Philip

LIFE LESSONS
PHILIP
DR. JIM DIXON
JOHN 14:1-10
FEBRUARY 13, 2005

The Republic of the Philippines has 7,000 islands, 900 of which are inhabited. The Republic of the Philippines is named after Philip II, King of Spain, who colonized the islands in the year 1565. It was Philip II who sent to those islands missionaries that the inhabitants of the islands might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, 95% of the people of the Philippines are Christians. It is the most Christian nation in all of the Asian world.

The truth is there were many Kings of Spain and of France named Philip. There was Philip I, Philip II, Philip III, IV, V, etc. Why was that? It’s because in the world of Christendom, the name Philip was a very popular name since there had been a disciple whose name was Philip. We come to that disciple today, a disciple who had great impact on Asia Minor and the world. From the life of Philip, we have two life lessons this morning and the life lesson is this. If you’re a Christian, then you must be a theologian. If you’re a Christian, you must be a theologian.

Now, maybe you don’t like theology, and this is kind of a bummer for you. Maybe vocationally speaking, you’ve never met a theologian, but you see there’s a sense in which all Christians are called to do theology. The word theology comes from “theos,” a Greek word meaning, “God,” and “logos,” a Greek word meaning logic or reason or study or discussion. Theology is the study of God. Theology is the discussion of God. Theology seeks to know God. So if you’re a Christian … I mean how could anyone be a Christian and not want to do theology. How could you be a Christian and not want to study God, discuss God and know God?

Now, Philip was surely a theologian. He was born in Galilee to a Jewish family but in a Hellenized world and so he was given a Greek name. The name Philip is a Greek name and it means, “lover of horses.” Of course, Philip was immersed in the scriptures. He studied Torah. We know from John, chapter 1 that Philip was extremely knowledgeable in the Pentateuch, the law and the prophets. He did theology. He studied God and the things of God.

In the context of John, chapter 1 many Bible scholars, because of that context, believe that Philip became a disciple of John the Baptist. If he did, it was about theology. If he became a disciple of John the Baptist, it was because he wanted to study God. He wanted to know God. Ultimately, for these same reasons, Philip became a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How about you? Do you do theology? Do you want to know God? What’s the key to theology? How can we know God? The world basically gives three answers. First, the world says you can know God through nature, naturalism, natural theology. You can know the Creator through the creation. Of course, in its extreme form, this takes the posturing of pantheism and monism but the basic idea is we could know the Creator through the creation. Even the Bible says there’s some truth to this. There’s some truth to nature as a source of theology.

In Romans, chapter 1, it says, “Ever since the foundation of the worlds, God’s invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity have been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. And so from the creation we can see something of the power and the deity of God. Albert Einstein acknowledged this. Albert Einstein said that as he had studied the physical and natural universe, he had discovered three things. One, there is a God. Secondly, that God is brilliant and powerful. Thirdly, that God is not malignant but benign. And yet Einstein acknowledged that in his study of nature and of the physical universe, he couldn’t really know God. He could learn something about God and the mind of God but he couldn’t really know God. God was still distant for Albert Einstein.

Of course, that’s the problem with nature as the source of your theology. You can only go so far. You can only learn so much about God through a walk in the woods as you commune with trees. You can only learn so much about God as you look into a starry heaven. You see something of His glory but you can’t really know Him. Naturalism is not really a basis for theology.

A second answer the world gives is, “The key to theology is humanism. We can know God through looking at man.” This is a kind of theistic humanism. We can know God by looking at people, and even looking within ourselves. Again, there’s some truth to this because the Bible tells us in Genesis 1:26, “We are the crown of God’s creation,” and indeed we are created in the image and the likeness of God. The Imago Dei. So there is something of God in each of us. As we look at our fellow human beings, we can see something of God. But of course the Bible tells us that mankind is also fallen, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The Imago Dei, the image of God, is very faint, very weak in us, yet you can see some of God in each person.

As this is February 13 and tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I’m reminded of a story that I once told some of you. It took place on this day, February 13, nine years ago in 1996. It was on that day, February 13, 1996, that a man was driving his pickup truck down the New Jersey Expressway. He saw a limo pulled over to the side of the road. The limo driver was trying to replace a flat tired. This man in the pickup truck could see that the limo driver was struggling and having a hard time. He was a kind¬ hearted man so he pulled his pickup truck over and offered to help. The limo driver said, “Man, thanks.” The driver of the pickup truck put a new tire on the limo. The limo driver said “thanks,” got back in the limo and the man in the pickup truck started to walk back. Suddenly the window came down in the back of the limo. The passenger in the limo said, “Hey, Mister. Thanks. Thanks for stopping. Thanks for helping. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Well, this man who had stopped to help was stunned when he saw it was Donald Trump looking out of the back of the limo. He said, “Mr. Trump, there IS something you could do.” He said, “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and my wife just loves you. I mean, she just thinks you’re awesome. Would you do me a favor? If I gave you my home address, would you send her a few roses tomorrow for Valentine’s Day?” Donald Trump said, “Sure, I would love to do that.” So the driver of the pickup truck gave his address to Donald Trump. The next day, Valentine’s Day, this man was sitting in his house with his wife and the doorbell rang. This man smiled as his wife went to the door and opened the door and there was a messenger there with roses, two dozen beautiful roses and a note saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” It was from Donald Trump of course. Then this P.S… “I paid off the mortgage on your house.” Pretty amazing but, you see, there’s a little bit of God even in Donald Trump. Even in Donald Trump there’s a little bit of God.

There’s a little bit of God in all of us. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily do us any good with God. I mean, Donald Trump may one day find himself in front of God and God may say, “You’re fired!” It’s possible. But, you see, man just isn’t an adequate source of theology. We just can’t know enough about God by looking at people because we’re too flawed.

There’s a third answer that’s often given in terms of how we do theology. Some people say the key is religion. Religion and philosophy. We study God and we know God through religion and philosophy. Again, the problem with this is that is has to do with man because most religion is man¬ made. Religion is man-made and religious constructs are basically created by man. Doctrines are man¬ made. Behavioral codes, man-made. Religious systems, man-made. There’s some truth in these doctrines and behavioral codes because we’re created in the image of God, and we know something of the nature of God. And so there’s some value in studying world religions and there’s some value in studying the history of philosophy, but it’s limited in value, very limited in value. It’s also dangerous because you can do bad theology if you base it on world religion and you can get a false view of God if you base your study of God on religion.

I want to say a few words about Islam. Islam has two sacred writings for Muslims. One is the Koran and the other is the Hadith. The Koran was written by Mohammed and the Hadith was written by those who knew Mohammed about his teachings and about his life. The Koran contains 114 chapters, each chapter called a “surah.” Of course, the chapters are divided into verses just like the Bible. There are approximately 120 verses in the Koran that have to do with love and peace and forgiveness. About 120 verses. Now, Mohammed wrote the Koran over a period of 22 years, and he wrote part of it while he lived in the city of Mecca. The larger portion of the Koran Mohammed wrote while he lived in the city of Medina. The portion that Mohammed wrote in Mecca was written at a time early in Mohammed’s life when Islam was basically a spiritual movement. The part written by Mohammed in Medina was- written later in his life when Islam had become a political and militant movement.

Now, almost all of the 120 verses that have to do with love and peace and forgiveness are in the Mecca portions of the Koran. They’re not in the Medina portions of the Koran. Of course, the problem is when you look at the Koran, it’s not divided into the Mecca section and the Medina section. They’re all intermixed. Many versions of the Koran will tell you whether each verse is from the Mecca time or from the Medina time, but here’s the deal. In the Medina portion of the Koran, which was written during the militant political time of Mohammed’s life, that portion of the Koran has a whole different tone. All the statements about Christians and Jews as “people of the book” with encouragement that Muslims should create friendships with Christians and Jews, those are in the Mecca portion of the Koran. In the Medina portion of the Koran, Muslims are told that they should seek to convert Christians or Jews or kill them. Jihad is huge in the Medina portion of the Koran.

Now, here’s the deal. Islamic scholars, particularly in the Middle East, believe in the principle of Nosk. It’s an Aramaic word transliterated into English as “naskh.” It’s an Arabic word which means, “override.” So their hermeneutic, their interpretation of the Koran, involves this principal of override, this principal of naskh, and by this principal the Medina passages override the Mecca passages. The Medina passages trump the Mecca passages. And so the passages in the Mecca section which tell you to befriend Christians and Jews for they are people of the book, are trumped by the Medina passages which tell you to convert Christians and Jews or kill them and speak of the rewards of Jihad.

The problem is particularly with that Medina portion of the Koran, you’re going to get a false view of God. You’re going to have bad theology if you base it on that religion and those religious constructs. We live in this kind of a world where religion and philosophy are dangerous. And so where do we go to study God and know God? Where do we go? If nature is inadequate and man is inadequate and religion and philosophy are not adequate, where do we go? Well, Philip found the answer. I want you to see a little clip from a movie called, “The Gospel of John.”

Jesus: “My children, I shall not be with you very much longer. You will look for Me but I tell you know what I told the Jewish authorities. “You cannot go where I am going.” And now I give you a new commandment. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples.” “Where are You going, Lord?” “You cannot follow Me now where I am going, but later you will follow Me.”

Peter: “Lord, why can’t I follow You now. I am ready to die for You.”

Jesus: “Are you really ready to die for Me? I’m telling you the truth. Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you do not know Me. Do not be worried and upset. Believe in God and believe also in Me. There are many rooms in My Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to Myself so that you will be where I am. You know the way that leads to the place where I am going.”

Thomas: “Lord, we do not know where You are going so how can we know the way to get there?”

Jesus: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except by Me. Now, that you have known Me, you will know My Father also and from now on you do know Him and you have seen Him.”

Philip: “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”

Jesus: “For a long time I have been with you all yet you do not know Me, Philip. Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. Why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

That moment in Philip’s life was an epiphany for him. It was an epiphany when he came to the understanding that the key to theology is Jesus. You know God through Jesus. You study God through Jesus. When Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen God, how can you say, ‘Show us God?’ Do you not believe that God is in Me and I am in God?” That was an epiphany for Philip and it is the heart of the Bible’s message. “No man has ever seen the Father. The only Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known.” Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the key to theology. Therefore theology is always Christology. We study God through Christ Jesus. That’s the key.

Time is limited in our lives. Some of you spend a lot of time studying sports. You’re kind of ‘sportlologists.’ You read sport pages, sport magazines. You watch sporting events on TV and go to sporting events in person. A lot of time. Some of you are that way with finances. You’re into the Market and Wall Street and you know the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange and what stocks are doing and you’re constantly reading and looking into investments and the world of money. It’s time-consuming for you. Do you take the time to do theology? Do you take the time to study Jesus? How can you say you follow Jesus? How can you say you’re a Christian if you’re not willing to do theology, if you’re not willing to look at Christ and spend time with Him and get to ow Him?”

We want I think, as Christian parents, our children to look at Jesus. We know Jesus is the key to everything. Friday night our little granddaughter Abigail spent the night with Barb and me as Heather and Chris were away. When Abigail goes to bed at night, she always wants to sing, “Jesus Loves Me.” Sometimes just because she’s stalling. She wants “Jesus Loves Me” and “Jesus loves children” and how about “Old MacDonald Had A Farm?” But we want Abigail, as Heather and Chris do too, to learn about Jesus right from the beginning because Jesus is the key to theology. He’s the key to theology. We only know God through Him. I promise you, you can’t go wrong if you study Jesus Christ.

Well, there’s a second life lesson this morning. Our time is short. Everything takes longer than we expect it to but I do have a second life lesson briefly and that is this. If you’re a Christian, you must be an evangelist. If you’re a Christian, you must be a theologian and if you’re a Christian, you must be an evangelist. Philip was an evangelist.

There were many books in the early centuries about the life of Philip. In the 5th century, there was a book called “The Gospel of Philip.” In the 4th century there was a book called “The Acts of Philip.” In the 3rd century there was a book called “Epistis Sophia,” “The Wisdom of Faith,” and it was primarily about Philip. In the 2nd century there was another Gospel of Philip mentioned by Ephanies. We don’t have any of the manuscripts of that 2nd century book. All of these books were about Philip the disciple, Philip the apostle, and of course none of them were written by Philip. Some of them were pseudopagraphical books falsely attributed to him. All the books were about Philip. And why? Because Philip was famous. Philip had impacted the whole world of Asia Minor where he had gone as an evangelist and as a missionary. He ultimately impacted the world with his evangelism.

In the New Testament there are many people named Philip. There’s Herod Philip I mentioned in Matthew, chapter 14, and in Mark, chapter 6. He was the husband of Herodias and the father of Salome who demanded the head of John the Baptist. Then there was Herod Philip II mentioned in Luke, chapter 3. He was called Philip the Tetrarch. Of course, there was also Philip the evangelist mentioned in the Book of Acts. Most of Acts, chapter 8, is about Philip the evangelist. This Philip was one of the seven members of the Deaconate and he was anointed of the Holy Spirit to serve the early church. He also went and did the work of evangelism. Then finally, Philip the disciple, Philip the apostle.

Of course, in the early church and many of the early church fathers, they kind of confuse Philip the disciple and Philip the evangelist. In fact some of the early church fathers believe that they were one and the same person. Only a few Bible scholars today believe that Philip the disciple is the same as Philip the evangelist because in the Book of Acts they seem to be distinguished, but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because both of them were evangelists. Philip the evangelist and Philip the disciple, they both did the work of evangelism. In truth, all the disciples became evangelists. They were called disciples and they were called apostles.

The word disciple comes from the Greek, “mathetes” which means, “student.” Of course, they were theologians because they were students. Then the word apostle comes from “apostolos” which means, “sent forth into mission, evangelism, ministry.” So every follower of Jesus Christ was a disciple, a student, a theologian and every follower of Christ, in a sense, was an apostle sent forth, an evangelist.

That’s true of all of us. We’re all disciples and we’re all sent forth in the broad apostolic sense. The early church, you see, understood this and the early church turned the world upside down because those early Christians understood that they were called to be evangelists. So Christianity spread and it ultimately conquered the Roman world and ultimately swept over the entire Roman Empire. It was powerful.

Last year Barb and I went with my brothers and their wives to the Island of Sicily in the Mediterranean. We came into the port at Palermo and would have loved to have come into the port at Syracuse but of course the big ships don’t go into Syracuse in Sicily. Syracuse is the ancient capital of Sicily. In the ancient world when you went into the port at Syracuse, towering high above the harbor, was the statue of Archimedes. Archimedes was the famous mathematician, physicist and engineer and it was Archimedes, allegedly, in the siege of Syracuse, defeated the Roman fleet through the refractory of mirrors, and it was Archimedes who explained to the world the principal of the lever. It was Archimedes who told the King of Syracuse that if he had a lever big enough, with that lever he could move the earth. With that lever he could move the world.

Two centuries after the death of Archimedes, another ship came into that harbor at Syracuse. It was a Roman ship that had come from Malta and was on its way to Rome. On board that ship were many prisoners and one of those prisoners was Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ. Paul had found the lever with which to move the earth. Paul had found the lever with which to move the world and he knew that lever was the Gospel. The word for gospel in the Bible is the word “euangelion.” It means, “good news.” It’s the word from which we get the word “evangelical” or the word “evangelism.” When the Bible says that we’re all to be evangelists, that means we’re all to share the Gospel.

Do you do that? Do you share the Gospel? Do you tell the story? Do you tell people about Jesus? If you’re a Christian, do you tell your story because it’s part of the story of Jesus if you’re a Christian. Do you know your story? Do you know the people that God has brought into your life? The events that shaped your life? Do you know the hard times and the good times and can you now explain how God was at work in all of it and can you tell your story to somebody as part of the larger story of Jesus? Are you willing to be an evangelist. The early church was. It was powerful. I think the problem of the church of Jesus Christ today is we’ve lost that passion.

We can look back in history and see times when the church has failed. One such time was the year 1265. In the year 1265 Kublai Khan ruled China and Kublai Khan ruled much of India and the greater portion of Asia. Today historians tell us that in his time Kublai Khan was the most powerful man on earth, the most powerful man in the world though he was little known in Europe. But in that year, 1265, two Europeans came to the court of the great Khan. They were named Nicolo and Matteo Polo, the father and the uncle of Marco Polo. They made that great journey across Eastern Europe, and they traveled to Acre in Palestine. They got camels there and went into Iran and then across the deserts of Asia. A long journey. They came to the court of the great Khan, Kublai Khan.

As they appeared before Kublai Khan, he was fascinated by these two men from the West and Kublai Khan offered them gifts. Nicolo and Matteo Polo said, “We have no gifts to give you except one,” and they told him about Jesus Christ. That’s what historians tell us. They told Kublai Khan about Jesus Christ. They told him about the death of Christ, His atoning death, His sacrifice on the cross. They told Kublai Khan about the resurrection of Christ and the call of the Gospel to follow Christ. Kublai Khan was absolutely fascinated and he told Nicolo and Matteo Polo, “Listen. I want you to return to Italy and bring back a hundred missionaries. I want all of my people to be Christians.” Nicolo and Matteo Polo went back to Italy and they asked for Christians who would be willing to be missionaries. They asked for Christians who would be willing to take that long journey to the kingdom of Kublai Khan. Only two were willing to go. The year was 1269 when Nicolo and Matteo Polo and Marco Polo, who was then 17, set out with two missionaries to go and try to evangelize China. The two missionaries never made the whole trip. It took them three years, because of all kinds of difficulties, to reach the portion of China where Kublai Khan was. The two missionaries gave up and went back to Italy. They just weren’t willing to pay the once.

What would have happened if a hundred missionaries in the 13th century had gone to Kublai Khan? China would be different today. The world would be different today. It was a dark page in church history and we’re kind of in a dark period now because there are so many Christians not willing to pay the price, not willing to share the faith, not willing to tell the story, not even willing to tell their story.

If you studied World War II at all, I know you’ve heard of Erwin Rommel. Rommel was the brilliant German military strategist and military leader. Rommel had led German armies to victories. He had led them to victories in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland and France. He led Nazi armies to victory in Northern Africa. They called him the “Desert Fox.” He had written a book on military strategy. It was a brilliant book but hardly anybody had read it.

In the year 1942, Rommel was driving the British in Northern Africa backward and Rommel drove the British all the way into Alexandria. Everyone expected Rommel to win but the British and allied armies, under the leadership of General Montgomery, began to fight back in brilliant ways. They drove Rommel into Northern Egypt, a section of Northern Egypt that is called El Alamein. There the armies of General Montgomery defeated Rommel’s armies. Rommel fled with his armies out of Egypt, across Libya into Tunisia and there he was met by American and Allied Forces because Eisenhower and Patton had come ashore in Morocco, and they encountered Rommel and defeated him. Rommel fled back to Germany. Many of his Nazi soldiers had been killed or taken captive. General Patton took one of those captive Nazi soldiers and wrote a four-word note to him and said, “Take this. You’re free to go back to Germany. I want you to give this four-word message to Erwin Rommel.” And so this German soldier took this note to Rommel and when Rommel got the note and opened it up, it was a message from General Patton, just those four words, “I read your book.”

Isn’t that a smart thing, to know the enemy? It’s pretty necessary to know the enemy. I hope you understand as Christians that we have an enemy. We don’t battle against flesh and blood. We battle, the Bible says, against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, the world rulers of this present darkness. We battle against demonic powers. Spiritual warfare is real. The devil hasn’t written a book for you to read but we know his strategy. The devil wants to destroy faith. Jesus once said, “When the Son of Man comes again, will there be faith on the earth?” Will there be faith on the earth? The devil wants to destroy faith so he afflicts people, seeking to destroy their faith. He tempts people, seeking to destroy their faith. He deceives people, seeking to destroy their faith. When he can’t destroy your faith, he just wants you to shut up—keep your faith but be silent—because the devil knows if the church of Jesus Christ says nothing, the Church will die. Keep your faith but be silent and the Church will die. The devil knows that.

Of course, the devil’s strategy has now become politically correct. I mean it’s not politically correct for you to evangelize. It’s not politically correct for you to share your faith, not in this world of post-modernity. Not politically correct at all. So you need courage and faith, commitment, passion as the call of Christ is upon us.

You know, the North American Continent is moving in the direction of a post-Christian era. The task before us is great here. So we look at the life of Philip and we see that as Christians, if we are Christians, we must be theologians. We must study God and know God through Christ and we must be evangelists. We must tell people about Christ. We must tell the story so much. Everything is at stake. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.