The Quest of a True Follower

Introduction

Go back with me to the late 19th century. I'm going to begin to tell you the story of a man, and at the end of the sermon, I will tell you the rest of the story, so don't forget this.

In the 1870's and 80's there lived a man in the Manchuria region of China known as Blind Chang.

Chang Shen had been converted to Christianity after being stricken blind in his mid-life. Before his conversion, he had been known as Wu so pu wei te, meaning "one without a particle of good in him." A gambler, womanizer, and thief, he had driven his wife and only daughter from home. When he was stricken blind, the neighbors said it was the judgement of the gods for his evil doings.

In 1886, Chang traveled overland for hundreds of miles to reach a missionary hospital where he had heard people were receiving their sight back. When he arrived, there were no beds available, but the hospital evangelist took pity on him and offered up his own bed. Chang's eyesight improved partially with treatment, and he heard about Jesus for the very first time. The doctor reported that, "Never had we a patient who received the gospel with such joy."

Chang was charged to go home and tell his neighbors that he had changed after he had asked to be baptized. The evangelist said, "I will visit you later, and if you are still following Jesus, I will baptize you."

Five months later, missionary James Webster arrived in Chang's area and found hundreds of people interested in the gospel. He baptized Chang with great joy, and Chang Shen became an evangelist.

A native doctor damaged what little eyesight Chang had restored, but it did not matter, he continued his travels from village to village, winning hundreds more,praising God when cursed or spat upon, and even when ferocious dogs were turned loose on him. He learned practically the whole New Testament by heart and even whole chapters of the Old Testament. Missionaries followed Chang's path, baptizing converts and organizing churches.

[By Their Blood, p.35 - 36]

Last week we studied the passage where John the Baptist proclaims Jesus as "the Lamb of God." Jesus has just finished being tempted by the devil after 40 days of fasting, and walks by John the Baptist. The day before, John the Baptist had been talking to some of the Pharisees that had come to question whether he was the Messiah, or Elijah, or another prophet. John's answer astounded them, because when asked who he was, John did not reply with an identity, but with a message. He said, "I am the voice crying out in the desert that is preparing the way for the Lord, but there is someone among you so great that I am not even worthy of serving Him in the most humble way."

So as Jesus walks by the next day, John the Baptist points Him out and says, "There is the man! That is the one that I was talking about! He is the one that I am not worthy of even loosing His sandal straps. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world! He is God in the flesh, existing before me even though I was born in the flesh before Him."

Today, as we look at the life and ministry of Christ, continuing our series titled The Way, the Truth, the Life, we come to the very next day. Before we begin to read, let me give you the setting.

John the Baptist is with at least two of his disciples. As we will read in a bit, one of those disciples is Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. The other one though not named, seems to be John, the author of the book we are currently studying (I'll give reasoning to that as we progress). This time there is not a crowd surrounding John the Baptist, and as these three men are together, along passes Jesus again.

John 1:35-37 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Witnessing Jesus' Glory

We studied last week that the writer of the Gospel of John, John the apostle (who is, in our current setting, at this time a disciple of John the Baptist) wrote in his prologue (1:1-18) in verse 14 these words: And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

See, John and Andrew were followers of John the Baptist. They were disciples in the form that they did not abandon their livelihood to follow John the Baptizer, but they would have been with him in their spare time; they would have listened to his teachings intently and spread those teaching to others as well. John the Baptist had probably shared with these two and his other disciples the sign that he was looking for as the sign that would reveal the Messiah.

What was that sign? The Spirit of God descending visibly upon and remaining of the Messiah after He was baptized.

Andrew and John would have probably been there with the crowd as John the Baptist baptized Jesus, meaning that they would have witnessed the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus after He came out of the water. They were able to witness this glorious event. John and Andrew had seen the glory of Jesus as the only begotten Son of God the Father. At the very least, they would have heard about the event had they not been there to witness it, and it would have been confirmed to them by their rabbi (teacher), John the Baptist.

John the Baptist had been looking for that revelation for himself. Reminiscent of a prayer that had been uttered hundreds of years before when Moses prayed to God, "Show me your glory," John the Baptist had been praying for the day when when he would know for sure who the Messiah was. With every baptism, he awaited the descent of the Spirit of God, and then one day, Jesus came to be baptized. That day, John the Baptist and all the others witnessed the glory that was bestowed upon Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.

When something exciting like that happens to you, and you are directly involved in it, you talk about it for a long time. You sit and analyze it. You discuss it with witnesses and recount the event to others that were not able to witness it. For over 5 weeks now, John the Baptist has been thinking about that event, breaking it down in his mind, and discussing it with his disciples. He discusses it with the Pharisees sent to questions him. He clarifies to his audience that he is not the Messiah, and upon seeing Jesus walk by, he declares that Jesus is the divine lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

So now we find John the Baptist and two of his disciples, Andrew and (presumably) John, a day after John the Baptist has made that bold declaration of truth, when along comes Jesus again. Notice that verse 36 states that John the Baptist looks on Jesus. This is not just a glance. This is a hard stare into the face of a man who has been gloriously revealed to John the Baptist as no ordinary man, but the very Son of God. When he is is done with this intense gaze upon the Savior of the world, John again, but this time to an audience of two, declares, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

The Result of Revealing Jesus' Glory to Others

John once again points out Jesus as the Lamb of God. He has seen His glory manifested, and reveals it now to those around him. Look at what happens when he does this.

John 1:37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Others will follow Jesus when we reveal His glory. But we cannot reveal something we have never experienced. John was preparing hearts and minds with his message, but he was also praying to see God's glory revealed on the Messiah. When that event happened, he had no choice but to tell others about Jesus. He declares Jesus as the Messiah, the eternal one, the Son of God, the Lamb of God. And here we find him in the company of two of his disciples, and as Jesus walks by, he says it again, and his two disciples leave him to follow Jesus.

John had been preparing their hearts too. His goal was to teach people to follow after the Messiah, after Jesus. the purpose of Christians is to follow Jesus. That is our number one goal. If I am not prepared to follow Jesus, then what is the point? What is the point of coming to church? What is the point of living right? What is the point of being a Christian if not to follow Jesus? And that is what happened with Andrew and John. They had seen, they had believed, and now they follow. And in the next verse, we see why they follow.

A True Follower's Quest

John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? -- They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

This is not a casual following. Notice how they refer to Jesus: Rabbi. The term "rabbi" as we know it now (with the definition being a Jewish scholar or teacher, especially one who studies Jewish law), was not what Rabbi meant when you read the New Testament. The word "rabbi" did not become a title for a teacher until the second century AD. Rabbi is a Greek word taken from Hebrew origin which means "my master." So these two disciples have left John the Baptist and now call Jesus "master." This is not a casual following.

This is not just a curious following either. There were many that would eventually follow Jesus out of curiosity. Thousands would follow Him out of simple curiosity, not not Andrew and John. They desired intimacy. They wanted to see and hear not only the signs that this new Master would do, but get to know him on a personal level.

When Jesus ask, "What are you looking for?" They respond, "Show us where you live." They are asking Jesus to take them into the most private of places, to let them in on a part of his life that not many others have available to them.

A True Follower's Quest Is Personal

Seek and Ye Shall Find

So Jesus responds in this way: John 1:39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

I like how Jesus asked these two men what they wanted. He asked, "What do you seek," instead of "What do you want?" And when they presented their quest, to see where Jesus lived, He says, "Come and see." Almost as if he is saying, "Seek and you shall find."

Abiding in Christ

So they go to Jesus' home and they stay there the whole rest day and spend the night as well. The goal of a follower of Christ is not just to satisfy curiosities or even glimpse into Jesus life, but to abide, to dwell, to hang out with Jesus. We have to understand what Jesus taught his disciples later, recorded in this same book, John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Did you catch that? If we are not abiding in Jesus, we can't do anything. We can do nothing that will bring Him glory; we can do nothing that will bring Him the praise He deserves; we can do nothing for His kingdom. We can do nothing without abiding in Him!

A True Follower's Quest Engages Others

Andrew calls Simon (Peter)

John 1:40-42 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. This is where we find out the identity of one of the disciples that started to follow Jesus. It is presumed that the other is John because from the moment of the two disciples leaving John the Baptist and following Jesus, John begins to write as an eyewitness, noting things that would be important to that witness, such as the hour that they arrived at Jesus' house.

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

So Andrew goes and finds his brother, Simon Peter, first. When he gets to Peter, Andrew reveals the glory that he has beheld to someone who has not seen it. He says to Peter, "Peter, we found the Messiah (Hebrew), the Christ (Greek), the Anointed One (English). " AND HE BROUGHT HIM TO JESUS! He takes his own brother to where Jesus is so that Peter can see for himself. And with this act, Andrew has the honor of being the first Christian evangelist.

And Jesus says to Peter, "You are Simon, son of Jonah, but someday, you will be called Cephas (Hebrew, the Greek equivalent would be Petros, where we get Peter which means stone)." That "thou shalt" is in the future tense, not present, as I have read from those that have studied the Greek manuscripts. "Today you are Simon (Hebrew, to hear; one that hears), but someday you are going to be a stone (Petros, a piece of a larger rock)."

As we continue to study through the Gospels, we will see that this is a prophetic statement. Simon Peter does not start off as a strong, firm, stable follower of Jesus. He is wishy-washy, weak, fast to speak, and even though his name means "hearing", slow to hear. But one day Peter would become a strong and stable Christian, truly a "chip off the old block," a small stone carved out of the larger rock that is Christ.

It does not seem that Jesus calls Simon Peter at this time to be His disciple, and if he does, it seems that Peter, along with a few of the others, viewed this calling to follow Jesus as a part time thing, similarly to how they had followed John the Baptist. But we will run into that further down the road.

Jesus, however, is not done. He continues the next day into Galilee.

John 1:43-46 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

So Jesus goes and finds Philip. This is a word that in the Greek can mean to happen upon though ti heavily implies that the finding is done after a dedicated search. Knowing Jesus and understanding that He is God, I think we can safely say that Jesus went to Galilee on purpose, and one of His purposes was to look for Philip. When Jesus finds Philip, He tells him, "Follow me." There is a note there that tells us that Philip, Andrew, and Peter were from a town of Bethsaida, which was a very wicked city. This is important to us, because I want you to notice that Jesus didn't go to Jerusalem, the Holy City, to look for His followers; He went to places like Bethsaida. Jerusalem was full of people who were religious, but even in this wicked town of Bethsaida, there are a few people who were truly waiting on the Lord to make Himself known.

Philip, probably having at least heard of Jesus through Peter and Andrew and maybe even witnessing the astounding event that was the baptism of Jesus, stops what he is doing and runs to find Nathanael. And I love this story. Philip runs to find Nathanael, much in the way that Jesus found Philip, intentionally. When Philip tells Nathanael, "We found Him! We found the one of whom Moses and all the prophets spoke. His name is Jesus of Nazareth."

And very skeptically, Nathanael (also referred to as Bartholomew in the other Gospels- "son of Tolmai") asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" The Galileans (the region where Jesus is now in the story) were not highly regarded because they were considered to be rude and uncultured people. Nathanael, a Galilean himself from the city of Cana, disparages Jesus' village of Nazareth with his question. It seems that Nazareth may have been the low town on the totem pole in Galilee. There are several theories as to why that might be, none which make any difference here. Nathanael seems to have bought into that part of the culture, however, questioning whether anything good, especially the Messiah who was supposed to be held in such high esteem, could possibly come from a village that was held in such low esteem.

But what sticks out the most to me is Philip's response. "Come and see." Are y'all seeing what I am seeing? This is the same invitation that Jesus gave to Andrew and John when they said, "We want to see where you live. We want to know you, not just about you." Jesus answers them, Come and see." And now, for the skeptic, the invitation is the same, "Come and see."

Jesus answers to those who are truly wanting to follow Him, "Come and see, I will show you who I am." But it is a faithful believer that says to the skeptic, "Come and see, I will show you who Jesus is." Do you realize how big of a deal this is? Y'all, it means that you and I are supposed to go out and model Christ for the skeptics! We aren't supposed to wait for a lightning bolt to hit them and change their mind, we are not supposed to simply pray that God will somehow convince those skeptics that He is real and that He sent His only Son to save them. We are supposed to go out, find the skeptics, and tell them, "Follow me, I'll show you Jesus."

So Nathanael goes with Philip to see Jesus.

John 1:47-51 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

As Jesus sees Nathanael approach, He makes an interesting exclamation, "Look at this guy! Here is an Israelite in whom there is no guile, no deceit." And Nathanael answers, "How do you know me?" And Jesus answers back, "Before Philip went and found you, I saw you sitting under that fig tree." The fig tree offered to those in that region the thickest amount of shade. It would have been a place to get alone and rest or pray or just relax without being in the view of the whole world because the shade would have been thick. Jesus reveals His divine ability to see into the private lives of people, and this revelation causes something to click in Nathanael's mind as he exclaims, "Truly, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel!"

It was that revelation that allowed Nathanael to see Jesus' glory and it was the visible Holy Spirit and audible voice of God the Father that allowed Andrew and John to see the glory of Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus revealed Himself differently to different people. It is possible that Nathanael had heard the words of John the Baptist announcing that Jesus was the Son of God, but at that time he had not understood like he did at this moment. Nathanael regarded the revelation of his wherabouts and his character to be a great thing.

And Jesus answers, "You believe because I said 'I saw you under the fig tree'? Hold on to your hat, you're about to see way bigger things than that!"

Then Jesus says, "Verily, verily [this phrase is used to mark the importance of a truth that is about to be uttered] I say unto you [plural form is used here, so he is not just talking to Nathanael at this point] you will see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Jesus lets those that He has called and are now following Him know that they will get to see the ministering of angels through the power of Jesus. In this chapter alone we have seen Jesus referred to as the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the true Light, Rabbi/Master, the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Israel, and now Jesus refers to Himself by another title: the Son of Man. This is an expression found in all four Gospels, Jesus using it upwards of 80 times. It is used by others as well in the book of Acts and Revelation to refer to Jesus. It is a title that indicates both His humanity and humility, and yet it is an expression as old as the writings of the prophet Daniel himself who uses it to reference Jesus as the son of the Ancient of Days (a title reserved only for God) whose holds all kingdoms, dominions, power, and glory. Daniel (7:13-14) goes on to say that the Son of Man will be served by every people, nation, and language and that his dominion is everlasting; a kingdom that will not pass away. Later in the chapter, the Son of Man is referred to as the Most High, another name that the Jews call God.

Application:

We talked about the quest of a true follower, a true disciple.

It's personal -

- It is a realization that we are slaves, and Jesus is our Master. It cannot be a casual following.

- It involves seeking, actively pursuing an intimate relationship with Jesus.

- It involves abiding with Jesus. It involves living with Him; that means being willing to suffer through the things He was willing to suffer. Being willing to go through discomfort. Being willing to put family (husband, wife, kids, parents, etc.) in second place behind Him. Because if we aren't willing to abide with Him, we will be incapable of impacting anyone for Him.

But it is not only personal, it actively engages others.

- Do you talk to others about what you have seen Jesus do in and around your life? John the Baptist did. And he proclaimed it loudly for the world to hear. Had John the Baptist not been so adamant about proclaiming the glory of Jesus, Andrew and John would have never followed Jesus.

- Andrew went and found his own brother first. He brought Simon to Jesus. We rave about Peter. Peter is such a well known disciple and was the spokesman for the disciples and for the church after Jesus' return to heaven, but there would have been no Peter if it weren't for Andrew. There would have been no Nathanael if it weren't for Philip.

Are we engaging others? Are we actively taking the gospel to others? Are we revealing the glory of God to others and bringing them to Jesus? Do you have the confidence to point to your life, the changes that Jesus has made in you, and say, "Come and see what Jesus has done?"

It is an amazing "feel good" story that we have just studied today. It is a story of 4 or 5 men who have begun their journey to follow Jesus, to submit to Him as Master and King. This journey will be, for each of them and for 7 or so more, a life time journey. We get to explore through this study, the first three of those years. As we study the life of Christ, this topic, discipleship, is going to be brought up over and over again. Discipleship is a big deal, and it is something that we get wrong so often.

At this time, Peter, Andrew, and John seem to be part timers. At times they find themselves following Jesus, and at times they find themselves back at their regular life, fishing the Sea of Galilee. It is not until much later that Jesus makes the call once more to them and lets them know it is a full-time commitment.

Listen, I want this to be one of our takeaways today. I am reading a book right now titled By Their Blood: Christian Martyrs from the Twentieth Century and Beyond. So that we never loose sight of what the cost of discipleship is, every time we look at discipleship, I plan on reading an excerpt of this book.

So go with me again to China, the year is now 1900. The Boxer Rebellion is in full swing across much of the nation. This was an anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising. It was known as the Boxer Rebellion because many of the members practiced Chinese martial arts, which at the time was referred to as Chinese Boxing. The uprising moved through China and their members targeted not only foreigners, and foreign Christian missionaries, but Chinese Christians as well. The book continues the story of Blind Chang this way:

Of all the Chinese martyrs none died with more courage than Blind Chang, the most famous evangelist in Manchuria, homeland of the Manchu rulers of China.

When the Boxer fury arose, Chang was preaching in Manchuria. Christians felt sure that he would be one of the first targets and led him to a cave in the mountains.

When the Boxers reached a nearby city, they rounded up about 50 Christians for execution. "You're fools to kill all these," a resident told the soldiers. "For everyone you kill, ten will spring up while that man Chang Shen lives. Kill him and you will crush the foreign religion."

The Boxers promised to spare the 50 if someone would take them to Chang. No one volunteered. Finally, when it appeared to the Boxers would kill the fifty, one man slipped away and found Chang to tell him what was happening. "I'll gladly die for them," Chang offered. "Take me there."

Upon arrival, the local authorities bound Chang to the temple of the god of war, and commanded him to worship.

"I can only worship the One Living and True God," he declared.

"Then repent," they cried.

"I repented many years ago," was Chang's reply.

"You must at least bow to the gods."

"No," said Chang, "turn my face toward the sun," knowing that it would make them turn his back to the idols. When they turned him around, he knelt and worshipped the God of the Bible.

Three days later the Boxers arrived again. The blind evangelist was put in an open cart and driven to a cemetery outside the city wall. As he passed through the crowds, he sang the first Christian song he had learned in the hospital.

Jesus loves me, he who died

Heaven's gate to open wide;

He will wash away my sin,

Let this little child come in.

Jesus loves me, He will stay,

Close beside me all the way;

I will love Him when I die,

He will take me home on high.

When they arrived at the cemetery, he was forced into a kneeling position. Three times he cried, "Heavenly Father, receive my spirit." Then the sword flashed, and his head tumbled to the ground.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you, there is a cost to being a disciple. This church's mission is to make disciples. This kind of disciples. Disciples that when faced with the sword, will chose Jesus over life.

Disciples that when faced with the slight discomfort of following Jesus in a nation of religious freedom, will choose to be uncompromisingly uncomfortable than to bow to the idols of safety, comfort, and ease.

When we talk about Jesus' calling of the disciples and his teachings on discipleship, you will also hear more stories like this. You will hear stories of Christians around the world, not in some ancient time, but from the 1900's up until the early 2000's, that chose Jesus over life itself; that chose Jesus over the lives of their families, of their children, of their babies.

This is the kind of following we are called into. This is the kind of sacrifice we are called for. This is not a popular message. It may not be popular even for the ones sitting here. This message may scare half of you away. But if this church dwindles down to 20 people, I'd rather be a part of 20 Blind Changs that are turning Cedar Rapids upside down with the Gospel, than a church of 300 that can't get outside of their own walls.

Why was Chang Shen able to so courageously give his life for the cause of Christ? Because there came a day, in spite of his physical blindness, that he saw God's glory. When he experienced forgiveness for his sin, he began to see and experience the glory of Jesus Christ. He was able to tell others about it because he was so gripped by Jesus that he couldn't help but share it. Like Andrew, like Philip, he went to seek out others to reveal what he had seen: the glory of the only begotten Son of God.

Has God's glory gripped you like that? One of my daily prayers is for God to show me His glory. It is a prayer that I learned from reading about Moses. Moses begged God, "Lord, show me your glory!" And the little the glimpse that Moses got changed his life forever!

Are you praying that God will reveal himself to you?

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Philippians 3:7-10 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;