Philip’s Humility

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.
–Acts 8:5

In the life of Philip, we see a portrait of an effective evangelist. The first characteristic that made Philip effective was his invincibility. He refused to back down in the face of persecution.

Second, Philip demonstrated humility. Humility is putting other people’s needs and interests above your own. In Philippians 2:3–4, Paul said, “With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Then Paul pointed to Jesus, who laid aside His rights as God to come to earth and meet our needs. I want you to notice two things Philip laid aside to share the gospel:

1. His personal prejudice. Acts 8:5–6 says, “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip.” Today, we forget what an unusual thing it was for Philip to witness to the Samaritans. The Samaritans were descendants of mixed marriages between Jews and Assyrians. To the Jews, the Samaritans represented sellouts, people who had literally slept with the enemy. But Philip laid aside the prejudice that was part of his upbringing and preached to the Samaritans.

2. His desire for recognition. Acts 8:12 says people were baptized after believing Philip’s teaching, but they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit. As we learned a few weeks ago, the Holy Spirit did not come upon these believers until Peter and John traveled to Samaria and saw for themselves that Samaritans were being saved (vv.14–17). This was a way of unifying the Jews and the Samaritans in the early church.

Philip might have wondered, Why did the apostles have to come up here? Was my preaching not up to snuff? Had he told the apostles to stay out of his territory, the church would have been divided. But Philip didn’t care who got credit for the Samaritan revival. He laid aside his need for recognition for the sake of God’s kingdom. As a result, Peter and John laid aside their prejudice as well. Verse 25 says they “were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans” on their way back to Jerusalem. Philip’s humility resulted in more people hearing the gospel.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Portrait of an Effective Evangelist,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.