“And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts 8:37)
This Philip was Philip the deacon and disciple of Jesus. This was not the apostle Philip from Bethsaida. When persecution arose in Jerusalem, Philip left Jerusalem and stared a church in Samaria. (Acts 8:3-12) The Bible tells us that the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip telling him exactly where to go. “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.” (Acts 8:26) This is an unusual occurrence in the New Testament. After the Holy Spirit came to indwell at Pentecost it has not been necessary for the angel of the Lord to bring messages from God.
Now the angel of the Lord did appear and worked God’s will in the early church and before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When the high priest and the Sadducees arrested Peter and the apostles for preaching Jesus, the angel of the Lord released them. “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.” (Acts 5:17-23) Scripture again reveals that the angel of the Lord spoke to Cornelius. Cornelius was a devout man, but he didn’t have the whole revelation of Jesus. Evidently the angel could not or was not allowed to preach the Gospel but gives a message to Cornelius to send for Peter who will teach him. (Acts 10:1-6) There is also the incident when Herod arrested Peter. Herod had killed James the brother of John and was planning to do the same with Peter after Easter. Herod had him bound with two chains and sleeping between two soldiers. But the angel of the Lord freed him. (Acts 12:7-11) There are a couple of other incidents. The angel of the Lord killed Herod because He accepted God’s glory. (Acts 12:21-23) And the angel of the Lord was with Paul during a storm that would shipwreck the ship he was on. (Acts 27:22-26)
Those who believe in Jesus have the Holy Spirit indwelling. Paul wrote, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” (Romans 8:9) In this ancient way of speaking, he is saying that a person cannot belong to Christ without the Holy Spirit indwelling. And the Holy Spirit will tell us things we don’t know. Jesus said, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (John 16:13-14) Now before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was with the disciples of Jesus, but He didn’t indwell. That didn’t happen until Pentecost. “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:16-17) Jesus in this Scripture is very clear that the Holy Spirit was with them, but would be in them at a later time, which happened after He ascended to heaven at Pentecost.
While Philip may or may not have been in Jerusalem at Pentecost it was not relevant to God’s plan. Philip was a deacon and was submitted to the apostles and ensured that Peter and John formally accept the Samaritan church as a New Covenant church, a church of The Way and a church of Jesus. (Acts 28:14-25) The apostles preached the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the church received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 28:15-17)
After establishing the church in Samaria, the angel of the Lord instructs Philip to take a certain road. God had a special assignment for Philip. And why the Holy Spirit didn’t direct Philip is a mystery. We do know that Philip had the Holy Spirit and could be guided by the Holy Spirit because in Acts 28:29, the Holy Spirit instructs Philip to a divine appointment with a eunuch. This eunuch needed help because he was not saved and didn’t have the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit was already at work drawing him. What was so special about this eunuch? He was from Ethiopia and had great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians. He also was in charge of all her treasure. (Acts 28:27) So we can see that this eunuch had influence. We know that because of Queen Sheba that there was already a big Jewish influence in Ethiopia. Now the Lord wanted a His people in Ethiopia to know about His great gift of salvation. The known fact is that Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian countries receiving it in the first century. Cush was a fierce enemy of Israel, but the Lord promises that Cush would be a “home-born” son and a child of Zion. “I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.” (Psalms 87:4-5) Even today, the Jewish community in Ethiopia is looking to move to Israel. The Christian church has survived persecution from the Islamic conquest during the Middle Ages, from Mussolini's army when they captured the capital of Ethiopia in 1936 and expelled all the missionaries, from the Italians, the Muslims and today al-Shabab, a military force based in Somalia and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Eritrean armed forces, and Amhara Regional forces and affiliated militia all have some responsibility to the massacre of Christians in Ethiopia. But God is faithful and there are still very devout believers in Ethiopia.
Philip tells the eunuch specifically, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest...” It would do no good to baptize the eunuch if he truly didn’t believe. But he did believe. And he was willing to be baptized. That is the basis of everything in Christianity. If you believe with all your heart is the basis of our salvation, receiving and being led and taught of the Holy Spirit and of receiving all of God promises. When we speak natural words of this world, we speak doubt and unbelief. Such words as, “I’m sick, I hurt, I’m broke, He’s a bad kid. Etc...” we speak doubt and speak what we really believe. Yes, you hurt. But speak what God says about it. Speak words of faith such as “by His stripes I am healed.” God is faithful to the Ethiopian church. He is faithful to His Word. And He is faithful when we believe with all of our heart and speak His Word in faith.
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