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THE KING’ S BUSINESS
we just go the way God bids us go, asking no questions, it will soon develop why God has sent us. The fact that this man was a great person was not why Philip was sent to him, but because he was a sincere seeker after truth. That he was a sincere seeker after truth appears from verse 27 in his having gone away to Jerusalem to worship, in verse 30 that he was studying the Bible, in verse 31 in his eagér beseeching o f Philip to come up and sit with him and explain thè Scriptures, in verse 34 in his asking of whom the prophet spoke, and in verse 36 in his eagér desire to be baptized and make an open confession o f his faith as soon as he had been taught that that was his duty. So w e. have here a model personal worker and a model inquirer. He was one o f the great statesmen'of'the day, yet he evidently considered religion a matter of sufficient importance to bestow much time, trouble and expense upon it, he “had come to Jerusalem for to worship.” No wonder God gave more light to a man who was so earnestly following the light he had (cf. John 7:17; Psa. 25:9). In the eunuch’s action as recorded in verse 28 there is a fine lesson on How to Study the Bible, and on How to Improve the Time when Travelling. The lesson on How to Study the Bible is that we improve spare moments. The lesson on How to Improve the Time when Travelling is to improve it by study ing the W ord o f God. It was while he was engaged in the study o f the Word o f God that God revealed to the eunuch the fuller truth: This indicates the reason why some" o f us never get these revelations from God, viz., we neglect the Bible and thus do not afford God the opportunity that He would have for making us larger revelations o f the truth (cf. Matt. 22:29). Evidently Luke,''the writer o f this record, believed that Isaiah was the author o f that part of the book o f Isaiah in which this prophecy is recorded, that is, the latter part o f the book, which so many o f the “ scholarly” modern critics: are telling us is not by Isaiah. Most o f us, if we had to choose between the authority o f Luke on a point like this, and that o f German infidels, will
be content to abide by the authority o f Luke, especially as Luke’s authority has stood the test o f over 1800 years, while the authority o f any . German critic has not stood the test o f 18 years. v. 29. “ Then (And) the Spirit said unto Philip, Go, and join thyself to this chariot." It is evident from the record here that God does not expect us to speak about His salvation to every one that we meet. It is also evident that if we watch for His leading as to who to approach He will give it. There are many o f us who never hear the Spirit say to us, “ Go near to that man,” but that does not prove that the Spirit has never said it: it may be the reason we never heard the Spirit say it is because we were not listening closely enough for the Spirit’s voice to, catch “the still small voice” when it spoke. Note carefully the first two words the Spirit spoke to Philip, “ Go near." I f we are to win men to Christ we must begin by getting near, to them. One of the great mistakes in a large portion o f the church in our day is that we are trying to save men from a distance. >v. 30. “And Philip ran to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias ( reading Isaiah the prophet), and said, Understand- est thou what thou readest?” The three words, " and P hilip ran ” ought to sink into our hearts. It is an unusual sight to. see one man run after another to speak to him about Christ. W e run after other men for almost every other reason under the sun, but rarely for this purpose. But that was the only way Philip could catch his man, and it is the only way w& can catch many whom the Lord wishes us to save. W e wait for men to come and seek us. Oh, for a few Philips, not to merely go after men, but to run after men. Here again we have an illustration o f the prompt ness and earnestness o f Philip’s obedience to God. The question that Philip put to the eunuch was a very pertinent one, “ Understandest thou what thou readest?” and yet some o f us would think it imperti nent if some one would put it to us when we are studying the Bible. But if we were to tell the'rtuth about our Bible reading
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