The Characteristics of a Preacher

Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

Foreword

　　Today we will take a look at the deeds of Philip who preached the Gospel to an Ethiopian eunuch so that we all together could learn something from it. From Acts 8:5-6, we know that Philip could both preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and perform miracles. Moreover, his gospel work in Galilee had good results. In verse 6, “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.” Verse 8 said, “There was great joy in that city.” What a beautiful picture it was! I am sure we all expect our gospel work to have such kind of effect. How we look forward to our ideal audience who “all pay close attention” to our words which bring “great joy.” However, we also understand that we cannot have complete control over the effect of our gospel work. That is within the domain of the work of the Holy Spirit as Paul taught the Corinthians. Paul said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Cor 3:6) As a preacher, what we can do is to plant and to water and then consider how we can do our part well. Therefore, today through the deeds of Philip who preached the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, let us consider together: What are the characteristics of a preacher? What are the characteristics that we have to learn to acquire?

Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit

　　The first characteristic we can learn from Philip is to obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In verse 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.” What deserves our attention is this: The angel’s demand was an almost unreasonable order. To go south was exactly the opposite of the original plan and where Philip was heading was a sparsely populated wilderness. Was it because in the wilderness there was someone who was waiting for him to preach the Gospel; someone waiting to come to Christ? We do not know whether Philip had an internal struggle about whether to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit because the Bible does not record it. What it does say is that Philip immediately responded to the angel’s call: “So he started out” (v. 27).

　　Philip responded to the Lord’s order, and as a result the Ethiopian eunuch came to Christ. This opportunity could not have been what Philip had foreseen. This Ethiopian eunuch held enormous power, taking charge of all the treasures of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. Not only did this Ethiopian eunuch who later came to Christ change his own life, but it was also a life-changing opportunity for the entire ethnic community. Could such a golden opportunity for the Gospel to be spread have been foreseen by Philip? How could we predict that an uninhabited wilderness would turn out to be the starting point for the Gospel to spread to the gentiles?

　　Acts 1:7-8 recorded Jesus speaking to the apostles, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” Ethiopia is situated in the eastern part of Africa and according to a Roman map, it can be said that it is a place close to the ends of the Earth. That is, Philip is the first apostle who preached the Gospel to someone at the ends of the Earth. Acts 8:40 says, “Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the Gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” Jesus gave the apostles the mission to preach the Gospel to the very ends of the Earth. Philip, who was not an apostle, could also join the Gospel-sharing campaign in the extension of God’s kingdom simply because he obeyed and that allowed him to grasp the opportunity the Holy Spirit had prepared for him.

　　The Ethiopian eunuch was a man of great authority and was in charge of the economic lifeline of the country. In the eyes of the world, he was an important person: someone from the upper-class who held a lofty position second only to the queen; on the other hand, his body was defective. In the eyes of the Jews, he was a eunuch, who was to be rejected from the kingdom of God, and he was someone from a lower-class. Philip preached the Gospel to someone who held the highest and the lowest status at the same time. This indicates how broadly the Gospel can spread. From this, the world can see that the Kingdom of God can accommodate many different ethnic communities. It is an ideal kingdom regardless of any ideas of superiority or inferiority, regardless of who you are and what social class you belong to. Philip was able to join such an extension campaign of God’s kingdom because he followed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

　　I will graduate this year. My fellow graduates have to consider the way to go, and so do I. I will have to contemplate where my ministry field lies; those who know me well know that I hope to return to and serve in my mother church. But this passage reminds me that I should let the will of the Holy Spirit be my will. If God wants me to serve elsewhere, I should also learn to put aside my ideas and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Please do not have the misconception that my mother church has rejected me or that some other churches or organizations have offered me a better ministry position. I am simply reflecting that in the past I actually have not put the will of the Holy Spirit ahead of my own.

　　Dear brothers and sisters, if one day you clearly see that God has called you to do a certain thing for Him but that it is something in the opposite direction of your expectations, then consider whether you are willing to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Philip, through his actions, has set a good example for us and I hope that we can all act like Philip, and follow guidance from the Holy Spirit within.

To be a suffering servant

　　Apart from following the Holy Spirit’s guidance, a preacher must be ready to be a suffering servant. The second lesson we can learn from Philip and another characteristic we need to consider is the willingness to suffer for the sake of our faith.

　　According to the record in Acts, the Ethiopian eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship and came upon Philip on his way back home. Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Philip ran up to the eunuch’s chariot and stayed near it. As a result, Philip heard the eunuch reading the Bible. He then took the opportunity to expound the book of the prophet that the eunuch was reading. The passage came from the Book of Isaiah 53:7-8, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the Earth” (Acts 8:32-33). The message of Isaiah 33 tells of a suffering servant, which foretells that the prophet sent by God will present himself to the world in the image of a suffering servant. In Isaiah’s time, no one was willing to listen to the voice of the prophet who was also treated unfairly. In expounding the passage to the eunuch, Philip pointed to this suffering servant described by Isaiah to Jesus Christ to show that the prophecy had been fulfilled. The act of Jesus Christ on Earth is exactly the model of a suffering servant: He was rejected in his native town, disgusted by his own people, and ultimately betrayed by his own disciple and was crucified on the cross.

　　The Gospel that Philip preached to the eunuch was not a Gospel of prosperity telling that everything would be smooth-sailing and every problem would be solved easily. To believe in Jesus is to suffer and to follow Christ is to be persecuted. After Philip’s explanation, the Ethiopian eunuch would definitely reflect on his future life, on his noble career, and the difficulties and challenges he needed to face if he decided to come to Christ. Upon reading this narrative, Theophilus, the reader of Acts, would have the picture of one scene after another of disciples being persecuted for Jesus’ sake in his mind. For example, in Acts 4, Peter and John were imprisoned for teaching the Gospel of repentance to the people; in Acts 7, Stephan was stoned to death after speaking in defense of the Gospel in the Sanhedrin; in Acts 13-14, Paul and Barnabas faced all kinds of persecution as they preached the Gospel in Asia Minor…. Because of their belief in the Christian faith and proclaiming the Gospel, these disciples met with many challenges and persecution, their deeds of courage and faithfulness must have helped Theophilus and even help us today. Their stories help us to reflect on the kind of attitude we should have as we face difficulties, challenges and persecution in our own lives and ministry posts for the sake of our Christian faith.

　　How do you understand the idea that “to come to Christ is to suffer”? You may think that living in Hong Kong, a civilized society, being persecuted for one’s faith is very remote from our own experiences. Perhaps, you believe that persecution is happening in other places around the world. For example, the crosses of the churches in Zhejiang had to be demolished, other countries have had to face terrorist attacks from ISIS. Yes, these things are happening but for the time being they are far from Hong Kong, and not affecting our lives and our ministries. Do you think Hong Kong will see terrorist attacks? The cross in our seminary will be torn down by the SAR government?

　　Let us think carefully about this and we can see that persecution based on religious belief appears in many different forms. For example, one day you may be verbally attacked because you publicly express your faith to someone; or one day you may offend the powerful simply because you put into practice the teachings of Christ in order to safeguard the interests of a disadvantaged community and thus bring trouble to your family; government control and suppression may have already silently affected the church in ways we do not know.

　　To follow Christ indeed is to pay the price, to come to Christ or to proclaim the Gospel is to be persecuted. But we have to be grateful because Jesus has already personally experienced the humiliation of the cross, triumphed over death and been raised from the dead; the Holy Spirit has even come to all who are willing to follow Christ, giving us extra courage and strength to face tribulation. After Philip’s interpretation of Isaiah’s message about the suffering servant, not only did the Ethiopian eunuch not shrink away, his response was asking to be baptized immediately. Verse 36 says, “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?’” The fact that to come to Christ means to suffer not only did not hinder him in his decision to believe in Jesus but it also became a driving force for him to follow Christ.

　　Brothers and sisters, may Philip’s deeds we have seen today admonish us to think carefully about the characteristics of a preacher as we learn to be God’s servants who follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and are willing to suffer for the Lord.