Sermon Tone Analysis

Give credit to Pastor John MacArthur for his outline on this chapter!

God’s plan of salvation in the OT was that in keeping the covenant the Jews would bless the nations of the world

God never intended that Israel keep His blessings for themselves

Israel for the most part failed in its responsibility to be a blessing the nations

she either turned inward or outward

inward: separatistic, isolationist, no contact with the Gentiles whom they despised

Samaritan woman to Jesus in ,

“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Peter to Cornelius in ,

Peter to Cornelius in ,

How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)Peter to Cornelius in ,

“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation”

outward: syncretistic, idolatrous, loving the world

“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation,outward: syncretistic, idolatrous, loving the world

outward: syncretistic, idolatrous, compromise with the surrounding nations

both these extremes kept Israel from being the blessing they could have been

made Israel impotent

the church experiences these same extremes and sometimes both at the same time

a tension recognized in the NT

go into all the world and make disciples () vs. be separate ()

God’s purpose in the NC is for the church to be the blessing to the world that Israel failed to be

like OT Israel, the church tends to towards these same extremes

a tension recognized in the NT

go into all the world and make disciples () vs. be separate ()

the church in Acts was forced out of Jerusalem into the world through persecution

as they scattered they brought the good news of Christ with them and so the blessing of the gospel began to spread

Satan opposes the spread of the knowledge of Christ either through a head-on attack as in the killing of Stephen and the great persecution which followed or by a more insidious approach: planting unbelievers in the church who pose as Christians and spread false teaching

last week we considered Simon the magician as a example of this effort by Satan to sabotage the mission of the church to be a blessing to the world

Simon the Magician was a poser, a false Christian

he believed, was baptized and continued with Philip but he was a false Christian

a fact of NT Church existence

wherever you find the church you will find false Christians

it’s not a question of “if” but “how many”

this is one of Satan’s methods of corrupting the church and making it ineffective

responsibility of the church to be on guard and confront false christians and false teachers lest they corrupt true believers with their unbiblical persuasions

cannot do this unless true believers are wholly and faithfully committed to all of the scriptures

this week we will consider the Ethiopian Eunuch and how he became a true Christian

through him the gospel will go from Jerusalem directly to the gentile world in Africa

he was the first recorded Gentile believer and became the first missionary to Africa!

we want to ask ourselves: what is required for true salvation?

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

Acts 8:26

who is the “angel of the Lord”?

angel of God was no ordinary angel but a description of Christ

Paul says he belonged to him and worshipped him, two things that are never true of believers in relation to angels

remember what the angel said to John when he bowed down to him in Revelation

“arise and go down toward the south” or “at noon” (26)

God knew who he was, where he was and had a plan and purpose for him even though he did not yet know him

God sent Philip to him to explain Jesus

“go toward the south” or “at noon”

“toward the south” is redundant given the specific instruction about the particular road on which the eunuch would be travelling

“at noon” + “a desert place” = very particular instructions

original city of Gaza destroyed early in 1st century BC

there were two roads, the one to the new city of Gaza and the old road to Egypt through the ruined city of Gaza

“noon” - deserted at this time because it was the hottest time of the day but necessary for Philip to travel at that time so as to meet the eunuch at the right time

go at about noon - timing was important so that Philip was at the right place at the right time

a desert place

he had been predestined to be saved from before the creation of the world

not a good place for a person to go on their own because of robbers and bandits

what we learn from this:

this was no chance encounter, God’s instructions were very specific!

apart from the direction and guidance of the HS this meeting would never have taken place and the eunuch would never have heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ

God sent Philip to him to explain Jesus

God was fully aware of the eunuch’s travels

Philip obeyed the voice of the Lord and went

note that God did not tell Philip why, only that he was to go

God knew who he was, where he was and had a plan and purpose for him even though he did not yet know him

salvation is a sovereign work of God by his grace

unbelievers cannot find their way to God

they are spiritually dead ()

Jesus said that no one could come to him unless the Father draws them ()

even when presented with the truth sinful man rejects it as something foolish and nonsensical ()

Satan is blinding them ()

we see in this story God sovereignly working through Philip to bring the eunuch the gospel in order to draw him to himself

An Available Holy Servant

he arose and went

faithful, unquestioning obedience in spite of the fact that it was the heat of the day, it was a desert road, it might be dangerous and he did not know why he was to go

we learn:

God most often accomplishes his sovereign will through prepared human instruments

remember though that though God accomplishes his will through all kinds of people, sometimes in spite of their sin, if we would be useful to the Lord we must be holy

because Philip was holy and submissive he became the means through which the eunuch was saved

though he had great success in his ministry in Samaria he was willing to obey the command of the Lord even though it must have seemed irrational

because Philip was holy and submissive he became the means by which the eunuch was saved

A Searching Heart and Mind

Acts 8:27

Ethiopian: Cush in the OT - an country south of Egypt

and there was an Ethiopian

God’s saving purposes were at work and he knew exactly where the eunuch would be and the timing of his salvation

Ethiopia = Cush in the OT - a country south of Egypt

it’s kings were considered to be incarnations of the sun god

everyday affairs of running the kingdom were therefore beneath them

were carried on by the queen mothers who were given the title “Candace”

similar to Pharaoh or Caesar

a court official … in charge of all her treasure

like Simon the Magician he was also a very important and well known person

he held a very high position in the court of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians

he had come to Jerusalem, to the Temple to worship

somehow he had come to know about the God of the Jews, perhaps through Jews who had travelled to his country to trade

Solomon’s prayer of dedication when he finished building the Temple in

when foreigners came and prayed God would hear and do what they asked that by this they might come to know His name and fear him