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Acts Study #29: Philip shared the Gospel of Christ with the Ethiopian eunuch who had been saved under the Old Covenant (Acts 8:26 - 40)
Hechos Estudio #29: Felipe compartió el Evangelio de Cristo con el eunuco etíope que había sido salvado bajo el Antiguo Pacto (Hechos 8:26 - 40)
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“This is the work of Jehovah! It is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23
Acts, Chapter 1.4: The salvation of Saul of Tarsus: a devout, but false Jew under the Old Covenant (8:5 - 9:31)
§Unique Introduction: Philip and the apostles Peter and John destroyed the evil influence of Simon Magus among the Samaritans with the Gospel (8:5 - 25)
¶Opposite Philip won many Samaritans to the Lord Jesus, and away from the evil influence of the Simon the Magician (8:5 - 13)
¶Opposite Peter uncompromisingly rebuked the wicked attempt of Simon to bribe the apostles for the power to give the Holy Spirit (8:14 - 25)
§Complement Body: Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for his Name’s sake (8:26 - 9:22)
¶Opposite Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant (8:26 - 35)
¶Opposite After baptizing the completed Christian Jew, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (8:36 - 40)
¶Complement Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was blinded by the experience (9:1 - 9)
¶Complement The Lord Jesus Christ sent Ananias to baptize Saul and restore his sight (9:10 - 19a)
¶Unique Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, and proved that Jesus is the Christ (9:19b - 22)
§Complement Conclusion: Saul suffered persecution by his former allies at Damascus and Jerusalem (9:23 - 31)
¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Damascus, he met with the apostles in Jerusalem (9:23 - 28)
¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Jerusalem, the churches of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were strengthened and multiplied (9:29 - 31)
Comments: We continue our study of Acts Chapter 1.4 with the first two paragraphs of the Body Section, which is all about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
§Complement Body: Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for his Name’s sake (8:26 - 9:22)
¶Opposite Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant (8:26 - 35)
Unique And the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise; and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert.” And he arose, and went.
Complement And, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning; and sitting in his chariot, he read Isaiah the Prophet.
Complement Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” And Philip ran there to him; and he heard him read the Prophet Isaiah; and he said, “Do you understand what you read?” And he said, “How can I, unless some man should guide me?” And he asked Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Opposite The place of the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb silent before his shearer, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.”
Opposite And the eunuch answered Philip, and he said, “I ask you, of whom does the Prophet speak this? Of himself, or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
¶Opposite After baptizing the completed Christian Jew, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (8:36 - 40)
Opposite And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water; and the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me to be baptized?” And 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.”
Opposite And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they both went down into the water: both Philip, and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
Complement And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, so that the eunuch saw him no more;
Complement And he went on his way rejoicing.
Unique But Philip was found at Azotus; and passing through, he preached in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
The story is a simple one, but it teaches us some very important truths about the Christian faith.
The angel of God and the Holy Spirit guided Philip to meet a special man on the road, a Gentile convert to the Jewish faith from Ethiopia (today an area in Sudan), so that Philip might preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him.
This man readily accepted the truth that Jesus was the Son of God who died for his sins and rose again from the dead; and he professed this belief to Philip, and asked to be baptized in water.
Obviously, Philip had presented not only the Gospel of Christ, but the importance of taking a public stand for Jesus by being baptized in deep water as a testimony of his faith; and he was ready to do it.
So Philip led the man into the deep water and baptized, or immersed him in the water as a public profession of his faith in Jesus Christ.
Afterward, the Holy Spirit caught Philip away, and the man returned to Ethiopia, rejoicing in his new faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Here are some additional important truths in this passage that are rarely discussed in sermons.
1) The Holy Spirit guided Philip to meet this man on the road from Jerusalem in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t tell Philip why he should go or what he would do when he got there, but Philip, as a trained servant of the Lord, obeyed the Holy Spirit and went. This is an important lesson for all believers, but especially for those mature believers who are actively serving the Lord in some way: Obey the leading of the Holy Spirit!
God had a “divine appointment” for Philip with this man on the roadside. What would have happened if Philip had hardened his heart and said, “No! I’m too busy. Why don’t you bother someone else, Lord?”? None of what happened in this passage would have happened. Countless millions of people have been blessed and learned great Scriptural truths from this passage for almost 2,000 years, so they and us would not be able to learn from this wonderful experience of Philip.
Also, no doubt this man took his faith with him to his native land, and told others about Jesus Christ. Those people would never have trusted in Christ and been saved!
When God leads you to tell someone about Christ, DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT OF GOD. There is a great reason for God moving you to witness to that person, and you have no idea what it might be; but God knows, and God just wants you to obey and tell that person how to be saved. I have had many “divine appointments”, and I failed the Lord in some of them; but the ones that I obeyed the Spirit to share the Gospel had some wonderful results. Someday I will share some of them with you.
2) This man was not from the nation in Africa known today as Ethiopia, but rather from the kingdom of Kush, in the area that today is called Sudan. Tradition says that his name was Simeon Bachos.
3) There were countless thousands of individual men and women and children who accepted Jesus as their Savior in the Book of Acts. I believe that God wanted to showcase this particular man in his Word because he was from Africa, and most likely a black man.
Did you know that God loves everyone and wants everyone to be saved? It doesn’t matter what your skin color is, or your nationality, or whether you are rich or poor, powerful or weak: Jesus loves you and died for YOUR SINS on the cross. If He didn’t love you, then why would he suffer your Hell on the cross in your place?
1 Timothy 2:3-6: “for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved, and to come into the knowledge of the Truth: for there is only one God, and only one Mediator between God and men: the Man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all mankind, to be testified in due time.”
“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world; red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world”
4) This man was a convert to the Jewish faith under the Old Covenant, with experience in studying the Scriptures. He was probably in his thirties, at least, and possibly more, because he was a high official in his nation with a lot of responsibility; my guess is that he was probably in his forties, or even more.
Because of these things, I believe that this man was one of many in the Book of Acts who were already saved when they heard the Gospel of Christ.
The Jews at the Day of Pentecost were already believers in Jehovah when they heard the Gospel preached by Peter in Acts 2:14-40, and Peter didn’t ask them to “pray a prayer to receive Christ as their Savior”, because they were already believers in Jehovah under the Old Covenant! Peter only said they should “Repent; and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ as a sign of the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38)
In the same way, Philip is not recorded as leading the Eunuch in a prayer to receive Christ, because he was already a believer, who had trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel, under the Old Covenant, BEFORE the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Under the Old Covenant, those who believed in Jehovah, the God of Israel, professed their faith in Jehovah with the required sin offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem. Christ was not known in those days, so God only required faith in Him and obedience to his command to offer the required animal sacrifices for their sins in the Temple according to the Law of Moses.
Anyone who trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel in this way was “accepted” with Jehovah: their sins were forgiven and covered with the blood of the animal sacrifice until the sacrifice of Christ on the cross terminated the practice of animal sacrifices permanently.
Never again was there any need for anyone to offer an animal sacrifice to God for their sins: Jesus the Son of God had come and offered Himself as a once-for-all-time Atonement on the cross for all mankind.
Hebrews 9:27-28: “And as it is appointed to men once to die (but after this the Judgment), so also Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time apart from sin unto salvation.”
But after Jesus died on the cross, the Way into the Holy of Holies in the Temple was shut:
Matthew 27:50 - 51: “Then Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit. And, behold, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom”
If someone came with an animal sacrifice to Jehovah from that time forward, they would not be accepted with God any longer. The only Way to God was through Jesus Christ:
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
So therefore, during the Book of Acts, there were many Jews and converts to the Jewish faith under the Old Covenant who had not yet heard of Jesus and his once-for-all-time sacrifice on the cross for our sins. The will of God for these children of God under the Old Covenant was for them to turn to Christ, and believe in Him, instead of continuing their previous practices of animal sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Their sins were forgiven already, and their home was in Heaven; however, if they refused to trust in Christ and obey the command of the Gospel to repent and trust in Christ, the anger of God would be fierce against them, and they would lose some of their reward in Eternity:
Hebrews 10:26 - 31: “For if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses’ Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God; and has counted the blood of the Covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
For we know him that has said, “‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay,’ says [Jehovah].” And again, “[Jehovah] shall judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
So my point is this: the Ethiopian Eunuch was a believer in Jehovah; he did not need to “pray a prayer” to receive Christ, because he was a child of God already under the Old Covenant. His only need was to believe in Christ, and put the Old Covenant behind him for good, which he did.
Therefore, it is wrong for us today to use what the eunuch did as a model for us. There are many liberal churches who will do the following when a person decides to “become a Christian”: they stand in front of the church members and say “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”; then, they are baptized (usually sprinkled with water, not truly baptized), and they are accepted as “Christians” in that church.
But when we look in detail at who the eunuch was (he was already a believer, not a lost man), we can see that using his profession of faith in Jesus as a model for us today is completely wrong. NO ONE WILL EVER BE SAVED BY REPEATING THE WORDS OF THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. This is NOT the Way to be saved, because the eunuch was not saved by saying “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God”; he was already saved, and was only moving onward from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant; and therefore, he became a completed Jew in Jesus Christ. No one can do this today, not even a Jew, because the Old Covenant was two thousand years ago; and no one alive today has lived that long.
So if you believe that you were “saved” by standing in front of the church membership and saying “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God”, I have bad news for you: you were not saved, and you are still lost and going to Hell; you are not a Christian yet.
I’m sorry to say it, because literally millions of people have done this in liberal denominational churches in the United States; and probably around the world as well. They believe that they are saved and going to Heaven; but, by following the example of the Ethiopian Eunuch in professing Christ as the Son of God, they have believed in a false gospel that cannot save anyone. They are still in their sins.
The true Gospel is found in the letter of Romans:
“But what does it say? “The Word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart”; that is to say, the Word of faith (which we preach), that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes into righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made into salvation: for the Scripture says, “Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him: for [it is written], “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13
The Gospel of Christ is to “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead”; and, following that belief in your heart, to “call upon the Name of the Lord”, and you shall be saved.
In 1982, I came to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that God had raised Him from the dead. I didn’t know much about the Bible other than those two things. I had come to this faith in Jesus Christ as a result of several months of witnessing from a Born-again, Bible-believing Christian who cared about my soul and wanted me to be saved, like he had been saved. He gave me gospel tracts and books about the Bible and Bible prophecy.
One day, he confronted me with my need for Christ, and asked me if I would like to be saved; I said yes. We found a private place to pray, and he explained the basics of the Gospel to me again:
1) I was a sinner, because I had broken God’s Law (the Ten Commandments).
2) Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago for my sins, and rose again from the dead on the third day.
3) If I believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, I could be saved and know for sure that I would go to Heaven when I died.
4) Salvation was a free gift from God through Christ. All I had to do was to repent of my sins and ask for it through Christ.
I bowed my head that day, and asked God to forgive me and for Jesus to come into my heart to save me; and He did! My life has never been the same since then.
This is the Bible Way to be saved; and there is no other way! It is the same Gospel that was preached by the apostles and has saved countless millions of people who believed this Gospel and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
How about you? Would you like to know that when you die that you will go to Heaven instead of Hell? If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God has raised Him from the dead, you can be saved too.
Bow your head and pray this prayer in your own words:
“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”
If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.
Hechos Estudio #29: Felipe compartió el Evangelio de Cristo con el eunuco etíope que había sido salvado bajo el Antiguo Pacto (Hechos 8:26 - 40)
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“¡Esta es la obra de Jehová! Es maravilloso a nuestros ojos”. Salmo 118:23
Hechos, Capítulo 1.4: Dios eligieron a especiales judíos a escuchar el evangelio y ser salvados (8:5 - 9:31)
§Único Introducción: Felipe, Pedro y Juan destruyeron la mala influencia de Simón el Mago entre los samaritanos con el evangelio (8:5 - 25)
¶Lo opuesto Felipe ganó muchos samaritanos para el Señor Jesús, y la gente se alejó de la mala influencia del mal Simón el Mago (8:5 - 13)
¶Lo opuesto Pedro reprendió el malvado intento de Simón de sobornar a los apóstoles para obtener el poder de dar el Espíritu Santo (8:14 - 25)
§El complemento Cuerpo: Saulo de Tarso fue elegido por el Señor Jesucristo para sufrir por su Nombre (8:26 - 9:22)
¶Lo opuesto Felipe predicó el evangelio al eunuco etíope, un gentil que había sido salvado bajo el Antiguo Pacto (8:26 - 35)
¶Lo opuesto Después de bautizar al judío cristiano completado, el Espíritu del Señor arrebató a Felipe (8:36 - 40)
¶El complemento Saulo de Tarso se encontró con el Señor Jesucristo en el camino a Damasco y quedó cegado por la experiencia (9:1 - 9)
¶El complemento El Señor Jesucristo envió a Ananías para bautizar a Saúl y restaurar su vista (9:10 - 19a)
¶Único Saulo inmediatamente predicó a Cristo en las sinagogas de Damasco, y probó que Jesús es el Cristo (9:19b - 22)
§Complement Conclusión: Saúl sufrió la persecución por sus antiguos aliados en Damasco y Jerusalén (9:23 - 31)
¶El complemento Después de que Saúl escapó desde la persecución en Damasco, se encontró con los apóstoles en Jerusalén (9:23 - 27)
¶El complemento Después de que Saúl escapó desde la persecución en Jerusalén, las iglesias de Judea, Galilea y Samaria se fortalecieron (9:28 - 31)
Introducción
La traducción al español de este estudio está pendiente.
¿Exactamente cómo y cuándo naciste de nuevo?
He aprendido por experiencia que aquellos que se niegan a responder lo hacen porque nunca han nacido de nuevo; no tienen idea de lo que significa, y por eso no pueden responder.
Si ese es tu caso, entonces tu destino eterno en este momento es el Infierno; y más tarde, el Lago de Fuego.
Afortunadamente, podemos cambiar nuestro destino eterno del Infierno al Cielo, si nos arrepentimos de nuestros pecados y recibimos a Jesucristo como nuestro Salvador personal.
Primero, debemos creer que Jesús es el Hijo de Dios; que fue crucificado por nuestros pecados, que fue sepultado y que resucitó de entre los muertos al tercer día.
Romanos 10:8-11: “Pero ¿qué dice? “La Palabra está cerca de ti, incluso en tu boca y en tu corazón”, es decir, la Palabra de fe (que predicamos), que si confesarás con tu boca al Señor Jesús, y creerás en tu corazón que Dios le levantó de los muertos, tú serás salvado: porque con el corazón, el hombre cree para justicia, y con la boca, la confesión se hace para la salvación: porque la Escritura dice, “cualquiera que en él creyere, no será avergonzado”.
Entonces, debemos arrepentirnos de nuestros pecados e invocar el Nombre del Señor Jesús para salvarnos.
Romanos 10:12-13: “Porque no hay diferencia entre el judio y el gentil: porque el mismo Señor sobre todo es rico a todos los que le invocan: porque está escrito, “Cualquiera que llamará sobre el Nombre del Señor será salvado”.
Juan 1:12: “Pero cuantos le recibieron, él les dio autoridad para convertirse los niños de Dios: incluso a aquellos quien creen sobre su Nombre”.
Cuando hacemos eso, entonces nacemos de nuevo instantáneamente en el Reino de Dios.
Estas listo para hacer eso? Si es así, entonces busca un lugar para orar en privado y haz esta oración con todo tu corazón al Señor Jesucristo:
“Señor Jesús, sé que he pecado contra TI. ¡No soy bueno y usted eres justo! Creo que moriste en la cruz por mis pecados, fuiste enterrado y resucitaste de entre los muertos al tercer día. Quiero que vengas a mi vida y seas mi Señor y Salvador. Por favor entra en mi corazón ahora mismo. Perdóname por todos mis pecados y salva mi alma. En el poderoso Nombre de Jesús, oro, ¡Amén!”
Si se apartó de sus pecados y aceptó a Jesucristo como su Señor y único Salvador desde el pecado, por favor envíeme un mensaje a través de Facebook y hágame saber que lo ha hecho, para que pueda orar por usted y alegrarme con usted en lo que Dios tiene hecho en tu vida. Amén.