Who Was Philip The Evangelist?

Tom:

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts Chapter 21, and we’re picking up with Verse 8.“And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea:and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.”Verse 9,“And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.”Verse 10, “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.”Verse 11, “And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, (that is, girdle meaning belt) and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”Verse 12, “And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.”Now Dave, we promised our audience that, and they probably thought we were going to sneak by this one, that we were going to talk about Paul also being approached by an individual who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.So Dave, what do you say?

Dave:

Well Tom, we, first of all, I guess, have to deal with who this Philip the evangelist was.It says he was one of the seven.So we go back to chapter 6, It tells us that there were seven, the same pleased, in verse 5, the whole multitude.This is because there were some complaints by the Grecians against the Hebrews.Now the Grecians, I think you pointed out, these were Greeks living in Jerusalem, but they were Jews who were from that area, and they felt that their wills were not getting a fair share and they complained.And the twelve, verse 2, called the multitude of the disciples together, and they said, It’s not reasonable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, this is not our job, the apostles to divvy up this food to everyone.So, verse 3, “Wherefore brethren, look ye out among ye seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”And the saying pleased them, and so forth, and they chose Stephen, going to be the first martyr of the church, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus,—so we know that Philip is one of the seven.Now the next thing we read about Philip is two chapters later we read about him.I can only assume it would be the same Philip, it’s not Philip the apostle, but this is one of the seven.And this is chapter 8, verse 5, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” —and so forth.So, you know what happened.Simon the sorcerer, supposedly, got converted and was baptized.And then Peter comes and he confronts Simon.Then verse 26, The angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south, and so forth.And he joins himself to the Ethiopian eunuch and leads him to Christ and baptizes him.

Tom:

Right, so he certainly is an evangelist, based on that title alone.

Dave:

So, that’s the gentleman’s house.Now, Philip therefore was in Jerusalem in the early days, probably from the very beginning, he must have been.Now, when it says, in Acts Chapter 2,They had all things common, and those who had houses or land sold them—I think we talked about this before just a bit, but anyway, to get it all straight, this is not teaching communism.They obviously didn’t sell every house they had, them that had more than one house, those who sold houses.Obviously, they did not sell all the land they had.If you were a farmer and you sold all your land, you’ve got no way of making a living.So they kept something that they needed for their own maintenance.They didn’t give everything away and all become beggars in the street out there.We mentioned that the prayer meeting for Peter’s being in prison, you remember, that was in the home of the mother o fJohn Mark, and she must have had a pretty big house because the whole church was gathered there, or at least many of them, those who attended the prayer meeting.So, now we know who this Philip was, he had a house, and it’s large enough to accommodate Paul and those who were traveling withhim.And he had four daughters, it doesn’t say anything about sons, maybe there were some sons, but four daughters who were virgins, and they prophesied.Now, that’s another interesting thing, Tom, every prophecy that is mentioned in the Bible is not recorded for us.For example, if you went to 1 Timothy chapter 4, I think it is—I’ll look this up quickly—and verse 14.Paul is writing to Timothy and he says:“Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery” that is, the elders.So apparently, the elders received a prophecy from God how God would use Timothy as a young man, and they prophesied over him, but we don’t know what it was.So, to say, I mean, there are some people who say this, Tom, I was raised to believe that.Every prophecy that God ever gave, every thing that was ever uttered, under the inspiration of God, is in the Bible.Now we will surely get some letters.Well, here was something that was definitely from God.“It was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.”So, there was a prophecy, a definite prophecy from God.It doesn’t say it was a false prophecy, but it is not part of the canon of scripture because the canon of scripture has only those prophecies that are intended for all.There were individual prophecies.If you went back to the Old Testament, you remember, Moses was taking too much on himself.And God said:Well, to help with this burden I will take of the Spirit that is on you and I will put it upon 70 elders.Now there was one of these elders, it gives his name, and I forget, who didn’t show up.Come to the door of the tabernacle and I’ll take of the Spirit that’s on you and put it on them.One young man, I guess, didn’t show up, he forgot.It wasn’t in his calendar or something, and somebody comes running and says, He’s prophesying in the camp!He’s not supposed to do that, he’s supposed to come—. And Moses says, Wait a minute, this is the Spirit of the Lord.Okay.But the point I’m trying to make is, we don’t have a record of any of these prophecies.Okay.But they came from God.All right?Now the Bible, these are the prophecies, this is the Word of God to the whole church, to everyone.So we don’t know every prophecy that these ladies prophesied.It doesn’t say this is the only prophecy they ever gave.Okay.Maybe I’m taking too long with this, Tom.

Tom:

Dave, I think some in our audience may be worried here, because we’re just about out of time, and you haven’t gotten to the tough questions.

Dave:

Right.Okay.I’m establishing that these people are real prophets, and they have prophesied more than once.Agabus prophesied too, Paul, don’t go to Jerusalem.Now we have a choice, either Paul is being tested by the Holy Spirit and God is seeing, “Well, Paul, will you stick with it?I’ve told you, you’re going to Jerusalem, and from there you are going to Rome.Now here they come telling you, Don’t go. Are you going to stick with what I told you to do, or are you going to be swayed by them?”See, Tom, you have people walk up to you, This is what God told me about you today.Sorry, He didn’t tell me.I think Paul is saying, “Yes, I appreciate that warning but that’s not what God told me, and I’m going to stick with what God told me.”That’s the only way I can explain it, otherwise, I’m going to say, Paul, you’re going against the guidance of the Holy Spirit.But it was through other people, and I think Paul had his own guidance from God.

Tom:

Dave, you know of course, we have to come back to this, so next week we’ll get after it.

Dave:

Okay, very good.