Palm Sunday - Acts 8:26-40 Some Scriptures seem hard to understand, which makes them even harder to apply to our lives. The question: How can I understand? is posed by an Ethiopian who is reading an ancient scroll from Isaiah the prophet. When he does understand it, his life and many others are changed by it. Application follows our understanding.
Introduction
On the way into Jerusalem, the crowds gathered and waved their Palm branches and shouted out praise as Jesus rode on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem. It was a strange mixture of misunderstood preconceived ideas and Jesus accepting their worship even though he knew they were not properly interpreting the scriptures. All would be revealed at the right time! They would see that the King of Glory was going to cover the whole Earth with his Glory!
Psalm 24:7,8 and “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14 But the question does arise, how can we understand? A question our text today poses for us. “They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9
Read Text
A funny story, full of amazing miracles, incredible growth of God’s Kingdom, a deep encounter with God, and an answer to the question!
Retell the story of the rich influential man who is most likely a proselyte Jew who came to Jerusalem to worship: on his way home reading from Isaiah 53:7,8
Angel speaks to Philip, and then he runs alongside the chariot chatting to this fellow, who then stops to let him in!
Shares Jesus from the passage, and the exclamation to be baptized, and from there you have the start of the church in Ethiopia, - a major expansion without the help of the apostles!
Look at the message paradox: humility and power.
Look at the signs and wonders: Philip showing up to explain the Gospel, able to run and chat, being taken and deposited somewhere else. This man of influence is suddenly a key person in the Kingdom.
What is the difference? It is the activity of the Holy Spirit of God. The Teacher that Jesus promised. He is the one who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgement. He is the Spirit of truth, and the guide in life. He is the one who gives great joy and the one who reveals Jesus in the Scriptures!
There is a lot that is said about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but most of all, it is the Holy Spirit who honors and reveals the Son! The Holy Spirit is a gift that not only infills us but also teaches, leads, directs, reveals, and demonstrates the reality of the Life of Jesus. There is always more, and we need to be as curious as the Ethiopian was and desirous as the Samaritans were. We need to be eager to discover Jesus for ourselves in the reading of the word. We cannot tell God what he is able to do, what he is allowed to do. When we pray: Here is your servant, we must be willing to do anything the master tells us know that he will not give us anything bad when he does give his Spirit to us?
What is one of the great signs of being filled with the Holy Spirit? Great joy! Great love of God! Great desire to become like him.