The Apostle Philip

It's been a little while since we've been able to be in the Apostles. We're going to consider another one of those this evening, the Apostle Philip. Now there are two Philips in the Bible, the Apostle Philip, which we will consider tonight, and the Deacon Evangelist Philip of the Book of Acts. The man who in Acts chapter 6 was chosen to be one of the first Deacons of the church, and then was the man who led the Ethiopian unit to Christ and baptized him in chapter 8, and is seen a couple of other times in Acts. Those are two different people. And we're going to look at the Apostle Philip this evening. The man who might be called the simple-minded Apostle. We're going to see that there are some occasions in Philip's life where he simply seemed to have trouble grasping spiritual truth. Seemed to be a little dull, a little slow, at really grasping spiritual truth. And there are several occasions in our Lord's ministry where Philip is mentioned. Actually only in the book of John, as he mentioned, except for lists of the Apostles. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he's listed in the normal lists of the Apostles. It's only in John that we find information given about him that we can actually draw some conclusions and see insights about his life. So we're going to look at four instances this evening where John paints a picture of Philip. One of those has to do with his salvation. Two of them have to do with weaknesses that he shows. One of them has to do with a wonderful strength that we can learn a great lesson from. In fact, there are lessons we can learn from all of these four instances where Philip is mentioned in the Gospel of John. So let's learn what lessons we can from this Apostle this evening. First of all, John chapter 1 describes his salvation experience verses 43 through 46. Follow along as I read and we'll look at what we can learn from this account. John 1 verse 43, the next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, follow me. Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Betheseda. Philip found a Samuel and told him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth, can anything good come from there, Nathaniel asked? Come and see, said Philip. Now this evidently is the account where Philip is saved. In the calling of the Apostles, they are first called to follow Jesus Christ. It's instructive to know that in the New Testament, a Christian is one who follows Jesus Christ. Sometimes in our day, we have simply reduced Christianity to someone who has walked forward and made a decision in a church service. Now, people can walk forward and make a decision in a church service and never be saved. That decision, if it is really to place their full confidence in Jesus Christ as their Savior, may well result in a true Christian who follows Jesus Christ. However, if a person does not follow him, shows no evidence of being a follower of Christ, then the Bible teaches that that person should not presumptuously consider themselves to be a Christian just because they walk down the front of a church and sign the decision slip. In fact, Paul told a group of people like that in the church at Corinth, examine yourselves, whether or not you're really in the faith. It is the test of a changed life that really determines and shows whether or not we are Christ followers, whether or not we really know Him and we're following Him. So a disciple in New Testament times, the salvation of these men, is described in terms of Jesus calling them to follow Him. The evidence is seen in the lifestyle. The evidence is seen in there was some following of Him. There was a walking in His path in His way. One who claims to be a Christian but has no interest in following Christ really has no right to the name Christian. In fact, the name Christian was first given to disciples because they were like Jesus. They were Christ ones, Christ followers, to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. There are three significant features of Philip's salvation account, which stand out for us in this passage. The first is the means of His salvation. If you'll notice an interesting balance here between two truths. In verse 43, the Bible says that Jesus found Philip. Finding Philip, He said to Him, follow me. But look down at verse 45, Philip found the thing and told Him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law. Now, which is right? Did Christ find Philip or did Philip find Christ? And that's an interesting question about what it really means to be saved. Do we find Christ or does He find us? And I think the answer would be as in this passage, both. Ultimately, God is always seeking the center. Ultimately, God always takes the initiative and seeks us because the Bible describes us as dead in trespasses and sins. It is not as though we are working our way toward God. He is always taking the initiative to seek us. But when He finds us, from our perspective, it is as though we have found everything we were looking for in Jesus Christ. We have been searching in all the wrong places for a fulfillment and purpose and meaning in life. And now we have found the answer to all of life's questions in Jesus Christ. So both are true. He finds us. God always takes the initiative in our salvation. He is seeking us long before we ever think about Him. But when we come to know Christ, we have found Him too. We have trusted Him and found the answer to life's deepest questions. I think another example of this in the New Testament is Zacchaeus, that wonderful story of the little guy who was seeking Jesus, looking for Jesus. He had heard that Jesus was to pass through Jericho. And the Bible says in Luke chapter 19 that he went out to see Jesus. He couldn't because of the crowd of people in front of him. He was a tax collector. Nobody is going to let him through. In fact, he probably got a few elbows in the ribs trying to get through. So he decides he will climb up in a tree so that he can see Jesus. But the Bible then says that when Jesus passed that way, he looked up into the tree and said to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, come down for today. I must abide at your house. Who was doing the seeking in that story? Well, to some extent, Zacchaeus was looking for Jesus. Curiosity, interest, probably. But ultimately, Jesus came to find Zacchaeus. Jesus found Him and initiated the contact with Zacchaeus. The same is true with Philip. Christ always seeks out the center. But from our viewpoint, when we find Him, we have found the answers to our deepest needs and questions in life. So the means of His salvation is very instructive. Secondly, the place of His salvation is of great interest as well. Notice if you will, the Bible says that in verse 44, He was from the town of Bethesda. Now, Bethesda probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you except there are some references to that. It's a town along the Sea of Galilee. And there are some references to that. Many of them in Jesus' ministry. It's along that area, Bethesda, Caparnum, those areas where Jesus performed a lot of His miracles and performed a lot of His ministry in the region around Galilee. But I want you to see what Jesus says about Bethesda in Matthew chapter 11, verses 21 and 22. Jesus says, woe to you, Choreson, woe to you, Bethesda. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed entire insidened, they would have responded or repented long ago in Saccloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for tire and siden on the day of judgment than for you. Picking out two Old Testament cities, tire and siden that were destroyed because of God's judgment on them. Christ compares Choreson and Bethesda to them. And he compares them in the sense that the New Testament city of Bethesda had much more light of the gospel. They saw Jesus Christ. They saw many of His miracles. They saw His hurt His teachings. Those Old Testament cities never had those wonderful opportunities. They were judged because of their rejection, the message and light that God had given them. But such greater light did Bethesda have. And yet as a whole, that city turned its back on Jesus Christ. But thankfully there were some in that city who did come to know Him, including Philip. I think the lesson we can learn here is that we should rejoice in those who do come to know Christ, even if we may live in an area or minister in an area where many do not come to know Him. We should certainly never be satisfied with just a few and seek to reach as many as we can. But we ought to be thankful that God still calls out some Phillips, even from Bethesda. Even from towns that on the whole suffered His judgment because they turned against Him. There were some, some, a few like Philip, who did come to know Christ. We ought to rejoice over those who are plucked from the burning and plucked as a brand from the burning. As Jude says, those who, going to destruction, are rescued from an eternity without Christ. Philip is one of those kind of people. The place of his salvation is instructive. But also the result of his salvation in verse 45. The result is that Philip found the Daniel and told him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law. The prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now, when he says he was the son of Joseph, it doesn't mean he was literally the son of Joseph. We know that he wasn't. But he was known as the son of Joseph. Joseph had taken the place of a legal father. He was his stepfather, if you will. And so people generally knew him as the son of Joseph. And that's all that Philip is referring to. He doesn't know any better at this point. But my point is this. The result of Philip's salvation is that he automatically went to seek someone else. I think there is in the heart of everyone who has truly saved, at least initially, there is a desire for other people to know Jesus. Now, it is a sad commentary on us that sometimes that desire fades. It is not often as strong the longer we know the Lord as it is when we first came to know Him. And maybe some of that is understandable because in that first glow of finding Christ and knowing that our sins are forgiven, there is a zeal and a passion and a burden for others to have that same sense of guilt. And it is also a sad commentary on us and our growth in Christ when as the years go by we lose some of that passion and some of that zeal. Now, when he went to get Nathaniel, Nathaniel had an objection. And the objection there in verse 46 is Nazareth. Jesus is from Nazareth. And you are telling me he is the one that Moses wrote about in the law, the Messiah. You are telling me he is the one that prophets wrote about, the Messiah from Nazareth. Can anything good come out of there? Now, we have looked at Nathaniel or Bartholomew before and we see that his questioning may have been found on good theological basis. The Bible indicated in the book of Micah that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, not from Nazareth. And that may be part of what Nathaniel was thinking. Obviously Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he grew up as a child and a young man in Nazareth. But Nazareth was also a very wicked place. It was a military outpost for the Roman army. And it was as many military outposts are a place of great wickedness. And so the thought that God would bring a Messiah up out of Nazareth was astounding to someone like Nathaniel. Well, that's a question that Philip is not yet ready to answer. It's a little bit too deep for him theologically. He doesn't have the background to handle that. And sometimes we're faced with those kind of objections. Aren't we when we try to witness to someone or share with them our testimony and they raise an objection about the Bible that kind of catches us off guard and we're not sure how to answer that. And I think Philip gives us a good example of what to do in cases like that. He just said to Nathaniel, come and see. I may not be able to answer all of your objections, Nathaniel. I may not have the understanding of the scriptures to be able to answer all of your questions and satisfy all of your objections. But I know what he's done for me. I know how my heart was stirred and warmed when I met him and he found me. You just come and see. Come and see. I think it is wise for us whenever we're working with people. You're talking to someone at work or a neighbor and they're raising questions of objections, some of which you don't know how to handle. It's fine to try to find the answers to those and I'm grateful for every wise person who has written on Bible difficulties and objections to the faith and cleared up a lot of philosophical and scientific objections and all those things. I'm grateful for that. But I think what we can learn from Philip is that when we don't have those kind of answers, just continue to press the claims of Christ and let the Holy Spirit do His work. Because the Holy Spirit has the ability to get into someone's heart beyond our answers to their questions. The Holy Spirit has the ability to get into their heart using the Word of God and a clear testimony of your life to bring them to a point of conviction and recognition of their need of Christ. So Philip gives us a wonderful example of a witness who may not have all the answers but who simply presses the claims of Christ. I know who he is. I know what he can do. Just come and see. Jesus is for real. His salvation is a wonderful story. But the next account we have of Philip is not quite as glowing, although it is very telling and we can learn something from it. In John chapter 6, we find His lack of faith. John chapter 6, that wonderful account of the feeding of the 5,000. Did you know that Philip plays an important part in that? Verse 5 of John 6, when Jesus looked up and saw great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test Him. For he already had in mind what He was going to do. Philip answered Him eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite. This is a very interesting exchange. I want us to look first at the question that Jesus asks. When He sees this great crowd coming toward them, He asks Philip a question, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? Now the questions of God in the Bible are very interesting. God never asks a question to get information. God doesn't need information. He already has all the answers. Whenever God asks a question in the Bible, it is for the purpose of the person who hears the question to think deeply about the answer that they will give. Very first question, God asks anybody as Adam in the Garden of Eden. After Adam has sinned, He is hiding from God. And God comes down as was His custom to walk and fellowship with Adam in the cool of the day. Adam is not there to meet Him and God asks a question. Adam, where are you? Now did God lose track of Adam? Did He fall off the radar screen? Of course not. God knew exactly where He was. God didn't need information about where Adam was. God wanted Adam to think about where He was. Where are you Adam? If Adam thinks about that question, it hits his heart in mind exactly what has happened to him. I am in a place of fear and hiding a place I've never known before. I know it is because of my sin. That is where I am God. The question was for Adam's sake, not for God's sake. You remember the story of Elijah? Elijah is running from Jezebel after his great victory on Mount Carmel. He is running for 40 days and 40 nights in the strength of the food the Lord gave him. He is hiding in a cave and God shows up and says to Elijah, Elijah, what are you doing here? Now did God really need an answer to that question to figure out why Elijah was there? No, no. God knew exactly why He was there and what He was doing there. He wanted Elijah to think about why he was there. Why are you here, Elijah? If I'm going to answer that honestly, then I've got to deal with some troublesome issues in my life about lack of faith and fear and lack of trusting God all those things. When God asks Philip this question, where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? Jesus does not need to know how to get bread for these people to eat. In fact, the Bible tells us in the next verse, he didn't ask to get the answer. He asked this only to test him. He already had in mind what he was going to do. Jesus knew the miracle that he would perform. Now, dividing of the loaves and the fish and the feeding of 5,000 with a little boy's lunch, Jesus knew what he was going to do. What was the purpose of the question? It was to test Philip. Now what we can learn from that is this. Nothing that happens in your life or mine ever takes God by surprise. Nothing, no matter what it is, no matter what difficulty you face, no matter what quandary or question you face in your life, it never takes God by surprise. He never has any questions about it. He's never in heaven saying, what are we going to do now? God never thinks that way. In fact, God knows exactly what he's going to do in that particular issue in your life. But he puts us in those situations in a sense asking us the question, how are we going to deal with this? How are you going to get out of this one, John? How are you going to figure this one out? He asks us those questions, puts us in those positions to test us, to prove us, if you will. Now the testing again is for our benefit. The testing is for us to grow, for us to be brought face to face with our inability to meet those kind of situations and figure them out on our own so that we then turn to the Lord and find His grace and His strength. And we cast ourselves independence upon Him. That's the purpose. It's to test us. Sometimes it's so that we will grow in character. Sometimes it's to prove to Satan that there are people who will trust God on this earth. Sometimes it's to prove to unbelievers that there's something real to the Christian faith, to a walk with God. But God puts us in those quandaries, those situations where we don't have the answers so that we might be tested and grow in our character. Now Philip is like most of us. Understanding the question is one thing, but let's look at the answer in verse 7. Philip answered him, eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite. Philip's answer, like mine a lot of times, like a lot of us, a lot of times shows a lack of faith and a lack of vision, very limited spiritual vision. What did Philip do? Evidently this man was naturally cautious, naturally hesitant, naturally very practical. And so when he was faced with this situation, here is a great crowd of people. How are we going to feed them? All he thinks about is the earthly side of things. All he thinks about is the practical supply and demand side of things. All he can think about is Paul, that is calculator, figure up. Okay, number of people, here's how much bread, probably each one should have. Here's how much that will cost per person. Let's figure all this out. Lord, if we had a year's worth of wages, we could only give them one bite. I've got it all figured out. And he says that, really, in a spirit of despair. I mean, there's no way Lord for us to feed this kind of a crowd. Now there's nothing wrong with being practical. There's nothing wrong with looking at things carefully and wise planning. The Bible talks about those kinds of things. And there's certainly needed a wise, cautious, financially responsible response to these kinds of issues. Nothing wrong with that. Here's the problem. This is something that inherent in the question, we know Christ wants to feed this group. This is something we know God wants to do. And whenever we know God wants to do something, to look at our own resources first is a lack of faith and a lack of vision. When we know God is leading in a certain area, when we know what God wants us to do, to look at our own resources and say, Lord, it can't be done is a lack of faith. In those situations, we must look to God and say, Lord, I don't see how it can be done, but I know this is the way you're leading. I know this is what you want. You own everything. I don't understand how it will be done, but I'm going to trust you to provide so that it will be done. That is a life of faith and stepping out on faith. Now the key question obviously is, do we know this is something God wants done? Well, if it's in His Word, we know it's something He wants done. Jesus had spoken here. Philip becomes a bunch of people. How are we going to feed them all? In the question is the answer, I want to feed them. That's what we're going to do. Now we must discern, is this something God wants done? And if it is, then we step out on faith and trust Him to provide the resources to do it. We should never be guilty of Philip's lack of vision and lack of faith. Have we learned, have we learned really in our Christian life to spread every difficulty before the Lord? To say, Lord, I do not understand how this need is going to be met. You're asking me to go through something that I'm not sure I can do. You're asking me some questions. I can't answer, but I look to you and I trust you and I believe you're able to do anything. Is that our first response? I think the Lord was teaching us through Phillips lack of faith what it means to have that kind of vision and faith in Christ. Let's look at John chapter 12. The third occasion where Philip is mentioned in the Gospel of John and what we have here is a wonderful story of his love for souls. The love that Philip had for people to come to Christ. In John chapter 12 and verse 20, now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast. They came to Philip who was from Bethesda in Galilee with a request. Sir, they said we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew, Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Now these Greeks, Gentiles obviously who toward the end of Christ's life and ministry at one of the feast in Jerusalem come up to the disciples and say we want to see Jesus. This is not just an idle curiosity. We just like to get a glimpse of him. The idea in seeing Jesus here is we desire to spend some time with him to really get to know him. We want to have an acquaintance with Jesus. We want to form a relationship with Jesus. We would like to know Jesus. It's very interesting to me that they would come to Philip first. It shows me, I believe, that Philip was approachable. He was approachable. Why would they choose Philip? Well, some say it's because Philip had a Greek name. Well, there were others of the apostles who had Greek names as well. Philip was not the only one. So I don't think that's the answer. Why did they come to Philip? We're not told in the Bible. So I'm assuming a little bit here, but they had been around the disciples enough, evidently they had seen enough of them to pick out one that they felt comfortable going to. Evidently Philip was approachable. He was the kind of man that was kind and friendly and they felt comfortable coming to and approaching with their request. You know, a love for souls and a desire to reach people with Christ needs to begin with the spirit that we have that either attracts people or sadly in some cases repels people. Are you the kind of person that people are attracted to who has a pleasant and kind disposition that people would feel comfortable coming to and talking to and asking questions about spiritual things? I think one of the most important elements in witnessing is the ability to deal with people. There's no need to be offensive in the way we act and treat people in our speech or our attitudes. No need to be offensive to people. If we really show the grace of Christ, then our lifestyle and our very approach to people will be kind that attracts them rather than repels them. Are you the kind of person that people would feel comfortable asking questions to or are you the kind of person that would say, if I were going to talk to anyone about spiritual things, it would not be that person. He was approachable. Secondly, he was hesitant. When they came to Christ or when they came to Philip, rather, and said, sir, we would like to see Jesus. The first thing Philip does is he went to tell Andrew. Well, why did he go to tell Andrew? Why did he take them straight to Jesus? He was hesitant to fulfill their request immediately. Why? Well, there may have been some good reasons. Philip was probably thinking of when Jesus sent them out two by two to minister to people. In Matthew chapter 10 and verses 5 and 6, Jesus had told them, these 12, Jesus sent out with the following instructions. Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. On another occasion, when a canonite woman came to Jesus, asking for a healing for someone in her family in Matthew chapter 15 and verse 24, Jesus response was this. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. So those kinds of words may have been ringing in Philip's mind and he really wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to bring these Gentiles to Jesus. So he says, I better get a little clarification on something from one of my buddies here. Let's talk to Andrew and see what his take is on this. How does Andrew feel about this? I think Philip was just trying to figure out what's the right thing to do here. But then what happens next? I really love. And it shows that he was bold. Yes, he was approachable. He was somewhat hesitant, but he was bold because in verse 22, after he talked to Andrew, the Bible says, Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. He evidently has a great desire for these men to know Christ and that overcame his hesitance to bring them to Jesus. It's one thing to have knowledge of exactly what should be done. It's one thing to have a knowledge that wonders whether or not something should be done. It's another thing to have zeal. And when you're caught in a quandary between the two, especially when it comes to bringing people to Christ, it's much better to err if you're going to err on the side of zeal. Bring the person to Christ as best you can. You can't answer all the questions or don't know the appropriateness of everything. Bring the person to Christ. It's better to strike out swinging than it is watching the pitch go by. And so Philip, even though he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not, those words of Jesus ringing in his mind about not going to Gentiles yet, he went ahead and said, hey, these people are asking to see Jesus. I'm going to step out on a limb here and take them to Jesus. He goes and asks Jesus about these people. Notice if you will, the result of this, the result of his love for souls in verse 23, Jesus replied, the hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. When Philip tells Jesus about these Greeks who want to see him, it immediately brings to the surface in Jesus' mind the fact that he will die very soon, he will die. And that's what he's talking about with a kernel of grain that falls into the ground. And if it abides alone, if it doesn't die, if it's not planted deep in the ground, then it's just one seed. But if it suffers that death and is buried, it is able to produce many seeds. Jesus is speaking metaphorically of his death. And it reminds this, this quandary of these Gentiles wanting to come to Jesus, reminds Jesus that very soon he will lay down his life. And as he lays down his life, it will be for both Jew and Gentile. It will open the door for many seeds to sprout forth to eternal life. His death will provide the way for all people to be eligible to be saved, if you will, the gospel to spread beyond Jew to Gentile as well. And so the result is that yes, the gospel will go to all men, not only Jews, but also to Gentiles. Philip's zeal to bring these Gentiles to Christ brings that reminder from our Lord about his death. So his love for souls is very apparent. But one other instance where Philip is found in chapter 14 of John, chapter 14 verses 7 through 12. Here we find another failure of Philip, his lack of spiritual insight. And chapter 14 verse 7, Jesus has just responded to Thomas after he's described that he's going to heaven and Thomas says, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus in verse 6 has said, I am the way the truth in the life, no man comes to the Father except through me. And he goes on to say in verse 7, if you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. Now on you do know him and have seen him and Philip raises a question or a statement actually makes a statement in verse 8. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Now think for just a moment about Philip's statement. There's something good about it and that is that it shows an intense longing to know God better. You really want to know the Father, just show him to us, that will be enough. There's an a zeal here that you like, you have to like, you want to know the Father. But the bad thing about this statement and one that I'm sure he was embarrassed about after Jesus responded is he had missed entirely the fact that Jesus revealed the Father. And everything they needed to know about the Father could be seen in Jesus, especially since Jesus had just said that in verse 7. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. And Philip's still stumbling over that. He does not completely understand that the Father is revealed in Jesus. He shows a lack of discernment, a lack of spiritual insight after walking with Jesus for three years. After hearing all of his claims like back in John 10, I and my Father are one. Or other passages like John 6, the Father has come to do these works and I've come to do those works as well. When my Father works, I work, when I work my Father works. After hearing all of those things, Philip still hasn't gotten it. He still has not registered with him that to see Jesus is to see the Father because they are one and the same in nature. He's heard the claims, he's seen the miracles, but he didn't catch the full significance of what he had seen and heard. His statement shows a spiritual dullness, a lack of spiritual insight that sometimes we have as well. All of us to some degree. While we may thank God for growth that we have seen in our lives, I'm certain all of us could say, Lord, I haven't grown as much as I should have for this phase of my life, this stage of my life. You know, the writer to the Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 5, you've been saved long enough to be teachers and yet you're having to be taught again the simple things of the Word of God, the milk rather than the meat. And he was agonizing over the fact that you're not as sharp spiritually as you should be. And I'm sure that to some degree, all of us could say that. All of us are Philip in that way. But Jesus, Rebuke of Philip is also a rebuke to us. Verse 9, Jesus answered, don't you know me Philip? Even after I have been among you such a long time, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not my own, not just my own, rather it is the Father living in me who is doing this work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. Jesus, Jesus, Rebuke's impatiently, graciously. I mean, he really could have blasted him at this point. There is a rebuke, but it's couched in patient terms. Philip, you've been with me this long. You've heard the claims that I've made. You've seen the miracles that I've done. How is it that you can say, show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and He is in me? And if you won't believe the claims, believe the miracles that you've seen and surely they will tell you who the Father is. Jesus is not as irritated as He might be or could be with Philip, but there is a rebuke here. And the rebuke is for all of us how long have we been saved and how little do we know of who Jesus is and what He shows us about the Father? I think the rebuke really is a challenge to grow. It's a challenge to never stop pursuing spiritual growth, to never rest on what we have already attained or what we already know, to never be content with saying, I've been saved for X number of years, I'm going to kind of coast the rest of the way. I've had my day, I've learned what I'm going to learn. As long as we live, we ought to continue to grow spiritually. I think Jesus rebuke is the kind of rebuke that we need to hear whenever we think I've learned enough, I'm going to stop learning anything else about the Word of God or I'm satisfied with where I am spiritually. We should continue to grow in our walk with Christ, in our knowledge of Him, in our understanding of who He is and what He shows us about the Father. Philip failed in that and I'm sure that he learned from this rebuke to continue to grow, to understand more about who Jesus was. Well, I'm thankful for people like Philip in the Apostolic Band because despite his failures, his lack of faith, his lack of spiritual insight, he was still used of God. He's still with the Apostles in the book of Acts when they're listed in chapter 1, he's still with them after the resurrection. And even though we don't hear of him after that, church traditions tell us that Philip was greatly used of God like the others, maybe not the same name recognition as a James or a John or a Peter, but he was one of the Apostles that was greatly used of God. There's a place for people like Philip. There's a place for people like those of us who may take a little longer to grasp spiritual truth than some of our fellow disciples, maybe a little slower to really express faith and what everything mapped out for us before we trust God. There's a place for disciples like that and it's encouraging to see that the Lord had a place for Philip. Now, those of us who live like that are going to probably get a few more rebukes than some of you will, but there's still a place for us to serve God. I hope you'll be encouraged by that. Encourage to continue to press on, to grow more in your faith, grow more in your relationship with Christ. Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful for men like Philip, the fact that you do have a place for all of us who know you in your work. It's not all the Peters and Johns and James and people like that, but there are lots of Phillips as well. You've chosen us and you've enabled us and equipped us to serve you, and I pray, Father, that you would bless all of the Philip types here tonight. Those of us who are a little slower to grasp spiritual truths or to express our faith have vision. I pray that you would help us to grow and yet to be thankful that you can still use us. They will leave tonight encouraged by your grace. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.