Last week we heard about Philip traveling to Samaria to share the gospel with non-Jewish people. We saw the beginning of the gospel expansion.

‌

This week, we will learn that Philip was a traveling man! He not only shared the gospel in Samaria, he also shared it in Gaza.

‌

‌

As a review, here’s the map we looked at last week.

‌

‌

Last week, Philip traveled from Jerusalem up to Samaria. Now, he travels down from Samaria, back to Jerusalem, then to Gaza. From Gaza he traveled to Azotus, then to Caesarea.

‌

‌

Philip was a traveling man, and as he traveled, he was having gospel encounters.

‌

This particular encounter that we will read about today was a special encounter. Indeed, it was a supernatural encounter. In fact, the title of today’s sermon is “Philip’s Supernatural Encounter.”

‌

‌

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us as we study His Word.

‌

‌

(prayer)

‌

‌

As we look at this passage today, we’ll see three situations that are part of Philip’s supernatural encounter.

‌

First, we see . . .

‌

‌I. The opportunity.

‌

‌

Let’s look at the passage. Look at Acts 8:26-29:

‌

‌

26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

‌

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

‌

‌

We see in this passage that Philip has an opportunity that lies before him.

‌

‌

He has been told to leave where he is and head down a desert road to meet a man whom he doesn’t know.

‌

‌

Notice that Philip was told this information by an angel of the Lord. We don’t know the particulars, but we know that this was a supernatural occurrence.

‌

‌

We also don’t know a lot about the man whom Philip was to meet, but we do know a few things about him.

‌

‌

We know that he was an Ethiopian.

‌

‌

Now, it’s worth mentioning that the Ethiopia mentioned in this passage is probably not the same as modern-day Ethiopia.

‌

‌

Most likely, the Ethiopia mentioned here referred to a kingdom that stretched from modern-day Ethiopia, through Sudan, all the way up to the southern part of Egypt.

‌

‌

We also learn that this man was in a chariot, and he was a high official in the royal court.

‌

‌

More than likely, this man was quite wealthy. After all, not everyone had chariots.

‌

‌

Further, because he was a high-ranking official, he probably had great wealth.

‌

‌

By the way, the queen’s name was likely not Candace. Rather, that would have been her title. She would have been The Candace, similar to how you would have The Pharoah in Egypt.

‌

‌

Third, we learn that this man was a eunuch.

‌

‌

Not everyone knows what a eunuch is, but it’s not something I will explain in detail in mixed company.

‌

‌

It’s enough to say that a eunuch is a man who has had his body altered in a way that he can be trusted to be in the presence of a queen or princess without something inappropriate happening.

‌

Kids, if you have a question about that, you can ask your parents. Adults, if you have a question about that, you can ask one of our other two pastors.

‌

‌

Finally, we learn that this man was on his way to worship in Jerusalem.

‌

‌

Now, there’s no explicit evidence that this man was a Jewish convert.

‌

However, it does appear that he was interested in learning about the God of Israel, and worshipping in Jerusalem.

‌

So, this man’s heart was perhaps already open to hearing about the Jewish Messiah.

‌

‌

Notice what the Ethiopian man was doing: He was rea