“The Call to Do More” #872
Acts 8:26-39 KJV
I. Introduction:
A. The scripture lesson today highlights the work of Philip in the church following the ascension of Christ.
1. Philip was doing a lot for the cause of Christ.
a. The first we hear about Philip was when he was chosen as one of the first special servants in the church at Jerusalem. We think of Philip and the others as the first deacons. Philip and the others had the responsibility for being sure that the needs of everyone in the church were met.
b. But Philip’s work didn’t stop there. When persecution came to the church at Jerusalem Philip didn’t run and hide. He moved to Samaria and expanded his ministry.
1) And Philip had great results there.
2) The scripture says that because of the work of Philip “there was great joy in that city”.
2. With all that Philip was doing you might not expect that he would be asked to do anything more, but he was.
a. In spite of all the good that Philip was doing in Samaria, God called him to leave there and go down to Gaza.
b. It was there that Philip met and baptized the man from Ethiopia.
c. And of course, if you read the rest of the Book of Acts Philip’s work didn’t end there either.
B. It seems that the story of Philip raises an interesting question—When is a servant of God doing enough.
1. Wasn’t Philip doing enough?
a. Philip was a deacon in Jerusalem. Wasn’t that enough? Obviously not.
b. Philip was a missionary in Samaria. Wasn’t that enough? Obviously God didn’t think so.
2. And this is a question we, as Christians, like to ask concerning ourselves— Aren’t we doing enough?
a. When we ask that question we are sure that the answer is “yes”. If we were not sure we were doing enough we would not ask.
b. But the Lord might not agree with us. Usually when we think we are doing enough, the Lord wants us to do more.
3. But, then we ask, “Lord, how can I possibly do anymore? I’m doing this and this and this. How can I do anymore?” Philip probably asked that too. God’s word gives us the answer.
II. Message:
A. One Key to Doing More is Hearing the Voice of God.
1. Someone said one time “if you want someone to do something for you, go ask the busiest person you can find”. I believe God must agree with that principle.
a. I’m sure there were many in that new movement called Christianity who were not doing anything.
1) Even though Christianity was new the followers of Jesus already numbered in the thousands.
2) But, the names of those who are mentioned as being really involved are very few.
3) We wonder why God didn’t call on some of the ones who were less busy?
a) And maybe God did.
b) But maybe those were not listening.
b. Maybe this was the difference between Philip and many of the other Christians at this time.
1) Philip was busy, but he never quit listening for the call of God.
2) We know Philip was listening because we know Philip responded.
2. As it was in Philip’s day, so it is in our day. The key to hearing the voice of God is listening for the voice of God.
a. In the world today listening is becoming a lost art. Today most things are so loud that we can hear them without intentionally listening.
1) TV commercials are a good example.
2) The politicians are another. They just keep on and on.
b. Friends, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that God can get our attention when He wants to.
1) One day He will. The trumpet will sound. The sky will be rolled back and the Lord will have everyone’s attention.
2) But until that day comes it is important for us to listen. Ill. 1 Kings 19:11ff. Read
c. One problem that we have that keeps us from hearing the voice of God is all the inference. But, that is our fault. We can get away from it if we want to.
d. Another problem is that we don’t want to hear the voice of God in the first place. We are afraid if we hear that God will be asking us to do something. We don’t want to do anything so we don’t listen.
3. One key to doing more for God is listening to, hearing the voice of God.
B. A Second Key to Doing More for God is Heeding the Voice of God. Listening alone is not enough. Hearing alone is not enough. We have to actually respond and do.
1. That is what Philip did. He did what God asked him to do.
a. It didn’t matter that things very going well for Philip in Samaria.
b. It didn’t matter that Philip might have had other plans.
c. It didn’t matter that it was hot in the desert.
d. Philip heeded the call of God and went where God asked him to go.
2. Somewhere along the way it seems that we today have learned some behaviors that make it harder for us to heed the voice of God?
a. For one we have learned to ask “why”.
1) The best I can recall from Scripture it didn’t used to be that way.
a) Abraham didn’t ask why.
b) Noah didn’t ask why.
c) Moses tried to make excuses by even he didn’t ask why.
d) Matthew didn’t ask why.
e) Paul didn’t ask why.
2) Who taught us to ask God “why” when He calls us?
b. And not only have we learned to ask why we have learned that there is this thing called “our part”.
1) This comes from our childhood. When the candy was divided we learned that we were supposed to get our part.
2) When the work was divided we learned that we were not supposed to do more than our part.
3) So we take this learning over into our relationship with God and we tell God that we have done our part.
4) Can you imagine how comical and ridiculous it would be for a mule to stick his head out of the stable one morning and say to the farmer, “you go get the horse today. I’d already done my part.” Does the mule have any right to say that?
5) Do we have any right to say that the God who created, loved us, died for us, clothed us, fed us and blessed us beyond measure? Don’t you think that sometimes God must laugh when we talk about our part?
c. Another key to doing more for God is simply doing what God asked us to do. It may seem big, it may seem small. It may seem easy, it may seem very hard. But God knows why He called us instead of someone else. And God knows how what He is asking us to do fits into His redemptive plan.
3. We can do more if we simple heed His word.
C. A Third Key to Doing More is Heralding (proclaiming, speaking) the Word of God. Someone said one time, “preach Christ, use words if you have to.” Of course, setting a good example is important. Of course, people notice when we do the right thing. Of course, people see our dedication to Christ and His church. They see our lack of dedication too. But still sometimes a Christian just has to speak.
1. When Philip met the Ethiopian in the desert he spoke to him.
a. Notice what Philip didn’t say.
1) He didn’t say, “Man, don’t you know you are going to Hell?”
2) He didn’t say, “Fellow, what are you doing out here in the desert? Don’t you know you ought to be in church?”
3) Philip didn’t offend the man.
b. Look what Philip said. “Do you understand what you are reading?” (And, of course the Holy Spirit guided him in that.)
1) With that, Philip did not offend the man.
2) But, Philip did engage the man in conversation. That gave Philip the opportunity to tell the man about Jesus. And that is what the Ethiopian wanted to hear.
2. Sometimes the spoken word is still needed.
a. No our words should never offend or embarrass or back a person into a corner.
b. But, sometimes we meet people who need to know and want to know what we know about Jesus. We need to tell them.
III. Conclusion:
A. Even when Philip had baptized the Ethiopian his word was not finished. The next thing we learn is the Philip is preaching somewhere else. He is still out there doing more.
B. Is there some more that we could be doing for the cause of Christ?
1. We can do more if we hear His voice.
2. We can do more if we heed His voice.
3. We can do more if we tell the Good News.
