The Saving Power of Scripture, Part 2 (Acts 8:25–40) · GTYtv

0:05 We've been moving phrase by phrase, verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter through these great truths. Open your Bibles with me. Let's go to the Word of God in the eighth chapter of the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles under the power of the Holy Spirit. Philip is the key instrument of God in the narratives in this chapter. Philip, not Philip the Apostle, but Philip the Deacon from the sixth chapter, a non-Israeli Jew, a Jew who was a non-Palestinian Jew, who was from the Hellenistic world, who was part of the church.

1:02 He was brought to Christ along with many, many thousands of others in the early church. And he was one of those noble men who were chosen to provide service and leadership to the church. He's a very powerful man, a godly man, a Spirit-filled man, a powerful preacher, and the Lord even did miracles through him, an amazing man. We're going to see his encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch starting in chapter 8, verse 25. In this chapter, we see Philip as the instrument of God, confronting, first of all, Simon in Samaria and demonstrating what a false faith looks like. And now we find Philip confronting an Ethiopian eunuch and showing us what a true faith looks like. Now, as we look at this, we could just read the narrative. You could read the narrative yourself, and it would be pretty straightforward.

1:56 You can read the story. It's a wonderful story. I hope you will read it. But as we read the story, I want to go a little beyond what you can read and let you know that this story in and of itself presents to us a picture of the elements and the components and the features in a saving faith. Everything you need to know is here by illustration, by implication. So I want to break the story down. It runs to the end of the chapter. We'll go through it fairly quickly. There are three categories that help us sort it out. There's the preparation in this encounter, that which is already in place before the encounter even begins. And then there is the presentation, how it is that Philip addresses this individual. And then there is the personal response.

2:51 And that's just kind of a simple and somewhat universal perspective on any encounter, any gospel encounter. There is the preparation which is necessary. There is the presentation which is necessary, and then there is the correct personal response. As we look at those three headings, we're going to see the components of a faith that saves. Let's look at preparation, first of all, all right? Verse 26 through 29.

3:55 Now that's enough to let us know that this is a very well designed and prepared encounter, and the one who is preparing this is none other than the Holy Spirit. So let's start there. The proper preparation for salvation, for true salvation, begins with the sovereign work of the Spirit. It starts with divine preparation. It starts with God's Spirit preparing the soil, God's providential working. And essentially we know this is happening here because an angel of the Lord speaks to Philip and tells him to go directly to this individual who's a court official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, for the sake of the gospel. This is the divine encounter that is prepared by the Holy Spirit. didn't know that.

4:49 He only knew to be obedient. He only knew to get on the road, and God would determine His purpose. We act, but the Spirit initiates. What a wonderfully encouraging reality that is. So the faith that does save begins with the right preparation, which begins in the sovereign purposes of God in the work of the Holy Spirit. The second is this, the submissive will of a servant, the submissive will of a servant. How are they going to hear without a preacher? How are they going to hear if somebody isn't sent? The Lord has chosen to do His work through human instruments. It didn't really appear, I guess in one sense, logical. Responsibility was large in a flourishing ministry in Samaria. People were believing. The apostles had come.

5:40 The Spirit was now there. There was a new church, you might say. There was enthusiasm, excitement, response to the truth. To drop everything and head down a desert road with no knowledge of where you were going and for what purpose might have seemed a bit strange, if not absurd. And with no particular destination in mind, it could be a very long and arduous journey. But all God had to say was, go. All He had to say was, go. And verse 27 says, Philip got up and went. That's enough. He got up and went. Even though it didn't appear sensible or logical, he could have made an argument that there were more important things where he was.

6:35 He obeyed. And of course, he ran into an Ethiopian eunuch who was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her treasure, coming to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and of all amazing things was reading the prophet Isaiah. So salvation, preparation. What are the necessary elements of preparation? There's the sovereign work of the Spirit and the submissive will of the servant. has to go with the message. And then there's a third element, and it's an obvious one. There's the searching of the sinner. There's the searching of the sinner. What do you have here? You have a searching heart. Something's going on in this individual because he's coming. He's coming to Jerusalem to worship. Somewhere along the road, he has heard about the God of Israel, whether he was what they What they called a God-fearer, a Gentile who had converted to Judaism or not, we don't know.

7:41 But he was certainly drawn to the God of Israel. He had it in his heart to know the God of Israel. He had come all the way to Jerusalem to worship the true God. So here's another component in what issues in true salvation, a genuine hunger for the truth, a genuine hunger for the truth. That's a prerequisite, a desire for the truth, a longing for the truth. That's the beatitude attitude, isn't it? Blessed is the man who hungers after righteousness, who thirsts after righteousness, for he will be filled. God meets the heart that has been prompted to hunger and thirst and seeking, which is not natural to the sinner. So a willing heart, a seeking heart, a hungry heart, a longing heart.

8:37 Salvation comes to those who hunger for it. This man sought for salvation. So what is the preparation for a true salvation? The sovereign work of the Spirit, the submissive will of the servant who will be God's instrument, and the searching worship of the sinner. And then it all culminates in a fourth, the scriptural Word of God, the scriptural Word of God. At this point, it's time for the Word of God. It's time for the Word of God. That puts all the pieces together. It all comes down to this, the truth, and he is reading the prophet Isaiah. And he's not just reading anywhere in the prophet Isaiah, and there are 66 chapters. He happens to be reading, according to verse 32, chapter 53.

9:39 We would probably agree that that is the most important chapter in the whole book of Isaiah, and it is the presentation of the gospel. In fact, when we went through Isaiah 53, I called it the first gospel, Matthew is the Second, All that is necessary with the preparation work of the Holy Spirit, with the ready willingness of the servant, and the searching heart of the sinner, all that is necessary is the Word of God, the Scripture. Maybe He picked up the scroll somewhere along the line. Scrolls were around, but you only had a scroll if you were very, very wealthy. Thank you. But this is a very wealthy individual, and he's reading out loud, which was the traditional way you read, and he's reading Isaiah 53.

10:44 You can see the Holy Spirit working in preparing the servant Philip, working in preparing the seeking heart of the sinner, and working in preparing that he got to the right Scripture. He's reading the very best passage he could ever be reading. So there you have the preparation. What is necessary to prepare for someone to make a genuine response to Christ, sovereign work of the Spirit, submissive will of the servant, searching worship of the sinner, and the scriptural word? That's the preparation. Now the presentation. Look at verse 30.

12:13 Listen, and beginning from what? Beginning from what? In the Scripture, he preached Jesus to him. Philip obeyed. Philip went. Everything was prepared by the providence of God. Philip ran eagerly up to this man, heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, verse 30, and asked him a simple question, do you understand what you're reading? And he said, how could I unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Simon wanted the power, right? This man wanted the truth. Simon was willing to pay money for the power.

13:09 This man desperately wanted the truth. So here's the first part of the presentation, the key to effective presentation, pointing people at the Scripture, pointing people at the Scripture, pointing their attention, their focus at the Scripture. You say, well, hey, not everybody's interested in that, and you don't want to get bogged down in the Bible. If they're not interested in what the Scripture says, They're not expressing a desperate hunger for salvation because if the Holy Spirit is moving in their heart and is in the work of regeneration, the Spirit will drive them at the truth. I need to understand, but I don't have anybody to guide me. By the way, that's the same word used in John 16, 13 for what the Holy Spirit does.

14:09 The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth. I need somebody to explain this. What do I see here? I see humility here. I see meekness here. I see a teachable attitude here. Psalm 25, 9 says, the meek, He will teach His way. The meek, He will teach His way. In your presentation, look, you go right at the Scripture, and if there is no interest in the Scripture, if there's no interest in the divine solution to the hungry heart, then you better wait for another day. The passage he was reading, verses 32 and 33, was that great passage out of Isaiah 53, which describes the substitutionary atonement of Christ as He was led as the sacrificial lamb of God to slaughter, silent, humiliated, not a fair trial, His life removed from the earth.

15:19 He's reading this trying to figure out what this is, who this is. It's a prophecy of the death of Messiah. The Holy Spirit had led him to that passage. The Holy Spirit had prepared his heart for an explanation of that passage. And the eunuch couldn't understand it. Tell me, he says in verse 34, who's he talking about, himself? Is this about Isaiah? Who is this about? I don't know who this is about. He was reading about the suffering servant. He was reading about the Messiah and he's saying, who is this? And verse 35, Philip opened his mouth, beginning from the Scripture, he preached Jesus to him. He preached Jesus to him. I don't want to generalize off of the particular, but I don't think I'm doing that.

16:16 If someone is in the process of being brought to the knowledge of the gospel in a saving way, they will want to know about Jesus. They will want to know the Scripture. They will want to know about atonement. Here's the other side of it. You couldn't go to a better place than Isaiah 53. Since none of the gospels had been written yet, that really was the only place to go for the biography of Jesus. And Philip was ready. He preached starting at that Scripture. He preached Jesus to him. This is the second part of the preparation. The Holy Spirit has to drive the sinner to the Scripture, so you as the servant of the Lord, if you're going to make the presentation, you drive the sinner to the Scripture.

17:13 But here's the corollary. Once you get there, you've got to be able to explain it, right? You've got to be able to explain it. This puts the burden on you. He is truly an evangelist, Philip. He's called Philip the Evangelist. He's truly an evangelist because here, in a kind of a serendipitous, though divinely orchestrated encounter with this man, he is confronted with the need to completely explain to Him Jesus starting at Isaiah 53. And if I can just reach back to the beginning of the book of Acts, what marked the apostles after the resurrection and ascension of Christ was they understood the Old Testament. Remember our series, Finding Christ in the Old Testament?

18:09 He was truly an evangelist. He could meet a man face to face who has His Scriptures open in front of Him, and starting there, he could preach Jesus fully to him, complete evangelist. In Samaria, he's preaching to crowds. He's preaching to crowds. He's doing miracles. Large crowds are coming to him in the first half of the chapter. He can go from that to a one-on-one encounter and an explanation of Isaiah 53. So we could say the second thing in the presentation, first, get them to the Scripture, secondly, get them to the Savior. Get them to the Savior. He preached Jesus to him. He preached Jesus. So I just might warn you a little bit, watch out for too much autobiography in your presentation of the gospel.

19:05 Don't get too caught up in you because you're not the issue. It's wonderful what the Lord has done in your life, and you can affirm that and declare Amen. But a clear presentation of Christ is absolutely everything in gospel presentation. That's what Paul did. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Preach Christ crucified. He says, I went everywhere. I don't know anything among you except Christ and Him what? Crucified. That's all I have to say. And of course, he was mocked and laughed at because he didn't get in all the machinations of the orators of his day. So, point at the Scripture, point at the Savior. Thirdly, in the presentation, point at salvation.

20:03 Point at salvation. Explain why He was a sheep led to slaughter, why He was the Lamb of God, why He was literally killed, His life was removed from the earth. Explain the doctrines of salvation. Go to the Scripture, go to the Savior, go to salvation. You say, well, people might be offended. Fine. If they're offended at that point, then this isn't the time for their salvation. You can't sneak salvation in the side door. It's got to be the main purpose that is in the heart of the sinner. True evangelism takes time to go to the Scripture, go to the Savior, go to the issues of salvation, teach the doctrines of salvation which encompass the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ and union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

21:02 Now, all that's left, final word, is a personal response at the end. Personal response? We saw some of it in verse 36. Okay, I'm ready. Look, water, joyous discovery. Why? They're in the desert. Do you think God misses anything? How important is baptism? God allowed for this providential encounter in a place where there's no water except there. How important is baptism? That ought to give you a clue. Even when God providentially orders the process of salvation, He makes sure there's water. So, we could say three things demonstrate His immediate response, faith.

22:08 Faith, He's ready. Look, water. I want to be baptized. I want to be obedient. Or you could say, faith and obedience. Nothing is hindering Him, nothing. What prevents me? Is there anything that prevents me? Now skip that verse 37, and I'll comment on it in a minute. Go to verse 38. So He ordered the chariot to stop. There's an interesting discussion of whether or not this chariot was being pulled by animals or this was one of those kind of carriage chairs that were on the backs of slaves. But anyway, it stopped. And they both went down into the water." Again immersion. Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. And the first official baptism of somebody from the uttermost part of the earth.

23:09 We're only in the eighth chapter of Acts, and the gospel has gone by the power of the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. Now comment about verse 37. That verse does not appear in any of the ancient manuscripts. Any of the earliest. So it was added later. Maybe it was added because somebody felt it needed to be there, obviously. It had become a sort of baptism formula. Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. He answered, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Well that's the formula. And you heard people confess that essentially. Do you confess Jesus as Lord? That's what people were confessing tonight. That has been the traditional baptismal formula.

24:05 There's nothing wrong there. There's nothing untrue there. But in the most ancient manuscripts, that did not appear, but it certainly can be assumed. He believed and He immediately demonstrated His faith by obedience. So there is faith and there is obedience. This is the proof of a genuine faith. There's one other thing. When they came up out of the water, I don't know how you can get sprinkling out of that. When they come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. Wow, whoa, what is that? That's a miracle, folks. You can read about that with Elijah, and you can read about it with Ezekiel. But it's pretty rare. I can only think of Elijah and Ezekiel.

24:59 And all of a sudden, the Lord snatched Philip away, disappeared. He's gone. You say, well, what about follow-up? Thank you. He's now in the hands of the Lord, and the eunuch no longer saw Him. What does it say? But he went on his way wondering. He went on his way what? There's the third element of a true salvation. There is faith, there is obedience, and there is joy, joy. So, Philip gets snatched away. This is time travel.

25:51 This is going, you know, this is the amazing leap from one place to another without transversing the space in between. Philip found himself at azotthos. And, certainly, the eunuch is scratching his head and saying, this is a validation that I have just had an encounter with God. He found himself at Azotus, and he passed through and kept preaching the message, the gospel to all the cities until He came to Caesarea. The Lord relocated Him in a miraculous way, really an astonishing reality. Miracle was a confirming sign, certainly to the eunuch, that God was truly in this, and God put Him exactly where He wanted Him to be, about 20 miles north of Gaza where this happened, halfway to Joppa.

27:00 All of a sudden, he arrived there. Irenaeus, the early church father, says the eunuch became a missionary. I'm sure. I'm sure the eunuch became a missionary. And there are some sections of Africa in which historically groups of Christians claim this eunuch as the founder of their church. That's tradition, maybe. But perhaps the tradition grew because of a real influence from this man's life. So these are components of a faith that saves. And I hope it's helpful to you not only to see the story, but to see sort of in the story these elements, give you some direction and guidance in your own.