#9~Apostle Philip: 2-1-14
Today if the Lord be willing, we'll continue our study to do with the 12 apostles, and so today, we'll think on and talk a little bit about the apostle Philip.
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* "Philip" is the name of 4 men in the N.T.
1. One of the twelve apostles of Christ.
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2. Herod Philip I (Mark 6:17) was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne. -- He was the father of Salome and the husband of Herodias, who left him for his half-brother Herod Antipas.
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3. Herod Philip II was the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra. - He married Salome, the daughter of Herod Philip I - and Herodias. - He improved the town of Paneas and renamed it Caesarea. -- It was later called Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:13) to avoid confusion with Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea.
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4.Philip the evangelist, he was a great man of God, he was one of the seven men chosen to serve the early church, known today as "deacons" these seven were reported to be "full of faith and the Holy Spirit" you can read that account in "Acts 6:1-5."
~ This same Philip, the deacon, became an evangelist, and in Samaria preached the gospel, worked miracles, and brought many to faith in Christ. ~ ~ Read "Acts 8:5-13"
~Probably the most noted conversion as a result of Philip the evangelist ministry, was the Ethiopian Eunuch, an official under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians. (Acts 8: 26-39). ---- For the sake of time we'll not read those scriptures at this time, we don't want to get away from our main subject today; "Philip the apostle."
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~ The death of Philip the apostle occurred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Titus (79-81 AD). --- Philip died because of his preaching and subsequent conversion to Christianity the wife of a Roman Proconsul. ---
"Proconsul" was much like a governor of a province of Rome.
~Tradition say's the Roman Proconsul sentenced Philip to torture and death, and Philip was crucified, (the Greeks say head downwards), and then stoned to death.
~ Philip preached in Phrygia and died a martyr at Hierapolis, in south central Turkey. -- Hierapolis means, the "Sacred City"
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~ "Philip" is a Greek name, meaning "lover of horses." He probably also had a Jewish name as well, because all twelve apostles were Jewish. --- But his Jewish name is never given. ~~ Perhaps Philip came from a family of Hellenistic Jews.
~ Hellenistic Jews were Jews that were born some place other than Israel, they were still Jews, but not native born, such as Barnabas a Levite, he was born in Cypress, --- and Paul was born in Tarsus in modern southeast Turkey, or ancient Asia Minor in the area called Cilicia during the first years of the Christian era.
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~Philip came from the town of Bethsaida, the town of Peter and Andrew.
>John 1:43-44 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
~ I want us to notice the words "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, [and findeth Philip]" --- this tells us that Jesus went looking for Philip, and found him. -- Jesus knew that Philip would be an eager and willing disciple.
~ Philip & the others had been looking for the Messiah because he told Nathaniel in John 1:45 We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,
~ The Lord found Philip, but Philip felt he found the Lord; both things were true from the human perspective. -- But from a biblical perspective, we know that God's choice is the determinative one.
> John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
~ Because Philip was from Bethsaida,[house of fishing) - the same town of Peter and Andrew, they most likely grew up knowing each other, along with the brothers James and John as well, as they all lived in the same general area around Capernaum.
> Mark 1:16-19 Now as HE walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon* and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
17And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
18And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19And when he had gone a little further ** thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.
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~ The first three Gospels record Philips name (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; and Acts 1:13). --- Philip is always the 5th named in all four accounts.
~ John gospel tells more about Philip that any of the other 3 gospels. -- let me remind us that John's gospel does not give a list of the apostle's names, like the other three gospels.
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According to the Gospel of John, Philip met Jesus beyond the Jordan River during John the Baptist's ministry.~ Jesus called Philip to become His disciple. Philip responded and brought to Jesus another disciple, named Nathaniel, one and the same Bartholomew. -- Philip is usually mentioned with Nathaniel, most likely they were very close friends. --- Philip not only had a seeking heart, but he also had the heart of a personal evangelist. --- His first response after meeting Jesus was to find his friend Nathanael and tell him about the Messiah.
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"Nathaniel" is mentioned only in John's gospel, and "Bartholomew" is mentioned only in the listings of the Twelve in Acts 1:13 and the 1st. 3 Gospels.
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"The next day," --- from the next verse we're about to read it seems that Philip went searching for his close friend Nathanael.
John 1:45--46 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. ~ Nathaniel then responds with doubt that Nazareth could produce the Messiah.
46And Nathanael said unto him, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?"-- Notice how frank they were with each other, they were close friends. -- Philip saith unto him, Come and see. -- come see for your self.
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~ Philip is unique among all the apostles; he was more of a practical-minded person. -- He was skeptical about many things.
>John 6:5--10 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6And this he said to prove him: [test] for HE himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
~ Instead of responding in faith, Philip began to calculate the amount of food it would take to feed this great crowd, [5000 men - not counting the women and children] and what it would cost. -- All the disciples at this time were growing in faith.
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8One of his disciples, [notice] Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto HIM, 9There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: -- listen--but what are they among so many? -- So here again we notice that Philip is not the only one with little faith, so was Andrew. -- 10And Jesus said, Make the men ** sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. -- notice, about 5000 men, not including the women and children.
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* Jesus told them in;
>Matt.16:8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith,
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* Another place we read about Philip is;
>John 12: 20-22 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: -- Greek proselytes had come to worship at the feast.
"Proselyte" was a gentile converted to Judaism.
~~ The Greeks approached Philip and asked about an interview with Christ.
~ Philip, being a Greek name, and may have spoken Greek, which may be the reason they came to him.
> 21The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 22Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
~Philip may have went too Andrew because he wasn't sure if Jesus would talk to a Gentile, since His mission was to Israel, at this time. -- We're not told that Jesus spoke with the gentiles.
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* Listen, at least seven of the apostles were professional fishers:
Philip, [Nathanael,** Bartholomew] Thomas, Peter, Andrew, James and John, they were most likely all friends and had been close co-workers for a long time before they followed Christ. --- This shows what a close-knit group the apostles were, with over half of the group -- including all the core members -- having come from one small region, and probably having known and befriended each other long before they became disciples, probably all their lives. -- Nathaniel was from Cana.
~Jesus appeared after He had risen to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary* [wife of Alphaus ] in the garden where they had placed His Body,
* I told you a couple of weeks ago that there are 6 Mary's in the N.T.
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~ There are eleven different appearances of our risen Lord Jesus that are recorded in the New Testament...
~ The 1st. was the evening of His resurrection, Thomas was not there. --Eight days later and Thomas was there. Both are in John 20:
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* The last one recorded in Johns gospel account is in John 21:1-2
>John 21:1-2 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; [same as Galilee] and on this wise shewed he himself.
2There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, [twin] and Nathanael {Bartholomew] of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, [James and John] and two other of his disciples. [The two not named are thought to be Philip and Andrew, because they are always seen in the company of the men who are named here.]
