God’s Prepared Blessing of Meeting for Missions (Acts 8:26-40)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I believe that is our eternal confession. Only Jesus Christ is our Lord. When we make that confession, then the curses, disasters, and darkness are broken down. The entire Bible tells us about Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ can solve the problems of mankind. Through today’s worship, may it be a blessed time to confirm Jesus Christ as my solution and Lord.
When we come to worship, if possible, bring a question. In Joshua 9:14, the Israelites did not inquire of the LORD, so they did something the LORD did not desire. If you bring a question to God every time you worship, God is alive and He will give you an answer through His Word. In Habakkuk 2:1, God gives His answer regarding a question the prophet Habakkuk asked him. He says to stand at the watchpost and see whether the Lord will fulfill His Word or not. Our posture, if we have received God’s Word, must be like Heb. 2:1 where we must hold onto this Word so that it does not drift away. So yes, the time of worship is important, but we must receive the Word God is trying to give to us personally, because that is the Word God is giving to us individually, right now.
The title of today’s message is, “God’s Prepared Blessing of Meeting for Missions.” As we live our life throughout the week, we go out to meet people, whether it is through work or studies, we have to meet with people, but how do I see each of these meetings? That can be the color or the level of our faith. Nonbelievers talk about evolution and say that humans have evolved coincidentally, but God has created all of creation and humans. So, there is nothing that happens that is just coincidence. Without a doubt, everything is a circumstance God has allowed for what He needs to accomplish.
So, as we live for the rest of this afternoon, through the rest of this week, what are the meetings God has permitted for us? And, depending on what perspective with which I look at these meetings will determine the color and level of our faith. “Oh, it’s unlucky that I met this person!” or “I’m lucky I met that person!” All of these ways of expression are centered on my physical self, but the people whom God has allowed us to meet, there is no “lucky” or “unlucky,” they are absolutely necessary, then we must have the correct color or standard for our faith.
Even right now, the way that Satan is working is to make us lose hold of God’s Word and to live according to our own thoughts. Satan makes us live our lives holding onto our successes or failures of the past. That’s the same word that Satan spoke in Genesis 3:5, “If you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be like God,” so Satan makes us lose hold of God’s Word and live our lives according to our thoughts, emotions, experience, and knowledge. Or, Satan makes us go seek out fortune tellers to seek out our fortune for the future, then these people might tell us that we meet people coincidentally, but these people do not believe in God. Without a doubt, God created all of the universe with His Word and He is maintaining it even now with His Word. Everything that has happened in your past was allowed by God to know one thing: for you to know that everything has been finished by the gospel alone. The fact that everything has been finished with the gospel means the most fundamental problem of mankind has been finished on the cross, because the most fundamental problem of all mankind is that we do not want to believe in God. What do we believe in instead? We believe in ourselves, or we believe in our background, or we put our faith in the power of America or our nation. Or, we rely on and put our faith in our families, husbands, wives, or children. In the past, when we had an agricultural society, families wanted to have many sons, why? Because the sons would take care of the parents in their older age. So, in the end, even parents are only looking for their physical benefit. Yes, humans want to pass on their genetic DNA, but in the end, it was a problem of having more hands for labor.
But the people of God are different. The gospel talks about setting us free from Original Sin. We are set free from, “What I want,” and “what I am trying to accomplish,” and we hold onto what God desires. Then, you need to ask questions correctly, “What is God’s plan for me?” If you are praying and working to accomplish what you want, that is religion, but the Lord has finished everything on the cross and He fulfills His will. Then, we must pray and wait to see how God is fulfilling it. If we have received the gospel and have received salvation, we are no longer living like nonbelievers; Christ has become our main figure, and even now, we must wait to see how the Lord will guide us and be upon us with His Word throughout the week. That is a person whom God can use.
We receive God’s Word today, we like it and we receive grace from it. However, if it just ends with that, then God cannot use that person. If you receive God’s Word, it means that you need to resolve to put it into practice. And, you make preparations to relay this Word into your field, and that’s what Philip was like in today’s scripture.
1. Philip whom God used
1) A state where he could hear God’s Word
(1) Self ×, believing in Christ Who is life (Gal. 2:20)
(2) The one who has the mission of God’s Kingdom (Acts 1:3)
(3) The one who believes in world evangelization through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
2) Angel of the Lord
(1) Said to Philip (Acts 8:26)
In Acts 8:26, an angel of the Lord said to Philip—God gives His Word through His angels during worship, and while you pray, the angel of the Lord gives you His Word. When you are facing a difficulty, the angel of the Lord will send you the words of Christ.
(2) Go down to Gaza – Wilderness (Acts 8:26)
So, Philip went all the way from Jerusalem, past Samaria, and the angel is telling him to go to Gaza. Let’s say we received that Word as well. Most people just end it with receiving that Word. “Oh, I guess that’s what God said today.” However, Philip received that Word and actually went to Gaza. If you’ve received God’s Word, then you must hold onto that Word and live according to it, because if we do not follow after God’s Word, ultimately, we are following our own thoughts.
(3) The one who is always prepared to give an answer (1 Pet. 3:15)
So, Philip actually went down to Gaza and it was about 150 km away. When Philip received God’s Word and followed Him to Gaza, he met with an Ethiopian eunuch in a chariot on his way. These are the people whom you will meet throughout the week. Through your work, through your school, and through various tools in your life, you will meet people, but there is a reason why God allows that. The Holy Spirit tells Philip again in the field. We must be sensitive to hear the Word that the Holy Spirit is giving to us throughout the field, because in John 14:26, it says that the Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of the words of Jesus Christ. However, if my thoughts are too strong, then even if the Holy Spirit tells me God’s Word, then I cannot hear it.
Our walk of faith is walking with Christ. We must be able to listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us with sensitivity. In order to hear the Holy Spirit, we need to let go of our own thoughts, or we need to take our thoughts and ask them as questions to the Lord. In Matthew 4:19, when Christ was calling His disciples, He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” So, the standard of a disciple is that we follow the words of Jesus, and our goal is to save people.
Matthew 16:24, Jesus Christ says, “To follow Me, you must take up your own cross and deny yourself,” it means you lay down your thoughts, you lay down what is your advantage, you let go of your experiences, and instead, you follow the Word of God. That is a disciple. So, the more disciples there are in a church, the stronger that church will be. On the other hand, if people follow their own thoughts instead of God’s Word, then the church will be full of division and conflict. It’s the same case in our families and in our workplaces—the stronger our opinions are, the more we will fight with people. On the other hand, people who listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and want to relay the Word of God will make peace wherever they go.
3) Person prepared by God
(1) Ethiopian person – Court official in charge of the treasury
(2) Had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home (Acts 8:27-28)
(3) Was reading the prophet Isaiah (Acts 8:28)
So, when Philip followed the Holy Spirit, he heard that the man was reading the prophet Isaiah, and Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” People ask me, “Pastor, what do I do in the field?” God has prepared it all, look, the Ethiopian eunuch is reading the prophet Isaiah aloud, and Philip heard all of this, and Philip understands what Isaiah 53:7-8 is talking about, but the eunuch does not. Those verses are talking about Jesus Christ, and even if he has read the Bible 100 times, he is not able to see that. It is good to read the Bible a lot, and it is good to memorize the Bible a lot, but if all of that does not point us back to Jesus Christ, then it is all useless. John 5:39 says that the Old Testament teaches us about Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, there are so many things that are written, but all of it is centered on Christ.
2. Situation God prepared
1) Holy Spirit (Acts 8:29)
(1) Told Philip to go near the chariot (Acts 8:29)
(2) Heard him reading Isaiah the prophet (Acts 8:30)
(3) Do you understand what you are reading? (Acts 8:30)
The Ethiopian eunuch was Jewish because he had gone to Jerusalem to observe the feast, and on his way back to Ethiopia, he met Philip. You need to continually have these experiences, think about it. I believe in God and when I come to church and worship, it feels like I believe in God, doesn’t it? But what happens when I go to my job? How can you be sure that you believe in God there? Some people might say, “Oh, I keep my faith there,” you must be able to see God working in your field. You must see the blessings of meeting that God has prepared in your field. Look at the scripture—Philip was taken 150 km through the desert, and in that wide expanse, God allowed him to cross paths with the Ethiopian eunuch who was on his way back to Africa. God gave the Word in advance to Philip, He planned the path of the Ethiopian eunuch and allowed them to meet at that precise location in the wilderness, and He allowed the eunuch to read the book of Isaiah out loud, which he did not understand. Isn’t that amazing?
You must be able to confirm that God is alive in your field through things like this. And many people might think that this is a coincidence, “Oh, I just met this person at school, I just met them at work,” then what happens? You will not see how God is working in your field, that is why Christians collapse in the field. They have no spiritual strength at all, because they don’t believe or see how God is working right now. When they come to church, they receive strength, but out in the world, they collapse. May this be the time when you and I restore the blessing of seeing how God is working in the field.
The blessing of meeting in the field. There is no such thing as a cursed meeting; if I have the gospel, then every person I meet turns into a blessing of meeting. God told Abraham, “You will be a source of blessings,” that means, through Abraham, the gospel would be testified to all peoples and nations. And all of our diseased thoughts must change according to the Word. I am not somebody who needs to receive help; instead, through me, other people will receive the gospel and blessings. When our thinking changes like that, then God works according to His Word. God said, “I will bless those who bless you,” and He says, “Whoever curses you, I will curse,” why? God is promising all of this because of the gospel inside of you. If I have the gospel, then whatever job I go to should come to life, and all of the people whom I meet should come to life, spiritually and physically. Christ is the one who changes all of these meetings into blessings. However, if instead of using the people you meet as blessings, you use them for your own physical advantage, then curses and disasters will continue in the field.
Today, we must have church officers and future generations like Philip arising. Whatever churches you’ve seen or church officers you’ve seen, forget that and use the Bible as your example of role models. If you use the things you’ve seen in the church for a long time as your standard, that will be a big problem. Philip is somebody who saved the church as well as his field, that is the standard, and God has already prepared the blessings and power to do this work and He guides us. Let’s say that you are Philip, then today, you receive the Lord’s Word and then you put it into practice. Today, God decides based on if you receive God’s Word, the people He has prepared in the field to receive it. If you just pass by the Word God is giving you today, then you are also passing by the blessings He has prepared in your field. However, if you truly resolve to receive and carry out God’s work throughout the week, then He is preparing the blessings for your week right now. For people who go to church for a long time, they go to church and say, “I’ve given worship,” but that is someone who just sits down at a church building, that’s not really worship. To truly have victory in worship, you must not only receive the Word God is giving you, but you must resolve to carry it out into your field and put it into practice. That’s actually easier. Using your experiences to calculate who is a benefit and who is a disadvantage and how you should live your life is actually more complicated.
Your life is determined based on the people you meet. First of all, meeting with God through Christ, and second, meeting with the church that gives the correct Word. As we continue to receive the accurate word of God, God gives you blessings of meeting in your field. That’s everything. God is alive, even now, and God is working upon each and every one of us through His Word. For the people who resolve to take this Word and put it into practice in their field, God has already prepared the field for them. For working professionals, you will meet other professionals and God has already prepared these meetings. God has also prepared these meetings at your office or workplace, and it might seem like you meet your friends every day in school, but God has prepared a meeting for today. Usually these people are going through a problem and they don’t have an answer to it.
2) Ethiopian eunuch
(1) Could not understand without someone to guide him (Acts 8:31)
(2) Invited Philip to sit in the chariot (Acts 8:31)
(3) Was reading the contents of Isaiah 53:7-8 (Acts 8:32-33)
Just like the Ethiopian eunuch; he is reading the book of Isaiah, but he has the question mark because he doesn’t understand what it means, and there are also religious people who have gone to church for a long time, but they don’t really understand what “Only Christ” means. Among the nonbelievers, there are people who are facing problems and do not know the solution; they have a question mark. The one person who can give people this answer. Every problem that human beings face comes from a fundamental problem. We are telling this to nonbelievers because nonbelievers endure so much; then one day, their problems are revealed, and they will come find you and tell you. Just like the Ethiopian eunuch met Philip in the Bible, God will prepare these meetings for you. 1 Peter 2:15, it says, you must always be prepared to give the answer to people like this.
The problem of mankind is that we are spiritually dead, separated from God, and seized by Satan; the result of that is the mental and physical problems you are facing now. You may have spent much of your life looking for fortune tellers or different religions, but actually that results in more evil spirits. In America, people are trying to receive healing through transcendental meditation, but their problems only deepen. You must be able to tell them the fundamental problem and give them the solution of Christ. If you’re living your walk of faith, but you don’t have the answer to problems, then you’re not living it correctly. What is the real problem? For people who are worrying about finances, is money really the problem? Isn’t it that God didn’t give you the money? God just has to give you the money, then. Then what do you think He is not? God is not giving you the money because He has a reason. Then ultimately, it is a problem between your relationship with you and God; the problem is not really money. Is the problem really your relationships? No, it’s because you only like the people whom you like, or relationships break because they don’t agree with me. Then, if my relationship is breaking because they do not agree with my opinion, then that’s the real problem because we shouldn’t be sharing our opinions, we should be sharing God’s Word.
Ultimately, the problem is that I’ve left God’s Word. People who suffer from scars, are scars really the problem? The real problem is that you are losing hold of the fact that God is with you, right now. God is alive and He is with me right now, but I lose hold of that fact and I only hold onto the scar. Is your future really a problem? For people who are older, is your future really a problem? The problem is that you don’t believe in God. God promised to protect me and guide me and take care of me until we go to heaven, but we do not believe that. If you receive the solution to your problems, then you can give that solution as an answer to others in the field. People complain about their churches and their families, but really, they themselves are the problem. They do not believe in God. God promised until world evangelization, but we do not believe in God. Then, in the end, the real problem is my fundamental unbelief, and that must be changed. Do you have cancer? That is the rightful result that had no choice but to happen. Because we’re always stressed, we’re always angry, we’re always eating improper foods, we have no choice but to get cancer. “If God is alive, then how could He give me cancer?” It’s not that He gave you cancer, you made that decision. Why do people keep getting diagnosed with cancer? There are Nobel laureates who concluded that it’s a lack of oxygen in the brain, and because that decreases the immunity in our body, our cancer cells multiply, then the answer is to breathe very deeply and allow more oxygen in our bodies. Right now, as you are listening to God’s Word, breathe deeply and listen in prayer, then your spirit and your body will come to life.
Prayer saves my spirit. Why do people get spiritual problems even though they study diligently? Why do people get spiritual problems even after they succeed in their business? Because they are living diligently without prayer. If I pray, then my spirit comes to life. Prayer is not about chanting or just rituals, I am praying to God Who is actually alive right now, and we don’t see God with our eyes, but we pray to God as if we can. I’m praying to the God Who is alive right now, and the One Who is living gives me His answer. God gives us His answer through wisdom and power. We must run our business or study with the strength that God gives us. Then my spirit will come to life, and I will receive physical answers as well. Are you suffering mentally? There’s a reason why there’s no other choice. The scars we received when we were little from our parents, Satan uses that to drag us around our entire lives, and that does not get solved by moving to another location. Can we solve that by changing religions? We need to hold onto Christ Who sets me free, but it’s hard to do that. Instead, I hold onto the scars, I cannot hold onto the words of Christ. That’s why we must receive God’s grace, because as we receive God’s grace, one day, we will no longer hold onto our scars, but instead, hold onto the words of Christ. I hope you will stop looking at and focusing on your problems; instead, hold onto the Christ Who is our solution.
For people who are suffering from mental illnesses or addictions, we are focusing on the problem. When you’re taking a test in school and you only read the question again and again, that will not do anything. You need to quickly write down the answer, but instead, we keep on focusing on the problem of your mental illness; we keep on focusing on our problem of cancer. Do you know what happens the more we focus on that? We fall into the darkness of the world that does not have God. We need to hold onto Christ Who is the light to be set free from the problems. What are we talking about? What is the real problem? There are many people who are falling into problems, not knowing what the real problem is. The real problem is that we do not believe in God; it’s a problem of our unbelief. Satan tempts us with unbelief. In that state where we hold onto Christ and restore the words of Christ, then God will guide us.
So I keep on asking the question, “What is the real problem?” and I hope the future generations will listen. I’m giving you the question to ask and giving you the answer. Same thing for the adults, I’m giving you the questions you have yourself and I’m answering them for you. You need to have this answer yourself to give that answer to the people in your field. And, the way to give the answer to the people you meet, to make them into blessings of meeting, is to set them free from curses, disasters, and sin, then what do you think will happen to society and the nation? Curses and disasters would continue to diminish, and mental illnesses would disappear. Don’t you think that people suffering from addiction will continue to be healed? The beginning of that is you and me, today. If I receive the answer through worship today, then I will turn into somebody who relays the answer to the field.
3) Questions and answers
(1) Is. 53:7-8 – About whom does the prophet say this? (Acts 8:34)
(2) Taught about Jesus and proclaimed the gospel (Acts 8:35)
(3) Came to some water and the eunuch wanted to be baptized (Acts 8:36)
When the eunuch accepts and knows of Christ accurately, he is so overjoyed that when they pass by water, he asks to be baptized. Isn’t that amazing as well? They’re going through the desert, the wilderness, and they happen to pass by water. You must continue to experience things like this, you must experience that God is working so specifically, not in the church, but in your field. Yes, it is important to have faith inside the church, but you must be able to see God working in your field as well.
3. Gospel that remains forever
1) One proclamation of the gospel
(1) Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38)
(2) Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away (Acts 8:39)
(3) Eunuch went on his way rejoicing
So Philip goes down and baptizes the eunuch. It’s not only the pastor who baptizes, but it’s also laypeople who baptize. What is the meaning of baptism? Romans 8:6-8 says that we died with Christ and we are united with Christ in life. It is not a matter of, “Do you go to church? Have you gone at least six months?” It means you are deciding to bury your old life and now you are living a life with Christ, that is represented by baptism.
2) One meeting
(1) Saw him no more (Acts 8:39)
(2) Gospel spread to Ethiopia
(3) Became the beginning of the gospel in Africa
So, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch were never able to meet again after this, but because the gospel was proclaimed to the eunuch, the gospel was proclaimed to all of Africa. Do you think someone met the Ethiopian eunuch and nurtured him? No. The Holy Spirit taught the Ethiopian eunuch and allowed him to understand the words that the scripture said.
3) For the meetings God has prepared
(1) Field of life – Establish the place and time to share God’s Word
(2) Saving and nurturing souls – Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26)
(3) God brings people together to meet
So, how can all of us apply the Word God is giving us today? We are living in a nation that already has hundreds of nationalities gathered here. 2000 years ago, Philip had to travel 150 km, to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, but for us, they’re already here. So, for you, in your field, set a time and a location to resolve and proclaim the Word there. The working and guidance of the Holy Spirit, according to the book of Acts, is that the Word is proclaimed from the church and into the fields. So, whatever field you’re in, whether it’s your family or home or in the workplace, make the resolution to proclaim the Word God has given you as an answer, then God will give you the blessing of meeting like Philip and the eunuch. If you have the answer, then God will attach people who have problems. On the other hand, no matter how much you go to church, if you don’t have the answer, God will not attach people to you. God attaches people who have a problem to people who have the answer. Christ, the solution to all problems, if you have the answer of Christ and you are enjoying that daily, then God will attach people in your field who need that answer.
Conclusion
1. Morning – Time to save myself
In conclusion, in order to do this, when you wake up in the morning, you need to have the strength to save yourself. The thing that kills us is our thoughts. We must get rid of our thoughts. In order to get rid of our thoughts, we must allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to completely take over us. That is in the morning; we go into a state that does not hold onto our thoughts, but instead, the word of God holds on to us. Today, as you’re listening to the Word of God, if you are praying, then your thoughts disappear. There are people who are not thinking, and there are some people who are overthinking or falling asleep; that’s failure in worship. My thoughts must go away and I must be seized by the Word of God. That’s the morning, we must save ourselves.
2. Daytime – Time to save the field
In the daytime, you must save the field. Whatever you see or hear, change it into prayer. If you listen to the words people say, you’ll be dragged in that direction, but if you change everything you see, hear, think, and feel into prayer, then God will give you His Word. That is how you save the field.
3. Evening – Time to save the future
At night, you must save the future. You need to dream of your future where you raise up disciples and save people’s lives. I will go to God after I leave behind a masterpiece that can save the field and the church. Have a time at night when you pray to God, imagining that image. This is the time to save yourself. I bless you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will enjoy the blessings of meeting for missions that God has prepared in your fields. If you’ve received God’s Word today, then you need to hold onto the mission to put it into practice and you need to hold onto that and go into your field.
Message Prayer
Let’s hold onto the Word we have received and pray..
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We thank You for guiding our thoughts and our hearts that we may know and testify of the gospel. We thank You for guiding our church into the stream of world evangelization. Allow each and every one of us and our fields of our business and our family to be in the stream of proclaiming the gospel. We believe You will allow us to remain within the stream of Your great works.
We have returned our materials as offering. We pray You will bless the hands that have given the offering so that everywhere it is used, it may be used to save the future generations, the churches, and the fields. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
God, we thank You. We pray that this one meeting we are having with these two visitors will become the meeting that allows them to testify of the gospel forever and ever. We believe You will work upon them with the filling of the Holy Spirit so that they may proclaim the gospel for the rest of their lives. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of our Father God, and the indwelling, working, guidance, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be upon the heads of the people who desire to receive, enjoy, and testify of the gospel for missions and evangelism, be with them now and forevermore always, amen.
God’s blessing of meeting for missions are prepared!