Acts 8:26-40
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that
goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started
out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch an important official in
charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone
to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and
on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the
prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip,
“Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah
the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he
invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet
talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then
Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the
eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop
the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and
Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did
not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip,
however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the
towns until he reached Caesarea.
(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%208:%2026%20-%2040&version=NIV1984)
When
was the last time that an “angel of the Lord” directed you to do anything? This passage of scripture at first glance
made me think that this was something that happened years ago, not today. I have never had and “angel” appear to me, anyway,
not that I am aware of. I have never
been “suddenly taken away” as Philip was, so, how does this passage apply to
me? It doesn’t take long to figure that
out while reading this passage and it is something that has appeared in my
blogs before. We all need to be
answering God’s call to share His word with others. The more we know the more we need to
share.
I
help with a children’s program at church on Wednesday evenings. This program emphasizes scripture memorization. I believe memorization is very important but
what I have found is that if the children don’t know the meaning of the
scripture passage all that they have really memorized are the words. We cannot take the verse to heart until we
understand the meaning. This eunuch had
the scripture but he did not understand it and needed someone to explain it to
him. Once he heard the explanation of
how Christ was the One being prophesied about, he too was ready to receive Him as
His Savior.
I would
like to share a personal testimony as to the importance of sharing the meaning
of scripture. In our Wednesday night children’s
program I had a student who was memorizing a scripture passage,
Romans 10:9
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is
Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved.
I asked the little
girl who wasworking on the verse if she knew what it meant and she did
not. I took the next few minutes to
explain it to her and she received Christ as her Savior that night. Do you think she will understand that
scripture and be more likely to remember it from now on? I believe she will and with the guidance of
the Holy Spirit she will understand many more verses for years to come. I was amazed after she had received Christ
how readily she memorized other verses. All of a sudden she understood what
they meant and she could remember them.
Just
last night our pastor was speaking about the importance of discipleship and the
importance of taking the time to get into people’s lives. This is what Philip did. He listened for the opportunity to speak with
this Eunuch and when the time was right, Philip asked the right question and
was given the opportunity to share the Gospel.
It is important for someone to follow-up with these new converts and to
disciple them, yet, the Angel of the Lord took Philip away to minister in
another place. I have to believe that
the eunuch was given someone else to do that follow-through with him. Sometimes we are called to be the ones to
minister the Good News of Jesus Christ and sometimes we are to be used to
disciple, to encourage, to strengthen others but make no mistake, it is never “us”
that does this, it is with the power of the Holy Spirit. If “we” do it on our own power and for our
own glory and it will surely fail. In
fact if we do it with our own power then we are more apt to not do it at all
because of the fear of failure. It must
always be done through the Holy Spirit who will give us the words to say.
As
you seek Him today may you ask Him to give you the opportunity to share the
Gospel, the Words to say so that others will understand, and we must ask Him
for the strength to do His will through His power. Go, spread the Gospel, disciple others, and
do it all through the power of the Holy Spirit who will guide and direct you.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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