7. The Crisis of Numbers Getting Big or Following Divine Guidance?
Alliance Witness, 1980.04.16, P. 24-25.

PHILIP the evangelist left Jerusalem because of persecution and went to Samaria where, with the help of other Christians who arrived about the same time and for the same reason, he preached with great success.

Many people turned to the Lord and many miracles were performed through Philip. He had a large following and there was great joy in the area. All this was glorious and exciting!

(26) The angel of the Lord spoke 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).

At this moment of success and prosperity there arose a crisis of major consequence. The Holy Spirit asked Philip to leave Samaria and go to a desert place. He was faced with a difficult choice. It was a crisis of numbers. It was a choice between a large number of people and following God’s direction to a single person.

Was Philip so deeply drunk with his great success that his heart was in- sensitive to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit? Was divine guidance so drowned in the noise of acclamations in the midst of popularity and prosperity that Philip could no longer detect it?

If Philip had heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, was he willing to pull away from his great ministry in a needy and responsive city? He could have listed many valid reasons against the seeming foolishness of going to a desert place.

(27) And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an 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,

(28) Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

(29) Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

(30) And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

(31) 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.

(32) The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

(33) In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

(34) And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

(35) Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

(36) 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?

(37) 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.

(38) 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 /8:27-38).

It was an outstanding credit to Philip’s deep spirituality that he kept his inner ear attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who led him to a desert place and to a great service through personal evangelism.

A great service in a desert place? Yes, exactly so! This lonely and humble road brought him to a service, the immense consequence of which went beyond his wildest expectations-far greater than all his success in Samaria!

He was given the rare privilege of starting the evangelization of the North African country of Ethiopia through the powerful eunuch whom he led to the Lord in that desert place. How amazing!

The experience of Philip the evangelist teaches us the following important lessons:

1.We should never allow successful public ministry to take the place of personal evangelism. Personal witness more than pulpit evangelism proves one’s concern for people. Pulpiteers may not be real lovers of souls, but personal workers are.

2. We should watch that our inner ears are not deafened to the voice of the Holy Spirit by our outward success.

3. A successful ministry does not aim at getting big or prestigious but at obeying the will and guidance of God.

4. The test of spirituality is willingness to step down from any honor and privilege in order to follow the will of God.

5. God Himself is the reward of our obedience. He will lead us into true greatness and to something beyond our expectations if we obey His will.

6. If God has given us a good church, we should pray to find out what God wants to do with us and with our church next.

There is nothing wrong with bigness itself. In fact, it is a good thing to grow big and strong. But we should be sure that our pursuit of success does not take us from the center of the will of God.

We should aim at being personal soul winners. Unless we have built up to the spiritual level where we truly love the Lord, we will not become soul winners. No amount of training and programming can make us fishers of men unless we know and love God.

Evangelistic meetings and campaigns have their place, but we should never allow them to substitute for personal evangelism.