Philip and the Ethionpian
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Phillip
04-18-2021
Welcome
Intro -
This morning I want us to look at the great commission maybe from a different view
If you will recall last week, that you and I are to be witnesses to the world
Remember that you and I as believers in Jesus Christ are to be witnesses of what you and I have witnesses about Christ
We are witnesses to the fact that Jesus is alive, we are witnesses to the fact that the resurrection happened
We are to share with others what we know about Jesus and more so what He has done in our own lives
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We are called and commanded to go out into the world to share what we have learned about Christ
First and foremost you must know Christ to share anything about Christ and if you do not know Christ then it would make sense that you cannot and should not go out into the world to tell people about Christ
But we are to go to the world to share the good news about Jesus
We are to share about what God has taught us
Church we are to make disciples
Meaning we are to spend time with them
WE are to do life with them, we are to eat with them and go through life with them
That is what it is to make disciples
That’s what Jesus was talking about in Acts 1 that you will be witnesses to the ends of the earth
To go and be witnesses of what we have seen
So we are to do just that and this morning we will see Philip did just that
25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 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,
The Holy Spirit calls Philip and he is obedient
Church we must be an obedient people
When the Lord calls we need to answer, we need to go when He says go and where He says
We spend more time debating God and arguing with God then obeying God
Philip hears the call of God and follows immediately
Philip goes to where God has called him to go and is obedient
Pastor Gary did a sermon once, GOBEY
We need to just that!
We need to be GOBEY church!!
God called Phillip to go and he was obedient
Because of his obedience we see a whole nation or almost a whole nation begin to follow after Jesus
The Ethiopian church was established before the Eunuch comes around but after this man comes to Christ we see the church explode with growth
Website Says this
Ethiopia embraced Christianity and has maintained its doctrines from the era of the apostles to the present day. Acts 8:26-39 recounts the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who was baptized by St. Philip. This eunuch was a minister of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia. This story is the beginning of Ethiopian Church history. Eusebius speaks of this eunuch as the first fruits of the faith in the whole world. Irenaeus writes that he preached the Gospel to the Ethiopians.
All this because when God called Philip went!
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.
Philip is obedient
Philip is obedient and wouldn’t know you church he is prepared
Just like we are to be I am betting that Philip was prayed up and read up so that he was prepared
He heard God’s voice because he has been listening for it, He was sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and then obeyed it
He is read up so when people ask questions or he asks questions he can give an answer
Philip asked if this guy knows what he is reading, and the Eunuch says well how can I unless someone teaches me
Church that is a softball
Church that is an open door for Philip to begin to share the Gospel because it is all about the resurrection
This is what the Eunuch was reading
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.
This is what the the Eunuch was reading
And because Philip was prepared to be used by God he is prepared to explain what he is reading
And because it is about Jesus he preaches the Gospel message to Jesus
1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 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? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
Church this is the Gospel Message
Vs 4-5
Jesus was beaten and mocked, and beaten some more for you and I
This is what Philip was preaching and sharing with the Eunuch
The reason he was beaten and mocked and beaten some more was because of our sin
Vs 5-8
Because of our sin he died
Your sin and my sin put Jesus on the cross, it was His love for you and I that kept Him there
Church his death saved us from our sin
And had that been the end of it there would have been no hope for the Eunuch
Vs 8-10
But church that wasn’t the end of the Gospel message
Jesus died and was put into a grave
But He arose from the grave
All the way back in Isaiah, the prophet was saying that Jesus who would die for your sin and my sin would arise later
Would come back to life
Church this is the Gospel message that Philip preached to the Eunuch because he was prepared by being prayed up and read up
He was sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s voice and was able to recognize it when he spoke
Then he went because he was ready to share the Gospel
Church i must ask the question and you must ask the question
Are you prepared to share the Gospel
If that is you then great, starting April 25th you are welcome to come and join us as we go out and share the Gospel
If you are no prepared then that is ok because April 25th, we will start training you to go and share the Gospel
Because church we are all commanded to Go and share what we have been taught by God to the nations
We are commanded to go and be a witness of what we can witness about
If that you are a believer then you are a witness of the resurrection of Christ
Philip has shared the Gospel with the Eunuch and because he has shared the Gospel
The Holy Spirit moves and the Eunuch accepts the free gift of Jesus dying on the cross and raising from the grave
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.
The eunuch is saved because of Jesus
He was introduced to Jesus because Philip was obedient
Philip was prepared
Philip was prayed up
We should be prayed up
We should train our ears to recognize the voice of God
Philip was read up
Philip understood the scriptures
We need to be read up
Then Philip baptizes him because the Eunuch accepted Christ
Church that is exactly what we should be doing
Philip is taken away and notice that he continues to share the Gospel
Church we must be sharing the Gospel
We are in the end times, we are to be sharing the Gospel with the lost world
Praise the Lord for the Philips
CLOSING
As we move into the time of invitation
If you are here and do not know Christ as your personal Lord
We would love to invite you to a personal relationship with Christ through repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus
Or maybe you already have a relationship with Christ but are not being obedient
I would invite you to repent this morning from the sin in your life
Or maybe you need to spend sometime in prayer this morning at the altar
The altar is open
