E19
Going to the Ends of the Earth
Acts 8:26-40
After Stephen was shamefully treated and then put to death for preaching that Jesus is God, and after the intense persecution that caused the Jerusalem Christians to scatter to find safety, God has ‘led’ Philip, or caused Philip to go to Samaria to preach Jesus to them and to minister to any of the scattered believers.
Just how did God lead him? How does God lead people? Did Philip hear a voice? Was it an ‘impression’? Was it a strong burden on his heart to go to Samaria? We have to admit, we have no answer to how God caused Him to go to Samaria, but the Word simply said, 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
But now, his evangelical ministry in Samaria seems to be over. How do we know? Because an angel appears to him and gives him very clear instructions as to where to minister next.
We read, 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.” (and for our benefit, Luke adds,)This is desert.
I have to confess, if I have ever been approached by an angel of God, I have been totally unaware of it. In Philip’s experience it would seem there was no doubt at all about who or what he was seeing and hearing. Apparently he did not question the angel at all. We also can see no hesitancy in Philip. He simply obeys. We read,
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.
Let’s see if we can see what God is doing here. God has empowered His church to go into all the world. But God also has laid out His intended process.
The gospel was first to be preached to Jews in the city of Jerusalem and the province of Judea.
Next the gospel was to be preached to half-Jews in Samaria.
And we now are reading that the gospel is about to be preached to a non Jew, a gentile, but one who had converted to the Jewish religion. The only category still remaining will be sharing the gospel with those who are totally gentile.
So what are we told about this man? He was a high ranking servant to the Queen of the Ethiopians (in Africa). Somehow he had become a Jewish convert, and was returning home after attending a Jewish worship festival. We are told that he was sitting in his chariot and reading. Probably his chariot is being pulled by a team of oxen. And since much of the trip would be through desert and very sparse stretches of roadway, the chariot would also be filled with enough grain and hay for the oxen to eat.
Some commentators have surmised that he would not be alone, but likely had ‘under’ servants to attend to him. Personally, I get the impression that he was traveling alone.
This would be a very long and boring trip. He has his oxen on autopilot, and the only sounds would be that of the wheels on the road and perhaps the wooden chariot creaking a bit.
He is reading to himself, I think out loud.
Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
So Philip hears an instruction. This time it is not the angel, but the Holy Spirit. I don’t believe this was just an ‘impression’, but I think the Spirit spoke in an audible voice. 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, …
I have thought about this on several occasions. Philip is not approaching from the front or the side of the chariot, he is coming up from the rear. I am certain the chariot did not have a rear-view mirror. And I don’t suppose the sound of Philip running on the sandy soil made much of a noise. This man has been traveling in total isolation, and I am thinking, seeing very little traffic.
Suddenly he hears a voice speaking right behind him, saying, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
I don’t know about you, but I think he would have to have had a pretty strong heart. But we are not told anything about that. We only read that, 31 he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Luke tells us 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.”
Philip had asked the question, “Do you understand what you are reading?”,
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?”
It is so easy for us to read that portion of Isaiah and know exactly who it is referring to. But in this man's case, to him it is a prophecy. And any time we read a prophecy regarding future events, we find it hard to believe that it might be actually talking about the times in which we live.
This man is coming back from Jerusalem. When, in relation to the day of Pentecost, is he traveling? I would think that perhaps a half a year has passed by this time. But certainly he would have picked up on the local news. He would have received some kind of an update regarding the recent crucifixion, the incredibly fast growth of Christianity after Pentexost, the horrific persecution of Christians after Stephen’s death.
But as he is reading in Isaiah, he has not put it all together.
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
How exciting for this man, to hear that the prophecy concerning Christ has actually come to pass. It all makes sense. Apparently he receives Philip's explanation with joy.
Philips' words have been very clear and complete regarding receiving Christ and the importance of following with baptism. Reading on,
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders (what is stopping) 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.”
Believer’s baptism. Philip’s answer is clear. “If you believe, you may …” The history of infant baptism does not appear prior to the third century. The ‘church father’, Tertullian, wrote about his view regarding child baptism. His writing implies that it was becoming a topic of dispute. In other words, all baptisms had been performed following a profession of faith, much like the man who Philip baptized in the desert. But for some reason, in the third century, the topic came up. By studying the whole issue in depth we come to discover an even greater issue. That is, does baptism have the power to save us?
In the early church, as it grew and spread into all of the known world, the only means of keeping everybody on the same page was the apostles in Jerusalem. Every so often the apostles would have to call a conference to discuss an issue. We will read about one such conference a bit later in Acts.
Is water baptism necessary for salvation? That was becoming an issue in the second century. As the church grew during that time, it also grew more and more divided over various issues. A segment of the church was teaching that baptism indeed saved. The practice of baptizing infants evolved because of illness leading to early death. Some of the church fathers were encouraging infant baptism in order to save them and bring them into heaven. This indicates that they had a faulty belief regarding children who were under the age of accountability. The mode of baptism was still immersion at that time, and because some of the babies were considered too frail or sickly to be immersed, it was thought that sprinkling might suffice. From there, the logic, as you may have guessed, was that if sprinkling works for the sickly, it should work just as well for anyone.
Getting back to the man from Ethiopia, he understood the word baptize to mean total immersion. If he had understood otherwise, Philip could just have used some of the man’s drinking water with which to sprinkle him. But we read,
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
What is so special about water baptism? Water baptism is a testimony of salvation that one person states to another without words. He had already said, “I believe with all my heart.” But words like that can be so easy to say. To actually stop the cart, and go down into the water could be an inconvenience, to say the least.
So the act of physically going down into the water shows a degree of serious commitment to the faith, and it also can show a degree of boldness.
In the case of this man from Ethiopia, he is not really indicating boldness before a hostile, anti-Christian world. After all, they were all alone here. But to have been baptized in Jerusalem would have taken some courage.
The ‘testimony’ of baptism by immersion, is a physical act that portrays a death, a burial and a resurrection. A biblical baptism requires two people. An individual cannot ‘baptize’ him, or herself. By the candidate submitting to ‘baptizer’, he or she is portraying a dead person being laid to rest. As the person is raised from the watery grave he or she creates the picture of rising to a new life.
The person who agrees to baptism is portraying his belief that Jesus Himself was dead and buried but has risen from the dead, and this leads to their belief, their faith, that, though they are dead in sin, after they consider their old life worth burying, God will raise them up, regenerating their dead spirit by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Here are two passages of scripture that speak of baptism.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12
I want to point out that baptism for salvation has been a view held by various denominations, that has been a confusing and even dangerous view. Do we depend on the water to save us, or salvation an invisible work of God?
Are the two passages above speaking of water baptism or of a spiritual baptism. The following passage is quite clear regarding a spiritual baptism.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
The above passage refers to being baptized, not by water, but by the Spirit, into the body of Christ. This baptism was invisible, yet real. That is, it is not symbolic, it is not simply a ‘picture’ of a death, burial and new life. It is an actual process of our passing from death unto life.
Water baptism is symbolic. It is a picture of the real Spirit baptism into the body of Christ. Water baptism is a physical picture of our inward and invisible faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. A testimony.
From Philip’s perspective, the Ethiopian’s request for baptism showed Philip that this man was serious. If you have had the opportunity to lead someone to Jesus, it means everything in the world to you when you sense that the person’s commitment is genuine. It encourages you to expend energy and time to disciple, care for, teach and bring this person to a place of spiritual maturity.
God sent Philip to this particular person for a specific reason. A gentile, converted to Judaism … now converted to Christianity is traveling to Ethiopia. He brought with him his new found faith in Jesus. As a result the gospel begins to spread through Africa. The gospel is beginning to go out to the uttermost ends of the earth.
Luke says, 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.
An angel told Philip to go to Gaza. The Spirit told him to speak to the man in the chariot. The Spirit now transports him to a distant area. He disappeared from the Ethiopians' sight … and appeared in the Azotus area.
We sometimes refer to ‘astro-travel’. This was an amazing miracle. I have pointed out that the empowering of the church on the day of Pentecost was for the purpose of breaking through any barriers that might hold the church back from its mission. In the case of Philip being guided to a specific place, and then being instantly transported to another place, we are seeing God addressing and breaking a geographical barrier. Later we will note that God will continue to break the ‘language’ barrier.
Philip ultimately comes to Caesarea in his evangelistic ministry. Apparently he settles down there, gets married and raises a family. Much later the apostle Paul is going to stop off there and meet his family, including his four daughters who have the gift of prophesy.
What barriers or difficulties do we face in today’s world? We can rest assured that God empowered us to break any of these barriers. The church, by making use of the empowering spiritual gifts, gifts that are the right ones for each specific need, will continue to advance. Jesus said that the ‘gates of Hell’ cannot stop the church.
Just how did God lead him? How does God lead people? Did Philip hear a voice? Was it an ‘impression’? Was it a strong burden on his heart to go to Samaria? We have to admit, we have no answer to how God caused Him to go to Samaria, but the Word simply said, 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
But now, his evangelical ministry in Samaria seems to be over. How do we know? Because an angel appears to him and gives him very clear instructions as to where to minister next.
We read, 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.” (and for our benefit, Luke adds,)This is desert.
I have to confess, if I have ever been approached by an angel of God, I have been totally unaware of it. In Philip’s experience it would seem there was no doubt at all about who or what he was seeing and hearing. Apparently he did not question the angel at all. We also can see no hesitancy in Philip. He simply obeys. We read,
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.
Let’s see if we can see what God is doing here. God has empowered His church to go into all the world. But God also has laid out His intended process.
The gospel was first to be preached to Jews in the city of Jerusalem and the province of Judea.
Next the gospel was to be preached to half-Jews in Samaria.
And we now are reading that the gospel is about to be preached to a non Jew, a gentile, but one who had converted to the Jewish religion. The only category still remaining will be sharing the gospel with those who are totally gentile.
So what are we told about this man? He was a high ranking servant to the Queen of the Ethiopians (in Africa). Somehow he had become a Jewish convert, and was returning home after attending a Jewish worship festival. We are told that he was sitting in his chariot and reading. Probably his chariot is being pulled by a team of oxen. And since much of the trip would be through desert and very sparse stretches of roadway, the chariot would also be filled with enough grain and hay for the oxen to eat.
Some commentators have surmised that he would not be alone, but likely had ‘under’ servants to attend to him. Personally, I get the impression that he was traveling alone.
This would be a very long and boring trip. He has his oxen on autopilot, and the only sounds would be that of the wheels on the road and perhaps the wooden chariot creaking a bit.
He is reading to himself, I think out loud.
Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
So Philip hears an instruction. This time it is not the angel, but the Holy Spirit. I don’t believe this was just an ‘impression’, but I think the Spirit spoke in an audible voice. 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, …
I have thought about this on several occasions. Philip is not approaching from the front or the side of the chariot, he is coming up from the rear. I am certain the chariot did not have a rear-view mirror. And I don’t suppose the sound of Philip running on the sandy soil made much of a noise. This man has been traveling in total isolation, and I am thinking, seeing very little traffic.
Suddenly he hears a voice speaking right behind him, saying, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
I don’t know about you, but I think he would have to have had a pretty strong heart. But we are not told anything about that. We only read that, 31 he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Luke tells us 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.”
Philip had asked the question, “Do you understand what you are reading?”,
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?”
It is so easy for us to read that portion of Isaiah and know exactly who it is referring to. But in this man's case, to him it is a prophecy. And any time we read a prophecy regarding future events, we find it hard to believe that it might be actually talking about the times in which we live.
This man is coming back from Jerusalem. When, in relation to the day of Pentecost, is he traveling? I would think that perhaps a half a year has passed by this time. But certainly he would have picked up on the local news. He would have received some kind of an update regarding the recent crucifixion, the incredibly fast growth of Christianity after Pentexost, the horrific persecution of Christians after Stephen’s death.
But as he is reading in Isaiah, he has not put it all together.
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
How exciting for this man, to hear that the prophecy concerning Christ has actually come to pass. It all makes sense. Apparently he receives Philip's explanation with joy.
Philips' words have been very clear and complete regarding receiving Christ and the importance of following with baptism. Reading on,
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders (what is stopping) 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.”
Believer’s baptism. Philip’s answer is clear. “If you believe, you may …” The history of infant baptism does not appear prior to the third century. The ‘church father’, Tertullian, wrote about his view regarding child baptism. His writing implies that it was becoming a topic of dispute. In other words, all baptisms had been performed following a profession of faith, much like the man who Philip baptized in the desert. But for some reason, in the third century, the topic came up. By studying the whole issue in depth we come to discover an even greater issue. That is, does baptism have the power to save us?
In the early church, as it grew and spread into all of the known world, the only means of keeping everybody on the same page was the apostles in Jerusalem. Every so often the apostles would have to call a conference to discuss an issue. We will read about one such conference a bit later in Acts.
Is water baptism necessary for salvation? That was becoming an issue in the second century. As the church grew during that time, it also grew more and more divided over various issues. A segment of the church was teaching that baptism indeed saved. The practice of baptizing infants evolved because of illness leading to early death. Some of the church fathers were encouraging infant baptism in order to save them and bring them into heaven. This indicates that they had a faulty belief regarding children who were under the age of accountability. The mode of baptism was still immersion at that time, and because some of the babies were considered too frail or sickly to be immersed, it was thought that sprinkling might suffice. From there, the logic, as you may have guessed, was that if sprinkling works for the sickly, it should work just as well for anyone.
Getting back to the man from Ethiopia, he understood the word baptize to mean total immersion. If he had understood otherwise, Philip could just have used some of the man’s drinking water with which to sprinkle him. But we read,
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
What is so special about water baptism? Water baptism is a testimony of salvation that one person states to another without words. He had already said, “I believe with all my heart.” But words like that can be so easy to say. To actually stop the cart, and go down into the water could be an inconvenience, to say the least.
So the act of physically going down into the water shows a degree of serious commitment to the faith, and it also can show a degree of boldness.
In the case of this man from Ethiopia, he is not really indicating boldness before a hostile, anti-Christian world. After all, they were all alone here. But to have been baptized in Jerusalem would have taken some courage.
The ‘testimony’ of baptism by immersion, is a physical act that portrays a death, a burial and a resurrection. A biblical baptism requires two people. An individual cannot ‘baptize’ him, or herself. By the candidate submitting to ‘baptizer’, he or she is portraying a dead person being laid to rest. As the person is raised from the watery grave he or she creates the picture of rising to a new life.
The person who agrees to baptism is portraying his belief that Jesus Himself was dead and buried but has risen from the dead, and this leads to their belief, their faith, that, though they are dead in sin, after they consider their old life worth burying, God will raise them up, regenerating their dead spirit by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
Here are two passages of scripture that speak of baptism.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Colossians 2:12
I want to point out that baptism for salvation has been a view held by various denominations, that has been a confusing and even dangerous view. Do we depend on the water to save us, or salvation an invisible work of God?
Are the two passages above speaking of water baptism or of a spiritual baptism. The following passage is quite clear regarding a spiritual baptism.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
The above passage refers to being baptized, not by water, but by the Spirit, into the body of Christ. This baptism was invisible, yet real. That is, it is not symbolic, it is not simply a ‘picture’ of a death, burial and new life. It is an actual process of our passing from death unto life.
Water baptism is symbolic. It is a picture of the real Spirit baptism into the body of Christ. Water baptism is a physical picture of our inward and invisible faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. A testimony.
From Philip’s perspective, the Ethiopian’s request for baptism showed Philip that this man was serious. If you have had the opportunity to lead someone to Jesus, it means everything in the world to you when you sense that the person’s commitment is genuine. It encourages you to expend energy and time to disciple, care for, teach and bring this person to a place of spiritual maturity.
God sent Philip to this particular person for a specific reason. A gentile, converted to Judaism … now converted to Christianity is traveling to Ethiopia. He brought with him his new found faith in Jesus. As a result the gospel begins to spread through Africa. The gospel is beginning to go out to the uttermost ends of the earth.
Luke says, 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.
An angel told Philip to go to Gaza. The Spirit told him to speak to the man in the chariot. The Spirit now transports him to a distant area. He disappeared from the Ethiopians' sight … and appeared in the Azotus area.
We sometimes refer to ‘astro-travel’. This was an amazing miracle. I have pointed out that the empowering of the church on the day of Pentecost was for the purpose of breaking through any barriers that might hold the church back from its mission. In the case of Philip being guided to a specific place, and then being instantly transported to another place, we are seeing God addressing and breaking a geographical barrier. Later we will note that God will continue to break the ‘language’ barrier.
Philip ultimately comes to Caesarea in his evangelistic ministry. Apparently he settles down there, gets married and raises a family. Much later the apostle Paul is going to stop off there and meet his family, including his four daughters who have the gift of prophesy.
What barriers or difficulties do we face in today’s world? We can rest assured that God empowered us to break any of these barriers. The church, by making use of the empowering spiritual gifts, gifts that are the right ones for each specific need, will continue to advance. Jesus said that the ‘gates of Hell’ cannot stop the church.