Today’s message title is from verse 39. After the eunuch was baptized, he “went on his way rejoicing.” He experienced the joy of salvation.
After Stephen was martyred, the Christians were badly persecuted and as a result were scattered throughout Samaria and the surrounding areas. Philip came to Samaria where he preached the Gospel and many people were saved. In today’s passage Philip’s evangelism continues. In verse 26 we are told that Philip was led to Gaza. On the road there that goes through the desert he evangelizes and led the Ethiopian to salvation in Jesus Christ. Then in verse 39 he is led by the Spirit and he “appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” The next time Philip appears is in Acts. 21:8-9. There he is still in Caesarea so we can assume that he finally settled down in Caesarea.
Today’s passage takes place along the road to Gaza. There Philip leads the eunuch to salvation. The eunuch is baptized and then goes his way rejoicing. Today let’s look at the joy of salvation that the eunuch experienced. Let’s look at three aspects of how he was led to that salvation and the joy that it brought.
I. Go to the road that goes down to Gaza (vs. 26,27)
In verse 26 the angel of the Lord tells Philip to “Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” There are several different roads that Philip could take, but he is told to take “the desert road”. For Philip who was having a great ministry in Samaria, to be told to take a desert road where there are few people, by human thinking doesn’t seem like the proper thing to do. Why would God say to do such a thing?
The reason is given in verse 27. When Philip did what the angel told him to do, “he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.” God sent Philip to Gaza just so that he could meet this Ethiopian and lead him to salvation. Neither Philip nor the Ethiopian had any idea why they were going where they were. However, God knew and God knew why they were going. God was leading them.
There are times when God leads us down to the desert. However, that leading is above what we can conceive in our minds. Therefore, even if the road we are walking on is not what we expected, not the road we wanted to be on, we shouldn’t complain about it, but believe that the road is part of God’s leading and take one step at a time. Even if we don’t know why we are walking down that road, when the time comes, God will let us know the reason. Even if it a desert road, if God has shown us that road, then we need to follow his leading and continue on that road. Then God will lead us to the person that we need to meet along that road.
II. Teach me （vs. 27-35）
The Ethiopian eunuch is introduced as an eunuch. An eunuch is someone who has had his male gentiles removed. At those times those who served the queen had their gentiles removed and became eunuchs. However, according to Deut. 21:1, those who had their gentiles removed were impure. Even if they were religious in their hearts, because they could not be circumcised, they could not enter the temple and had to worship in the outer courts. In other words they could not come near God. Not only that but the Ethiopian eunuch lived in Ethiopia which was considered as the furthest southern country. It was a Gentile country. Therefore its citizens were looked down upon. Even so he came thousands of kilometers to worship God. He was willing to pay that big of a price to worship the Lord. He was that religious of a person.
When we want to know someone, the easiest way to get to know him is to go visit him. God is the same. If we want to know God we need to go meet him. The way we meet God is through worship. If we really want to know God, then the best thing is to go to the church worship and meet God.
There are some people who say it does no good for them to go to church because they don’t understand the message. The Ethiopian may not have been able to worship well either since he had to worship in the outside courts. On the road the Ethiopian was reading Isaiah, but he couldn’t understand it. He exclaimed that he could not understand it “unless some explains it to me”. (30) He had been to worship the Lord, but still he didn’t understand. However he didn’t return home in discouragement. God prepared an evangelist for him. In other words, on the way home from worshipping God, he met God’s grace. It would be great if we meet God in worship, but even if we don’t, God will reward us for wanting to meet Him in worship. Therefore, it is important that we don’t get discouraged in attending worship, but continue to do so.
Luke 11:9,10
Another wonderful thing about the eunuch was that even though he was still not a believer, he had a Bible and he read it. At that time it was difficult to get hold of a Bible because they were all hand made. There was no printer. Therefore, Bibles were very expensive. Probably he bought it while he was in Jerusalem. He was reading it in his chariot on the way home. The roads were not paved so it must have been difficult to read while riding in the chariot. God will never let down a person like this who really strives to read the Bible against all odds.
The eunuch read the Bible and God provided a way for him to understand it more. They important thing is to read the Bible. For those who don’t know where to read or how to read it, there are many devotion books to help you. There is “Living Life” and “Saiwai na hito” For those who can’t read that much, there is “The Upper Room”. It only has 1 verse a day with a little article about that verse. You can pick the one that best fits you and that is on your level. The important thing is not whether you understand or don’t understand, but that you keep on reading it. If so, God will give you understanding.
Another wonderful point about the way the Ethiopian sought God was that he wanted someone to teach him. When Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading, “’How can I’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” (30) Not only did the Ethiopian read the Bible on his own, but he realized his weaknesses and wanted someone to teach him. The more you read the Bible, you have more questions and things that you don’t understand. You feel more and more a need for someone to explain things to you. Such a person when they come to church receive a hint from the message. Some people say that they don’t need help. They say that if the have a Bible dictionary and commentary that they can understand everything so there is no need to have someone teach them. This is just plain pride. God could have just sent the Holy Spirit to the Ethiopian and have the Holy Spirit teach him. However, God sent Philip. God speaks through people. It’s good to have someone that you can talk over the things that you don’t understand and that you have questions about. This is how God spreads the news about Himself to others.
The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah. “The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell, me, please, who is the prophet talking about,” (34) “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (35) In other words, Philip explained the Gospel. It is important that when we read the Bible that we see Jesus in it. The center of the Bible is Christ. Just as Isaiah prophesized, Jesus gave his life in exchange for our sin on the cross that we might be saved. That was so that all those “that believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) God loves us that much. It was for that reason that God sent Philip there and the Ethiopian was saved. Of course, the Ethiopian was really searching for God, so he was able to understand and believe in what Philip said. Then the Ethiopian said, “Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” (37)
III. The grace of Baptism (vs. 36-39)
This Ethiopian heard Philip’s teaching and he believed in Jesus and was baptized. A person is baptized as a result of believing in Christ. At the same time by being baptized a person also receives grace. In the short Westminister Catechism question 89 is “What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, his ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. The Ethiopian who through the Word of God received grace, by being baptized received even more grace.
This is one reason for being baptized. By following the Word of God and being baptized, we receive grace. Also by attending the Baptism class and having fellowship with and being taught by the leader is another source of grace.
Also being baptized is a confession of faith. Some manuscripts include verse 37. “Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ The eunuch answered, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” This is the confession of faith of the eunuch. It is necessary that Christians make such a confession.
Romans 10:9,10
Mark 16:15
If we believe in Christ and are baptized, then we have confidence that we are saved. That is why baptism is so important. This is a Christian’s privilege and joy.
Therefore, after the Ethiopian was baptized, even though he couldn’t see Philip any more, he was filled with joy and returned home rejoicing. It was because he had Jesus Christ the source of all joy.
In this way, those who find Jesus Christ and have Him in their lives, have an overflowing joy. There is nothing that can provide more joy than this. Until now the Ethiopian was in charge of all the treasury of the queen and could have had anything. However, having Christ was even more than all those treasures. Even though the Ethiopian lost Peter, even though we loose a friend, our positions, our reputations, Jesus Christ and the joy he brings is more than all these things and can’t be compared with them.