Jesus. : Trusting Jesus First, Only, Now, and AlwaysSample

Stephen and Phillip were members of the same church in Jerusalem. When people began to persecute the church after Stephen’s death, Phillip went to Samaria, where he performed miracles to get people’s attention and preached the gospel of Jesus (see 8:5). Phillip could have chosen to hide when he got to Samaria to make sure he didn’t get stoned like Stephen, but he didn’t. He loved Jesus too much to stay quiet about Him.

Phillip wasn’t the only person in Samaria who could do wonderous things. Simon the sorcerer lived in the area. The difference between the two was that Phillip’s power came from the Holy Spirit. It proved that the gospel of Jesus was true, encouraged people to put their faith in Jesus, and impacted eternity. Simon’s magic had no such power. If Phillip had let the presence of another wonder worker discourage him, the people who were saved as a result of Phillip’s ministry would have wasted time watching Simon instead of beginning a relationship with Jesus.

After Peter and John visited Phillip in Samaria, an angel told Phillip to go to a desert road that ran from Jerusalem to Gaza. He didn’t tell Phillip what he would be doing when he got there, but Phillip went anyway. He trusted God to take care of the details. On his way to the desert road, Phillip met a trusted servant of the Queen of Ethiopia, and the Holy Spirit told Phillip to stand near him. When the man asked Phillip a question about the Bible, Phillip used the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus, and the man was saved.

We have every reason to believe that this trusted servant to the Queen of Ethiopia did return to Ethiopia after putting his faith in Jesus. Ethiopia is far away from Jerusalem, and Jesus had prophesied that the disciples would be His witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Phillip didn’t know it when he obeyed the angel, but his obedience helped accomplish what Jesus had prophesied. When we obey and trust God to take care of the details, we get to participate in His grand plan to redeem the whole world.