FIRST PICTURE - JOHN 1:43-51
We find in the life of Philip is that Philip was cautious and Philip was very practical. And yet, in that cautious and practical nature, while Peter and James and John especially were loud and boisterous and outgoing and impetuous, Philip was reserved and, and cautious.He, he kind of stayed back a little bit. And yet, in this passage, Jesus finds him, and he calls him. And cautious and practical Philip becomes convinced. Look at what he says when he speaks to Nathaniel.
"We have found him whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
John 1:45
In other words, Philip comes to the conclusion, in his cautious and practical nature, that Jesus is the Messiah.
Now, when we read this passage, it seems obvious that in the life of Philip and in the life of Nathanael, they must have been studying the Word of God. How would they know the Messiah if they were practical, if they were cautious? They weren't the kind of person who'd show up and have an emotional experience. They had to see it. They had to think about it. More of, "Hey, show me the facts, show me the evidence." While some people experience God in an emotional way, others experience Him like Philip and Nathanael, in a more cerebral and contemplative and cautious way. It takes them a while to make that decision.
SECOND PICTURE - JOHN 6:1-14
Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip,
Why does he turn to Philip? He's practical, right? I mean, if you want somebody to help you with a decision, and especially if it has to do with sums, you need somebody practical. He turns to Philip and He says
“Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”
Now, what's he talking about? 5,000 men, the possibility that many of them have wives with them and many of them have families, maybe even servants who have come to see this Jesus, Messiah. Most scholars estimate they're going to have to feed 20,000 people. That's a lot of people. Do you want to be in charge of the stadium when it has 20,000 people and Jesus turns to you and says, "Hey, where are we going to get enough food to feed these people?" That was Philip. He's practical. So Philip immediately does what any cautious, practical person does. He pulls out his cell phone and he goes to the calculator and he calculates what it's going to take to feed all those people. He didn't really have a cell phone, but he starts figuring it up and he turns to Jesus and said,
“Two hundred denarii
A denarii would have been the equivalent of the average person's wage for a day. So it will take about 8 to 10 months of salary in order to feed these people, and that's if we can even find it, for everyone even to get a bite of food. Well, Philip is cautious and practical, but Andrew... The facts don't really matter. "We got a little boy here, he's got a sack lunch. 5 loaves and 2 fish. I'm not sure it's enough." But Jesus has everybody sit down, and you know the rest of the story: Jesus takes one sack lunch, he prays over it. 20,000 people, get fed!
What do you think that did to cautious and practical Philip? I think it stretched him a lot. If you are that cautious and calculating, practical Philip, you know what Jesus wants to do? He wants to stretch you and increase your faith.
THIRD PICTURE - JOHN 12:20-26
Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip,
They came to Philip probably because they thought, "Hey, Philip, that's a good Greek name." It not only means lover of horses, it was the father's name of Alexander the Great. I mean, it was a Greek name. And so they probably came to Philip. Philip is cautious, and they say to him, "We would see Jesus." Philip is not sure what he should do. Cautious, practical, contemplative, but at least he has enough faith to turn to Andrew, and he says, "Andrew, what do you think we should do?"
That's a great thing, isn't it? Because God uses a cautious, practical person, alongside of a person of faith and outgoing and forward-moving, and he brings them together, and together, they bring the Greeks to Jesus. What an incredible opportunity.
FOURTH PICTURE - JOHN 14:7-15
Look at one more, and we'll see Philip. He's still learning. He's still being stretched by God. In chapter 14, beginning with verse 7, Jesus is teaching the disciples. He's comforting them.
"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father,
Anybody see a problem? What did Jesus just say? "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Have you ever asked a dumb question? I have.And so Phillip was the same way, practical, cautious.
“Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
What a great statement, until you think about. Now look at Jesus. Jesus turns to Phillip.
“Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?
Wow. It is possible that we could be so cautious, so practical, so careful that we actually miss the most important thing. We could put all of that into a lack of faith. If there's one thing we learn about Phillip, he was cautious, he was practical, and God uses cautious and practical people, but 2 things have to happen: They have to have faith and they have to be stretched if God is going to use them.
