Transformative Faith: The Journey of the Ethiopian Eunuch
Summary
In the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, we find a profound illustration of the transformative power of the Christian faith. This narrative from the book of Acts reveals the essential nature of Christianity and its impact on an individual's life. The Ethiopian eunuch, a man of great authority and intellect, was on a quest for truth and meaning. Despite his high position and moral character, he was deeply dissatisfied with his life. His journey to Jerusalem to worship and his subsequent encounter with Philip highlight the difference between being religious and being truly Christian.
The eunuch's story underscores the inadequacy of mere religious observance. He had embraced Judaism, seeking answers to life's profound questions, yet he remained unfulfilled. His intellectual, moral, and religious pursuits left him yearning for something more. This dissatisfaction is a common experience for many who rely solely on religious rituals without encountering the transformative power of the Gospel.
The pivotal moment in the eunuch's journey occurs when Philip, guided by the Holy Spirit, explains the Scriptures to him. This encounter reveals the heart of the Christian message: salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The eunuch's conversion demonstrates that Christianity is not about adhering to a set of rules or rituals but about experiencing a profound inner transformation through faith in Christ.
This story challenges us to examine our own lives. Are we merely religious, or have we truly embraced the life-changing message of the Gospel? The eunuch's journey from dissatisfaction to rejoicing serves as a powerful reminder that true fulfillment and peace are found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Key Takeaways:
- The story of the Ethiopian eunuch illustrates the profound transformation that occurs when one embraces the Christian faith. It is not about becoming slightly better or adding something extra to one's life; it is about a complete change, a rebirth that only faith in Christ can bring. [03:32]
- The narrative highlights the inadequacy of mere religious observance. The eunuch, despite his religious zeal and moral character, remained unfulfilled. This serves as a reminder that true satisfaction and peace come not from religious rituals but from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. [46:06]
- The eunuch's intellectual, moral, and religious pursuits left him yearning for more. His story challenges us to examine our own lives and question whether we are truly experiencing the transformative power of the Gospel or merely going through religious motions. [27:38]
- The encounter between Philip and the eunuch underscores the importance of understanding the Scriptures. It is through the explanation of the Word that the eunuch comes to faith. This emphasizes the need for guidance and teaching in our spiritual journeys. [43:12]
- The story serves as a powerful reminder of God's grace and mercy. Despite the eunuch's initial ignorance of the Gospel, God orchestrates a divine encounter to reveal the truth to him. This highlights God's desire for all to come to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ. [52:23]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:10] - Introduction to the Ethiopian Eunuch
- [01:55] - The Transformative Power of Christianity
- [03:03] - The Inadequacy of Mere Religion
- [04:37] - The Wisdom of God's Word
- [06:21] - Differences in Conversion Experiences
- [09:27] - Religion vs. True Christianity
- [10:43] - The Greatness of Life
- [13:30] - The Eunuch's Position and Abilities
- [17:03] - The Eunuch's Dissatisfaction
- [19:53] - Intellectual and Moral Dissatisfaction
- [24:38] - The Universal Nature of Religion
- [27:38] - The Eunuch's Conversion to Judaism
- [33:08] - The Law and Moral Guidance
- [37:33] - The Eunuch's Religious Zeal
- [44:14] - The Tragedy of Ignorance
- [52:23] - God's Grace and the Gospel Message
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide: The Transformative Power of the Christian Faith
Bible Reading:
- Acts 8:26-39
---
Observation Questions:
1. What was the Ethiopian eunuch doing when Philip approached him, and what does this reveal about his character? ([00:30])
2. How did the eunuch respond to Philip's question about understanding the Scriptures he was reading? What does this indicate about his spiritual state? ([43:12])
3. What significant change occurred in the eunuch's life after his encounter with Philip, and how is this change described in the sermon? ([01:36])
4. What role did the Holy Spirit play in the encounter between Philip and the eunuch? ([00:47])
---
Interpretation Questions:
1. The sermon suggests that the eunuch's dissatisfaction with his religious practices led him to seek more. How does this reflect the inadequacy of mere religious observance? ([45:33])
2. In what ways does the eunuch's story illustrate the difference between being religious and being truly Christian? ([09:27])
3. How does the sermon describe the importance of understanding the Scriptures in the process of conversion? What does this imply about the role of teaching in the Christian faith? ([05:06])
4. The sermon mentions the eunuch's intellectual, moral, and religious pursuits. How do these pursuits highlight the universal human quest for meaning and truth? ([19:53])
---
Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your own spiritual journey. Are there areas where you feel you are merely going through religious motions rather than experiencing a transformative relationship with Christ? How can you address this? ([45:33])
2. The eunuch's story emphasizes the need for guidance in understanding the Scriptures. Who in your life can you turn to for spiritual guidance, and how can you seek their help this week? ([05:06])
3. Consider the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding Philip to the eunuch. How can you be more open to the Holy Spirit's leading in your daily life? ([00:47])
4. The sermon challenges us to examine whether we are truly experiencing the transformative power of the Gospel. What steps can you take to ensure that your faith is not just a set of rituals but a life-changing relationship with Jesus? ([09:27])
5. The eunuch's dissatisfaction with his previous beliefs led him to seek more. Are there areas in your life where you feel a similar dissatisfaction? How can this be an opportunity for spiritual growth? ([19:53])
6. The sermon highlights the importance of understanding God's grace and mercy. How can you remind yourself of God's grace in your life, especially during challenging times? ([52:23])
7. Reflect on the eunuch's joy after his conversion. How can you cultivate a sense of joy and fulfillment in your relationship with Christ, even amidst life's challenges? ([01:36])
Devotional
Day 1: Transformation Through Faith in Christ
The story of the Ethiopian eunuch illustrates the profound transformation that occurs when one embraces the Christian faith. It is not about becoming slightly better or adding something extra to one's life; it is about a complete change, a rebirth that only faith in Christ can bring. The eunuch, despite his high status and intellectual pursuits, found himself unfulfilled until he encountered the Gospel. This transformation is not a mere adjustment but a radical change in one's heart and life, leading to true fulfillment and joy. The eunuch's journey from dissatisfaction to rejoicing serves as a powerful reminder that true fulfillment and peace are found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. [03:32]
Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV): "To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you feel unfulfilled? How can you invite Christ to transform this area today?
Day 2: Beyond Religious Observance
The narrative highlights the inadequacy of mere religious observance. The eunuch, despite his religious zeal and moral character, remained unfulfilled. This serves as a reminder that true satisfaction and peace come not from religious rituals but from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many people today find themselves in a similar position, engaging in religious activities yet feeling a void within. The eunuch's story challenges us to move beyond rituals and seek a deeper, more meaningful connection with God through Christ. [46:06]
Isaiah 29:13 (ESV): "And the Lord said: 'Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.'"
Reflection: Are there any religious practices you engage in that feel empty? How can you seek a more genuine connection with God today?
Day 3: The Yearning for More
The eunuch's intellectual, moral, and religious pursuits left him yearning for more. His story challenges us to examine our own lives and question whether we are truly experiencing the transformative power of the Gospel or merely going through religious motions. This yearning is a common experience for many who rely solely on religious rituals without encountering the transformative power of the Gospel. The eunuch's journey to Jerusalem and his encounter with Philip highlight the difference between being religious and being truly Christian. [27:38]
Ecclesiastes 1:8 (ESV): "All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."
Reflection: What are you currently pursuing that leaves you feeling unfulfilled? How can you seek fulfillment in Christ instead?
Day 4: Understanding the Scriptures
The encounter between Philip and the eunuch underscores the importance of understanding the Scriptures. It is through the explanation of the Word that the eunuch comes to faith. This emphasizes the need for guidance and teaching in our spiritual journeys. The eunuch's conversion demonstrates that Christianity is not about adhering to a set of rules or rituals but about experiencing a profound inner transformation through faith in Christ. [43:12]
Psalm 119:130 (ESV): "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."
Reflection: How can you deepen your understanding of the Scriptures this week? Is there someone you can ask for guidance or study with?
Day 5: God's Grace and Mercy
The story serves as a powerful reminder of God's grace and mercy. Despite the eunuch's initial ignorance of the Gospel, God orchestrates a divine encounter to reveal the truth to him. This highlights God's desire for all to come to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ. The eunuch's conversion is a testament to the fact that no one is beyond the reach of God's love and grace. It encourages us to trust in God's plan and timing for our own spiritual journeys and those of others. [52:23]
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV): "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."
Reflection: Is there someone in your life who seems far from God? How can you pray for them and trust in God's timing for their spiritual journey?
Quotes
"The story of the Ethiopian eunuch illustrates the profound transformation that occurs when one embraces the Christian faith. It is not about becoming slightly better or adding something extra to one's life; it is about a complete change, a rebirth that only faith in Christ can bring." [00:03:32]
"The narrative highlights the inadequacy of mere religious observance. The eunuch, despite his religious zeal and moral character, remained unfulfilled. This serves as a reminder that true satisfaction and peace come not from religious rituals but from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ." [00:46:06]
"The eunuch's intellectual, moral, and religious pursuits left him yearning for more. His story challenges us to examine our own lives and question whether we are truly experiencing the transformative power of the Gospel or merely going through religious motions." [00:27:38]
"The encounter between Philip and the eunuch underscores the importance of understanding the Scriptures. It is through the explanation of the Word that the eunuch comes to faith. This emphasizes the need for guidance and teaching in our spiritual journeys." [00:43:12]
"The story serves as a powerful reminder of God's grace and mercy. Despite the eunuch's initial ignorance of the Gospel, God orchestrates a divine encounter to reveal the truth to him. This highlights God's desire for all to come to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ." [00:52:23]
"Now this is one of these great New Testament Stories the Bible amongst other things has its incomparable stories and this is one of these great and marvelous and wonderful stories it's a story of course which shows us the essential nature of the Christian message of what it does what it sets out to do and how it does it it shows us therefore the character of the Christian Life and the effect that becoming Christian has upon any individual or any group of individuals in the world and the thing of course that strikes us at once is the great and marvelous change that took place in this men's entire circumstances from being a miserable and a very unhappy man he became a man who was filled with a spirit of rejoicing and went on his way rejoicing now this is the great thing that is established by this famous story it reminds us at once you see that the Christian Life is something profound and that when a man becomes a Christian the truth about him is not simply that he's a little bit better than he was before or that he's been modified somewhat or that he's been improved a little or that he's added something extra onto what he'd got before it just shows us that those ideas of what it is to be a Christian are totally and completely inadequate what it does is to change a men completely and that is why the Bible talks about regeneration or rebirth or being created a new no other term is adequate to describe this great and wonderful change that takes place in a man when he becomes a Christian well now that's the sort of thing that we've got in this story and thank God we've got it for we are living in an age when there are strange and curious Notions current with regard to what Christianity is with regard to what it means to be a Christian some seem to have the impression that it's mainly a question of backing Britain at least they seem to be preaching on that theme today as if that were Christianity but here you see we are given the true the genuine and the real thing and thank God I say that we have such records which we can consider together now we ought to thank God that he ever caused his servant Luke to write this book and to give us details such as this has it ever occur to you to ask that question why have you got a story like this why do they take the trouble to enter into all these details well you see this is the wisdom of God there were misunderstandings current at the very beginning with regard to Christianity and they've increased since then so God not merely gives us the truth in the form of Doctrine or of teaching he gives us these examples and practical illustrations so that we are left without any excuse at all we are given the story of how it happened to one particular man like this you see the Bible doesn't just say that if a man believes in Christ he becomes a Christian we know from practice and from experience that there are difficulties and obstacles and many things that well thank God here we given a case like this and we can follow it and follow it from step to step and Stage to stage and discover exactly what it is now here I say we are dealing with one particular case and it is right that we should do so but remember all cases are not identical what I mean by that is this there are different types of persons and they become Christians in detail in different ways different types of temperament different backgrounds different abilities there are all these extraordinary differences but and this is the thing I really want to emphasize in the greatest cenal centralities they're all the same I'm simply making this point for this reason that I've known people to be in trouble sometimes with regard to these matters because they hav had exactly the experience of somebody else whom they knew I once knew a Christian father who was a real hindrance to his own son because he wasn't satisfied that his son was a Christian at all because his son hadn't had in detail the experience he had and he said to me on one occasion when I was talking to him to try to get him to cease hindering his own son he said you know he hasn't had the the Mascus Road experience I said why should he have it I said that's not the test we're not concerned so much as to how man becomes a Christian as to whether he is a Christian that's the question and so you will find that while there are these particular differences in the details of how it happens to a man how it comes to him there are certain things that are Absolut and are always present and those are the things that rarely met for us nevertheless it is interesting to observe these differences because as you do so you will find that you in particular are helped by one rather than by another and that is why God has provided these different types for us in order that somewhere or another and somewhere or another taking them all together we are all covered and we are all helped even in connection with the details so I'm calling attention to this for these great reasons that we may examine ourselves in the light of this that we may know exactly whether the essentials are true of us not so much the details as the great Essentials these things are written for our instruction we need to examine ourselves every man who thinks he's a Christian is not a Christian there are strange ideas as I say as to what makes a man a Christian so we've got to examine ourselves we got to make sure this is the most vital thing in the whole of life this is the thing determines not only how we live in this world but how we die and how we going to spend that unknown eternity we can't afford to take rest let's examine ourselves in the light of the teaching that we find here in connection with this particular man now here we've got I say a very definite type if you like you can call him the intellectual type the moral type the religious type of person that's what we are going to look at so that as we study the case of this men and his conversion of how he became a Christian in addition to discovering these great Essentials as I call them we shall incidentally be discovering something else and this is the thing that I want to emphasize in particular tonight this is too great a case to deal with in one night but I want to deal with this one particular thing here is a case above every other in a sense that shows us the difference between being religious and being Christian now that's a very vital distinction in many ways the greatest enemy of Christianity is religion I don't care what type of religion it is it was the greatest obstacle in our Lord's own time his greatest antagonists were the religious people the Pharisees the scribes the s es the doctors of the law these were the people who opposed the apostles this has ever been throughout the centuries the great trouble so there is nothing more vital than that we should know beyond any doubt or per Adventure this evening as to whether we are just religious or whether we are truly Christian this is the most vital thing we can ever discover about ourselves very well this man's going to help us to do do so now what do we find here well there is one General point I want to make before I come to the details of this men's character can you read a story like this without being impressed by the greatness of Life what a tremendous thing life is look at this men Great Men there he is going home in the condition I'm going to unfold you and yet Everything Changes what a tremendous thing life is what issues are involved what a problem life is now this man shows us all that quite clearly and what a serious thing life is and what glorious possibilities there are in life I was dealing with this in introducing this whole subject last Sunday evening you remember the angel suddenly appearing and dealing with Phillip the men at the most unexpected moment in the most unexpected Place suddenly being confronted by the very teacher he needs and the great and glorious transformation in the whole of his life oh what a tremendous thing life is the greatest tragedy I believe at this moment in this world is the failure of so many people to realize the greatness of life just think how the average person is spending this very evening what are they doing don't you see the triviality of it all the superficiality that is so characteristic of it all you see the trouble is not only that they're not Christian but they don't realize what a tremendous thing life is it's a joke it's something you can dismiss with a sneer something you can be sarcastic and clever about what a debased view of life no no if I were not a Christian at all I should protest against this life's not a joke not something to be dismissed with a quicker a s or a bit of cleverness if this story does nothing else it will enable us to look at a great man who realized what a tremendous thing life is and what a great thing it is to live and the whole problem of existence it here on the very surface and you see this is the note that is so characteristic of the Bible from beginning to end there is no book in the world that gives such an impression of the bigness and the profundity of life as this book of God and that's why we must read it and pay attention to it and try TR together to understand it very well here it is well now let's begin to look at the details let's look at this man where is there in that Chariot what sort of man was he well I say the first thing that strikes about him is that he's obviously a man in a great position he's riding in a chariot perhaps surrounded by other chariots certainly surrounded by another a number of servants because he was a very great man and he was in a very great position he was a man we are told of great Authority Under this queen of the Ethiopians and he had charge of all her treasure now you know in those ancient courts there were these various coural and there was this type of men that generally was given this highest position kind of Chancellor to the ex cheer if you like or even more important than that in those days to him had been entrusted this great charge in connection with that particular Kingdom you're immediately impressed by the fact therefore that you're dealing with a very big man and a very great man and a very important man but that of course tells us other things about him at once and the other thing is that he was obviously a very able man you didn't get into such a position unless You' got ability he gives further proof of his ability by the fact that he's able to read everybody couldn't read them but here's a man who even in those days was able to read he's unable men an intelligent men an educated men he's a man quite out of the ordinary in the gifts and the propensities and the faculties that he possesses in addition to that it is quite clear that he is a moral man a man of good character no man was ever put into this position unless he was a reliable character a man of upright moral straight deals a man who could be trusted he was handing great wealth and he was put into that position because it was known that he was the sort of men whom you could trust his character was well known and he was well known as a man of wisdom judgment balance utter honesty absolute reliability now there he is all that is quite clear with in just these little glimpses that we're given here in this kind of Cameo that Luke paints to such Perfection but you've got to search for these things and see them realize the sort of men you're dealing with well now he was that sort of man and in this position obviously he was living the kind of life that people of this type and of this character and of this position lived in the courts in those ancient days you've read about these in history books you've read about them in story books you've read about seen them perhaps on the television the life of a typical ancient Court in the first century it had its interests it had its kind of culture it had its drinking and its dancing and its feasting and all these things the typical life of a court a court today a court then even more magnificent than than now well now here a man who there is that's the kind of man you're looking at but you see there are so many things that I can tell you about as men and the first thing I have to tell you about him is that he was dissatisfied with all that he was unhappy he'd got this ability and he knew it men of ability know theyve got it it's a part of their ability to know it and he knew it and his position told it and yet you see with all his ambition and his high position and his ability and all these things this man was unhappy dissatisfied how do I know that well I know that in this way this man remember is an Ethiopian but I'm told that he had come to Jerusalem for to worship what does that mean well tells me immediately that this man had become a proelite Jew it ceased to be a pagan and he had taken up the Jews religion had become a proelite and so he was had been up to Jerusalem and was now returning because he had been up to Jerusalem to worship God after the manner and the teaching of the Jews now this is a tremendous fact and we must realize the significance of this here is a man brought up in paganism a pagan by birth brought up in a pagan culture and tradition and background there is his position but he's not happy he's dissatisfied and he had become so dissatisfied with it that he had forsaken it and it had probably been done at considerable risk but many had done it in that ancient world and he had become a practicing Jew now the great question confronting us is this why did he do this he's not the only one who did it I deliberately read to you at the beginning that section out of the 17th chapter of the book of The Acts of the Apostles in order that I might give you the great illustration and example and teaching concerning this very matter because there you see we are shown exactly the same thing the Pagan world was a very big world the Jews this little Nation this little people were a great exception in that ancient world they were surrounded by pagans in different stages and degrees of paganism from the most primitive to the most cultured and exalted such as you found in Greece in ethens of all places in the philosophers and the stoics and the epical Realms well now here is a man obviously who can be compared very readily with those Athenians because he's a man as I say of ability and understanding of knowledge and of training and you see what we are told about him is what we are told about those Athenians that with all they had they were dissatisfied did you notice that pregnant statement about the Athenians we are told for all the Athenians and the strangers that were there did nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing why were they always interested Ed in something new there's only one answer they were not satisfied with what they had the people are always rushing about the latest Cult of the latest teaching they're always betraying themselves and telling us that they're dissatisfied with what they've got and so they were in essence there was this profound dissatisfaction and this man shared it in what respects were they dissatisfied well there was obviously intellectual dissatisfaction you see this is the old kind of philosophy isn't it they found themselves in this world and they found it a world of contradictions and of problems and of difficulties and they try to understand it try to understand men try to understand life try to understand death try to understand history and they grappled with their great minds with all these problems they divided up into rival schools but all together they couldn't arrive it it ended with a question they were great at asking questions philosophers always are the tragedy with a philosopher is that he can never answer them he's very good at propounding them and he can see the weakness in the other men's Theory but all end on the same level they don't know intellectual dissatisfaction and so when a strange teacher turned up as Paul did on that occasion in Athens they crowded around to hear him what will this beler say they were traveling teachers they went around put up their standing and then they began to speak you see and they they were listening ah you got something new what is this this is strange what is this new doctrine this oh what a perfect description it is of this modern world all the cleverness and the interest and the excitement how intriguing they say and they Rush from one to the other I say let me say it again your television gives you this almost every night certainly three nights a week regularly but almost every the night of the week this apparent interest and excitement about the new it's a manifestation of intellectual bankruptcy they don't know so they Rush after the latest teacher and the latest novelty But Not only was there intellectual dissatisfaction there was moral dissatisfaction there's men like any intelligent men looking on at the life of the C could see the utter superficiality of it all the Glamour and the glitter and the supposed sophistication what a f it is what a mask it is they're not people they put on the mask and the affectation but all the sin that accompanied it the dishonesty the shiken it his men in his position he saw it all he knew it all he knew the private accounts of so many of these people and there he saw it and he saw through it and he was disgusted with it and then when you saw it on the lower levels the Deery the drunkenness the sexual orgies and all the fness the perversions and everything he saw it all he knew all about it I need keep you it's all described in many notable passages in the New Testament you needn't even go there read your newspapers and there you'll find it look at your television you'll see it that was the life he saw it in he was disgusted but yes the question was still how to overcome it how to get out of it oh is there no rule he said is there no conduct is there no C he was searching for something for a liberating word he was searching for moral power moral Dynamic something that could stand between him and ever falling into the same sin the man wanted moral Liberation he couldn't find it in all his Pagan teaching and all the law of the society in which he'd been brought up and in the same way and Beyond it all there was a religious dissatisfaction because he was religious everybody's religious there's no such thing as an IR religious person every man is a God and he worships him see this is the truth about religion there's no such thing as an irreligious person you know how in the ancient world they had all sorts of gods some of course beli there were Spirits in in trees and even in Stones others worshiped the sun and the moon and the stars others had created gods for themselves Bale and these various other gods Jupiter mercurious Mars God of Peace god of war god of love as Paul tells those Athenians he observed that they were too superstitious which means literally translated to religious he found Athens literally cluttered up with temples and in these temples they worshiped their various gods and they took their offerings and their sacrifices to them now this man had been doing all this we don't know exactly what kind of paganism he had and what kind of God he worshiped but all we do know is this that he'd seen through it all he'd seen the vanity of it all he knew these Gods didn't exist that there were mere figments of men's imaginations that they had no reality they had no power they had no being as those false gods that challenged and met Elijah you remember on the Mount Carmel in their hour of need when they cried out unto their gods there was no reply there was dead silence there is no Bale there is no such thing there is no Idol it's all the creation of man's mind and Imagination this man had seen through it all the vanity of idolatry the vanity of paganism he was looking for a god worthy of his worship you see they were doing it in Athens you remember that interesting and fascinating statement that made in that 17th chapter of Acts that Paul not only saw that they were too religious but he was particularly attracted by this one Temple all the temples had got the name of the god over the door poost Jupiter mer mercurious Mars and so on but here's the place the unknown God what does this mean oh this is the attempt of the Greek philosophers to find the god that's at the back of all the gods they knew it they said our gods are not adequate they don't explain sufficiently there is a God behind them all there is a Divinity that shapes our ends of few them how we may there is a power over the powers and they were seeking for him if happily they might seek after him and find him but they couldn't that was exactly the position of this men all he had didn't satisfy either intellectually morally or religiously and so he had done something about it and what he had done about it as I've reminded you is that he had become a Jew he had become a Jewish proelite he was as I say men from Ethiopia not a Jew but he'd become a Jew he taken this great step many had taken it about the same time there were numbers of these Jewish prelit at that very time there were numbers of them in Egypt it was for them in particular that the Old Testament had been translated into Greek in the sep gent translation these were pagans who had become Jews that turn to the Jewish teaching and to the Jewish religion this men had done that what does this mean well you see see this had meant a great transformation in his life as I've told you he's a serious man he is a man who's concerned about his existence and about his life and what the as to what the meaning of it all is how is he going to meet death what lies Beyond he wants to know he can't get satisfaction here is a teaching which seems to him to be satisfactory what is the teaching he's taken up well it is the typical teaching of the Jews the teaching if you like of the Old Testament the teaching of the Jews at the time of John the Baptist and of Our Lord the teaching of the Jews that was still current at this very time in Jerusalem where he'd been visiting he'd undergone a great change in the matter of his belief therefore and from believing in a multiplicity of gods he now has come to see that there is only one true and living God here is the explanation he's been seeking here is the answer to the problem what is the truth well it is this great truth that is stated at the beginning of the book of Genesis in the beginning God created there were theories about the origin of life in this time remember there's nothing new about that these ancient philosophers had speculated a great deal with regard to the origin of life even as people who believe the theory of evolution is still doing it today they are just reverting to this old speculation and theorizing with regard to the explanation of these things but the Jew was unique and separately he said dogmatically he' received a revelation this was the thing about the Jew that differentiated him the Jew was not a philosopher the Greeks were the philosophers the Jew didn't claim to be a philosopher they were a simple people an agricultural people what made them unique ah what made them unique was this they said we've got a revelation we haven't thought out we haven't arrived at conclusions we haven't been investigating and examining God has spoken to us we know nothing apart from what we have received and their teaching was therefore that this true and living God had made the world and all that is in it you see the very teaching that Paul expanded to those Athenians he began by telling them God dwelleth not in temples made with hens you are God's do they can be put even into a box because there's nothing there but God can't be confined why he's made everything and all things consist and subsist as the result of the word of his power not only that they taught that this God who was overall and who made everything men included very especially or he made made in his own image and likeness and therefore this man is has got a new conception of man an exalted one which links him in this way with the Everlasting and true God further other went on to say that this great God had got a purpose and a plan with respect to life in this world and that whatever men may have done and they could review the history this men was the sort of men who' know the history that whatever men might be doing in governments and clashes and wars and cabinet changes and all the new Arrangements whatever men might do like that was ultimately irrelevant that what really mattered was this great purpose of God and the Jew was able to show this by taking people through his own history he was forever telling people and reminding himself of how God had created him as a nation out of that one man Abraham and he done so because as he said to Abraham in thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed at last there is a light there is a purpose God is behind it all God is bringing his great purposes to pass this was the teaching the Jews claimed a uniqueness they said we've got a message Paul you remember putting it to the Romans in the third chapter puts it like this he he raises the question he says if you somebody says to him if you Paul are saying that the Jew need salvation as much as the Gentile what what advantage then has the Jew oh says Paul much every way because unto him was given the Oracles of God that's the Old Testament the word of God this great light on God and his purpose now this man had come to see this and to believe this not only that you see at last he has found he thinks the guidance that he needed in a moral respect he wants to know how to live all the Greek philosophers had speculated but it was a notorious fact that their lives were loose they were disate sexual perversions were commonest amongst the philosophers even as suicide was to be found in a higher percentage in proportion amongst them than any other single section of society some of the most terrible things happened amongst them even in their very temples do men isai had not only become dissatisfied he longed for a way of life he longed for a rule for a law at last he finds it the law of God this same God this holy just righteous God has given to the nation of Israel the Jews through Moses he's got it the Ten Commandments the first table the second table only one God he alone is to be worshiped mustn't bow down to any Graven image mustn't take the name of this God in vain you must respect the day that he's appointed for himself one in seven is to be given to him second de Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not bear false witness Etc honor thy father and mother oh says this man this is the very thing I've been looking for here is morality here is the way to live here is Holiness he Justice he's righteousness he couldn't find it anywhere at last he hears of it here and he accepts it he becomes a Jew this is the way to live keeping the ten commandments so he had become a Jew and likewise with regard to worship he seen through that other way and at last he's told what he regards as the only true way God has got to be worshiped by means of sacrifices God has got to be approached with reverence and godly fear you've got to have a priesthood and a high priest over them all and there are rules and regulations lambs have got to be offered hands have got to be placed on the head of Bullocks and they been got to be killed the blood's got to be taken it's got to be sprinkled before an ark and present it to God burnt offerings sacrifices meal offerings this is the only way to approach God man the ordinary men must stay in that outer Court the priests can go a little bit further to the holy place then there's a veil and the holiest of all and only the high priest can enter and even he only once a year and he can't go in except with blood and it's a momentous thing when he does will he come out this holy God this shakina Glory that shines down upon it all here is the way of worship and he recognizes it and he submits to it the priesthood and the sacrifices the Tabernacle and the temple and all the ceremonial and the Jewish way of worship described in the Old Testament and in the new and so he taken up all this he' ceased to be a pagan he'd become a Jew and he was living with all his might this kind of life not eating certain types of meat observing certain special days certain festivals submitting to the regulations washing hands pentious when you come from the market before you sit down to eat tithing mint and R and Anis and coming washing cups and pots and pens 614 regular ations and doing his utmost to keep them and to carry them out punctiliously that's what had happened to him the man had ceased to be a pagan and had become a Jew but I want to show you something further about him he not only had taken this up in a kind of perun manner he had taken it up with great thoroughness have you observed the Zeal of this man he was a highly religious man he didn't have his religion as it were just on Sunday or in a bag no no this man's whole life was involved this was the biggest thing in his whole existence he was a highly religious man I can give you proof of that he'd gone up to Jerusalem the events of 6 months ago should have put you right on your geography if not read it again look up your atlases it was a long journey especially in in those days and a very hazardous Journey it involved a lot of absence from his work and from his office didn't matter he must go there you see he wasn't satisfied even now he wants further instruction he wants further knowled there are authorities up there in Jerusalem which he can't find in Ethiopia he wants to go to the headquarters he wants to listen to the greatest Pharisee Cel was one of them and Hill was another ah he says if I can only listen to these they'll give me something more so he takes this hazardous and difficult journey in order to find yet something further because though he's changed his religion and has taken this up with great thoroughness still he's aware of further need he hasn't found rest he hasn't found peace so he takes his journey up to a festival a religious Festival in Jerusalem and on top of all that he does another thing he takes this vital step of buying a copy of a certain part of the scriptures he bought a copy of the book of The Prophet Isaias you see as I say he was an able man and he was able to read and he said to himself well of course I haven't the advantage that people living in Jerusalem have of of hearing these great authorities whenever I like Su by Sunday and weekdays and of going to them and putting my questions I'll buy their very scriptures the scriptures they expire I'll read them for myself I'll study them you see the man he's taking it all so desperately seriously he realizes the M momentous character of these things he wants the answer he wants light he wants knowledge he wants peace and so he takes these vital steps and yet you see the picture we are confronted with it's that of a man in trouble it's that of a man who's terribly burdened the whole picture conveys that to us now the details are really very interesting and important here he had deliberately chosen to go home by the desert road I reminded you last Sunday night many of you most of you perhaps that there were two roads which he could have chosen to go home from Jerusalem he deliberately chose the desert route there was another route that didn't go through a desert way he deliberately chooses the desert route why do you think he did that I have no difficulty at all in answering the question he wanted time to think he was a big man and an important man and if he'd gone on the other Road wherever he stopped over a meal or to refresh himself people that have come and have talked to him and have gossiped with him asked his question on polit his opinion on itical questions and various other things and he didn't want it others would have been anxious to entertain him and to make a fuss of him because of his greatness and his great position would have considered an anano to do so he didn't want it he didn't want the ulation of men he didn't want their praise he didn't want their conversation and their chitchat all of this to him was irrelevant and unimportant oh the great question of the soul and of God and of Eternity he chooses the desert road to have peace and rest from all the noise and clatter and chatter of the world and its trivialities because he was in trouble because he's not at rest because in spite of visiting Jerusalem he still hasn't got satisfaction and I further see this in this extraordinary thing that even while traveling in his Chariot he was reading the scriptures couldn't wait until he got home let us start at once he's only just left Jerusalem doesn't matter this is the burden this is the problem he's in an Agony of Soul he's looking for something he can't find he's changed his religion he's got better things than he'd ever had before but still he can't find the rest and the peace so he starts reading the scriptures he's bought even on the way home traveling through the desert way he's got more time to come it and don't you see this trouble and this burdened condition even in his very voice and his accent his Tes Philip runs to him and puts his famous question understand as though what th readest and he said how can I except some men guide me do you hear the note of Despair do you hear the note of hopelessness the the man's in real trouble he's still seeking he's still dissatisfied in spite of all that he has done there's the position have I been dishonest in handling it can you show me my error there isn't any these are the sheer facts staring Us in the face as we look at this man but now I want to call your attention as I close to the tragedy of his position the tragedy of this man of course was nothing but the tragedy of all the Jews who rejected the gospel this is the great tragedy he a man who just been up to Jerusalem and he goes home as hopeless as he was when he went up where's the tragedy the tragedy is this something had already happened in Jerusalem which had the full and the perfect and the complete answer to his every question and to his every need but he hasn't heard it in Jerusalem just outside the wall of the city the thing had happened which would give complete satisfaction he knows nothing about it that I say was the trouble with all the Jews had this man now this is a bit of interesting speculation do you think he'd heard about the Lord Jesus Christ on his visit to Jerusalem we don't know but we can be fairly sure of this as a Jewish proelite he would have turned in circles where if the name of Jesus had been mentioned at all it was mentioned simply to be criticized to be denounced to be dismissed as a blasphemer to be rejected and he had undoubtedly accepted such teaching and the result of this is that he goes back to his own as dejected and as troubled and as dissatisfied as he was when he left his home what is this oh my dear friend this is just the tragedy of all people who are merely religious it is one of the most perfect descriptions in the whole of the scripture of the tragedy of the religious men now what is it well I'll put it to you in a few words the Apostle Paul has said it all there in Romans 10 he says look at my fellow countrymen I bear them record that they have a Zeal of God but not according to knowledge they were most zealous they were most Keen they were most pentious but he says it's not according to knowledge they're in ignorance they haven't got the light the only thing that can give them satisfaction Zeal without knowledge is the greatest waste of energy it is your fly and there he says there are trusting to their own righteousness listen to his great words Brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a Zeal of God but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God what does he mean well what he means is this here they are he says half killing them elves with all their rules and regulations and offerings and sacrifices and hair cutting and sweating and all the rest that is involved and they don't realize that it's all utterly useless they going about to establish their own righteousness why do they do that because they are ignorant of the righteousness of God this is the this was the argument of the the Jew this was the position of this Ethiopian unic this is the position of all religious people they say if only I say my prayers regularly if only I go to church regularly and of course if I go very early in the morning it's so much better than the people who only go at 11:00 if I don't do certain things if I do good if I evade certain sins if I give certain amount of money if I do this that and the other if I'm religious and zealous then I will satisfy God they going about to establish their own righteousness and what a business it is all expressed in this expression going about compassing Hill and land and sea and Hill and Veil doing all these things but it's all utterly useless they are ignorant of God's righteousness what do God demand of us is your bit of religion and M enough to satisfy God is your morality sufficient to put you in the presence of the Holy and the absolute and the Eternal no no what do he demand well the Ten Commandments have told you you see there is all the difference in the world between accepting the Ten Commandments with your mind and living them Paul tells us that doesn't he he thought he was keeping the Commandments perfectly and then he understood the meaning of the word covet and he suddenly found he never kept them at all it isn't a matter of law it isn't a matter of externalities it is a matter of negativities God says here it is Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength God demands absolute perfection and if a man fails in one detail of the law he's failed in it all they didn't know that and it was because they didn't know what God demanded in terms of righteousness that they were in their Folly going about to establish their own righteousness and it can't be done and this poor Ethiopian has rely discovered it he's got new knowledge he's got higher knowledge but it doesn't put him right he's failing he can't do it not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law are justified in God's sight and so that brings us to the final tragedy of these people this Paul Ethiopian unic and all the Jews who thought as he now thought here is the Supreme tragedy of this that going about to establish their own righteousness and half killing themselves they refuse the offer of God's righteousness in Jesus Christ his son that's what this poor man was doing that's what philli went on to explain to him and I hope to have the privilege of explaining it to you all he was searching for was available he didn't know it at this point but there's a man just around the corner a simple man called philli not a great man not holding a high and exalted position a m nobody he knows he's got the answer if the poor Ethiopian he doesn't do it he's in trouble he's reading he's trying to understand and he can't he soundless in aony he doesn't know there's the answer there's no need to ascend into the heaven there's no need to go down Into the Depths the word is n even in thy mouth and in thine heart if Thou shalt believe on this Jesus justification by faith only this blessed message that God has done for us what we could never do for ourselves that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life every man will perish apart from him he is the only way of Salvation man's righteousness is Never Enough we need a righteousness from God and God is provided it in his own son and he offers it us as a free gift here's the tragedy of the Ethiopian unac he's been up to Jerusalem but he hasn't met the Christian Church they've got everything he needs oh but God is a god of love and of mercy and of compassion and with all the effort and the striving and the journey of this men had not discovered God sent to him by sending his servant with a simple glorious message believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and th shall be saved the poor Pagan is hopeless the Jew better position is still hopeless there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile for all of sinned and come short of the glory of God my dear friend the question for you is simply this have you got as far as this Ethiopian unic could got are you serious or are you dancing and Wasing and drinking and dragging your way through life have you seen the bigness of the possibilities have you considered the problem do you know there's a soul in you that's Immortal have you faced it as this men faced it this is the way have you come to this I say have you done the things that this man has done even this isn't enough but have you done anything have you realized your precarious position before the holy God before whom you'll have to stand do you know anything about eternal torment and the damn na of Hell how are you living are you ready to die are you ready to face God look at this man look at this story follow him emulating and be as ready as he was to listen to The Glorious message of Salvation in Jesus Christ Our Lord" [00:00:10]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from May 24, 2017. Do you have any questions about it?