FROM COMPREHENSION TO CONVERSION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

And he gave orders to stop the chariot.

Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When 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.

Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Acts 8:36-40

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Before Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of God, His Father and ours, He gave His disciples the following command, a command that has been passed down from Christian generation to Christian generation for more than 2,000 years.

What was the command?

Jesus said, “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19

Philip was definitely schooled in this commandment as he was commissioned to serve Jesus, elected as one of the seven men who would assist the apostles with caring for the social needs of the people in Jerusalem. That’s where Philip cut his teeth as a Christian servant but as we have seen in recent devotion messages, the Lord had much more in mind for Philip, especially after Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin, falsely accused, and then murdered by stoning. This event, which resulted in a breakout of widespread Christian persecution in Israel’s capital city, led to a dispersing of Christians into Judea and Samaria. Philip ended up in the latter and established himself quickly as he taught the people about salvation through Jesus while healing the lame and driving out demons that were afflicting the Samaritan city populace.

One day while going about the Lord’s business, Philip received an order from an angel of the Lord. There was no specific reason given for the order. Rather the angel told Philip to…”Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

The scriptures show us that Philip didn’t question the angel about what he was being told to do. No, he just went. He was told to “go” and he did. The scene took me back to the Old Testament when God came to Abraham and told him to “go” to an unidentified place. Abraham didn’t ask God where he was going. He just did what the Lord told him to do, trusting that God was putting him where He wanted him to be.

And so Philip had checked off the first part of Jesus’ Great Commission. He was told to “go” and he did, and of course, he was always on the lookout for ways to “make” new Christian disciples. His opportunity came as he traveled the road the angel placed him on as he came upon a traveling party, a chariot and attendants who were heading south from Jerusalem to Gaza.

In the chariot was an Ethiopian official who was responsible for the treasury of the Kandake. He was a God-believer who had been worshiping in Jerusalem and as he rode south, the scriptures tell us he was reading from the Book of Isaiah. As Philip came alongside the chariot, he heard the official reading and he asked him if he understood what he was reading, to which the official replied:

“How can I unless someone explains it to me?”

And with that, the official invited Philip into the chariot and Philip proceeded to explain the passage of scripture the official was reading from Isaiah before telling him the good news about Jesus. In other words, Philip was checking off the second block of the three requirements of the Great Commission. He taught the Ethiopian official about Jesus which would always include talking about His commands.

So how would the official respond to the divine understanding imparted on him by Philip?

Well, as we see in today’s passage and the final verses of Acts 8, the official was moved from comprehension to conversion.

For we read that as they continued to travel south towards Gaza in the chariot, they came to some water and the Ethiopian official, also described as a eunuch, asked Philip:

“Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

The answer was nothing and so the official “gave orders to stop the chariot” and he went down into the water with Philip to be baptized. The third part of the Great Commission had been fulfilled as the eunuch was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It had to be a deeply emotional moment for the Ethiopian official and I’m sure he wanted to thank Philip for all he had done to help make the moment possible but as we see in our passage for today, the Holy Spirit “suddenly took Philip away” as soon as they emerged up from going under the water. He was supernaturally transported north from the road to Gaza to Azotus and he then ministered in towns from there north along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea until he reached Caesarea.

I’m sure the sudden departure must have startled and shocked the eunuch at first but note that he didn’t remain stunned for long. For we read where he went on his way to Gaza, rejoicing because he had found Jesus in his life and gained his salvation.  

Through this encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official, we see a perfect example of how the Great Commission operates when Jesus’ plan is executed to perfection by one of His disciples. Comprehension of who He is leads to conversion as new disciples are made once we go and teach and then encourage baptism in the name of the one and only Savior of the world.

As we move to Acts 9, we’re going to examine another conversion, this one resulting in a seismic shift in the way the Gospel would carried to the “ends of the earth” as Jesus predicted it would. I hope you’ll come back to study the story of Saul and how he went from being a Christian killer to a Christian maker.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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