Call to Commitment

Acts 8:16-25 

The magician’s error 

16.  For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 

17.  Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 

18.  And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 

19.  saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." 

20.  But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 

21.  You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 

22.  Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 

23.  For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." 

24.  Then Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me." 

25.  So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 

 The apostles knew that every believer must experience the Holy Spirit falling upon them, which is another term for the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is used again in chapter 10:44: “The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” It is empowering from on high, which falls upon believers on the earth (v. 16).  

 Peter and John prayed for the believers and they received the baptism in the Holy Spirit (v. 17). Something substantial and visible happened to the Samaritans, because the magician took notice and was immensely impacted by what he saw, as he was by seeing the miracles and signs that God did through Philip. What he then requested showed a blasphemous misunderstanding of the ways of God. He made two serious mistakes: He offered to buy the ability to impart this blessed, heavenly experience (v. 18), and he wanted the power for himself for personal gain (v.19). 

The petition repulsed Peter and John, proving to them that the man remained in a lost condition, with unconverted heart and mind. Peter’s rebuke was sharp, removing the supposition that any of God’s gifts could be a means of commerce, either bought or sold. It had been his god and it continued to be his god. Jesus said that service to money and service to God were on opposite polls: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:24). The Greek word is mammonas, and denotes trust in money or riches personified and deified. It is the trust in money that makes it a sinful idol that substitutes for trust in God (v. 20).

The sorcerer offers money

 After Peter and John showed their support for Philip’s ministry and adding this necessary spiritual improvement to it, they joined in his evangelistic work in Samaria, preaching the gospel in many villages (v. 25).   

Chapter 8:26-40

 The Ethiopian eunuch

       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. 

27.  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, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 

28.  was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 

29.  Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." 

30.  So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 

31.  And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 

32.  The place in the Scripture which 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. 

33.  IN HIS HUMILIATION HIS JUSTICE WAS TAKEN AWAY, AND WHO WILL DECLARE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS TAKEN FROM THE EARTH." 

34.  So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" 

35.  Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 

36.  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?" 

37.  Then 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." 

38.  So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 

39.  Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 

40.  But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. 

 When Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb.11:8), he started a principle, which continued to occur in the book of Acts. We are going to see Philip leave Samaria, not knowing the final destination or the purpose that God has for him. We will see it in Peter, as he leaves Jerusalem, not knowing that he is destined to go to Caesaria to share the gospel with a Roman centurion and his household on this same trip. The most obvious case involves Paul and his team leaving Antioch, Syria, and crossing what, in modern times, is the entire country of Turkey, not knowing where the Lord would have him go. He goes as far as he can by land, arriving at the west end, with only the Aegean Sea before him.  

This story of the Ethiopian eunuch is a favorite of all who read the book of Acts and many speakers have preached from it. Philip has been evangelizing in Samaria and has seen much fruit, as God approved his word by giving deliverance to the demon-possessed and healing the sick. Now, the Lord commands, through an angel, that he should travel from Samaria to Jerusalem and go from there on the desert road to Gaza. That is the end of the instructions given to him (v. 26).

Philip’s reaction has always been a blessing to me because, he is not told the reason why he should leave his fruitful ministry in Samaria and go on, without knowing his destination or the reason for the effort. There is no question, only complete confidence in the word of the Lord. He simply, “arose and went.” He went all the way from Samaria to an encounter on the road between Jerusalem and Gaza.

On the road to Gaza, he sees an Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot, whom Luke describes as a man of authority under a queen Candace, and hears him reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip has reached his destination on a highway, probably with no civilization in sight. He has been sent there to meet one man (v. 27). All this is said in one verse, but for Philip, it was a long arduous journey in a hot desert. Any evangelist, used to preach to multitudes, will gladly go a long way to reach an individual. He knows, that God deals with all people individually to bring them to salvation.  Warren Wiersbe tells this little story about D. L. Moody, asking a man about the condition of his soul. He replied, “It’s none of your business!” “Oh yes, it is my business!” Moody replied. The man immediately responded, “Then you must be D. L. Moody!” Moody had the reputation of caring for one lost soul. It brought tears to my eyes, thinking of a famous evangelist being known in this way. 

There is a story in the book of Jeremiah, an Old Testament account in chapter 38, of an Ethiopian eunuch. Jeremiah, in earlier situations, got help from Jewish friends in Jerusalem, but now, apparently, there is none to aid him, removing him from a cistern, where evil rulers had thrown him. There seemed to be no one anymore in the city of Jerusalem in the day of King Zedekiah, who had the fear of God in Him. It was a sign that the populace of Judah had fallen to a more putrid decay, worse even than the time of the evil king, Jehoiakim, and it drew very near to its day of destruction.

 Though no fellow-citizen came to Jeremiah’s aid God, Who is always faithful to his servants, will use whatever means available to rescue him. He used someone from origin outside Judah, an Ethiopian, whose manhood had been taken from him. He was a slave, a eunuch in the house of the king. This man, living without a form of human dignity, had more sense and decency than the sophisticated nobles in Jerusalem. He might have been a secret believer, who had heard God´s word, which had already reached the palace through Jeremiah, and this slave could have been attending the king during his visit.

 However, as the king´s slave, he had an audience with Zedekiah. This is another factor in God´s way of functioning among men. He considers every detail and so the Spirit of God moved in the heart of the man, who was willing and able to do something about the prophet´s dilemma. The man went from his position in the king´s house to the place, where authorities conducted business in Bible times, which was in the gates of the city.

 The king had turned Jeremiah over to the princes and probably wanted to wash his hands over his fate. He might not have cared to hear what they did to him. However, the slave was not afraid to inform him, whether he wanted to know or not, and was bold to speak against the evil of the officials. There is always a need for boldness in the service of the King of Kings. The disciples gathered for prayer to express their need to have “all boldness that they may speak your word” (Ac.4:29).

An Ethiopian slave saves Jeremiah

 We learn that the dungeon was under the treasury in the king’s house and the eunuch took full advantage of his position as the king’s slave. He knew where there were old clothes and rags stored in the treasury and gathered them. He lowered them with ropes to pull Jeremiah to the surface. He instructed the prophet to put them under his arm pits to soften the roughness of the ropes - the kind slave used care to protect him from skin burn. 

 Jeremiah, from that day forward, is in the court of the prison, although he was kept there for punishment, he was better protected in that confinement from enemies without. Add this to God’s faithfulness in watching over his servant and then go back over the story and see how He has done this. The highest authority in the land, did not have the moral or political strength to defend the prophet and the leading officials wanted to kill him. Therefore the Lord worked through a eunuch, who was a slave, to deliver His servant from powerful enemies. Can we not trust in Him with our situation, knowing He is always faithful and always finds a way to deliver?

God was not done with the Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-Melech, and He sent Jeremiah with a special message for him in Jeremiah 39:16-18. The man rescued Jeremiah from a dungeon, where he would surely have died, and the Lord had not forgotten that act of kindness. The great Lord over all armies, earthly and heavenly, and the God, Who chose the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be His people. They will become rulers, along with their Messiah, during the Millennial reign. But he spoke to this poor slave outside Israel, without a future, as he would speak to one of His own.

 Let the reader know, that this was a case of salvation in the Old Testament! The person, who trusts the Lord, not only receives deliverance in this life, but enters into eternal salvation. He was not only saved from Judah’s powerful enemies about to attack the city of Jerusalem, but was also saved from spiritual wickedness in high places. He was delivered from the the prince of the power of the air, and from the fires of hell. He trusted and believed, as the harlot Rahab did, when she hid Israel’s spies, so his involvement in God’s concerns was proof of his faith (see James 2:25). The harlot of Jericho, received an honorable place in Israel, married into the line of the forefathers of David, consequently into that of his Son according to the flesh, and received eternal, New Testament recognition.

 The same kind of faith works in the Judgment of the Nations in Matthew 25:31-46. Those who were separated from the “spiritual goats’ and placed on the right hand of the Son of Man, were characterized as “spiritual sheep.”  As “sheep,” they fed the Lord’s brothers, who were hungry, gave drink to His thirsty, took in His strangers, clothed His naked, visited His sick and His prisoners.  

 While Israel’s highest-ranking men, along with their king, were later killed or taken captive to Babylon, this foreigner became an eyewitness of the fulfillment of God’s word. The slave needed not to fear the fierce warriors from Babylon. He had the Lord’s sure promise of salvation. His life was valuable in His hand and he was kept safe, because he had trusted in the Lord.

 We are studying another Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great importance, who served Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. Years ago, I listened to a preacher, who made a very interesting observation from the King James Version. He first mentioned this “man” from Ethiopia, as this version states in verse 27. This man needed to hear the gospel from “some man” (again KJV, in v. 31), that would be Philip, who could guide him. That one would tell him about “some other Man” (v. 34) that the prophet spoke about in Isaiah 53:7 and 8, where the eunuch was reading.

 The Holy Spirit had set this man apart to worship the true God, and he came from Jerusalem, the only place where non-Jews, hungry for truth and righteousness, knew to go, prior to the gospel age. This eunuch had become a proselyte, almost certainly returning from a feast day, not having received that, for which his heart yearned. But he had not given up the quest and God spoke to him though His word, similarly as in the case of King Josiah, who sought the Lord for a decade, before the Book of the Law was discovered (see the full account in 2 Chronicles 34:1-3, 8, 14-21). The Ethiopian was reading from the Hebrew Scriptures in the prophet Isaiah, as he returned to Africa. God saw the condition of his heart and therefore sent Philip from Samaria to reach out to him (v. 28).

 The Ethiopian was reading from a passage only three chapters away from another, which directly concerned him personally in two ways… as a foreigner and as a eunuch: “Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, ‘The LORD has utterly separated me from His people’; nor let the eunuch say, ‘Here I am, a dry tree.’  For thus says the LORD: ‘To the eunuchs who… choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off’” (Is.56:3-5). What tremendous promises for a man, who had no future given to him in the world!