Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The unfolding storyline of Acts - the unstoppable growth of Christ’s kingdom, through conversion, in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Tens of thousands converted in Jerusalem.

Persecution scattered the church of Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria.

Many more converted in Samaria, and the Holy Spirit confirms access to the promise of God by faith to those of Jewish ancestry as well as those of mixed ethnicity.

Next comes those who are of “the ends of the earth.”

3 miraculous conversions, all emphasizing in clear terms the initiative of God in salvation… It is God’s intention to glorify Himself through saving all kinds of sinners.

Today, we’re going to focus on the first of these miraculous conversions… Philip’s divine appointment with an Ethiopian official on a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza.

Scripture Reading

Acts 8:26–40 (ESV)

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

This is a desert place.

27 And he rose and went.

And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.

He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water!

What prevents me from being baptized?”

38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Main Point

God’s mission for all Christians and churches is to play their part, according to God’s instruction, in God’s own mission to glorify Himself in the salvation of all kinds of sinners.

Message Outline

The Mission of the Church

God’s Gracious Initiative

The Biblical Response to the Gospel

Message

(1) The Mission of the Church

The Church

Universal / Invisible Church

All believers from every age and every place

Example: “the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria” (Acts 9:31).

Invisible for now, but visible in glory

“a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages… they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev.

7:9-14).

These shall be presented “as a bride adorned for her husband… [and] the dwelling place of God [shall be] with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev.

21:2-3).

Local / Visible Churches

Local assemblies or congregations or churches, disciples of Jesus Christ, joined in covenant faith and fellowship, bonded by their mutual love for Christ and for one another

Visible in time and space right now, particularly when they are gathered in the name of Jesus Christ… on the Lord’s Day (1 Cor.

5:3; Rev. 1:10).

Examples:

“the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1).

“the church at Antioch” (Acts 13:1),.

“the church… at Caesarea” (Acts 18:22).

“the church… at Ephesus” (Acts 20:17).

The Mission

The Great Commission: “18 And Jesus came and said to [His disciples], ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matt.

28:18–20).

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Method is included in the Mission

“make disciples… [by] baptizing them… [and] teaching them to observe all that [Christ] commanded...” (Matt.

28:19-20).

Baptism = becoming a citizen of Christ’s kingdom (visible in the assembled members of local churches) and leaving behind citizenship to the kingdom of this world (the whole of fallen humanity).

The Apostle Paul described conversion by saying, “{God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col.

1:13-14).

Teaching = the means by which church members (kingdom citizens) participate and benefit from mutual edification and growth.

This is why Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, saying, “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph.

2:19–22).

This is Christianity 101… but it’s also highly neglected and/or unknown among most evangelicals today.

“Christ has given us the mission, but He’s left the methods undefined.”

“The message stays the same, but the methods change with time or culture or geography...”

Friends, do you believe baptizing new converts (which implies diligent and opportunistic evangelism) and teaching Christ’s commands is the God-instructed method for church growth?

For life-transformation? For revival?

There is nothing we can do to manufacture spiritual conversion or grand-scale revival… we must rely upon God to do that which only He can do!

…And, marvelously, we see His heart to do exactly that in our passage today.

God’s mission for all Christians and churches is to play their part, according to God’s instruction, in God’s own mission to glorify Himself in the salvation of all kinds of sinners.

(2) God’s Gracious Initiative

Philip sent on a special errand

v25 “Now when they [Peter and John (Acts 8:14) and Philip (Acts 8:5)] had testified and spoken the word of the Lord [probably in the city Samaria], they returned to Jerusalem [about 40 miles south], preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans [Samaria was both a region and a city]” (Acts 8:25).

v26 “Now/And/But (δε) an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza [about 50 miles southwest of Jerusalem].’ [Then Luke tells us] This is a desert place” (Acts 8:26).

It was probably along the road between Jerusalem and Gaza that Philip came alongside “an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure” (Acts 8:27).

There is much we might learn about the Ethiopian man here, but I want to point out three quick things:

He’s not Jewish at all, not even a Samaritan mutt.

Though he was living like a God-fearer in many ways [“he had come to Jerusalem to worship” (v27)], he was not allowed to be a full proselyte of the Mosaic covenant because he was “a eunuch” (v27; cf.

Deut.

23:1).

He was a powerful man.

God sent Philip along the road where he would meet this particular Ethiopian… but that’s not all!

The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah!

This shows God’s initiative already in the life of that Ethiopian.

He was powerful and wealthy, so he was able to acquire a copy of Isaiah.

The Ethiopian was clearly desirous of living and worshiping according to the revelation of Isaiah’s God, but it’s not clear just how he came to know about Yahweh and His Scriptures.

God’s sovereign errand for Philip put him right beside a foreigner who might have been in Jerusalem on Pentecost, and who was curiously reading from Isaiah.

Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet who wrote about the LORD’s coming “salvation” (Is.

52:7), which centers upon a God’s “servant” (Is.

52:13) who will be “smitten by God… [and] pierced for [His people’s] transgressions” (Is.

53:4-5).

Right in the middle of all this, “the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him” (Acts 8:32-33; cf.

Is. 53:7-8).

“And [v34 says] the eunuch said to Philip, ‘About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’” (Acts 8:34).

And v35 tells us, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Brothers and sisters, could you start with this passage from Isaiah and tell someone the good news about Jesus?

Doesn’t a passage like this make “unhitching” ourselves from the Old Testament sound foolish and unChristian?