“And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’“ (Acts 8:30-31a)
Philip the deacon had preached the gospel in Samaria to a people who respected the Law of Moses. Upon leaving, the Lord directed him to a certain road on which he encountered an Ethiopian official, a eunuch. If the man was a eunuch as we understand that term, it was not his choice but the act his overlords, or in this case, his Queen, Candace of the Ethiopians. He seems to have been a Jew or Jewish convert for he was coming from Jerusalem heading home to Ethiopia through Gaza.
These days many liberal churches and civil rights groups cite this man as proof that Jesus accepts people into His Kingdom just as they are, that they do not need to repent or change. Taken in the context of the whole of God’s Word, this is not the case. All who come to faith are led by the Holy Spirit to repentance from sin not confirmation in any ungodly lifestyle.
The Holy Spirit used Philip to bring the Ethiopian man to faith through a divine appointment. The eunuch was reading a portion of the book of the prophet Isaiah which prophesied the sufferings of Jesus. The eunuch did not understand what he read and said so. Philip used the man’s question to present to him the gospel of salvation in Jesus. The man was then baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Presumably he was one of the first to bring the gospel to Ethiopia, perhaps even to the continent of Africa.
This incident shows us that God can use any one of us to bring the gospel to someone. The Lord creates these divine appointments for us with almost anyone, anywhere even in the supermarket or the mall or on social media. He calls us to be His agents where we are, to fellowship with believers and unbelievers alike, to listen to them, hear their stories and complaints, pray for and with them and, at the appropriate time, share the good news of salvation in Jesus alone.
We must not fear or remain silent in such encounters. We must realize that the Lord has made this appointment for us and has equipped us to bring His words of comfort and grace to some hurting and confused individual seeking solace and truth. And in these days of political and social unrest, there is no shortage of such people. These all need to hear the truth about the love of God and salvation from sin, just as did the Ethiopian. They do not need to be coddled or confirmed in their sinfulness. They need the truth from the word of God spoken to them by one of those He has called, not the relativistic lies disseminated by media or the government which is usually biased opinion or empty conjecture designed to promote a man centered agenda. Our calling as believers if to tell them, in love, that only by faith in Jesus Christ alone can anyone find joy and peace in this world and everlasting life in the next.