August 2021 – Daily Dependence

If you can believe it, I started this right before Memorial Day, (May 31, 2021) and for some reason never finished it. I had planned to tie this post into the day that we honor those men and women who have given their lives in service to our country. With the recent events at the Kabul Airport, where a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. Service Members (8/26/21) it seemed appropriate to return to the post. Even though it is is three months later, I still want to thank those who given the ultimate sacrifice as Jesus said in John 15:13 (NIV): 143 - Daily Dependence - John‬ ‭15-13‬

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

It got me thinking about our series about the men and women in scripture who consistently chased after God, and how two men who Overcame Adversity Through Service and Sacrifice came to mind…

143 - Daily Dependence - Phillip and Stephen

Phillip and Stephen may not be on the top of your list, or perhaps you may not even know who they are, but that is precisely the point. People whose sole desire is to serve do not look for glory or to make a name for themselves as is the case with our overcomers today. Phillip and Stephen faithfully worked in the background building the Kingdom of God. By the way, since it has been a while since I have posted about the series, here is a quick rundown what we have covered so far:

Our anchor verse for the series is from Joshua 1:8 (NLT):

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

This passage has certainly been applicable to our previous Overcomers, but I think you will see it especially describes Phillip and Stephen as well. We first meet them in Acts Chapter 6 as a solution to a food distribution problem that arose in the early church between the Hebrew-speaking widows and the Greek-speaking widows (or Hellenists), see Acts 6:1. Earlier this year, my wife and I visited the church that my daughter is attending near her college, and the Pastor explained the context of the discord and that when the church prospers, there will inherently be some growing pains, as was the case when we meet our two overcomers. The Greek widows were complaining that they were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. This revealed a need in the community. So, the position of Deacons was created so that the Apostles could focus on teaching the Word of God. Acts 6:3,5 (NLT) records,

“And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.”

“Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).”

My daughter’s pastor, Ross Appleton, made the point that this was a joint coalition to take care of the Hellenist widows. These (7) deacons served humbly, not as Apostles in the spotlight but rather as part of the church’s food bank which shows us that:

“Serving enables the Word of God to move forward.” Ross Appleton

That is a word that I think many people including myself need to take to heart. In the post ★ Thought for the Day – Audience of One ★, I shared how I struggled for years wanting to be in the spotlight, believing that if I was upfront, I could have the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God, but God spoke to me at a men’s conference back in 2014 that I needed to repent as my motives were off. You see what started off as me wanting to serve, was really motivated unbeknownst to me by a thirst for the approval of others rather than the approval of the One. Now I am not saying that if you are the Lead Pastor or Ministry Leader that your motivations are wrong, that is just what happened to me. I am merely making the point that people who are serving in the background are just as important to “moving the Word of God forward” as anyone else. In fact, I remember Jimmy Evans making the point that small group leaders will have a bigger impact on the people in that circle than he could ever have preaching in front of thousands of people. The key is whether you are operating in the power of the Holy Spirit or not. I was reading a commentary on Acts 6:3 and I thought this was quite powerful:

“The idea behind full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom is that these men were to be both SPIRITUALLY MINDED and PRACTICALLY MINDED. This can be a hard combination to find.” David Guzik

I will say that I learned a lot from the commentary and have used it in this post for context. Also, I did want to say, because there is so much to unpack, you may have noticed that this is “Part 6A” to our series. That is because we will start off with Phillip in this post and then in “Part 6B” we will put our lens on the life and sacrifice of Stephen.

So, let’s focus now on Phillip, who we can deduce was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom since he was selected. He is not the same Phillip mentioned in John 1:43-44 who becomes a Disciple of Jesus but the “other Philip,” who I just discovered is distinguished with the name “Philip the evangelist” or “Philip the deacon.” The amazing thing about Philip is that though he was one of the original seven deacons selected, he must have had a heart for evangelism because when the “great persecution” arose in Acts 8:1, Philip left Jerusalem to become an evangelist in Samaria (Acts 8:4-13). This is significant because Jews typically stayed away from Samaria because they generally hated them because they were half-breeds. If you recall your history 600 years earlier when the Assyrians conquered Israel, they scattered all the wealthy, and middle-class Jews from Israel, and then proceeded to move into the area and intermarry with the lowest classes of the remaining Jews from Northmen Israel (see 2 Kings 17). So not only was Phillip humble, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom but he was also not a racist, following the example of Jesus who ministered to the Samaritan Woman at the Well (see John 4) and told the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37) as a lesson about how we ought to treat others. The Apostle Paul instructed in Galatians 3:28 (NLT) that…

“There is no longer Jew or GenJtile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

And that is something that Phillip took to heart because he saw no separation from the Samaritans and extended the hope of Jesus to them. At that time the Samaritans used to listen to a Sorcerer named Simon, but his influence was waning because of all God was doing though Phillip. In Acts 8:12-13 says:

“But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.”

Phillip went from the bread line to the front line, being God’s messenger to the long hated and ostracized Samaritans. It is interesting to note that later on in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Paul’s mentee Timothy gives clarity on what the qualifications for a Deacon are. You could extrapolate that the list came from these first (7) men who served in this role. My daughter’s Pastor also made this point that is apropos to Phillip:

“People don’t accidentally love people; we must be intentional.” Ross Appleton

I love that! If we want to make a difference in this world, we must be intentional. It will take time, effort, potentially even money. But as believers in Christ, we have a clear mandate from Jesus. In Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT), Jesus gave His last command before ascending to heaven.

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

This instruction is commonly referred to as “The Great Commission” that Jesus charged His disciples to go out to make disciples throughout the earth so that the Kingdom of God can be expanded. Phillip, a humble servant to everyone understood this well as he had a profound effect in expanding the church. 2,000 years later, that is still relevant for us today. If we want to Overcome Adversity, perhaps it is through service. When we take time to meet people’s physical needs like Phillip did, they will be more apt to listen to the truth about Jesus, who is the only One who can meet their spiritual needs.

Click here for the next post in our series that covers Stephen, called:

★ Thought for the Day – Overcoming Adversity Through Service – Part 6B ★

★ ★ ★ DIG DEEPER ★ ★ ★

★ Thought for the Day – What is the X-Factor of Leadership? ★

★ Thought for the Day – Back Into the Fire ★

★ Thought for the Day – Interruption or Opportunity? ★

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