The Encourager
“An Open and Honest Mind”
An Open Mind and Honest Heart
by Jeff Curtis
The story of the Ethiopian eunuch is the story of an open minded official that people with honest hearts – people who recognize their need for God – can be found in the world if we simply look for them. We may fail to see these people because, like the eunuch, they hold important positions, and we think they will not see their need in Christ. We may fail to see them because, like the eunuch, they are strong in their religious beliefs, and we think they won’t listen to us. Let’s prejudge any man but earnestly search for good and honest hearts. When we find them, we need to guide them to the Lord.
Consider the conversion from the standpoint of the eunuch. He knew nothing about the divine messages given to Philip. For him, the story started with a passage in Isaiah that was difficult for him to understand. Philip asked the question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The eunuch invited Philip to join him in the chariot, and as they travelled along, Philip “preached Jesus to him” (v.35). Philip preached the gospel, God’s saving power to save. When the eunuch heard this message, he believed and obeyed (vv.36-39). He wasn’t saved by some “feeling better than told,” but through the preaching which produced faith in his heart (Romans 1:16; 10:17). God’s plan was to get an honest sinner and the preacher together – and then let the Word do its job. If you desire to eb saved, don’ wait for some mysterious “experience,” but rather hear the gospel, believe it, obey it.
Although God’s intervention in this case doesn’t prove that the alien sinner must have a miraculous experience, it does show God’s concern for the lost, especially the lost who have “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). It is implied that God will help honest searchers for the truth find the truth (Matthew 7:7-8). Many examples come to mind of men and women honestly trying to discover God’s truth who came in contact with the very person who could teach them truth under circumstances that cannot be explained as coincidence.
A preacher tells of meeting a young man at a retreat in Texas. The young man grew up on the streets of Brooklyn but had moved to Dallas. One day, not long after he had arrived in Dallas, he was travelling on a bus and started talking to a young woman seated beside him. She invited him to church. The young told her he wasn’t a church-goer, but he didn’t know anyone in Dallas, so he went. The people were so friendly that he thought it had to be an act. He went back the following week to see them again. Soon he became a Christian. The preacher said that at the retreat, the young man went around the camp, asking “Are you a Christian? Let me tell you how I became a Christian!” Think about this story for a moment. What are the odds against the young man’s sitting on this specific bus beside this specific young woman who invite him to the worship services? Both Scripture and experience should convince us that if one is an honest searcher, God will providentially make a way for that one to learn the truth.
How important it is for each of us to have honest hearts (Luke 8:15), to be diligently searching for God’s way (John 5:39; Acts 17:11), and to be lovers of the truth (2Thessalonians 2:10).
An Immediate Response
by Jeff Curtis
Acts 8:36-38
The Ethiopian eunuch eagerly desired to obey the gospel in baptism. He took the initiative by spotting the water deep enough to accommodate his immersion. He asked if there was any reason that would prevent his immersion. He also called for the chariot to stop.
Philip didn’t tell the eunuch that they would have to “wait until the next Sunday.” Neither did Philip say, “We will have to wait until the church can vote on you.” Instead, Philip went down into the water with the eunuch and immersed him into the Lord Jesus Christ.
