Words of Life: 5 Days in Acts 8Sýnishorn

Day 4: Taking people to Jesus

Read Acts 8:32-35

As we think about sharing our faith, it can be tempting to think that we need an amazing testimony. Or maybe we need all the arguments at our fingertips to show that God really does exist. But notice that Philip doesn’t do any of this. Philip’s testimony would have been exciting: he had just been in Samaria where many had been converted and healed; a little while earlier he’d had to flee his home because of persecution – it's dramatic stuff. But look at what Philip does...

The Ethiopian man is reading from Isaiah 53 (8:32-33). This famous chapter talks about God bringing people from all over the world to know Him through the death of someone called ‘the Servant’ who dies willingly, humbly and innocently; a human being who takes God’s anger at sin on Himself. Philip simply explains that this passage has been fulfilled by all that Jesus has done and shares the good news with this man (8:35).

And this is what the Ethiopian needs to hear. We mentioned previously that he is a eunuch, which meant he couldn’t be fully part of God’s Old Testament people. But a few pages on from Isaiah 53, Isaiah had prophesied that one day, eunuchs and foreigners would be fully included in God’s people. “For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant – to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.”’ (Isaiah 56:3-5). With Jesus’ death and resurrection, Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled. Those who were outsiders can now receive a permanent place in God’s presence, forever part of His family. No one is excluded from Jesus’ offer. It’s the most wonderful news of grace, for anyone who will receive it.

We don’t need a dramatic testimony. We don’t need to be clever or to be able to argue every point. We don’t need to be a church leader or to have studied theology. Whatever our friends’ situations, like Philip, we can take them to the Bible and show them this Jesus.

To think and pray through:

• If I had the opportunity to share a passage from the Bible with one of the friends I prayed for on day 2, what would I choose?
• Can I pray that I’ll have that opportunity with them soon?