Introduction: Have
you ever encountered what you believe was a divine appointment? I have. Perhaps
you just felt led to go somewhere or to do something for someone, or even to
pray for someone, but you didn't know exactly why, but as you went in faith,
God opened a door for your life to intersect with the life of another, and you
were both changed forever as a result. You were never the same again. That is
what today's lesson is about.
Monday, July 09, 2012,
5:55 a.m. – the Lord woke me this morning with this song:
At the Cross /
Isaac Watts/ Ralph E. Hudson / Hugh Wilson
Alas! and did my
Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign
die?
Would He devote that
sacred head
For one so low as I?
Was it for crimes that
I had done
He groaned upon the
tree?
Amazing pity! grace
unknown!
And love beyond
degree!
But drops of grief can
ne’er repay
The debt of love I
owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself
away
’Tis all that I can
do.
At the cross, at the
cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my
heart rolled away,
It was there by faith
I received my sight,
And now I am happy all
the day!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 8: 26-40 (NIV 1984):
Now an angel of the
Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from
Jerusalem to Gaza.” 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, and on his way
home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The
Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
Then Philip ran up to
the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand
what you are reading?” Philip asked.
“How can I,” he said,
“unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit
with him.
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.
In his humiliation he
was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked
Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone
else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the
good news about Jesus.
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?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both
Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 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.
Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in
all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Historical Backdrop
Stephen had just been stoned to death for his witness for
Jesus Christ. Paul (then called Saul) was standing there, giving his approval
to Steven’s death. A great persecution broke out against the church. The church
was scattered. Paul (then called Saul) began to destroy the church. Even
against this historical backdrop, the scattered believers in Jesus Christ
preached the word wherever they went. Amen! Praise the Lord!
Many throughout our world today, as well as throughout
history, have undergone or are presently undergoing this kind of persecution
for their faith and testimony for Jesus Christ. We, in the USA, have not yet
had such severe persecution, but that time is coming, because the Bible says
so. Yet, this does not mean persecution for our testimony for Jesus Christ is
non-existent in America. It is! And, it is even dominant in today’s modern
church.
We will have people make fun of us, not want to be around
us, lie about and to us, ignore us, reject us, ostracize us, and perhaps even
severely persecute us if we take a strong stand for Christ, and if we preach
(witness to) the gospel of Christ – the full message. Will that discourage us
and lead us to withdraw? Or, will it inspire us even more to keep following
Jesus Christ wherever he leads us and in doing whatever he asks us to do?
On the Way
An angel of the Lord (or the Spirit of the Lord) spoke to
Philip and told him to go a particular direction on a specific road, so Philip
obeyed and went. On his way he met an important government official (or
officer) of Ethiopia. This man had gone to worship God in Jerusalem and somehow
had acquired the prophetic writings (a copy) of Isaiah. He was reading in
Isaiah 53:7-8 when Philip met him along the road. The Spirit of God directed
Philip to go over to the man’s chariot. Philip heard the man reading Isaiah, so
he asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man said he needed
someone to explain it to him, so he invited Philip inside his chariot to sit
with him.
I found it interesting that the Spirit of God told Philip to
go a particular direction on a specific road, and it was just as he had started
out, and while he was “on his way” that he met with his divine appointment. Philip
didn’t ask why he was to go there or what he should expect when he got there.
He only knew that he should go. The obedience was in the going. The Holy Spirit
of God provided the opportunity.
Sometimes we hear God’s voice clearly leading a specific
direction or we sense that the Holy Spirit is nudging us toward something, but
we don’t know why. So, we go in faith, like Abraham did, even not knowing where
he was going. We don’t always have to know the “Why?” or even the final
destination. We just obey what we know or what we believe the Spirit is saying,
and then we trust God with the results. That is what Philip did, and it was
while he was on the way that he met his divine appointment. If we never step
out in faith until we have all of our I’s dotted and our T’s crossed, we may
miss out on some awesome divine appointments God has planned for us. He may
direct us to go somewhere, and that door may even close, and we may wonder why,
yet it is in the going where we meet God.
Our Salvation
The man was reading Isaiah 53:7-8. The passage was a
prophecy about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was our sacrificial Lamb who took
away the sins of the world. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, because his
persecutors and oppressors, mainly the Jewish religious leaders of his day, plotted
and carried out his death on a cross. They meant it for evil, to get rid of the
one of whom they were jealous, and whom they hated with a passion. Yet, God
meant it for good, to bring salvation to the world.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, came to earth as a
baby, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are
tempted, yet without sin, and then he was severely persecuted, beaten, mocked
and then crucified on a cross, although he had done no wrong, but because he
stood as a threat to the power centers of the religious leaders of his day. Yet,
this was all in God’s plan from the very beginning of time that Jesus Christ
would be our perfect Lamb sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. So, when
he died, our sins died with him, yet when he rose from the dead, he conquered
death, hell, Satan and sin. He died for our sins and rose triumphant over them
so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal punishment
in hell), so we could go free from the daily control of sin over our lives, and
so we would be free to walk in fellowship and obedience with our Lord Jesus
Christ and God the Father and Spirit.
The way we come to know Christ, and we receive this
salvation that Christ provided for us via his shed blood on the cross, is first
of all by God’s grace and design, and then by faith (repentance and obedience).
Ephesians 4:17-24 teaches us that the way we come to know Christ is, “with
regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your
minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness.” Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny
himself (his selfish will) and take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and
follow (obey) Jesus Christ. In 1 John we learn that if we claim to have
fellowship with Christ but continue (persist) to walk in darkness (sin), we lie
and we do not live by the truth. We also learn that the way we know that we
have come to know Christ (God) is if we obey his commands. This is how we
receive this great salvation!
Faith to Believe
When the man from Ethiopia heard the good news of the gospel
of Jesus Christ he asked to be baptized. In those days, physical baptism with
water was usually performed immediately upon the individual’s decision to
believe in Jesus Christ. The baptism with water symbolized what took place in
the heart (the baptism of the Holy Spirit), in that it represents our death to
sin, the burial of our sin, and our resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus,
free from the weight (bondage) and control of sin over our lives, so that we
are now free to walk in the Spirit of God instead of in the flesh of man. Amen!
The man was transformed inside by the working of the Holy Spirit of God and he
gave testimony to his faith through water baptism.
Philip was taken away by the Spirit of God at that point,
but the man went on his way rejoicing. He was seeking the truth, so God
provided a divine appointment for him, and for Philip, where their lives would
intersect and the man would never be the same again.
We need to be seeking God, and we need to be open to the
Holy Spirit’s leading so that we, too, are available for such divine
appointments to intersect other people’s lives for Christ.
Fully Surrendered / Alfred C. Snead / George C. Stebbins
Fully surrendered—Lord, I would be,
Fully surrendered, dear Lord, to Thee.
All on the altar laid,
Surrender fully made,
Thou hast my ransom paid;
I yield to Thee.
Fully surrendered—life, time, and all,
All Thou hast given me held at Thy call.
Speak but the word to me,
Gladly I'll follow Thee,
Now and eternally
Obey my Lord.
Fully surrendered—silver and gold,
His, who hath given me riches untold.
All, all belong to Thee,
For Thou didst purchase me,
Thine evermore to be,
Jesus, my Lord.
Fully surrendered—Lord, I am Thine;
Fully surrendered, Savior divine!
Live Thou Thy life in me;
All fullness dwells in Thee;
Not I, but Christ in me,
Christ all in all.
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