Jesus' Close Friends - Philip - Part 2

Jesus' Close Friends - Philip - Part 2

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.
He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me".

                           -- John 1:43

God chooses us. We do not choose Him.

The Last Passover

Some months later Philip was present with Jesus

and the other disciples in a small room in Jerusalem

sharing their last Passover meal with Him.

     Jesus knew the time had come for him to leave

     this world and go to the Father. Having loved

     his own who were in the world, he now shared

     with them the full extent of his love [that he

     loved them to the last.] 

                               -- John 13:1

During Jesus' teachings at this meal, he said to his close followers:

     You did not choose me, but I chose you to

     go to bear fruit -- fruit that will last.

                               -- John 15:16

Was Philip, upon hearing these words, remembering that day when Jesus found him and said, "Follow me"?

The Bigger Picture

The idea that we are chosen is cause for great humility.

     Not by works of righteousness that we have

     done, but according to his mercy he has saved

     us.                      -- Titus 3:5

     Who has saved us and called us with a holy

     calling, not according to our works, but

     according to his own purpose and grace

     which was given us before time began.

                             -- 2 Timothy 1:9

We see another aspect of being "chosen" in Ephesians 1:3-4 when Paul gives us a clear view of the bigger picture:

     Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord

     Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly

     realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

     For he [God] chose us in him before the

     creation of the world to be holy and blameless in

     his sight.

This "choseness" occurred before the creation of

the world!

Just think - we were in God's plan right from before anything else! WE -- you and I and all the others in God's family!

    ... according to his own purpose and grace....

Is this the giant thought with which to start every day?  Is there anything more delightfully mysterious and astonishing than this?

Is this the single truth that should get us through every day, no matter what "danger, toils and snares" come at us?

It's like we were close to him all along - on his heart - his intention - he planned for us - he prepared the way for us.

Every generation, every great great great great grandparent that brought us into the world was being used as part of the plan that finally brought us into his kingdom! And they could say the same thing!

(I know, that's sounds pretty self-centered - but it's true and somehow very humbling also!)

It's too much for us to comprehend.

What Does "Chosen" Mean?

Paul, in Ephesians 1:3-4 (see above) traces "every spiritual blessing" to its ultimate source in the inexplicable purposes of God.

The Greek word for "chose" used here in Ephesians is the usual one used in the Old Testament (we know that from the Greek Septuagint, the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew in the 3rd century BC) describing God's choice of Israel as his own people.

It pictures taking a smaller unit out of a larger.

Just as Israel was chosen - a small, insignificant country, out of all the more powerful countries - to

be God's inheritance and his tool for changing the world, so the Church - small and meager as we may sometimes appear - is his workmanship for bringing in his kingdom.

God determined, before creation, that all who believed on his Son should be saved.

What Does That Say To Us?

There is a moral purpose in all this. To be "holy" means to be set apart for God in order to reflect His purity. It is not just imputed (to bestow upon another) righteousness, but actual righteousness.

Blameless is "free from blemish" like the sacrificial animals presented at the altar in the Old Testament under the old covenant.

When we remember the basic meaning of the Greek word choose (taking a small unit out of a larger one) we can see how history moves along.

We in God's family are a remnant, a small group, a minority (though powerful with God's mighty power).

A small group, not ever the majority.

In viewing history we must always remember this: we are now a minority - a small portion taken out of the whole - we are not supposed to be "popular" and "trend-setters" and "oh so hip" and all the phrases that describe the "movers and shakers" and their groupies of each generation.

But It Will Not Always Be That Way....

When the final curtain comes down:

     They will make war against the Lamb, but the

     Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of

     lords and King of kings - and with Him will be

     His called, chosen and faithful followers.

                          -- Revelation 17:14

And He shall reign forever and ever, and we will be with im because we are His "called and chosen followers."

Jesus Christ chose Philip and said to him, "Follow me" and he did.

He is chosen you. And He says to you, "Follow me."

Say "yes" right now and start the journey. 

When we looked at Andrew's life we had 3 portraits of him presented in scripture (besides those "group pictures" of him with the other disciples).

With Philip we have four personal pictures: The first was here in John 1:43 when Jesus sought him out and told him to "Follow me."

The second is at the Feeding of the 5000 (where we see him with Andrew),  the third is when the Greek Gentiles come to him asking to see Jesus (also with Andrew) and then the fourth is at the last night before Christ's death and Philip asked Jesus to "show us the Father."

To be concluded....