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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 John 4:9,
“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 Acts 10:28,
“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation”
outward: syncretistic, idolatrous, compromise with the surrounding nations
both these extremes kept Israel from being the blessing they could have been
made Israel impotent
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 (Mt 28:19-20) vs. be separate (2 Cor 6:17)
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
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)
“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
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 was fully aware of the eunuch’s travels
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 (Eph 2:1)
Jesus said that no one could come to him unless the Father draws them (Jn 6:44)
even when presented with the truth sinful man rejects it as something foolish and nonsensical (1 Cor 2:14)
Satan is blinding them (2 Cor 4:3-4)
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
A Searching Heart and Mind
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 1 Kings 8:41-44:
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
seated … reading
someone else was doing the driving
probably had a large number of servants to wait on him and perhaps even soldiers to protect him
he understood Hebrew
tells us he was a proselyte to Judaism
had been on a search for truth (ex. of Frank in whom the Lord was working but was looking in the wrong places)
had spent time with Jews who taught him their language and the ability to read and possibly write
through them he turned from his religion to Judaism
that he was reading highlights the importance of the word
eunuch had a desire to know God and was aware that he was to be sought after through the scriptures
A Prepared Witness
the Spirit said … go over … so Philip ran
Philip instantly obeyed the Lord in spite of all the servants and soldiers who were travelling with the eunuch
might have had to run because he would have been stopped
not our usual response to God’s guidance!
do you understand what you are reading?
often a good way to open a door for witness
ask lots of questions in order to engage the prospect in conversation
though he was reading he did not understand
though he was seeking God he had not yet come to the knowledge of Christ
he had not been baptized with the HS and thus he was unable to understand the truth
it made no sense to him
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