Salvation brings rejoicing and the Holy Spirit leads us to share the Gospel with others.

Acts 8:39-40

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“Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch 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.” Acts 8:39-40

Azotus, also known as Ahsdod, was a Philistine city, which would be within the Gaza Strip of today [southern part of Israel]. The eunuch was traveling from Jerusalem, back to his Ethiopian home, so he was somewhere between Jerusalem and Azotus when he was baptized. On the map below, Jerusalem and Ashdod are seen, and Ethiopia is in the same place it is today, across the southern border of Israel. Caesarea was located on the coast of the Mediterranean to the northern part of Israel.

The phrase, “…the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away…” does not mean Philip was teleported from one location to the next in some type of “…beam me up…” experience. The book of Acts is about the work of the Holy Spirit not about the experience of teleportation. The Holy Spirit within Philip led him to leave, immediately, and the next place Philip was found is in Azotus. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only person who ascended into Heaven, and then he was in His resurrected body, not a spirit but flesh and bones, as quoted, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” Luke 24:39

Philip brough the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the cities he came to until he reached Caesarea. As followers of Jesus Christ, wherever the Spirit brings us, we are ready to share our born-again experience, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ written on our heart.

After the eunuch was baptized, he didn’t see Philip anymore, but he went on his way rejoicing. Jesus Christ is our teacher through the Holy Spirit and in Him is our joy, not in other human beings.

 O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget;
After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Savior made me whole;
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1