PHILIP
Our meditation today takes us first of all into hostile territory, A great persecution against Christians in Jerusalem had led to many of them being scattered throughout the region, Acts chapter 8 verse 4. In particular, a man called Saul of Tarsus was creating havoc among the Christians – he had watched those who opposed the Christian gospel (good news) stone one of their highly respected number, Stephen, to death. He then rounded up others by entering their houses, arresting and imprisoning them, Acts chapter 8 verse 3.
The scene for promoting the spread of the Christian message was unpromising, to say the least! On the surface, it seemed as if the possibility of finding any who would be capable, of ‘turning the world upside down’ with their preaching was remote, indeed! However, the Acts of the Apostles shows that the persecutors had failed to take into account an undeterred God! They did not know the God who buries His workmen with others to carry on His work. One of those who carried it on was PHILIP, Acts chapter 8 verse 4.
‘Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert. So he arose and went’, Acts chapter 8 verse 26. This is the kind of man, even in the midst of persecution, who God can use to ‘turn the world upside down’! i.e., those who are prepared to go where He sends them, without argument. One writer has called them, ‘minute men and women’, who are ready at an instant’s call to go to the ends of the earth to carry His message! Christians today, meditate on this – are you one of the ‘minute men and women’?
Speaking to one man from Ethiopia, in a chariot and in the desert was not an attractive assignment to undertake! We must remember that God is interested in individuals. There were 5,000+ Christians in Jerusalem but each one was saved, through faith in Christ, before being added to that vast company. The message of the gospel is for ALL! A desert, a chariot, one Ethiopian man – beyond this lay the evangelisation of the whole of Ethiopia! Never underestimate what God can do from seemingly small beginnings!