The Gospel's Outward and Inward Reach

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.  And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,  Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.  And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.  But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea. - Acts 8:26‭-‬40 KJV

Rev. Charles Han

The Gospel has an unparalleled outward reach

Phillip was sent to the middle of the desert for a single man. This man was a Ethiopian finance official. The Christians in Jerusalem were scattered by the persecution. The Gospel is moving outward from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. Africa is considered the ends of the world from the Jews in Israel.

America does not own Christianity. It is not an USA export. It is from Jerusalem and it is for the entire world. It is for everyone. It to be embraced by all people. That is what Acts tells us. It is not only for my race or culture.

The Gospel's unparalleled inward reach

Earlier in the book of Acts, there were mass conversions. Now, we see the individual conversions. From breadth to depth. How do we relate to the Ethiopian eunuch? He was a man of status and power. For his job, he had to be sexual changed to serve at this position. He has no family. He must be singularly devoted to his job.

But no one chases after their job at the peril of their health. They don't devoted themselves to their jobs so much as to become estranged from family. We no longer have that stuff this day. He had money and power. But he was not satisfied. So he takes a months long journey to the temple in Jerusalem to find significance. Only to be barred from the temple, since he was a gentile and not only that but because he was a eunuch. He could not stand before a holy god as he was.

This is the story of our life. We see echoes of our lives in this man's life. He found power and it left him empty. He gave up much for his position and it left him unacceptable to stand in the congregation before God. So as he travels home, Phillip comes. And Phillip speaks of how a eunuch can be reconciled to God and how God gives a legacy everlasting. It changes the eunuch from not just a cleaner, nicer version of himself. He is a new creation. His dreams, his goals, and what he loves, desires, and strives after have changed. That is what makes someone a Christian. Not better church service attendance or more church activities. But a fully new person.

For the church, the Holy Spirit desires one thing. To drive us to those who don't believe or have not heard. It pushes us as it pushed Phillip to go to those who need the Gospel.

The Suffering Church

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Acts 7:54‭-8:4 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Stephen was preaching the Gospel. The religious leaders were out to suppress the spread of this movement. They were so threatened they brought forth false witnesses to persecute believers. So they found Stephen and proceeded to threaten him.

A pattern of suffering

We see a church being persecuted. Not only that, but we see it over and over again. Luke writes this to remind us that believers are called to suffer for righteousness. Not just regular everyday  troubles, but rather suffering for the sake of Christ. This is the norm. Even the old testament speaks of this pattern. Joseph suffers because his brothers did not believe him. Moses suffered because the people of Israel did not believe. The way to glory is through the cross. We may not experience this the same way here in the United States. Our lives are not at stake, but we may find threats to our social standing, the respect of our peers, and maybe even a job.

The believers understood that they had to experience the violence of the world to bring peace to others. Not only that, but it sets a pattern for how to respond to persecution. Stephen portrays boldness of witness. Not only that, but he prayed for those who were in the midst of killing him. He loved those who hated him. This reflects Jesus, who also prayed for those who crucified Him.

The example here is both boldness in truth and grace & love for our enemies. We must have both.

How God uses suffering

A great persecution causes the believers to scatter from Jerusalem. The persecution that the religious leaders meant to suppress believers had the opposite effect. There was an explosion of witnessing spreading out from Jerusalem. The Gospel spread as a result of the persecution in that city. This is not how we would approach it. How does it start? The death of a loved one. It comes from a painful and difficult situation. The scattering happens because of the suffering. The Gospel does not spread in spite of suffering; it spreads through the suffering.

God works through our pain. Not only in the Gospel, but that is also how God refines and matures us. He does this to wake us from our spiritual slumber.

Making sense of suffering - Tim Keller

How we endure suffering speaks to those around is. Discovered meaning is when you suffer and then find meaning in the Bible. Created meaning is when you experience suffering and then decide what is worth living for. If we don't have an external source of truth, we must invent meaning for our lives. Keller indicates that created meaning is always less durable than discovered meaning. If we live for our kids, what happens if they die before us? If we live for enjoyment of life's pleasures, what happens if we become bedridden by cancer? We have no more reason to live. This informs how we handle suffering. We can go through the same things as an unbelievers, but still go through it with a sense of hope. Christians can suffer loss, grief, and pain, but not lose hope.

The power to suffer

Why did Stephen die? The religious leaders were enraged, but he may have gotten out alive if not for one thing. Stephen verbalized that Jesus was standing next to God. This was blasphemy to the Jews. That is why they executed him. But why is Jesus standing? Christ is standing as Stephen's advocate. Stephen was testifying as to who Jesus was. Jesus is God. The approval of Jesus far surpassed that of those around him breathing out. Jesus was there to receive Stephen into His arms. When we willing follow Jesus into hard places, places of hostility, it is there that we will most experience the reassurance, power, and love of Christ. We will feel these things most strongly as we suffer with Christ.

The way to truly experience life is not to hold onto it, but rather to lose it. To take up our cross and follow Christ. To love difficult people. To be hated. To have difficult conversations.