JOIN THIS CHARIOT

*“JOIN THIS CHARIOT (A Classic On Soul Winning)”*
by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome D.Sc., D.D.

*CHAPTER ONE: JOIN THE CHARIOT*

*“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, 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 judgement was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? For His life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 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 baptised? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine 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 baptised 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. But Philip was found in Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caeserea” (Acts 8:26-40).*

The Holy Ghost told Philip to go to the desert place, and Philip, not questioning the command, went immediately. When he got there he waited for further instructions. And the word came, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.” The chariot was on its way and Philip was waiting on God, not knowing what the next step should be. Then God said, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot.”

Why did God instruct Philip to join himself to the chariot? What was so important about the chariot? After all, God was not planning to help Philip on his journey by means of the chariot, because God proved shortly after that He could do without a chariot (Acts 8:39-40). So what is the importance of the chariot in this verse of Scripture? God wants us to take special note of this account of an event in Philip’s life and He specifically wants us to know about the chariot, because it is the key to this verse that will allow any man to live in this same Scripture in other generations to come.

Hence, we need to know what the chariot stands for. The words of Scripture were carefully chosen by the Holy Spirit to communicate deep truths to God’s children. God has said though heaven and earth pass away, His Word will remain (Matthew 24:35). So in every generation, God’s Word remains pure, powerful, steadfast and effective, and we can build our lives on it today. That is the element in the Word of God that makes it relevant to us today. Therefore, what God wanted Philip to note, He also wants us to note.

*Chariots!*

Chariots represent the vehicles of life, and the word ‘vehicle’ here does not only refer to cars, buses and airplanes. There are different types of chariots. Some carry your body like the airplane, while some others carry your ideas, talents, skills and character. A vehicle is that which provides for you an avenue of expression, physically, mentally or in any other way. It brings you in contact with other people, and to some extent defines your scope of contact. Hence, there are business and professional vehicles. If you work in a bank, the bank is your vehicle. If you are a student, your school is your vehicle for as long as you are a student. These are the vehicles of life.

So when the Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot,” He was speaking that day of a particular vehicle. Today, you are in a chariot; where you work, school or do business is that chariot. In that chariot, you have to associate with people, express your convictions, and let your ideas come forth. When you grasp this truth, your life will take on a new meaning.

What God seeks to bring to our attention as Christians is that He wants us to be in places where He can give value to people’s lives through the expression of His life in us. *The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it (Romans 1:16).* By placing us in different areas of life, thus bringing us in contact with the peoples of the world, God wants us to bear witness of this gospel and share its goodness with others. This is the purpose of the chariot.

After the instruction from God, *“Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” (Acts 8:30-31).*

Another thing to note is this: though God instructed Philip to go and join himself to the chariot, Philip did not go there and say, “Hello, God sent me here to this chariot?” That would have been a very wrong approach, because the chariot did not belong to him. He understood that God’s target was not the Ethiopian’s chariot; there was something more important on God’s mind.

Remember what the Lord Jesus said: *“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44).* What was more important to the man was the treasure in the field, and not the whole field. In the same way, there was a treasure in the chariot that was more important to God; the eunuch was the treasure in the chariot. That was the reason God wanted Philip in the chariot; He knew Philip would recognize the treasure, so He sent him to join himself to the chariot.

When Philip got there, he did not stare in admiration at the beauty of the chariot; rather he went for the treasure in the chariot. The chariot would definitely have been very colourful and beautiful, since the Ethiopian eunuch was a man of great authority, but that did not get Philip’s attention. He was after the treasure. God could trust him to know the difference between the real and the shadow.

Can God send you to a chariot and believe that you will not go out there just for the chariot but for the real treasure in the chariot? Souls of men are very vital to God and you should be like-minded. God trusted Philip that he would do what He wanted him to do in the chariot. Let God trust you too.

The preaching of the gospel is committed to our trust; it is not optional. It is not only for the evangelist like we have thought in the past; we have even taught this in the Church. We expect pastors to be the ones preaching because we don’t have much time due to our business. But this is wrong. God already sent you into a chariot, this is why you are on the job. Don’t get so busy that you don’t notice the treasure in the chariot. Your office is your chariot. You may say that everybody in your office is a Christian, but this does not make any difference, you must share the gospel.

You must work hard to remain in the chariot God has sent you to join. If you are careless on the job, that will not be a good testimony and you may have to leave the job if you don’t improve. Whether it is your private business or not, if you are out of business, you are out of the chariot. So you must do well in your job or business because it keeps you in the business chariot and you can keep on winning people to Christ.

*Look Out For A Need And Meet It!* (...To Be Continued)

*EXTRACT FROM:* *“JOIN THIS CHARIOT (A Classic On Soul Winning)”*

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_*Thank you very much for your usual cooperation. You're Blessed To Be A Blessing As You Share With Your World After Being Blessed!*_