Part Nineteen

2. Part Nineteen Acts 8:25-40

4. A quick review!

5. The good news of Jesus Christ came to Samaria and many were being saved as Philip shared truth.

6. A certain man named Simon had a faith that didn’t save, because he had his own personal views and motives that held him back.

7. Today, the Gospel continues to spread as Philip shares Jesus with an Ethiopian eunuch.

8. Let’s take a closer look at Acts 8:25-40.

9. Acts 8:25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

10. Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

11. Acts 8:27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure;

12. Acts 8:28 and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

13. Acts 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

14. Acts 8:30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

15. Acts 8:31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

16. Acts 8:32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearer

17. Acts 8:32 is silent, so He does not open His mouth.

18. Acts 8:33 In humiliation His judgment was taken away; who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.”

19. Acts 8:34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

20. Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

21. Acts 8:36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

22. Acts 8:37 [And 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.”]

23. Acts 8:38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

24. Acts 8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

25. Acts 8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

26. Have you noticed that God doesn’t want us to store up blessings only for ourselves?

27. He wants us to be a funnel through which His blessings can be freely dispersed to a lost and dying world.

28. He said this in Isaiah 42:6 about the nation of Israel.

29. Isaiah 42:6 “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant people, as a light to the nations…”

30. It should sound very familiar, because He has called us to be a light to the nations.

31. Philip was blessed to be a light to the nations and share the wonderful message of Jesus Christ.

32. He shared it as the Holy Spirit directed.

33. In contrast to Simon the magician, the Ethiopian eunuch had a genuine faith that resulted in salvation.

34. In our passage today, we can witness three important components in the conversation with and conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch.

35. Components • Proper preparation • Proper presentation • Proper response

36. ProperPreparation!(Acts 8:25-28

37. Acts 8:25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

38. Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

39. Acts 8:27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure;

40. Acts 8:28 and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

41. In the parable of the sower, only the good, properly prepared soil brought forth the fruit of salvation.

42. The text indicates four features which prepare the soil of the eunuch’s heart.

43. #1Notice the work of the Holy Spirit!

44. Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

45. The circumstances that would lead to the eunuch’s salvation were specifically arranged by the Spirit.

46. Gaza was one of the five chief cities of the Philistines, along with Ashdod, Askelon, Ekron, and Gath.

47. Old Gaza had been destroyed early in the first century B.C. and a new city was built closer to the coast.

48. A road from Jerusalem to Egypt still ran through the ruins of old Gaza.

49. The footnote indicating this was a desert road underscores the strangeness of the Spirit’s command to Philip.

50. If Philip was relying on his own understanding or abilities, he would have never selected this road or this time of day to travel.