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Sermon Delivered by Thor Carden
April, 2008
Love Bible Church
Madison, TN
You have heard of, "Look before you leap." This sermon is about listening with the same caution. It is about being a good listener. It is about listening to God, listening to others, and listening to yourself. As a city boy I did not learn to listen. There is so much noise in the city, I learned to tune things out instead. I remember going out and the country when I was young. I was sitting on a porch with a country boy. He told me someone was coming. I saw no one, but sure enough, someone came around the corner. This happened more than once, and I asked him how he knew. He explained that heard them coming. Once he told me that, I could hear them coming, too. Anyone can hear noise, but to listen with understanding requires paying attention.
Let's look at Acts 8:26-38.
Acts 8:26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, "Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a desert road.)
An angel speaks, and Philip listens. Not all angels are good angels. Not all messengers from the spiritual world tell the truth. We have to assume that Philip knew how to tell the difference. Can you? In 1st John 4:1-3 it explains how to tell whether a spirit is telling the truth or not. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
A desert or wilderness road is not to be traveled without preparation. If you have ever traveled much you have seen them. It is the one where there is a big sign that says, "No food, drink, or gas for the next 57 miles." That is a desert road.
Acts 8:27-29 "So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, 'Go up and join this chariot.'
Now it is not just an angel, but the Holy Spirit who speaks to Philip. How do you know when God is speaking to you? It takes practice. When I was in Marine Corps basic training the DI's liked to play a game with us. There would be several platoons close together and all the DI's would start barking orders. We were supposed to recognize the voice of our own DI and listen to him only. If we failed in this, they taught us new words, and new ways to exercise. We soon learned to recognize their voices. If you want to recognize the voice of God, you must spend time in the Scriptures. God will never say anything contrary to them. He speaks through them.
Acts 8:30 "Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' "
If I had an angel speak to me, and then had God speak to me, that is probably not what I would have done. If that had been me, and I came up on a believer reading the Bible, I would immediately start talking about what had happened to me. I would be saying, "An angel told me to come here! God told me to join you! Isn't that amazing!" My experience is that most people are not much different than me. We are our own favorite topic. If you listen to someone long enough they will tell you every thing about themselves. Not so, Philip.
Philip had been sent to this Ethiopian by God. Philip knew that if this was all about Philip, God did not need to send him out here. He understood what was happening was about the Ethiopian, not about Philip. Instead of busting into a big speech about his own experiences, he focuses his attention on the other person.
Acts 8:31 "And he said, 'Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."
If that had been me, I would assume I was sent to guide this man, and I would start sharing with him, my wisdom. Not so, Philip. He was not done listening yet.
Acts 8:32-35 "Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
'HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.' [from Isaiah 53:7-8]
The eunuch answered Philip and said, 'Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?' Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him."
Philip listened until he was asked a specific question. Then, starting with where his listener was, he told him about Jesus' silence before Herod, and he preached Christ. Then the Ethiopian accepted Jesus as his Savior.
Acts 8:36-38 "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."
There are about eleventy-dozen and a half lessons to be learned from this passage. Let's look at a few.
Notice that God does not reveal to Philip the entire path all at once. The angel tells him to go to a place. Philip obeys. The Spirit tells him to join himself to a chariot. Philip obeys. The Ethiopian asks him to join him. Philip agrees. The Ethiopian asks him a question. Philip answers. Philip has no idea how it is all going to end when he starts out. He has prepared Himself with knowledge of the Gospel. He has learned to recognize the voice of God and he obeys. God takes Philip to a place where he is useful. If you want to be useful to God be prepared with the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and practice listening to His voice and obeying Him.
Like I said before, if you listen long enough people will tell you everything about themselves. They will tell you much more than you want to hear. But if you are patient, they will tell you their deepest needs and desires. Once they do, you can help them. Like the Philip did with the Ethiopian eunuch, you can start with where they are, and lead them to Jesus Christ. If they will accept Him, He will cleanse them with His blood, as He has done you. Jesus took the punishment for our sins on the cross. He was resurrected showing our forgiveness. Clothed in His righteousness we can enter the throne room of God, who spoke the universe into existence. But if you try to lead them, without learning where they are, they will not follow you to Christ.
But it is not time to stop listening! Most of us go before God with a list of things we want. "I want one of those, three of these, and two of the other thing," we say, "And while you are at it, hurry up." There is nothing wrong with asking God for stuff. It is expected. You can talk to Him about anything. You can even tell Him if you are mad at Him about something. As long as you tell Him the truth, He will listen to anything you have to say. But you need to return the courtesy. He knows what you need before you ask, but it is important to talk it over with Him. You may think you need something that is actually bad for you. Listen to God! He knows best. Listen before you decide things. Listen before you say the wrong thing. Listen before you leap.
Finally, listen to yourself. If all you ever talk about is yourself, and your poorly informed opinions of others, no one will hear a thing you say. They have tuned you out as so much noise, long ago. Is that what you want?
(See also Proverbs 18:13 and James 1:19)