The Two Philips- I Believed Therefore I Spoke

“I believed, therefore I spoke” or lessons from the two Philips (DRBC, 21/03/04, pm)

Introduction

• [Show picture]- Who is this?

• George Foreman, ex-boxer, now famous promoter of…the Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine

• Sold over 50 million in the US, and 5 million in the UK- approx. 1 in 4 households!! The instructions read, “Position GRILLING MACHINE close to a power socket. Plug GRILLING MACHINE into power socket. Switch the socket on, if necessary.”

• Why has this sold so well? Partly because we like eating, and partly because we are vain and want to stay slim, and partly because we are lazy and don’t want to have to cook things ourselves! But Foreman thinks the machine’s top selling points is its celebrity promoter, himself- he says, “I’m so proud of it, I put my name on it.” He travels all round the globe, speaking of this machine he uses every day, along with his wife and his five sons, all called George, I kid you not. He says, “Ah’m going over to talk about the grill. We’re on a mission.”

• A lesser known fact about Foreman is that he is an ordained minister. It seems as if his mission to sell his Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine has taken the limelight. But the fact is, since he believes in the machine, he continuously speaks about it to others. What, I wonder, can we learn from this?

“Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you” (2 Corinthians 4:13,14).

Context

We’re going to look at two men in the NT, both called Philip, who were greatly used by the Lord. One was an apostle, the other an evangelist. What they have in common is that they both believed in the Lord Jesus, and they both spoke of Him with great commitment to others. I’m going to make three points which are:

A. Believe in Jesus- we find Jesus only because He finds us

B. Speak about Jesus- if we truly believe in Jesus, we will surely speak of Jesus

C. Lessons from the Two Philips

A. Believe in Jesus- we find Jesus only because He finds us

Read- John 1:43-46 (page 1064).

1. Jesus chooses us- “finding Philip…” (43). John 15:16- “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” So Philip was chosen, not because he was a good bloke or particularly talented, but because of Jesus’ sovereign choice. It is the same with us.

2. Jesus calls us- “He said to him, ‘Follow Me’” (43). Notice that his calling involves speaking- Jesus opens His mouth and says follow Me. This is true for all the disciples called in the gospels. It is true for all those who are converted in Acts. It is not some mystical stirring that involves no language or mental engagement. It is a clear, verbal calling. It is the same with us. Jesus calls us through the clear and simple proclamation of His Word.

3. Jesus is found to be like one of us- “We have found the one Moses wrote about…Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (45). We find him as a man with whom we may identify.

4. Jesus challenges our limited view of Him. Before a crowd of 5000+ hungry folk in John 6, Jesus invites Philip to turn to Him in faith, but instead he tries to figure out a financial solution and gets nowhere; Jesus wants Philip to come to the end of himself so that he can truly depend on Jesus and see Him for who He is- the all-bountiful God-made-flesh.

5. Jesus reveals Himself as God the Son- even at the Last Supper, Philip has not grasped who Jesus really is. In John 14:8, Philip says, “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough for us” and Jesus replies, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (9).

6. Lastly, the Spirit of Jesus enables us to trust Jesus for who He is- it says in Acts 6:3 that Philip the Evangelist was “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” and we know from John that “The wind blows where it wishes…so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8); “The Spirit dispenses his influences where, and when, on whom, and in what measure and degree, he pleases”- Matthew Henry (Philip the Evangelist is filled with the Holy Spirit).