Philip and the Eunuch
My Favorite Soulwinning Story in the Bible
The story of Philip and the Eunuch, found in Acts 8:26-39, is one of my favorites. Here you find a man, Philip, obedient to God and to Jesus' Great Commission going out and finding another man and winning him to Christ. When I first re-read this story several months ago, I realized that this was just like modern-day soulwinning where we go out and talk to people. This incident could have happened in 2001 just as well as in Bible Times.
I could picture Philip after he had been commanded to "Arise, and go" walking "unto Gaza, which is desert." I don't know if he knew for what purpose God wanted him to go there, but he must have had great faith that God was going to use him in some way. Along the way, Philip comes across the Eunuch sitting in a chariot and the Holy Spirit tells him to "go get him." I imagine he was both excited and a little nervous, as we all are when we go out to tell people about Jesus. And, too, with the Eunuch being such a prestigious man, he may have seemed a little unapproachable. Maybe Philip feared offending man or being rejected; but still, he obeyed God.
When he drew near the chariot, Philip heard the Eunuch reading from the Bible. Wow! What a perfect opportunity to witness! The Bible only gives a few words that the men spoke to one another. When I read this story, I could envision what the two men would have said had they been living in modern times.....something like this:
Philip: Hey there! I see you're reading the Bible. Tell me, do you understand that stuff you are reading?
Eunuch: Are you kidding? There's no way I could understand this stuff somebody explaining it to me....Hey, why don't you come up here and see if we can make sense of this....
So Philip climbs up into the grand chariot and sits by the Eunuch who reads the words of Isaiah the great prophet, "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."
Eunuch: I don't get this! WHO is he talking about? Is he talking about himself or somebody else?
Philip: Oh, I know who he's talking about! He's talking about JESUS!! Let's read this again and I'll tell you all about my wonderful Saviour.
And then, some of the sweetest words in the whole Bible and one of my favorite phrases: "and preached unto him Jesus." THAT's what soulwinning is all about! Telling people about Jesus!
And what do you know? The Eunuch understands the Scriptures for the very first times and believes. Since Philip talked about Jesus, the Eunuch knew that he must be one of those Christian guys he has heard so much about. He wants to be a Christian, too, and be baptized like them. But he really doesn't know all that much about the Christians . . . maybe there's something more one has to do to be a Christian. So he asks Philip, "Hey, look! Here's some water. What prevents me from being baptized?" I sometimes wonder what kind of water it was that they saw nearby. It could have been a river with boats going by or maybe a creek where a family liked to picnic and the kids like to swim; or maybe it was a farmer's cowpond or perhaps just a rain-filled ditch alongside the road.
If you have the King James Bible then the next verse gives the whole key to how the Eunuch got saved: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And then the Eunuch gets baptized by Philip.
However, if you have any other kind of so-called bible you will NOT find that verse in it. Instead, it leads one to believe that if you want to get baptized, then you can do so and be saved. Only in the King James Bible will you find the key to the Eunuch getting saved: believing with one's whole heart that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God" and that He paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross. When I found out that these other perversions of the Bible left out this verse and realized the implications, that was when I became a "King James Only" believer.
Back to our story....look what happened after the Eunuch was baptized: first, Philip was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord never more to be seen again by the Eunuch. That's amazing in itself, but look at what the Eunuch did: "he went on his way rejoicing" He now KNEW that his sins were forgiven by a precious Saviour Who shed His blood to pay for those sins and Who was buried and rose again on the 3rd day, conquering death. The Eunuch knew without a shadow of a doubt that because he trusted Jesus to be his Saviour, he would one day have a home in Heaven -- definitely a reason to rejoice!!
So what about you? Do you know for sure if you have a home waiting for you in Heaven? The Bible assures us that we CAN know. Here's how you can know for sure.