Taken Away

"When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea." Acts 8:39-40

In my first study of this passage ever, when I was a youth director in Canoga Park, I immediately contacted my Pastor and asked him if what I read was as if it appeared. He assured me yes, Philip was transported by the Spirit to Azotus without traveling on the land to get there, before airplanes. Wow! Miraculous! Do you believe it? I do. As a matter of fact, I have seen and experienced a number of miracles in my life and the longer I walk with Him the more comfortable I am with time and space not being an issue. I have seen angels; I have witnessed miraculous healings, conversions, and provision. I have seen the power of God change people and overcome and overwhelm groups of people and individuals. I have received and heard things revealed by the Spirit that had no other way of being known. I am not trying to impress you; I just can confirm that this type of thing is not exclusive to the events in Scripture. God's miraculous hand and the Spirit's work is still active today. God has a divine purpose for why He does what He does. God is at work in our midst and sometimes outside of time and space.

This miraculous sign shows the urgency of bringing the Gentiles to belief in Christ. Azotus is Ashdod, one of the ancient Philistine capitals. Philip probably lived in Caesarea for the next 20 years, which is confirmed in Acts 21:8, which says, "Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied." The Bible always confirms itself. When people explain things about the Word of God, based on the Word of God, it always reveals the truth about itself.

We live in an age of doubt and disillusion. People tend to blow off all things supernatural as either magic or trickery. Most recently, we here of accusations of real events being staged or setup. In the age of computer generated graphics and phenomenal moviemaking capability it is easy to sidestep the miraculous with claims of technological manipulation.

I experienced many of my supernatural events before high-tech. We do need to be careful though not to ascribe God's power to things that are man-made. My heart says that some of our suspicion is fueled by the enemy. Some of our questioning of the supernatural is a temptation from God. The self proclaimed gods of this world would have us exclude God from any explanation of things that are not easily explained. We are more likely to hear that aliens are responsible, than that God acted. You watch, the very words 'acts of God' will eventually be removed from insurance policies and solely replaced by 'acts of nature'. As if nature can act on its own. Certainly, God has put nature’s powers into motion but He still intervenes.

I encourage us to accept Philip's mystical transportation to be a miracle of God, plain and simple. Do not lose heart. God is still on the throne and He works miracles. Our faith is challenged but not refuted. Believe in His supernatural power to defy space and time as it is His will to fulfill His purposes.

With His Power,
Pastor Fred

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