PHILIP EPITOMIZED FAITHFULNESS . . . (Acts 8)
Stephen was dead. He had been stoned to death due to his boldness in telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the sin of rejection and the absolute necessity for salvation through Jesus Christ.
This man of God had stood before the supreme court of Judaism and indicted them for the murder of Jesus! Their anger toward Stephen escalated into killing another innocent victim of viciousness. (They had killed Jesus.)
They cursed Stephen . . . spat upon him . . . kicked him . . . hit him . . . dragged him by the hair of his head to the outer courtyard . . . threw stones at him until he died.
That act of violence was not enough to satisfy their sadistic appetite for blood; so, they turned on any one who was known to be a follower of the Way, the result being that Christians fled Jerusalem to seek safety in other places. However, wherever they went, they did not stop witnessing.
One of those who left the danger zone was Philip. Of all places, he wound up in Samaria where he found refuge among non-Jewish foreigners. Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan?
In the parable, which two passed by on the other side after the traveler on the road to Jericho had been robbed, beaten and left in a ditch to die? Weren’t they a priest and the “chairman of the board”? Who was it that had pity on the victim and ministered to him? A “good for nothing” Samaritan!
Philip had a story to tell; and who better to tell it to than folks who, like Philip, were despised by those despicable self-righteous hypocrites who ruled Jerusalem!?
Philip found refuge among them; and, out of a heart of love, he shared with them the good news of Jesus Christ. He demonstrated the power of God to make sinners “whole” by allowing the Spirit of God to work through him to heal and to cast out demons --- Acts 8:4-8 . . .
At this point in our study is a good time to interject an explanation for the fact that some of the first Disciples of Christ were used as instruments for performing the same kinds of miracles that Jesus had been known for. Keep in mind that these early followers of Jesus were starting something NEW – the worldwide movement of Christianity. There had to be validation of them as being commissioned by Christ to carry on His work in the world.
Philip, being used by the Holy Spirit to perform the same kinds of acts that Jesus had performed, gave evidence that he and all the other believers were continuing the work that Jesus had begun. Go back to the very first verse of the Book of Acts; Luke says: “In my former book, I wrote about all that Jesus BEGAN to do and teach.”
Now, in the Book of Acts, Luke is relating everything – at least, everything he knew about - that Jesus CONTINUED to do and teach. Acts is the story of the continuation of the ministry of Jesus Christ, Son of God.
How is Christ going to continue His work if not by way of the faithfulness of His followers?
Let us understand that God the Father sent God the Son for the purpose of saving all who repent of sin and receive Christ as Savior - and that God the Holy Spirit was sent to come upon and dwell within believers for the sake of the salvation of others! If we the Church of Christ do not exist for spreading the Gospel, then why, pray tell, do we exist?
Philip understood! He was in that supposedly “God-forsaken” city of Samaria; but he knew in his heart that he had what they needed; so he took a stand for Christ right then and there. You might say that Stephen’s death by stoning had not been in vain; it drove Philip out of Jerusalem into a foreign land to preach the gospel, just as Stephen’s boldness to speak the truth at the risk of losing his life proved that Christ’s death had not been in vain.
There was great JOY among the Samaritans who saw the miracles, heard the gospel, and believed; they realized that God’s grace included them! Heretofore, the only hope for any kind of new life that the folks in Samaria had to cling to was sorcery – witchcraft.
One of the challenges missionaries have faced in foreign lands is the supernatural powers of evil that draw people to things that are mystical or weird – like the “witch doctor” that rises to a position of power through mind control. Anyone who comes into a situation like that and gets people to focus on any other kind of power is perceived as a threat.
Such was the challenge Philip faced in Samaria --- Acts 8:9-13 . . .
The really good news here is that the “witch doctor” got saved. How important it is when a well-known figure, whose only claim to fame is bad behavior or false beliefs, hears the gospel and believes!
How much greater it is when a person who “once was lost but now is found” joins with Christians as a part of the team – as was the case, for example, with one of the world’s greatest gospel singers – George Beverly Shea - Billy Graham’s long-time “night-club singer turned crusade singer.”
Does anyone come to your mind who, if today they were to convert to Christianity, would have the same kind of impact on society that Simon the Sorcerer’s conversion had on Samaria? Do you think their baptism would be shown on national television? What a witness for Christ that would be!
The lesson to be learned from the experience Philip had with Simon is that, instead of being intimidated by the challenges we face in witnessing for Christ – wherever we are – let us be faithful in telling the good news.
A word of caution! Philip may have been too quick in MAKING Simon AN associate, due to the incident that occurred after Peter and John arrived in Samaria --- Acts 8:18-24
Word of Philip’s success made its way back to Jerusalem where Peter and John had stayed out of sight due to persecution; but these two guys wasted no time getting to Samaria to join in the revival that Philip had initiated there. Team effort is what it takes to spread the gospel and establish new work anywhere.
Peter, the chief apostle, decided that in addition to baptism, some of the new converts ought to be set apart by the laying on of hands, so that more people could get involved. Now, I don’t know what the criteria was as to who would be set apart; I just know that the spread of the gospel in Samaria would require a lot more manpower.
Simon the sorcerer offered to pay Peter for a special dispensation of the Holy Spirit so that he could have the same power Philip had. Peter rebuked him and told him to repent – which he apparently did; but we learn from this incident that some folks may join the Cause for selfish reasons; so be cautious about who you ordain and who you follow. Be sure they are in the ministry for the right reason!
Philip was certainly in it for the right reason; rather than hang around to take credit for establishing a new mission, he moved on in response to the Spirit’s leading --- Acts 8:26-31 . . .
Most of us need someone to help us understand the Old Testament as it pertains to the gospel. In this instance, here was a God-fearing man who had been to Jerusalem to worship – perhaps having been drawn to Jewish beliefs and ways of life; yet, he was not a Jew . . . but Philip’s witness to him is a reminder to us that the love of Christ excludes no one.
It is interesting that the eunuch was reading from that part of Isaiah known as the suffering servant song. People suffer in many different ways, and I suspect the Ethiopian was feeling the need to be comforted by some good news – so it was not by accident that Philip showed up when he did.
“Who is the prophet talking about – himself or someone else?”
Folks, that question was the opening Philip needed to step right in and tell the Ethiopian eunuch the good news about Jesus. Be alert to opportunities to witness; and don’t be surprised if it turns out the way it did in this case – Acts 8:35-38 . . .
Philip’s story gives us a prime example of how the gospel smashes through barriers - not only geographical but, more importantly, barriers of racial pride and prejudice, religion, nationalism, and any other barrier that people erect to keep people who are different out of the picture! Amen.
