HEROES OF THE FAITH 5C-- PHILIP, ?A DEDICATED PARTNER IN THE WORK? SUB-SERIES ?A FAITHFUL WITNESS.? ACTS 21:1-9
JOKE--- A little boy was in a relative’s wedding. As he was coming down the aisle he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd alternating between the bride’s side and the groom’s side. While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar...so it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle.
As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. The little boy, however, was getting more and more distressed from all the laughing, and was also near tears by the time he reached the pulpit.
When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said,
"I was being the Ring Bear!"
INTRO--- A witness is someone who ?bears? the burden of having observed something. If you take a Bible Concordance and look up the word, witness, or witnessing or witnessed, you will find they are mentioned 33 times in the book of Acts. Every time the word witness is mentioned, it is conjunction with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The early Church had no Church building, no Sunday school literature, no radio or TV, no vans or buses, yet had a powerful Church. The reason being, 33 times in the 28 chapters of Acts, we are told that they were a witnessing Church. Scholars tell us for the first 12 months, they added to the Church over 30,000.
In our modern churches, we have many people who are workers, but few are witnesses. We have many people who are leaders, but few who are witnesses. Many people are Christians but few are real or true witnesses for Jesus.
The Marks of a Witness
1. A witness must have a first-hand experience of Christ. Hearsay is not acceptable in a court of law, nor in the court of this world?s opinion. People will listen only to what we have personally seen and heard.
2. A witness must be able to express himself verbally. We may witness effectively through our lives, our work, our relationships, our attitudes, our suffering and even our death, yet we must still ?be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you.? We must do so ?with gentleness and respect,? and with the integrity of our lives demonstrating the truth of our words.
3. A witness will have confidence in the power of God. He relies on the power of the message of Christ and him crucified, and the power of the Holy Spirit. He knows that God can break through any defenses, and change any heart. This confidence will not be brash, but humble and sensitive, marked by much prayer. He knows that without God he can do nothing, but that with God all things are possible.
4. A witness will have compassion for the spiritually lost. He will care for them as individuals who matter deeply to God: made in his image, redeemed by his Son, and to be indwelt by his Spirit.
David Watson, Called & Committed: World-Changing Discipleship, (Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 1982), pp. 142-143
PRAYER
TRANS--- Philip?s story in Acts begins with his election as a food distributor in the Jerusalem church (6:5) and closes with his entertaining Paul in his Caesarea home. (21:8) In between, we learn of Philip?s committed ministry across the regions of Samaria and Palestine.
Now friends Philip made his mark as a Christian and a leader in his simple obedience to God. Wherever the Holy Spirit led, he followed; whatever the Spirit stirred him to say, he said; however bold Philip needed to be to accomplish the task at hand, Philip just stepped out by grace through faith.
Now there is no doubt that Philip was an inspiration to all of the missionaries to follow after him. But notoriety is not what makes faithful witnesses. Philip is a faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ for one simple fact: he was a pioneer. We need to examine Philip?s faithful witness so we also can be pioneers for Jesus.
I. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP BOLDLY WENT WHERE NO MAN HAD GONE BEFORE
ILLUSTRATION--- Star Trek was one of my favorite TV shows growing up, because it was about a bunch of pioneers heading out into the great unknown of space.
What is it that takes an ordinary person and makes a pioneer out of em??
How many of you know of a man named Alan Shepard? That?s right, during his career, Shepard was the first American to ?light up the candle? and ride a Mercury rocket called Freedom 7 into orbit on May 5, 1961. Unfortunately, I was not alive to see that amazing sight.
But I do remember when Shepard whacked that golf ball half-way across the surface of the moon on January 6, 1971 during the Apollo 14 mission. One thing is for sure; Rear Admiral Alan Shepard changed the course of aviation forever because he went where no man had gone before.
(excerpted from: http://www.nasa.gov/shepard.html)
A. Philip is one of my greatest heroes because he also boldly went where no man had gone before. You see, Philip was the first disciple to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ outside Jerusalem.
1. Now Philip was not the first person commanded to take the Gospel to all the nations, (Mat. 28:18-20) but one thing we know for sure is that he was the first one to obey. That is what makes him a faithful witness.
a. Remember, before there was Paul; before there was Barnabus; Before Peter and John; Silas and Timothy; Philip was journeying to distant lands proclaiming the Gospel of Christ.
2. Philip literally was the Billy Graham of his day.
a. He took the Gospel southward towards the desert separating Palestine from Egypt where he met the Ethipian.
b. From there Philip went North and West from the desert to Azotus and Joppa and finally to Caesarea.
ILLUSTRATION--- How many of you remember that old Eveready Battery commercial featuring Robert Conrad, a real tough guy? He used to take an Eveready Battery and put it on his shoulder and dare you to knock it off. The idea was, no one could knock it off, because it was obvious that Conrad was as tough as nails; as bold as a lion and Eveready for anything.
You know if Philip has taught me one thing, it is this: before you can ever be willing, before you are ever truly able, you must first be Eveready!
3. And because Philip was ?Eveready? to take the Gospel to the whole world, God made sure that he is the only man in the entire Bible given the formal title, ?The Evangelist.? 21:8
a. But the Bible says that you too are to be prepared to be pioneers:
1) Ready to answer? 1 Peter 3:15
2) Ready to preach? Romans 1:15
3) Ready to distribute? 1 Timothy 4:18
4) Ready for every good work? Titus 3:1
5) Ready to die? Acts 21:13
6) Ready to meet the Lord? Luke 12:36
7) Ready to enter the glory? Matthew 25:10
From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W. Noble, Chicago.
I. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP BOLDLY WENT WHERE NO MAN HAD GONE BEFORE
II. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP BROKE THROUGH UNBREAKABLE BARRIERS
ILLUSTRATION---There was an article in the July 19-21st USA TODAY WEEKEND MAGAZINE entitled, ?Feeling Superior? by Rachel Dickinson and Vyvyan Lynn. In the article the authors ask a poignant question, ?What kind of snobs are there? Here is their answer: ?There are three basic kinds: the downward looking snob, [who takes] pleasure in the putdown; the fawning snob, who wants to rise to a better world; and reverse snobbery---you wouldn?t touch anything that other people are doing.? Thankfully, the authors who diagnose such a sickness also list the warning signs. ?The need to always position yourself in regard to other people. You?re really there when you want to encourage a sense of hopelessness in another person.?
Now my friends, I say this not to shock you, but because it is the barefaced truth ---There are far too many snobs in the Church of Jesus Christ today; people who are interested in either taking pleasure in putting people down; people who want to elevate themselves to a higher position; and worst of all, people who set themselves totally against any good thing in the church that someone else is doing.
By this definition, how many of you know of a snob in the Church this morning?
A. That is why Philip’s baptism of the eunuch in Acts 8:36-38 was so incredibly remarkable.
1. It is the first account of a Gentile conversion by a disciple of Jesus Christ in the Bible.
2. You see, by law Eunuchs were not admissible into the racial and religious community of Israel.
a. Deut 23:1--- No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD.
b. Yet the baptism of the eunuch admits him into the community of the disciples of Jesus and illustrates that new life in Christ is available to all.
c. Wait a minute! How could Philip get away with breaking the law of Moses.
1) Because when Jesus came, there was a new Law of love found in the prophecy of Isaiah (56:3-5) Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.
3. And here is the greatest part, the conversion of this black man, this ?non-Jew?, this native African was the first compelling sign that the salvation was well on its way to the ends of the earth.
I. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP WAS A PIONEER BECAUSE HE BOLDLY WENT WHERE NO MAN HAD GONE BEFORE
II. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP WAS A PIONEER BECAUSE HE BROKE THROUGH UNBREAKABLE BARRIERS
III. AS A FAITHFUL WITNESS, PHILIP WAS A PIONEER BECAUSE HE BURRIED THE BYGONES
A. 24 years after Stephen’s death, we meet up with Philip once again living in Caesarea with his four daughters.
1. Philip?s old enemy, Saul, now the apostle Paul who was formerly responsible for Stephen?s death, comes to visit him.
ILLUSTRATION---What should Philip do? Should he let Paul in and forgive him, or should he pounce on him and kill him as mercilessly as his good friend Stephen was killed. How many of you would open your door to the man who killed one of your best friends? Hmmm forgive and forget, or relive and relent?
Easier said than done, right? Well, now studies are showing forgiveness is not only good theology, but good medicine as well.
According to Lifeline Magazine, Summer, 1997, the latest medical and psychological research indicates forgiving is good for our souls?and our bodies. People who forgive:
· Benefit from better immune functioning and lower blood pressure.
· Have better mental health than people who do not forgive.
· Feel better physically.
· Have lower amounts of anger and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.
· Maintain more satisfying and long-lasting relationships.
Michael McCullough, director of research for the National Institute for Healthcare Research and a co-author of To Forgive is Human: How to Put Your Past in the Past (IVP, 1997) says,
?When we allow ourselves to feel like victims or sit around dreaming up how to retaliate against people who have hurt us, these thought patterns take a toll on our minds and bodies.? ?
Source: InterVarsity Press, quoted in Lifeline, Summer, 1997
a. So we know that it is literally better to forgive, but Philip didn?t have such research at his fingertips---What does he do?
b. Philip does the only thing he can do, he embraces Paul as a born-again brother and opens his home to him.
1) And not just for one day, or two days, the Scripture says, for several days.
2. You see, Philip knew that Paul was a changed man.
a. He also knew Paul was headed for Jerusalem for his last time and he knew it.
b. After all the Bible says that Philip had not one but four daughters who were prophetesses.
1) The word prophetesses is a Greek word which means: to prophesy, to be a prophet, speak forth by divine inspirations, to predict with the idea of foretelling future events pertaining esp. to the kingdom of God.
3. When the chips were down, of all the friends that he had, of all the towns he had been, of all the churches he had established, where did Paul Go?
a. He went to see Philip the evangelist, because he knew that Philip would forgive him and take him in and comfort him.
CONCLUSION---?In the powdery surface of the moon at Fra Mauro lie two golf balls. They are waiting to be pitched high into the inky starlit vacuum and on to their next roll, some hundreds of yards farther along the surface. They are waiting for a worthy golfer. They are waiting for someone special to pick up where Alan Shepard, the man who first struck them, left off. They are waiting for that one man or woman who wants it badly, the one who just won’t give up until they’ve played the course at Fra Mauro.?
The Power of Not Giving Up...a tribute to Alan B. Shepard, Jr. © 1998 -2002 by John E. Shepler (http://www.execpc.com/~shepler/shepard.html)
And right now on earth, in fact, right here in this room, there is a heart of some eager men and women today who want to stand up and boldly go where they have never been before by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
But whether you become a born-again believer in Jesus Christ for the very first time today or not, let us all seek to follow after Philip?s faithful witness and dedicate ourselves today to be faithful partners in the work of the Lord.
