A
Study of the Book of John
“That
You May Believe”
Sermon
# 4
“The Requirements of Following Jesus!”
John
1:35-42
When it comes to sharing our
faith, two things are true of us. First, we all desire to see our friends and loved ones
come to know Jesus. The second is that we all feel somewhat at a loss about going about
doing anything to see that happen. Bill
Bright the late founder of Campus Crusade for Christ has said, “Millions
of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98
percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior.” – [Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for
Christ, quoted in Why Christians Sin, J. K. Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p.
140. 9 www. bible.org/illus./witnessing- evangelism)]
When it comes to personal
evangelism our biggest hurdle is fear. Fear
that I might do more harm than good. Fear
that I will not know what to say. Fear that I may invade someone’s privacy.”
But perhaps the greatest fear, is the fear that I may fail.
Yet when we are faithful to
share Jesus with others, He is responsible for the results. “You may
or may not be aware of the story Edward Kimball, a Sunday school teacher. He had a young
man in his class who was concern about and he determined in his heart to talk to him about
Jesus. But just the thought of talking to this rather crude young man left him trembling
in his boots. But he set out one afternoon to the shoe store where he worked. He was a
timid and soft-spoken man the opposite of what you think of when you think of a bold
evangelist. He went into the shop frightened and unsure whether he even had the courage to
confront his young man with the gospel. When Kimball recalled this incident years later
said, “I never could remember just what I
said: something about Christ and his love and that was all.” He said that
it was decidedly a “weak appeal.” But this young man gave his life to Jesus.
This young man’s name was D. L. Moody, and he became a best known evangelist of his
generation.”
There is another type of
evangelism that I want to mention, some call it invitational evangelism. Any one can do this! Statistics
tells us that, “70%
to 90% of persons who join any church in America come through the influence of a friend,
relative or acquaintance. No amount of theological expression from the pulpit can overcome
a lack of invitational expression from the pew.” [Herb Miller. How To Build A Magnetic Church.
(Nashville: Abington Press, 1987) p. 32 ]
We
have a wonderful opportunity to invite our friends, neighbors and co-workers to church. September 10 is our Old Fashioned Sunday. This is
perhaps the most non threatening service of the year. You can invite them to come with you
to hear the old-fashion singing and enjoy some of Bro. Duane’s fabulous BBQ. In the
process they will also hear the old-fashioned gospel. Our goal for the day is 500. I
believe this is an easily attainable goal. If each of us invites someone to join us for
the service could easily far exceed our goal. Will you pray about who God would have you
to invite.
This
morning I want to share three things about following Jesus from our text.
First, Following
Jesus Required Honest Reflection (vv. 35-38)
Previously in our
study of John’s gospel we learned that Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the
sins of the World. Andrew’s personal encounter with Jesus took place the day after
John had announced that Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” (John 1:29).
In verse
thirty-five we read, “Again, the next day, John stood
with two of his disciples. (36) And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold
the Lamb of God!" (37) The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
(38) Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you
seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated,
Teacher), "where are You staying?"
It is almost as if John the Baptist is
presenting his disciples to Jesus and saying to them, “You are prepared. Now go. He is the One we have
been waiting for.” What they heard must have struck a responsive chord, for
immediately they followed Jesus. Andrew and his
companion (who was probably John) were not satisfied hearing about Jesus they wanted a
direct personal relationship with Him. They evidently were to shy to approach Jesus
directly but followed Him at a distance. They may have been drawn initial to some extent
by curiosity, but whatever it was,
they must have been drawn on immediately by the question Jesus asked of them. When he saw
them following him he turned and said to them, "What
do you seek?" Those are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John and they
are very remarkable. They are also the very first words Jesus uttered in his public
ministry; and they come in the form of a question. These four words go right to the heart
of life. In them Jesus asks the most profound question in anyone's life: "What are you looking for?"
Jesus asks the
question not because he desired to know, He already knew, he asks them that they
might know their own hearts. Today He would ask, “Why did you come to this worship service today?
What did you come seeking?” The question he asked, He also asks of all those
who would follow Him. He makes us specify what we seek, if we don’t
clearly understand what it is that we seek then how can we know when it has been given.
Their
question in verse thirty-eight about where he was staying revealed that Andrew and John did
not just want something from Him they wanted Him. They wanted to spend time with Him,
to talk with Him about their lives, to learn from Him all that God had for their lives. They wanted more just a little religion in their
lives, they wanted a relationship with Jesus.
Not Only Did Following Jesus Mean Honest Reflection
but …..
Secondly, Following
Jesus Requires Decisive Action. (v. 39)
“He
said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and with
Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).”
Jesus’ invitation in
verse thirty-nine was “Come
and See.” That is
an invitation to investigate. "Come and find
out.” Take your time; ask what you want; make up your own mind." What a
tremendous response to the kind of men that John and Andrew are! They are men who need
time, men who do not move quickly; they need to investigate. Our Lord is instantly
responsive to that need. Men are still like that today, you cannot push them, or drive
them; they need time to make up their minds. All they need is an invitation to
investigate. The Lord’s
gracious invitation still stands.
John evidently never
forgot the day nor even the hour that he first spent time with Jesus. It was the
dividing line between before John knew Jesus and after John knew Jesus. Is it not so in
your life? If you are a Christian, your life is forever divided in your mind between
the time before you knew Jesus and the time after you came to know Jesus. But as important
an event as this obviously is in his life he does not tell us any details or even mention
his own name but instead tells us only about Andrew.
One
night of abiding with Jesus changed their lives. Soon afterwards He issued another
invitation to them. "Come after me, and I will make you
become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), and they never went home again. First He
invites us to come to see and know Him, then to come with Him to win others. There is also
the wonderful invitation to come to Him for relief from our burdens and cares. "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). And note His promise to those who do accept
His invitation: "the one that comes to Me I will by no
means case out" (John 6:37).
Not only Does Following Jesus Require Decisive Action
but…
Third,
Following Jesus Results in Deliberate
The result of
spending time with Jesus was that Andrew realized that he had possession of information
that was too good to keep to himself. So Andrew went immediately and found the person he
loved most in the world, his brother, Simon and brought him to Jesus.
Verse
forty, continues the story by telling us, “One of the two
who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. (41) He first
found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which
is translated, the Christ)” It is significant
that the first disciple to follow Jesus was the first to bring his own brother to Christ.
In verse forty-one we are told, “He first found his
own brother Simon.”
There
are several possibilities in under-standing this verse, John could be saying that Andrew
found his brother first “before doing anything else.” Or John could mean
that Andrew found “his own brother first,” before he found anyone else.
Or he could mean that Andrew was the “first to find his brother” -
implying that others also reached their brothers, notable that John also brought his
brother James to Jesus. But the point is that
Andrew had something had he just had to share with his brother.
You don’t have
to memorize some special plan. You don’t have to memorize the New Testament. You don’t
have to be licensed or ordained or have the church’s permission. All you have to do
is spend time with Jesus and then go and tell someone about it!
There can be no question that the most
effective means of bringing people to Christ is one at a time, on an individual basis.
Every time we come across Andrew in John’s gospel he is bringing someone to Jesus.
The second time
Scripture mentions Andrew it is in connection with the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in John
6:5-13. It was Andrew who brought the boy with the five loaves and three fish to
Jesus.
The
third time Andrew is mentioned is in John 12:20-23. Here we are told that some
Greeks sought out Philip and asked to see Jesus. Philip who didn’t know what to do,
took them to Andrew, and Andrew in his usual style took them to Jesus.
Simon
Peter’s experience is repeated by each individual who comes to Jesus. In verse
forty-two we read, “And he brought him to Jesus. Now when
Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called
Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).”
Jesus first sees us
as we are, “you are Simon” – the New
Testament reveals that Simon was often impetuous, and highly unstable. But Jesus regards
Simon not as he is, as he shall become, “but
shall be called Cephas or Peter.” Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter which
means “rock” which is the exact
opposite of unstable Simon. Simon had a new relationship with Jesus through which would
change his own personality. This experience is repeated over and over in our day. We come
to the Lord “as we are.” He knows all about us, both our good and our bad
qualities. He sees us not as we are, but as we can become if we allow Him to control our
lives. God sees not only our past but our potential.
Something to think
about!
In John chapter one it was Andrew brought Peter
to Christ, making him the first home missionary, and in chapter six he brings some Greeks
to Christ making him the first foreign missionary.
“Was
Andrew an ordinary man? Yes, but he was man whose influence is abiding because of his love
and loyalty to Christ. He was an ordinary man of average capacity; he was without
outstanding gifts; but he was of sterling character. Though he had no earth-shaking
achievements to his credit, through his faithful witness and self-effacing service he left
his mark on succeeding ages. The world needs more such ordinary people (men).” [J. Oswald Sanders. Just Like Us: 21
Character Studies from the Bible. Chap 13- Andrew. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978) p.
138]
Conclusion.
I heard of this Game Warden who had a friend
who would come back from fishing with hundreds of fish on ice. He was bewildered at how
this man could catch so many fish every time he went out. One day when he was talking with
his friend, he asked him, "How do you
catch so many fish?" His friend said that he should accompany him the next
time he went fishing and he would show him how. They set a date, and early one morning
they made their way to the lake. The Game Warden noticed that his friend only had a small
bag with him. He had no rod and reel, no tackle box. He wondered what he had in the bag.
As they arrived in their boat at the right location on the lake, his friend reached into
his bag and pulled out a stick of dynamite. He lit the dynamite and threw it into the
water. The dynamite detonated in the water scores of stunned fish floated to the surface
where the man scooped up and into the boat. His Game Warden friend exclaimed, "You can’t do that! I’m a Game Warden.
It’s illegal to use dynamite to catch fish." The Game Warden was
beside himself, and went on and on and on about how the man was breaking the law. The man
calmly reached back into his sack, pulled out another stick of dynamite, lit the fuse, and
handed it to the Game Warden, and said to him, "Are
you going to sit there and talk, or are you going to fish?"
The real issue a simple one. We have been called to be “fishers of men” and while Christians do a lot of talking about fishing, what we really need to do is fish.