The call of real Christ-followers John 1:19-51

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1 The call of real Christ-followers John 1:19-51 OBJ: Every person can understand the call of a Christ-follower by Four Essentials. 9-Oct-16 INTRO Have you ever had one of those conversations that continually gets interrupted, doesn t get finished, and so you have to keep coming back to it to finish where you left off. We ve all had conversations that were interrupted. And when it s not that important we can simply let it go. But when it s important, we must return to re-open the conversation and finish what we started. This morning s sermon will complete what I began last week. But, this sermon is on no way an after-thought. It is most vital for this time in history of the church, and subsequently, in the history of LifePoint. John begins his gospel account by exalting Jesus. Jesus anchors the center of his gospel account from the very beginning. And he reveals for us that God has come to save us. John 1 shows us that what we see from the very beginning of Jesus ministry is what Jesus has commanded us to continue even to this very day. The call of Jesus for every real Christ-follower remains today, He leads us to make more Christ-followers. OBJ: Every person can understand the call of a Christ-follower by Four Essentials. TRANS I covered the first two essentials last week. Today I will finish with the final two. TRANS The call of a real Christ-follower begins with a faithful testimony centered on Jesus John the Baptist s ministry pointed people to the Christ of God, Jesus. They tried to make John the Messiah. He refused any of these titles and platforms, and remained faithful to his calling from God. John bore a faithful, Jesus-centered testimony that pointed all to Christ. Christ-followers are called by God to live for His Kingdom purpose. A faithful, Jesus-centered testimony brings God s call of salvation to the world through our lives. And as John the Baptist demonstrates, we must learn to decrease so Jesus can increase. Jesus streams his call through Christ-followers when we live to bear a faithful, Jesus-centered testimony. The call of a real Christ-follower begins through a faithful, Jesus-centered testimony. 2. Culminates in a discovery that leads to life change These verses record a conversation between Jesus and two men. When Jesus asks what are you seeking?, they respond with a question that expresses their desire to follow Him. Andrew and Simon heard John the Baptist s testimony of the Christ, and followed Jesus as Lord. Jesus question is one every person must answer. Everyone who seeks Jesus must look into their life and ask what am I seeking?. Following Jesus demands complete worship and absolute Lordship. God made a way through Jesus to receive eternal life as a free gift. (Eph 2:8,9) But becoming a Christ-follower demands serious consideration to count the cost. Jesus teaches on the high cost of following him. (Luke 9:23; 14:27) 1

2 Salvation and discipleship are not two separate things. Discipleship rectifies what salvation clarifies; that I am His, and He is mine. Another way to say this is: Discipleship sanctifies the one who in salvation is justified. The only way one can experience true salvation in Jesus is to count everything a loss because He is greater and more glorious, and worship Him alone. Following Jesus in a personal relationship always means life change that comes through personal engagement. Following Jesus will cost you everything. The call of a real Christ-follower culminates in a discovery (believe) that leads to a complete life change (follow). TRANS Today we build on these first two essentials to discover where they lead. 3. Catalyzes one to faithful witness that makes more Christ-followers ILLUS Diet Coke & Menthos experiment The explosive result of mixing Diet Coke and menthos illustrates what happens when these first two essentials get combined. They create an explosive, overflowing result. The call to salvation comes through a faithful, Jesus-centered witness and culminates to a discovery of life change. Jesus call catalyzes within the one who believes to become a faithful witness. A catalyst is anything that precipitates a change, to produce a dynamic result. A Jesus-centered testimony culminates in life-change that catalyzes something super-natural, a faithful testimony of the risen Christ. Andrew does not say, Did you hear what John said? He now becomes the faithful witness when he testifies to his brother, Peter, We have found the Messiah. Then, he didn t leave Peter with only words, but it says, He brought him to Jesus. Simon s encounter with Jesus, verse 42, is really big. He had no idea how big it would be when his name was changed to Peter. Just a few short years later Peter would preach on Pentecost and thousands would believe in Jesus to become real Christ-followers. A real Christ-follower ALWAYS becomes a faithful witness to bring others to Jesus. I want you to see that the reason Andrew became a faithful witness. Being a faithful witness is not about one s personal ability, personality, education or otherwise. Rather, it is all about the One in whom they find. Andrew s testimony catalyzed his witness. We have found the Messiah changes everything. Jesus is not a better plan for your life. He s not an improvement to add to your life or a more hopeful mantra by which to live your life so better things will come to you. He s not a giver of good things, but absent after the delivery. He s not good luck, good happenstance, a better karma or any other broken, religious ideology. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ of the Living God. He is the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world; the Great I Am who rules in absolute sovereignty, particular omni-presence, complete omnipotence and perfect omniscience. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is either worthy of your all, or you must reject him in all. Jesus is the Christ who catalyzes His followers into faithful witness. ILLUS The story of Billy Graham s conversion Have you ever heard of Edward Kimball? Most people have not, and likely never will. Edward Kimball taught young, usually rowdy boys in Sunday School every week. He prayed for his boys every week, and sought to see them all come to saving faith in Jesus. If he ever wanted to give up you would ve never known it, because he never spoke of it. One day, Mr. Kimball felt especially burdened for one of his boys. So, he went to the shoe store where he worked. He was so nervous that he considered walking past the door without going in. He said that by the time he got to the store he was so nervous about what to say that he barged in, found the boy in the back, told him of God s love and Jesus, and that God wanted his love. That young man, named Dwight, received Christ. Dwight L. Moody became famous as an evangelist on two continents who led untold thousands to faith in Jesus Christ. And this is just the beginning of the story. 2

3 Under Moody s preaching, a man by the name of Wilbur Chapman came to faith in Jesus. He also became an evangelist who preached to thousands. One day, a professional baseball player named Billy attended one of Chapman s meetings, and was converted on that day. Billy Sunday later quit baseball and became part of Chapman s evangelistic team. When Chapman took a pastorate, Billy Sunday carried on with his own evangelistic crusades. Under Billy Sunday s evangelistic preaching, a young man by the name of Mordecai Ham was converted. Ham was a scholarly, dignified man who also began an evangelistic ministry. One day while Ham was preaching in Charlotte, North Carolina, a high school kid known as Billy Frank attended a revival meeting to hear him, though he didn t want to go. He went with a group of guys from his high school who went to interrupt the evangelistic meetings. When Billy Frank heard the gospel that night, he was intrigued, so he returned the next night. On that night he responded to the invitation and was converted. Billy Frank eventually became known as Billy Graham, who has preached to more people than any other person, over 2.2 billion, and counseled 10 US Presidents. The gospel, through a faithful, Jesus-centered testimony, catalyzes real Christ-followers to go and share Jesus with others, to make more Christ-followers. APPL A failure to share Jesus has led to three massive problems for the church. First, when we fail to share we lack courage to obey and follow. When Jesus call to follow Him catalyzes in us, we must share with others or we begin to look for other spiritual substitutes. When we do not share, we experience spiritual atrophy. Jesus invitation to come and call to follow becomes our authority that commissions us to go in His name. Humility grows within us as we come and follow Christ. But courage only comes when we obey Jesus to go and share Christ. The disciples demonstrate the reality of sharing the gospel in Acts. The disciples always experienced increasing joy in the gospel message and courage to share the gospel when they faithfully shared it, regardless of its receptivity by the hearers. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29-31 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Acts 5:40-42 Christian, your pleasure, joy and peace in Christ is not dependent upon the world s receptivity. There is nothing that you receive FROM Jesus that depends upon the world s acceptance for you to maintain. Christ-follower, the world cannot touch what Jesus gives. The more you share Jesus, the more fullness you will experience of what only He gives, and the more confidently assured of this truth you will become. Courage to obey and follow Christ is anchored in our relationship with Him. But courage only enflames to fueling passion within us when we share Him with others. Sharing a faithful, Jesus-centered testimony fills Christ-followers with all the fullness of Jesus and emboldens them to live for Jesus. Second, when we fail to share the gospel, the community in the church weakens. Immediately following this account of faithful sharing that resulted in increasing boldness among the believers, Luke records again how the community among the believers continued to strengthen and increase. When the faithful, Jesus-centered testimony resonates from us, it strengthens in us (individually) and increases among us (congregationally). When the gospel is not growing in each Christfollower, then it can only weaken among our community. 3

4 APPL HOW, if I am not leaning on Jesus everlasting arms, will I provide a faithful witness to others to lean on those everlasting arms among the community? The more Christ-followers share the gospel among us, the stronger it grows within each one of us and the more potent it becomes among us. Third, when we fail to share we become ignorant of Biblical, gospel truths. Our failure to share leads us to a failure of understanding (fully) in Biblical wisdom, and re-defining the meaning of Christian. Biblical illiteracy in the church is rampant. It is all too common today that people either a) don t know what they believe, b) don t know why they believe, c) don t know how to read, study, meditate on the Bible to obey, or d) don t care enough to. We fight this Biblical illiteracy weekly. But I m also warring against the other three symptoms of Christian ignorance. Now, IF you hear me simply pointing the finger at you to blame you, that s not what I m doing at all. You may be guilty, but my finger is pointing at the whole contemporary church, in teaching something other than God s Word as glorious, or in celebrating something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ as glorious. I see the symptom on the whole, but I have direct responsibility for this local congregation. ILLUS CT Article: Evangelicals Favorite Heresies Revisited by Researchers, Christianity Today, Sept 28, In a recent study by LifeWay Research and Ligioner Ministries, where they surveyed 3,000 adults to measure their agreement with a set of 47 statements about Christian theology, here is some of what they found. 65% believe God is perfect, 25% do not agree. 66% believe that God still answers specific prayers. 60% believe He knows everything, but doesn t determine all that happens in the world. 82% believe people have the ability to turn to God on their own initiative. (Ruled out by Council of Orange, AD529) 74% believe individuals must contribute to their own salvation. (Ruled out by Council of Nicea, A.D. 325) 71% believe Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God. 56% believe the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being. (Ruled out by First Council of Constantinople, AD 381) 54% believe everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature. 48% believe God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 39% believe my good deeds help to earn my place in heaven. 37% believe God will always reward faith with material blessings. Has your believing in Jesus moved you to faithful witness? Are you struggling to believe and obey Jesus in a specific area of your life? Everything strengthens within us when Jesus becomes the testimony of our life. What would I have to say or do to encourage you to throw off any restraint this week to speak a faithful testimony of Jesus? Who could you share that testimony with this week; is there anyone you have in mind or on your heart? God s not telling you to start an international, evangelistic ministry, necessarily. But God may use you as the match that lights that fire in a young child s life. I am encouraging us to tell our neighbor, that person near you every day in your life, that Jesus loves them, and sent you to tell them. It will likely begin with inviting them to come with you to church, to come and you will see. Sharing the gospel is more than inviting someone to attend a church service, but it s never less than, and often begins there. If the gospel is worth it for you, why is it not worth it for all? Any gospel that fails to catalyze you to go share will never satisfy you when you come and see. Until we start to share what we know of Jesus, we will always remain shallow in what we believe about Jesus. The call of a real Christ-follower catalyzes one to become a faithful witness that makes more Christ-followers. 4

5 4. Conceives a vision to see greater things of glory for God s Kingdom What we see in more detail with Philip and Nathanael is the final essential of a Christ-follower s call. When Philip began following Jesus, he went and found Nathanael. Nathanael initially scoffed that anything good could come form Nazareth. He thought so little of Nazareth that he knew nothing good could come from it. But that all changed when he encountered Jesus for himself. When Jesus told him about himself, his unbelief quickly vanished. The most amazing experience of God s grace when we meet Jesus is when we find out that He knows us better than we know ourselves. And yet, He still loves us and wants to use us. Jesus promised that he would see greater works. God doesn t want his people to be sideline sitters. Jesus calls His followers to be seers of the glory of God s Kingdom come. Jesus told Nathanael that he would witness greater works of God s glory, the heavens opened and the work of God let lose. We each hold a perspective on this world based on our intellect, environment, learning, experiences and relationships. Our perspective births and builds presuppositions about all things. From these presuppositions we draw conclusions that guide our thinking, feeling, attitudes and actions. This is what occurred when Nathanael said, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And this is usually what is happening when we say, OMG. What in the world? But, wait. Consider what we ve found, and who it is we announce with our witness. We ve found the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus did not come in the flesh just to change your life, but to redeem ALL THINGS. Every thought, inkling, presupposition or desire we hold that is LESS THAN the full redemption of all things sells Jesus short and steals His glory. When Jesus saves us, he changes us, including the way we see all that is. This means we must ask, Am I looking for a greater life (selffocused), or greater things for God s glory? When Jesus saves, He brings greater things. When we tell Jesus less is better, we do Him no favors, but actually reject His work in us. Jesus had no interest in doing less than all that the Father sent Him to do, in the world or in your life. He will to do greater things through you, or He will do nothing in you at all. Jesus calls you to use you, Christ-follower, to accomplish greater things for His glory on this earth. Jesus came in the flesh not only to change your life, but to reconcile ALL THINGS to God through Him. And Christ-follower, that means Jesus working through your life. When we share the gospel, we step into this vision of greater things that Christ has conceived in us, of His greater things of glory coming from Heaven to earth to redeem all things. When Jesus calls us in salvation, He conceives within us His vision to do greater things through us for His Kingdom s glory. The call of a real Christ-follower begins with a faithful, Jesus-CENTERED testimony. CULMINATES in a discovery that leads to life change. CATALYZES one to faithful witness that makes more Christ-followers. CONCEIVES a vision to see greater things of glory for God s Kingdom. 5