ACTS 8:26-40

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007

DO WE HEAR AND DO, OR JUST HEAR?

26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

“ He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.” (b)

34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

37 Then 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.” [c]
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so 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. ACTS 8:26-40 (NKJV)

This story of Philip is a prime example of responding to the will of God as we respond to the command of Jesus when He said, “Feed My Sheep.” From these verses I get the idea that Philip needed the direction from God to know where He should go and to whom he should speak. Pastors often urge members of the congregation to invite the unchurched to worship with them. While almost all would agree that more members would be a good thing, the majority do not know who to invite. For us today, it is not a problem of where to go, as we know people who do not have a life with CHRIST. We know them as members of our family, our neighbors, people we work with or are at the same school, and those we meet in everyday activities.

Philip had the same need, who should he go to? Imagine what you might have thought if you felt that God was directing you to reach out to a high government official?. You and I would draw back and say that we could not approach anyone as important as that. While we know that many people in high office live as if they have no contact with God, we still would hesitate. As Philip ran toward the chariot, he must have been amazed to hear the official reading from the Prophet Isaiah. Hearing this, Philip quickly was alongside the chariot and asked the official if he understood what he was reading? The official asked, “How can I understand unless someone guides me?” Philip wasted no time in telling the story of Jesus and it was not long before the official requested to be baptized.

This is not just a story from the Bible. It should be a story that is lived every day in the lives of followers of Christ. Who is going to tell the story of Jesus to a member of your family, your community, or leaders of business, industry, education, entertainment, athletics, or government.

The question is not if you are the one to tell the story, the question is who should you tell it to. God said, “Go ye therefore” not everybody but you. Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” not everyone but you.

DO YOU HEAR AND DO, OR JUST DO?

WE PRAY I have suggested this hymn-prayer many times. It is such an important prayer that I repeat it and encourage you to make it a part of your daily prayer life.

Lord, lay some soul upon my heart
And love that soul through me.
And may I always do my part
To win that soul for Thee. AMEN

A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION
 

Some time ago I suggested selecting a person to pray for so that person might be brought to belief in Jesus. This time I encourage you to pray daily that God would lead you as He led Philip.