Evangelism On A Dusty Road In Acts 8

A booming revival is happening and then God says, “Leave.” That’s the tension at the center of Acts 8, and it’s where Robert Peek takes us with a direct, practical message about evangelism, obedience, and what it means to talk to real people about Jesus Christ.

We walk through Philip’s sudden detour from public success to a “deserted place,” where he’s led to one traveler: the Ethiopian eunuch, an educated official reading Isaiah with honest questions. The turning point is simple and disarming: “Do you understand what you’re reading?” From there, the conversation becomes a masterclass in personal evangelism and Bible guidance, showing how to listen, clarify, and keep the focus where it belongs.

The key takeaway is blunt in the best way: Philip preaches Jesus, not a vague religion, not arguments, not distractions. That focus leads to a clear confession of faith, a decision about baptism, and a life marked by joy. We also reflect on the closing challenge that presses on every listener, whether you’ve followed Christ for decades or you’re still sorting out what you believe: what do you think about Jesus, and would you be willing to talk about it?

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Transcript

Welcome And Opening Remarks

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Good morning. My name is Robert Peake. Beacon lived in this area and worked for this congregation for over a dozen years in the past. We had very, very enjoyable, very pleasurable, very profitable time with the Lord. The Lord was good and gracious to uh to uh so many of us in so many wonderful ways we'll never forget things that many churches only hear about or dream about. We got to be a part of it. God is to be praised for that. And I'm glad to be with you uh this morning. Sorry that your preacher's not here. He's a good guy. I hope you let him come back. You deal okay? I can't see. Okay. Uh what we're going to be talking about this morning, or where we are, where we'll start, is in the book of Acts, chapter 8. Now, I know I know your preacher is talking about the book of Acts in some context, but I wasn't I wasn't listening to Eddie well enough to understand what's saying. But maybe it was about Paul and Silas singing in prison or something like that. Uh he's singing to the Lord any place is cool. Uh but I'm going to be in Acts chapter 8 today. I like uh my my thing has always been evangelism, and that's not going to change, although I'm changing in other ways. By the way, please remember uh my wife Vicki. Vicki is a very, very, very talented and very blessed person, very gifted and able to do and to get things done with the church. Has been over the years, did so here and other places. Loves people, loves the Lord. Her health has failed her most of her life, and in spite of all that, she's done what she could. Now she can do very little. Vicky's been very ill. We pretty well, we came close to losing her about a week ago. And uh we don't know yet how she's gonna do. We'll know in about two or three weeks, and so uh you don't you don't have all the illnesses that she does, and then you get flu at her age uh when you're already weak and uh don't have any immunity, then you're very vulnerable. And Vicky is as finest Christian woman, and I've known many good Christian women. She's the finest I've ever known. There's no comparison. She's the she's the finest Christian in my family, way over my head and shoulders. She's just been sick where she couldn't do what she wanted to do for Jesus. It's been her greatest grief is having to sit at home, not able to do more for Jesus. So that's not a bad problem to have. Nonetheless, pray for Vicky, please, that she will be able to overcome. She's in therapy four days a week. And uh pretty tough time. Pretty tough time. He loves you. He always will love this church, always will. In Acts chapter not 16, that's where your preacher is, uh in Connecticut or somewhere. Um in Acts chapter 8, the gospel had just exploded in the world. Uh the Great Commission had just begun to be carried out, persecution of the church had begun, and multitudes of people had been brought to Christ and been sent out from Jerusalem and were scattering across the region. And it was an exciting time for uh a new chapter in the history of the world, and it began right there. And uh, and so if you are a Christian, you're a part of a very historic thing. Religions are a dime a dozen, Christianity, one of a kind. And uh that's a lot going on in Acts chapter 8, and I'm going to interrupt it. Typical preacher, okay. But in Acts chapter 8, there's this guy that's doing some preaching. His name is uh name is Philip. Name is Philip. Philip's having a lot of success, which means quite probably quite a few in the church hated him. Um I don't know how that, I don't know how that goes. Okay. He was having a lot of success with the gospel. And uh and good things were happening amongst the Jews and the uh pagans. Two different ball games. Okay. We're basically a pagan country, so we needed it as bad or worse than they did. The good news is people were listening because this was after the spectacular event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the predictions that he would, and the witnesses that he did, and now the message is to the people that he did this for you. It's it's a it's a dynamic time and a great place to be, whether you understood it or not. God would help you with that, and so that's what's going on in Acts chapter 8. And I'm interrupting the context, which preachers do, but I uh have a couple of things here about talking to people about Christ and about soul winning. Soul winning is my thing. It was my thing when I got here, and it was my thing before I got here. And so preaching is just sort of in the way, but I did some of that too. Uh winning people to Christ, talking to people about Jesus, preparing people for eternity, helping people understand the nature of sin, the nature of God, and the forgiveness of God and the difference that Christ makes in life. And uh Philip got into that across the region. I mean by the tens of thousands, folks, in Middle Springs, you know, in Nashville. Okay, it's a big time. And Philip got into that and uh was very busy in a huge evangelistic crusade. I mean, he was being very successful. All right, when you're on a roll like that as a preacher, you don't like to stop. You're not gonna stop to argue with people, fight with people, gripe with people. You're not gonna stop. You're on a road. You're gonna do as much as you can, as fast as you can for Jesus because people are listening, people are learning, people are coming to Christ, and that's why we're here. He was getting it on, but the Lord interrupted for one guy, and so we come to act. I don't know where we are, I can't read that no more than a man in the moon, but uh, I'm sure it's the right text. Can you read that? It doesn't matter if I can or not. It's a good thing. Have the same trouble going down the highway, but anyway. Now, I'm in verse 20, I mean Acts chapter 8, verse 26. An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip. Philip had been doing all the speaking. He was the evangelist, he was the one setting the world on fire. People want to hear what Philip was talking about. They were coming to Philip to learn about Jesus. That's what you want. I thought that's what we wanted. Anyway, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted place. So he arose. Notice he didn't argue. Preachers can do that. We think we're pretty smart. We think we know what's best. We think we know where we need to be. And in the middle of an evangelistic revival where thousands of people are being brought to Christ, I think I would have been tempted to say, uh, I'm not uh later on, maybe. Don't bother me. It's some big stuff going on. Don't bother me now. See you later. Guess what? He was submitted to the Lord, not to his work. You know, you could be more submitted to your work as a preacher than you are to Jesus. How good is that? But anyway, a real good thing about this guy, he said, Arise, go toward the south, toward the road which goes down from Jerusalem, God is the desert. He arose and went. The mark of a true disciple. He rose and went. He didn't debate with the Lord, didn't argue with the Lord, didn't make excuses about the Lord, didn't say, I did this, I said, Okay. What kind of disciple am I? Let's say the Lord gets ready to direct me in a way that I'm not gone. And it don't look right, and it don't look good, and it don't look like fun, and it doesn't look like what I'm best at. So I think I've got a better idea. This guy wasn't that way. He arose and went. He arose and went. Pretty high cotton, uh, who had charge of all her treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship. You don't know to this, folks. Come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning, sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. It's a long book. When then the spirit said to Phil, go there and overtake this chariot. This guy was secretary of the treasurer. That's all he was. He wasn't nobody. This is a big time guy, and he had traveled all the way to Jerusalem to do what? How far was it, roughly? From where he lived to where he went? How about 600 miles? I doubt if he went on an airplane. Oh, 600 miles one way, folks. Even in Kirby, I can figure out a round trip on that. He did it to worship. So is this man dedicated about learning about God? This is this is this man really interested in what he's hearing 600 miles away and what he's heard about the life of Christ and all the events in Jerusalem and the persecution and the crucifixion and the scattering of the Heard about all this stuff. He was an educated man. So he said, I'm gonna go look. 600 miles. Okay. So that's what's going on here. Sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet, and the spirit said to Philip, go in there and overtake the prophet, the chariot. Philip, I'm gonna let you do something worthwhile now. I'm gonna let you preach. That's all you know how to do anyway. I'm gonna let you preach. To one man. When Philip had been preaching to thousands and thousands day and night, he was in the middle of a huge religious event. How could you leave that? But he was willing to do it. It says a lot about the humility and the faith in God that this man had. Am I gonna leave a sure thing? Am I gonna leave where everything's blowing up around me and everybody's excited? Wonderful things going on. Just because God says, I've got one thing in particular I want you to do, and I want it done now, and I want it done with this person. Now let's go. How you handle that? Maybe what I want to do. I got news for you. Evangelistic events can be very exciting. I've been to some, I've spoken in some to multiply thousands of people. Vicki was there, she don't lie. They're exciting. You see, a lot of things going on that are just spectacular things. People being brought to Christ just day and night, it's really unreal. So God tells uh Philip, said, by the way, the fun's over. It took a pretty mature person to say, Oh, okay. How would you handle that? That's the difference in being obedient to God. See, he didn't have to know where God was taking him, what he was doing, and he didn't have a clue. All he had to know was God and the Son that God had sent, it changed his life, and he was gonna say yes, Lord. Will you say yes, Lord? Are you saying yes, Lord? That's what he did. He left the he left an event that most preachers only dream about. That's a fact. Well, I wish I could speak in a big workshop. Boy, I wish they would fly me in on a plane and put me in a motel, me and my wife. Boy, I wish I could be in a big church and growing church, the excitement. Boy, I wish I could do all that. That's what a lot of preachers dream about, but it don't happen. Well, Vicky and I've been there. Guess what? What if the Lord had said, oh, by the way, Robert, we're in the motel room. Uh we got something else to do here. I don't know if I'd have bowed up or not. I would have liked to have been like this guy. Yes, Lord. What would you have done? I don't know. Anyway, just watch what happens here. The spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake the cherry. Philip ran to him. Philip was in good physical shape. Philip ran to him. Heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you're reading? I guess he hawked up in the chair. It's kind of hard to run alongside a guy. You know, I'm sure he had a sheriff driver. This guy was not poor. Had a limousine, I guess, huh? Maybe so. Probably didn't even have to pay for his own gas. I hate people like that. But anyway. And so here's what happened. Do you understand what you're reading? He said, now watch what Philip does. Did you catch it? Philip don't talk with him about the weather. He didn't talk with him about what it's like to be a member of royalty. The Secretary of the Treasury. He didn't talk about the trip and the scenery. He didn't talk about any of that stuff. He didn't I talk about. Philip cuts to the chase. Says, What are you reading, sir? I want to know where you are because God got me here for a big reason. I'm not going to mess around. So he said, Well, how is we reading? Philip ran to him and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you're reading? Some of that's hard to do. Some of it's not. Some of it's about Jesus. Some of it's quoted in the New Testament. Some of it's difficult, difficult, symbolic, highly figurative stuff in the book of Revelation. But anyway, he said, He said, How can I accept someone guides me? So sometimes, folks, when we're reading those scriptures, we may need someone, you know, beside us to say, Do you understand this? What do you understand this to say? I've asked that question a thousand times. What does this mean to you? You know what you do then? You get quiet, preacher. You do your talking on Sunday. When you're dealing with somebody's immortal soul, you get real quiet and listen to them. Learn about them. Let them tell their story. Find out where they are, find out how to help them. Not about you, big boy. It's about this person. So Philip had his stuff together, which had more liking. I better hurry up, Hannah. He came up and said when he played scripture, okay, how can I accept someone guides me? It's almost like the guy expected something to happen. I mean, it's almost like you expect a guy to look down here and hear somebody running along the chair, and this guy says, uh, uh, excuse me, uh, who are you? Where are you going? Why are you running down there? It's almost like this guy was not surprised at all. I think there's more here than we're told. And he said, How can I accept someone guides me? And I can't emphasize enough to you, church, being able to guide someone in the word of God, and you got to know it to guide it. There's a lot of serious questions people have about the scripture, and they need a clear answer, and the Bible has them. And the more we know it, the better it'll know us, and the better we can help other people. Read your Bible, learn your Bible, believe your Bible, talk your Bible, use your Bible. How can I accept someone guides me? And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the scripture which he read was as this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent. He opened not his mouth. In his humiliation, his justice was taken away. Who will declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. This is huge stuff. This is earth shaking, whatever it is. I gotta know what it means. Okay. Well, that's why uh God chose a preacher to help him. Okay. It has to be a preacher, but it didn't hurt. Sometimes it does, but it didn't. So the youth answered Philip and said, I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man? Because it doesn't clarify. Philip opened his mouth and began at this scripture and did what? And did what? So you're already thinking about Pizza Hut? Is that it? That's not why I'm here. So you know. Philip opened his mouth and began at the scripture preaching Jesus to him. Preaching Jesus to didn't say Philip opened his mouth and preached religion to him. He didn't say that, did he? Not you, no. No. Not yeah, no, he didn't say he preached religion to him. No, he preached uh social change to him. No, no, he didn't do that, he didn't preach cultural transition to him. No, no, didn't do that. He preached Jesus to him. What? That's why God had him there. I guarantee you, if God brings him here, you better preach Jesus to him, church. People don't need to leave church wondering what happened to Jesus. Now, as they went down the road, they came to some water. Isn't that convenient? Eunuch said, See, here is water. He can see better than I could, probably. What hinders me from being baptized? Philip says, You believe with all your heart, you may believe with all your heart, what? He tells him. He answers, said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's part of what the eunuch had told him. I believe that Jesus is the Christ. What does it mean? Who uh, if someone were to ask you today, or next week or sometime, who do you think Jesus is? What do you think about Jesus? What did you say? What would your answer be? Well, he's a lie. Okay? And this guy had been taught. The Ethiopian hadn't just talked about the time of day, the stock market, the price of gas, the war. He didn't, you know, he talked about, you know, you know, one thing, Jesus. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He commanded his chariot to stand still. Both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and baptized him. Well, what do you expect him to do? Get a fishing pole. When he came out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. Get a load of this. So that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Aspethus, and passing through, he preached in all cities till he came to Caesarea. Boom. Case closed. Next chapter. Story's over. And another soul is going to heaven. And never even heard of Jesus at all. A rich man that didn't need God found out that he needed God more than he ever knew. And it took a Christian and a preacher to help him see it. Traveling on the dusty road. Who am I going to sit beside who's traveling on a dusty road? Underception. And the Lord touched my heart and said, I want you to talk with that person. I want you to ask that person about Jesus. I've got something in store for that person, Robert. And what are you going to do? Just go on the Walmart? Are you going to take me seriously? So isn't this good news? How can you not be excited about this? Okay. My goodness. What are we? My goodness. Religion won't give that to you. I'll promise you that it'll lie to you. What's that is you'll believe a lot of it. Jesus will give you his truth. And so passing through, he preached to all the cities. He just kept preaching what he'd been doing. Preachers and preachers and preachers and preachers, he just kept doing what he's programmed to do. So I'll leave this thought with us. Well, I'll leave this thought. Don't know where it's gonna be. Probably would not fall off. How close can I get to the edge? What do you think about Jesus? What do you think about Jesus? When you think about it, what do you think about it? What's your opinion? What's your opinion about Christ? What kind of person do you think he is? What kind of difference do you think he can make? What kind of difference do you think he's made in your life already? Or that he can make if you screwed it up. That's what he left at. What do you think about Jesus? He ain't just another man, another religious guru, another Mula walking around. You believe he believed he was the Son of God, the one Son of God who came from eternity to save you from your sins and prepare you for heaven. What do you believe about Jesus? Let me ask you this. Would you be willing to talk about it? No, I don't talk about yell about it. Let me talk about it. You'll be willing to talk about it. I'd like to know what you think. I'd like to know what you think. I know what I think. Would you be willing to talk about Jesus? When? When would be a good time, you think, for you and me to get together and talk about Jesus? You sit down, good cup of coffee, whatever. When do you think would be a good time to do it? Morning or the evening be better. And lunch break? More afterward. Who do you think be best time? Talk about Jesus. I'd sure like to talk with you about it. I haven't always known him. I didn't grow up going, I wasn't no church kid. Are you kidding me? We finished on Sunday. What are you talking about? I didn't grow up knowing Jesus. My wife did. Can you sure tell the difference? So how is it? Well, I don't know. Sermon's over or not, but that's all I gotta say. Um if you can be encouraged as someone that you know to talk about Jesus somehow. I didn't say argue. Yeah, Church of Christ, I said argue about argue, every single. Anyway, when you do that, you lose, by the way. Lose. Save your soul forever. Yeah, I like talking about that. Well, if you're interested, I'll be glad to come over and do it. I got a lot of friends over here. Well, not as many. I have some friends over here who'd be happy to. Maybe you need to talk with some of the chariot where a guy drove 1200 miles. You have to be a preacher. The gospel message is about that long. It's the difference between earth and heaven. Can we encourage you to know the difference Jesus makes in your life? In any way. If there is, let us know. If you'd like to let us know. Or do you have a do we have a closing song? If you'd like to let us know or someone, feel free to come up here and let us know. We will have this song. If not, let us know after the song is over. Just come up here and say, Yeah, let's talk. Let's talk about Jesus. You need to do it while you got time. You need to do it while you got time. So, where are you? Well, if we can be able to any help at all, that's all we're here for. Then let us know why we see him stone.