 John chapter 1 verse 35 again the next day John stood with two of his disciples and Looking at Jesus as he walked. He said behold the Lamb of God The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus Then Jesus turned and seeing them following said to them. What do you seek? They said to him rabbi, which is to say when translated teacher. Where are you staying? He said to them come and see They came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day now. It was about the tenth hour One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew Simon Peter's brother He first found his own brother Simon said to him. We have found Messiah, which is translated the Christ And he brought him to Jesus now when Jesus looked at him. He said you are Simon the son of Jonah You shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone And so as we begin let me give you a little bit of a reminder if you will John had baptized Jesus and After his baptism mark tells us that Jesus had gone into the wilderness When you look at the gospel accounts of Mark and Matthew They both say to us that Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days And it speaks concerning the fact that after his baptism he went to the wilderness and there he was tempted by the devil The devil spoke to him and said things like Make these stones into bread or he said jump from the pinnacle of this temple and then he finally closed his temptations by saying Worship me and so Jesus went through these temptations Right directly after his baptism But after his time in the wilderness John picks up here the Apostle John picks up that Jesus came to where the the Baptist was and Once again John the Baptist makes it clear concerning who Jesus Christ is because John makes it clear that this is Jesus. He calls him the Lamb of God Now as I developed this, let me lay a little bit of a foundation and remind you that As a man of God John the Baptist was careful not to take glory for himself He was very careful to do that and I've been mentioning to you that When you serve the Lord a very most important thing to remember Amongst so many others is who gets the glory and John made sure that he Was a man known for being a servant. He said I can't even carry I can't even bow down kneel down and and untie his shoes. I'm not worthy to do that It's extremely humble and so he's careful to direct the people to Jesus Christ And he's very careful not to steal glory for himself. I I fear for ministers who forget that I fear for ministers who put their name all over their ministry and want to be associated with it I I fear for that You may or may not know that even the great evangelist Billy Graham had a real problem with with His name being associated with the evangelism that he performed. He didn't like that He didn't like the Billy Graham evangelistic association. That was not something he came up with that was something that was thrust on him by his board and He didn't want to be associated as if it would take credit or glory from Christ And and that's one of the reasons why I've always admired this man because he was very careful not to take the credit for himself Pastor Chuck Smith was the same way and there are many men of God whom I have come into contact with and have have met and known who are that way and that is the mark of a True follower of Christ that you you want to make sure that people are pointed to Jesus and that's what he's doing here That's what John is doing John knew that he was sent to point people to Jesus Christ And he was faithful to do that and what we're seeing here in this passage is John directing two of his own Disciples to follow Jesus these two men that we see are actually becoming the first Christian converts We need to remember that the Christian church began in a very simple and very basic way We see it here two men came to follow Jesus Christ think about that for a moment To men we're looking at this as John is reporting to us came to follow Jesus Christ and From these two men who initially were followers of Christ We have seen over the centuries the hundreds of millions who have been impacted by the gospel and have also come to follow Jesus Christ and so what we're seeing here is two men in the gospel of John were the first followers of Christ now verse 40 reveals one of the disciples name his name was Andrew It says one of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew Simon Peter's brother Now church tradition holds that the other disciple was John who's the writer of this gospel Because when you read these verses especially at verse 35 and 36 They have what you would call a near mark of an eyewitness He speaks of how John stood and he speaks of how he was looking at Jesus and all of that That's an eyewitness account and so church tradition holds that the other disciples John But we know for a fact that one of the disciples is a man by the name of Andrew now again in verse 36 Notice that John says behold the Lamb of God Now he had said that earlier in verse 29. He's once again pointing them to Jesus Christ and in verse 37 It says the two disciples heard him speaking they followed Jesus the word followed there is a Greek word That means to form a permanent relationship. It's a one-time for all-time decision. They didn't just walk behind him for a moment That's not what the picture is when he says they followed him. He's saying they attached themselves to him They become his disciples It's interesting to note it doesn't say that John told them to follow Jesus They simply followed when they heard him say this is the Lamb of God Remember John came preparing people for Christ and these two responded to him and his encouragement Really immediately they were adequately prepared for action They heard what he said and they followed the understood his meaning and they acted on what he said So they were prepared to follow Christ. So John is fulfilling his mission He's pointing people to Jesus and people are now following him now as this has taken place Verse 38 Jesus turned and seeing them following said What do you seek? They said to him rabbi Notice how John is translating for us so that non Non-Jewish people would understand they said to him rabbi, which is to say when translated teacher Where are you staying? now It's interesting to note That these are the first two words that Jesus speaks recorded in John These are the first words The first words he speaks in verse 38 is what do you seek the second time? You see him saying something is verse 39 when he says come in see So the first question we'll look at that for a moment. What do you seek? What are you looking for? How can I be of help to you? Reveal your heart to me He's asking this because people often seek things for personal satisfaction and fulfillment So it could be when he says what do you seek it could be are you looking for security? Are you looking for a career? Are you looking for finances? Are you seeking power? What are you seeking? Are you wanting fame? Do you want position? Are you looking for something that will enable you to live with yourself? Are you seeking for peace? Are you looking for a relationship? Are you looking for love? Are you looking for fulfillment? This is a question's open-ended. What are you seeking? What is it that you're looking for? You see they need to understand that what they're seeking for will be satisfied in him That's a key People need to know that nothing material will ever satisfy you spiritually Man's life Jesus says does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses the things that we have Never satisfy us Even our family relationships will disappoint us the material things that we've owned the things that we've saved for and worked for And finally are able to buy And you have that rush if you're able to do that you wanted that car you wanted that boat You wanted whatever it may be you wanted that it was something that was a goal for you nothing wrong with setting goals Nothing wrong as a matter of fact very good thing to do, but you achieved it. You got it. You finally have it What did it do for you? My daughter Corinne who is 41 years old now Well, she's old when she was a little girl Wanted a doll I Look out here and some of you will know this one a lot of you may not There's a cabbage patch doll. I wonder how many remember that it's in history now the ugliest doll known to mankind Ugly the word ugly in the dictionary when you look up the word ugly. There's a picture of a cabbage patch doll right next to it Ugly doll, but she wanted this doll and she worked my little girl has been a worker since she was a little little girl I call her my little girl my my 41 year old baby Has been a a worker B. We call her worker B since she was a little little girl. She was a saver She still is the coupon clipper. That's my daughter. That was my baby and She wanted a cabbage patch and she saved for a long time months Maybe a year or more do a little thing here get a dollar do something here get a couple dollars. That's what she did These things were expensive She I think she wanted twins the twins. Do you remember Marie? twins Who in the right mind wants two ugly babies? She did She saved and it was like 75 dollars. That's a lot of money, you know, 30 plus years ago It's a lot of money now for an ugly doll, you know and she She saved and she wanted and she finally had all her dollars and a little pile of Money and Marie took her to go buy her cabbage patch doll. She worked for it. She earned it She wanted it. She brought it home and she hated those those dolls within like a few days And she was so upset she said and she's only a little girl saying why did I spend my money on these? Why did I do that? Right? I mean she started to learn that lesson as as a less than 10 years of age She started to learn that part of the thrill of achieving something was the saving and meeting a goal But once you finally had it It left her empty and she began to learn that as a little girl. What a great lesson to learn at an early age My life does not consist in the abundance of the things I possess You know, if you were you, excuse me if you were to ask me, what is your favorite car? Nobody's asking me So I'll tell you If I had the car that I would like I probably get a 56 Chevy I like 56 Chevy's Especially when they're a little low got some fat tires got some a big o engine in it, you know, oh But I know that if I had a 56 Chevy I'd never drive it I know I wouldn't why because if I pulled into a a parking stall and one of these runaway Shopping carts would weave its way through the and hit my car That's not good It would ruin my day So why would I what why will I and I won't why would I get something? That I am protecting like that all the time why because I learned a long time ago That those things don't satisfy me and you only become more and more concerned with protecting them because that's what Materialism does to you it makes you caught up with an inanimate object that you're protecting with all of your life Because you don't want damage to take place and guess what people are still pursuing that to this day They're still going after things to their own hurt. They're going after things that they don't need They're going after things that don't satisfy their deepest inner longings. That's a fact and I don't want to knock things because frankly I think that You know my wife and I have been blessed by the Lord. We've been able to do many things But I can tell you and this is true I'll say it quickly many of you already have learned this I've learned this and some are learning this that The best times I have with my wife is really not related to where we're at in some foreign country doing some ministry And I've had the blessing by the Lord over the years to see a lot of countries to travel Literally around the world to minister. I've seen some beautiful countries seeing some beautiful things I I saw Notre Dame before it burned down, you know, I've seen, you know, you name it Eiffel Tower The London London Bridge. I've been around the world. I've seen many things But there's nothing that satisfies me as much as being home in my den with my wife next to me There's just nothing that satisfies me like that So simple things are the blessed things and to understand that now when it comes relationship The most important one Is to know Jesus Christ. So when Jesus is turning to these men, he's asking him a question Open your heart to me. What do you seek? What are you looking for? What is it that you want to find? What are you looking for? What kind of relationship are you looking for? They need to understand that they're they're what they're seeking will be satisfied by christ In john 6 35 Jesus says i'm the bread of life He who comes to me shall never hunger he who believes in me shall never thirst. I satisfy those things So when he asks the question What do you seek? Verse 39 Well, they answer and say where are you staying in verse 39? He says to them come and see So they want to know where he's staying In other words, we don't want this to be a chance encounter. We don't want it to be a simple quick conversation on a road We we we want to spend time with you We want to speak to you We want to hear your voice. We want to get to know you And so when they're saying that when they're saying where are you staying? Jesus's response the second word is come and see He gives these men what we would call an invitation. It's an invitation really to follow him no longer being blind What he is saying literally is come immediately and you will see that's what he literally is saying He's saying you're spiritually blind But when you come to me You will see I'm going to reveal to you things That only I can open up to you What are you seeking? Well, we don't we want to know where you're staying Come and you're going to see You're going to see not just where I'm staying But you're going to spiritually see what life really is And so as he's giving them this invitation it says in verse 39 that they came and saw where he was staying And remained with him that day now It was about the tenth hour the tenth hour translates to four in the afternoon. It's four in the afternoon Now one of the two who heard john speak and followed him Was andrew simon peters brother He first found his own brother simon and said to him we found the messiah Which is translated again the christ and he brought him to jesus And jesus looked at him. He said you're simon the son of jonah You shall be called syphus which is translated Rockhead A stone Well, first let me develop a couple things seen that we're introducing the gospel of jon through chapter one So i'll give you a couple things that you might want to know In verse 40 it says one of the two who heard jon speak and followed him was andrew simon peters brother When you read your bible you really don't see much information about this man andrew But you do see things And he is impressive One of the things we see about him is right in front of us jon presents him As someone who brings people to jesus You see him bringing his own brother to jesus christ When we get to chapter six in verses eight and nine when there is a A physical need there's a need for bread and all He's the one who's pointing out that There's a boy with five barley loaves and two fish and you see him Working in that later on in chapter 12 Verses 20 through 22 It speaks concerning his connection with some greeks who are looking for jesus And so what you see in this man's life is is a man who brings people to christ and so evangelism especially to family and friends Is not only important, but is a natural byproduct of conversion evangelism Especially family and friends is a natural byproduct of you being converted When you got saved It is my hope and prayer that you came to understand one that you were lost and two That everybody you knew and loved Was lost too more than likely That's what happened to me That's what happens to a lot of people. That's a natural byproduct You see once you were blind and now you see once you were lost now you're found Once you were spiritually deaf and now you can hear those things matter And so when you get saved You start thinking about those friends of yours who don't know the lord And very often it's your family When I got saved. I've told the story. I won't I won't share that much. I just say I got saved I came home first thing I went across the street to tell my friends Then I went straight into the house Walked into the den and shared for the very first time something very simple I just looked at my parents and sisters and I said Madeleine back your mom dad I love you praise the lord and later on within 15 seconds actually My sisters both had jumped up followed me where I was going I shared what happened and my sister Madeleine that night When you put her head on the pillow to go to sleep that night gave her heart to jesus christ Because what you do when you're saved is you want to bring other people When you connect with christ What you want to do is tell other people jesus christ saved me jesus transform me jesus is the answer That's what you're seeing take place here Evangelism is a natural byproduct of conversion A second thing we know about him is that he's relatively unknown Even though he was an apostle he he is often simply identified as peter's brother In matthew 4 18 it says jesus walking by the sea of galilee saw two brothers simon called peter and andrew His brother cast in and in to the sea. They were fishermen Matthew 10 verse 2 the names of the 12 apostles are these first simon called peter and andrew his brother Now people might not know andrew but everybody knew his brother And though he brought peter to the lord His brother's ministry far surpassed his own. We'll see that in a moment. I'll develop that But you know very little about this man And so as he brings him He brought him verse 30 42. He brought him to jesus. So jesus looks at him He can almost picture that i mean this is just an amazing picture jesus looks at him And he says to him you're simon the son of son of jonah You're going to be called syphus Again, which is translated A stone Imagine that for just a moment jesus looking right at him He's not just looking at his outer appearance Jesus is looking at him as a man He's really looking at his heart The name simon Means to hear It carries a connotation Of not only hearing But of doing Your name is simon You are known for hearing And doing The word syphus is translated a stone Or a rock And notice what he says He says you are simon the son of jonah That's interesting when you take note of the fact That there is another jonah in scripture jonah was known as the reluctant prophet The one who fled in the opposite direction when he was called to minister to ninova We know the story of jonah How that when he was told go and speak to the ninovites These people were the most brutal evil People and the jews hated them There are records of them taking jewish prisoners and putting they put spikes in their lips And put hooks and with hooks in their mouth dragged them as prisoners They were known for flaying people for actually skinning them alive They would put them on sharpened poles and torture them They were the most brutal people and the jews hated them And when god said to jonah go and speak to them No No And we see him going down into a boat and off he goes to try and escape So we know of a man by the name of jonah, which is interesting to see that the spirit inspired jon to say Write this down you are simon the son of jonah simon you're going to be similar to jonah You're going to run from your call But you're also going to come back Right from the beginning as jesus is looking he got to see this as jesus is looking at him He says your name is simon you're the son of jonah Your father's name is jonah, but there's something more than that Because jonah fled his call jonah left But jonah came back and god used him in a tremendous way Even in the call there's a hint of his desertion in the garden Even in the call even as jonah fled You will too But god rescued jonah And he'll rescue you too Because we know what happened when jesus was looking at simon that night that he was telling him what he was to do Simon simon satanist desired to obtain you that he may sift you even as wheat is sifted But i have prayed for you that your strength fails not and when you're converted Strengthen your brethren I will not I will die for you simon son of jonah the way jonah left You're going to do the same But the way god was able to bring him back That'll happen to you So even from the introduction you're seeing a hint of his future You shall be called syphus You who are crumbling will one day crumble will actually become A rock I will completely transform you You will have a new name and this new name reveals your new character And your new name will be emblematic of your new life For if anyone's in christ, there are new creation You see simon you have a name that speaks of hearing and obeying And you one day will live up to such a name and you will become a living stone In the church Again, we know that peter went through many things that made him into the man of stone That's because trials often produce strength of character When they are endured they produce love for jesus christ and later on the apostle peter in first peter chapter one verses six through eight said this He said in this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while if need be You've been grieved by various trials That the genuineness of your faith being much more precious and gold that perishes Though it is tested by fire May be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of jesus christ Whom having not seen you love he could speak as one with experience He knew what failure was and he knew what restoration was and when he wrote his first letter He said you are going to be tried But you will come out purified And so he's speaking to him you shall be called syphus in verse 43 the following day Jesus wanted to go to galilee And he found phillip and said to him follow me phillip was from betsata the city of andrew and peter phillip found nathaniel 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 and nathaniel said to him can anything good come out of chino Can anything good come out of nazareth phillip said to him come and see come and see So the day after he speaks to these men he desires to take a trip up north to the region called galilee It's interesting how andrew and the others had approached him But now he takes the initiative and he finds phillip and he says notice he says to him follow me So he calls phillip as a full-time disciple He goes to the area called galilee in northern israel He issues this call to him as he arrives in the region It says in verse 45 that he lived in a place called betsata That's the house literally translated house of fishermen, which is northeast of the sea of galilee Now there's no explanation of how he knew phillip or how he met him notice that It just shows us that he calls him It may be that phillip was acquainted with jesus already You see the bible doesn't give us much information concerning this man phillip as it says he's from betsata He's a friend of nathaniel's and we know again that betsata is just north of the sea of galilee We see in john chapter 6 that jesus will ask him a question concerning how they can feed 5 000 men And phillip is the one who answers 2000 denarii would not be enough to feed so many in john 12 We see in verse 22 the greeks seeking jesus came to him So he took andrew with him to tell jesus And we know also that That uh on one occasion when jesus was speaking in john chapter 14 And i want to read this to you i think i'll do that turn with me to john 14 i want to show you something That we have another another encounter with this man Versus 1 through 9 John 14 Versus 1 through 9 And jesus is speaking here Let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me beginning at verse 1 in my father's house are many mansions If it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you And if i go and prepare a place for you i'll come again receive you to myself That where i am there you may be also Where i go you know the way you know tomah said to him lord We don't know where you're going how can we know the way And jesus said i am the way the truth The life no one comes to the father except through me If you'd known me you would have known my father also from now on you know him And have seen him now notice verse 8 philip said to him Lord show us the father and it's sufficient for us And jesus said to him have i been with you so long and yet you have not known me philip He who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father? What a revealing comment We don't know these things We don't know he says have you have you been so long in time with me and yet you have not known me philip He was seeing me has seen the father. So how can you say show us the father? This is philip. We're introduced then back in chapter one. We're being introduced to this man philip A man who is used by the lord Now here's something i want to share with you by way of application When you read your bible and you begin to look at some of the men who were called to be apostles There some of them are extraordinary men They have extraordinary abilities And they have extraordinary character And to this day There are those whom the lord is called That are our our champions really They're they're they're people of intellect They're they're people of eloquence They're they're people who are highly educated. They're people with incredible personalities And and we we know of of these people we we admire them. We We respect them in many ways we We wish we had gifts like that It would be great if If i could speak like that it would be great if i had that strength I feel that and perhaps some in this room do too God has many champions And they have extraordinary abilities God has always had champions with great abilities And and when you look at philip philip seems to be ordinary Here's the thing i want to share with you Jesus has use For faithful ordinary people Because there are far more ordinary people than there are extraordinary people Need to remember that There are far more ordinary average people Than these amazing people that sometimes you may see and wish you could be like And god can use and i want to say this as a word of encouragement God can use you As unusable as you may think you are As ordinary as you may be Not everybody has the intellect and wisdom and experience of an apostle paul Not all of us very few There was really only one But we're all usable We couldn't be used by god. Why can't we be what what keeps us from From being used I was remembering something Sunday school teacher edward kimble I don't know if you've ever heard how many of you have heard of edward kimble. Some will have edward kimble okay Out of this congregation Three or four hands go up edward kimble He was a sunday school teacher He led a young man To faith he was a shoe salesman That young man's name was d l moody Anybody ever hear of moody d l moody one of the greatest evangelists the united states has ever had d l moody From chicago D l moody went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in his day moody went to england He influenced a man by the name of f b meyer He's a commentator that many use to this day F b meyer influenced j wilbur Chapman Chapman helped the ministry of converted baseball player billy sunday Who impacted mordecai ham? How many of you have heard of mordecai ham raise your hand? mordecai ham he was in evangelists mordecai ham holding a revival in north carolina led billy graham to christ The man who started it all was a sunday school teacher Edward kimble who took seriously christ commission to be a witness in his world We all know the incredible way god used billy graham to reach millions of people worldwide with the gospel And this person that i took this from says you and i are not too likely to ever become a d l moody Billy sunday or billy graham But every single one of us can be an edward kimble and witness for christ That's absolutely true. We need to understand that. We need to understand that Now in verse 45 philip found nathaniel and said to him We found him of whom moses in the law and also the prophets wrote jesus of nazareth the son of joseph So he says To jesus had said to philip follow me, but now notice philip says we have found him So he's including himself in a group of people who have trusted in the lord Now when you become a christian You become part of a family a family of believers And and that knowledge really spoke to me when i was first saved that i actually became part of a huge family of christians And that's what's happening. You become part of a family and notice in verse 45 It says we found him of whom moses in the law and also the prophets wrote So he's not simply feeling that jesus is messiah He is combining what he's experiencing with scripture and he speaks of the law when you read in the in the new testament the law the law is the first five books of moses And in the law the first five books of moses You see moses speaking of the seed of the woman that will break the serpent's head You see the seed of abraham in whom all nations shall be blessed when he speaks of the prophets Well, the prophets wrote of the birth of messiah to a virgin It's they they wrote concerning the place of his birth Bethlehem of his sufferings and glory that would follow they wrote concerning his resurrection his ascension to heaven His being seated at the right hand of god and of many things relating to his person office and work So he says this is one who fulfills scripture We just don't think he is we don't feel that he is he's fulfilling what scripture says concerning messiah And so that's what he's doing He's presenting jesus as the one fulfilling what moses and the prophets were speaking about and so as he's saying this He says in nathaniel says can anything could come out of nazareth and philips said to him Come and see why would he say that? Well, nazareth apparently had a poor reputation And there was some disdain that came out of nathaniel part of the reason may be because nazareth was a small town Commentators say that it may have had 50 houses Uh When you read concerning nazareth and all We do see something of the people in how they treated jesus later on mark tells us in chapter 6 verses 5 and 6 That he could do no miracles there except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them He was amazed at their lack of faith And jesus went around teaching from village to village and so these are people that were so so in unbelief That uh, they wouldn't even listen to him when he spoke Isn't this joseph's son jesus isn't he just a carpenter's son? Who is this guy and what's he think he's doing? And so they were rejecters and jesus marvels you seem jesus marveling twice in scripture Once he marveled at the at the faith of a centurion and the other time it says any marvel that unbelief and he marveled at the unbelief Of these people in that city In luke chapter 4 verse 29 it speaks there that the people in the synagogue rose up and thrust him out of the city They led him to the brow of the hill in which their city was built that they might throw him down over the cliff And so can anything good come out of nazareth? Well the response in verse 46 philips says well come and see Philip couldn't change nithaniel's mind. So he invites him check it out He knew that if nithaniel saw jesus for himself That jesus would be enough for him. It's like what it says in psalm 34 verse 8 Taste and see that the lord is good and blessed is the man who trusts in him And so he says come and see verse 47 so jesus saw nithaniel coming toward him and said to him Behold an israelite indeed in whom is no deceit Wow, jesus Surprises him when he says this man is no deceit no guile He's saying here is a pure true son of israel Not just in name But in heart This is a man with uprightness. This is a man with integrity. This man is free of hypocrisy and this man is candid He not only is a descendant of abraham, but he's like abraham And so when he says that behold an israelite indeed in whom is no deceit. He's complimenting him So nithaniel in verse 48 says how do you know me? And jesus answered and said dimms. Oh, I got you confused with somebody else. No, he didn't He said before before philip called you when you were under the fig tree I saw you Hmm Jesus revealed supernatural knowledge He speaks of philip he speaks of what he was doing what nithaniel was doing When you were under the fig tree, I saw you now How come that's significant because nithaniel is going to respond rabbi verse 49. You're the son of god You're the king israel. Why would he say that? To what jesus just said well the fig tree Is often the place of meditation in prayer Jewish people saw fig trees as symbols of their homes and security In mica in chapter four verse four God said each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree With no one to make them afraid for the mouth of the lord of hosts is spoken So it's it's a symbol of their home the security that they have and so He's saying when I saw you under the fig tree. It was a place of meditation and security So nithaniel may have been eating under that tree spending time with family spending time with friends He may have been simply under the shade relaxing, but it's more than likely that he had been praying And this shows you something because he's not on some street corner to be seen by men He's doing this in private Because in the integrity of his heart He was making his petitions known to god and he was praying privately and he was seen by jesus That is why he'd say you are the son of god You are the king of israel because he didn't see jesus jesus saw him and knew what he was doing He was seen by the lord You know this kind of experience by the way i'll say this quickly Where your heart is revealed things you were doing have been revealed It happens often it happens to this day. Some of you have had this kind of experience. You may be in a church service And god's word is being divided and presented And it feels like you because i've had this experience i'm sure many of you have to You feel like you're the only person in the room at that moment Something about you is being said something that you didn't think anybody else knew And just through the illustration or through the scripture your heart is revealed and you say oh You know if you've been reading my my emails Have you how do you did you over here? How do you know? And that's how the lord works You know when the word of god is rightly divided and the power of the holy spirit is present He reveals the hearts and minds of people He does it all the time. He still does it That's how you got saved your life was revealed to you through the conviction of the holy spirit You heard a bible study and the spirit of god used that bible study to reveal to you That's how i was saved how lonely and miserable you are and the things you were going through and the guilt that you were feeling Sometimes through the illustrations it may be so spot-on that you think that somebody indeed did say Something to the preacher, you know because he may say something about your drug problem or your violence or your promiscuity or Whatever something that you thought was hidden really well But in fact it's being revealed and you're not a believer and you hear that and you say my god This guy knows who i am And it's not that that guy knows who you are of course christ knows who you are And so jesus saying you know when philip called you when you were under the fig tree i saw you And that was all it took you are The son of god you're the king of israel You heard what i was saying he may have even just been thinking his prayers whatever it may be You know Though i was in private You saw me Some 44 21 he knows the secrets of the heart So ramai you're the son of god you're the king As a true israelite he recognizes that jesus is the true king. He's messiah Whatever the prayer of his heart would have been jesus answered it And so as he says that verse 50 Jesus answers and says to him because i said to you i saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe? You'll see greater things in these He said to him most assuredly i say to you Hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man You think because i knew where you were and what you were doing that that's You haven't seen anything yet fasten your seatbelt. We're going on a ride Interesting you might want to note this that uh, he's the first person in the gospel to be said to believe in jesus He says you've been impressed by my knowledge of you. You haven't seen anything yet You're going to see heaven open up and the angels of god ascending and descending That reminds us of something that happened in the old testament It relates to jacob's ladder and there was a dream. It's recorded in genesis 28 12 and 13 Where it says, uh, jacob dreamed behold the ladder was set up on earth It's top reached to heaven and there the angels of god were ascending and descending on it And behold the lord stood above it and said i am the lord god of abraham your father And the god of isek the land on which you lie i will give to you and your descendants What is jesus saying he's saying i connect heaven and earth I am the one who connects it. It is only through me that people will ever enter into heaven He said you're going to see this and you're going to see this In my ministry jesus christ is the one who connects heaven with earth We celebrated easter Just this sunday As believers We understand that there's only one way Only one truth and only one life And that's jesus christ and we and we and we celebrate that right And so what jesus is saying here But jesus is saying here you have to see it for what it is It is an incredible statement statement in that he's saying i am that one who connects heaven With you i'm that one jesus didn't say i am one of many Or i am one for this period of time Moses connects the jews Muhammad connects the Arabs he didn't say that He said i am the one I am the one who connects heaven And earth I am the way i am the truth i am the life Buddha doesn't do that Muhammad doesn't do that The only one who did that is jesus christ and that's what he's saying and that is Fantastic thing and that's why c.s lewis said either he's a liar Or a lunatic Or he's the lord Those are our choices a liar A lunatic for the things he said he just said i connect heaven with earth What if i walked up and said oh by the way guys i had something to share with you It's just take a minute i connect heaven and earth And then i'd watch you all walking out the door saying oh boy he's gone too far this time Why would you do that because quite obviously this man's there's something wrong with him But jesus straight face looks into his face and says i'm jacob's ladder I connect the heaven and the earth i am god and human flesh I have made it possible for god to reach men and for men to have a relationship with god And you think that what i've said up to this point is fantastic There's plenty to be seen later on and you're going to see what god can do when god walks amongst men And that's what we'll be seeing as we go through the gospel of john