MODEL EVANGELISM

Acts 8:35 ... "Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, he preached Jesus to him."

      Philip is introduced at Acts 6:5 as one of the "seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom" who were appointed to supervise the work of distributing food equitably to Hellenist and Hebrew widows in the church. Because this service is generally taken to be that of deacons, we come to know this man first as "Philip the Deacon." He evidently occupied himself with this work until the great persecution against the church zealously promoted by Saul of Tarsus. At that time the Christians of Jerusalem were "scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria," (Acts 8:1). Consequently, "Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them," (v.5). Since the original meaning of "evangelist" was "one who preaches the gospel of Christ," Philip the Deacon became "Philip the Evangelist." It is by this designation that we today know him best.

      Philip deserves to be called "evangelist" because Luke, in recording Philip's ministry, emphasizes that what he preached was indeed the gospel of Christ. When Philip arrived in the city of Samaria, he "began proclaiming Christ to them," (v.5). Verse 12 states that, while he labored there, "Philip [was] preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ." Finally, he was called away from Samaria to the road that led from Jerusalem southward to Gaza and then on down to Egypt. The Holy Spirit saw a prospective disciple traveling that road and wanted him to have the opportunity to learn the gospel, obey its requirements. and become a true child of God. When Philip found this man, a nobleman of Ethiopia, he was reading from the scroll of Isaiah at the place now designated as chapter 53. When Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading, the man answered that he did not. He then invited Philip to enter the chariot and teach him. It was at this moment the evangelist "opened his mouth and, beginning from this Scripture, preached Jesus to him."

      The object of evangelism proceeds from the Divine proclamation of Ezk. 18:4, "The soul who sins will die." In Rom. 3:23 we are told that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." These two premises force the conclusion that everyone is due to die because of his sin. The human situation is hopeless, until we find in I Tim. 2:4 that God "desires all men to be saved" and that He gave His own Son, whom He sent here in human form, to offer "Himself as a ransom for all," (v.6). Everyone should love God with perpetual praise and thanksgiving that He does not desire to carry out upon anyone the penalty of death for sin. He sent Christ to pay that penalty for us. But God requires us to do something for Christ's ransom to save us. We must put our faith in Jesus as God's Son and our Savior, and be baptized in water.

      Evangelism is the effort to persuade a person to make that critical, utterly vital response. That is what we see in the case of Philip and the Ethiopian nobleman. Anyone who refuses to make this response is effectually saying, "No, God, I do not want Christ to ransom me. I had rather pay the penalty of death for sin myself." And that, my dear reader, is not so much physical death as eternal death ... being separated from God's presence forever ... and everlasting exclusion from the Paradise of Heaven.  That decision, and the awful result to which it leads, is the ULTIMATE HUMAN TRAGEDY!

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR

Acts 7:60 ... "Falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them!' And having said this, he fell asleep."

      Stephen was one of the seven men appointed by the apostles to oversee the work of distributing daily sustenance equally to Hellenist and Hebrew widows. As he performed this duty, he somehow ran into disputes with Jews from certain synagogues in Jerusalem. But because Stephen was filled with wisdom and the Spirit of God, these adversaries performed badly in the debates. It is evident that their goal was not to define truth and righteousness but rather to protect selfish interests. We read in Acts 6:11-12 that "they secretly induced men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.' And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they came upon him, and brought him before the Council."

      The seventh chapter of Acts is devoted to Stephen's trial before the highest court of the Jews, the Sanhedrin. It was far from a fair trial; from its beginning it is obvious the purpose of the Jews was to convict and destroy Stephen. Acts 6:13 reports that "they put forward false witnesses," just as they had previously done in the "trial" of Jesus. In the middle of his testimony (v.51) Stephen abruptly turned from his presentation to make a severe indictment of these men for obstructing the will of God and for murder, whereby they perpetuated the tradition of their ancestors. In their countenances he apparently read the malice and injustice in their hearts. His severe words to them, however, were not motivated by anger and hatred, for his dying words as they stoned him was a prayer that God would forgive them of the terrible sin they were committing.  Stephen felt pity for them in their spiritual blindness and hardheartedness and spoke to them the strong words he did for their real benefit.

      This Christian martyr, the first on record, serves as a worthy model for all who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. He made no compromise of the truth to save himself, but rather boldly defended it. In fact, a close analysis of his speech reveals he was more interested in revealing God's plan of human redemption than he was in his own defense. Had he been allowed to finish his discourse, he probably would have extended the gospel invitation to the Jewish leaders to accept it and be baptized into Christ. Stephen's heroism and steadfastness may have had a positive impact upon one special adversary that day, Saul of Tarsus, who later became a Christian and an apostle of Jesus.

      In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. ... Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great," (Mat. 5:10,12). Fortunately, in the present situation, it is not likely we will suffer Stephen's fate in our stand for Christ. Nevertheless, if we truly stand loyal to Christ in a society that every day is turning further away from God and making light of His word in the Bible, we shall suffer persecution in some form. It says in II Tim. 3:12 that "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Because Christ in His gospel uncovers and condemns the sin in people's lives, they will despise and ridicule His teaching. And those who become disciples of Jesus they will persecute in one way or another. The opposition of society to Jesus and His disciples has recently become more prevalent and more overt. The challenge to maintain our identity in Christ is growing stronger, and we must valiantly rise to meet it. The offense we may take is with the word of God and righteous conduct. If that is not sufficient, as it was not for Stephen, we must be "ready to suffer." But suffering for Christ is never in vain, for "great is your reward in heaven." (See Rev, 7:9-17).