A Eunuch Experience

A Eunuch Experience

Acts 8: 26 – 39

I called this sermon, “A Eunuch Experience.” And Teresa – No, I did not misspell the word “unique.” This is what we call a play on words.

I am going to be talking about Phillip the Deacon and an encounter that happened to him.

Some quick info from Acts 6, a couple chapters prior – Jesus has gone back to heaven. The apostles were scattered to begin the preaching and teaching of Jesus. During this time, Christians were being persecuted. Phillip was one of seven who was chosen to help the Apostles in serving others in the early church. Phillip, Stephen, and five others were found to be “full of the Spirit” and thus were ordained as the first deacons of the church. And when Stephen preached, he got stoned. And I don’t mean like, he took a hit and passed it on. I mean he got killed with rocks. But Philip kept preaching. Stephen and Phillip were the first “preaching deacons” of the time.

Phillip is soon sent to the villages of Samaria to preach successful city-wide crusades. Now, this is not the Philip as in the original 12 apostles. Just another guy named Philip. But Phillip is directed away from the crowds and the city to a single individual in the desert. And this is where we start with the passage.

I want to read you a passage of scripture found in Acts.

Acts 8:26-39, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.”

This passage of scripture is possibly the clearest on soul winning and a believer’s baptism. Not only is this a manual on the why & how of baptism, but also a graduate course on “soul winning” as well. This is also the first recorded conversion of a Gentile – the first non-Jew. This also shows that God is busy spreading His word past geographical and racial boundaries.

And what I want to do is break this passage down like a preacher would. This passage has four parts. And preachers are famous for making corny subject points.

So here are mine:

I. A Baffling Breakaway

II. A Bumpy Buggy

III. A Borrowed Bible

IV. A Baptized Believer

So we begin with number 1 – A Baffling Breakaway

Philip was preaching in Samaria and had been healing the city; healing in the sense of people who were disabled, crippled, etc. He also preached the good news about Jesus. Philip healed their bodies and their souls. Verse 8 even said that “there was great joy in the city.”

Now I am thinking that Philip had a good thing going. Not that he had a cushy job. But it was pretty easy for him overall. He had 1000’s of people in his congregation. He did not have to worry about offerings being high enough to pay for stuff. He did not have to worry about sending out newsletters. He did not have to worry about making house calls. He basically preached and people believed. People turned their life over to God. And that is why I classify this as a Baffling Breakaway.