Called To Follow
Notes
Transcript
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 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.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
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.”
Sometimes we stand up here and tell you how depraved we can be. We point out different levels of your selfishness. Different avenues on how we all put ourselves before God and and chose our needs over the needs of His church.
We don’t do say those things out of spite. Its unfortunately Just the harsh truth. The truth of mankind.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
That’s the bad news, and let’s just be real, bad news sucks. But in reality bad news is a blessing because it’s the bad news that helps us to really appreciate the good news.
The bad news is just and exit on the freeway to help us get to the destination of the good news, and that news can only be good if we fully grasp the bad.
One of the sayings I really love is you don’t really appreciate the warmth is you haven’t experienced the cold.
But today I want us to bask in the warmth of the good. The goodness that we get to experience thanks to Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
The good news that we get to enjoy today is that if you are here and you have been adopted as sons and daughter of Christ you have encountered “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”!
If you are here and have not yet been born again I also have good news for you. We have found ‘ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” and his name is Jesus, and we want you to meet him.
We don’t want you to meet just any Jesus either. We want you to meet the Jesus of the bible and walk in a joyus relationship with Him. Knowing and experiencing all hiss attributes.
John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God.
Andrew understood Jesus was the Messiah.
Philip calls Jesus the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises.
Jesus is the one to whom all of the Law and Prophets or another way of saying the entire Hebrew Scriptures—testified about.
Later in the Gospel, Jesus (while talking to those who opposed him) made a similar statement.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Friday and Saturday Tony, Ceresa and I went on a little over night adventure. On the way out of town Tony asked us “do you think anyone from the religions that believe in Jesus but have the wrong understanding of Jesus will go to Heaven”?
The most promising answer we came up with was I don’t know. You never know when God is going to reveal himself to someone. This brings hope because our heart should be broken for those that don’t know the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
But the harder part of the answer to that question is that unfortunately some will not because you can’t just believe in your own or someone elses interpretation of Jesus that doesn’t align with the Jesus of the bible.
We are not just believing in his name but in his identity of Lord.
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
We’ve spent a lot of time lately trying to make sure you understand who the Jesus of the bible is. That is important.
That you understand not just his name but his attributes. That you grasp the person and work of Jesus.
On the way home last night we listened to a sermon by Voddie Baucham and it was on that same subject and his answer was the same we must have an encounter with the Jesus of the Bible.
Jesus fully God, yet took on full humanity. Jesus eternal in every way has always existed will always exist. Not a created being but the Alpha and Omega.
Jesus Christ, that all things were created by him, through him, and for him.
Jesus Christ that gave his life as ransom for many, was buried and on the third day rose from the dead.
Jesus Christ that after his resurrection showed himself to many then later ascended back to his throne in Heaven.
Voddie went on to say that the encounter also requires a biblical response.
In the bible Jesus says in...
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
A biblical response, repent and believe. That repent part often gets over looked because we don’t want to sound judgy when we tell people you got some skeletons in the closet get rid of those and...
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
I just wanted to make sure and lay the foundation for the importance of that because if you haven’t had an encounter with Jesus yet I trust in the goodness of our God that you are having one today.
How can I trust I that? Because we preach line by line through the bible and it is Jesus that the scriptures testify about!
For those of you here today that have had that encounter with the Jesus of the bible and have responded in a biblical manner I have good news for you today too.
You have been called by the God of this universe and your story is so amazing!
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
That’s an amazing testimony no matter what your personal story looks like. You were dead! And now your alive in Christ!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
A new creation! Created for and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of the great commission.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Powered by the Holy Spirit, armed with the Word of God, with the word of our testimony we get do do what we see Jesus’ first disciples doing here at the end of chapter one. Introducing those we know to the Lamb of God!
Let’s rewind a bit into Pastor Tony’s verses from last week.
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).
Before I dig into these verses I want to bring up my friend Gill to share some of his story with you.
Gill’s Story...
You see his story is a lot like this. His sister started following Christ, ran and told her brother! That’s beautiful a beautiful story, but the most beautiful part about is was that there was no pressure on Jen to convert him. All she had to do was make the introduction. It was Jesus in His timing that said now is the time Gill, follow me.
Now I want us to focus in now on a section from today’s passages.
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.”
Sometimes our story is met with skepticism or a harsh rebuttal. Now I want to bring up my friend Brandon. Brandon Has a beautiful story a lot like Nathanael.
Brandon’s Story...
You see it wasn’t Nick’s invitations that saved him, it wasn’t Gary and Whitney’s relationship with Jesus that saved him. Those things were just stepping stones on his path to his own encounter with Jesus.
You guys, we are reading about Jesus calling everyday average people just like you and me. I think we tend to elevate their status and in doing so we diminish our story. I hate when I hear the words I have a boring testimony. Boring? From death to life, a new creation, how is that boring?
I don’t care if God healed you of cancer, drug you off a jail cell floor in the depths of addiction, brought you out of an abusive relationship or if you were raised in the church and have always known and followed Him. All those stories have someone who was once dead and now walk in newness of life. That’s what makes your story amazing.
It’s not the circumstances of the testimony it’s the substance. It’s Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God meeting you right where you are and being rich in mercy reaching out his hand and saying follow me up out of that spiritual grave and come and walk as a new creation, alive in a newness of life.
Oh and just wait, this is just the beginning. Just wait and see what eternity holds! No more pain, no more tears, just a new Heaven and a new Earth.
Let’s close with those promises from God’s word.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Amen! Let’s Pray!
