What Did the Ethiopian Eunuch Actually Believe? Acts 8

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, and good to see everybody again this afternoon. And we're going to pick right up where we left off in our last program, which will be in Acts chapter 8. And we finished at verse 25. But usually I like to come back and make a little bit of a review before we go on. And again, we always cherish the letters from our television audience. We appreciate your encouragement. We certainly always want to thank you for your financial help. We can't do it without it. But, you know, I said from the very beginning I would never ask for a dime in this program. You know, for over four years we never have, and we have never failed to pay our bills. So I'm convinced that the Lord is supplying our every need. And on the other hand, we like to let folk know that we do appreciate hearing from you. We appreciate the comments that show that you're learning, you're understanding. And as I told the class again last night, the only reason I teach is to help people enjoy reading their Bible. Whether they agree with me totally or not is beside the point. The thing is to get folk into the Book, and to read it, and to understand it. So we'll just pick right up where we left off in our last program in Acts chapter 8, verse 25. And you'll remember that Philip now, not one of the twelve, had gone up to Samaria. And this is the first time that we have any mention of Samaria receiving the Gospel, except of course when Christ was there and met the woman at the well. But now, about seven years after Pentecost, and Stephen has just been martyred back in chapter 7, we find Philip, one of the seven that were appointed back there in Acts chapter 6, has gone up to Samaria, preached the Gospel. Not the Gospel of grace yet, that hasn't been revealed. And this is another thing that encourages me, that so many people are suddenly realizing that the Gospel of grace and the Gospel of the Kingdom are not one and the same. They are two distinct Good News, and that's what Gospel means. They are distinctively different. And the Gospel of the Kingdom has been going to the nation of Israel by way of Jesus and the twelve. And now of course, Philip is continuing it. And the reason I stand on that premise is because we can find no mention of salvation by the finished work of the cross. There is no mention of His death, burial and resurrection for salvation. But they are still emphasizing that the One they crucified was indeed the Christ. And always watch for that. Always watch what do they say. Not what I think they might have said, but what did they say? And we have no room to assume that they said something that the Scripture doesn't attribute to them. And so as they went up to Samaria then, and we covered old Simon, who made a pseudo-profession. It wasn't real. It was a fake and a counterfeit. But for those that had truly believed Philip's message that Jesus was the Christ, it took the putting on of the hands, you remember, by Peter and John, before they received the Holy Spirit. Which again, was a slight departure from what had been taking place before. But as we emphasized, that was to show the Samaritans that the authority rested in Jerusalem, in the twelve, and nowhere else. Now the thing I want you to notice, as we left then last program, in verse 25, after all that has taken place up here at Samaria, which is only a few miles north of Jerusalem, remember. Israel is a small little country. We always think in terms of distance, as we know it in America, but that's not the case in Israel. Samaria is only a few miles due north of Jerusalem. And so even now after Philip and Peter and John have seen the Samaritans respond, you would think they would have said, Well now it's time for us to spread out and get across the Roman Empire. But do they? What does verse 25 say? Where did they go? Back to Jerusalem. Back to Jerusalem. Now, if they were carrying out what we call the Great Commission, at least after this experience, you'd think they would have started taking off for Egypt and for Greece and Italy and India and wherever. But they don't. They go back to Jerusalem. Verse 25, And when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans, of course, as they came back. Now we come to a different situation, where Philip is going to be supernaturally transported, I think from the area around Samaria and Jerusalem, down into the area of Gaza. And verse 26 now, The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go to the Lord's south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem, unto Gaza, which is desert. And he rose and went. Now I'm just debating in my own mind whether I should put my map on the board or not, but I hate to take time, so maybe I'll do it during break time. But anyway, Gaza, of course, if you know your Middle East, is down there at the lower curve of the Mediterranean Sea. It just sort of wraps around that southwestern curve of the Mediterranean. And it was the normal trade route, of course, down into Egypt, and from thence down into Africa. So Philip now is being instructed to the Lord, to go down into that area, which is the trade route down to Africa, to Ethiopia. Verse 27, And he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia. Now don't ordinarily or automatically think, well this must have been an Ethiopian. Because you want to remember, these nations would use gifted men or talented men, especially from Israel. And I think it was Merlin who kind of enlightened me on this. I had always more or less taught the Ethiopian eunuch as a proselyte. But then he put a thought in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the more I think he was probably totally right. He was probably a Jew. Because what better qualified person to keep the treasury of a nation than a Jew? They have a natural knack for business. They have a natural knack for handling money and investment. And so I just sort of go along with that. That this Ethiopian eunuch was indeed a Jew. And if he wasn't a Jew, he had to be a proselyte, because as you read on, he not only was a man of great authority under Candace the Queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasure, in other words, he was the treasurer of the Ethiopian economy, and he had come to Jerusalem for what purpose? To worship. Now you want to remember, the Temple is still going. We're only about 29 and 7. We're about 36 A.D. And the Temple isn't destroyed until 70 A.D. remember. So the Temple is still going full speed ahead, and this gentleman has been to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, and he's on his way back of course to Ethiopia. And so I certainly don't have any problem that this could have been a Jew, because after all, where was Daniel? And what was Daniel? Well he was second man in Babylon. He was a Jew. And even after the Medes and Persians overran Babylon, where did Daniel end up? Second man again in the next empire, Medes and Persians. And so it wasn't unusual for a Jew to be incorporated into the government of these various Gentile nations. Nothing unusual at all. And even in our own day, what kind of a gentleman is the head of the Federal Reserve Board? A Jew. And Henry Morgenthau, the Secretary of the Treasury, for years during Roosevelt's administration, what was he? He was a Jew. And it just shows that they have a natural acumen for, like I said, money and business, and I think it's only appropriate then that we can feel that this gentleman was a Jew, who was in charge of the Treasury of Ethiopia. Alright, verse 28. He's been to Jerusalem to worship, and now he's returning and sitting in his chariot, and he's reading Isaiah the prophet. And we know from the verses that he's reading from Isaiah 53, which is still an appropriate portion of Scripture for approaching Jews about the finished work of Christ and His First Advent and so forth. Verse 29. Then the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, said unto Philip, Go near, join thyself to this chariot. Now you know, as I reflect on everyday events in our own day and time, as well as in the events of Scripture, and I've mentioned it time and time again on this program, I'm always made aware of the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign, and He's in control of every detail that He wants to control. Now you see, God has an intrinsic interest in this situation, and so the Holy Spirit directs Philip to this particular person. And so Philip, verse 30, ran thither to him, heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I? Now you know, that hasn't changed. You know, I've maintained in my teaching over the years that God did not leave His Word under the control or in the hands of angels. He did not leave it in the control of highly educated seminarians. But God has placed His Word, with the leading of the Holy Spirit of course, into the hands of every person that wants to handle it. And for those that are going to be made aware of the plan of salvation, again, God doesn't send an angel. God doesn't send some super, super educated person to bring this person to a knowledge of salvation, but He uses common, ordinary people. And I have over the years been watching and listening, and I've only been aware of one or two people who claim to have come to a knowledge of the plan of salvation by themselves by just simply reading the Bible. And one was a gentleman who later on of course became highly educated and an author, and I think it was in one of his books that he was explaining it, that he had become snowbound one winter when he was about 19 years of age up in northern Canada, and he was in that little hut with nothing to do but keep his fire going and something to eat, and nothing to read except the Bible. And after coming through that winter of being isolated, nothing to do but read the Scriptures, he came to a knowledge of salvation. Now that's one of only a few that I've ever read of. Otherwise it always takes a human instrument to lead someone to a knowledge of salvation, and we have that here. Philip is the human instrument. Now the Holy Spirit is evident, but the Holy Spirit did not choose to show this Ethiopian the plan of salvation without using the human instrument. And always remember that. But remember too that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Oh, here we have it. The eunuch is reading Isaiah, he can't understand it. The Holy Spirit is there, He's evident, but yet the Holy Spirit sees fit to use Philip to explain the Scriptures, and that's where you and I are to come in even today. We have to be ready to explain the Scriptures to someone who is interested and is seeking. So then verse 31. The eunuch responds to the question, How can I? How can I understand? Except some man should guide me. And he desired, or he invited Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. Now that's Isaiah 53, plain and simple. Read on. Verse 33. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away, his authority, and of course it's in reference to his being crucified. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. He was put to death. Verse 34. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Now you know they ask the same question today. Things haven't changed. I remember a gentleman I led to the Lord several years ago. That was the first question he asked as we opened our conversation. Who in the world is Jesus Christ? Now we think that's a terrible question. No it isn't. I wish more people would ask. Who is He? Why do we in 1990 something, why do we still maintain that that person who died 2,000 years ago has everything to do with us? A lot of people don't know. If they think He was just another man, then of course He can't have. But they have to be brought to the place of understanding He wasn't just a prophet. He wasn't just another individual. He wasn't just a martyr. He was the Creator God. He was the One who alone could purchase man's salvation, and people have to be made aware of that. Alright, come back into the text. And so, verse 35, Philip opened his mouth, and he began at the same scripture. Now you want to remember, the New Testament isn't written yet. Philip couldn't read to him out of Romans like you and I would have done. Philip couldn't even take him to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. These books haven't been written yet. And so the only thing Philip could use was the Old Testament. And so from the Old Testament he carries on, and he began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Now I'm a stickler for what the book says and what it doesn't say. And he does not preach unto him Jesus crucified and resurrected from the dead. It doesn't say that. Alright, let's read on. So as they went on their way, they came upon a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? Now from that you can gather what had Philip been telling him. That if he believed Isaiah 53 was speaking of Jesus, who had just a few years ago walked those three years in Palestine, had been put to death, had been raised from the dead, and God was still ready to let him be the King of Israel. But Israel's responsibility now under the law was to repent especially of that sin of crucifixion. That was the biggest one. And they were to prove that repentance with their water baptism. Absolutely. And so this is why then, after Philip has explained all this to the eunuch, that the eunuch in turn comes right back and says, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And so now look what Philip says in verse 37. And Philip said, If thou believest, How? With all thy heart. Now remember the situation up in Samaria with Simon? Oh, he believed, but not with his heart. He was just believing with the head because he could see the material gain. But see here again, the Scripture makes it so plain, and as Paul does in Romans 10, that we have to believe with our whole being, our innermost being, the heart. And it's always been that way. Now, you know, I can always take people back to Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel. They were both, I suppose, of the same stock naturally, and they probably had more or less the same values. And they had both come to realize that they had sinned, and God had told them what to do when sin came. And so here they come. Abel, with the required sacrifice as God had instructed it, because he had faith to do what God said to do, but nevertheless, Cain came with something. I mean, he just didn't turn his back and say, I'm not going to do anything about it. But see, Cain's big problem was, he didn't do what God said, and so that made him without faith, and without faith, it's impossible to please God, and there the ball starts rolling, see? Alright, now the same way here. The Ethiopian eunuch has now heard what God has required for salvation, he has believed it with all his heart. He's not just doing like Simon, trying to make some material gain, but he is believing it with all his heart. Alright, now let's look on. And Philip said, "...if thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest that is, be baptized." And he answered and said, now here is the crucial part of this whole account. What did the eunuch believe? Now watch carefully as I read, and we'll throw you a curve. "...and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who died for me, was buried, and rose from the dead." Does he? Does your Bible say that? Everybody likes to think it does. But he didn't mention death, burial, and resurrection. What did he believe? Look at it. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Period. Period. Now let's compare Scripture with Scripture. Now I've done all this before, but when you have new listeners coming in every week, I have to remember that, and do some of these things for their benefit. Now I'd like to have you come back with me, if you will, to Luke 18. Oh, John is in between there. Let's stop at John first. Let's stop at John. Chapter 11. And this, of course, is back in Christ's earthly ministry, and Lazarus has died. You all know the story. And Martha, of course, is all shook up, and she's weeping. And she's almost, I think, a little bit distraught that Jesus could have come sooner and spared him, but He didn't. And so here's the conversation. Verse 23 of John 11. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. And Martha said, Oh, I know he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Now look at her response, and compare it with what the eunuch just said in Acts chapter 8. And she said unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world. Does she mention anything about His death? His resurrection? Not a word. Of course, it hadn't even happened here yet. How could she? But nevertheless, her profession of faith was who Jesus was. All right, now then. Let's come back to Luke 18 just for a second to show why why these people back here at this point in time do not attribute salvation to death, burial and resurrection is because, you see, God has not revealed it yet. And we cannot expect anyone to believe something that God hasn't said. Faith is taking God at His word. Faith can't operate until God speaks it. I always like to give a couple of illustrations. Did Noah start building the ark about six months before God told him to? Did God assume... I mean, did Noah assume that he was going to need an ark and start working on it? No. When did he start hewing the lumber? After God said, build an ark. Moses. Did Moses presuppose as he led the children of Israel that they were going to have to have a system of law and the Ten Commandments and the priesthood? Did Moses start laying the groundwork? No. What did he wait for? For God to give him the instructions. And so it's always been through human history that God has to speak something before that generation or whatever can believe it. Alright, Luke 18. Verse 31. Again, we're in Christ's earthly ministry and it's just shortly before the crucifixion. They're on their way from Galilee, northern Israel, down to Jerusalem. And He took unto Him the twelve and He said, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, be mocked, spitefully entreated, and spitted on. They shall scourge Him and put Him to death, and the third day He shall rise again. Plain? Can't make it any plainer than that. But now look at the next verse. And they, the twelve, understood none of these things. They never comprehended a word of that. Why? Because they didn't want to listen? No, because you see, God had not yet seen fit to reveal it. And look at the rest of the verse. And this saying, that He would die and be raised the third day, this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. Plain enough? In other words, a sovereign God does not reveal a truth until He's ready to reveal it. Alright, now let's come back and look at another confession of Christ's earthly ministry, this time from Peter, Matthew 16. We've done this many times over the last four years, but I have to, like I said, I have to do some of these things for the benefit of new listeners who are probably jumping in and thinking, boy, this guy's way out in left field. And so I have to qualify what I'm saying from the Scriptures. Matthew 16. And again, Jesus and the twelve are up in northern Galilee, up at Caesarea Philippi, the headwaters of the Jordan River. And so He asks His disciples in verse 13, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Now there are three accounts of this in the Gospel, so this isn't just a little quirk of Matthew. This is repeated in Luke and Mark and to a certain extent even in John. And they said, Some say you're John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And He saith unto them, But whom say you that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, who died for me, was buried, and rose from the dead. No, it doesn't say that. So what's the confession here? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And this is all the way through from Christ's earthly ministry on in as far now as Acts chapter 8, and we're even going to see it in chapter 9. Because God has not revealed the tremendous plan of salvation based upon grace that Christ died for the sins of the world, that He was buried, and that He rose from the dead. Up till now they were to believe who He was. And that's the Gospel of the Kingdom. Alright, back to Acts chapter 8. So we can finish this account and we'll be ready for the conversion of Saul in our next half hour. And so, verse 38 of Acts chapter 8. He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. No argument there. There's no room for argument. He baptized him just as well as John the Baptist baptized his converts. 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, the eunuch, went on his way rejoicing. Well, of course he did. My, he was coming back from Jerusalem steeped in religion and still wrapped in his sin. But after believing that Christ was indeed the Messiah, the King, and everything associated with that first advent, he experienced salvation. Of course he did. And so, he too could go on his way rejoicing, even as we saw they did up in Samaria. And then verse 40, I think, gives us a little hint of what's going to happen when the 144,000 begin their ministry during the tribulation. They're not going to have to get airline tickets, and I don't think they're going to have to depend on earthly transportation. And yet we know that they're going to get into every tongue and tribe around the globe in less than seven years. How are they going to do it? I think by the same glorious means of transportation that Philip experienced right here. And again, I should have had my map on the board, but we'll show it in the next half hour before we go into chapter 9. But Philip was found at Azotus. Now, like I explained, Gaza is down there at the southwest curve of the Mediterranean Sea. And then about, oh, half to two-thirds of the way between Gaza and Jerusalem was the city of Azotus, which today we call Ashdod. And suddenly, not by benefit of walking or camel riding or any other way, suddenly Philip is transported from one place to another. And I think this is how the 144 ,000 then are going to cover the world in less than seven years during the Tribulation. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer -supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.