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Divine Purpose



Be reminded that every person you see or interact with was brought there for a reason. And ask yourself, how will you help fulfill His plan and purpose to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth today, this week, wherever it is that you might be?

 

Acts 8:26-40 ESV - 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

 

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,  

so he opens not his mouth.

33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.”

 

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

 

It is an honor and a privilege to be with you all this morning. One of the great honors my family and I have is to serve this church, both as an elder but also as a missionary. Many of you know my day job; I work for the ministry of Cru on college campuses in New Jersey sharing Christ with college students. And we have been just really grateful for prayers, support, encouragement, friendship and ministry, but more and most significantly in our lives, just from marriage, raising kids, all

of it. So we just thank you so much for that.

 

It is a little unique for me to be speaking with you because it's actually the morning. Working with college students, most of our meetings with students happen at night.

 

The good news for you also is that since I'm used to being up late and working with college students who just kind of do whatever they want, I'm used to students falling asleep on me. So if it happens to you, this isn't necessarily permission, but I won't be offended by it either.

 

One of the unique opportunities I have in campus ministry is to be involved with a summer mission trip. It happens every year and it takes us to the beach in New Hampshire. We work with students from across the country. I'm actually headed out again in a little less than two weeks. One of the best ways that we help train our students to share their faith is by just going to the beach and trying to get into conversations with people, just to talk to them about spiritual things and what they're thinking about spiritual things.

 

A couple years ago, I remember I was with a couple of guys. We hit the beach. We're ready to get into conversations. We're going to find people. It's going to be great.

 

And as a good staff person, I was trying to encourage them— “Okay, you guys are going to be the ones. You guys are going to go find people. You're going to initiate conversations. I want you to get the practice doing that.”

 

And these guys, I remember, they were a bit hesitant. And I remember what walking what felt like— really the length of the beach as, I guess, they were looking for just the perfect situation.

 

Finally, I was getting tired and I think I encouraged him, “Let's just talk to these guys that are sitting on this towel,” for no other reason than just to take a break from walking.

 

And after initial conversations, we asked some questions about their spiritual life and what their purpose in life was, all these different things. And, they were very receptive and allowed me to share the gospel with them that they were sinners in need of a savior. And they were very open and incredibly, they ended up trusting Christ for the first time there with us on the beach.

 

I remember that I was so frustrated with the students that they wouldn't do what they were really meant to do and that I just I didn't see that God had a purpose in it and He was the one who was at work the whole time, leading us to these specific guys who He had prepared for us and He just needed us to get there to be with them.

 

That theme is going to come out as we look through our passage today. So, let me just take a minute and pray and we'll jump in. God, thanks for this morning. Thank you for this church and the privilege of being able to serve alongside of one another and for the desire to grow in the knowledge and a love of You and to impact others with that same hope of the gospel. I pray that Your words would be spoken this morning clearly and that I would be out of your way and allow you to work. Lord, we love You so much. Again, thank you for this privilege. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

We're in Acts 8 26-40. To set the stage, let's go back to the beginning of Acts 8 which starts right after Stephen was martyred in Acts 7. And so at this point the followers of Christ are in Jerusalem. They're facing persecution. And so they start to scatter. They're going throughout Judea into Samaria and which, if you go back even further to Acts 1:8, was all part of God's plan for the good news of the gospel to go beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.

 

In Acts 1:8, Jesus is speaking to His disciples right before He ascends to be with the Father, says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” And so, Philip, one of the original 12 disciples, goes to Samaria, north of Jerusalem. And this is where, there had been Jews that had intermarried with Assyrians who had conquered them all these years before. And it was a people group that was generally hated by Jews, who were seen as, not fully Jewish and corrupted.

 

But Philip goes to these people sharing the good news of Jesus and he has a thriving ministry. Many people are believing and it's going great. But then God has a different purpose and plan that we see in Acts 8:26-40.

 

Instead of going to go through it verse by verse, I'd like to take a look at it from the vantage point of the three main characters in the story.

 

Three Main Characters: Philip

 

So, first we start with Philip. Philip has a successful ministry in Samaria. He is doing signs and wonders. He's preaching good news and many people are believing. But in Acts 8:26, God tells him to go south. He uses an angel and he says to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.” This is about 90 miles away from where he was. The road is a desert place.

 

From Known to Unknown

 

So, to go from someplace where you're seeing success to a far away, unknown, desolate place, which sounds crazy, right? This is not something, from man's point of view, that would ever make sense to us. When we see God working, it's hard for us to imagine that He might have a better planned in mind if we would trust Him with an unknown next step.

 

When we're in ministry and we're seeing God work, it can be easy for us to settle, to be happy with what's happened in the past, right? Man, things are going well. Why would we do something different? If it's not broken, don't fix it. And then we don't look or listen to what God has for us in the future where He might have bigger things in mind or something different.

 

And this requires just hard work, the hard thing of trusting God with the unknown and obeying Him to move in that direction.

 

When I was coming out of college, I was considering going into full-time ministry with Cru where I attended a university. I was born and raised in Virginia and I went to a college that was wasn't far from home. It had a thriving ministry. There were several hundred students involved in ministry. They're actively sharing their faith. They're making a difference on campus.

 

But then, I also had the consideration of moving to New Jersey, which is not the same as being in Virginia. And the

spiritual nature of things is not the same as it is down south. I don't know if you realize that or not. There were fewer students involved in ministry across the whole state of New Jersey than there were on my one campus back in Virginia.

 

Yet the Lord was calling and He was making a way for me to come. And so I did. And I've been able to see smaller ministries, but they're thriving across the whole state that I wouldn't have been able to be a part of if I didn't come and follow the Lord.

 

Philip trusted that God had a plan in moving him onto this desert road. So by faith, he followed God.

 

As we're thinking about that for ourselves, where might God be asking you to trust him with the unknown? What step could he be asking you to take? What step could he be asking our church to take?

 

Sharing the Good News

 

One of these unknown steps could be sharing the gospel with somebody who needs to hear it.

 

When Philip follows God's plan, He runs into an Ethiopian eunuch who had just returned from worshiping in Jerusalem.

 

And Philip is told that this is the reason why he’s here. Go over to the chariot. He's got to run. He's got to catch up to it because in theory, a chariot is probably going faster than a man can go on foot.

 

And he doesn't go right over and just start telling him how it is, but he listens. He's his ears are open to what he needs to hear. Acts 8:30 tells us, “So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you're reading?”” Philip hears the Ethiopian eunuch reading from book of Isaiah and he asks if he understands what he’s reading. He's asking for the opportunity to engage with him around a spiritual interest. The Ethiopian invites him to share more.

 

And in one of my favorite phrases from the passage, which is in Acts 8:35, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” There are some really great principles in here for what it can look like to talk with people about your faith.

 

I'm a campus missionary. We talk to people about Jesus. So it would be remiss if I didn't get up here and encourage us in that as well.

 

The first principle is that we have to be willing to engage even if we don't know someone. Take the step from the known to the unknown. We all run into different people in our lives and many of these people, even the ones that we don't know, are brought into our lives at that moment for a reason.

 

How will you represent Christ to your Uber driver, to your neighbors, your teachers, your family, the solicitor at your front door or over the phone?

 

About a month ago, I received a text from a wrong number yelling at me for something I didn't do. And I remember just getting into this conversation with this person and had a chance to represent Christ to this person, this wrong number that had just texted me.

 

The second principle is to look and to listen for clues that will help you know where to start. So Philip hears the Ethiopian reading the scriptures and he chose to start there.

 

When I'm on campus, when you're riding the train, when you're out in the grocery store, I'm sure that the first thing you see isn't people reading, opening the Bible and reading scriptures.

 

If you do, that's a great place to start. I don't know why they would be doing that in a grocery store necessarily, but that's cool.

 

When I'm on campus, one of the first questions that I like to ask is, “What's most important thing to you right now in your life? What are some things that are really important to you on campus?”

 

A lot of times, it might be their grades. Well, if it's their grades, why do they care about their grades so much? Is that where they find purpose, identity? Are they are they concerned about the future? What kind of pressure does it put them under when they don't get a good grade?

 

It opens the door to helping them to find purpose and identity in Christ who loves and values us even when we get bad

grades. For instance, maybe it's a family because they are desiring belonging and you can talk about how when Jesus invites us into his family as His children and we get to be a part of a great body and that's part of you knowing the Lord, it's a great thing.

 

The last principle I'll point out from this is that Philip opened his mouth. He actually shared the good news.

 

So often many of us think that, we can share the gospel by being good people and showing kindness or talking about religious things. I think it leads to a bit of a false understanding of the gospel. There are a lot of kind people in the world and we should be kind, right? That's a fruit of the spirit. Being kind is a good thing and being good. Goodness is a fruit of the spirit. So it's all a good thing to do and it should come from a right place. But being nice and generous and helpful doesn't help the world around us wrestle with sin or show them that real purpose and meaning comes only through a relationship with the One who gives us life and sustains us.

 

To do that we have to open our mouths. We have to speak.

 

Now I think, often what trips us up or what scares us is that is we think we have to have all the answers before opening our mouths but you don't need to know everything about every worldview or other religion to share Christ.

 

You just need to know Him.

 

So ask somebody, “Hey, can I share with you my story or I'd love to talk to you about it sometime. What is your story?

What's your spiritual background? Can I share with you my spiritual background? How I got there? What are they interested in? What are their desires in life?” Use that as a springboard to share about your experiences and how our purpose is found in Christ. Even, questions like, “What are you watching right now? And why are you drawn to that? What did you like about this movie that we went and saw?”

 

And how can you connect those things back to the back to the gospel? We don't need to get lost in the weeds of all the different types of arguments that we can make.

 

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

 

It's not our words that draws people. It wasn't Paul's words that drew people. He didn't have nor claim amazing wisdom. He claimed Christ and Him crucified. And so if you can communicate with kindness and clarity who Jesus is, what He's done for us, and what He offers in Himself, you've done what you needed to do. God is the one who draws people to himself. And our job is just to faithfully and clearly communicate the good news.

 

Three Main Characters: The Ethiopian Eunuch

 

Now if we then move toward start thinking about the Ethiopian eunuch, there are some things I think that we can learn from him as well. Acts 8:27 tells us about him, “… there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship…”

 

He a man from Ethiopia. He is not Jewish by birth or from Judea. And I think he represents the idea that the gospel goes to all peoples to the end of the earth. He's an official of the queen of Ethiopia and he's in charge of the treasuries. So you know he's got to be important, right? Because he's looking after the money and he's trustworthy. All those different types of things. And he was at least interested in Yahweh. We don't know the degree to which he was following the Jewish

faith, but he clearly came to Jerusalem to worship.

 

A Guide is Needed

 

And he has he had access to the scriptures. He's reading them out loud, whether that's to himself, which is okay or to his driver, but he still doesn't understand what it all means.

 

Think about that— he's got all this access. I think we see that often, in our country, even in some of our churches, right? We have all this access to the scriptures and people still don't understand what it means.

 

It's because he needed somebody to guide him to make it clear to him who Jesus is and what he has to offer.

 

And for such an important person, it had to take humility to recognize that about himself and invite Philip to help him. He's in this chariot and here comes Philip. He's running after him, “Hey, what are you read?” and the Ethiopian does just go on his way. He says, “No, I need to know. Come help me. Come guide me.”

 

We all need these people in our lives, no matter where we are in our spiritual journey. If we're still in a discovery phase of who is God, what does it mean to know and follow Jesus? Or if we've been walking with Christ for a long time, having mentors or even if it's just people to journey alongside of us, it's just so critical.

 

These people in our lives can help guide us when we are wrestling with spiritual truth or trying to raise our kids with godly direction.

 

I know that I've been just super grateful to walk along alongside of others in this church as we've navigated the early years of our marriage and now, raising kids and through all different sorts of things, whether it's small groups, Sunday school classes, side conversations after service, all these different things, and one of my best friends in ministry has been such a valuable friend. He's helping me to understand who I am in Christ and how I can walk in that identity, but also, maybe recommending a good mechanic when I need one. All these things are important. It's all part of what it looks like to live as a body and live as a body of Christ. And we all need those people to guide us in the Lord.

 

It's just helpful for us to think about who you have guiding you? And if you don't have anyone, where can you find somebody? Will I humbly seek that out? And then on the flip side of that is where are you helping to guide others? Who are you looking to encourage in your in their walk with the Lord?

 

A Response is Required

 

Another thing that you see from the eunuch is that he responds with action. So once he hears the truth, he responds. He sees water and he wants to be baptized. And the baptism itself isn't what saves him, but is in response to hearing the good news about Jesus. And it represents his faith as he places his trust in Christ.

 

The good news of the gospel isn't news that you can scroll past as if it's on your phone. It requires a response. Will you believe it or not? And in fact, scrolling past it is sort of its own response.

 

I remember sharing the gospel with a friend of mine in college and he told me that it sounds really great and it would be something that he would consider more after graduation, getting a job, after getting married, having kids. More than 20 years later, he's got all those things, but he still hasn't given his life to Christ, at least as far as I know.

 

Tomorrow is never a promise to us. And if we don't respond now, we might not get the chance to later. So when the eunuch hears the good news, he responds by trusting Christ.

 

And in his identity, his demeanor, and his purpose, all of it changes. His value is no longer as an important person in the kingdom of Ethiopia, but it is in being a child of God. And he goes on his way, rejoicing.

 

His faith is not propped up by Philip as his mentor, but it is his own. He has been changed and his purpose has changed.

If you have responded to Jesus, you have been changed too and your identity is now in Christ and your purpose is to do his will.

 

Now, this isn't in in scripture necessarily, but tradition tells us that this Ethiopian eunuch was the first to take the gospel to Ethiopia. So imagine he went in with one purpose and he walked out with another.

 

And it was cool that I actually met a student at the beginning of this school year whose heritage is from Ethiopia and she was excited to that this was part of her heritage. It's just kind of a fun connection.

 

The good news was making its way to the ends of the earth just as Jesus commanded through this divine appointment in Acts 8.

 

Three Main Characters: God

 

And so the last main character in this story and of course, in the whole of scripture is God Himself. And God was at work divinely orchestrating this whole interaction.

 

God Has Had a Plan from the Beginning

 

But even before this, God was at work. The verses that the eunuch was reading in Acts 8:32 is quoting Isaiah 53:7-8. And they describe the incredible sacrifice of the Messiah who was still to come when Isaiah wrote it, in God's providence and in His plan.

 

From the moment that Adam and Eve turned their backs on Him, He was working to bring about the redemption of His people through the Lamb that was led to the slaughter for our sins. And all the scripture points to him, to Jesus, and what He did for us, allowing us to have our relationship with God, restored by His work on the cross as a gift of His grace to us if we would receive it by faith as an act of our will.

 

And He wanted to make this gift available to the ends of the earth, which is where you see this this story, the way He orchestrated this whole interaction.

 

He told Philip to leave his ministry and go to a desert place.

He told Philip showed this is the chariot that he needed to go to.

And in his divine providence, the eunuch was reading from this messianic scripture at this exact time.

And as Philip shares the good news, there's water available along a desert road for the eunuch to be baptized in.

And finally, God moves Philip along to Isotus, which is several miles north.

 

So, Philip starts in Samaria north and then he's got to come south to the road and then he ends up north in the Zotus on his way to Caesarea. And the Ethiopian continues south. This way, more people can be reached in both Ethiopia, Caesarea, to the ends of the earth.

 

God has a plan for the good news of Jesus to go to the ends of the earth and He will orchestrate that plan however He sees fit and He wants to use people us to fulfill it.

 

God Wants to Use Us to Fulfill His Plan

 

So if you know Jesus, you are a part of that plan and should be prepared for all occasions. God is working in your life to bring you to people who need to hear the good news of Jesus.

 

There's no one that's in your life by accident, whether it's the family you're born into, the neighborhood you live in, the people you work with or go to school with.

 

And for the gospel message to go to the ends of the earth, we have to be willing to take it. Even if for you or I, the ends of the earth is across the street or the next cubicle over.

 

So, be on the lookout for when these opportunities come up. Take advantage of them the way that Philip did. Obey God's calling when He asked you to go because you don't know when God might be asking you to be Philip for somebody else.

 

Closing Thought

 

And I'll leave you with this. This story shows us God's divine purpose.

 

God has been working His plan to bring His people back to Himself since the end of Genesis 3. The gift of His son and the grace that He offers to cover your sin is available to you if you would receive it by faith.

 

And so, if you're here today, it's not by accident. God has been working to bring you to a place where you will hear the good news of Jesus. Respond to His gift today.

 

And if you need someone to guide you, we'd love to come alongside you. There are plenty of people in this church, all around, who would love to help you with that process.

 

And if you profess Jesus already, God has a divine purpose for you to share that gift with others. There no accidents for you either. You are a part of His plan to take the good news to the ends of the earth, wherever that might be for you.

 

Be reminded that every person you see or interact with was brought there for a reason. And ask yourself, how will you help fulfill His plan and purpose to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth today, this week, wherever it is that you might be?

 

And so when we do leave, let's leave here like the Ethiopian rejoicing because we've been rescued, redeemed,

changed by Christ himself with a purpose to be used for him.

   

Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application

 

Observation: What Does the Text Say?

 

  1. Who is Philip? What has he been doing before our story?

     

  2. Who is the Ethiopian eunuch? What does the passage tell us about him?

     

  3. The Ethiopian is reading from Isaiah 53. How does this passage correspond to what you know about Jesus?

     

  4. What steps did Philip take to share the Good News with the Ethiopian eunuch?

     

  5. How does the Ethiopian eunuch respond? What does he do next? What does Philip do next?

 

Interpretation: What does the text mean?

 

  1. How might Philip have felt about leaving his ministry in Samaria?

     

  2. What was God doing to bring this whole episode about?

     

  3. Did God need Philip to accomplish this? Why do you think He used him in this way?

     

  4. Why does God take Philip away rather than have him continue with the Ethiopian on his journey?

 

Application: How should this change us?

 

  1. Where might God be asking you to move from the known and trust Him with the unknown?

     

  2. What keeps you from engaging with others about spiritual things?

     

  3. What are some questions you can use to discover someone's thoughts about Christ and other spiritual matters?

     

  4. Write down 5 people that you will pray for the opportunity to share Christ with this summer (and pray for them regularly)

     

  5. Who has been someone who’s helped guide you in your walk with Christ? Consider reaching out to thank them.

     

  6. Who is someone you can either ask to help guide you or that you can come alongside yourself?

     

  7. How has God divinely been working behind the scenes in your journey with Him? Where have you seen God use you to take the Good News to others?


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