The Three New Testament Philips
Philip was a common name in first century Christianity. The meaning of the name Philip is, lover of horses, implying such from the parents. Two of the New Testament Philips were very godly and noteworthy, while the third Philip was a powerful political ruler.
Philip The Apostle
Philip the apostle was one of the elite twelve disciples of Christ, who became an original apostle of Jesus Christ! He is listed with the other eleven apostles in Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18 and Luke 6:14 -- thus he was one of the twelve apostles who traveled with the Lord Jesus. Though we don't have much information about Philip the Apostle, this we do know about him:
- His hometown was Bethsaida, the same town that Andrew and Peter were from (John 1:43,44)
- He brought Nathanael to the Lord (Jn. 1:45), who quickly testified that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel (John 1:49).
- He was tested by Jesus with a question about how they would feed a great crowd with bread (Jn. 6:6).
- At one point some Greeks went to Philip to speak to Jesus. Philip then went to Andrew and together they told Jesus (Jn. 12:20-22)
- At another point Philip the apostle asked Jesus to show them the Father (John 14:8). Jesus' reply (v. 9) to him has been misunderstood by especially the Oneness Pentecostals, who wrongly teach Jesus is the person of the Father:
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9)
- Philip the apostle was also one of the 120 in the Upper Room on the day of Penetecost (Acts 1:13-15)
The apostle Philip, unnamed but referred to with the other apostles, performed many
miraculous signs and wonders among the people (Acts 5:12).
For teaching about Jesus, Philip the apostle was also beat bloody and rejoiced that he was worthy to suffer disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41,42). The details about the death of St. Philip the apostle are unknown.
Philip The Evangelist
Philip the evangelist started out as one of the seven men chosen to distribute food to widows because he was known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3). Philip's humble start as a deacon progressed to performing mighty
miracles among the people!
St. Philip the deacon became the mighty Philip the evangelist.
After St. Stephen the martyr died and went to heaven (Acts 7:59,60), Philip went alone to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (Acts 8:5). The bible says:
With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. (Acts 8:7)
Such proves it wasn't just the apostles who performed mighty
miracles in Jesus' name.
Also, just like Paul's evangelism at times, Philip the evangelist was preaching alone in public and among the heathen.
One of the greatest conversions to Christ in the whole New Testament, after the apostle Paul, occurred through St. Philip's ministry! He was Simon of Samaria, a sorcerer, who came to saving faith and was Christian baptized (Acts 8:13). Later Simon apostatized, as apparent by his heart not being right before God (Acts 8:20-24)!
Before getting
born again, Simon as a sorcerer was viewed as a
deity (Acts 8:10) among the pagans because of his magical powers (Acts 8:11).
Everyone in the area knew of Simon!
NOTE: Philip is the one and only actual example of an evangelist in the entire bible (Acts 21:8)!
Philip did NOT go into any established Christian congregations and preach to them, as the so-called evangelists do in our dark day! Instead, Philip the evangelist went out into the general public and street evangelized to the lost -- religious and non religious.
God used Philip the evangelist mightily in Samaria. A large number came to salvation before he was sent after one soul to win in the desert -- the Ethiopian eunuch, who was the treasurer for Candace queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27). When Paul told pastor Timothy to do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim. 4:5), that included imitating Philip the evangelist and taking the gospel to the streets as he did!
Philip The Evangelist was unique, the only one who was ever:
- called an evangelist in the NT
- physically translated from one location to another in the NT
When Paul arrived at Caesarea, he stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, who then had four daughters who
prophesied (Acts 21:8,9). It was also at Philip's house where the prophet
Agabus foretold in the Spirit that the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of Paul's belt and hand him over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10,11), which later followed.
Philip The Tetrarch
The brother of Herod the Tetrarch of Galilee was
Philip the Tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis (Lk. 3:1).
The Roman empire was divided into four quadrants, each with a tetrarch over them. Thus, Philip the Tetrarch was the political power over one fourth of the Roman empire -- a very powerful man.
Philip the Tetrarch reigned during the ministry of John the Baptist, the greatest born of women (Mt. 11:11). It was John who publicly rebuked Herod, Philip's brother, for his adulterous "marriage" to Herodias. In God's eyes, Herodias was still married to Philip the Tetrarch, though she was remarried to Herod! Those two lost people, Philip the Tetrarch and Herodias, were bound in marriage together though she didn't want to believe it!
John's rebuke with God's truth caused Herodias to hate John the Baptist, which led to his imprisonment and death (Mk. 6:27)!
For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him .... (Mark 6:17-19)
Remember these important spiritual truths about all three Philips of the New Testament.
Pictures of Jesus
The 1000 Year Reign of Christ On Earth
Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
God's Love For Us Is
Totally Unlike Human Love
Pride - It Comes Before a Fall
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