INTRODUCTION

1. Two men were travelling on two different roads.  One of them heard the voice of Jesus and spoke to the Lord directly while still on the road.  The other did not hear Jesus, but he heard about Jesus while he was still on the road.

2. Only one of these men was saved on his respective road.  Which one was it?  Many would expect that it was the one who actually heard from and talked with Jesus, but it wasn't.  Let us consider their stories.

    

THE ROAD TO GAZA

1. Philip the evangelist met an Ethiopian court official on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26-27).

   1. Philip was a preacher of Christ endowed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3-6).  He was sent by an angel of the Lord from Samaria to this remote road, a journey of perhaps forty or fifty miles.

   2. The Ethiopian was a Gentile convert to Judaism returning from a period of worship in Jerusalem.  He was a trusted official of the Ethiopian queen and was in charge of her treasure.

2. The Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah, and Philip preached Jesus to him from this passage (Acts 8:28-35).

   1. By direction of the Holy Spirit, Philip ran up to the Ethiopian's chariot and found him reading from Isaiah 53:7-8.

   2. When Philip asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" the Ethiopian invited Philip into the chariot to explain the passage.

   3. From this passage in Isaiah, Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian.

      1. The particular verses he read describe a nameless man who suffers in silence, is humiliated in injustice, and dies.  The chapter says that this man carried our sorrows and was crushed for our iniquities. It is no surprise that the Ethiopian would ask who this man was.

      2. Philip had the answer.  This man was Jesus, who is the Christ and the Son of God.  How surprising and wonderful it must have been for the Ethiopian to receive such an answer.

3. When the Ethiopian believed in Jesus, he was baptized and saved on the road to Gaza (Acts 8:36-39).

   1. In the course of preaching Jesus, it is evident that Philip explained the necessity of baptism to the Ethiopian.  This is because when they came to water, the Ethiopian said, "Look!  Water!  What prevents me from being baptized?"

   2. Notice carefully the conversation in verses 37-38:

      ³⁷And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may."  And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."  ³⁸And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

   3. The Spirit of the Lord then snatched Philip away, but the Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing.  Obviously, he rejoiced because he knew that his sins had been forgiven (Acts 2:38) and he had been saved (Mark 16:16).

4. Notice how the Ethiopian was saved.

   1. He heard the word of God preached, he believed it, he confessed his belief in Jesus, and he obeyed the instructions of the gospel by being baptized.  By these, the Ethiopian was saved through Christ on the road to Gaza.

   2. He did not receive a direct revelation from Jesus or a direct operation of the Holy Spirit.  He did not say a sinner's prayer or ask Jesus into his heart.  These are modern teachings from man's ideas about salvation, but they were not given or exemplified in this passage or elsewhere in Scripture.

       

THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS

1. Saul of Tarsus was on the road to Damascus when the Lord Jesus spoke to him (Acts 9:1-6).

   1. Saul was the chief persecutor of the church, and he had been authorized by the Jewish rulers to go into Damascus of Syria to arrest disciples of Christ from among the Jews and bring them back to Jerusalem.

   2. As he travelled on the road approaching Damascus, a light from heaven shone around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

   3. When Saul asked who spoke to him, the voice answered, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."

   4. Jesus told Saul to enter Damascus where he would be told what he must do.  When he got up, he was blind and had to be led into the city by his companions. They had heard the voice, but they did not understand it (Acts 22:9).

2. Saul was not saved on the road nor even after he fasted and prayed for three days (Acts 9:7-16).

   1. It is often said that Saul was saved on the road to Damascus, but this is false.  He was still in his sins when he left that road.

   2. Hearing the voice of Jesus was not enough for Saul to be saved. Likewise, fasting and praying were not enough to save him.  There was no "sinner's prayer" to save Saul just as there is no such prayer to save anyone today.

3. Saul was saved only when he had been told what to do by Ananias (Acts 9:17-20; Acts 22:12-16).

   1. Ananias healed Saul of his blindness by laying on his hands through the power of God, and then he explained that Jesus had chosen Saul to be His witness to all men.

   2. Even then, Saul was still in his sins.  Notice Ananias' words in Acts 22:16:

      "Now why do you delay?  Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name."

   3. Following the instructions, Saul was baptized, and his sins were washed away.  Even though he was "a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor" and the foremost of sinners (1Tim. 1:13, 15), his sins were forgiven and Saul was saved.

       

LESSONS LEARNED

1. The requirements for salvation in Christ are the same for everyone.

   1. The situations of the Ethiopian and Saul were much different, yet they were given the same instructions for salvation.  Both had to believe in Jesus and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

   2. In example after example from the book of Acts, we see a repetition of words and events pertaining to the salvation of sinners through Jesus.  These combine to form an unmistakable pattern.

   3. Today, the pattern for salvation has not changed. The same instructions given to the Ethiopian and Saul for their salvation are also given to us in the New Testament.  We must obey these to be saved in Jesus.

2. Preaching Jesus is more than just telling about His life.

   1. Philip "preached Jesus" to the Ethiopian beginning from Isaiah 53:7-8.  For certain, Philip spoke about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1Cor. 15:3-4), but he also declared the necessity of believing in Jesus and being baptized into Him.

   2. There are men who claim to believe in Jesus but resist and reject Philip's form of preaching Jesus.  They demand "the Man" but reject "the plan."  Yet for Philip and the other New Testament preachers, Jesus and His gospel plan of salvation were inseparable.

   3. In truth, preaching Jesus is no different today than it was in Philip's time.

      1. Preachers should resolve to preach nothing "except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1Cor. 2:2), but the content of gospel preaching is far more than simply the Lord's name and the fact of His death.

      2. Preaching Jesus includes declaring "the whole purpose of God" (Acts 20:27).  It is the whole scope of the Bible.

3. Candidates for salvation are found in every place and come from every walk of life.

   1. On the surface, the Ethiopian and Saul of Tarsus appeared to be unlikely candidates for conversion to Christ.

      1. The Ethiopian was an important official of a royal court, and there are "not many mighty, not many noble" (1Cor. 1:26) who respond to the preaching of Jesus.  Furthermore, he was found riding in a chariot in a remote area.

      2. Saul was the chief persecutor of the church and was bent on destroying anyone who believed in Jesus.  He was found on his way to arrest disciples of Christ.

   2. Even so, both men proved to be perfect candidates for conversion because they believed when the Lord gave them the opportunity.

   3. The lesson for us is that we must not eliminate anyone from our consideration for teaching the gospel.  Regardless of background or location, any person might obey the gospel of Jesus at any time in any place.