45 Acts 8:25-40 PHILIP AND THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH Introduction: In our previous text Simon the sorcerer made a profession of faith and was baptized under the preaching of Philip. The problem was that it was only a profession of faith. He was not saved and when Peter and John came from Jerusalem Peter told Simon that he was not saved. So far as we know he never did get saved. In our text today the Lord sent Philip to witness to an Ethiopian eunuch who was also unsaved, but when the eunuch made a profession of faith, he really did get saved. His profession was genuine. I. First, more about Peter and John V. 25, “And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” Before telling us about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, Luke tells us a little more about the Apostles Peter and John. Perhaps you will recall that Peter and John had been sent by the other apostles at Jerusalem to Samaria to help Philip get the young church there off to a good start. It was the Apostle Peter who informed Simon the sorcerer that he was still unsaved and who warned him to repent and seek forgiveness from God. After Peter and John had finished their work of strengthening this young church, they returned back to Jerusalem to resume their work there at Jerusalem. However, on their way back to Jerusalem, they stopped at many of the villages in Samaria that they passed through. They preached the gospel in those places. It seems that their experience with Philip and the young church stirred their hearts toward the Samaritan people with a desire to see the Samaritans saved. I suspect also that some of the members where Philip was encouraged them to stop and to witness to family members and friends who lived in those villages. II. Philip instructed to leave Samaria and go into the desert V. 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.” There is no difficulty in understanding what Philip was instructed to do. He was told to leave the city where he was preaching and go out to a highway which traveled westward out of Jerusalem toward the region of Gaza. There were actually three highways which led out of Jerusalem toward Gaza and Philip was told to take the southern highway. This highway went through a desert land where there were no cities nor villages at all. There may have been a few nomad Arabs living temporarily there in tents until their herds ate up what little grass there was in the area. Then after the grass was gone, they too would be gone. But after the grass would be gone the Arabs would be gone. But even though we have no difficulty at first in understanding what the Lord instructed Philip to do, we do have a little difficulty in understanding why the Lord told him to do it. He instructed Philip to leave a thriving city where the people of the city were responding favorably to his preaching and where a young church had been organized by him. To leave and go somewhere else would mean not only leaving a place where he was well received, but it would also mean leaving behind a very young church which could use his leadership. But the Lord told Philip to go and we know that the Lord always knows best. As far the young church, the Lord had already used Peter and John to provide leaders who would be well able to carry on the work after Philip was gone. By the laying on of the hands of Peter and John certain men in the church had been given special gifts which would provide the church with capable leadership even though Philip would be gone. So Philip would not be leaving the church in a bind even though the church was young. As far as the city and its surrounding area was concerned, that young church would do a good job of evangelizing the people there. They would be zealous in their efforts to spread the gospel. So the church, the city and the whole area would be well taken care of. Philip was told that he would meet a man traveling from Jerusalem who was unsaved. The Lord wanted Philip to leave Samaria where he was having such great success and go out into the desert to present the gospel message to that one man. That one man would then travel on to Ethiopia and carry the gospel to a whole nation which had no Christian witness. So we can see that the Lord always has a very good reason for whatever He asks anybody to do. Yet it is not our task to understand why the Lord wants us to do a thing. It is our task to do what He says whether or not we understand why He wants us to do it. III. The Ethiopian eunuch V. 27-28, “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, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.” He man whom the Lord wanted Philip to witness was an Ethiopian eunuch. He was a slave to Candace, queen of Ethiopia. But in spite of being a slave he occupied a high position in her kingdom. He was in charge of her treasury. He was a religious man and had apparently become a proselyte to the Jewish faith. That is, he was a Gentile who had joined the Jewish faith. Jew. He had received permission from the queen to leave Ethiopia and travel to Jerusalem for one of the annual Jewish religious festivals. Thus he had already turned away from the idol worship which was prominent in Ethiopia and had come to believe that there is only one true and living God, Furthermore, he now believed that the true God is Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews. The eunuch had already attended the Jewish festival at Jerusalem and was on his way back to Ethiopia to resume reassure his duties as treasurer. Luke said that as he traveled he was reading from writings of the Prophet Esaias. Esaias is the New Testament spelling of the Old Testament word, Isaiah. Being the treasurer for the Queen of Ethiopia he did not have to walk. He could afford ride in a chariot. Also, he could afford a chauffeur to drive for him. So when Philip saw him at a distance, he was not driving. He was reading from the Book of Isaiah. Apparently he was reading aloud. I suppose that the reason he was reading aloud was so that the driver could hear the word of God. IV. Philip witnessing to the eunuch about Jesus V. 29-30, “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to [him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?” The Holy Spirit told Philip to go and get in the chariot with the eunuch. So Philip ran to the chariot and recognized the Scripture from Isaiah which the eunuch was reading. . Philip asked, “Do you understand the meaning of what you are reading. V. 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.” The eunuch did not understand the meaning of the Scripture which he had read and he said so. But he did understand two things. He understood that he needed some someone to explain the Scripture to him. Furthermore, he seemed to understand that Philip might be able to explain the Scripture to him and he invited Philip to come up into the chariot and explain the Scripture to him. V. 32-33, “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 sheerer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.” The verses which the eunuch had read in the hearing of Philip spoke about the crucifixion of Jesus. It described Jesus as being led to the cross like a sheep being led away to the slaughter. Just as a sheep goes to his slaughter without bleating in protest, even so Jesus went to the cross without protest. V. 34, “And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” The eunuch wanted to know whether Isaiah was speaking of himself or of somebody else. The eunuch was totally in the dark about the meaning of the Scripture. He did not have a clue as to whom Isaiah was talking about. V. 35, “Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” Note that Philip began at that Scripture and explained to the eunuch that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice by which He would be able to save those who are lost in sin. He explained that salvation comes to man --- not by his own works of righteousness --- but by his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He explained that Jesus is the Christ of God, the Son of God. He explained that all who would repent of their sin and place their faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation, get saved by the grace of God. He, quiet naturally, would explain to the eunuch that he could not go to heaven just because he occupied the high ranking position of being the treasurer of the land. This was one thing that he would not be able to buy with money. Me must have tried to make it clear that if the eunuch wanted to get saved he would have to call on Jesus and trust in Him for salvation of his soul. V. The eunuch’s profession of faith and his baptism In the verse 36 Luke makes it clear that the eunuch believed the message that Philip and that he believed in Jesus Christ and got saved. V. 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?” Secular writers inform us that the highway on which Philip and the eunuch were traveling crossed a waddi or creek. But in that desert area those creek beds were usually either bone dry or flooded with rushing water. I do not think that such rushing water would have been a safe place to baptize. Therefore, I do not think that was the kind of water they came to at this time. It must have been an oasis where there was a pool of water fed by a spring. At any rate there was water and the eunuch wanted to be baptized. Now I am sure that Philip explained to him that it was not necessary for him to be baptized in order to be saved. No doubt most of you already understand that it is not necessary to be baptized in order to be saved and go to heaven. But just in case that someone here this morning does not understand it, let me site you to John 3:18. John 3:18 says, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned...” Now note this please: If one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, he is not condemned. If he is not condemned, he is saved. He is on his way to heaven. He will be in heaven when he dies. If he has trusted Jesus as his Savior, he is saved whether or not he has been baptized. If he has trusted Jesus as his Savior, he will go to heaven whether or not he ever gets baptized. But even though this man was not required to get baptized in order to get saved and go to heaven, he wanted to get baptized any way. He wanted to get baptized because he knew that God would be pleased. There are most likely some saved people today who need to get baptized. But they do not need to get baptized thinking that their baptism will get them into heaven. Yet those who do get saved need to be baptized simply because God wants saved people to be baptized. V. 37, “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest...” In this simple statement Philip makes it clear what one must do to qualify for scriptural baptism. Not everybody does qualify for baptism. One does not qualify for baptism just because he wants to get baptized. Only if one believes in Jesus with all his heart does he qualify for baptism. But if one gets baptized without first believing in Jesus and getting saved, he does not have scriptural baptism. His baptism is not good in God’s sight. God wants people to get saved first and then get baptized. He does want them to be baptized, but He wants them to be saved before they get baptized. (V. 37), “...And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” By this he meant, “I believe with all my heart. I have trusted Jesus Christ to save my soul.” Philip was convinced. He was satisfied that this man was truly saved and he baptized him. V. 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.” There is a lot of confusion in the world today as to what constitutes scriptural baptism. In this passage we have already seen that it takes a saved person to have a valid candidate for baptism. It takes a person who believes in Jesus with all his heart. But we also see something about the mode or method of baptism. Philip did not take a small vessel and dip up some water and pour it over the eunuch’s head. Nor did he dip his hand or a piece of cloth into the water and sprinkle it upon the eunuch and call it baptism. The Greek word that here is translated, “baptize” means “To dip or to immerse.” What Philip dipped the eunuch into was water. Philip led the eunuch down into the water and then he dipped him down into the water and lifted him up. Then they both waded out of the water. Verse 38 says that they both went down into the water and verse 39 says that they both came up out of the water. VI. Two happy men V. 39-40, “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. But Philip was found at Azores: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.” After the eunuch was baptized, they parted their ways. The eunuch went on his way toward Ethiopia a happy man. He was happy that he was saved and he was happy that he was baptized. Philip went on his way to preach the gospel to other cities. He, too, went on his way a happy man. He was happy that he was saved. He was happy to serve the Lord. He was happy that the eunuch was saved. He was happy to go and preach the gospel in other cities so that lots of other people could get saved. He looked forward to many people getting saved.