He Preached Jesus (Acts 8)

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being 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." So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. (Acts 8:35-38)

He preached Jesus

The evangelistic mission of Philip is best outlined in his teaching of the Ethiopian Eunuch. We find four things that Philip shows in teaching others the good news of salvation.

1.    Philip began where the man from Ethiopia was. When he started his study, Philip began where the man was reading and taught him the gospel. It is always best to begin the journey on the road our friend is traveling where they are so we can take them where they need to be.

2.    Philip preached Jesus to him. What a powerful unwritten sermon that is. But the simple truth is that Jesus is the message and we do not need to invent special ways to teach people salvation. If they will not believe in Jesus, there is nothing to believe in. Teach Jesus.

3.    Philip brought the man to ask his own question. The eunuch is the one that asked the question about baptism. Whatever Philip taught the man we know that preaching Jesus is teaching the necessity of obedience in water. But Philip guided the man to examine is own self and act upon his heart of faith.

4.    Philip obeyed the pattern of salvation. He did not suggest the man could be saved by faith alone or works alone. The challenge of confession and belief was accepted by the eunuch and then obedience fulfilled the will of God as they both went into the water to wash away sin.

We can do no less than what Philip did in sharing the saving grace of God to our neighbors and friends. When we follow the will of God then truly there is great rejoicing.