The Spirit at Work
Lessons from the 1st Century Church | A Study through the Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewPhilip is sent to a barren land to meet a barren soul to share to the life giving, thirst quenching gospel of Jesus Christ that will lead to a life redeemed.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Focus Passage: Acts 8:26-40
Outline
The Spirit at Work (vv. 26-34)
The Spirit at Work (vv. 26-34)
The Spirit calls (v. 26)
The Spirit calls (v. 26)
“But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying “Get ready and go…” We are called of God to go. We are not called to sit, sour, and sulk. We are called of God to go and share the good news of Jesus Christ. None of us have an option. Being On Mission is not an option. We are called to go. As Jesus declares within the Great Commission:
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
How many of us are fulfilling our call? How many of us are actively going and sharing the Gospel? If we are not On Mission then we are not being obedient to the Lord. We are called to go. We should go. We should be as Philip, who did not question, just went. We should not worry about where we are to go. We should just go. Not only does the Spirit call, but...
The Spirit directs (v. 27)
The Spirit directs (v. 27)
The Spirit of God directs us where we are to go, “…go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza...” Often, where God sends us, does not make sense. This was probably the case for Philip. He was called to go to a barren wasteland in the middle of nowhere, “…This is a desert road.” I can almost see him thinking to himself, really God. You want me to go that way. Okay. I’m not sure why or what good it will do, but okay. We must have an understanding that when God calls, we are not ask why. We are to just go. What may look like a barren wasteland may end up being a land of harvest. We are not only called to understand why, we are just called to go and go where God leads us. When we get to where God has called us to go, He will also, through His Holy Spirit, show us to whom we need to share with.
We find that when Philip, in obedience, took down the path leading south of Jerusalem, that God had a mission for him. He had already appointed a date with destiny for an outcast, a eunuch from Ethiopia, the treasurer for Candace the Queen. When Philip was travelling, it seems that he was like some today, uncertain if he should speak or not? Questioned why this man was there? Maybe even a little apprehensive at first, but the Spirit gave direction, “…Then the Spirit said to Philip, go up and join this chariot…” Philip did not cower down once the Spirit said go. He went and hopped up in the chariot. He was ready to do what God had called him to do. How many of us can say that today? How many of us are going where God is telling us to go? How many of us are speaking what God is telling us to speak? How many of sharing with who God has called us to share ? If we are not doing these things, why? We have nothing to fear, it is...
The Spirit prepares and convicts (vv. 30-34)
The Spirit prepares and convicts (vv. 30-34)
We are called to be obedient and go to where God leads. Where He leads may not make sense, but He has a plan. He knows where He is sending us to be On Mission. He knows who He is sending us too. We are called to go. We are called to follow the His direction. It is the spirit that prepares the heart. The Holy Spirit of God was already working on this man through the Word of God before him, “…Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet…” The Word of God, the Spirit of God, does the work for us. We just have to be obedient.
John writes:
But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
No doubt, the eunuch was reading Isaiah 53:7, but Isaiah, like no other book, gives the eunuch hope in a dark world. The prophet Isaiah wrote within Isaiah 56 the following words:
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will certainly separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold firmly to My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be eliminated.
No doubt, it is He, the Holy Spirit of God, that convicts the lost man or woman, boy or girl of their lostness and need for Him. It is He, the Holy Spirit of God, that draws men unto Himself. We must simply be about our work for His kingdom.
The Disciple at Work (v. 27, 35)
The Disciple at Work (v. 27, 35)
The disciple goes (v. 27a)
The disciple goes (v. 27a)
When Philip was told to get ready and go, So he got ready and went. He did not ask why? He did not argue with God. He did not question God. He did not give excuses why He could not go. He got ready and went. Brothers and sisters, we need to go. We are being called and sent of God to go to the highways and byways to reach a lost world for the Lord. We must go. We cannot call ourselves true followers of Christ and sit rather than go. As we go, we must share.
The disciple shares (v. 35)
The disciple shares (v. 35)
As Philip arrived to the lone traveler down the desert road, and obeyed the Spirit of God and climbed up in that chariot, he heard the eunuch reading Isaiah. Philip asked him, do you understand? There’s a lot of people reading the Word of God but they do not understand the Word of God. They must be shown what the Word says. The Word of God is spiritual and must be discerned spiritually. We must follow the example of Philip and ask, “Do you understand what you are reading?” If the lost person is honest, they will reply as the eunuch, “Well, how could I unless someone guides me.” We must be as Philip, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached.”
Let us not miss the key here. He did not just share, preach. He did not just give the eunuch three stories and a poem. He was focused in his message. We must be focused in our message.
The disciple focuses (v.35)
The disciple focuses (v.35)
The message that we proclaim must be focused on Jesus, “Philip opened his mouth...and preached Jesus to him.”
We must focus on Jesus. He is the only way to the Father.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
He is the only One that can save!
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”
The Lost Person’s Proper Response (vv. 34-39)
The Lost Person’s Proper Response (vv. 34-39)
The lost must seek the truth (v.34)
The lost must seek the truth (v.34)
The eunuch wanted to know the truth. He asked, who is this guy talking about? Himself or someone else? In a day and age where truth is thought to be some subjective idea, may I submit to you that the truth is not subjective but objective. God is the truth. The truth is that Jesus Christ died for you and carried the penalty of your sins to the cross of Calvary.
However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and 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.
The lost must confess Christ as Lord (v. 37)
The lost must confess Christ as Lord (v. 37)
The eunuch heard the Gospel. He was convicted of his need for Jesus. Many of you may find yourself in that same place today. You find yourself on that desert road alone, stranded, and without hope. You find yourself searching Word of God and trying to find hope, comfort, and peace.
May you know that there is hope, just as there was hope for the eunuch that day, there is hope for us all at the foot of the cross.
This man was an outcast. He was an outcast nationally and physically. He was a gentile. He was a eunuch. He could go stand outside the temple and worship all day long, but he was never allowed in. He could read the word, pray, and believe, but was never afforded the opportunity to have a relationships.
Through the prophet Isaiah, Philip let him know that he was accepted by God as he was. Through the man in the middle, Jesus Christ, that wall of partition has been broken. He no longer had to worry about being kept out of the temple, for through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit, he would become part of the temple of God. The same message he received that day is the same message of hope that we can receive today.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
All who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, died for your sins, and raised three days later, are called to call upon the name of Jesus and confess Him as He is. This is exactly what the eunuch did, “…And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.””
After confessing Jesus Christ, then Philip let him identify with Christ.
The lost, once saved, must identify with Christ (v. 36, 38)
The lost, once saved, must identify with Christ (v. 36, 38)
Let us not forget about what happened here. Philip has shared the gospel. The eunuch has accepted the gospel, been convicted by the Holy Spirit of God, and been saved, redeemed, and transformed. Upon accepting Christ, he wanted to identify with Christ. He wanted to be baptized. He sees a pool of water (v. 36) and after confessing Christ, we find that he follows through and identifies with Christ, “…and they both went down into the the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.”
Conclusion
What a beautiful picture is presented before us within the text and if you do not stop and truly pay attention you will miss it. They are on a dessert road (v. 26). This dessert road is a picture of one’s life without Christ. It is barren, dead, lifeless. And as the eunuch travels this long, dessert road alone and vulnerable he comes face-to-face with the gospel and is convicted of his need for Jesus. He makes a profession of faith and as he repents of his sin, surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a pool of water is there. Water is life. As Jesus told the woman at the well, he who received Me, I will be a wellspring of living water within Him. I do not be believe in coincidences. That pool of water didn’t just show up. God has a message for us through this today. Our lives are barren, lonely, and vulnerable without Christ. But in Christ, our lives find love, companionship, and protection in and through Him. Do you know Him today? Have you accepted Him? If not, today is the day.
For those that have accepted Christ, I have one more point…
The lost, once saved, must go and tell (v.39)
The lost, once saved, must go and tell (v.39)
Go. Tell. We find that the eunuch leaves in the joy of the Lord, “…went on his way rejoicing.” Go and share the joy of the Lord with others. Remember, we are called to be in one’s life for a season. Let’s make the best of that season and share the life changing, soul saving, redemptive Gospel of Jesus Christ, “…Philip found himself in Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.”