Moore College Student David Robinson

Good morning, everyone.

It's nice and echoey.

My name's David.

It's great to be with you here this morning

as we look forward to an exciting week,

hopefully, that we've all got together,

this week of college mission and St Paul's mission.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

I guess the question that that raises is,

what is it that actually causes a bunch of reclusive Bible

students to crawl out from behind the books for this brief week

and come out to Chatswood?

Or even more confusing, what is it

that causes a bunch of otherwise right-thinking individuals

such as yourselves to let us in the door,

never mind even inviting us?

Of course, the answer, as we've touched on, is mission, isn't it?

I'm sure you've heard a bit about it over the last few weeks.

I know we have.

You see, at the college, we're convinced,

just as you are as a church,

that it's incredibly important that we get out and about

and tell anyone who will listen this wonderful message of Jesus,

of his death, his resurrection,

the wonderful message of forgiveness that that brings to us.

But I guess I want to ask, why is that important?

Why are we going to the effort this week?

And why is it that we'd love as many of you as possible to be involved?

Well, this morning, as we consider this meeting

between Philip and the Ethiopian there in Acts 8,

we're going to find an answer to this question.

And I hope that as we go through this story,

if you're not convinced of the importance of mission,

you will be by the end of it.

If you're convinced, I hope that you'll be reminded of why it's so important,

maybe reinvigorated for the coming week.

So with that in mind, let's turn to that passage

as we wrestle with that question together.

You'll find it helpful to keep it open in front of you.

And as we turn there, the first thing we can take from it

is that God has a message which he wants people to understand.

God has a message which he wants people to understand.

Now, to really see this,

we've got to start all the way back at the beginning of the book,

back there in chapter 1, verse 8.

By this point, Jesus has come.

He's lived his life.

He's died.

He's been raised from the dead.

But before he goes back to heaven to wait there until he comes again,

he tells his disciples what's going to happen from there,

gives them the rundown.

And he says to them, there in 1.8,

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem

and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

And so with those words ringing in our ears

as we go through this story,

we need to understand God is intending on working through

these very ordinary men, his disciples,

to bring his message to the absolute ends of the earth.

And so even in this story as we consider it,

we're expecting big things from God, aren't we?

We're expecting to see that God himself will be at work

at making the opportunities happen,

at making this message spread,

and he doesn't disappoint us.

And so in verse 26, we see him telling this man,

Philip, head down to this road in the middle of nowhere

in the desert that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.

And Philip goes off, as he's told.

And as he's travelling, he crosses paths

with this Ethiopian eunuch there in verse 27.

Now, there's a few things we're told about this eunuch.

First of all, we're told he's a fairly important guy.

I don't think being the high-ranking official

for the Ethiopian Queen is that impressive now,

but I take it it must have been a bit more

of an impressive thing back then.

However, more importantly for what we're saying,

what we need to understand today,

is that we're told two other things.

First of all, that he's involved in the Jewish faith

and somehow he's just been up to Jerusalem

where he's worshipping,

and as he comes back, he's reading the book of Isaiah,

part of the Hebrew Scriptures,

something that we will find in our Old Testament there.

However, jarring with that is the fact

that he's also a eunuch.

We're told he's a eunuch.

Now, I'll assume you know what that is

rather than going into it,

but suffice to say, gentlemen,

you don't want to be one.

Now, the reason that's significant, though,

is that if we go back to Deuteronomy 23, verse 1 there,

Deuteronomy 23:1

part of the Jewish law,

we see that eunuchs essentially

can never be full members of God's people.

Added to this is the fact that he's an Ethiopian,

not a Jew.

He's a Gentile.

So there's a further barrier there, isn't there?

He will always be an outsider

simply by virtue of who he is among God's people.

Well, as this man's travelling back from Jerusalem

and he and Philip cross paths,

God tells Philip,

look, head over near the chariot.

And so he does.

And he gets close enough to hear him reading.

And what he's reading there

is from the book of Isaiah in verse 30.

Sorry, and in verse 30, he says,

Philip says,

do you understand what it is that you are reading?

Now, it's worth just pausing for a moment here

to ask ourselves

how it is that God has brought this situation about

because he's at work everywhere, isn't he?

We've seen that's what he intends to do

back in chapter 1, verse 8.

That's what he's telling us.

And here we see Philip sent down by God.

He comes across this Ethiopian's path.

Sorry.

And it's God who has put this book

in the Ethiopian man's hands, isn't it?

This whole situation,

we're seeing God working

to make his message known.

It's God who's acting here.

And so Philip asks the question of him

in verse 31.

Or in verse 30,

do you understand what you're reading?

Which brings the response from the Ethiopian

there in verse 31.

Which brings us really to the heart of the passage

and then to our second point.

That is that Jesus is the message

that God wants people to understand.

And we see there in verse 31,

the Ethiopian replies and says,

how can I?

Unless someone explains it to me.

And so he invited Philip to come up

and sit with him.

I wonder, how did you become a Christian?

If we went around this room right now

and asked that question

to everyone individually,

I'm sure we'd have as many stories

as we have people in here.

God uses an amazing array of circumstances

and of experiences

to bring people to himself.

But for all these different experiences

that we might have,

there'd be at least one thing

that all of us have in common.

And that is that someone

will have taken the time

to explain this message to you.

To teach it to you.

Just think about it for a minute.

It may be that you grew up

with Christian parents

who have taught you the gospel

for longer than you can remember.

It may be that you had a friend

in school or somewhere else

that invited you along

to a youth group,

to a church service.

And it was there

that you first heard the gospel.

It may be that someone

approached you completely out of the blue,

just walked up to you and said,

let's talk.

Or that you approached them.

At the very least,

you will have had to pick up a Bible

and start reading this message

for yourself, wouldn't you?

Whatever your experience,

whatever your story

and the particulars of that,

you needed to hear this message

and understand it

in order to believe it.

You needed to be told, didn't you?

Now the Ethiopian man,

he gets this.

He knows he doesn't understand

what he's reading,

but he wants to.

And so he invites Philip

to come up into the chariot

and explain this passage

from Isaiah for him.

And as we continue to read there

in verses 32 and 33,

we see the passage he's reading

is from Isaiah 53.

It's part of that wonderful,

long passage

that we just had read to us earlier.

Now we can probably assume

that on a long journey like that,

he's reading more than

the couple of lines

that are quoted there.

and we'll have read at least

the stuff that comes before,

including these lines

in verses 5 and 6,

where Isaiah says,

but he was pierced

for our transgressions.

He was crushed

for our iniquities.

The punishment

that brought us peace

was upon him

and by his wounds

we are healed.

We all like sheep

have gone astray.

Each of us has turned

to his own way

and the Lord

has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

Now for those of us

here today

that have been fortunate enough

to have been taught

well over a long period of time,

to have known

what Jesus did on the cross,

we read that

and it just screams out

Jesus, doesn't it?

Just think about it briefly.

We have a man here

who was,

he was pierced,

crushed,

it was done

as a punishment,

it was a punishment

for sins

and it buys us

peace with God.

We have here words

that were written

700 odd years

before Jesus came

and walked this earth

yet what we were reading

could well have been taken

straight from the New Testament,

couldn't it?

Used to describe

exactly what Jesus did

on the cross

and in fact

these are words

that we see springing up

throughout the New Testament

which the authors use

for exactly that purpose

and it's just for the testament

to the fact

that God is working

his plan out here.

He's directing the situation

because it's hard to imagine

that at this point

any other passage

of scripture

that this man

could be reading

would point so clearly

towards Jesus

and yet right at that moment

that's what he's reading

but the Ethiopian man

doesn't yet know

what we know

sitting here today.

He hasn't heard

about the cross,

he doesn't know

the connection

between what he's reading

there in Isaiah

and what Jesus

has only just done

and so in verse 34

he asks Philip,

tell me please

who is the prophet

speaking about

himself or someone else?

And we're told

in verse 35

that Philip starts there

and answers him

by explaining

the good news of Jesus

from that passage.

That is who the prophet

is speaking of

isn't it?

Jesus.

You see God

has this message

that he wants people

to understand

the message of Jesus

and it says Philip

takes that chance

to walk up

to the chariot there

and ask a very simple

question of this man

that that message

is explained

to a person

who would otherwise

not have grasped it

at this point.

God has used

a very ordinary man,

Philip,

to make this message known.

And we see

the message spreading

just as Jesus

says it would

in 1.8.

This Ethiopian man

can understand

because someone

has explained

the message to him.

Well as they travel

we see

I guess some time

passes there

between verses 35

and 36

as the two men talk.

Who knows

how that conversation

went?

Who knows exactly

what questions

the Ethiopian's asking?

Who knows what

responses Philip

is giving?

All we know

is that Philip

is explaining

the message of Jesus

at this time

and by the time

we get to verse 36

this man's life

has been changed.

They come across

some water.

Our Ethiopian friend

there is baptised.

Philip's taken away

at that point.

Who knows how exactly.

But he's able

to rejoice

isn't he

the Ethiopian?

His life

has been changed

by this message.

Can you just imagine

the joy he felt?

Imagine the joy

he feels

as he comes

to realise

that the fact

that he's a Gentile

rather than a Jew

is not a barrier

between him

and God.

The fact

that he's a eunuch

is not a barrier

between him

and God's people

doesn't make him

an outsider.

Just imagine

the joy

he feels

as he comes

to realise

Jesus has died

in his place.

That whatever

his life

has looked like

he can be forgiven

because of that.

This is a life

changing message

isn't it?

If you've come

to understand

this message

this gospel

of Jesus

and all that

he has done

for you

you know that.

You know

that it's Jesus

and what he has

done that changes

lives.

Jesus is the message

that God wants

us to understand.

But the question

we need to ask

is how does this

help us for mission

this week?

And I think

the answer to that

lies in that question

that the Ethiopian

asks back in verse 31.

How can I know

unless somebody

explains it to me?

As I'm sure

you're all aware

every few years

the government

takes a census.

You've probably

all partaken

in many of them

and that involves

a huge questionnaire

of all sorts

of questions

to everyone

in the country.

Very time consuming

and annoying

but they do

what they've got

to do.

Now in Chatswood

in the last census

about 19 or 20%

of the people

surveyed said

they belong

to some form

of Bible believing

Christian denomination.

Someone that takes

this gospel message

of Jesus seriously.

Now the reality

is that the number

is probably far

less than that

but even if we

assume it's right

for a minute

that's one in five

people.

That's only one

in five people

at best.

Think about

what that means

just for a minute.

It means as you

walk out this door

today,

as you drive home,

as you go about

your business

in Chatswood,

you can safely

assume that as many

or at least

80% of the people

you come across

do not know

this message,

do not understand

this message.

That's 80%

out of the people

that you work with,

the people

that you chat with

when you're dropping

the kids off

at school every morning,

of the people

you play weekend

sports with,

the people

you socialise with,

80%,

a number that

likely includes

large numbers

of your best friends,

maybe even members

of your family,

those nearest

and dearest to you.

Many of them

that simply just

do not know

this gospel message,

do not know

the forgiveness

that you know,

do not have

the hope of heaven

that you have.

This is exactly

why we need

to be doing mission,

isn't it?

It's safe to assume

the vast majority

of the people

we come in contact

with day in,

day out,

simply don't know

this message.

They don't know

the gospel.

But we do.

If we're sitting

in this place

for any length

of time,

then I can assume

you have heard

this gospel message

taught faithfully.

Even this morning

in just the confessions,

the songs,

the prayers,

it's been everywhere,

hasn't it?

Now, if you haven't

heard of Jesus,

if you don't understand

all that he has done,

then can I please

encourage you

to talk to someone

before you go.

We would love

nothing more

than to help

you understand.

But if you do

know this message,

and if your life

has been changed,

turned upside down

for the best

by it,

well then we need

to ask ourselves,

how will the people

out there

that don't know it

come to understand

it if we won't

explain it to them?

They're certainly

not looking,

most of them.

How will they know

if we won't tell?

Now, a number

of years ago now,

my life was changed

profoundly.

When I went to go

and get married,

and part of that

was sitting down

at the local church

with a group of people,

and we talked

about the gospel.

And as we went,

I'm someone who's

always thought

that I understood it,

but as we went,

I realised I'd

misunderstood the gospel

in profound ways.

My wife,

on the other hand,

came from a background

where she knew

nothing of Jesus.

It had never been

part of her childhood,

and quite frankly,

the last thing she

thought she wanted

to be doing

with her Thursday nights

was sitting around

talking to a bunch

of people about Jesus.

That was not what

she thought she wanted.

But see,

as those people

explained it to us,

and we came to understand

this message of Jesus,

it's changed our lives

immensely.

Even if we didn't

think we would be,

we are now profoundly

grateful for the people

who took the time

and the effort

to do that.

We'd never have known

had they not explained it.

We weren't trying to.

This Ethiopian man

would never have known

this message

had someone not

explained it to him.

We've got to take

seriously the fact

that the majority

of the people

that we're out there

with in Chatswood

every day

will not come

to know this message

if people like us

are not prepared

to get out there

and tell them.

That's why we're

on mission.

We have the most

important message

that anyone could

ever need to hear,

even if they don't

realise they need it yet.

That is why this church

and many others

like it across our world

will continue

to tell people

about this message

until there's no world

to tell it to.

That's why we're here

this week.

That's why we'd love

as many of you

as possible

to come and join us

in that work.

And to that end

will you pray with me?

Father,

we do thank you

for all that you

have done in Christ

that we might be forgiven.

We ask now

that as we head out

into Chatswood

this coming week

and beyond

that you would be acting

to make this wonderful

gospel message known.

Please prepare people,

soften their hearts

so that they might

respond

and give us courage

to take the opportunities

that are presented to us

to explain this gospel.

And we ask this

for your glory.

Amen.

and we ask this

talking about

there are

questions

that you

have we

have

and find this

wonderful

love