A Study on Being a Witness for Christ (October 6, 2024)

As we take a look at our next group of verses in Acts 8, we look at verses 26-40 and we find in this passage the importance of a single individual to God. We see God leading Philip to a single person who needed to know Christ, we see the interview between the two and we have a strong study on witnessing. We see just what is involved in witnessing to an individual. There are seven distinct thing we are going to look at in these verses:

• Philip was led by an angel of the Lord
• What did Philip find
• What did Philip sense
• What did Philip do
• What did Philip say or proclaim
• What did Philip see happen
• What did Philip experience

Philip was led by an angel of the Lord.

Angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation”. There was a particular individual that God wished to reach with the gospel and save, so God sent an angel to instruct Philip where to go. The point is this: Philip had no way of knowing God’s will in this particular case, not apart from a personal confrontation from God. So God confronted and instructed Philip in such a way that Philip knew exactly what God’s will was.

We notice that God did not tell Philip why he was to travel the main road to the South, only to arise and go. Just as Abraham of old, Philip had to walk by faith. And this he did. He arose and went, not knowing why, but trusting God to show him.

We must realize that God does whatever is necessary to instruct and guide believers. He is not limited to our theories and beliefs. He has at His disposal all the power and all of creation to use as He wills. And He will use whatever is needed to reach anyone who is truly hungry to know the way of salvation. No one will ever be lost, not if they honestly believe God and diligently seek Him. God will see to it, no matter what has to be done.

Acts 8:27–28 ~ “And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.”

What did Philip find?

Philip found a foreigner, a man from Ethiopia, which was hundreds of miles from Jerusalem. The eunuch had been to Jerusalem to attend a religious feast. To often believers shy away from foreigners, shy away from anyone who differs from them. God wants us to reach everyone, no matter what nationality they are. Just think, everyone is a foreigner to some people of the world. Everyone differs from someone else. We cannot let differences keep us from witnessing and sharing Christ.

Philip found an eunuch and being a eunuch, a court official of Candace, showed that this man was of extreme commitment and dedication. The policy of queens was to only choose outstanding eunuchs to fill official positions. We also must realize that it takes a person of commitment and dedication to be saved. The lazy, complacent, unproductive, and comfortable do not have enough interest and concern for life to be genuinely saved.

Philip found a worshipper. This definitely shows he was seeking after the truth and after God. He was a convert to Judaism and had travelled hundreds of miles to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. A person must be a worshipper of God Himself, but just being a worshipper is not enough. A person must be seeking after the only living and true God to be saved.

Philip found a reader of Scripture. Picture this – the Ethiopian official is riding along in his chariot, not observing the scenery, not taking care of some official paperwork, but reading the Bible. The man was experiencing a deep hunger and thirst for God. A person must hunger and thirst after righteousness, true righteousness, to be saved. One must not only believe, but diligently seek God. True belief is diligently seeking God.

What did Philip sense?

Philip sensed the impulse, the tug, the movement, the direction of the Holy Spirit to approach this particular man. And he sensed the man needed Christ. There is a great need to be led by the Holy Spirit in our witnessing. But this necessitates being surrendered and controlled by the Spirit. The great need of the hour is for believers to be controlled by the Spirit of God. Then and only then can we expect to be led by the Spirit.

Then the question comes up – to whom should we witness? To what person or persons? We must WAIT on the Lord and allow the Spirit to guide and direct us. The problem is NOT the Spirit’s willingness to guide and direct, the problem is our not being surrendered and controlled enough by the Spirit to sense and know His direction. The Spirit of God has been trying to gain control of people’s lives ever since Christ walked upon the earth. He has needed lives to reach the world, but so few have been willing to put their lives under His control, so few have been willing to “arise and go.”

Acts 8:30–34 ~ “So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?””

What did Philip do?

First of all, Philip obeyed the Spirit of God. He ran up to the man. When he did what the Spirit instructed, Philip found out that the man had been prepared to receive the witness of the Lord. He heard the man reading the Scripture out loud.

Philip also initiated a conversation with the man, Philip took the lead and didn’t even wait for the man to notice there was someone running alongside the chariot, Philip spoke first.

Philip then joined the man, after he was invited and welcomed. Believers must realize that not everyone will welcome them, regardless of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. We must wait until welcomed.

Philip also noted where the man was in his seeking of God. The man was extremely faithful in worshipping God and in reading the Scripture. Even though the man was reading the Scripture, the man had a problem. He did not understand the basic truth – the truth that Christ had died for him. He did not know that God’s Messiah had already come and died for man. Look at where the man was reading …

Isaiah 53:7–8 ~ “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”

The man just did not understand the Scripture. He did not understand that Jesus had fulfilled the prophecy, that the Savior had already come and died for the sins of men.

What did Philip say or proclaim?

Philip didn’t not try to point out the faults nor failures of the man. All Philip did was preach Jesus. He took the prophecy in Isaiah and showed the man Jesus and how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy through the death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus.

Acts 8:36–38 ~ “And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.”

What did Philip see happen?

Philip saw three significant steps taken by the man. First, the man desired to be baptized, so the question is asked, what prevents me from being baptized now? Next the man is asked, do yo believe and he responds, YES I BELIEVE! And finally, we have the follow through.

This is where many Christians fail and stop at, the follow through. We are not talking about just baptism, we are talking about so much more.

Acts 8:39–40 ~ “And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”

What did Philip experience?

The continued leadership of the Holy Spirit. Philip was no longer needed in this situation, so the Holy Spirit took him away and led Philip back to Samaria. Afterwards, he travelled throughout all the cities preaching and teach Jesus.