“DIVINE APPOINTMENTS”

ACTS 8:26-40

Do you believe in divine appointments? Have you ever considered the fact that the traveler you sit with on a plane, the waiter at your table, the clerk at the department store might be in your life by divine appointment?

Divine appointments are those times when God’s providential guidance arranges lives to intersect at crucial moments and exact timing for encouragement and even salvation. Divine appointments are those orchestrated interactions when you know in your heart God is asking you to do something and to do something now.

Philip understood the truth of divine appointments. He had just preached a citywide crusade in Samaria. Hundreds had come to Christ! It was so successful that the mother church in Jerusalem sent a credentialing board to check things out. You would have thought God wanted him to stay and continue the work. But this was a Spirit on the move and God had other plans.

The Spirit prompted Philip and said: “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza” (Acts 8:26). Talk about specific! It sounds like a gas station attendant giving directions. “Follow the paved road down to the four-way stop – turn left until you see the big metal windmill in the hayfield.”

But then again the specifics were important. It was important that Philip know which road to take. Had he taken another road, he would have missed God’s divine appointment.

While the directions were specific they didn’t exactly make sense. The exact words that Philip heard can either mean a time of day or a direction. It can mean “south” or “noon” or both. And the road God picked out didn’t make much sense either. It either meant “desert” road or “deserted” road. Either way it was in the middle of nowhere. Why in the world would God want Philip to be on a deserted road at the hottest part of the day on a road that led to nowhere?

My in-laws live in Bullhead City, Arizona, which is just west of nowhere and just east of almost there! I’ve traveled those desert highways, between Bullhead City and Las Vegas, in the middle of the afternoon and I’m here to tell you that you can travel miles without seeing so much as a turkey buzzard!

Traveling down a desert road at high noon is crazy today with an air-conditioned mini-van and a case of Evian water in the back. But for someone in the first century, on foot, it was absolutely absurd! These were strange directions to say the least.
Has God ever asked you to do something you thought didn’t make sense? But Philip knew the Spirit’s voice, and he had faith enough that when God spoke he didn’t ask why, he just obeyed!

And his obedience was immediate. The verbs for “going” are in the aorist tense which means prompt, immediate action! But had he delayed for any reason, he would have missed God’s divine appointment.

In her wonderful little book When the Pieces Don’t Fit, Glaphre Gilliland, tells the story of waking up one night with a start. Immediately she thought of an elderly lady with thick snowy hair and a smile that hugged you. Her name was Mrs. Graystone and Glaphre knew that she was in the hospital. She said: “I felt God saying to me, ‘She’s dying and she feels alone. I want you to go be with her. Now.’”

She said, “I held my little clock with the fluorescent hands close so I could see the time without putting on my glasses. It was three o’ clock in the morning! ‘God,’ she said, ‘I barely know her. She might not even know who I am.’ It’s so late, it can probably wait until morning. Maybe it isn’t God speaking anyway.” And she pulled the covers back over her head and went back to sleep.

The next morning she called the hospital to check on Mrs. Graystone. She had died at five o’ clock that morning . . . alone.

Glaphre said, “I was shaken. There was no way to make that up. Not to Mrs. Graystone. Not to God. It scared me to think how easily, how casually I’d dismissed what God had told me to do. How noncommittal I’d been about his directions in the small things.”
Philip was obedient in the small things because he knew the voice. The direction he received may have been strange, but the voice wasn’t. He knew the voice through prayer, study of the Scriptures, openness, and a willingness to obey.

He followed the directions exactly and went to the desert road. And on that road he met a man!

The first thing we’re told about the man is that he was from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is called Cush in the Old Testament. It was located in what we today would call Sudan, Africa. Ethiopia literally means “burnt face” meaning he was a black man. In the Greco-Roman world Ethiopians were a revered and exotic people, because they were considered to live at the very end of the earth.

The second thing we’re told about this man is that he was a VIP. He was an important man of position. The fact he was riding in a chariot was an indication of his status and affluence. He was the secretary of the treasury for Queen Candace of Ethiopia. He was a eunuch because any man working in close quarters with the royal household, particularly the queen, paid the price of emasculation to serve in the palace. But he was neither despised nor deprived. To the contrary, he was smart, intelligent, and well–respected.

If you think Philip was caught off guard to see anyone else on the desert road, imagine his surprise when the Holy Spirit spoke to him again and said: “Go to his chariot and stay near it” (Acts 8:29).

This chariot was not a war chariot with one or two horses out front. This was probably a riding carriage with a covered top and several seats inside. The chariot was moving, and so the only way to stay near it was to run alongside of it. Talk about feeling silly. Jogging alongside a chariot, on a desert road, in the heat of the day doesn’t make a lot of sense. Particularly when there are secret service men with no necks riding shotgun! But when God says chase a chariot, you chase a chariot.

And so he did. And as Philip ran alongside the chariot we find a third thing about the Ethiopian – he was a religious man. Luke tells us he was returning from a pilgrimage to worship in Jerusalem, a good indication that he was probably a Jewish proselyte.
Philip overheard him reading aloud from a scroll, another indication of his status (the poor usually couldn’t read), and he happened to be reading from Isaiah 53. At a time when not one line of any New Testament document had been written I can’t think of a better starting point for the good news of Jesus Christ than Isaiah 53.

And the Holy Spirit was prompting Philip all the way. “OK, kid, now’s your chance. You’ve heard what you need to hear. Go talk to him.” And so Philip poked his head inside the carriage and asked: “Watcha readin’? I mean, I couldn’t help but overhear. Especially, since we’re the only living things out on this highway!”

Not a bad opening line! It was just a natural question to start up a conversation. The Ethiopian said: “Listen, man! I’ve got to have some help here. I’ve been studying this passage this for hours and I can’t figure it out. Know anybody who can interpret it for me?”

The Bible doesn’t say this, but I imagine Philip said something like this: “Well I’ll tell you what, I can teach better than I can jog. Mind if I hop in?” Do you see what’s happening here? Philip has the good sense to start right where the man was. He didn’t say: “Hey forget this passage. Let me show you the four spiritual laws and the bridge illustration.” No! He started right where the man was and worked from there. And the conversation was just as natural and easy as can be. The man practically begged Philip to explain the Scriptures to him.

And just like the risen Jesus with the two travelers on the Emmaus road, Philip opened the Scriptures and shared the good news of the crucified and risen Christ. Before Philip could even spit out the diagnostic question, “If you were to die tonight do you know for sure you would go to heaven,” the eunuch said, “I’m in.”

Philip said: “What?”

“I’m in. You’ve convinced me. I believe! In fact, there’s some water, why don’t I just get baptized right now?”

And Philip smiled and answered: “Why not?”

Luke tells us they stopped the chariot, and the Ethiopian was baptized in the fresh spring water, cleansed of his sins, and began a brand new life. In the meantime, Philip is whisked away to chase another chariot and the Ethiopian goes on his way rejoicing as the first missionary to Africa.

This is an amazing story to me. Do you know what’s so amazing about it? I’m amazed at how simple it all is.

I’m amazed at how far God will go to win one person. God will pull out all he’s got for just one person! Think about it! God has Philip, a major leader in the church, leave Samaria where there were hundreds of people getting saved to go to the middle of an isolated desert to bring a man from another country into the kingdom. Amazing!

But God had prepared that wonderful man. Long before Philip ever arrived on the scene, God had been at work. Or was it just coincidence that the Ethiopian had traveled 750 miles one way (over a month on the road) to be there at that particular time? Was it only a coincidence that Philip managed to be in the exact place, at the exact time the Ethiopian was also on the road? Was it merely coincidence that the man just happened to be reading from Isaiah 53 when Philip chased down his chariot? Was it merely coincidence that at just the time the Ethiopian was ready to make a decision for Christ that water appeared in the desert for baptism? I don’t think so.

Coincidence is really nothing more than God undercover. It was grace all the way – from stem to stern. You and I have never been to a place where God has not already been. Whether it be the highest mountain or the deepest valley, God has already been there. You and I have never met a person that God has not already loved and been reaching out to.

We’re not working solo in this Gospel adventure. Witness is not a one-person operation. It is orchestrated from start to finish by God. God is in charge! And as God leads us to be his witnesses we can be assured that God has prepared both hearer and evangelist for that encounter.

I’m amazed at how far God will go to win one person.

I’m also amazed at the obedience required to win one person. Almost all Philip had to do in this situation was not get in the way. But he had to obey! And he had to obey immediately, because God had a divine appointment for him. If he had hesitated even an hour he would have missed it.

When the Holy Spirit prompts us to some ministry to others he empowers us to carry it out. Where God guides, God provides. But for the provision to come we have to obey!
How often have you heard it said that the key to being a witness is boldness? And because of that, some say, if you’re not bold, you’re off the hook. Some claim they don’t have to witness because they don’t have boldness. I think that’s got it all turned around! The key isn’t boldness – the key is obedience!

If we take the first step of obedience, the Spirit will guide us and empower us with boldness, because courage comes with the decision to obey! And so most of the time we miss out on opportunities to witness simply because we don’t take the first step to turn a conversation into a divine appointment.

I can almost hear God saying: “My children want me to give them a plan to change the whole world. THEN they’ll be obedient. But they don’t have the time to obey what they consider a small assignment.”

You have to be faithful with the seemingly small tasks before you will hear his voice clearly enough to be trusted with other responsibilities. Because when the Spirit moves, there are no small assignments!

I’m convinced that the more we respond to the thoughts we never considered to be God’s leading – the impulse to write a note, phone a friend, or pray for whoever comes to our mind – the more clear God’s plan becomes. Just as a baby’s legs become stronger with each new step, we find that the more we act on those inner promptings, the more of God’s direction we receive.

If Philip had hesitated, even for an hour, in what God was asking him to do, even though it seemed like a small thing, he would have missed God’s opportunity for a divine appointment! It makes you wonder if there really is any such thing as LATE obedience.
There is a man in our church named Ron Pfingston. His father, in his 80’s, was experiencing kidney failure and wasn’t expected to live through the week. Ron was concerned for his health, but more than that he was concerned for his soul. He wanted him to be physically well, but more than that he wanted his father to be spiritually well.
His dad had never shown any real interest in spiritual matters and had avoided the subject for most of his life. Ron wanted to go and be with him, but Ron had cancer surgery the same day and so all he could do was pray.

On Tuesday morning a high school buddy of Ron’s named Darrel, another Christian, woke up with a burden for Ron’s dad. He sensed God calling him to go and pray with Ron’s dying father. The only problem was Darrel lived in Phoenix, Arizona and Ron’s father was hospitalized in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Rather than arguing with God or asking questions about convenience and timing, he just obeyed. He knew the voice. He purchased a ticket, hopped on a plane, and left that morning. Not sure how he would be received, he spent several hours talking to him about his spiritual condition. And when he felt it was time to go he invited him to pray the sinner’s prayer and to repeat it after him. He did, and last Tuesday afternoon, Ron’s father became a Christian.

That’s called a divine appointment! It’s hard to imagine how far God will go for one person and it’s amazing how much obedience is required to win one person.
Let me ask you something: Who does God have on your appointment schedule? Where has God strategically placed you for a divine appointment?

You are not where you are by accident. Not in your neighborhood, not at your work, not at your school. God is orchestrating a divine intersection between you and lost and broken people, and all he’s asking from you is obedience. Sometimes it won’t make sense, but we can’t afford to hesitate! There is too much at stake.

Let’s start chasing some chariots!