The Ministry of Illumination
by T. Austin-Sparks
Reading: Acts 8.
The Ethiopian Eunuch
I was also impressed with the little word "for" he went on his way rejoicing. He did not look for him, he did not hunt for him, he did not stop to make a search and say, "Where is that fellow gone?" The Greek tense there means: he kept on going on. That is the way to go on in the Christian life, to keep on going on. What is deeper than that to me is this: now the eunuch was occupied with the Lord Jesus and not with Philip or even with the Scriptures, as such; he was occupied with the Lord Jesus. Philip had brought the Lord Jesus into view. That is the work of the Lord's servants, to exchange personalities with the Lord Jesus. Used by the Lord, brought on the scene, tentatively linked with the chariot for a purpose and then bringing the Lord Jesus into view as the chief Object and then disappearing and leaving the Lord Jesus to occupy the ground. That is the model servant, that is the man of God who is led by the Holy Spirit. Philip was led by the Spirit into this service and that is always the result when the Holy Spirit is in charge of an instrument, that the Lord Jesus is the ultimate Object and the instrument disappears. That is something for those who desire to be the Lord's servants to think about. If you have a desire in your heart to be a servant of the Lord, to be used for His glory, do not set your heart upon being something yourself, occupying the platform so to speak, being in the limelight, monopolising the attention of people, but in your heart ask that the Lord Jesus shall blot you out and all others shall become taken up with Him. That is true service. Much that is called, or thought to be, "service for the Lord" is otherwise, and the servant looms very large on the horizon. It is not so when the Holy Spirit is in the servant of the Lord. He decreases while the Lord increases. There is also a new emphasis in connection with this man and ministry that was fulfilled in this case. This was a representative man, this eunuch. Ethiopia is the Biblical symbol for spiritual darkness, because this people is the darkest skinned of all races. It is interesting to note that darkness is almost universal in any realm in the book of the Acts. Chapter 8, the Ethiopian coming out of darkness into light. Chapter 9 shows a man full of religious light coming out of darkness into light, no lesser change than that of the Ethiopian. Chapter 10, a European, Cornelius, comes out of darkness. The Lord is touching the nations in these cases. The Holy Spirit, in charge of this thing, is taking the initiative. It is a blessed thing to see the Holy Spirit going ahead of Philip, knowing all about this man in the desert, and bringing Philip in his train to deal with this situation. The ministry fulfilled to this man was a ministry of interpretation which resulted in this illumination unto jubilation. Interpretation unto illumination unto Jubilation! He went on going on rejoicing. Why? Because he had come to know what he knew! That is all. Philip's question to him is not clear in our translation, but the Greek is exceedingly interesting and there is a play on words, exceedingly neat as a matter of approach to a man. What Philip really said to him was this, "Do you know what you know?" He was reading, and you know when we read something we know it in a way. You may read a phrase here in the Scripture, and while I know that phrase, I can recite the whole of that phrase without looking at it, but do you know what you know? Quite a proper question, and that is exactly what Philip said to this man, "You are reading Scripture and gaining knowledge of the Scripture but - do you know what you know?" And it was proved to be the nail in a sure place, a thrust at the right point, a question of the right kind, dictated by the Holy Spirit, for the Ethiopian plaintively said, "How can I, except someone guide me?" He had been up to the headquarters of the Old Testament knowledge, to the seat of scriptural information. He had been to Jerusalem to worship; he was evidently a Jewish proselyte, being a eunuch he would not be admitted into the full benefit of the covenant, in the book of Deuteronomy that is made clear; neither would he have been allowed to enter right into the temple. He would have been kept within a certain range as a proselyte; but he had been up there to the headquarters, had probably bought this portion of Scripture, the prophecy of Isaiah. He was seeking light but the recognised seat of authority had disappointed him and he was going back a man still in the dark although he had the Scripture. |
