The Wonder Of God's Leading Series

Good morning. We are going to look at a very exceptional encounter today, in Acts 8.

• Philip was led to share the Gospel with a man from Ethiopia in a divine appointment.

• That’s THE WONDER OF GOD’S LEADING.

Have you ever experienced a blackout? You are walking about in your house at night and then suddenly the lights went out, and you are left in the dark.

• For a moment panic sets in but after pausing for a while, your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. You see the faintest light that comes through, maybe from your digital clock or the moonlight that comes through the windows.

• You are thankful for them because they help you size up your surroundings and see enough to take the next step.

• God provides guiding light in the midst of our darkness. He enlightens and shows us the way. This is what we are going to see today.

Let’s us pray before we go into God’s Word.

Dear Lord, we come once again before you with open hearts and ears, to hear from Your Word. Enlighten us and show us your ways. Grant us the faith to trust and depend on you fully. Help us come to you for wisdom, strength, provision and protection.

For those of us who needs to face tough choices and hard situations, grant us the wisdom and courage to choose what is true, right and good in Your eyes. We look up to you, Lord, our Shepherd, to lead and guide us.

Feed us with your Word again this morning, this we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

Let’s read Acts 8:26-40.

26Now 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."

30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

"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. 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."

34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

What stands out in this story is the impossibility of this encounter taking place without the leading of God. It is definitely not something that man can plan for.

• Yet at the same time, we know that without the obedience of Philip, this Ethiopian man would not have known Christ. Philip was led by God.

• We see the wonder of God’s leading and we also see the beauty of man’s obedience in the fulfilment of God’s purposes.

Before we go into the details of what happened, let us see the big picture and appreciate how the Lord orchestrated the reach of the Gospel to the lost, to the ends of the earth.

• We see how God breaks down barriers, set up divine encounters and directs us when it matters most.

GOD BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS

Luke the author laid out for us in Acts the spread of the Gospel, with one unlikely outcome after another, and each with increasing difficulty.

• It all started in Jerusalem, with an audience that’s predominantly Jewish, of the same race, culture and traditions.

• In Acts 8 the Gospel moved on to Samaria and a new audience, the Samaritans, which has a long history of enmity with the Jews; they were considered ‘half-breeds’, half-Jews/half-Gentiles and had a different Temple and worship.