The Curious Case of a Man Named Philip
Acts 8
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Story of a man who was born old and grew young.
That’s not such a new concept.
Have you ever heard the statement…
Youth is wasted on the young?
I never really understood that until I got a little bit older. In fact, I used to think it was a little arrogant for people to say that.
But the older I get, the more curious I am to think of what it would be like to couple the wisdom of age with the strength of youth…
The dictionary explains curious as: “Arousing interest because of novelty or strangeness”
There are quite a few stories in the Bible that are curious to me. I wonder how the story played out or what different people thought about the situations they were in.
Sometimes I like just think about what life must have been like for these folks. I mean, we know how their stories end, but they didn’t. They had to walk by faith, not by sight.
Sometimes it’s curious to me how God works. Faith is so important to the equation of following Christ.
Just think about some of the amazing stories in Scripture…
• An angel comes to a young virgin girl of about 14 and tells her that she is going to give birth to the Savior of the world…how does that work?
• God tells a Father in the twilight of his years to take his one and only son, whom God had promised to do great things through, to the mountain top and sacrifice him…are you sure God?
• Or what about Ananias of Damascus…God tells him to go Judas’s house on Straight Street and ask for a man named Saul. The man will be blind when you find him, so lay your hands on him and restore his sight…but Ananias had heard of this guy Saul; he had been arresting and killing Christians…God are you sure this is a good idea?
There are so many interesting stories in the Bible, and sometimes, I’m curious…how exactly did that work out…
This morning, I’d like to share another curious story with you…it’s a story of a man who had a curious calling from God…
His name was Philip.
Philip appears early on in the story of the Christian Church.
We first see him in Acts 6 when he is appointed along with six other men to be a deacon in the early church, in charge of organizing the food ministry.
We don’t see Philip again until we read of him in our story today.
To understand Philips story, you have to understand what was happening at the church during that time…
Acts 7 ends with the stoning of Steven, the 1st Christian martyr.
Chapter 8:1 starts out by saying…
1 Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.
2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) 3 But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.
4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
It’s curious to me how God often brings something good out of something bad…
Can you imagine? Here are a bunch of newly converted Christians who are basking in the light of God’s mercy and grace, trying to live transformed lives when hardship hammers them…
The 1st great persecution of the church begins and these early forerunners of our faith must have thought, “what in the world is going on here? I’m trying to do what’s right, so why do I have to fight these battles God?”
But God wasn’t done yet, he was about to bring something good from something bad…
This concept almost seems beyond belief.
I know in my life, that when something bad happens, I’m not often jumping up and down saying, man if it’s this bad, I can’t wait to see how much good can come from it.
Maybe you’re different, I know that there are some folks who are more optimistic…
A farmer went to his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. “First, the bad news...” “Well,” said the farmer, “I can’t make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I’ve taken out for the past 10 years—I can’t pay that off, either.
Not only that, I won’t be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment.
So I’m going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it.”
Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said, “What’s the good news?”
“The good news is that I’m going to keep on banking with you,” said the farmer.
I wish I could be like that ol’ farmer…full of optimism.
But God’s word does tell us that He’s working behind the scenes for the Christian to make things right. For those who call Jesus Lord and Savior, there is always hope…
Romans 8:28 says, “ 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
God can bring good out of the bad. We just may not always see it when were faced with our trials…
In her book, THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten Boom relates an incident that taught her to be thankful for things we normally would not be thankful for. She and her sister, Betsy, prisoners of the Nazis, had just been transferred to the worst prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck.
Upon entering the barracks, they found them extremely overcrowded and infested with fleas. Their Scripture reading from their smuggled Bible that morning was in 1 Thessalonians. It had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters. Corrie at first flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas, but Betsy persisted.
Corrie finally agreed to somehow thank God for even the fleas.
During the months spent at that camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings in their barracks without guard interference.
Several months later they learned that the guards would not enter the barracks because of the fleas.
We don’t always know why bad things happen.
But we do know that we’re not alone in our struggles…
Deuteronomy 31:6 says…
6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
For every storm of life, somewhere down the line there will be a rainbow reminding us of God’s promises.
Handley C. G. Moule said, “There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that situation, create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today. “
What was the good that came from the bad in this story?
The Church went from being local to being global.
Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “…you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Church was growing by leaps and bounds, but they were centralized in Jerusalem.
They were growing up but they weren’t growing out.
The good news of Jesus death burial and resurrection was not just a message for the Jews in Jerusalem, it was meant for all humanity.
But you can understand. We all like our comfort zone.
Can you imagine trying to rally supporters for missions trip.
Hey guys, God is telling us to go into all the world. Now, you just need to know up front that some of you will be arrested, beaten, whipped and maybe killed.
Others of you will face different kinds of persecution. You’ll probably go hungry, you might be ship wrecked, and most people will ridicule you.
But it’s a great opportunity to travel and we’ll off set some of your costs. So, who wants to be first one to sign up?
I think I’ll stay here in Jerusalem. I like our small group ministry and we’ve already have a restaurant that we go to every Sunday after service…I think I’m going to hang out here just a little longer!
Sometimes good things come from bad situations.
God loves us just as we are, but loves us to much to let us stay that way.
The goal of every Christian is growth. The message of Jesus is global.
Trials stretch us. They make us rely more on God and less on our own our selves.
And God used the persecution so that Christians would take His life giving message to Judea, and Samaria, and then into all the world.
God was creating something good out of something bad.
Now back to Philip.
5 Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. 6 Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. 7 Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
Holy Cow!
You want to talk about a reason to rejoice. Philip took his marching papers right into Samaria, a place no good Jew would have ever gone if they could avoid it.
After all, Samaritans were half breeds. They were half Jewish and half pagan.
The Jewish folks were disgusted by their distant cousins and disdained them, and were often in brutal conflict with them.
Now, it’s interesting to me: Philip’s not just going to any town in the area. It seems that the city God led him to was the capital city of Samaria. A city with a rich history.
Can you imagine what it would have been like for someone in that city? It must have started much like any other day, but it would soon become a day many would never forget.
For on this day God was sending Philip with a story of hope, healing, and acceptance to change a broken and lost people.
The Samaritans see miracles performed in Jesus’ name. Lives are changes, relationships are restored, grudges are forgotten and sins are forgiven. And a revival erupted.
It was a rockin’ city with a rockin’ story.
It was a preachers dream and a people who were ripe for harvest…but then something else happened that was curious…
God gave Philip a new mission…
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
If I’m Philip, I would be like, “What? Me? Are you sure you’re not looking for the other Philip? I think he’s working some dead town over near Joppa.
God can’t want me to leave here. Things are going WAY to good for that…”
But that’s not always the way it works…
It’s curious to me that God would lead Philip from the midst of a revival into the desert…
First of all, we need to understand the context of Philips travel itinerary.
There is some discussion among scholars as to what exactly the desert is in this context.
Some believe the Bible is talking about a barren, dry, arid waste land. But if you look at the map of where Philip was, that’s probably not the right explanation…
Philip is not walking into the desert, so to speak. The word for desert means unpopulated. So the road God is sending him down was a deserted, unpopulated area.
This abandoned road stretched all the way from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Can you imagine how difficult it would have been to leave such a promising revival in Samaria; to travel down a deserted road which didn’t pass through any towns or villages for the entire length of the journey?
Just as Philip was lighting up the score board, it seems God has pulled him out of the game.
I imagine as Philip traveled down this lonely road that he must have been a little depressed.
• I wonder if he reflected of the persecution that caused him to leave Jerusalem.
• I wonder if he thought about friends that had died or lost everything.
• I wonder if he lamented leaving his new church in Samaria
• and I wonder if he worried about whether or not God would send a new pastor to lead them into spiritual maturity?
• I wonder if he asked God why?
Things were going so well…why now?
Why not wait until people start complaining about my preaching or they start arguing about the color of the carpets or whether we should even cover the marble floors with carpets. I mean really God, couldn’t your timing be just a little bit better?
How much faith does that take to walk away when God calls?
But Philip served a God who specializes in divine appointments:
27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning.
Who is this guy that Philip is meeting?
Listen to how NT Wright describes him:
Luke describes him as a eunuch (a castrated man; it was common in the ancient Near East for men who had been castrated to serve in positions of state) who held office in the Ethiopian court under the queen, Candace. He was her chief finance minister. It is very unlikely, virtually impossible, that he would himself have been Jewish; and, being a eunuch, he could not have been a proselyte to Judaism. He was thus an outsider, forever to remain so within the Jewish system. But there was something about the Jewish God and the Jewish way of life which had attracted him, as it did with many in the ancient world (if you think of the kind of gods that were worshipped by other nations, and of the kind of practices that were often associated with them, you might well see Judaism as a wonderful oasis of clean, calm wisdom). So he had made the long journey to Jerusalem to worship, perhaps at one for the festivals; and he had procured, or perhaps he already possessed, a copy of some or all of the Jewish scriptures.
That’s who Philip will meet, and if you think that God isn’t in the details, just wait…
According to Reese:
• It was necessary for God to call Philip away from the work in Samaria before the eunuch left Jerusalem.
• It was necessary for God to properly time the arrival of Philip, so that the eunuch would be reading this particular passage.
• Philip must have started from Samaria at least as early as the day previous to that on which the Ethiopian left Jerusalem.
• The Lord knew how long it would take the Ethiopian to reach the point at which Philip came in behind him, and how long it would take Philip to reach the same point.
To me, that is amazing stuff to consider!
Do you believe God intervenes in our lives today? Do you believe God is working ahead of you, making your path straight?
We serve a God of details my friends. He’s got it covered.
“…Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”
30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
33 He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.
Our Ethiopian friend is reading from Isaiah 53 and he’s not sure what it means.
God put Philip there to explain it to him.
Look at it as if it were a mystery. You’ve followed the clues…with each clue, you become even more fascinated. And then one day, you find a clue that you can’t decipher…and so you study it and study it and suddenly, you see something you hadn’t seen before, or as in this case, someone comes along and explains it and all of the sudden everything comes together…
God provided the opportunity and the place. He had set the appointment up. Philip did his part and he simply shared with this man the good news of Jesus.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
When the Ethiopian heard the good news presented, he made the next logical conclusion: if this is what God’s word says, then why shouldn’t I be baptized and become a Christian right now? The water is here, I’m here, and so are you.
I want to give my life to Jesus and have my sins washed away.
And so he did.
There was a logical conclusion that becoming a Christian included being baptized.
Mark 16:16 says, 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
You see, there is a direct correlation between belief and baptism…if a person believes, they will be baptized.
According to Acts 2:38 & Acts 22:16, we are baptized for the purpose of having our sins washed away and for receiving the Holy Spirit.
Baptism is no more or less important than belief, confession or repentance, or continuing to live in a growing relationship with Christ.
But I believe the Bible clearly states it as part of the process of becoming a Christian.
I want you to see in this story that before making a decision, he understood why he was being baptized.
If we don’t understand the importance of our decision, then I think we’re just getting wet.
Someone once said, “How can you be found if you don’t know that you’re lost?”
That’s why we need to teach the Scriptures to those who are hungry to know God and his grace.
This is one of my favorite stories in the book of Acts. It is so interesting to me.
You know, Philip may not have known why he had to leave Samaria to go to a deserted road, but God did.
You see, many scholars believe that it was this Ethiopian Eunuch who took the Good News of Jesus Christ to the country of Ethiopia.
You see, when God is at the helm, often good things come from bad circumstances.
