Untitled Sermon

Good morning, my name is Shane Sibley, and I’m the Pastor here at Central Baptist Church.

I’d like to welcome all our guests here today!

And I’d like to say hello to everyone watching this online.

…we know most people will check us out online before they ever visit

…so, we look forward to seeing you soon…

INTRODUCTION (10 minutes)

Jab 1:

Do yall remember playing the game of tag as a kid? In the game of tag, one person is “IT,” and their mission is to tag another player, thus transferring the title of IT to that person, who then goes on to try and tag someone else.

The game can be played in a variety of different settings; playgrounds, gyms, yards, houses (if we weren’t too loud).

To add an element of change to the game we used to play hide-and-go seek tag. So not only were you trying to tag someone to make them IT, they would be hiding from you and you had to find them first. But simply finding them and putting eyes on them was not good enough, you also had to tag them.

I remember one specific night, I was Jr. High age and I was at friend’s house in my mother’s hometown of Garnett, Kansas, and there were maybe ten of us kids playing hide-and-go seek tag. The game was much more complicated for me because I didn’t know the neighborhood; I didn’t know all the secret hiding places that the kids who lived there did; I lived eight hours away.

Because of this, my friend and I hid as a pair. There was an old beat-up truck in someone’s backyard and the bed of the truck was full of pine straw and old empty horse feed bags. So, we buried ourselves in the straw and bags. Again, it was night time, and the only light was the moon and a few very dimly lit street lights.

The kid who was IT came to the truck and was looking all around it. He looked in the cab, he looked under the truck, and he even shined his flashlight in the bed of the truck where we were buried; he didn’t see us. As he was walking away, my friend starts to laugh. The kid turns around and runs back to the truck. As he’s jumping in one side of the bed, my friend and I are throwing off our cover and bailing out on the OTHER side. When we hit ground on other side of the truck, my friend, who knows the neighborhood takes off to the right, and I take off to the left. The kid whose it, makes the smart choice and begins to chase me. We’re running through back yards and in between houses. Much to my surprise, I’m able to continue to stay away from my pursuer. I hear him slowing down, so I turn and look backwards; still running. When I turn back around, I get caught right up under the chin by a clothes line; stops the top part of my body, dead in my tracks, while my feet keep moving. BAM, I fall flat, hard on my back; knocks the wind out of me. The kid chasing me walks up, looks at me, tags me and says, “You’re it,” then takes off running. I don’t think we played much longer after that; I was done.

Jab 2:

That story reminds me a lot of how many of us came to the Lord. Sometimes we run and run and run, and God has to get our attention. Maybe it wasn’t with a clothesline, but it might have been something greater. I know for me, in my calling to the ministry, the Lord had to remove me from the coaching profession before I would be open to even giving Him an ear to His calling.

Right Hook:

We’ve been talking in our series through the first chapter of the Gospel of John, the different disciples and the methods or interactions that brought them to an encounter with Christ. John and Andrew heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and began to follow Jesus. Andrew then hunts down his brother Simon Peter and brings him to Jesus. This morning we are going to look at two more men, Philip and Nathanael, and how they came to follow Jesus.

Scripture:

John 1:43-51

43 The next day He (Jesus) decided to leave for Galilee. Jesus found Philip and told him, “Follow Me!”

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”

46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.

“Come and see,” Philip answered.

47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said about him, “Here is a true Israelite; no deceit is in him.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.

49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

In our text we have two individuals who come to follow Jesus; Philip and Nathanael. Let’s first look at Philip.

In verse 43 we get a very different approach to what we have previously seen. With the three followers of Jesus that we currently have (Peter, John, Andrew), two of them were told about Jesus by John the Baptist and Simon Peter was brought to Jesus by Andrew. Each of these cases involved someone else playing a role in getting them to Jesus. It was either someone preaching a message or it was someone individually inviting or taking that person to Jesus.

With Philip we don’t see any other people participating in his calling. Verse 43 simply says, “Jesus found Philip and told him, follow me.” Jesus sought out Philip. Philip did not initiate the conversation. Philip did not make the first contact. Philip wasn’t brought by another person. Jesus simply called Philip, and he followed.

Though someone else was used in the calling of the previous three disciples, the calling came directly from Jesus. The previous disciples did not come to Jesus on their own accord. They did not “find” Jesus; they did not “find” religion. Jesus used the lives and the words of other people in order to draw them to Himself. In the account of Philip, Jesus did the calling all on His own outside of anyone’s assistance.

That’s not to say Philip had not been prepped for this encounter through the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. This is not to say the Lord had not been speaking to Philip through creation and divine intervention. This is to say that no other individual brought Philip to follow the Lord.

Romans 1:20

20 [the] invisible attributes of God, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made.

Through creation the Lord revealed Himself to Philip. Through the beauty of the sunrise, the splendor of the mountains, and the wonder of the seas, God had revealed His divine nature and eternal power to Philip. It was no accident that Jesus encountered Philip when He did. This time and this place had been ordained in the sovereign will of God; the heart and the mind of Philip had been prepared beforehand through the knowledge of creation so that when Jesus stepped onto the scene and said to Philip, “Follow Me,” Philip was ready to do so.

I am frequently baffled at those who adhere to the Big Bang Theory, that somehow nothing collided with nothing; and from that collisions all things were formed; that through some sort of massive explosion; chaos and disorder resulted in beauty and perfect order.

Maybe I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist. But when I see the wonder and beauty of this world, I see a creator who formed that beauty out of His love for His creation. I see and intelligent creation formed by and intelligent CREATOR.

So, God has been working in the heart of Philip long before the encounter with Jesus. When Jesus finds Philip, He gives him a simple command, “Follow Me.” This statement is in the active, imperative sense. This was not a suggestion. This was not a proposed recommendation. When Jesus said “Follow Me,” that was a direct command and challenge to Philip.

Jesus used this challenge on many occasions.

Mark 2:14

14 [Jesus] saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So, he got up and followed Him.

Matthew 19:21

21 “If you want to be perfect (complete),” Jesus said to him, “go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

The challenge in all these cases is to take that which we deem to be important, set it aside, and follow the One who can truly give us life.

In all our callings, Jesus is the one who did the choosing.

2 Timothy 1:9

9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace,

Luke 19:10

10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

John 15:16

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you.

In the case of Philip, Jesus Himself called the heart of Philip who had been prepared for the Lord, and Philip answered in the affirmative, and began to follow Jesus.

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We know Philip had a true conversion because of the following verse 45.

John 1:45

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”

APPLICATION (10 minutes)

CONCLUSION (2 minutes)

The God of heaven and earth sent His only begotten son to die on the cross of Calvary in your place; to take your sins punishment upon His shoulders so you could have salvation, righteousness, and eternal life. He’s calling you today to accept His free gift of salvation and redemptions. Have you answered that call for salvation; will you have your sins forgiven and washed clean by the power of the Holy Spirit? Will you receive the Holy Spirit into your life.

As we do every week, I’m going to ask you to pray this morning. I simply want you to pray this, “Holy Spirit, what are you saying to me today?” What would you have me do? How would you have me to respond.” And then as the Lord direct you, would you respond to His call. Pray Do you need to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As we sing, if God is calling you to respond, step out of your seat and move to the front. If you need prayer for any area of your life today, please come to the front. The alters are open, will you come?

https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/evangelism/tcw-2000-002-7.62.html