A Disclaimer from Pastor Stuart
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Date: 20th November 2016
Series name: 13
Sermon # in series: Acts
Sermon Title: ‘Running with the chariot’
Bible Reference: Acts 8:26-40
A disclaimer from Pastor Stuart
My role in the church here is to feed and care for God’s people the best I can. Key to that, in my opinion is teaching and preaching from the Bible; but that is not all a pastor has to do! In fact after the emails, staff admin, hospital visits, community visits, leadership meetings, etc, etc, there sometimes seems to be little time for sermon prep! Years ago I used to agonise over trying to come up with two, often three, totally original sermons each week. But I’ve found that, for me at least, that is impossibility. I’ve learned to be grateful for and to use the gifts God gives to help me – not only the Holy Spirit, but other Bible teachers and preachers.
Over the years I’ve discovered that if something teaches, inspires and excites me it’s likely to do the same for those I speak to. So I admit that sometimes I find myself depending heavily on other people’s ideas, at least to ‘prime the pump’ and therefore I claim originality for very little in these sermons. If you look hard enough and wide enough you’ll probably find who I’ve been reading and learning from! I never knowingly plagiarise, but if you find I have, then I apologise. It must have been that what was said was just too good not to use!
I am particularly indebted to the likes of John Piper, Sam Storms, Wayne Grudem, John Ortberg & Rick Warren. The Lord regularly uses them to get my spiritual pulse racing. I’m also indebted to many who kindly make their sermons available on the likes of sermoncentral.com and preachingtoday.com. Others who help me include ‘The Doctor’ (Martyn Lloyd-Jones), C.H Spurgeon and any of the Puritans.
These sermons are not made available because I think they’re good but in the hope and with the prayer that they may be used by the Holy Spirit to bless others as they have blessed our own church here in Ipswich, UK.
Unless otherwise specified, all scriptures are taken from the HOLY BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited.
Running with the Chariots (A Guide to 1:1 Evangelism) Acts 8:26-40
Explain what ‘Evangelism’ is! (Sharing the good news of Jesus with others)
A little background as we start: Philip – one of the deacons from Jerusalem, and one of many who fled the city at the onset of the fierce persecution led by Saul the Pharisee. In some ways Phil is just one example of what happened when the believers left the city; in others he’s more than just ‘another’ eg because what he did was strategically important in the spread of the good news.
In going to Samaria Phil was taking a huge risk. Jews (Phil was a Gk speaking Jew) and Samaritans didn’t get on. Explain why – 700 BC deportation; mixed race, mixed religion; rejected Jerusalem (setting up their own temple in Samaria) and rejected a host of traditional Jewish teaching. So these were ethnically mixed and theological heretics. So in going there Phil was definitely and going out on a limb and taking a cultural risk.
However, his ‘risk’ paid off because the Lord anointed his words and backed them up with wonderful miracles. As a result many believed, and great joy came in the city.
Thus another branch of the ‘New Community’ was formed in Samaria yet when word of this reached Jerusalem the apostles didn’t know what to make of it. So many irregularities here – Phil was not one of the 12 apostles, he hadn’t been sent out by them, no official recognition and all outside of their control and to cap it all - these people they were hearing had become followers of Jesus were ‘Samaritans’. Could God really use Philip in this way? Could it really be true that God’s love extended even to these people?
They needed to check this out, so Peter and John went to have a look (v14); all their questions and concerns were quickly and decisively answered very powerfully by God as he filled these Samaritan believers with the H/S, just as he had those in Jerusalem, v17.
Note this:
i. The mark and evidence of conversation and adoption by God was the giving by God of the H/S. Is His presence so evident among us? We too are sealed with the Spirit to mark us out – is his presence in your life evident to those who see? How might he be evidenced? Changed life (fruit); works of power (gifts). Let us not settle for less that evidence of God among us!
ii. Having satisfied that this was all of the Lord Peter and John return to Jerusalem, happy to let the church get on by itself, with no control necessary from the mother church. This was the way it was in the NT; no attempt to retain control on way churches did things – only on what they believed. This is our pattern as an ‘independent’ church. We are self governing, accountable only to God and the Scriptures. We believe this to be the Bible way of doing church – not with hierarchy and denominational structures we have to be answerable to.
Now to Philip and the Ethiopian – v26:
Things were going well in Antioch and yet God calls the church leader away on a new mission to another frontier – first the Samaritans, now a black African gentile. (Frontier not fortress mentality). Let’s see what we learn from Phil about 1:1 sharing of Jesus
1. God is always preparing the ground before us – v27. This really is very important to remember. With the Samaritans Jesus had been there and sown the first seeds; this man too had been exposed somehow to God, worked on by the Spirit (hence his visit to Jerusalem). So when Phil went and spoke to him he wasn’t going in as cold as it appeared. This encounter was in fact planned long before Phil was aware of it, and certainly before the Eunuch was aware. God’s unseen work preparatory work is essential and gives us great hope.
Great prayer is for God to go ahead, then fall in where he’s gone. Best way to ensure success is to see where God is working and join him there! Don’t just rush out.
2. Be responsive to H/S prompting – v26.
· In the midst of an apparently thriving ministry the Lord tells Phil to leave! Doesn’t tell Phil why he was going, but just to go. Sometimes we don’t understand or see what God is doing, but if he nudges us or leads us we should do it for we can be sure that he has a plan even when we cannot see it. Abraham was like that – set out with no idea where he was going, just knew that God had told him to go! We so often like firm reasons, clarity – it fits with our like for certainty! But be ready, living for Gods still small voice.
· Be prepared also for him to ask the unusual! On his way he happens to meet this Ethiopian official. Ethiopian, rich, important. Not the usual candidate for the gospel! Speak to him! Rather like Peter and the vision of unclean meat!
Phil obeyed and did exactly what the H/S said - which was actually very specific, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it’. Notice that? ‘stay near it’. Didn’t say to ‘go up and talk/witness to the guy’ or ‘go near and get in’. No, go and stay near it!
That was the first thing - but why? What was that about? Well, as he was near it he was able to listen and hear what was going on in the carriage. Which leads us to a 3rd important thing:
3. Be responsive to the situation –
So much well meaning ‘witnessing’ is doomed to failure before it starts simply because we fail to do what Phil did here – he went alongside the chariot, and listened (which is why he was able to ask the question ‘do you understand …?’. In our endeavours to share Jesus with others we need to take time to ‘run beside the chariot’ of people’s lives and listen for a while instead of just jumping in!
Of course we’re eager to share the good news we have about Jesus with them, but most times we need to start where they are! Being in someone’s face straight away isn’t usually the best tactic! Some can get away with it, but most can’t. Let’s be honest – who of us listen and respond favourably to someone who invades our space and pushes their sales on us? If we don’t why should others be different with us?
So, listening is a key part of effective witnessing. Listening will guide us as to where to start. What life is like for this person? Happy? Sad? Concerned? Are they ‘spiritual’? etc.
Having listened, Phil was able to ask a question which is 4th tip:
4. Ask leading questions! ‘Do you understand …’ – v30. He didn’t go in with an assertion, but aroused interest and turned the conversation with a question, a question prompted by the circumstance. This resulted in him being asked into the carriage and the chance to introduce Jesus. It was a question that was bound to lead to others – a leading question.
Remember Jesus and the woman at the well ‘will you give me a drink’. Genuine request, but which led naturally to a conversation. Asking questions is both polite and a great way to find out more about the person. ‘I’m interested that you say that, what makes you think that way?’ or ‘What makes you sure there’s no God?’ or ‘What led you to that conclusion?’ Then you are talking about spiritual things and you’ll soon be able to bring in your own experience and why you believe and follow Jesus. Hence the question I asked you ‘why are you still a Christian?’
Lastly
5. Philip started where the man was – ‘Philip began with that very passage’
He started where the man was – and told him the good news about Jesus. For this man Phil was able to start with the Bible and talk about Jesus, but if a person doesn’t know or believe Bible that might not be the best way to go. Paul in Athens looked and used the idol statues as his starting point ‘Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious …’ (Acts 17:22). Often your own experience of Jesus will be best thing you have to start with. And that’s the thing – it must be good news about Jesus! Don’t tell them the ‘good news’ about church or even the Bible or even the power of prayer, but Jesus. This is always the place to bring them to.
Why? Because he’s the only one that can deal with the root problem. Church cannot, prayer alone cannot, you cannot, friendship cannot! Over time, maybe a long time, we must lead people to the place where they can see that whatever they may be struggling with the root cause is the broken relationship with God. Root cause is sin – theirs or someone elses. Only Jesus can deal with this. The good news is of course that he can and will, freely, willingly, gladly if they ask him to. The good news is that through Jesus we can have God on our side and not as judge. This is where the bridge or other illustrations come in.
Of course, to some this will be silly and a stumbling block. But to others what you say will be the words of eternal life.
How they react isn’t the point! Our job is to share Jesus with them. In all likelihood part of that will be telling them your story – why you believe in Jesus, why you follow him. Tell them what he’s done and the difference he makes and how he helps you. (This is back to last week).