Phillip The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 6 of 14

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. Thank you so much for being here. My name is Spencer Coffman and we are in the midst of a great sermon series about the Twelve Apostles. We’re almost halfway through, we’re on number six.

We’ve talked quite a bit about these apostles so if you’re joining us for the first time, please feel free to check out the playlist that will be on our YouTube channel or on our website, and you can listen to or watch, the rest of these sermons on the Twelve Apostles.

In addition, I really hope that you hit that subscribe button, the bell icon, follow wherever you are because we’ve got more sermons coming up and specifically we’ve got a lot more of this series. We’ve got eight more of this series to go through. It’s a 14-week sermon series so stay tuned. We’ve got a lot of great stuff coming your way.

In addition, please share these sermons with others on your social media networks because we need more people to start understanding what’s in the Bible. If more people start reading the Bible and understanding the Bible, I truly believe we can change the world.

It’s not too late, especially in other countries, especially in the United States. The whole world can still turn to God and how are they going to do that unless you share this with them? Seriously. Seriously.

So today we’re talking about Phillip. We’ve already spoken about several of the other apostles. Hopefully, you remember who they are. Less than 5 percent of the world’s population, according to statistics, can name six.

Hopefully, you can name more. We’ve gone through a few. Who have we talked about? Simon Peter. We went through his brother Andrew. We also talked about James and his brother John. So we’ve gone through four of them already.

Today we’re gonna talk about Phillip. Now who’s Phillip? Well, Phillip was mentioned a few more times in the Bible than some of the other disciples, about 16 times, 15 or so different verses.

And he was a Galilean. So he came from Galilee. He lived in the town of Bethsaida which is the same town that Peter and Andrew are from. Let’s read some Bible verses. We’ve got a lot of verses coming up.

We’re going to go to John Chapter 1 Verses 43 to 48. Now I’m going to read it to you. The verses will all be referenced in the description. So if you’re otherwise occupied right now I encourage you, please go back and look them up so you can get an understanding even deeper than what you’re going to get today.

John 1:43-49 says, “The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Phillip, He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Phillip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Phillip found Nathaniel and told him, ‘We found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and about whom the prophets also wrote about. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’

‘Nazareth, can anything good come from there?’ Nathaniel asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Phillip. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, He said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.’”

Pretty good compliment coming from Jesus. “‘How do you know me?’ Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Phillip called you.’ Then Nathaniel declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the king of Israel.’”

Pretty cool. Pretty cool story. So we know that if the order is accurate — we weren’t really told anything about the order, but we can infer if Peter and Andrew were called, or Andrew first then Peter, then Phillip, then Nathaniel.

But what about John and James? We don’t know. Maybe they were called first too. Or maybe a different order, but either way that isn’t important. What’s important right now, is that Phillip came from the same town of Peter and Andrew.

Peter and Andrew were fishermen, of course. James and John were also fishermen. Their father Zebedee had a pretty successful business. So it’s very possible all these people knew each other.

Phillip was very likely a fisherman as well. How do we know that? Well, because he was from the town of Galilee and he knew these other people.

John 1:44 also had some information which, we just read now. Now what else? Phillip was one of the first disciples called, one of the first, so probably in the top three or four.

And how do we know that? Well, we just read it. I turned away from the page but we just read this. “Phillip, like Andrew and Peter.” So, we know Andrew and Peter were called before Phillip. So Phillip is “like Andrew and Peter.”

Now, Phillip went immediately to Nathaniel and told him that he found Jesus. Immediately. It says right here. Phillip said, “Follow me.” Or “he said, ‘Follow me.’”

Nathaniel. Then what? Phillip found Nathaniel. Right away. Jesus said to Phillip, “Follow me,” and Phillip’s like, “Okay, I am out of here, I gotta go find Nathaniel,” and he convinces Nathaniel to come and find out for himself.

Nathaniel was skeptical of course, but Phillip pressed on. He said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see. Come and see, don’t just take my word for it. Come and see for yourself.”

And so, Phillip then brought Nathaniel to Jesus, and Nathaniel was convinced. Phillip had the heart of a missionary from the get-go. He had the heart of a missionary. He was ready.

He demonstrated absolute faith in Jesus Christ and the willingness to overcome skepticism, doubt, or any of that uncertainty. He knew. He was like, “I am gonna pass through this, persevere, and I will convince everyone else.”

He was willing to believe and believe 100 percent. Phillip gave everything he had to Christ. And in return, Christ used him to further His Kingdom.

Now Phillip went and found Nathaniel. We’ll talk about him next week. He also could be named Bartholomew. And so, we will talk about him next week. Phillip brought Bartholomew, or Nathaniel, to the group. Christ used Phillip to further His Kingdom.

Now, Phillip, he hung out with Andrew a lot. Phillip and Andrew or Phillip and Bartholomew, they’re kind of put together. There were a couple spots that Phillip has in the Bible that we can learn a little bit more about him.

If we go to John Chapter 12 Verses 20 to 22, so John 12:20-22, it says, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. They came to Phillip who was from Bethsaida in Galilee with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Phillip went to tell Andrew and then Andrew and Phillip in turn told Jesus.”

Now, we spoke a little bit about this when we talked about Andrew and how Andrew was willing to take the matter to Jesus and was bold enough to do that. Phillip was there too. Phillip had the request first.

And Phillip is the kind of person who, when he hears good news, he cannot help but share it with someone. Jesus called him. That’s amazing news and he went immediately and told Nathaniel.

These people say, “Hey, we want to meet Jesus,” this is like even better. He did not even have to seek them out. People are now coming to Phillip saying, “We want Jesus,” and what does Phillip do?

Goes immediately to another disciple and says, “Hey, these people want to meet Jesus. Let’s go!” and he’s like a rallier. Something happens and he is instantly out there telling other people. He’s a missionary.

Phillip also played a role in the feeding of the 5,000. This is in John Chapter 6 Verses 6 and 8 (John 6:6-8). Let’s check that out. Verses 6 and 8, “He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”

Now who is this? What are we talking about? Well, let’s back up a little bit. “Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him.” Oh my goodness, a whole crowd. How many? Well, this is about 5,000 men. So maybe 10,000 people including women and children.

“He said to Phillip.” So He said this to Phillip. He said, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

Because they are in a remote area. He asked this — Jesus asked this to Phillip only to test Phillip. You don’t believe God tests you? You think it’s only from the devil?

Guess what, God is testing you. He may use the devil as a tool to test you, but it’s God that is testing you. “He said this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”

So Jesus already knew. Jesus is like, “Crowd coming, I got it, God. Crowd coming, 10,000 people, 5,000 men, a bunch of women and kids, they’re all hungry. They’re all hungry. All right God, I’ll do it, Father.”

And so He is like, “I will use this as a teaching moment. Phillip, look at all these people coming, where are we going to get bread for all them?” Phillip is probably like “Holy moly, what are we going to do?”

“But Phillip said, ‘Eight month’s wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have only a bite.’” Eight month’s wages. How much do you make in a year? You make a hundred grand a year.

Wow, that’d be a lot of money. You make 50 grand a year, eight months of that. You make 80 grand a year. Divide it all by 12 and eight months, that’s three quarters. You make hundred grand a year, that’d be 75,000 dollars — would not buy enough bread for everyone to have only a bite. Not a slice, a bite. That means you need a year’s wages. This is a lot of money. This is a lot of people.

Another of His disciples. Andrew. Here’s where we come up with Andrew. We read about him before. “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother spoke up.” He became bold.

He said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” But back to Phillip. Jesus said this to Phillip only to test him and Phillip’s response was eight months wages would not cover it.

“We can’t, we don’t — What do you mean buy? Forget where we’re going to buy the stuff, where are we going to get the money to buy it? There are bigger problems here,” is what Phillip was saying.

Jesus asked him only to test Phillip. He didn’t say “Lord, we couldn’t possibly go buy this stuff. We’re a day’s walk from the nearest market and even if we got there, it would take the baker six weeks to bake enough bread for everyone and where would we get the money?”

He didn’t go into this doubting role. He just made a comment. “Lord, eight months’ wages would not buy enough for everyone to even have a bite.” Saying like, “You gotta do something. We can’t do it.”

Jesus already had in mind what He was going to do. We can learn a little bit more from this, but to do that we got to go to another verse. Another verse, John 14, John Chapter 14 Verses 8 and 9. John 14:8-9 and then we’ll dive into this.

“Phillip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say show us the Father?’”

Now this, of course, could be a sermon in all and of itself. But we’re talking about Phillip. These two instances tell us a lot about Phillip and his character. You say, “How? It’s only a couple verses.”

Well, with the Holy Spirit, you can discern even more. We’ve got Phillip saying, “Lord, eight month’s wages would not buy enough for everyone to even have one bite.”

Then here, he’s saying, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough.” What is the point of this? We have a couple of other instances.

The one where he finds Jesus and Phillip immediately goes and tells Nathaniel or Bartholomew. Then the other when people are now coming to him saying, “Hey, we want Jesus.” Phillip runs and tells Andrew and then they go tell Jesus.

Phillip is saying, “Lord, you are enough, we can’t do this. Where are we going to buy bread? Lord, we cannot even buy the bread. You gotta do something. Lord, show us the Father, that’s enough for us. That’s all we need.”

Then, when Jesus is coming to him, he is immediately telling other people. Because why? He knows Jesus is the one. Jesus is the way. Immediately. Boom. “Nathaniel come on. Jesus is the one.” Some people want Jesus. Boom. “Andrew come on. We gotta go. We gotta help these people meet Jesus.”

Phillip is the master missionary. He is like the guy who is just, something happens, and bam. He’s out there immediately telling. The meeting isn’t even over and Phillip is already out there telling everybody about it.

Now you could say, “Oh, he is just a gossip,” but he’s not a gossip. What is he sharing? He is sharing good things. He’s out there bringing joy and hope to other people.

Later on in Phillip’s life, he became a missionary in Asia. Traveled all over. He eventually traveled to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. He continued preaching the gospel throughout his whole life.

He was eventually thrown into prison. With who? Bartholomew, or Nathaniel. The one that he brought to Jesus. They went out together and they were eventually thrown in prison together. How did they do that?

Well, they converted the proconsul’s wife to Christianity. Pretty serious. The proconsul obviously saw this as an act of betrayal from his wife. We’ve seen this before with another disciple who converted Herod — Herod’s wife and son to Christianity.

This was James. And he was accused and then later beheaded and James’s accuser was so moved that he was beheaded with him on the spot. Now if that’s incorrect or wrong, you can feel free to comment below because, of course, I don’t have all the sermons in front of me and the notes and I can only remember so much.

But Phillip and Bartholomew converted the proconsul’s wife to Christianity. The proconsul says, “No, this is unacceptable.” So he sentences them to death. They both get thrown into prison. They both get tortured and then crucified.

They’re going to be crucified. Hung upside down though. They’re crucified upside down. So this is already, some deaths have already happened with Saint Andrew.

Remember he was crucified on an X-shaped cross and then we also have Peter who requested to be crucified upside down. They both could have been converting other people as well and then that was why they were sentenced to crucifixion.

So I’m thinking of it, it could be incorrect, that it was James that converted the wife and son, but again, check out the playlist. Watch the other messages and you will know for sure who it was that did that.

But Phillip and Bartholomew were both crucified and then put on a cross upside down. And so it was very likely Peter was probably crucified before they were because now the upside down cross had become a thing.

Peter requested that he was also to be crucified upside down because he felt that he was unworthy to die like Christ and so it’s very likely that Phillip and Bartholomew were sentenced to crucifixion after that had already happened.

But it doesn’t make any difference one way or another. The point is, that they were preaching till the very end. Sentenced to crucifixion. They were crucified. Hung upside down on a cross, and Phillip was preaching from the cross.

Upside down, blood running like crazy. Preaching. His head only a foot off the ground. People probably walking by kicking him in the teeth. Preaching from the cross, pleading.

As a result, guess what? They were somehow compelled to let Bartholomew go. Through this, that’s what happened. The guards or the Romans wherever he was being crucified in Egypt, or wherever. The proconsul. If they were being crucified in Rome. They were convinced to let Bartholomew go.

Phillip was probably saying, “Let him go, let him go. Let him go!” And he was let go. He was released. But Phillip insisted that they not release him. For some reason, Phillip wanted to stay there and die.

Maybe he had just had enough. Maybe his mission was to get Bartholomew off of there. We don’t know. But he insisted that he stayed and he ended up dying upside down on that cross.

Phillip was a missionary. Phillip was a person who was always out there spreading the good news. Doesn’t matter where. Phillip, yes, he traveled all over Asia.

We can follow his example. He traveled all over Egypt, that’s the Middle East. We can follow his example. He was all over in Italy. We can follow his example. Going and preaching.

Now Phillip didn’t — he went to other countries and everything — but he didn’t have to get on a plane to be a missionary. He started in his hometown and went from there. You can do the same.

Whether you live in the United States. In Canada. In Europe. In Asia. Wherever you live, start there. Go. Just like Phillip. You get some good news, you get something, you immediately run and you tell other people, “Hey, check this out.”

Today we have it easy. All we can do is click a share button. Type a little comment, “Hey, check this out,” and hope people will see it. Or you can get out there and tell them.

Word of mouth. That’s a little more difficult, but you can do it. You can have that courage and be like Phillip and get out there and share Jesus with others.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for Phillip. Thank you for the incredible person that he was and the devout missionary that he was. The willingness he had to just always be out there telling other people about Jesus.

The faith that he had in Jesus and the certainty that he had. That he knew every time Jesus would provide, even when he was tested, he knew Jesus had to do something. He knew that they could not do it alone.

Lord, I ask that you would instill that mentality into each and every one of us. That we would know that we have to fully rely on Jesus. That we cannot do it alone. That we need Jesus to work in our lives and work through us in order to accomplish things here on Earth for the Kingdom.

And Lord, I ask that each and every person would have that desire inside of them to go out and tell others. To share the good news. To preach. To introduce people to Christ exactly like Phillip did. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, we’re almost halfway through our series. I hope you come back next week. We’ll be talking about Bartholomew. Have a great week and God bless.