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. Acts 8:39
If we had been in the place of the Ethiopian eunuch, we would probably have been dismayed that Philip had disappeared. Here was a new convert, newly baptized, with much to learn about what had just happened to him and about what was to come in his life. Philip would have had so much to teach him, and could have been a great encouragement and guide for him. There is no doubt that the sudden disappearance of Philip startled the man, but he did not allow that to interfere with his appreciation of eternal life. His attitude was one that should be that of every new believer, one of rejoicing. And he had much to rejoice over, the same things that you and I should rejoice over today.
Firstly, the eunuch rejoiced that a preacher had been sent to him. He needed a man to explain the Word of God to him, and God sent that man. We also needed somebody to bring the Gospel to us, and God provided that person, or persons. If He had not, we would never have heard the Gospel, like so many around us and in many parts of the world.
We also rejoice with the eunuch that the Scriptures were made plain to us. It took a preacher to bring the message, but it took the work of the Holy Spirit to open our understanding of that message. Until He began to teach us, we were in total darkness concerning our sinful and helpless and perishing condition, and concerning God’s plan of salvation. It was indeed a happy day when the Holy Spirit began to lift the scales from our eyes.
And, like the eunuch, we rejoice that the message that fell upon our ears and hearts was about Jesus. That is what Philip preached, and that is what we needed to hear. All about us are false messages of denial and rejection, of religion and social responsibility, of good works, of prosperity gospel and easy believism, and even the distorted blasphemies of the cults such as Mormonism and Russelism. Those we did not need to hear. We needed to hear the plain and simple gospel of man’s ruin, God’s remedy, and man’s responsibility, of Christ’s death for the ungodly and resurrection for our justification. That we ever heard such a message is cause for great rejoicing.
So is the reality of having our sins forgiven. Well might we sing the lovely chorus of N.B. Vandall: My sins are gone. They’re underneath the blood at the cross of Calvary, as far removed as darkness is from dawn, in the sea of God’s forgetfulness, that’s good enough for me; praise God, my sins are gone. What a relief to be delivered from the burden of sin and guilt that was dragging us down to perdition! No wonder the eunuch rejoice. No wonder we rejoice; our sins are washed away.
We go on our way rejoicing today because like the eunuch we have much to rejoice about. -Jim MacIntosh