Philip and the Ethiopian
Notes
Transcript
Acts 8:26-40
Acts 8:26-40
His 3 Questions
His 3 Questions
“How Can I Know?” - vv. 30-33
he was clearly seeking the truth, studying, and reading aloud to his charioteer
he was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: And who shall his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people was he stricken.
he was seeking, but he had not yet found
but as Jesus promised, he would find the answer (Matt. 7:7-8)
all who seek the Lord will find Him!
God will not leave those in the dark who seek Him
contrast this Ethiopian eunuch with
King Agrippa in Acts 26:28 could not be convinced, even by the eloquence of Paul
God had ordained that the Gospel be propagated through the method of preaching
personal evangelism
up to that point, and beyond, there was a succession of the Gospel: from Jesus to the Apostles, from the Apostles to the multitudes, from the multitudes to the world
the Catholics have an erroneous teaching that claims the Popes are in a direct line of apostolic succession going all the way back to Peter, and that gives them ultimate authority over the church
but all those who call upon the name of Christ can point to an unbroken line of the Gospel.
for more than 2,000 years, Christians have been telling others about Christ. The apostles and their earliest converts penned the New Testament. The preached Christ to those believed, who then preached Christ...and so on down the line until someone told you about Christ and you believed
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
“Who Is This About?” vv. 34-35
despite his faithfulness and devotion to Yahweh, he could not discern the scriptures
the Lord sent the evangelist, Philip, to explain this passage
Philip preached to the Ethiopian from this same passage, and began to expound
he showed him from the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah
this is the same thing Peter did when he preached, and Stephen did, and now Philip
we should never shy away from embracing the entirety of Scripture
there are parts that make us uncomfortable
they offend our sensibilities
some are difficult to preach and harder to enjoy (same as when it was first proclaimed - they killed the prophets
but rather than “unhitch” from the OT, we must recognize it’s inspiration and importance
“What Prevents Me From Baptism?” - vv. 36-38
once the blinders were removed from the heart of the Ethiopian, he understood and believed
like the disciples on the road to Emmaus on the first Lord’s Day, the veil was removed from his eyes
he asked, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?”
in other words, “what is preventing me from joining forces with Jesus?” How do I sign up?
Philip made clear the requirement: believe on Jesus
Faith in Jesus
Nothing else. No works, no penance, no confessions, not even any outward ritual
If you believe in Jesus Christ (i.e. have faith), baptism tells the world where you stand! In essence, you are “tying the knot”
In similar fashion, Jesus told Peter “feed my sheep” to back up his affirmation of love and devotion to Christ (John 21:17)
the Ethiopian understood a private or secret commitment to Christ was not a worthy commitment
who would enter a covenant with a spouse secretly? Except in rare cases where it would be an imminent danger, we all should, would, or have openly declared our love and devotion to our spouse as we join together in a covenant in the presence of God and man
in similar fashion, when we are baptized, we are publicly declaring our love and devotion to Jesus Christ, and following His example in ritualistic cleansing
By declaring his faith in Jesus, and becoming baptized, the eunuch was declaring his fealty to Jesus Christ, forsaking all other gods and men
the same is true for us
this is one of the reasons the public baptism of those who believe is an important and central part of Christianity
despite what many people believe, and what is perpetuated by pop culture, baptism does not wash away our sins or cleanse us from unrighteousness; it is the outward expression of what Jesus already accomplished on the cross of Calvary
After coming up out of the water, Philip was whisked away by the Holy Spirit. The eunuch, who probably hoped that Philip would continue with him, went on his way and rejoiced the whole way. Because of his race and his emasculation as a eunuch, he was barred from active participation in the Jewish rites (Deut. 23:1). Despite these exclusions, he had traveled to Jerusalem in observance of Pentecost/Shavuot to obey and worship the God he had served for probably quite some time. Now that he was a believer in Jesus Christ, who Philip had just explained was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and was baptized, he was recognized as a true member of Israel (not the eyes of the religious leaders, to be sure). He was no longer going to be excluded from worshipping the Lord. He was saved by the grace of God, and sealed by the covenant between Jesus and the Father, and now it was made “official” by the public profession of faith and baptism.
Although Scripture does not afford us any more information about this Ethiopian, history and legend tells us he returned to his home country and became the first evangelist to his people. In a land where there were plenty of Jewish settlements and Ethiopian cities, this unnamed man proclaimed the Gospel to those who would hear and many were saved. Legend again tells us when Rome sacked Jerusalem 40 years later, the Ark of the Covenant was secretly carried out of Jerusalem and taken to Ethiopia, where it was hidden in a secret room of the church where it remains guarded today.
Philip, on the other hand, continued on to the coast of the Mediterranean where he was found preaching the gospel from Azotus (Ashdod) all the way to Caesarea. Here he settles and presumably starts a church, although that is only assumed. He remains here for at least 20 years because he is visited by Paul during one of his journeys, as stated in Acts 21:8
8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
The rest of Philip’s life is obscured from our vision, but we know enough about him to see that he was a faithful servant of the Lord. From a faithful deacon and servant to the poor and destitute, to a powerful preacher of the Gospel, to a traveling missionary taking the Good News to regions beyond his homeland, his life is one that we can look at as one to be honored and emulated. He would likely have pointed to the words that Paul penned in 1 Cor. 11:1
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Holy Father, let the zeal of evangelism burn within our hearts as it did in the hearts of the apostles and first deacons. Holy Spirit, fill us with your presence and power so that we may be emboldened and strengthened to carry the Gospel to all those we encounter. Holy Son, Jesus, let us love you more and more with each passing hour, so that the light of the Gospel is seen through our actions, words, and even our thoughts and intents of our hearts. I pray that Emmanuel Baptist Church would be what our name suggests, that God be with us. Lord, be with us each step of the way, and keep us in the straight and narrow way. All for your glory alone! Amen.
