THE EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT LED LIFE
Acts 8:26-40
There is a story about Walter P. Chrysler. At the time he was a master mechanic on a railroad. He was 35 years old and he bought his first automobile with borrowed money. It was a $5,000.00, four-door Locomobile. The car was delivered to his hometown in Iowa and then towed to a barn at the Chrysler home.
The story said that Mr. Chrysler studied that car for three months before he ever attempted to drive it. Using the instruction manual, he took the vehicle apart, spread the pieces on newspapers and made sketches; then he put it back together.
His theory was, he had to understand it before he could drive it. (Sermon Central Illustrations)
Like Mr. Chrysler many people do not understand the move of the Lord in a Spirit filled person. And like Mr. Chrysler will never understand until they sit down with God’s manual called the bible and reassemble their own lives.
Last weeks we shared The Anatomy of a Counterfeit Believer coming from Acts 8:9-20.
In that text we discovered a man named Simon who was a sorcerer in Samaria. What struck our interest in this text is that Simon convinced the Samaritans that he was a great power, and some of them considered him to have the great power of God. But Philip who was one of those that left Jerusalem because of the havoc that Saul was starting, went down to Samaria to preach Christ. There he presented Jesus who is the Christ, and the people of Samaria believed and were baptized. It was Simon who witnessed this and realized that his lucrative hustle was coming to an end, so he to, with a different motive declared belief and was baptized. But we found out that what is in the heart would soon be revealed by the Spirit. And Simon would be revealed as an imposter. The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the good news was being preached and accepted in Samaria and they sent Peter and John down to Samaria to pray and to lay their hands upon those who were there, that they may receive the Holy Spirit. Simon seeing this, instead of him asking them to lay their hands on him, so that he to could receive, instead offered them money, so he could lay his hand on people as well. Thus revealing his motive to entice the people once more into thinking that he is great.
In this lesson our focus is again on the Holy Spirit’ use of Philip. We all have witnessed what can happen when a man of God is influenced by the Spirit of the God. We must understand that the Lord not only uses those He chooses to perform miracles of the physical kind, but He also use them to perform miracles of the spiritual kind.
Philip is now seen on a desert road just south of Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had given him instructions to go there. He didn’t go there for rest and relaxation, the Spirit sent him there by reason of another person needing what he had to offer.
So, come with me now as we see how Philip’ life is led by the Spirit.
First of all verse 26 shows me that...
1. THE SPIRIT LED LIFE FINDS IT NOT ODD TO GO INTO STRANGE PLACES FOR MINISTRY.
“And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”
My brothers and sisters many time you or someone you know will ask the question. How do you know when the Spirit is actually speaking to you? And the answer to that question is simple, but yet it will take a sincere child of God to apply. You see when the Spirit is speaking to you, you can rest assured that He is telling you something that you might think is unreasonable, or He is telling us something that we would not like to consider. For instance. It didn’t make sense to me, that the Spirit was telling me during my first pastoral assignment, to leave the pastorate at Peach Grove and to go into D.C. to be an assistant to another pastor. To conventional thinking that just didn’t make good sense. But I had to come to grip with the fact that (1) It was not my ministry that He wanted moved, but it was the Lord’, and (2) the Spirit was moving the Lord’ ministry to D.C. to provide a need, both immediate, then later here at Salem. I hope you all can understand how the Spirit work. Now that my brothers and sisters is being Spirit led. The text is showing us Philip being led by the Spirit. He had been in Samaria preaching and teaching and now the angel of the Lord is speaking to him, and instructing him to go towards the south just below Jerusalem and towards Gaza. Now we should note that the Spirit did not give him a reason for the trip, He just told him to go, and Philip went. Now the text said that the place in which he was going was a dusty road in the desert. And verse 27 said that he arose and went. That verse should make us aware of Philip’s obedience to the Spirit. He could’ve argued the point that it was desert land but he didn’t, he just went. We can learn something from Philip. We too need to go into desert places. We need to get away from comfortable settings like stained glass windows and mahogany pews, and find our way down to some desert community. In fact we would not have to go far because we could start right here in this community, where the people are dying of thirst for the Word and the temperature is steaming hot with sin. If we are to be a church that is Spirit led, we must let the Spirit lead.
Philip we find was doing the Lord’ work in Samaria, but a true child of God understands that, that will not be his/her only assignment. Sometimes the Lord stops us in the mist of what we are doing and He would send us on another mission for the kingdom. That is what we call, letting His Will be done.
Secondly, verse 29 shows us...
2. HOW A SPIRIT LED LIFE IS DRIVEN WITH PURPOSE. (v. 29)
“Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.”
Philip understood that the ministry that he was in really didn’t belong to him, it belonged to the Lord and was led by His Spirit. He had just got another assignment from the Lord and was headed towards the area in which he was told. He understood the move of the Spirit. Philip was probably there on the Day of Pentecost when they all were filled with the Holy Spirit. He was possibly there when Peter corrected the devout men of Jerusalem by letting them know that they were not drunk with wine. He most likely heard the story about Peter and John healing the lame man begging at the gate, and the five thousand that was saved through the dynamic preaching of the Peter. So Philip understood the move of the Spirit and how Spirit led men are used.
And here in the text we find Philip being obedient to what the Spirit had said. He is on his way somewhere on a desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza. The Spirit didn’t tell him who he was going to meet, or what he was to do. He just told him to go. Much like the Lord God told Abraham to leave his homeland and kindred and to go where He instructed him. Now I think before I close this point, I should say to you that before the Lord can entrust you with His major assignments. He needs to know and [He does know] if you are faithful to His cause or not. He is looking for a few good people that is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and is not only interested in their own thing but is interested in kingdom building.
Finally, in verses 37-39 we see...
3. WHAT AN OBEDIENT SPIRIT LED LIFE CAN ACCOMPLISH. (v. 37- 39)
“And Philip said, If thou believes with all thine heart, thou mayest, and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38. And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.”
The last point showed us how a Spirit led life can be driven with purpose. Philip had gone where the Spirit had told him. He did not know what to expect, all he knew was that the Spirit was leading him into the desert. When he arrived on that desert road there he saw his next assignment. It was a Ethiopian eunuch sitting on his chariot reading the book of Isaiah. It was at this point that the Spirit once again took control. It was this eunuch that wanted the understanding of the scriptures. And that was the mission the Spirit had for Philip. You see he had read Isaiah 53:7,8 about Jesus being the sheep prepared for the slaughter, and how He never said a word. It was about this text that the eunuch wanted to know of who was the writer talking about. And that is when the Spirit took control of the conversation and started to teach him about Jesus. Now because of Philip’ obedience, it resulted in another soul for the kingdom. You see as they traveled the eunuch saw some water and had a desire the be baptized. And that is when Philip asked him if he believed with all his heart. I hope you get this. To often we the church baptize people not because they believe but because they like Simon, they wish to be like the rest of us. They are not baptized because they believe with all their heart, they are baptized because that is something that they knew never happened in their lives. Now don’t get me wrong because I’m not talking about all who are baptized, but I am talking about those of us who were baptized and nothing had come of your life.
Well I got to take my seat now. But let me close with a question. Do you know the Lord well enough to allow Him to lead you with His Spirit?
I know that you know Him, but do you really know Him. Let me help you. Many of us know the president. He is George W. Bush. But in all reality we know him as president, but we really don’t know him. Only a few can walk up to him and say, George, how are you doing. And that is the way some people are with the Lord. They know Him as the babe in the manger, but they don’t know Him as the one who died for our sin. But when you are Spirit led. Not only do you know Him, but you trust Him, and not only do you trust Him, but you love Him, and if you love Him, you will share the good news of Jesus with a dying world that needs His guidance.
