Five Gospel Truths Illustrated

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 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 went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. - Acts 8:26-40

    Gospel doctrine is vital. It must be preached and taught with clarity and distinctiveness. Many boast of their dislike of doctrine and appear to be utterly ignorant of it. God's people rejoice in the truth. Those who are ignorant of gospel doctrine are ignorant of Christ. They have no saving faith in him. An unknown God cannot be trusted. And the only way anyone can know and trust Christ is if he or she is taught the doctrine of Christ (Rom. 10:13-17).

    As gospel doctrine is essential to the saving of sinners, so too it is essential for the edification and comfort of God's saints (Eph. 4: 11-16). It is by faithful instruction in the doctrine of Christ that God's elect are built up and established in the faith.

    Every true gospel preacher is a doctrinal preacher. The man who does not preach the doctrine of Christ does not preach Christ. Christ and his doctrine cannot be separated. The man who does not preach the doctrine of the gospel does not preach the gospel. Any preacher who does not expound the doctrine of Christ to his hearers is like a lamp without a light bulb—he may be pleasing to look at, but he is utterly useless!

    Yet doctrine must have a personal application. Dead, dry, impersonal, unapplied doctrine is as useless as the words of those who preach nothing but the morals of vain philosophy. In the passage before us, Luke gives us five glorious gospel doctrines by illustration. After the revival at Samaria broke out, the angel of the Lord directed Philip to go 'toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza'. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch returning from Jerusalem. After Philip had preached the gospel to him the eunuch declared his faith in Christ and Philip baptized him.

    1. The wisdom, goodness and perfection of divine providence (8:26-28)

    Providence is God's sovereign rule of the world, his gracious accomplishment of his eternal purpose of grace for the good of his elect and the glory of his name (Rom. 8:28). God's providence is always mysterious, undiscernible and unexplainable by man's wisdom. But it is always wise and good. All things are perfectly arranged by God, according to his schedule. By God's arrangement, everything in the universe is connected and all the connections are on time. With God, nothing is late and nothing is early. This is beautifully illustrated here.

    There were two roads going down to Gaza from Jerusalem. One was commonly travelled. The other was seldom travelled, because it was a lonely, deserted road, going through the desert mountains. The angel of the Lord told Philip to take that road. 'And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia,' a man chosen by God came riding by! He had been in Jerusalem worshipping God. He was a Jewish proselyte, walking in the light God had given him, but lost. He came away from Jerusalem as empty as he had gone there. While at Jerusalem, no doubt he had heard much about Jesus of Nazareth and the great stir caused by his followers. He may have been warned by the Sanhedrin to stay away from the apostles. But the time of love and grace had come for him (Ezek. 16:8). He must now be saved. So God sent Philip to meet him. At the time appointed by God, he brought Philip and the eunuch together.

    2. God's eternal purpose of grace in sovereign election must be fulfilled

    Before the world began God chose a people for himself, whom he determined to save. Every one of those elect sinners will, in God's time and by God's power, be brought to Christ in saving faith (Ps. 65:4; 110:3;Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13). God passed by the scribes and Pharisees, the natural descendants of Abraham, and called a despised black man, an Ethiopian eunuch (Ps. 68:31; Isa. 56:4-5). Grace always works the same way (1 Cor. 1:26-31).

    3. A picture of true evangelism in practice (8:29-35)

    True evangelism arises from a firm faith in the efficacy of God's election, Christ's atonement and the Spirit's call (Acts 18:9-11). It is a work performed by the direction of God the Holy Spirit. Three things always characterize true evangelism:

    A preacher sent by God. Philip was the man chosen by God to be the messenger of grace to the Ethiopian eunuch. He was sent by God on an errand of mercy (Rom. 10:15). The man God chose to use was a man full of the Holy Spirit, of blameless character and committed to the gospel of Christ (Acts 6:3, 5; 1Tim. 3:1-7). He was a man willing to serve God and his church in any capacity. Philip was willing to serve as a deacon. He was willing to go to Samaria and preach there. And he was wiling to walk for miles to preach the gospel to one Ethiopian. He wanted only to serve the cause of Christ. It mattered not to him where or how God used him. He just wanted to be used of God.

    A message ordained by God. Every man sent by God to preach to anyone is sent with the message Philip carried to the eunuch. Philip preached Christ to him (8:35). God's servants have nothing else to preach (l Cor. 2:2). Christ crucified is 'all the counsel of God' (Acts 20:27; Luke 24:27, 44-47). If God sends a man to preach, he sends him to preach Christ in all the Scriptures.

    A sinner chosen by God. This Ethiopian eunuch was saved because God had chosen him (Acts 13:48; John 15:16). He is a picture of the kind of people to whom God is always gracious. He sought the Lord earnestly (Jer. 29:12-14). He walked in the light God gave him. He searched the Scriptures (John 5:39). And he was willing to be taught. Grace chose him. Grace prepared him for grace. And grace brought him to Christ in faith.

    4. The saving faith of God's elect (8:36-37)

    True, saving faith is more than a notion received in the head. It is heart-knowledge, heart-persuasion and heart-commitment to Christ (Rom. 10:9-13; 2 Tim. 1:12). This eunuch declared that he believed with all his heart 'that Jesus Christ is the Son of God'. That means that he is the one of whom the prophets speak, the Saviour typified in the law and promised by God, and that he is God in human flesh who died for sinners and rose again (1 John 5:1).

    5. The significance of believer's baptism (8:36-39)

    Clearly, baptism is for believers only. It is a test of submission and obedience to Christ as Lord. It is the believer's symbolic confession of faith in Christ (Rom. 6:4-6). And baptism is by immersion only. Immersion is not a mode of baptism. Immersion is baptism! Commenting on this passage John Calvin wrote, 'Hence we see what was the manner of baptizing with the ancients, for they plunged the whole body into water.'

    When the day was over the eunuch 'went on his way rejoicing'. He continued to follow his ordinary course of life; but now he lived by faith and lived for the glory of God. Philip went on his way too, preaching the gospel as he was led by the Spirit, until he finally settled in Caesarea (Acts 21:8).