Join us as we read the scriptures and a daily devotion written by Don Crisp. We pray these messages will bless us all at this time.
Acts chapter 8:34-40:
Categories: Don’s Daily Devotions
Acts chapter 8:34-40:
V34: The Eunuch asks whether the prophet is speaking of himself, or someone else. What an opportunity to speak of Jesus! Grace is at work in all that is happening here, preparing this man’s heart for the gospel, as He has many others since.
V35: Readily, Philip begins at that same Scripture to declare Jesus to him. How full Isaiah 53 is of the Saviour and His work – see especially v3-5 – but the whole OT is full of Him, of course. ( See Luke 24:27.)
V36-37: Philip must have declared a full gospel, and a full response of repentance, faith and obedience, with baptism as the outward witness to that faith. The chariot comes -” by chance”, men would say – to “some water”. An oasis? A watering hole? The Eunuch asks what is there to prevent his being baptised?
V38: Philip is sure the man’s confession of faith is real, his repentance genuine, and willingly baptises him at once.
V39-40: Then the Holy Spirit ” carried Philip away”. Is this a miraculous act, or does it simply mean He directs Philip elsewhere? The former seems to be indicated here. The Eunuch sees no more of the man instrumental in his conversion – nor does he need to, for it was God’;s sovereign grace at work – but goes on his way rejoicing – rejoicing in the Lord and Saviour he now knows. Philip is found at Azotus ( the OT Ashdod, once a Philistine city, on the coast of Israel .) He preaches there, and in every place he comes to, until he comes to Caesarea, some 40 miles further North.
In all this chapter, God has worked through His people, whether the unnamed believers scattered from Jerusalem in v4, Peter and John, or Philip, to further the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church.