Dodger: Hello there! How have you been? Good, I hope. It's been a great week for Lilly and I, and we were just looking at the Bible. Have you ever read the book of Acts? It's a great book that talks about what Jesus' followers did after He went into heaven. In chapter 8, we read about a man named Phillip. He has an interesting day.
Lilly: He sure does. Let me read it to you.
"Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then 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.”
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea." (NKJV)
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." (Daniel 1:8-17 NIV 1984)
Lilly: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," (NIV 1984) We need to know what to say when people have questions about why we have the hope that we do, and we also need to be prepared to answer questions about the Bible that anyone may have, just like Phillip was. In order to do that, we need to study it. Then we can also do what 2 Timothy 2:15 says.
Dodger: And what's that?
Lilly: He sure does. Let me read it to you.
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then 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.”
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea." (NKJV)
Dodger: That's a neat story. I like how Phillip knew how to explain the passage and convince a total stranger of Who Jesus is.
Lilly: That is pretty cool. You know, there are a few things we can learn from Phillip.
Dodger: Like what?
Lilly: Well, first we can learn to obey God. Phillip did what God told Him, even though he didn't even know the man he was talking to. Second, we can learn that we need to know the Bible. We have to know what God's Word says in order to explain it to others. After all, you can't talk very well on something you don't know very much about. Third, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to show us what to say to others.
Dodger: You're right. First of all, obedience to God is necessary if we're going to preach the gospel. Plus, God blesses those who obey Him. Look at the example of Daniel. You see, he lived in the time of king Nebuchadnezzar, after the fall of Jerusalem. He was chosen along with some other people to be trained to serve the king, and one of the privileges he was granted was a really fancy diet. In Daniel 1:5 it says: "And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king." But Daniel didn't want to eat that food, since he knew it would defile him. He wanted to obey God's law, so look at what he does. "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.
At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." (Daniel 1:8-17 NIV 1984)
Daniel and his friends did what they should have, and because they obeyed God by not defiling themselves, He blessed them.
Lilly: That's really cool. That brings us to the next thing we can learn from Phillip. We need to know the Bible well. Phillip was able to explain to the official the whole gospel of Jesus, just starting with an ancient prophecy about Him. We need to know the Word of God too, so that we can do what 1 Peter 3:15 says.
Dodger: What's that?
Lilly: "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," (NIV 1984) We need to know what to say when people have questions about why we have the hope that we do, and we also need to be prepared to answer questions about the Bible that anyone may have, just like Phillip was. In order to do that, we need to study it. Then we can also do what 2 Timothy 2:15 says.
Dodger: And what's that?
Lilly: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (NIV 1984) We need to handle God's Word in the correct way so we can help as many people as possible.
Dodger: Yeah. And of course we can rely on the Holy Spirit to give us the words to say. Just as He helped Phillip to know what to say, so He will help us, even if our audience is less friendly. Jesus Himself promises us this in Matthew 10:17-20. "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (NIV 1984) One of the great things about preaching the gospel is that we don't have to do it alone. We always have God with us.
Lilly: So let's study His Word and be dedicated to serving Him, and who knows what He'll do through us!
Dodger: Amen to that! You know what? I think we're out of time for today. Thank you for coming today. I hope you had a good time. We'll see you next time. Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: Selamat tinggal!
(NKJV Means New King James Version)
(NIV 1984 Means New International Version 1984)
