So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship;
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… We're there too. 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, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake this chariot. Let's stop there. The first principle we see in how we should share our faith is we need to adapt to the situation. Philip's evangelism begins not with strategy. It begins with sensitivity. Remember I said just a second ago, Philip was in Jerusalem, part of a huge revival. Strategy would say that he should stay in Jerusalem and keep riding the wave of revival. Strategy would say that he should stay in the crowds where the work is happening. But Philip starts not with strategy. He starts with sensitivity. He starts with an open heart, asking God, Lord, where do you want me to go? …
May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of God's holy word. I want to continue our conversation, this series entitled The Truth About the Church. And I want to look at this idea of an African who shaped our faith. An African who shaped our faith. I would invite you to pray with me as we present this word on today. It was years ago. I had the privilege of hearing a scholar, a brilliant scholar, no longer with us by the name of Ivan Van Sertema. His most well-known publication was titled, They Came Before Columbus. the African presence in the Americas. In this book, he argues Africans spent time in the Americas trading with indigenous nations on what we call South, Central, and parts of North America, also known as Mexico. Then I had this opportunity to hear Van Sertum a lecture in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a blessing, as I mentioned, and it was powerful, but it also was something that spoke to my spirit that to this day, I still remember his words. …
Now that's enough to let us know that this is a very well designed and prepared encounter, and the one who is preparing this is none other than the Holy Spirit. So let's start there. The proper preparation for salvation, for true salvation, begins with the sovereign work of the Spirit. It starts with divine preparation. It starts with God's Spirit preparing the soil, God's providential working. And essentially we know this is happening here because an angel of the Lord speaks to Philip and tells him to go directly to this individual who's a court official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, for the sake of the gospel. This is the divine encounter that is prepared by the Holy Spirit. didn't know that. He only knew to be obedient. He only knew to get on the road, and God would determine His purpose. We act, but the Spirit initiates. What a wonderfully encouraging reality that is. So the faith that does save begins with the right preparation, which begins in the sovereign purposes of God in the work of the Holy Spirit. …
Now that's enough to let us know that this is a very well designed and prepared encounter, and the one who is preparing this is none other than the Holy Spirit. So let's start there. The proper preparation for salvation, for true salvation, begins with the sovereign work of the Spirit. It starts with divine preparation. It starts with God's Spirit preparing the soil. God's providential working. Salvation is God's work, is it not? It is not man's work, it is God's work. It is initiated by God. It is a reflection of His will. No man seeks after God. The natural man is dead in trespasses and sin, ignorant, alienated from the life of God, hopeless, helpless, indifferent, disinterested. But what happens is by the purpose of God and the power of God, the glorious light of the gospel begins to shine into the darkness. And it shatters the blindness that is natural blindness, sinful blindness, and it shatters that second blindness which is satanic blindness, the blindness that the God of this world imposes on sinners. …