The Gospel is personal
Witness to the world: Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted
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· 16 viewsThe gospel is very personal, personal knowledge, personal faith, personal obedience are required
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From the masses to the person
From the masses to the person
The growing church has grown in multiplication, 12, 120, 3000, 5000, they continued to multiply (Act2:1-41; 3:1-4:4) and it carried onto Samaria (Act8:5-13). In our message, study tonight it gets personal, from the masses to the person, an Ethiopian Eunuch.
12 told to wait for power on high
120 were in upper room when spirit poured out
3000 were baptized for forgiveness of sins on Pentecost
2000 more = 5000 at the preaching on Solomon’s portico
Now in Samaria and they heeded and it brought great joy
(Gospel proclaimed picture inserted Here)
Growing, persecuted, disbursed Church came from the preaching of the Gospel.
Christ proclaimed
Death, burial and resurrection of first importance
Response, obedience called for including faith, repentance and baptism from the hearing of the Word.
(Transition) Tonight I want us to look at the conversion, up close and personal of the person and then some observations we can make from the passage.
The passage is long, so be sure to follow along in your bible for you know the question that is coming afterwards
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth.
33 “In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.”
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
What did you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch
Conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch
We have the responsibility and opportunity for us to look at the conversion of the Eunuch, the one, the gospel to the masses now to the one. It confirms what we have seen before and know as well as other things we can glean from the scripture together.
Philip sent (Act8:26-29)
Philip was not just a faithful preacher, he was an obedient worker, personal worker.
There was a gospel meeting going on in Samaria but the angel of the Lord tells Philip to go and he goes.
Angel could have given the gospel message of salvation to the Eunuch, but that was not entrusted to angels, it was entrusted and commissioned to man.
God directed Philip to the right person at the right time and this can be the case for us too. We need to be ready, prepared, willing for the gospel is personal. Philip left the masses for the person.
Philip sent to the person, an Ethiopian Eunuch
A man of great authority (v.27)
One who was in charge of the queens treasury
One on the way back from worship in Jerusalem.
This Eunuch who is a God worshiper (at most a Proselyte Jew), who could not enter the temple because he was a Eunuch could only enter the courts traveled a great distance to do such
He would have travelled some 200 miles to Jerusalem to worship, so I’m sure you would agree this man is a religious man.
He went to worship
He read the scriptures
He sought the truth
(Transition) being religious does not mean saved.
Philip preaches (Act8:30-34, Isa53:7-8; Isa53:1-12; Mt13:23)
Ask’s questions for understanding where the Eunuch is and then preaches Jesus (as we should do this too)
Starting with where he was at, may we consider the passage he was reading?
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
This is a part of a larger portion of scripture Isa53 all about the suffering servant
His birth foretold (vv.1-2)
His life and ministry (v.3)
His subtitutionary death (vv.4-9)
And the glorious resurrection (vv.11-12)
(transition) - so as you can see it was a part of a bigger picture, but he was focusing on a particular section (vv.7-8) which primary focus is on the willing sacrifice for sinners, and even giving up human rights to do it. - - - - - it is not enough to just desire salvation, we must understand God’s grand plan to obtain salvation. It is a matter of heart and action that will bear fruit
23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Eunuch baptized (Act8:36-40)
The Eunuch expresses desire to be baptized (vv.36-37)
Philip replies with a heart felt answer, the heart of belief is a prerequisite to baptism.
The Eunuch confesses faith, specific faith, in Jesus as the Son of God, and then Philip baptizes (vv.38-40)
Notice that they both went down “into the water” so there is no way that sprinkling or pouring would meet what the New Testament says. And then both came “up out of the water”
(transition) - Baptism is by immersion, to plunk, dunk, submerse wholly there is no other biblical example outside of that. and now may we look at the results.
Philip caught away (Act8:39-40)
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.
Philip was “caught away” or “snatched away”
The Eunuch went his way rejoicing.
Philip continued on his mission to preach the to all
(Transition) Many verses spent over one conversion. There has to be some important principles for application in this passage so let us look at that for a few minutes.
Some observations
Some observations
Christians are to seek wisdom, to apply knowledge and to grow. We are to be imitators of Christ and we learn to be just that by observing, learning, applying from the scripture.
(Who is the gospel for picture inserted here)
Prospects for the gospel (Act18:26; Mt5:6 1Cor6:9-11)
We can know from the passage that the Eunuch was a religious man who was willing to travel a great distance to worship in Jerusalem
We can know the Eunuch was a word guy, he read the scripture and wanted to understand it.
I think most of the conversions you read in the N.T. involved some very devout people
the 3000 who stood up, stood out on Pentecost who were there, some travelled great distance to worship there
People like Paul who was a zealot for the law,
Lydia who was a women of prayer and hospitality
Cornelius a gentile who was still devout and feared God and prayed always
What about you? Were you religious before your conversion?
Just because someone is religious does not mean they are saved! - they are great prospects for the gospel.
They already fear God and respect His authority. Maybe they need was Apollos needed
26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
According to the scripture if you are seeking God, you will be satisfied! - check out this:
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Who is the gospel for? Sinners too, oftentimes when they realize their sin and separation they are more receptive to the gospel. But so are good people are open to the word
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Preach Jesus (Isa52:13-53:11; 1Cor15:1-9; Act2:36, 3:13, 5:30-31, Act2:38; Rom6:3-4; 1Pt3:21; Jn8:24, 20:30-31; Col2:12; Mt22:37 and Heb3:12-14)
Preach the exalted and extolled one, the one who was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and grief. One stricken, wounded, bruised, chastened, and by His stripes we are healed. The one The father placed the sins of the world on Him and he became the sin offering for us. (you can read the scripture Isa52:13-53:11 summary)
Preach the gospel which you received, which you believed and which you stand on, so hold fast to the word of truth that tells of His death, burial and resurrection (1Cor15:1-9)
Preach Jesus in who God has made both Lord and Christ
Preach this Jesus:
30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31 “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
We know from the Eunuch question about baptism that it must have been spoken of by Philip and it was important, did Philip explain the great commission (Mk16:15-16)? Or what Peter said on Pentecost with the other apostles about repent and be baptized (Act2:38) Or what Paul said i reminding the church at Rome what they had done and why they did it.
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
I think you can see urgency, immediacy of baptism by the statement “look there is water what hinders me from being baptized.” It is clearly displayed that baptism was expected to those who believed in Jesus.
The purpose of baptism according to scripture
For forgiveness, remission of sins (Act2:38)
To have sins washed away calling on his name (Act22:16)
An appeal for a clear conscience (1Pt3:21)
There were some prerequisites according to Philip to baptism
37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Faith, belief was necessary. and it was in Jesus. You must believe He is the Son of God
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
we hold in our hands what we need
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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.
Baptism is the work of God on the man to make him a child of God and that requires faith
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Whole hearted faith
37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
All needed so not to be in danger of falling away was noted in (Heb3:12-14)
(Transition) - the gospel that is personal commands, demands a personal response. It is not a debate or a display it is a surrender by obedient faith.
(Transition) - the gospel that is personal commands, demands a personal response. It is not a debate or a display it is a surrender by obedient faith.
Baptism involves water (Act8:38-39)
According to (vv.38-39) both the Eunuch and Philip went down into the water, but hey, let me put the verses back up again first.
38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.
Baptism involves burial in water (Rom6:3-4; Col2:12)
Both Philip and the Eunuch went “down into the water”
If it was not by immersion and sprinkling or pouring was the way, then why would Philip go down into the water too?
I think it is because it is a burial as Paul states in Rom6:3-4 as we read earlier. It is also as it say in Col2:12
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Things to consider regarding baptism
Is it a public profession?
Contrary to what you may hear from time to time that it is a public profession of your faith. It is a result to the obedience of your faith. This is not backed by the scripture
Scripture tells us the reason for baptism (Act2:38; 1Pt3:21; Act22:16) - for the remission of sins.
If the purpose was for a public profession, why is only the Eunuch and Philip noted, why did they not return to town and do it? Wouldn’t Philip have answered the question by the Eunuch differently?
Baptism can be done privately or publically
In public or in private
In front of 3000 or just one, baptism is personal and it is gospel in action in the life of someone who has belief in God and has made confession, repented and willing to be obedient so that God can transform
(Encouragement slide- personal salvation picture)
The simplicity of the salvation is displayed here in the personal salvation story of the Eunuch. He was a religious man when he heard the truth did not wait but responded immediately o the truth and went away rejoicing. It was not about Philip it was about God and the Jesus. Philip was just God’s vessel to deliver the gospel message.
weather preached to the crowd or the person it is the power of God to save!
16 It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else!
(prayer) pray (Exit slide)