Remember where He found you.

Steve Brown:
Hey, remember where he found you. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
That was Steve Brown. He doesn’t want to be your guru and he’s not trying to be your mother. He just opens the Bible and gives you the simple truth that will make you free. Steve’s a lifelong broadcaster, author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at the eighth chapter of the book of Acts and the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. It’s a great story. And I spent almost all of yesterday’s broadcast talking about stories and I didn’t mean to, but now we’ve got to get back to what this is about and what was promised. We’re going to talk about evangelism. Now earlier, we’ve seen that the conversion that took place in the Ethiopian and in you and me was an event, but it also was the result of a process that a sovereign God had planned in your life before you were ever born. And we talked about how God prepares us for that time. I spoke of C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis said, and I’ve given you this quote before.

To say I was searching for God was like saying that a mouse was searching for a cat.

He said everywhere he went, there was this sense that somebody was watching, he would go to a concert and he would experience the joy and the beauty of the music. And he would know there was something there, but he just didn’t have a name. God was preparing C.S. Lewis for that moment. And by the way, his time was the right time. People are always saying to me, I wish I had come to know Christ sooner because I could have served him longer. That’s a nice sentiment. And Jesus appreciates your heart when you say something like that, but it’s nonsense. You came to Christ exactly at the moment, you were meant to come to Christ. When Anna was pregnant, I, with both our daughters, I’m the guy that takes off for the hospital with a suitcase and forgets the wife. And when our older daughter was born, I fainted. And listen, I can deliver your baby. I mean, I, you know, I was in broadcast news. I’ve visited really gory things and I can handle it. It never bothers me, but boy I’ll tell you, when Anna was pregnant, women say, you don’t understand, you’ve never been pregnant. Yeah, I understand. I experienced everything she did, including morning sickness and I fainted when the baby came. But I remember thinking, and when I was a young guy and she was pregnant with our older daughter, Robin. And, I was thinking nine months, Lord, this is a long time. Could you hurry it up just a little bit, seems to me that you could shorten this period, but he never did. And he never does. The process is what he prepares us, for all that he gives and ordains and teaches. And he’s doing that now, and he’s always done it in the past, in your life. And he did it in terms of your conversion to Christ, but it is a process. But it’s more than that, it is an event that happens. As you read this story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, and if you had met the Ethiopian years later in church, because now he was serving Christ with God’s people and we’re going to see that later on. But the Ethiopian, would be grinning and you’d know he was a brother. And you’d say, tell me when you became a Christian. And he wouldn’t talk about studying in Jerusalem or not understanding the law or the inner urging that God had created in him long before. He would say, well, I was on this road and I was in my chariot and I was reading Isaiah and I look up and this guy is standing there and says to me, you understand what you’re reading? And I say, no, could you show me? And he told me about Jesus and I was baptized, and that’s how I became a Christian. It’s a process, but it’s also a culmination. In other words, there is a before and there’s an after, but there is also an event. This was the end of one of the processes in the life of this Ethiopian. Let me tell you what Leo Tolstoy said.

Five years ago, faith came to me. I believed in the doctrine of Jesus and all my life was suddenly changed. I ceased to desire that which previously I had desired. And on the other hand, I took to desiring what I’d never desired before. That which formally used to appear good in my eyes appeared evil and that which used to appear evil, appeared good.

What’s he doing? He’s describing an event. Throughout Scripture, as you read about what happens in conversion, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. What’s that? Well, what has to do with working with God cause he’s working in you. And all of the events that, but, but it’s still an event, John Newton said.

I was once a wild thing on the coast of Africa, but the Lord Jesus caught me and tamed me. And now people come to see me like the lions in the tower. Doubt if the Lord can convert the heathen? Look at me.

E. Stanley Jones, I could do this all day. I’m not going to do, give you many, but one more. E. Stanley Jones.

When the burden rolled off and I became conscious that Jesus was my personal savior, I felt a sudden impulse and desire to throw my arms around the world and share the experience with everybody else. A few minutes before I had no such desire because I had nothing to share.

Don’t forget where Jesus found you because it is an event and it’s an important event. Evangelism brings people to the place of decision. That’s why Mr. Grahams radio program, all those years was called The Hour of Decision. In other words, it’s time. Now, decide who you will follow, make a step, reach out and see what happens. It feels like the principle I’ve taught you before.

You take the first step, God takes the second step, and by the time you get to the third step, you’ll know it was God who took the first step.

Remember where he found you. And I would say, most of the people who listen to this broadcast are Christians, I mean, I can’t imagine why a pagan would bother to listen to this. But maybe you were flipping across the radio dial and you heard this voice, like a fog horn. And you thought, well, he sounds sane, but he saying insane things. And then all of a sudden you feel something and you wonder, all you got to do is bow your head and say, Lord Jesus, I’m empty, fill me. I’m a sinner, forgive me. I’m afraid, give me courage. And enable me to live forever because of what Jesus has done for me. That’s all you have to do. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s more complicated than that. It really isn’t. And it becomes the event, the event of your story, when you’ve come to Christ. I remember a few years ago, a man, I said something on this broadcast, similar to what I just said then. And this man pulled off to the side of the road and he bowed his head and he did what I just said you could do. And then he looked up and he was parked in front of a church. And he said, how about that? So, he got out of his car and the door of the church was open and the organist was playing the organ. And he walked down the aisle and said to this organist, I was just listening to a guy on the radio, I don’t even know his name, but he told me to invite Jesus into my life. And I did that. And he said for me to tell somebody and you were here. So, I thought I would tell you, can you give me some information that I need? And that organist sat down with a brand new Christian. And they discussed what had happened and how his life was different and how everything was going to change. God has been preparing you, if you’re the person I was just talking about for a very, very long time. So, just run to Jesus. That’s all it takes. And he’ll forgive you. He’ll love you. He’ll accept you. And you live forever. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. And we will continue our exploration of Acts 8 tomorrow. Will you join us again then? Would not be the same without you. I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about cold weather is settling into a favorite chair, perhaps with a warm beverage, doing a little reading. There’s actually a Danish word, hygge, that captures that feeling of comfort and coziness. If you enjoy that, then allow us to enhance your hygge, by supplying some reading material. The 2021 edition of Key Life magazine. This issue has a dynamite article from Steve called, You Can’t Fix It. Plus other great pieces by Robin DeMurga, Chad West and Chris Wachter. To get your copy, just call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for the magazine. If you’d like to mail your request, send it to

Key Life Network
P.O. Box 5000
Maitland, Florida 32794

If you’re in Canada, mail

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6J8

Just ask for your free copy of Key Life magazine. Also, if you’re able, would you please give the Key Life? You could charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or just text Key Life to 28950 on your smartphone, then follow the instructions. Remember that every gift, big or small, monthly or one-time, really does matter and it really does help. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always Key life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.