Phillip And The Ethiopian Eunuch
Let’s look at an “easy conversion,” that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts Chapter 8.
This conversion was as simple as picking a ripe mango ready to fall from a tree.
It’s not so much about the Eunuch as it is about Phillip being God’s tool to help the man come to faith.
The fruit is ready
The Fruit is Ready
These are the kinds of evangelistic conversations I love because a person has been prepared by the Lord to this point, and I get to be the one God uses to bring that person into the kingdom.
It reminds me that God is the Evangelist, that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way, and that when we are obedient to His promptings, the Lord can use us.
The passage: Acts 8:26-40.
Phillip had been directed by the Lord to go on a scavenger hunt. “Go to the south road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Phillip was then prompted to go and stand near a chariot that was on the road.
Phillip hears a man reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah.
Phillip asks if he understands.
The man’s response: “How can I unless someone explains it to me? Please tell me who the prophet is talking about.”
Phillip began there and told him the good news about Jesus. The eunuch believed, he took baptism, and went on his way rejoicing, never to see Phillip again.
Reflections:
A seeker:
We know from the text what Phillip didn’t know at first. This man had been coming from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship God. Phillip didn’t know him, but found a man reading out loud from the Old Testament.
This man shows all the signs of one who is spiritualy thirsty.
- He had reworked his schedule to go to Jerusalem on his own.
- He was reading from the Scripture.
- He wanted somebody to explain what he was reading.
- He was willing to search for the truth.
- He was willing to understand.
This man was hungry for the things of God. He was spiritually thirsty. Prepared by God.
All he needed was a person to help explain.
An evangelist.
The Lord used an obedient Phillip to help this man into the kingdom.
Both sides always balance
God worked both sides of the equation, so to speak, putting Phillip and the spiritualy thirsty eunuch in the same place at the same time. This positioning is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism.
All Phillip had to do in this encounter with a stranger was to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, Phillip got to work with God.
Phillip didn’t
- need to pry open a hard heart like a can of beans.
- have to waste hours of conversation about the existence of God.
- need to get the Eunuch to the starting point of a Gospel Script
All the talk in the world could not replace the work of God that prepared the eunuch ahead of time.
Luke on summarizes the conversation as “the good news about Jesus”. This was not a Scripted Evangelism Conversation.
So what?
For one brief afternoon, the stories of these two strangers intersected. Phillip was doing his ordinary routine when the Lord prompted him to go to specific place. The eunuch was simply going home after a pilgrimage.
But at one moment, their paths crossed and one man’s destiny was changed.
It is my desire that you spend time asking “God where are you at work?” It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart.
The key is that Phillip noticed “THAT” Chariot. God underlined the chariot and Phillip positioned himself.
More than just conversions
This is a learnable model of personal evangelism that can be done as a practical exercise.
See Effective Evangelism Training Lab Time. It forms the basis for Fear Free Evangelism, an Evangelism Training Workshop that I do around the US and as a webinar
Listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit for those Kairos moments can bring good news to lots of people in many situations.
Examples:
I want to give you examples of how this can play out in real life.
- God’s presence is with us. – My tutor hears the gospel
- Seminar Testimony - a wrong phone number
- Is he a PC USA Pastor? – Divine moment in Cracker Barrell
- What is an Evangelist? – Student wants a definition
- Reflections from Enfield CT - Walmart Stories
- Evangelism Motives: Why bother? – taxi driver shares Jesus
Let me ask you this?
Will you take the time today to ask God to show you where He is at work?
More in the Conversion in the NT
The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius
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