The Lord Working With Them in Evangelism
Introduction. The conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch is one of many examples of how Jesus continued to work with His church after He sat down at the right hand of God exalted. Philip was in Samaria working with the church there. Jesus needed him elsewhere. After the angel of the Lord told Phillip to “go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza,” He used providence and simple “time and chance” for everything else. He calculated the time and distance to bring Philip from Samaria to the road before the eunuch passed by. Philip was 40 miles to the South of Jerusalem while the road to Gaza led the eunuch southwest, away from Philip. The Lord knew exactly when the Eunuch would leave, how quickly he would be traveling and how long it would take Philip to get to just the right place on the road. (Acts 8; Ecc. 9:11)
With precise timing, Philip met the eunuch on the road at the moment he was reading Isaiah. Even the passage regarding the Messiah in chapter 53 had been planned and the eunuch was reading and pondering it when Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. This gave Philip the perfect opportunity to preach Jesus. Providence with time and chance were again revealed when, at the just the moment, as the eunuch was considering being baptized, the chariot came to a body of water. You can hear the excitement in his voice. “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
There is no doubt this is one of the many ways Jesus has fulfilled Mark’s final words: “they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. (Mk. 16:20). Matthew added “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20). Just as Jesus worked with them, He is working with us today and will continue to work with His disciples until the end of the age! Many other Scriptures prove and elaborate on this. First, Jesus told the church in Philadelphia, “See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” (Rev. 3:8-9). To those in Antioch, “the hand of the Lord was with them,” (Acts 11:20-21). Peter said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod.” (Acts 12:11).
Not only Jesus, but God and the Holy Spirit also worked with them: “the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2-3). After they returned from this work, “they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27-28). Later, “they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” and “they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. (Acts 16:6-7). They were being directed as they went to every nation. Paul knew: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:6-8)
While some might object that these were direct interventions, it doesn’t change the truth that God, Jesus and the Spirit were actively involved in the work of the growth and development of the church. It is this which will never change. We are not alone with only human strength to bring about God’s eternal purpose. God has the power to see into hearts and bring the teacher and the sinner together. It is unimportant whether His interventions are direct or through providence along with time and chance. It would be just as easy to do this without direct intervention. Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all prove God can work without any direct intervention or revelation to man. We must not forget Mordecai’s words to Esther that revealed God’s intervention in using natural means.
When Jesus told Paul not to be afraid, it was because He could read the hearts of all those who lived in Corinth. He knew those who would obey the gospel even before they heard it.
Nothing has changed. God reads hearts and knows thoughts. “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind.” (Jer. 17:10). He knows who will obey the gospel today just as He did then. We can count on Him to work with us. This is the reason why, regardless of how small or few the churches, no one will be missed. As the angel directed Philip to the Eunuch, the Holy Spirit directed Peter to Cornelius and Jesus directed Ananias to Saul of Tarsus, it can still be done today through “time and chance.”
What applications can we make today? Is Jesus working in our life as He did in the first century? Can we hope that we too might meet someone as Philip met the eunuch? Can seemingly chance encounters result in the same outcome as Ananias with Saul? When reading the Holy Spirit’s instructions on how to become “useful for the master,” how could we doubt that He still seeks to work with us today? If we purge and prepare ourselves, we will become a vessel of gold or silver, a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master and prepared for every good work.
Yet some still doubt. They lack the faith and trust to believe God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are working with us, helping us do a work that is far beyond our ability to do alone. There are 8.3 billion people alive today. If we sought to reach every one of them alone, it would take 345 million hours and 950,000 years to speak to each one. Without Jesus working with His disciples, no local church could reach them all. But with Jesus reading hearts and directing His body to fulfill God’s desire that all come to the knowledge of the truth and that none perish, it is not only possible, it is being done! How else could Paul say after only 30 years after Jesus death, the gospel “was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Col. 1:23)
After all the church in Jerusalem had experienced, they still faced the problem of doubt. After Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword, He also seized Peter. Truly the case seemed hopeless. He was to be executed the next day, being in a prison with an iron gate and bound with two chains between two soldiers with guards outside the door. There was no legal recourse and thus little hope (Acts 12:1-19). Yet they had not given up all hope for “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”
In the midst of these prayers, God acted. An angel of the Lord struck Peter on the side while he was sleeping. His chains fell off his hands, he was led past the first and the second guard posts, and through the iron gate which opened of its own accord. Certainly it was an amazing and unforeseen intervention. Even Peter “did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.”
After his escape, he came to “the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” After he “knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.” What response would we expect? Would they praise and thank God for Peter’s deliverance? No, first they tell the young girl “you are beside yourself” then, “it is his angel,” and finally when they did see him, “they were astonished.” It was inconceivable to them that God could answer their prayers. Before we pass judgment upon them, are we any different?
Conclusion. Jesus knew this would be a perpetual problem among His people. Using the parable of the unrighteous judge He sought to encourage His disciples “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” Yet even after the parable Jesus lamented: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:1-8). Prayer and God’s providential answers are difficult to understand. But every disciple must have the faith to live with an expectation of providence.
With precise timing, Philip met the eunuch on the road at the moment he was reading Isaiah. Even the passage regarding the Messiah in chapter 53 had been planned and the eunuch was reading and pondering it when Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. This gave Philip the perfect opportunity to preach Jesus. Providence with time and chance were again revealed when, at the just the moment, as the eunuch was considering being baptized, the chariot came to a body of water. You can hear the excitement in his voice. “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
There is no doubt this is one of the many ways Jesus has fulfilled Mark’s final words: “they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them. (Mk. 16:20). Matthew added “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20). Just as Jesus worked with them, He is working with us today and will continue to work with His disciples until the end of the age! Many other Scriptures prove and elaborate on this. First, Jesus told the church in Philadelphia, “See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.” (Rev. 3:8-9). To those in Antioch, “the hand of the Lord was with them,” (Acts 11:20-21). Peter said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod.” (Acts 12:11).
Not only Jesus, but God and the Holy Spirit also worked with them: “the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2-3). After they returned from this work, “they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27-28). Later, “they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” and “they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. (Acts 16:6-7). They were being directed as they went to every nation. Paul knew: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:6-8)
While some might object that these were direct interventions, it doesn’t change the truth that God, Jesus and the Spirit were actively involved in the work of the growth and development of the church. It is this which will never change. We are not alone with only human strength to bring about God’s eternal purpose. God has the power to see into hearts and bring the teacher and the sinner together. It is unimportant whether His interventions are direct or through providence along with time and chance. It would be just as easy to do this without direct intervention. Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all prove God can work without any direct intervention or revelation to man. We must not forget Mordecai’s words to Esther that revealed God’s intervention in using natural means.
- “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14)
When Jesus told Paul not to be afraid, it was because He could read the hearts of all those who lived in Corinth. He knew those who would obey the gospel even before they heard it.
- “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” (Acts 18:9-11)
Nothing has changed. God reads hearts and knows thoughts. “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind.” (Jer. 17:10). He knows who will obey the gospel today just as He did then. We can count on Him to work with us. This is the reason why, regardless of how small or few the churches, no one will be missed. As the angel directed Philip to the Eunuch, the Holy Spirit directed Peter to Cornelius and Jesus directed Ananias to Saul of Tarsus, it can still be done today through “time and chance.”
What applications can we make today? Is Jesus working in our life as He did in the first century? Can we hope that we too might meet someone as Philip met the eunuch? Can seemingly chance encounters result in the same outcome as Ananias with Saul? When reading the Holy Spirit’s instructions on how to become “useful for the master,” how could we doubt that He still seeks to work with us today? If we purge and prepare ourselves, we will become a vessel of gold or silver, a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master and prepared for every good work.
- But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2Tim. 2:20-21)
Yet some still doubt. They lack the faith and trust to believe God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are working with us, helping us do a work that is far beyond our ability to do alone. There are 8.3 billion people alive today. If we sought to reach every one of them alone, it would take 345 million hours and 950,000 years to speak to each one. Without Jesus working with His disciples, no local church could reach them all. But with Jesus reading hearts and directing His body to fulfill God’s desire that all come to the knowledge of the truth and that none perish, it is not only possible, it is being done! How else could Paul say after only 30 years after Jesus death, the gospel “was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Col. 1:23)
After all the church in Jerusalem had experienced, they still faced the problem of doubt. After Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword, He also seized Peter. Truly the case seemed hopeless. He was to be executed the next day, being in a prison with an iron gate and bound with two chains between two soldiers with guards outside the door. There was no legal recourse and thus little hope (Acts 12:1-19). Yet they had not given up all hope for “constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.”
In the midst of these prayers, God acted. An angel of the Lord struck Peter on the side while he was sleeping. His chains fell off his hands, he was led past the first and the second guard posts, and through the iron gate which opened of its own accord. Certainly it was an amazing and unforeseen intervention. Even Peter “did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.”
After his escape, he came to “the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” After he “knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.” What response would we expect? Would they praise and thank God for Peter’s deliverance? No, first they tell the young girl “you are beside yourself” then, “it is his angel,” and finally when they did see him, “they were astonished.” It was inconceivable to them that God could answer their prayers. Before we pass judgment upon them, are we any different?
Conclusion. Jesus knew this would be a perpetual problem among His people. Using the parable of the unrighteous judge He sought to encourage His disciples “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” Yet even after the parable Jesus lamented: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18:1-8). Prayer and God’s providential answers are difficult to understand. But every disciple must have the faith to live with an expectation of providence.