Acts 8

Acts 8:1-25

23. IS YOUR HEART RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD Acts 8:1-25 The eighth chapter of Acts is a historic narrative. It records a brief, but very important segment of church history, showing us how the early church endured persecution from its beginning. This chapter also records the rapid spread of the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Samaria and to Africa. However, this inspired, historical narrative was not designed by the Holy Spirit simply to satisfy our curiosity about the history of the early church. Like all other parts of Holy Scripture, this historical narrative was written to give us spiritual instruction in the gospel of Christ. Five lessons taught in the first twenty-five verses of this chapter demand the attention of all who are concerned for their immortal souls, the souls of perishing sinners, and the glory of God. First, THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS AN OFFENSE TO MEN (Acts 8:1-4). This is a lesson often repeated in the Book of Acts. We need to be frequently reminded of it. The offense of the cross has not ceased (Galatians 5:11). To those who believe not, the cross (the doctrine of free justification through Christ, the sinner’s Substitute) is not only foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:21-25), it is an aggravating offense that stirs up the wrath of man. Any man, any church, and group of men who faithfully preach RUIN BY THE FALL (The total depravity of the whole human race), BY THE BLOOD (The effectual atonement of Christ for the sins of his people), and BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (Life and faith in Christ as gifts of God’s sovereign, irresistible grace), will meet with relentless opposition from lost, religious men. Secondly, THE LORD OUR GOD HAS A PEOPLE WHOM HE WILL SAVE (Acts 8:5-12). The gospel of Christ has never been popularly received by men. It has always been in the minority. Human opinion and religious tradition have always been opposed to the message of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. Most people who hear the gospel preached in the power of the Holy Spirit go on to hell as though they had never heard the message of redeeming blood and saving grace. But the purpose of God is not frustrated.

God has a people whom he will save (Romans 3:3-4; Acts 18:10). His elect are scattered among all nations and through all generations; but they shall be saved. God will gather his own to himself (Jeremiah 32:37-40). Not one of God’s elect shall perish. Not one of those redeemed by Christ shall be lost in the end (John 6:37-40). Thirdly, GOD ALWAYS CAUSES THE SINNER HE HAS TO SAVE TO HEAR THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST (Acts 8:4). The preaching of the gospel is, in the purpose of God, as necessary for the salvation of sinners as election, redemption, and regeneration (Romans 10:13-17; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25). By the wondrous, mysterious workings of providence God always brings his elect to hear the gospel at his appointed time. He rules and overrules all things for the salvation of his chosen (John 17:2). He even allows reprobate men to persecute and scatter his church that they may be forced to carry the word of grace to chosen, redeemed sinners! Fourthly, ALL , GIFTS CEASED WITH THE (Acts 8:14-17). Though Philip had received and exercised the miraculous gifts of the Spirit (Acts 8:6-7), he was not able to communicate them to anyone. Only the Apostles could communicate the gifts of the Spirit to others. If no one but an apostle could communicate these gifts to men, (No one else ever did!), then the gifts must have ceased once the apostles had all died. When the gifts were no longer needed they ceased to be. They were needed to prove the credibility of the apostles as the messengers of Christ (Hebrews 2:3-4). But since we now have the complete, perfect Revelation of God, (the Bible), there is no need for the imperfect, temporary signs the apostles possessed (1 Corinthians 13:10; 2 Peter 1:19-21). Fifthly, THE GOSPEL IS BOTH TRUE AND CARNAL OF FAITH WILL BE FOUND (Acts 8:12-13; Acts 8:20-21). Every church is a mixed multitude of true believers and false professors. Wherever Christ plants wheat, satan plants tares (Matthew 13:24-30). Wherever the Lord gathers his sheep, satan gathers some goats. Along with those who were truly born again by the Spirit of God, Simon Magus professed to believe. But of him Peter said, “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.” Simon believed the same doctrine the others believed.

He was baptized like the rest. He certainly saw and recognized the power of the Holy Spirit. But Simon had one fatal deficiency. His heart was false! His heart was not right in the sight of God. He was a hypocrite at heart.

By profession he was a believer, but at heart he was an infidel. Is your heart right in the sight of God? It is not enough that we believe the truth, worship God in the correct manner, and obey his commands. Our faith, worship, and obedience must arise from a true heart, a heart that is right in the sight of God. The Puritan, Thomas Manton, once said, “Though thou pray with the Pharisee, pay thy vows with the harlot, kiss Christ with Judas, offer sacrifice with Cain, fast with Jezebel, sell thine inheritance to give to the poor with Ananias and Sapphira, all is vain without the heart, for it is the heart that enliveneth all our duties.” First and foremost God requires our hearts (Proverbs 23:26; Proverbs 4:23). Christianity is a religion of the heart. It is a heart union with the Son of God. Man by nature is content with an outward form of religion: doctrinal knowledge, a moral code, works of righteousness, ritualism, ceremonialism, and emotionalism. But God requires heart worship and heart obedience. The state of a person’s soul depends upon the condition of his heart (Proverbs 23:7).

God looks not at our religious works, but at our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 21:2). He “weigheth the spirits.” He says, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins” (Jeremiah 17:10). We may give God a bowed head, a serious look, a strict adherence to religious duty, faithful attendance at the house of worship, and a firm commitment to doctrinal truth, but until we give him our hearts our religion is an abomination to him (Isaiah 1:10-15; Isaiah 66:2-3; Lk. 16:45). Salvation is a heart work (Psalms 51:17). It is “Christ in you the hope of glory.” All those things spoken of as essential to salvation are matters of the heart: Conviction (Acts 2:37), Repentance (Luke 13:3), and Faith (Acts 8:37). But all men and women by nature have an evil heart of unbelief, departing from the living God (Ecclesiastes 9:3; Jeremiah 17:9; Genesis 6:5; Matthew 15:19). The one common way the Holy Spirit identifies the heart of men is by calling it “a stony heart” (Ezekiel 11:19). “A stony heart” is a hard, cold, barren, dead heart. Only God the Holy Spirit can make a man’s heart right in the sight of God. Only he can open the heart. Only he can reveal Christ in the heart. Only he can create in you a new heart. David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), because God had given him - A new heart (Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17) - A broken and contrite heart (Psalms 51:17) - A heart of faith in Christ (2 Samuel 23:5; Romans 10:10) - A praying heart (2 Samuel 7:27) - A heart of gratitude and love for Christ (Psalms 34:1-10). A heart that is right in the sight of God is a heart in which there is a constant warfare with sin (Psalms 73; Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14-24); but it is a heart that honors God and seeks his glory above everything else (Psalms 51:1-4; Psalms 40:16).

Acts 8:26-40

24. FIVE GOSPEL TRUTHS Acts 8:26-40 Gospel doctrine is vital. It must be preached and taught with clarity and distinctiveness. Many boast of their dislike of doctrine and appear to be utterly ignorant of it. God’s people rejoice in the truth. Those who are ignorant of gospel doctrine are ignorant of Christ. They have no saving faith in him. An unknown God cannot be trusted. And the only way anyone can know and trust Christ is if they are taught his doctrine (Romans 10:13-17). As gospel doctrine is essential to the saving of sinners, so too it is essential for the edification and comfort of God’s saints (Ephesians 4:11-16). It is by faithful instruction in the doctrine of Christ that God’s elect are built up and established in the faith. Every true gospel preacher is a doctrinal preacher. The man who does not preach the doctrine of Christ does not preach Christ. Christ and his doctrine cannot be separated. The man who does not preach the doctrine of the gospel does not preach the gospel. The two cannot be separated. Any preacher who does not expound the doctrine of Christ to his hearers is like a lamp without a light bulb - He may be nice to look at, but he is utterly useless! Yet, doctrine must have a personal application. Dead, dry, impersonal, unapplied doctrine is as useless as the words of those who preach nothing but the morals of vain philosophy. In the passage before us, Luke gives us five glorious, gospel doctrines by illustration. After the revival at Samaria broke out, the angel of the Lord directed Philip to go “toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza.” There he met an Ethiopian eunuch returning from Jerusalem. After preaching the gospel to him the eunuch declared his faith in Christ and Philip baptized him. The first thing illustrated in this passage is THE WISDOM, , AND OF DIVINE (Acts 8:26-28). Providence is God’s sovereign rule of the world, his gracious accomplishment of his eternal purpose of grace for the good of his elect and the glory of his name (Romans 8:28). God’s providence is always mysterious, undiscernible and unexplainable by man’s wisdom. But it is always wise and good. All things are perfectly arranged by God, according to his schedule. By God’s arrangement, everything in the universe is connected and all the connections are on time. With God, nothing is late and nothing is early. This is beautifully illustrated here. There were two roads going down to Gaza from Jerusalem. One was commonly travelled. The other was seldom travelled, because it was a lonely, deserted road, going through the desert mountains. The angel of the Lord told Philip to take that road. “And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia,” a man chosen of God came riding by! He had been in Jerusalem worshipping God. He was a Jewish proselyte, walking in the light God had given him, but lost.

He came away from Jerusalem as empty as he had gone there. While at Jerusalem, no doubt, he had heard much about Jesus of Nazareth and the great stir caused by his followers. He may have been warned by the sanhedrin to stay away from the apostles. But the time of love and grace had come for him (Ezekiel 16:8). He must now be saved. So God sent Philip to meet him.

At the time appointed by God, he brought Philip and the eunuch together. Secondly, this passage demonstrates the fact that GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GRACE IN MUST AND SHALL BE . Before the world began God chose a people for himself, whom he determined to save. Everyone of those elect sinners will, in God’s time and by God’s power, be brought to Christ in saving faith (Psalms 65:4; Psalms 110:3; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). God passed by the scribes and pharisees, the natural descendants of Abraham, and called a despised black man, an Ethiopian eunuch (Psalms 68:31; Isaiah 56:4-5). Grace always works the same way (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Thirdly, the Spirit of God sets before us a picture of TRUE IN (Acts 8:29-35). True evangelism arises from a firm faith in the efficacy of God’s election, Christ’s atonement, and the Spirit’s call (Acts 18:9-11). It is a work performed by the direction of God the Holy Spirit. Three things always characterize true evangelism:

1. A GOD SENT - Philip was the man chosen of God to be the messenger of grace to the Ethiopian eunuch. He was sent of God on an errand of mercy (Romans 10:15). The man God chose to use was a man full of the Holy Spirit, of blameless character, and committed to the gospel of Christ (Acts 6:3; Acts 6:5; 1 Timothy 3:1-7). He was a man willing to serve God and his church in any capacity. Philip was willing to serve as a deacon. He was willing to go to Samaria and preach there. And he was wiling to walk for miles to preach the gospel to one Ethiopian. He wanted only to serve the cause of Christ. It mattered not to him where or how God used him. He just wanted to be used of God.
2. A GOD MESSAGE - Every man sent of God to preach to anyone is sent with the message Philip carried to the eunuch. Philip preached Christ to him (Acts 8:35). God’s servants have nothing else to preach (1 Corinthians 2:2). Christ crucified is “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27; Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44-46). If God sends a man to preach, he sends him to preach Christ in all the Scriptures.
3. A SINNER CHOSEN OF GO - This Ethiopian eunuch was saved because God had chosen him (Acts 13:48; John 15:16). He is a picture of the kind of people to whom God is always gracious. He sought the Lord earnestly (Jeremiah 29:12-14). He walked in the light God gave him. He searched the Scriptures (John 5:39). And he was willing to be taught. Grace chose him. Grace prepared him for grace. And grace brought him to Christ in faith. Fourthly, this eunuch is set before us as an example of THE SAVING FAITH OF GOD’S ELECT (Acts 8:36-37). True, saving faith is more than a notion received in the head. It is heart knowledge, heart persuasion, and heart commitment to Christ (Romans 10:9-13; 2 Timothy 1:12). This eunuch declared that he believed with all his heart “that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” That means he is the One of whom the prophets speak, the Savior typified in the law and promised by God, and that he is God in human flesh who died for sinners and rose again (1 John 5:1). Fifthly, this passage of Scripture illustrates THE OF ‘S BAPTISM (Acts 8:36-39). Clearly, baptism is for believers only. It is a test of submission and obedience to Christ as Lord. It is the believer’s symbolic confession of faith in Christ (Romans 6:4-6). And baptism is by immersion only. Immersion is not a mode of baptism. Immersion is baptism! Commenting on this passage John Calvin wrote, “Hence we see what was the manner of baptizing with the ancients, for they plunged the whole body into water.” When the day was over the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing.” He continued to follow his ordinary course of life; but now he lived by faith and lived for the glory of God. Philip went on his way too, preaching the gospel as he was led of the Spirit, until he finally settled in Caesarea (Acts 21:8).