SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/17/2017
9:01 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Sovereign Work of the Spirit”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Acts 8:25-26
Message of the
verses: “25 So, when they had
solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to
Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 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.)”
In our last SD we only looked at the introduction to
these verses and so in today’s SD we will look at these verses.
In verse 25 we see that the two disciples, Peter and John
left Samaria and headed back to Jerusalem, and as they were on their way back
they were preaching the gospel to many of the Samaritan villages on their way
back. I suppose that seeing the results
that Philip had they were then encouraged to stop and preach in the different
towns along the way back to Jerusalem.
Perhaps God not only did a work in the hearts of the Samaritans, but
also did a work in the hearts of Peter and John, something that as we continue
to look at Acts we will see more of.
Verse 26 moves back to talking to what was going on with
Philip as Philip hears a message from an angel of the Lord who tells him to “go
south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” As we will look at who Philip will meet on
this road we can be sure that the circumstances that were to lead to the eunuch’s
salvation were sovereignly and also specifically arranged by the Spirit of
God.
John MacArthur writes “Gaza was one of the five chief
cities of the Philistines, along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath. Old Gaza had been destroyed early in the
first century B. C. and a new city was built nearer the coast. A road from Jerusalem to Egypt, however,
still ran through the ruins of old Gaza.
Luke’s footnote that this is a desert road underscores the strangeness
of the Spirit’s command to Philip. There
were two roads from Jerusalem to Gaza, and the Spirit commands Philip to take
the one that was seldom used (Simon J. Kistemaker). It is possible to translate the Greek phrase kata mesembrian (toward the south) ‘at
noon’ (I. Howard Marshall). That
rendering would ‘make the divine command to Philip all the more unusual and
perplexing: at noon the road would be
deserted of travelers because of the heat’ (Marshall).”
As we look at these direction that the Holy Spirit gave
to Philip we have to believe that who he found would not be some kind of
accidental encounter. I have to say that
this is what is called “A Divine Appointment,” and I can truly say that there
is nothing that thrills my heart more
than having a divine appointment with some sinner whom God has brought into my
life in order to tell them about their need for the Savior.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “James.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What prophecy did Elisha make
regarding food after the Syrians had besieged Samaria for a long time?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/17/2017 9:21 PM
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