Philip Catechizes the Ethiopian, Exeter College Chapel, Oxford
I love the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8. In a nutshell it is a story of Philip telling this man the good news of Jesus Christ, but it is much more. There are details like how Philip runs in verse 30 when the Spirit tells him to go to the chariot. He doesn’t just walk, but he runs in obedience to the Spirit. This story is a great testament to Jesus’ fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in that Philip teaches Isaiah as speaking about Jesus. There is great urgency from the Ethiopian at hearing and believing the good news as he wants to immediately be baptized. Then at the end Philip is carried away by the Spirit never to be seen by the other man again, and then finds himself in another town.
Like I said, a great story. And it also a great challenge to us to heed the words of 1 Peter:
…Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Would we have been prepared to instruct someone reading Isaiah with such questions? Are we equipped when someone asks us to tell them about our faith? Can we do it and will we do it with such enthusiasm that we run to those opportunities?
About one year ago I preached on a text we read this week from Acts 9. It is the famous conversion of Saul, but instead of placing focus there, I gave more attention to an overlooked character of the story, Ananias. He’s the one given the task by God to welcome in a great enemy of the early church, the persecutor, Saul.
I set the stage like this:
Could you imagine? God comes to him in a vision, speaking his name, and Ananias responds, “Here I am Lord!” Then as the conversation continues he’s a little caught off guard. “You want me to do what? To Saul? I’ve heard of all the evil he is doing. You do realize that he has the authority to bind all (and by all, that means me!) who call on your name?” This has to be terrifying for him. We have the benefit of knowing the full story of Saul, how he is transformed by God and becomes a great servant of Jesus Christ. We know him much more as Paul the Apostle. Yet all Ananias knew was Saul, Saul the Persecutor of Christians, Saul the Enemy of the Church. Who really had persecuted the young Christian church more than he? Who had directly overseen more arrests and imprisonments? And that Saul is the one Ananias must lay hands on and heal.
Ananias has a tough task ahead. It boils down to the call we all have to love our enemies, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5. We aren’t to return love to only those who love us. No, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Saul fits that description quite nicely.
I finished the message with what we can learn from Ananias’ example of following Christ’s command, and in truth, Christ’s model of loving enemies.
…I don’t claim to excel at loving my neighbors, let alone loving my enemies. This is a challenge for me. But I don’t think many of us have enemies we encounter greater than what Ananias had in Saul. I don’t think our excuses for not obeying Christ’s command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute would match up with any of the excuses I’m sure Ananias could have come up with. But he didn’t make excuses. Christ is Lord, he trusted in him–he trusted that no matter how things might have appeared, God is in control, and he obeyed.
Gradually the memory technique gives way—having acted like a scaffold—and you just know the contents. There are other positive things about this: the process of learning forces a depth of pattern perception that means you *truly* engage with the material.
Have you ever memorized verses of the Bible? Or how about asking it like this: Have you memorized any Scripture since being a child in Sunday school classes?
If you have a desire to memorize, let me know. Let’s challenge each other to do so. It’s harder to do it alone, so maybe the two (or more?) of us can do it together and get our brains working hard, in order to better understand and retain God’s Word in us.
Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book the Pentateuch, so well done at making it this far. As you begin reading it, I thought I’d give you a bit of background.
Deuteronomy tells us in the opening line of its author, Moses. These first books are commonly called the Law of Moses and are attributed to him (eg. Matthew 19:7-8, Acts 3:22-23), but there is debate as to what exactly this includes. Due to some of the literary formatting and content such as an account of Moses’ own death, it is thought there is additional help from editors or authors to take the words of Moses and fit them into a greater narrative.
The book begins where the previous left off, and ends there as well, on the plains of Moab (Dt. 34). It is a time for Israel to prepare itself for what will come in Joshua, the delayed conquest of the land that God had promised them, and for Moses to transfer leadership and give his parting words. We find in Deuteronomy another instance of the Ten Commandments and a renewal of the covenant with God.
Moses empfängt die Gesetzestafeln, c. 840
Think about the overall story we’ve seen so far. God has made a world for us to live in and it was good. But we sinned. We disobeyed and turned from God, bringing sin into creation. Having been cast out of the garden, you’d think the people would be alone. Yet God does not forget humanity. He chooses for himself a people and calls Abraham out to be the father of many nations. As we read, it isn’t because he was a perfect man–nor was Isaac or Jacob, or the other so-called patriarchs. God chose us and he remains perfectly faithful as we are too often faithless.
God promises a land to his people, but there is an interlude in Egypt during which the Israelites are slaves. By God’s strong hand he delivers them from bondage, showing his might to Israel’s enemies. He guides them out of oppression toward a promise of a land to call their own. All along the way the people grumble and complain, looking back favorably on Egypt. Working through his servant, Moses, God disciplines his people, but never leaves us. He gives us laws to guide us and sets up camp right in the midst of the people.
He actively guides them to the doorstep of the promised land, a land the scouts see is full of milk and honey, but also of formidable enemies. So even though God has been with them from the time of Abraham and literally camps with them in the tabernacle, their fear overwhelms them and they reject God’s will. So the promised land remains for God’s people a promise, but for a new generation. They wander one year for every day the scouts were in Canaan. For forty years they continue in the wilderness until, at the end of Numbers, their great numbers camp again at the doorstep.
Moses knows he will not enter with them, only Joshua and Caleb have that privilege from the generation that disobeyed. Deuteronomy is the book that further sets the scene for the final transition that began with Abraham and will come to fruition with Joshua. Israel are a people of the promise. God told Abraham to leave the land he knew and follow, and the people have been following with the hope of a land to call their own. And now in Deuteronomy, they are almost there.
I’m sure you’ve noticed as you’ve been reading these opening books of the Bible that God’s people are set apart. They are set apart with their beliefs and with their calling, but this also has physical manifestations. Israel is to remain distinct from the pagan nations and tribes that surround them.
One implication is with marriage and how Israelites should not intermarry. But texts like these have been used throughout history to support beliefs that stand against the text and against God’s will. This quote from a sermon by John Piper gets to the point quite clearly, but go on to read the rest of this sermon for a longer explanation about what segregations can and absolutely cannot stand:
The point was not to protect racial purity. The point was to protect religious purity. For example, Deuteronomy 7:3-4:
You shall not intermarry with [the nations]; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you.
The issue is not color mixing, or customs mixing, or clan identity. The issue is: will there be one common allegiance to the true God in this marriage or will there be divided affections? The prohibition in God’s word is not against interracial marriage, but against marriage between the true Israel, the church (from every people, tribe, and nation) and those who are not part of the true Israel, the church. That is, the Bible prohibits marriage between those who believe in Christ (the Messiah) and those who don’t (see 2 Corinthians 6:14).
We are in the home stretch of this Spring quarter. I hope you can dig deep and finish out strong as we now enter this week into the book of Deuteronomy. We’ve got some longer weeks ahead, but then our last week of quarter one will give us some time to breath as we have a lighter load.
So jump in and get going on that reading today. It makes such a difference if you do even just one chapter a day. That way you’re building up the habit, making God’s Word part of your routine.
This week I’ll post some helpful resources about the Deuteronomy and thoughts on Acts. If you have something you’d like covered, let me know. Deuteronomy is the last of what is called the Pentateuch, or in other words, the first five (penta, like pentagon) books of the Old Testament. Once we finish that book we’ll have read those first five pivotal books of the Old along with two gospels and what amounts to the start of the church in the New Testament in the book of Acts. All that plus over a quarter of the Psalms. Not bad for a quarter.
This is also a great time to be thinking about our summer and asking others to try Year in the Bible along with you, at least for a quarter.
First off, we’ve now completed double-digit weeks of Year in the Bible! Congratulations.
Back in the Old Testament, Numbers slows its pace down to tell the reader about the diviner, Balaam. He’s known for his abilities to discern spirits, speak oracles, and generally relate to the spiritual world. King Balak wants to use Balaam’s abilities to bring down curses upon the peoples of Israel. They are great in number and are looming at Balak’s doorstep. But God will not allow his people, whom he has blessed, to be cursed by Balaam.
Because of God’s will, Balaam says he will not go, but Balak pushes him again and again. Balaam eventually goes, but only once God allows him, and even then, he has a stern message for the diviner on the road.
Balaam is riding his old donkey, with which he seems to have shared many rides. But on this ride the donkey refuses to continue. An angel of God stands in their way. The donkey won’t succumb to Balaam who tries to drive him on becase the donkey knows better. Balaam gets angry until God opens the donkeys mouth to speak to him and then opens his eyes to see the angel. The great irony of this story is that the person who is known in the land as being able to see spiritual things is here blind, while a mere donkey can see what is right before them. How humbling for the diviner, and how revealing to us how spiritual understanding is given. God has to give it to us.
And that is what we see given to the whole church in Acts. God gives his own Spirit to the people and they are given speech, like the donkey, and they are shown all spiritual truth. God’s Spirit lives in believers now and that has changed everything.
Just think of the implications. Take a moment.
To look at one example, think about the selection of the disciple who replaces Judas. The disciples cast lots. After Pentecost, when the Spirit comes upon the church, do you see lots cast again?
It is amazing to live in a time in which we all have greater access than so-called diviners like Balaam, for God has made his dwelling place among us and in us by his Spirit.
Do you know those motivational posters folks hang up in their offices that say things like “ACHIEVEMENT” or “COURAGE”? Well, this edition of the minimal art from the Bible taken from the site, Being RKP, could have hung on the walls of the people in Numbers. What are we doing in the desert? What is all this wandering for? Then they look at this poster and buck up. It’s an Israelite motivational tool.
MILK AND HONEY, “Taste and See that the Lord is Good.”
As hokey as those posters can get, it is good to be reminded of our purpose and our goals. We should not walk aimlessly through life, but should always hold before us the hope that we have in Christ and seek to be obedient to his call upon our lives. The Israelites lose sight of goals and of their past, and in so doing are tossed about by the influences of the nations surrounding them.
Year in the Bible 