Sensitive Servants

Servants Sensitive to the Spirit

Acts 6:26-39

Listen to one of the most exciting stories in all the scriptures:

Learning to listen to the Lord is one of the greatest needs in our churches today. It is not always easy to know where to go its not always easy to know what to do its not always easy to know what to say. But if I’m sensitive to the Spirit of God, I will always know where to go, what to do, and what to say. If this story magnifies anything, it magnifies servants of God being sensitive to the Spirit of God. Three times the spirit of God spoke in one form or another to this servant Philip and every time the spirit of God spoke to him and told him to do something, he did exactly what the Spirit of God told him to do. The angel of the Lord which is a form of Deity or a work of the Spirit of God in his life spoke to Philip and said arise and go and the Bible said he arose and went. And the Spirit of God said to Philip to go and join himself to the chariot and he ran and the Spirit of God caught him away and he went on his way, rejoicing and seeing him no more. Interesting enough every time the Spirit of God spoke Philip was close enough to hear and everything the Spirit of God said do, Philip did. Its still the same today. What God did for Philip he’ll do for us and what Philip did in response to God is what all of us need to do in response to God’s command. Every time God nudges us we ought to jump. Every time God speaks we ought to move. Every time God speaks we ought to be anxious and willing to do it. That is the best was to evangelize this world and see God manifest his power in a miraculous way in our day. So, for a little while I want to share with you some thoughts concerning, Servants of God Who are Sensitive to the Spirit of God. What does God do when we are sensitive to the Spirit of God? What does God do in your life and in my life? One of the first things he does is:

I. God leads us to hungry souls…. You don’t have to be a theologian or have a degree in the Greek to understand that the eunuch, the Ethiopians in the 8th chapter of the book of Acts was an extremely hungry man and wanted to know something about God as his personal saviour. How do you know that man was hungry? The Bible teaches us that this man had been down to Jerusalem for to worship. Now I do not know whether he could worship or not, but the scriptures teach us that he had gone down to Jerusalem for to worship. The first indication of this mans hunger was that,

A. He had made and effort to go to church. He had established that if he was to find out who this lamb was that he would find out in the synagogue, the church there in Jerusalem, if anybody should know it should be that religious crowd. But apparently they were talking the talk, but not walking the walk on this occasion. Listen, I don’t know how difficult it was for him to go to worship, but it was not any easy task. Now I have been to the Holy Land. If you made the journey the Ethiopian made in that day, all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, it is a long, long way. It’s probably in the neighborhood of 1400 to 1500 miles. Now keep in mind that is a long, long way when you had to travel like he was traveling. He was not riding in an air-conditioned car on a dual lane interstate. He was riding in a chariot on a narrow dusty road for a long, long way. I know he was hungry to find out what God said he made and effort to go to worship. Now distance and danger made no difference. He was a wealthy man. He was the treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia who name was Candace. He probably had in his possession prized precious jewels. He probably thought that if I get what I need, it would be an expensive item. So I am going prepared to pay the price. He didn’t know that it was free, it cost God his Son, but it cost us nothing. But he went prepared to pay; he wanted to pay the price. Now how long do you think it would take a man to travel that far, some 1400 to 1500 miles in a rough riding chariot on a rough riding dusty narrow road. If he made 50 miles a day, it would take him 28 to 30 days. I don’t know how much he could have traveled, but I do know that they had robbers in that day, they had thieves and criminals in that day. Just as much as we have robbers thieves and criminals in our day. An lurking behind every bush and boulder could have been a robber, thief or criminal ready to pounce on this rich man and rob him and beat him and leave him for dead. But danger made no difference to him because he was hungry to know who the lamb was. How do you know he was hungry? He had been to church. Danger and distance make no difference when the Holy Spirit of God gets hold of our hearts like he had gotten hold of this man’s heart. Now you can’t say a great deal for that church down there in Jerusalem. The Bible teaches us that he was returning in verse 28 still reading from the prophet Isaiah about a lamb that was dumb before his shearers and Philip ran up to the chariot and ask him. Do you understand what you’re reading and he said how can I except some man should guide me. Pray tell me, what were they doing there in Jerusalem. If we do not talk about Jesus we have no justifiable reason for existing. If this service does not talk about Jesus we have no justifiable reason for existing. If our Sunday School, our worship, our organizations are not exalting, glorifying, and praising Jesus we have no justifiable reason for existence. They may have had their robed choirs, their risings and sittings, they may have gone through their formalities, their ceremonialism, they may have gone through their religious calisthenics and religious exercises and they may have gone through all those formalities, but one thing they didn’t do, and that was to tell that man about Jesus. No they didn’t. Jesus! I wonder how many people come through those swinging doors of our church hungry in their hearts to hear about the lamb who was dumb before his shearers, who opened not his mouth. And we’re sitting around church talking about what color the songbook back cover should be and what side the piano is going to sit and whose gonna be the janitor in the church, when we ought to be exalting Jesus, praising Jesus, singing about Jesus, testifying about Jesus, Jesus is the only hope of this world. Can’t say much for that church. That’s why love the church that may not have much organization, but it does know who Jesus is. Just keep in mind that when I’m a servant sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God, the first thing he will do is lead us to hungry men. Indications that this man was hungry was first, he had been to worship.