I “witnessed” a couple of baptisms this morning. Two guys . . . in the book of Acts (8:26-9:19) . . . both became believers and were baptized. Very different guys . . . yet, in things that matter most, very similar . . . both were chosen vessels of God.

The one guy was a foreigner, a big shot in the court of Candace the queen of Ethiopia . . . the other guy was a local boy, and he was a big shot too, in the council of the Pharisees. They both had just been at Jerusalem to worship. Afterwards, the one set out for home, and was heading back to Ethiopia . . . riding in his chariot with a scroll in his hand, trying to understand the mystery of God revealed in the prophet Isaiah. The other set out for Damascus . . . walking with a number of other “devout” men, he had a a piece of paper in his hand, a letter to the synagogues in Damascus authorizing him to take by force those who were “of the Way” that they might be brought back to Jerusalem, tried for blasphemy, and potentially be put to death.

Both had encounters that quite literally came out of nowhere. One moment the Ethiopian is riding along reading Isaiah and the next he notices this dude running alongside his chariot, panting, asking him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Pharisee’s journey was suddenly interrupted too by a light from heaven . . . and not just some 150 watt bulb . . . no, this was a light so bright and so intense that it knocked you to the ground . . . and the Pharisee heard a voice too . . . a voice from heaven . . . and he was also asked a question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Both guys were stopped in their tracks . . . both guys were all ears . . .both guys had questions to answer.

The Ethiopian could have played the big shot . . . “Uh, yeah . . . I uh pretty much understand it all. Thanx for asking. I’ll be on my way now.” Instead, this man who had been seeking God through worship in Jerusalem humbled himself before this cross-country runner he’d just met and admitted, “How can I, unless, someone guides?” The Pharisee, who thought he was serving the God he worshiped in Jerusalem, humbled himself too (kinda’ hard not to when you’re talking to a Voice from heaven). But He answered his question with a question, “Who are You Lord?” The Ethiopian wanted to know who the Scriptures were speaking of . . . the Pharisee wanted to know who he was persecuting. Perhaps neither really understood how the answers to the questions . . . it would be the same answer, by the way, . . . neither could imagine how much it would change their lives.

The jogger, beginning at the passage in Isaiah, preached Jesus to the Ethiopian. The voice from heaven, identified Himself as Jesus. The Ethiopian was convinced by the written word of God that Jesus (the man) Christ (the Messiah) is the Son of God (the Lord). The Pharisee was convicted by the living Word of God, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, the Word who died for the sin of mankind, was buried, and on the third day rose again . . . and upon meeting Him, the Pharisee too knew that He was Lord . . . “Who are you, Lord?” . . . “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

The Ethiopian immediately commanded the chariot to be stopped, went down to the water and was baptized by Philip. The Pharisee waited in blindness for three days and prayed until a disciple of Damascus (someone the Pharisee had set out to arrest) came and laid his hands on him and called him, “Brother.” “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.” Both met the Lord . . . both were baptized.

And one other thing, that I think this Ethiopian and this Pharisee shared in common . . . I believe they were both “chosen vessels” of the Lord Jesus. That’s what the Pharisee was called when the Lord told the Damascan disciple to go to him (Acts 8:15) . . . and I think it to be true of the Ethiopian as well. Two men . . . seekers of God . . . but not knowing Jesus. Two men out doing life as they thought it had to be done. Two men who God, in His Sovereign determination, sought for Himself. Two men who met Jesus . . . one through the Scriptures . . . the other “online.” Two men who humbled themselves and owned Jesus as Lord. Two men who were baptized. Two men who became vessels of God’s choosing for His purpose and glory.

And . . . a third man . . . sitting in a chair . . . reading about a couple of baptisms . . . and recalling his own. He wasn’t so much a seeker of God . . . but he was out doing his own thing when the Lord stopped him . . . and graciously revealed Himself to him . . . and drew this man to Himself . . . such that he too would say, “Lord, I believe.” And this man too, by the grace of God is a chosen vessel . . . for His purposes . . . and His glory . . . thank You, Lord!