Acts 8:29

Then said the Spirit to Philip, Go near.

Lessons from the desert ways

These two men were alike in a few respects, but in all others different. Both were travellers, both were stewards, and each had authority. But one was rich, the other poor. One was the steward of a great queen, and returning to her court and to the charge of all her treasure; but the other was going clown to Gaza which is desert, in trust with the gospel ministry and the commission of the Most High. Here is an instance to the point; men were feeling after Christ, in the unsatisfied hunger of the soul. Whatever impression that equipage may have made on Philip, as he looked, he was greatly in error if he thought, “Here is probably a haughty man of the world!” Appearances deceive. The humble and meek may be in kings’ courts; under the robe of wealth and state may beat a heart uncorrupt before God. This person, for example, had the charge of vast earthly treasure, and yet his thoughts are far away; he is meekly reading the Word of life, and seeking the pearl of great price. (Morgan Dix, D. D.)

Guidance in doing good

There was an unseen chance of serving a fellow-man down in a distant desert. Christ offered that chance to this Christian preacher. If a true believer’s heart is alert, and his temper willing, the Lord will surely put him and keep him in the way of doing good. Only he must watch for heavenly providences to summon him, and instantly obey.

I. No exertion should be considered too difficult, no prospect too discouraging, if doing good is our purpose. Philip cheerfully started to go sixty or seventy miles just to save a single soul. “He arose and went.” Sprang to meet the command. On the other hand the eunuch traversed more than half a continent to render God worship and find peace.

II. Sometimes the Holy Spirit chooses the best people in the unlikeliest places. Christ had saints in Caesar’s household and Herod’s family; so there was a seeker after truth in the court of Ethiopia.

III. Religious convictions are of inestimable value, and ought to be cherished as we would cherish life itself. The eunuch had been all the way, to Jerusalem without any helpful illumination of grace. Bat he will net give up without the blessing; so he searches the Scriptures on his way back, in spite of the tediousness of the journey.

IV. It is wrong to be fastidious about opportunities. Wherever souls are, in the desert or not, there let us try to save them.

V. We are never to despise the day of small things. Philip, like our Lord at Sychar, had an audience of one-but he preached notwithstanding.

VI. The measureless worth of a single chance of telling a fellow-being about Jesus Christ. Philip had not met this man before: there is nothing to show that he met him again. A moment lost might have been the loss of a soul.

VII. Courtesy is never lost on anybody in this uneasy and somewhat rough world. A churl would have told this stranger to move on and attend to his own concerns.

VIII. Notice the Ethiopian’s humility. He was ignorant and acknowledged it. To be conscious of ignorance is the first step to knowledge.

IX. Whoever desires to no good must find out where the Spirit is leaning him, and simply and humbly follow on.

X. Watch even chariots passing by. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

The meeting

Marriages, they say, are made in heaven; i.e., the steps of two, both being God’s dear children, are so directed that after each has passed over many windings, the two paths converge, and the two lives meet and melt into one like two rivers, flowing thenceforth one broader, deeper, stronger stream. Meetings that are of shorter duration, and partnerships that are less intimate, come under the same rule. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” If God’s purposes in creation require the meeting of two circling worlds, He will so arrange that the two shall touch at the very point of space and time which He has designed. The same might and wisdom have been at work to arrange a meeting wherever one earthen vessel charged bears Christ, and another empty receives Christ at a brother’s hand. This case is recorded as a specimen of the Lord’s way. Such meetings occur now, and ye know not the day nor the hour when the messenger sent by God to meet you may heave in sight--in church, street, lonely path, or home. Those who desire to meet him will not miss him. Though the place was desert and the path dimly traced, and the time not told at all, Philip and the Ethiopian met with all the exactitude of tides and seasons. These meetings, long prepared and wisely arranged, are sometimes lost through obstinate unbelief. What a meeting was that between Paul and Felix! How far up the lines of preparation for it ran; and how skilfully they were held by God until the missionary and the ruler met! Now, Felix, or never. “Go thy way,” etc. Fool! You will never get another. He thought he was only politely putting off the Christian: in reality he was rudely rejecting Christ. To lose such a meeting may be to lose your soul. Philip ran to meet the eunuch. Hitherto he had walked, perhaps slowly. So when two objects attract each other by hidden magnets, their mutual motion towards a meeting is scarcely perceptible at first; but when they have approached near the movement quickens, and they traverse the rest of the space at a rush. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

A providential meeting

At one of Mr. Moody’s meetings in Belfast, the Rev. Wesley Guard mentioned an incident of which he said the facts had just been related to him. It was to the effect that a farmer, living three miles out in the country, wanted to come into the meeting one day, but was unexpectedly detained, and did not know how he would get there in time. He started, and presently he heard a car coming behind him. When it came up the vehicle was stopped, and the man said to the driver, “Thank you, sir, for giving me a lift.” “I did not offer you a lift; but as the horse stopped you had better get up.” The farmer got up, and they drove on. After a little conversation the driver confessed that he was in great distress about his soul, and the tears began to fall. The good man told him the way of life, and there and then as they journeyed on the car the gentleman found salvation. Said he, “I can see now why the horse stopped; it was that I might get into the light.”

Little events leading to great

In walking across Alpine glaciers, travellers often come upon narrow and apparently insignificant fissures, that seem to be merely superficial cracks; while the guides know that, if one but sounds them, they shall be found sinking down, fathom after fathom, to the very bottom, and sometimes, though small to the eye externally, they are cavernous, and at the bottom torrents rush and roar in silence, for so far down are they, and so in covered, that their angriest noises are smothered. It is just so in human life. The most insignificant incidents often lead to great events. Often, if we hear God’s voice in the small matters of life, and obey His commands, we shall find that we are led on to great things. Philip was told in what direction to go, and by going in that particular direction he met the Ethiopian, and was able to lead him to Christ.

A timely visit

It is recorded of Mr. Dod, one of the Puritan ministers, that being one night late in his study, his mind was strongly inclined, though he could assign no reason for it, to visit a gentleman of his acquaintance at a very unseasonable hour. Not knowing the design of Providence, he obeyed and went. When he reached the house, after knocking a few times at the door, the gentleman himself came, and inquired if he wanted him upon any particular business. Mr. Dod, having answered in the negative, and signified that he could not rest till he had seen him, the gentleman replied, “Oh, sir, you are sent of God at this very hour, for I was just now going to destroy myself,” and immediately pulled the halter out of his pocket by which he had intended to commit the horrid deed, which was thus prevented.