What We Experience When We Come to Christ
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What We Experience When We Come to Christ
What We Experience When We Come to Christ
John 1.2
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
John 1.40-41
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
John
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
When we come to Christ what are some common experiences?
What do you expect?
The apostle John turns now from the faithfulness of John the baptist’s testimony to a consideration of the fruitfulness of that testimony.
Some of the Lord’s earliest disciples had previously been disciples of John the baptist.
John the apostle was one of these.
The greatness of John’s fruitfulness is seen in two phrases,
“They heard him [John]” and “they followed Jesus” (1:37).
That should be the primary objective of every evangelist, soul-winner, pastor, teacher, deacon, and elder. When people hear us, they should follow Jesus[1]
Some Experiences have predictable results:
Example:
1 st Child
Excited and tell everyone
Maturity sets in for the couple they now have someone that will depend on them
They now have a tax deduction for a dependent
Military Boot Camp
Up early at 5:00 am
Told what to do and where to go 24/7
Scheduled eating time
Sleeping quarters /living space is dictated
Learning something new every day
Child Off to College
decisions of sleep and study are yours
scheduling you day is yours
finances is yours
no more mom and dad to hold your hand
That being said there are some typical experience we should have we we come to Christ
When we come to Christ :
I We Have a Confirming Relationship
I We Have a Confirming Relationship
John 1:35-
35 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. 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? 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.
Text exegesis - vs 35-39 each verse
It was “the next day,” the third day in a series of days shortly before the Passover.
On the first day in the series we have a delegation, the representatives of the Sanhedrin, questioning and challenging John the baptist.
On the second day we have a declaration, John the baptist formally presenting Jesus as lamb of God and Son of God.
Now on this third day we have a decision. Two of John the baptist’s followers leave him in order to become followers of Jesus.
It was John the baptist who promoted this move. He saw Jesus walking nearby.
The word for “looking upon” Jesus is emblepo, which means “to fix one’s gaze upon” or “to give a penetrating look.”
John’s gaze was accompanied by an exclamation: “Behold the Lamb of God!” That was all.
The public declaration of the preceding day now became a personal direction to his disciples.
Two of them instantly transferred their allegiance to Jesus (1:37), won to him, significantly, not by a declaration of his deity but by a declaration of his death and atoning sacrifice.
One of the two is identified as Andrew. The other remains unnamed, though there can be little doubt it was John himself, the author of this gospel.
He never names himself except in the book of Revelation.
The Lord, knowing that he was being trailed, turned around and confronted these two.
Andrew spoke for both of them; he addressed Jesus as “Rabbi” (Master). “Where dwellest thou?”
He wanted a more personal and private setting. Where could he find this wondrous messiah again? Already he had someone in mind he wanted to bring to Jesus.
The Lord responded with an invitation: “Come and see” (1:39) or “Come and ye shall see.”
The two men responded at once. In any case they spent the rest of the day with Jesus and left determined to waste no time in bringing others to Christ.[1]
Jesus’ words of invitation were, Come … and you will see. A person must first come to Him; then he will see. In addition to their seeing where He stayed, these words may possibly also have a deeper theological implication.
The two disciples remained with Him that day, beginning at the 10th hour. That hour was 4 p.m. or 10 a.m., depending on whether the Fourth Gospel counted days from 6 a.m. (as the Synoptics customarily did) or from midnight or noon. The 10 a.m. times seems better and was the official Roman usage
Application - when Andrew and John came to Christ they wanted to spend time with Him.....
They went to his quarters and spent an entire day with him - wow
When we come to Christ :
We should want to spend time with our savior
The word
Prayer
Corporate Church
I questions can someone have a redeeming experience with Christ and not have a desire to spend time with Him?
Wanting to learn - discipleship
getting off the Milk onto the meat as Paul says
Illustration - here a person
Illustration - iphone 11 - pull out phone
learn the ios system
go to a free training
talk to others about the new features
poot of FB pictures and what the phone can do ...
40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
When we come to Christ we should grow .....
When we come to Christ :
II We are Concerned fpr Our Family
II We are Concerned fpr Our Family
II We are Concerned about Family
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 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.
When we come to Christ :
john 1.40-42
exegete vs 40-42
One can picture Andrew and John hurrying away from this momentous meeting.
Andrew is saying, “I must tell Simon.”
II WE Have Concern for Our Family
II WE Have Concern for Our Family
John is saying, “I’m going to get James.”
This is implied by the next verse: “He [Andrew] first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah” (1:41).
“And he brought him to Jesus,” John says, characteristically telling us about Andrew’s convert rather than his own. Andrew’s convert became the first messenger of the church; John’s convert became the first martyr among the apostles.[1]
“And he brought him to Jesus,” John says, characteristically telling us about Andrew’s convert rather than his own. Andrew’s convert became the first messenger of the church; John’s convert became the first martyr among the apostles.[1]
The Lord looked searchingly at Andrew’s big blustering brother.
He identified him at once and then gave him a new name which completely eclipsed the old one: “Thou art Simon, the son of Jona [an Aramaic form of the name John]; thou shalt be called Cephas [the Aramaic form of the name Peter].” The word for “Peter” is petros meaning a movable stone, not a rock (petra).
It was an indication of what Christ intended to do for impulsive, easily swayed Simon. He was going to give him a rock like character.
A true mark of salvation is you concern for your family.
You look at your kids differenrt
You look at your husband/wife different
You look at your parents different.
When we come to Christ we have concern for our family.
Tips for witnessing to family:
He believed that any ultimate reality -- such as God -- is unknown and probably unknowable, feeding that belief with books. He also read books that sought to disprove Christianity, like Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian.
Stephanie, who had accepted Christ in high school 4 years prior, prayed that God would provide opportunities to tell her dad about Jesus and that he would become a Christian someday.
Not Very Likely
Not Very Likely
It seemed as likely as Harvard accepting a high-school dropout.
However, Stephanie was undaunted by her dad's distaste for Christianity. She believed God could do anything.
The only child phoned her father and invited him to meet her for a weekly coffee date. They'd meet and talk about life, and they'd discuss their differing views.
Families Can Be a Built-in Mission
Families Can Be a Built-in Mission
We shrink back from telling them about Him. But families are a built-in place for us to represent the truth of Christ and invite someone to become a Christian.
"The Lord has sovereignly placed us in the families we are in," says Vince Johnson, a Cru staff member.
"Somebody needs to tell them about Jesus, and I believe we have a stewardship because we are in that family as a believer. We have a responsibility to tell them."
Pastor Rocky Fong, of Evangelical Community Church in Hong Kong, writes, "People tend to ask the pastor to do it for them, especially when their [family members] are sick in the hospital facing critical illnesses. Based on my own observations, parents are first 'converted' by their children before they formally accept the invitation of an evangelist or teacher."
Yet sometimes it's intimidating.
Our families often know us best. They usually have known us before we accepted Christ, and they've seen us afterward. They know "what we're really like."
But there are ways to talk about Christ with those we love that are possible and practical.
Where to Begin
Where to Begin
Prayer is the start. We need to pray and ask God to soften their hearts and provide opportunities.
When John Lamb returned home after serving in the military, where he was introduced to Christ, he told his brother and sister-in-law about his newfound love for Jesus.
"John," said his brother over dinner, "you look the same and your voice is the same, but I don't know who you are."
"That's because the man you knew before no longer exists," John replied, "I have been made new."
John explained the change. But his brother wasn't ready to accept Christ.
Actually, John prayed for him for 20 years before his brother understood the gospel and became a Christian.
Don't Save It All for One Conversation
Don't Save It All for One Conversation
Another important element in sharing Christ with family members is to incorporate Him into day-to-day life.
"Evangelism isn't just something you 'do' -- out there -- and then get back to normal living," writes Rebecca Manley Pippert in Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World.
"Evangelism involves taking people seriously, getting across to their island of concerns and needs, and then sharing Christ as Lord in the context of our natural living situations."
We usually know our family members' needs and concerns better than anyone else's because of our unique position in the family.
When we talk with our siblings, parents, children and aunts about deep things and what's important to us, we can talk about Jesus the way we would if we were talking to our Christian friends.
We talk about everything else that's important to us; why not talk about Christ the same way?
Easy for You to Say
Easy for You to Say
It can be difficult putting that advice into practice.
Rather than just being natural in our conversations, we might only initiate conversations around spiritual things -- never about school, friends or anything else we care about.
I can think of times in my Christian life when I brought up those natural subjects, only to steer the conversation quickly to Christ.
This relentless agenda can leave our relatives feeling less like a loved one and more like a project.
OnMission magazine reminds adult Christians with unbelieving relatives:
"Treat them as courteously as you do your friends. Dialogue with them. Get to know some of their friends. Share their enthusiasm for hobbies. Learn to be their friend" (November/December 2001, Tips for Sharing Your Faith During the Holiday Season).
Books can also help when used appropriately.
God can use what you have said to plant seeds in
Stephanie offered to read her dad's copy of Why I Am Not a Christian if her dad would read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
She later gave him Letters From a Skeptic, a book that includes real letters between an unbelieving dad to his son, by Gregory A. Boyd and Edward K. Boyd.
Years later, Stephanie's dad called her on the phone. Maybe, he wondered, God was knowable after all.
He had searched God out with the help of his daughter, and now he was seriously thinking about giving his life to Christ.
A week later he did.
Currently, he's planning to become a full-time missionary. Stephanie knows God can do anything.
It's All Relative
It's All Relative
Have you given up on a family member?How can you apply the ideas from this article in that relationship?
Here are a few things to keep in mind in evangelizing to lost loved ones:
1. God can use what you have said to plant seeds in
1. God can use what you have said to plant seeds in
Even if it seems like your family is unresponsive, God can use your words days, months, or years down the line to help them come to Christ. You may not see growth now, but God can use your steps of faith in the future. We will pray that God grows the seeds you have planted into saving faith in Jesus Christ!
5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Don’t forget to show genuine love no matter what.
Don’t forget to show genuine love no matter what.
I encourage you to seek to love them as a whether or not they respond to the gospel as you would like. God can use your life and testimony to open their eyes to His Truth. This honors your Heavenly Father who commanded you to honor your earthly father and mother ().
19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: And their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 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.
Be patient and remember that God is the one who saves people.
Be patient and remember that God is the one who saves people.
At times I have relied on my own efforts to reach people. This led not only to frustration, but also strained relationships. God has since taught me to remember that saving people is His job () and my job is to rely on Him, being obedient with the opportunities that He gives me. A lot of times that means not rushing to talk about Jesus as quickly as possible, shoving the gospel down people’s throats, but rather loving people in a conversation and following the Spirit’s leading for an opportunity to share the gospel. Remembering that God is the one who saves takes a lot of pressure off of us! Success in sharing Jesus is measured by being faithful, not by winning converts–that’s God’s job!
Remember that following Jesus will cause division.
Remember that following Jesus will cause division.
Jesus says in that he would turn “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother.” Jesus is not necessarily desiring to separate people, He rather is explaining the reality that following Him has a cost and would inevitably divide families. This can be a tough pill to swallow. But the good news is that through faith in Jesus, we are welcomed into the family of God, which is incomparably greater!
9 He also that is slothful in his work Is brother to him that is a great waster.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Pray!
Pray!
You seem to be already are doing this–keep it up! This is the most important thing you can do. Seek to be like the persistent widow in and continually approach your loving Heavenly Father on behalf of your parents. I have heard countless stories of God saving people after one of their loved ones prayed for them for years. Remember that in heaven, you will never wish you prayed for your unsaved family members less.
John 1.40-
When we come to Christ :
When we come to Christ :
John 1.43-
III We Have a Convicting Experience
III We Have a Convicting Experience
43 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. 47 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.
no guile - the spirit of Jacob.....
background:
just walk through eh text
describe each verse
Next we see how Philip was discovered by Jesus (1:43–51).
We see Philip’s call (1:43–44).
The Lord had made up his mind to leave Judea and go to Galilee. Connected with this decision was the Lord’s approach to Philip, though we are not told just where this meeting took place.
We are simply told: “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me” (1:43).
John adds the information that Philip “was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter” (1:44).
Perhaps they had already prepared the soil.
Actually Bethsaida was a fishing suburb of Capernaum. Bethsaida is said here to be “the city of Andrew and Peter
Vs 45 - From that moment on Philip was his man, and his first concern was for his friend Nathanael.[1]
And describes Jesus as the one that the scriptures predicted
Vs 46 – No ! Jesus does not meet my preconceived idea
The Lord could read Nathanael’s soul. Speaking not to Nathanael but to the others he said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”
Jesus saw in Nathanael a guileless disposition, a man in whom the spirit of Jacob had been supplanted by the spirit of Israel.
Nathanael’s reaction was one of surprise. “How do you know me?” he asked.
Jesus went still further. He showed Nathanael that even before Philip had found him he had found him. He knew not only what Nathanael was like, but also he knew where he had been earlier that day: “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”
Finally, we see the way in which Nathanael was inspired by Jesus (1:49–51). Nathanael’s astonishment broke out in words. “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” Son of God, on the throne of the universe. King of Israel, on the throne of the world. Son of God—that acknowledged his deity. King of Israel—that acknowledged his destiny. Nathanael acknowledged him as his maker, the king of Israel. Nathanael acknowledged him as his messiah, the Son of David. Nathanael capitulated before omniscience; such was his confession of Christ (1:49).
When we meet Jesus it is a convicting experience.
We have a preconceived idea of Christianity
The Jesus of the Bible has to wake us up
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Convicting experence
He said to Nathaniel - a man with no guile or in Jewish terms no Jacob or deceiver. Wow - how do you know me!
I know where you were .....
Example of a convicting experience
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
meeting with Jesus come with some type of convicting experience
Conviction of sin
Realization of our own wickedness
Illustration here -
I am a sinner - memorial day 1988
I need to get right - IRS
I have so much to be thankful for - April 1988
has God spoken to you?