Jesus + Nothing = Salvation
(Acts 8:26-40)
It’s good to be in God’s house this morning. And what a privilege it is to share God’s message from God’s word here with you today. Let me start off by asking a very simple question, “How many here are good in math?” I wish I could say I’m with you in that area but I’m not. If I were to sit in a geometry class today, or trig or calculus, it would be like learning another language. When I was in school I always had problems in math. But you know, to some people it comes very easy. Others like me have to really work at it. Now, I’m as simple as a person can get. I’m very basic.
And as hard as math was for me, I did learn the basics. I did learn to add. I know if you put 2 and 2 together you’re gonna get four. I know that if you put 7 people in a volkswagon you’ve got 3 too many. I know how to add and subtract from my checking account. Some people can’t even do that! Those things are very basic. But did you know that we see a lot of math in the church? We see multiplication where we win people to Christ. And as a result of that we see people added to the church. But then again we also see division in the church and as a result of that we see subtraction when people leave the church. Addition and multiplication are important to the church.
But listen to this, what if I asked you the question, “How does a person get to heaven?” What would you say? What is involved in that? What are the requirements? And when you meet the requirements, is there anything you have to add to that? What do you have to do? Do you have to do anything? These are some of the questions I want to deal with this morning. Since we’ve talked about math this morning, I want to us to do a little spiritual math.
I’ve entitled today’s message, “Jesus + Nothing = Salvation! Turn if you will to the books of Acts, chapter 8. We’ll be looking at verses 26-40. (II Timothy 3:16, Heb. 6:18) (Read/Pray).
Now this passage of scripture is a very familiar one. It deals with several things. It deals with evangelism, one on one witnessing. It deals with knowing the word of God and handling it accurately. It deals with belief. It deals with obedience. But if you add all of these things up, they all center around one person – The Lord Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. In these verses that we just read a minute ago I want to show you very simply, the steps that lead a person to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
This story from God’s word is a classic when it comes to the simplicity of the Gospel and how God uses plain, ordinary people to do His work. Now we all come across people who need Jesus everyday. Things don’t just happen by accident. And the first thing that usually happens is that God sends,
I. Someone Who is Sensitive to the Spirit – Verses 26-29
Have you ever been in a particular place or in a certain situation where God has put you in the path of someone and deep inside you hear that still, small voice saying, “Okay, here’s your opportunity for a witness?” Folks, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in that situation. A lot of times! But there have been other times when I’ve been in the same situation and I didn’t feel led to say anything. I believe we have to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in dealing with people and there are a number of reasons why. Maybe God has someone else in mind and He wants to use them at a particular time to lead someone to Himself. Maybe the person is not in a good listening mood at that particular moment. Have you noticed that does tend to make a difference (Story about witnessing to motorcycle guys).
Well, Philip was one who was sensitive to what the Spirit was leading him to do. He was one of the original 7 deacons chosen in Acts chapter 6. That says a lot about him right there. He was chosen out of a great number of people so that shows us that he was a man of integrity, a man of compassion, a man of service and a man who was Spirit-filled! God chose to use Philip in reaching someone for His kingdom. That brings me to a question, “when was the last time God used you to reach somebody for Him?” Can you honestly say you are sensitive to the Spirit’s leading this morning?
Well Philip was! The scripture says an angel speaks to him and tells him where he wants him to go and he gives him directions, “Okay, you go south, you take this road that leads Gaza.” Don’t you wish that everything was this clear when you’re searching for direction in your life? I mean to Philip it’s just really clear. Do you know what that says? If you’re obedient to the Spirit’s leading, He’ll show you the way to go, what to say and what to do when you get there.
Philip gets up and goes. You know why he goes? Not only is he obedient but he’s ready to go. You don’t see any, “Well, let me make sure it’s you, God” or “Okay I’ll go but not right now, I’m in the middle of something.” The Bible says, “He arose and went.” And when he gets where he’s going, he sees this guy who has just come back from the synagogue in Jerusalem and he’s sitting on the side of the road in his big fancy chariot. The Scripture says he’s a man of authority, a man from Ethiopia who served under the Queen. And he’s just sitting there reading out loud from the book of Isaiah.
Now before we go any further I want you to get the picture here. There’s a big fancy chariot out on a deserted, desert road, there’s a big black guy in it and he’s reading outloud. Today that would be like me seeing a fancy cadillac on a gravel road with a big black guy in it listening to the bible on cassette.
But here’s what happens next, Verse 29 says, “Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot.” That’s just a fancy way of saying, “Philip, I want you to go join him.” But you know what else this verse shows us? The Holy Spirit can communicate! He speaks! He’s not just some force or some feeling. He’s a person. He’s God the Spirit! Philip has responded to the Spirit’s leading. He’s been sensitive to the Spirit. That’s the kind of person God brings into a witnessing situation. But not only does He bring someone who is sensitive to the Spirit, He also brings,
II. Someone who can share the Scriptures – Verses 30-35
Think back, how did you first hear the Gospel? Did someone witness to you one on one? Did you hear it at church? At a crusade somewhere? On the radio or television? Maybe you’re here to hear it for the first time. But you heard it somewhere. You didn’t just wake up one morning and say, “you know what? I think I’ll become a Christian today.” Folks, it’s doesn’t work that way!
That’s not what the Bible says. The word of God says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The sharing of the word is a vital part of witnessing for Jesus.
Romans 10:14-15 says, “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?”
“And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.”
Now the stage is set. And Philip knows that he has an opportunity that God has set up for him and verse 30 says that Philip ran to him. How many times do we run to a witnessing opportunity? If you’re filled with the Spirit of God, you’re not only sensitive to the Spirit, you look and wait for opportunities to share with somebody. Philip gets close and finds out that this Ethiopian eunuch is reading from the book of Isaiah. I wonder why he’s reading from the book of Isaiah? Well, he’s just come from the synagogue, remember? So it’s possible he’s reviewing what was read there and now he’s trying to make sense of it all. Remember how it was when you were searching and you attempted to understand what the Bible meant in certain passages? I do!
Well, the reason we don’t understand the Bible at first is because the Bible says that the natural man can’t understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually understood. Here’s another important thing to remember, the Spirit of God always works together with the word of God. In every single conversion that takes place. And He begins working sometimes even before He brings the one who’s going to do the sharing. Philip goes up to this Ethiopian eunuch and asks the question, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Folks, the Holy Spirit of God showed Philip what to say at the right time to the right person. This guy was ready for the truth! He says, “How can I understand it unless someone guides me?” Man, what an opening! And he invites Philip to climb on board. Now it just so happens that the place where the guy’s been reading is Isaiah chapter 53, probably one of the best descriptions of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament. But this fellow doesn’t know it. Look at verses 32-33 (Read).
Now, it’s as clear as a bell this passage of scripture is about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews have always understood Isaiah 53 as a reference to the Messiah. But they didn’t put 2 and 2 together and see that it was talking about Jesus. This Ethiopian eunuch wants to know who Isaiah is talking about. Is he talking about himself or is he talking about somebody else? And using these verses from Isaiah chapter 53, Philip takes him step by step through the scriptures to show him that they are talking about The Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, remember earlier when I used the scripture in Romans 10, verse 17? (“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”) Where it uses the phrase, “by the word of God”, the Greek means, “That which preaches Christ.” The Scriptures point to Jesus and that what Philip was showing this guy. Jesus is who Isaiah is talking about. Then he takes him to some other scriptures that back that up. As a matter of fact, the whole Old Testament backs it up! Philip knew the word of God. Let me ask you something, “How well do you know it?”
God sends someone who is sensitive to the Spirit. He sends someone who can share the scriptures. But 3rdly God sends someone to share that,
III. Salvation is Only in the Savior – Verses 36-38.
Did you notice what and who Philip shared? Philip preached Jesus to this foreigner. Now I don’t know if used the Roman Road, Evangelism Explosion, Faith, or the 4 Spiritual Laws, but I’m confident he covered everything pretty good! Now, all this time as Philip has been sharing from God’s word, the Holy Spirit of God has been at work. John 16:13 says that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to guide people into the truth. Remember how I told you how the Spirit and the word always work together? They’re a powerful team! Here’s how it works, (Share how they work – natural birth, spiritual birth).
Folks, salvation is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t go anywhere else to find it. You can’t be good enough to get it, you can’t do enough things to gain God’s favor and you can shave your head, go climb and sit on a mountain in Tibet and get as enlightened as you want, but you’ll only find salvation in Jesus Christ. Philip showed this fellow who the Savior was and what he had to do to be saved and it’s evident from this passage that Philip talked about baptism. Now, let me say this, baptism is important. It’s one of the ordinances of the church and it’s an important step of obedience for the believer. But baptism doesn’t save anybody. Trusting in Jesus by faith in what He did on the cross saves a person.
There are many other faiths, even some Baptist, who believe you’ve got to be baptized to be saved. You know why they believe that? Many times they’ve misinterpreted a scripture like Acts 2:28 that says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you for the remission of sins.” Now, just from looking at this verse you would think that baptism is required for salvation. But let me give a little lesson in grammar here. If you really want to understand this verse clearly, you have to look at the little preposition “for”.
There are a couple of ways you can use this word in a sentence. For instance, if I said, “I’m going to the store for some bread” the word “for,” means, “in order to get”. But if I say, “I’m going to jail for armed robbery” the word “for” means “because of”. The second one is the way it’s used in the Greek. Peter was saying, “repent and be baptized, every one of you because of the remission of your sins. Be baptized because of the fact that your sins have been washed away.
Look at what Philip says to the eunuch when he asks him about baptism. Philip says to him, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” Folks, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is what saves a person. That little word “believe” is the key to the whole thing. It’s the Greek word “pisteuo” and it doesn’t mean an intellectual belief. It means, “to be persuaded”, “to commit to”, “to trust in.” To believe means that you’ve been persuaded by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the true living Son of God, who paid the price for your sins on the cross of Calvary, you trust that He did it for you, and you give Him your life. That’s what it means to believe.
That’s what Philip shared with the Ethiopian eunuch and here’s how he responded, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Now from what I shared with you a moment ago let me say that just believing that Jesus is the Son of God isn’t enough if you’re believing intellectually. The Ethiopian eunuch was saying, “From what you’ve showed me from the scripture and the Holy Spirit showing me that this is the truth, I’m persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and I trust Him as my Savior.”
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” In the early church, nobody was ever baptized without first giving a clear testimony of faith in Jesus Christ and that’s the way it should be today!
They stop at some water along the way and Philip baptizes this man from another country who is soon to go back and share what has happened to him. Wouldn’t it be great to have been able to go along and watch this man’s life when he got home? Well, when God deals with someone He usually brings someone who is sensitive to the Spirit. He sends someone who can share the scriptures and He sends someone with the message that salvation is only in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you know what usually happens? He,
IV. Sends His Servant Somewhere Else – Verses 39-40 (Read).
Well, what happens when a mission is completed? God has another mission somewhere else. When Philip raised the Ethiopian eunuch out of the water, the scripture says that The Holy Spirit caught him away. Actually the Greek word used there is “harpazo”, which means to carry away. It gives the picture of force suddenly exercised. Folks, I don’t have a problem believing that the Spirit miracuously transported Philip 20 miles away to Azotus. God can do whatever He wills to do, regardless of what we think.
Sometimes God allows people to come into our life for just an instant in order to accomplish His plan. Whether it’s to plant a seed or to lead them all the way through receiving Christ. And when that someone moves on, it’s our job to follow up and disciple. God didn’t allow Philip to disciple this guy from Ethiopia, but I’ll tell you this, I’ll bet someone did! God has a way of putting us with the right folks at the right time in our lives. Have you noticed that?
Well, what happened to ole Philip?
Verse 40 says he found himself at Azotus 20 miles away and then he made his way to Caesarea. As a matter of fact it says that he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. That’s a stretch of about 60 miles. That’s a lot of walking and talking but he made it to Caesarea. You know how I know he made it? Because 20 years later in Acts chapter 28, we see Philip living there and still preaching and serving Christ as an evangelist.
In October of 1857, Hudson Taylor began ministering in a place called Ningpo, China, where he led a Mr. Nyi to faith in Christ. The man was overjoyed and wanted to share it with others. He asked Hudson Taylor one day, “How long have you and your people in England known about this wonderful life?” Hudson Taylor replied, “We’ve known about it for centuries.” Mr. Nyi said, “My father died searching for the truth, why didn’t you come sooner?”
Friend, how long have you known the Gospel of Jesus Christ? How long has it been since you took the time to share it with someone else, someone who’s searching, someone who’s hurting, someone who’s dying?
Let’s bow for prayer! (Every head bowed and every eye closed please, no moving around)
