Sunday Sermon Acts 8:26-40

Wednesday April 27 at 6:30pm our own Mike Swenson will be graduating for the Rebuilder’s Life Transformation program at the Christian Aid Center. It will be in the new women’s and children’s facility. Please join us in celebrating what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do!

Opportunity to serve: we could use a few volunteers to help clean the church, please see Pastor John if interested.

Worship Team meeting coming soon...

Evening of worship is canceled for this Friday and will be rescheduled for May.

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to First Community Church, where we worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time, one book at a time.

We are currently in Matthew 4 and will continue our study next week because I wanted to teach a section of Scripture that would touch on Baptism.

So let us open our Bibles to:

Read Acts 8:26-40

Prayer

Lord, as we open your Word today, we have come with expectation. That expectation is that we would hear from You and that it would not be a theoretical exercise, but one of practicality. We humbly ask that you would remove any and all distractions, and that you would open our ears and hearts so that we can receive with meekness your implanted Word which is able to keep on saving our souls. God we are weary, weak, and broken, would you create in us a clean hear O’God and renew a steadfast Spirit within us today? Please speak to us Father and grow us in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. For that struggling sister and brother, for the ones that are sick, for the ones that are addicted or caught in a trap, we ask for freedom, healing, and hope because you Jesus came to set the captives free! Open our eyes and ears to hears what the Spirit is saying to the church!

In Jesus Name we love You! Amen and Amen

Acts 8:26-40

Before I dive into our study in Acts, I wanted to share just a little background as to what lead up to the text we are in.

In the last part of Acts 7, we meet the Apostle Paul’s mentor who is Stephen.

Stephen was martyred and as he was being stoned to death replied:

Acts 7:59–60 NKJV

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Then in the opening of Acts 8, Paul who had not been converted yet and who had Stephen stoned was reaping havoc in the church and having professing Christians put in prison.

Then in Acts 8:4-25 we see Philipp who in Acts 6 was called to serve.

He became not only the first missionary for Jesus listed in Scripture, but also the first evangelist.

Here is Acts 8:4-8 we see the Lord using Philip in a mighty way.

In fact, a revival broke out in Samaria, yes in Samaria and right in the middle of this great move of the Holy Spirit, an angel shows up and speaks to Philip.

And this is where we pick up:

Acts 8:26 NKJV

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

Right in the middle of a revival, the Lord sends an angel to Philip and says Arise and go to the desert?

Really?

Now we know that angels are mentioned throughout the Bible and we know that the word angel means a messenger created and sent by God.

So Phil, is in the midst of the greatest move of God he had ever seen, and he is the center of it all and God says, Arise and Go!

He tells him to Go! To go to the desert!

Church, it is important for us to realize that God is God, and he will show up in our lives and tells us to do something contrary to what we are already doing for Him.

Philip leaps out in faith and is obedient to God’s call for him to go to the desert

It is important for us to realize here that not only did the Heavenly Father send Jesus into the desert , but he sends Philip to one as well.

What can we learn from this?

Many of the deserts that we will go through in life have been orchestrated by the Lord.

Know that God’s callings, are God’s enablings.

If he calls us, like Philip to the desert, he has a great plan and purpose for our time there.

And who knows, it might be so that we can lead someone to the Lord!

Philip, whose ministry had brought about the wonderful work of the Lord in Samaria, was now being called to Gaza.

Why are You asking me to go to the desert? There’s nothing down there.”

Please note that the Lord didn’t say why He was sending Philip to the desert.

He simply said, “Arise and go.” And Philip arose and went.

We all struggle with finding God’s will, but know this:

God’s will is for you to obey what He tells you to do one step at a time. He doesn’t give us the full story.

He just says, “I want you to go down to the desert. And once you do that, I’ll show you the next step.” That’s why the Christian life is so incredibly exciting. We never know what’s ahead.

An experiment was performed in which caterpillars were placed on the rim of a large pot containing dirt and several of their favorite plants. The caterpillars began to move along the rim of the pot—each one following the one in front, every caterpillar thinking the one ahead of him knew where he was going. Around and around and around they went until they all died of starvation. Do you feel like you’re drying up and getting dizzy? Could it be because the Lord spoke to you at some point but, because you were so intent on following the caterpillar in front of you, you missed the adventure? The key to the exciting, impacting Christian life is to be like Philip and obey when you hear the Lord’s voice or feel His pull—even though you don’t know the end of the story at the beginning.

The road to Gaza, was not a well paved road, in fact it was challenging terrain.

Scholars believe this was about a 70-90 mile journey.

Gaza was an old Philistine city that was located about fifty miles southwest of Jerusalem named Gaza. It sat on the verge of a desert.

What is even more intriguing is there was two roads that lead to Gaza, but the Lord had him travel the one less traveled.

Does this sound familiar? Sometimes the Lord will have us travel the road less traveled church! Not the road, or the way if you may that everyone else is traveling.

Matthew 7:13 NKJV

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

God’s ways, are not our ways!

This trip was not about Gaza, but rather for Philip to lead one man to the Lord that would change an entire continent.

Acts 8:27–28 NKJV

So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.

Philip clearly heard God’s voice through the angel and he arose and went>>>>

There are a few valuable lessons that we can learn here:

Note, that he confidently heard the angel and he immediately reacted to it.

He did not seek the advice of his friends, because he knew that he knew that obedience is better than sacrifice and that had he went to someone else and told them, he might not have followed God’s will for his life.

Note: we all have people in our lives that could distract us form God’s will.

Therefore, we must set boundaries on them...

Was the angels voice in Philip’s head or did he physically manifest himself unto him? We call this inspiration and revelation...

A eunuch as someone who is castrated or emasculated to serve the King or Queen.

And they would do this to them so they could not attempt to take the throne or have sexual activity with their royal harem.

This Ethiopian Eunuch traveled over 1500 miles to worship in Jerusalem which is a good indication that he was a Jewish convert.

The sad thing is that as he went to the temple to worship, he would not be allowed into the inner court, but only the outer court were the Gentiles were.

Would you travel 1500 miles to worship??

Candace is not a name, but a title like Pharoah.

This man, was in charge of the treasury and was under the authority of thew Queen.

This makes him the second wealthiest in Ethiopia and second in command.

He has everything that a person could want, but he was empty.

He journeyed to the religious center seeking answers, only to walk away empty handed, but with a sincere heart.

It was not just one chariot, but several that he as traveling with and it would be considered the limousines of the day.

I’m sure it had tinted windows and it was stretched.

Then guess what?

Acts 8:29 NKJV

Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

Overtake this chariot?

That does not sound good in this day and age.

Overtake-kollaō - v. — to establish a relationship with someone, to join, to cleave or to accompany.

Notice the Word GO church!

Christianity is not a spectator sport!

Philip was not sitting in the stands but in the game and in tune with the Holy Spirits voice.

When God speaks, do we react? Or do we second guess him?

Acts 8:30–33 NKJV

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”

I love this phrase! It doesn’t say, Philip said, “Okay. I hate the desert, but if I gotta go, I’ll go.” No. Philip ran.

How wonderful it is to see someone full of enthusiasm concerning ministry and service.

The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek words en and theos, meaning, “full of God.”

An enthusiastic person is a person who is full of God.

He did not run to the man, but rather to the Word of God in which the Eunuch was reading.

It was a tradition then for people to read the Word of God out loud and it just so happens he was in Isaiah 53:7-8 that was about Jesus, but the Jewish scholars of the day were confused about this text some thought it was talking about Israel and others Isaiah, while a few thought it was pointing to the Messiah.

Phil asks the eunuch if he understands the text and his humble reply was,

“How can I, unless someone guides me?”

How many times do we cry out for help, when we do not understand God’s Word or which direction to go?

Romans 10:14 NKJV

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

This should be the cry of all of our hearts.

This rich eunuch traveled all the way to the religious center and left empty.

But he did not give up, but was seeking something more and God shows up!

God sent Philip to save this one soul that would carry the gospel to another continent...

Acts 8:34–38 NKJV

So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then 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.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

Already sovereignly drawn by the Spirit, the eunuch was searching and wondering.

Philip, then preached Jesus and the Gospel to him!!

He heard the Gospel church, and he immediately wanted to be baptized because of the sermon Philip the evangelist gave.

Then we see in verse 37 that is not in the earliest manuscripts, Philip say:

Acts 8:37 NKJV

Then 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.”

Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for the sins of the world? Do you believe the Jesus was crucified in your place, was buried and on the third day rose again?

Acts 8:38–40 NKJV

So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

God had Philip leave a revival to the desert of Gaza to lead the eunuch to Jesus church.

Christ would have died for just one.

We see the 1 lost sheep out of the 100. He leaves the 99 to go after 1.

He was earnestly seeking and God heard the cry of his heart and sent a messenger to him to bring him into the fold.

Note that they were in the water, this is not sprinkling, but full immersion church.

The Spirit of the Lord and caught Philip away.

The word caught here is the Latin word for raptured him.

So Philip was raptured away to Azotus...

The Eunuch and Philip had the time of their lives and could not deny the Sovereignty of God in their lives.

Church,

Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19 to be baptized, Jesus himself was baptized, Paul was baptized by Ananias in Acts 9, The Lord opened Lydias heart to heed the gospel spoken by Paul and her and her entire household was baptized.

Throughout Acts, which is the beginning of the church, people believe and then they where baptized, they did not wait, but went down to the river right away.

In conclusion:

Baptism is for those who come to believe in Jesus, not just from an intellectual assent, but that you believe from the heart that Jesus is the Savior you need.

I leave you with two questions:

Do you truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and God?

If not, I beg you to cry out to him like the eunuch and he will save you! He hears the cries of our hearts and desires for all to be saved.

If you do not understand, then please ask like the eunuch.

2. If you have professed faith in Jesus Christ, have you confessed him as your Lord and Savior and been baptized this way?

If the answer to question 1 is yes and the answer to question 2 is no, then I can humbly say that you are a walking contradiction!

How can I say I love the Lord Jesus Christ, but will not do what he says?

The very heart of loving Jesus church, is obedience!

Prayer

Lord, we praise you for this amazing story of obedience and conversion and how your ways and not our ways and that you love us more than we can think or imagine. If there was anyone here today that felt the Holy Spirit tugging on their hearts to be baptized as you have commanded, may you give them the strength and courage to follow your leading and Lord, please protect them from doubting your voice. May they respond immediately like Philip and the eunuch did is todays story. Be with us now as we go into our baptismal service.