On Jim’s bucket list was to play one
of those extremely difficult golf courses – you know, the kind that have a
green out on an island? So, he travels
to Myrtle Beach to play a course called Man O’War. And the name fits. Just look at the 15th hole. What kind of person designs something like
this? The Devil may have been in Georgia
playing a violin, but he first stopped in South Carolina to design a golf
course!
Anyway, not wanting to
lose any of his good balls, Jim pulls out an old scuffed and tattered one. As he bends down to place the old ball on the
tee, a voice from Heaven says, “Use a new ball.” Jim is amazed. Was it true that God was going to guide his
shot safely to the green? So, he asks,
“Are you sure, Lord?” And the voice
booms, “Take a practice swing.” Jim
swings his club with confidence.
A moment later the voice
from Heaven replies, “Use the old ball.”
Funny story,
right? But that sort of thing doesn’t
happen in real life. I mean, you start
telling people that you hear voices in your head, and you’ll find yourself
wearing a bathrobe from Happy Acres, or something. Counting flowers on the wall, playing solitaire
till dawn. Watching Captain Kangaroo.
And yet…
Last week Pastor Kevin
shared that a person who has given their life to Jesus receives the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit of God comes and
dwells within the heart of a believer. A
Christian is never truly alone, for the Spirit of God is with them wherever
they may be. The Old Testament Prophet
Isaiah says that when the Spirit of God dwells within us, “Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will
say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
[1]
(Isaiah 30:21). In other words, Isaiah
says that the Spirit will be our moral compass.
He will direct us to live in a way that is pleasing to God. The Spirit of God speaks to us when we step
away from living the kind of life that is pleasing to God.
But the Spirit also
does much more.
Did you know that
Spirit also directs us in sharing the Gospel?
It’s true. The Spirit also works
with us to share the Good News about Jesus.
Yes, Jesus has given us
a command to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). That’s a broad command from Jesus to be active
in outreach, evangelism, and discipleship.
The Spirit, on the other hand, deals in specifics. He directs us to individuals.
Consider how the Spirit
was working in and through a guy named Philip.
We can rightly assume that Philip knew about Jesus’s great commission
(see Acts 8:5-6) but watch how specific the Holy Spirit was in this man’s life.
Acts 8:26-40 - As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south
down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So
he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great
authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to
Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in
his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The
Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” 30 Philip
ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do
you understand what you are reading?” 31 The man replied, “How
can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the
carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he
had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a
lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He
was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For
his life was taken from the earth.”*
34 The eunuch asked Philip,
“Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So
beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they rode along, they
came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I
be baptized?”* 38 He ordered the carriage to stop,
and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When
they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The
eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile,
Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus (az’otos). He preached
the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea
(Ka sar’ia). [2]
I don’t know how you respond
when the Spirit starts nagging. And I
hate to use that word but, in all honesty, that’s sort of how it feels. The Spirit just keeps bringing up what God
wants us to do. He does it over and over
and over and over until we comply. It
doesn’t appear that Philip needed to be prodded repeatedly, but I confess that
I sure do. Rather than responding, I
keep asking questions. How far along the road do you want me to walk? Should I bring enough water for a long
journey cause it is a desert road.
You do know that, right? And where
am I headed? What am I supposed to do? What’s the plan? What’s the goal? Am I supposed to meet someone? Should I go by myself?
I don’t
want to go on the cart.
I tend to make one
excuse right after another. Anyone else respond
to the Spirit in the same way? Why? Why is it we hesitate to speak to others
about Jesus? Why does it make us so
uncomfortable? If you’re like me, you
worry about what other Christians might think or that we might mess up and upset
God.
If you remember one
thing here today, it is this: When we share the Gospel – the Good News of what
Jesus did for us – we are never alone. When
the Spirit sends us, He goes with us. We
go together. In fact, most of the time
God has already been at work long before we are even sent. It’s true!
In most encounters with another individual, God has already been
working.
Look closely at the
text here in Acts 8. Consider all the
small details that had to fall in place long before Philip even arrived.
1.
An
Ethiopian official was in Jerusalem worshipping. It’s not like he would have been permitted to
enter the Temple proper, and not just because of his ethnicity. His physical condition excluded him (see Deuteronomy
23:1). Yet there he was with a thirst to
worship God. Who put that there?
2.
Why
did Candace give him the time off? His
absence back in Ethiopia would have been noticed. Yet apparently, she saw value in allowing
this man time away.
3.
Where
did he get a copy of Isaiah? Did he find
this Greek version in Jerusalem or somewhere else? Did he find it in the nightstand in his
hotel?
4.
Philip
was walking while the official was riding in a carriage (chariot). The text doesn’t say but if this chariot was
being pulled by a horse (or camel), then what are the chances the two men would
meet on this desert road at precisely the right moment? Knowing Philip’s walking pace, the Angel
would have instructed him to leave at precisely the right moment so he would
“encounter” the official along the road.
5.
The
official “just happened” to be reading from Isaiah 53 at the exact moment
Philip arrived.
Are you following me
here? At just the right moment, Philip
encountered a man whose heart was bent toward God and who had questions about
the biblical text. God was already at
work long before Philip arrived on the scene.
Once God had everything in place, he appointed the right man to be in
the right place at the right time. The
only thing that man needed to do was show up and follow the leading of the Holy
Spirit.
What we see here in
Philips’ encounter with the Ethiopian Official is the result of what God had
already been doing in this eunuch’s heart.
Keep in mind that the
person we happen to meet in this world might just be in the same place as this
Ethiopian Official. It’s possible that
God has been at work in that person’s life ahead of time. Guided by the Spirit, someone else may have
planted the seed. Another person may
have helped that seed grow. The Spirit
quite likely has already been working in that person’s life through another
faithful servant just like you. And when
the Spirit says, “Go over and talk with them,” He’s not asking us to do the
background work; the Spirit has already taken care of that.
“Each of us did the work the Lord gave us,” writes
the Apostle Paul. “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it,
but it was God who made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:5-6). [3] Together, with the Holy Spirit, we serve the
Lord as we share the Gospel in this world.
In speaking about the
Kingdom of God, Jesus compared it to a tiny mustard seed. Once planted, it grows into the largest plant
in the garden (see Luke 13:19). What may
seem small at first will grow quite large.
The work that you and I do in the Lord’s name may appear simple and
insignificant. However, we need to
remember that the small seed we plant in others may one day change their entire
life. No deed done in the name of Jesus
is too small or too insignificant. We
are called not to judge the size of the deed or the simplicity of the message
we shared. We are called to be faithful,
and let God do the mysterious work within that person’s heart.
In the times when I have
obeyed the Spirit’s prompting, I am amazed at what happens. For example, a number of months ago I was
serving at the Rescue Mission. A lot of
folks were there but the Spirit directed me toward one man. His name is Zmar. Like I have often done, I simply asked how I
could pray for this man. Nothing hard
about that. It was his response that
caught me off guard. He asked “Why would
you do that? Why would you pray for a
complete stranger?” A few moments later
I heard words coming out of my mouth but not from my mind. Do you know what I mean? I didn’t think the words then say them. They came from somewhere else. That feels kind of strange.
I never saw Zmar after
that. I don’t know what happened to
him. But I keep praying that he meets
someone who can water the seed that was planted that day. And one day, I pray that Zmar will meet a
Philip who has responded to the Spirit, just as I did.
So…
How do we know when the
Spirit is speaking? Do we actually hear
a voice in our head? Apparently, a few
people do. Most do not. For most of us it’s a thought that has been
planted in our mind or a feeling we have in the moment. There is a sudden burst of compassion or
tenderness toward an individual – a desire for that person to know the depth of
God’s love for them. We want them to
know that God does indeed care for them and that He knows them; He sees their
situation in life. That’s the Spirit
working in your heart.
The Spirit is our
partner in missions. He supplies what we
need to spread the message of Jesus and His Salvation (2 Corinthians 9:10). He gives us the appropriate words at just the
right time (Matthew 10:19-20). As Paul
writes, Since we are living by the Spirit, let us
follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives [4]
(Galatians 5:25). Even when the voice
says, “Get up and go for a walk.”
[1] Tyndale House
Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Is 30:21). Tyndale
House Publishers.
* 8:32–33 Isa 53:7–8
(Greek version).
* 8:36 Some manuscripts
add verse 37, “You can,” Philip answered,
“if you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
[2]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living
Translation (Ac 8:26–40). Tyndale House Publishers.
[3]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living
Translation (1 Co 3:5–6). Tyndale House Publishers.
[4] Tyndale House
Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ga 5:25). Tyndale
House Publishers.
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