Sermon Tone Analysis

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*14*
Philip: the Touch of God
Acts 8:26–40
Reading Acts for the first time, none of us would have guessed when we came to the dawn of Philip’s ministry in chapter 6 that he would ascend to such spiritual heights in chapter 8. Philip’s ministry began as a lay-deacon humbly doling out the widow’s portions in the Jerusalem church.
But it soared to unimagined heights when persecution hit.
Though he was not a “pro,” God’s power coursed through him to the despised Samaritans, and large numbers of them believed the good news and were saved.
In the last half of Acts 8 Philip’s ministry is still at its zenith.
However, instead of the vast multitudes of Samaria, the transforming touch of God now comes through Philip to one man in a desert place far from the teeming city.
God valued that individual as much as the multitudes, and he used Philip to touch his life.
/But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd/
/Never can quite understand/
/The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought/
/By the touch of the Master’s hand./
Each of us, like Philip, can bear the gracious touch of God to others.
/In Touch with the Spirit (Vv.
26–29)/
When Philip was installed as deacon, he was “full of the Holy Spirit” (6:3).
That means he exhibited the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—and that he had a melody in his heart (cf.
Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 5:18ff.).
Being in touch with the Holy Spirit, Philip was open to the Spirit’s direction.
This sensitivity to divine guidance was a major factor in his becoming the touch of God to others.
We must all beware of rigid suppositions as to how the Holy Spirit works or leads.
We cannot assume that since God directed men in a certain way in the past, that is the way he will do it for anyone who is truly Spirit-led today.
For example, some preachers have looked down on me for developing my sermons beforehand and thus not being subject to the Spirit’s guidance while preaching.
(The other side of the coin is the story of the preacher who told his congregation one Sunday morning, “I have had a terrible week and have not been able to prepare, so I am going to have to depend on the Holy Spirit.
But let me assure you, this will never happen again!”)
We must never confine the Spirit’s guidance to the box of past experience.
He just will not fit!
Philip had enough spiritual understanding not to resist the unfolding guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit first directed Philip through persecution to leave his ministry in Jerusalem and go to Samaria for a much wider ministry.
Philip knew by experience that God directs by /difficulties/, but he did not believe that is the /only/ way God leads.
Next Philip was led by an /angel/.
As Philip was busy ministering in Samaria, “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…” (vv.
26–27a).
Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.”
All of us, all the time, are being touched by the ministry of angels, though we usually do not see them.
The point is, God guided Philip in a new way, and Philip was enough in touch to respond.
As we read on, we see Philip’s continued openness to the Spirit’s unique direction:
/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.”
(vv.
27–29)/
Philip obeyed /the subjective inner voice of the Holy Spirit/.
He remained open as to how God would lead him.
When we are in touch with the Holy Spirit, we will be sensitive to his guidance—sometimes through difficulties, sometimes through an inner voice, maybe even through angels—and thus we will be the touch of God to others.
Philip was so in touch with the Spirit that he was not only flexible as to /how/ the Holy Spirit would lead, but as to /where/ the Spirit would use him.
And he was obedient.
Put yourself in Philip’s place.
You are not one of the Twelve or the Big Three, but you really have something going in the Samaritan crusade.
Simon the magician has been defeated.
The entire town thinks your message is God’s truth and knows you are from God.
It is a happy time—a marvelous revival, and suddenly the Lord tells you to take a hike to, of all places, the desert!
Philip went from an exciting city and a growing congregation to a lonely desert road and a congregation of one.
It would have been so easy to be discouraged.
“Lord, do you really want me to go to the desert?
There is nothing there but lizards.
Have I not proved myself worthy of a broader ministry?
I have been faithful in the small things—I even waited on the widows.
And now the desert?
Lord… !”
But that is not how Philip responded.
He was ready to serve anywhere anytime.
This is a great example to emulate.
Over the years I have encountered individuals who are absolutely blah until they are in front of a crowd of several hundred, and suddenly they were ministers who were excited, charming, full of power!
The refreshing reverse of this happened when I recently met Billy Graham.
Almost the first thing he said was, “Do not call me Dr. Graham.
I do not have an earned doctorate.
I am just Billy.”
Then he went on to ask questions about me, my wife, my children.
Humble submission to the Spirit of God is essential for joyful living and effective service.
Philip was so in touch with the Spirit that he became the touch of God anywhere and in any way and to anyone that God asked him to be.
He was flexible and sensitive to the Spirit’s direction.
These are wonderful qualities, but the transcending element of Philip’s divine touch was his obedience to the Lord: “And he arose and went” (v.
26); “Philip ran up to the chariot” (v.
30).
Why did God use Philip?
Were not there other laymen who could have served just as well?
Maybe not.
Perhaps his obedient spirit was unique at that time.
The text presents two perspectives on the Ethiopian eunuch’s coming to Christ.
From above we see the sovereign God working in a man’s heart in such a way that after making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem he remains spiritually hungry.
While reading a scroll of Isaiah as he is borne across the desert in a chariot, he encounters a Spirit-sent ambassador of Christ, Philip, who leads him to the Savior.
From ground level we see the role of human obedience.
Would the eunuch have been saved even if Philip had disobeyed?
The question is irrelevant.
God chooses to use human obedience to carry out his plan.
Exactly whom he uses or how is incidental.
As Lloyd Ogilvie says, “The Lord of all creation has ordained that he would do his work through us.
Our seeking the Spirit’s guidance and obeying what he wants us to do and say is the way he works to bless the world.”
/God’s sovereign work plus man’s obedience brings the touch of God to needy human lives./
Put another way, there are all kinds of “chance” meetings ready to take place in a life that is sensitive and obedient to God’s leading.
Ian Thomas tells of getting on an airplane and being so tired that he planned to just curl up and sleep.
But then he heard a “psssst” and then another “psssst.”
Looking in the direction of the sound, he heard a man say, “I am reading in the Bible about Nicodemus in John 3, and I do not understand it.
Do you know anything about the Bible?”
Once when I was flying back from a hectic missions conference in California, I was looking forward to reading Lewis’s /Letters to Malcolm./
But as I got on the plane I prayed, “Lord, if you want me to share Christ with someone, I am willing.”
As I sat down, the seat next to me was already occupied by a young man reading an Isaac Asimov novel.
I took out my Lewis and said, “Are you enjoying the book?”
I do not even remember the jet taking off or the meal being served, but I do know I had the opportunity to share Christ with a young man who lived within five blocks of my former California residence.
I was so caught up in my divine appointment that I left my /Letters to Malcolm/ on the plane!
Divine appointments await us if we are obedient to God’s leading.
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