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Phenomenal Philip                                                                                                         4/28/24

Scripture     Acts 8:26-40

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

There are 4 Phillips mentioned in the Bible.  Two were sons of King Herod, from different wives.  This Phillip is not one of them.  The third Phillip was one of John’s disciples.  Jesus called him to follow him.  In turn he found Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus; Nathaniel became a disciple of Jesus as well.  Phillip was from Bethsaida, as were Peter and Andrew.  Along with Andrew, he brought some Greeks to see Jesus.  Jesus asked Phillip where they would get the food to feed the 5000.  Phillip answered that it would take half a year’s wages to buy enough food.  Andrew brought a boys lunch, and the rest was history.  Phillip asked Jesus to show them the Father.  Jesus said that seeing him, he has seen the father. 

Some believe that Phillip the disciple and the Phillip we read about in Acts are the same person, but generally speaking, scholars believe that they are two separate persons.  The Phillip of Acts was one of the 7 deacons appointed by the disciples to serve the hungry so that the 12 could continue their work of prayer and preaching.  Deacon Phillip became an evangelist, leading the magician Simon Magus to Christ in Samaria, then leading the Ethiopian Eunuch to Christ and then preaching along the coast from Gaza to Caesarea. 

Twenty years later, we meet Phillip again.  He is still in Caesarea.  Paul and Luke stopped to see him on their way to Jerusalem.  They stayed with Phillip for a number of days.  During their stay, they meet Phillips 4 daughters who were unmarried at the time, and all had the gift of prophecy.  What a family.  We never hear about Phillip anymore in Scripture.  Tradition says that he became a bishop.

Several things we learn from Deacon Phillip, particularly evangelism:

Witnessing must be spirit lead.  We Get into trouble whenever we try to do it our way, or on our own, or pressured to do it just to do it.

Apparently, an Angel spoke to Phillip. 

          Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14).

Spirit – may mean Christ’s spirit within - Spirit of the Lord – probably the same as above.

The Gaza mentioned here is the same Gaza as today; it has a long and complicated history.

The town of Azotos is about 20 miles North of Gaza.  It appears that Phillip got there rather quickly, by the Spirit’s power.  Perhaps this was something like Elijah who was aided in travel by the Spirit, getting places more quickly than was possible at the time. phenomenal Phillips. Really, it is the phenomenal Holy Spirit!  The Spirit helps more than we think.

There is a time to wait, a time to listen, then a time to go!   The first two are of great necessity.  We should wait upon the Lord, we should wait for an opportunity, and we should listen. It is only then that we are ready to share.
WHEN YOU DO TALK, tell them about Jesus – who he is and what he has done for you. That is the best witness.
Encourage a visible expression of faith.  For the Eunuch, it was baptism. For others, it might be the same (like last weekend when we baptized 4 young people.). But it also might be a confession or some service or sharing their testimony.  These things bring validity to the conversion experience.

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PRAYER

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant, Philip the Deacon, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Samaria and Ethiopia. Raise up in this and every land heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, that your Church may make known the immeasurable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.  Amen. (justus.anglican.org)