The Wonderful Ministry of Philip Acts 8:1-8

The martyrdom of Stephen led to the persecution of the church which resulted in the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem.  God mightily used this persecution as impetus in spreading the gospel from Jerusalem to other areas.  In this section of Luke’s account in the book of Acts, God used adversity to advance the furtherance of the gospel message to other areas.  In the scheme of God’s movement of the gospel, Saul will occupy a prominent role as a fierce persecutor of God’s people.  In spite of the persecution to which the church receives, we find Philip, a Grecian Jew, sharing the message of Christ with the Samaritans, for Acts 8:5 says: “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

Although the martyrdom of Stephen created an explosion of persecution of the church in Jerusalem, the gospel invaded the region of Samaria.  You will recall that the Jews and Samaritans had ethnic and social differences.  However, Philip, being a Grecian Jew, saw the Samaritans not as outcasts, but as people in grave need of the gospel.  In sharing the good news of God’s salvation, believers must share the word with all people, regardless to barriers erected by human prejudices.  We must be totally submissive to God’s call to evangelize to all people and case aside our petty prejudices.  Philip did not avoid the Samaritans but he preached Christ unto them.  As Philip reached Christ unto the, the Samaritans were extremely receptive to what Philip spake (v. 6).

In addition, we observed that in verses 6 and 7, that the Holy Spirit authenticated the ministry of Philip with miracles, including healings and the exorcising of demons.  As believers in this dispensation of Grace, all we need to do is be submissive to God’s call in evangelizing the lost and leave the results to God.  Yes, all we need to do is to share the gospel to the Samaritans of our day, telling them that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  We need to further tell them that “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

We need to declared unto them that God loves them: “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).   Lastly, we must inform them that they have an opportunity to receive or reject the gospel, for Romans 10:9 says: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”