As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go
south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of
Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.
The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to
worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud
from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the
carriage.” Philip ran over and
heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are
reading?” The man replied, “How
can I, unless someone instructs me?” And
he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. The passage of Scripture he had been reading
was this: “He was led like a
sheep to the slaughter. And as a
lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet
talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him
the Good News about Jesus. Acts 8:26-35
(NLT)
I cannot say how many times
I’ve been asked how to go about sharing one’s faith. And it’s a good question, a fair
question.
Pastors often preach on
spreading the Gospel – how it is our responsibility to help proclaim the
Kingdom of God; and the person in the pew shifts uncomfortably because he’s
never been shown how to do that.
Well…Here’s
how to do that:
Philip is a great model for
sharing your faith. He was prompted to
move towards somebody who needed to know Jesus (first by an angel, then by the
Spirit of God). The key is Philip’s
obedience; he was told to go and he went!
First objections: I’ve never seen an angel, and how do you
know it’s the Holy Spirit?
Well,
I’ve never seen an angel (that I know of) either, but the prompting of God’s
Spirit is something you will begin to recognize if you live a life like Philip
lived.
Philip spent three years hanging
out with Jesus; in that time he was constantly observing and talking with Jesus,
learning what moved the Lord and why. This
is requirement number one: keep spending
time with Jesus; prayer, reading His Word, serving people and fellowship with
other believers is what develops sensitivity to the whispers of God’s Holy
Breath.
Philip moved close to the
Ethiopian’s chariot because he was accustomed to two things:
a. He had
grown accustomed to listening for the Spirit’s prompting
b.
He had committed himself to the mission of caring for
his fellow man
When it comes to sharing
your faith there are only those two requirements; God will prepare the other
person’s heart to receive your witness, but He requires a humble servant who
will love a neighbor and listen for the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
When God provided this
opportunity Philip simply asked a “conversation-opening question”. God had already moved in the Ethiopian’s
heart…he was reading Scripture and interested.
Philip was an answer to the man’s longing to know God.
Sharing your faith isn’t
complicated; it is simply telling your story of how Jesus came
into your life. With most folks who have
never done that, the scary part is getting started.
There are techniques you can
learn to “break the ice” and get started.
But no technique will ever replace your heartfelt concern for your lost
neighbor or a heart committed to serving God’s kingdom by sharing that heart.
For You, Today…
Do you hear the
Spirit leading today?
Are you quiet
enough to listen?
Do you care
enough to speak?
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