Divine Directions Series

Divine Directions

We must first have GPS (The Holy Spirit)

We must hear and understand the voice of our “GPS”

We must Follow the Directions of our “GPS”

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Intro

Have you ever had problems with a GPS? Have you ever felt like your GPS was treating you like the GPS in the Allstate Commercial?

Check this out.

Video – Allstate Mayhem GPS Commercial

Slide after video

Maybe it hasn’t been quite that bad, but I had a GPS once take me through an intersection and have me travel around the block and go back through the same intersection when I could have just turned left.

I know GPS systems have gotten better over the last couple of years, but you continue to hear about problems because of poor updating, road construction or just computer programming errors.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a GPS system that you could fully rely on and trust in?

Well, you can. But it isn’t a Global Positioning System,

Instead it is God’s Positioning Spirit.

His Holy Spirit directs and guides us right to where He wants us if we would only listen and follow.

Transition

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Today we are continuing on in our series in Acts called The Church Unleashed and we will be reading Acts 8:26-40 and learn about Philip and how God’s Positioning Spirit worked in Philip’s life to get him right where he needed to be so God could use him in a mighty way.

So let’s see what we can learn as we read Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

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.

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.

33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth."

34 The 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.

36 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?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When 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. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Pray

Ok, here we learn several aspects of knowing and following the Holy Spirit, God’s Positioning Spirit, if you will, from this story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

The First thing we learn is that

We must first have GPS (God’s Positioning Spirit - The Holy Spirit)

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Philip hears and angel of the Lord and knows that it is an angel of the Lord.

How does he know that?

Because he has the Holy Spirit indwelling Him.

Listen to what Paul says in

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1 Corinthians 2:14

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

If you do not have the Spirit of the Lord, you will never be able to understand and respond to the Spirit of the Lord or follow His directions

Philip hears the Angel and recognizes through God’s Spirit this is the angel of the Lord giving him directions because he has the God’s Spirit.

Apply

Do you have God’s GPS, His Holy Spirit that can lead and position you?

How do you get the Spirit and how do you know you have the Spirit?