An Eunuch Experience

Isaiah 12

2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD , the LORD , is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

4 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD , call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing to the LORD , for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Acts 8

Philip and the Ethiopian

26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.

31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth."

34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

A legend recounts the return of Jesus to heaven after his time on earth. He returned bearing the marks of his earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death.

The angel Gabriel approached him and said, “Master, you must have suffered terribly for people down there.”

“I did,” said Jesus.

“And,” continued Gabriel, “Do they now know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?”

“Oh, no,” said Jesus. “Not yet. Right now, only a handful of people in Palestine know.”

Gabriel was perplexed. “Then what have you done,” he asked, “to let all people know about your love for them?”

“Well, I’ vet asked Peter, James, John, Phillip and a few others to tell people about me. Those who are told will in turn tell others, and the Gospel will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of humankind will hear about me and what I have done on their behalf.”

Gabriel frowned and looked skeptical. He knew that people weren’t dependable. “Yes,” he said, “but what if Peter and James and John and Phillip grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? And what if, way down in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, people get too busy to bother telling others about you? Haven’t you made any other plans?”

“No, I’ve made no other plans, Gabriel,” Jesus answered. “I’m counting on them.”

It’s been said that the Christian faith is only one generation away from extinction. That’s because with each generation comes the renewed responsibility to take the good news of the Gospel to the world. Are you doing your part? “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).

Charles Haddon Spurgeon in his book “The Quotable Spurgeon”, tells this story:

‘Old Betty was converted late in her life, and though she was very poor she was very active. She visited the sick; out of her own poverty she gave to those who were still poorer; she collected a little money from others when she could give none of her own, and told many of the love of the Saviour. At last she caught a cold and rheumatism and lay in bed month after month, pain-worn and helpless. A good minister went to see her and asked if after her active habits she did not find the change very hard to bear. Listen closely to Betty’s reply: