An Unexpected Encounter

The book of Acts tells us about a preacher named Philip who obeyed the Lord by going out into the desert. His obedience resulted in a life-changing experience for an Ethiopian official. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg teaches us how God uses unexpected encounters to reach others with the Gospel. I invite you to turn with me, purposefully but briefly, to Acts chapter 8. Well, what we have here is the record of an unexpected encounter that ended up radically changing one man's life.

It's really a bit like life in general, isn't it, that something that we never planned on turns out to have quite amazing ramifications. And in certain cases in reading this passage, some of us will be able to identify with some of the principles that were involved in the way in which this man came to understand who Jesus is and then in turn was prepared to let everybody know that he was happy that he had become a follower of Jesus. There are two individuals into whom we are introduced, and the first of these is Philip. Philip, we read at the beginning of the chapter, has had a unique opportunity that has emerged as a result of the persecution that the church is facing. And Philip, while he's certainly not the apostle Paul or Peter or anyone else, has been given a unique role at that point in time in the lives of people. And we're told that in verse 5, he went down to the city of Samaria, and he proclaimed to them the Christ. And not only did he do so, but he did so with great effectiveness—an effectiveness that was due to the work, obviously, of the Holy Spirit.

And you will see that there was something of a kind of evangelism explosion that took place. Verse 6, and the crowds, with one accord, paid attention to what was being said by Philip. And so you have this record at the head of the chapter of the way in which crowds are gathering, the gospel is being proclaimed, and Philip is being mightily used. And then you come to verse 26, and we discover that he is given a reassignment. And he is approached by an angel of the Lord.

If you read this text carefully, you will notice that angel and then spirit are used almost interchangeably, and it's not worthy of further consideration. It's simply a way of making it absolutely clear that God directed Philip in a very singular way to do what he then went on to do. And the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is a desert place. And he arose and went. So, it is a significant reassignment. Every so often I talk with some of you, and you are facing the potential of reassignment or you have been reassigned. We meet people Sunday by Sunday who have, as a result of a reassignment, found themselves here in Cleveland and at Parkside Church. And in many cases, one would go to it with a great sense of anticipation and joy.

And while there is no doubt that Philip went obediently, there is nothing for us to suggest that it would not have been quite a challenge to him. After all, do you want to preach effectively to large audiences where crowds of people are listening to your every voice, or do you want to go here? To where? To the desert. What's in the desert? Desert. And what am I doing there?

I'm not telling you what you're doing there. I'm reassigning you to a desert place. And he's saying, Well, I suppose there's a reason that I'm supposed to be here. And then maybe he found himself saying, I wonder if I got my wires crossed. I wonder if somehow or another I misinterpreted the word of the Lord to me.

I wonder if I'm supposed to be in this strange place. You see, God was actually ordering his steps. And one of the questions that emerges when you study a passage like this—and it will be true as we go on to think in terms of the one to whom he speaks—is this question. Do we really believe that God directs our steps? Not just that God rules the universe, not just that he sustains it by the word of his might, but he actually directs our steps. He plans our way, and he positions us. So in other words, Philip does not find himself in this situation reassigned by chance, but he finds himself there by divine appointment.

Many of our friends and neighbors from different backgrounds and perspectives would have nothing to say about that except they would find it quite ridiculous and unbelievable. Rather, they would say, Things just happened. It's a strange world, and we can't explain many things many times. But as we've studied the doctrine of providence together, we've learned together that God is at work always and in a variety of circumstances. That the circumstances of Philip's life could not be viewed in isolation. That the circumstances that the church was facing could not be viewed in isolation from what was about to unfold.

For surely the persecution and the destruction of Stephen was something from which people would inevitably have recoiled. The fact that the church was then to be scattered out from Jerusalem would so easily be regarded as a negative thing—that just when we thought everything was going to be wonderful here in Jerusalem, look what's happened now. And in the case of Philip himself, just when I was being useful to you, Lord Jesus, just when I was preaching and being able to address these crowds, now look where I am.

He needed to realize that, and so do we. That God is at work, you see, in a variety of lives. What this reassignment meant for Philip was not ultimately about Philip. And one of the problems that I face—maybe you do too—is that when I try and explain my circumstances in the immediacy and I work it, if you like, from epicenter here, I almost inevitably get it wrong.

Because really, what is going on with me may have very little to do with me at all. And that was true in Philip's case. If he'd said, Surely I would be more useful here. Surely this, surely that.

It would have been understandable, but he would have been wrong. God had ordered his steps. And just when the dust began to kick up and he realized that there was some action going on, we are introduced to this Ethiopian. He arose and went, full stop, and there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians.

So in other words, this fellow is a significant fellow, we know that. It is unlikely that he would have gone up to Jerusalem just like on his own. For somebody of such stature from Ethiopia to move around would have been to move around with his own entourage, and we are told that he had made his way there. In fact, we're told that he had gone there to Jerusalem to worship.

Well, I wonder, what was it that triggered that? Was it that in the scattering of the believers something had slipped out, something had become apparent to him? Something within him that had said, as some have said here tonight, I discovered a longing within me for something that I could not find addressed in Ethiopia. Maybe somebody said to him, you know, if you were ever to think of going to Jerusalem, there's a holy city up in Jerusalem, there are people there who believe in a god. I don't know what happened when he got there.

Did he go to the temple and look around? He presumably was involved with other people. He would be a high-ranking official.

He would have peers, perhaps in the business world. Maybe he meets some people for coffee, and as they talk, he keeps hearing a name. He keeps hearing this Jesus name. Who's this Jesus? He keeps hearing that they worship God.

The Jews that he meets believe they worship the living and the only true God—the God of Abram, Isaac, and of Jacob. And he says, you know, that's why I'm up here. I'm trying to find this God.

Where can I meet him? And by the time his visit is over, he's back in his chariot with his quest unfulfilled. Now, how in the world did he get a hold of Isaiah? Who said to him, You should read Isaiah?

Somebody must have! Somebody said, If you're really interested in looking for God, read the prophet. The prophet Isaiah, he talks about God. And so he takes it with him. And as he makes his journey in his chariot, seated in his chariot, we're told, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

Was that merely chance, that he left at the time that he did, that he was reading Isaiah—and not just reading Isaiah, but reading this particular section of Isaiah? And all of this unbeknown to Philip, who is still over here sort of waiting his next assignment. And as the chariot begins to come towards him—and presumably more besides if he does have an entourage—the word is then given to him. Go over and join this chariot. I can't wait to talk to Philip about this.

It's just amazing stuff. Go to the desert. Okay. All right, I'm here. Now what?

Hang on, I'll tell you. Go over and join the chariot. You mean you just want me to walk up to the chariot?

I mean, yeah, go over to the chariot. And as he goes over to the chariot, the fellow in the chariot is reading. He's not reading Plato. He's reading the Bible! And then Philip's saying to himself, This is remarkable! And then he says, What is that I just read? Like a lamb to the slaughter? Oh, he says, of all the things he's reading, he's reading one of my favorite chapters.

I think I'll just ask him. So Philip ran up to him, hearing him, and he said, Do you understand what you're reading? Well, of course, he didn't understand. But you don't just ask sort of people in chariots if they understand. I mean, you assume they understand.

This is a big guy with a chariot. Do you understand? Now, if this fellow had a fat head, he would have said, Excuse me. But he didn't. Because he was looking for God.

And he said, I can't understand this, unless somebody helps me. Here's a thought. At a time when not one document of the New Testament had been written, could an evangelist have been given a better text out of the Old Testament to preach the gospel to an Ethiopian chancellor of the exchequer? Do you actually believe in chance? Do you believe that God orders your steps? Do you believe that when you get a pickup from the airport in Uber that it is a chance occurrence? Or do you believe that it is a divine appointment? Do you believe that the person in the grocery store with whom you have the opportunity to spend some intimate moments now, as you wait painstakingly to come down, having already, for the third time, tried to dodge the line and chosen the worst possible line?

Do you believe that the person who's actually there is there by chance? You see, this is the great question. And the answer is clearly no.

And no one, says Calvin, who was puffed up with confidence in them—and confidence in their own intellect—will be readily taught. And so, having said no, I could use some help. This is super. And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

It's so good! Yeah, and so now he's in the chariot. He's sitting in the chariot.

He's saying to himself, This is unbelievable. Go to the desert. I'm there. Run up to the chariot. I did.

And now here we go. Some of you watch that thing with that Jewish comedian, don't you? Comedians in cars getting coffee?

Yeah? How about Christians in cars sharing Jesus? You see, here's the thing. The greatest impact of Parkside Church, extended out from here into Greater Cleveland and beyond in this nation, is actually not as a result of the proclamation that comes over the radio—thankful as we are for that—but it's as a result of individual Christians in cars, in buses, on planes, in trains, sitting down, not by chance, next to people who, if we scratched it a little, may discover that they are actually on a quest for something to answer the deepest longings of their life, and they don't even know what it is they're looking for. And they invited you to sit beside them.

Here are the great prerequisites, then. An inquiring mind, and a prepared heart, and a ready answer. Now, the passage he was reading was this. And then, wonderfully, who is he talking about, he says?

Himself or about someone else? And then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus, just as straightforward and as simple and as profound as that is. Began with the passage, explained to him all that was involved in that. Here, he said, was the way in which sinful man was to be reconciled with God. Here is a righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus for all who believe. Here is the story of one who is a substitute and a Savior. Man, I wish I had the record of his talk.

I'd like to use it. Beginning with that passage, he told them the good news about Jesus. And he must have told him that the appropriate response to the story was baptism.

And it is by his own initiative, the eunuch's initiative, that the baptism takes place. See, here is water. What a strange thing for people to say! You know, here this fellow's got it in the space of about twenty-five minutes, and some of you are here, you haven't even got it in the space of twenty-five years. You want to follow Jesus?

Yeah, I want to follow Jesus, he says. I get it now. The missing link, I've found it. You've explained it to me. Up there I saw all the temple stuff, I saw some of the sacrifices going on, but I couldn't put the pieces together. But now you've explained it.

Now I understand that this God has provided a Savior in the person of his Son, and that I may embrace this Savior, and frankly, if I do, then I'm prepared to let the whole world know. What did it cost him? He says, what would prevent me from being baptized?

Well, actually, quite a lot of things. The fact that he had a whole retinue coming behind him—all from Ethiopia. Who would go back to Ethiopia and say, Hey, you're not gonna believe what this guy did when he was up there. He's the chancellor of the Chequers.

He's in the department of the treasury. Do you know what he did? He met a fellow there who told him about Jesus, he believed in Jesus, and we all stood around and watched as he got completely drenched.

The two of them went down into the water and came up. And his life will never, ever be the same again. And nor will yours. If you will read the Bible, discover in it Jesus, acknowledge he is the Savior that you need, entrust your life to him, and let the whole world know that you're unashamed. It's a great end to the story, isn't it? And the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away. Poor old Philip. Where are we going next? He's going to a place called Azotus. He found himself at Azotus. Philip's like, Come, man!

What a journey this is! And he passed. He said, Well, I'm here now, so I might as well preach the gospel.

That's what I do. That's terrific. But anyway, the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. It's fantastic, isn't it? Actually, back in verse 8 it's the same response, So there was much joy in that city.

So what do you have? Whether Philip has a congregation of crowds or only one, he has the same message that is Jesus. The response to his proclamation is the same response—faith and baptism.

And the result of it is the same result—that there was great joy in the city and that the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. I wonder, did he have eventually recourse to turn to verses 5 and 6 of Psalm 13, when he got home and he was beset by those who began to challenge his newfound testimony? Then he took the words of the psalmist to himself, But I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. We don't know another thing about this Ethiopian fellow. People say, Well, what are you gonna do in a new heaven and a new earth?

Well, I can spend a significant chunk of eternity just following my fertile imagination and trying to find out whether any of this stuff that is conjecture for me has any basis in reality. But what a thrill it'll be to find out that the fellow from Ethiopia went back, and he was greatly used of God, that his wife became a follower of Jesus, his children, his grandchildren. He started an evangelism course, and he had a seminary, and who in the world knows what had all happened? Just because one guy, when he was told, Get out of here and go there, went. And no matter how he felt about the reassignment, he did what he was told.

And no matter what came his way, he said, I'll tell you what. I'm gonna tell people about Jesus. Loved ones, tomorrow, Christians in their cars sharing Jesus. Forget the comedians in their cars drinking coffee.

That's fine. I like that too. But this is a great opportunity. It'd be worth actually becoming a taxi driver, just for the privilege of evangelism. Well, a brief prayer. Father, thank you. Thank you that the Bible jumps out at us. Thank you that in a record like this, we're reminded again of your wonderful providence in our lives.

You open doors, you close them, you move us, you retain us. Help us, Lord, to realize that you're at work in all of these circumstances and that they're not isolated from one another, that you're at work in a variety of lives, and that what you're doing with us may have little to do with us and much to do with others. Thank you for the obedience of Philip. Thank you for the clarity of the gospel. Thank you for the way you take individuals like this Ethiopian man and so stir his heart and till the soil that he is ready when the evangelist appears. We rejoice with him and with one another in the wonder of our salvation, and we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. This story about the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official makes us grateful for the creative ways that God uses unexpected encounters to impact lives. An inspiring account from today's message on Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. As we think about encouraging encounters with others, I want to make you aware of an opportunity to form some new friendships with other believers while sharing a remarkable adventure. This summer, Alistair will be teaching the Bible on board a cruise ship to Alaska. This is going to be a memorable experience.

It's going to include time in God's Word each day and worship led by Grammy Award winner Laura Storey. You can find out more about the trip. Book your ticket today.

Go to deeperfaithcruise.com or call the cruise line directly at 855-565-5519. Now before we close, let me remind you there are just a few days left for you to request your copy of the book Living Well, which is drawn from the book of Proverbs. You don't want to miss the opportunity to benefit from the practical lessons you'll find in this book. Be sure to order your copy today when you make a one-time donation.

You can simply tap the image you see on the mobile app or visit truthforlife.org or call us at 888-588-7884. I'm Bob Lapine. Hope you have a great weekend. Hope you're able to relax and refresh. Be sure to join us Monday as we begin a new series. We'll be opening the pages of Luke's Gospel in preparation for Easter. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.