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How To Be God’s Vessel
Isaiah 6:8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."
This morning I want us to see how we can be used of God. We should all be seeking to be God’s vessel. We have before us a text that gives us some ways to be used of God.
Proposition: Three things you must do to be God’s vessel:
1. You must perceive the call of God – vv. 26-29
Acts 8:26-29
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. 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 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot."
We need to understand what is happening here. A revival is happening in Samaria. God has used Philip in a mighty way in Samaria. Things were going so well, that it might have been easy for Philip to say, “no I must stay here, why should I leave.” So it may not have made sense to Philip to leave Samaria at that time, but he obeyed God. What a lesson for us!
You know I can understand this. When I perceived God’s call to be the pastor here I was very comfortable doing what I was doing. In fact I thought to myself why should I give up a ministry where I have a lot of time off, particularly in the summer, they are paying for my Doctorate, and the prospects for advancement look pretty good. But God’s call was too strong to ignore. We must use faith over reasoning!
Philip was just an ordinary laymen. But God was going to use him in a mighty way. He was going to lead a very strategic man to Christ. This man would open up all of North Africa for the gospel.
Mr. Kimball was a SS teacher. He
led D.L. Moody to Christ. Moody, some of you may not have heard of him, was
kind like Billy Graham. But Moody was not sophisticated like Billy Graham.
Moody was an orphan at the age of 4. He was never afforded a great
education. In fact, did you know that the last letter Moody wrote contained
over 40 grammatical errors. He never did learn the Kings English grammar
real well, but he served the King well! He was used of God greatly in
America and Europe for Christ.
Moody was preaching in Europe on one occasion and he met a man named C.T.
Studd who was a great athlete in his day. He was a star in Cricket. He was a
member of what was called the Cambridge 11, a very exclusive club. He was
also a very wealthy man. This man had it all. When he heard Moody preach,
God called him. He resigned from the Cambridge 11, and joined what was known
as the Cambridge 7. They went to China and began one of the mightiest
mission movements in history. Studd was asked one time what motivated him to
leave his wealth and prestige he said, “if Christ be God and died for me
than there is no sacrifice I can make to great for me to make for Him.” Is
that our attitude?
God’s ways are unknown. Philip traveled where God led him. God’s ways are also unexplained. God didn’t tell Philip what he was going to do upfront.
Now this Ethiopian was a wealthy man whom God led to be in Philip’s path and the Spirit of God led Philip face to face with this man. Now listen, we have to be careful that we are not so busy with our everyday lives that we go right past opportunities that God puts in our path!
*So to be God’s vessel you must perceive the call of God and:
2. You must preach the Christ of God – vv. 30-35
You say well, I’m a woman I can’t preach or I don’t have the ability to preach. I’m not talking about preaching from a pulpit I’m talking about sharing Christ.
Acts 8:30
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
Notice that Philip did not walk, but he moved with haste. When God calls us we best not delay. Delayed obedience is disobedience. I remember growing up my dad would call my name, usually he was in his office, and it was my job to come to him and to come swiftly. I remember saying to him once, why don’t you come to me instead of me coming to you. He said “because I’m the dad and you are the son.” Well, friend God is our Father and we best heed his call.
Now their culture was different from ours. In that culture people generally read aloud. And so Philip heard this man reading from Isaiah. Now the Ethiopian did not know Hebrew, but he knew Greek and was reading from what is called the Septuagint—which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Now this man was what the Jews would call a “God-fearer.” A God-fearer was a man who was somewhat religious or at least interested in religious things, but was not a Jew by circumcision.
And Philip said, "Do you understand what you are reading?” Could you say that? Would you be able to explain Scripture to people? You should. That is why I try to preach expositionally. It is my goal that when you leave each week that if someone asked you about the verses we just covered that you could explain it to them.
Acts 8:31-35
And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
Philip preached Christ. He did not preach to this man some liberation theology or sociological bunk. He didn’t talk Ethiopian politics, he preached Christ!
The gospel is simple. We should be able to preach the gospel without making it complicated. The gospel is glorious simple, and simply glorious!
He gave this man 3 important facts:
1. Philip showed this man that he was a sinner.
v. 33 is alluding to Isaiah 53:8 which says that Christ “was stricken for the transgression” of His people.
Isaiah 53:8
By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
We have people today who try to witness without making it clear to people that they are sinners. It is impossible to share the gospel without making it clear that the person is a sinner.
A king who visited a ship where prisoner had to pull on the oars. The king asked one such prisoner, “why are you here.” The man said I am not guilty of anything, I was framed. The king said that is terrible. The king asked another man why he was there. And he said, “I am innocent like that man. I was simply in a crowd when a crime was committed and I was arrested with the others, please have mercy on me.” And the king went from one man to another and they all had the same type of story. But one man said sir, I am here because I am a criminal. I have sinned against my God, my king, and my fellow man. The king said you should not be around all of these other honest men. You are free to go!
2. Philip showed Him that Christ had died for his sins. v. 32
Philip explained the problem of sin, and now explains the solution to that problem. Without a problem you don’t need a solution. This is why we must let people know that they are sinners.
Acts 8:32
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.
3. Philip showed him that salvation is by grace through faith. v. 35
Philip preached Jesus, that is, the gospel to him.
As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"
[And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."]
And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
*So to be God’s vessel you must perceive the call of God, you must preach the Christ of God, and:
III. You must practice the commands of God – vv. 36-40
Acts 8:36-40
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?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 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. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Now I love this. What great truths we can glean from this statement. Philip had explained baptism to this man, but he apparently did not pressure this man into being baptized. He allowed the Spirit of God to work on this man’s heart.
My father grew up Catholic. He was saved when he was about 40. He was disgusted that all his life he had been taught man’s rituals. So when he was first saved he heard the Baptist preacher talk about baptism, but he refused to do anything that appeared to be a man-made ritual. It was about a year later when he was baptized. He decided to be baptized because of what he read in Scripture. We must let God do His work. I fear that many are pushed into baptism and they don’t have a genuine faith.
But Philip said sure you can be baptized “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” Remember Simon did not believe with all of his heart. But notice the Ethiopians comment. This is remarkable. He said “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” What he was saying is that he believed that Jesus was God! Why is so great? Well, obviously Philip had taught Him some Christology! Philip taught him about the person of Christ, and he did this in a short period of time.
Acts 8:38
And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
Now we can notice some important things here as well. Philip did not make this man “jump through a bunch of hoops” to be baptized. He didn’t run it through this council or that committee. Also, we see that they both got “into the water.”
This is a perfect picture of believer’s baptism. This is why we don’t baptize infants. You are to be baptized after you are saved.. Being baptized before you believe in Christ is like having your funeral before you are born.
