Worship

“That’s Who I Praise” by Brandon Lake

Scripture

“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 the Kandake (which means ‘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.

“This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its 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. What can stand in the way of my being 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.” –Acts 8:26-40

Gospel Ministry

My heart soars in this passage of Scripture because it is the purest depiction of what it looks like to go and preach the gospel. It is interwoven with the direction of the Spirit and the partnership of Phillip. We see both the divine intersection of the lost and the sent. We get to peek into an outcast’s desperation to be brought into sonship. And Phillip’s response to the Spirit in immediacy is astoundingly beautiful. This is a story of layers and layers of God’s heart for the lost and our surrendered and obedient partnership with Him. It is so simple in its instruction to take it and pray it into our own lives that this blueprint would be seared into our DNA.

This Ethiopian eunuch official was making his way to Jerusalem. No one but Jews were permitted to enter the temple to worship. He could only watch and worship from a distance. Not only was he a Gentile and a eunuch but he was also an outcast from God’s presence, which is the hardest of all to face. But in his hunger for God’s Word and his need to be found, God responded to the cries of his heart. And so, God set up a divine appointment for him that required Phillip’s immediate obedience to drop everything and go.

Philip’s Obedience

Therefore, Phillip found himself on the road less traveled, and a desert road at that. There were two ways to get to Gaza from Jerusalem, and the angel advised him to take the one least traveled. Phillip didn’t argue or disobey. He followed the instructions that were sent from Heaven to Phillip. God knew Phillip would be faithful and obedient to His instruction, no matter how outlandish it seemed.

“If Christ is hindered, it is because some Philip is not willing to go!” -G. Campbell Morgan

God arranges our divine intersections. He schedules our Heaven-set appointments. We are simply called to follow the direction of the Spirit to find whom God is sending us to!

“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.” -Acts 8:29-30

The Power of Immediate Obedience

Do you see the immediacy of Phillip’s response? He didn’t meander, question, hesitate, or talk himself out of obedience. He ran to the chariot. The Word of God was resonating through the airwaves as the Ethiopian man read the scroll of Isaiah out loud. In his hands was a scroll that would have cost him a lot of money. He had to know what he was reading, but how would he know unless someone preached to him?

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” -Romans 10:14

There is power in the Word of God! Phillip took what he knew was prophetic about Jesus and shared the good news with this eunuch. Meanwhile, the Spirit of God was removing scales and opening the spiritual eyes of his heart to understand. That was nothing Phillip could do—that was a supernatural work of God! He was simply called to open the Scriptures and point this man to the cross of Christ. As his eyes were opening to the truth of the gospel, another part of Isaiah was being beautifully fulfilled where under the New Covenant, even foreigners and eunuchs would be included!

“Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’ And let no eunuch complain, ‘I am only a dry tree.’” -Isaiah 56:3

“The eunuch’s salvation is itself a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and demonstrates with clarity that the new covenant in Christ has arrived. As Isaiah says, the eunuch may not have sons and daughters, but, in the new covenant, he can lay claim to something even more valuable—‘an everlasting name that will endure forever!’ (Isaiah 56:5)” -R. Albert Mohler, “Acts 1-12 For You”

This son now desired baptism, and God provided that in this desert place (Isaiah 35:5-6). He is so faithful. Phillip completes his missionary task with the Ethiopian that day and is suddenly taken up. The Greek word for being suddenly taken is harpazo, which is the word used to describe the rapture in the New Testament. Phillip continued on to Caesarea, as directed by the Spirit of God, and the eunuch went on his way, rejoicing as a changed man for all of eternity!

Our Call to Go: Following Phillip’s Example

So how do we respond like Phillip?

• Take heart! God opens the doors to share the good news of Jesus. We simply walk through those doors.
• We speak the words of God, but it’s the Spirit that does the miraculous heart work unto salvation.
• As we pray and look for open doors, our alertness to the Spirit’s direction is imperative. “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it (Isaiah 30:21).’”
• Our partnership with the Lord requires us to flow with the Spirit. We listen and respond, not based on our feelings but on the direction of the Spirit.
• The missionary task is not comfortable or convenient. When God said to go, Phillip ran!

It’s time, followers of Jesus, for the praise of our King to get loud and our proclamation of His gospel to go forth with even greater boldness! Let’s throw off excuses and position our ears to the heart of God so we can respond when the Spirit says, “Go!” The miraculous salvation of lost people is the greatest miracle we can devote our lives to pursuing and declaring!

“And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” -Romans 10:15