The Gentiles Also

Upon arrival at Caesarea , Philip found that through the ministry of Peter, the Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost, which provides us with much food for thought. But there was no jealousy among those early men of God; they all knew that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from God. They did not strive about the qualities and differences of ministries, but simply got on with their work according to their calling and measure. They knew that when a man receives a gift from God it does not automatically make him a greater man than he who has not received the identical or even a greater gift.

Gifts are entrustments; they are also guides to and gauges of men's spirit(s), for by their use they greatly test and prove the quality of the man who receives them. Of all the many things given by God to men, none test and reveal him more than do the gifts of the Spirit. They are given to a man together with the office he may hold in the Church, and are his equipment and qualification for his calling. It must therefore be solemnly acknowledged that the establishing and recognition of that office, as well as his effectiveness among men, will depend largely upon the spirit and authority he displays in the employment of the gift(s) he possesses.

Towards the Ultimate Pattern

Whatever Philip's soliloquies or prayers may have been at that time (if we may presume to think that he engaged in one or the other or both) it is vital to a true understanding of his Lord's intentions for the entire age that we recognise the significance of what He did at Caesarea. What happened at Jerusalem and Samaria is not set forth in scripture as the pattern to which we must adhere, or at which we must aim, for neither of those events is to be regarded as the norm.

The most fundamental age-abiding elements of truth are to be found in both, but because the setting of the first was purely Jewish and the second Samaritan, neither constitutes the ideal God-given, age-lasting order for the Baptism. They were partial, purposeful and limited. Quite deliberately God moved in prescribed ways upon those occasions. They only filled a little, even though it was a vital part, of God's universal provisions for men, for Jews and Samaritans only represent a tiny part of the human race. God dealt with them according to His righteousness and wisdom and then moved on to the greater world of the Gentiles. To observe His ways with these we must turn to chapter 10. However, before we examine the Caesarean outpouring, we will pause awhile in chapter 9 to see what happened to Saul of Tarsus when God called and specially commissioned him to be the apostle to the Gentiles.