'... We entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one
of the seven; and abode with him.'--ACTS xxi. 8.
The life of this Philip, as recorded, is a very remarkable one. It is
divided into two unequal halves: one full of conspicuous service, one
passed in absolute obscurity. Like the moon in its second quarter, part
of the disc is shining silver and the rest is invisible. Let us put
together the notices of him.
He bears a name which makes it probable that he was not a Palestinian
Jew, but one of the many who, of Jewish descent, had lived in Gentile
lands and contracted Gentile habits and associations. We first hear of
him as one of the Seven who were chosen by the Church, at the
suggestion of the Apostles, in order to meet the grumbling of that
section of the Church, who were called 'Hellenists,' about their people
being neglected in the distribution of alms. He stands in that list
next to Stephen, who was obviously the leader. Then after Stephen's
persecution, he flies from Jerusalem, like the rest of the Church, and
comes down to Samaria and preaches there. He did that because
circumstances drove him; he had become one of the Seven because his
brethren appointed him, but his next step was in obedience to a
specific command of Christ. He went and preached the Gospel to the
Ethiopian eunuch, and then he was borne away from the new convert, and
after the Spirit had put him down at Ashdod he had to tramp all the way
up the Palestinian coast, left to the guidance of his own wits, until
he came to Caesarea. There he remained for twenty years; and we do not
hear a word about him in all that time. But at last Paul and his
companions, hurrying to keep the Feast at Jerusalem, found that they
had a little time to spare when they reached Caesarea, and so they came
to 'the house of Philip the evangelist,' whom we last heard of twenty
years before, and spent 'many days' with him. That is the final glimpse
that we have of Philip.
Now let us try to gather two or three plain lessons, especially those
which depend on that remarkable contrast between the first and the
second periods of this man's life. There is, first, a brief space of
brilliant service, and then there are long years of obscure toil.