This morning we're turning God's Word to John chapter 1 and other passages in the Gospel according to John as we continue looking at the 12. If you're visiting with us today, we're taking a bit of an excursus from our study in the Gospel according to Luke, looking at the 12. We had come to Luke chapter 6 and wanted to look at the 12 and what we can learn from them. We're going to continue to do that in weeks to come, Lord willing. We've been considering how God uses ordinary men, ordinary women to serve Him and to be used of Him in the spread of the gospel. This morning we're going to be looking at the Apostle Philip, John chapter 1. We're looking at The later verses there in the first chapter. In the four biblical lists of the twelve apostles, the fifth name on every list is Philip. This points to the fact that Philip was a leader of that second group of four. We've seen the first four, Peter and Andrew, James and John. Now we're looking at Philip. We'll be looking, Lord willing, at Nathanael next week. We don't hear much of him in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but John introduces us a bit more to his character in his gospel. We've seen this portion of scripture already in looking at the earlier disciples. John the Baptist was talking with his two disciples. We see there in John chapter one and verse 35. And as he saw Jesus coming, he said, behold the Lamb of God, And the two disciples there who we found out were Andrew and John heard this and they followed Jesus. They went after him as they were prepared for the coming Messiah and he spoke to them and they in turn called others, Andrew called his brother Simon Peter and James comes along, and then we pick it up in verse 43 this morning, the first portion of scripture that we're going to read this morning. John chapter one, verse 43, where we're introduced to Philip. The next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and see. We're going to start there this morning. We'll be looking at other verses, but let's begin there this morning as we think about Philip. Introducing Philip. Philip, as we've just read, is from Bethsaida, the same town as Andrew and Peter. He's likely a close friend of them in that same area, likely attended the same synagogue, had similar instruction, was looking for the coming Messiah. He's not to be confused with the Philip whom we read of later in the book of Acts who baptized the Ethiopian eunuch. If you remember that name in Acts chapter six, this is a different Philip. That Philip was a deacon who became evangelist. Philip's probably a fisherman. We can surmise that by other things that we see in John 21 as the men follow after Peter to go back to fishing. He is in this area in the northern part of Judea there and into Galilee, and we meet him as John records his call. Jesus is preparing to go to Galilee, finds him, calls him to be his disciple, one of the apostles, and first thing we wanna see is, as Philip prepares to invite a friend, the first thing we wanna see is, he is obviously a student of scripture, he speaks that way as we see it in verse 45, when Jesus calls him, he follows, and in verse 45, he finds Nathanael and he says to Nathanael, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Like the first four disciples we've looked at, Philip's been studying the Bible concerning the coming Messiah, that he might recognize him when he appears. And that is what we are to be about as people of God. We are to be those who are studying the word of God, that we might recognize Jesus and respond rightly to him. We've heard it many times, but we often let that discipline kind of slip away and we think, well, we'll just come and we'll hear a sermon and we'll say, okay, what can we take away from that? Let's see if there's some practical pointers that we can get for holy living. And that's certainly, we ought to come with expectation. We ought to come with an expectation that God is going to speak to us through his word, but we are to be those who are already aware of who Jesus is and that we are rightly responding to him. And when he calls us to follow him, that we do that. What is part of following him? Well, it's to obey all the commands that he's given. Remember what Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. So there's an element of obedience. We were talking about this on Saturday morning at men's study that in discipleship there is a very clear teaching that we are to be meditating on scripture, memorizing scripture. We see it throughout the Psalms. Blessed is the man who meditates on God's word day and night. It'd be those who are knowing the word. The gospels regularly teach us about the need to be studying the Word of God, to identify Jesus and to follow Him, and that doesn't come from out of the air. These men had been taught in their upbringing to be studying God's Word, to be students of God's Word. So as Philip hears Jesus' call to follow, he is ready to follow. And we note here then under this point that he's not afraid to speak about Jesus to those who are close to him. I think this is something we wanna think about. Maybe we already know it, but to see what's happening here. Oftentimes, it's more difficult to speak to those who are closest to us about Jesus than those who are maybe people we've met for the first time. Isn't that true? I mean, we may be hesitant. We don't, oh, we know what they think about Jesus. We know what they've said about Jesus. We don't know if, we really wanna say anything. And Nathanael might have had a notion of that with, or Philip might have had a notion of that with Nathanael because we see Nathanael's response, is it in verse 46? Yeah, 46, he says, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip says, we've found Jesus, the one spoken of in the Old Testament. And Nathanael's skepticism is right there on the surface. And Philip could have easily said, just, I better not, I don't know if I should say anything. I know what Nathanael's going to say. I have the strong sense, I know what he's going to say, and yet he says, no, this is too important of a matter to not discuss with even those who are close to me. We'll look more at Nathanael, Lord willing, next week, as I've said. But whatever was true about Nathanael's nature, Philip did not falter. He responded with those simple words, come and see. Come and see. If you're introduced to Jesus, you will see that He is unique, that He is indeed unlike any other. And that is our hope as we bring the word to people, that the word will do the work. We oftentimes think, well, what's the trick? What's the shortcut? What can we say? What can we do to get someone to believe? And the scriptures continually say, bring the word. The word pierces the heart. It is the word that's living and active. Charles Spurgeon used to say when he preached, he said, the word is like a lion, let it out of its cage and it'll do its work. It's powerful. We will accomplish the purpose that God has for it. Indeed, we recognize that that can be one way or the other. That can expose unbelief, but it can also reveal faith. We want to do that. We want to be obedient as disciples. Learning from Philip, when he hears about Jesus, he says to his friend Nathaniel, come, come and see. God can do that in us. We are to be ready to give testimony about Jesus, to speak about Him, we should be well-versed in the Scriptures, students of the Word, knowing the Word. Very often what we'll find when we talk to people is they reject a version of Jesus that isn't accurate. And they'll say, well, I don't believe Jesus is such and such. And we say, well, that's not good because that's not what the Bible teaches. Bible teaches that he is the son of God, come to save sinners. We're in a privileged position, brothers and sisters, to be studying God's word, to live in a land where we can have multiple copies of the Bible. We talked about this Saturday morning too, sometimes that makes it seem so easy, we just grab for a Bible, but to understand that book, to understand God's word and to be able to use it is necessary. Evangelism discipleship is a wonderful endeavor. We can be on the front lines of seeing God change hearts and change lives. Even where we don't expect it, Philip perhaps expected Nathaniel to say something along the lines of what he said, but he went to him and spoke to him. to introduce him to Jesus. Conversion is a radical event, we have to remember that. It's not something that we can work, it's something that God can and does work, the power of his will, the power of his word. Raised in the church, perhaps we don't see that suddenness, but I like the way Charles Wesley states it, expresses it in his hymn that we're going to sing later. Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." That's how God can work, bringing from darkness to light. There's nothing quite like seeing someone's heart open to the gospel, the childlike wonder, the energy. I've seen it in prisons. I've seen it at gospel missions, and there's just this inquisitiveness. Really? Can that really be true? Is that really true, that Jesus would do that for me? Their experience has been many have just forgotten them, neglected them and said, well, you made your bed, you sleep in it. The gospel comes and says, but sinners, even the greatest of sinners can be saved. The power of God is not limited by what we imagine possible. has little to do with the person speaking or the person receiving the word. It's a God moment. It's being witness to new life where God says, let it be, and it happens. We want to be there at those moments. Well, Philip is one who is a bit of a calculating fellow, and that's, I think, what we learn from him as we look more at him. Look to John chapter 6, the next portion of Scripture we look at, John chapter 6, the opening verses. Philip is, by God's grace, one who has moments of great insight and joy and is able to introduce a Nathanael to Jesus, but unfortunately we relate to this as well. There's also times when the weakness of faith is exposed in believers, in Philip as in us. was a hesitant fellow, didn't always remember the power of God, was held down by his own limitations. We're all a bit like that. Our weak faith can dampen our prayers, can hinder our overall effectiveness, halt our witness. We need to have eyes for Jesus to make statements like, come and see who he really is, what he's able to do. John chapter 6, Jesus tests Philip with a question. He's been teaching and healing. Crowds are following him and when he sees the crowds, he asks Philip a question, where are they going to get this food from? Before we get to that portion of scripture, just this, all four gospels note this account, the feeding of the multitude. God wants us to see an importance here, has a parallel in the Old Testament. If you remember, the people were grumbling in the wilderness. They said, we're hungry, we need something to eat. And Moses, out of awareness of his own inability, says, Lord, where are we going? God, where are we going to receive food for all of these people? Numbers chapter 11. And Here in Jesus, what John wants us to see, what God wants us to see, what the other gospel writers want us to see is that Jesus is the greater Moses, one who can provide, one who is powerful to provide. The other gospels don't tell us that Jesus spoke to Philip, John does. Why? Well, I thought about that this week. I'm not sure other than to say that he wants this personality to rise to the surface. There are many who are like Philip. Well, here's what I've got. I've got some loose change here. All I can do is purchase a little bit. We have these calculations that say, there's not much I can do, there's not much more that can be done. And we have this mindset like Philip, we limit God based upon what we think possible. Though our Lord Jesus has said, with man there is much that is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So when we meet Philip, we meet that attitude, if I can put it that way, that attitude of, well, I don't know if God can do this. I don't know if he's strong enough. We don't really have a lot to offer. Now, in my upbringing, that's how we do things, right? We gotta raise a gym for the school. We have a fundraiser where we wanna build a chapel, and we gotta have a fundraiser, and we say, well, we'll do whatever we can do with the money that comes in. I'm going to get used to this idea that whatever we can do, whatever we can accomplish, that's what's going to get done. What we forget is that behind that is the Lord who can do all things. He is the one who can bring such campaigns to fulfillment, but He can do far more than that. We measure things by money and our involvement, and we forget that there are things that we cannot do that God can do. And we see that in this narrative. His enthusiasm, Philip's enthusiasm to tell Nathaniel about Jesus doesn't translate necessarily into a confidence that Jesus can do all things. Verse five, John six, lifting up his eyes then Jesus saw the crowd coming toward him and he said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. Well, we're seeing things through Philip's eyes. And what can we say about Philip? Well, he's one who sees limits. He calculates things, and that's good to calculate. Who determines to build a tower before he determines that he has the money to complete it? We understand that, but at times we limit what the Lord can do by our own thinking. Jesus. oppose this question to Philip to expand his faith. We are often in moments like this. We doubt that God can change a heart, that he can protect us at work or at school, that he can turn bad things to good, those things that we see as bad to good. We know that He's great, but we limit Him by our reasoning, and we fail to call upon Him to glorify His name. That's what He wants to do. He wants to glorify His name. He wants to show us that He doesn't have the limits which we have, that if we depend upon Him, He can provide. in all ways to bring glory to his name and to work for our good. He wants to strengthen our faith, therefore he often sets us in situations or in a culture we could even say that seems so lost to test us, to see if we call on him to provide. We live in a secular culture where God isn't part of the conversation. We live as though this world is all that there is I fear that, certainly true in my own life, I'm not often praying that He would show His glory in this situation. It's more of a, as we've seen already, a hunker down, just kind of get through because we know that there's glory ahead. Yet what we want, we should want as God's ambassadors, Christ's ambassadors, that God would be seen here and now in us as people. and in situations around us, and as we pray, believing that we'll receive what we ask for as we read in John chapter 14. God is active at all times, working. We often miss Him. There are moments in each day where He would reveal Himself if we would but ask. We often fail to pray strong prayers because we set limits and forget who God is. Jesus asks Philip this question. Interestingly, the word there, to test him. Now, God doesn't tempt us to sin. It's not that kind of testing. James 1 says God cannot tempt. God cannot tempt us to sin. He's unable to do that, but he's getting Philip to examine his heart. He's putting something before Philip to say, now Philip, what do you see? How do you comprehend the situation in front of you? And he's being tested to examine his own heart. The Bible says that God sends testings in our lives that we might examine our faith and learn of his greatness and grow in perseverance, James 1, verses 2 and 3. These testings are to be counted with joy, James says, for they are for our good, for our growth. He says they're counted all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, produces perseverance. How do we know Philip's been calculating? Well, when he's asked the question, he's got the numbers. He says 200 days worth of wages would not be enough to give even just a little to all the people gathered here. So he's been calculating, and what he sees is what can't happen, what's impossible. And Jesus wants him to look beyond to what he can do. Don't forget, Philip's been with Jesus. He's seen him change water into wine. He's seen him heal. He's seen him do great works. He's seen his power. His response should have been, I don't know how you're going to feed them, but you can, oh Lord. Remember Ezekiel, God comes to him in the valley of dry bones and he says to Ezekiel, can these bones live? And Ezekiel takes a very wise path and he says, you know, oh Lord. He doesn't say, no way, not a chance, impossible. He says, you know, O Lord, you know what you can do. These testings are often opportunities for God to show His power to strengthen our faith. As the hymn says it, ponder anew what the Almighty can do. The next time we meet Philip is in chapter 12. In the interest of time, we're not going to look at that passage in its entirety. We'll just summarize it. There are some Greeks come to him asking to see Jesus and Philip. brings them to Jesus. That would have been a bit more difficult than we can imagine because Jesus had said, I've come to the lost children of Israel. And the Jews of that day were expecting Jesus to be Messiah for Israel. Jesus had revealed that his ministry was to the nations, going to the Gentiles. And Philip had caught that notion enough. He didn't fully understand it, but he'd caught it enough to know that he could bring whomever to the Lord Jesus. And that ought to be our desire. People from all walks of life, whatever background, those who are stirred to say, we want to see Jesus. We want to see him. We should be those ready to bring people to Jesus. Well, we last meet Philip in John 14. John 14, it's the eve of Jesus' crucifixion. Jesus has taught the 12. They're about to be sent out and he's been with them for three years. They've seen his ability, his power. What could Jesus expect from them? Well, that they would know Him, that they would perceive who He was. He was doing the works that the Messiah would do, opening blind eyes, healing the sick, delivering captives. As Jesus is speaking to them about the fact that He's going to go away, Thomas says to him, verse 5 of John 14, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him. And then almost as if Jesus wasn't getting what was going on amongst the disciples. Philip pipes up and says, verse eight, Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? I think we're all there at times, aren't we? We become so familiar with Jesus, we think we know him and we've met him in certain circumstances in his power and yet we forget who he is and we look around and we're frustrated, we're anxious, we're compromised in our thinking because we just aren't sure where to turn. And Jesus says, do you still not know who I am? There's disappointment in his voice here. He's been with them three years. And their concern is that they will be left unprotected. Jesus gives his express confession of his deity there, verse seven, I am. I am with the Father. If you had known me, you would have known my father. Whoever has seen me has seen the father. For three years, Philip gazed into the face of God. It still was not clear to him. For three years, the disciples had seen Jesus and they were yet anxious and confused. How great a reminder it is. of our need for God's spirit to embolden us, to focus us in the right place when things seem so out of control. As I said earlier, we oftentimes have these campaigns and we accomplish these things and we forget that they're accomplished through God's provision. And in the same way, and particularly in our spiritual life, we think, well, I just gotta work a little harder, try a little harder, or maybe I just need to do a bit more because God doesn't wanna answer my prayer. We forget that God loves us in the Lord Jesus Christ and he answers us in keeping with his purposes and he can do all things. What the disciples wanted, however, was for Jesus to set up his kingdom right at that moment. We want to see the Father. We want to see the one you talk about, they said. We want to see his power. And how often isn't that the case for us? We want Jesus to do it now, right here in this place. We forget that God is working in us, that Jesus is interceding for us, that the Spirit is powerfully at work in us. Jesus says to Philip and to the rest of the disciples, verses 10 and 11, do you not believe? And that's the heart of it, isn't it? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. or else believe on account of the works themselves. Brothers and sisters, the Gospels are here that we might believe. We heard it this morning in the assurance of pardon. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he He has delivered and He is providing all that you need. He calls us to put our faith in Him for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we might be received into the kingdom of eternal life. Sin has created the consequences that we see in our own lives, in the world around us, and what we need to do is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can be delivered from our sins, that the world is going to be made new at His return. Faith, such faith enables us to endure the trials here and now, believing the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in him, that he's working wisely. John MacArthur in his study on the 12 says this, Philip, like the other disciples, was a man of limited ability. He was a man of weak faith. He was a man of imperfect understanding. If we were interviewing Philip for the role to which Jesus called him, we might say, he's out. You can't make him one of the 12 most important people in the history of the world. But Jesus said, he's exactly what I'm looking for. My strength is made perfect in weakness. I'll make him into a preacher. He'll be one of the founders of the church. God works amazingly in us, and he can use us. as we humble ourselves before Him. The Lord Jesus tells us where to find help in time of confusion and turmoil. Faith is the means by which we can be grounded in the storms of life. Believe in me, He says. Trust in me. Follow me. Faith in Christ sustains us, reminds us of the truth that these These years that we live on this earth are just the beginning of our existence. Faith is the greatest gift that God can give. That we might be connected to Jesus who is eternal life. To give us the ability to look upon him. to see in him life and to see through him the power of his spirit to get us through anything. The world cannot give this kind of strength that we look so often trying to find it in the world. Oh, if I just had this, if I just had that, if I had a little more time, if I had a little more of this, that would be my sweet spot. And the scriptures tell us over and over and over again, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, follow after him. What is his example? It's dependence upon the father. looking to the Father, trusting that he will deliver. Faith is not a blind leap, as many say. It rests on the solid ground of the evidence, the overwhelming evidence of what Jesus has done. Philip and the other disciples had seen it and still did not believe, yet we have it. God speaks his word. He has it, he preserves it for us that we can see here what Jesus has done and who he was. He has the power to save. He is the one promised by God. The church is not established upon the illusions of some people long ago. It's grounded upon the truth. Philip did not recognize Jesus for who he was, but each of these tests equipped him for service. so that he could become a great witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. For he saw his weakness. He saw his limitations in Jesus's words. Do you not yet believe, Jesus said. These are not harsh words. These are words of, I want you to see who I am. I want you to understand who I am. So that in all that you face, you might have perfect peace. that you live for your creator and your father. God wants us to bear witness to these facts. He tests us to trust him as we have opportunity to speak about Jesus in many different situations. We have that opportunity to say to other people, come and see. Come and see who he is. Come and see the difference that he makes. In his mercy, God uses people who trust him and testify to his greatness. People like Philip, people like you and me. We must not limit him by our personal calculations, but believe in his power. We must desire that he would use us to call others, to call others to come and see. We are that privileged people. that Peter speaks about, oh, not to our own pride and credit, but rather to our amazement that God would reveal Himself to us, that we might be ambassadors, bringing the word which speaks of God's glory, His power and His love, that we might read of our need to be rescued from sin and His provision in a perfect Savior. He is the one that we need to be rescued from death. And our words are then these, come and see. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for your word which sets before us the facts of the incarnation, the reality of the power of your son, the truth of his accomplishments on the cross and in the resurrection, the amazing fact of his ascension where he is now interceding at your right hand for us. Lord, may that bolster our faith. May that give us strength to carry on that we would be ready to introduce people, to introduce people to Jesus. May it make a difference in our lives to know you as well, that others might see and want to know more of the truth that saves. We pray it in Jesus' name, amen.