The Spirit's work
Notes
Transcript
The Spirit’s work
The Spirit’s work
acts8.25
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 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.
In being mindful of the text last week, hearing of Simon’s false conversion, being one who wanted the benefits of the gospel and yet did not want to submit his life to the King… We now see a contrast to that story.
We are introduced to a new person and there is significance to this story. Now there is some amazing things that the Holy Spirit does, and there is some focal points that some have made much of. My desire is to teach us to see the Spirits work as essential while also showing how some have got this story wrong in focusing on the wrong things.
I want to be careful in my preaching; deconstructing bad theology, and affirming sound doctrine. Yet I want to be very careful to not give the impression that I am anti-Holy Spirit. Rather, I want to show how much more glorious the Holy Spirit is then just the obvious miraculous signs that people like to focus on.
The text we have before us today, requires us to know cultural context as well as being able to see the whole picture of what is happening. What is mean is that there are people involved in this story that are not specifically named but we know they are there.
So let me start by painting the picture for you… I found John MacArthurs commentary especially helpful in understanding this, so I will borrow some of his words in explaining this.
Throughput the whole of redemptive history, all of the OT, every portion of scripture up till this point in Acts… God has always “poured out his blessings to mankind through the channel of His covenant people.” J-Mac
God did choose a special people for himself to be revealed to, for his worship and glory. The nation of Israel was never meant to be a reservoir that stored up divine blessings for itself. Rather they where meant to be a channel through which God’s blessings would flow to all kinds of people on the earth.
The problem is that they failed in this mission and desired to use the holy worship of God as a reason to be a separatistic nation who didn’t need to care for the rest of humanity. While that was bad, they also constantly fell into compromise by engaging in pagan idolatry. So for Jews to be separate from Gentiles, (non-Jews), and yet be caught in the same sinful activity as they were practicing, totally destroyed their ability to proclaim the Holiness of God and certainly his everlasting Love.
Now by the time of Jesus entering the scene idol worship had ended for the most part, but was replaced by “a corrupt form of Judaism that advocated salvation by works”...
God’s special people had lost the ability to be effective representation of who he really is. Because of this God has a new channel of blessing that can reach the world - the Church. Unlike the nation of Israel, the church will embrace all nations with the gospel. Yet starting at Pentecost, with exclusively Jews at first, the church started to reach out to greek speaking Jews, then “half-breed” Samaritans who were not true Jews and often at odds with Israel. The Church is starting to have to reach out to all kinds of people because of persecution that has broke out against it, which God is using to spread the message of the gospel to all nations.
This story of the Ethiopian Eunuch is the next major milestone in seeing the gospel spread to all people. This man is an official in the court of the Ethiopian Queen. And while Luke, the author of Acts does not give the subsequent history of this Eunuch, Irenaeus the early church father wrote that he became a missionary to the Ethiopians, and that the gospel would go on to penetrate the continent of Africa.
Do you see the importance of this story when you take a step back and look at the significance of the whole story of redemptive history?
But there is more we must know in order to understand how glorious God is, how amazing the gospel is, and how powerful the Spirit’s work really is.
He was Ethiopian, which means he is the first true Gentile, Non-Jew that is converted in the NT. He being Ethiopian also meant he looked different… He was black. So major racial boundaries are being broken here. But what else?
What is a Eunuch? And why is that important info?
This word refers to either an emasculated official in the royal court (as was sometimes done to forestall temptation and corruption) or to a high official of government. Emasculation meant exclusion from Israel’s worshiping community (). Despite his political power and the great distance he had traveled, therefore, this dignitary would probably have been excluded from the temple in Jerusalem both as a Gentile and because of his physical defect.
Sproul, R. C. . The Reformation Study Bible
So because he was not a Jew and because he had physical defect he would not have been allowed to participate in temple worship. Which means that he went from Ethiopia to Jerusalem and could not be included. How frustrating would it be to be a person of prestige among your own people, and yet be someone who is not only an outsider that looks different but HAD to be excluded from temple worship?
He would’ve been heartbroken, and this also explains why he was reading the scroll of Isaiah… What do I mean by that?
I want to read to you from Isaiah so you can see why it was important for this man to reading from this book
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.”
is
If the Ethiopian Eunuch had found out that there was an area of scripture that promised to include him in God’s gathered people, why wouldn’t he be reading this? And yet it is a long journey from Israel to Ethiopia, so it is no wonder he is reading the whole scroll.
So that is the context to this person, and I hope you are able to see how important it is to understand the full context before getting caught up in the extraordinary acts of the Spirit. In fact I hope you can look and see the prohibitions of the Law in places like , and see this story and understand that when it seemed like God gave laws that were extreme and didn’t make sense, he was in fact leaving them on the books until it was time for the Gospel to release people from their sin in such a glorious way that even those who were prohibited and left outside the temple physically, were now brought near to God in worship because of the glorious work of Jesus!
Now let’s look at the text...
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.
acts8.
Picking up from last week, the Apostles are called in to see if Phillip, the former Deacon in Jerusalem, was really able to bring the gospel to these Samaritans, who they coarsely thought of as “half-breeds”, or not REAL Jews. Once they confirmed it, they leave and go back preaching the gospel to as many Samaritans as they can, because God has now shown them he is including more than just a couple special Jews in salvation through Jesus Christ. That is a big deal, and important in understanding this story.
Yet, I want you to see the Spirit’s work in Saving people. In 3 parts, there is the Spirit’s work in preparation, presentation, and a proper response.
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 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.
acts826
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.
Now, real saving faith will require the Spirits work in preparation. No one who is saved has been able to receive Christ without the Spirit first doing a work in their heart. Thats why the parable of the sowers has different soils but only one type that produces real fruit - which of course was explained by Jesus as the word finding the right kind of soil that results in fruit and this is a picture of salvation. Seems as though there are some things happening here…
Now, real saving faith will require the Spirits work in preparation. No one who is saved has been able to receive Christ without the Spirit first doing a work in their heart. Thats why the parable of the sowers has different soils but only one type that produces real fruit - which of course was explained by Jesus as the word finding the right kind of soil that results in fruit and this is a picture of salvation. Seems as though there are 4 things happening here...
The sovereign work of the Spirit
The sovereign work of the Spirit
acts 8.26
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.
25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 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.
What we have to understand is that no one comes to the father unless God first draws them, .
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
and Paul helps us understand this even further...
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
This is why the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to man apart from the work of the Spirit. In Ephesians it say were are dead in sin before we are made alive in Christ, and so we need to understand the true condition of man before the Spirits work changes them. And if all this wasn’t enough, there is one more reason why we need the Spirit’s work...
1cor
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is actively involved in blinded people to the truth and keeping them from seeing the glory of the Gospel in Jesus Christ. And when we know this, it seems absurd that anyone would think you can come to saving Faith in Jesus Christ without the work of the Spirit. I like how John MacArthur says it...
“Man cannot climb the barriers separating him from God. Sovereignly, God, in his love and mercy, must reach out to man. If he did not do so, no one could ever be saved.”
And so in this story, the Spirit began his preparing work by first maneuvering Phillip into a strategic position. The Spirit sent Peter and John to Samaria to release Phillip from his work there and to continue preaching the gospel to the surrounding villages. And then we see the Angel of the Lord spoke to Phillip saying...
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.
The circumstances that lead to this Eunuch’s salvation were sovereignly appointed plans that were specifically arraigned by the Spirit. And knowing the culture will help you understand why it took this type of divine intervention for Phillip to do this.
First he was in the midst of a revival in Samaria after having just escaped Jerusalem under persecution. None of us would want to leave such rich ministry happening to go here… Why? Because Gaza is in Philistines territory. And if you don’t know, they are very hostile to God’s people. Also we need to know that this road is one of two roads that lead to Gaza, and this one in the desert place. So…? This road is known as a road that is seldom used because it is dangerous and it is hot. Phillip was told to not only leave this enriching ministry, but he was told to go to enemy territory on the dangerous hot road that no one likes to travel on.
Why is this important? Because this is clearly not the plan of man, but the work of the Spirit. And yet this is where we need to understand that God uses human instruments in his hands to accomplish his work… Because of what the first part of the next verse says...
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
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
He arose and went… Phillip was willing to do as God had asked even though it didn’t make much sense. We have nothing here that would lead us to believe that he questioned God or struggled with his new orders. Like I said we would have had a hard time, but this is a special case because these orders have come by an angel. This is incredible special work that we do not normally see happen. But the visit is not what has struck me here, rather it is Phillip obedience.
By his willing obedience he became a means by which God saved the Eunuch.
This is the mission of the church, to partner with and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the work he is already doing in people’s heart. Phillip did not know this Ethiopian before he went, but because he was willing to obey, he was able to participate in the work of the Spirit in saving people.
Well what was the Spirit doing? Clearly the Spirit was impressing on this Eunuch’s heart to come worship in Jerusalem even though he didn’t qualify as a Jew. We have already said that his travels would’ve left him empty because he couldn’t enter the temple for worship, and the fact that he was an outsider, Ethiopian and a Eunuch meant that at best he could be considered a God-fearer, which was a status given to those who were Jew friendly but not able to participate in worship with the gathered assembly.
And still here he is traveling far from home with his entourage… I should stop here and mention that he was in his Chariot which meant he had many servants with him as an important official would’ve had for security, help and transportation.
This is a big deal for him to be seeking to worship God and making people travel with him. The Spirit is drawing him and he is starting to desire to want to know how to be right with God, he is even found reading scripture…
We need to recognize what it looks like when someone is seeking after God. And yes I know Romans days no none seek after God… on his own, but they do if the Spirit is working in them. So it is clear this guy has the Spirit already working in him.
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.
I already told you why he would’ve been reading Isaiah, because of the hope it would give an outsider, especially a Eunuch. But consider this. You couldn’t just go to the local Christian supply store and buy a scroll back then. These were only for rabbi’s and teachers, and they were handwritten, very expensive. Most likely even more expensive for a Gentile to buy. Why is this important?
The Spirit uses scripture to save
The Spirit uses scripture to save
This shows that the Ethiopian must have believed that God was to be known through his scripture. Scripture is a special revelation of God to us. By it we know God and how to worship him rightly. If anyone is to seek God because the Spirit is working in them and drawing them, they must be informed by Scripture and not witty stories, or emotional ploys that tug on heart strings, or even personal testimonies that use a lot of “Christianese” language.
True saving faith will only come about when people hear God’s word to them. Now that does not mean that the Holy Spirit is not working in them first before they hear scripture, but it does mean that we have nowhere in scripture to teach us that people are saved without hearing God’s word. I am not saying that they need to be able to quote scripture first, but the gospel they believe must be God’s word. The Spirit uses Scripture to save.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
romans
So all the Preparation was done by the Spirit for this encounter… but then comes the presentation of the gospel… The spirit’s work prepares heart and orchestrates life for people to receive the gospel, but then the Spirit also empowers people to preach Christ.
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.
Now picture this scene… Phillip makes it to Gaza with no clue what he is here for and suddenly he senses the Spirit’s prompting to go over to this Chariot. Again the Ethiopian was not by himself but would’ve been surrounded by servants as they traveled along. The point is is that Phillip was bold enough to run straight up to him and hear what he was reading. Another cultural note here, it was common for all reading to be done aloud, so he isn’t quietly reading a book in his chariot.
Phillip interrupts him while he is reading and asks him if he knows what he is reading? Now this would’ve been rude and obnoxious behavior that would easily been ignored if it would’ve happened at all. But this is what I call an open door when ministering. Phillip didn’t have to do something that made him seems weird to this strangers, he had an open door as he heard him reading scripture… Phillip just had to be bold enough to ask him a question… “Do you know what you are reading”
Sometimes God has people in a place where they are ready to hear the gospel but we need to be bold enough to ask them if we can help them understand.
Perhaps we ought to be praying for more opportunities to approach people that the Spirit is already working on their heart and be praying for boldness to open our mouths and share.
Now as he is invited to ride with him they open the scriptures and read . The eunuch asks him who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else. You could not ask for an easier assignment than this. But remember Phillip had to be willing to go through some difficult persecution, showdown in Samaria that lead to a revival and then be willing to obey God and leave it all behind before he could get to this point. This isn’t some sort of, “See, evangelism is so easy… why aren’t you all doing this???” kind of story… it is a story of how amazing God is in saving people that he would move so many people around just to get the right person in the right place at the right time so that He can be glorified!
But what is following this scripture reading does become an example to us on how to preach the Gospel…
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
Phillip needing to be willing to open his mouth… Yes, and we would do well to pray for boldness to open our mouths, we have already covered that. But notice that he is using scripture and pointing to Jesus.
True Gospel preaching must be done from scripture
True Gospel preaching must be done from scripture
Gospel preaching points to Jesus and uses scripture
Gospel preaching points to Jesus and uses scripture
Phillip showed the Ethiopian from the scriptures who the lamb of God was. It would not
It would not have been enough to just tell this guy that God loves him. It also would’ve been inadequate to just tell him that Jesus died for him. It wouldn’t be enough to explain a little of what sin is or what it means repent.
It is clear that Phillip is taking this opportunity to tell the Eunuch the whole story. He is using Scripture and he is pointing to Jesus. If preaching doesn’t point to Jesus and doesn’t utilize scripture, it is not the gospel. It can be “biblical” in that it is borrowing ideas from the bible, or talking about stories from the bible, but we miss the fact that our words are not powerful like God’s word in powerful.
And any preaching that does not go straight to the cross and point to Christ is powerless preaching.
“The preachers responsibility, no matter the text, is to read the text and make a beeline for the cross”
Charles Spurgeon
Phillip sows the Ethiopian that the text is talking about Jesus, specifically him suffering and dying in our place for our sins. He clearly must tell him so much more than a basic presentation as well because of where it ends up...
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?”
How does the Ethiopian know about baptism? Obviously Phillip told him. It isn’t hard for us to guess that he told him all about the persecution in Jerusalem, since the Ethiopian was coming from there. He probably told him all about the church that started and how many were repenting of sin and being baptized. And if he knows about baptism then he must know that only those who believe are to be baptized, and this is a matter of repentance and receiving forgiveness for sins.
So what we have here is the Spirits work in preparing hearts and empowering God’s people, and a Gospel presentation that would illicit a response. And what is that response? Faith
The Ethiopian is showing that he has faith to believe in this Jesus because he desires to publicly identify with him. And remember he has his entourage with him. He is willing to identify with Christians in enemy territory, (they are in Gaza) with a bunch people watching that are not Christians, because he has Faith that he didn’t have before.
He went from leaving Jerusalem researching the scriptures to see if he could be close to God even though he wasn’t permitted by the Jews to worship, to having Faith to publicly identify with Jesus and his followers.
His statement is “what prevents me?” Well a desire to do this only comes after one has believed the gospel.
Baptism is a public confession of faith that is expected of all believers. The Eunuch not only confessed his faith personally to Phillip but openly in front of all those who he traveled with.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
Notice they went down into the water, meaning they were immersed in the water. Baptism is a public act of being immersed in water to identify with Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. We are identifying with his death and anticipating the promise of being raised to eternal life even as we are raised to life in a new birth os spiritual nature as we become believers.
And this never happens in a way where no one witnesses it. It has always been done in front of others. Today we will have the opportunity to hear a brother make a profession of faith and publicly identify with Jesus and be accepted into the family of God by us as his brothers and sisters.
The water doesn’t save, the person administering it doesn’t save, but the Spirit that began the work in the individual who is being baptized is the one who applies the work of the God-man Jesus Christ who did the work to wash away our sin and becoming sin for us so we could become the righteousness of God. This is all the plan of the father in sending the Son and giving the Spirit to do a work we cannot do.
As for our text, there is one final thing that happens that we see so rarely in scripture it should make us realize what a special moment this was...
acts
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.
We simply have no real good explanation of this or understanding of what this looked like. And it doesn’t matter. It is not normative and should not expect to be repeated because it isn’t the point of this text. Why? Because Phillip just keeps preaching until he settles in Caesarea and the real reason all this needed to be orchestrated is right before us...
Look at how the eunuch went away… REJOICING!
This guy came to Jerusalem only to be turned away for his physical condition. He didn’t give up but bought a scroll and thought he could still figure this stuff out, yet he couldn’t without help. While that is happening the Spirit is moving people and giving direction to make everything fall into place at just the right time. the end result is a newly converted believer that is now marked by JOY.
He doesn’t even care about what happened to Phillip, he is returning to Ethiopia with a joy he didn’t have when he left, he is changed. And all his people around him saw it.
True converts are marked by Joy
True converts are marked by Joy
I have never seen someone receive the Gospel and be sad, mad, or unaffected by it.
All of the fantastic things that happened here were all for the sake of getting this one person the gospel. And as I mentioned we some writing from the early church that tells us this Ethiopian Eunuch was partly responsible for bringing the gospel to Africa. So Yes God did the extraordinary in this case because the Holy Spirit can do anything he needs to do to save people, and yet it always happen the same way even under the most extraordinary circumstances.
The spirit works in hearts to receive the gospel while the Spirit empowers Christians to go carry the message, and then the Spirit uses the preaching, the pointing to Jesus and scripture to convince someone of a truth they didn’t believe before and saves them. And we get to participate in this work in form ing passionate followers of Jesus by proclaiming the gospel and the glory of God.