Philip: Deacon Turned Evangelist

“Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.  Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.  And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did…Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is a desert place. And he rose and went.   And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.  He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  And the spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot…Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.” –Acts 8:4-6, 26-26-29, 35 (ESV.  Read Acts 8).

The gospel begins to spread beyond Jerusalem.  Grave persecution came immediately following Stephen’s death by stoning, with Saul being one of the main ones to ferret out the Christians and put them in prison for preaching the Word.  But the early apostles and others were not to be outdone by persecution.  Wherever they went, they preached the Word.  The fulfillment of Christ’s command to them to be “witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) was coming true.  Let us focus attention on Philip, one of the faithful first deacons who turned evangelist.  Persecution ignited a fire under those who were scattered abroad.  Philip stands as a shining example of going, witnessing, performing signs and wonders, and, above all, winning others to the faith.

Philip went to Samaria, a feat in itself.  The Jews did not like to have fellowship with the Samaritans, considered “half-breed” Jews.  In Samaria Philip witnessed to and baptized many believers.  He encountered Simon, a magician (astrologer, soothsayer), who was held in great favor with all in the region.  Simon himself became a Christian.  But then, because the believers in Samaria had not received the Holy Spirit, Peter and John went to pray for them and lay their hands on them.  When Simon saw this impartation of the Holy Spirit, he wanted the gift for himself and offered to buy the gift from Peter and John.  Peter reprimanded Simon sternly, telling him, “you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity” (v. 23). This was a way of telling Simon that he even believed in his own soothsaying and that he had deluded himself before he had practiced his magic on others. It would have been valuable indeed for him to have had the power of the Holy Spirit for gain, for ‘signs and wonders.’ Simon pleaded for prayer concerning his wrong motivation in wanting the Holy Spirit for purposes other than that intended by the powerful gifts the Holy Spirit imparts for good.  

Look at a map of the Holy Land.  Philip next went on the road from Samaria to Gaza, traversing through Jerusalem and southwestward on to Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea, a long journey.  An angel of the Lord directed Philip to go there.  Along the road near Gaza he came upon a chariot in which was an Ethiopian eunuch of Queen Candace’s court.  He had adopted the God of the Jews (a proselyte or a God-fearer) and had been to Jerusalem to worship and was returning to Egypt.  He was reading from Isaiah 53, a Messianic passage.  Philip joined him in his carriage and explained how Jesus was the Messiah promised by the prophet Isaiah.  Philip did a fine job of proclaiming the word one-on-one, even to explaining that baptism follows faith.  There along the road they came upon water sufficient to baptize, and the eunuch requested Philip to baptize him.  He went on his way rejoicing.  Tradition holds that this Ethiopian eunuch himself became a bearer of the Word helping to evangelize Ethiopia.  From Gaza, Philip went to Azotus, northward and on to Caesarea, everywhere preaching the word.  Much later, on Paul’s last missionary journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:8), he lodged in Philip’s house.  Philip was a faithful and productive witness to the power of Christ to save.