IT is recorded in the eighth chapter of the book of Acts that immediately following the martyrdom of Stephen there was a great persecution of the Christians in the city of Jerusalem. Many of these followers of the Christ became scattered abroad. Saul's effort to destroy Christianity, however, did not dim the vision of these brave and consecrated men and women; nor did it thwart their zeal in carrying forward the work of God that had been established by the master Christian. Thus, we note in the chapter referred to that Philip went down to Samaria and was most active in the ministry of teaching and healing. The people of that city, after hearing the things which Philip told them of God and His Christ, and after seeing and experiencing the wonderful healings that he had brought about, were of one accord in accepting Christianity. It must have been a source of great satisfaction to Philip to have witnessed the receptivity that was so generally manifest in the city of Samaria to the religion of the blessed Master, Christ Jesus, which Philip himself had so clearly exemplified through understanding and demonstration. It would seem but natural that he would have chosen to linger in the city that had so whole-heartedly received him with gracious hospitality. In Philip's evangelistic career, however, may be seen one of the most beautiful elements of reflected love, namely, self-forgetfulness.
Philip had the vision of the real; and his love for humanity was spiritual, impartial, universal. He was ready for any call to go forward, and because of this readiness he heard and obeyed implicitly the message that came to him direct from God. "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went." There is no record of Philip's having hesitated. He was not thinking of himself; his work was to help save humanity from sin and from its false sense of life as material, to preach the truth; to comfort, to bless, and to heal. "And he arose and went." The narrative indicates that, upon his departure toward Gaza, Philip immediately found opportunity to explain the Scriptures to a certain eunuch, to give him an understanding of the Christ, as well as the baptism which symbolized a purification of thought and life. Thus, this unselfed ambassador of Christ, Truth, continued to be busy in the work of righteousness to which he had been divinely called.
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 15) Mary Baker Eddy has written, "Self-forgetfulness, purity, and affection are constant prayers." How truly do these qualities characterize the motives and lives of those who through the ages have named the name of Christian! Self-forgetfulness! How rich are they who cherish and manifest this rare and beautiful element of reflected love, and who let its hallowed influence unfold! It is the mark of spiritual growth and progress,of higher and nobler summits of achievement and illimitable vistas.
