What we're reading tonight is the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, reading at verse 26, please. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, and reading at verse 26. We've come to our seventeenth study under the general title, The Church of Lees. And tonight we want to look at Philip, the touch of God, a man in touch with God's will, a man in touch with God's Word, and a man in touch with God's work. And we are reading in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 8 and verse 26, 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. And he arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran hither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired, Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a glam dumb before a shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life was taken from the earth. The eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other man. Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? 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. And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away, Philip, that the eunuchs saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea." Ending at verse 40, and may God help us in the understanding of His holy Word. Philip, the touch of God. When I was a fairly young man, I felt that the Lord wanted me to preach the gospel. I don't know how that thought came into my mind, because I was terrified at the thought of standing up before a congregation of people and speaking. But now I know that the Lord put that thought into my mind and into my heart. At first, it was a question. Lord, do You want me to preach? And then after a period of time, it was, Lord, I think you want me to preach. And then later on it was, Lord, if you don't want me to preach, you'd better tell me soon. And then it became a decision, as I knelt one night in our own home in Banbridge, and broken before God, I said these words, where He leads me, I will go. Now, that is in essence what Philip, the first missionary, said. As you trace the expansion of the Gospel during this transition period, the Acts of the Apostles, you see how the Holy Spirit of God is beginning to reach out to all the world. For example, in Acts chapter 8, this eunuch who is converted and saved was a descendant of Ham. In Acts chapter 9, Saul of Tarsus, whom we are going to look at next Tuesday evening, who was converted, was a Jew and therefore a descendant of Shem. In Acts chapter 10 we find Cornelius, the Gentile finding Christ. Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus Christ and they are descendants of Japheth. And the whole world, we know according to the book of Genesis, was peopled by Shem, Ham and Japheth. And my dear friends, God wants the whole world, all of their descendants, to hear the gospel of the grace of God. Now, reading Acts for the very first time, none of us would have realized that when we came to the dawn, the beginning of Philip's ministry in Acts chapter 6, that he would ascend to such spiritual heights as we have in Acts chapter 8. You remember that Philip's ministry began as a servant. Some people tell us that Acts chapter 6 was the origin of the Diagonate. I'm not sure whether that's true or not. But he was a man of God who began as a servant doling out portions, food parcels, to the Jerusalem church. But Philip's ministry soared to unimagined heights when persecution hit the church. Though he was just an ordinary man, though he was not an apostle, the power of God coursed through this man's life to the despised Samaritans. Large numbers of them believed the gospel and were gloriously saved. Now, in the last half of Acts chapter 8, Philip's ministry is still at its peak. Philip's ministry is still at its zenith. However, instead of reaching the vast multitudes in the city of Samaria, the transforming touch of God now comes through Philip, the evangelist, to one man on the Giza road. God has taken him from a teeming city to one individual. God has taken him from where multitudes were being saved to one man who was going home to Ethiopia. You see, my friends, God valued that individual as much as the multitudes. And He used Philip to touch his life. But the Master comes. And the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the chains that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand. Now, each of us, like this man, Philip, can bear the gracious touch of God to others. Indeed, as we look at Philip's portrait as presented to us by Dr. Luke here, in the closing verses of Acts chapter 8, we see that Philip is presented to us in a threefold way. First of all, he's a man in touch with God's will. A man in touch with God's will. You remember Paul's mighty prayer for the church at Colossae. Here's what he prayed. He said, for this cause we also, since the day we heard it, Do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding." Philip, as one of the seven, was appointed as one of the seven, was a man full of the Holy Ghost. And being in touch with the Spirit of God, he was open to the Holy Spirit's guidance. My dear friends, his sensitivity to divine guidance was a major factor in Philip's life in being a tremendous blessing to others. Philip was a man in touch with God's will. I want to tell you tonight that just as much as God had a plan for Philip, God has a plan for you. Here was a man who was an ordinary person. He wasn't an apostle. He wasn't one of the official leaders of the church. He didn't belong to the apostolic band. He was just an ordinary guy whom God's going to use in an extraordinary way. Now let me show you tonight something about the working of the Lord in the life of Philip. Notice God's guidance is revealed to Philip. God's guidance is revealed to Philip. Now guidance is a very complex subject. Sometimes when we talk about guidance, we have all different ideas and different conceptions about guidance. I read the story on one occasion of a lady in the United States of America who was very anxious to get to the land of Israel. She had the time to go. She had the resources to go. She had the money to go. She had the desire to go. She had the will to go. The question in her mind and heart was, was it God's will for her to go? And so one night she gathered all the bump about Israel and she went to bed and she began to read all about this forthcoming trip. She discovered that if she would go on this trip from America to Israel, she would go up north into the land, towards the Lake of Galilee, she would stay in a hotel in Tiberias, and then she would come down the Jordan Valley, and she would go to the city of Jerusalem, and she would go to the Garden Tomb, And she would go to Bethlehem's manger. She would go to Manger Square. She would go to Jericho. She would go down to Masada. But still, it was uppermost in her mind was that God's will. The last thing that she saw before she went to sleep that night was this. She would travel to Israel on a 747 jet. She closed her eyes in sleep, asked God to guide her. And when she awoke in the morning and looked at her digital clock, guess what it said? 747. And she took that as God's guidance to go. Well, it's so easy, is it not, to develop rigid ideas about divine guidance. Sometimes we suppose as Christians that because God dealt with us one way, one time, that He is under obligation to deal with us the same way the next time, and He is not. For example, there are some preachers who look down on others because they prepare their messages, because they use sermon notes, and thus they say they are not subject to the Spirit's guidance while preaching. The other side of the coin is told of the preacher who got up on Sunday morning and said to the congregation, I've had a terrible week. I haven't been able to prepare. I haven't had the time to prepare. And so this morning, I'm going to depend on the Holy Spirit. But let me assure you that this will never happen again. My dear friends, we must never confine the Lord's guidance to the box of past experience. He just will not fit. You see, Philip, I want you to know this, was flexible as to how the Lord would lead him. He was wise enough and well taught enough not to be put off by the very guidance of God. For example, Philip was led by adverse circumstances. Come back to chapter 8 and verse 1. Saul was consenting unto his death at Stephen's. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Verse 5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. In other words, God simply employed the pressure of persecution to lead Philip out of the mother church and to lead him to the city of Samaria. He was going to a wider sphere of ministry in Samaria and elsewhere. And here's God guiding this man through the pressure of circumstances. And of course, God still uses this means today. We must never forget that the Lord is the master engineer of circumstance. And this is a means of guidance if The arrangement of those circumstances is left to God and to God alone. Coming to the junction of two roads, a gypsy on one occasion threw a stick into the air. Three times she threw the stick into the air. And then she set off down one of those roads. Someone who was watching her intently ran after her and asked her for an explanation. Why? She said, every time I come to a crossroads, I always throw up the stick. to see which way to go. The man looked in bewilderment at her and he said, but why did you throw up the stick three times? Because it pointed to the other road the first two times and I wanted to come down this one. My dear friends, if we ask God to order our circumstances, in such a way that we might understand His direction, then the arrangement of those circumstances must be left to God and to God alone. And so, Philip was led by adverse circumstances. Then look at verse 26. Philip was led by the ministry of an angel. Verse 26 says, 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. Some versions give it an angel of the Lord. The Lord sent one of His angels on this unexpected mission. Of course, angels appear on several occasions in this transitional book of Acts. And the book of Hebrews reminds us that they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those of us who shall be heirs of salvation. And so Philip was led by adverse circumstances. He was led by the ministry of an angel. But look at verse 29. He was led by the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. Now, the New Testament is replete with instances of guidance being given by the Holy Spirit. You remember when Paul was beginning his second missionary journey, what happened? Flick over to Acts 16. The same book, only chapter 16. Look at verse 1. Then came Paul to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed, but his father was a Greek, which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him, and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters, for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for the keep that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they are said to go in to Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not." You see, sometimes the Holy Spirit puts the red light on, doesn't He? Sometimes the Holy Spirit restrains us. But then look at verse 9. The vision appeared to Paul, and the night there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Sometimes the Holy Spirit flashes the red light Sometimes the Holy Spirit flashes the green light. Sometimes the Holy Spirit restrains us. Sometimes the Holy Spirit constrains us. But let us ever keep this in mind. The Holy Spirit of God will never lead you to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God. My dear friend, if that inner voice tells you to do some foolish thing, something that is contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture, then you can be sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's not the Holy Spirit who is speaking to you. But I want you to see how flexible Philip was as to how the Lord would lead him. Philip didn't say, well, the last time, you know, God guided me, an angel came. I've got to have an angel this time. No, no, no. The inward, gentle speaking of the Spirit of God was enough. Nor did Philip say, well, you know, the last time I was guided, the Lord really spoke to me. I don't hear any voice this time. No, no, no. He recognized the pressure of circumstances being another form of guidance. Tell me tonight, are you flexible as to how God might lead you? Maybe you've come to look upon this matter of guidance as something which is stereotyped. Well, Philip was flexible as to how the Lord would lead him. And then if you come back to Acts chapter 6, Philip was flexible as to where the Lord would use him. He was not only flexible as to how the Lord would lead him, he was flexible as to where the Lord would use him. Look at verse 26, 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 Giza, which is desert. Now try and put yourself in Philip's situation. Here he is in Samaria. And then success. The whole city is stirred. Masses of people are turning to Christ. Great joy is filling the city. Revival is broke out. And suddenly, the Lord tells you to take a journey, and of all places, to the desert. And so, see Philip, as he goes from the exciting city, the growing congregation, to a lonely desert road, to a congregation of one, it would have been so easy to question God. It would have been so easy to hesitate. Do you really want me to go to the desert? Sure, there's nothing down there but lizards. Have I not proved myself worthy of a broader ministry? Have I not been faithful in smaller things? I've waited on widows, Lord. I've waited on tables. And now the desert, Lord. But, my dear friends, that's not how Philip responded. He was ready to serve any time, anywhere, any place. Verse 27, "...and he arose and went." Do you believe tonight that God wants people who are flexible like this? I do. My friend, if God has done some great thing through you, if God has done some big thing through you, even something that has been noticed by other saints, don't be so important that you cannot serve God joyously in some little sphere or in dealing with one precious soul. Oh, for Christians tonight who are flexible as to how God would lead them, as to where God would use them. Are you flexible? Have you placed yourself absolutely in the hands of God? Can you say tonight with the hymn writer, Oh, use me, Lord, use even me, just as Thou wilt and when and where, until Thy blessed face I see, Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share. God's guidance is revealed to Philip. But notice, secondly, God's purpose is reserved from Philip. That is, there is no way how Philip would know that he would be used of God to lead a very important person to Jesus Christ. Now, Luke doesn't give us the subsequent history of the Ethiopian eunuch after he had come to Jesus Christ, but according to the church historian, or Father Irenaeus, this man became a missionary to the Ethiopians. That is, he opened up all North Africa to the gospel. Now, Philip had no way of knowing that. All that God told him to do was this, leave Samaria, go to the Gaza road. And Philip said, I'll go. You see tonight, you have no idea of how God will use you if you will just obey Him. About a century ago, a man called Mr. Kimball, led D.L. Moody to Christ. You say, who was D.L. Moody? Well, he was an American evangelist. He was a world-famous evangelist. Moody was an orphan at the age of four. He didn't have the opportunity to get a formal education. In fact, the last letter that D.L. Moody wrote before his death, there were at least 40 grammatical errors. He murdered the King's English, but he didn't disappoint the King. He loved the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Now, Moody the shoemaker came to Cambridge in England to preach. And there was a young student, a young athlete in Cambridge called C.T. Stott. C.T. Stott was one of the greatest athletes of his time. He played cricket and he was one of the Cambridge Eleven. He was a tremendous star. He was a man of great ability, great charm, great wealth. Great culture. Indeed, C. T. Studd's father was a personal friend of the Queen. And C. T. Studd's father was a multimillionaire. Studd had it all. He had the background. He had the prestige. He had the upbringing. He had the wealth. He had the resources. He had the charm. But when C. T. Studd heard D. L. Moody preach, God touched his heart. And Studd resigned from athletics and resigned from cricket. And instead of being one of the Cambridge 11, he now became what was known as one of the Cambridge 7 who went to China and established one of the mightiest movements and modern missions the world has ever seen. Do you know what C.T. Studd said? That man who was mightily used of God under the influence of D.L. Moody They asked him, what motivated you to leave it all behind, to leave the wealth, to leave the prestige, to leave everything behind? You know what God said? He said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. I mean the man that led D. L. Moody to Jesus Christ had no idea that D. L. Moody would be used of God as he was. You see, you have no idea tonight of how God will use you if you will just obey Him. Here's Philip, and God's guidance is revealed to Philip, and God's purpose is reserved from Philip. And look again, God's timing is recognized by Philip. Do you see how wonderful is the working of the Lord? You see, Philip went to the right person at the right time. Is that not how the Holy Spirit works? From above we see the sovereign God working in a man's heart. so that even after he has gone up to Jerusalem, he is still unfulfilled. He is still unsatisfied. There is still in his heart a quest for God, a quest for truth. And as he comes down towards, as he comes from Jerusalem on his way home, he is still spiritually hungry. And as he reads Isaiah the prophet, he encounters a Spirit-sent ambassador of Jesus Christ, Philip, who leads him to the Savior. From above, we see God at work. From ground level, we see the importance of human obedience. You say to me tonight, would the eunuch have been saved if Philip had disobeyed? The question is irrelevant. God chooses human obedience to carry out His divine plan. Here's Philip. He's way up in Samaria. Here's the Ethiopian eunuch. He's down the Gaza Road. And God brings both together. You see, God's sovereign work plus man's total obedience brings the touch of God to needy human lives. Put another way, there are all kinds of chance meetings ready to take place in a life that is sensitive and obedient to the leading of the Lord. Some years ago, one afternoon, I was finishing my visitation in the Carried Off area when I felt constrained to visit a young married woman and her children who had been attending the services in Carried Off. I had called many times before, but unknown to me as I made my way up the drive to her bungalow in the country, she saw me coming and she hid and refused to open the door to me. But this time as I came, there was not only an open door, but as I sat down beside her and opened the Scriptures, there was an open heart. And the Holy Spirit of God worked in her heart and brought her to that place of repentance. And I'll tell you this, believe me, I was glad on that day when I was sensitive to that impulse of the Spirit of God. And little did I know what results that step of obedience would bring. For since then, that mother's testimony has brought many of her family to Christ. Indeed, I've had the joy of leading many of those folk to Jesus Christ. Tell me tonight, Lake Philip, are you in touch with God's will? Are you sensitive to the Holy Spirit? Do you hear His whisper? How many opportunities, my dear friends, have you and I missed? Because we've argued with God, we've questioned with God. God's put the impulse in our heart. God's put the inclination in our heart. God's put the desire in our heart. And we've argued with God. But here was a man who was sensitive to the will of God. He was in touch with God's will. Notice in the second place, and very quickly, he was in touch with God's Word. Can you imagine that his heart must have beat when he saw that Ethiopian's entourage out on the desert road? It must have been an impressive sight. Because this guy was... I was going to say this guy was Gordon Brown, you know, but you know what I mean. He was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I shouldn't say too much about the Chancellor because isn't the budget tomorrow? But anyhow, this guy was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. of the country that was then known as Ethiopia. And Ethiopia in that day was a large kingdom south, located south of Egypt. To the Greeks and to the Romans it represented the outer limits of the known world. It corresponds in our day to a modern region called Nubia. This was a colored man. or a black man and therefore a Gentile. He was just completing a thousand mile pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem because he had a searching heart, evidently. While he had been in Ethiopia, he had come under the influence of Judaism. He was going up to Jerusalem to be a proselyte or to be a near proselyte. Here was a noble man on a noble search. As he traveled, he was reading. And in ancient times, they didn't read into themselves. He was reading alive. And there was Philip, God's hitchhiker. Look at verse 29, Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And my dear friends, Philip was so much in touch with God's will and God's Word that what followed came Now listen, if you and I are going to be used of God, we need to be in touch with God's Word. This chapter is so full of what these early Christians preached. Look at verse 4. It says this, Acts 8, 4, Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. Look at verse 5, Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. Look at verse 14, Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God. Look at verse 35, Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. You see, from the word of the Lord, Philip showed the Ethiopian unit the condition of the lost. He showed this man that he was a sinner and that Christ had died for our sins. The 53rd of Isaiah tells us, All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath led on him the iniquity of us all. And I have no doubt that Philip took time to explain that that's why the Lord Jesus went as a lamb to the slaughter, why He was dying for our sins. You see, no one has ever been saved. No one will ever be saved until they admit and acknowledge that they're a sinner. In the average congregation, there are two classes of people who don't get saved. Those who think they are too good to get saved, and those who think they are too bad to get saved. But, my dear friends, there is nobody so good that he need not be saved, and there is nobody so bad that he cannot be saved. But we have to admit we're sinners. I wonder, have you made that Have you made that admission? Have you cried, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner? Philip showed to the eunuch the condition of the loss. But notice again, Philip showed to the eunuch the character of the lamb. Look at verse 32. The place of the scripture he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, like a lamb done before her shearers. So opened He not His mouth, and His humiliation, His judgment was taken away, and who shall declare His generation? For His life was taken from Him. It was all about the Lamb. What greater gospel text, what greater opening could Philip find in all of the Old Testament? Here was a seeking sinner reading about the Lord Jesus Christ. The eunuch had come to that great passage in Isaiah that described Christ on the cross. And he's asking Philip the question, verse 35-34, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet? This, of himself or of some other man. You see what Philip did. He took him by the hand and he led him to Calvary. He introduced him to Jesus. Oh, it was just a short step from the Scripture passage to the Savior's person. But how Philip would have been delighted to relate this great passage to the Christ of Calvary. Why, sir, the prophet speaks of some other man. And what a man! Philip would retrace the tragedy of Calvary. He would speak of the resurrection and the ascension. He would tell of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He would speak of the birthday of the church in Acts chapter 2. He would speak of the great commission to go into all the world and teach the gospel, preach the gospel to every creature. He would talk about the responsibility of all believers to be baptized by immersion in the triune God. You see, my dear friend, no matter what else you preach, if you don't tell folk about Christ, you've missed the mark. If you don't tell folk about the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ, and the burial of Christ, and the ascension of Christ, you've missed the mark. Then Philip preached unto Him, Jesus, I love the simplicity and yet the majesty of that. Is your ministry making much of Christ? The glory of His person? The sufficiency of His work. Are you determined to know nothing among the people? Save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look, from God's Word, Philip showed the eunuch the condition of the lost, the character of the lamb. But look at verse 36. He showed the eunuch the command of the Lord. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, Well, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went both down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch. And he baptized them. Obviously, Philip had made clear to the eunuch that faith in Jesus Christ is followed by confession of Christ in baptism. Belief always precedes baptism. Baptism is simply an outward expression of an inward experience. And I want you to see clearly tonight that the eunuch's experience teaches us very clearly the subjects of baptism. Look at verse 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest believers, and believers only. And you'll notice that the eunuch experience teaches not only the subjects of baptism, but the mode of baptism. Verse 38, And they went down both into the water. This was baptism by immersion. Still again, the Ethiopian eunuch's experience teaches us the outcome of baptism. Look at verse 39, "...and he went on his way rejoicing." Could it be tonight that you have no joy because you've been disobedient to the Lord? Sure you know that you need to be baptized. The Savior commanded it. The apostles practiced it. I have no fear of saying, that I believe that the New Testament knew nothing of a non-baptized believer. The blueprint in the New Testament is you hear the gospel, you receive the Savior, you're baptized, you're added to the assembly. That's God's blueprint. That's New Testament teaching. And here's Philip, and he's showing to this unit from Isaiah 53 the condition of the lost, the character of the lamb, and the command of the Lord. He's in touch with God's Word. Look finally and very quickly, he's in touch with God's Word. I've spoken about D. L. Moody. On one occasion, a man came up to D. L. Moody and said, I've been on the Mount of Transfiguration, Mr. Moody, for five years. Moody looked at him sharply and said, Sir, how many souls have you won to Jesus Christ? He says, I don't know. Have you won any persistent, Moody? He said, I don't know that I have. Well, said Moody, sit down. When a man gets so high and mighty that he cannot reach down and rescue others, there's something wrong. My dear friend, listen tonight. There is little good if you're in touch with God's will, in touch with God's work. If you're in touch with God's will, in touch with God's Word. If you're not in touch with God's work, and that means people. You see, at the dawn light, at the commencement of Philip's ministry, he's in touch with God's work. Come back for a moment to Acts 6, just so I refresh your mind. Acts chapter 6. And verse 1, And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily administration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is in reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom ye may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, the apostle, saying, let our hands be free from this responsibility of looking after the temple needs of widows. We need to give ourselves to the ministry of prayer and to the ministry of the Word. And so there was the spiritual ministry of feeding the Word, and there was the practical ministry of feeding the widow. But my dear friends, Philip was chosen as one of the seven to serve tables and he didn't despise it. Sometimes I meet Christians and they think they're too big for God's work. They're too mighty for God to use. Tell me tonight, apart from warming a pew, apart from warming a pew in your church and throwing a few quid into the collection box, what contribution do you make to your local church? He was committed to God's work at the dawn light of His ministry. And then come back to Acts chapter 8. He was committed to God's work at the noon light of His ministry. He was in touch with God's work. My dear friends, if Philip hadn't have loved people with Christ's love, he would never have reached or crossed the substantial barriers between Samaritans and Jews. It was the same with the Ethiopian eunuch here in Axiate. You see, Philip loved people. It didn't matter whether they were Jews, Samaritan, Gentile, white, black. It made no difference with him. He loved people. He was in touch with people. He genuinely loved people. Calvary love had stripped him of racial haughtiness. Calvary love had stripped him of social haughtiness. Many years ago, before the Civil Rights Act came into the United States of America, there was a woman riding. And what, before that Act came in, was a car or a train car called the Jim Crow car. It was part of the railway. Part of it was for the whites and part of it was for the blacks. The black Saxon was full, and so when a black elderly man stopped to get on, the conductor said, you can't. It's full. You can't ride. He said, my son's dying. I've got to go. And overhearing this conversation, this lady, this Christian lady, this white lady said, allow him to sit beside me. And the guard looked at her astonished and he said, Do you mean that? She said, I mean it. And he was permitted to travel. And as they traveled together, they began to talk together. They conversed together. And when that man got off that train to go and visit his dying son, a lady from behind, a Christian lady, said, How could you do that? She said, How could I do what? She said, How could you give a seat to a black man? How could you sit there and talk to him as you did? And that Christian lady said, that's so easy to answer. I could do it because I've got a master who's colorblind. Tell me tonight, do you not think Philip would have loved that? Philip loved people just because they were people for whom the Son of God died. And so, at the dawn light of his ministry, he was in touch with God's work. At the noon light of his ministry, he was in touch with God's work. Ah, but at the twilight of his ministry, he was in touch with God's work. Come over to Acts chapter 21 for a moment, because these couple of verses provide us with a brief peek at his life near sunset. the Acts of the Apostles chapter 21 and verse 8. And here's what Luke the historian says, And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came on to Caesarea. And we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven. So he's identified and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. Here we see a thrilling career drawing to a close. Scholars tell us that twenty years have elapsed between Philip's big meetings in Sumeria and his receiving the Apostle Paul as a guest in his own house in Caesarea. The big meetings are over. The huge throngs are gone. and lift of the sensational went with the yesterday. The noonlight has gone, the twilight has come. Philip's still serving the Lord, albeit in a different sphere. He had learned in the school of Christ to grow old gracefully. I like to think that while Philip faded from prominence, he didn't fade from obedience. Demas did. He forsook the Lord. He forsook the Apostle Paul, but not Philip. My friends, that obedience that took him from Jerusalem to Samaria, that obedience that took him from the Gaza road to the chariot, was still as holy habit when last we see him in his own home. Someone said, let our popularity with others pass. If only our loyalty to God remains. I like to think that while Philip faded from prominence, he didn't fade from obedience. I like to think that while Philip faded from fame, he didn't fade from fruitfulness. Look at verse 9. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. Instead of being frustrated maidens, they were articulate and radiant spinsters. What an influence this man of God had in his family to see his four girls walking in their Dodge footsteps. Think of the prayers. Think of the tears. Think of the precepts that had gone into the making and the molding of these four gifted girls. You see, Philip was still bringing forth fruit in his old age. I like to think that while he faded from prominence, he didn't fade from obedience. I like to think that while he faded from fame, he didn't fade from fruitfulness. I like to think that while he faded from the ministry of signs, he didn't fade from the ministry of saintliness. Here in this quiet Caesarean home, far from the maddening crowd, The man who once traveled to points remote and risky now bore his testimony mostly within the sphere of his own home. My friends, think of the contrast between the past and the present. In Samaria, twenty years previous, the people with one accord gave heed unto the things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Where were the crowds now? Gone. The big crowds all gone. The big tumult all gone. The big miracles all gone. Yet something bigger than miracles remain and signs remain. The character, atmosphere of Christlikeness, which is the hallmark of a scene. It's a beauty that banishes bitterness. It's a sweetness that surmounts soreness. It's a tranquility that triumphs over turbulence. You see, the mark of a saint is this, that when career glamour has gone, character glow shines on. And Philip maintained his spiritual glow right to the end. For as the shadows lengthen, Philip I of the Seven, he was still in touch with God's will, God's Word, God's work. And so continued to be the touch of God to others, to his family, to his friends, finding refreshment and encouragement under his roof. But the Master comes. And the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand. Will you bring a touch of the Master's hand?