Acts 8:6-7 “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.”
So what spiritual gifts form part of the ministry gift of the evangelist? To answer that question we can examine Philip’s ministry to determine which spiritual gifts form part of the evangelist’s ministry. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that Philip operated in three spiritual gifts. The first was the gift of healings, for the scripture tells us that many were healed under his ministry. The second was the working of miracles, for the scripture also tells us that he performed miracles. The third was the discerning of spirits, for this passage tells us that many unclean spirits were cast out under Philip’s ministry, which clearly indicates that Philip was anointed in this area. The reason that Philip would have operated in the gift of discerning of spirits, is because very often when one is anointed by the Holy Spirit to cast out demons, that individual will be allowed to see and hear in the spirit realm in order to deal with those demons.
Acts 8:26 “Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert.”
The above quoted passage of scripture confirms to us that Philip operated in the gift of discerning of spirits, for this passage teaches us that God allowed him to see in the spirit realm to interact with His angel. And so from these passages of scripture we can therefore see that the ministry of the evangelist will have a combination of the following gifts of the Spirit operating through their ministries; the working of miracles, gifts of healings, and the gift of discerning of spirits. The gift of faith is also implied as being part of this ministry, because very often the gift of faith works together with the working of miracles and gifts of healings. This is not to say that every evangelist will have all of the above listed gifts operating in their ministries. But just as with the prophet having at least two of the revelation gifts operating in their ministries, it seems reasonable to assume that at least two of the gifts we have looked at should be in manifestation in order for one to qualify for the office of evangelist, plus the anointing to be able to preach the gospel and bring multitudes into the kingdom of God. I want you to also notice that the scripture reveals to us that only specific ailments were healed under Philip’s ministry, for it tells us that those who were paralyzed and lame were healed under his ministry. And so we can also learn something about spiritual gifts from Philip’s ministry. Scripture calls this gift “the gifts of healings”, not “the gift of healing”. It refers to the gift in the plural not in the singular. The reason for that is because one, who has this gift, is anointed by the Lord to only heal in certain areas. One may be anointed to heal those who are blind, while another may be anointed to heal those who are deaf. Please note that I am talking specifically about ministering through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and not ministering by faith. For all believers are told to lay hands on the sick in faith so that they may be healed (Mark 16:17-18). But not all believers are anointed by the Holy Spirit as Philip was, so that many people were healed in his meetings. In Philip’s case, scripture refers to the lame and paralyzed being healed. There most certainly would have been people in his meetings who were blind and deaf and that had other ailments, but there is no mention of those people being healed. The reason for this is because the Holy Spirit had anointed Philip in this area only. Now I’m sure that Philip prayed in faith for all those who were sick and I’m sure that some of them would have been healed, but there are always greater results when a minister operates in the specific anointing and gift that the Holy Spirit has given to them.
Acts 8:14-17 “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, (15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (16) For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
There is something else that we can learn from Philip’s ministry with regards to how various ministries can complement each other in order to further the kingdom of God. When Philip preached the gospel in the city of Samaria the power of the Lord was displayed through his ministry, in that multitudes had given their hearts to the Lord and many had been healed and delivered. But not one of the new converts had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The reason for that was because Philip was not anointed by the Holy Spirit in this area. The apostles Peter and John however, were anointed by the Holy Spirit to lay hands on believers so that they could be filled with the Holy Spirit. And so as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture, they came down to the city of Samaria to further the work that Philip had begun. Evangelists are anointed by the Lord to minister to the unsaved and to bring them into the kingdom. The Lord’s plan for His church is that the other ministries then step in to take those new converts and begin to teach them about the things of the kingdom of God so that they can grow spiritually.
Michael E.B. Maher
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