acts

After traveling thousands of miles, the eunuch in charge of the treasury for Queen Candace must have been devastated. All he saw were do not enter signs in Jerusalem. Some of them have been excavated.

No Women Allowed

No Gentiles

No Eunuchs

No Foreigners

And so he began his long journey home.

And in Jerusalem, as the church began to rise in incredible ways, Philip probably had the same confusion.

Acts 8 ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women … ²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” ²⁷ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” ³⁰ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

What was he reading?

Was this servant reading about Jesus?

And did he recognize that God had written a note DIRECTLY to him in Isaiah 56?

Isaiah 53 ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 56 ³ Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” ⁴ For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-

I am sure that he did.

And I am sure that any sign that might turn him away melted away when he realized that God did not write it.

As the eunuch found out: God is not rejecting us.

As Philip found out: God will send us on some strange missions.

But in all of these things—God is working out a perfect plan.

This life isn’t about our scars.

It is about His.

It isn’t about our rejection.

It is about His.

It isn’t about our mistakes.

It is about His Sacrifice.

We are saved, truly, by the blood of the Lamb.

And He sends messengers to Ethiopia and to Iceland and to all corners of the world to let us know that we are invited into the family.

Through the cross we have been forgiven—we are accepted as we are. And He will go out of His way to make that known.

Thank God … for God.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Coach J

How did a homeless itinerant preacher change world history?

He stood up to an angry mob.

He had followers that were willing to stand up to an angry mob. And He also had people in that angry mob “change teams”.

I am not often drawn to read about the stoning of Stephen. But Stephen is quite a story. While on trial, he calls out the very men who are accusing him:

Acts 7 ⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

⁵² Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Stephen called the leaders Stubborn, Unfaithful, Disloyal, and Disobedient.

Not long after that, he was dead on the ground and his soul was enroute to heaven.

This is hard to read … and probably even harder to interpret.

What are we, as people, to do with this?

My answer, today, is I don’t know.

But here is what I do know at this small moment in time:

I know that Stephen stood up to an angry mob.
I know that one of the men in that mob who responded in anger had a RADICAL transformation, repented, and ended up writing books in the New Testament and advancing the gospel. (Paul)
I know that because of this domino affect we are reading this Bible that we have today.
I know that we have moments in our lives that we might also be surrounded by an angry mob that calls for, and pushes people to, the very injustice that God has come to save us from.

Don’t buy it and don’t bow to it.

The God we serve died under this so that we would not have to be punished eternally by it.

And thank God for His grace.

John 3:16 “For God SO LOVED the world that He sent His ONE AND ONLY SON that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

So I finish with this:

Angry mobs are fueled and influenced by Satan himself.

So …….

Stand Up To The Angry Mob.

Don’t bow down to their philosophy or join them in their judgment.

Do not adopt their philosophies or entertain their temptations.

And do not judge others that they might be pointing the finger at.

They have no more right to judge than you do.

Judgment and Justice and Revenge …

They belong to God … not man.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Know anyone who might like these? Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

Tag

535 Go The Other Way?

452 Stand Up To The Angry Mob