Read Acts 8:26-38
What did Philip say to the Eunuch that made him believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God from the heart?
Before trying to figure out what Philip may have said, let's begin by
examining the Eunuch's character.
What is a Eunuch? A man who for one reason or another has been deprived of
his masculine abilities. (Note: In some circles, this statement needs to
be couched in the proper text in order to avoid receiving the left foot of
fellowship).
What was his race? Being from Ethiopia, he was probably black.
What is his religion? He's most likely a Jew. The clues that support this
are based on the facts that he went to Jerusalem to worship and that he was
found reading Isaiah the prophet. Just recently, black Jews have exited
Ethiopia to escape war, conflict and persecution. Some say that they date
as far back as the time of Solomon.
Was he one to be trusted? Being in charge of the Queens treasury would
most certainly require a lot of trust.
Was he intelligent? One would think so. Would one put an idiot in charge
of receiving, accounting, and distributing money?
Was he educated? It seems that way. After all, he was found sitting in
his chariot reading.
What was his stature? The Bible says that he was a man with great
authority.
In summary, one could conjecture that the eunuch was an intelligent,
educated, trusted, black Jew of great stature.
What was the scuttlebutt in Jerusalem in those days?
"Say Ethiopian, did you hear about the man called Jesus who healed the
sick and spoke great words of wisdom? Some say that He was the Messiah.
The Romans crucified Him. Some say that He arose after death."
"Look at my eyes!! Once I was blind. Now I can see. A prophet named
Jesus gave me my sight."
"Ethiopian!! Look!! I was lame. Now I can walk. A follower of a man
called Jesus healed me."
"What was He like?"
"He was unmeasureably kind and demonstrated unconditional love. His
eyes were filled with compassion and He never tired of extending the
hand of mercy."
"There are thousands who have accepted Jesus as their Savior. And their
numbers are growing. There's great turmoil in Jerusalem over this. The
Jewish leaders are quite upset over this. Do you think this man Jesus,
whom they crucified, is the Son of the almighty God?"
Upon hearing them, the Ethiopian probably raised his hands towards Heaven
and asked God, 'This man they call Jesus, is He the Messiah who was to
come?'" The passage of scripture in Isaiah that he is reading alludes to
this.
Read Acts 8:32-34
"I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this,...?"
With all his knowledge in what he's read and what he's heard, whether it
be first hand or second hand, the Eunuch was unable to discern whether or
not this man Jesus was the messiah.
Here we are 2000 years later. We don't have first or second hand
knowledge of the works of Jesus other than what's recorded in the
scriptures. How much more difficult it is to witness today then it was
back then.
Yet, the Eunuch who was so close to the times did not recognize Jesus as
being the messiah. If we are going to be effective in drawing the
unsaved to Christ, at the very least, we need to preach what Philip said
to the Eunuch.
So, what did Philip say to the Eunuch that made him believe that Jesus
was the Son of God?
The key that unlocks the Eunuch's heart, so that he believes, lies within
the power of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Rhema of God. To understand
this, take careful note of the words that Philip spoke. When Philip
approached the Eunuch (verse 30), he said to him, "Do you understand what
you are reading?" He did not insult him by saying, "Do you have knowledge
of what you are reading? He specifically used the word "understanding."
It is understanding that comes from the heart.
Read Ephesians 4:18
"having their understanding darkened, ..., because of the hardening of
their heart;"
Read John 12:40
"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, Lest they should see
with their eyes and understand with their heart,..."
Remember, in verse 37, Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart,
you may."
Philip preached the good news concerning Jesus (verse 35) that provided
the understanding that the Eunuch needed.
What empowered Philip to give this understanding?
Turn to John 1
Here we find the Logos, Jesus Christ, the light of the world.
Read John 1:5-7
In verse 5, the light has been shining and was shining at the time John
the Baptist was around. Yet, the world did not understand this light.
However, John came along and bore witness to the light. That is, he
provided understanding to the light, that others might believe that Jesus
was the Messiah. He prepared the way.
How was it that John the Baptist was able to bring understanding to
the light? What was different about John the Baptist compared to those
around him?
Turn and read to Luke 1:15
John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from the womb. He was filled
with the Rhema of God. He had the sword of the Spirit which is the the
word of God.
What about Philip? Was he filled with the Spirit?
Turn to Acts 6
Verse 3 says, "Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven of
good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit...."
Verse 5 says, "....And they chose .....Philip..."
Philip was filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he was able to
bear witness to the word of God in such a way that the Eunuch believed
that Jesus was the Son of the almighty God. By wielding the sword of
the light (logos) and the sword of the Spirit (rhema), Philip brought
salvation to the Eunuch.
Question, what words of knowledge and understanding did Philip preach to
the Eunuch that made him believe?
What did John the Baptist preach? "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand!" (Matthew 3:1,2)
What did Jesus preach when He began His ministry? "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)
When Jesus sent out the twelve (Matthew 10:7), what did Jesus tell them
to preach? "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." In Mark 6:12, it says
that they went out and preached that people should repent.
In Luke 24:47, Jesus said that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
In the great commission (Matthew 27:19,20), Jesus spoke to his disciples
and said to make disciples, baptize them and to teach them to observe all
things that He had commanded them. He had commanded them to preach that
the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
With all this in mind, Philip most likely preached repentance and
the kingdom of Heaven to the Eunuch. The Eunuch requested water baptism.
John's water baptism was the baptism of repentance. Here, we have a hint
that Philip preached repentance to the Eunuch.
Upon speculating that Philip preached concerning the kingdom of heaven,
one could conjecture that the Eunuch may have asked the following question,
"What is the kingdom of heaven?"
Philip's probably would begin with the parable of the hidden treasure.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which
a man found; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and
buys that field." The treasure is the opportunity to receive the gift
of eternal life. That which the man sells is his old ways of living.
The field that he purchases is a new way of living in the kingdom of
heaven. He could not take the treasure with him because eternal life
could only exist in the kingdom of heaven, that is, the body of Christ.
The Eunuch probably said to Philip, "So, you say that eternal life is
through Jesus whom you call the Christ. But, how do we know that this
man Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God?"
Philip, after pondering a bit, may have asked the following: "Eunuch,
if the Messiah was to come, what would you expect or want Him to be
like?"
His response may have been, "I would expect him to be loving, joyful,
peaceful, compassionate, and merciful. The very character of God."
Back in Jerusalem, what did the crowds say about Jesus? They spoke of
Him demonstrating mercy, compassion, love, joy, peace, kindness, and
teaching with profound wisdom. As Philip began to describe Jesus in
this way, the Eunuch could not help but see the Father's attributes in
this man Jesus. When he began to picture the events in Jerusalem
(the character of God working miracles and the crucifixion), in his heart,
the Eunuch knew that this man Jesus was indeed the Son of the living
God.
At this point, call for those who haven't received Jesus as the Son of
God, as our savior, as the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one "from
the heart".
If you preach this sermon, please let me know how many people came
forward to accept Christ. Also, please send comments or Bible Questions
to:
E-Mail: cottrell@praisenet.com