In Acts 8 we read about the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch: "Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:26-39 ESV)
I graduated from college in December of 1981. My degree was in civil engineering with an emphasis on structural engineering of bridges and buildings. At that time, the job prospects in civil engineering weren't very good. I had been looking for jobs in the first two months of 1981 with no success. Then I got a letter in the mail inviting me to a job conference in Atlanta that was only a couple of miles from my brother's house, plus it was during my spring break. So I stayed with my brother and went to the conference. When I got there, there weren't any structural engineering companies in attendance. So I decided to talk to the only aerospace company at the conference because I didn't know what else to do. Their human resources representative was a nice guy. He looked at my resume and was experienced enough to realize that his company used people with my background to design aircraft structures. I got a letter inviting me to come for an interview a few weeks later. A job offer followed a few weeks after my interview. It was the only job offer I got, and I took it. I've been steadily employed in the aircraft business ever since (34 years and counting). A couple of points to take from this story: (a) If you're thinking "the combination of all those coincidences seems like no coincidence at all", I agree with you completely. God was at work in my life even then, before I was a Christian. A better way to say it would be "God believed in me even when I didn't believe in him." Is there any adjective that is sufficient to describe the God we serve? (b) I didn't know it at the time, but my brief encounter with that human resources guy changed my life forever. Now if my brief encounter with that human resources guy in 1981 changed my life forever, how much more did the eunuch's brief encounter with Phillip change his life? I got a job (for which I'm very grateful), but the eunuch got something infinitely greater: the salvation of his soul. As Jesus said "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26 ESV)
If you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, consider the example of the Ethiopian eunuch. He heard, he believed, he was baptized, and he went on his way rejoicing. Come forward, repent of your sins, confess your faith, be baptized for the remission of your sins, and leave here rejoicing as the angels in heaven rejoice with you. "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:7 ESV) If you are a Christian and you're struggling with some burden in life, you don't have to carry it alone. Come forward, there are people here who can share the load. Come as we stand and sing.
