Last week we talked about Becoming Fishers of Men (Elab)
Today I want to look at the guidance that we are given through the Spirit
• Or more specifically how the Spirit can guide us with the process of
• Being Fishers of Men
Opportunities happen everyday we just have to be open to them.
• We have become so obsessed with our daily lives
• That we miss these opportunities
We have to fine tune our Spiritual Reception so that we can hear the Spirit when He talks
• And That’s exactly what we see happening in today’s text (Acts 8:26-39)
• The Holy Spirit creates an opportunity and Phillip Listens
• And Not only does he listen but he responds
And what I want us to notice is that because he was faithful and responds
• The Holy Spirit doesn’t Abandon him (leave him hanging)
• He stays with him through the entire encounter.
Ac 8:26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Ac 8:27 So he did, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, Ac 8:28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Ac 8:29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
Ac 8:30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah; so he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Ac 8:31 The man replied, “How can I, when there is no one to instruct me?” And he begged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
Ac 8:32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Ac 8:33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”
Ac 8:34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Was Isaiah talking about himself or someone else?” Ac 8:35 So Philip began with this same Scripture and then used many others to tell him the Good News about Jesus.
Ac 8:36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” Ac 8:38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
Ac 8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.
The first thing that we notice is that Philip wasn’t only a faithful preacher;
• He was also obedient
• And Just Like Jesus, he was willing to leave the crowds
• And deal with one lost soul.
Now The angel could have told this Ethiopian official how to be saved,
• But the problem is that God didn’t give the Great Commission to angels:
Jesus told the disciples and us that we are to Mt 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mt 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
God gave this command to His people.
• And the reason is Angels have never personally experienced God’s grace;
• And because of this, they can’t witness about what it means to be saved.
We see is that Phillip is told to Go
Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.
• A command is given and Phillip responds (Just like we should)
• He obeys (Elaborate)
• And Notice that the Holy Spirit doesn’t say
• Where he is to going or what he is suppose to do when he gets there
• He simply tells Phillip To Go.
• And he does.
How many of us would do this
• Most of the time We like to have everything planned out in advance
• How many of us would take of on a vacation without even a road map?
• We just don’t do things this way.
• Why? Because we like to be in control.
• We find it hard to surrender control to anyone for any reason.
One good example of this is Men
• We hate to give up control
• TV Remotes, / Who drives the car, and / Yes most of all stopping for directions.
• Because if we stop for directions it means that we can’t handle the situation
• And we have to give control over to someone else.
• And we don’t like this.
But when we evangelize we have to give up control
• Because It’s not all about us
• It’s about trusting the Holy Spirit
• And going and doing what He is directing us to do.
It doesn’t matter if it’s dealing with our friends or talking to a stranger,
• He is the one that has created the situation,
• So we have to trust that He is going to guide us through it.
He doesn’t have some kind of weird sense of humor,
• One where He gets His enjoyment from embarrassing people
• By putting them in situations
• Where they make fools out of themselves.
• He creates these situations for the good of the Kingdom
• He does it to help us Fish
So we see that Phillip obeys and an opportunity arose
And The Holy Spirit tells Philip to, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
• Once again the Spirit creates an opportunity
• And Phillip responds to the opportunity
• The Spirit is making it so easy, that anyone could do it
• It’s like a connect the dots situation
• Do this then do this
• So Phillip (Doing what he is told to do) Walks up beside the chariot / starts a conversation.
• Trying to start a friendship / Trying to build a level of trust
Phillip asks the eunich do you understand what you are reading?
• He’s Just talking / asking questions / and letting the person respond
• So often we feel when we testify that we have to talk (ELAB)
• Sometimes / most of the time we have to be silent and listen
Because The Holy Spirit has created this opportunity and we aren’t suppose to come riding in guns blazing / Screaming Jesus at the top of our lungs.
Most of the time opportunities like this present themselves
• Because the people have reached the point
• Where they have no where else to go.
• They are the ones spilling their questions out to us.
• And We just have to be patient and listen.
The Holy Spirit creates these situations
• And really how hard was this for Philip?
• All he had to do so far was go
• And Then ask a question
• A question that’s as easy as / Hi, how ya doin (Elaborate)
• Philip asks “Do you understand what you are reading?”
God had already prepared the man’s heart to listen
• To listen to to what Philip’s had to say!
• And what we see is that If we obey the Lord’s leading,
• That God will go before us and cause people to be receptive
• And He will open up the opportunity for us to witness.
• And He will open up their hearts
And the response is? Ac 8:31 31 “How can I, unless someone instructs me?”
So the eunuch urges Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
• This is turning out to be the easiest evangelist opportunity ever.
• The Holy Spirit is so intent on this Eunuch hearing about Christ
• He is practically preaching the Gospel Himself
• Philip has been given the opportunity to testify and now it’s his moment to shine.
• He’s even given the text.
Isaiah 53 was the passage he was reading,
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
33He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.
The Ethiopian wants to know who the author is talking about
• This text is all about - Jesus
• It describes Jesus’ birth (Isa. 53:1–2),
• It describes His life and ministry (Isa. 53:3),
• It describes His death (Isa. 53:4–9),
• And It describes His victorious resurrection (Isa. 53:10–12).
But The Ethiopian is focused on Verses 7–8,
• These verses describe Jesus being the willing Sacrifice for sinners,
• Even to the point of losing His human rights.
• And as Philip explains theses verses to him,
• The Ethiopian began to understand the Gospel –The Good News
• Because the Spirit of God was opening his mind.
It is not enough for a sinner to want salvation;
• He also has to understand God’s plan for salvation.
The idea of substitutionary sacrifice is one that is found from the beginning of the Bible to the end.
• God killed animals so that He could clothe Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21).
• He provided a ram to die in the place of Isaac (Gen. 22:13).
• At Passover, innocent lambs died for the people of Israel (Ex. 12);
• And the entire Jewish religious system was based on the shedding of blood (Lev. 17, especially v. 11).
• What we see is that Jesus is the fulfillment of both the Old Testament and the prophecies
So Philip explains all this to the eunuch
• And he uses the evangelist formula that I love
• First he witness( Philip was an apostle) He knew Jesus – had traveled with Jesus
• Then he teaches
And this leads to what?
• The response of the eunuch of Why can’t I be baptized?
• This shows us that baptism was and is the seal of a personal decision to trust in Christ .
• And after he was baptized he went on his way rejoicing.
• The result of this encounter was the further outreach of the gospel
• (The making of a disciple) Therefore go make disciples
• And this disciple wasn’t a Jew or a Samaritan, He was a Gentile (African).
When the baptism was completed the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again.
• But Twenty years later, we find Philip living in Caesarea
• And still serving God as an evangelist
• And one very Interesting part of the story is that God took Philip away
• From a Sucessful ministry
Because just before this happened
• Phillip had been preaching in the city of Samaria One
• Where he was reaching and witnessing to hundreds
• And he left to witness to a single individual.
Closing
• We have to remember that every individual is important
• Our witnessing to a single person is just as important as the mass evangelist’s outreach to thousands.
• It’s every Christian’s business to Fish for Men
• It’s every Christian’s responsibility to share the Gospel with others,
• And to do it without fear / apology.
• Philip’s experience should encourage us in our own personal witness
Through Philips experience, We see that Evangelism isn’t hard
• Evangelism is simply
• Being open to opportunity
• Being ready to go when called
• And
• Obeying that call
