Phillip had a divinely inspired encounter with a lost person. The woman at the well had a Holy Spirit laced encounter with Jesus as did Nathanael. And what about the day of Pentecost? Are these encounters a pattern of how soul winning can be carried out? Let’s investigate God’s Word on the matter and see how the Holy Spirit encounters lost people.

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Holy Spirit Encounters with Lost People: Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

Acts 8:26–30 (ESV)
26 Now an 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. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

• Let’s look at the miraculous in the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch.
• Did you notice the supernatural intervention of the angel of the Lord?
• Did you notice that Phillip received direction from this angel?

QUESTION: Out of the nine gifts of the Spirit which supernatural gift was in evidence in the appearing of the angel?
ANSWER: Discerning of Spirits (1Cor. 12:10).

• The angel did not tell Phillip who he was supposed to meet. The only piece he had was ‘Get on the road’.
• When Phillip got on the road at the ‘desert portion’ of that 50 mile track, the Bible says, Phillip received the next piece of direction when he happened upon a certain chariot that carried an Ethiopian eunuch.
• The Spirit of God then said, “Go over and join THIS chariot.”
• The direction is now more specific and not so general.

QUESTION: How many other chariots were on that same road from Jerusalem to Gaza that day?

• So, before Phillip could locate the person of interest on his divine mission, he had to first trust God and obey the general directive, ‘Rise and go and get on the road.’
• When he did that, he got the specific directive, ‘Join yourself to THIS chariot.’
• Specific direction comes when the general directions are followed first.
• Here is where people get stuck; instead of ‘rising and going’, they want to sit and figure it out.

Acts 9:6 (ESV)
6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

• ‘Entering the city’ was the general directive for Paul. ‘Being told what you are to do’ is the specific.

The Woman at the Well

John 4:6–7 (ESV)
6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

• What follows here is a religious doctrinally discussion on living water and eternal life.

John 4:9–14 (ESV)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

• Now, if you were going to have a theologically discussion with anybody, wouldn’t Jesus be the absolute right person to have that discussion with?
• The end result of this discussion is that this woman is going to get the absolute best answer that can be possible given at that moment.
• You cannot say a thing better than Jesus said it.
• You cannot give a better answer better than He gave it.
• On a scale of one to ten then, what do you think was the impact on this woman after just this part of the dialogue?

John 4:16-19 (ESV)
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17  The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18  for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19  The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

• All of a sudden, the dialogue went from conversation to manifestation.
• Jesus received a Word of Knowledge right at this exact moment.
• He did not go into that conversation knowing these facts about the woman.
• As He was talking, He got those words, “Go call your husband….you have had five husbands and the one you have now, is not your husband.”
• On a scale of one to ten then, what do you think was the impact on this woman after this part of the encounter?

John 4:20–26 (ESV)
20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

• So, the encounter has switched back to theological dialogue.
• This encounter starts with theology, proceeds to manifestation, and goes back to theology.
• On a scale of one to ten, what do you think was the impact on this woman after this part of the encounter?
• Well, let us let this woman who was at the well answer this question of impact herself.

John 4:29 (ESV)
29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

• What part impacted this woman? The part that deeply affected her was not the two theological conversations they had.
• It was the supernatural part, it is the moving of the Spirit, it was the Word of Knowledge which moved this woman, not just the Word.
• But, when the Holy Ghost shows up, when the Spirit of God unveils the hearts of men, when He reveals things about a person life that no one else can know, that person will stand up and take notice.

Nathanael’s Supernatural Encounter

John 1:43–46 (ESV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

• What happens here in this account? Phillip witnesses to Nathanael. Phillip points Nathanael to Jesus.

John 1:47–50 (ESV)
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

• The Word of Knowledge went into operation here. The Holy Spirit showed Jesus Nathanael under a fig tree.
• The Holy Spirit showed Jesus that Nathanael was an honest man, one in whom was no treachery or deceit.
• Nathanael’s reaction? “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!”
• In these cases, it wasn’t just the doctrine, it was the doctrine plus the demonstration of the doctrine.

The Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1–12 (ESV)
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

• Do you see demonstration of the Spirit here?
• Yes, you do. You see people, bewildered, amazed and astonished.

DEFINITION: bewildered/συγχέω/syncheō – surprised or agitated

DEFINITION: amazed/ἐξίστημι/existēmi – of the feeling of astonishment mingled w. fear, caused by events which are miraculous, extraordinary, or difficult to understand. ¹.

DEFINITION: astonished/ – to be extraordinarily impressed or disturbed by something active. ².

• These three words are what supernatural manifestations accomplish.
• The manifestation of the Spirit stops all argument.
• It forces people to consider instead of argue.
• And now, the Word that has been preached has an open door of opportunity.
• The Word can now get past the mental process because the mental process have for the moment short-circuited.
• It forces people to think in this channel; “Maybe the things that have been told to me about Jesus are in fact true.”

Acts 2:14–16 (ESV)
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

• Demonstration came first and propped the door open, then the preaching came afterward and 3000 people came to Jesus as a result (Acts 2:41).

Episode Resources

You can find a more full treatment of the information on this subject by clicking on the link below.

1. Holy Spirit Encounters with Lost People [Post]

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