Reading:
Acts 8:1b,4,5,26-39.
"Understandest
thou what thou readest?"
We have called these
meditations 'Fundamental Questions of the Christian
Life', which means that we are seeking to get to the real
foundation and nature of the Christian life, to
understand what the Christian life really is meant to be.
Whatever may be the argument (and I am quite conscious
that much argument might arise out of what will be said
here, for very much argument has already circled around
this question), it will always return to one matter, and
it should be that one matter that governs and influences
the argument. The one matter is: the question of
absolute satisfaction with the Christian life.
If you are perfectly
satisfied with your Christian life, if you are satisfied
that Christianity as it is in this world today is an
absolutely satisfactory thing, then there is no point in
a book such as this. But if we are not wholly satisfied
with our Christian life - that is, if we realise the need
for something more, something fuller; if we feel that,
speaking quite generally, Christianity as we know it in
the world is not quite what it should be; if we deplore
all these disruptive elements, all these divisions, all
this atmosphere of suspicion and criticism, and so on -
if we feel like that at all, then we are surely under the
necessity of trying to find out the better way, the
remedy. It is incumbent upon us to seek to discover the
cause of the much disappointment which exists in the
hearts of so many Christians, disappointment with
Christianity as we know it.
Do we, in the first
place, find some explanation in the matter of our first
consideration: an adequate apprehension of Christ? May
not an inadequate apprehension of Christ lie at the root
of much disappointment and many conditions which we
deplore?
Do we, moreover, find
some explanation in our second consideration: Did ye
receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? May it not be
that some misunderstanding, some confusion, some
uncertainty about this matter of the indwelling Holy
Spirit, with all that that ought to mean, lies at the
root of many of our troubles?
And now, thirdly, may
it not be that the state of spiritual weakness, defeat,
ineffectiveness, unfruitfulness, and many more positive
elements which are quite unsatisfactory, can be traced to
this: not really understanding the Word of God? We must
now investigate this question. Let me say that we are not
setting out to prove the inspiration of the Scriptures.
That is assumed.
What we are concerned
with is to emphasize and explain the necessity for understanding
the Scriptures. We underline the word understanding.
Stopping
Short With the Bible
For a large majority of
Christians, the Bible is a book of passages to comfort
them in time of trouble, to encourage them in days of
depression, to give them promises for the future when the
present is difficult, or to help them to decide their
course in a time of perplexity. In a word, the Bible is
for many a matter of the personal day-by-day life in
seeking to do God's will. We open our Bibles perhaps in
the morning, to get something to help us for the day - a
promise, a bit of comfort, a bit of light, just something
to help us through; and we do that every day. Perhaps we
do it a little more diligently when things are a little
more stressful: when things are not like that, perhaps we
are not so diligent about the Word! Forgive me if that is
a misjudgment, but I think that for many Christians the
Bible resolves itself into that and not much more.
Now do not
misunderstand me: I am not saying that that is wrong -
that the Bible is not for that. It is for that! That is
right and good, as we all know. But in this matter, as in
many other matters, we stop short.
In the matter of
salvation, for instance - our own as well as other
people's - we so often stop short, as though that were an
end in itself. Get people converted, get them to make a
decision for Christ, get them to come to the Lord - put
it how you will - and that is that. It is all done. Get
on with others. Salvation is an end in itself. And yet,
that is only the first step on a mighty highway of ever
greater fulnesses.
In the same way we stop
short with our Bibles. In these quite valuable,
profitable and necessary things which I have mentioned,
we fail to recognise that the Bible is not ultimately for
that. If the Bible gives us comfort, gives us light,
gives us guidance, gives us hope, gives us some uplift,
on occasions, in the thought of God that is all related
to something infinitely more. It is related by God to a
vast, eternal purpose. You are to get your guidance, your
help, your comfort, your light, your promise, whatever it
may be, not just for the day or the hour or the moment,
in order to get you over the stile that is immediately
before you. It is intended by God to get you on the way
of a great purpose which has been formed by Him in Divine
counsels before this world was. The Word of God is a
vastly greater thing than a set of encouraging sayings,
comforting words: there is a purpose behind the whole,
and every part, in the intention of God, relates to
something more than itself. That we must recognise before
the Bible can really become alive.
Eternal
Design and Central Person
All that is in this
book is of one piece. It is linked up with one great
eternal design, which relates, not to so many individual
Christians as such, but to a whole, Body, chosen by God
in Christ before the corporate foundation of the world.
It is only as we come into line with this that the Bible
will really fulfil its purpose in our lives. Otherwise -
well, we may go through a day helped by something that we
read, a promise or a word of comfort; it may help us very
blessedly over today - but is that all? Surely there is
more to it than that!
Individuals will only
become enlarged unto all the fulness of God's purpose as
they come into relationship with one another in
that purpose: and the Bible is for that.
Yes: every promise,
every bit of comfort, every bit of exhortation or light,
is an integral part of a great design - and that design
is centred in one Person - God's Son. If any part of the
Scriptures fails to lead us into some greater knowledge
of the Lord Jesus, it has failed of the very purpose for
which it is there! You see, we are in keeping with our
passage: "Understandest thou what thou
readest?" Where does the answer lead you? It leads
you to Christ. The understanding of the Scriptures is a
matter of bringing us to understand Christ. The answer is
found in a Person.
Now, we must recognise
that, in this matter of knowing the Word of God, knowing
the Scriptures and understanding what we read, there is a
factor which is 'extra' and 'other'. That comes out very
clearly in the instance before us. This incident in which
we have our question is 'bigger than itself'. In itself
it provides us with all the factors that we need for our
consideration. But it is representative of a far bigger
situation than itself - a situation which has a very
large place in the Word of God and in Christian
experience. "Understandest thou what thou
readest?" This is a very pertinent and proper
question. It really implies no lesser questions than
these: 'Does the Bible live to you? Is the Word of God a
mighty dynamic in your life? Is it the voice of God to you?
Is God all the time speaking by this to you?'
Let us look at this
incident, which will itself lead us out into the larger
consideration. Firstly, we will look at the man who, I
think we can say, is the occasion of what is here - the
Ethiopian. Then we will look at that which met his need,
and then at the implications of bringing these two
together.
A
Man in Need
Firstly, then, the man
- the Ethiopian - and his need. Let us get his
full-length portrait, as far as we can. Firstly, he is a
man of high position and achievement in this world. He is
a man who is successful, who has attained to a place of
great honour. He is a man, evidently, of no mean
learning. He has been up to Jerusalem to worship,
probably at one of the feasts, which implies that he
understood the language used there by the Jews - Hebrew
or Aramaic; and then he was also versed in Greek, because
the passage which is quoted here from Isaiah is quoted
from the Septuagint - the Greek translation of the Old
Testament. For an Ethiopian that indicates a wide range
of intelligence and a considerable degree of learning and
knowledge.
Then, he was evidently
a devoutly religious man, doubtless a Jewish proselyte,
for we are told that he had made the long journey to
Jerusalem in order to worship. But because he was a
eunuch, labouring under a veto in the Old Testament, he
was strictly forbidden to enter within a certain area of
the Temple. I mention that, because it might well have
put him off. As a proselyte of the gate, beyond a certain
point he would meet a closed door. That might have
discouraged him and kept him away: but such is his
devotion that he undertakes the long journey to
Jerusalem, in spite of the handicap and the seeming
rebuff he would meet at the Temple. He goes up to
worship.
Then, having taken his
long journey, in his honesty and devout sincerity, he
returns, clearly a disappointed man. He has been to the
very headquarters of the learning and teaching of the
Scriptures, to the very centre of Bible interpretation.
He is returning, still in quest of something to satisfy
his heart, without the real joy of having discovered.
That is made perfectly clear, is it not, by the issue of
this incident? There is something still eluding him,
beyond his grasp, beyond his understanding.
But that is not all
about him. Clearly he was a truly humble man; he was not
frustrated by his own self-sufficiency - for there is
nothing more frustrating to spiritual understanding than
self-sufficiency. The man or the woman who 'knows it all'
is a frustrated person; they are not going to get
through. But here is a truly humble man, conscious of his
need, and ready to confess it, knowing his ignorance and
having no compunction or hesitation in letting it be
known that he is ignorant in this matter. "How can
I, except some one shall guide me?"
Moreover, he is a man
with a Bible which is a closed book. He has a Bible,
though it be the Old Testament only - it might only be
the Prophets - but it is still the Bible. He had his
Bible open before him, and was reading it, but it was
nevertheless a closed book.
Finally, he is a man
prepared to obey, ready without any hesitation to follow
the light when it comes. That is, I think, the measure of
the man, the life-size portrait.
Many of these things
might be thought to be great advantages, providing a
sure, positive ground of knowing and understanding - and
yet he was still in the dark! Some of those things, of
course, are essential to coming to the light, but not all
of them. You can do without high position, great
attainments, the achieving of ambitions; you can do
without great education and natural intelligence, and
still get the light. On the other hand, unless you have
some of them, you will not get the light. A really humble
spirit, that is teachable, open to learn, and a
preparedness to obey when it comes, are essential.
Nevertheless, all put together, they do not constitute a
guarantee of understanding. There is an 'extra', and an
'other', factor, without which all those things still
leave you, Bible in hand, in the dark.
The
Meeting of the Need
I said that this
incident was 'bigger than itself'. It is something which
contains the essence, but it is something which
represents a very much larger situation than itself. This
is here in the Word of God because it touches a large and
persistent situation in Christianity. Just as the
Ethiopian embodies certain principles, so also Philip,
when he arrives on the scene, is not just a passing
figure who comes and goes. Philip embodies some very
far-reaching spiritual principles, just as the Ethiopian
did. Philip is more than a person, coming on to the scene
and passing off again; he is the embodiment of great
spiritual truths for all time.
The
Man in the Glory
Now, we must step
behind the incident. You notice the setting of it. Though
so vital, so important, so significant, this incident is
but a part of the onward movement of the exalted Christ
in relation to the Church and to the world. Until we
recognise this, we are without the key as to what it is
and what it represents. The exalted Christ is continuing.
At the beginning of this book, Luke refers to his earlier
work as being the account of "all that Jesus began
both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was
received up" (Acts 1:1,2). This book of the Acts as
we have often said, records what He continues to do and
to teach after He is received up. That is quite true. The
Lord does not stop. He goes on. The march of the Lord in
the earth, in the world, in relation to the Church, is
still forward with mighty, dynamic force.
And behind the book,
behind the doings recorded here, is the One who is doing.
He has not only been lifted up on the Cross: He has been
lifted up to the glory, and He is drawing all men to
Himself. That is the issue all the time. The issue of
every doing, every incident in this book is: Himself,
Himself. He is pressing on with that. It is Christ
- now in His right place, in the glory, at the right hand
of the Majesty in the heavens, as Lord of all - who is
governing all these events. That is the setting here. It
is the sovereign movement of the Spirit of Christ.
Figures come and go on the scene - an Ethiopian, a
Philip, and how many more - but there is one overruling
Figure, the shadow of a Man in the background, governing,
manoeuvring, moving by His Spirit every one and
everything in this book.
A
Man Under the Control of Heaven
Philip, then, comes
under the Spirit's government, which means that he comes
under the government of the exalted Christ. That is
clear, is it not? There is an interchange of words which
we will not stop to discuss. 'An angel said to Philip...'
'The Spirit said to Philip...' Whether that means two
things or one does not matter very much. Angels and the
Holy Spirit are in co-operation. The letter to the
Hebrews tells us that angels are 'ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation' (Heb.
1:14). We see here the co-operation of heavenly
intelligences in this matter. Philip is under the
government and control of the Holy Spirit, of the exalted
Christ.
Now note that Philip is
a man with but one interest in life - a very important
contributing factor to the issue, to the answer to the
question, "Understandest thou what thou
readest?" Here is a man under the government of
Christ, under the mastery of the Holy Spirit: so much so
that he has no other interest in life. We could almost
resolve the whole matter into that, though it is only a
part. But understanding of the Word of God in such a way
that it lives, gloriously and growingly lives, becomes a
dynamic force in the life, and leads on to the fulness of
Christ, will only be on this principle - that you and I
are not people of two interests in life. It is essential
that we have only one interest.
Look at Philip's
history. The Church has been born in the mighty vibrant
activities of the Spirit, in the onward march of the
ascended Lord. Difficulties arise in certain practical
matters, and the Apostles cannot withdraw from a great
movement of the Spirit to handle these matters of
temporal consideration. They call upon the Church to look
them out certain men for that purpose: it does so, and
they choose seven - men "full of the Spirit and of
wisdom" (Acts 6:3) - of whom Philip is one. Philip
first comes into view as one of a group of men appointed
to look after the gifts of the Christians in relation to
poor saints. You call that menial, perhaps; you would
hardly think that a man full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom
was required for that! But such men were required, even
for that. Philip's history marks him out as a man of
spiritual capacity. He is not a little man - he is
spiritually a big man; and yet he is prepared to accept a
job that you might think anybody could do - to give the
few pence or shillings to some poor widows who were in
need. Being the man that he was, spiritually so large, he
put it all into that, without bad feeling, without
revolt, without reservation, without question.
Then came the
persecution through Saul, and the scattering. What became
of the widows, I do not know, but I know what became of
Philip. Philip was one of those that were scattered
abroad, and he went down to Samaria, and preached the
Christ (Acts 8:4,5). And we know that great things
happened. Now came another test of the quality of Philip.
In the midst of this onward pressing of the mighty Lord,
in the onward sweep of the Spirit in this irresistible
tide, Philip is suddenly spoken to. Without any
explanation, promise, assurance or anything else, he is
told to leave it all and go far off into the country, in
a direction which was desert. Such an injunction is a
good test of whether a man has two interests in life:
whether his heart is divided, or single. But here is a
man of only one thought, one purpose, an undivided heart.
We read of no controversy whatever, but instant
obedience. Notice this principle of instant obedience: it
implies such a total abandonment to the Lord that you are
ready to do anything and everything He says, whether you
understand it or not. The Lord has got you - the Lord has
got your heart; you have no argument with Him about His
ways with you.
That, then, is Philip:
a man just governed by the Spirit, quite evidently; not
only filled with the Spirit, but taught by the Spirit. He
stands out in contrast to so many: not only to the
Ethiopian, and all those to whom the Ethiopian had been
for light and who were unable to give it, but more than
that, in contrast to the very Apostles themselves as they
were before Christ, by the Spirit, opened their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures
(Luke 24:45). Something has happened to Philip. He is a
man taught of the Spirit, his eyes have been opened; and
so he can bring understanding and light in the Scriptures
where it is needed. In a word, this man's need in the
desert was met through an instrument that was absolutely
abandoned to the Holy Spirit.
The
Dispensation of the Spirit
What, now, are the
implications of bringing these two together? Firstly, and
pre-eminently, the fact of the nature of the new
dispensation - the dispensation of the Spirit. A new
dispensation has been ushered in and inaugurated. The
Holy Spirit is the characteristic of this
dispensation, and everything, so far as God is concerned,
rests upon that fact. There is to be nothing other than
by the Spirit; everything is to be only by the Spirit.
This is a dispensation shut up to the Holy Spirit. We
shall not get anywhere in relation to the things of God
until we recognise and accept that. The real significance
of this incident, and of all others, is that it is a part
of the peculiar movement from Heaven in this dispensation
- the movement of the Holy Spirit in relation to the
exalted Christ.
That is the great
principle of spiritual understanding: that is the
'extra', and that is the 'other'.
It is the 'extra' to
all the best of education, of achievement, of position,
of everything else that we have mentioned. A man may have
it all, and still be in the dark! It is 'extra' to the letter
of the Word - it is of the Spirit. The Word can still
be a closed book, even when you have memorized it from
beginning to end (if you can do that). When you can quote
and cite, freely and largely, from its pages; when you
know its content, its subjects, its themes; when you know
immediately where to look for any given passage or
subject, it may still be a closed book. That is a fact,
and that fact explains a very great deal. The 'extra' to
everything, whether it be large or small, great or
little, is the Holy Spirit.
And it is the 'other'
- something different. By these means of education and
knowledge, human ability, you may arrive at certain
conclusions. You may say that on this or that matter the
Bible teaches so-and-so. Yes, but a hundred others say it
teaches on those very same things something different -
you may take any one Christian doctrine today and get
many different interpretations. That is Christian
theology! Which is right? Where is final authority? Now,
you see, the Holy Spirit may altogether change our
conclusions and make us see that on our strongest
convictions we are at fault. Once He gets an opportunity,
He may upset all our 'final positions' of biblical
interpretation, doctrine and theology. He is 'other'. We
come to that again in a moment.
But the Holy Spirit is
particularly concerned with the Word of God; He is bound
and committed to the Scriptures. There is no revelation
extra to the Scriptures, but there is a vast amount of
undisclosed light in the Scriptures, at the
disposal of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, with His
concern and commitment to the Word of God, is in quest of
such as the Ethiopian. That is a most important
significance which arises out of this incident. The Holy
Spirit took the initiative in this matter. Philip would
never, never have thought of this. The Holy Spirit was in
quest of people such as this man on his lonely desert
journey. It was by the Spirit that the question was put
to him and the interpretation given which brought the
great crisis in his life "...Thou readest",
"...what thou readest" - "Understandest
thou what thou readest?" Yes, the Spirit was in
quest of people like that, and He still is. It is because
they are so few and far between - like this man in the
desert, with probably miles between him and the next one
- that there is such a poor state generally in the
Church. If only the Spirit could find more people like
this, what a different situation would obtain!
The
Root Principle of the Cross
Now, I wonder if we can
discern that in all this the Holy Spirit was acting and
operating upon one principle. This is the fundamental
significance of this incident - something that throughout
is never specifically mentioned, but that emerges as we
meditate upon it. When the Holy Spirit is in action, He
never gets away from this one thing - namely, the Cross.
He was acting all the time on the principle of the Cross.
The Cross is the mighty, devastating counter to the chief
root-evil in mankind - pride. The principle of the Cross
is selfless concern for what is of God and what is of God
alone. There was here a readiness, on the part both of
the Ethiopian and of Philip, at any cost, without a
second thought or consideration, to obey light. This man
might well have said to himself, 'Well, when I get back,
what will the Queen say - what will the men in the court
say? If I tell them that I have become a baptized
Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, I am in for it!'
But the principle of the Cross means no place for
secondary considerations. You can see it in Philip: he
was an utterly crucified man. You can see it in the
Ethiopian: the principle of the Cross was already there,
though he knew nothing about the Cross, and it gave the
Holy Spirit something to work upon.
And here we find the
focus of the whole question. There will be no light of
this kind, no understanding of this kind, no coming
through out of shadows, darkness, half-light, into the
full blaze of Divine illumination, until the Cross has
effected in us death to our own intellects. If we are
going to argue, to project our reasoning faculties into
this thing, the Holy Spirit will stand back - He will not
commit Himself. We shall go on in that circle, round and
round and round, in everlasting weariness, never
arriving. The Cross must come right home to our
intellects. That is the full force of the first chapters
of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. There you have
two things placed over against each other. On the one
side, the wisdom of the world (and what wisdom it was -
no mean thing) on the other side, the wisdom which is
from above - "Things which eye saw not, and ear
heard not, and which entered not into the heart of
man" (1 Cor. 2:9); and in between, "Christ
crucified" (chapter 1 verse 23).
In the same way, the
Cross must deal with our hearts - our affections, our
desires, our attachments - and with our interests here in
this world, our consideration of how things are going to
affect us, how we stand to gain or lose by any course
taken. If we have any such considerations, the Holy
Spirit will stand back. There will be no light for such
people.
And the Cross must deal
with our wills. It is so clear from this account that the
man, instantly the way was pointed out to him, 'jumped at
it', as we say. How Philip had arrived at baptism through
Isaiah 53, I leave you to consider; but he had got there,
and the Ethiopian, with his openness of heart, his
readiness of spirit, his will poised to do the right
thing when it became clear to him, said, 'Look - water!
Why shouldn't I...?' Most people say, 'Why must I?' This
man said, 'Why may I not?' There is all the difference of
disposition, and the disposition has come under the power
of the Cross, for all that will determine the issue.
This man came out and
came through. There is something very precious about
this, something to take note of, as another implication.
When the Spirit caught away Philip, what did the eunuch
say? 'How am I going to get on without him? I dare not go
back without him!'? No, it was as though it did not
matter in the least, for he now had Philip's Lord within.
The same Spirit was in him as was in Philip, and, in a
right way, a proper way, he was standing on his own feet,
independent of all external props and nurses. This is the
kind of Christian we want to find! "He went on his
way rejoicing." The heart quest has been met, the
light has come.
A much larger incident
of the same kind is that presented to us in the
twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel by Luke. Those two on
the Emmaus road were but representative of this whole
class to which the Ethiopian belonged: those possessing a
Bible - yes, and knowing its content - but to whom it
remained a closed book until the risen Lord opened the
understanding. But it is the will of the risen Lord to do
that. As I said earlier, the question is quite a proper
one: "Understandest thou what thou
readest?" Is it an open book or a closed one? a
living one or a dead one? a dynamic one or an ineffective
one? a weariness or a joy? That is all gathered into this
question. But remember, this is the dispensation of the
Spirit. He has come committed to the Word in relation to
the risen Christ; and through the Word - through Isaiah
53, and through all the rest - He will bring you to the
Christ.