Providence and Evangelism
Acts
Chuck Sligh
July 11, 2015
TEXT: Acts 8:26-39 – “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.”
INTRODUCTION
When I finished this sermon, I titled it: “The Holy Hitchhiker’s Great Chariot Adventure,” which is an AWESOME title, but…well, it actually didn’t have much to do with the sermon. I download my PowerPoints templates from a web site for church workers called GraceWayMedia.com, and I couldn’t find a template with a guy in a chariot, nor somebody hitchhiking…both of which would have worked, so it ruined my whole title. Then I saw the template you see here, which perfectly captures the essence of today’s text.
When we read the story of this Ethiopian man, what we see is the conversion of every believer. As with the Ethiopian, there is always this splendid concert between God and man when someone comes to faith in Christ, and it happens every time someone is saved
As we look at the the salvation of the Ethiopian Eunuch, I want you to notice four universal elements present every time anyone comes to faith in Jesus Christ.
I. FIRST THERE IS ALWAYS A HUMAN INSTRUMENT TO REACH THE SINNER.
No matter who you are, where you were saved, how you came to faith, there was SOMEONE or perhaps many someones, God used to help bring you to faith. This is where the word “evangelism” fits into our sermon title.
Paul said in Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 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?”
I’d like you to notice something in our text you may not have caught: Verse 27 says, “And [Philip] arose and went: and, behold, a man [take note of the two words, “a man”] of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority…”, etc.
In verse 31 we read, “And [the eunuch] said, How can I [that is, understand this scripture], except some man [note those two words] should guide me?…”
Verse 34 – “And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” [what MAN was the prophet referring to?]
Do you see a progression in these verses?— God used A MAN to tell ANOTHER MAN about THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT MAN (who was also God), the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks, God uses PEOPLE to tell OTHER PEOPLE about Jesus Christ.
Telling the Gospel to the lost is a job apparently only humans can do. As far as I can tell, angels aren’t directly involved in the task of proclaiming the Gospel.
In a few weeks we’ll read the story of Cornelius in Acts 10. In that story, the Bible says that Cornelius, a Gentile who was nevertheless seeking after God, received a visitation by an angel in a vision who told him to send some men to Joppa and bring Simon Peter to come and speak to him.
Later in the chapter we read how Peter was sent for, who went and preached Christ to Cornelius and he and his family were saved after hearing Peter’s witness.
Now let me ask you a question: With Jerusalem a thirty mile trip by foot, why didn’t the angel just preach to Cornelius? Wouldn’t that have been more convenient? Wouldn’t that have been less complicated with the angel right there? Why did the angel tell him to go and get Peter when HE was right THERE?
Here’s why: because God has ordained that people tell people about Jesus.
Do you realize how important that makes you and me in God’s big plan? Psalm 8:5 describes mankind as being “a little lower than the angels.”
But here’s something even angels aren’t tasked to do. God has appointed YOU and ME to proclaim His salvation message. What a privilege to be able to do what even the angels don’t do!
So the first element of conversion is a messenger—a person sharing Christ.
II. NOTICE SECOND THAT WHENEVER SOMEONE IS SAVED, IT IS ALWAYS IN RESPONSE TO GOD PREPARING HIS OR HER HEART.
Nobody comes to Christ in a vacuum, even with the instrumentality of a messenger. Without the working of the Holy Spirit to prepare the heart of the sinner, the Gospel would only fall on deaf ears.
Look with me at the way God worked in this story:
• First, God opened the way for Philip to come to the Ethiopian Eunuch – Verse 26 – “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”
God arranged for Philip to meet this man out in the desert! When you look at this, you see clearly that GOD is orchestrating things.
Maybe God didn’t drop a holy hitchhiker on you out in the desert, but if you think back, you’ll be able to look at many people God providentially brought in and out of your life to get you to a place to understand and believe the Gospel.
It may have started with the holy, loving life of a Christian friend or relative who showed you how knowing God made a difference in peoples’ lives. Later it may have been somebody at work who invited you to church. Maybe someone else gave you a tract or a Bible. God’s secret agents planted in His providence to lead you to the truth.
• Second, note that God opened the Scriptures to a seeker– Verse 28 says this man “Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet.”
Now doesn’t it strike you as mighty coincidental that this man just HAPPENS to have a copy of the Scriptures opened to one of the most PROMINENT and CLEAR prophecies about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament—Isaiah 53? Do you think that was just a coincidence? No, God in His providence had been preparing the Eunuch for when His secret agent Philip would show up. All Philip did was be available to God, and God did the rest.
You see, nobody’s really ever just “saved out of the blue.” People come to Christ when GOD uses His Word to open their hearts and produce questions in their minds about God and salvation.
III. NOTICE THIRD THAT WHENEVER SOMEONE IS SAVED, THERE IS A PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible is clear that there can be no real conversion without a verbal declaration of God’s Word. This is the fallacy of the “I’ll witness with my life” idea, but keep my mouth shut. Ultimately, a person comes to Christ by trusting in some very concrete ideas that can only be communicated through words, not just through our lives. Our lives can bear witness to the power of this message, but ultimately no one is saved apart from the declaration of the Gospel from the Word of God.
Paul is clear: He says in Romans 10:17 – “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Of course, all of the Word of God has authority, but specifically, it’s the message of the GOSPEL that is referred to here, which Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 is the Good News of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, for our sins.
Paul said in Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believeth…”
So here’s my application: If you have a burden to reach your friends, loved ones and neighbors with the Gospel, it begins with a godly testimony and a loving spirit. But ultimately they must hear a presentation of the Gospel to be saved, whether it be by you opening the Bible and telling them the Gospel, or by giving them literature or a video with the Gospel message, or by bringing them to church to hear the Gospel.
So again we see the God in the picture. God uses human messengers to deliver His message, but HE works in the background and He uses His powerful Word to convert the sinner.
Finally, we see human agency at work again in our last point…
IV. NO ONE IS EVER SAVED WHO HAS NOT BELIEVED ON JESUS CHRIST.
Most people believe they contribute to being saved by earning it somehow by some kind of good work or religious ceremony. So it was with this Ethiopian man. He thought, like many mistakenly believe today, that he could be saved by baptism –
Verse 36 – “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
Illus. – A few years ago I was talking to a man and I asked him if he knew he had been forgiven of all his sins and was going to heaven when he died. He said, “Yes, I was baptized about ten years ago.” Like many today, he equated his baptism with being saved.
Let me be perfectly clear—baptism has no saving power; nor does baptism make you any more or less saved; nor does it in any way contribute to your salvation. It’s a voluntary, post-salvation ordinance in which believers publicly identify with Christ and the core Gospel message of His death, burial and resurrection.
Well, the Ethiopian Eunuch didn’t quite understand this yet. Apparently he’d heard how these Christ followers got baptized by water, so he put two and two together and came up with five. He assumed that baptism was how you became a Christian because in verse 36, he said, “Hey, here’s some water. Why don’t you baptize me, Philip?”
But Philip said in verse 37 – “…IF (that’s conditional. ‘You can be baptized IF’.… If what? If…) you believe with all your heart, you may be baptized…”
Philip was saying, “You’ve got the cart before the horse. You can’t be baptized to be saved. You must believe in Christ, and THEN you can be baptized as a testimony of your faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.”
Suddenly this Ethiopian GOT IT, because he blurts out, “I BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the Son of God!” Then—AFTER he believed in Christ and was saved—he could be baptized. And he WAS baptized!—Verse 38 says, “And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”
CONCLUSION
Now note the result of this remarkable encounter at the end of verse 39 – “…and he went on his way rejoicing.”
This man found forgiveness in Jesus Christ and it brought joy to his heart. Tradition tells us that this man returned to his home in Ethiopia and was instrumental in the spread of the Gospel throughout northern Africa. And it all started when God orchestrated a willing holy hitchhiker to meet a Ethiopian, whose heart God had prepared, in the desert so he could hear the Gospel and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and follow the Lord in baptism. Well, what does God want us to do about today’s sermon?
• First, believer, I invite you to worship the Lord this morning with joy and gladness and gratefulness as you reminisce about God’s working in your heart to bring you to faith through His Word and the people He used as witness-bearers and messengers.
• Second, Christian, let me ask you: Are you willing to make YOURSELF available, like Philip did, to be used as an instrument of God to bring the Gospel to other? If we don’t share the Gospel, the angels certainly won’t do it for it’s not their job. God called us to to be witnesses for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
• And if you’re like the Ethiopian in our story—someone who to whom God and the Bible and forgiveness of sins and heaven and all this is frankly a bit confusing—let me just encourage you to keep coming to church; start going to a homegroup to learn more of God’s Word; keep reading the Bible; and ask God to make it clear to you.
I’d be glad to talk with you after this service or at some other time. Just pull me aside and let’s talk, or let’s arrange a time to meet.
But just keep this in mind: without Christ, you will perish for all eternity and you will never be truly free from sin’s selfish, destructive grip.
Illus. – Yesterday I was doing some things here in the sanctuary and I heard a loud, repetitive chirping sound over by the baptistery. I looked up, and there was a tiny bird on the window ledge. It was trapped in the building because it couldn’t figure out how to go back out through that little space at the top of the window. It kept flying right into the window, trying to escape. I opened that back door and tried to shoo it that direction, but no matter what I did, it just flew away in the wrong direction.
Finally, I had an idea: I went out to the shed and got some gloves, so it couldn’t peck me. Then I chased it to the heater room, shut the door and tried to corner it. It took awhile, but I finally quickly snatched it into my hands. I held it as gently as I could to not hurt it, and took it outside and freed it.
My friend, are you like that little bird, waiting to be rescued and set free? Are you trapped in a prison of sin, trying in every way you can to escape, only to realize if you do it your way, there’s no escape from sin’s control and your final destiny in hell?
Dear friend, the Bible says Jesus died on the cross for your sins in your place. He did that to save you and give you eternal life and set you free. And He’s pursuing you to save you and you’re trying to fly away in fear. Put your life in God’s hands.
In John 3:16 Jesus made this wonderful promise: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Don’t be like that bird and flee from the only hope of freedom from sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and He will set you free!
