Have you ever been to see a live symphony? I have to admit that I don’t listen to that kind of music very often but I will jump at the chance to see it live in person. I got to sit on the front row one time and saw and heard the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra play a Christmas special. I was amazed at how powerful it was. I was so close to the first violinist that I could actually see his music on his music stand. I couldn’t read it, of course, but I’m pretty sure he could. If not, he faked it pretty well.
Being so close I could even tell when the first violinist was looking at the music and when he was looking at the conductor. And most of the time, I think that’s where he was looking because it was obvious that the conductor knew what was going on. He knew every part and he knew every note and he knew when every instrument was supposed to come in and when they were to be silent. He used that baton to signal some things and he used his other hand to make certain signals and he even used his eyes for other things.
He was busy! He was concentrating so hard on that music and concentrating on leading them to know what the beat was and when to do what. And the orchestra never missed a beat as far as I knew. They had obviously practiced but their focus was always on the conductor. They were always ready. There was nobody sleeping. Nobody was talking on the phone or texting their BFF or playing Words With Friends. All the conductor had to do was give them a look and they knew what to do.
He would start by motioning to the tympani to give an opening beat and then the cellos would slowly build up and then all of the sudden with just a look from the conductor, the French horns, violins and flutes would all come in together and it was just an amazing sound, incredible to hear and even see; all because the conductor knew what he was doing and was able to lead them to make beautiful music.
So many times, our lives resemble more of a middle school band practice than a professional symphony. It seems like all the instruments are playing at once or not at all and there is not one playing the same note as another. All the bills come at the same time and the good times seem to be taking a smoke break, while the stresses are playing way too loud and the blessings are barely heard over in the corner.
And when all of that happens, do you know what the natural thing to do is? The thing that we should do and the thing that we are supposed to do and the thing that will help us the most is to look at the conductor. And maybe we can’t fix all the other instruments but we can play what we are supposed to and that makes everything better because once we start playing our part, it’s amazing how all the other parts start to sound better.
The problem comes when the conductor asks us to play a part that we aren’t comfortable with. Sometimes some people even just want to carry their instrument around to let everybody know they are part of the orchestra but they never actually play it. They spend a lot of time at practice but they don’t actually play because the music might hurt somebody’s feelings or they might play a wrong note.
In our passage this morning, we are going to see that Philip was asked by God to play a part that I’m sure he was not comfortable playing. This will conclude our series entitled, “Does Acts 1:8 Apply to Christ Fellowship?” We have seen by looking at the 8th chapter of Acts that Acts 1:8 does apply to us. We have seen what to expect. And today we will see how to do what Acts 1:8 says to do.
Without cheating, can anyone tell me what Acts 1:8 says? “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” So, you believe that, right? You have seen it in the book of Acts and you have seen it in your own life. When you asked Jesus into your heart to be Lord and Savior and to forgive your sins, you received power to do things, say things and be things that you couldn’t before.
In Acts chapter 8, Philip is seeing this for himself as God gives him power to preach to the people of Samaria even though he was not a professional preacher and had no training to do that. In fact, we saw him preach such a powerful message in the first part of the chapter that there was a real revival happening in Samaria and it says there was great joy there. That’s the kind of situation that you don’t want to leave. That’s just fun to see God at work, using you to make a difference in people’s lives.
But let’s look at what happens in Acts 8:26-40. There we see that God calls Philip away from there. Let’s pick up in verse 26. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Candace (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said,“unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
When I went to see the orchestra, there were a few times I can remember that the whole orchestra would be playing all together and it was just incredible to hear all of the instruments playing so well together but then, all of the sudden, the conductor would wave his hands and the whole orchestra would stop playing completely. And then the conductor would look over at one little flute player and they would lock eyes and the conductor would signal just that one flute player to play a tune that just didn’t seem to go with what had been played.
But then as the flute continued, the other woodwinds would join and then the brass and the strings and the percussion would all join back in and it was even better than it had been. But what if that flute player had not done what he was supposed to do? He could well have said, “I don’t want to play this part. I want to keep playing what we had been playing. I was comfortable playing that and it sounded nice. Why stop?” But he would have missed out on the blessing of the even more beautiful music.
Philip had been in the middle of a great revival there in Samaria. People were coming to know Jesus. Their lives were being changed in incredible ways including being healed of all kinds of diseases. And it says that there was great joy in that city and now God has called him to go to the desert. It didn’t make any sense. Why stop doing what he was doing in Samaria when it was working so well? But without knowing why or what was going to happen, Philip was obedient. He just went.
And it says he met an Ethiopian eunuch there in the middle of the desert. This eunuch was an important man in charge of everything financial in the kingdom in which he worked but he was a man without hope. Some people might see that eunuch and feel sorry for him because he would never have a family of his own but that is not why he was without hope. God was working in his life and had prompted him to go to Jerusalem to worship and he had but on the way back he was trying to understand the scripture; he was trying to know what God expected of him and to know how to have eternal life but he didn’t have the ability to understand what was being said in the scripture…until Philip came along.
Until Philip was obedient and did what God had told him to do, that eunuch had no hope and would no doubt have gone to the grave just another soul who had not heard because he had none to preach to him. He could not call on one he had not believed in and he could not believe in one in Whom he had not heard…until Philip came along.
I am purposefully making this sermon short and to the point, with only one point to be made because that is how Philip’s sermon was. I don’t have 3 points and a poem. I didn’t include a paper in the bulletin with an outline to help you keep up or make notes. I’m not trying to be funny or clever because just like Philip, my message is just the Gospel, simple and full of truth and the truth is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to Father but through Him.
No man can have eternity in Heaven; no man can be free of the guilt of his sin; no man can have hope in this life much less the next without having a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. And no man can have any of that unless someone tells him. Verse 26 says that an angel told Philip to go. Why didn’t the angel just go and tell the eunuch? Because that’s not an angel’s job. An angel has never experienced the amazing grace of God so how can he be a witness to it? That was Philip’s job.
And it was Paul’s job. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, he says, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
It was Peter’s job. In Acts 4:10-12, he says, “then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
And it is our job. We all agreed that Acts 1:8 applies to us, that while we may not be called to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria necessarily, that we are called to be preachers. And we are called to preach the Gospel.
I hear people all the time say, “We shouldn’t worry about going to other countries to witness when there are people all around us right here that need to hear the Gospel.” And it’s true that there are people all around us that need to hear about Jesus but I would like for the people who say that to say it to Philip. What do you think he would say to that? What do you think Paul or Peter would say to that? Jesus didn’t say to go to Jerusalem or Judea or Samaria or the ends of the earth. He said you will be my witnesses in all these places.
All through the Word of God, there is a choice. Moses stood in the midst of the camp and cried saying,“Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come and stand by me” [Exodus 32:26]. Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve”: [Joshua 24:15]. Elijah on Mount Carmel cried saying, If this Baal be God, serve Baal. But if Jehovah be God, serve Jehovah [1 Kings 18:21]. Our Lord said, “Come and follow Me” [Matthew 19:21]. (WA Criswell)
All of us, as preachers, are to share that choice in Lake Bridgeport, Wise County, and the entire world but I hope you don’t do it just because you have been told to in a command. Look at verse 39 again. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. He was rejoicing! That’s what was happening in Samaria when he left. And that is what happens every single time somebody comes to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
In Luke 15, it says that the angels rejoice in Heaven when a sinner repents. And do you know that Satan doesn’t want you to repent? He wants you to think of all kinds of reasons why you shouldn’t because he knows what will happen if you do and he knows what will happen if you don’t.
Do you know what the #1 reason is for people to see a psychiatrist? Depression. Do you know the #1 cause of depression? Guilt. Do you know the #1 reason Satan laughs his fool head off? You dragging that guilt around all your life instead of repenting and asking God for forgiveness. We are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It’s a gift. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it like Simon tried to do in last week’s passage. But you can just accept it. But once you accept it, there is a commitment to make and part of that commitment is to follow the command in Acts 1:8 because it now applies to you.
An old Chinese farmer was cured of his cataracts at a Christian hospital many years ago by a missionary doctor. Only a few days had gone by and the missionary looked out his window to see that old farmer walk into the compound holding on to a long rope. Holding on to that rope were over a dozen other blind Chinese whom the farmer had rounded up and led for miles to the doctor who had done the “miracle” on his eyes.
That’s how we should be; leading others to the miracle of new life in Jesus. When you have a great secret you want to share it. Again, I beg of you, be reconciled to God through His Son Jesus.
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