We have the incredible privilege of partnering with God in reaching the lost. Phillip, the Evangelist, shows us how it’s done in the story of his witness to the Ethiopian eunuch.
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Partnering With God In Reaching The Lost
Acts 8:26-40
Being a co-partner with someone in accomplishing a goal can be very exciting and fulfilling. Just think of Wilbur and Oroville Wright – who created the first successful powered airplane. Think of Simon and Garfunkel, who partnered together to create some of the greatest folk songs of the 60’s. Think of Abbot and Costello, or Laurel and Hardy. Think of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who created Apple. And we don’t even have to think of famous people. Everyone who has ever been married entered into a partnership.
But the most astounding thing of all to me is that God has invited us into a partnership with Him! In 1 Corinthians 3:9 Paul says, “We are God’s fellow workers.” What does that mean? It means, at the very least, that God and we work together to accomplish His will. Do you understand how great of a privilege it is that the Creator of the universe would allow you to be His partner, to work together with Him, to accomplish His will?! It is absolutely true.
In Acts chapter 8, we find a man who was God’s fellow worker, God’s partner – Philip. In Acts 21:8 he is called “Philip the evangelist.” He is the only person in the New Testament who is called an evangelist by name. In Acts 8 we read about his evangelistic exploits. In the first half of the chapter he evangelizes the multitudes in Samaria. In the last half of the chapter we find him evangelizing a solitary individual on a lonely desert road. Philip was an evangelist extraordinaire. Not only was he amazingly effective in preaching to the multitudes, but he was equally effective in sharing Christ with one lone individual.
There were some striking similarities between Philip’s ministry to the Samaritans and his ministry to the eunuch:
- Philip preached the same message to both. 8:5; 8:35.
- The hearers responded the same way in both. They believed and were baptized. 8:12; 8:38.
- The converts experienced the same effect in both. 8:8 – “there was much rejoicing in that city.” 8:39 “the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.”
- God partnered with Philip in both. In Samaria, God worked with him, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. With the eunuch, God prepared his heart to receive the truth.
Think about this for a moment. God has chosen to work with sinful weak human beings in bringing people to Christ. Of course, God didn’t need to do it that way. He could write the gospel across the sky. He could appear to each person and speak to them audibly Himself. He could send an angel to preach the gospel, but he doesn’t. When God determined to save Cornelius, the angel appeared to him and told him to fetch Peter to his home to preach the gospel to him. Now, why didn’t the angel do it? He was already there. Why all the time and energy of sending men to bring Peter back? Evidently, God has decided He is going to bring about the salvation of His elect by partnering with His people.
We can’t bring about the salvation of anyone without God’s help. All we can do is speak the gospel, pray, and live a life becoming to the gospel. But we can’t change the heart. After Paul met the women praying down at the riverside in Philippi, he spoke the gospel to Lydia. But it was the Lord who opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14).
So, we can’t do it without God, and He won’t do it without us. In our story in Acts 8 today, we are going to see this partnering of God and Philip in bringing about the salvation of the eunuch. I hope you will see this as more than interesting story. I hope it ignites hope within your heart that you may partner with God as well. Let’s learn from Philip the evangelist as to how we can partner with God in reaching the lost. God always takes the initiative. Let’s see what God did, and then how Philip responded as he worked together with God.
1. God Sent An Angel To Speak to Philip
What was the angel’s message? “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza”. There is some uncertainty as to whether the word “south” should be translated “south” or “at noon.” It is a Greek compound word made up of the Greek word for “day” and the Greek word for “middle.” Thus – midday or noon. It is only found 1 other time in the NT, and in Acts 22:6 it is translated “noontime.” Philip would have known that it was south simply by the description of the road. Further, God needs to time this thing just right so that Philip arrives at this desert road just as the eunuch is passing through. So, it makes sense that he tells him when he is to embark on this journey. He would probably need to go, get his things packed up, let the believers in Samaria know that he would be leaving, and say good-bye.
How did Philip partner with God? The angel said “Get up and go” (8:26), and Philip “got up and went” (8:27)! Now, that is all the more remarkable because this message must have been very confusing to Philip. Philip is in the midst of a revival. Multitudes are being healed and coming to faith. Now this angel comes and tells him to leave all of that and go down to a desert road. Now, that doesn’t make any sense! Philip could have come to the conclusion that this was an evil spirit, not an angel. But in spite of this strange message, he obeyed. God may direct you to do things that don’t make sense to you, or that you don’t fully understand. If you believe God is the one directing, you need to just step out in faith and obey and not worry if you can make sense of all of it. We believed God was directing us to Sonora to plant house churches. It didn’t make much sense at the time, because I was pastoring a church at the time, which was fully supporting our family. I was moving to a location in which I didn’t know if I could support my family. After all, I didn’t have a single customer when we bought the house, packed up our belongings and moved in. On top of that, we didn’t know anyone in Sonora except for 1 family. If you just look at it logically, that move didn’t make a lot of sense, but I believed God had called us to do this work in Sonora. Let’s commit to obedience when God directs us!
2. God Laid Out the Plan 1 Step at a Time
All the angel told him was to get up and go to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. Now I’m sure that Philip would have liked a lot more information. After all, he was uprooting himself from a place in which God was mightily using him. I’m sure he would have liked the angel to spell out steps 2, 3 and 4. The angel didn’t say, “OK, you need to go down to this desert road, because there you are going to meet an Ethiopian eunuch who is searching for the truth, but hasn’t found it. He’s going to be reading from Isaiah 53 when you meet him. You need to go up into his chariot and explain to him that passage. After that he will believe, and you will baptize him, and then I’m going to translate you 20 miles away to Azotus, and he will go back and evangelize his country with the gospel.”
No! The angel only gave him the very first step, and God didn’t give him the second step until he had obeyed the first step. I’m quite confident that if Philip had not obeyed the first step, he would never have been given the second step.
How Did Philip Partner With God? He simply obeyed one step and waited for further instructions.
And folks, that is the way of the Lord with us too. The Lord doesn’t lay out a 5 year plan for us. We may wish He did, but He has never done that with me. He will give me one direction. If I obey that direction, I will be given further directions. I have found that in my life recently. I have felt the leading of the Lord to appoint a General Manager of my window cleaning company, and step down from the day to day operations in the business. Why is the Lord leading me to do that? I don’t know! What am I going to do with my time? I’m not sure. I’m just trying to be obedient, and wait on further instructions at this point. But I’m quite confident the Lord will show me when the time is right.
3. God Gave the Eunuch a Longing for the Truth
Out of the millions of people on the earth who needed to be saved, God directed Philip to this one man. God had been preparing this man’s heart for some time. Why? Evidently, the Lord was orchestrating the evangelization of Ethiopia. We can’t know for sure, but Irenaeus wrote in the second century that this Ethiopian became a missionary among his people (Against Heresies iii.12.8
The Eunuch Had Come To Jerusalem To Worship. 8:27. Philip was a bit surprised and amazed that when he arrived, he saw this retinue driving past. Philip would probably have seen a black man from the coast of Africa in his chariot, surrounded by a retinue of servants. Most people did not have a chariot. They either walked or rode donkeys or camels. This man was wealthy – he was in charge of all the treasury of the Ethiopians! Sort of a Secretary of the Treasury. “Candace” is not the queen’s proper name. It was a title, sort of like the Pharoah was the king over Egypt, so Candace was the queen of Ethiopia. Her husband, the king, was considered “the child of the sun”, and was far above the mundane matters of running a secular kingdom. Those responsibilities fell to the Candace. So, this eunuch may have been the 3rd most powerful person in all of Ethiopia! In the Bible, a eunuch could be a castrated male who was appointed to take care of the king’s harem. But the word for “eunuch” could just refer to a court official of some kind. It appears that that is what the eunuch was in this instance.
Who was this Eunuch? Apparently, the eunuch was a Jewish proselyte. God had been stirring his heart to such a degree, that he was willing to make this arduous and dangerous trip of anywhere between 200 and 500 miles, probably a 2 to 3 week journey just to get to Jerusalem! No doubt he had come to believe that the God of the Jews was the true and living God and had high expectations of seeing God’s people, worship in God’s temple, and participate in the sacred festivals and sacrifices.
He came hopeful and expectant, but left disillusioned and still confused. Just the fact that he had a copy of Isaiah is amazing, since hand written copies of the Prophets were difficult to come by and expensive. But since he was a wealthy man, he was able to purchase a copy. You can see his spiritual hunger. He’s reading the Scriptures out loud as he travels along in his chariot. Evidently, he hadn’t found what he was looking for in the Jewish ceremonies and festivals, and was hungrily searching the Scriptures for Truth. Rom.3:11 says that “there is none who seeks for God”; none except those men God is drawing to Christ!
How Did Philip Partner With God? God gave the eunuch a longing for the truth. When Philip discerned that, he simply asked him a question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Notice Philip’s boldness. Put yourself in his position. He’s just a commoner, and this guy is wealthy and obviously connected to royalty. Philip hears him reading out loud, and calls out, “Do you understand what you are reading?” That question could have gotten him in a lot of hot water. It could have offended this eunuch. He could have came back with, “Who do you think you are to come up to me, a perfect stranger, and insult my intelligence? Of course I understand what I’m reading! Now get lost!” But since God had been preparing this eunuch, his response was one of meekness and humility. When you want to share the gospel with someone, there’s going to come a point when you are just going to have to launch out and say something. You may not know how it will be received, but you just have to say it in faith. You are going to need boldness from the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes it may be that simple. You see the Lord working in someone’s life, giving them a desire for the truth. Instead of preaching to them, try asking them a question. Draw them out. Allow them to get clear on their thoughts. When the time is right, the Lord will give you the green light to share the truth with them.
4. God Told Philip To Go Up and Join the Chariot (8:29)
How did Philip partner with God?
He ran up! (8:30). I love that. When God tells us to go across the street and invite our neighbor to a bible study, we run away! Actually, it was important that Philip run, not because he would miss the eunuch, but he would miss the Scripture. The eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53. If Philip took his sweet time getting to the chariot, the eunuch would have been onto Isaiah 54, and Philip would have missed a golden opportunity to explain one of the greatest OT texts about Christ in all the OT. Oh, the importance of obeying the Lord’s voice immediately!
5. God Arranged It So That The Eunuch Was Reading Isaiah 53
This man was humble enough to learn from someone else, even though he was a royal official and Philip a commoner. He is so hungry for truth, that he invites Philip to come up into the chariot and explain the Scriptures to him. And notice what Scripture this eunuch just happening to be reading – Isaiah 53. This chapter is unarguably the most evangelistically clear and Christ-centered passage in the OT! Talk about a divine setup – God has done everything to prepare this man’s heart, got him reading a passage about Jesus Christ, the slain lamb, the substitute for our sin, and then he brings to him an evangelist to explain the way of salvation. You might think that all of this was just dumb luck. Sorry, I don’t believe in luck or chance or fate. I do believe in the providence of God. Ephesians 1:11 says that God “works al things after the counsel of His will.”
When the evangelist arrives, the eunuch asks Philip, who is Isaiah talking about – himself or somebody else? It’s not difficult to trace God’s sovereign hand in this man’s conversion! Wouldn’t you like God to do the same for you? It might be like one of us going to Starbucks and when we sit down to enjoy our drink, we notice the guy next to us reading a Bible. We ask him, “so what are you reading?” Oh, this is a Bible. My grandfather gave it to me. I don’t know what’s happening to me. Lately I have been feeling so guilty about all the bad things I’ve done. I’ve hurt so many people, lied, stolen, and cheated on my wife. Now my life’s a mess. I would love to know if there really is a God and if He could ever forgive me. I thought I would get out this old Bible and see if it has anything to say to me. Do you know anything about what’s in here? Could you help me find some passages that will answer my questions?” Now, if that happened to one of us, we’d probably pass out on the spot, or fall out of our chair, but that is what God is doing for this eunuch! Oh, God had set His love upon this man and determined to save his soul.
How did Philip partner with God? 8:35 “Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.” Notice, Philip didn’t preach the Law, or his denomination, or his pet doctrine. He preached Jesus. That is what lost men need!
6. God Brought The Eunuch To Faith
How do we know that God had brought the eunuch to faith?
The Eunuch Believed that Jesus Christ Was the Son of God: 8:37. It is true that vs.37 is a textually uncertain passage. Most of the newer translations omit this verse. It was probably added by a scribe at some point. But although this statement may not be inspired, certainly the fact that the eunuch wants to be baptized implies that he has faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Where did this faith come from? Just a few minutes earlier he was a Jewish proselyte searching the Jewish Scriptures for answers. Now, he has done a 180, and believes that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners. What has happened? John 6:35 tells us that to come to Jesus is to believe in Him. Then in John 6:45 we learn that no one can come (believe) unless the Father draws him. Well, God is drawing this eunuch big time! He is hearing and learning from the Father. God, Himself, had been speaking to this eunuch’s heart through the lips of Philip. Isn’t it an awesome thing to have God use you as His instrument, in speaking through you to come to faith in Christ?!
Also, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing (8:39). One very common evidence of salvation when someone comes to Christ is spiritual joy. I know that was true in my life!
How Did Philip partner with God? When he saw the signs of true faith, he baptized him. Philip saw that the Lord had drawn him to Christ. So when he did, he followed through and baptized him.
Philip’s example teaches us a couple of things. First, it tells us he baptized by immersion. Verse 38 tells us “they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water…” They both went down into the water, and then both came up out of the water. Obviously, Philip is not sprinkling a few drops of water on the eunuch’s head. The fact that they both go down into the water strongly implies that he was baptizing by immersion. And I think, rightly so. The word “baptize” means to be immersed or submerged.
The other thing it teaches us is that he baptized him immediately. Every time we find someone being baptized in the book of Acts, it happens immediately upon conversion. Now I realize that in our churches today, we make a new convert go through a class or classes before we will baptize them. Sometimes it might take months or even a year before we feel they are ready to be baptized. Not so in the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost the 3,000 who repented were baptized that same day. Cornelius and his household were baptized immediately after the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The Philippian jailer and his household were baptized the same night he believed. If someone comes to faith in Christ, unless there is some very good reason to wait, we should baptize them.
And brothers and sisters, there is nothing stipulated in the Scriptures saying that only an ordained minister can baptize someone. Who does the baptizing in the New Testament?
In the Great Commission, Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…” Now if we believe that the Great Commission was given to the entire church, then the entire church has the responsibility of making disciples and then baptizing them. What this means is that if you make a disciple, baptize him or her. What a privilege!
7. God Snatched Philip Away (8:39)
Philip “found himself” at Azotus, about 20 miles from where he met the eunuch. Philip had to travel about 50 miles from Samaria to the eunuch. Perhaps the Lord thought the least he could do for Philip was give him a free ride to the next village!
How Did Philip Partner with God? “He kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” Interestingly, when Peter gets to Lydda and Joppa in Acts 9, there are already churches there. How? Where did they come from? I believe Acts 8:40 is the answer. Lydda and Joppa are on the way from Azotus to Caesarea. I believe that Philip preached the gospel in those villages as he traveled along, and churches were born. God snatched Philip away, and Philip partnered by preaching the gospel where he found himself.
Conclusion
The whole point I want you to get from this story of Philp and the eunuch is the great responsibility and privilege of partnering with God in reaching the lost.
If we are truly partnering with God, we won’t blindly run ahead and do all sorts of evangelistic activities without consulting the Lord. We won’t say, “Lord, this is what I’m going to do to reach the Lost. Now, will you join me?” No, we will say, “Lord what are you doing in reaching the lost? How can I join You? Please show me.”
I challenge you to pray every day this week for the Lord to show you what He is doing so that you can partner with Him. If you will do this, you will find that the Christian life is an exciting life indeed! Let’s pray.
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