Known Only to God
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26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
Is there such a thing as coincidence?
Are there events in life that randomly occur?
Have you ever felt or concluded that “I was just at the right place, at the right time”.
or feel that “it just so happened”.
Is there such a thing as coincidence in the Bible?
Word study here for coincidence. From Luke 10:31 (Story of the Good Samaritan)
From the root word which means:
“What occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances”.
The story that we read from scripture today, if it was just witnessed by someone as it unfolded could be a story of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Philip just being at the right place at the right time.
Lessons for Today:
1. Be sensitive to God’s orchestration of events.
2. Ask the Lord for Open Doors to Preach the Gospel.
3. Nothing you do for God and the Gospel is unknown to God.
1. Be sensitive to God’s orchestration of events.
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.
Notice that the angel of the Lord did not give Philip a lot of details. How we wish we get a very detailed plan…
27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
Explain the Ethiopian, Eunuch, his status, chariot, caravan
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
2. Ask the Lord for Open Doors to Preach the Gospel.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
Ask for the leading of the Holy Spirit. The angel told Philip before, now the Holy Spirit has taken over.
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
What an opening! This verse in Isaiah 53 is always an eye opener for Jews.. my mission trip to Israel..
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
Now the door was wide open, the opportunity was there.
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
Philip went straight to the heart of the matter.. When we preach Jesus, like introducing the greatest person in your life.. we preach everything.. (sin, repentance, etc.)
Look for opportunities to share Jesus..
There are no unimportant times or events to God.
We think that God is in charge only of the big things but does not bother with the miniscule things of life. This is colored by a human perspective of our own personal limitations.
Eisenhower matrix here.
God is all powerful and sovereign, he does not have to conserve energy..
Now does God care when we pray for our sports teams? Denver Nuggets. He for sure knows all things, he does not only work on the welfare of the collective.. but he deals with individual lives and only He knows what’s best for everyone — maybe losing is a way for some of them to be humbled and call on His Name — only He knows.
My experience at the Denver Premium mall - make my waiting worthwhile.
3. Nothing you do for God and the Gospel is unknown to God.
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
At this point, the eunuch was convinced, and asked to be baptized. God provided water in the middle of the desert.
Experience of a breakthrough in sharing the Gospel — then suddenly, I want to be baptized, I want to bring my whole family too, can you start a Bible study in our house?
God knows your heart of obedience and He does the work!
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
No sinners prayer (act out).. I put my faith in the Lord Jesus.. but most likely Philip had already talked to him about the sin problem and that Jesus can forgive him of his sins.
The Gospel is centered on the cross — God does the rest.
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
What an amazing story..
Eunuch was rejoicing — Eunuchs according to Deuteronomy shall not enter the assembly of the Lord
The Eunuch, must have wondered who could that guy be? But it is not important. He is important and known to God alone.
Don’t consider any opportunity as small,, you can preach before crowds or you can share the Gospel to one person — no one is unimportant to God
Illustration of the $1000 in the form of quarters.
That Eunuch, unnamed in the Bible, became the first convert from Africa, Jesus said you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.. in the bigger plan of God from Acts 8 onwards, the conversion of this one man from Africa was the first instance of the Gospel being preached to the “end of the earth”… for sure he shared the Gospel to his people back home.. This is even before the conversion of the Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Illustration (from Memorial Day)