip comes running up, he hears what the Ethiopian reads in chapter fifty-three of Isaiah. It is important to note that he doesn’t fully comprehend what he is reading. A point to bring up here is that everyone should be involved in a Bible reading program. We should read three, four, five, etc., every day because this is the Word of God that washes through our brains. Of course, there are going to be passages that we don’t understand. But we are reading to be reminded of promises so that if we see verses that are promises, we can underline the promises. We are being reminded of how God has worked in the lives of believers in the past. I am reading to be reminded of circumstances, situations, and events that took place in the Scriptures, and we are reading to be reminded of certain vital doctrines. We should be reading the Scriptures regularly. Unfortunately, that practice has fallen on dry times and is not practiced much today.

He is reading, but he does not understand or comprehend. But because he is reading he has a frame of reference for a conversation. Today, if we go into a public school, any environment where there are children, and we try to talk about the Bible, we are in serious trouble because they are biblically illiterate. Even among a lot of Christians in a lot of churches, they are biblically illiterate. They don’t know the events; they don’t know the people, so we can’t even have an informed conversation about the gospel, God, or spiritual things because people don’t have the vocabulary, information, or knowledge. And even if you are reading and not understanding everything there, you are still learning about people, places, events, and things, which becomes a foundation in your thinking for conversation and learning later on. But when you don’t have the basic vocabulary, nobody can have an intelligent conversation about the Bible or anything related to God.

What the Ethiopian is reading comes from Isaiah 53:7-8.

Isaiah 53:7-8

Isaiah 53:7–8 NKJV

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

As he is reading this out aloud God the Holy Spirit gives further direction to Philip.

Acts 8:29

Acts 8:29 NKJV

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Note that this is the first time in this episode that God the Holy Spirit has been mentioned. Does that mean that the Holy Spirit was inactive in the rest of this? No, not at all. It is not the story's background or point; this is not the normative pattern of divine guidance. But at this point, the Spirit, not the angel of v. 26, audibly communicates to Philip—that is the normal sense of the word. The comment “he had an impression of what he should do” is not what the text says. The text says he was given direct and specific information.

Acts 8:30-31

Acts 8:30–31 NKJV

30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

This shows that it is not enough just to read the Scripture. Reading the Scripture is essential and critical, but it will not get you there. You have to have someone who can guide you in understanding the Scripture. That is the role of the pastor-teacher; that is why God has given the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, and the pastor-teacher is a man who is gifted and trained (very important; just because you have a gift doesn’t mean you know how to use it). Too many churches and pastors have forgotten that today and would rather have somebody who has the gift than somebody who has been trained. The man with the gift who has no training is a time bomb. He is in trouble because he doesn’t know enough to stay out of trouble.

The eunuch asks one question, and it is essential to pay attention to this.

Acts 8:34

Acts 8:34 NKJV

34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

He does not ask any other theological or doctrinal questions that we might ask. He is just saying, “Who is he talking about?” That is what opens the door to this tremendous conversation, the opportunity to communicate the gospel and clarify it for the Ethiopian.

Who is My Servant? Acts 8: 26-29, Isaiah 53

We are in Acts chapter eight vv. 26-40 which is one of the great episodes in the founding and expansion of the church when God directed, through first an angel and then the Holy Spirit, Philip to go south along the Gaza road and to meet with this Ethiopian eunuch. In verse 26 we see the directive from the angel for Philip to go along this road.

Acts 8:30

Acts 8:30 NKJV

30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

He probably would have been reading the section from 52:12 to the end of chapter 53.

Philips question is an interesting turn of the phrase in the Greek, ginoskeis ha anaginoskeis [γινωσκεις α αναγινωσκεις]. You can hear the alliteration there.

Basically the first verb ginosko would be translated “Do you understand, do you really comprehend what you are reading, or are you just reading the story?” The word for reading is another compound word based on ginosko—anaginosko, which usually means to read out loud. It is the same word used in Timothy when Paul tells Timothy to give attention to the public reading of Scripture.

Acts 8:31

Acts 8:31 NKJV

31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

He uses the word hodegeo [ὁδηγέω] which means to lead, to guide, to direct. It used of guiding a blind person; it is used in the LXX of God guiding or directing the Israelites through the desert,

Moses guiding the Israelites in passages such as

Exodus 15:13 ; 32:34 .

Exodus 15:13 NKJV

13 You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation.

Exodus 32:34 NKJV

34 Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.”

It expresses guidance. So he needs someone to tell him what it means. He is an unbeliever. 1 Corinthians 2:13 says the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:13

1 Corinthians 2:13 NKJV

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Because he is spiritually dead means he is lacking the internal immaterial components to fully comprehend the spiritual impact and teaching of a passage. So there needs to be further explanation and guidance, and God the Holy Spirit uses pastors, friends, people and literature to do that.

The Ethiopian had his scroll, indicating he was wealthy enough to have his own copy. A scroll was usually about 8-12 inches wide and anywhere from 16 to 145 feet long. It would have been written in square Hebrew text.

As Philip gets up on the chariot, he continues to read the next verse, a verse he has a question on Acts 8:32

Acts 8:32-33

Acts 8:32–33 NKJV

32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

One thing that is interesting here is that in the quotation in the Greek from the LXX, the statement is made that He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearers …” The word translated “lamb” is the Greek word onmos [ἀμνός], a word for lamb that is only used four times in all of the New Testament. This word is extremely significant.

In John chapter one, John the Baptist uses it twice with reference to Jesus: v. 29,

John 1:29

John 1:29 NKJV

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Verse 36,

John 1:36

John 1:36 NKJV

36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

This word for lamb would have had great significance if you were a Jewish listener because you would have connected the phrase “Lamb of God” with the Passover lamb or with any lamb that was part of a sacrifice, a lamb that was without spot or blemish.

Remember that Peter had also been a disciple of John the Baptist before being a disciple of Jesus.

He writes:

1 Pet 1:18-19

1 Peter 1:18–19 NKJV

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

These are the only four passages that use this term for “lamb” and it brings into focus the substitutionary sacrificial role of the lamb standing in the place of someone else. As the worshipper would come and put his hand on the lamb and recite his sins those sins were ritually being transferred from the person to the lamb, and then the lamb would be killed bearing the sin penalty.

But the question that is asked of Philip is a fairly simple one.

Acts 8:34

Acts 8:34 NKJV

34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”

So, he is confused. He doesn’t understand who this whole passage is talking about. Is it Isaiah or somebody else? By the time of the first century, some other options had been suggested. Nothing had been developed in terms of an alternate type of interpretation, but the first option would have been a historical figure such as the eunuch mentions, Isaiah himself. Or possibly other ideas that floated around in subsequent years with Elijah, Hezekiah, or the prophets. But none of these had any traction. In the early period of the church, the first century, and the period before the first century, the evidence that we have is that the rabbis clearly understood Isaiah 53 to refer to the Messiah, to an individual.

They had difficulty reconciling that with their view that the Messiah would come as a ruling Messiah who would give victory to Israel. By the time of the first century, when Jesus came, the rabbis had already become myopic in their understanding of the Messiah as only a ruling Messiah and not a suffering Messiah.

But the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures are clear, especially from Isaiah 53: that the Messiah will suffer and die for the iniquity of His people, and He will pay for the sins not only of Israel but for all people. That is very clear in this whole passage. But they couldn’t reconcile the glory aspect of the Messiah with the suffering aspect of the Messiah, and they got the glory before the suffering. This is why they couldn't put that together when Jesus came lowly and humble and not as a victorious conquering hero.

So one option was a historical figure—Isaiah himself or a prophet, and the second option was the nation or the people of Israel. There is some debate over this because it is not until much later in history that there is a definitive, well articulated interpretation among the rabbis that becomes accepted that it tries to interpret the servant here as the people or the nation Israel. Some things cited indicate that this idea was floated out there maybe as early as the second century, but nobody bit it. It wasn’t an idea that grabbed anybody. The primary idea through the first millennia of the church age among Jewish writers was that this was an individual.

The verse that is quoted by the Ethiopian eunuch starts in the middle of Isaiah 53:7.

He starts with the sentence,

Isaiah 53:7

Isaiah 53:7 NKJV

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

The next verse reads differently because he is quoting from the LXX. So, although the Septuagint differs from the Massoretic text, whether it is a paraphrase or whatever the reason, the focus is still the same: the servant of God, referred to as “my servant.”

So we take a diversion and do a study of Isaiah 53, which is such a critical passage to understand. The section begins at the end of Isaiah chapter 52.

Isaiah 52:13

Isaiah 52:13 NKJV

13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

This is part of a servant psalm.

There are four servant psalms in the latter part of Isaiah, from chapter forty to sixty-six.

Among liberal scholars (because the theme of Isaiah 40-66 is so much different from chapters 1-39) in the 19th century who thought everything in the Bible was cobbled together by editors much later than the claims of Scripture believed that Isaiah could not have written these two different parts because they had different themes, different focus, different vocabulary. This just shows the problems of these liberal scholars because there are many people throughout the world who write as experts in many fields.

Lewis Carol, who we know wrote Alice In Wonderland, also wrote a textbook on symbolic logic. It is suggested that if a computer was taken to do a study of the words that are used in Through The Looking Glass and the words that are used in his Symbolic Logic there is not a whole lot of overlap. It is completely different subject matter and a completely different approach to literature—a completely different style of literature. So it would be just asinine to come along and say Lewis Carol wrote Through The Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland so that he couldn’t have written a technical book on symbolic logic. That shows how narrow-minded and limited some people are.

So we need to ask why there would be this difference. Maybe the text can tell us.

In Isaiah 1-39, we focus on God’s future judgment upon the nations and Israel for her disobedience to God.

Isaiah begins with a focus on the future millennial kingdom, the reign of Messiah, and the glories that will come to Israel. This is followed by various chapters dealing with the judgments on Babylon and other nations surrounding Israel.

It is depressing when we read through it. If we were living in Israel at that time, we would think the world was going to fall apart because there is going to be horrible, horrible judgments. Isaiah is foretelling the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians within 150 years because of their disobedience to God. This is not a happy message. He is condemning the false prophets and false teachers in Israel at the time, and it is a time of darkness and chaos in the world, and it is going to be really bad. But there is hope, and it is never that dark because God is in control.

Isaiah 40-66 doesn’t focus on judgment; it focuses on God’s future provision and deliverance of Israel, the fulfillment of all of God’s promises for Israel, and how no matter how terrible, how dark, how destructive or how horrendous things get God is still in control, and therefore even though it appears to be unstable it is stable because God controls history.

God is going to fulfill all of His promises and deliver Israel. It is a message of hope. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah focus on God’s future deliverance, so it is a different focal point from what we have in the first 39 chapters. In the heart of this section from Isaiah 40-66 is the section from 52:13 to 53:12. This is the heart of this message, and it focuses on the deliverer and what He will do to deliver God’s people.

What is interesting today in the Jewish community is that Jews do not encourage reading certain passages of the Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, according to one writer, the synagogues all read the same passages of Scripture every week so that around the world, they are reading off the same page. According to this writer, as they get to the third Sabbath in August, the reading ends at Isaiah 52:12, and then the following reading begins at Isaiah 54:1. So, from Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12 are not read, and they are not discussed.

One of the reasons for this is that during the period of the early church and through the Middle Ages by reading through this particular section hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews, became Christians because it was just so obvious when reading through this section that it must have been a prophecy related to the Messiah and Jesus fulfilled it. It was taken out of their reading. But this is a passage that predicts a suffering Messiah, a Messiah who suffers as a substitute for the people, so they will not suffer, and that the death of this suffering servant is not due to anything unjust or wrong in His life but that His death itself is an injustice because He is without sin, and it is on the basis of His death, His substitutionary work, that many will be justified (53:11).

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the apostle Paul talks about the gospel, and in summarizing, says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

For the apostle Paul, the Scriptures were the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. So where do we find the Hebrew Old Testament talking about the fact that the Messiah would die for our sins? Right here in Isaiah chapter 53. This has been one of those issues, if not the primary issue, that has caused such a division between Jews and Christians over the last 2000 years.

Isaiah 52:13-15 is an introductory summary of what is covered in Isaiah 53:1-12.

Isaiah 52:13-14

Isaiah 52:13–14 NKJV

13 Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men;

His visage is His facial features, and this indicates that He is so tortured, beaten to a pulp, that no one could recognize Him.

The result is Isaiah 52:15

Isaiah 52:15

Isaiah 52:15 NKJV

15 So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider.

The word for sprinkle is the same word that is used for a priest dipping his hand in the blood and sprinkling it on the altar. It is the same word that is used in numerous sacrificial contexts. He will sprinkle “many nations” [Gentiles]. This is a clear statement in the summary here that the servant is not only going to die for Israel but also for the Gentiles. His death is going to have a universal application.

“… Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”

The profundity of the gospel is emphasized there. So according to Isaiah 52:14, 15, He suffers for the people of Israel, His blood will sprinkle many nations, and therefore it is clear from these verses that He will be the savior of both the Jews and the Gentiles.

If we look at this section of Isaiah, we must understand its background and organization. There are three basic divisions in Isaiah 40-66. The first focus is on the reality of a future deliverance for Israel. God promises that He will deliver no matter how dark it may appear, no matter how chaotic circumstances may appear—chapters 40-48. Within that is the first song of the servant in Isaiah 42:1-9. The second division focuses on the future deliverer of Israel, and the focal point of chapters 49-55 is 52:13-53:12. There are three songs in this section. The second is in Isaiah 49:1-13, the third song is in 50:4-11, and the fourth song is in 52:12-53:13. Then Isaiah 56-66 focuses on the future deliverer of Israel—the future deliverance of Israel, the kingdom in the future and what that will be like.

For the most part in the history of interpretation among Jewish commentators, including the Targums and the Midrash is that this passage is talking about the Messiah, and it was understood to be an individual in this passage. However, during the first thousand years or so after the fall of the temple many Jews were led to a belief in Jesus as the Messiah from reading this passage. So there were various attempts to try to reinterpret this—the suffering servant is Elijah, Hezekiah or Isaiah. Even today somebody comes up with a new interpretation but most of the time they don’t have any traction. By there was one famous rabbi known by the name of Rashi who was revolutionary in developing a new allegorical interpretation, a system of interpretation that was applied to numerous messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures. His attempt was to basically remove the prophecies of an individual Messiah from the Old Testament. One of the interesting things about him is that this happened later in his life and he changed his views, but in his earlier commentary on the Talmud when he was younger he took an individual messianic interpretation of Isaiah 53. When the printing press came along, in some of the first Bible that were printed there was also included his commentaries on the Old Testament. That influenced some Protestant reformers—like Calvin and a few others—so that they also had some of these views of some of these passages that we normally view as being messianic, weren’t.

Looking at Isaiah 53 we look at this immediate context and recognise that there is this emphasis on deliverance. This deliverance comes from an individual figure referred to in this section as “My servant.” So we have to ask the question: who is the servant of God? There is debate on this, and if we are talking to anybody Jewish about this they will come up with the interpretation that the servant is the nation Israel.

There are different people identified with different servants in Isaiah, so it is not like we could say every time it is “my servant” it is Israel or every time it is “my servant” it is the Messiah, because it is not. For example, in Isaiah 20:3 it refers to Isaiah himself but that doesn’t work all the time. In Isaiah 22:20 it is “my servant Eliakim.” In Isaiah 37:35 it is “my servant David.” So there are different people who are identified as the servant of Yahweh. It is also very clear in some passages that the servant is also seen as the people of Israel. Isaiah 41:8, 9 – “you Israel are my servant.” Isaiah 42:18-20 where it is a criticism of Israel being spiritually deaf, blind and ignorant of spiritual truth. In verse 19 God says, “Who is blind but My servant …” This is the negative criticism that the servant has failed to fulfil his role as a servant. In Isaiah 43:10 God says, “You are My witnesses … and My servant whom I have chosen…”; Isaiah 44:1, “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen.”

In these passages it is clear that they refer to Israel as the servant of God. But the question is: Is that who God is speaking about when we get into the servant psalms. Isaiah also points out the flaws, the failures of Israel as God’s servant. Israel is too corrupt and too sinful to fulfil God’s mission for them as His servant. Isaiah 1:4 NASB “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.” Isaiah 29:10 NASB “For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.” Isaiah 48:1 NASB “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, {But} not in truth nor in righteousness” – giving lip service to God and to the Torah. So the nation of Israel is viewed as being too corrupt. They need a redeemer. How can Israel be the redeemer to redeem themselves when they are in need of a redeemer.

So Isaiah presents a second servant, and it is the role of the second servant to fulfil the mission of redemption for the people. Isaiah 52:9 NASB “Break forth, shout joyfully together, You waste places of Jerusalem; For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.” His role is mentioned in Isaiah 42:7 NASB “To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.” This is quoted as fulfilment in the ministry of Jesus. Isaiah 53:11 NASB “ … By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” In Isaiah 53 the servant is modified by what noun? “Righteous.” Can Israel be called a righteous servant? Not at all; not in line with those other passages just quoted. Isaiah 49:5, 6 NASB “And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb [the human, physical aspect], to be His Servant to bring Jacob back to Him [How can Israel bring Jacob back? He can’t, this has to be a separate person], so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The role of the servant is to bring Jacob back so that Israel is “gathered to Him” [NKJV].

The servant is given to bring Israel back to God, but that is too small. We are not going to limit God’s grace to just bringing the Jews back; God’s grace goes to all the nations. It is clear from the context that the servant seems to be an individual, not the nation Israel. Two servants are in view: Israel initially, but the only servant who can provide redemption is the servant mentioned in Isaiah 53.

As we begin to approach this section (52:13-53:12) we see that it is formed in a chiasm, a literary device that organises words, lists, topics in an order so that they have a certain flow. There is a focus on the servant’s glory in light of His suffering in Isaiah 52:13-15. When we come to the end of chapter 53 there is an emphasis again on the servant’s glory in view of His suffering. The servant’s submissive character is emphasised in Isaiah 53:1-3; it is again emphasised in the passage quoted by the Ethiopian, Isaiah 53:7, 9. The centrepiece is Isaiah 53:4-6. The reason it is called a chiasm is the Greek letter chi [x], the letter X. If we take that letter and line it up it is the centre point that is the emphasis. It is not that the other points aren’t important, but it is a rhetorical device that is used by a writer to focus the reader’s attention on something. The centrepiece here, vv. 4-6, is the role of the servant as the substitutionary atonement for the people.

Is 52:13 NASB “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.” The Hebrew word for “behold” is a command to come to attention, to pay attention, to wake up and watch; this is something important to listen to. He focuses attention on the servant. What is interesting is the way this connects with other statements related to “behold” and “servant” that we have in the other prophets. Remember that Isaiah was written in the seventh century BC. Zechariah was written after the Jews had returned to the land, somewhere around 515 BC, about 150 years after Isaiah, so he is referring back to what Isaiah has said. Zechariah assumes that his readers know Isaiah, so he says: Zechariah 3:8 NASB “Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.” Same terminology: “behold, My servant.” But now we have something else to clarify the picture, the servant is called “the Branch.”

This is an important term because it comes out of Isaiah. It is a messianic title. Isaiah 11:1 NASB “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” It is picturing the house of Jesse, the descendants of Jesse, as a tree. But the tree has been cut down, there is a stump there, and now there is going to be a new shoot, a new branch that is going to come out of that stump. The way that was fulfilled is that it looked like the Davidic line ended with the defeat of Judah in 586. They come back under Zerubbabel who was a Davidic descendant trying to re-establish themselves in Judah after the Babylonian captivity. Then in the inter-Testamental period the Davidic line just seems to have disappeared. The all of a sudden there is the beginnings of the Gospels and Jesus and His lineage is given in both Matthew and Luke, Matthew to show He can’t be the physical descendant of Joseph because Joseph came from Jeconiah. God has cursed the line of Jeconiah and so Matthew chapter one is given to show us that Jesus could not be the physical son of Joseph. Luke is given to show that He is the physical son of Mary and He has a direct line to the Davidic heirship through His mother, Mary. So out of the stump of Jesse that appeared to be dead a new branch is growing forth and will bring new life to the kingdom.

This is also stated some 100 years after Isaiah by Jeremiah. Jeremiah 23:5 NASB “Behold, {the} days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.”

Jeremiah 33:15 NASB “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.” So the future Branch is righteous. This is the same thing we see in Isaiah 53, that the servant is righteous—“My righteous servant,” v. 11.

Another things that we learn here is that He is a man; He is fully human. Zechariah 6:12 NASB Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD” – referring to the future temple that Ezekiel described in Ezekiel 40ff. Also in Zechariah 9:9 NASB “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout {in triumph,} O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” So we have Behold the Branch, Behold the man, Behold the king. In Isaiah 40:9 NASB “Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift {it} up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘[Behold] Here is your God!’” This is the beginning of the servant section in Isaiah, and now it is, “Behold your God.” All of this connects together in terms of the different roles of the servant. He is fully human; He is fully God; He is the King of Israel; He is the Branch, the descendant of David.

When we get into the New Testament we see this connection of how this phraseology that we have in Isaiah pulls together in terms of the presentation of Jesus in the four Gospels. For example, Matthew is all about presenting Jesus as the King—Behold the King. The placard that is placed over the cross by Pilate, Matthew 27:37. In Mark the focus is on Jesus as the servant, the Branch as the servant of Yahweh. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many,” Mark 10:45. In Luke the emphasis is on Jesus as the Son of Man, the son of David. Luke 19: 10 NASB “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In the Gospel of John the focus is on the deity of Jesus. He is the Son of God. John 20:30, 31 NASB “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

In Isaiah 52:12 Israel had failed by this point and is replaced by the second servant who is faithful. Psalm 40:7, 8 NASB “Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.’”

In the New Testament in Philippians Jesus is the one who emptied Himself as the second person of the Trinity and took on the form of a bondservant, and was made in the likeness of men. So when we get pack to our passage in Isaiah 52:13 the servant is the one who deals wisely or prudently with His people. That is also applied in Jeremiah 23:5 to the Branch. NASB “Behold, {the} days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.”

He is going to be exalted and lifted up very high above all of the angels. An ancient Jewish Midrash said that He would be higher than Abraham, higher than Moses, and higher than the ministering angels. He is higher than Abraham because He is the Son of God whose day Abraham looked forward to. He is higher than Moses because He is the mediatory of a better covenant, according to Hebrew chapters seven and eight. And He is exalted above the angels, Hebrews chapter one. What is the result of this? He is exalted above everyone, Isaiah 52:13. We see that in the great servant passage in Philippians chapter two, that He will be exalted by God and have bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The themes that are in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 are pulled together by later prophets. They tie all these things together and then they fit integrally with everything in the New Testament about Jesus. It all comes together.

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