A Remarkable Journey to Jerusalem and What Came of it.

AN evangelist named Philip, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, found nearly nineteen centuries ago a ripe harvest field in the city of Samaria, and the villages of the province of that name. Many hearts were opened to believe the testimony he bore to the kingdom of God, and to the name of Jesus Christ.
Suddenly, in the midst of his successful labors, the angel of the Lord sped direct to His busy servant, and said to him, “Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert” (Acts 8:2727And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, (Acts 8:27)). The command was plain, definite, and unmistakable. “And Philip arose and went.” Had Philip been serving on the lines of many at the present day, or fettered by a plan, or the servant of a society or an organization, it would have been no easy matter for him to obey. But Philip was the Lord’s servant, and in no sense man’s. Hence immediately he received His directions, he arose and went.
Had he not been the man of faith he was, one could well understand his hesitating. If unbelief had had a place in his soul, he might have reasoned why he should give up that wide field of service, where crowds were flocking together to hear the gospel, and go to a desert, where not a soul is to be found. Would it not be a waste of time and strength for nothing, and neglect of present opportunity and privilege? Besides, where was he to eat and drink and sleep? And these are necessities. But there are no kind brethren or hospitable inns in a desert. Why, it seems almost flying in the face of Providence. It can hardly be expected of me to go such a journey as that.
But not so Philip. He was full of faith and power. And faith obeys and sees no difficulties. It is true he had no directions why he was to go. But that was not his affair. The angel of the Lord had told him to go, and indicated the spot. That was enough. He arose and went.
One has often pictured this devoted servant of God trudging from Samaria to that desert in the south. Doubtless his heart was lifted up many times to God on the way to show him what he was to do, when he should arrive. It was no short journey, and there was no convenient train as nowadays. But Philip had his Master’s orders, and Philip obeyed. There was no consultation with flesh and blood. He had his orders direct, and he carried them out without a moment’s hesitation.
And now, see him on his arrival at the spot indicated. Philip is alone in the desert. Yet not alone, for God is with him. North, south, east, and west, nothing but rocks and sand. No sound but that of some swiftly flying bird, or the scamper of some wild animal, affrighted by the intrusion of a stranger. A strange place this to evangelize! But Philip was there, a vessel prepared and sent of God.
He had not long to wait. The passage reads as though the moment he arrived, his work was before him. Gazing towards the north in the direction of Jerusalem, he spies in the distance a little cloud. What is it? A dust storm raised by the wind? No. What then? Some one is approaching in a chariot. Who can it be?
Philip is not left a moment in suspense as to what to do. The Spirit said to him―not the angel of the Lord this time, but the Spirit of God Himself― “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.” His faith was equal to the occasion. One fears many of us would have hesitated. What! speak to a man like that! Why, though an Ethiopian, he is evidently some great personage. He will surely count it as a great impertinence. Ah, but God is no respecter of persons. And who art thou that fearest a man who shall die? And when the Lord’s servant gets the word from his Master, whether it is a message to the high or to the low, he is called to be faithful and to speak without fear.
It was no mean personage that Philip was called to evangelize, for we read, “Behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning; and, sitting in his chariot, read Esaias the prophet” (chs. 8:27, 28).
And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read, and said, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” The King’s business requires haste (vs. 30). Philip ran. One can easily imagine the surprise of the Ethiopian on hearing suddenly that hasty footstep, as he looks up and sees Philip in that lonely desert spot, and hears him accost him thus. But the whole matter was of God, and his confidence apparently was gained in a moment. The question seemed to imply that the questioner could help him to understand. And he was evidently sorely puzzled at what he read. What a remarkable incident! An eunuch from a distant and idolatrous land, not going to, but returning from Jerusalem, and reading from a large roll the earnest, wondrous, and wild strain of Israel’s great prophet and poet, Isaiah.
How had it all come about? Ah, God had brought it about. God wanted that man, that black eunuch, Candace’s minister of finance, or the Ethiopian chancellor of the exchequer, as we should call him, saved by grace, and brought to glory, for His own joy. And the happy moment of his liberation from the power of Satan and sin had come.
The eunuch had been up to Jerusalem to worship. It would appear that the Spirit of God had already awakened that precious soul in the dark land of his birth. And from that moment idolatry could not satisfy him. He had doubtless heard that the Jews were God’s people, and of the great city Jerusalem, and the gorgeous temple, the wonder of the earth, which took forty-six years to construct. And he finds an opportunity to journey there, to worship the true God. But, alas, where was the Jew? Long ago the glory had left the temple, and lately the incredulous Jew had killed his Master. The sacrifices, the forms, the ceremonies, and the feasts, &c., continued, but where was Christ? They had fulfilled these shadows in crucifying Him.
See, then, this poor inquiring soul, joyous at the thought, as he reaches Jerusalem, that at last he will find the object of his heart’s search. See him in the court of the Gentiles, intensely interested as he beholds the Jews bringing their offerings to the priests, and the priests carrying on the service of the altar, the fire consuming, and the whole, as they still thought, going up as a sweet savor to God. But where was anything in all that to satisfy the void in that aching heart? Ah, where indeed? He had found the old shell, but where was the kernel? He had turned his back upon idolatry, but there was no wine for the joy of his soul in the empty cold stone water-pot of Judaism. The days run swiftly by, and the eunuch must return. With a heavy heart he turns his back upon that thrice guilty city. His soul is as empty as when he came.
But lo, he reads Isaiah in his chariot. Where did he obtain the roll? Who knows? Whether some stray copy had found its way to Ethiopia, and the perusal of its contents had led him to take this long journey, or whether in his intense desire to arrive at the truth, he had obtained one from some friendly priest or Pharisee, or elsewhere at Jerusalem, we cannot tell. One thing we know, he possessed the blessed roll, and was turning it to good account. Would that all readers of these lines were as earnest with their Bibles today.
Now the angel of the Lord, Philip, the Holy Ghost, the eunuch’s journey, and the roll all contributed in the inscrutable ways of God to bring about the troubled soul’s blessing. And now, generally speaking, a man of intelligence reads a book straight through. And the eunuch was one. Supposing then (for we are not told) he had begun to read at chapter 1, in the wondrous ways of God, he had just arrived at that precious verse 7 in chapter 53, when Philip met him. Let us cite the passage, as in Acts 8:32, 33,32The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. (Acts 8:32‑33) “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth; in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.” Accosted with the words, “Understandest what thou readest?” he answered, “How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And he continued,” I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” Deeply impressed by these soul-stirring words, the poor seeker after light in his ignorance would know of whom the passage spoke, for he had no idea. It might be the prophet himself, or some other man, but to the true subject of it, with which the whole quotation teems, as yet he was a total stranger.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. What a theme! and what a sermon! We would like to have heard it. That sermon was not bought at an old bookstall, nor made up of culling’s from the productions of other minds. That was no bit of Sunday eloquence, written or thought out during the six days of the previous week. No, but the outflow of the heart of a man filled with faith and the Holy Ghost, who delighted in the One of whom he, and also Isaiah spake. Jesus, precious Jesus, the Lord, the Christ; Jesus, the Son of God, the only Saviour of sinners, whether Jew or Ethiopian, white or black.
He preached unto him Jesus. Jesus, the gift of God, the Lamb without blemish or spot. Jesus, the Christ, who offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot to God. Jesus, who glorified God. Jesus, whose precious blood was shed for the guilty and the lost. Jesus, who died to save sinners from their sins, and from Satan and sin’s domination, and the wrath of God. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus.
We think we see and hear the earnest look and tone of the preacher, and the intense interest depicted on the countenance of Queen Candace’s minister. As Philip warms with his thrilling subject, and tells of Jesus, led as a sheep to the slaughter, and His life taken from the earth, the look of anxiety and pain on the bearer’s face gradually gives place to one of ever-deepening interest, and then to joy and peace, joy inexpressible and peace surpassing understanding, as the citadel is taken possession of by the mighty Victor, and the heart of the poor black eunuch captured by Jesus, the Son of God!
Enough! the scene which follows tells how his soul appreciated the blessed joyful news. At that very moment again, in the wondrous ways of God, his eyes fell upon a certain water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?1 And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (vers. 38, 39). The eunuch’s faith was manifested in his desiring baptism. What he could neither find in heathenism nor in Judaism he found in Jesus. And had he not just read that His life was taken from the earth? Then said the eunuch in principle by his desire, My life must go too. Philip baptized him. This was the end of the black man morally before God, in figure by baptism. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” (Jer. 13:2323Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)). Impossible. No more can the sinner his corrupt flesh. That which is born of the flesh is flesh (John 3:66That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)). No, his sins must go, and not only so, but he after the flesh must go also. Trusting in Jesus, the eunuch’s sins were forgiven. He was doubtless cleansed by the precious blood. And in baptism, he was to have done with sin, and with sinful self. And coming up out of the water, in figure he was beyond death, to live to God. And he went on his way rejoicing. Rejoicing, yes, rejoicing.

But the Spirit caught away Philip, and he was found at Azotus. No doubt his faithful Master provided food and lodging for him there. And passing through, he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.
And what a different man the eunuch must have been as he drove back to the dominions of Queen Candace! Do you think that that joyful heart could keep the glad tidings of Jesus to itself? Impossible. We doubt not, though we have no record, that many a soul in Ethiopia from that time forth heard of and believed in that all-blessed Name.
And you, dear reader, what think ye of Him? Of Jesus? Of Jesus the Saviour, who saved the eunuch, the Saviour of whom Philip delighted to tell. He is the same precious and all-powerful Saviour today. Seated in highest glory, the crowned and triumphant One in the presence of God, He is ready to save every one that believeth. He is ready to save you. You will no more find what your soul needs in the external forms of Christendom than in Judaism or in heathenism. It is a living Saviour whom you need. Jesus is He. Are you in earnest about it as the eunuch was? Surely He will meet you. Why should not that happy rencounter take place today? A sinner you are, and Jesus, just the Saviour you need, is offered to you. He died for sinners, died for all. Then did He not die for you? Put in your claim! Now is the moment for decision. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). And thy house, if thou hast one. Can you say, before we close, I do believe on Him, Jesus is mine?
E. H. C.
 
1. Verse 37 is well known not to be in the original. See any reliable new translation.