A very interesting incident is here recorded respecting Philip. By divine direction he was journeying to Gaza, the extreme southern city of Palestine. Gaza was on the direct route to Egypt. An officer of high rank, connected with the household of Candace, queen of Egypt, had been up to Jerusalem, and was returning to his native country in his chariot. He was a devout man, and, as he rode along, was reading the scriptures. It so chanced that he had opened to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and was at that moment reading the seventh and eighth verses:―― “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.” Just then, the eunuch, overtaking Philip, invited him to a seat in the chariot by his side. Then, reverting to the scripture which he was reading, he inquired of Philip, “I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” “Then Philip began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” The eunuch, convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, accepted him as his Saviour, became his disciple, and received the ordinance of Christian baptism, not as a member of any local church, but of the one universal Church of Jesus Christ. The scriptural account of this event is beautiful in its simplicity:―― “And, as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest; and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And, when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.” Philip continued his tour, preaching the gospel in all the principal cities of Judæa and Samaria, until he reached Cæsarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean. We are not informed what success attended his preaching. Luke, to whom we are indebted for the account of the Acts of the Apostles, writes,―― “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”[97]