A Significant Servant

Another reminder: DEscriptive, v. PREscriptive

Which Philip? There was an apostle by that name…this is not him

This Philip, is the one from Acts 6:5 “...and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, (we know what happened to him!) and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.”

He becomes know through history as Philip the Evangelist, as he spread the good news—we’ll see that in the next couple weeks;

We last see him in Acts 21; according to Gr. tradition he became Bishop of Tralles (Aydin Turkey)

He traveled (fled), according to the text, to Samaria--Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria...

Long history of discord between Jews and Samaritans

Started when the kingdoms split, Samaria was the capital of the North, developed false worship

Got worse when the N. kingdom fell to Assyria—intermarriage, “half-breeds”

Did not believe the entire OT canon, only “their” copy of the Pentateuch

Why did Philip choose Samaria? We have NO Biblical account, but we can understand that there would have been a bit of HS involvement—we’ll call that “sanctified speculation”

We’ll look at the fact that he was faithful, he was powerful, and he was fruitful

He Was Faithful

Note the comment about those who were scattered

Acts 8:4 (ESV)

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Preaching is that form that implies continuation of action

We will gather from this that Philip is but one example of the many who were faithful and gave the Gospel wherever they went

We’ll see enough of him in the rest of the chapter to prove that out for him

He picks up the traditional name of Philip the Evangelist because he is often described as preaching or proclaiming

The word for preaching is euangelitzo—essentially “gospelizing”

The words have EVERYTHING to do with conveying the good news, euangelion regarding Christ’s dominion and His bringing of salvation

We might ask “why was he singled out to be noted?” Other than Philip, and Stephen the martyr, the others fade into relative oblivion

It could have been because of the historic hostilities between the pious Jews and the Samaritans; one outcast going to a culture of outcasts

So, it could be that where he went first and the follow-up from there were the things used by the Spirit to have Luke bring this to our attention for all the great lessons we can pull from what we learn from him

He Was Powerful

He proclaimed to them “the Christ”

The term, kerysso,“proclaim” has the underlying sense, carries the sense of heralding or announce loudly or forcibly

The Samaritans were also expecting a Messiah—they had a different understanding of him; but Philip’s preaching helped get that straight

The people heard him and saw the signs

The crowds were of “one accord” unified in their acceptance of what he said, and in belief of God whom he preached

The word underlying “one accord” doesn’t leave much wiggle room for people in the crowds resisting the message

And those signs…

Demonic spirits were cast out, serious disabilities cured

Let’s take a minute to remember who else preached in Samaria John 4 25-26, when Jesus himself had engaged a Samaritan woman in dialogue… this in the village of Sychar within the region of Samaria

Without getting lost in the linguistics, it may have been the same place…may not have been…but would have been not too far distant

John 4:25–26 ESV

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Soooo…this was quite possibly in the collective memory of the culture and this preaching of Philip, confirmed by the signs as wonders delivered, brought it back to the front of their memories

This Messiah he preached had once been among them as well

He Was Fruitful

The ultimate result was joy in the city

We are not given a lot of information about just what that joy entailed; let me suggest a list of probabilities

Joy for the healings/exorcisms they’d seen

They recognized their sins and were thrilled with the forgiveness given

By acknowledging Christ and putting him first, their lives coming into a better senses of oder

By forgiving others as God had forgiven them, they had more peaceful lives

Those are just a few of my top suspects

Make Note:

His rather forced dislocation from his home had resulted in souls converted to Christ—we’ll follow up on some the continuing Saga of Samaria

To some degree he exemplified the adage: Where you’re planted, grow!

How Do We Measure Up?

We all get blown out of our comfort zone on occasion…but having to run for our lives due to our religious beliefs?

Our text gives us zero indication that Philip—or the countless unmentioned others--had gone into hiding, licking his wounds, getting his act together…he went to work

Right to the task of preaching and proclaiming

There’s a word related to the word for proclaim—kerusso—the related word is kyrigma: the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ

If we’re booted out of our comfort zone, are we able to proclaim the good new of the salvation available through Jesus Christ?

I suspect most of us can’t proclaim it…even if we’re right in the middle of our comfort zone

Philip had been in preparation mode—back in chap. 6 he and the others had been called into a service mode…and it seems that within that, they were being prepared for where they’d be sent…what they’d be called to do

Stephen had been prepared to preach—proclaim the Gospel…then to die

Philip would have a legacy of preaching, all we know about the others is what the text tells us—they went about preaching the Word

Most others results went unrecorded…but they still went an preached

Even if you’re faithful to preach and proclaim, are you OK if nobody takes any note of your work?

Of course, we can only preach and proclaim if we truly know that kerygma--

Can you accurately proclaim the Gospel?

If not, why not?

The faith brings transformation

Are you transformed? That is a matter of obedience to God’s Word

If you have trusted, but just are not sure about that transformation, it’s time to get honest with God about where you are--

Would anyone ever tag you with the nickname of [insert your name here] the evangelist?