Philip was caught away by the Holy Spirit and seen no more by the Ethiopian eunuch. But he appeared at Azotus, a good 15 miles away from Gaza. (approx 24km)
It is a common understanding amongst many that Philip was "teleported" away. We do not know what exactly happened, but it is inconsequential. I personally take it to be a miracle and awesome work of the Holy Spirit.
Prior to this incident, Philip was in the city of Samaria preaching the Word of God fervently, snatching many souls back for salvation, converting families and individuals.
The work grew so prosperous, that even Peter and John were sent to Samaria to assist in the ministry.
In spite of the prosperous and flourishing growth of the gospel in Samaria, God had other plans for Philip.
Big Plans.
For in Philip's humble acceptance of the Holy Spirit's motivation and instruction, the Ethiopian eunuch was able to fully hear, understand, confess and accept the gospel of salvation. And we know that the Ethiopian church came about because of this.
So if Philip was expedited by the Holy Spirit over a spatial difference of 15 miles, from Gaza to Azotus; why wasn't he given the same luxury to go from Samaria to Gaza in the first place?
I got some answers during last night's sermon:
1) Philip's ministry was flourishing in the city of Samaria. Yet, God's plans are not what man can conceive. We being the sideline spectators, know the story as it is told, front to back, back to front.
But for Philip, whom the story had yet to unfold, what would he have thought?
To leave the important nascent evangelical region of Samaria for an off-road journey was probably at the bottom of his shopping list.
But did Philip complain?
No.
He was far too humble for that. He knew that God's work and instructions were above all.
He understood that he had to heed the call of the Holy Spirit.
2) Moreover, Luke emphasizes that the road from Jerusalem downwards to Gaza was desert. (Acts 8 : 26)
So from an area of bustling civilisation and commercial activities, Philip was called to go to No-Man's Land, a dusty wilderness. If we are scratching our heads at this, imagine the migraine that Philip would have had!
Would we understand God's purpose in such a situation? Philip probably didn't. But he was obedient and that mattered most.
Saying "Yes" to that bewildering instruction allowed the Holy Spirit guidance to work fully within him.
And the rest as they always say, is history.
3) I thought of some reasons of my own so here they are:
The journey in solitude would have given Philip ample time to himself and God.
He would have confided in God and continued to rely on Him through prayers.
After the many busy days of human interaction, this was a chance for him to catch a breather and catch up with himself.
As Philip was called to do so during his time, we should do the same once in a while. Go away from the crowd, the busy society, the complexities of growing up in an adulterated world, to truly seek some rest and spiritual renewal with God.
The journey was probably a complex obstacle course. Ups and downs, slopes and tracks. Whoever said that a desert was going to be a straight, easy path? Furthermore, it was a path that had no clear destination or goal. It was not stated in the clause that Philip would be coming into contact with the Ethiopian. Philip only found out later as the plan was gradually revealed to him.
Perhaps, the Lord had meant for Philip to go away from Samaria where there was joy, dancing and celebration for Christ's Salvation had been freely preached.
Lest he be caught up in the joyful praise of God, which could so easily be twisted by the accuser, to tempt him into believing that it was his own effort that converted the Samaritans, God knew what was best for Philip and used the desert journey to train him to further perfection.
Philip did not allow himself to be caught up in the joy and human praise in Samaria. He heeded the the Lord's calling, set out on the lonely, danger-fretted desert road. Eventually, he was caught away by the Holy Spirit for an exhilirating experience to Azotus.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Beginning of Sarcasm?
I came across this really fun cartoon. See if you can find the simple irony and how it relates with the title.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Different Seasons of Life
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The 1st son went in the winter,
The 2nd in the spring,
The 3rd in summer,
The 4th son in the fall.
When they had all gone and came back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The 1st son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The 2nd son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The 3rd son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The 4th son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pain, sorrow, failings, pleasure, joy, fulfilment and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it's cold winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.
Above all, God doesn't judge us by a snapshot moment to determine what kind of child we are, but by the sum total of all these snapshots that He has taken over the years.
When we finally see the snapshots, would we see our progression to become His intended useful vessel?
May all our photos and portraits, through the many seasons, include Christ in all that we do.
The 1st son went in the winter,
The 2nd in the spring,
The 3rd in summer,
The 4th son in the fall.
When they had all gone and came back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The 1st son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The 2nd son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The 3rd son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The 4th son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pain, sorrow, failings, pleasure, joy, fulfilment and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it's cold winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.
Above all, God doesn't judge us by a snapshot moment to determine what kind of child we are, but by the sum total of all these snapshots that He has taken over the years.
When we finally see the snapshots, would we see our progression to become His intended useful vessel?
May all our photos and portraits, through the many seasons, include Christ in all that we do.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
Communion Silence
Though we so often have the Holy Communion sacrament in Singapore, I still find it amazing each time i partake of it. It isn't a routine to me, but an assurance of salvation that the Lord had promised.
It isn't very often that the Holy Communion concludes out-of-sync with the congregational hymn-singing.
(More often than not, the closing of the Communion and the hymn-singing is Singaporean-timed to perfection to end in-sync :P )
This time however, it did not, and it gave me time to reflect and refresh my heart in the Lord's Beauty.
As the Holy Communion drew to a close, I witnessed the church ministers placing the fine white cloth over the Communion table. I wondered to myself how many of us stood in amazement of the scene before us.
Or maybe it was just me and my wandering mind again! :)
"Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb..." -Mark 15:46
Joseph of Arimathea was a prominent Council member but he went beyond his OB-markers to honour Christ. In his mind, there was was the fear of political backlash from his fellow Jews but he "took courage" and did what he set out to accomplish.
Luke recorded that Joseph was a "good and just man" who "did not consent" to the poisonous actions of his fellow Jews.
What he did however, was part of the salvation plan of God. Together with Nicodemus, Joseph wrapped the body of Jesus with spices and fine linen, thereby according Christ a deserved Jewish man's honorable burial.
Joseph and Nicodemus worked together to accomplish that final act for the physical body of Christ. Both of them never expected that their actions would set off a chain of magnificent events afterward.
As they labored in the silence, wrapping His body with fine white linen; adding myrrh and aloes of a 100 pounds, what was on their minds?
Perhaps they felt a sense of loss:
To Nicodemus, Christ was the Rabbi who pointed him in the way of eternal life.
To Joseph, Christ was a teacher who was wholly blameless and fully righteous.
I'm inclined to believe that all they had on their minds was: "What next? Was all this merely one grandiose dream?"
It isn't very often that the Holy Communion concludes out-of-sync with the congregational hymn-singing.
(More often than not, the closing of the Communion and the hymn-singing is Singaporean-timed to perfection to end in-sync :P )
This time however, it did not, and it gave me time to reflect and refresh my heart in the Lord's Beauty.
As the Holy Communion drew to a close, I witnessed the church ministers placing the fine white cloth over the Communion table. I wondered to myself how many of us stood in amazement of the scene before us.
Or maybe it was just me and my wandering mind again! :)
"Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb..." -Mark 15:46
Joseph of Arimathea was a prominent Council member but he went beyond his OB-markers to honour Christ. In his mind, there was was the fear of political backlash from his fellow Jews but he "took courage" and did what he set out to accomplish.
Luke recorded that Joseph was a "good and just man" who "did not consent" to the poisonous actions of his fellow Jews.
What he did however, was part of the salvation plan of God. Together with Nicodemus, Joseph wrapped the body of Jesus with spices and fine linen, thereby according Christ a deserved Jewish man's honorable burial.
Joseph and Nicodemus worked together to accomplish that final act for the physical body of Christ. Both of them never expected that their actions would set off a chain of magnificent events afterward.
As they labored in the silence, wrapping His body with fine white linen; adding myrrh and aloes of a 100 pounds, what was on their minds?
Perhaps they felt a sense of loss:
To Nicodemus, Christ was the Rabbi who pointed him in the way of eternal life.
To Joseph, Christ was a teacher who was wholly blameless and fully righteous.
I'm inclined to believe that all they had on their minds was: "What next? Was all this merely one grandiose dream?"
Both were men of standing in the Jewish community but they had willingly risked trouble to be His secret disciples. Were their dreams now dashed forever? For now, that did not matter.
All they wanted was to accord Christ one last honorable consecration.
Joseph took the body of Christ and buried it his tomb, where no one had ever lain before. Closing the stone to the tomb, they all hurried home for it was the day of Preparation.
____________________________________________________
As the church ministers drew the cloth over the communion table once again, I'm reminded of His immense love for you, for me, for us all.
The King on the Cross was obedient to the death, His blood was shed, for us all.
He descended into the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights, fulfilling His own prophecy, and afterwards, rising again to the resurrection glory.
- It was through human hands that Christ was given an honorable burial.
But it is through His cleansing blood in Baptism that we gain life eternal.
- It was a brand new, empty tomb in which His body was buried.
It is only in an undefiled heart of ours that He can come in to tarry.
- Joseph and Nicodemus drew the linen shroud over His body and they hurried home with their hearts heavy.
The church ministers drew the cloth over the communion table in silence and my heart gave Him glory.
Glory, for He had indeed resurrected, promising us that one day we would all be able to drink the cup anew with Him, in His Kingdom.
Oh, the wondrous silence that caught me.
How Blissful, how Peaceful.
It was in the Silence that I recalled His Assurance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)