Act
8:26-40 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. 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, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot
read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip,
Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran
thither to him, and
heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou
readest? 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. 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: 33 In his humiliation his judgment
was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken
from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I
pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other
man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same
scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 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? 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. 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. 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. 40 But Philip was
found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he
came to Caesarea.
Candace was not just a name it was a
title like Caesar or Pharaoh.
Jewish men and proselytes from all
over would return to Jerusalem to worship at the feasts. Maybe it was Passover
or Yom Kippur
God called Philip away from a great
miracle meeting where multitudes were being saved and healed to meet one on one
with a Jewish proselyte from Ethiopia!
He was directed by the
Spirit to join the chariot.
He heard the eunuch reading from
Isaiah 53:7
He questioned whether the eunuch
understood what he was reading.
The eunuch invited him to explain.
From the Scripture portion Philip
preached Jesus unto him.
He believed and requested baptism.
He went his way rejoicing after the
Spirit caught away Philip
Philip's exploits indicate that from
the beginning he was interested in one thing only: preaching Jesus. Selected
as a deacon to minister at tables he quickly rose to prominence as an
evangelist who was willing not only to preach to a crowd but also to a single
person. He was not hampered by racial and ethnic prejudices but preached Jesus
to anyone who would listen. He was willing to leave a thriving revival he
initiated because God wanted him to speak to one person, He was able to do this
because he saw the work as belonging to God and he was working for God not
himself.
So what can we learn from the
incident?
1. THE
SERVANT OF GOD HEARS HIS VOICE.
My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:27
Heb 3:7-11
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his
voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the
day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err
in their heart; and
they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They
shall not enter into my rest.)
Sometimes we can be so preoccupied
listening to the thunder earthquake and fire that we miss the still small
voice!
Sometimes we are like the child
Samuel. We do not recognize when God is speaking.
2. THE
SERVANT OF GOD IS OBEDIENT TO GOD.
Philip went without questioning the
wisdom of God's direction! He simply obeyed! God said "Arise and
go..." Philip arose and went at God's command!
Act
8:26-27 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. 27 And he arose and went...
Act
26:14-20 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice
speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? it is hard
for thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And I said, Who art
thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But
rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering
thee from the people, and from the
Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me. 19 Whereupon, O
king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20
But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all
the coasts of Judaea, and then to
the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for
repentance.
God's work requires obedience to
Him, not to some personal whim or what we perceive to be good or make sense.
The way God leads us may not be the way we want to take but it is the way
we should go regardless of the hardship involved. Sometimes like
the child Samuel we need instructions on what to do when when we hear God's
voice.We cannot afford to be like Jonah who heard the voice of God clearly but
because of his own personal agenda decided to ignore the command and moved in
the opposite direction. We all know the sinking feeling that results,
concluding by us becoming totally swallowed up in more trouble than we can
handle!
3. THE
SERVANT OF GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS
Philip went to Samaria the place of
the Jewish rejects and preached Jesus. He then proceeded to speak to a visiting
personage from Africa about Jesus in obedience to the Spirit of God.
Act
10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth,
and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every
nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Gal 2:6
But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no
matter to me: God accepteth no
man's person:) ...
1Pe
1:17 And if ye call on the
Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
We do not allow the the class,
color, culture or creed of a person to determine whether we should speak. We
minister because that is what God wants us to do.
4. THE
SERVANT OF GOD WILL ALWAYS PREACH JESUS.
It is our life's calling to Lift up
His Name, to glorify Him, to live for Him. There is no other Name. no other Way!
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.
Act
4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by
him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the
stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the
corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Act 8:5
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
Act 8:35
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached
unto him Jesus.
Act 9:19-20
... Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at
Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the
synagogues, that he is the Son of God.
1Co
1:21-24 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews
a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God.
As a child of God I
need to be aware that He will call on me anytime and I should be ready to obey
His command regardless of where it takes me or who it brings me into contact
with. As long as I am faithful to His call He will be glorified!
God not only sees the
multitude; He also sees the individual whether in a crowd or alone in a desert.
God is no respecter of
persons but responds to all seekers after truth and will interrupt a revival to
bring a message of hope love and salvation to you!
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