Sermons
That Very Passage Of Scripture
Series: Reflections On The CrossTHAT VERY PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / October 23, 2016
I want to close this sermon series on, Reflections On The Cross, by returning to Acts 8:26-40.
This text provides an abbreviated account of the preaching of the gospel to the Ethiopian Treasurer.
As I said last Sunday, it is one of my all-time favorite conversion stories found in the book of Acts.
Last Sunday we spoke about The Silence Of The Lamb.
Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa.53) concerns a Suffering Servant of God who takes up the role of a Sacrificial Lamb for His people.
Wedged in the middle of that wonderful Old Testament prophecy (which we know as Isaiah chapter 53) is verse 7 - -
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet HE DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH; Like a lamb that is led
to slaughter, And LIKE A SHEEP THAT IS SILENT before its shearers, so HE DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
In last Sunday’s sermon we asked the question, WHY WAS JESUS SILENT?
If you were absent you need to visit our website and read and study that sermon.
While we could speculate in trying to answer this question, for a Biblical answer we need only to turn to 1Pet.2:23 - - When reviled, He did not revile in return; when suffering, He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.
“Entrusting” speaks of a yielding or surrendering.
The silence of Jesus was not weakness but rather meekness and meekness literally means, “power under control”.
The silence of Jesus was STRENGTH. And that strength was empowered by a
strong faith in the assurance that His Father was in control of His circumstances.
Meekness is a willingness to yield oneself, to surrender oneself, to entrust oneself to Almighty God.
This meekness is at the heart of discipleship. This meekness is essential if we are to bear the cross of Christ.
I think most of would acquiesce (agree without dissent) that the cross of Christ is the means of our salvation.
What we sometimes fail to realize is that the cross of Christ is also the model for our sanctification.
It is one thing to acknowledge that we are saved by virtue of His cross.
But it is quite another thing to acknowledge that His cross shows us how to walk and how to live as a disciple.
Many of us are eager to reap the benefits of the cross of Christ,
but we are not quite so excited about shouldering the burdens and responsibilities of the cross.
Regarding this point I will simply point you again to 1Jn.2:6 (NIV) - -
This is how we know we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.
Jesus denied Himself (emptied/Philp.2:7) took up the cross and died. So must we (Lk.9:23/daily).
Jesus was crucified. We, too, must be crucified with Christ (Gal.2:20).
Jesus humbled Himself and became a servant (Philp.2:8). We, likewise, must be servant of all (Mk.10:44).
We must bear in our body the brand-marks of Jesus (stigma/Gal.6:17).
Jesus forgave others. This forgiving spirit be also reside in us (Mt.18:33 & 35).
With resolute meekness Jesus kept entrusting Himself to the Father. We must do the same (2Cor.12:10).
Read From Acts 8:26-34
We first meet Philip a couple of chapters earlier in Acts 6:6.
This Philip is not the Philip who is one of the twelve apostles (Mt.10:3).
This Philip is not one of the twelve, but rather one of the seven.
In Acts 6:1ff we read of seven men who were appointed by apostles and the congregation in Jerusalem
to oversee the care and feeding of the (neglected) Grecian widows within the church at Jerusalem.
The next time we encounter Philip is in the diaspora (the scattering/dispersing of the saints) recorded in Acts 8:1f.
Acts 8:4-5 records - - Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.
In the interest of being like the early church, it is worth noting that all Christians were “evangelists”.
A “deacon” may have been given a certain assignment - - e.g., waiting on tables (Acts 6:2),
but he still needs to have a desire and responsibility to teach others about Christ Jesus.
If we can ever re-capture this mindset our church family will grow in ways that will transcend our expectations.
The first half of Acts 8 tells us that Philip was having great success in Samaria.
Multitudes with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip… / Acts 8:6
When they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God
and the name of Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. / Acts 8:12
Acts 8:26-27 notes that an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, Arise and go south
to the road that descends to Gaza. (This is a desert road). And he arose and went.
This “desert” road is a description of a desolate road - - out in the middle of nowhere.
Although this road to Gaza in a barren land, it was nevertheless a highly-traveled thoroughfare.
The story of Philip is an illustration of trusting God’s providence.
Philip might have argued with God’s angel, saying, “I am doing a great work here in Samaria.”
But he didn’t. He simply did what God instructed him to do and the result made a significant impact.
Irenaeus, a Christian leader who lived in the latter part of the 2nd century, writes that Ethiopian
treasurer whom Philip met on this desert road ended up becoming a missionary among his people.
This is a dramatic picture of the power God plus one. God enabling a man named Philip to teach one man from Ethiopia.
This Ethiopian (eunuch) was an honorable man.
He was a court official for Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. In fact he was her court treasurer (vs.27a)
This man from Ethiopia was also a devout man, a God-fearing man.
In a culture filled with many false gods, this man from Ethiopia was in pursuit of the One True God.
He had traveled a long distance to go to Jerusalem to worship (vs.27a).
This journey involved a roundtrip of some 1,000+ miles, probably taking several weeks/months to travel to and fro.
While in Jerusalem, he purchased a copy of the scroll of Isaiah.
He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah (vs.28).
His chariot was probably more like a covered-wagon that a Ben-Hur kind of chariot.
We can assume from vs.38 (he ordered the chariot to stop) that he was accompanied by a driver (servant).
When Philip met up with the Ethiopia he heard him reading (it was common to read Aramaic aloud).
He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (vs.30b).
In the original text this question is a play on words - - “do you know what you know again?”
The Ethiopia was a man of considerable standing but, as the story reveals, he was also very humble.
He responded, “How could I, unless someone guides me.”
What a combination: someone who is humble and willing to learn coupled with an eager and able instructor.
Vs.32 states, Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
‘He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a Lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth.
This is a quote from the Septuagint (an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) from Isa.53:7.
The treasurer asked Philip a question and Philip preached him a sermon (Acts 8:34-35).
Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?
And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this very passage of Scripture, he preached Jesus to him.
This is all we are told: “He preached Jesus to him.”
While we do not have the text of Philip’s sermon, we can make some logical deductions from the context.
Vs.36 states, And as they went along the road they came to some water;
And the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?’
Who brought up the subject of baptism ?
The only answer that makes sense is to rightly conclude that BAPTISM was part of “preaching Jesus”.
Vss.37-38 follows - - 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.’
He ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
Typically, our fellowship has done well to emphasize several sub-points taught in this text.
1) The urgency of baptism. Could they not have waited for a more convenient and ceremonious setting?
2) Baptism requires a serious commitment. Baptism is for those who whole-heartedly believe.
3) Baptism is an immersion or submersion. Otherwise, vs.38 makes no sense (they both went down into the water).
Another point, which is not so much a sub-point as it is the primary point.
The scroll of Isaiah (Isa.53) is a prophecy about how Jesus died (to self).
And this is precisely and preeminently what baptism is - - A DEATH WITH CHRIST AS ONE DIES TO SELF.
Ro.6:3-4 / Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been
baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Gal.2:20 / I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
Gal.6:14 / May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
It is good to underscore the urgency of baptism.
It is also good to teach that baptism requires a serious commitment on our part.
It is also important to emphasize that baptism is an immersion.
But what we must not fail to teach is that baptism is a BURIAL (aptly symbolized by an immersion into a watery grave).
One cannot preach Jesus and not tell others about the need to follow in His path.
JESUS LIVED A CRUCIFIED LIFE. And so must we if we are to be His disciples.
The most important aspect of my job as a preacher of the gospel is to help people prepare for the hereafter.
The best thing I can tell you and the most Biblical truth I can proclaim is this: YOU MUST DIE BEFORE YOU DIE.
We might view our baptism as a birthday party. But our baptism is also a funeral, when our old self is put to death.
