Last week as we studied the first half of the 8th chapter of Acts, we discovered the Holy Spirit was on the move.  The point of the first part of Acts 8 is the Holy Spirit has an amazing, even startling, agenda.  When God moved it was an unexpected kind of thing.
- No one would have guessed that Saul’s attempt to destroy the Church would result in making it bigger and spreading it everywhere. 
- No one in Jerusalem anticipated the Gospel going to the Samaritans.  “What, no, really?  Samaritans can be Christians?”  Peter and John had to go see for themselves. 
- And then we had this strange story of a magician being baptized.  No one baptizes sorcerers!   It doesn’t happen.  But it did.
- Luke makes the point of the chapter with Peter’s words to a confused Simon the sorcerer. 

Acts 8:20  "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”

God can not be manipulated, with money or anything else.  We, as Christians, should never attempt to coerce, pester, control, badger, trick, or negotiate with God.  Rather, our job is to be in the will of God; to flow with the Spirit, to trust his agenda, to be in sync with his moving. 

It is like dancing.  I know a lot about this.  I have danced at two weddings.  I have at least 20 minutes of dance experience.  I have even watched most of an episode of “Dancing with the Stars.” So, I know my stuff.  The question is who is going to lead? You or God?  What Luke is getting us to see, in this chapter, is that God is the one doing the leading.  We move to his music.  We do our best to stay in step with the Spirit. 

That is precisely what happens in the rest of the story of Philip in Acts chapter 8.  As I tell you this story, I want you to see if there is any deja’ vu.  Does this story remind you of any other Bible story?

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Acts 8:26   Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road-- the desert road-- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Granted, when an angel tells you to go to something you tend to stay in step with God.    Angels are scary outfits.  This is one of the few appearances of an angel that doesn’t start with, “Don’t be afraid!”  In angel training school they work on their opening lines.  You don’t want to give a heart attack to the person you are supposed to deliver a message to.  We don’t have the complete dialogue here, but I suspect it began with a “Now, take it easy. I have a message from God.”  That would be a no-brainer. An angel says it.  You go do it, even if it doesn’t make any sense.  Go down the desert road.  Still the chapter is about dancing with God. So, Philip goes to the deserted road.

Remember now while I continue with the story you are attempting to connect it to another story. I think that is what Luke is doing.  He is expecting you to make the connection.  No, pressure, but you should be able to link the two stories. Philip obeys the angel and is off to the road to Gaza.

Acts 8:27-29  So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.  The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

Now let’s stop and make a few observations about this Ethiopian.  There is a lot of debate amongst the scholars. Each one has a little different take on exactly who this guy is.  But let me give you my best shot at his description, while recognizing there may be some differing options
- First, he is a foreigner. He is from Ethiopia.  In the world view of ancient times this was the end of the earth.  We know it to be Los Alamos, but at the time Ethiopia was as far as you could go.  Luke is hinting back to our theme verse, Acts 1:8.  You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.  This guy is it. 
- Second, he may be black.  The word “Ethiopian” in ancient vocabulary usually meant black.  Like we say “African-American” to mean black.  That is how they would use the term. 
- Third, he is a dignitary. He is Secretary of the Treasury to the Queen.  A big shot. 
- Forth, and this is where it is fussy. He is a believer in Jehovah. He came to Jerusalem to worship.  I think he was some kind of Jew.  Either a proselyte, or had a mother who was a Jew or something.  He knew God. He could read Hebrew.  He knew enough to ask a significant question.  I think he’s Jewish.   
-Fifth, he was a eunuch.  If you don’t know what that is, ask your mother later.  But it is significant because he would not have been allowed near the Temple according to Mosaic Law. 
- Sixth, don’t miss he had a copy of Isaiah. No one but the wealthy could afford to have a Bible. And he was riding in what we would call a carriage. He not only was a dignitary he was wealthy. 
- Seventh, he had come an enormously long way to have this rendezvous with the Gospel.   Do you know how far it is from below Egypt to Jerusalem?  Neither do I.  But it is a long way.

So, in the moving of the Spirit, ethically, we take another step from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.  Wow. Isn’t this fun?  I don’t care who you are this is fun! The Gospel cuts across all barriers.  It has power to change everything about everyone! The Spirit is leading the dance and Philip is staying in step! Luke is a marvelous writer and he is attempting to get us to connect to that other story, which you should have figured out by now. But in case you haven’t, back to the story. 

Acts 8:30-35  Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.  "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. 
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"  Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

The question the Ethiopian asks is the heart of the matter.  “Who is Isaiah talking about?  Jesus was the sheep led to the slaughter.  It was God’s, plan from even before Isaiah, for Jesus to go willing to the cross; so he did not object. He did not open his mouth.  That part is crystal clear.  But the next verse is difficult but amazing. This is a quote from Isaiah 53.  Let’s go back and listen to it from the OT.

Isaiah 53:7-10  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

Jesus’ life was cut short when he died on the cross, he had no children.  But in the resurrection – the prolonging of his days - Jesus has lots of kids!  Philip explains to the Eunuch that he can be one of Jesus’ kids and he can have children as he spreads the message of Jesus to others.  This was big for this man!

So, we have a story of someone meeting another on a road and telling them about Jesus’ death and resurrection from the prophets. Now, don’t say it out loud yet, if you have you figured out which Bible story Luke is paralleling?  I will give you a clue; it is another Luke story.  Let’s keep going. 

Acts 8:36-38  As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"  And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 

Here we have the baptism of the Ethiopian.  I like the KJV here; “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” The Ethiopian is asking is there any reason why I can’t be baptized?  Can a foreigner be baptized?  Can a black person?  Can a rich person?  And really, can a eunuch?  Because they weren’t allowed under Moses.  Is there anything hindering me from being baptized? And the answer was, No!  Immediately they went into the water and he was dunked in the name of Jesus!

In the other story you are guessing in wasn’t a baptism but it was something religiously significant. Let’s finish this story. 

Acts 8:39-40  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.  Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. 

Philip is taken away and then reappears somewhere else.  That should be a pretty big clue.  Raise your hand if you know the other story? The Road to Emmaus: Remember Luke 24.
-They meet on a road heading away from Jerusalem
-They discuss Jesus’ death and resurrection from the OT prophets
-Then Philip, like Jesus, disappears and then pops up later
-In Emmaus we have the breaking of the bread and here we have baptism. 

Why is this parallelism significant?  Luke is showing the importance of baptism!  Just like he demonstrated the importance of the Jesus being revealed in the breaking of the bread in Luke 24, he shows the importance of baptism as it goes to the ends of the earth with the Ethiopian.

Here is a model of what baptism looks like for all times; wherever it goes:
- It is based in a person understanding the death and resurrection of Jesus. He willingly went to the cross as a sacrifice for our sins; his life for our sins.  He paid the price.  His resurrection is our resurrection.  He came back to life to have many children.  We come back to life as one of his children.  We join him in his new life that will last forever!
- We then have many children as we share who Jesus is!  I think about my grandparents.  They have over a hundred descendants.  I am well on my way there.  I may live to see my 100+ descendants.  Now, spiritually, how many descendants will I have?  How many people have I shared Jesus who shared Jesus who shared Jesus.  In fact church fathers tell us that he did in fact go back to Ethiopia and tell many others.  The church moved to the ends of the earth through this man.  The Eunuch had thousands of offspring because of his decision to be baptized! 
- It is open to all who believe regardless of race, color, nationality or physical handicaps. Isn’t that cool? There are no restrictions to who can be baptized.  All who believe Jesus is the son of God and who know he died for them and was raised to give them new life can be baptized!  Wow!  No hoops.  No qualifications! No membership requirements!  Faith and baptism! 
- It is done when the person comes to faith. It is immediate.  There is no waiting period.
- It is a moment of rejoicing!  He went on his way rejoicing!  We all would love to rejoice with any of you who may be considering being baptized.  What better party could there be than the one where a person commits their life to Jesus and spreading his word! 

The Spirit may be moving in your heart this morning. You may be thinking about dancing with God.  The music may be playing for you to step out and get in step with the Savior. You may be like the Ethiopian and be asking is there anything hindering me from being baptized?  I hope your answer is, “No.”  Do you want to dance with the Spirit?  As we sing this next song if you are ready to dance, then let me encourage you to step up here to the front and we will.