Taken By the Spirit

BIBLE STUDY #790- CHURCH IN THE HOUSES TUESDAY NOV 5 - NOV 11, 2013

Topic: “Taken By the Spirit” Acts 8:26-40 Philip was very busy preaching and watching the wonders that were occurring, well in that moment there was a great movement of people repenting. The people in the city of Samaria were receiving the Lord’s power; wonderful things were being seen there on the Lord’s behalf. But, an angel spoke to Philip saying: “Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26) The angel gave him orders on how to get there. In spite of the great acceptance of the gospel in Samaria, he was sent through a lonely and deserted path. Philip was sent by the Lord to go to a place where there were no inhabitants; he was headed to a place that was completely isolated. He would go in obedience to God’s mandate, from Samaria which was so active and occupied, to a far and solitary desert. I don’t know if Philip was being tested in his faith, the case is that this man of God walked without worries of greatness. It was certain; he went where the angel sent him without knowing what he was going to do in the desert. In obedience to the revelation Philip left a city that was inhabited and fertile for the gospel in a complete inhabited place. But, it so happened that somewhere on the path Philip met with a caravan that was travelling on that road. One of the persons in the caravan was an eunuch; he was the main person in charge of the administration of the treasure that belonged to a woman named Candace, who was the queen of the Ethiopians. Possibly, the eunuch was a converted Jewish, proselyte of the Judaic faith. We are inferring that this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship for the Day of Pentecost. “Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuch who keeps my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” (Isaiah 56:3-8) For the celebration of the festivity of Pentecost, 50 days had to go by after the Passover; that day concluded the time of the Passover. Then, we can see that the eunuch was acquainted with the Word, he loved the Word, and well he had approached the Lord. And in response God sent Philip to give him the good news of salvation. This man had done everything as ordered according to the law; on his way he was recreating himself in the scriptures. He was doing this out loud as this is a custom in the Orient and Philip heard him. Now comes the good result in the obedience of one man; obedience for leaving everything to go where God ordered him even if he did not know the whole divine plan. The Spirit understands that Philip would do everything he was ordered to do. Philip took the road to the desert and now he would arrive with the direction of the Spirit to that man who was seeking Jesus, even without knowing. The Spirit told him: “Get there and join the cart,” and specified what Philip would have to do (vs.29). How docile! With a humble expression the eunuch responded: “And how can I if someone does not teach me?” He sat Philip beside him to receive what was going to be eternal life in his life. It is the Spirit that handles everything in the right time and place; He fixed it so that Philip would be in the desert in that precise moment, and at the same time the eunuch would be reading that fragment of the scriptures and that he would be going to the Passover feast. That both, the eunuch and Philip, would be exactly on that part of the road. That is the capacity of the Spirit, it takes on everything, one merely only has to obey! That eunuch man was docile; he was able to see Philip as greater than him to speak to him. Who better than Philip who knew Jesus crucified for the sins of mankind! He must have heard of Jesus over there in Jerusalem, but I assure you that it wasn’t through the mouth of someone who knew him. Who could have been working in the life of that man? The Spirit of God! The one who sent Philip to him guiding him directly to the road of the caravan, the one who guided him to read the verses in Isaiah and now takes him to the baptism. The Spirit initiated and completed the new life of the eunuch in Jesus Christ.

This is how Philip’s work ended with the eunuch, and the Spirit captivated him. This is how Philip disappeared miraculously. Philip did not fear what the Spirit would do to him since he depended totally on the Spirit. Philip was not a common man; he lived a life totally docile so that the Spirit would guide him. The eunuch no longer cared for Philip, now his life also belonged to the Holy Spirit. From now on the Spirit would also lead him, well he could not turn back, and he no longer had Philip near him. Now he was a new and joyful man! God does wonders in the lives of those who are willing and are attentive to what He wants to do for them and through them. Amen.