I visited Amazon.com and hit the search command with these words: “The joy of…” to see what books began with that title. There were 111,218 entries! Although not all actually had that title: these were among those listed:
The joy of cooking
The joy of signing
The joy of motherhood
The joy of Yiddish
The joy of not working
The joy of mathematics
The joy of discovery in Bible study
The joy of juicing
The joy of burnout
The joy of blueberries
The joy of freedom
The joy of music
The joy of first year piano
The joy of reflexology
The joy of cheese cake
The joy of success
As we study the ministry of Philip in Samaria and on the Gaza road we find that his ministry brought great joy to others.
Look at verses 8 and 39 in our text.
8 And there was much rejoicing in that city.
39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
Paul later wrote to the Corinthians and said this interesting thing about his ministry:
2 Cor. 1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
I love this! The ministry of Christ is a ministry of joy! It is a work that brings rejoicing! There is nothing as satisfying as a good dose of joy. One of the great benefits of being a member of the body of Christ is this: joy is one of the primary elements. When Jesus was born the angels announcing his birth said, “Behold I bring you good news of great joy that shall be for all the people! Today in the city of David a Savior is born, he is Christ, the Lord!”
Now let’s think about Christian ministry in context of Philip’s life here in Acts 8. Where has Philip come from? Jerusalem. And what’s going on back in Jerusalem that made him come here? Persecution! Saul is leading a great persecution against the followers of Jesus Christ even as Philip is in Samaria making new ones. When Saul started ravaging the church, Philip was one of those that fled the city and was scattered. By the way, Philip used to have a good job there in Jerusalem working for the church! He was nominated by the church and installed by the apostles to a position that gave him a responsible, full time job working to bring joy to widows and needy people. We don’t know exactly how long he served at that post, but the persecution ended that job, one of his coworkers was killed by a powerful political mob and Philip found himself unemployed and in need of relocation. So he flees to Samaria, home of the hated half breeds. It would be like moving from Signal Mountain to Poss Homes project.
Just knowing that much about what is going on in Philip’s life, if we were in that position how would you and I handle things? Almost all we know about Philip’s ministry is found here in Acts 8. The last time we hear of Philip is in chapter 21:8-9 and guess who comes to his house to stay a while? Saul of Tarsus, one of the men responsible for killing Steven, Philip’s coworker, and causing Philip to have to flee from Jerusalem, now as Paul the apostle, this very man stays at Philip’s house! I would love to have heard their conversation, wouldn’t you?
Philip gives us a very good example, doesn’t he. He is stubbornly staying with it. And today we will look at two cases where Philip works for the joy of the Lord as he preaches Christ to those who are lost.
First, Acts 8:5-25. Many of the people of Samaria are under the influence of an amazing fellow named Simon the Sorcerer. He has them believing that God’s power is in him. They even refer to him as “the great power of God.” But Philip was a man appointed by the apostles and when they laid their hands on him and the other seven, they evidently passed onto them the miraculous gifts. When Philip comes to town and he begins not only preaching the word, but practicing healing for the needy, just like Stephen had done in Jerusalem. Philip proclaimed the Christ and proved what he proclaimed by performing the signs. It was a one, two punch that won the attention of the people and instilled the faith in those who heard and saw what Philip did. Look at verses 5-8.
The signs and wonders were how the Holy Spirit confirmed the word of God through Philip. His ministry was a sweeping success! By the way, the Holy Spirit didn’t just do signs and wonders according to man’s choice. Philip could only do these things as God gave him the power and as God made the choice. Notice that God didn’t empower the apostles to stop the persecution of the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. As far as we know, God didn’t miraculously heal the stripes of those beaten by the persecutors. There were times when God intervened and interrupted the persecutions of some, but often there was no interruption. The stones killed Stephen; the rods bruised and bloodied the backs of the apostles. The Christian’s homes where Saul and his gang broke in and dragged them out for persecution and death happened without a miraculous prevention. It seems that the miraculous powers were not for personal protection, but for proving the message of the gospel to be true. Someone might say that God should stop all the pain and suffering. Surely that would be incredible proof to convince the lost to be saved! Right? Just imagine a church were there was no suffering or pain, sicknesses are all healed and nobody dies or cries because God wipes away all tears. Actually, that scenario does take place for the church! But not yet.
We are first called to walk with Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the cross. We see the joy set before us and endure what we must on the way to it. By God’s grace through faith we get to taste that joy even now. 1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
Peter tells us that we experience joy inexpressible even as we experience distress by various trials. Is this not the case for us today? Notice also in verse 5 that there is protection by the power of God, but it is protection for salvation even as we must endure trials and persecution along the way.
Back to Acts 8… Philip preaches and performs signs and what do the people do? At first they point out Philip’s competition. Here comes Simon the Sorcerer. But Philip preaches and works so successfully, he even converts his competition! At least nominally. Look carefully with me at verses 11-13.
11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
13 And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
I want to get our attention off of Simon and onto the sermon of Philip and their response to it. What did Philip preach?
Look at verse 12. …the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ… is that what it says in your Bible? So Philip was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, right? Now, how were they responding? …they were being baptized, men and women alike. And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip…
Notice these two things: First, Philip preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ and, second, they responded by being baptized, men and women, even Simon believed and was baptized.
You may be asking, what’s your point? I’m glad you asked. The point is, if you preach Jesus Christ the way Philip did, people will want to be baptized as a direct result. There must be something about preaching Jesus Christ and being baptized that go together. Does that make sense? God has ordained that through baptism in the name of Jesus Christ one enters into Christ. We enter his presence and receive his grace, forgiveness and love. We are washed in his blood and raised to walk in newness of life. We are adopted into God’s family and receive the Holy Spirit. We are sealed, saved, and so much more! Who then could not rejoice?
Now, I’m going to skip ahead to the next section of this chapter and I want you to notice something there too.
Look at verses 32-36. Let me set the stage. Philip is called away from Samaria by the Lord, and is sent to a desert road on the way to Gaza where he meets up with an Ethiopian eunuch who has been to Jerusalem to worship and is heading home. It just so happens that he is reading the Bible. He’s reading an Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, and like most of us would be he’s confused about what he’s reading. Anyone who has read the Old Testament prophets knows what I’m talking about. We can identify with this guy. Well, the Lord tells Philip to go up to his chariot and when Philip does this, he overhears the man reading. Back then almost everyone read out loud. They didn’t read silently like we do today. So Philip hears the Ethiopian reading and he asks him a question: Do you understand what your reading? The Ethiopian seems glad that Philip asked this question and answers, “No, how can I unless someone explains it.” What a coincidence we have here! The Ethiopian just happens to be reading Isaiah and Philip just happens to have been there listening and overhearing… right? Wrong! It is no coincidence that Philip is there and it is no coincidence that this Ethiopian is reading in Isaiah either! And, wouldn’t you know it, he’s reading just the right section in Isaiah for Philip to tell him the gospel! Let’s look at 32-36 now.
32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
33 "IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO SHALL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH."
34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?"
35 And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
36 And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"
Now, look carefully at verses 35-36. What did Philip open his mouth and preach? My Bible says: he preached Jesus to him. Jesus! Now if Philip preached Jesus to him, what reaction would you expect? Shouldn’t he say the sinner’s prayer at this point? I love listening to WMBW 88.9 FM. Moody radio. It has some of the most encouraging and helpful messages on it. I don’t like secular radio. It irritates me. I’d rather ride in silence than be bombarded with worldly messages through the music and advertisements. I’ve got several good Christian CDs. Sing me a song about Jesus! Share me a sermon about his love! That’s what I want! But it drives me crazy to hear otherwise great sermons end with a call to respond with a sinner’s prayer and not a word about being baptized into Christ for forgiveness of sins. Or worse, I even hear disclaimers from time to time by preachers telling us to be sure not to think that baptism saves us. It’s as if they want to be sure that you understand that preaching Jesus has nothing to do with being baptized. Baptism gets put down as if Jesus and baptism are to be kept distinct and separated from each other. Listen. That is not preaching Jesus! At least not the way Philip and Peter and Paul did in the Bible. As long as I’m preaching here, you are going to hear that baptism into Christ is part of the plan, it is part of the message, it is part of preaching Jesus Christ, and it is not optional. It is part of the great celebration of who Jesus is and what he has done and what he taught us! It’s part of the great rejoicing!
Jesus commissioned us to make disciples baptizing and teaching
Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, whoever does not believe shall be condemned.”
To a crowd of thousands who were convinced of Jesus’ Lordship and convicted of their sins and guilt Peter said, Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(NO ONE EVER SAID, “Say the sinner’s prayer with me, and yes, baptism is good, but it has nothing to do with being saved, it just shows you have already been saved”).
And Peter wrote, 1 Pet. 3:21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And when Philip preached Jesus Christ in Samaria men and women were baptized. And when he preached Jesus to this Ethiopian, he started looking for water and wanted to be baptized too.
Hey listen, there’s water in the plan! Someone might say, “What about all those people throughout history who were sprinkled or who died not knowing what the Bible said about Baptism but who lived as faithful as they knew how? My answer is: What about them? Are you going to base your obedience on what they knew or what you know? I’m not the judge, but I am a preacher of Jesus Christ and I’m here to tell you today, Jesus Christ commissioned me to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What we need to hear is God’s word: there is one Lord, one faith and one baptism. We will not add to nor take from what God has said in his word.
Look at what happened to this Ethiopian when he responded to the gospel by being baptized into Christ. Verse 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing.
The ministry of joy includes being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
