Acts 8:4–40

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Dean, School of Christian Studies, University of Mobile

PHILIP: CONSISTENCY
Acts 8:4–40

Witness in the North (4–25)
Philip is a specific example of those “scattered abroad who went about preaching.” Forced from Jerusalem by persecution, he continued his witness in Samaria.

Samaritans were the ethnic and religious descendants of Jews left in the promised land after the Assyrians carried away the leading citizens in 721 B.C. Those Jews intermarried with pagan peoples moved into Samaria by the Assyrians and developed a brand of worship near Judaism but considered heretical by full-blooded Jews. Samaritans and Jews were cousins but hated each other.

It was a breakthrough when Philip offered the gospel to the Samaritans, showing that “half-Jews” didn’t have to become Jews to receive the Jewish Messiah as Savior and Lord. He led the church halfway toward offering the gospel to Gentiles, who weren’t Jewish at all.

Philip preached the “good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.” People listened, witnessed demonstrations of divine power working through Philip and experienced great joy.

A Samaritan magician named Simon, who had convinced the populace that he had divine powers, “believed.” Was this profession of faith real or pretend? Some think Acts 8:20–21 indicate he wasn’t saved; others think Acts 8:24 implies he later repented. No certain answer can be given. After his baptism, he attached himself to Philip and was awed by the signs and miracles he saw.

Upon hearing about the events in Samaria, the Jerusalem church sent a delegation to check the matter. Peter and John found things in order except for the fact that the Holy Spirit had fallen on none of the Samaritan believers. After Peter and John prayed for and laid hands on them, they “received the Holy Spirit.” Why was the Spirit not conferred on the Samaritans at the time of conversion? Perhaps to demonstrate that He recognized no racial barriers to the gift, God withheld the Spirit until the apostles could see Him given with their own eyes. The text recognizes their situation was abnormal. “Only” (16b) implies baptism and reception of the Holy Spirit normally went together. Laying on of hands here was probably a token of fellowship, indicating the apostles’ approval of the extension of the gospel to the Samaritans and of Samaritan believers’ full incorporation into the church.

To Simon the magician, it looked as if the apostles had given the Holy Spirit. He tried to buy that power for himself. His effort drew stern rebuke from Peter.

That on their way back to Jerusalem they “preached the gospel to many villages of Samaritans” shows Peter and John approved Samaritan evangelism.

Witness in the South (26–39)
Sometime later, an angel directed Philip to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Along that way came a man of Ethiopia (the area south of Egypt). He was treasurer for the Candace (the queen mother). That he had been to Jerusalem to “worship” indicates he was either a Jewish proselyte or a “God-fearer” (probably the latter). In Acts, “one who feared God” is a description for a Gentile who recognized the God of Israel as the true and living God and worshiped in the synagogue alongside Jews but never became a full-fledged proselyte by submitting to circumcision and taking on himself “the yoke of the law.”

When he met the chariot, Philip heard the man reading Isaiah 53:7–8 and offered to help him understand the text. Surely Philip preached Jesus. When they came to water, the man asked for believer’s immersion. Philip complied.

Perhaps the most important thing to be learned from this episode is the universality of the gospel. If the gospel is for African God-fearers, then it is for all.

Witness Everywhere He Went (40)
Philip next appeared in Azotus. From there, he set out on a missionary tour through the old Philistine territory, ending up in Caesarea by the sea. In the remaining reference to him in Acts (21:8), he was living still in Caesarea.