The Acts of the Apostles 39

Subtitle: Saul Preaches at Damascus

Acts 9:20-25.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 12, 2023.

We have come to the point where Jesus has dramatically saved the life of Saul of Tarsus.  Last week, I mentioned how he was prayed for by Ananias and received his sight.  He was also water baptized and filled with the Spirit too.  This put Saul on a different trajectory than his namesake, King Saul.

It is a wonderful thing when a person is confronted with Jesus, and they surrender to him in faith.  Saul's complete about face.  May God help us to see hungry people seeking Jesus and finding him.  May we be a people who are still excited about the amazing grace of Jesus in our lives.

Let's look at our passage.

Saul is a new man in Christ Jesus

We can talk about becoming a new man in the natural.  Maybe we find some kind of regimen that will whip us into shape and revamp our life physically.  Of course, even if you really do well at that, it is still a losing battle.  In the end, you are mortal and cannot stay ahead of death.

Yes, scientists are working hard to overcome the mortality issue.  Even if they are able to conquer death, so to speak, science cannot fix sin in the heart of people.  A laboratory may be able to lobotomize a man, but they cannot fix his soul and heart.  Science can create technical solutions to issues, but it can't tell you if you should deploy them or not, whether it is good or bad.

Without something outside of us to which we are accountable, our "morality" will be like the waves of the sea, wishy-washy.  Perhaps we will be moved by the group one way, until a new majority shows up and the waves moves another direction.  This is true and good now.  No.  Now this over here is true and good, ad infinitum.  Whether it be a majority group, or a tyrant, this crazy world of changing truths falls woefully short of creating true change in a person's heart.

Saul becomes a new man spiritually rather than naturally.  He can actually see the reality of his life and the life of people around him because he is truly listening to the Creator of the universe.  If we needed proof of Saul's conversion, we see it in the activity following his healing and conversion.

Jesus had given him his mission in at least one vision, if not two.  He didn't need any more proof.  Of course, we might complain that God hasn't given us a vision.  However, God has given you enough evidence to believe upon Him.  Don't play the game of withholding your faith from Him because He hasn't given you a particular experience.  Yes, He loves you, but He's not playing games.

Saul is no longer a student of Rabbi Gamaliel of the school of Hillel.  He is now a follower of Rabbi Yeshua!

We are told that Saul "immediately" preaches Jesus in the synagogues.  That word can mean in the next second, but it also allows for context.  If he was saved on a Tuesday, then it would mean that he preached in the synagogue that Friday/Saturday.  Thus, immediately can mean at the next available opportunity.

The emphasis of his preaching is the amazing reality that Jesus truly was the Messiah, or Christ.  Jesus was the one that they had been waiting for God to send.  God had promised that an Anointed One would come and deliver Israel, but even more, he would be a redeemer of Israel.  These prophecies in the Old Testament stated that one from the line of David would not only fix Israel, but even the nations.  However, they had been under the domination of foreign powers for over 586 years.  It is hard to keep the faith that God is going to save you that long.

He also emphasizes that this Messiah was also the Son of God.  If you pay attention to the words of Jesus, then you will notice that Jesus actually emphasizes Son of Man regarding himself, rather than Son of God.  It is true that these words have a layer of meaning that is essentially "human" for the former and "divine" for the latter.  Yet, there is more going on here than that.

The phrase "Son of Man" is not a denial of the divinity of Jesus.  Rather, Jesus is using a phrase that is also a technical phrase from Old Testament prophecy, particularly in Daniel 7. For example, if I use the word "rapture" in a church setting, many Christians will immediately think of prophecies in the New Testament that speak of a catching up of believers to be with Jesus in the air.  However, a non-Christian may hear that word and only think of a poetic use of ecstatic joy and delight.  Of course, they wouldn't be wrong that this is part of its meaning, but they would be missing the critical theological significance.  The same is true with the Son of Man.

In Daniel 7, we have the Ancient of Days, God, seated on His throne with other thrones around him.  The final beast-empire of the earth is slain before Him and the government taken from it.  Next we see "And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him."  Notice that the great powers of the earth are described as beasts though comprised of men.  They are beasts of men ruling in a beastly way.  However, this one who is like a human receives a kingdom from the Ancient of Days that never ends.  Thus, his heart and his rule will not be beastly, but human, i.e., it will have the proper relational love that should exist in any governance.

Yet, there are some powerful things signaled in the text.  This one like a human rides the clouds to the Father.  This is no mere mortal.  Biblically speaking this is language used of God, or the gods.  It is considered divine activity.  Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 26:64 when he responded to high priest.  They understood the connotation that he was making and accused him of blasphemy.  On top of this, we have the fact that his kingdom is everlasting and the peoples of the earth will "serve" him, a word used of service to a deity.

So you see, Son of Man is not contradictory of Son of God.  In fact, it actually embraces the phrase Son of God and adds to it prophetic significance.  Jesus was revealing that he was that strange, unique God-man that Scripture revealed.

I know that I took some time with this, but this is what Saul is preaching.  Jesus is the Son of David, but even more, he is the Son of God.  He has a divine origin.  We see this in the way the Gospels treat the origin of Jesus.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke focus upon the human origin of Jesus in their story without denying his divinity.  In a sense, they write their accounts as it was experienced.  He was born, ministered, and then we figured out who he was!  John, however, begins with a focus on the eternal origin of Jesus.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh (human) and dwelt among us..."  This is Jesus spoken of from God's experience, stepping into the world and taking on an additional nature of a human.  Of course, we may wonder how that is possible.  The answer would be that God created humans in a way that made it possible for Him to take on our nature.  Who'd have thunk it?  This is His artistic flourish as the Creator.

Saul is preaching to believers in the Father.  They worship Him with songs, readings, and prayers.  However, they don't know His Messiah, and that He had come to save them.  They didn't know the Father's salvation yet.  If there is one thing we should learn from the Old Testament, it is this.  All people, even religious people, who have the truth of God in their hands, need a spiritual transformation.  The same thing can happen to them that happened to the nations at the time of the Tower of Babel.  They had been exchanging truth for a lie, little by little, until they cooperated with Nimrod.  God judged it and handed them over to those "gods" they were seeking.  Over the centuries, and millennia, they became so dark that they were cutting hearts out of live victims for their so-called gods.

The people who heard Saul preaching about the Messiah having come were amazed at the idea, but the real source of their amazement is Saul's complete turn around.  He was fighting against them one day, and then became one of their strongest proponents the next day.  This is just how radically Jesus can change, transform, a life.  Or better, we could say that Jesus is able to save even the chief of sinners!

At the heart of the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, we have this idea of spiritual transformation.  Saul would later write in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I grew up in the Church, but I did not live for Jesus during my teenage years.  My freshman year in college began with too much partying and running around.  However, Jesus confronted me and I yielded to him.  He radically changed my life.  A friend that I used to run around with told me one day that he had talked to his mom about me.  She told him that I was just going through a "religious phase."  Well, here we are 35 years later, and I'm still going strong in this "religious phase," hallelujah!  Listen, Jesus did not come to give us a "religious phase," even though some people approach it this way.  He came to transform our lives.  It is not enough to have the truth.  It is not enough to look like you are following Jesus.  Judas followed Jesus!  But, when it really mattered, Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus with a kiss in the middle of  the night.  Let us not settle for having the right religion.  We must be transformed by Jesus!

In verse 22, we are told that Saul increased in strength.  Luke is showing us that God's blessing was upon Saul.  He is not talking about physical strength, but spiritual.  Saul made a 180 degree turn from fight God and His Holy Spirit to working with Them.  This required spiritual growth.  He grew in hearing the Holy Spirit and cooperating with Him.  He grew in his ability to be convincing to others.  Of course, his familiarity with the Old Testament would help.  However, Saul would have to let go of a lot of rabbinical teaching, and some parts would be retained and redeemed by the mind of Christ.

Saul had lots of natural gifts.  He could learn material, and was very industrious with lots of desire to move ahead, to prove himself.  However, natural talents that are not surrendered to God's direction will get in the way.  Later, Saul would say in Philippians 3:8 that all of his accomplishments in the natural were rubbish.  They were meaningless if he didn't have Jesus.

The word in verse 22 for "proving" has the sense of knitting two things together.  They believed in a coming Messiah, but they also believed that Jesus was poles apart from what Messiah would be.  Saul's preaching brought those things together in people's minds and knit them together, each stitch a different point.  Another way to see it is the knitting the person to the view that Jesus is Messiah.  Either way, he was convincing people, proving to them, that Jesus is the Messiah.

Always remember that spiritual growth is the result of a living connection to Jesus that is lived out in faith.  True spiritual growth is also always connected to the blessing of God. 

The blessing of God is a multi-faceted thing.  It doesn't look just one particular way.  We have to be careful that we do not equate the blessing of God with everything going well, and getting all the stuff we want.  In this land of plenty, it is easy to make the blessing of God be a very material thing.  I have a nice, big house, retirement nest egg, lucrative business/job, etc.  Saul is a blessed man, but remember the words of Jesus.  "I will show him [Saul] how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake."

Let me just say this.  To suffer for Jesus is a great honor and blessing.  To be martyred for Christ is also great honor and blessing.  You might have to put that one in the "To Be Believed Later" file.  We should never try to make these things happen.  Instead, we are following Jesus and letting him show us how we are to honor him and how he will bless us.  The cross was the most blessed place in the universe, but it sure didn't look like it when it was happening.  Remember that!   Yet, your life doesn't have to look like that to be blessed.  Trust Jesus!

It is like you see Jesus saying to you, "Come follow me!" and you really want to follow him.  But then, you see him going to a cross, and your flesh is saying, "I'm not following that guy; He's crazy!"  However, after the resurrection, you are like, "Crazy like a fox.  Wow!"  Even then, after such an emotional rollercoaster, you find yourself torn.  Your flesh shrinks back from one who tells you to pick up your cross and follow him, and yet your spirit desires to come out after him.

It is one thing for Peter to ask Jesus to come out on the water when he saw him walking on it.  However, no one was asking Jesus to come on the cross with him.  They all hid, and Peter chief among them.  God understand this about us, and works with us to bring to the place of faith and courage, where we can follow him by faith.

Verse 23 opens up with "Now after many days were past..."  There is a lot more time in that phrase then we may assume.  Galatians 1 gives some more details about this period.  There we are told that Saul left Damascus to go into Arabia, and then came back.  Three years transpires in this "many days."  For perspective, we need to understand that Arabia is a very general term that basically means desert.  If you left Damascus going south, southeast, you were basically in Arabia.  If you kept going you could make all the way to the Arabian Peninsula.  We don't exactly know where and how far Saul went into Arabia.  He seems to be getting away to go out into the wilderness. 

Regardless, it is about three years at the point that things change in Damascus.  Saul is preaching and God is blessing him.  However, the Jews of Damascus begin to plot to kill Saul.  Now, it is one thing to be in a foreign land and they don't like you.  However, this is Saul's own people.  Yet, he had been just like them, not to long ago.

It is not that he isn't blessed anymore.  The devil isn't stationary.  He's working to neutralize the work of God.  However, God isn't static either.  God sees what the devil is trying, and folds it into His plan, which is not for Saul to die yet.  Thus, the plot becomes known to Saul, though we are not told how.  Jesus has more work for Saul to do.  As the resistance against Saul increases, God is teaching Saul to identify with the sufferings of Jesus, to join him in those sufferings.  This is a intimacy that we can experience with Jesus.  Yes, suffering for Christ is a blessing, though our flesh does not believe it for one moment.

When Jesus miraculously supplied bread in the wilderness, the people were all gung-ho for him.  But, later they cried out "Crucify him!"  People are fickle.  We cannot let ourselves be stuck looking at people and hoping that lots of them will embrace us.  One day you may see great fruit, and then boom, the next day they are calling for your head, and that's okay, if God is with you.

This part of the story reminds me of the prophet Jeremiah in chapter eleven of his book.  Verses 18-22 describe a group of people in Anathoth who were plotting to kill Jeremiah.  God reveals to Jeremiah what they are plotting and says that He will punish them.  If you look at Jeremiah 1:1, you will see that Anathoth is Jeremiah's hometown, and it is filled with priests!  This town of priests are secretly plotting to assassinate one of their local boys.  Jeremiah had become the opposite of a hometown hero.  Even more interesting is the fact that Jeremiah uses language that clearly borrows from Isaiah 53 (written some 100 years earlier).  He was like a docile "lamb brought to the slaughter," and the people wanted to "cut him off from the land of the living."  Jeremiah is basically looking at the mistreated individual of Isaiah 53 (who would eventually be Jesus) and says, "I can identify with that!"

Though some of the Damascene Jews were waiting outside of the city gates to kill Saul, God out-foxed them by making the plot known to Saul, and the Christians out-foxed them by letting Saul out of a window in the wall with a rope and a basket in the dead of night.  Yes, great Saul who had marched to the city with strong men to arrest Christians was now sneaking out of the city by night.

We might think Saul should have walked out of the city daring them to try and touch him.  Surely, God's angels would protect him.  Perhaps, an army of angels would march out of the desert and escort Saul out of the city.  How cool would that be?  However, God delivers Saul with a much more humble method, which seems absolutely appropriate for a man who had had a big ego.

We must be careful that we are not presumptuous about how God should save us.  Don't assume.  Through prayer, seek God for the answer that He is giving, and not that one that your flesh is providing.

Perhaps you are hearing this and thinking to yourself, "That's a nice story, but stuff like that never happens for me.  God didn't do that for me."  Of course, you are not Saul in those circumstances.  Even in that day, countless Christians could have complained that God didn't give them the visions that Saul had, or the mission that He gave to Saul.  Don't give yourself over to envy and complaining against God.  Stop looking at what God might be doing through others and being envious over it.  Stop looking at what God isn't doing in your life and whining over it.  Rather, turn to God in prayer and seek Him.  Don't just seek Him to get visions and a cool mission.  Seek Him because He is worthy to be found.  Intimacy and relationship with Jesus is far more important, and yet, believe you me, He will give you plenty of tasks and you will see fruit, if you keep your eyes on Him!

Let's be a people pressing into Jesus in order to have intimacy with him, to know him better.  Then, we will be a transformed person who is capable of being used to draw others to Christ Jesus.  Only Jesus can tell you all the things that you have to go through for him, and only Jesus can prepare your heart to thrive in the midst of it!

Saul Preaches audio

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 37

Subtitle: Saul Sees the Light

Acts 9:1-9.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 26, 2023.

We sometimes talk about "seeing the light" when someone becomes aware of something big that they were overlooking before.  This finds its roots in our story today, and is really talking about a religious conversion.  Saul was acting in ignorance, but is going to have that "light-bulb" moment in which he comes to understand just who Jesus really is.

Jesus is the light of the world, but not all see it.  It is like a room in which the light is off.  If the light is turned on, people who can see will recognize it.  However, those who are blind will not know that the light has been turned on.  Of course, Jesus is spiritual light.  He helps us to see the truth about what is really happening on this planet.  Praise God that the lights were turned on 2,000 years ago. 

Yet, because this is a spiritual blindness, we can also talk about people shielding themselves from the light.  It is too bright and they don't like how it makes them feel uncomfortable.  Thus, they avert their eyes and cover them, lest they see.  This is the picture of humanity.

Saul had been persecuting the Church of Jesus, but notice that chapter 8 doesn't really focus on the persecution.  It focuses on what God was doing in spite of the persecution.  We can find ourselves stuck looking at the persecution that is happening to us, like it is the important thing.

Here in America, we have very little persecution compared to most places in the world.  We can be ready to faint spiritually when we encounter a small amount.  Meanwhile, people in Iran, North Korea, Syria, etc. are under severe persecution and are praising God, not for the persecution, but for His goodness in the midst of it.  This is what the early Church encountered.  Heavy resistance and persecution. 

We must remember that every salvation is a miracle of God, and a mercy of God.  Through Jesus, God tells us of our deafness, and shows us our blindness.  How can God expect us to hear and see?  All things are possible with God.  He makes them possible by His Spirit, and by His Word.

Let's look at our passage.

The conversion of Saul (vs 1-9)

The same Saul who persecuted the Church in chapter eight is now going to become a believer in Jesus.  Hallelujah!  The sweetest revenge is not seeing your enemy get theirs.  No.  The sweetest revenge is for your enemy to repent and join your side, i.e., not really about revenge.  Sometimes both of us are wrong and we both need to repent.  However, there are times when people abuse and mistreat us unfairly, without justice.  In these times, stuff can begin to surface in our heart that is not from Jesus.  It is from me, and it is not good.  Of course, the devil wants to pull you in the direction that is away from what Jesus is saying.  He points out how hurt you are, and how that other person deserves your anger.  Jesus shows us a better way, a sweeter way!

The term "conversion," or "convert," basically means to turn.  This begs the questions , and it is often connected to two things.  First, there is something from which we turn and then there is the thing we are turning towards.  Christians are those who have turned from chasing their sin and lusts, and have turned toward Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus is speaking to his disciples who had been arguing over who was the greatest.  Such an argument is an argument of fools.  Regardless, Jesus brought a child in their midst and said, "Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven."  They needed to turn away from trying to be better than the others, and turn towards a far more innocent  attitude towards each other, like a child.  God is serious about this.  It would keep them out of the kingdom, us out of the kingdom, if we don't turn away from it.

In Acts 3:19, Peter answers the question of the crowds during the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  They want to know what they must do.  He says, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."  Here the turning is initiated by the word "repent."  This is an internal thing where we change our minds.  They needed to change their minds about Jesus, which had caused them to chant for his crucifixion, and turn towards him in faith.  If we turn from fighting against God, and turn towards Jesus in faith, then God will give us refreshing times, even if we are being persecuted.  How?  You will know that you are right with Him and you will have fellowship and communion with Him by the Spirit of God!

There is a problem with the word "converted."  In English, it is a passive thing that happens to you.  However, in the Greek it is an active thing that you are doing.  You change your mind, and you turn towards Jesus.  Of course, none of us could do that without the grace of God confronting us of our sin and pointing us toward Jesus.  Together, these words emphasize the internal, mental change that happens in us, and the external, action-oriented, life change that occurs.

In this passage, Saul is increasing his persecution of the Way.  Most likely, word has come back from the surrounding areas saying that Christians are coming into their areas.  Saul comes up with the plan to go to Damascus and drag the Christians back for trial. 

In fact, Paul mentions in Acts 26 that they tried to get the Christians to blaspheme, that is to recant their choice to follow Jesus.  We will let you live if you reject Jesus. This has been a classic attack of the Church through the ages, and it wasn't just between religions.  Communist countries love to put the screws to Christians in order to get them to drop religion altogether, but especially serving Jesus.

We can say, "Thank God that we are not communist."  However, we have the same problem here, except it is a seductive attack rather than with brute force.  Yes, we are tempted by our culture to leave the stick-in-the-mud Jesus behind and come have fun with the culture in whatever favorite sin you like.  It is seductive like Delilah drawing Samson into a dangerous relationship.  This is a big problem, and the seduction is not always about sexual immorality.  It is a metaphor that can be as much about fixating on making a lot of money, and any other way we are seduced away from Christ by the lusts of our flesh.

So, in our story, Saul is headed for Damascus.  There were several synagogues (gathering places for Jews and those interested in Judaism) there with a sizeable Jewish community.

Notice that Luke uses "the Way" to refer to the followers of Jesus.  Jesus had told his disciples that he was "the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  The word picture of a path, a way, a road, a highway, etc. is all throughout the Old Testament.  To have a road, there needs to be someone who has blazed the trail, marked it off, and correctly navigated to the desired destination.  Of course, others will typically do the road/trail building.  This is Jesus.  He has made a path, a road, that leads a person to a right relationship with God the Father, and an eternal relationship at that.  Jesus had come to make a way, but also to show us the way, the way of the Lord.  So, it appears the early Christians actually referred to themselves as the Way.

If this brings to mind a group from the 1970's and 1980's called The Way International, don't confuse this with them.  They are a cult that tried to gain legitimacy by taking this word.  They have nothing to do with the true Way of the Lord.

Luke points out the kind of spirit that Saul had.  He was "breathing threats and murder."  Some versions say "breathing out."  However, the word actually has the meaning of inhaling.  If you are inhaling threats and murder, then it stands to reason that you will exhale the same.  This is important because of the biblical connection between spirit, wind, and breath.  Both the Hebrew and the Greek have a word that can mean all three depending on the context.

An interesting passage is Ezekiel 37, the Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.  God shows Ezekiel a valley of bleached human bones, and asks him if they can live.  Then, He has Ezekiel prophesy for the Spirit of God to come like a wind and move upon these bones.  Long story short, we get a scene where the same word is used for the Spirit of God, the Wind of the Spirit moving upon the bones, and the Breath of God breathing life into a new living army of the Lord.

You might see a dead person with no hope of life visible in the natural, like Saul was that day.  We must never forget that the Holy Spirit is still working on people who look impossible to save.  God is able to raise up an army of Gospel Preachers from the spiritually dead of our day.

We might ask ourselves about the spirit that was animating Saul that day.  It clearly wasn't the Spirit of God.  This is similar to James and John in Luke 9:55.  They had gone into a Samaritan village to find a place to stay, but the village denied them entrance.  James and John ask Jesus if fire should be called down upon the people for dishonoring Jesus.  Of course, James and John can't do this.  They are tempting Jesus to do this.  Jesus told them that they didn't know what manner of spirit they were.  Jesus hadn't come to destroy people.  He had come to show them the loving mercy of God.  Similarly, Saul did not realize what spirit was animating him either.  He wasn't possessed, but he was coming under the influence of spiritual forces that hated Jesus and anyone who had joined themselves to him.  His spirit wasn't right, and so he became easily manipulated by the spirit of this world.

We must learn to guard our hearts, and to be careful what we are spiritually inhaling because it will affect what we breath out to others.  A person can be breathing out hatred all the while thinking they are doing God's work.

We should also talk about authority.  Saul asked and received permission from the authorities in Jerusalem.  These letters would also help to authorize his activity in Damascus for the synagogue leaders there.

Technically, Jesus had all authority in heaven and on earth from the moment of his resurrection.  Their illegal execution of him nullified any authority that they could claim.  In the eyes of man, they were authorized, but in the eyes of Jesus they were operating unlawfully, under the color of law.

Yet, God generally allows earthly authorities, whether government or individuals, to abuse their authority, even when they have nullified it through their actions.  All the nations of the earth today are in rebellion and resistance against the Father's decree that Jesus is the King of kings over all the earth.  Just know that they will (you will) be held accountable for any use of authority that is contradictory to the commands of Jesus.  Christians need not fear false authorities.  Yes, they can hurt us in the natural, but Christ will deal with them in his chosen time.

These authorities can even be churches that are operating outside of Christ's commands.  They have become a law unto themselves, and have the attitude that, if Jesus hasn't stopped us yet, then we must be right.  This is a dangerous place to be.  Such a mentality will only show itself after the judgment of Christ comes down upon us.  When you find out, it may be too late to repent and turn back towards Jesus.

It is not stated how long it was from the death of Stephen to the persecution of Saul, and then to the conversion of Saul.  It is definitely months, but doesn't seem to be years.  This would put it somewhere in the range of 3 to 12 months.

Also, we do not know how many men are with him, but he will need some to help with arresting and transporting prisoners back to Jerusalem. 

Damascus was 150 miles from Jerusalem.  There are a couple of ways to go.  However, we are told that they were "nearing Damascus" when Saul is struck by a bright light.  Let's say that is somewhere in the vicinity of 10 miles west of Damascus, which is basically desert.  In Acts 26, Paul tells us that the light was "brighter than the sun."  He also says there that a voice spoke to him in Hebrew.

I would say at this point that God rarely confronts humans in such an over-powering way.  Perhaps, we may be tempted to think that God should do this to everyone, as if He hasn't proven Himself enough to people.  Some people have staked their eternity on the argument that God can't possibly expect them to believe on the evidence offered.  They are not going to fare well in the judgment.  History shows us that God gives such supernatural events at important times for His plan of salvation, when it is critical that things go in a particular direction.  Yet, it also shows that people who saw God do the most amazing miracles (the 10 plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea, mannah, quail and water in the desert, etc.) still had trouble following Him by faith.  Notice that it was not belief in His existence that would save them, but belief that God knows what He is doing and we should follow Him. 

I doubt Saul saw anything.  The light was brighter than the sun, so your instinct would be to close your eyes.  The voice says to him in Hebrew, "Saul, Saul..."  This double, direct address is important to note.  There are at least 10 other times that this happens in Scripture.  It happened with Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac.  It happened with Moses when God called to him from the burning bush.  It is a Hebrew way of addressing that speaks of intimacy or an intimate moment.  Saul has been causing Christians to be killed, yet Jesus is calling him into intimacy.  It can also have a sense of urgency in it as well as stressing the importance of something by getting attention.

The question is this.  Why are you persecuting me?  Saul asks who this person is who is addressing him. and finds out that it is Jesus.  Of course, Saul wasn't physically persecuting Jesus.  Yet, to persecute the people of Christ is to persecute him.  Jesus emphasized this in Matthew 25.  There in the judgment of the sheep and the goats before the millennial kingdom, he stresses that this will be the main point of the judgment.  "In as much as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me."

The powerful of this world have not figured this out.  They think that because the judgment of God hasn't stopped them that it never will, or doesn't even exist.  What a rude awakening they have coming.  It is a rude awakening similar to the one Haman had at the end of a gallows noose when he had attacked Queen Esther and her people.

Jesus tells Saul that it is hard for him "to kick against the goads."  A goad is a thing that will prick or drive.  It was used with oxen pulling a cart to keep them from backing up.  When they did so, an object would poke them, keeping them going forward.  Kicking against the goad could actually injure an ox.  What are these goads that Jesus references?  They are the things in our life that God uses to help point us in the right direction.  Of course, we can ignore them, kick against them, and injure ourselves. 

We are not told exactly what the bumps in Saul's life were that God was using to get his attention, i.e., tell him that he is headed in the wrong direction.  I believe the death of Stephen was a big one.  It is hard enough to watch a wicked man be put to death.  However, watching a righteous man will trouble most souls.  Saul was not one of the stone throwers on that day.  He was holding the coats.  This meant that he was not in the heat of the fray, and is in an observer position.  Though he is caught up in the anger himself, the actions and demeanor of Stephen compared to the Sanhedrin had to stick out.  Stephen was at peace, speaking about God and even seeing God in a vision.  However, the leaders were screaming and throwing rocks.  Perhaps, Saul was hit with the thought, "We look like the bad guys!"  Yet, you stuff the thought and tell yourself that you are fighting the battles of the Lord like David of old.  It is possible to get around the goads, but it only leads to more sorrow and trouble.  The kinds of people Saul was dragging off to jail also may have been troubling his conscience.  Yet, he just kept stuffing that niggling notion that something was off.

At this point, Saul asks Jesus what he should do.  Jesus basically tells him to get up and go into Damascus, where he will receive further instruction.  This humbling moment continues.  Jesus is not just confronting Saul, he is transforming him, and that takes time.  Often God works and speaks slowly in our lives, or at least, slower than we like, because he is transforming our thinking and living from being self-focused to being God-focused.

When the blinding light stops shining, Saul opens his eyes only to find out that he cannot see.  I tend to think that Saul was "arc flashed."  An arc flash occurs in welding due to the electrical discharge occurring.  Without proper eye protection, it can severely damage the eyes.  This was a physical light that had a supernatural source, Jesus.  I would say that the flash was directly in Saul's eyes, whereas the other men were only nearby and would have closed their eyes too.  Thus, they are able to help Saul get to the city.

Saul receives a discipline from the Lord, like a child from a parent.  He thought he was serving God, but he has now been confronted with his sin.  Jesus is not being cruel to Saul.  Rather, he is trying to teach him and help him to learn. 

He had to be physically blinded in order for him to see the truth, see the light.  His eyes were too full of his ambitions and pride in order to see the Truth.  "But, I'm reading the Bible and have become a world-renowned expert!"  It doesn't matter.  Without a Spirit-led relationship with God, we are merely a blind man leading other blind people.  Any discipline in our lives from God is for our good.  It doesn't matter how "bad" we think it is.  We must be careful of fighting and resisting God about the "bad" things in our life.  We can be praying that God remove things through which He is trying to teach us.  Yet, praise God for His mercy in the face of our stubbornness, or even folly.

Jesus let's Saul sweat in Damascus for three days.  During this time, he cannot see, and he is going without food and water, no doubt fasting and seeking God for further instructions.  Saul is going to receive a partial healing.  He would be enabled to see, but would have difficulty from that point forward.  This was to help him let go of his pride.  Pride was Saul's besetting sin.  In fact, pride is the besetting sin of many religious leaders, that often goes unchecked over top of the goads of Jesus in their life.

Saul is in a transitional period where God has his attention, and he is ready to be led in "what he must do" in order to please God.  This is a critical place for anyone.  Plenty of people have an event or experience that gets their attention.  They may even start reading the Bible, or going to church for a while.  However, if they don't put their trust in Jesus and learn to do what He is showing them, then the moment will pass and they will fall away, just like every other resolve we make in the flesh "to be better."

May God help us to learn to follow the Lord, but also to wait upon him for the proper timing.  God has your best in mind, and you can trust Him!

Saul Sees the Light audio

The Acts of the Apostles 36

Subtitle: The Gospel Goes to Ethiopia?  Part 2

Acts 8:34-40.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 12, 2023.

Today we will finish up our look at the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Some days, the world just changes by the grace of God.  Of course, we might think of those changes in terms of being good or bad.  However, when I look back at my life, I find that many times it is the "bad" things that have happened in my life that did the most good for me.

The Ethiopian eunuch is going to be filled with joy because he has come to know the love of God for him.  This is the same joy that we can have.  He goes from being a man pinned down by the Law of Moses as a sinner in need of God's salvation to being a man who has found the salvation of Yahweh in Yeshua, Jesus.

This idea, that some days things just change, is true for individuals, churches, nations, republics, and even this world.  Historically large people groups have been lost from the truth of God, and then, out of the blue, things changed from a situation that had persisted for hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Let's look at our passage.

Philip preaches Jesus to the eunuch (vs. 34-36)

Philip is sitting with the eunuch in a chariot.  This clearly is not a Ben-Hur style chariot.  It is large enough for two people to be sitting, which means it had some sort of bench or seats.  I would presume that there is also a driver operating the chariot.  Thus, the scene has them traveling along the road to Gaza while reading the scroll of Isaiah, particularly chapter 53.

This sets up Philip to share the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus with him.  It says that Philip "preached Jesus" to the man.  Luke has used the verb "preached" earlier in this passage.  In verses four and five, he first mentions that the scattered believers were "preaching Jesus."  In the next verse, he says that Philip "preached Christ" to the people of Samaria. 

These phrases should really be taken synonymously.  To preach the word of God, Scripture, is to preach Jesus because all of Scripture is pointing towards our need of him.  In fact, as the living Word of God (see John 1), the Scriptures are a written down form of Jesus, just as Jesus is a human form of the Father (the perfect representation of God).  Furthermore, to preach the word is to also preach about the promised Messiah, or Christ.  Similarly to preach about God's Anointed One is to reveal that Jesus of Nazareth is that very one.

Philips ability to preach to the eunuch is really set up by his question in verse 34.  Is this passage about the author, Isaiah, or is it about someone else?

Questions are an important part of Bible study.  The eunuch is having trouble understanding the identity of whom Isaiah is writing.  This is quite understandable when you read Isaiah 53 without already knowing that it speaks of Jesus.  The passage truly is surreal.

Isaiah starts out by saying that no one believes the report of him and the prophets.  A particular servant of God would come forward who would be despised and rejected by Israel, his people.  However, the Lord would lay all the sins of the people upon him.  This servant would be chastised, bruised, and killed, but not for himself.  In fact, he doesn't object to this treatment, but faces it silently, like a lamb being led to the slaughter, like a sheep before the shearers.    His soul is actually made to be an offering for their sins, and he makes intercession for transgressors.  It then pictures all of this as the "wisdom" of the servant.  By his wisdom (i.e., not saying anything as he is executed for the sin of others), God's righteous servant will justify many because he will be bearing their iniquities.  This is all pictured as the "pleasure" of the Lord, and it also appears to be the pleasure of the Servant who is going along with it out of wisdom.

This is a perplexing passage if you do not know about Jesus.  How thankful are you that you do know about Jesus?  That didn't come about by accident.  It happened by the grace and mercy of God.  It is good to explain a passage to someone, but it is more important for them to know Jesus.  We can become so bogged down in the details of studying the Bible that we can "miss the forest for the trees."  I am not against detailed Bible study.  I am just reminding us to always keep the main thing as the main thing.

So, we are told that Philip preached Jesus to him "beginning with this Scripture."  They went on a Bible field trip.  It is probable that the eunuch had only one scroll, but it is also possible that he had more than one.  Thus, Philip uses what is available to show the eunuch what Christ has done, and what God now expects of him.

This is something that all believers need to be able to do.  Of course, you will be limited if you were saved just this morning.  However, don't be afraid of that.  You responded to something when you responded to the message of Jesus with faith.  That is quite enough to share with another person.  We do need to be people of the Word of God, but more specifically, we need to be people who can show how the Word of God points to Jesus and leads us to faith in him.

People need to know Jesus.  It is as simple as that, and it doesn't take a theologian, or someone who knows the original languages of the Bible, to do introduce people to him.  It only takes someone who know Jesus themselves.  Do you have a living relationship with Jesus.

The eunuch sees some water and asks a question.  What hinders me from being baptized?  Of course, we could back up one notch and recognize the many who hear the gospel, but do not believe.  What hinders them?  However, this was not the problem for the Ethiopian eunuch.  He believed what he was hearing about Jesus.

Philip must have said something similar to Peter's answer to the crowd in Acts chapter two.  The crowd asked what they needed to do, having killed Messiah.  Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and their sins would be forgiven.  In fact, they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit too!

Notice that spiritual life is not about exhaustive knowledge of God's Word, but is about having a believing relationship with Jesus that we are willing to publicly live out.

Regardless, at the first sight of water, this man is quick to point out that he could follow through on the Gospel imperative.  The Gospel calls us to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  That relationship involves discipleship, learning the way of Christ, but one of the commands of Christ is that we be baptized in water.

We do need to be careful of treating the Bible as merely a list of things to do, things we will check off of our list.  A believing relationship made alive by the Spirit of God must be the foundation of anything we do for our Lord.  Yes, when you follow the Spirit of God, He will give you some to-do lists, but it will come as we respond to the written Word and the work of the Spirit of God.

A textual issue (vs 37)

So, the eunuch has asked a question.  What keeps me from being baptized?  The answer is given in verse 37.  There is a textual issue here.  If you are reading the KJV or a translation based on it, then you will have this verse.  If you aren't then you will probably have a footnote.  Even the NKJV, gives a footnote that says, "Acts 8:37  NU, M omit v. 37. It is found in Western texts, including the Latin tradition."

A bit of explanation.  NU is actually a reference to two different Greek texts.  "N" stands for Nestle and Aland's Testamentum Novum Graece, a Greek Bible.  "U" stands for the Greek text put out by the United Bible Society called The Greek New Testament.  Lastly, the "M" stands for the Majority Text.  In essence, all three of these editions of the Greek agree that the verse is not originally from Luke.  It is only found in Western texts and some older texts in the Latin tradition.

You will run into footnotes like this from time to time no matter which Bible you are using.  They point to the fact that we do not have the original manuscript that Luke wrote, or any other originals for the books of the Bible.  It is important to have at least a cursory understanding of this subject.

How do I know that the Bible has been faithfully transmitted through the centuries when we do not have the original documents? 

Many handwritten copies were made through the centuries in order to increase the reach of the Bible.  Of course, people memorizing portions of the bible would have also played a large part in the spread of the Gospel.  On top of this, copies that were made of papyri (a course paper) and even parchment (treated animal skin) would wear out over time and need to be replaced.  Christians in the earlier centuries were not thinking that it would be important to preserve the first copies.  Still, we do have many manuscripts that we have today that go back even to the middle of the 2nd century (100's AD).  We also have writing of sermons and books against heresy from the early bishops and Church leaders.  On top of this there are many translations into other languages such as: Latin, Syriac, Coptic, even Ethiopic, etc. 

By comparing these manuscripts, we can easily spot spelling errors (they didn't have spell check), and simple mistakes made by copyists that have been well known through the ages.  In short, we come down to a recognition that 98.3% of the Bible has no real questions about what the original was.  And then, only about 1/1000th of the text has any serious variations that are viable and affect the meaning.  However, even then, none of these variations affect any doctrine.

Acts 8:37 says some significant things that we would feel a bit strange taking out of the Bible.  However, no biblical doctrine is supported by only one verse.  We don't need Acts 8:37 to justify that a person needs to believe in Jesus with their whole heart, aka, not half-heartedly.  Second of all, the confession of the Ethiopic eunuch is very similar to Peter's confession of who Jesus is at Caesarea Philippi.  The majority of scholars believe that this verse was not part of the original, but it doesn't hurt us either way.

By the way, if you look into this further, you will find that two different 2nd century church Fathers write about this passage in a sermon style.  Between the both of them, the content of verse 37 is stated.  In other words, Luke may not have written these words, but sermons and retellings of this story by Philip may have accurately described what was said between them.  That oral tradition may just be the source of this insertion.

If you want more information on this subject of Biblical Textual Criticism, then click on this link to a video of Daniel B. Wallace,  Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

The eunuch is baptized (vs 38-40)

So, what are the prerequisites of water baptism?  It is clear from the following baptism that the eunuch met those prerequisites by Philip's judgment.  Water baptism is a symbolic event that gives a picture of what is happening in our life, or shows the declaration that we are making.  We are declaring that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that he has paid the price for my sins, even my life.  We are confessing that we are dying (going under the water) to our old life, and coming alive to Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is a public expression of your acceptance into the Church of Jesus, but also of the inward reality.  You have come alive to the Spirit of God and are now following Jesus by faith.

In our modern age, many are so afraid of legalism that they make a false separation between intellectual faith and practical faith.  Jesus said if you love him, then you will obey his commands, and one of those commands is to be water baptized.

At this point, we are told that they go "down into the water."  Some emphasize that the going down means that he is fully immersed.  However, the word baptize already means to be fully immersed.  It not clear whether the going down into the water is simply a description of getting out of the chariot and walking out/down into the water.  The same can be said for the phrase "when they came up out of the water."  It can be at the point of coming up from being put under the water, but it can also be a reference for them walking out of the water back to the chariot.

Whether it happened at the point of coming up from being under the water, or as they walked out of the water, something amazing happened.  Philip disappears.  At least, this is what it looked like from the eunuch's perspective who "saw him no more."  One moment Philip was there and the next he was gone.

We really don't know what it was like from Philip's perspective.  Yet, we are told that the Spirit of the Lord "caught Philip away."

It is interesting that this being "caught away" is the same word that is used for the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.  Philip was snatched up, but not in a way in which the eunuch saw him flying away.  He disappeared. Verse 40 tells us that Philip was "found" in Azotus, a town that was around ten miles away.  Of course, we are not told that Philip was transported all that distance.  That's where he was found, i.e., a word that involves searching for someone.

This "rapture" is not the same as the rapture mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.  Philip is still in his mortal body.  He has not been transformed into a glorified, heavenly body.  Yet, this does give testimony to the fact that God has the power to take people up at will.  It seems to me that somethings are so strange that God has to give us examples in the Scripture so that we can accept what He promises later.  This "rapture" word is used thirteen times in the New Testament.  Most of these are literally talking about being taken up, or snatched up, like in an arrest.  Others are metaphorical, or rather, spiritual uses.  Here is a pdf of the use of this word in the New Testament.

We should notice that Philip goes about preaching in Azotus and goes north up the coast all the way to Caesarea, which is northwest of Samaria.

Let's bring this to a close by talking about the eunuch.  The text says that he "went on his way rejoicing."  Now I wouldn't blame the eunuch if he thought that Philip might have been an angel.  After his disappearance act (not a normal thing for humans to do), the eunuch would rightly wonder who this guy was.  Of course, our passage is clear that Philip is not a heavenly angel.  Yet, he is a messenger sent by God.  It doesn't matter if we receive a message from a heavenly angel or an earthly messenger.  What matters is that the message is from the God of heaven.

The eunuch goes on his way rejoicing because he now has a relationship with this God of the Israelites through the work of Jesus.  It is the work of Jesus that will encourage him when he reads further in the scroll and reaches Isaiah 56.  His worship would no longer be about all the rituals and activity that he had a duty to do, but would be a joyful following after the one who had suffered in his place.  He would forever know that God loved him.  His lot in life was not destined to be a "dry tree" who would leave no heritage in this life.  Instead, he would become an apostle of the Gospel to his own people!  He would have a spiritual heritage that would have eternal rewards.  This is the God we serve.  The God who turns eunuchs into fruitful trees!

Eunuch part 2 audio