The Expendables (Acts 13:1-12)

What missions is not

Over the coming weeks we will be concluding our series from the book of Acts looking at a mission trip. Acts Chapters 13 and 14 record for us what is often called the first missionary journey of Paul. For the first time in history a church appoints two people, Paul and Barnabas, as its first missionaries and sends them overseas.

This was new. If you look back to the last verse of Chapter 12 - specifically, verse 25 - we find Barnabas and Saul completing a mission to Jerusalem. We might read that and go, “Didn’t they just come back from a mission?” Well, actually no; at least not in the sense that we are going to use the word “mission” in the coming weeks. There in 12:25, Barnabas and Paul are returning from a trip to Jerusalem to bring aid and money during a time of crisis. Back in Chapter 11 the church in Antioch raised money to help the church in Jerusalem because of a famine about to hit the region and they sent the money down to Jerusalem, verse 30 tell us, “by Barnabas and Saul.” The word used is diakonia, translated “mission” in 12:25, but is actually a Greek word that means service or ministry.

This is important because mission is not about visiting churches in other countries. The purpose of mission is not to expand your horizons, as if, missions were something good you could do in your gap year before starting university. Missions isn’t even about bringing aid or building schools in Third World countries. There is nothing wrong with building schools or sending aid, of course, but doing these things as a Christian in a faraway land does not make you a missionary.

Rather, the heart of missions has to do with the Word of God. You see, Acts Chapter 13 records the beginning of the very first intentional, church-ordained, Holy Spirit-empowered mission to the nations, and yet, the focus of this passage is not on the sending but on the speaking. It is not the sending of these missionaries that forms the basis of missions. It is the speaking of the gospel by these first missionaries - the proclamation of the word of God - that defines what biblical missions looks like.

I think we miss the point when we say things like, “The mission of the Chinese Church is to reach other Chinese people.” Or when we say, “Our mission is transform the city of Cambridge for Jesus.” Missions is not about our agenda. Missions is not about getting people to join the Chinese Church. Missions is God’s plan to bring all things under the authority of Jesus Christ and the way he does - and I dare even to say, the only way God has chosen to do this - is through the gospel.

Just in case you think I’m making this up, well, there is a passage where Jesus gives us his definition of his mission. We find this at the end of Luke Chapter 4, where Jesus is casting out evil spirits, he is healing lots of people and as a result everyone was looking for Jesus to help them with their problems. What does Jesus do? He leaves. I wonder if that surprises you.

Jesus leaves this large crowd so eager to seek his help because (he says this), “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” And that word “sent” is the word for missions (The Latin word missio simply means “sent”). What is Jesus saying? The reason why he was sent; the purpose of his mission on earth - was not simply to heal people and gather huge crowds around him. The purpose of his mission was to speak the gospel. “I must preach the gospel … to the other towns also,” Jesus said, “because this is why I was sent.”

Acts 13 is here to remind us of the same purpose. The reason why these first missionaries were chosen; the reason why Paul and Barnabas were sent on this first missionary journey was to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations.

Prophets and teachers

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.

Acts 13:1

The chapter begins with the church. Incidentally, if you turn to the end of Chapter 14, the first mission ends also with Paul and Barnabas returning to this same church. That is, the church in Antioch didn’t simply send out the first missionaries, they received them back as well. That was always the plan: to send Paul and Barnabas out to the mission field, not to forget them once they had gone, but rather, to eagerly receive them back as their partners in the gospel.

Verse 1 opens with a picture of what this church was like. It gives us a list of the “prophets and teachers” in this church at Antioch; a list of its leaders. We have Barnabas and Saul at the beginning and the end of the list. That is not surprising as they were, in effect, the founding pastors of this church. But what is surprising is reading the names of the other three leaders in this church.

Simeon called Niger was Simeon the Black. That is what “Niger” means: Black (or Blackie)! It means he was probably of dark-skinned and of African descent. So, too, was Lucius who came from Cyrene, a region in Africa. Then, you have Manaen who was brought up with Herod the tetrarch. That’s like saying he went to university with Prince William. This guy, Herod was royalty (different from the Herod who got eaten by worms last week in Acts 12, who was his nephew). In other words, Manaen came from a rich family and had lots of powerful connections.

Together with Barnabas and Saul, these five men were the key leaders in the church. They were the “prophets and teachers” in the church. Now why do you think the bible record these names for us? Because it tells us something about what this church was like. It was mixed-up! What is mean is: the people who came to this church were from all kinds of background. Some were rich and some were poor. Some were Jewish but most of them weren’t. Some were local, as in Greek, but many like Simeon and Lucius were from Africa, and looked different from everyone else, and sounded different from everyone else whenever they went up front to do the bible reading.

And I think it says something about how God chose to use this church to send out the first missionaries, as opposed to say, the church in Jerusalem. The church in Antioch was a mixed-up church chosen to reach a mixed-up world. That’s a good thing. The term we tend to use here in the UK is “international”. If you’re studying in Cambridge as someone who has come from Hong Kong, China, Lithuania, America, Italy or Spain, you are an “international” student; and churches have “international” ministries like “international” cafes to reach such “international” students. But don’t you see, God wasn’t using a local church to reach internationals. He was using internationals to reach internationals.

It is one thing for churches in the UK to have international ministries; for the minister to stand up on a Sunday and say to the congregation, “Isn’t it wonderful that the nations are represented in our gathering here this morning.” It is quite another to have that reflected not just in the laity but in the leadership. Acts tells us nothing about who was attending the church; Acts tells us a lot about who was leading that church in Antioch. People like Barnabas, and outsider to Antioch who had come from Jerusalem; people like Simeon nicknamed “Blackie”, people like Lucius who was from a totally different region in the world, people like Manaen who went to Cambridge and even people like Saul who used to try and kill Christians. It is one thing to run an international ministry or even to support international missions. That’s easy. What made this church “international” was its leadership: faithful men of God who came from different backgrounds, cultures and nations.

I wonder when will local churches which boast of large numbers of Chinese students coming to faith in their congregations start employing their first Chinese pastor? I wonder when will Chinese Churches which have been in the UK for fifty years start recruiting their first local pastor? Don’t mishear me: I’m not saying, “Look outside and import them in.” I’m saying, “Open your eyes and see who’s there.” It is about training leaders within our congregations and entrusting them with responsibility and opportunity within our churches.

But more importantly, it is recognising men who speak God’s word faithfully and clearly. These men were “prophets and teachers”, verse 1 tells us. To such men, God chose to speak clearly and powerfully, saying, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul.”

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Acts 13:2-3

(I know some commentaries say that God spoke to the church as a whole at this point. I think that is very possibly the case. However, given that Luke has just introduced the five key leaders in Antioch, I do think it would be more natural for the focus to still be on these five leaders. Now if this so, what makes these verses so remarkable for me is how these leaders who are all entrusted with teaching the church and leading the church had committed themselves to worshipping God together as the leadership of the church. I think this is absolutely marvellous: Leaders who fellowship with one another in service [the words leitourgous and proskuneus have elements of priestly service and ministry] also fast together and commit one another to God in prayer. What wonderful fellowship! What amazing partnership and accountability amongst leaders of God’s people!)

So as they are worshipping together and fasting together, God speaks to these five men saying, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul.” Notice this, God’s calling is for these two men, yes, but is made clear to the church as a whole. Why is that? Why doesn’t God just tell Barnabas and Saul, “Hey, you two! I want you on the next boat to Cyprus!” Why doesn’t God just make it clear to the two men he wants to be on the mission? Why does God impress this calling upon the other leaders in the church?

The clue lies in that phrase, “Set apart.” You see, Barnabas and Saul were key leaders in the church. They were the founding pastors. When you think of mission, chances are you think of, well, missionaries. You think of someone specifically trained to go into the mission field. Do you see what God is telling the church to do? “Send your pastors out on mission.”

That is what they did. Verse 3 says that they laid hands on them and sent them off, but to be more accurate, what they did was cut them loose. (Apelusan means to untie something; to let it go).

I think that means it wasn’t the easiest thing for them to do. We want to keep our best people serving with us. It is tempting to worry about our own church health and our own search for a pastor. Mission? We’ll deal with that when we have a surplus of leaders; when our church is growing and we have more than we need, why then, we’ll send some leaders out on mission. We’ll make sure they’re competent, of course. But essentially, what we do is send in the Expendables; the people we can do without.

Who did God pick to be on his mission team? The two most senior pastors in the church. The two most able teachers in the church. Humanly speaking, God picked the two most essential leaders of the church.

The call was not for their benefit, it was for the church’s, do you see? “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” I suspect that God had already impressed upon Barnabas and Saul this call to missions, that is why he says, “I have called them.” Past tense. It was a done deal. But God then impresses this same calling upon the whole church for their benefit: so that the church would let them go. Therefore when it says in verse 3 that they placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul, it was their way of saying, “We’re with you in this mission that God has called you to.”

If you asked someone from Antioch, “What is your church’s mission?” I think they would have said, “To make Jesus known, especially… especially in parts of the world that have never heard of Jesus before. Our mission is to speak this gospel to the nations.” For them, mission was not about their church agenda. Mission was getting the message of Jesus out to the world. Not all of them could do this. Not all would become missionaries - only two were sent. But the reason why Acts 13 begins with the church as whole is because the whole church was committed to God’s mission.

A false prophet

4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

Acts 13:4-5

The heart of God’s mission is the good news about Jesus. Now when Barnabas and Saul arrive in Cyprus, the didn’t have any doubt as to what they were there to do. They didn’t sit down and think, “Hmm, I wonder how I can get people interested in Jesus. Maybe I’ll start an international cafe. Maybe I’ll take out a guitar and start singing some worship songs in Market Square.” From the get go, Barnabas and Saul went straight to the Jewish synagogues; opened up their bibles, and spoke about Jesus. (We’ll see that next week in verse 13 onwards where Acts gives us the text to an actual sermon Paul in one of these Jewish meetings).

That is, Barnabas and Saul were in no doubt whatsoever what it meant for them to be missionaries. Why? Because it meant doing the exact same thing they did back in their home church of Antioch: “They proclaimed the word of God.” Now isn’t that interesting? God chose two bible teachers to be on his mission team. Many people study Paul to get some kind of special insight into evangelism. What illustrations did he use? Who did he talk to? Friends, what he did and all he did was teach the bible and tell people about Jesus. Paul did this as boldly, as clearly and to as many people as he could as a pastor, as a bible teacher and as a missionary.

That is the reason why verse 1 begins with a list of “prophets and teachers.” The moment you read that phrase, the question that immediately pops into your mind is, “Who was the prophet and who was the teacher?” The answer is: It doesn’t tell us. Which of the five were the prophets and which of the five leaders were teachers? It doesn’t tell us. Why? Because that isn’t the question that bible is answering. We are asking the wrong question. The question that verse 1 is answering is: Who are the leaders of the church? Answer: The prophets and the teachers. It is a way of saying: The leaders are those who are entrusted with speaking God’s word to God’s people, do you see?

A prophet in the Old Testament was someone who said, “Thus saith the Lord!” Or in modern English, “This is what God is saying to you.” That is, a prophet speaks on behalf of God to his people as his spokesman; as his representative. The teacher is someone who does the exact same thing - he speaks on behalf of God - but he does this by pointing his hearers to the bible and says, “Thus saith the Lord!”

In both cases, the prophet and the teacher are speaking on behalf of God. Neither one of them are giving their own opinions or ideas. Both of them are entrusted as messengers, to speak on behalf of God as clearly and as accurately as is possible. Therefore, when Acts points to these prophets and teachers and says, “Here are the leaders of the church,” what it is saying is: Here are leaders whose authority lie in God’s word. What it is saying is: Here are men entrusted with authority over God’s people, who themselves, are under the authority of God’s word. But most importantly, what Acts is saying is this: when these men spoke from God’s word, God spoke.

Barnabas and Saul did in the mission field what they had always done in the church: They spoke God’s word with all of God’s authority pointing to the salvation that comes through God’s Son.

When you see that, you begin to see how these first few verses in Acts 13 are there to set us up - to get us ready - for an explosive encounter with a false prophet, a man named Bar-Jesus.

6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ”

Acts 13:6-10

Bar-Jesus is a man with many names! First of all, Bar-Jesus literally means “Son of Jesus”. Yet in verse 8, he is also called “Elymas” which apparently means sorcerer or magician. On top of that, Paul calls this guy a child of the devil in verse 10. The combination of these names (Bar-Jesus, Elymas) and descriptions (sorcerer, child of the devil) might make us think of some dreadful evil character like Voldemort or Gargamel, you know, someone who looks dark and sinister and dresses in a long black robe with horns sticking out of his head.

But remember that this guy is an advisor to an important politician, in verse 7, the proconsul whose name was Sergius Paulus, a man who is described as someone who is intelligent. By the way, the proconsul was a very important and senior position within the Roman Senate (the highest in fact). You didn’t get to this rank by being a dimwit.

Furthermore, look back to verse 6 and see how Elymas was first described as a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet. This description, together with his close association with the proconsul tells me that Elymas, if anything, was more sneaky than he was sinister. He was intelligent. He must have spoken well, with an air of great authority, in order to have the ear of the proconsul. I wonder if Elymas, in appearance, was actually rather respectable and conservative - the way a political advisor today would be dressed in suit and tie.

You see, that’s the false prophet. The false prophet is false because of what he says, because of what he teaches, not because of what he looks like. If anything, he might look altogether quite genuine in order to perpetuate his false teaching. And that’s the rub. The encounter between Elymas and Saul is in reality a showdown between the true prophet of God and the false imitation. Both Saul and Elymas were Jewish. Both of them spoke with authority about matters of great importance and both had the attention of the proconsul. Which one was true?

So you see, what Paul does, when he calls Elymas the child of the devil and the enemy of the truth and a perversion of God’s way of truth, is expose Elymas for who he really is. He might be known as “Bar-Jesus” - a son of Jesus - but in reality he is a son of the devil. He might go to the synagogue on weekends and call himself a Jew but in reality he is a sorcerer.

But the most damning statement that Paul makes is at the end of verse 10 where he says, “Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?” The ESV has, “Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”

What is a false prophet? He is someone who takes something straightforward about God and makes it hard to understand. That’s what Paul is saying. Do you know anyone like that? Someone who sets up roadblocks to people come to know Jesus.

The proconsul invites Barnabas and Saul to talk about the gospel but in verse 8, Elymas opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Elymas’ job was turning people away from trusting in Jesus. Friends, that’s the false prophet. Someone who uses his influence to distract his friends from becoming a Christian. And Paul says to him, “Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths,” meaning, the way that Elymas does this is through distraction; is through manipulation; is through coercion. Christianity is pretty straightforward: Trust in Jesus. He died for your sins. You receive his reward. He now lives as your risen Lord. You are forgiven and reconciled to God. It’s a pretty straight-going straightforward message. What the false prophet does is complicate things with the intention of turning people away from this simple message.

The true prophet

And what Paul does next is show him what a true prophet is about. He says to him...

11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Acts 13:11

Paul speaks directly to Elymas with a judgement that comes directly from God. “Now the hand of the Lord is against you.” Remember, a prophet is not someone with super-powers. No, the prophet of God is simply a spokesman who speaks on God’s behalf. Paul was merely conveying the truth of God’s judgement on God’s behalf.

I can’t help but sense though that Paul was saying something to the effect of, “Enough is enough!” and I think you can see why. The greatest frustration and enemy to the gospel is not persecution but false teaching. It is false teaching that obscures the truth about Jesus to the point that it makes it hard for people to understand who he is and what he did on the cross. It is false teaching that makes much about our own intellect and wisdom instead the reality of our sin and God’s grace. It is false doctrine like the prosperity gospel which makes it about what we can get from God rather than making God our true and greatest treasure.

And this judgement from God that results in Elymas going blind - notice, for a time - is a reflection of the blindness that comes from listening to such false prophets and teachers. The reason I highlight that phrase, “for a time,” is because, such judgement is also God’s provision for repentance, something Paul would have been familiar with from experience, having himself been struck blind on that road to Damascus.

Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, sees what happened, and verse 21 tells us, believed. That is, he became a Christian. But notice why? “For he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.” It wasn’t what Paul did that made him a Christian, it was what Paul said about Jesus that truly amazed him and made him want to give his life to Jesus.

In the midst of this showdown with Elymas, with him being struck with blindness; and with the conversion of this powerful politician, Sergius Paulus; we might have missed one important development in this record of Paul’s first missionary journey. A turning point occurs in verse 9 where Saul is now introduced with his new name, Paul. What is going on here?

From this point onwards in Acts, Saul will ever only be known as Paul. Furthermore, the mission team is no longer referred to as “Barnabas and Saul” but will from this point onwards be introduced in Acts as “Paul and Barnabas” (notice verse 13, “Paul and his companions” and verse 42, “Paul and Barnabas”). From this point onwards, Paul took the lead. No longer would he be known by his Jewish name, Saul. He is now Paul, a Roman name he now used as he travelled the Roman world on his mission to preach Christ.

And I think that Luke, the author of Acts, highlights this transition for our benefit as the reader, as if to say, this is what the true prophet looks like. It is Paul who speaks the gospel as the word of God. Revelation 19:10 tells us what prophecy looks like, “It is the spirit of prophecy that bears testimony to Jesus.” The prophet is not someone who is able to predict the future - that’s not what prophecy means. No, the true prophet is someone who “bears testimony to Jesus.”

Last week, I spent an hour speaking to two people who were so convinced that what the church needs most today are prophets. The two of them were Mormons. According to them, the church has strayed from the teaching of Jesus by rejecting the place of prophets in the leadership, to such a point, that the church today is no longer the true church. Why? Because it has lost the voice of the prophets.

Friends, what Acts 13 teaches us is that this world is full of prophets, but more importantly, that most of them are likely to be false. From the way my two Mormon friends described the prophets they had in church, to me, those prophets sounded a lot more like Elymas than they did Paul. These guys who took something as simple and straightforward as the gospel and made it about something other than Jesus. I found myself saying to my two friends, “What you need are not more prophets. What you really need is Jesus.”

The true prophet points to Jesus. He does that by preaching the gospel. That is what Paul and Barnabas did in verse 5, “they proclaimed the word of God,” and in verse 7 with Sergius Paulus who wanted to “hear the word of God” and in verse 12, when he was amazed with the “teaching about the Lord.” Again and again, all they did was open up the bible and tell people about Jesus. Acts says: That’s prophecy, right there! These are not two guys going around doing bible study with a whole bunch of people. No, these two men, Paul and Barnabas are chosen by God to speak his words to his people and bring them to life.

That is what they did the church in Antioch where they were prophets and teachers. That is what they continued to do in the mission field. By God’s grace, that is what we hope to do here in the Chinese Church.

Unclean (Acts 10)

Unclean food

God gives Peter a vision about food. The time is twelve o’clock - the hottest time of the day - and Peter is up on the roof praying to God. Verse 9 tells us, “he became hungry and wanted something to eat.” It just so happened that it was the time his host was barbecuing lunch on the grill downstairs. Peter could smell the roasting of the meats and hear the sizzling of the steaks. It was at that moment, verse 10 tells us, that Peter fell into a trance.

God gives Peter a vision of huge buffet spread. “All kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds” being lowered down from heaven on a huge white sheet. A voice says to him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

If Peter were Chinese, he would have immediately obeyed. “Yes, Lord!” he would have said. We Chinese, eat anything that moves except an automobile; anything that flies except an airplane. This vision - of eating the various kinds of four-footed animals, reptiles and birds - would not have been a problem for us Chinese.

But it was a big problem for Peter. “Surely not, Lord,” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

That word “unclean” implies a category of food that was not allowed - that was forbidden - according to tradition. Peter was not Chinese but Jewish and according to the Old Testament laws, Jews were not allowed to eat certain foods like reptiles and pork. Leviticus Chapter 11 gives a list of clean and unclean animals. They couldn’t eat camels, rock badgers, pigs, any fish that does not have fins and scales or any insects like grasshoppers. These animals were categorised as “unclean” creatures. As “unclean” foods.

So when Peter says to God, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean,” what he means is, “I’ve never broken the rules. Not once. I have been keeping all the rules since I was a kid.”

Notice God’s response. “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” God was not telling Peter to break the rules. God was telling Peter that he had changed the rules. These animals which were previously unclean have now been made clean.

What does this mean for us? As we shall see in today’s passage, it means more than the fact that Peter can now order sweet and sour pork and charsiu pao at Charlie Chan. It means that God wants to make us clean. It means God has done something to take away our uncleanness and our sin.

The three points I want us to see in today’s passage are:

1. More than food (looking at Peter)

2. More than good (looking at Cornelius)

3. Lord of all (looking at Jesus)

1. More than food

The first thing to see is that this vision is about more than food.

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Acts 10:17-20

After receiving three visions from God, Peter receives three men from God. “Do not hesitate to go with them,” says the the Spirit, “for I have sent them.”

“Why have you come?” Peter curiously asks these strangers who have turned up at his door.

The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.”

Acts 10:22

These men are representatives of a powerful man, a military man but most strikingly, a non-Jewish man. The reason they are there is to invite Peter to come with them to Cornelius’ house and that was a big deal because, you see, visiting a non-Jewish home and hanging out with a non-Jewish man was against Jewish law. Peter knew that and Cornelius knew that. Look down to verse 28.

“You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

Acts 10:28

Both Peter and Cornelius knew that it was a big deal for a Jewish person to enter a non-Jewish home. It was against the law. It was taboo. But Peter had finally made the connection between the vision of the food and the visit to Cornelius’ home. He says, “God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

That is why Peter invites the three men into his home to be his guests (verse 23). And that is why Peter goes with them to Caesarea and enters the home of non-Jewish man (verse 24). God had shown Peter that the boundaries of the clean and unclean have been removed - not just for food but for people.

Any missionary will tell you that a very practical challenge living in a new country is the food. When you go to a new country, you might find the food there too spicy, too rich, too bland, too weird, too much, too little. I remember Judy’s Facebook posts of her trip to India last year where she put up photos of the different people she met in the deprived areas of India as well as the food. Every meal was curry, curry, curry! It was challenging but eating the food was part of receiving hospitality and enjoying the fellowship of her friends in India. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples in Luke Chapter 10, he said to them, “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you.” (Luke 10:8) In other words, “Don’t get picky about the kind of hospitality you receive.” That can be hard for a Western missionary in Malaysia invited to a feast of durians. But let me just say, that despite jokes about Chinese people adept at eating anything and everything, we can be quite picky as well. All our meetings begin with food but then again a lot of meetings tend to be just about the food. “Come to our Chinese New Year gathering.” Why? “Because we’ve got so much delicious food!” And if the food isn’t up to scratch, or if there isn’t enough roast duck to go around, we might not come again!

The lesson that Peter learned, which perhaps, we too, need to learn here in the Chinese Church is that it is about more than just the food. God was teaching Peter not to call any person impure or unclean. That meant that God wanted Peter to welcome these non-Jews - these Gentiles - into his home and to enter theirs. More importantly, that meant the God wanted Peter to tell them the gospel.

Are we being selective in the people we choose to tell the gospel; the people we choose to invite to hear the gospel preached? If I asked that question of you, of the leaders here in the church, of the parents and teachers in Sunday School, I might get a range of answers. But just look around here in the Chinese Church. That’s your answer. Who do you hang out with? Who did you have lunch with?

If the only place you ever go for lunch is Hong Kong Fusion; if the only friends you hang out with are those who look like you and sound like you - and I’m not just talking about friends who are Chinese, but friends who are of the same age, who watch the same movies, who like the same kind of music - What do you call that? Most of us would call that “normal,” I know. The bible calls that strange. Strange: because one day men and women from every nation, tongue, people and tribe will gather around Jesus can worship him as Lord. Strange: because we live in a city filled with people from many nations, tongues, peoples and tribes; we walk past many of them today in order to come here to the Chinese Church.

At this point, it is tempting to react by saying something along the lines of “We have to try and welcome everyone to our church.” And yes, that’s a very bold statement. I think this passage gets real with us by showing us that it is better to think of the “someone” rather than focusing generically on everyone. Who is the someone that God has put in your life whom you’ve been avoiding simply because they’re different? Has there been one person you have conveniently ignored simply because frankly, you’ve written them off? “That guy will never be a Christian! She would never want to come to Solid Rock, she hates this kind of thing!”

Notice that in Peter’s case, God was gracious enough to nudge him in the right direction step-by-step. Actually, those of us who were here last week saw that in the way God brought Peter step-by-step to Joppa where he ended up staying with Simon the tanner (and in doing so was already breaking one of the rules in Leviticus 11). Here, we see God using his hunger and his hang-ups about the food laws. God sending the men to his home and Peter welcoming them in. Later, we’ll see that God already gave a vision to Cornelius confirming Peter’s visit there. Every step of the way, God was helping Peter to see his own pride and prejudice; to see God’s purpose and plan for the Gentiles.

2. More than good

So, that’s Peter. Next, we look at Cornelius under our second point: More than good. That is, goodness isn’t enough to be accepted by God.

Cornelius, we’ve already said, was a Gentile military commander. The beginning of Chapter 10 tells us more about him: He and his whole family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. He wasn’t a Christian and yet this guy would put most Christians to shame with regards to his prayer life, with regards to the amount of money he gave to the poor. And you know what? Even God recognises his goodness. An angel says to him in verse 4, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” How many of you here today can God say this: “I’ve seen how loving you’ve been to the poor and I’m proud of you.”

Friends, if you are here today and you are not a believer, I want you to notice that here is God commending a non-Christian for his goodness. Here is God speaking to a non-Christian recognising his generosity. As a Christian, I can think of non-Christian friends who are nicer than me, more hardworking than me; who are better husbands than me; who are better sons to their parents than me. And frankly, I thank God for them.

But here’s the thing: It’s not enough. Being good was not enough for Cornelius. Even Cornelius, for all his goodness and piety, had to turn to Jesus for forgiveness and rescue from God’s judgement.

I think the most striking thing about Cornelius is not his goodness; it’s actually his humility. He sends his servants to fetch Peter, but he also, in verse 8, tells them “everything that happened,” meaning these were men who had similar regard for God, whom he trusted enough to share this vision from God. He didn’t send them to Joppa to force Peter to come though he could have - after all, remember that Cornelius was a powerful man - but he sent them to accurately convey the message he had received from God.

And later on when Peter arrived in Cornelius’ home in verse 24, Cornelius has gathered all his friends and family (verse 27 says there was a large gathering of people). This guy is so eager to hear God’s word that the moment Peter enters the house, Cornelius falls to the ground and Peter has to make him get up - this respected army officer - and say to him, “I’m only a man myself.”

But finally, in verse 33, Cornelius says to Peter, “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.” That’s truly remarkable, for a non-Christian to say to a Christian, “I am so conscious of God’s presence here today. God must have something he wants you to tell us. Please would you preach the gospel to us!” Something like this doesn’t happen every day and I suspect it was new even for the apostle Peter. But God was preparing this non-Christian’s heart in a powerful way, impressing upon him the privilege of hearing his word spoken and preached.

Cornelius was a good man. There is no denying that. But he was a good man who knew that there was more to being accepted by God than just being very, very good or trying your utmost best. Cornelius would have been aware of his own status as a Gentile - as someone who stood outside the promises of God. Peter says to him in verse 28, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile.” Cornelius knew that and if it wasn’t for God commanding Cornelius to bring Peter to his home; if it wasn’t for God telling Peter to enter into his home, Cornelius would not have dared to go against that law. Which is why Cornelius repeats the vision to Peter a second time. He wants Peter to know that this was not a scheme of his, this was not a great idea he had - this was something God had commanded Cornelius to do and he simply obeyed that command.

At the same time, he was so excited to hear what Peter had to say. His whole family were there. He got all his friends round his house to come - and the fact that so many of them came is a testament to how much they respected this guy. “Now we are all here in the presence of God,” he says to Peter, “to listen to everything the Lord has told you to say to us.”

The reason why we open up the bible each week here in the Chinese Church is because we share that same anticipation, that same expectation that comes from hearing God’s word. It is the anticipation and expectation of the presence of God in our midst. We believe that these words are God’s words. More than that, when these words are read out loud, what we hear is God’s voice speaking to us.

What Peter goes on to tell Cornelius is the gospel. Which brings us to our third and final point, because verse 36 describes this gospel as “the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”

3. Lord of all

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Acts 10:34-38

What we have here is a blind first date. Peter and Cornelius have been brought together by two visions from God. They know they are supposed to be there but there’s a sense of awkwardness in the room. Cornelius mistakenly bows to the ground when Peter enters the room (verse 26). Peter says something to the effect of, “Erm, I’m not really supposed to be here. Why did you ask me to come?” And Cornelius answers, “But you’re supposed to know! I’ve got all my friends here and told them something big was going to happen. Now please tell us why we’re here?” Peter is looking at Cornelius; Cornelius and his friends are looking at Peter.

So, Peter opens his mouth and begins to preach. This much, he’s figured out - God doesn’t show favouritism and accepts even the Gentiles - Peter got that much sorted in his mind. But then notice how he says, “You know... you know...”? He is trying to build up momentum. “You know that this message I have - it’s from Jesus. He’s the one who started it all. You know about him, right? He had a powerful ministry in Galilee (up north) and Judea (down south), and Jesus did amazing things like heal the sick because, well, God was with him, that’s why.”

That is, Cornelius would have been familiar with the message so far. He would have heard of Jesus as a good man, perhaps even, as a man of God. He might have heard about Jesus from other Christians in town. After all, we know from Acts Chapter 9 that both Paul and Philip were in Caesarea preaching about Jesus in that town and maybe word got round to Cornelius that Jesus was someone who did great things for God.

But then Peter went into what Cornelius, perhaps, didn’t know. What Cornelius really needed to know - that Jesus died on the cross. God raised him from the dead. And that Jesus was appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Friends, that’s the essence of the gospel - who Jesus is and what Jesus did. And the key that unlocks the person and work of Jesus Christ is the cross. He died to take our judgement of sin and he rose again as proof that he was victorious over death and sin.

Peter says in verse 43, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

At that moment, God interrupts Peter’s sermon. A few of us were at a wedding last week when the sermon was interrupted - a couple of times actually - by cellphones that started to go off in the middle of the service. It was actually quite funny to hear the different ringtones people used - one was a recording of a pop song, another had peculiar beeping sound - you don’t really hear the old familiar Nokia ringtone very much these days. Of course, it wasn’t so funny for the pastor and the bride and groom! “How rude,” we might be tempted to think. Only here, in verse 44, it is God who rudely interrupts Peter’s sermon!

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Acts 10:44-46

God was giving a powerful sign and very visible sign of his Holy Spirit by causing Cornelius and his family and friends to speak in tongues. This was a repeat of the Pentecost event when Peter and the 120 believers with him were filled with the Holy Spirit and supernaturally enabled to speak in tongues, that is, to praise God in various different languages of the nations.

Only notice that now, the reverse was happening. The nations were praising God before the Israelites. You see, this was a sign, not for Cornelius, but for Peter. Look at what Peter says in verse 47.

“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

Acts 10:47-48

“They have received the Holy Spirit,” Peter says, “just as we have.” It was only at that moment that the penny dropped. These outsiders were now insiders. The Gentile Christians were full members in the family of God. Jesus Christ is Lord of all - of all nations, of all races, of all peoples.

Conclusion: Mission is God’s idea, not ours

Acts is a picture of God on mission. Missions is something God does. Mission is God’s big idea, not ours; his work, not ours. And the way we see this in today’s passage is in the way God prepares both Peter and Cornelius.

For Peter, God prepares him by breaking down his preconceptions. Even Peter, who was an apostle, who was a follower of Jesus Christ, who was a leader in the church, had preconceptions about who can be saved; about who should be saved.

I think God was very gracious in the way he did this. He led Peter step by step. But in the end, God helped Peter to understand that missions is not reaching your own people who are most like us; mission means bringing the gospel to the nations. And being involved in God’s mission inevitably involved engaging with people we would normally classify as “unclean” - people towards whom we are naturally prejudiced towards.

Even Peter needed to learn this lesson. Don’t you think that we do, too, here in the Chinese Church? Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations. I don’t think we can say that we have done that faithfully if our focus as the Chinese Church is exclusively on the Chinese.

And what about Cornelius? God was preparing him, too, by sending him the vision through the angel. By sending Peter to his house to preach the gospel. God was preparing Cornelius from the beginning to receive the gospel - not by doing more and more good works - but by trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins through his substitutionary death on the cross.

Now, unless, we forget, we have more in common with Cornelius than we do, Peter. Because we are Gentiles. Culturally and racially, we stand outside the boundaries of Israel. I wonder if that is why we’ve lost that sense of expectation and anticipation Cornelius had when he saw Peter walking into the room. Maybe that’s why we don’t feel like we need to invite our friends to hear what God has to say in his word. It is because we have taken God’s grace to us for granted.

Prejudice works both ways. On one hand, we can be prejudiced against others, like Peter was. But we can also be presumptuous about ourselves, as if we deserve to have God’s presence with us, because he has always been with us, because we are his church and because we know his word. We forget that mission is God’s idea, not ours. Mission is God’s work, not ours.

Cornelius was so bowled over at the expectation of hearing the gospel, the guy fell to his knees when Peter walked in the room, right in front of all his friends and his family and even his servants. Friends, you may or may not realise this, but these words we have in front of us are pure gold. If you would but just listen, you would hear God’s voice. If you would but just humble yourself, you would find yourself in God’s presence.

Friends, the brutal honest question - and it's so obviously in front of us, I admit I missed it the first few times I looked at this passage - is simply this: When was the last time we humbled ourselves before our God in prayer? God appears to Cornelius in a vision at three in the afternoon, it says in verse 3, but it isn't until verse 30, that Cornelius clarifies, that it was when he was on his knees in prayer before God. God appears to Peter when he is on the rooftop - in prayer. Friends, you can be the nicest guy on earth and the kind of person who helps little old ladies cross the road but if you call yourself a Christian, and you do not regularly come before the Lord of the universe on your knees, humbling yourself before him in prayer - I don't care who you are; you are proud.

The question at the end of the day is not: Are you like Cornelius or are you like Peter? That’s not the question. No, it’s: Are you like Cornelius and Peter: who were both humbled by God; who were both obedient to his word? That is what is means to call Jesus the Lord of all. It means all of us need to humble ourselves before him. It means all of us need to be forgiven by him - the judge of all. It means all of us who put our trust in him, receive full  and final forgiveness through his name.

Scripture (Acts 8:26-40)

Have you ever looked at a part of the bible and go, “Hmm, I wonder what that means?” “I wish someone would explain this to me.”

In today’s passage, we meet a man reading his bible and asking that very question - “What does this mean?” The amazing thing is: God sends a Christian across a long distance in order to meet him at that precise moment so that he can answer the man’s question.

In verse 26, God says to Philip, “Go south to the desert road,” and on that road he meets the Ethiopian eunuch. God says to Philip again, “Go to that chariot,” and Philip hears the Ethiopian eunuch reading his bible, and says, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” Verse 35: Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Isn’t it amazing that God sends Philip all this way to answer a question from the bible and to tell him the good news about Jesus? (Notice that right after the encounter, Philip is whisked away to another location, reinforcing the fact that Philip was only meant to be there long enough to speak to that man.)

Well, that makes me think: What about our questions? Should we expect God to do same for us today?

Three points I want us to see in today’s passage:

1. The movement of the Spirit

2. The curiosity of a Seeker

3. The purpose of Scripture

1. The movement of the Spirit

The first thing we see is the movement of the Holy Spirit. By the way, that is something we have seen running right through the book of Acts - the Holy Spirit moving to bring the message of the gospel out to the nations, in fulfilment of what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit at the beginning of Acts, in Chapter 1 verse 8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So we’ve seen Peter filled with the Spirit, preaching to the crowds of thousands, standing up to opposition of the religious council. But here we see something new: The Holy Spirit speaks to Philip giving him clear instructions, “Go to the desert road,” the angel of the Lord says to Philip in verse 26, “The desert road - that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” That’s pretty specific. “Go down Hills Road from the city to Addenbrooke’s.” (“Well, traffic’s bad at this time of day, shall I go though Cherry Hinton instead?” “Nope! Go down Hills Road.”)

Again in verse 29, the Spirit says to Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

These are specific, clear directions given to Philip by the Spirit of God. But notice as well that in each instance, Philip immediately obeys.

Verse 27: “So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch...”
(The ESV is much more straightforward: “And he rose and went.”)

Verse 30: “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.”

Philip hears God’s voice and obeys. That tells us a lot about how God was leading him. God didn’t give him a supernatural Google Map: “Here’s the lay of the land. Samaria, here. Eunuch, over there. After that, Caesarea, down south. That’s the plan.” Nope, God gave him the spiritual equivalent of a TomTom. “Go here. Turn left. Keeping moving.” And each time God spoke to Philip, Philip obeyed God’s instructions.

Back in Chapter 6, Philip is described as a man full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. And the way we see that is through his obedience. It doesn’t mean that he spouts wise-sounding words while stroking a long white beard, “The Spirit is strong in you, my young Padawan.” The way that we can see Philip clearly being led by the Spirit is through his obedience.

God speaks to Philip directly and clearly - and from what we see from Acts 8 - quite regularly through the Holy Spirit. And it’s not to give him running commentaries on the events of the world; it is to lead him step-by-step along the path of obedience. (For example, it is obvious from the passage that Philip didn’t know he would meet the eunuch when he went down the road. God said, “Go,” and Philip upped and went.) Here is a man full of wisdom; full of the Holy Spirit. Here is a man full of obedience.

Now, this immediately raises the question: How do we know when the Holy Spirit speaking to us? Isn’t there a danger that Christians will read this text and expect the Holy Spirit to tell them everything they need to do: Whether to have cereal or muesli for breakfast? Do I take the bus to work or cycle to work today? Isn’t there a danger of spiritualising our decisions and not taking responsibility for them. How much should we expect the Holy Spirit to be guiding us in our day-to-day decision-making?

There are two answers to that question. The first is to recognise how the Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus to speak on his behalf. The Holy Spirit is sent to remind us of all that Jesus said when he was on earth.

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:25-26

How does the Holy Spirit do that in Acts Chapter 8? From the beginning of the chapter, we see a clear movement of the Spirit - beginning in Jerusalem with the church being scattered; into Judea and Samaria where Christians begin to share the gospel with their neighbours; and now on the road to the Gentiles in Caesarea, where Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch along the way. The movement of the Spirit is the fulfilment of Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem... in all Judea and Samaria... to the ends of the world.”

So, the first way to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit is to recognise the words of Jesus. The Spirit reminds us of what Jesus said and puts them into action, that is, he calls us to obedience to Jesus’ words.

The second way - not unrelated to the first - but the second way we recognise the Spirit’s prompting is through our relationship with God. That is, we recognise the voice of our heavenly Father.

Don’t you get phone calls from friends whom you instantly recognise without having to ask who is on the line? From the way they say, “Hellloooooo brother!” or sometimes they don’t even bother to say hello and get straight to the point, “Why aren’t you home yet!” (That one might be from your mum!)

God speaks to us out of his relationship with us through Jesus Christ. He isn’t giving us information to memorise which he will test us on later. He is speaking to us as our heavenly Father, guiding us each step of the way to live holy lives for him and like him. He is involving us in his plan and calling us to trust that he loves us and knows what is best for us.

So, we recognise the Spirit’s voice in two ways: by recognising that it is Jesus speaking to us through the Spirit; and by recognising God leading us to trust in him out a relationship of love and obedience.

2. The curiosity of the Seeker

The next thing we see is the curiosity of the Seeker. And the reason why I call this Ethiopian eunuch a seeker is because he is seeking God by coming all this way to Jerusalem but also because he is seeking God through his word; by reading the bible.

In verse 27, we meet an Ethiopian eunuch who is “an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship.”

So, on the one hand, this guy was important, wealthy and influential. He is Finance Minister. He works for the Queen. He has his own carriage (It’s like having your own Bentley).

Yet at the same time, this man was an outcast. He was the Ethiopian eunuch. Ethiopian - meaning, he was a foreigner; not one of the people of God. Eunuch - meaning, he was physically unacceptable before God. He would have been barred from entering the temple (or at least, from going beyond the outer sections of the temple), the place of worship of God.

Knowing all this, he still came to Jerusalem, it says in verse 28, to worship. He wasn’t a tourist. He came all this way to the temple to worship Yahweh as his God.

On the way back, he reads from the book of Isaiah. It is amazing that he has his own copy of Isaiah - this would have been very rare and very expensive. Imagine the bible today costing a thousand pounds - you wouldn’t have copies lying around on every chair the way we do here in church. This book of Isaiah that the Ethiopian eunuch owned would have been a long scroll hand-written by an expert scribe. He didn’t buy it to put on display in a museum. He was reading it from cover to cover (we know this because the section quoted later in verse 33 is near the end of Isaiah). This man wanted to know God and he was willing to spend his time, his attention and his wealth to seek him.

The question is: Why? Why would he be interested in such a God? We get a clue from verse 34.

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Acts 8:34

Something he has just read from Isaiah makes him go, “I want to know who this is talking about. I need to know who this person is.” Why? Because the Ethiopian eunuch comes to a section of the bible which talks about a man who is rejected. He comes to a section which talks about a man who is helpless before his enemies and deprived of justice; a man who has no descendants, something the Ethiopian eunuch would have identified with.

But friends, I wonder, he read this passage of Scripture and understood that it God was responsible for this man’s condition. Look at what it says in verse 32:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before his 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.”

Acts 8:32-33

The eunuch read this in the bible and something inside him went, “I need to know who this is talking about. I need to know why such a person is in the bible. Why would God allow such pain and suffering in this man’s life?”

And notice how Philip answers his question in verse 35.

Then beginning with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Acts 8:35

Philip told him about Jesus’ rejection at the cross; how he was humiliated - stripped of his dignity; how he faced injustice at the hands of his enemies. And how he remained silent - like a lamb before the shearer. Jesus was submitting himself to his Father’s plan by going to the cross and taking upon himself the punishment that we deserved. The same passage from Isaiah 53 has these words, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each one of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Friends, this is what makes Christianity so offensive. Christians believe that in order for us to be accepted, Jesus had to be condemned. That’s a statement that offends any good Muslim, who, though they do not believe that Jesus was God but was instead a prophet of God, nonetheless could never believe that God would subject his servant to such humiliation and suffering. Such a statement call into question God’s justice and holiness - How could he condemn an innocent man for the sake of the guilty?

But that is precisely what the bible says happened on the cross, “The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And we believe that is actually good news. The day that Jesus died is Good Friday. Because his rejection meant our acceptance. His condemnation resulted in our salvation.

And what this says to people who have come to seek God - people like eunuch who have come all the way to Jerusalem to seek and worship God in temple - is, that God sought them while they were still in rebellion against him. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” the bible says (Romans 5:8)

And what spoke so powerfully to the eunuch that made him so curious about Jesus was not his wealth. It was not his status while Jesus was in heaven. It was not his influence before the Father as the Beloved Son. No, it was his submission to the Father’s plan. It was his humility on the cross. It was his rejection before his very own. That was what attracted this seeker to Jesus. Not his wealth but his poverty. Not his status but his submission.

You see, the eunuch was a man who recognised his own poverty before God. He knew he was unacceptable and yet he still approached God, he still came all this way to worship the true God of the bible. And essentially, what Philip told him in the good news about Jesus was the fact that through the cross, the eunuch was accepted, he was whole and he was loved.

If you are here today and you are not yet a Christian, I want to say to you that what happened to the eunuch pretty much needs to happen to you, if you are to be accepted by God. You need to recognise your own unworthiness, your own poverty. And you need to see Jesus in his. Those two things need to happen - recognising your own sin and seeing how Jesus took upon himself your sin. Because when that happens, you see how Jesus exchanges your sin for his righteousness; how Jesus takes your rejection and gives you his stamp of approval. The bible says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Ethiopian eunuch saw that, with the help of Philip, of course, but he saw that for himself and gave his life to follow Jesus, as evident from his baptism. He was so eager to be baptised, that he says to Philip in verse 36, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptised.” All the barriers stopping him from knowing God were instantly removed. It wasn’t like in the temple in Jerusalem where he would have been turned away from approaching God. Now, nothing could stand in his way of being in God’s kingdom as a full citizen. He knew that Jesus died for his sins and understood that he stood before God fully loved and fully acceptable before him.

3. The purpose of Scripture

Finally, we see the purpose of Scripture. We see the reason why it is so important that Christians read this book and understand the bible for themselves. The reason is this: The bible is God’s word to us. God speaks to us through the words of Scripture.

The Ethiopian eunuch reads a passage from Isaiah 53 and asks Philip to explain that passage to him. Notice how “Philip began with that very passage of Scripture” and told him about Jesus. He didn’t change the topic. Philip didn’t go, “Maybe we should begin with something simpler, like the gospel of Mark instead” (also because it hadn’t been written yet!) No, that very passage of Old Testament Scripture written over 700 years ago was God’s word pointing to Jesus and his work on the cross.

Isaiah was written 700 years before Christ and yet it is God’s way of telling us who Jesus is and what he came to do. That principle applies to whole Old Testament. Remember how Jesus appeared to the two travellers on the road to Emmaus after he was raised from the dead (recorded for us in Luke Chapter 24)? Jesus says something very important there in verse 25.

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:25-27

“Moses and all the Prophets” is a neat way of summarising the whole Old Testament. Jesus essentially did a bible overview to show how “all the prophets” (verse 24) and “all the Scriptures” (verse 27) were pointing to him as the Messiah, specifically how the Messiah or king would have to suffer first before entering into his glory (a way of talking about the cross and the resurrection).

That means that we should be confident about our Old Testament. Don’t be afraid of teaching the Old Testament to Sunday School kids, for example. 2 Timothy 3:15, which is a verse about the Old Testament says, “And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Paul is talking to Timothy who was taught the Old Testament since he was a kid (from infancy) which had the effect of making him wise for salvation through faith in Christ. Don’t be afraid of the Old Testament, especially if you’re a Sunday School teacher, teaching it to kids!

We should be confident of our Old Testament, but also, we should be careful, especially when applying the bible to our lives today. When the Ethiopian eunuch turns to Philip and asks, “Who is this talking about?” Philip did not reply, “Why of course, the bible is speaking into your situation, identifying with your struggles - but in the end, God will accept you just as you are.” He didn’t say that. I wonder if sometimes we are tempted to apply the bible directly to our own experiences in order to make a connection. No, Philip understood that Scripture is God’s word to us first and foremost about his Son, Jesus. He knew that the cross is a lens by which we are to look at the Old Testament, focussing on the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection, and only through him, do the blessings and applications come to us today.

So, back to the Sunday School teacher, don’t be too quick to apply the battle between David and Goliath to our battles today. Don’t be too eager to connect Daniel’s situation in the lion’s den with our situation in the workplace. But look at the text through the lens of the cross and ask how do the prophets prepare us to recognise Jesus and his faithfulness, his struggles, his victories, his suffering and his glory?

And maybe when you are planning your Sunday School lesson to begin not by saying, “Hmm, I wonder what stories I can use from the bible to entertain the children this weekend?” but by honestly asking yourself, “Do these kids know Jesus?” And to then be encouraged by the fact that God wants us to know him and he does so through his Word. In a sense, when you teach the bible, you are letting the bible speak for itself. Your job is to point in the direction the bible is pointing: Look here to Jesus!

By the way, we began with the Spirit speaking to Philip. Now if God can speak so clearly and directly to a man like Philip, why, do you think, doesn’t he just speak to the Ethiopian eunuch himself? Why send Philip all this way to meet him in the middle of nowhere on the desert road to do a bible study?

The answer is: God was speaking to the eunuch. He did so by his Spirit, though the Scriptures but also - and get this - but also through Philip. Friends, if you are a bible study leader and you faithfully point to Jesus in your leading, do you realise that God is using you to speak his word? If you are a Sunday School teacher, God is using you to speak to the kids his word about Jesus!

I think that should make us extra confident and extra careful when he open our mouths to tell people about Jesus. It should make us prayerful. It should make us humble. It should make us take this book seriously because it is God’s book with God’s words spoken through God’s Spirit pointing us to God’s Son.

Epilogue: God’s mission

We have seen three things. The movement of the Spirit which is the movement of the gospel going out to the nations. We have seen the curiosity of the Seeker, or the sincerity of the Seeker, in the eunuch who seeks after God to worship him at his temple and to know him through his word; but really it is God who first sought him, by sending Philip to tell him the gospel; by sending Jesus to die for his sins on the cross. Thirdly, we have seen the purpose of Scripture, to prepare us to recognise Jesus as the Christ.

But I wanted to end by drawing your attention to the last couple of verses in the chapter because they remind us that all this is happening in the context of mission. Look with me to verse 39. It is a rather strange way to end the account. If you remember, the eunuch is so eager to get baptised, he stops the chariot at a pool of water. Philip baptises him right there and then. Now look at what happens next!

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

Acts 8:39-40

This has kinda happened before. Chapter 8 begins with Philip preaching to the Samaritans and the whole town become Christians! But when that happens, the Spirit tells Philip, “Go south to the road - the desert road.” God tells Philip to leave. And here, we see it happening again! The Ethiopian eunuch becomes a Christian and he is barely out the water when God sends him off to the next town!

God does mission in such a way that only God would ever think of doing it this way. You see, if we were Philip and we’d just planted a church in Samaria, the natural thing would have been to stay. To try grow the church and send out more missionaries from Samaria. But no, God says to him, “Move on!”

And with the Ethiopian eunuch, do you realise that Philip has just evangelised one of the most influential people on the planet? Imagine David Cameron turned up here at the Chinese Church and became a Christian right after this message! Wouldn’t it be tempting to say to Mr Cameron, “Now, let’s talk about what it means for you to glorify Jesus as a Christian Prime Minister.” Or even to think strategically about planting churches, or in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, I don’t know, stopping the persecution in Jerusalem?

But you see, God’s mission is carried out in such a way that God’s way is often times, not our way. He doesn’t need to use influential people. He doesn’t need resources and connections. All the God uses in God’s mission are three ingredients: His Word, His Spirit, His people to bring all glory to his Son.

What happens at the end of Acts Chapter 8 is the same thing that happens throughout the whole book of Acts. God sends his Spirit to empower his people so that they will boldly preach his Word. Why? Because when that happens, all glory goes to Jesus. When that happens, God’s mission looks like God’s mission.

Greatness (Acts 8:9-25)

Who you would consider as someone great? Someone you look up to or someone whom you aspire to be like?

If I asked that question ten, twenty years ago, I would get answers like: the Prime Minister or Martin Luther King or Einstein. “I want to change the world.” Today, most would say, “I want to be famous.” Or, “I want to be rich and successful.”

Greatness today has to do with popularity. How many people follow you on Twitter. Greatness today is about winning the X-Factor or being the next Apprentice. We’ve stopped trying to change the world. Instead, we want to known all over the world.

I think, because our perception of what greatness means has changed, so has our perception of God changed. We think of God’s greatness the way we want to be great. God is lovable, God is always helping me out - Isn’t God great? (in the same way we use “awesome” to mean cool). Moreover, we think that the way we display God’s greatness is by being great: By being a great church, by being famous on the Internet, by getting lots of people to come to church.

Today’s passage is about greatness. It’s about a guy who thinks he is great; who thinks he is hot stuff. We see that he is an entertainer, who knows how to draw a crowd. And here in Acts, Simon, who starts out a magician, becomes a Christian, gets baptised and aspires to become a church leader. The scary thing is: We see a lot of Simons in churches today. Many of us want a guy like Simon leading upfront. The tragic thing in Acts is, he is exposed as a fake. In verse 21, Peter says to him, “You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right with God.” Peter questions whether Simon is even a Christian.

Again, the scary thing is: Simon’s the kind of guy we look out for: Someone who has the stuff. We’re looking for someone to impress us.

We’ll see three points in today’s passage that have to do with greatness: We’ll see (1) The attraction of greatness, (2) The deception of greatness and finally (3) The reflection of greatness. Attraction, deception and reflection.

1. The attraction of greatness

The first thing we see is attraction of greatness. We are naturally drawn towards greatness.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Simon himself believed and he was baptised. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

Acts 8:9-13

Something changed when Philip arrived at Samaria. Suddenly Simon was no longer the centre of attraction. Suddenly, everyone was giving their attention to Philip - to the gospel he was preaching. Look back to verse 6.

When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.

Acts 8:6

The same guy preaching the same message but two different responses. They saw the signs and this caused them to ask, “What do these signs mean?” They paid close attention to what he said. Simon, on the other hand, was still focussed on the packaging. Verse 13, “He followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.” The signs were packaging for what the signs pointed to - the message. The signs were meant to draw your attention to what the signs were pointing to - the gospel. But Simon loved the miracles more than the message. He was caught up with the packaging.

Philip preached the same message. He did the same miracles. But there were two different results. It ought to remind us of Jesus and his ministry. Lots of people were following Jesus because of the signs he did. Lots of people were fans of the signs he did. But again and again, Jesus was differentiating the fans from the followers and he did this through his words. “He who has an ear, let him hear.” Are you listening to what I’m saying - really listening? Or are you in love with an image, an idea of what impresses you about me?

It happened to Jesus. It happened to Philip. Notice verse 12: “Philip... proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” Here was a guy who was faithful. He stuck to the message of the gospel. And praise God for that, people became Christians through his preaching. Even so, some were drawn to him impressiveness instead of his faithfulness.

If you are someone who gets up in front often here in church, you need to be aware of that. As a song leader, as a speaker, even if you’re simply reading the passage this week, people will notice the clothes you wear, your accent, your confidence. And if you’re not careful, you may end up being more of a hindrance than a help. How can you avoid drawing attention to yourself rather than God? You do that by drawing attention - yes, to God’s goodness and God’s greatness and God’s presence instead of your own; or you might try to do that by drawing attention away from yourself, by telling self-deprecating jokes (this rarely works, by the way), or getting more people involved in leading the service by taking turns to pray and introduce the songs.

But let me suggest to you the way you do that most effectively is by drawing attention again and again back to God’s word. The Samaritans saw the signs but they paid attention to what Philip said - about the kingdom of God, about the name of Jesus. The way to ensure that our worship and attention is rightly focussed on God, and not ourselves or any one person, is by coming back again and again to God’s word. This is what God says. This is who God is.

Song leaders: More important than what you wear or what the powerpoint looks like is what you say when you talk about God. Musicians: More important than what the music sounds like is what the lyrics tell us about God. You are drawing attention to who God is, to what God has done.

Now some people sitting in the pews will still be like Simon. Some will get stuck at the packaging. But for those who hear the message and respond to the message of the gospel, you would have helped them to know Jesus - who is great, who does deserve our attention, our love and our worship.

2. The deception of greatness

The second thing we see is the deception of greatness. Greatness blinds us to our sin. The great deception is thinking the solution to our sin is success. Or, as in Simon’s case, we mistakenly think the solution to our sin is ministry.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostle’s hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Acts 8:18-23

That’s kind of harsh, isn’t it? When Peter says, “May your money perish with you.” The problem we usually have with money is greed but notice that’s not his problem. Peter isn’t saying to Simon, “You’ve not been generous in your giving.”

No, Peter is accusing Simon of buying his way into ministry. What is he saying? “You think its a career path.” The truth is, many today go into Christian ministry expecting to climb a career ladder. I know some of you hear that and think, “That’s crazy! Being a pastor or a church worker is donkey’s job. Low pay. No career prospects.”

But we have just seen that Christian ministry is attractive. You become the centre of attention. You exercise influence over over Christians. Simon sees that - he sees the apostles Peter and John laying their hands on believers and the Holy Spirit comes upon them - and he says to them in verse 19, “Give me also this ability.” I want this power. I want this position and I’m willing to pay for it.

Peter’s response? To hell with you and your money (I’m paraphrasing verse 20, but it’s not far from what Peter means). That’s harsh. Peter questions whether Simon is a genuine Christian, whether he is going to hell. Verse 23, “I see that your heart if full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Now the problem is not that Simon is being overly ambitious. The problem is that Simon is blind to his own sin. The problem is that Simon is filled with jealousy and bitterness of sin.

Now maybe Peter has special X-ray eyes that allows him to see into Simon’s soul to be able to tell this spiritual condition of Simon’s heart. But aren’t there obvious clues the passage wants us to be able to see for ourselves? His past career perhaps as a magician, when he was known as the Great Power of God (verse 10), enjoying the praise of all his friends? Or the way he hero-worships Philip and follows him around like a crazed Justin Bieber fan?

Yet I think the biggest clue lies in the way Simon tries to bribe the apostles. He is willing to pay good money. He knows you don’t get something for nothing - not in the business world, you don’t, nor in the political world - and Simon is willing to exchange his wealth for this new form of power. In essence, Simon is willing to pay for this new position within the church.

And friends, I want you to see that what Peter did in response to that was loving and truthful. He rebuked Simon. He warned Simon of God’s judgement over his sinful heart. “Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” Would you dare say that to a successful businessman who says he wants to be a worship leader? Would you rebuke an ambitious Cambridge graduate who wants to be a pastor? You should if that brother is blind to his own sin because of his success. You should if that brother is deceived into thinking he doesn’t need to deal with his sin as long as he is serving in the church.

Ministry is not a stepping stone to worldly success. And yet some people will only consider going into ministry if God gives them that guarantee of a successful ministry - being senior pastor in five years, getting the chance to speak at a national conference, being a published author - otherwise, they wouldn’t give it a second thought. The saddest thing is, some of these aspiring ambitious multi-talented ministers may not be Christians believers. Some, like Simon, chase after success in the church in order to hide sin in their hearts. The fundamental question we need to ask a pastoral candidate, a potential missionary, a new Sunday School teacher, is not: Have you had a special calling from God into ministry? No, the fundamental question is this: Are you done with sin? Have you turned away from your sin?

3. The reflection of greatness

Finally, we see the reflection of greatness. And we see this in our humility. God’s greatness is truly reflected in our submission to his will.

So far, we have been looking at story of Simon. But Acts interweaves this account of Simon into a second story about the apostles. Two of the apostles, Peter and John, go to Samaria to investigate something so surprising and so unexpected, they had to see it with their own eyes: The Samaritans had become Christians! This was big news because the Samaritans were not Jewish (well, they were half-Jewish, but that made it worse as they were seen by the Jews as impure and unclean).

The Samaritans and the Jews never got along. They were neighbours (Samaria was to the north, Judea was to the south) who avoided each other, who told their kids not to mix with one another. And so for the longest time, none of the Jewish Christians ever thought of sharing the gospel with their Samaritan neighbours. But now, thanks to Philip, these Samaritans heard the gospel and became Christians. And quite frankly, I’m not sure whether the apostles were shocked or surprised or suspicious, but whatever it was, they felt they needed to check things out for themselves.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:14-17

Why did Peter and John have to pray for the Holy Spirit to come on these Samaritan? Why didn’t the Holy Spirit come on these Samaritan Christians before the apostles arrived in town - like when they first believed?

Over the centuries, Christians and bible experts have proposed several solutions to this problem. Some suggest that the Samaritans weren’t real Christians - after all look at Simon who was also said to have believed and been baptised but turned out to have serious sin issues. But Acts goes to great lengths to tell us that Philip told them the gospel. He proclaimed the Christ (verse 5), he explained the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (verse 12) - Acts goes out of its way to say that these Samaritans responded and trusted in the real message of the gospel - “They accepted the word of God” (verse 14).

Others say that this passage teaches the need for second blessing. It is proof that even genuine Christians need to pray for the Holy Spirit to give them the gift of tongues as a guarantee that they are the real thing. Some churches go so far as to suggest that unless you have this sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence, you’re not a real Christian. But this goes against what Peter promises about the Holy Spirit in his first sermon in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptised, every one of us, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Everyone who trusts in Jesus receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter says. In fact, the only way you can repent and trust in Jesus is if the Holy Spirit enables you to repent and trust in Jesus. You don’t believe first and get the Holy Spirit; no, the Holy Spirit comes first to cause new birth and to enable you to believe in Jesus.

Still others suggest that what this passage demonstrates the apostolic authority of Peter and John, over against the authority of Philip who wasn’t an apostle. Hence, the Holy Spirit is given only at the laying on of the apostles’ hands because only they have the authority to establish the church, and so it is suggested that Philip didn’t have the right authority to baptise these new converts. Now, I do agree that in some sense, there is an authenticating factor here about the apostles special role in the mission of the church. However, in the very next chapter we see the Holy Spirit coming on Saul when he is baptised but Ananias who is not an apostle, or when Philip baptises the Ethiopian eunuch, are we saying that he wasn’t a real believer?

These common thread running through these suggestions is that they try to see the problem from the believer’s perspective: What’s wrong with the Samaritans? Why didn’t they receive the Spirit? When in reality the focus is on the apostles. You see, the apostles hear of this news. The apostles send Peter and John. The apostles lay their hands on these believers. The account is being told from the apostles’ perspective because Acts is telling us: God is dealing with a problem that the apostles had with this situation. The giving of the Holy Spirit was a solution given by God to solve a problem to do with the Samaritans, but which the apostles struggled with in regard to God’s mission to the Samaritans.

The problem was this: How could God save the Samaritans? For thousands of years, the Jews had been the people of God. But now with the coming of Jesus Christ, in a strange turn of events, the church was being kicked out of Jerusalem, the city of God, and a new church was being planted amongst foreigners; people who weren’t Jews.

Right from the beginning of the book, Jesus said, “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” And I’m sure those words would have been ringing in the apostles’ ears, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem... but also in Samaria.” It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was still a surprise to the apostles, who up till Chapter 8, had concentrated all their witness in Jerusalem.

And here the Holy Spirit is held back from the Samaritan believers - why? For the benefit of the apostles, Peter and John, so that they can see that what has happened in Samaria was God’s doing. Jesus was working through his Spirit to bring the gospel to the nations

How did the apostles respond to this? Imagine you are Peter or John and your own church in Jerusalem is destroyed. It used to be a church of thousands and thousands of people but overnight, everyone gets driven out of town because of persecution. But then you hear news that Yao goes to Arbury and starts a new church. Not a Chinese Church, but a church filled with … dun dun dun!!!... English people! What would you do?

Would you be tempted to turn that into another Chinese Church? Would you go there and say to them, “These are our traditions and rules which you have to follow, otherwise, you’re not a real church?” Would you question God for allowing that church to prosper and yours to shrink?

Here is the amazing thing about the apostles, because notice in verse 25, what did they do? Two things: They preached the gospel and they they left. That is amazing!

After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Acts 8:25

Firstly, the preached the gospel. Their main job was to strengthen the church through the teaching of the bible. But they didn’t just do that in the one town of Samaria, they were “preaching the word in many Samaritan villages.” Now the interesting thing about that phrase is how it is the exact same expression we find in Acts 8:4, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” They were gossipping the gospel in other towns in Samaria. Or in our case, not just Chinese people, but especially to local villages.

But this expression also tells us that the apostles were doing what all the other Christians were doing all along. They were humble enough to recognise that even as apostles, they had something to learn from the other believers. Philip was preaching to the Samaritans before they did. Everyone else was reaching the Samaritans before they did. A proud leader would be tempted to stick to his own ways, to say, “I’m the boss. My employees should do what I tell them to do, not tell me how I should do my job.” No, these apostles recognised that what these Christians were doing was God’s mission to the nations and they were humble enough and godly enough to join them in that mission.

So, that’s the first thing they did. But the second thing they did was even more amazing. They returned to Jerusalem. That is, the apostles didn’t set up a committee to report back to Jerusalem, they just left. Why? Because, and this is very important to recognise, these Samaritan believers were the real thing. They were their brothers and sisters in Christ, full citizens of the kingdom of God. It would have been very tempting to make them sub-members. Remember, the Samaritans were half-Jews, they had a history of idolatry. It would have been very easy to turn the Samaritan church into a kind-of sub-church under the headship of Jerusalem. To justify that kind of actions by saying, “They aren’t mature enough, they need our guidance and supervision.” The apostles did not do any such thing.

What they did do was teach the bible. Again, verse 25, goes out of its way to emphasise this, “They further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus.” The one thing they did was strengthen the Samaritan church’s confidence in Jesus through their confidence in his word.

Here we see the reflection of true greatness. It isn’t seen through impressive acts of grandeur. It is seen through the submissive obedience to God’s word. That shouldn’t surprise us because we follow a Saviour who was himself a servant; who was himself humble and obedient under his Father’s will.

Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature God,

did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage;

Philippians 2:6

We reflect God’s greatness by reflecting the cross of Jesus Christ. That is God’s greatest act of salvation - his masterpiece - and what we see when we look at the cross is the humility, obedience and submission of Jesus Christ.

Who has felt the nails upon His hands?

Bearing all the guilt of sinful man

God eternal, humbled to the grave

Jesus, Saviour, risen now to reign

Behold our God seated on His throne

Come, let us adore Him

Behold our King—nothing can compare

Come, let us adore Him

(“Behold our God”, Sovereign Grace).