John 1:35-51 Following Jesus

John 20:30-31 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John’s goal, his aim, in this book is that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ. The Son of the One True God.

And that by believing you would have life - eternal life, everlasting life, overflowing life - through faith in His name.

In the prologue, verses 1-18 John gives us the theological background of Christ.

The theology of who Christ is.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).

In Him was life and the life was the light of men (John 1:4).

To all who received Him, who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God - solely by God’s sovereign grace (John 1:12-13).

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and in Him we have seen the glory of God’s goodness (John 1:14).

That God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 3:5-7).

And from the fullness of His glory, we have received grace upon grace (John 1:16). The fullness of salvation that satisfies all the righteous requirements and promises of the Law (John 1:17).

Then in verses 19-34 John gives us the Testimony of John the Baptist.

The forerunner God had sent to prepare the way for Messiah (John 1:6).

If anyone had the authority to say Jesus was the Christ it was Him.

He was sent by God for that very purpose.

And now, the Gospel moves from who Jesus was and testimony of John the Baptist to the calling of the first disciples.

The prototype or blueprint, of what it looks like to believe in Jesus’ name.

And what do the disciples show us?

That believing in Jesus means…following Him.

Discipleship is the fruit of faith.

Here’s the Big Idea for today.

Believing in Jesus means following Jesus as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

When we say that Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King, we are saying that Jesus is the Christ.

Verse 41: He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

That’s what John wants you to do. Believe that Jesus is the Christ!

Christ?

Christ, or Messiah as it is in Hebrew, simply means Anointed One.

Someone anointed with the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission or work God gave them to do.

In the Old Testament, you had three different types of mediators who were anointed.

Prophets were anointed to preach the Word of God.

Priests were anointed to lead God’s people in worship and offer sacrifices for their sins.

And Kings were anointed to rule the people according to God’s Word and thereby shower them in all the blessings God promised in the Covenant.

Well in Christ, all three come together. He is THE Anointed One.

In fact, this would be good, men, for you to do with your families.

Some Family Discipleship 101. You should write this down or make a note of this and come back to it later.

Ask your kids and your wife: What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ?

Answer: Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King.

That summarizes what it means to follow Jesus.

Prophet

Then you ask: What does it mean that Jesus is our Prophet?

That He preaches the gospel and gives us the words of eternal life.

Priest

What does it mean that Jesus is our Priest?

That He died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later to reconcile us to God.

King

What does it mean that Jesus is our King?

That He rules over all and to Him belongs all the glory.

Drill those questions in your home because they give us a full picture of who Christ is and what it means to follow Him.

That you might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and by believing, have life in His Name.

And as we work through what it looks like to follow Jesus in our passage today, we are going to see that Prophet, Priest, King motif come up.

But remember our Big Idea.

Believing in Jesus means following Jesus as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

Faith - true faith, living faith - is not some vague idea or general belief in Jesus.

Faith is lived out in discipleship.

If you could put skin on faith and see it walking around it would look like following Him. Living for Him. Trusting in Him.

Following Christ as our Prophet, Priest and King.

So what does that look like?

No matter where you are in your faith, you need to trust in Christ, you just started following Christ or you’ve been following Jesus for 50 years, does your discipleship look like this.

That you might believe in Jesus Christ and by believing have life in His Name.

Let’s start with point number 1...

I. True Disciples Follow Jesus as Savior

John 1:35-37 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

This is the first step of everyone’s discipleship.

If you want to believe in Jesus and have life in His name, you must come to Him first and foremost as Savior.

As the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The two disciples here are Andrew, and probably, though he’s not named, John himself.

And these two disciples, before they were disciples of Christ were disciples of John the Baptist.

Pastors

As an aside, don’t miss what’s so special about John the Baptist.

He is a picture of what every gospel minister should be.

He’s all about Jesus. Always pointing to Him.

When Andrew and John, two of his disciples leave him, to follow after Jesus, he doesn’t get jealous. He doesn’t feel threatened.

He knows its not about him. Christ must increase, I must decrease.

All that John cares about is that people know Jesus. Not about his name or his platform.

And that’s what you should look for in a pastor. That’s what you should expect of us here.

True pastors and true ministers of the gospel are all about Christ and His Kingdom. Not pointing to themselves, but always pointing to Jesus.

Lamb

And what made Andrew and John leave John the Baptist and follow after Christ?

Behold the Lamb of God!

We said last week that John calls Jesus the Lamb of God as the fulfillment of all the sacrifices of the Old Testament.

He is the perfect, once for all sacrifice who takes away all our sin.

He is the Passover Lamb who saves us from God’s wrath and the wages of our sin which is death.

He is the Atonement Lamb who bears our sin so that we might be justified before the Law and declared righteous.

And He is the Substitute Lamb who died in our place for our sins to give us eternal life.

All the sacrifices of the Old Testament had no power to actually save us from our sin.

Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Every sacrifice of the Old Testament was crying out, “Where is the Lamb?”

Where is the Lamb who will once for all take away our sins?

Who will remove our sins as far from us as east is from the west (Ps. 103:12)?

Who will tie our sins in a sack and cast them into the depths sea to be remembered no more (Micah 7:19)?

Who will take our sins like scarlet and make them white as snow (Is. 1:18)?

And out comes Jesus and John the Baptist says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World!

The reason Andrew and John leave John the Baptist and follow after Jesus is because He is the Lamb of God.

They are sinners. He is the sin remover.

This is following Jesus as Priest.

If you want to have life in Christ’s name, you must repent of your sin and find salvation in the Savior.

He is the only way we can be forgiven.

Gospel

He lived a perfect and sinless life that we failed to live.

He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf. God commanded perfect obedience and He gave it.

And then on the cross, Jesus died the death we deserved to die.

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

When Christ died on the cross, He suffered God’s wrath that we deserved.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but your will be done” (Matthew 26:39). What cup was He talking about?

Psalm 75:8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.

The cup was the cup of God’s wrath. The one we all deserved.

But, by God’s grace, Christ drained it down to the dregs on our behalf.

He drank it so that we would never have to.

Instead, we receive the cup of His blood and drink the water of everlasting life.

And three days later Christ rose from the dead conquering sin, Satan, and death once and for all and giving us eternal life.

That’s the good news of the gospel, and that’s what you must believe if you want to be saved.

Maybe that’s you today…Maybe you need to take the first step of discipleship and follow Christ as Savior.

Be forgiven of all your sins.

Come to Him. Believe in Him. Trust in Him.

And you will have life in His Name.

And if you have been following Jesus for 50 years, this is still the foundation of all your discipleship. We never leave this.

Love is the power of the Christian life.

If you love me you will keep my commandments (John 14:15).

But love is not something we will in ourselves. Its a response. An overflow of God’s love for us in Christ.

This is how we know what love is: While we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).

And all of the Christian life is lived out of that truth.

Jesus is our Savior. We were bought and paid for by His blood. All of my life belongs to Him.

And this is a joy, because its not obligation or duty that drives us to follow Christ. Its love.

Its love for our great and awesome Savior who loved us. And loved us to the very end.

Number 1…True Disciples follow Jesus as Savior.

Number 2...

II. True Disciples Follow Jesus as Master and Teacher

John 1:38-39 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

Now lets get one question out of the way.

You might remember that the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, have the disciples drop their fishing nets and start following Jesus, but here they were with John the Baptist, so some people take this and say, “See! The Bible contradicts itself.”

But that’s not true. This is the disciple’s first steps of discipleship, not their official call to be disciples and eventually Apostles of Jesus Christ.

But what happens is Andrew and John start following Jesus and He turns and says to them, What are you seeking?

That’s the question isn’t it?

What do you want? What are you ultimately searching for?

Whatever it is, you can only find it in Christ.

Living Water - What are You Seeking?

The Bible talks about sin as a wilderness and salvation as living water.

Jeremiah 2 says our sin and idols are like broken cisterns in a desert that can hold no water.

They promise life. They promise to quench your thirst.

But ultimately, they leave you dry. They leave you thirsty. They leave you always wanting more

Our sin can never satisfy.

But God, He is the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13). He is a fountain that never runs dry.

Whatever you are seeking…Whatever you are thirsty for…you will only ever find it in Christ.

Hear how Spurgeon expanded on Christ’s question to get at the heart of what Jesus was really saying...

Are you seeking pardon? You shall find it in me. Are you seeking peace? I will give you rest. Are you seeking purity? I will take away your sin, a new heart will I give you, and a right spirit will I put within you. What are you seeking? Some solid resting place for your soul upon the earth, and a glorious hope for yourself in heaven? Whatever you seek, it is here (Phillips, John, REC vol. 1, 97).

It is only found in Christ.

What about you? What are you seeking, and maybe more importantly, where are you seeking it?

Where are you looking for life? For soul quenching water?

In your sin? In your comforts? In prominence or the things of this world?

Or are you like the man who found a hidden treasure or pearl of great price…who after finding it sold all that he had to buy it? (Mt. 13:44-46).

What are you seeking?

Discipleship as Commitment

Andrew and John answer, Rabbi (which means teacher) where are you staying?

What are we seeking? We think its you!

Their question isn’t just asking where do you live?

They wanted time with Jesus.

They wanted to find out more about this One who John the Baptist said would take away the sin of the world.

So they basically as Jesus is there somewhere we can go talk for a while.

And Jesus said, Come and you will see. So they went with Him and stayed with Him all day for it was about the tenth hour, that is, probably 4pm.

And during this time they probably had a Bible study similar to the one Jesus had with some disciples on the Road to Emmaus after His resurrection where beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (Lk. 24:27).

Jesus invited them to come and see, and they saw indeed.

The light of Christ shined on their hearts and these two knew Jesus was the Messiah they were looking for all along promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Notice their discipleship was more than just a passing decision that was made on a whim.

More than raising a hand or praying a prayer.

It was a serious consideration. An investigation.

It was an all of life commitment. Do we treat following Jesus that way?

Disciples and Teachers

And when they started following Jesus they called Him Rabbi, which John translates for us as Teacher.

Disciples and Rabbis was a serious commitment.

A Disciple would follow their teacher.

They would follow their every word and their way of life trying to glean as much as they possibly could.

You would basically walk in their shadow the idea being that you wanted to catch even catch the dust kicked up by your Rabbi’s feet.

And by calling Jesus Rabbi, Andrew and John were saying we are done following John, we are following you.

This is following Jesus as Prophet.

Is Jesus our Rabbi? Our Master and Teacher?

Do we follow His every word and His way of life.

That’s what discipleship is.

Walking in His shadow.

Do we obey His Word? Treasure His Word?

Live all of our lives according to His Word and feed on it as our daily bread?

And more importantly, are we putting it into practice? Are we following His way of life?

Paul says Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14).

Let me ask it like this…Would people say you are the shadow of Christ? That you follow Him so close, you catch the dust kicked up by His feet?

That’s discipleship. And that’s the kind of discipleship we should be striving for.

Following Christ and His every Word. That’s the kind of discipleship that changes your life.

Verse 40...

John 1:40-42 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Andrew is so excited about finding Jesus that the first thing he does is go and find his brother Simon, who later becomes Peter, the leader of the Apostles.

I love Andrew. Every time you see him, he is bringing someone to Jesus.

He’s the one that brings the little boy with two fish and five loaves to Jesus when He feeds the 5000.

And he’s the one that brings some Gentiles when they were seeking Jesus.

That’s a great way to think about evangelism by the way. All we are doing is bringing people to Jesus.

Well, Andrew gets Simon and when Jesus sees him, Jesus says, “Nah…your name’s not Simon. Your name’s Cephas, which means Peter, which means Rock.

Now if you know anything about Peter, you know he is anything but a Rock.

He’s fickle. Impetuous.

Even in this very gospel Peter says he would lay down His life for Jesus and then denies Jesus three times (John 13:36-38).

But Jesus gives Peter a new name, a new identity, that reflects who Jesus would save and transform Peter to be.

Because after the Resurrection Peter is the one that stands up at Pentecost and says Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ whom you crucified (Acts 2:36-38).

Following Jesus should change your life. Change your identity.

If anyone is in Christ He is a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17).

You’re not who you were.

You put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires…and you put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

That’s the Christian life. You put off the old self and you put on the new.

No. I’m not Simon anymore. I’m not who I was. I’m not the old self.

I’m Peter. And that sin...that unbiblical way of thinking or living...That’s not the way I learned Christ.

I live for Him now.

In my marriage, job, relationships, thought life, money, words, actions. In everything.

Put off the Old, Put on the New.

We are disciples of Christ. We walk in His shadow. We follow His Word and His way of life.

Abide

And John even gives us a hint at what this true discipleship looks like if you go back to verse 39 where it says and they stayed with him there.

The word stayed with Him, is literally the word Abide.

The same word that comes up in chapter 15 when Jesus says...

John 15:5, 8 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

John is giving us a breadcrumb, in chapter 1, that true discipleship abides with Christ. Abides in Him.

And Abiding means remaining, clinging, holding close to Him as well as persevering.

Following Christ and keep on following Christ.

Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68).

You’re the Prophet. You’re the Master. You’re the Teacher.

We want to walk in your shadow, follow your words and your way of life.

True Disciples follow Jesus as Master and Teacher.

Number 3...

III. True Disciples Follow Jesus No Matter the Cost

John 1:43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”

That’s all we hear of Philip’s discipleship.

Jesus says follow me and Philip goes.

Simple faith. But a bold faith.

The word follow is in the present active tense carrying the idea of follow and keep on following.

This is a big call. Its not a momentary decision.

Maybe you do maybe you don’t.

This is an all of life commitment.

The kind of commitment that calls us every day to deny ourselves, die to ourselves, and follow Jesus.

Luke 9:23 If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Philip didn’t know everything following Jesus would cost.

He didn’t know he would leave everything behind and eventually die a martyr’s death.

He didn’t have a map of his life and what all it would look like following Jesus, but he went anyway.

He didn’t know the whole plan laid out for his life, but he followed Jesus by faith, and that’s the kind of discipleship Jesus calls all of us to.

When He says follow, We follow.

When He says Go! We go.

When Jesus says lay that down, put it to death we give it up.

That’s true discipleship, and true discipleship is basically just dying to self.

Dying to our wants, our dreams, our desires, and saying I want to follow Jesus.

Paul said it like this...

Philippians 3:7, 13-15 Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ...One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way.

True Christian discipleship follows Christ no matter the cost.

It strives. Presses on.

It leaves everything behind and counts it as rubbish for the prize of knowing Christ and His salvation.

We don’t live for what we used to live for. Our greatest treasure is Christ.

The life we now live is one of relentless godliness.

That through prayer, faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit we let nothing stand in our way from following Christ.

No sin. No effort. No persecution or pressure from the world.

We follow Christ no matter the cost. We deny ourself. Take up our cross and follow him daily.

True discipleship follows Christ no matter the cost.

Last, but not certainly not least, number 4...

IV. True Disciples Follow Jesus as King

John 1:44-46 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Now there’s one thing I want to pull out right here.

Church

First, notice that Philip says WE have found him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote. We.

Right after beginning his walk following Jesus, Philip identifies himself with this new Messianic community of faith.

We don’t follow Jesus on our own. We follow Him with others.

True Discipleship identifies itself with a body of believers; its not some rogue, “I follow Jesus.”

You need to be part of a church.

To follow Jesus the way the New Testament expects Christians to follow Jesus, we need to be a part of a local body of faith.

Biblically, a Christian that does not belong to a local church under the care and teaching of elders appointed by the Holy Spirit to watch over the flock is a unicorn.

They don’t exist.

Going to church on Sunday isn’t enough. Just coming here week after week is not enough.

You need to become a member. Identify yourself with a local body.

That’s God’s Plan A for discipleship.

When Jesus gave the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, the way the Apostles worked that out was by planting churches.

Discipleship happens in a local church, and the way some of you might need to apply this sermon today is by starting the membership process and becoming a member whether that’s here or somewhere else.

Nazareth

So Philip comes to Nathanael and says we’ve found Him. We’ve found the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth.

Nathanael say, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Nazareth was a podunk town. It was in the region of Galilee which itself was looked down upon by the people in Judea.

Nathanael was from Cana (Jn. 21:2) which was also in Galilee, so Nazareth was a despised city among other despised cities.

This speaks to the humility of our Lord. He didn’t come to a great town or royal palace.

He left heaven and came to the lowest of the low to save those who were even lower than that.

Verse 47.

John 1:47-49 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

Indeed is the Greek word Truly. A true Israelite.

Paul says a Jew is not one outwardly, but one inwardly who has been circumcised from the heart (Rom. 2:28-29).

Nathanael was a true Jew. A True believer in God and all the promises of the Old Testament unlike all the hypocrites of his day.

Those Jews were deceivers. They had the appearance of godliness but denied its power.

So Nathanael says, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

This is Jesus displaying supernatural, divine knowledge. Knowledge only God Himself could know.

Now we don’t know what was so significant about the Fig Tree.

MacArthur suggests it was where Nathanael studied and meditated on the Messiah and Old Testament Scriptures which is what Jesus is hitting on here.

Spurgeon thought it might be where he confessed sin. Where he prayed. Or where he enjoyed his sweetest communion with God.

We just don’t know.

But here’s what’s obvious. Something about the Fig Tree cut right to the heart and spoke directly to Nathanael’s soul, that it left him with no doubt, this Jesus could be none other than God.

That’s what we talked about earlier. What are you seeking?

That’s who Christ is. He answers our deepest needs, longings, and desires of our soul.

This led Nathanael to make his confession and put his faith in Jesus.

Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Here Nathanael says Jesus, you are the Son of God, you are God himself, and you are the King of Israel, the Messiah and Son of David. The hope of the nations who will make all things new!

And don’t miss the connect. Jesus called Nathanael a true Israelite. And Nathanael says Jesus you’re the King of Israel.

Jesus, you are MY King.

When we follow Jesus as King we are saying He rules over all.

He is the highest authority. The Last Word. The One to whom all men must given an account.

And He is worthy of all praise and glory.

As King, Jesus is worthy of all of our praise, adoration, and glory.

We live for Him. We serve Him.

All that we are and all that we do is to exalt His name.

That’s the life of a Christian. That’s the life of a True Disciple.

Does that describe your life? Do you follow Jesus as King or do you still live for yourself thinking, “I’m good. I have a Savior. All my sins are forgiven.”

Because as we’ve seen, its not enough to follow Jesus as Savior.

We must follow His every word and way of life as our Prophet, and we must live for His glory as our King.

Then Jesus said:

John 1:50-51 “Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The greater things, are all the signs Jesus will do throughout the gospel that prove He is the Messiah.

And when Jesus says, Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man, that is a reference to Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28.

Before Jacob became Israel, He was called Jacob. and he was the Father of the 12 Tribes. The People of God.

And one night, Jacob had a dream where he saw a ladder reaching to the top of heaven with angels ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12).

And at the top of the Ladder was the LORD, and the LORD spoke and confirmed His promise He made to Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 28:14).

The New Testament tells us this blessing is salvation that came through the true offspring of Abraham, Jesus Christ.

He is the promised blessing to all nations, and all the families of the earth.

And then after this dream Jacob was afraid and said How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven (Gen. 28:17).

So what is Jesus saying here?

That Nathanael, and all the disciples because the you is plural, would see that Jesus is the true gate of Heaven.

He is the true Mediator between heaven and earth, God and man who would fulfill all of God’s promises to Abraham and bless all the families of the earth with everlasting salvation.

And especially when you compare Jacob’s ladder to the tower of Babel which was also built to try and reach to the top of heaven, God judged that tower because man cannot build their way to salvation.

The only way is the Son of Man. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The only way we can climb to heaven is through the One True Mediator between God and Man, Jesus Christ.

He and He alone is the hope of all nations who can make all things new.

And that takes us to the last application of the day.

Evangelism

If Jesus is the hope of the nations, that means our job is to go and tell them.

We see it in this story.

The gospel grows one person at a time. That’s all evangelism is.

One person telling another person about Jesus and inviting them to Come and see.

In this story you have people coming to Christ through Ministry - John the Baptist.

Family evangelism - Andrew telling Peter.

Intentional slash as you go evangelism - Jesus finding Philip.

And Friendship evangelism - Philip finding Nathanael.

This is why we have just gone to two services. So that more people would come and see Jesus.

Every empty seat you see is another person who needs Christ.

Someone you might know that God has put in your life to share the gospel with or help them grow in their discipleship by getting them plugged into a solid biblical church.

Part of discipleship is going and finding. Of sharing the Hope: We have found the One! Come and see.

You don’t have to have all the answers. What do the disciples do? Bring people to Jesus and let Him do all the work.

What are you seeking? If they are His sheep, they will hear His voice.

Conclusion

Believing in Jesus means following Jesus as our Prophet, Priest, and King - the Messiah and one true Mediator between God and Man who alone can save us from our sins and make all things new!

Discipleship is just faith with skin on it.

That when we believe in Jesus we become His followers.

We follow Him as our Savior.

As our Great High Priest who offered His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

We follow Him as our Master and Teacher.

As our Prophet who alone has the words of eternal life where we walk in His shadow and follow His every word and way of life.

We follow Him no matter the cost. By faith. Enduring all things - blessings and hardship - and dying to ourself to follow Christ.

And we follow Him as King.

We live for Him and His glory.

That’s true Discipleship. That’s what following Jesus actually looks like.

And Jesus’ promise:

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29).

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Luke 14:25-30, 33 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”…So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

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