Christ: the One who calls sinners to Follow

Introduction:

Story about me in church league basketball being picked last.

How many of you like basketball- Believe it or not I like playing basketball.

Church league basketball:

When I was a church in Des Moines we were part of a church basketball league. every Tuesday night a bunch of us form our church would get together and play basketball in our church gym. then on Saturday mornings we would all meet at the rec center and play against other churches in central Iowa.

On Tuesday nights we would line up and the teams would be picked. and can you guess who was the last one picked?

Yah it was me. but that came with a good reason.

If you haven’t noticed God did not bless me with a whole lot of height. there are not too many 5’7” basketball stars out there. because we are an unlikely choice to compete against a man who is 6’9” on the basketball court.

Im telling I was so short compared to those other guys that even if I could drive the ball to the hoop when I looked up all I would see is arms and hands above me and there was no way I was getting the ball through that.

But you know the problem was even a little worst- Im a wrestler not a basketball player. my training on how to do a perfect takedown just doesn’t come across as that useful when picking a basketball team.

Believe it or not they decided to cut me from the voluntary church league basketball team . Talk about a low blow.

The point ids this, when it comes down to it, I am one of the most unlikely choices when it comes to who would be picked for an all star basketball team.

Tuesday night when we picked teams- Do you know who everyone wanted on their team? yah the 6- 6 guy who payed college basketball. not the 5-7 guy who was a wrestler. Why because that just makes sense in our minds.

Transition: this morning we are going to begin to look at the men Jesus chose to be on His team. The men He would equip to change the world.

Lets jump into our text together this monring

Turn with me in your Bibles to John 1:35-51 listen ad I read it for you.

TExt: John 1:35-42 “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. 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. 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).”

DONT READ - John 1:43-51 “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.”

Joh gives us a glimpse of Jesus calling mankind to follow him.

BIG IDEA FOR TOADY: Disciples of Jesus Make disciples of Jesus

This means that if you are a genuine follower of Jesus than your natural response of knowing Jesus will be to share Jesus

and in Our text this morning we will see 4 qualifications for being a disciple of Jesus.

If you want to claim to be a disciple of Jesus than these 4 things must be true of your life.

HEAR THE GOSPEL OF JESUS (don’t say this yet)

in verse 35 John begins our text by saying … “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!”

This proclamation of John about Jesus is the same message he proclaimed to the crowds the day before.

For us to fully grasp our story today lets look back at the day before when John Proclaimed Jesus as the messiah.

Look with me at John 1:29-34

John 1:29-34 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

The day before was the greatest day of John the Baptist Life- it was the day that the Holy Spirit revealed Jesus as the prophesied messiah, The messiah that John had been preaching about to the crowds.

This was the day where his life message and life mission came to fulfillment. John was in the Jordan River preaching for people to repent and prepare for the coming of the Lord.

He was proclaiming you must Repent and turn from your sins. You must turn from your own ways and completely turn to God and go His way if you want to receive salvation in your life.

Scripture tells us in Matthew 3 that John the baptist was baptising many people and many repented of their sins and turned to God.

And as John was there at the Jordan River preaching repentance He looked up and Saw Jesus coming towards Him.

and He cried out as the voice in the wilderness, as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “ Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Understand that these men John is now standing with the next day heard the message of Repentance, They heard John proclaim Jesus as the Messiah,

the first Qualification of a genuine disciple of Jesus is that you must First Hear the gospel message of Jesus

Look our text again - verse 35

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.

These two men heard the gospel message - Repent and you will be saved- Look to Jesus the lamb of God for your salvation.

The message that they heard from John the Baptist was clear- In order to be free from your bondage of sin you must repent and turn to God.

In order to be a disciple of jesus You must first hear the gospel message of Jesus.

Before we move on we need to understand that the Bible is very clear- Just because you have heard the message of Jesus doesn’t make you a follower of God. There is more that is required of you.

Transition: our passage goes on in verse 35 to tell us what our response to hearing the message of Jesus should be if we are going to be a follower of Jesus

Listen to verses 35-36 say was their response

John 1:35-37 “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, [these 2 men who heard the message of Jesus] and John looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” [again he proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God] The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.”

To be a disciple of Jesus you must choose to follow Jesus

FOLLOW THE WALK OF JESUS verse 35- 37

John was standing with two of his disciples the next day- the day after he declared Jesus as the messiah and as Jesus walked by them once again he looked at his disciples and said this Jesus is the lamb of God.

Our text tells us that these 2 men who heard him say this and they followed Jesus out of curiosity. They wanted to know more.

They left what they were doing and followed Jesus.

As they were following after Jesus look atJesus’ response to these men-

“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

To be a disciple of Jesus You must follow the call of Jesus to come to Him.

LEARN FROM THE TEACHING OF JESUS

Transition: not only did these men hear the message of Jesus and leave what they were doing to follow Jesus the Story goes on to tell us that they wanted to learn from Jesus!

Listen to our text as John Continues...

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 . He was proclaiming you must Repent and turn from your sins. You must turn from your own ways and completely turn to God and go His way if you want to receive salvation in your life.

Jesus turned around and saw these two guys following him and said to them “ what do you guys want?

and their response was, Teacher we want to know were you are staying? Why would they care where jesus was staying?

Because they wanted to come and meet with jesus, . hey wanted to know more.

and Jesus, even though it was late in afternoon, said come with me.

I believe that John includes the time of day to show Christ’s is always willing for anyone to come to him. not matter the time or the situation.

Jesus said come follow me- the men followed jesus and spent the remaining hours meeting with Jesus.and listing to his teachings. They wanted to know more.!

You see to be a disciple of Jesus means that you want to know more - you want to know who Jesus is, what he’s about and how he can change your life.

a genuine disciple of Jesus has a deep desire to be with jesus and to learn from Jesus.

Transition:

John goes on in our text to give us the 4th quality of a genuine disciple of jesus.

When hear the gospel of Jesus, and follow the walk of jesus and learn from the teachings of Jesus - the natural response of a disciple of jesus will be to share the Message of jesus

SHARE THE MESSAGE OF JESUS

John introduces the name of one of the two men who met with jesus in verse 40

John 1:40 “One of the two who disciples of John the Baptist that followed Jesus that day was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.”

many scholars believe that the apostle John - the author of this book was the other man who followed jesus that day. Why is he the logical answer - Remember that John never refers to himself by name but always as the other disciple.

Notice what Andrews response was after meeting with jesus. .

John 1:41-42 “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).”

Did you catch Andrews immediate thought after meeting Jesus?

“I want to tell my brother, We have found the messiah, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ the Son of God.

Andrew didn’t say I found Him but we have found- We have found the one we have been waiting for.

ANDREW DIDN’T WANT TO KEEP JESUS T HIMSELF

So what did Andrew do? The Bible says He took his brother Peter to Jesus-

He wanted his brother to meet Jesus. He wanted His brother to be part of the story of Jesus.

Someone who has truly met with Jesus will have a passion to introduce others to the Savior too.

Our text goes on and tells us that not only did Andrew and John follow Jesus but OTHERS HAD THE SAME RESPONSE WHEN THEY HEARD THE Message of Jesus.....

John 1:43-51 “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.”

second story of what a disciple of Jesus looks like is the story of the apostle Philip.

Philip hears the gospel of Jesus-

Look at our text- Jesus found Philip - jesus went out looking for Philip- and when he found He said Jesus Follow Me.

Philip heard the call of jesus. and he followed Him.

HE MEET JESUS FACE TO FACE and his life was changed forever.

Notice what was Philip’s imediate response after meetingJesus was ?

He went and found his friend Nathaniel and and said WE HAV FOUND the PROMISED MESSIAH!

Listen again to what Philip said to Nathaniel-

“We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” is the promised messiah.

He was excited to share Jesus with his friends.

But LOOK AT NATHANIALS RESPONSE TO PHILIP IN NEXT VERSE.

“can anything good come our of Nazareth?”

Nathanial was skeptical and didn’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth could be the Messiah, He didnt believe the message that Philip was sharing with him. .

That seems very similar to today doesnt it?

Many times when we share the news of jesus we get the same response as Philip did.

There were skeptics then and there are lots of skeptics now.

Notice what Philips response to his friends skepticism? was

He didn't argue with him, He didn’t try to persuade him with his own words that he was right , instead, He simply said “COME AND SEE” come and meet Jesus for yourself.

Philip’s approach to the world’s skepticism about Jesus wasn’t to try and prove it himself, but to invite people to meet Jesus personally.

Philip was a disciple maker of Jesus. He brought people to Jesus.

and look at the result

Slide” Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to Him.

Philip Shared jesus and invited his friend to come meet jesus himself.

Nathaniel came to Jesus met with Jesus and our text tells us in verse 49 He Believed in Him.

Who Jesus Called

Think about who Jesus chose to be His disciples in this story?

I am thankful that he did not chose like we choose a basketball.

It would have seemed foolish for my church league basketball team to put me in as the starting center for the game. Why? because I was the most unlikely person to win the jump ball, I was the most unqualified person to play that position.

But Jesus wasn’t like that, when he chose his disciples, He chose men who seemed like some of the least qualified men to fill that role.

From the world’s perspective these were the least likely men Jesus would have wanted on his disciple team.

These men were not Bible collage grads, they had not been formally trained on the way to be a christian. in fact they had only met Jesus for one day- and yet they understood that their greatest purpose was to introduce others to Jesus.

From our human perspective there would have been so many other people who were more qualified to be on Jesus’ team than these simple fisherman to called to follow him.

Jesus Chose simple People to be his disciples, Because the message of Jesus is not difficult to understand.

There are no prerequisites to come to jesus,

There are no special qualifications to follow jesus .

The only thing jesus requires is that you come as you are a sinner in need of a savior.

i for one am thankful that God in His sovereignty chose simple men to be his disciples.

I am thankful the gospel of Jesus is intended for all mankind and simple enough for even a guy like me to understand and follow.

We have no excuses when it comes to hearing, accepting, following and sharing the gospel of jesus , because it is that simple.

Transition: LETS >>>>

BRING IT HOME;

So how are we doing at being disciples of Jesus?

or the real question we should ask ourselves is am I truly a disciple of Jesus?

Does my life look like Andrew and Philips after they met Jesus?

Just like these simple fisherman, We are called to follow Jesus.

Have you heard the Gospel of Jesus?

Do you remember someone loving you enough to share the good news that Jesus the lamb of God came to earth to redeem you, to free you from the bondage and burden of sin in your life.

Do you remember hearing the message that God loves you so much that there was nothing he wouldn’t do to save you and make you his own.

Do you remember hearing for the first time that if would believem in Jesus that your sins would be completly forgiven and that you would be given eternal life from God.

This is the Gospel message. The good news that Jesus came to redeem sinners unto God.

Like Andrew a genuine disciple of jesus must hear the message of Jesus and choose to follow Jesus

Have you Chosen to follow Jesus with your life.

To follow Jesus means that you accept the gospel as your own,

that you confess your sins to God and ask for his forgiveness

that you remove yourself as the king of your life and you put God on the throne, you yield your will to his own. you let him be in total control of your life.

To follow Jesus means that He is now in charge of your life. and your new purpose is to bring him glory.

a genuine disciple of Jesus Follows Jesus.

Have you spent time learning from Jesus,

A genuine disciple of Jesus loves spending time learning about Jesus and from jesus.

We do this..

By listening to God’s word being preached at church

By discussing God’s word together in small groups

by studying God’s word in our homes with our families

By digging deeper into God’s Word in our own personal time with Him.

If we are going to live like jesus- we need to be walking with jesus, and the way we walk with jesus is by being completely immersed in the word of Jesus.

Have you ever shared Jesus with the Lost?

remember the response of those who met Jesus in our passage-? they couldn’t wait to share Jesus with others.

have you ever had such a joy from meeting with Jesus that you wanted the world to know him too?

True evidence of one who is a follower of Jesus is a heart that seeks to bring others to Jesus.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

1 Cor. 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

Mark 16:15-16 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

The natural result of being a genuine disciple of Jesus is proclaim the message of Jesus to the world.

We are called to make and equip disciples of Jesus Christ.

There is no greater way for you to show your love for Jesus than to share His saving Gospel with the community He has put you in. .

L et’s together be the disciples makers God has called us to be!.

I don’t know where each of you are at right now as disciples of jesus. But the question we each must ask ourselves is this .

where am I in the discipleship process? and what is the next step i need to take?

You have heard the gospel, some of you may need to choose to accept and follow Jesus today

Some of us are just followers of Jesus but not learners of Jesus.

you have accepted His gift o salvation but you have never grown in walk with him

You have not let him be the king of your life, you have not yielded your way for his.

Some of us love to learn about Jesus but fail to take the message of Jesus to the world.

what is the next step you need to take in your life to be the disciple He has called you to Be?

Pray