Come And See - John 1:35-51

[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast.! I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:48] Good morning. Turn to John chapter 1 if you would. This will be our fifth week in John chapter 1. You know, as I start a book, there's so much when you start a book.

[0:59] You're trying to get your head around and figure out how much intro do we do. And then a lot of times it's just jumping right into it. I don't have the time right now in life, you know, to be able to just kind of sift through the whole book and kind of get a big overview and where we're going to go week to week.

[1:14] It's more like taking the time I have to study each week for what's coming up this week, you know, between life and work and all of that and then piecing this in. I never would have thought we could be five weeks in the Gospel of John.

[1:27] We're going to try and finish it today. So it won't be six weeks in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And that's because it just all fits. It all fits so well with these disciples. And it's the picture that John the Apostle gives us of these first beginnings with these different apostles, with these disciples.

[1:46] It was one of those that by the time I'd finished studying the rest of the chapter, there's kind of enough for one and a half messages. So it's either extended out or trying to crunch it down. I'm going to try and crunch it. But I do want to, I don't usually bring this up.

[1:58] I do want to point out that if you are, if you're someone who likes to follow along in the bulletin, there is a whole lot of notes in there today. And I do put all of my notes online that if you want them, you just go to the website and then just hit resources.

[2:14] And it will load. And then the bottom button there is just sermon notes. So I just put all of my notes. And that'll just take you to a Google Drive.

[2:26] And there's all of the studies I've done. I just put them all up there. Just in case if you go back, like, man, he went through that slide so fast. And I really wanted that. They're there for you. And usually more. Because by the time we get to here, I'm cutting stuff out.

[2:37] But anyway, I don't own them. They're not mine. They belong to the Lord. They belong to you. So if you want them, they're there. All right. So last time we were together, we looked at how John had presented Jesus.

[2:50] We said, he said, behold the lamb. And we took communion. And we took time to behold the lamb and just to sit in his presence and to see Jesus as the one who takes away the sin of the world, the one who lifts off, literally to carry away, to pick up off of.

[3:04] And John the Baptist was telling the people that were there at the Jordan being baptized, they said, here he is. Don't miss this. Don't mistake this. Don't misunderstand this. This is the lamb. This is the one to carry away our sin.

[3:17] And there's no sin too big or too heavy for the lamb to lift. There's no sin too big or too heavy for him to carry away. And John, John the Baptist, you know, it's funny, having gone through Exodus and looking at Moses and now looking at John's life, we're going to see more of him later as we continue through this book.

[3:35] He reminds me so much of Moses. He's just so, is it self-effacing what it is? Where it's like, it's just not about himself. He's not about his ministry. He's just so humble and he's so happy to deflect to the main thing.

[3:50] And what John perceived as true, when he saw Jesus, he said, I see him, I perceive him as the lamb. He accepted as true. He affirmed as true, but he didn't keep it.

[4:00] Then he announces that as true. He says, behold, here's the lamb. John was faithful to pass on the truth to those who considered themselves his followers.

[4:11] Those who considered themselves, themselves, themselves, his disciples. That's what we're going to look at today. This idea of discipleship as we see Jesus gathering his first disciples to him.

[4:22] And it all starts with this phrase that Jesus uses. He says, come and see, come and see. That's what John said, didn't he?

[4:32] John the Baptist. He said, hey, come and see, come behold. Come and check it out for yourself. Come and see this. And that is the beginning of all disciples. Discipleship and disciple making, especially in the West, is a very hot topic.

[4:47] I mean, you just go online and just look up disciple making programs and they're all over. The statistics today reveal that a significant gap exists between professed faith and practice.

[5:02] That only 40% of Christians in the U.S. I'm sorry, 40% of Christians in the U.S. are not engaged in discipleship. Only 30% are involved in being disciples and making disciples.

[5:16] And fewer than 5% are part of a reproducing discipleship culture in churches. I'm not exactly sure what a reproducing discipleship culture is defined as.

[5:28] Except that a lot of disciples come out of it. And we'll talk about the meaning of disciples as we get into the text. But in your own minds, you can just, what you think a disciple is, it says, listen, fewer than 5% are really being a part of that.

[5:41] And yet 70% plus of pastors see it as a priority. Yet they lack effective strategies. You know, I was thinking about that. What's our strategy?

[5:54] Do we have a strategy? I sure have a strategy. It's like when you get married, right? You don't have a strategy. They didn't give you something.

[6:04] Like they said, hey, you signed the marriage license and here's the manual. There you go. Just go and do that really well. I don't know. Do we have a strategy? I'm not so sure that the lack today in our culture, the lack is strategies.

[6:19] I think there's a lot of strategies. If you look, there's a ton of strategies out there. In Amos 8.11, the Lord has this indictment against Israel. He said, behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor thirst of water, but a famine, a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

[6:39] Is it a famine of the words of the Lord? No, it's a famine of hearing them. You know, today there's a national rebound. The 42% that's climbed up to 42% of adults in the U.S. claim to read their Bibles once a week.

[6:57] That's the highest since 2012. We have 42% of adults saying they read their Bibles. And yet the reading is outpacing belief because there's a large gap between those who believe in the authority of Scripture and those who claim to read their Bibles.

[7:20] Timothy will say in 2 Timothy chapter 4, or Paul would say to 2 Timothy, he said, preach the word, Timothy. Be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

[7:33] Doctrine is like a base of the word disciple. Preach the word. What is the strategy? What is the strategy we should have? Well, I think it's right here.

[7:44] I think Paul said, Timothy, this is how disciples are made. Jesus will say in Matthew 28, when he sends out the apostles out into the world, he's ready to go back to the Father. And he said, Jesus came and spake to the disciples saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.

[7:59] What do we do with that power, Jesus? We go and raise the dead. We go, tear down the powers of darkness. He says, go and teach. Go, therefore, and teach all nations.

[8:10] Nations in the Scripture just means people groups. Go, you, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Go and make disciples of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[8:22] Go and identify people with Jesus. Teaching them to observe. Observe. It doesn't just mean see. It means see to do. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you.

[8:34] And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So, yes, making disciples is important. But we don't make disciples of ourselves.

[8:45] We don't make disciples of a program. We don't make disciples of Calvary Chapel Charlotte. We make disciples of Jesus. And that's not a strategy. That's the Spirit. That's the Word.

[8:57] Remarkably, it is the millennials and the Gen Zs that are leading the way with Bible reading. That there has been a surge since 2024, where nearly half are now engaging in Scripture weekly.

[9:08] And yet, there's a huge gap between those that are engaged in it and those that accept it as the authority of God's Word. In Acts chapter 242, that text we quote all the time, you have some time now that's passed.

[9:22] Jesus has ascended to heaven. The Holy Spirit's been poured out in the church. They've gone forth and they've taught. And they continued then when they come together. And the group of disciples, you have the apostles and the disciples that they're making.

[9:33] And what did they do? They just continued steadfastly in the strategy that was given to them. So, as we turn to John chapter 1, in this succession of days that is happening pretty quickly.

[9:46] As last week, John the Baptist faithfully bear record that this is the Son of God. It says, and again the next day. So, now we're scene changed to the next day with John the Baptist.

[10:01] And again the next day after, John, John the Baptist, stood and two of his disciples. I think, well, isn't John's job done? He pointed out Jesus.

[10:11] He said, behold, the Lamb of God. What more is there? It's not done. It wasn't done after his initial pronouncement of Jesus. John had two disciples there with him.

[10:23] I think sometimes, especially in the West, we can think, well, I shared the gospel. There we go. I've done my job. But it's not done after the initial pronouncement. See, both John and Jesus, they weren't some gurus.

[10:39] They weren't some, like, who stood apart from their disciples. But they were with them. I love that phrase here where it says, the next day after, John the Baptist stood. There he is. And two of his disciples with him.

[10:50] They're with him. He's with them. It's our first principle. Disciples are not distant. You can't be a disciple of Jesus and be distant from Jesus.

[11:04] Disciples aren't distant. And neither is Jesus. Does he want to be distant from his disciples? John wasn't distant from his disciples. And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, behold, the Lamb of God.

[11:17] I think he loved saying that. He said it multiple times now. I think every time John the Baptist could say that and realize this is him, I think he was so excited to continue just to say, there he is.

[11:28] John is using every opportunity given him to point people to Jesus. There is the Lamb as he walked among us, as he talked among us, and as he lived among us.

[11:42] The Lamb of God walked among us. He talked among us. He lived among us. Why? To die for us. But not just to die for us. You know, Jesus could have come from heaven and he could have showed up.

[11:54] And just said, okay, crucify me for the sins of the world. Why did he live among us? Why did he walk among us? Why did he talk among us? Because he's the Lamb. And the Lamb needed inspection. In Exodus chapter 12, remember when Moses is there in Egypt with the Israelites.

[12:09] And the angel of death is going to pass over. And he's told by the Lord to take a Lamb. A Lamb without blemish. A male of the first year. That means it has to be inspected. You have to know it doesn't have a blemish. You have to check it out.

[12:20] You have to make sure. And so Jesus lived among us, walked among us, and talked among us. For his three years of ministry. Why? So that we could inspect the Lamb. And from every angle, he's going to be inspected.

[12:32] As we go through John. And you go through the other Gospels. He has been inspected. He has been tried. And he's been found to be the Lamb. And these two disciples, now they heard him speak.

[12:45] They heard John. John the Baptist. And they followed Jesus. You know, John could have kept quiet. He could say, well, there he goes. There goes the Lamb. You know, if I speak, I might lose these.

[12:57] I might lose my disciples. I don't want to lose my disciples. I'll just be quiet about this. John didn't see someone else's ministry as a threat to his own. He didn't look and say, you know what?

[13:08] Jesus' success, it's going to detract from my ministry. I mean, I can't believe it. Another church has popped up. What if they detract from him?

[13:18] In Romans, Paul will write in verse 4 of chapter 14. He says, who are you to judge another man's servant? You know, you shouldn't judge me. Well, it doesn't mean judge according to sin.

[13:29] It doesn't mean judge whether that is a healthy relationship. Paul will write and say, hey, mark those who cause division and avoid them. That means flag them. That means mark them so they are known.

[13:40] And others can beware and avoid them. So we're to judge. We're to judge. Hey, is this a healthy relationship? Hey, is this person in sin? Hey, is this person walking according to the truth of the word? What he's talking about here is, man, don't judge someone else's ministry.

[13:53] Don't judge someone else's success. Don't judge someone else's, the way they're doing it. Is the foundation, continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread and a prayer? Okay. It's before their own master that they stand or fall.

[14:07] Yea, he shall be holding up for God is able to make him stand. Praise God. He is able to make his disciples stand. So John did not see someone else's ministry as a threat to his own.

[14:19] He knew the closer his disciples drew to Jesus, the greater the success of his ministry. The closer he could get his disciples to Jesus, the greater his success, even if it meant they got further from him.

[14:34] Personal success is never measured by someone else's success. In our culture, that is very hard. With social media and everybody saying, man, look at that person.

[14:44] They're so beautiful and so perfect. They make $10,000 a day just showing cat videos. Wow. That's amazing. I wish my life was like that. I'm so unsuccessful because they're so successful.

[14:55] That's just nonsense. Personal success is never measured by someone else's success. My success is not threatened by your success. And John understood that.

[15:06] He understood that the closer his disciples drew to Jesus, the greater the success of his ministry. John's ministry didn't exist to make disciples of John the Baptist. But to make disciples of Jesus.

[15:21] So in verse 35, I know we're into verse 37 here, but verse 35 was the first use of that word disciple. What does it mean? Well, it occurs 269 times in the New Testament.

[15:33] It's a word that carries a lot of meaning with it. It is used to point out a very specific type of person. But it ultimately means a learner, a pupil, one who follows another's teaching.

[15:47] In other words, one who disciplines himself. Disciple has within it that word to discipline yourself. Not because you're naughty, but to bring yourself within a constrained system. One who disciplines himself according to the teachings and practices of another.

[16:01] Now, technically, you could be your own disciple. If you come up with your own interesting views and stuff. I'm going to follow this. I'm going to promote this. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people out there. They're just kind of like a closed loop.

[16:13] They're their own disciple. But it's one who follows the teachings of another and puts them into practice. It's not just to learn, but it's to become like the master.

[16:23] Jesus would say that it's enough for a disciple to be as his master. That's the goal. A disciple's primary function is to receive instruction from the master and act upon that instruction to be as the master.

[16:38] So we saw in Matthew 28, 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. What are we teaching? What is our mode of disciple making? To teach them all things that Jesus has commanded.

[16:52] To observe all things that Jesus commanded. I don't want to teach you all things. You don't want to observe all things that I do. Now, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, 1, Be you imitators of me as I am of Christ.

[17:06] Now, if you're going to imitate anything about my life, if I'm going to imitate anything about your life, it's going to be, how are you imitating Jesus? How are you following Jesus? Ooh, I like the way they do that.

[17:17] Oh, that works for me. You know, they grab their Bible in the morning and then they use, I never heard of that commentary, that study tool. That, I like that. I like the way that they are following Jesus.

[17:28] I'm going to imitate their imitating of Jesus. So John here, he has faithfully instructed his disciples to be able to recognize the Lamb of God.

[17:40] He says, behold, the Lamb of God. And they're like, yep, okay. John, you've taught us what to expect. And there he is. And we recognize that. He is the what? The Word.

[17:50] The Word made flesh. The Word that was God, with God. What does 2 Timothy 4, 2 say? We're to preach the Word. We're simply to point out Jesus.

[18:02] Now, John could have kept silent. He could have kept his disciples. And he could have absolutely failed in his ministry. He said, I want to keep these. Ah, you know what? I'm going to keep quiet.

[18:12] I don't want to lose people. But if so, he would not have been a success. There's never a loss when we make Jesus known. There's never a loss when we speak of Jesus.

[18:26] There's never a loss when somebody leaves us to follow Jesus. Never a loss. John didn't lose his two disciples, did he? He simply completed their training.

[18:38] And he handed them to a greater master. John the Baptist. This faith. That's why he reminds me so much of Moses. Just the way Moses was so faithful. Just to get the people and get them to God.

[18:49] Get the Word and get it to the people. We make disciples of Jesus, not ourselves. Then Jesus turned. I like this.

[18:59] And saw them following. How much time has passed? I mean, the little boy in me who's watching cartoons sees them like skulking from tree to tree and rock to rock. Like do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do.

[19:10] You know? But it's probably more like they're kind of walking and Jesus is up there. You know? It's like, you think he sees us? I don't know. I think he's the one, huh? And Jesus then turns around. And he saw them following.

[19:22] That means these men, they were following unacknowledged. They were following without the fact that Jesus yet to acknowledge them. They were following unknown. Jesus didn't know them.

[19:33] We don't even know them. And they were following unbidden. They wanted Jesus. Makes me think of the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15. Remember, Jesus is going through Gentile territory.

[19:44] I'm sure all the apostles were huddled close then. And this woman comes and said, Lord, heal my daughter. She's possessed of these devils. Grievously vexed.

[19:54] And it says, Jesus answered her not a word. He just kept going. Here she's unacknowledged, unknown, unbidden. And Jesus isn't answering a word. And he continues in this and his disciples are like, get rid of her.

[20:08] And then it eventually says, then came she and worshiped him. Saying, Lord, help me. God was drawing out her faith. Jesus was drawing her out. And Jesus answered and said unto her, oh, woman, great is your faith.

[20:22] Because remember, he said, hey, it's not meat. It's not meat for me to give food that's meant for the children of Israel to the Gentiles who this isn't for. He says, yeah. Yeah, but there's the little puppies that get the food that falls.

[20:35] And Jesus is like, wow. You are. You are a persistent woman. And here's these men following unacknowledged, unknown and unbidden. And Jesus turns around. And the first words we have of Jesus in the gospel of John is, what seek you?

[20:50] What are you looking for? Jesus is asking searching men what they seek. Remember, John says, I write these things that you might believe. Jesus is turning to every person who's searching and seeking and saying, what are you looking for?

[21:05] And if you're looking for something, it means you want to what? You want to find something. What are you looking for? What do you want to find? Essentially turn to these guys and said, hey, what are you looking to get out of me?

[21:16] What do you want to find? What are you after? To seek, to look for, to aim for, to strive for? What are you looking for?

[21:27] What do you want to find? All men are seeking. All men search. But unfortunately, not all find. Paul, again, in 2 Timothy, will write to his disciple, Timothy, and say, this know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come.

[21:45] And then he'll give this whole laundry list. Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. And then for four more verses. And at the end of it, he says, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

[22:01] They're always seeking something, but they can never find it. They won't come to the knowledge of the truth. It's not enough to be a seeker of the truth. If you never end up finding the truth, what good does it do?

[22:15] Well, these men, though, they knew what to seek. They knew where to seek. And they knew who to seek it from.

[22:26] It's interesting. The question that Jesus asks is to who? Were they seeking something that they were looking for in Buddhism? Were they seeking at the temple?

[22:38] Were they seeking in a false religion? Were they seeking within themselves? Where were they? They were following Jesus. He turned and said, hey, what are you seeking? And they said to him, well, rabbi?

[22:52] I love that. We're going to see that phrase used throughout here. That already you see they're saying, master. These are men that are saying, hey, we are your disciples. We are your followers. Whether you tell us we are or not, we're coming. Where do you live?

[23:06] Where do you dwell? Rabbi, master, where is it that you live? Remember, they said, John said, this is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

[23:17] Where is the Lamb of God? Where is the Messiah? Where does the anointed? Where does he abide? Where does he remain? Where does he tarry? One who's the Lamb of God. Where can I find where he is? Where is the place that Jesus stops and settles down?

[23:33] Isaiah 57, 15 tells us the type of person that Jesus settles with. For thus says the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. Where do I dwell?

[23:44] I dwell in the high and holy place with him who's high, holy, and perfect and without sin. No. With him also, this is of a contrite and humble spirit.

[23:55] To revive the spirit of the humble. To revive the heart of the contrite ones. It's the one who comes and says, Lord, I am seeking the Lamb to take away my sin.

[24:08] You only come in humility. You only come with a contrite heart when you come and recognize you're a sinner who needs a savior. And then Paul would write in Ephesians 3, 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts.

[24:19] What type of hearts? Humble, contrite hearts. By faith. That you being rooted and grounded in love. Where does Jesus dwell? And he dwells with those who come to him looking for the Lamb to take away their sins.

[24:31] He dwells with them in love. John the Baptist had prepared these men so faithfully. To seek Jesus. To recognize Jesus.

[24:42] To follow Jesus. And then to remain with Jesus. Jesus. John faithfully did that. And in one moment. Seems like all his work was undone.

[24:55] They're gone. But no, all his work was accomplished. How many people here have parents? Yay, we all do. We've all had parents. Or had parents, right?

[25:05] So we've all been kids. Even if you've ever had kids. Many of us have had kids. Man, there comes a point where you put a lot of time into these little things that become big things. And then they go.

[25:18] They're like, well. It's all over. That didn't work. But it did work. It's supposed to be that way. Have you prepared them? Have you prepared them?

[25:29] We do all kinds of things to make sure our kids are prepared for what's out there. What does it matter if they spend their whole lives seeking something and they never find the truth? Are they prepared to seek Jesus?

[25:40] To recognize Jesus? To follow Jesus? And remain with Jesus? If so, then that is a success. And he said unto them, come and see. Jesus says, you want to see where I dwell?

[25:52] Come and see. It's not going to be what you expect. He thinks the Lamb of God. Ooh. I wonder what perks come along with this job. And it's not what you think. And they came and they saw.

[26:03] Come and see. To come means to leave from one place and to go to another. Right? He said, hey, everyone. Come home with me. And you all stayed here. Would you have come home with me? No.

[26:15] You would not. Because you would not have left one place to go to another. To see. As we've said, it means to see with the eyes. But it means perceive. To understand with more than just the eyes. With the mind. To behold.

[26:26] Jesus is saying, hey, you come and behold. Come and behold. Come and see this. They needed to come and see for themselves, didn't they? They needed a personal experience. They needed to be personally experiencing Jesus.

[26:39] They came through a personal invitation. And they needed their own personal acceptance. Wasn't something that they could just say, well, that's interesting that he's the Lamb of God. You know, you go and find out. Let me know how it goes.

[26:51] Oh, disciples. They're not distant. So they came and they saw by personal experience. Through a personal invitation. And they themselves had to accept that personally.

[27:03] And Jesus will say in. In John 6, 37. All that the Father gives me shall come to me. And him that comes to me. I will know why it's cast out.

[27:13] He said, hey, come and see. You're not going to be rejected. Now, right before this in John 6. Is this whole section where he's talking about those that would and would not believe on him. So who are those that the Father gives him?

[27:25] All that the Father gives me shall come to me. The Father gives all to Jesus who will believe in Jesus. He says, hey, son. Hey, here's another one. Oh, look it. Here's another one.

[27:36] He'll come to you because he believes in you. It's not something arbitrary where he's like, go and be a disciple. No, it's those with a contrite heart. They came, they saw, and they remained.

[27:51] Being a disciple of Jesus, it's more than just receiving instruction from Jesus. Jesus is dwelling with Jesus. I am the vine. You are the branches. He that abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.

[28:05] That's a pretty close union between a branch or branch and a vine. It's a pretty tight union. Being a disciple of Jesus is more than just receiving instruction from Jesus.

[28:18] It's more than just trying to imitate Jesus. It's dwelling with him because disciples aren't distant. And then we get this little tag on the end here that says, for it was about the 10th hour.

[28:29] The 10th hour just means two hours before night. It was late at this point. And for you and I, the hour is late. It is very late. But it's never too late to come, to see, to follow, and to remain.

[28:42] It's never too late to go and invite others, to come, to see, to follow, and remain. So we have these two men. We don't know who they are. They're unknown, unacknowledged, unbidden.

[28:56] And now verse 40 is going to give us the identity of one of them. So it's one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. We're going to find of these men, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel, they all were, or mostly all of them were, disciples of John.

[29:15] I personally think they all were down there for that reason. And we're told that this is Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. We don't get the other guy, but we get this one. You think, whoa.

[29:25] You know, I was kind of feeling encouraged that I could do this. I could be a disciple of Jesus. I could follow. I could hear his words. But now it's Andrew. I mean, he's one of the apostles.

[29:36] Of course he's going to be a disciple. You know, and they want to look at Peter and Philip and Nathaniel. All of these guys, they're amazing men. But the one guy doesn't get a name. The one guy is just unknown.

[29:48] We don't know who he is. But Jesus did. Jesus knew who he was. He said, hey, you come and see. Come and see where I am. Come and abide. Now, personally, I think it's John, the apostle.

[29:59] Throughout the book of John, he doesn't name himself. He always talks about himself in the third person or kind of abstract. Andrew, Peter, James, and John. James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They all have a fishing business together in Galilee.

[30:12] And so here you have Peter and Andrew down here and some other guy with him that nobody ever names. Who knows? Could be anyone. Could be John. Could not be. But for us, we don't know for sure.

[30:25] But Jesus did. And that's encouraging. And I may never get my name written down among the disciples and apostles of Jesus that make that A-list. Might be way down there on the unknown list.

[30:36] But that's okay. Because Jesus knows. Andrew's name means manly. It means strong. It means courageous. I don't think anyone here is named Andrew. That's okay.

[30:46] Because it takes a true man, a strong man, a courageous man to follow Jesus. Don't ever let anybody tell you. Following Jesus is for losers.

[30:58] Following Jesus is for people of weak mind. Are you kidding me? There is nobody stronger of character than Jesus. And I don't just mean because he was God. I mean in human flesh, this man who constrained himself, he put before us the picture of a man.

[31:12] A man submitted to his father, filled with the spirit. And it says when he was being scourged, the whole point of scourging was to get you to confess whether you did it or not.

[31:23] It was so they could have something to say, okay, yep. Now we got someone we can say did this. He committed this crime. It says he opened not his mouth. As they time after time after time scourged him.

[31:36] He was the strongest character that ever lived. And these men, as we journey with them through this book, man, they seem like a hot mess at times. Always trying to one up each other.

[31:46] Who's the greatest in the kingdom? And then you look at their legacy. You look at what Jesus understood about them that we didn't. Wow, these are some courageous men. Strong men. Because they chose to follow Jesus.

[32:03] Who are we looking at? Andrew. Andrew then goes and finds his brother. He goes and finds Simon. Now maybe if you're Andrew, maybe you're thinking, I don't know if I want to tell my brother.

[32:14] You know, I found Jesus first. Peter's going to get all the press. It's all going to be about Simon. I was the first one. If it wasn't for me, he never would have come. I don't know if I want to tell him. I'm just going to go check out Jesus myself.

[32:28] I'm assuming Peter was the older brother. Peter does seem to be older than the rest of them. He has a wife, we know. Because Jesus will go to the home, to Peter's home and heal his mother-in-law.

[32:41] But right away we see here, Andrew going and telling his brother. Simon means hearing, means to listen. Which is kind of ironic. When you think of Peter, you don't think of one who listens.

[32:53] You think of one who constantly is talking and needs to listen a little more. But here we see Simon was willing to listen and Andrew was willing to speak. That is a key characteristic of discipleship. You cannot make disciples without one person speaking and one person listening.

[33:09] Simon was willing to listen. He was willing. Hey, what do you have to say? I want to hear. And Andrew said, hey, come with me to Jesus. He says, we found him. Literally, we've discovered him.

[33:19] We've hit upon him. No, you didn't. John the Baptist showed you who he was. What are you doing taking all the credit? What's going on here? There's no mention of John. No credit given. Why? Why not?

[33:32] Because John accomplished his purpose. He's simply a signpost pointing the way to Jesus. That's all he is. You know, if you're going on vacation, you're going to go to the beach and that'd be the best day for the beach.

[33:42] Maybe it is. Maybe it's sunny out there. You head to the beach and you pass that, you know, exit sign. You know, here's the exit for the next highway and then the next one. And then you get it and it says beach two miles that way. And you get there and you don't go.

[33:53] You know what? That one merge sign that told me to merge into that lane. That was, I'm really thankful for that sign. I'm so glad it got me here. No, you're so excited to be at the destination.

[34:04] You're running in the sand. You're smelling the salt sea. You're not thinking about the signs that led you there. And that's all John was. John accomplished his purpose. He was simply a signpost that said, hey, Jesus is right there.

[34:17] Go to Jesus. When you get to the destination, you're not thinking about the things that pointed it out along the way. John's discipleship program, John the Baptist, it was a success.

[34:28] His disciples left him to follow Jesus. That is a success. And Andrew now brings him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, it's our word again, behold.

[34:41] Jesus now beholds him. He sees Peter. He says, you're Simon, son of Jonah. Doesn't say anything to Andrew. Good job, Andrew.

[34:53] And thankfully, Andrew wasn't the type that needed someone to constantly affirm him. Thankfully, he was the type that didn't need someone to constantly tell him that like, hey, you're important too. He understood his relationship with Jesus.

[35:06] He understood his personal relationship and his personal success in his walk with Jesus didn't depend on or was affected by someone else's walk. May everyone have a better walk than us.

[35:20] And he says, you're Simon, son of Jonah, and you shall be called Cephas or stone or little rock, which is by interpretation of stone. Jesus beheld Peter with perfect perception.

[35:33] He understood who he was and he understood who he would become. Simon, son of Jonah. Simon means hearing. Jonah means a dove, son of a dove then.

[35:44] I mean, when you think of Peter the apostle, do you think of a gentle man who listens? I mean, we just looked last week, the dove that descended upon Jesus is harmless. It's gentle.

[35:55] It's comforting. It's not threatening. You think of Peter? Peter, I think it's because Jesus knew his heart. Despite his gruff exterior, Jesus understood the heart of the man he was calling. Jesus understood who this man would become.

[36:08] Read 1 Peter, read 2 Peter, read Acts. And what you'll see, you will see a man who's the son of a dove, the son of the spirit who is anointed with God's spirit, yielded to his spirit and listening to the Lord.

[36:20] He says, you're going to be a stone, Peter. A stone, something solid and something unbroken. Peter would be tossed about, but he would not be broken. And I don't mean he wouldn't have a broken heart before the Lord, but I mean he would not have a broken faith.

[36:34] It would not fail. The Lord knew here's a man I can build with. Peter is a potential disciple of Jesus. We don't get anything from Peter here.

[36:46] Again, the man who talks so much, he's just taking this all in. He's not speaking. As a potential disciple of Jesus, he was told about Jesus. He was then brought to Jesus.

[36:57] Andrew seemed to understand right from the beginning that to find Jesus means to tell about Jesus. To find Jesus means to bring others to Jesus. And he tells Peter about Jesus.

[37:08] He brings him to Jesus. He introduces him to Jesus. And then Peter listens to Jesus. All key characteristics of being a disciple of Jesus.

[37:18] Those are things we must each do for ourselves before we can ever do them for someone else. If you've not come to Jesus, if you've not heard from Jesus, if you've not been introduced to Jesus, and you're not listening to Jesus, you're not going to be a very good helper of someone else's joy.

[37:35] This is the reason for any and all discipleship programs. To bring people to Jesus. To bring people to Jesus. I will say this.

[37:48] If a discipleship program or someone encouraging a certain form of discipleship, if there is a lot of themself that comes with it, and if there is a lot of the system more than there is of Jesus, it's probably not a great program.

[38:05] Because what do these disciples, a good disciple of Jesus, what do they all have in common? They listen to Jesus. Which means they're not going to be talking much. Now I say this as the guy who's doing all the talking. But you're not here to be disciples of me, and you're not here in my words.

[38:19] We're here because we want to look at the scripture together, and see these things, and see these truths, and say, yep, that's Jesus' words. Yep, that's what a disciple of Jesus is. A disciple of Jesus listens to Jesus, which usually means they're going to have to be the ones that are not doing all the talking about themselves.

[38:38] If you're going to talk, talk about Jesus. The day following, so here are the next day, Jesus now would go forth into Galilee. He's going to go back to the north. And if you remember, Galilee is up in the north of Israel.

[38:50] They're way down by Jerusalem. They're in Bethany beyond Jordan, which is where John is baptizing. Those areas are circled because those are the areas we're going to look at where we're at predominantly today.

[39:01] They're all currently in Bethany, down in the south. Three-day walk back up to Galilee. And we're going to see that they're from Bethsaida. And yet, and then Nathaniel is going to mention Nazareth.

[39:12] Nazareth. Nazareth. So this kind of gives you some context of where those things are. In John chapter two, we're going to go to the wedding feast at Cana. And Cana is also up there by the Sea of Galilee.

[39:24] It's not listed on there. So they are, is it on there? Oh, there it is. It's just covered by the red circle. So all of those regions. Now, again, John doesn't spend a lot of time in Galilee.

[39:36] Most of the time he's going to be in Jerusalem. So Jesus is going to head back to Galilee. He's from Nazareth. These guys are from Bethsaida. And he's getting ready to go back.

[39:46] And he says the next day he would go back to Galilee. And he finds Philip and said to him, follow me. Nobody told Philip about Jesus. Nobody clued him in.

[39:57] We're going to find out. It says in verse 44. Now, Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. I guess Andrew and Peter decided not to tell Philip. But listen, Jesus leaves no disciple uncalled.

[40:09] There's no disciple that will be uncalled. There's none who are willing to follow Jesus that Jesus is going to leave out. He's going to miss. Why didn't nobody told me? Nobody came and called me. Well, Jesus will come and call you if nobody else does.

[40:23] I was ordained in 2021. We've been going about three years here at this church plant. But the Lord called me in 2019. And I've written my Bible and just reading.

[40:35] And the Lord just spoke to me. He's like, hey, I have ordained you. And it's I can't remember where it is now. I should have just off the cuff where it says I ordained you to be a preacher. And in one of the gospels.

[40:48] And it's like, OK. And for me, it was like, all right, I now know my calling for sure. And that's how I operated in that calling. Was I officially ordained? No. Was I trying to help you? Hey, God wants me to be a pastor.

[41:00] No. But I knew God has called me to care for, to love, and to shepherd his sheep. To give them the word of God in any way I can. Man, I loved it. I loved going to church and just like, Lord, who can I minister to today?

[41:11] Who can I pray with today? Who can I talk to today? God will leave no disciple uncalled. He has a calling for every single one of you. Whether it involves somebody else or just between you and him.

[41:22] He leaves no disciple uncalled. Philip means a lover of horses. In today's day and age, it may not be a good thing. Spent a lot of time on the track?

[41:35] I don't know. No. A horse was considered regal. It was something that you had to have money to own. I mean, the common farmer would not have had a horse. So this is a regal name, a noble name, and generally was given to those of nobility.

[41:49] And Philip, the Lord looked and said, hey, I've got a noble calling for you, buddy. Now, Philip's not given all the details. He doesn't know what's to come, but he says, okay, I'm going to follow.

[42:01] And we're going to see he knew who he was following because he knew the word. He knew his Bible. So Jesus found Philip. He called Philip. And Philip now follows. Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

[42:15] So these men, they were all from Galilee, and they were all considered backwater bumpkins by those down at Jerusalem. They were all considered to be just a bunch of hicks. And we're going to see that when you get to Acts chapter 4.

[42:27] It says that the Sanhedrin is shocked at their boldness and eloquence because they realize these are unlearned and ignorant men. But he took note of them that they had been with Jesus.

[42:37] They said, hey, but they are disciples of Jesus. So whether these men were from Gaston, Galilee, or not Gaston, sorry, Jesus can use them.

[42:51] Philip now, he goes and finds Nathanael. Philip's like, hey, we got another one. And he said unto him, we found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right.

[43:03] Jesus comes, says to Philip, you come and follow me. And Philip knew, I've been reading my Bible. It's you. It's you, the one of whom Moses and the law and prophets did right. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

[43:16] Philip's faith wasn't blind. He wasn't just taking a chance, a shot in the dark and following Jesus. No, it was built upon what he knew of him from the word. He knew the word. He knew it pointed to Jesus.

[43:27] Remember when Jesus, after his resurrection, before his ascension, he's on that road to Emmaus. He meets those two disciples and he's kind of revealed. It's hidden from them who Jesus is.

[43:38] And it says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, things concerning himself. And I love that verse. That's one of my favorite scriptures. I think every week I tell you a favorite scripture.

[43:50] But I do, because that gives us the authority to say that Jesus is in every page of this book. Jesus is on every page. We can teach through Exodus and Genesis and Leviticus and whatever and say, we're going to look at Jesus because Jesus did the same thing.

[44:04] A disciple of Jesus knows God's word, like Philip, believes God's word, and he acts upon God's word.

[44:14] Imagine Philip being like, well, that's really wild. Just like my Bible says, you're the lamb of God. You're the Messiah. That's cool. And just went about his business.

[44:26] What good would that do? A disciple is not one who just knows and believes God's word, but he acts upon God's word. It is not disciples who make disciples.

[44:37] It is God's word that makes disciples. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you. What is the word commanded us? That's what we're to go and we're to carry on to others.

[44:51] And Nathaniel says, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, come and see.

[45:04] Nathaniel means the guarded. Nathaniel, I didn't have his name here. Where is it? Gift of God.

[45:14] Thank you. Nathaniel means the gift of God. Here's this man, the gift of God. Now, I think, and we're going to see as we go through the end section of this chapter. I think this was a thing with Philip and Nathaniel. Philip knew his Bible.

[45:24] And I think Nathaniel was a man who knew the word too. And this was a discussion always among them. Listen, guys, find someone. Find someone to do this with. As we're looking at, it's not too hard.

[45:36] Everything we're looking at revolves around what? Spending time with Jesus, listening to Jesus, and going with other people to Jesus. Find someone to do that with. Find someone to do that with in a way like, well, I don't know if I could disciple anyone.

[45:48] What did Jesus say? He says, all things that I have taught you to observe, go and teach others to observe. Well, you're here. He must have taught you something you've observed that you could then pass on to someone else and say, hey, you know what?

[46:02] Maybe it's just as simple as let's get together and just talk about God's word together. Because we're not making disciples of each other. It's of Jesus. Now, in today's day and age, it's very easy to not be distant.

[46:14] You could do Zoom. Meet with someone. You can do it over text. You can do it. There's so many ways that you can be about being a part of this process. But find someone.

[46:24] Have a Nathaniel. Have a Philip. Have someone you can go to and say, hey, guess what I just found in the word? Guess what I just saw? And they can say, well, that doesn't make any sense with this scripture.

[46:35] Or they can say, wow, that's amazing. Well, I never knew that. Thank you for discipling me. Nathaniel said, is there anything pleasant? Is there anything useful? Is there anything agreeable? Can anything excellent come from Nazareth?

[46:48] Anything at all? And interestingly, it seems like they know who this is. Because Philip says, it's Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. So they're like, hey, we know who this is.

[47:00] And Nathaniel's like, wow, I wouldn't have expected that. We're down here where? By Jerusalem. We're the place where Israel came through the Jordan with Moses. A lot of exciting things.

[47:12] And you're telling me all the way back up in Nazareth, where I live, that's where the Messiah came from. Jesus would say, a prophet is not without honor, except in his own home and among his own people.

[47:26] Familiarity. It may not breed contempt, but it sure breeds suspicion. Nathaniel had preconceived ideas, didn't he? Remember we talked about that last week. He had prejudices that almost caused him to miss the Messiah.

[47:38] His preconceived ideas and his prejudices almost caused him to miss the Messiah. Philip is a remarkable man. He didn't try and argue with him. He didn't try and convince him.

[47:50] He just said, hey, come and see for yourself. He simply led him to examine the truth for himself. Look, you just come and see for yourself. I'm not going to try and convince you.

[48:00] Just let's look at the word itself. Now, Jesus, he sees Nathaniel coming. And he said unto him, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.

[48:13] And Nathaniel said unto him, do you know me? Have we met? And Jesus answered and said unto him, before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

[48:24] Let's move on to verse 49. What does all that mean? What is he saying here? I think as we break down what he's actually saying, the meanings of the text, I think this is one of those moments reading through this like, wow.

[48:37] But ultimately what's happening here is before Nathaniel had any opportunity to perceive Jesus, Jesus knew Nathaniel. Jesus perceived him. He knew everything about him. He beheld him.

[48:48] He says, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. Guile is decoy, cunning, or deceiving. In the Old Testament, in the Hebrew, it would be the name, Jacob. And so he is saying, behold, he's using the word Israelite.

[49:02] And behold, an Israel indeed in whom is no Jacob. There is no Jacob. Nathaniel says, whoa, how do you know about that?

[49:13] How do you know that's been turning and churning around in here? The phrase under the fig tree, it could literally mean he was under the fig tree. And then Jesus had a perception of him before that.

[49:24] But it was an idiom. It was used by rabbis to describe meditation on the scripture. Oh, he's under the fig tree. It was used to describe someone meditating on scripture. And if that's the case, then Jesus is saying, hey, before Philip called you, I knew what you were meditating on in the scripture.

[49:41] I knew what you were meditating on. Perhaps Nathaniel's sitting there going, reading about Jacob and thinking, I'm down here with John the Baptist. I was baptized.

[49:52] I've repented. I've committed. But there's something missing. I still, there's so much Jacob in there. Am I Israel? Can I ever be that? And then here he comes and Jesus says, ha, an Israel indeed is whom is no Jacob.

[50:08] It's like, whoa, is that so? Yeah, because Jesus calls things that are not as though they are. Because in Christ, the one who, the Lamb of God who lifts away our sin, he says, yes, I make all things new. Jesus sees all his disciples as they truly are, as they are indeed.

[50:25] As Israel's remade and no longer Jacob's. Nathanael answers and said unto him, master, you're the son of God. You're the king of Israel. Here he acknowledges him as Lord, as God, and as king.

[50:39] He says, you are Lord. You are master. You are master. You are God, the son of God, and you are king. His perspective completely changed from one who had these preconceived ideas and prejudices because he had a really good argument.

[50:56] Because someone took him to a place where he could have this program to kind of re- No, because he came to Jesus. He heard Jesus's words and he believed Jesus. Jesus answered and said unto him, because I said unto you, I saw you under the fig tree.

[51:13] You believe? You shall see greater things than these. A disciple has the promise of greater things to come in Jesus. There are greater things for all of God's disciples, for all of Jesus's disciples.

[51:27] Nathanael will experience greater testimony of Jesus being the word of God. He says, this testimony alone caused you to believe? You are going to see greater things than these. Eyes not seen, nor his ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

[51:44] There are always greater things in store for disciples of Jesus. And he said unto him, truly, truly, Jesus is saying to this, I say unto you, hereafter you shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

[52:00] What is he saying? Well, this is why I think we put all of this together. What is the account in scripture of angels ascending and descending? What does that happen? In Genesis 28, Jacob is running away from home.

[52:13] He stops at Peniel, and he falls asleep, and he sleeps on the rock, puts his head on that pillow. And he dreams a dream. And in that dream, he sees a stairway or a ladder, as you were, going up to heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.

[52:25] And it says, he beheld, and the Lord stood above it and spoke to him. And Jacob awakes, and he says, truly, this is God's house. This is Bethel. I was in the Lord's living room, and I didn't know it.

[52:37] But what did Jacob not have? Jacob had no capacity to get up that pathway himself. Jacob understood there was a pathway to God, and he couldn't tread it. He couldn't go there.

[52:49] Jesus is presenting himself here as that pathway. And so as he sees Nathaniel coming, who, peradventure, was meditating on the scripture of Jacob in Israel, and he says, here is an Israel indeed as whom know Jacob.

[53:01] And he says, how do you know me? He says, listen, you're going to see something even greater. Just as Jacob wondered, how can I get to God? I am that pathway, and I'm presenting myself as that.

[53:14] Hereafter, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me.

[53:26] Hebrews 7.25, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. What is the pathway, Nathaniel? To go from Jacob to Israel.

[53:38] To go from earth to heaven. He says, hey, just come to me. You can come unto God by me. Because he's the Lamb. A disciple then is one who has come to God by the path of Christ.

[53:52] And we then go and invite others to do the same. That's what a disciple is. One who has come to God by the path of Christ. And then we go and invite others to do the same. 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

[54:06] Verses 17 and 18. Paul writes, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old Jacob has passed away and Israel has come. Old things are passed away.

[54:16] All things are become new. And all things are of God. Who has reconciled us to himself. Brought us to himself by that pathway. By Christ.

[54:26] And then our task is done, right? I'm done. Like John the Baptist. I pointed him out. I'm done. No. And he's given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

[54:40] Has he brought you to God? Has he made all things new? Has Jesus done that in your life? Then with the confidence of the word of God, I can say to you, he wants you to do that in someone else's life.

[54:50] He wants you to be part of that process in someone else's life. Jesus here refers to himself as the son of man. That's in Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, if you want to write that down.

[55:04] We will see that phrase a lot. We're going to see it again in John 3 and we'll go in depth into it. Jesus loved to use this phrase about himself. He is the pathway. The one who became flesh.

[55:15] Jesus is the son of man. He came to dwell with man so that man might dwell with the father. He is our pathway. And as disciples, then as disciples of Jesus, we are to do what?

[55:29] We're to proclaim the word so that all might know the way to God who is the word. That's the point. We're here to proclaim the word and say, hey, I've been brought to Jesus.

[55:42] I've heard his words. I've believed his words. I've abiding with him. And I would like you to do that with me. Let's do that together. God's word calls all men and women to be disciples of the word and all seek, but not all find.

[56:00] God then leaves us. Not alone. He says, I'll be with you always. But he leaves us here instead, essentially in his place, in his physical place and says, hey, you be that bridge.

[56:12] You be that gap. No, we're not the stairway by which someone gets from earth to heaven. But we may be the signpost that points someone to Jesus. We may be that process that brings someone into a deeper walk with the Lord.

[56:26] Each of these men, they had their own particular story of how they came to Jesus. Andrew came by the preaching of another. John the Baptist is preaching. Peter came through the witness of a brother.

[56:37] Hey, let me let me come and share this with you. Philip came by the direct call in his life from the Lord. And Nathaniel came by a personal encounter with Jesus that overcame all of his prejudices and all of his hangups.

[56:51] They each had their own particular story of how they followed Jesus, of how they remained with Jesus, and how they taught others to do the same. Guys, we each have our own story.

[57:02] The foundation is the same for all of us. It's the word of God. As we continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking bread and prayer, God will use us as he did these men, each different, each varied, to call others to come and to not be distant.

[57:21] A disciple of Jesus is near to Jesus in three ways. He's near to his word. All of these disciples, all these apostles who lived these three years with Jesus, they were near enough to hear him speak.

[57:36] They weren't his disciples, and they stayed down with John, and Jesus went back to Galilee. They were near him to hear his words. They were near his heart. They lived with him. They saw how he operated.

[57:47] They saw how he dealt with things. Their hearts were so many times in conflict with his. God, Lord, these men in this town didn't receive us. Let's call down fire from heaven. And it's like, well, that's not really my heart, guys.

[57:59] The Syrophoenician woman, Lord, send her away. And Jesus draws her near. They're close enough to Jesus to hear his word, his heart, and near to his body.

[58:10] They're near to his physical presence. And a disciple of Jesus today cannot be a disciple of Jesus who is not near to his word, his heart, and his body. And unfortunately, there are many today who say, well, I understand his word.

[58:24] I'm studying his word. Yeah, I think I got his heart. I'm not having anything to do with his body. Mm-mm. Not going to be part of that. I don't need that. I'm just over here on my own being a disciple.

[58:36] Well, disciples of Jesus are going to be found where Jesus is. And that's going to mean near to his word, his heart, and his body. A disciple of Jesus follows in the face of the unknown, don't they?

[58:50] A disciple of Jesus allows the word to overcome all personal prejudices. A disciple of Jesus gets people to Jesus as quickly as possible.

[59:02] As quickly as possible. And a disciple of Jesus is a disciple of the word. Follows in the face of the unknown.

[59:12] So many times Jesus says, hey, follow me. Okay. I will. I don't know where we're going. Where do you abide, Lord? Where are we stopping this time? But I know you, Jesus.

[59:23] I'm not going to be left behind. Do you want to be left behind when Jesus goes somewhere? I don't. What about my personal prejudices? Oh, Lord. That person?

[59:35] You want me to talk to that person? Do you know where they're from, Lord? They're from Galilee. I don't know. Maybe if they're from somewhere else.

[59:46] A disciple of Jesus gets people to Jesus as quickly as possible. Oh, Lord. I finally built up a store of disciples. Do I really have to hand them over? Man, I don't want disciples. I want to be discipled with you all.

[59:58] As we're being discipled of Jesus. But we have to be disciples of his word. There's no other way to do this. There's no program. There's no system. If we're not disciples of his word. A disciple of Jesus answers the question.

[60:11] What seek you? That's what we're here for. We say what the world is saying. We're seeking. We answer the question. What seek you? Oh, I got an answer to that. I know what you're seeking.

[60:23] And a disciple of Jesus is simply a signpost who points the way to the destination. Jesus came and spake unto them and said, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go you therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you.

[60:42] And we don't have to fear distance. The disciples literally had to physically be near Jesus to be close to him. We have the promise now where he says, Hey, I'm with you always.

[60:54] We can always be near to him. There's not one disciple of Jesus today that has to be distant from him. You know, it's interesting. They're teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you.

[61:05] Again, we all have something, something that we have observed what Jesus commanded us that I can then turn around and say, Hey, I've observed this about Jesus. Maybe you should too. And sometimes that's just like being a signpost.

[61:20] Maybe it's just that one word that a brother or sister needs, right? They're kind of discouraged or whatever. You're like, Hey, well, the word says this. Thank you. I know where I'm going now. Thank you so much. That got me back on course.

[61:31] And then there's those others, right? You're like, go down here, turn right, left. Got it. And they call you up. Hey, hey, where are you at? You head to the beach? I was, but now I'm in Tennessee. Tennessee? What in the world?

[61:42] Didn't you follow the directions? Well, you know, okay, go this way. And then there's those others where you're like, you know what? I'm going to ride with you. I'm just going to ride with you. Turn here, turn there, right?

[61:54] It's all part of it. It's all getting them to Jesus. It's all part of that, getting the person to the destination. And then there's those where it's like, guys, we just started. And you need a rest stop already?

[62:07] We just started this process. I mean, can we get your car sick? What's going on, right? Are you going to stick with them? Like, all right, let's go. You get back on the road, boom, next rest stop. It's going to take a while.

[62:17] But it's all to do what? It's to get people to Jesus. It's to get them to Jesus. And we all have our own unique stories of how we've continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.

[62:30] Continue steadfastly in this. But don't miss the next part, the fellowship part. You know, you received God's word. Don't run away. Not if you have to go somewhere today. That's fine. But part of it is, hey, let's disciple one another.

[62:45] How has God's word impacted you? How did it impact me? How does that point me to Jesus? As we do that together. Breaking of bread and in prayers. That's why we do so many things, right?

[62:55] That's why we have fellowship meals. And why we have men's conferences and ladies' studies. All of that is to facilitate that. A disciple of Jesus knows God's word. He believes God's word.

[63:06] And he acts upon God's word. And what does the word do? Declares to us, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. So as we close, I just encourage you.

[63:19] Let Jesus, like he did with Nathaniel, get rid of your prejudices. Get rid of whatever that hang-up is. I can't do this. They can't be me. And let Jesus just go to him.

[63:31] Let him take care of that. Be like Peter and listen. One of the times he listened, thank the Lord he listened.

[63:42] Because Jesus said, come follow me. Now, again, you can look on your own in Matthew. There's an event that takes place between John chapter 1 and John chapter 2. Which where Jesus will officially, at the Sea of Galilee, call some of these disciples again to come and follow him.

[63:56] A full-time in ministry. But there is a time now where he says, yeah, be my disciples. And that is one who recognizes, understands, and believes that Jesus is the Lamb. And simply then goes and tells others.

[64:09] Father, as we sit now, Lord, I pray that you would do that. That you would speak to our hearts, Lord. That maybe we've been thinking that, well, I can't be someone who makes a disciple of Jesus. I'm not qualified. Not one of these men was qualified.

[64:20] And as we go through the scriptures, as we go through John, we're going to see many times that they are a process. They are a work in process. And never once did you give up on them. And never once did you stop using them.

[64:32] That is so encouraging, Lord. To know that you can use me. You don't give up on me. And that, Lord, I'm a work in progress. But it doesn't prevent me from being one who can go and tell others about Jesus.

[64:43] Bring others to Jesus. Point them to Jesus. And abide with them in Jesus. Lord, you know. You know the people that you put into our lives. And you know what they need, Lord.

[64:54] Help us to be effective signposts that point the way to Jesus, like John the Baptist. And help us to be disciples. Not of one another. But of Jesus. We love you.

[65:05] We praise you. And we thank you, Jesus. Being the Lamb of God. You shed your blood for us. And in Jesus' name. Amen. Whether we're from Galilee.

[65:18] Bethsaida. Gaston. Mecklenburg. New York. Chicago. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter where we've been. It only matters where we're going. It only matters the destination.

[65:31] And it's Jesus. That was a lot to take in. But all these men. It just kind of went together. And today, we can be those who follow Jesus.

[65:44] We can be courageous like Andrew. Solid like Peter. Noble like Philip. And we can receive God's gift like Nathaniel. Because of Jesus.

[65:54] Because of the blood. Daniel chapter 12, verse 3 says, And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. And they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.

[66:10] May you go forth and shine as stars for Jesus. Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious unto you.

[66:20] And the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Let's go.