Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 6: 26-40) -Yun Bao 06/06/2021 Children Sunday Message
In the book of Acts chapter 8. there is a story about Philip meeting with the Ethiopian Eunuch. This story gives us very important lessons regarding our Christian lives, particularly our obedience to God and what the Lord wants to do through us. Today we’ll take a look at this story and talk about what we can learn from this story. Before then, I would like to invite Bright to read this story from the book of acts chapter 8: 26-40. From this story, we can learn a few important things.
This story opens with Philip receiving an instruction from God. “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, ”Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is one of those instances in the Bible where God Himself gives a clear instruction to His people. Philip probably would‘ve never thought to going to a desert road to preach. Who stays in a desert road that he should preach to them? Well, there might be nobody there, but God knew better — He commanded Philip to go there because an Ethiopian eunuch was passing by.
”Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”. Philip heard clearly God’s instructions and immediately obeyed. He didn’t ask questions or argue with God. He didn’t tell God he would do it later, he went immediately where God told him to go. What is your response when God clearly tells you what to do? Do you obey immediately or do you make excuses and delay your obedience to God’s instructions?
Maybe children might think that God only speaks to adults? 1 Samuel 3:1-18 shows us that God spoke to a young boy named Samuel. At first Samuel didn’t know it was God. When the priest Eli realized that it was God speaking to Samuel he told him what to do. Samuel heard God’s voice at a young age. God speaks to children today too.
How do we know it is God’s voice? Believers become familiar with the Shepherd’s voice by spending time with Him every day reading His Word and talking with Him. The more a believer spends time with Jesus the easier it is to recognize if He is giving us instructions or not. When we obey Jesus’ instructions He continues to guide us in the direction God has for us in our lives.
Philip has a very close relationship with God so he knows it is God’s voice! So he obeyed God’s instructions immediately and began walking where the Lord instructed him to go. As he traveled down the desert road he heard the rumbling of horses carrying a chariot coming in his direction.
Sitting in that chariot was a man all the way from Ethiopia. He was an important official (leader) in the land of Ethiopia. He was a treasurer for Candace Queen of Ethiopia. A treasurer is someone who takes care of money. This man had traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship God. This man was not yet a believer in Jesus but he was a man who was seeking God and wanted to do what pleased Him. To travel the distance he did to worship in Jerusalem shows he had a desire to know God and love Him.
The holy spirit asks Philip to go over and join this chariot. Running alongside the chariot Philip heard the Ethiopian reading Isaiah out loud. Philip asked “ do you understand what you are reading”. Ethiopian says, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me? The door is wide open for Philip to share the Good News with this man and he begins using this passage of Scriptures and tells him the Good News about Jesus.
Because Philip explained the Scriptures to this man he now understood. He saw some water and said, “Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Philip took the Ethiopian man down to the water and baptized him.
This Ethiopian man’s life was changed forever because he believed in the Lord Jesus. He now understood what God had written in Isaiah about Jesus. He believed in Jesus and his sins were forgiven. To show that he truly believed and was a believer in Jesus he was immediately baptized.This man had an important job working for Queen Candace in Ethiopia. Because Philip was immediately obedient to God’s instructions he was returning to Ethiopia as a believer in Jesus. We have no idea how many people’s lives would be changed in this country because of his faith in Jesus.
Let’s imagine for a minute what might have happened if Philip didn’t obey immediately and begin to travel on that road. Perhaps the chariot would not have been there and the Ethiopian man would have returned to his country never hearing the Good News about Jesus. Philip’s example teaches us the importance for believers to obey Jesus’ voice immediately. We do not know how God is working in the lives of those around us. This week let’s pray that each day we would listen carefully for God’s instructions and be quick to obey what He tells us to do.
So in summary, here is what we learned from today’s story.
1.When God speaks to us, we should obey immediately;
2.We hear God’s voice by spending time with Him;
3.Grasp the opportunity and share the Good News about Jesus!
Let us pray:
Dear heavenly father, please help us to listen to you, obey your instructions, and be ready to share the good news with others! We pray in Jesus’ precious name! Amen!