Providentially Led by the Spirit (Acts 8:26-40)

God providentially ordained a divine rendezvous. God told a certain man (Philip) to go to a certain place (a desert road) to meet another certain man (Ethiopian eunuch) in a certain carriage who is reading a certain OT book (Isaiah), a certain chapter (ch. 53) and a certain verse (vs. 7-8). God was creating a co--incidence. It's how most people come to Christ.

It's how God brought me to faith: God led me in 1980 from a certain place (M'sia, S'pore) to a certain country (US), a certain city (Chgo) and to a certain hospital (CCH/John Stroger) to meet another certain man (John Lee) at a certain building in the hospital (CCH cafeteria), who was likely praying a certain prayer (Lord, help me raise disciples for Christ), to ask him a certain question (How can I become a missionary?) so that he can teach me a certain OT book (Genesis) that led me to a certain verse (Gen 2:17), which led to my very unlikely but certain conversion in Christ. It was a co--incidence. Unbeknownst to me, God interrupted my life without telling me and completely turned my life around 180 degrees. Do you have a certain story to tell of a certain place in your life when a certain person met you and taught you a certain book of the Bible resulting in a certain change in your life?

Questions and Verses

1. Who were the first non-Jewish converts outside of Jerusalem (Ac 8:12, 17, 25)? [Who was the first Gentile convert (Ac 8:35-39)? Why was this important (Ac 1:8)?]
2. Does life just seem rather random to you? Or do you "see" yourself being providentially led by God?
3. Are you more like Philip (Ac 8:26,29) and Abraham (Gen 12:1-3) or like Jonah (Jonah 1:1-3)?
4. Are you willing to drop anything in order to go anywhere at any time to tell any person the good news about Jesus?
5. Jesus did not open his mouth to save himself (Ac 8:32; Isa 53:7). Will you open your mouth to proclaim him?
6. Like Philip, are you always ready to share "the good news about Jesus" (Ac 8:35)? How can you be ready (1 Pet 3:15; 2 Tim 4:2; 2:15; 1 Cor 2:7-10, 14; Gal 5:16, 18, 25; Jn 4:24; 6:63; Mt 4:4; 24:35)?
7. What do people need in order to understand the Scriptures (Ac 8:31, 34-35; Lk 24:25-27)?
8. Are all Christians called to be witnesses of Christ (Ac 1:8) and to make disciples (Mt 28:19)? How can we (Mt 28:20)?

• Always be prepared. "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Pet 3:15).
• Be prepared in season and out of season. "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Tim 4:2).
• Do your best. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).
• Only through the Spirit. "No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Cor 2:7-10). "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit" (1 Cor 2:14).
• Walk, be led, live, keep in step with the Spirit. "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal 5:16). "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" (Gal 5:18). "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Gal 5:25).
  
• Worship in spirit. "God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth" (Jn 4:24).
• Listen and obey the word of God. "The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" (Jn 6:63). "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Mt 4:4). "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Mt 24:35).
• The Scriptures need to be taught and explained. "He said to them, 'How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Lk 24:25-27).

3 types of eunuchs. "For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it" (Mt 19:12).