Copyright © S P Townsend
WCF - THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
Study Number 12: Acts 8 v 26 - 40
30 April 1989
• God spoke by an angel (v25). An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go."
Angels are God's special agents. They are His messengers. They are spirit beings, but are capable of revealing themselves in physical forms. They can appear like men. They can appear in terribly splendour. They are devoted to God and the Lord Jesus, and in serving Him they give themselves tirelessly to protecting and ministering for the benefit of God's people. The have wills, and serve God through choice with worship and adoration. Some, in ancient times, followed Satan - then one of the chief angels - in rebellion against God, and they since then (as demons) have opposed God's purposes and God's people. But their power is limited, and their time is short. In Jesus' name the demons are even subject to us, but Jesus told us not to rejoice about that but that our names are written in Heaven. How precious we are to the Lord - do you know that. All the mighty hosts of angelic beings are at hand to defend and help His people, and to accomplish His purposes. Consider the lesson Elisha taught his servant (2 Kings 6:15-17).
• God spoke by His Spirit (v29). The Spirit told Philip, "Go ... and stay".
God's purpose was being worked out little by little; Philip's simple part was obedience. Do you get the idea that the Church or its leaders were in the driving seat here, or knew what was going on? No planning or organisation by men. There was a higher organisation making these decisions. God's work never suffered through lack of planning or organisation, but through lack of obedience.
Here's a test of how much our work for the Lord depends on man or on God. If we took away all the organisation and planning meetings and practising and flurry of organisational activity, would the work grind to a halt, or even disappear? If so, then it's not God's work but man's! In the early church organisation and planning came along to support what God was doing, and after God had started it, but never to initiate it or generate it.
I believe we would achieve more by one hour of humble, submissive prayer than ten hours of planning and organising. And the wonder of it all is that believing that, I pray so little. And we feel, don't we, that praying alone doesn't get things done. It has to be prayer AND planning, prayer AND doing. It's pointless, for example, saying, "Lord feed them," without giving them what food we have. Wasn't that the first lesson of the feeding of the five thousand? But, tell me, what has been achieved by all our praying AND doing in recent years? Have we fed the world? Have we led the world to Jesus? Have we even led Britain, or Aberdeen to Jesus? I don't believe we have given 'praying alone' a chance. Prayer is just the icing on the cake of our exhausting efforts for God's kingdom. We need to invert that - to make PRAYER the cake, and our efforts and activities the icing. But note that I said humble, submissive prayer. Not proud prayer, unrepentant prayer, disobedient prayer, but prayer that acknowledges God in all His authority and power, and that cultivates a relationship with Him of submission and obedience to His will. Consider the feeding of the five thousand. There was prayer - a request to Jesus to send the people away to find food. This request came out of a relationship with Jesus formed from months of daily companionship. And Jesus said, "You feed them." When we pray in the context of such a relationship with the Lord, it is a two-way conversation; we ask Him - He tells us. He directs us. Note the lack of planning on the part of the disciples, the requirement for obedience, however unlikely the desired result seemed, the organisation they introduced to help with the distribution of God's provision, and of the collecting of it's overflow. Mark 6:35-44. Do you see the difference - here was not organisation to subsitute for God's provision, or even to bring about God's provision, but to cope with the abundance of His provision.
• God moved Philip on (v39). The Spirit of the Lord took Philip away.
Perhaps, with similar motives to Simon of Samaria, we wish
that dramatic things like this would happen to us.
Well I wonder - would we really like to escape the mouths
of lions, be preserved through fire, be rescued from pits,
survive stoning, be saved from drowning by a great fish,
be bitten by serpents, be delivered from prison, just for
the sake of a little extra drama and adventure? None of
these things happened because God's people went looking
for them, or even wanted them, but because they were in
the place of God's calling, and were caught up in God's
wider purposes. And in any case, Philip was only caught
up by the Spirit here because Philip had obeyed the Spirit
previously. Philip had already established by unquestioning
obedience that the Spirit could do with him as He wanted.
Am I still more interested in what I can get God to do for me, than in what God desires me to be and do for Him?
God was the one guiding and directing here. Now the question is, does He do that for me today, or is it only in special cases? After all the Ethiopian was an important government official. The answer is in Psalm 139 - He knows when we sit down and rise up ... He lays His hand upon us ... in any place His hand holds us and guides us ... everyone of our days is ordained by Him. Can it really be true that that God knows about all that you do and all that everyone else does simultaneously, and that He has a purpose for us all, and wants to lead us all simultaneously? We may not comprehend it, but we must resist the temptation to think of God as a mere man who can only concentrate on one thing at a time. If it helps, remember that His special agents, His angels, His messengers, are in all places, at all times, seeing and serving for Him. Each one of us, even the least, can cry to God for guidance and help, and be confident that He hears. He responds before we ask, He leads us as we obey Him, and nothing we do as we follow Him is insignificant or worthless.
Do you believe that? That you matter, that God actually leads you in unique paths of obedience for His glory? Read Eph 2:10, Phil 2:12,13.
• Philip met the Ethiopian (v27).
Do you meet people? Of course you do! And do you believe they are important to Jesus? Of course you do! But how much does that belief affect your attitude to them and conversation with them?
• He listened carefully to him (v30).
Do we take time to listen, so that we know what is important to them, what their needs are?
• He spoke politely to him (v31).
Philip didn't share the gospel until he had been invited to sit with him. Does graciousness, politeness, gentleness characterise our speech? Or are we pushy? Do we brush people aside for the sake of the message? Are we arrogant or rude? Listen, love is patient, love is kind, love is not proud, love is not rude, love is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:4,5).
• He told him the good news about Jesus (v34-38). How did he do that?
- He started exactly where the man was. He didn't say, "Hey, haven't you heard the amazing news about Jesus' resurrection." He didn't say, "Listen, chum, God sent an angel to direct me to you, and I'm telling you now to repent and be baptised." He didn't perform a few miracles!
- He used the scriptures. Old Testament, of course. Have you considered the fact that that was all they had, the OT and the Apostles teaching. Their Bible study groups used the OT. Their evangelists preached from the OT. The verses they learned off by heart were from the OT. This was simplicity itself for Philip - he knew his OT, he knew Jesus, and he was led by the Holy Spirit. How would you have managed?
- He focused on Jesus. Not so much on the man's need, although that was great; not so much on the benefits of salvation, although they were immeasurable; but very much on Jesus, the Saviour, the Christ, the Lord.
- He encouraged him to respond. To declare definitely and publicly that he was turning from his own way to follow Jesus. The initiative seemed to come from the man, but Philip was there explaining, encouraging and supporting.
- He led him to Christ. He witnessed his public declaration of faith. He affirmed the Ethiopian's confession by baptising him.
• Philip was removed from the scene (v39).
No follow-up course this time. No laying on of hands by the Apostles. It is God's work, not ours you see. He has it in His control.
•
Precious to the Lord
Recipients of His grace; attended by His servants; destined for His glory.
Lift up your heads and rejoice, O people of God, for your King is coming! His
throne is from everlasting to everlasting, and His dominion shall not cease.
His love endures for ever.
•
Part of God's perfect plan
Does it not thrill you to know that God is working His purpose out? He is
the Almighty. Jesus is the Head of His church. The Holy Spirit directs and
leads His people in paths that God has prepared beforehand. Not victims of
blind chance, not left to our own devices, but walking in God's plan.
•
Praying with humility and submission
So that we may know Him more, so that He might tell us His will,
so that His grace and blessing would fall like rain on a parched land.
When our praying exceeds our doing, then our souls may have quietened
sufficiently for us to begin to hear what He is saying.
• Prompted by the Holy Spirit Available, listening, sensitive and obedient.
•
Personal witnesses
Full of the gracious wisdom of our Lord; making the most of every available
opportunity for His sake; sowing and reaping as He gives the increase.
Does this seem an impossible dream? It is closer to us than we dare believe. Why do I say that? Because it doesn't depend on our achieving impossible levels of spirituality, or giftedness, or organisation, or preaching skill. The message Philip preached to the Ethiopian is the same that Peter preached at Pentecost, and the same that the people of God have embraced with joyful wonder ever since.
He was pierced for my transgressions,
and bruised for my iniquities;
the punishment that brought me peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds I am healed.
We like sheep have gone astray;
turned each one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
And that is why I love Him,
for me He bled and died,
the Lord of all creation,
for me was crucified.
And what does it mean, to love Him? It means to turn to His way, to submit to His Lordship, to delight in obeying Him, to daily lay myself and all my self-will at His cross, and follow Him wherever He leads. Do you know, that's all that Philip did! And that's all that you and I need do too.
Copyright © S P Townsend