Who Was Philip The Evangelist?

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If you have a question for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future Contending for the Faith, stay with us, we’ll have our contact information at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now our final segment.

UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES

We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts. Here again are Dave and 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 of John 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 with him. 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.

Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can tune in. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.

Does God love only some of us? Has He already determined those elect who will live forever with Him in heaven? Are you one of the elect, and if not, is there anything you can do about it? The doctrine of Calvinism, its five points and their implications for the body of Christ are discussed and debated in two powerful books from Dave Hunt and The Berean Call, Debating Calvinism, Five Points Two Views, features a written debate between Dave Hunt and James White, published by Multnomah. In an easy to read format, Hunt and White exchange energetic letters addressing this long argued topic. Co-author of The Seduction of Christian, and co-host of Search the Scriptures Daily Radio, Dave Hunt: The influence of Calvinism is growing greatly in the church today, it’s very important that we understand, and we did debate in Calvinism so that you could have a debate in writing. You can go back and forth and read exactly what each side said, think it over carefully rather than emotional debate.

Gary:

And in what some are calling, the definitive work on this topic, don’t miss Dave Hunt’s What Love Is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God. In this recently expanded and updated edition, Dave exhaustively documents the unscriptural nature of this doctrine that comes perilously close to blasphemy. Once again, Dave Hunt: We did a new revised, up dated edition of What Love Is This? because so Calvinists were criticizing what I had said. I went through all of their criticisms and answered in this new and expanded version.

Debating Calvinism, Five Points Two Views, and What Love Is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation of God, in e-book or hard cover are both available from The Berean Call, information on how to order in just a moment. If you would like to expand your knowledge of God’s Word, we offer a wide variety of items that we hope you will find helpful, from books and tracts to audio and video recordings, CD-ROM, our website and much more. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us at our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #3007, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. And now if you would like to watch Dave and Tom, our weekly broadcast is available on DVD, ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcast at our website. Get a pen or pencil ready, we'll repeat our contact information in just a moment.

Next week we begin a new series of programs based on Dave Hunt’s book Yoga, and the Body of Christ, What Position Should Christians Hold? and, Is Yoga a Religion? In Religion in the News, Is your mother legal? We’ll take a look at that story, and address the question: Does Romans 5 destroy Calvinism? We hope you can join us. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for tuning in and invite you to join us again next week. In the meantime, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily.

You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. For more information about The Berean Call write to us at PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call us toll free at our order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. Join us again next week for Search the Scriptures Daily featuring Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon.