Introduction
- What are we seeking? Acts 8:26–40: A story about how God brings the truth to those who seek it. A lesson for 2 groups of people.
- Truth seekers
- Soul seekers
- The challenge:
- As a truth seeker: You’re lost and know you’re missing something, but you don’t know what. You’re missing the joy of salvation.
- As a soul seeker: You want others to find the joy you’ve found in Christ, but you may not be sure how to reach them.
- The answer: The gospel
- For the truth seeker: the gospel will show you what you’re looking for.
- For the soul seeker: the gospel will do the work for you, if you bring it wherever you go.
The Story of the Two Seekers
Part 1: The Matchmaker
Wherein a seeker is reading and a messenger is sent. Where do we find our 2 characters as the story begins?
* Eunuch – Heading back from worship in Jerusalem, reading the book of Isaiah in his chariot and wondering what this passage is about. Let’s talk more about the eunuch:
* Secretary of the Treasury for Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, Candace – not a proper name; a title for Ethiopian queens. He couldn’t become a full proselyte to Judaism as a eunuch (Deuteronomy 23:1), but was clearly a God Fearer – someone who believes in God and practices much of the Old Law.
* Lesson: Study your Bible
* Good things happen when you study your bible. What’s the difference between reading and studying? 2 Tim 2:15 – study is hard work.
* Philip – spreading the gospel and bringing joy in Samaria when an angel tells him where to go. Let’s talk more about Phillip:
* One of the seven deacons appointed to look after the Grecian widows in the Jerusalem church. Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ there, and people believed and verse 8 says “there was great joy in that city.” “So he arose and went” In the past God spoke in a lot of ways (like angels and prophets and signs) but now doesn’t speak to us in quite the same way. He speaks the life and words of Christ and through the inspired written words in the Bible. Living and active word – Hebrews 4:12 Nevertheless, our conscience, having learned from the Spirit’s word, might tell us to “go and join him”.
* Interesting that an angel went to Philip and told him to make the trip to Gaza road. The angel could have just appeared to the eunuch and told him how to be saved. The commission to spread the gospel wasn’t given to Angels, it was given to us. His people. (Wiersbe, Expository Commentary) There’s a song we sing at Monte Vista called “The World’s Bible”, that says “God has no hands but our hands to do his will today, He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way, He has no tongue but our tongues to tell men how he died, He has no help but our help to bring them to his side.” Also makes me think about the lengths that both God and his servant Philip go to here to bring this one man the gospel. In business, we always ask the value question: is the return on investment there to make it worthwhile? God has made it clear that a chance to save one soul is worth a significant investment of his personnel resources – an angel, a preacher, and a trip across the desert.
Theme of Part 1: The Providence of God
* Truth seekers: Trust God’s promise that if you seek you will find.
* Draw near to God, he will draw near to you James 4:8. Seek and you will find Matthew 7:7. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied Matt 5:6.
* Soul seekers: Trust God’s leadership in the soul winning business. The job we do verses the job God does. Bible is clear that all we can do is plant and water. Can I make a lemon tree out of a seed? Look at all the work God does here. Finds the prospect. Finds a good teacher for him. Sends the teacher. Prepares the mans heart, as he reads from Isaiah 53. And then the dynamic power of the gospel does its mighty work of winning the Eunuch to Christ and motivating him to obey.
* Talents and approach: We all have different abilities – Romans 12:3–8. There are many Bible examples of different approaches, ways God used each one according to the abilities he gave.
* Heavenly matchmaker – not bringing couples together, but bringing the seeker together with the messenger.
Part 2: The Bible Study
Wherein a seeker asks his questions and hears the story of Christ.
* Eunuch – asks his questions and invites a stranger into his chariot. Lesson: Ask questions! It’s okay to ask questions. It’s great to ask questions. Besides his confession, the Eunuch’s only recorded words are the questions he asks (3–5 of them depending where your translation puts the question marks.) Listen to the answers with the Bible open, just like the Eunuch did. Keep an open mind, but believe only what you see in the Book. Isaiah 53 It’s probably not a coincidence that he was reading the Old Testament’s most on the nose, clear and complete foretelling of the gospel, a passage that explains how Jesus would save us. Some of the most majestic words ever written. Overview of the Song of the Suffering Servant
* Philip – opens his mouth and preaches Jesus. “Opened his mouth” Talking to a friend about how difficult it can be to tell someone your concerned about their soul—what do you say? Often the best we can do is make sure our heart is right and open our mouth and speak, praying that the right words will come. We can get paralyzed by wanting to be perfectly prepared. If Philip tried to formulate the perfect words to get a Bible study started, the chariot probably would have left him in the dust.
Power of leaping – Sky diving. I remember putting one foot on the tire outside the plane, looking at a very small world below, frozen. So you take a breath and jump. So we open our mouths and leap. So Philip opens his mouth and leaps into a life changing Conversation with this man in a chariot. The good news. Word “evangelist” is a form of the word for good news or gospel. You could say an evangelist is a Gospelizer – the good news guy! Taught good news of Jesus. Jesus was the focus.
We know that at some point, he taught about baptism, so teaching all about Jesus includes teaching baptism.
Theme of Part 2: The Gospel of Christ
* Truth seekers: the gospel changes everything when it’s understood, believed, and obeyed. You must understand. It’s not enough to want to do God’s will and not enough to hear God’s will. The eunuch needed to UNDERSTAND God’s plan of Salvation, the story of Jesus, and how Jesus could impact his own life.
* Soul seekers: the gospel does the soul winning if we are willing to open our mouths and share. “Too good not to share,” like Mercedes’ patent. Because it saves lives. Not seeking the lost, so much as bringing the gospel with you everywhere you go. Jesus has no plan B. No one will know about his suffering, his sacrifice, his love, and his salvation, unless we tell them.
Part 3: The Baptism
Wherein a seeker is saved and discovers true joy.
* Eunuch – believes and is ready to act. Once taught, the Eunuch initiated the baptism. I love the question “what Hinders me?” “Water’s right there, is there anything that should stop me from being baptized?” This is where Philip could have said you don’t know enough or are you sure you’ve counted the cost. Those are things I might have said. Philip said “if you believe with all your heart you may.” When Philip says “you may” the Eunuch orders the chariot to stand still. In my mind I hear a cartoon sound effect, the screech of chariot wheels coming to an abrupt stop. “We’re doing this now.” In the conversions we read of in Acts, baptism is always urgent, because the moment of baptism is the moment of salvation. In Acts 22:16, Ananias asks Saul “Why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” In Acts 16:33, in the middle of the night, it says of the Philippian jailer “immediately he and all his family were baptized” Again, it wouldn’t make much sense to wait, since 1 Peter 3:21 says baptism now saves us"
* Philip – hears him confess faith in Christ and baptizes him. After his barrage of questions we read his first confident assertion, a beautiful declaration. Confessing our faith with our mouths before men is necessary for salvation (Rom. 10:9–10)
Theme of Part 3: The Joy of Salvation
The result of the gospel is joy. If you are not “going on your way rejoicing” maybe you’ve forgotten what you’ve found. Joy of salvation is the joy of finding the pearl of great price, the one we sell everything to keep. It’s “Eureka!” It’s “This is what I’ve been missing!” Joy filled the whole city of Samaria when Philip shared the good news of Christ, in 8:8. And when Philip made his dramatic exit, disappearing after baptizing the Eunuch, the Ethiopian Eunuch climbed out of the water smiling, happy, maybe he was singing a song. This man didn’t even know what he was looking for in Jerusalem and in the scroll of Isaiah, but he found it on that happy day. As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians–and I am one of them.”
Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18.
Conclusion
- Lesson for the soul seeker: The gospel will do the work for us, if we bring it with us. We need to show up as Christians, ready to confess Jesus to anyone who will listen.
- Lesson for the truth seeker: The Eunuch was like a lot of sincere, religious people, who read their bibles and yet are not yet saved from their sins.
- What’s missing? – An obedient faith in Jesus Christ. There are things we must believe and things we must do to be saved, as we see with the Ethiopian and every other conversion in the New Testament. Seeking the Lord, we will:
- Read, study, and listen to the gospel
- Need to hear; sometimes someone is needed to show the way.
- Believe in Jesus
- Confess that he is the son of God
- Be baptized
- Go on your way rejoicing, remaining faithful
