The Mission of Philip - The Book of Acts

In this Bible Story, Philip is used to preach the gospel in Samaria. He preaches in the desert to an Ethiopian official and baptizes him. This story is inspired by Acts 8:4-8:40. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Acts 8:37 from the King James Version.

Episode 222: Philip, one of the scattered disciples, was in the city of Samaria teaching the people about Jesus and the Kingdom of God. As he spoke, thousands of people came to listen and found healing, peace, and forgiveness. After this God’s Holy Spirit called Philip to go to a desert road. While there, Philip saw the carriage of an Ethiopian Official. He ran up next to the man’s carriage and listened as he read from the prophet Isaiah. God had sent Philip to this barren road just in time to teach the Official the message and mission of Jesus.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And Philip said, if thou believest with
all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts eight thirty seven. As I live my life in
complete abandonment to my plans, I in exchange, will live

(00:25):
my life to follow your divine plans for my life. Lord.
Like Philip, as I speak the words of Jesus, I
thank you that chaos becomes order, hearts turn to you,
relationships are healed, poor become fed, and your children find

(00:46):
a place in the family of God. I praise you
that as I declare your word, those paralyzed become healed,
those tormented by evil spirits are delivered. Joy is restored
through you, Jesus, my feet are led to my next

(01:07):
location of impact. Like Philip an Axe eight. Upon arrival,
I know that you will guide me to my next assignment.
Through it all, I am choosing to praise you because
my journey is paved with blessings and open opportunities to

(01:27):
share your word and impact lives forever. I trust you, Lord,
even though I may not see what's next. I'm in
love with trusting your plans in Jesus name. Amen, thank

(01:48):
you for praying with us today. Continue your time with
God by listening to today's Bible story, brought to you
by Bible in a Year dot com.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
The Mission of Philip. In our last story, we witnessed
the brutal murder of Stephan. As stones crushed his bones,
he looked up to heaven and saw the living God
looking down at him. Stephan became the first martyr, and
a new enemy emerged from the shadows, a pharisee by
the name of Saul. He would prove to be a

(02:29):
deadly force for evil. Now we learn about the ministry
of Philip. His story is one of simply saying yes
to God wherever he may lead, inspired by the Book
of Acts.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
I'm so glad you've joined us on the Bible in
a Year podcast today. But before we get to today's episode,
I want you to know that I would absolutely love
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(03:09):
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(03:30):
up for your PowerPoint Today devotional. That's Jagraham dot org
Jack Graham dot org. In our previous episode, we heard
how Stephens stood firm and fearlessly spoke the word of
Christ even at the expense of his own death. He
was stoned to death by the religious establishment as a

(03:53):
result of preaching Christ and the good News of Jesus.
But even in his final moments he reflects the glory
of God and experiences the grace of God and goes
to Heaven. We also met Saul, who was just getting
started with his vicious, terroristic persecution of believers. And today
we'll hear how, in the face of intense persecution that

(04:16):
the Church scattered to preach the Gospel, and how God
used a man by the name of Philip to take
the message of Jesus beyond Jerusalem to a man who
would then take the message of Christ to a distant land.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Just as the Spirit of God once hovered over the
chaotic waters of the world, so did he hover over
the nation of Israel. The Spirit went before the disciples,
and as they spoke the words of Jesus, chaos became order.
Hearts were turned to God, relationships were healed, the poor
were fed, and the hopeless found a home in the

(04:52):
family of God. All of the disciples scattered around the region,
preaching the truth and proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Even more,
they brought in the lonely and broken. Philip was among
the scattered disciples. He went into the city of Samaria
to preach the word. He stood up in the city
streets and began to speak of the history of God.

(05:15):
He spoke of God's plan for redemption and the life
of Jesus. As Philip spoke, hundreds of people gathered to
listen to him, as if they all shared the same ears.
Each one of them listened intently to what Philip said.
As the truth went forth like a coursing river, the
Spirit of God refreshed the hearts of the Samaritans. Those

(05:36):
who were paralyzed were healed, those who were oppressed by
demons found peace, and those who were broken felt whole.
It was a truly spirit filled experience for Philip. He
rose to the call of God and found joy in
connecting with the people of Samaria. Then, like a still
small voice whispering in his ears, Philip heard the prompting

(05:59):
of God, rise and look south. There is a road
that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip nodded and listened
to the prompting nudge of God's spirit. Filled with purpose,
Philip marched towards the desert. The sun was high and scorching.
Philip licked his parched lips as he trudged through the

(06:19):
desert road. This call of God was nothing like the
one he had before. Before, there were thousands of people
who listened to him. Now there was no one, not
one living thing, dwelled in the desert. Philip walked for
miles with no sign of people or water. That was
until he saw a carriage in the distance. Philip ran

(06:39):
towards the moving tent with what little strength he had left.
As he drew closer, he saw that the carriage was
arrayed with Ethiopian design. Philip approached carefully. It was the
carriage of an Ethiopian official, a counselor to the Queen. Philip,
knelt near the carriage and listened to what the man
was saying. As it turns out, he was reading from

(07:00):
the prophet Isaiah. Philip's eyes widened and he poked his
head through the fabric startled. The Ethiopian screamed, and the
carriage came to a halt. Philip apologized, laughing at his awkwardness.
Excuse me, Philip said, but I couldn't help, but hear
what you were reading. Do you happen to know what
it means? How does one know anything without being taught?

(07:22):
The Ethiopian answered with a smile, Please come in teach
me these things. The passage the Ethiopian was reading was
from Isaiah. It read like a sheep led the slaughter.
He was silent, He opened not his mouth. In his humiliation,
justice was denied him. Who can explain this generation? For

(07:43):
his life was taken from the earth. The official was confused,
but filled with joyous curiosity. Who is the prophet speaking of?
He asked. Philip could not have smiled wider. He spoke
of the suffering Messiah that was prophesied from days of
old and how oh Jesus fulfilled it all. The two
of them spoke for hours, diving deeply into the truths

(08:05):
of Jesus and the will of God. The Ethiopian's eyes
were wide with amazement. He listened to every word Philip said.
He asked questions and sought deep answers. Then, as the
desert road became greener, they passed by a spring with
flowing water. The Ethiopian pointed to it. You see the
water over there, What is keeping me from getting baptized

(08:28):
right now? So the two men went into the water.
The cool spring was a refreshing contrast to the hot
and biting sun above. Philip prayed with him. He prayed
that he would receive the spirit of God and that
he would dedicate his life to the Kingdom of God.
Philip held his hand and back, then gently dipped him
into the water, And as they came up out of

(08:50):
the water, the Lord took Philip up and sent him
to cessarea. The official would return back to his country
and share all that he had learned. The world would
never be the same.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
In today's reading from the Book of Acts, we see
the Church on the move fulfilling the mission of Christ
and the great commission to take the message of the
Gospel to the world. Since Jesus had departed, ascended, the
Holy Spirit had come. The Church was alive and growing daily,
but primarily in Jerusalem. There were tens of thousands of

(09:29):
new Christians in Jerusalem. But remember, the Gospel is for
the whole world. The apostles, and the church was charged
with making disciples not only in their city, but in Judea, Samaria,
and to take the message to the ends of the earth.
But now, as a rabbi by the name of Saul
began to ruthlessly hunt down believers and pull them from

(09:50):
their homes and throw them into prison, the church had
no choice but to scatter. They didn't cower down. They
were faithful and fearless, but they were spread. The gospel
fire is spreading as a result of persecution. It's been
said that the blood of the martyrs is the seat
of the Church, and little did he know it. But

(10:11):
Saul's attempts to destroy the Church where actually helping spread
the mission of Jesus. This, of course, does not mean
he was acting on God's behalf. He was an enemy
of the Gospel, but God, in his sovereign plan Canon
does use what some mean for evil to produce good
things God things. So this persecution created an opportunity for

(10:34):
the word of God and the testimony of Jesus to
go far beyond Jerusalem. And today we hear of one
of the disciples by the name of Philip, who went
into Samaria and began preaching the Gospel. Now this is
significant because you recall from jesus ministry that Samaria was
a place that Jews did not go. If at all possible,

(10:55):
they would avoid it. But now, led by the Holy Spirit,
Philip went to share Jesus in the very place that
so many others avoided. He spoke with boldness, and there
was power to heal the sick and the lame. He
did it with a tender heart, just like Jesus. And
surely as he was doing these things, he remembered the

(11:16):
words of Jesus, who said, the Holy Spirit will enable
you to do even greater things than Jesus had done.
And as a result of the preaching and healing and
the ministry of Philip's, scores of Samaritans had come to
faith in Christ. There was great revival going on in Samaria.
But then we hear how the Lord sent an angel

(11:39):
to Philip telling him to leave Samaria and to go south.
And what was south of Samaria not much a desert
in fact, and to human eyes and understanding, what's the
value of going to the desert? Why leave this powerful
revival going on in Samaria and go to a faraway place?
But God, of course wanted to spread the gospel everywhere,

(12:01):
and that included far away nations. So God sent Philip. Obediently,
he followed and trusted God's leading to the desert. Now
there is an important, important lesson for us here. God's
Spirit leads us sometimes in places that we don't want
to go or may not even understand why we're going.

(12:21):
But when we are abiding in Christ, when we are
walking in the Spirit, when we're listening and trusting and
obeying Him, we can see distant horizons and opportunities to
share our faith or to go where Jesus is calling
us in order to make a difference someplace far away.
When he arrived in the desert, Philip encountered a man
from Ethiopia. This man was a well to do man,

(12:45):
a counselor to the Queen of Ethiopia. This man was
a eunuch. This man was in a chariot leaving Jerusalem,
where he had gone to worship. He believed in God,
but he had never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit prompted him to go to the chariot
and talk to this man about faith. And as he

(13:06):
walked up to the man, he could hear him reading
from the book of Isaiah, and it was a prophecy
about the Messiah. Philip, of course, did not pass up
the opportunity to share Christ that Jesus is the fulfillment
of the prophecy of Isaiah. The unit wanted an explanation
of what he was reading, so here's what we find.
In Acts eight thirty five, Philip opened his mouth and

(13:29):
beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news
about Jesus. And as he shared the Gospel with this stranger,
in this divine appointment, this man trusted in Christ and
wanted to be baptized. Because of Philip's faithfulness, the Ethiopian
man was forever changed, and he returned home as a

(13:49):
follower of Jesus, filled with the same spirit of Christ.
This is significant because Jesus's command to take the Gospel
to the world is now being fulfilled. Ethiopia in those
days by many, was considered to be the end of
the earth, and so now the Gospel is on its
way there. This was not due to Philip's careful planning.

(14:10):
It was his openness and obedience to do what God
told him to do. In the same way, we need
to be willing for God to use us. There are
three abilities that God really uses. Availability, expendability. Perhaps the
greatest ability God uses is availability. When we are available

(14:31):
to God, he will use us in a great way.
And the same Holy Spirit who led Philip will lead
us as we listen to him. Let's pray together. Dear God,
we thank you for the scripture today in the Book
of Acts that shows us how we can be used
by You to make a difference in people's lives. Help
us to be attentive and alert to divine opportunities divine appointments.

(14:56):
For we know that there are people that we will
encounter even today who are ready and responsive to receive
the good news and salvation. In Jesus Christ. May we
be faithful and fearless in following You, listening to your spirit,
and walking in your truth. For we pray in Jesus'
name Amen. Thank you for listening to Today's Bible in

(15:17):
a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas, and
before we go, I want you to know that I
would love to send you my daily devotional to give
you fresh encouragement every single day. So visit Jack Graham
dot org to sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional.
That's Jack Graham dot org