If I Can Help Somebody

Conversion May Come in Many Shapes

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Conversion May Come in Many Shapes

In The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Somerset Maugham portrays Charles Strickland, the dull London stockbroker, who left wife, family, home, and job because of an obsession to paint. Returning from Paris, where he tried to persuade him to return, the author reflects on how the creative instinct had seized him. He sees it as analogous to “the way in which the spirit of God has seized men, powerful and rich, pursuing them with stubborn vigilance till at last, conquered, they have abandoned the joy of the world and the love of women for the painful austerities of the cloister.”

“Conversion may come under many shapes, and it may be brought about in many ways. With some men it needs a cataclysm, as a stone may be broken to fragments by the fury of a torrent; but with some it comes gradually, as a stone may be worn away by the ceaseless fall of a drop of water.”

Propositional Statement

The church has been sharing the good news with the excluded and outcast since the beginning.

Persecution challenges the comfort zone of the church

Matthew 10:16–25 ERV

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you; yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. A disciple is not above his master, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household!

“Persecution allows your faith to grow, and to share your faith with other. If we spend our time complaining about our current condition of suffering, then, we squander the opportunity to see what God can do in and with us through our suffering.” Pastor Marc, from the sermon If I Can Help Somebody…Let the Church be the Church, Vol. 2

Acts 4:1-22 was the first resistance the apostles faced while preaching the gospel to the Jews. Oddly enough, the resistance came from the Sadducees, one of three main Jewish schools of thought during the Hellenistic and Roman eras. They were noted for strict adherence to the Law of Moses and a rejection of both the notions of resurrection and spirits. Jesus’ seemingly blatant disrespect of the Law of Moses through his questionable fasting practices (Matthew 9:14-17), and Jesus seemingly disregard for the Sabbath by allowing his disciples to pluck grain (Luke 6:1-5) and healing the man with a withered hand (Luke 6:6-11). In Acts 5:17-42, the apostles were arrested and miraculously freed to continue speaking “all the words of this life.” Gamaliel, a teacher of the law in no uncertain terms believed this Acts 5:38-42 concerning “this life.” Acts 6 welcomes the second office of the church: the deacon of which Stephen was one of seven. He was arrested and seized by the Hellenistic Jews that belonged to the Freedman synagogue on the charge of blasphemy against God and the Law of Moses. He stands before the high priest Caiphas and the Sanhedrin Council and presents the historical Israel from Abraham to Solomon, then charges them with betraying and murdering the Righteous One. Stephen was the first martyr for “The Way,” and Saul is introduced and in a most unflattering way. The apostle who would write over 1/3 of the New Testament and start churches across his known world stands in agreement with the stoning of Stephen. Saul’s staunch agreement with the murder of Stephen anticipates his passionate hatred for the Church. Paul’s systematic plan (persecution (diagmos--διωγμός): a systematic program or process designed to harass and oppress someone; pursuit)was simple: go from house to house arresting those who believed that Jesus was the Christ.

Those who were scattered were the fleeing Christians who scattered Judea and Samaria. Though the text says “all the believers being scattered” is hyperbolic, but it shows that when a significant portion of the church is persecuted, the whole is attacked and affected. What was significant about Luke says it is a desert road? This road was a major trading route proved risky for travelers and yet God was willing to send him down the road for his purpose. Jesus leaves the Great Commission for his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20; the promise of power and areas for evangelism in Acts 1:8, but God chose Philip to be the first to share the gospel outside Jerusalem. God uses Saul’s angst against the church to propel the spread of the gospel to other areas.

The apostles did not leave because the Church is centered in Jerusalem and the persecution is so intense there, the apostles remain there to continue to lead and support the Christian community. Paul’s systematic plan resulted in God’s systematic scattering (scatter (diaspeiro--διωγμός): to cause a group or gathering to disperse or scatter, with possible emphasis on the distributive nature of the scattering (each going in a different direction. ) of the church into different regions.

Application: There are times when God uses persecution to push us out of the comfort of church and into the mission field to bring in the harvest of souls. The message of Jesus is for the “misfits, the outcasts and the underserved.” We spend an inordinate amount of time in our comfort, while God is trying to push us out to do his will. God did not send the leaders out to evangelize, he sent out those who professed Christ as Lord. What the history of the church shows us in 2023 is a level of people engagement that we have not reached. Persecution or someone with a systematic plan to harass and oppress does not motivate people, it cause people to flee.

Philip Obeys God

“Anyone that lacks guidance is doomed to remain lost.; anyone who goes without the prompting of the Holy Spirit is doomed to fail.” - Pastor Marc James

Philip the Evangelist was one of the seven men chosen by the church to assist the apostles, not to be confused with the Philip who Jesus chose as one of the original twelve disciples. He is often referred to as Philip the Evangelist. Many say they will go, but fail to heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Here, the angel of the Lord prompts Philip to rise, suggesting that either he was in a seated position. The verb here in the Greek is an active imperative, meaning to assume a standing position. It indicated the beginning of an action (usually a motion) expressed by another verb. The verb “to go” is another active imperative verb meaning to move a considerable distance, either with a single destination of from one destination to another in a series. It means to move over an area, generally with a point of departure or destination specified.

The key here is that Philip did not move until the angel of the Lord told him to move. Are you able to wait on the Lord? People receive Christ and now they’re more learned and seasoned than others. The new mantra or new phase of spirituality is that everyone can see in the spirit, hear in the spirit, and have a prophetic word for everyone but themselves. If you can’t hear the spirit for your own situations, then I highly doubt you can hear or see in the spirit for others. People use spiritual jargon to sound deep, but in actuality they’re not deep, they are still on the shallow end of the kid’s pool. Obedience to the God and his leading reveals your depth, not your jargon or your rhetoric.

When people think of evangelism, they see it a some scatter shot effort to win souls, but God is strategic in his evangelistic effort. God sends Philip down the road, but it seems that Philip did not have a particular destination in mind.

A Puzzled Passenger presents an Invitation

Luke introduces the reader to an Ethiopian who served as eunuch for Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This eunuch was in charge of the queen’s treasure and he turned aside to travel to Jerusalem to worship. A eunuch is castrated male who served in the orient as keepers of a harem, but here this eunuch is the keeper of the queen’s treasure. The Ethiopian eunuch was most likely a proselyte to Judaism, but there are two theological strikes against the eunuch: (1) he is an Ethiopian—he is not Jewish, but a Gentile, (2) he was a eunuch. Eunuch were not allowed to be included in Israel’s communal worship according to the law Deut. 23:1,

God’s mission is to all people by accepting an Ethiopian eunuch as a Christian. Philip joins the eunuch’s chariot, and hears him reading from the prophet Isaiah 53:7-8. The eunuch knew enough to ask Philip the Evangelist to guide him due to his lack of understanding the Scriptures. God will always provide an invitation by those he wants you to share the gospel with. The passage of Scripture he chose was a messianic prophecy about the suffering Savior. He begins where the eunuch is, and there is the lesson of evangelism: “Effective evangelism starts where the person is, rather than your desired destination.”

Application Point: Amistad is a moving film about a slave ship that sues for the slaves’ independence. John Quincy Adams is the lawyer who defends them. There are strong Christian undertones in the movie, as many of the abolitionists were Christians. In one particularly moving scene, one of the slaves shares the gospel with another slave—the gospel he has learned by studying the Bible given to him while the trial was underway (directed by Steven Spielberg [Dreamworks Pictures, 1997]). It’s a good example of what we are going to be looking at today: sharing the gospel with the excluded in society. Sadly, however, all too many American Christians went along with the institution of slavery in order to protect their own power and wealth, sinning against the personhood of those they enslaved. As a result, while the formal institution of slavery is no longer active in the United States, there are still lingering problems from it, along with many segments of society that feel excluded or left out—and Christians as well as society in general bear the responsibility for making things right. 

A Profound and Wonderful Change

When we think about the history of the church, this is a pivotal moment: the circle of God’s people has widened. A gentile eunuch has come into the fold. This is the way it was for the church in the very beginning—but what about now? Is your church following in the footsteps of the first disciples and reaching out to the lost who feel far from God or excluded from God? Who are your Samaritans and Ethiopians and eunuchs? Consider who might feel very out of place or unwelcome in your church. Consider the Muslim refugee, the LGBT community, the justice-oriented person who feels estranged from church. How can your church reach them? What might you need to change in yourselves? In the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, the very good news of Jesus (Acts 8:35) brings people great joy (v. 39). Share that joy with others!

For some time before his conversion, C. S. Lewis was aware God was pursuing him. In Surprised by Joy he piles up metaphors to illustrate the divine pursuit:

(1) God was “the great Angler” playing his fish, “and I never dreamed that the hook was in my tongue” (p. 199).

(2) God was like a cat chasing a mouse. “Amicable agnostics will talk cheerfully about ‘man’s search for God.’ To me they might as well have talked about the mouse’s search for the cat” (p. 214).

(3) God [was] like pack of hounds. “The fox had been dislodged from the Hegelian wood and was now running in the open.… Bedraggled and weary, hounds barely a field behind. And nearly everyone was now (one way or another) in the pack” (p. 212).

(4) God was the Divine Chessplayer, gradually maneuvering him into an impossible position. “All over the board my pieces were in the most disadvantaged positions. Soon I could no longer cherish even the illusion that the initiative lay with me. My Adversary began to make His final moves” (p. 205). So C. S. Lewis calls his penultimate chapter “Checkmate.”1

In evangelism, outreach, and mission work, it is important that you do not lose sight of the one for the many. Philip preached in other cities, but it was here going south to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza where Philip witnessed the power of the gospel change a life immediately. Most times evangelist don’t see the fruit of their faith, but Philips obedience and the power of the gospel, an outcast, a misfit, a common servant came to Christ on side of the road. The idea for some is to wait until they get right to come to Christ, but I say that come to Christ as you are, and he will make you righteous through faith in him. The gospel can change the hardest of hearts...the gospel makes the blind see and deaf hear...the gospel makes the dumb talk and the lame walk...the gospel binds the broken hearted and sets the captives free...this eunuch encounters the salvific experience that he asks Philip to baptize him right then. The experience for both eunuch and evangelist changed their lives forever. Philip continued to preach the gospel while the eunuch rejoiced on his way. The word rejoice is chairo, meaning to be in a state of happiness and well-being. If the eunuch was here, he would say:

… A change, a change has come over me

He changed my life and now I'm free

… A change, a change has come over me

He changed my life and now I'm free

… He washed away all my sins, and he made me whole

He washed me white as snow

He changed, my life complete, and now I sit

I sit at his feet

To do what must be done

I'll work and work, until he comes

… A wonderful change has come over me

A wonderful change has come over me

… Lord you've changed

Changed

You've changed my life complete

Changed

And now I sit

Changed

I sit at my saviours feet

I'm so glad you changed me

To do

… Changed

What must be done

Changed

Lord I'll work and work, until he comes

I'm so glad he changed me

… A wonderful change has come over me

A wonderful change has come over me

… Lord you've changed

Changed

You've changed my life complete

Changed

And now I sit

Changed

I sit at my saviours feet

I'm so glad you changed me

To do

… Change

What must be done

Changed

Lord I'll work and work, until he comes

I'm so glad he changed me

… Lord you've changed

Changed

You've changed

Changed

You've changed

Changed

I'm so glad you changed me

… He changed my walk (change)

He changed my talk (changed)

He changed my life he even changed (changed)

I'm so glad you changed me

Changed

I'm so glad you changed me

Changed

He changed

Changed

I'm so glad you changed me

1 John Stott, The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott, ed. Mark Meynell (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).