Divine Appointments

Acts 8: 26 – 40.

Introduction.

I had an interesting conversation with a Catholic priest when I was pastor in Canton, Mississippi.  In Canton, there was a trailer park located next to a large chicken plant.  The trailer park was filled with Hispanic men, who had come to the United States looking for work.  Most of them had left their wives and children in Mexico and Central America.  They were hoping to save enough money that eventually their families could join them.

I saw this as an opportunity to do mission work in our community and started talking to our church and state convention about starting a Spanish church in our town.  This is when the Catholic priest came to visit me.  He sat down in my office and told me that he would be supportive of any ministry our church wanted to do in the Hispanic community.  However, he was opposed to starting a Baptist church.  In his view, starting a Baptist church was pulling these people away from the Catholic church.  He assumed that all Hispanic people were Catholics, as if people are born with their religious affiliation intact. 

As I think about this view, a couple of things come to mind.  First, one of my seminary professors once said, “Just because you were born in the kitchen doesn’t make you a biscuit.”  Faith is not something you receive from your parents through biology.  No one inherits faith (or salvation) from their parents or grandparents.  Salvation is by Grace alone.  It is a gift from God, which each of us receives by faith alone.  God offers salvation to individual people and holds us individually responsible for receiving or not receiving God’s Grace.

The second problem with this view is that it is based on a false assumption.  It assumes the Gospel spreads through biological reproduction.  If Christians have Christian children and non-Christians have non-Christian children, Christianity grows as long as Christians have more children than non-Christians.  While it is true that a child born to Christian parents is more likely to hear the Gospel and accept God gift of salvation, this is not a biblical idea.  The Bible never tells us to grow the Christian faith by having more children.  And, the Bible certainly does not tell us that children born to Christian parents are automatically saved.

Of course, biology is not the only false assumption about the growth of Christianity.  Other people assume the Christian faith grows through politics.  The first time this happened was when Constantine was the Roman Emperor.  Constantine converted to Christianity so God would be on his side in battle.  In AD 313, Constantine ended the Roman persecution of Christians.  He later founded the city of Constantinople as a Christian city. To be a citizen of Constantinople was the same as being a Christian.  It also happened in the history of England.  As the kings of England changed, so did the religious affiliation of the nation, often alternating between Catholic and Protestant.  Each time, the entire nation was converted.

There is even an embarrassing moment in Christian history when people assumed they could spread the Christian faith through military crusades.

None of these false assumptions represent God’s plan for spreading the Christian faith.  We can discover God’s plan by reading about the way Christianity spread around the world in the Book of Acts.  Christianity started with a church of 120 believers.  Then, little by little and person by person, the Christian faith spread around the world.

I believe Acts teaches us that it is God’s plan for the church to reach the world, one person at a time.  If the church is God’s plan to reach the world, then we have work to do.

Acts 8: 26 – 40.

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."

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.

(NIV)

The story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch is a story of a Divine Appointment.  God is the only One capable of putting this story together.

Philip has just finished preaching the great Samaritan Revival.  Persecution forced Philip out of Jerusalem, but it could not stop his desire to preach the Gospel.  He crossed the city border of Jerusalem; he crossed the national border of Israel; and he crossed the ethnic borders of the Jewish race.  He preached the Gospel to anyone who would listen…and to some people who wouldn’t listen.

After what must have been an exceptionally high spiritual moment, Philip heard an unusual command from an angel of God:  “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

The best way to describe this road was to use the word “desert.”  It was a desert road, because it led through the desert region traditionally known as the Negev.  It was a desert road, because at certain times of the day it was deserted.  Travelers knew to schedule their travel so they would not travel through the desert during the heat of the day.  In the cool of the morning or the shade of the evening, this road would be populated by travelers.  But, in the daytime, it would be mostly deserted. 

Since Philip encounters a man who is reading the Bible, we have reason to believe this angelic command came to Philip during the daytime.  This makes the angel’s words even more unusual.  It must have sounded something like…Go to a place where no one wants to go, and go there now—even though it is too hot to be out in the desert.

Even though the Bible does not say this, I am certain Philip was surprised to find the desert road inhabited in the middle of the day.  There was a chariot traveling along the desert road carrying a very important passenger.  It was a government official from the faraway land of Ethiopia.  This man is described as an “important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians.”  We might translate this as the Minister of Finance or the Secretary of the Treasury.

This man was traveling home from Jerusalem where he had attended worship.  Since the Christian movement had not yet spread beyond Jerusalem and Samaria, it is safe for us to assume that he had been worshipping at the Jewish Temple.  However, we cannot assume this man was a Jew.  More than likely, this man would have fit into the category of a “God fearer.”  He worshipped the God of Judaism but could not become a full Jew because he was a Eunuch.  In fact, his status as a Eunuch prevented him even from entering into the Jerusalem Temple.  The Hebrew Bible clearly teaches that people with physical defects were not allowed full access to the Temple.

We didn’t laugh when we read this Scripture, but there is an element of humor here.  The angel commanded Philip to run alongside the chariot.  While running alongside, Philip overheard the man reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah.  I’m sure it must have been difficult for Philip not only to keep up with the horses, but also to speak while he was running.  I imagine Philip gasping for air while he was speaking, “Do…You…Under…Stand…What…You…Are…Reading?”

We assume here that Philip got into the chariot.  But the most important thing is that Philip used the Scripture from Isaiah to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was no coincidence that the Ethiopian official was reading one of the classic Old Testament prophecies about Jesus.  You and I recognize the significance of Isaiah 53, because it has been interpreted for us by the New Testament and modern-day preachers.  The Ethiopian did not understand, because no one had ever told him about Jesus.

Jesus is the “Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.”  Jesus was silent as he stood before his captors.  He was led to the cross, where he willingly offered his own life as a sacrifice for our sins.  This is the Good News from Isaiah 53.  It is Good News that Jesus gave his life so that you and I can be forgiven of our sins.  It is Good News that God had planned this from the very beginning of time.

Ethiopian Eunuch.

The Ethiopian Eunuch demonstrates the classic characteristics of someone who is seeking after God. 

First, he had done everything in his power to overcome the circumstances of his life, and—in the process—had created a pretty good life for himself.  He had achieved an important position in the Queen’s palace.  He controlled the entire treasury of the Queen and possibly controlled the finances of the entire government.  People looked up to him.  He was always surrounded by admirers and children who wanted to “grow up to be just like him.”  BUT, when he read the Bible he could not understand what he was reading.  This tells me that despite all his personal accomplishments, there was still one thing missing…Jesus.

Notice that the only thing the Ethiopian man was missing was Jesus.  All Philip had to do to explain Isaiah 53 to the Ethiopian was to explain how the Scripture related to the story of Jesus.  When that one missing piece was explained, the Ethiopian’s life was changed.

You and I share life with many people just like the Ethiopian Eunuch.  We have friends with good jobs, adequate salaries, decent family life, etc…  But they are still missing one thing.  None of these earthly things can grant us ultimate meaning in life. 

The Ethiopian Eunuch even sought ultimate meaning by attempting to convert to Judaism.  He followed all the necessary steps to convert, but still found himself lacking in one area.  Despite all his efforts to reach God, he fell short.  He was excluded from true fellowship with God.  He found what he was searching for, when Philip told him about Jesus.  Jesus does not exclude.  Religion Excludes.  Jesus Includes.

You and I know people who are searching for ultimate meaning and might even experiment with other religious traditions.  The Christian faith is the only spiritual path which does not exclude anyone on the basis of what they have done.  The Christian faith is the only faith that does not ask people to work or achieve their way to a relationship with God.  NO.  God has already provided a path.  All he asks of us is to place our faith in Jesus.  It is not about human achievement.  It is simply trusting what God has already done.

Philip.

The first thing that strikes me as significant about Philip is the way he fulfilled the prediction Jesus made in Acts 1: 8.  Jesus told his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Then Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  On one hand, this is a story about how the Gospel spread across all borders and fulfilled the prediction Jesus made.  On the other hand, this is a story about how ONE MAN witnessed in all areas Jesus predicted.  Philip preached in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth.  Philip did not pick one area and say, “God has called me to stay where I am in Jerusalem.  God will call other people to go to Samaria and the ends of the earth.”  NO!  I think Philip demonstrates how every Christian man and woman is supposed to engage the entire world with the Gospel.

Don’t forget that Philip was NOT one of the original twelve Apostles.  More than likely, Philip did not have the same privilege of living physically with Jesus.  More than likely, Philip became a Christian as a result of hearing the Gospel preached by the Apostles.  In other words, Philip is a second-generation Christian—just like you and me.  We became followers of Jesus Christ as a result of the Apostles’ testimony in Scripture—just like Philip.  If Philip is a second-generation Christian who fulfilled Jesus’ prediction in Acts 1: 8, then it is possible for you and me to do the same thing.

Philip models openness, obedience and a method for sharing our faith with others.

Openness…We can make a really good argument that the Ethiopian Eunuch became a Christian because he was in the right place at the right time.  But he was not the only one.  Philip was also in the right place at the right time.  You may be asking God to use you to serve him.  But how are you living your life?  Are you running away from God weekly or even daily?  I realize that you are in church right now.  But do you put yourself in places where God speaks on a regular basis?  God speaks at church.  (Take this as a warning if you don’t want to hear from God.  But take it as a matter of fact, if you are willing to be open to what God is calling you to do.)

Obedience…Two times, Philip received a command from an angel of the Lord.  First, the angel told Philip to go to the desert road.  In verse 27, the Bible says, “So, he started out…”  Second, the angel told Philip to chase down the chariot.  In verse 30, the Bible says, “Then, Philip ran…”  In both cases, Philip immediately did what the angel commanded.  There was no bickering or arguing…Just obedience.  Even when it did not make good sense.

Sharing Faith…First, Philip simply asked a question: “Do you understand what you are reading?”  He did not get on the chariot with a pre-planned, packaged presentation of the Gospel.  He answered the questions on the Ethiopian official’s mind.  Philip did not set the agenda.  He listened first, then answered a real question.  Second, Philip spoke about Jesus.  He did not expect the Ethiopian to watch him do good deeds.  Good deeds might open the door for us, but we must speak about Jesus.  Good deeds are not enough by themselves.

God.

God is the main character in the story.  BUT, God does not act in a direct manner.  God does everything through three agents: an angel, the Holy Spirit and Philip.

Angel…The angel commanded Philip to go to the road and to chase down the chariot.

Holy Spirit…Do you know what a “coincidence” is?  The dictionary definition is “events that happen at the same time by accident but seem to have a connection.”

When I read this story, I find five “coincidences.”  (1) Someone was on the road the angel sent Philip to.  (2) This person was a “God-fearer” with a foundational understanding of God.  (3) This person was reading the Bible.  (4) The Scripture passage he was reading was one of the prophecies about Jesus.  (5) There was a pool of water in the desert.

I think there are simply too many coincidences for this to be an accident.  Someone must have brought all these things together at just the right time.  This is evidence of the Holy Spirit.  It was a Divine Appointment.

Philip…God sent Philip into a situation where God was already working.  When the Gospel is spread, God is the one working…Not us.  We are simply God’s agents.

Conclusion.

One of the remarkable aspects of this story is the way it demonstrates God’s commitment to accomplish God’s own plans for spreading the Christian faith.  God gave Philip the command to share the Gospel.  Then, God directed the events in Philip’s life to accomplish God’s mission.

Since we believe that God’s mission has not changed, we should also recognize that God is still arranging Divine Appointments for us to share our faith with others.  You may never hear an audible voice telling you to go to a road in the middle of a desert.  But, if you are open you will feel God’s call to reach out to someone in your life.  It might be someone at your work or school.  It might be your friend, your family or your neighbor.  It might even be a stranger sitting next to you on an airplane.

Sometimes, we miss these Divine Appointments, because we are not listening to God’s call.  What would happen if we started praying for God to show us the Divine Appointments in our lives?

Other times, we miss Divine Appointments, because we are too self-centered.  God loves people and brings people into our lives to encounter the Gospel.  If all we ever think about is our own wants and needs and convenience, we will never share the Gospel with others.