Philip and the Ethiopian
Acts 8:26 – 8:40
Jeff Hughes – June 8, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. We all have people in our lives that influence us. Some may be good, and some may be bad. But it’s these experiences, these influences that mold us and shape us into who we are.
b. I look back on my life as a Christian, and besides Jesus Christ, the person who has had the most influence on me spiritually has been my bride, Stacie. Two weeks ago, we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.
c. As I looked back over those ten years, I see just how far God has brought us. He took us from a life completely focused on ourselves and our own ends, and changed the focus much more towards Him.
d. I want each of you, in the back of your mind during our message today, to think about the people that really encouraged you and pointed you in the right direction in your life.
e. God puts people, places, and events together to serve His purposes, His glory. That is what we are going to look at today in our study. But first, let’s ask the Lord to come and bless our study this morning.
f. Let’s pray.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. In 1912, 39 year old, Rev. John Harper a Scottish preacher was making a transatlantic trip to preach at the Moody Church in Chicago. As fate would have it the vessel he chose was the Titanic. We all know the story about the disaster but do you know the story of John Harper? Harper like many others ended up in the water, and as people desperately tried to survive in the chilled waters, Harper swam to them.
b. The minister asked people in the water if they knew Jesus. Eventually, Harper approached a passenger clinging to a jagged piece of wood and he pleaded for the man to trust Christ. The minister was completely exhausted at this point. As he succumbed to the conditions and went under the water to his death, Harper said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."
c. A few years later at a meeting of survivors of the Titanic, the final man who encountered John Harper told the group that he had been saved twice that night. First, he had accepted Christ as his personal Savior because of Harper’s efforts. And, of course, he had been rescued from the deep Atlantic seas. He said “Alone in the night with two miles of water under me I believed, I am John Harpers’ last convert.”
d. John Harper’s goal, his focus was not on himself. Even in his dying moments, all he thought about was the people around him and their spiritual condition.
e. In another account I read about this incident, when the lifeboats were being loaded on the Titanic, John was there directing, saying “Women, children, and the unsaved first.”
f. The man we are going to look at today, Philip was a man very much like John Harper. He was fixated, he was focused on doing God’s will, God’s work, and we will see that in our study today.
g. Our study is found in Acts chapter 8, and we’re going to start in verse 26, and finish up the chapter today. Follow along with me as we read.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" 37 Then 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." 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.
ii. We saw Philip in the last two weeks involved in the revival at Samaria that was very successful. Multitudes of people were coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Two of the apostles came down; this was the place to be spiritually.
iii. So then, as we see in our passage today, Philip leaves all of that, the growing revival, and is led off into the desert to take the gospel to one man. Talk about God’s sovereignty!
iv. God always puts the right in the right place, at the right time person to accomplish His will. This passage dealing with Philip was no exception.
v. This morning, we are going to look at God using Philip in a very specific and no doubt very important way to accomplish His will.
vi. We will look six points from our passage today – the submission, the seeker, the Spirit’s direction, the scripture, the salvation, and finally, the snapping up.
vii. Our first point deals with how Philip is submissive to the will of God in just going down to do the job that God called him to do. We find this in verse 26 and the first part of verse 27.
b. The Submission (Acts 8:26-27a)
i. 26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. 27 So he arose and went.
ii. The first thing we see here is that an angel comes to speak to Philip. This was big news. God wanted there to be no doubt that Philip should go south.
iii. Many times in our lives, decisions are up to us. God has a general direction that he wants to go, and we should follow Him. But, many times, in the day to day stuff, we just pray and do whichever seems best to us.
iv. But, there are other times in our lives that God does want us to go in one direction or another. When we run into these big decisions, God will make His will clear to us regarding a situation. When we get down to these decisions, we have a choice, we can do God’s will, or we can do something else.
v. God didn’t want Philip to have any questions about his decision. What really strikes me though, is that Philip didn’t question God. He could have said. “Hey God, we’ve got a really big revival going on here. I’ve got speaking engagements and people to minister to. I’m a pretty popular guy here in Samaria, Lord. Why should I just go off into the desert?”
vi. That wasn’t Philip’s attitude at all. In fact, it was just the opposite. Philip wanted to follow God’s will whatever He wanted. That was Philip’s commitment to the Lord.
vii. I do want us to notice two things here. First, God doesn’t tell Philip why He wants him to go south along the road to Gaza, into the desert. God just tells him to do it.
viii. Another thing is that the phrase “towards the south” we find in this verse can also be translated “at noon”, since the sun is towards the south at noon.
ix. This makes God’s command even more unusual for Philip. This was a road going through the desert from Jerusalem, through Hebron, going on to Gaza. These places are still there today, and the area is still a desert.
x. No one would be on the desert road at noon. They didn’t have air conditioners. It would be hot, and even deadly to journey south through the desert in the heat of the day.
xi. Philip doesn’t question God. Philip doesn’t question God’s timing, or the direction God sent him in. He simply obeyed. There’s a lot to be said for that.
xii. The thing is, often times God doesn’t tell us what the next step is. He just wants us to step out and follow Him. When we get there, when we finish what He tells us to do, then we receive the next step. That’s what makes the Christian life so exciting. If God says go, you go. That simple.
xiii. Dr. Thomas Watson once did an experiment where he placed caterpillars on the rim of a large pot containing dirt and several of their favorite plants for food. The caterpillars began to move along the rim of the pot — each one following the one in front, every caterpillar thinking the one ahead of him knew where he was going. Around and around the rim they went until they all died of starvation.
xiv. If you get to a point in your walk as a Christian where you feel like you are starving, like it’s all really dry and non-productive, maybe you missed a direction God wanted you to go in. Maybe He spoke to you at some point, but you kind of blew it off, thinking, “ah, that’s not God.”
xv. Maybe you were too intent on following the caterpillar in front of you to really pay attention to God’s direction. Pray about it. God will give you that direction again. Most likely, you won’t get all the steps, just one. Do it, and wait for the next one.
xvi. That’s what Philip was doing. He was walking south, on a desert road, in the heat of the day, just waiting for God’s next step. God was about to show Philip what he was there for.
xvii. We find in the end of verse 27 and verse 28.
c. The Seeker (Acts 8:27b-28)
i. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
ii. Philip is down here walking in the desert, and behold. It means take a look at this. Pay attention to this. Philip meets up with another man, traveling down the road.
iii. I see this passage kind of two fold. First, I see the symbolism. God will place people in our lives that we are journeying down the road with, so that we can get to know them and share life with them, just like I talked about in our intro.
iv. There is no doubt in my mind that each one of us has people in our own lives right now that we are journeying with, to share our lives with.
v. But, on the other hand I see God’s will being played out on a grand scale. This man was someone that God wanted. It’s because this man was seeking God with his whole heart. In Jeremiah 29:13, God tells us You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
vi. How do we know this man was seeking God? Well, it tells us right here that he was in Jerusalem worshipping. He was on his way home, and reading the scriptures.
vii. This is significant because the man was a eunuch. It is not clear if he was physically a eunuch; some times we see that people who are high ranking officials that are not emasculated, like Potiphar in Genesis, are called eunuchs. If this man was a physical eunuch though, such people were not allowed into the temple, by Old Testament law.
viii. This man could not have been a full fledged Jewish proselyte; he could only have been what the Jews called “God-fearers”. People who could go to synagogues, pray, and read scriptures, but nothing else.
ix. This man was a man of great authority and influence though. He had charge over the treasury. In modern times, he would be the minister of finance. Ethiopia in these times was in the area of Sudan, south of Egypt. It was a large and powerful country, and encompassed central Africa. It was the outer limits of the known world to the Greeks and Romans.
x. The king of Ethiopia was believed by his subjects to be child of the sun, that S-U-N, and was worshipped as such. So, he did nothing, just sat around and got worshipped. The queen mother held all of the power in the kingdom, she took care of all the affairs, that’s why we see Candace mentioned here. Here name is not Candace. It’s pronounced Candace, and it is a title, like Pharaoh, or Caesar.
xi. So, this man works for her. He was a very important man in the kingdom, most likely the second most powerful man in Ethiopia. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, some 1200 miles. Most likely, this was his first visit to Jerusalem.
xii. But, had had come up empty. He couldn’t worship in the temple, and he couldn’t offer sacrifices. He was left out. So, as he is returning home, he is reading the prophet Isaiah.
xiii. That’s significant, and I believe that he is reading Isaiah because of a certain passage of Isaiah that gives hope to eunuchs and foreigners. We find that passage in Isaiah chapter 56, verses 3 through 8.
xiv. 3 Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the Lord Speak, saying, "The Lord has utterly separated me from His people"; Nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. 6 "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants-- Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant-- 7 Even them 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 nations." 8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him."
xv. In this passage God proclaimed hope for the eunuch and the foreigner. This man was both. He came to Jerusalem seeking God, seeking hope, something to fill the void in his life that the power and influence could not fill.
xvi. The hope was running up beside him in the form of Philip the evangelist. Philip was there to gather one very important outcastes of Israel – this eunuch.
xvii. Before we move on to the next point though, I want to draw your attention to this. The church did not stumble into reaching out to the gentiles. God’s sovereign will drove them to it.
xviii. God is the embodiment of love and hope for us, as fallen human beings. God’s will was for no more gentiles perishing because of a lack of knowledge about Him. At this point, Philip was the tool in God’s hand to accomplish His will on earth. Philip was about to get his next step
xix. We find this in verses 29 through 31.
d. The Spirit’s Direction (Acts 8:29-31)
i. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
ii. The Holy Spirit is the driving force behind Philip taking off to catch up to this chariot. It is presumed that a person of Philip’s social standing not approach a chariot of a high ranking official. That could get you killed!
iii. Philip didn’t let that dissuade him. Philip was bold, and filled with the Spirit, and this is what wanted him to do. Philip didn’t hesitate. He didn’t say, “Oh, well, I’m out here in the desert in the heat of the day, so I might as well overtake the chariot.” No, he ran to overtake the chariot.
iv. The chariot would have been an ox-drawn cart most likely, and no doubt that the eunuch would have a large entourage. Philip runs to overtake the chariot, while he could have overtaken it by walking. That tells me that Philip was enthusiastic about serving God and doing His will.
v. When he gets there, he hears someone reading. After listening for a little bit, he realizes that the reader is reading from Isaiah. It is the eunuch reading the scroll himself, and Philip calls out to him. “Hey, do you understand what you are reading?”
vi. The Ethiopian eunuch confesses his need for an interpreter, and Philip’s Jewish accent and clothing would have given him away as someone who could help him interpret the scriptures. He invited Philip along for the ride.
vii. The eunuch needed guidance. He didn’t get it in Jerusalem, but he kept on seeking after God. That’s one thing I love about this guy. He didn’t give up seeking God.
viii. People sometimes ask, “How do African tribesmen, or Australian aborigines come to Christ?” Well, the answer is this. I look at this passage, and I see that God is found by those who seek after Him. There will be no one saying, “Well, I would have believed in You if I had a chance…” on Judgment Day.
ix. This man had God’s Word, but he needed a little help. We see this in verses 32 through 34.
e. The Scripture (Acts 8:32-34)
i. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?".
ii. The Old Testament prophetical scriptures that this man was reading are often confusing. We need a guide, a key to understand them. Jesus is that key. One of my old pastors said this about reading the Old Testament – “Look for Jesus on every page.” Philip would show this man Jesus in this passage.
iii. The passage that the eunuch was reading provided a perfect opportunity for Philip. This speaks of God’s sovereignty. God led Philip to the right place, at the right time, to meet a man who God was preparing for the encounter. I like to call things like this that occur in my life divine appointments. Philip had a divine appointment.
iv. The passage he was reading is found in Isaiah chapter 53, verses 7 and 8. This passage deals with the suffering servant hood of Jesus Christ. Jesus would be our substitutionary sacrifice, the lamb that was slain for our sins. Isaiah had prophesied this, and God set these events in motion to bring this man to Christ.
v. The eunuch asks a strange question here. He doesn’t ask about what the verses mean. He could read the words, but he wanted to know the deeper meaning. He asks if the prophet was talking about himself or someone else.
vi. This is because there was much confusion among the Jews at the time what this passage meant. Some thought it referred to the prophet’s own experiences. Others thought that the servant was a representation of the entire nation of Israel. Still others though that it must point to the Messiah, God’s salvation to the nation.
vii. The question in the passage is fitting as well. “Who will declare his generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” It was clear to Philip who this passage was talking about. Philip was a Christian. It would be himself and his brothers in Christ that would declare Jesus to the world.
viii. Philip was obedient. He followed God’s direction. He was enthusiastic. He ran to overtake the chariot. Just as important as the first two, he was ready.
ix. Paul tells Timothy this in 2nd Timothy chapter4, verse 2 - Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
x. Philip was ready to open the scriptures to this man and let God do the work on his life. We see God at work in verses 35 through 37.
f. The Salvation (Acts 8:35 - 38)
i. 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" 37 Then 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." 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
ii. Philip opens a mouth. It is significant here because in classical Greek writing, what it means is that this is the central point, the most important part, the climax of Philip’s conversation with the Ethiopian.
iii. Philip takes this opportunity to digress from the passage and explain the fulfillment of the passage itself through Jesus Christ. No doubt that Philip talked about Jesus’ life, His ministry, and His death, continuing to describe the coming of the Holy Spirit to the early church.
iv. Philip most likely relayed his own experiences and testimony to the eunuch as well. But the most important thing for us to take out of this conversation is this – Philip used the Scriptures to describe the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
v. Romans 10:17 tells us this - So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. This man heard the scriptures that day. He was ready to accept Jesus as his savior. Philip no doubt shared the whole gospel with this man, and the man wanted that saving faith, that hope that was only found in Jesus.
vi. They come to a small stream of water, and the Ethiopian wants to get baptized. He says to Philip, “What’s stopping me?” Talk about a leading question. I look at this question like the question the Phillipan jailer that asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
vii. More evidence of God’s sovereign work is evident here. Philip and the Ethiopian are going along in the desert, and here is some water, God is providing for them again.
viii. Philip was there, he was available and he was ready. God used him that day. Philip didn’t preach baptism, Philip didn’t preach religion, he taught Jesus and salvation through the Word of God.
ix. Philip replies to the Ethiopian, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” Now, if you have a modern translation, like the NIV, this verse isn’t there, or it’s in brackets. Some scholars don’t think it should be there, but personally, I do.
x. My reasoning is this. Philip had just preached salvation to Simon the sorcerer, and baptized him. He didn’t get saved, and as we covered last week, the reason why was that Simon never made the decision in his heart to really believe.
xi. Philip didn’t want to see that happen again. He wanted to make sure, as best he could, that the Ethiopian was really saved.
xii. The Ethiopian’s answer is a very profound one. He says that he believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Romans 10:9 and 10 tells us this - if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
xiii. The Ethiopian made a confession with his mouth that he did indeed believe. He was a new man, born again, he was saved.
xiv. At this point, he commands the chariot to stop, and He and Philip get out, and go down to the water. We know from earlier chapters that baptism is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a public confession of our faith in Jesus Christ.
xv. Not only did the Ethiopian make a confession Philip that he believed in Jesus, but in being baptized, he made that profession of faith to his entire entourage.
xvi. The last thing we see here is an important one. We are told that Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water, and that the Ethiopian is baptized.
xvii. The word baptize comes from the original Greek word baptizo, and it means “to immerse”. We are not told anywhere in scripture about people being sprinkled, just people getting dunked. When you go down into the water completely, to symbolize your death and burial in Christ. You are brought back up to symbolize your new life that you are free to walk in.
xviii. So, Philip takes the Ethiopian eunuch down into the water to baptize him, and what happens next is pretty amazing too, we see this in verses 39 and 40.
g. The Snapping Up (Acts 8:39 – 40)
i. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.
ii. God immediately gives His own personal stamp of approval to Philip’s efforts. No doubt that this is an abrupt ending to the story. Can you imagine the reaction of the Ethiopian? Most people, when you bring them up from baptism, wipe the water out of their eyes, like this. When this guy wiped the water out of his eyes, only to find that the guy he went down to the water with was gone.
iii. Philip is caught up by the Holy Spirit. The term caught up there is only used one other place in the Bible, in 1st Thessalonians 4:16 and 17, you’re probably familiar with this passage but here it is - 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
iv. So, word is the same term from which we get our word rapture. Philip was raptured up to go where God wanted him to be next.
v. Now, notice what the Ethiopian man’s reaction. Verse 39 says that he went away rejoicing. That is always the mark of a true believer.
vi. Romans 15:13 tells us this - Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
vii. This man had that joy, and Philip’s job there was done. He was caught up by God to Azotus. Azotus was about 20 miles away from Gaza, and was the next major town on the road that led to Gaza. From this launching point, Philip preaches the gospel in several other towns on his way to Caesarea.
viii. As we will see later on in Acts, Caesarea was Philip’s home, so it is evident that the Lord gave him a break from all his travels, and he got to spend some time with his family.
ix. We don’t know for sure what happened to the Ethiopian, but tradition tells that he became a missionary to the Ethiopians, and he was instrumental in leading many on the continent of Africa to Christ.
x. We’ll stop here, at the end of chapter 8. Next week, we will start chapter 9, as we look at the conversion of Paul. But first, I’d like to close with a short story.
h. Conclusion
i. An anthropologist was studying a primitive tribe in South America that years earlier had been reached by a Christian missionary. After having lived among the tribe for several weeks, the anthropologist met with the tribe’s leader. He said, “You have a wonderful culture, but it is a shame that the missionary came and infected your tribe with his religion.”
ii. The chief replied, “See that rock? That’s where we would break the skulls of our enemies. See that tree? That’s where we would sacrifice them to our God. And if we had not learned Christ was our Lord, you would be our dinner tonight.”
iii. One missionary made a difference to that tribe. One person. Remember that I asked you to think about the people that influenced your life for Christ at the beginning of the message?
iv. As we close today, I’d like each of us to think about the people around us that we can influence for Christ. So that in a few years, they can look back at you and remember you were that person who influenced them for Christ.
v. Maybe you’re here this morning and you haven’t made that decision. Right now, we are going to pray, and I am going to give you the opportunity to believe in Jesus, just like the Ethiopian did.
vi. With every head bowed, let’s close in prayer.
V. Closing Prayer
STAND FOR LAST SONG!!!!
