Preaching Jesus

Introduction

Because your family like mine. Growing up, we played a lot of board games. We didn’t have a whole lot of other things for entertainment back in the ancient days when there were three channels on TV and no internet. We sat around the table and played card games or board games. And one of the games that we played most often was the old tried and true Monopoly. There’s a few things I remember about playing Monopoly as a child. Number one is I always wanted to be the little car. Number two, I can remember that it took a long time. We could never finish a game in a day. We would start the game in the evening and we would, bedtime, we would pick the board up and slide it up under the couch and to pull it out the next day to play.

I was the youngest of my family. I was the baby, and so I just did what I was told. And so I was whatever game piece my brothers told me I could be. And I played by their rules.

Until I grew up and played the game with somebody else who had played by the official rules.

And so what do we do? We get the box top out and we read the rules, and sure enough, I had been doing it wrong my whole life. I’d been playing by the Chapman family rules rather than the Milton Bradley rules. There may be a lot of facets of our life that are that way. That we’re doing something not exactly right or just doing something wrong, and maybe even for a long period of time until somebody points out that that’s not the right way.

But when it comes to other areas of our life, it may be a very big deal. When it comes to obeying God and following him, then it’s very important that we make sure that we look to the instructions and to make sure that we’re doing it right. This is Sunday. And all over this country, all over this world, people are assembled in different places and different circumstances in their attempt to worship God and to preach Jesus.

Who may be doing it wrong. Not doing it wrong because it’s not the way I want to do it, or the way that I’ve always done it, but they may be doing it wrong because that’s not what God’s instructions tell us to do. So this morning I’d like for us to go to Acts chapter 8. Will you join me there in your New Testament to Acts chapter 8? And let’s examine what it means to preach Jesus and to reexamine our approach to that subject to make sure that we’re doing it according to the instructions, God’s instructions, and that we’re doing it to his glory. A very familiar story in Acts chapter 8 is the conversion of an unnamed man from Ethiopia. We know some things about him, but we’ll never know his name.

And he is on his way back to Ethiopia, back to his very important job there. When a life-changing event takes place, a man by the name of Philip, the evangelist. The text tells us in Acts 8, verse 35, that Philip preached Jesus to him. We’re not surprised by that fact because Philip was an evangelist. That’s what an evangelist does and should do is preach Jesus. We’re not surprised by that fact because here is a man who is seeking the truth. And what a wonderful circumstance when one who is preaching Jesus can come in contact with someone who is seeking the truth.

Usually nothing but good can come out of that occasion. And that’s what happens here. Let’s begin in our reading in Acts chapter 8. And in verse 26. Acts chapter 8 and verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, had come to Jerusalem to worship. Was returning, and sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. Let’s just pause there for just a moment in our reading.

1. Preaching Jesus Always Involves a Human Agency

Did you notice what the Holy Spirit has given Philip two instructions? He’s told him where to go, and now he’s told him what to do. He is told to go and overtake this chariot. Stop this chariot. You need to talk to this man. The Holy Spirit of God is involved through this angel. An angel and the Holy Spirit are instructing Philip in what to do. An interesting recurring theme that we see in the book of Acts is that we see Jesus Himself speaking to people. In Acts chapter 9, Jesus speaks to Saul of Tarsus and then to Ananias. In Acts chapter 10, an angel of the Lord and the Spirit speak to both Cornelius and Peter. Here in our text in Acts chapter 8, an angel and the Spirit of God are instructing Philip the evangelist what to do.

But in all of that heavenly activity, whether it be angels, Jesus himself, or the Holy Spirit himself speaking, they always instruct the messenger, the human messenger, some medium to go and speak to the person who needs to hear the gospel. A heavenly voice, whether it be the Holy Spirit or Jesus or an angel, never acts upon the heart of the individual. He always says, go into the city, and there it will be told what you must do. It always says, send for one named Peter, and he’ll impart unto you the words of life. It always says to the messenger, you go and overtake this chariot. Preaching Jesus always involves a human agency. A messenger. Now, that messenger could just be today, just the simple word of God, somebody opening up their Bible and listening to the message that was delivered by these men by inspiration.

2. The Eagerness of Philip, the Humility of the Ethiopian

And that’s what Philip is going to do. And so, verse 30, continuing our reading, Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you’re reading? And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. Two observations about that section of our story. Notice the eagerness of Philip. Philip ran to him and then asked him the question, do you understand what you’re reading? He ran to him and interjected himself into a conversation. Are we doing that today? Or do we stand back in fear and trepidation and say, oh, they wouldn’t be interested. Or I don’t know, maybe. Or can we show the eagerness of Philip and run and say, Do you understand what you’re reading?

The other side of the equation, notice the attitude of this Ethiopian eunuch. It’s already stated that he has a position of great authority in the Ethiopian government. He’s a man of authority and of power. But when asked the question, do you understand what you’re reading? His reply is, How can I unless someone guides me? The first thing we’re struck by this Ethiopian is his humility. It would have been easy and maybe even tempting for a man of his position and authority to lie and say, Oh, yes. I’ve just been to Jerusalem. I understand the law of God. I’m a position of great authority and education. Obviously, I know everything there is to know about Isaiah the prophet. But if he’d had that arrogant attitude, there’s no doubt in my mind that he would have went home lost.

But in humility, he says, No. I don’t understand what I’m reading. Will you help me? Those two attitudes, the attitude of the teacher who was eager enough to run to him and insert himself into the life of this under individual, and the other side of the equation, the attitude of humility of saying, no, help me to understand, is what made the salvation of this man possible. And so, verse 32, the place in the scripture where he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away. And who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. So the eunuch answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this?

3. Preaching Jesus Begins in the Old Testament

Of himself or of some other man. Then the text says in verse 35, then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now let’s closely look at this text and see what on this occasion, what preaching Jesus involved. The first thing that we’re struck by is that preaching Jesus begins in the Old Testament. We sometimes have this oversimplified and even mistaken notion that Jesus is strictly a New Testament character. That he comes on the scene early in the gospel accounts, but he only comes on the scene in that birth in a manger in Bethlehem. Again, that’s an oversimplified and a mistaken view of Jesus. The preaching of Jesus in the first century began in the Old Testament. Surely this evangelist Philip will instruct this curious and humble Ethiopian.

He’ll instruct him that the prophet was not speaking about himself, but he was speaking of Jesus Christ. That section of Scripture that he is reading from, you’re very familiar with it. That’s Isaiah 53. The prophecy, one of the grandest and most lengthy prophecies of the coming Messiah is the text that was his daily Bible reading that day. That he had questions about. And what Philip surely instructs him is that’s not the prophet talking about himself. That is Jesus in Isaiah 53. He could have just as easily expanded upon that sermon and said, that’s Jesus in Psalm 22. That’s Jesus in Micah chapter 5. That’s Jesus in Genesis chapter 3. Jesus and the prophecies of Jesus, the need for the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah, permeates the Old Testament scriptures.

And so he begins at that text in the Old Testament and preaches to him Jesus. Now Philip didn’t invent that style of preaching. From the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 and on. That’s the way they preached Jesus. When they were speaking to a Jewish audience at least, they started in the Old Testament. On the day of Pentecost, it started with the prophecy of Joel and went on to the prophecies of David. And they preached Jesus from the Old Testament text. This helps us to explain and understand a passage of Scripture. Look over in the book of Matthew, chapter 5, what Jesus himself said about that old law.

Jesus’ statement is going to be fulfilled in and through the preaching of the apostles and evangelists like Philip. In Matthew chapter 5, let’s begin in verse 17. Do not think, Matthew 5, verse 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law and the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Verse 18, for assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass away from the law till all is fulfilled. Jesus was often seen as an antagonistic character when it came to the Pharisees and their view of the law. But Jesus wants to clear up a misunderstanding. He says, I am not an enemy of the law of Moses. I didn’t come here to destroy the law of Moses.

I came here to fulfill the law of Moses. That’s a very important distinction. And so the New Testament writers and speakers carried that same message. That to some of the first century Jews, it seemed like that the preaching of the New Testament, the preaching of Christians, was anti-law of Moses, and nothing could have been further from the truth. They, like Jesus, were simply trying to point out that rather it being at odds with the old law, the preaching of Jesus is the fulfillment. The old law looked forward to this day when all could be fulfilled in one name. Jesus. But go back to Acts chapter 8. And notice something else about preaching Jesus. Acts chapter 8. And so he began in that text, that old Testament text in Isaiah 53, and he preached to them Jesus.

4. Preaching Jesus Must Include Scriptural Baptism

Verse 36 goes on. Now what we don’t know is how long he preached to him Jesus. And we don’t know what he said. It just simply says he began at that text and preached to him Jesus. This is one of those where we’d love to have the text of that sermon, wouldn’t we? We don’t know what all he said. But we can make some assumptions, can’t we? Some inferences. Look at verse 35 beginning again. Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water, what hinders me from being baptized. I argue to you this morning that preaching Jesus according to the scriptures must include scriptural baptism.

It’s the only way that question makes any sense. And the fact that that question wasn’t immediately dismissed by Philip. Why would the eunuch ask such a question? Here’s water. What hinders me from being baptized? The only thing that makes any sense is that Philip was doing what every other preacher of the gospel from Acts 2 to Acts 8 had done. It had preached the necessity of baptism in water for the remission of sin. I offer to you that there’s only two reasonable conclusions of where the eunuch heard about water baptism. It’s possible that he had heard while he was in Jerusalem. We assume that he was there for the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Maybe he had heard that sermon. If not, maybe he’d heard word of that sermon that emphasized for them to repent and to be baptized for the remission of sins.

And so maybe he had heard about baptism while in Jerusalem. And if so, he heard about it through others preaching Jesus. But it’s also highly likely that while preaching Jesus in that chariot, that Philip mentioned baptism. If he didn’t, then he didn’t preach Jesus the way Peter and the apostles did on the day of Pentecost.

If he didn’t, he didn’t preach Jesus the way Paul, the apostle would throughout the remainder of the book of Acts. And so isn’t it safe to assume? In fact, I would argue that it’s unavoidable conclusion that preaching Jesus, whether it be on the day of Pentecost, whether it be in the city of Samaria, whether it be in the city of Antioch, whether it be in the city of Philippi, or on the road from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, that preaching Jesus of necessity meant preaching baptism. Otherwise, where did this man come up with that idea? And secondly, why wasn’t immediately dismissed by Philip? Philip didn’t say, what are you talking about? Who said anything about water? Who said anything about baptism? But that’s not the reply. Look with me.

Again, in verse 38. So he commanded the chariot, that’s Philip, commanded the chariot to stand still, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. If preaching Jesus on this day to this humble seeker of truth did not involve preaching baptism, then he didn’t do it the way Jesus commanded them to do it. You remember in Matthew chapter 28, that familiar text of the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28? Jesus said, Go therefore, speaking to his apostles, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I’ve commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Amen. Jesus said, Go and teach and go and baptize. What was Philip doing on this day if not following the commands of Jesus Christ? And so let’s pause here and go back to our illustration of playing monopoly.

And again, when it comes to monopoly, that’s probably not that big of a deal. But if you’ve been taught a certain thing in religion, your whole life, and you open up the scriptures, and you say, What did they do? What did Jesus tell them to do and to teach? And what did they do and teach throughout the book of Acts? And you find out you’ve been doing it the wrong way your whole life. What will you do? Will you be like this humble Ethiopian? And say, Help me to understand. Will you be like this humble Ethiopian and say, stop right there? Here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Now we want to emphasize here that it’s not just baptism, baptism of any type, it is scriptural baptism.

Baptism into water. That’s in the text. Immersion, that’s in the text. They both went down into the water, and he, actually, the word baptized means he immersed him. And throughout the scripture, this baptism is not after you have become a Christian, after you have been saved, but it is for the remission of your sins. We refer you again to Acts chapter 2 and verse 38. And he says, What hinders me from being baptized? And on that day he was.

5. If You Believe With All Your Heart

Result in a saving faith. Notice the qualifier. We haven’t read that yet in verse 37. He preaches Jesus to him. He says, here is water, what hinders me from being baptized, but something takes place before verse 38, before they go down into the water and baptize him. It says in verse 37, 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. You will nowhere read in the New Testament or in any other scripture of God. That baptism is just some kind of silver bullet, and it’s the only thing that you need to do. Philip said, you can be baptized if you believe. Otherwise, the baptism wouldn’t have done him any good.

If it wasn’t preceded by and caused by his trusting faith. If you believe with all your heart, then you may.

Just get wet. That’s not a biblical. That’s not scriptural baptism. Look with me in the book of Colossians, chapter 2.

We see the role and the connection between faith and baptism in several places in the New Testament. And one of those is in the book of Colossians, chapter 2, where he says in verse 12, buried with him in baptism, that is buried in Jesus in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. I don’t know of a better connection, a better explanation of the connection between faith and baptism and what both of those do. Through faith in the working of God. When one submits, as this Ethiopian did on that day, to scriptural baptism, he’s not advocating some work that would merit his own salvation. He is humbly, by faith, humbly submitting to the plan of God, and having his sins washed away by the working of God.

When someone is immersed in water, having believed, repented, and confessed their faith, that it is the working of God that is washing away their sins. There’s nothing miraculous about the water itself. As Peter would say, it’s not washing away the filth of the flesh. It’s the working of God. Because one has humbly submitted themselves and said, I’ve been doing it wrong. I’ll do it your way. I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating this morning. It’s high time that we quit trying to become theologians and just try to become Christians. Quit trying to understand, although I think you can properly understand the role of baptism and faith and grace and works and obedience and all of those kind of things. I believe they can easily be reconciled through the scriptures.

But maybe it’s time for us to quit trying to reconcile those things perfectly in our mind and just become an obedient servant and say, Jesus, you said to do this, and that’s good enough for me.

Conclusion

Here’s water. What hinders me from doing what my Lord said I must do in order to receive the forgiveness of my sins? If you would do that today, you can do what this man did. The last verse of this story may be the most beautiful at all of all, because it says, He went on his way rejoicing. Would you have that joy? Would you have the angels in heaven rejoicing today by submitting to the plan of God? Even if you have to admit, I’ve been doing it wrong my whole life. Why not change today? If we can help you in any way, why not come as together we stand and as we sing?