In this series, we are looking at how Jesus shaped 12 ordinary men into extraordinary leaders who would impact the world.
It may appear the breakthrough you need is not possible by logic, but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Jesus had to teach this truth to one of His most experienced followers. The disciple Philip was a studious reader of the Bible, he was mentored by John the Baptist who prepared the way for Jesus. Philip needed no convincing when Jesus invited him to follow Him because he was looking for Jesus himself. And he was so excited to be a new disciple of Jesus that his first thought was to grab his close friend and so he could come and follow Jesus too.
Philip was a good man and at this point was one of Jesus’s most experienced disciples. Yet the Bible shows us that Philip needed a lot of training from Jesus to not live by thinking logically through situations, but to start living by faith.
As John McArthur says in ‘Twelve Ordinary Men’, “Philip was a facts and figures guy - a by the book, practical-minded, non-forward-thinking type of individual. He was the kind who tends to be a corporate killjoy, pessimistic, narrowly focused, sometimes missing the big picture, often obsessed with identifying reasons things can’t be done, rather than finding ways to do them.”
Do any of these traits seem familiar? You can be a Christian for a long time, know the Bible, and go to church. But living by focusing only on what you can see in front of you can still prevent you from having faith to see the power of God at work in your life.
For Philip to become a true disciple he required personal mentoring and for Jesus to spotlight areas where he needed to grow.
1. Natural vision clouds spiritual vision (John 6:5-9; Proverbs 29:18; Hebrews 11:6; Mark 11:24; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Mark 9:23)
2. Your heart needs to be open to all people (John 12:20-22; Matthew 10:5-6)
3. Have a true revelation of who Jesus is (John 14:6-11)
Apply
1. Natural vision clouds spiritual vision. Philip had to learn how to trust what Jesus could do, and not rely on the natural situation before him. When Jesus fed the 5000, He blessed the five small barley loaves and two small fish and multiplied it until every person ate as much as they wanted (John 6:5-9). Why did Jesus turn and ask Philip for his opinion about how the people could be fed? He was teaching him a very important lesson. As the disciples travelled, Philip was a logistics guy and played a role in the arranging of food. He had a particular mindset that needed to be challenged. Philip’s response to Jesus was a well-thought, reasonable one as he added up how much they earned collectively in wages and how much disposable income they had to buy food. And this led to a pessimistic ‘no! It can’t be done’ attitude. He’d looked at it across every angle analytically and logic defied any solution. Philip didn’t visualise in faith that God could do a miracle (Proverbs 29:18). He didn’t think about what Jesus was trying to show him here or if Jesus was able to do what He had done before. He lacked vision. When we try to work out problems or challenges with natural vision, and we only look at the situation as it is, it stops us from seeing and believing what God can do. If you lack faith and you lack the vision you may find yourself challenged. Jesus wants you to trust Him. Throughout the Bible, we see how our way of thinking needs to be challenged (Hebrews 11:6; Mark 11:24; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Mark 9:23). When you have a difficult situation in your finances, do you stop giving or do you have faith that amid the trial, God will reward your faith? When you are needing to see a miracle in your marriage, with your family, in your job, in your ministry, health…don’t give up or lose heart and think ‘well this is impossible, I’ll never see a breakthrough here’. Open your spiritual eyes! Have a vision beyond the natural to see that God can do immense things in your life if you press into the dimension of faith. Bring the situation to Jesus, pray and ask for him to provide and to lead you through. We must learn from Philip here not to forget what God has done before, what He has rescued you from in the past. If He did it before He can do it again. Remember what God has done before in your life and through His word and have confidence in what He wants to do for the future.
2. Your heart needs to be open to all people. Philip knew that Jesus had a heart for the multitudes. Jesus was found among those that society despised: the sinful, the sick, the rich, the poor. Yet Philip had scepticism in his heart about who to bring to Jesus because of his limited thinking. His mindset overruled his heart. He needed to learn how to open his heart like Jesus did. It was at a festival on the way to Jerusalem, that we meet Philip in his clouded judgment (John 12:20-22). It was a great opportunity to welcome the Greeks who were so interested in Jesus, to step out in faith and bring them to Jesus. But Philip didn’t take the opportunity, instead telling Andrew. In the pressure of the situation Philip went back to his methods and protocols, he lacked boldness and missed the opportunity again to step out in faith. He applied Jesus’s previous instructions to the disciples about ministering first to the Jews and was so structured in his thinking that instead of having being open towards others, he was locked in rigid protocol (Matthew 10:5-6). Yet Jesus welcomed the Greeks, ministered to them and invited them to follow Him. There was no barrier, but Philip created one in his mind. This should challenge us. We mustn’t limit who we bring to Jesus because we are fearful, unsure or concerned. When people are in need, we need to have a heart like Jesus of compassion and acceptance of all people. Our priority should always be to bring people to Jesus whenever the opportunity arises. It’s important that we have a sensitivity to the spirit so we can do this.
3. Have a true revelation of who Jesus is. The final place we read about Philip is in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, just before Jesus would be taken away and crucified. During the supper, Jesus shared some final wisdom and understanding of what lay ahead for His disciples. This was one of their final moments to be around the table with the son of God, a precious time, and Philip had a question (John 14:6-11). Philip had walked with Jesus for a long time at this point. Yet He still needed a revelation of who Jesus was. He needed to stop telling Jesus he needed to know God, but instead listen and receive from Jesus directly. Jesus showed grace and patience with Philip but made it clear that he needed to stop questioning and start trusting. How often do we tell Jesus what we need and how we need it? We need to instead listen to His word, his authority and allow Him to reveal Himself to us. Philip had very important lessons to learn. He grew in faith, confidence, and in conviction and was shaped into the man Jesus called him to be. This is discipleship. He stopped trying to work things out in his own efforts and methods, and received the power of the Holy Spirit. History tells us that Philip went on to become a great preacher of the good news of Jesus and gave his life for the gospel. Where do you need to lay down your own way of thinking and start trusting in God’s hand over your life? Where do you need to allow God to shape you and challenge your mindset?
