The Acts of the Apostles 38

Subtitle: Ananias is Tested

Acts 9:10-19.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 5, 2023.

Today we will look at a man named Ananias.  He is obviously not the same as Ananias and Sapphira mentioned earlier in Acts.

There were two brave men in the story of Saul of Tarsus.  We will meet the first one here today.  A man who will be the first to hear the Lord say that Saul is changed and needs help from him, which takes a lot of trust.  The second will be Barnabas.  These men will help the early Church embrace a man who had been causing their loved ones to be executed.

People come to Christ from very different backgrounds.  The movie Jesus Revolution is now in theaters, which portrays the Jesus movement of the 1970's.  There were many hippies that were saved during that revival, and it was a challenge to the American Church.  We can become used to a certain type of person being saved.  When God saves someone out of left field, we can become fearful and "crusty."  We can resist what God is trying to do in their life, instead of helping them.

Where does bravery come from?  It comes from Christ.  The test here is not so much about obedience, as it is about how much you trust Jesus.  How much Jesus do I really have?  I might discover that I don't have as much of Jesus as I thought I did.

So, what is the answer to that?  Turn to Christ in repentance and seek him.  Cry out to Jesus that you want more of him, and to become more like him!

Saul was a test to the Church when he was persecuting them.  It tested them to see if they believed in Jesus enough to suffer for him.  However, he became a different test to them when he surrendered to Jesus.  It challenged the believers on just how much they would trust Jesus.  Do you love Jesus enough to forgive him?

This is something that many Christians around the world have to wrestle with today.  How do you love your enemy when they have caused loved ones to be killed?  You can't, but Jesus in you can help you do it.  I like how Paul confesses in Romans 7:18 that no good thing dwelled in him, that is in his flesh.  However, the Spirit of God was dwelling in him, and that made all the difference.

I pray that we will believe in Jesus enough that we will be able to do anything that he asks us because we love him, and because he loves us.

Let's look at our passage.

The Lord speaks to Ananias in a vision (vs 10-16)

Saul has had a powerful confrontation by the Lord Jesus just outside of Damascus.  He had the intention of dragging Christians back to Jerusalem for trial.  However, now he was humbled and blinded by the power of Jesus.  The men helped him into the city, where he proceeded to fast and to pray for what he should do. 

I think the Lord let him sweat a few days because Saul needed to cry out to God in weakness before he could be restored. 

Jesus is going to send Ananias.  Let's note that Jesus could have healed Saul on the spot.  He doesn't have to use somebody, but in his wisdom, he has determined to use a Christian.  There is something good, something perfect, in the grace of Jesus coming through the very group that Saul had persecuted.  It is good for Saul, but also for the Christians.  Talk about shame, and talk about anger.  "Ananias, come be a blessing to this man who has caused so much pain among believers!"  "Saul, I have a blessing for you, but you have to bear the shame of facing the people you persecuted!"

Can I be a blessing to a person like this, someone who has been the source of so much pain?  Can I swallow my pride and let God minister to me through whomever He chooses?  I know that I am working both sides of this at once, but I want us to see that much of life is God working both sides.  We just become wrapped up in our side of the issue, and don't see the other.

Whomever God uses in your life, quit looking at the person.  It was never about Saul, and it was never about Ananias.  It was about Jesus who is being faithful to us, even through imperfect people.

Ananias is introduced as a certain disciple in Damascus.  This was a common name among Hebrews and means the grace, mercy, or favor, of Yahweh.  It was also connected to the idea of a gift because a grace of God is essentially a gift of God, i.e., you don't deserve it.  Ananias would be a precious grace to Saul of Tarsus.

It is important to know that though our name may not be full of such meaning, Jesus does have purpose and meaning for our life.  All Christians are called to be the grace, and the mercy, and the favor of Jesus into the lives of others.

We are told that it is a vision.  Of all the passages that involve heavenly interactions with men, there are some that emphasize an actual physical presence (whether God or an angel).  However, a vision emphasizes that you see something, but others around you do not see it (if there are others around).  A vision can be so real that you are not sure whether it was a vision or not.  Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians 12 that he wasn't sure if he was actually caught up into the heavens or simply had a vision.  The difference being that someone in the room with him would see him disappear in the first (physically caught up into heaven), but would think that he was in a trance in the second (it is happening in his mind).  By the way, the difference between a vision and a dream is clearly the issue of being awake or being asleep.  Dreams happen during sleep, and visions happen while you are awake.

Of course, skeptics can scoff at visions, but the proof is always in the life of the person who claims to have had one.  Christians should not be chasing after visions, as if desperate to have one.  In fact, there are people who are taking drugs in order to have a vision.  There are people who make a living "guiding" such people.  That's not how God works.  It is how the occult works, and how false religions work.

The truth is that people have been fitted to interact with God.  We generally do that through prayer, and a still small voice in our hearts and minds.  However, we have been fitted by God for His communications in the forms of dreams, visions, and even physical manifestations.  We could say that the still small voice is the most common, with the others scaling down to physical manifestations of angels, etc., being the rarest.  Let no Christian scoff at God's ability to do these things.

I love the simple answer of Ananias, "Here I am, Lord."  This is the classic good response when God speaks to you.  We are to be a people ready to hear the Lord, and when He is done, ready to obey the Lord.

Jesus tells Ananias to go to the house of Judas who lived on Straight Street.  Judas is the Greek form of Judah.  Judah is most likely not a Christian.  The most natural place for Saul's men to take him would be a leader of a synagogue that was loyal to the religious leaders of Jerusalem.  Ananias is told that he would find Saul of Tarsus there, and that he was praying.

Of course, Saul is a religious man and has probably prayed many times before this.  However, none of his prayers were like they were now.  There is something different about his prayers now.  He is a stripped man who knows that he is nothing before the God of heaven.  It doesn't matter how good your prayers sound, how flowery they are and how smoothly they flow.  Desperate moments help us to be real with God.  We too often have a religious shell around our true self when we deal with one another.  It even infects our approach to God.  This life trains us to keep it up because that is our protection.  However, for the Christian, Jesus is our protection.  God help us to drop the shell, the mask, and be real with God in prayer.  Saul is a humble man seeking God for his eyesight, and for wisdom for what to do now.

Ananias is told that Saul has had a vision too.  He has seen a vision of a man named Ananias laying hands on him and praying for him to receive his sight.  After the vision is over, Saul still has no sight.  This is where our interactions with God are tested.  I may believe that God is telling me something, but then I have to trust him.  Like Moses, God can tell us a great plan of leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, and almost being destroyed by Pharaoh at the Red Sea, and yet miraculous deliverance from God. That's an awesome plan.  I would like to see that movie, but will I tell everyone to pack their bags and follow me into the wilderness?  Of course, Saul doesn't have to do much, but stay there seeking God.  You are probably not surprised that this is where most of us fail, staying in prayer seeking God.

Of course, it is not Ananias who will do the healing, but Jesus.  Both of them need to exercise faith for God's will to be done here.  Whether we are praying for one another because God has told us in general to pray for healing, or we have a specific word from the Lord, we need to be faithful on both accounts, to pray for others, and to ask for prayer.

Notice the mercy of Jesus to this man who had been persecuting his people.  Jesus doesn't want Saul to be lost, even after all he has done.  This is God's love for those who are in the depths of sin and hatred.  People who perish do so over the top of God's love and mercy towards them.

I'm not sure if Ananias is actually objecting, but he does ask God about this man Saul.  He had heard about this Saul of Tarsus, and was making sure that he heard the Lord correctly.  How could he pray for such a man.  Is this the same man who has come here with letters giving him authority to take Christians back to Jerusalem in order to stand trial?

Yet, the Lord overcomes his "objections" firstly by reiterating the command to go.  Ananias may be surprised, but he needs to obey the Lord.  Secondly, the Lord emphasizes to Ananias that He has a purpose in Saul through four statements loaded with God saying: "mine," "My Name," "I will," and "My Name's sake."  

Jesus had chosen Saul to be a vessel of his just as much as he had chosen Ananias.  You can choose to follow Jesus, but you cannot choose who else does so.  Imagine two people who are saved in the same church, one a business man who dresses in a suit, and the other a homeless man.  We could add drug addict to one of these, but it doesn't matter.  On the day they become followers of Jesus, they become brothers.  They come from very different worlds and may have reason to despise the other.  However, we must always remember that the other person belongs to Christ.  They will stand or fall before him, not me. 

I can be found resisting and rebelling against God's purpose in another believer if I am not careful.  I must always seek to please the Lord.  The best way to do that is to remind yourself that you are quite capable of displeasing him.  We must be humble and seek God's leading in all of our relationships.

Ananias goes to Saul (vs. 17-19)

Of course, Ananias obeys and goes to the house where he finds Saul of Tarsus.  He then lays his hands upon him, which symbolizes the touch of the Lord, praying for him to be healed and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It is made obvious in the passage that Saul receives his sight.  However, it doesn't mention about the Holy Spirit.  However, we will see within short order that the Holy Spirit clearly came upon Saul as he began to minister powerfully in Damascus, and the rest of his letters bear testimony too.  When the Holy Spirit dwells in and fills a believer, they will be empowered to follow the righteousness of Jesus, and they will be enabled to be a witness for Christ.  Saul did this very powerfully.

Let's look at the healing.  We are told that something like scales fell from his eyes.  There are skeptics who would say something to the effect that there is a natural explanation and thus it cannot be attributed to God.  Even if they could go back in time with modern equipment and show that the outer layer of Saul's eyes were damaged, and over the three days, his crying had softened the tissue causing it to fall off, it would still beg this question.  How do you explain the visions by separate men who do not know one another, and the coincidence of the tissue falling off as Ananias prays for him?  You are left with calling them liars.  The evidence screams against this.  By the way, I don't think it is rational to argue that the God who created the universe and put its "laws" into place is not involved if we can discover a natural explanation that only has a "miracle" of coincidence.  God is always involved even in the very natural things of our life.

Sometimes God answers prayer immediately, as He did here.  Sometimes it is answered over a period of time.  God even tells us, "No," sometimes.  But, it is always for our good.  Saul is definitely healed in that he can see.  Yet, there seems to be something residual with his eyes.  He says in one of his letters that he prayed for God to remove a "thorn in his flesh."  This was something wrong with his body that caused difficulty.  Three times he asked and in the end God tells him that His grace was enough for Saul.  Saul also says in Galatians 6:11 that he had written the letter by himself.  They would know because of the large letters he had.  The speculation is that his eyes may have excessively watered as a result of the bright light.  This may have made him look like he had been crying all of the time, and made it hard to see.  It is not that God couldn't heal him, but that Paul goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 12 that the Lord didn't completely heal him in order to keep him humble.  It was for his good.

Seeing a little is better than not seeing at all, and I am sure that there was a lot of rejoicing when Saul realized that he could see.  He had given nothing but pain to the believers of Jesus, and yet, now he was receiving joy from them in return.

Let us remember that God still heals today and believers need to pray for one another in general, but we also need to seek God and hear from Him on specific needs.  That takes times of prayer and fasting.

Saul is then water baptized.  No doubt, Ananias explained that this is what the Lord commanded.  This demonstrates that Saul was dying to his old life focused on him and his career, and coming alive to a new life focused on Jesus and his purposes.  Saul is now a Christian because he has believed upon Jesus with true faith.  This religious Pharisee had received the precious gift of salvation.  He was now truly clean inside and out.

Too many people settle for an outward form of godliness, but miss out on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform their life.  Don't settle for only looking like a Christian, being a poser.  Instead, truly put your faith in Him and be transformed by Him as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

We are told then that Saul stays in Damascus fellowshipping with the believers there.  Of course, where else would he go?  Going back to Jerusalem would not only be awkward, but it would probably end up with him on trial.  Saul knows the Bible inside and out, but doesn't know it like he should.  I am sure that he picked up rather quickly as the believers explained to him about Jesus and passages throughout the Old Testament, like Isaiah 53. 

I want to end by emphasizing the test of obedience that Ananias had.  The Lord gives us general commands in His word that test whether or not we truly love him.  However, from time to time, the Spirit of God will make specific commands known to us.  They may be about things in our life that need to change, that we need to pray for, or people we need to talk with.  Let us pray for courage to be used of God in whatever way He sees fit.  Carve out some room in your prayers and in your time for God to speak to you.

Even Saul could be saved.  Don't let anyone say they can't be saved.  If Saul could be saved, then anyone can be saved.  Seek to let the grace of God give you the privilege of doing something that you don't deserve: introducing others to their Loving Father in heaven.

Tested audio

The Acts of the Apostles 35

Subtitle: The Gospel Goes to Ethiopia?  Part 1

Acts 8:26-33.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 12, 2023.

We have seen how God used Philip, Peter, and John to take the Gospel into Samaria, north of Jerusalem.  It appears that the main impetus that made Philip go to Samaria was persecution in Jerusalem.  Of course, we can preach the Gospel in jail, but Philip gets out of town and preaches in Samaria.  Clearly, the Holy Spirit was leading him.

In our passage today, Philip is going to travel southwest of Jerusalem on the road to Gaza in order to help the Gospel on its way to the continent of Africa!  That's right.  It is most likely that the Gospel went into Africa before it ever made it to Europe.

What happened in Jerusalem is now spreading to the ends of the earth.  Hmm...it is interesting that we are here, hearing the Gospel at the ends of the earth.  You are an answer to the Lord's prayer, his purpose, and even prophecy.

Amen.  Let's look at our passage.

God causes a divine appointment (vs. 26-29)

God has a divine appointment for Philip on the road to Gaza with an Ethiopian eunuch. 

You may have heard that phrase before now.  There is a sense where a parent has a divine appointment every day, even every minute, with their children.  God wants you to train them in His Word and in His ways.  However, in a case like this, you know it, and it is on your "appointment calendar."

There are times that God has something out of our normal routine, or schedule.  It is not on our calendar, not on our radar, but it is on God's calendar.

It is important to recognize it when God is bringing us to something that we were not expecting.  When it happens, we need to learn to quickly shift gears, and focus on what God is doing.  A good prayer to pray is, "Help me, Lord, to be used of You in this situation!"

In this case, Philip is told by an angel of the lord some of what he is to do.

The term angel simply means a messenger, and this is what an angel does, but this was a heavenly messenger.  We are not told exactly how this meeting happened.  Was Philip in prayer alone?  Was he back in Jerusalem?  Regardless, Philip has an angelic visitation and now the divine appointment is on his calendar.

In reading the Bible, we may come under the impression that angels should be showing up every day in our lives.  This is not an accurate reading.  Sometimes it was hundreds of years between a clear visitation of an angel in the Bible.  In fact, Hebrews 13:2 tells us that some people have entertained angels without knowing it.  Have you ever had something happen that later you thought to yourself that the person who helped you may have been an angel?

One of the men in our church, Joe Pyott, was driving at night outside of Spokane.  As he was going through a snowy pass, he slid off the road in a remote area.  He was a bit worried because it was late at night, and he did not figure anyone would be driving by for a long time.  However, in short order, three different people showed up and helped him in different ways.  One guy had a shovel and dug out the snow around his vehicle.  Another man had a truck and a chain.  He was able to pull Joe back on the road.  Even better, Joe was able to drive the car all the way home.  Praise the Lord! 

We might wonder if one of those people were an angel, or even all of them.  But, ask yourself this.  Does it really matter if you were pulled out of the ditch by an angel, or by a human being who was quick to do God's will in the situation?

Scripture details increased angelic visits during periods in which God is doing something critical for His plan of salvation.  We see this around the birth of Christ, and then later around the death of Christ, even the beginning of the Church in this passage.  The situation is so critical that God gives heavenly assistance so that the moment is not lost.  Now, notice that this doesn't seem to be how God led Philip to Samaria.  So, why now?

There seems to be something about this man.  He was a critical man, at a critical juncture of God's plan of salvation, with a desire to know God.  He needed to hear the Gospel, and God could see that he would go back to Ethiopia never having heard the Gospel.  That is, unless God did something out of the ordinary.

Just know this.  God can lead us through supernatural methods, but we should not be stuck on only being led by angels.  God is a big God, and creative too.  It is up to Him how we are to be led, and we need to be aware of those ways.

Philip's instructions from the angel are to head down the road from Jerusalem to Gaza through the Judean wilderness, i.e., no one is out there.  There is no indication that Philip is told what will happen.  Of course, since it was an angel, he has a pretty good idea that it has something to do with spreading the Gospel.  Is he going to preach in Gaza?  What will he find?  He doesn't know.

God doesn't always give us all the instructions up front.  He is wanting to see if we will trust Him and step forward.  At the right time, He will give you the next instruction.  Just be faithful.  Thus, we are told that Philip "arose and went."

How important it is for us to be quick to obey when God leads us to do something.  Philip isn't asking why.  He simply gets up and goes.  Better to muse in your mind as you are obeying, then to sit at home wondering what could happen.

Yet, it doesn't have to be just about obedience.  There is a higher level to all that God gives us to do.  Anything that God asks us to do will be a chance to participate in something live changing.  If we really understood that, then we would jump at the chance to do anything for Him.  "Alright, I get to see God do something great!  Let's get started!"  More than that, we get to participate with Him by faith!

Remember that all responsibilities require doing duties, but when we understand the heart of God, we will jump with joy at doing what He wants done.  If God is in it, then we can have joy in it because He transforms lives!

If we look at the story from the Ethiopian's view point, then it is quite different.  God is leading him too, but it is unknowingly.  Of course, we could say that he is not a Christian yet.  True, but he is a believer in Yahweh, a convert to Judaism, a God-worshiper.  Just as God can put something on our heart by His Holy Spirit, or lead us by an angelic visitation, so God can lead us without us even knowing it.  Sometimes God just likes to surprise us with a divine appointment.

So, Philip is traveling along the road, sees the chariot, and the Spirit tells him to overtake the chariot.

The man in the chariot is a eunuch from Ethiopia.  He was a eunuch because that was common practice for palace slaves and palace servants in much of the world throughout history.  It may not seem to be important, but by the end of this sermon, you will see that it is very important that he is a eunuch.

He is also an "Ethiopian."  This term was created by the Greeks to refer to Africans who lived anywhere south of Egypt.  This is a very general term.  However, the reference to the Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, gives us a bead on exactly where he was from.  If you look at a map, you will see Egypt.  As you travel south you will run into the country called Sudan today.  Southeast of Sudan is the modern country of Ethiopia.  Candace is not the name of this Queen.  It was actually a term like "Pharaoh, or Caesar."  In Greek, it is phonetically Cahn-'dah-kay, or better, The Kandake.  These African Queens ruled in what we would call northern Sudan today.  In the Old Testament, this kingdom is always referred to as the kingdom of Cush.

The Kandake ruled in a co-regency with her son as king.  They both had their own armies, treasuries, and palaces.  However, they co-ruled over the Cushites.  In fact, the king's son would not be the next king.  The Kandake's eldest son was king, but the first son of her eldest daughter (who would take her place upon death) would be the next king.

How had this man heard about the God of Israel?  The capital of the Cushite kingdom was over 1,500 miles from Jerusalem.  Notice that he had gone to Jerusalem to worship.  Perhaps, he heard about Yahweh through a servant.  Regardless, he believed in the God of Israel, and went to worship.

The fact that The Kandake would let him travel that far, either means that she values him very highly, or that she is interested in this religion of his, or both.  God was leading this man, whether he knew it or not.

Whether you know it or not, God is leading you.  That doesn't mean that we never make mistakes.  In fact, we can be resisting God like Saul of Tarsus was doing.  God will always be faithful to lead us into opportunity for repentance.  This man had repented and believed, and so God put him on a path to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

A man is puzzled by the Scriptures (vs. 30-33)

As Philip approaches the chariot, he hears the man is reading the prophet Isaiah.  This scroll may be a gift to The Kandake, or it may have been purchased by him.  Philip asks him a clear question that is not insulting, but also opens the door for discussion.  "Do you understand what you are reading?" 

Let's not jump past this simple point.  God wants you to understand the Scriptures, and they have been written in such a way that they can be understood.  Of course, our spiritual state will make a big difference whether or not we can understand the Scriptures.  Only a person who approaches the Word with faith can begin to understand.  Yet, anyone who is really looking for Truth will find it in the Scriptures.

Yes, there are parts of the Scripture that are not as clear to us.  The Bible itself speaks of some parts being "milk" as opposed to other parts that are "meat."    The picture has to do with development.  A baby only digests milk at first.  However, as it grows on that milk, it will be able to digest more and more complex food.  If I read something today, and I don't know what it means, then I should just pray this simple prayer.  "Lord, I love you, and I want to know what this means.  Please help me to understand at the level that I can for now."  In fact, it doesn't matter if you have been a Christian for 70 years.  There is always stuff to learn about God's Word.  He is the God of the universe.  Anything that He has written is bound to keep us busy for a life time of understanding.  However, that is the beauty of God's Word.  You don't have to understand everything in order to understand the most important things.

Believers need to take the Word of God seriously.  He wants you to understand, and understanding will take devotion to reading, studying, and discussing the text with other believers.  We blow a lot of time with entertainments when we could be reading the words of the Creator of the universe!  Don't squander the wealth of Truth and knowledge that God makes available in order to go after the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life.

Some may feel like studying the Bible is the pastor's job.  Don't rely upon another person for your understanding.  They won't be there on that day that you stand before God and give account.  He has written this Bible to you as much as to anyone else.  If you really love Jesus, then you will take His Words to you seriously.

The Ethiopian eunuch's response lets us know that he was having trouble understanding.  He needed a guide, a teacher.  Self-study is the bedrock of understanding the Bible.  However, on top of this, God provides guides or teachers.  This man was isolated.  How many years would it take for the Gospel to make it to Cush without some assistance from God?  God saw his desire to understand the Scriptures, and He sent him a good guide.

Of course, there are many "guides" in the world today who want to lead you astray.  They are false guides, even anti-guides, false teachers, and false apostles.  Jesus warned that Israel's leaders had become blind guides leading the people into a ditch.

So, how do I protect myself?  You protect yourself by being a person who is devoted to reading the Word, and praying to God for understanding.  You protect yourself by being a person who is committed to being led by the Holy spirit.  Such a person will always find that God provides exactly what they need.  Thus, the Bereans of Acts 17:11 searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things that Paul was preaching were really so.  Such a person will be very hard to deceive.

This brings us to the passage that the man was reading.  You may have recognized the verses.  They come from Isaiah 53.  This is the most important section of Isaiah, which reveals God's suffering servant who would save Israel, and the Gentiles, from their sins.  Of course, it is talking about the Messiah, Jesus.

During those days in Israel, it was acceptable to see this passage as talking about Messiah, but after the cross and Christians preaching Jesus, the rabbis began developing arguments against the passage speaking of Messiah.  Today, the typical rabbi will say that the passage speaks about Israel saving the world through her suffering.  However, this does not make good sense of the flow of God's arguments from Isaiah 40 to 53.

In fact, the argument is precisely that God made Israel to be a servant to the nations, but Israel had become a blind and deaf servant, i.e., useless.  God himself would rise up and bring forth His perfect servant who would not only save Israel, but also save the nations.  Isaiah 53 shows Jesus carrying the sin, and the curse of sin, of the nation of Israel and the Gentiles upon himself.  He would be punished in our place and provide forgiveness through his wisdom.

I don't think the Ethiopian eunuch was reading this by accident, and Philip is not there by accident either.  However, there is one more "accident," or should we say coincidence that we should give our attention.

No doubt, the eunuch not only knows that Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus, and what Jesus did for him, for all of us, he will keep reading.  Guess what he will find only three chapters later in Isaiah 56:3-8?  Here is the text.  As you read it, you should weep for joy as that eunuch no doubt did when he read it.

3 Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the Lord Speak, saying, “The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.”

4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant,

5 Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off.

 6 “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant—

7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him.”

How must that have hit him.  The Lord is essentially telling this man through Isaiah (written 700 years before this), "Don't say that you are a dry tree!"  In the natural, he was a dry tree.  He was never going to have a family to pass on his love and knowledge.  Yet, he now had a treasure within him that was Jesus, the Lord of Life!

He would take this treasure of God's love through Jesus with him back to Cush as an ambassador of the Lord.  We don't know the rest of the story of this man.  How many people did he share the Gospel with throughout his life?  On the day that he would lay his head down in death, he was leaving behind a spiritual heritage that the God of Israel loves Cushites, and whosoever.  He died so that you can be forgiven and live with him eternally.  It didn't matter that he was a foreigner to Israel, or a "dry tree" in the natural.  He would pass on the faith to spiritual offspring by the power of Jesus. 

And, so will you, if you put your faith in Jesus. If you follow the world, you will be a dry tree.  I don't care how many kids you have.  But, in Christ, the Spirit of God will give you life, and that life will overflow you and impact others!

Ethiopian Eunuch audio