Which Philip?

Philip, the Bible’s famous deacon, was a magnificent person. To clarify, we’re not talking about the Apostle Philip. Although these two were from the same generation—and even members of the same congregation—the Apostle Philip was a different man. He wasn't the deacon.

Here's Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens' famous rendering of the Apostle Philip. He composed it in the early 17th century, almost 1600 years after Philip was martyred, so the depiction is not accurate:

This stalwart servant of Christ, the Apostle Philip, was originally a fisherman who lived in the town of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. He was a close friend of another apostle, Nathanael, who he introduced to Jesus.

You may recall that the Apostle Philip requested of the Lord ‘Show us the Father, and that will be enough’ (John 14:8) in the Upper Room at the Last Supper. Jesus’ famous response was: ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14:9). This dialogue testifies to the fact that the Apostle Philip was passionate for the Father, a great virtue! Well, loving God is the greatest commandment.

More Than a Deacon

The Apostle Philip would go on, as the historian Eusebius tells us, to evangelize the Greeks in a city called Hierapolis, in what is now modern-day Türkiye. He was martyred there and would go down in history as a great man, for sure. However, the deacon Philip is more famous among fans of the Bible. About twenty times more text of Scripture is dedicated to describing his activities and words.

Since the Apostle Philip (along with his companions, the other eleven Apostles) selected the deacon Philip for the work of the deaconate, the apostle originally had more authority. But the deacon Philip would mature into a prominent figure in early Christianity. And his prominence brings us to him today. He had a huge impact on the Church and on the lost!

Although the deacon Philip was selected by the Apostles to be one of the first seven men to be named deacons in all Christian history, Philip didn’t remain a deacon. He became much more than a deacon. He became a very powerful evangelist!

It's truly remarkable. Although Philip was chosen for a menial task: to distribute food to poor widows, he rose up to a much greater task. He became a soul winner. God gave Philip immense honor. As Jesus taught: 'He who humbles himself will be exalted.' Philip embodies this saying as his original job wasn’t prestigious at all. In fact, the work of a deacon was very humble work.

The first seven men to minister as deacons were selected for one thing: to free up the schedules of the Twelve Apostles. The Apostles were committed to feeding the congregation's widows, but they needed to dedicate more time to preaching and prayer, being more urgent tasks. Therefore, the Church selected seven "deacons" to bear the Apostles' burden--that is, to feed the widows, and thereby adding precious time to the Apostle's daily schedule.

Philip the deacon was likely young, so he may have looked something like this:

What is a Deacon?

To understand Philip, it’s important to know that the word deacon (Greek diakonos) means an attendant. In the original Greek of the Bible it was used for a waiter who served food at a restaurant. A deacon was a lowly person.

At the time the Church started, if someone were to say “I’m a deacon,” it wouldn’t sound like a prestigious title. Today, of course, the word deacon sounds like a church leader, so it has taken on an honorable connotation. But, at the time of Jesus, it just meant attendant or waiter—a person of no honor.

Although you can’t see it in your English version of the Bible, Jesus used the word deacon in this famous saying:

The greatest among you will be your servant [deacon] (Matthew 23:11).

Yes, there’s the word! Jesus was actually saying that 'the greatest among you will be your deacon' because he used the Greek word diakonos. So you see that deacon was a word commonly used in the times of Jesus and the apostles, but it did not mean anything fancy. It meant humble servant.

An Evangelist

The deacon Philip served in the first Church in history, the congregation pastored by the Twelve Apostles. It was located in Jerusalem, Israel. Philip carried out his duties with love and integrity, and after a time there, he moved to another city, a port. He went to Caesarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean, which was also a city of Israel.

As he ministered, Philip raised four daughters. They became well-known among the early Christians. Why? Well, they were each prophetesses.

Believers would visit Philip to hear words of prophecy and to get revelations at his house. Philip became famous for his hospitality, and to have four daughters at home was an impressive accomplishment: He was a father capable of leading his daughters to chastity in service to God. The Scriptures say that this is a good thing:

If anyone thinks he is not treating his daughter properly, and if she is getting along in years [or if her passions are too strong], and he feels she ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. He should let her get married.

But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind to keep the virgin unmarried—this man also does the right thing. So then, he who gives his virgin in marriage does right, but he who does not give her in marriage does better (1 Corinthians 7:36-38; NIV).

But again, as we said before, Philip’s fame was not so much his work as a deacon, his accomplishments as a father, his gift of hospitality, or the ministry of prophecy that graced his house. Rather, it was his ministry of evangelism. That’s what  made Philip most famous. In fact, Philip's soul-saving labors bolstered his reputation so much that among the churches he became known as an evangelist.

A Method to Evangelism

Now, let’s familiarize ourselves with the mechanics of Philip’s evangelism. He envisioned evangelism as a three-step process:

a) preaching of the Gospel

b) water baptism

c) the laying on of hands

It was ABC. It was 1, 2, 3. Preach, baptize, lay on hands. Preach, baptize, lay on hands.

The members of Philip the deacon's church, especially Philip with the apostles Peter and John, worked together in this 3-step process with the aim of transmitting the baptism of the Holy Spirit to everyone who believed. The goal of the three steps was always the new birth--that is, regeneration, otherwise known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit!

Here's a painting of Philip laying hands on an Ethiopian man he baptized:

But this three-part process was not only Philip’s method. It was the method of the New Testament Church in general, and there was no other method. We know this because the Book of Acts is filled with examples of the implementation of this method. In the Early Church, there were no other approaches to evangelism.

Let’s look at how Philip (with the Apostles Peter and John) held to this method when they performed evangelistic outreach to the Samaritans together. You’ll notice that they:

a) proclaimed Christ

b) baptized in the name of Jesus

c) laid their hands on new believers

Verses 5 and 16 to 17 of Acts chapter 8 say this:

And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them... for he [the Spirit] had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they [Peter and John] began laying their hands on them and they were receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:5,16-17; NASB).

As we just read, in evangelism, the Church aimed at the new birth in the Holy Spirit. They called that experience the new birth, but it’s also called Holy Spirit baptism, regeneration, or simply salvation. These early Church leaders were spot on: Holy Spirit baptism is the goal of evangelism.

But the Church today has drifted far from this evangelistic goal. It needs to go back to the original approach and make Holy Spirit baptism the goal of evangelism today! Modern so-called "evangelists" hardly ever aim for people to be born of the Holy Spirit. For example, leading someone to pray to receive Jesus in their heart is not Biblical evangelism, although most Evangelicals will call it "salvation."

Now, that's just an obvious case. Less obvious because it's a lot closer to salvation than the "prayer of faith," is baptism in water. However, just being baptized in water is not enough for salvation either. Let's look at this matter more closely.

Incomplete Baptism

Notice that the Scriptures say that the Samaritans had '... simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.’ Now, simply means only. So the idea the author of Acts, Luke, wants to transmit is that the Samaritans had only been baptized in water. In other words, the Samaritans' baptism in water was deficient. Any common sense reader must deduce from the words the Samaritans '... simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus' that baptism in water isn’t enough for salvation--and they are right in deducing that.

Being very aware that simply means merely, we must figure out what ‘they had merely been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus’ means. How should we interpret these words? Well, let’s start with this: They do not mean that baptism in the name of Jesus is empty. They do not mean that water baptism is useless.

Baptism Saves, But Not Baptism Alone

Baptism in the name of Jesus is what Philip—as the principal and first evangelist to the Samaritans—performed. He baptized the Samaritans in water in the name of Jesus, and that was magnificent! Philip baptized with the intention of saving the souls of the Samaritans, and he was successful. They were 'saved through water' as the Bible says in another passage:

In it [Noah's Ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also (1 Peter 3:20-21).

However, since the text says that ‘they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,’ we have to recognize that baptism in water is not enough for salvation. Baptism in water in Christ’s name is necessary for salvation, but alone it cannot save a person from condemnation. It must be affirmed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. He must confirm that God puts his seal on your baptism.

Maybe This Is You

Unless a new believer who has been baptized in water receives the Holy Spirit to live within them, then they fall short of the requirements for entry into the Kingdom. Each of us must be born of water and the Spirit. That’s what Jesus meant when he said:

Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5).

Precisely, a huge percentage of people in Christian churches around the World—it may be upwards of 90%—find themselves incomplete. They have to take ownership of their problem and find a solution. They have experienced water baptism, but they have not yet experienced the baptism of the Spirit. They've never been born of the Spirit.

Are you perhaps one of these people?

Maybe you’re a Baptist and nobody has ever laid their hands on you to receive the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re a Pentecostal and you don’t have a genuine spiritual gift--you've only experimented with tongues.

Possibly you got infant baptism in a Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or even a Catholic church. If that's your case, you must know this: If you were baptized in water as a baby, you were never baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Children are not born with the guilt of sin. So your infant baptism did not take away any guilt at all.

You never washed away any sins—and that is the primary purpose of baptism. As a baby, you had no sins to wash away! But now you do. So, will you seek to be baptized? Will you get cleansed of your sins?