Trinity Baptist Church

Making a Difference in the World

Philip, the Real Doubting Disciple

John 1:43

 

We're continuing this morning in our series of character studies on the 12 ordinary men who Jesus called and commissioned to come after Him and become His disciples.  We've entitled this series of studies, "Mak8ing a Difference in the World."  And the reason why we've given it that title is because the Bible says that the rumor and the reputation that spread all over that part of Palestine about these men is that "these were the men who have turned the whole world upside down."

 

And I don’t think it arrogant or presumptuous at all to believe that if God used them to make that kind of difference in their world, He can use people today to do the same thing.

 

But here's the thing that you and I must never  forget: before we can change the world, we've got to let Him change us.  That's what following Christ is all about.  That's what the Christian life is all about.  It's about letting Him mold you and make you into the person He wants you to be.  It's about walking and talking with Jesus like these men did, because as you spend time with Jesus, you'll soon discover that you are becoming more and more like him.

 

The Bible says in Romans 8:9 that once we're saved, (That's redemption) we are predestined to be conformed to the image and likeness of Jesus. (That's sanctification.)

 

 

And then the Bible says in Philippians 3:21 that one day God will "transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body."  (That's glorification.)

 

Now, for those of you who don't like change, and I know that you're out there, change is the one constant in the Christian's life.

 

In fact, that's the main characteristic and objective of the Christian life.  It's a total transformation from the old selfish, sinful man to the new perfected person that Jesus died to make you.  It begins the moment you say "yes" and follow Jesus, but it isn't complete until you reach heaven and receive your glorified body.

 

So hopefully that's what you're learning as we look each week at a different disciple.  These were just ordinary, average, run of the mill men, who became extraordinary because of their closeness and relationship with Jesus.

 

Now, some of the transformations took place rather quickly like in the case of Andrew or John.  Some of the transformations took a little longer like in the case of Peter or James.

 

And then there are those transformations that never quite seem to get there.  Some of you may look at your life and you continually struggle with the same temptations and issues and wonder if you’ll ever be any better.  Some of you are living with someone, and even though there has been promise after promise, things haven’t gotten better and maybe have gotten worse.

 

If that describes you or your circumstances, then you are really going to identify with today's disciple, a man by the name of Philip.

 

So, what do we know about this man named Philip?  Well, fortunately we know more about him than say, Matthew or Thomas, but unfortunately not as much as Peter or John.

 

He had a Greek name which, by the way, means "lover of horses."  But since he had a Greek name, but all of the disciples were Jews, then he must have been what was known as a "Hellenist." That means that his family was Jewish, but they had adopted the Greek language, Greek culture and Greek customs.

 

He was from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter.  And although we can’t be for sure, it’s most likely he was another of the "fishermen disciples".

 

I say that because in John 21, after the resurrection, when the apostles returned to Galilee and Peter said, "I'm going fishing," the others who were there all answered, "We're going with you."

 

Now according to verse 2 of that chapter, that group included, "Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the two sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.  On other occasions when this group is identified, the other two disciples with them were Philip and Andrew.  So I think it a safe assumption to say Philip was also a fisherman.

 

 

 

 

We also find out through our encounters with him that he seems to be a facts and figures guy.  He was a by the book, practical, non-forward thinking kind of a man.  John MacArthur even calls him "the bean counter."

 

He's the kind of man who's more comfortable with the pages of the apostle's policy manual than he was with the people that the apostles encountered.  He had a tendency to be a pragmatist and pessimist.

 

And really, like I entitled this morning's message, Philip was the real doubting disciple, because as you read about him in three out of the four main sections of scripture that deal with Philip, he's usually telling you why it can't be done rather than looking to Jesus to see the impossible become a miracle.

 

So today, let’s see what we can learn from Philip, the real doubting disciple.

 

Now, everything we know about the personality of Philip comes from the gospel of John.  Matthew, Mark and Luke give us absolutely no details of his life.  They simply put him in the list with the other disciples.  All of the pictures of his personality come from John's gospel, so let's just journey through the gospel of John this morning and delve into the life of a disciple by the name of Philip.

 

Let’s begin at John 1:43-45 where we find

 

 

 

 

 

Those verses present us with one of the great tensions of the Bible.  Did you notice what the Bible said there?

 

John made it a point to say that Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and once he arrived, he found Philip.

 

I find it interesting that the Bible never records that specific statement about Peter or Andrew or James or John.  It just kind of says that Jesus saw them and called them, but here it states that Jesus went to Galilee and he didn’t see Philip or encounter Philip or run into Philip.  He found Philip.

 

Now obviously that doesn't mean that the others were accidents or Jesus just settled with whomever he ran into.  I’m just taking note of the descriptions of how the disciples came to have that divine encounter with Christ and this language is unique to the call and conversion of Philip.  He's the first one that we are told Jesus physically sought out.

 

But watch what happens:  Jesus found Philip, but what did Philip say when he went running to tell Nathanael?  You’ll find the answer in verse 45.  "We have found Him."

 

Do you see the tension?  Do you sense the struggle that some people have with this whole matter of does God choose us or do we choose God?  People have struggled with that question for thousands of years.  Theologians have debated that question since the days that Jesus physically walked on this earth.

 

There are those who have actually fought and killed over this so-called debate between the doctrine of sovereign election and the free-will of man.

And here it is, really presented in the course of just a few words -- "Jesus found Philip" and "We have found Him."

 

Do you want to know the answer to the question of "Does God choose us or do we choose God?"  The answer is "yes."  God did choose us.  The bible says that God loved us before we ever loved Him.  The Bible says that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.  The Bible tells us we are chosen from the foundations of the world.

 

But it also says that we are seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near.  The Bible says "you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."  It says that whosoever will call upon the Lord will be saved.   Do you want to know who the "elect" are?  It's the "whosoever wills"!

 

Somebody once asked Billy Sunday what he thought about this whole matter of sovereign election and the free-will of man.  He said, "I believe that when I get to heaven, as I walk up to the pearly gates that there will be a sign that says, "Whosoever will may come."  And then as I walk through those glimmering gates and look back I'll see another sign that says, "Chosen from the foundation of the world."

 

You see, theologically we'll never be able to fully and finally grasp the greatness of God's glorious salvation.

 

 

 

 

And anybody who says that they do is, first of all, arrogant beyond description.  But beyond that they are being neither ethical or logical because there's no way that our finite mind could completely comprehend the heart and mind of the infinite God.

 

Jesus was searching for Philip and Philip was searching for Jesus.  How do we know?  Philip said, ""We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote. . ."

 

Now why would he say that?  Because he'd been searching for Jesus his entire life.  When he grew up going to synagogue with Peter and Andrew, they had heard about the Messiah.  They had read about the One who would be born of the house and the lineage of David.  They had dreamed about the day that the Messiah would come to set them free.  They had sung the songs that said that the deliverer was coming.  Philip had been looking and waiting and watching for the Messiah for all of his life, and when Jesus found him, he said, "He’s here!  We found Him! The search is over!"

 

Philip was looking for Jesus and Jesus was looking for Philip.  And I'll just say this to you this morning before we move on, if you're here this morning and you've been looking for the Lord your entire life, perhaps you didn't even know that you were looking for Him until just a moment ago when the Holy Spirit took the light of the Word of God and shown it into your dark world and you saw that your deepest need is Jesus, let me give you the greatest news that anybody could ever give you -- just like Jesus personally went to Galilee to call and convert Philip, Jesus personally came to this world to seek and to save you.

And today just like Philip, you can have a divine encounter.

 

But let’s follow Philip for a little while and see what happens.  Turn over to John chapter 6 if you would.  This is the second scene that gives us a glimpse into the personality of Philip.  It's the so-called "feeding of the five thousand," and I call it the "so-called" feeding of the five thousand because five thousand was just the number of men that were there.  Most Bible scholars say that we're probably talking about 15,000 to 20,000 people sitting on that mountainside waiting for a holy happy meal.   But look at verse 5, because in verse 5, John records a conversation between Jesus and Philip.

 

John 6:5-6

 

Now here we see

 

 

Evidently Philip was the apostolic administrator.    Again, like John MacArthur says, he was "the bean counter."

 

And by the way, just while we are passing by, all of the apostles seem to have had their assigned roles and responsibilities within Jesus' group of 12.

 

We know that Judas was in charge of keeping the money, Peter seems to have been the guy in charge of transportation, so it makes sense that someone else was in charge of making arrangements both for food and for lodging.

 

 

And evidently that person was Philip because he seems to have been the one who was most concerned with organization and administration.  And by the way, it fit his personality.

 

So, Jesus comes to Philip, knowing his personality, knowing his proclivity to being a "glass half empty" kind of a guy and throws him a major curve ball.  "Hey Philip, do you see all of these people sitting here?"  "Yes, Lord?"  "How and where are we going to buy enough food to feed all of these folks?" 

 

 

And you can kind of see the pencil and paper going to work in Philip's head.  He's adding up all of the people and he's multiplying the meals and he's dividing how much money they have into it and Philip answered Him in

 

verse 7

 

Jesus tested Philip and Philip failed the test big time.  Instead of looking at that crowd and saying, "Lord, I've been doing some figuring in my head, and I don't think that we have enough to feed them by ourselves, but since you're the Bread of Life, I know you can"

 

Philip says, "It looks impossible to me."  Hey, can I tell you something?  We serve a God who specializes at the impossible.  You may be here this morning and it seems like you are faced with an impossible situation -- your marriage is on the rocks, your family is in ruins, your job situation is in jeopardy, you've just gotten a bad report from the doctor and a good outcome seems impossible -- listen to your pastor this morning, with God nothing is impossible.

Are you listening?  The impossible doesn't take Jesus any extra effort at all.  He specializes in the impossible.  Philip should have known that.  He'd seen Jesus turn the water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana.  He'd just seen Jesus heal a man who'd been paralyzed for 38 years.  I mean, you talk about impossible, Jesus specializes in making the impossible, not just possible, but a reality.  Philip should have known that.

 

But now, go back to our text.  In verse 6 John says that the reason why Jesus asked Philip this question was to test him.  In your life there will be times when you will face tests from the Lord and temptations from the devil. 

 

So, how can you tell the difference?  Here's how.  When Jesus tests you he does so to make you better, when Satan tempts you, He does so to make you fall.  When Jesus tests you, he wants to reveal something to you, when the devil tempts you, he wants to ruin you.

 

You see, Jesus already knew what He was going to do.  He knew that there was a little boy there who had some loaves and fishes.  He knew that he was going to multiply them and feed them to those thousands of people and that there were going to be 12 baskets full of leftovers.  Jesus knew all of that.

 

What he wanted was for Philip to see things from Heaven's point of view rather than from an earthly point of view.  Philip had faith, but evidently it was a weak and a worldly faith that was riddles with doubt.

 

 

 

And he lost his opportunity and the little boy that came along got an opportunity. And what Jesus wanted was for him is what he want for us and that is to put aside all of his materialistic, pragmatic, common-sense solutions and lay hold of the supernatural power that comes from a faith in the living Lord Jesus Himself.

 

Now let's see if he has any improvement in six chapters.

 

chapter 12:20-21

 

Now Philip may have been approachable and friendly and all that, but unfortunately he didn't take them to Jesus. He missed his opportunity to live by faith, and now he misses the opportunity to share his faith.

 

So He says, “You guys wait here. I don't know if this can happen. I've got to go check.”

 

So he goes and tells Andrew. And together they go to Jesus. Do you know what we learn about Philip from this encounter?

 

 

 Think how that scene would have been different if they had come to say, Peter.  He would have grabbed those Gentiles and dragged them into the presence of Jesus and said, Lord, look at these guys, they want to see you”

 

But not so with Philip. Philip had to check it out. He had to check the policy manual and the bylaws.

 

 

Why such hesitancy when someone is looking for Jesus?  He was still living back in in chapter 10 of Matthew when Jesus had said, "I am come but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

 

So mister by-the-book is saying, well now, wait a minute!  These guys are Gentiles.  It's not in the procedural manual to bring the Gentiles. There is no action in the minutes of the last business meeting.  I don't think the constitution allows it.

 

It seems to me that Philip not only had doubts about the power of God, he had some indecision about the plan of salvation.

 

He didn't yet understand the message of grace. Yes, He came as the Messiah to Israel but He had also said clear back in chapter 6:"Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out."

 

And besides that, that just wanted to see Jesus.  He can decide about whether or not they get saved.  That’s not our business.  It’s our job to just let them see Jesus!

 

I’m afraid sometimes our standards are much higher than those of Jesus.  We want ‘em cleaned up and pretty and well-behaved and just like us so that can be saved or be a part of our group.  But Jesus says, “You just come and I’ll accept you!”

 

Philip apparently didn’t understand the spirit of the thing. He's still going by the code.  He's still analyzing everything; still going by the book.

 

 

 

And like so many modern day Baptists, he could say, “We've found the Messiah” but beyond that he didn't really have a clue of what was going on.

 

Let me show you one other thing about Philip.  Turn over just a few pages to John chapter 14.  This is one of my favorite passages in all the Bible.  Jesus has just enjoyed his last supper with His disciples. He's told them that He's going to have to leave them.  He's even told them that one of them would be betray Him and another would deny Him.  But then in verse 1 of John 14 Jesus begins to give them the secrets of an untroubled heart.

 

Verses 1-8

 

What a

 

 

We are now three years later and here they are at Passover.  It is the night of the arrest of Jesus; the day before the crucifixion and Jesus is unfolding His heart to His disciples. He’s baring His soul in this last-minute whirlwind of information.

 

It's all coming to an end and Philip says to Jesus, "Lord, if you would just show us the Father that’s all we need”.

 

And I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t sit back with one of those Barney Fife smirks of satisfaction because he had been so spiritual!

 

 And then Jesus says to him, “How long do I have to be with you before you know Me, Philip?"

 

I mean this guy is a class-A, certified blockhead.  His spiritual insight is nil. Jesus had flat out said to them, “If you’ve3 seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.”  What part of that did he not understand?

 

How could he possibly be saying, three years later, with all the miracles and encounters under their belt, “Show us the Father"?
 

If the ignorant and slow to understand would have had a club, he would be president!  For three years Philip had gazed into the only face of God men ever saw and he still didn't know who it was.

 

He's not Phi Beta Kappa. Every time I read that statement it absolutely blows my mind.  I just don't get how Philip didn't get what Jesus had just said.

 

He had followed Jesus and worked for Jesus and been taught by Jesus.  He had been privileged to witness and preach and perform miracles in Jesus' name, but here when Jesus is spending His last moments with these men that He loved so much, Philip missed it.

 

And evidently it disappointed Jesus as much, if not more, that it does us.  Look at Jesus’ response.

 

Verses 9-11

 

Isn't it wonderful that the Lord uses those kinds of people? Aren't you thrilled? I am. Here is a man of limited ability, inadequate faith, imperfect understanding, who spends his time with the material rather than the spiritual, he’s stuck on rules and policies rather than grace and salvation, And he couldn’t find God in a paper sack.

And yet, because of the power of God in his life, someday, in the kingdom of Christ, he's going to reign over the tribes of Israel and is lifted up by God Himself as one of the “twelve”.  A pessimistic, reluctant, insecure, unsure, analytical, skeptical man who saw facts and figures and missed the big picture of power and grace and didn’t even recognize that Jesus was God in the flesh.

 

He is one of those that God chose to make a difference in the world.  You know what tradition tells us about guy?  He wound up dying as a martyr for a Christ he wouldn't deny.

 

They stripped him naked, hung him by his feet, and pierced large, gaping holes in his ankles and his thighs so that the blood would pour out and cause him to slowly die. And he said he only had one request and that is that when he was dead they not wrap his body in linen like his Lord because he wasn't worthy of that.

 

Aren't you glad God uses the slow, and the faithless and the analytical skeptics? Because some of us find ourselves there, don't we?

 

I wish I could tell you the story between Philip's training and his death. I bet it would be glorious because the Lord made him what He wanted him to be. The Lord can use any raw material that's available, and He's in the business of using folks like Philip and you and me to make a difference in the world.

 

Let’s pray