{"id":8899,"date":"2024-12-01T14:27:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T18:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8899"},"modified":"2024-12-01T14:28:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T18:28:17","slug":"wildernesss-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=8899","title":{"rendered":"WILDERNESSS WITNESS"},"content":{"rendered":"

WILDERNESSS WITNESS<\/u><\/b><\/h1>\n

Acts 8: 26-40<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0by Rev. Richard Jones<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Background<\/u>
\n<\/u>Acts 8:4-5<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.
\n5\u00a0 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.<\/h3>\n

Acts 8:6-8<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7\u00a0 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8\u00a0 So there was much joy in that city.<\/h3>\n

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UNUSUAL COMMAND<\/u>
\n<\/u>Acts 8:26<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, \u201cRise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.\u201d This is a desert place.<\/h3>\n

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UNUSUAL VISITOR<\/u>
\n<\/u>Acts 8:27-28<\/strong>
\n27\u00a0 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28\u00a0 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.<\/h3>\n

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UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY<\/b><\/u>
\n<\/b><\/u>Acts 8:29-31<\/strong>
\n29\u00a0 And the Spirit said to Philip, \u201cGo over and join this chariot.\u201d 30\u00a0 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, \u201cDo you understand what you are reading?\u201d 31\u00a0 And he said, \u201cHow can I, unless someone guides me?\u201d And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.<\/h3>\n

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UNUSUAL PASSAGE<\/b><\/u>
\n<\/b><\/u>Acts 8:32-35<\/strong>
\n32\u00a0 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: \u201cLike a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.\u00a0 33\u00a0 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.\u201d 34\u00a0 And the eunuch said to Philip, \u201cAbout whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?\u201d 35\u00a0 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.<\/h3>\n

Isaiah 53:1-11<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2\u00a0 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3\u00a0 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4\u00a0 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5\u00a0 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6\u00a0 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned\u2014every one\u2014to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7\u00a0 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8\u00a0 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9\u00a0 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10\u00a0 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11\u00a0 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.<\/h3>\n

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UNUSUAL RESPONSE<\/u>
\n<\/u>Acts 8:36-38<\/strong>
\n36\u00a0 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, \u201cSee, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?\u201d 37 And Philip said, \u201dIf you believe with all your heart, you may.\u201d And he replied, \u201cI believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.\u201d 38\u00a0 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

UNUSUAL TRANSPORT<\/u>
\n<\/u>Acts 8:39-40<\/strong>
\n39\u00a0 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40\u00a0 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.<\/h3>\n

1 Peter 3:15<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WILDERNESSS WITNESS Acts 8: 26-40 \u00a0by Rev. Richard Jones     Background Acts 8:4-5 4\u00a0 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5\u00a0 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8899"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8903,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899\/revisions\/8903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}