Are people really that blind ?

Acts 8:26-8:40

Act 8:26 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.

Act 8:27 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,

Act 8:28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Act 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

Act 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

Act 8:31 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.

Act 8:32 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:

Act 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

Act 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Act 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Act 8:36 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?

Act 8:37 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.

Act 8:38 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.

Act 8:39 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.

Act 8:40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

INTRO.- ILL.- Two social workers were walking through a rough part of the city in the evening. They heard moans and cries for help from a back alley. Upon investigation, they found a semi-conscious man in a pool of blood.

"Help me, I’ve been mugged and beaten," he pleaded. The two social workers turned and walked away.

One remarked to her colleague, "You know the person that did this really needs help."

but what about the mugged man? Had they forgotten about being a good Samaritan?

Are people really that blind to those who are hurting? Or it is that they just don’t care?

A news item recently about the neglect of people. Minnesota Woman’s Cries for Help During Sexual Assault, August 24, 07. ST. PAUL, Minn. — A security video from an apartment hallway showed at least 10 witnesses who ignored a woman’s cries for help for more than an hour as a man beat and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors in Minnesota said.

The surveillance video clearly showed men and women looking out their apartment doors or starting to walk down the hallway before retreating as the woman was assaulted for nearly 90 minutes, police spokesman Tom Walsh said.

Police said they responded to a call of drunken behavior and found Somali immigrant Rage Ibrahim, 25, and a woman lying unconscious in the hallway early Tuesday. The woman’s clothing had been pulled up and she had fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh, according to the criminal complaint.

Can you believe it? People ignored that women who was being beaten and assaulted. Are we that heartless and uncaring about people?

Psalm 142:3-4 "When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. Look to my right and see; no one is concerned for me. I have no refuge; no one cares for my life."

What about us? Do we truly care for anyone’s life?

Matthew 9:35-36 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

WHEN HE SAW THE CROWDS, HE HAD COMPASSION ON THEM. The heart of Jesus needs to grab our hearts so that we will have the same compassion for hurting people that He had!

What kind of hurting people are we talking about? Anybody who is hurting in any form.

We can’t heal all the hurting people of the world, but we can touch some of those who are near us.

What about those around us who are hurting spiritually: that is, those who are obviously lost, without Christ?

Can we not help them in some form? Can’t we do something?

Our text is the story about Philip and the eunuch. It’s the story of how one man sought to lead another man to Christ. And there are lessons for us in this story.

PROP.- Let’s see what Philip did to evangelize the eunuch and what we must do.

We must:
1- Respond to God’s leading
2- Show genuine interest
3- Share the good news
4- Follow through to completion

I. RESPOND TO GOD’S LEADING

26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

We must respond to God’s leading.




Matthew 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Why is it that we can respond obediently to some people and not others?

If people are going to hear the gospel and have a chance to be saved, we must go, we must speak, we must do something.

II. SHOW GENUINE INTEREST

30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Show interest in others. Ask some questions: What is that you reading? How are you? Can I help you? Take time for others. Give yourself to others.

ILL.- At a Scout meeting the Scoutmaster asked if the boys had done his good deed for the week. Every boy raised his hand except for one.

The Scoutmaster said to that boy, "I want you to go out and do a good deed and don’t come back until you have."

About twenty minutes later the boy returned with a torn shirt. The Scoutmaster asked, "Well, did you do a good deed for someone?" The boy said, "Yes."

The Scoutmaster said, "Well, did you do?" He said, "I helped an old lady across the street." "How did you get your shirt torn?" The boy said, "She didn’t want to go."

Just because you show genuine interest in people it doesn’t mean they will appreciate it.

Of course, if we get too pushy with people they will definitely rebel or back off from us.

It’s like that saying: People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care! Genuine love and compassion must be seen in us.

"Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."

III. SHARE THE GOOD NEWS

32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

Wherever we go we should share the good news! Good news is something good, something we’re excited about, something we want others to know about.

ILL.- For example, recently, Barbara McMillan was scheduled to have her first eye cataract surgery. Naturally, she was concerned and somewhat fearful since she’d never had that done before. Also, she didn’t know how it would turn out, if she would be able to see very well afterward.

WELL, GUESS WHAT? She could see 20/15 in that eye the very next day after surgery. Boy, was she excited! She sent me an email note, thanking me for the prayers and you could tell she was very happy to share the good news.

We all like to share good news. At least, we should. There is other good news that we should share with people.

ILL.- On the news, a hospital Chaplain got released/fired, etc. from his chaplaincy work and it was because he claimed that the administration did not like it that he prayed “in Jesus’ name.” Here’s the article.

Reverend Danny Harvey, who worked for the Leesburg Regional Center for more than seven years, claims to be the victim of religious discrimination after he says the hospital staff forced him to resign from his post.

Hospital officials deny any discrimination against Harvey and said that his departure was brought about because his services were not consistent with center’s various faiths. Louis H. Bremer Jr., LRMC president and chief executive officer, said in a statement: "The interpretation many Christians are getting is that prayer is completely banned from the hospital, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It would be very appropriate to say Jesus’ name in the presence of a Christian family.

That’s no problem," Bremer said in the statement. "What must be understood is knowing the audience and what is appropriate for that particular situation."

Harvey said, "I would approach a family and offer them the chance for me to pray for them, but they have the option to say no. I have never imposed my beliefs on others."

Whether this chaplain was fired because of his prayers in Jesus’ name or not, he was perfectly right in praying that way. Why? Because that’s what he believes! Of course, apparently, he took a certain risk of being fired because of his faith and his prayers.

Nevertheless, that man was pointing people to Jesus and that’s exactly what we must do, because the death of Jesus is good news for all mankind. It is through His death on the cross we can be saved and people need to hear this message.

IV. FOLLOW THROUGH TO COMPLETION

36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.”




The eunuch asked Philip, “Here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”

An honest seeker of Christ would ask, “Why can’t I be baptized?” WHY BAPTISM? Because Jesus commanded it, Jesus did it and the apostles practiced it!

Some people question the need for baptism. . There are too many strong, Biblical reasons FOR baptism to refuse doing it.

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. He did it to fulfill all righteousness or to do what was right in His Father’s eyes. If Jesus needed to be baptized, then we should too.

Also, Jesus commanded people to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Also, the apostles preached it and the people responded to it. 3000 at Pentecost when Peter said in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized…” And here in our text: why did the eunuch ask to be baptized? Apparently, Philip must have said something to him about it.

Ephesians 5:15-5:17

Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Most of us have been raised hearing about the return of Jesus.

the very best news of all is that Jesus is coming back. Unfortunately, this remains just a story to many Christians.

They cannot relate to it personally because they have not wrapped their minds around it to understand it.

This news ends up being more like fantasy than reality, and this causes them to completely miss the power they could otherwise have through Christ Jesus.

We have this incredible message of grace that can be realized through faith, yet we read it and the meaning doesn’t sink in.

We know that God is real, and we know that Jesus is the promised Savior. We know everything the story tells us about Him.

We even know that Jesus is going to be coming back someday, but we do not live our lives like the story is real. We don’t even live our lives like we even believe the story.

I think the reason we are like that is because we have a problem with eyesight.

As humans, we are nearsighted. We focus on today because that is all we see.

We live for today because today is here. And we forget about our eternities.

Eternity is this vague thing that many of us do not understand, and none of us can see, so we put it on the back shelves of our minds, intending to get into it later.

But the elusive “later” never arrives.

Jesus is tarrying. He is delaying His return so that we might have every chance to get ready; to help and encourage others; and to build His kingdom. And we think we have all kinds of time. But, in reality – do we have all kinds of time?

There is a song that goes; “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.”

We are here for a very short stay and then we will be on our way to our final destination; eternity.

And that has to do with the biggest problem Christians have. We are here for a very short time, yet we act like this is all there is.

We look at our present life as all there is because the physical is all we know.

Since most people can only count on that which they can see, touch, feel, and hear, they will end up missing any chance they could have had through faith to choose Heaven as their eternal destination.

And, of course, the only alternative when we are talking about forever is hell.

These people who do their level best today to ignore the call of Jesus will burn forever but will never be consumed.

To get a picture of what that is like, light a candle and hold your finger right above the flame for just 5 seconds - if you can.

The pain is excruciating, isn’t it? Now think about your whole body going through that - every day, all day long with no let up; with no reprieve; with no stopping.

Those who do acknowledge Jesus as the lead in their life, however, will be spending eternity in Heaven with Him, because of God’s powerful mercy and grace.

So, the question now becomes, “ How many of us will be wise and choose His gift?”

Many of us go through life looking at our Christian life as a side dish, or a hobby, as we take care of our worldly priorities.

God expects everything in our lives to be centered on Jesus Christ. That includes every relationship you have.

And that includes your total commitment. God will not reward a ‘casual Christian’, because they have not made a total commitment to submit their lives to Him.

It is a human trait to be superficial. Very few people, including Christians, have ever spent any real time at all thinking about their life.

For instance, if someone were to ask you to explain how you know you are a Christian, how would you answer them? Most people would say something like –

· I go to church regularly
· I read my Bible fairly regularly
· I try to live a good life

How much better of a witness it would be to answer like –

· I believe the blood of Jesus allowed for my salvation
· I have chosen to follow Jesus in my life
· I have faith that Jesus is the ONLY Redeemer

We don’t answer that way most of the time, because we apply our faith where it is easy and convenient to do so.

Why do we do that? Because we want to be faithful, but we also want to enjoy what this world offers us.

When we see a Christian who is living out their faith in a “sold out” way, we join the world in criticizing them as being a fanatic, or belonging to “one of those other church denominations”.

When a Christian lives their life as if Jesus could return today, we consider them an embarrassment to other Christians.

As we eagerly await Jesus’ return, we need to be wise. Wise enough to know that the things we have been taught are not just a story from a book, but the prophecy of the truth; the only truth in the world.

As we await Jesus; return, we need to be focused; focused on our end destination – the destination of spending eternity with our Lord in Heaven.

And as we await His return, we need to realize that we are not alone.

God the Father has given us the Holy Spirit as our comforter until the Day comes that we are with our beloved Jesus again.

If Jesus came today, would you be going with Him, or would you ask for just a little more time to get ready?

The most important thing you can do in your life is to fully realize that the story of Jesus return is not just a story - it is true and it is going to happen.

But when it does, will you be ready to go with Him?