Discovering Who 'He' is?

I. Introduction

As I said last week, we are in a time where many Christians have access to the Scriptures, but often times they do not understand it when they are reading.

And so, today, in the second of a two-part message within our “Disciples R Us” series, I want to show you the second of two very different approaches and responses to understanding the Word of God so that you don’t fall into a wrong way of looking at the Bible.

Today we’re going to look at a small part of the ministry of one of the seven servants chosen in the early Jerusalem church. Let’s look at Acts 8:26-35.

II. Philip goes to meet a Eunuch! (Acts 8:26-29)

Deuteronomy 23:1 ESV

1 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

III. Philip questions the Eunuch? (Acts 8:30)

IV. The Eunuch’s reply (Acts 8:31)

V. The passage under consideration (Acts 8:32-33)

VI. The Eunuch’s misunderstanding (Acts 8:34)

The eunuch like many Christians, need to look at the Scriptures inductively.

A. Author, Recipients and People

Isaiah 1:1-3 Markup

B. God (The Father, Son, and Spirit)

Isaiah 1:1-2 Markup

C. Contrasts/Comparisons/Time/Purpose words and clauses

Acts 8:32-33 Markup

D. Keywords

Acts 8:32-33 Markup

sheep, lamb

slaughter, taken away

silent

humiliation

justice

E. Cross Reference/Context

Isaiah 52:13–15 ESV

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

F. Who is the servant? Servant appears 29 times in Isa 1-53.

Isaiah 48:20 ESV

20 Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”

Isaiah 49:3 ESV

3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Isaiah 49:5 ESV

5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—

VII. Philip’s response. (Acts 8:35)

Isaiah 56:1–8 ESV

1 Thus says the Lord: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” 8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”