 I would also like to say that I am very grateful for how our brothers lead us into worship. We were witnessing to a gentleman who visited with us not long ago, and sometimes for visitors, it's something that's unusual, maybe that you're not used to or that you don't see. But when we come into the house of the Lord to worship God, we're to worship the Lord in a way that is worthy of Him. We're to worship Him in a way that He prescribes in Scripture as being right or good or acceptable worship. And with our flesh being what it is, our hearts being what they are, often as the Bible describes this, just wicked, deceitful, above all things, we need to prepare our hearts to worship the Lord rightly. And that takes time. It takes thinking about the Lord, thinking about the ways in which we've sinned against Him. The Bible says that the sacrifices of God are broken in contrite spirit. And it's that sacrifice of worship, that offering of praise that the Lord does not despise. And so we want to take our time each week to prepare ourselves rightly to worship Him. And so now we come to John's Gospel. We're in John chapter one, and we have been working our way verse by verse through the Gospel of John. And again, important to do. We want to go verse by verse through the Bible. We don't care what man's opinions are. I want to know what the Word of God says so that I can worship the Lord and obey Him as I should. And so we want to just know what the Bible has to say. And so we go verse by verse, sometimes clause by clause, word by word, wanting to understand the Scripture. And that's incredibly important. We're not topical on purpose. We want to know what the Lord has to say, what His Word has to say. And so we've come verse by verse through the Gospel of John. We've worked our way through chapter one. And now we come to this paragraph. We're nearing the end of chapter one. We come to this paragraph that begins in verse 35. As we unwrap this paragraph today, we're going to be discussing and defining what it is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it look like to be a disciple? What do disciples do? How do they live? How do they follow the Lord? What defines a disciple? Now it's interesting that in the Bible, or today, that when we talk of one another, we're Christians or we've chosen to follow the Lord, we've turned from our sin, we've put our faith in Christ, it's common today to refer to one another as Christians. But did you realize that the name Christian, or that nomenclature, that description Christian, is only used three times in the Scripture to describe Christians? The other word that we'll sometimes use of one another is the word believer. You know, I met that guy, he was a believer. I talked to that lady, she was just a genuine believer. You know, we use that term affectionately to describe Christians. But the word believer only used twice in the Scriptures to describe those who have come to Christ by repentant faith. The word disciple is overwhelmingly used in the Scripture itself to describe those who have turned from their sin to follow Christ. And we're going to learn what that word today means, 273 times by comparison. The word disciple is used to describe those who follow the Lord, who follow Christ. We're going to see that clearly beginning here in verse 35. Disciples, number one on your notes, hear the word of the Lord and they follow. They hear and follow. We'll see that disciples point to you on your notes, seek and see. We'll explain that as we get there. Next, disciples of the Lord believe and they bear witness. And then lastly, disciples forsake all and they exercise faith. And so if you take each of those points now and make those in exhortation a command for you. If you claim the name of Christ, you're here today and you say, I want to follow the Lord. I want to be faithful to him. Hear and follow. Hear the word of the Lord and follow. Seek. Jesus himself says, come and see. And that invitation, that command is just as valid for you today as it was 2,000 years ago when the Scripture records Jesus saying that. Next, you want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and bear witness. That's what disciples do. That's what they're called to do. And lastly, forsake all and follow Christ in faith. Forsake all and follow him in faith. Point one on your notes, disciples first, hear and follow. They hear and follow. In verse 35, the Bible says 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. And the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. So we open this encounter, this account now with the next day. The next day is the third day in our story of the opening week in the first, you know, earnest week of ministry in the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry. It's the third day in our account. This week began with verse 19. If you'll remember when John the Baptist was out in the wilderness preaching in the wilderness of Judea, repent for the kingdom of heaven's at hand. And that's when, if you remember, that delegation came out from Jerusalem to question John the Baptist, right? That first week continued with the next day that we saw in verse 29 where John the Baptist points out the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world as Jesus was walking toward him. In that paragraph, in that account of the second day, John again amasses evidence for why Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now why does he do that? Because the purpose of John's gospel is that believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that believing you might have life in his name. And John the Baptist wants you to have life in his name. So he amasses evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now we move into verse 35 and we pick up our account with day three. And in verse 35 here we begin to see a transition. John the Baptist doesn't want disciples following after him. John the Baptist being a faithful forerunner is pointing people to Christ. And again here he's pointing people to Jesus Christ. And in this now, we see a transition. We see the torch being passed from John the Baptist now to Jesus Christ. John the Baptist fades backstage, so to speak. And now in this paragraph beginning in verse 35, Jesus Christ steps onto the stage of history, center stage for all of us to see. This is a transition. John begins to decrease, Jesus Christ begins to increase. John fades as Jesus comes on to the stage of history. And John has done his faithful work as a forerunner and now Jesus Christ takes over. So we're getting, if you will, a three day snapshot in all these verses of the life and ministry of John the Baptist as he introduces to us in John's gospel, Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. So we begin in day three. Day three here beginning in verse 35. We're still in Bethany beyond the Jordan, Bethabara beyond the Jordan. And if you remember, the Bible said there was much water there. And so John the Baptist went out to Bethany, Bethabara beyond the Jordan to baptize. And he wasn't just baptizing, John the Baptist was preaching, preaching a baptism of repentance. Now in verse 35, he's standing there next to the river Jordan. There are multitudes that have come out to see him, but John is standing there with two of his disciples having a private conversation. It's just the three of them talking. Verse 35 says he's standing with two of his disciples, and these are the disciples of John the Baptist. Now, we know from verse 40 that one of those disciples was Andrew. Andrew is the brother of Simon Peter, and we know who Simon Peter is from Scripture. It's interesting here that the other disciple isn't named. That would ordinarily, in other circumstances, be an unusual omission. Why don't we know the name of the other disciple? Here, not so unusual. John the Evangelist, as we've already talked about, doesn't mention himself in the Gospel of John. Doesn't name himself in the Gospel of John. Anywhere you see John the Evangelist mentioned in his own Gospel is when he, in amazement, describes himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. So here every indication is, is we've got Andrew and the unnamed disciple as John himself. So not very unusual when you consider the humility of John our author here, John the Evangelist. Very likely this person is John. Now, you've got John the Baptist, you've got Andrew, and now presumably John the Evangelist, John our author here, talking by the river Jordan. And John sees Jesus as he walks. That word for see there means to look intently. He gazed upon him, looks intently at him, and he points him out to Andrew and John our author here. Behold the Lamb of God. Now as we looked at in weeks past, that title, Lamb of God, describes the work of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into the world to save sinners. It says to take away the sin of the world. John, it's interesting, and those two disciples didn't look at Jesus Christ walking and say, behold, a get out of hell free card. Right? They didn't look at Jesus Christ and say, behold, the genie in the lamp is going to give me everything that I wish for. He didn't say, behold, looking at Jesus Christ and say, there's the way that I'm going to get all my self-indulgent desires fulfilled. They didn't look at Christ that way. Christ is not one who sits back and simply forgives while you indulge all your selfish desires. He's not one that simply forgives while you remain a drunkard, while you remain a fornicator, while you remain an adulterer, a slugger, a sodomite. He's not just teaching good things. These aren't simply words written on a page. When they looked and said, behold the Lamb of God, Andrew and John, John the Baptist, saw a real historical person, stepped out of glory, taking on the mud of our humanity, walking and dwelling among us whom they could trust to save them. They followed a real person. They were to commit all of themselves to for salvation. They were to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They were to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a real historical person. You and I don't follow cleverly devised tales. We don't follow words written on a page because they are wise words. We follow the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, all that he has done for you and for me in saving wretched, undeserving sinners to himself. We follow a real person who went to Calvary and died for sinners that praise God. John the Evangelist would later say that in following a real person, we have fellowship with him. It's interesting the disciples, Andrew and John here, asked Jesus later, where are you staying? That word for staying is a popular word in John's Gospel. It means to abide. It means to remain, to have fellowship. It was a term, if you will, of endearment to have fellowship. And here, this issue of fellowship comes up. The disciples can have fellowship with Christ, fellowship with God in the flesh. And that has serious implications for your life. If this is a real person that we trust to commit ourselves to and obey and have communion with, this is the Lord of glory. We're to have holy lives. We're to live in a way that pleases him. First John chapter one verse six says, if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. You cannot have fellowship with Christ and fellowship with your sin. You must abandon your wretched life and follow Christ. So John looks now and he looks intently at Christ and he sees the Lord of glory coming to him. But now this is Christ in his first coming. This is when Christ came in his humility, in his condescension as a sacrificial lamb come to take away the guilt and stain and punishment and penalty of sin. And John continuing in his humility, not desiring to build up disciples to himself, not desiring to build his own empire so to speak. John again points the two disciples standing with him, points them to Christ. And based on all the astounding messianic and Christological statements that we've already learned about Christ here, he points Andrew and John to their Savior, their Lord. So they begin in verse 35 as disciples of John the Baptist. And they took first steps in verse 37 now to being disciples of Christ. As we look at that transition, disciples of John to disciples of Christ, it's not that Andrew and John were abandoning John the Baptist. They weren't abandoning John the Baptist. They were adhering to his teaching. They were obeying the teaching of John the Baptist in following after Christ. It says in verse 37, the two disciples heard John the Baptist speak and they followed Jesus. That's what we're to do. That's our mission. That's our charge. We point people to Christ and they follow Christ. There are many out there today who would point disciples to themselves, have disciples pulled away after themselves, disciples running along after themselves, were to point people to Christ. Now, that brings us to a very important question as we consider verses 35 to 42 here. What is a disciple? What is a disciple? What is the fullness of all that word from Scripture is supposed to communicate to us? How do we define what a disciple is? Andrew and John were described as being disciples of John the Baptist. Here, they take initial steps to becoming disciples of Christ. What does it mean to be a disciple? Now first, to answer that question, we can tell a lot from our context right here in this paragraph. If you want to know what a disciple looks like, what a disciple is, you can learn much from these few verses here from 35 to 42. They first heard the preaching. Andrew, John the Evangelist, first heard the preaching of John the Baptist and the wilderness and they became disciples or they followed John the Baptist. Now, after hearing the preaching of John the Baptist and all that John the Baptist taught, they become disciples or they follow hard after Christ. So in simple terms, at the outset, a disciple is someone who hears the words of the Lord, hears the Lord and they follow the Lord. They hear and follow. That's point one on your notes. Now think about this for a moment. Follow the progression, if you will. Matthew describes John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John preached repentance. John the Baptist baptized and his baptism was a baptism of repentance. His entire ministry was a ministry of repentance. Now, he's preaching that. He's conducting his ministry with his audience being people who thought they had no need of repentance. They believe that they were Jews because of their descendancy from Abraham, believe that they were righteous before God, because of their lawkeeping, because of their good works they thought they were righteous before God. And here comes John the Baptist on the scene saying to these Jews, Listen, your lawkeeping does not make you right with God. If you believe being descendants from Abraham make you right with God, you've got another thing coming. If you believe that you are righteous because you are the chosen people of God, listen, you are in your sin and you're behaving no better than the Gentiles behave who don't know God. And so John the Baptist is saying to them, listen, you need to repent, put faith and trust in the Lord. Repent, make strength away of the Lord, prepare your heart for the coming Messiah. They didn't believe that they needed repentance. They thought they were right with God because of the right stuff that they did. We witnessed to a man yesterday out of angelizing. He believed that he was right with God because of a little sacramental religious ritual that he did in praying to receive Christ or asking Jesus into his heart. Is that the way that we're right with God? Are we right with God by the stuff that we do, the religious rituals that we perform, the sacraments that we perform? It's not what the Bible says. John was saying your religious heritage won't save you, your works won't save you, your descendancy who you belong to doesn't save you. The fact that you grew up in church won't save you. They thought they were right with God. John's preaching was that they needed to repent. And then if they didn't repent, wrath was coming, judgment was coming. So Andrew and John heard this preaching of John the Baptist. And listen, Andrew and John believed the preaching of John the Baptist. They believed that they were sinners in need of a savior. They believed that the Messiah was coming. They believed what John preached about the coming Messiah. Certainly John the Baptist described who Jesus was. Certainly John the Baptist went into great detail about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so John, Andrew, turned from sin. They came out to the River Jordan to be baptized by John as an outward symbol of the inward cleansing they knew they needed. They came out to hear about the Messiah who would take away their sin, take away their guilt, who would be the full and final sacrifice for sin. They turned from sin. They turned from their hypocritical religion. They heard the word of the Lord through his prophet John the Baptist and they followed. They followed his teaching. They became disciples here of John the Baptist. They heard and they followed. So now, being a disciple begins with hearing. It is a preoccupation with hearing. Hearing becomes life and death to the disciple of Christ. And it's hearing specifically the word of God. It's a devotion to learning. An occupation with learning. In this case, it's an occupation with or a devotion to learning the word of God. Learning the Holy Scriptures. It's devoting yourself to the preaching and teaching of the Bible. The preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ. Studying the Bible. Praying over the Bible. Meditating over the Bible. It is an occupation with learning. A devotion to learning. But being a disciple doesn't. It cannot. It must not stop there. It's not about simply imparting information. A true mark of a disciple. The true mark of a disciple is that they follow. They learn. They're devoted to learning. Their occupation is with the Scriptures. They hear and then a disciple follows. John's concern. John the Baptist's concern. Jesus Christ's concern. The Bible's concern is not simply to impart information. It is to cause in you. And to cause in me. An unconditional commitment to Christ. To follow Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The theological dictionary. The New Testament says of the master-disciple relationship. That even though it be by definite information. The disciple learns only what is ultimately to be practiced or fulfilled. James says the same thing, doesn't he? When he says don't be merely hearers of the word only. Deceiving yourselves, but be what? Doers. Be doers of the word. This isn't merely a teacher-pupil relationship. A teacher-student relationship. This is a master-apprentice relationship. The Bible describes it as a master-slave relationship. Everything here with the master-slave relationship. The master-apprentice relationship. The disciple relationship. Everything here depends upon obedience. Depends upon obedience. Does this mean, in thinking about it this way, that Andrew and John obeyed the Lord in order to be saved? No. The Bible clearly teaches you don't do works in order to be saved. This is not a works-based salvation. This is a salvation that works. You don't obey in order to get saved. Now here, in this passage, beginning in verse 35, Andrew and John are not genuine disciples yet. In verse 37, they begin to take the initial steps of becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ will soon call them. And when he calls them, they will abandon all to follow him. In Mark 3, Matthew chapter 10, Jesus Christ then appoints them as apostles. So they're not apostles yet. They're only taking the initial steps at this point. And at this beginning point, although they understood much, they didn't understand everything. There was much left for them to understand. They have a lot of questions. These are just the first indications here that they're headed in the right direction. John the Baptist at this critical point, this critical juncture, points them to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they physically walked after him, followed after him. Jesus hasn't called them here, but the narrative is emphasizing the willingness here of John and Andrew to follow Christ. There's a willingness on their part to do that. Very soon the Lord will call them to himself. He will grant them repentance and faith. And by faith, they will abandon everything to follow Christ. That brings up another important point. Every single step of faith, every indication of a willingness to follow, every step in the right direction should be encouraged. How many of you have kids? Do you want your kids to be saved? Encourage every step of faith, every step in the right direction. How many of you are witnessing to someone at work, witnessing to someone at school, witnessing to a friend, a relative, a neighbor? Every step of faith, encourage. Every step in the right direction, encourage. They say, I want to be a Christian. Great! That's what I want for you more than anything else is for you to be a Christian and follow Christ and be saved. Encourage every step of faith. Here's how you answer. Hear what the Lord has to say and put your faith in him. Trust him alone to save you and follow him. And don't stop following him all the days of your life. Encourage every step of faith. They say, I want to follow the Lord, but I keep sinning. It's because you can't turn from sin in your own strength. Hear the word of the Lord. Put your trust in Christ to save you from your sin. And by trusting Christ, by faith in Christ, you'll overcome sin. They may say, Lord, I'll follow you wherever you go. But first, let me go and bury my father. The Lord Jesus Christ says, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go in what? Preach the kingdom of God. You become a disciple. Lord, I believe that you are Almighty God in the flesh. Praise the Lord. John wrote his gospel so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in him, you might have life in his name. I believe that you lived a perfect sinless life and then went to the cross to bear the punishment for my sin that I rightly deserve. Amen. We need to believe that. If you want to follow Christ, believe that. I believe that God raised you from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. I believe that I have sinned against you, God. I repent. What does that mean? I'm turning now from my anger. I am forsaking my pornography. I'm abandoning alcohol. I'm leaving the drugs behind. I'm repent of my hate, repent of my despair, repent of my covetousness, repent of idolatry, repent of serving myself. I don't want to live for myself any longer. You, Christ, are my Lord. You turn from your sin. You've heard him. Now, can you do that in your own strength? Can you do that in your own power? No. You must do it by faith in Christ, trusting the Lord for help, trusting the Lord for power, trust in Christ. At the point of temptation, when the first glimpse of temptation rears its ugly head, you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You put your trust in him to save you. You cry out to the Holy Spirit in faith for help and you turn from that sin. Jesus says, come to me. All you who are weary and heavy-laden, weary and heavy-laden over what? Over their sin. Over the weight and guilt of our sin. Jesus says, come to me if you're weary and heavy-laden over your sin and I will give you rest. Just take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest in my holes for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It's faith in Christ. You have to trust Christ to overcome your sin. The life which a disciple lives, he lives by faith in the Son of God who loves him and gave himself for him. That's the life of a disciple. The life of a disciple. Point two on your notes. Disciples don't just hear and follow. Beyond hearing and following, disciples seek and see. Disciples seek and see. In verse 38, 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? And he said to them, come and see. And they came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. So seeing them walking after him, Jesus basically turns to Andrew and John seeing them following him and he says to them, basically what do you want? What do you want? Now Jesus isn't asking for his information, he knows what they want. This is a challenging question posed to them for them to determine for themselves what they really want. And this happens regularly in scripture. Jesus was no circus act. He was no dog in pony show. There were many who followed him because they saw some sign or some miracle that he performed. There were many who followed him for food. They followed him out of curiosity because he was a great teacher, any number of reasons. But Jesus in the scriptures regularly confronts those who make a show of beginning to follow him. He demands that they count the cost. He demands that they articulate what they really want in following him. There's a cost to following Christ. There's a cost to following Christ and a genuine disciple joyfully pays that cost. There is no comparison to the genuine disciple. I'll give all for Christ. Right? There's a cost to following him. You want to follow Christ? Jesus says foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nest but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. You say you want to follow Christ. He says sell all give to the poor you'll have treasure and come and follow me. Your treasure will be in heaven. He says do you want to follow me? Christ asked deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow me. The Lord says here come and see. They say we want to follow you. He says basically come and see. The genuine disciple follows no matter what the cost. Jesus asked them what are you seeking? The answer they give here is very interesting. The answer they give is rabbi where are you staying? They've been listening to John the Baptist preach on repentance. Right? Preach on sin preach on judgment, preach on salvation preach on the coming Messiah. They knew what it meant that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. They had come to John the Baptist to repent. They had come to John the Baptist to know about the one who would come and fully and finally take away sin. So when Jesus asks them what do you seek? One, they say rabbi. They call him rabbi. Rabbi was a term of respect. It was a term of honor from a student to a teacher. A student would call a teacher rabbi. It's interesting here that they call Jesus rabbi. They're no longer students of John the Baptist. They're following Christ now. They're students of Jesus Christ and they call Jesus Christ rabbi. Then for his Greek readers, John simply translates the Aramaic word from rabbi into the Greek word didoskos or teacher. For those people who knew Greek, that's all there is to that. And they say rabbi. Basically, there's so much we have to learn. So much we have to know. So many things we need to understand. We just need to be with you for a while. We want communion with you. Where are you staying? Right? Doesn't the genuine disciple of Christ hunger and thirst for that kind of fellowship with the Lord? Hunger and thirst for that kind of knowledge, knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, being with him. Isn't the longing, isn't it the longing of your heart, disciple? For you to be in heaven one day with Christ. Sit at his feet. The difference between Martha and Mary, right? Martha worried about much serving. Concerned and distracted with much serving. But Mary, Mary sitting at the feet of the disciple learning from the Lord. Desiring that good thing, right? Jesus knows what they want. He understands it in great grace to them. Great humility. He says, come and see. That's awesome. This would have delighted Andrew and John. They would have been over the moon. We're going to go stay with the Messiah, right? We're going to go have fellowship. We're going to have communion with Jesus Christ, the Lord. Again, this is an issue of fellowship, communion. What do you want? Do you want that promotion at work? Do you want that raise? Do you think that coming to Christ is going to make your life easier? Do you want all your selfish desires fulfilled? Or do you want fellowship with the Lord of Glory? Do you want Christ? Do you want to be with him? The disciple, the genuine disciple will seek the Lord to see him, to learn of him, to follow him. The genuine disciple will seek him in the revelation that God has provided for him in the Scriptures. He will seek him through prayer, seek communion to know the Lord in order to walk pleasing before the Lord, in order to obey him he'll seek the Lord in the fellowship of his people. He's going to seek the Lord in the hope of one day eternal fellowship with him in heaven. The genuine disciple seeks after the Lord. Not simply following in order to imitate a good example. Not simply following because of what he was saying and that these words on a page are wise. They certainly are. But following for fellowship with Christ in life. We'll have fellowship with Christ in death. We'll have fellowship with Christ in eternity. And if you're a disciple of Christ you'll have fellowship with Christ now in suffering. But fellowship with Christ and that is sweet fellowship. Jesus' answer here when he says come and see is called a conditional imperative. It's a command but it's a command that has a condition. He says basically if you come you will see. If you come you will see that command 2,000 years ago when Christ first spoke those words is just as valid and just as true right now as if they were spoken out of the words of Christ right now and they are they come out of your Bible. Come and if you come you will see seek the Lord while I may be found call upon him while he is near let the wicked man forsake his way let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts return to the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. If you will turn to the Lord if you will hear his word and follow him you will see wondrous things from his law. You are going to see the wonders and glories of Christ you will be forgiven of your sin you will see the wonders and glory of the kingdom you will be sanctified, cleansed, forgiven pardoned, accepted and the beloved child of the kingdom that promise is equally valid right now today if you will turn from your sin to follow him. The response would have put Andrew and John just over the moon but can you imagine spending time with the Lord like that here it was said that it was about the 10th hour of the day their days were counted a little differently than ours it started at sunrise ended at sundown so from about 6 a.m. to about 6 p.m. that means the 10th hour of the day was about 4 o'clock nearing the end of the day evening is drawing near in their minds maybe they were thinking that time was running a little short they wanted to be with the Lord I imagine that conversation don't you right all the questions this scene here reminds me a lot of Christ in Luke 24 when he appeared on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples that were walking right it's about this same time of day Christ appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and he begins to expound them that's what the scripture says there right all the things concerning himself from Moses and the prophets and what do they say come and stay they didn't want the time to end and so Christ stays with them teaches them the scriptures and what does the Bible say of those two disciples didn't their hearts burn within them as they heard what the Lord had to teach them same scene going on here just learning from the Lord fellowship with the Lord their hearts burned surely they saw more in Jesus's command to come and see they saw more as that evening went on the longer that they talked to Jesus the more they saw the more they understood they came to believe that he was the Messiah Andrew believed that he was the Messiah disciples today a genuine disciple longs for fellowship with the Lord hungers and thirsts to be with Christ but how do we abide with him now how is it that we abide with the Lord is that some mystical experience you're to sit in a dark room candle flickering is that how we do that no we can abide with the Lord now we're commanded to abide with the Lord now but turn a couple of pages to the right to John chapter 8 and let's look at this John chapter 8 how do we abide with the Lord now John chapter 8 and look down at verse 31 gives us an indication here of what it looks like to be a disciple but also what it looks like to abide with the Lord verse 31 says in Jesus said to those Jews who believed him if you abide in my what in my word if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free they answered him we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone how can you say you'll be made free Jesus answered them most assuredly I say to you whoever commits a sin and is a slave of sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son abides notice the use of abide frequently in scripture this is that word for staying that we see in verse 37 abide a son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed it's interesting here if you abide in his word you are his disciples indeed now abiding just doesn't mean reading abiding here as a sin abiding means to adhere to it it means to follow again it goes back to the issue of hearing and following seeking and seeing hearing and obeying seeking and seeing go a few more pages of the right to John chapter 15 John chapter 15 we see the same basic concept taught again this certainly means that we're to read that we're to study that we're to meditate on scripture that we're to pray over scripture but also we're to adhere to it living for him obeying him John chapter 15 look at verse 1 Jesus says I'm the true vine my father is the vine dresser every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that bears fruity prunes that it may bear more fruit you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you then he says in verse 4 abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me we're to abide in Christ for the purpose that we would bear much fruit we abide in the Lord we abide in his word we obey him with the purpose that we would bear much fruit look at verse 5 I'm the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do how much not one thing you can't do anything to please Christ outside of Christ even the plowing of the wicked is sin you must abide in him he goes on to say if anyone verse 6 does not abide in me he is cast out as a branch and is withered they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned now that is a picture of judgment you're not abiding in Christ you're not an abiding disciple someone says I was saved when I was 12 20 years you know I lived how I wanted to live live for the devil you know I went with like I heathen throughout college but Lord was always with me and I rededicated my life when I was 28 and now I'm a genuine no a genuine disciple abides in the Lord maybe if you're abiding in the Lord at 28 maybe that's when you got genuinely saved but we don't see that in scripture that whole idea of rededicating your life falling away and then coming back no the Lord preserves his own to the end that they might be saved he goes on to say verse 7 if you abide in me and my what does it mean that his words abiding us that we meditate on his word that we pray over his word that we invest ourselves in his word that we ingest and digest his word such that it transforms our lives such that we live for him we obey him we follow him through his word he says it will be done for you by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and in bearing much fruit so you will be my disciples that's what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ point 3 on your notes not only seeking and seeing abiding that fellowship with the Lord but disciples believe and then bear witness in verse 40 one of the two who heard John speak this is back in John chapter 1 one of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew Simon Peter's brother he first found his brother Simon and said to him we found the Messiah which is translated to Christ and he brought him to Jesus now Andrew and John in their time with the Lord believed the Lord Jesus Christ they believed in him they believed what he taught them they believed that he was the Messiah Messiah here means anointed one it's a title rather than a name the translation for Messiah is Christos in the Greek or Christ again it's a title more than it is a name it's anointed one in coming to Christ what is the very first thing that Andrew does upon believing that the Lord is the Messiah what's the very first thing that Andrew did goes out and finds his brother goes out and witnesses he evangelizes you know John had a brother as well John's brother's name was James together they were called the sons of thunder we can presume that John probably did the same thing and found his brother James the first thing that Andrew did was go out and bear witness for Christ he told his brother Simon Peter and brought him to Jesus before Jesus Christ before Jesus Christ ever made them fishers of men before Jesus Christ ever gave them the command to go out and fish for men Andrew goes out and lands a big fish in his backyard Peter to Christ he's a fisherman this is a rebuke to many people in the church today who call themselves the disciples of Christ because Andrew less than 24 hours old less than 24 hours of disciple goes out and bears witness for Christ makes a disciple many today many today if they have a good doctor they're going to tell somebody right you got a good family doctor you're going to tell somebody many today if they find a big sale tell somebody listen get down there there's a big sale going on don't play the hypocrite people are sick in their souls and they need a savior they're collecting for themselves treasures which moth and rust will destroy and you're sitting there with eternal riches in Christ tell somebody about it we're to be disciples who are zealous for the gospel Andrew demonstrates here quality of all genuine disciples of Christ he demonstrates zeal for the Lord he goes and he bears witness Paul said quoting the psalmist in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 I believed therefore I what spoke I believe therefore I spoke he was zealous with the gospel interesting Andrew is mentioned three times in the New Testament and all three times Andrew is described as bringing someone to Jesus you see you got John who's known as the Baptist right you've got Peter known as the rock you've got John the evangelist James his brother known as the sons of thunder but you got Andrew who's known as the one who brings people to Jesus Andrew is just serving the Lord in the way that he can wouldn't you like to be known like that just always bringing people to Jesus and here laboring for the Lord in the way that he can he is the first in a long line of people who perform if you will a very fundamental very effective very common form of evangelism just brother to brother friend to friend somebody know somebody you're close to right relative to relative but don't be misguided in looking at that that's the only way that we evangelize there are many many many ways that we see in scripture examples of how we are to bear witness for Christ in our own passage here there are several look at the way in this passage first the example of Andrew Andrew goes to his brother somebody knows very well somebody that's close to him relative right look at the example of Jesus Christ in this passage Jesus Christ witnesses to two complete strangers Andrew and John look at the example of John the Baptist how is John the Baptist evangelizing preaching the gospel open-air preaching he was open-air preaching so in this one short narrative we see three different ways that evangelism was going on and listen we need those three ways in abundance why pick and choose use every available means every time you have an opportunity use a means that the Lord has given you to share the gospel with somebody be zealous with the gospel don't restrict yourself to only one example only one method if you will we need to be sharing the gospel using every opportunity the Lord gives us this is by the way the mission of disciples of Christ this is the mission of the church to go and to make disciples of the church insofar as it meets their own personal needs as soon as they feel as though maybe their needs aren't being met the way they once were they don't appreciate the church anymore if you ask them what the mission of the church is they might say all kinds of things all manner of things the church is for fellowship the church is for food on Sunday afternoon the church is for fun I've got friends there the mission of the church is to preach and teach the word of God the mission of the church is to you know have good Sunday school offerings for the kids might give you all kinds of reasons all those things good yes are all good the motive of the church is the glory of God the motive of the church is the praise and worship of almighty God but where does perfect praise perfect worship take place takes place in heaven so the Lord wanted perfect praise out of you right now where would he put you if you're a Christian if perfect worship takes place in heaven and God desires perfect worship where would you be right now if perfect worship was what God was concerned about you put you in heaven but why does he leave you here all of those things are good all of those things are things that the Lord desires but God has you here for a mission God has the church here for a purpose it's the one thing you can't do in heaven that's to preach Christ to lost people what is the Bible from cover to cover what is the Bible about it is a grand narrative after the fall in the opening chapters of Genesis it is a grand story a grand narrative of God entering into humanity to redeem wretched sinners to himself for his praise for his glory God does that throughout the Old Testament then he steps into humanity into history himself taking on our dirt if you will our mud coming in the form of man preaches Christ for the years that Christ was here on the planet so that wicked wretched sinners could be redeemed to God he preaches that while he was here in his incarnation then Christ is resurrected Christ ascends to the Father and he leaves the church here to do what to preach the gospel to preach Christ to that God would redeem a lost and sinful world to himself for his own eternal praise and glory that is the mission of the disciple that is the mission of the church to glorify God through accomplishing the work that he has given us to do of making disciples one said this, this is the pattern God loved a lost world and sought to win it for himself to his own glory Christ came into the world sought to win it to himself for the Father's glory we the church disciples are sent into the world to love the lost world to seek to win the lost world for the glory of God the Father our mission is the same mission that Christ had it's the same mission God the Father had no different it is identical there's one reason that you are here that is to seek and to save that which is lost for the glory of God the Father when you sit down to evaluate your faithfulness as a disciple when you examine your level of Christian commitment in the light of the word of God in the light of your call to be a disciple of Christ you need to take a hard look at your commitment to evangelism if you're not committed to seeking to save that which is lost you need to examine yourself whether you're even in the faith is the mission of a disciple like Andrew you to make disciples to the Savior listen don't get bogged down with the vanities of this life there's so much that competes for our time that competes for our affections that competes for our desires fill up your time with the highest priority mission that the Lord gives you while you're here make disciples for the glory of God disciples fervently evangelize and they make disciples forth on your notes disciples for sake all and exercise faith in verse 42 the final version our paragraph here Jesus looked at him he looked at Simon Peter and he said you are Simon the son of Jonah you should be called Cephas which is translated as stone in the first century last names were not used like last names are used today you were given a first name and your last name either told whose son you were or where you were from this is Simon son of Jonah and then you have also Jesus or you have Simon of Cyrene either told whose son you were or where you were from here it's Simon son of Jonah some of your translations say John Jonah is an Aramaic word that's an abbreviated form of John he gives him a name Cephas Cephas was a transliteration of an Aramaic word and then he translated Peter or Petros a stone a lot of different translations going on in this one verse but the point is that Jesus here looks at him intently here again that word looks at him intently and gives him a new name that's not unusual we see God doing that in the Old Testament don't we Abraham became Abraham Jacob became Israel often times that demonstrated God's authority or demonstrated a special calling for that person both cases that constitutes ownership on the part of God authority on the part of God covenant with that person on the part of God John explains later that all disciples in Christ will receive a new name in Revelation chapter 2 verse 17 he says I'll give some of those who overcome hidden manna to eat I'll give them a white stone and I'll then stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it so personal that only the disciple in Christ will know what that name is but all of that is certainly in mind here as Jesus changes Simon Peter's name names often when they were changed also said something about the person it reflected their personality maybe their strength sometimes their weaknesses but it said something about the person think of a stone a rock did Peter what we know of him beginning his time here in the New Testament behave like a rock like a stone was he a rock we see his strength maybe stability rock solid right we use those terms that describe Peter no Peter was impetuous he was rash he was vacillating he had foot in mouth disease Peter had all kinds of problems but isn't it just a tremendous blessing to know a tremendous glorious privilege to know that Jesus so calls disciples that he makes them what he calls them to be that is awesome we're not what we want to be by the grace of God we are what we are Lord sanctify me make me what you want me to be God form Christ in me conform me to the image of your son and that's what Christ was doing with Peter Christ looked at Peter he knew he knew who he was also knew what he would become as we go through the next paragraph doesn't Christ do the same thing with Nathaniel old and Israelite in whom there's no deceit he knew Nathaniel he saw through Nathaniel he also knew what Nathaniel would end up being same as here with Peter Jesus Christ calls him a rock did Peter end up being a rock yeah stable uncompromising he had his slip ups but just a rock solid disciple of the Lord went to his death for Christ it's interesting in Luke chapter 5 I invite you to look at that passage that Jesus calls Peter demonstrates a miracle to Peter Peter sees the nets bursting with fish and what is his response to the Lord Lord depart from me I'm a sinful man sees Jesus as the Lord knows himself to be sinful what does he do he abandons all to follow Christ that's how genuine disciple lives genuine disciple gets a new life genuine disciple gets a new identity genuine disciple gets a new identity you get a new name you get a new creation in Christ it's how a genuine disciple lives they get convicted of their sin they believe they forsake all to be a disciple they follow him in faith listen maybe you're here today and you're a Christian you turn from your sin you put your faith in Christ to save you maybe you're here today and you're not you've never turned at the Lord's words and followed him but if the Lord were to name you right now what would that name be if you're here today and you think that name would be sluggard apathetic indifferent lazy faithless vacillating unstable tossed to and fro repent of your sin put your faith in the Lord of Glory who will so call you that he will make you what he wants you to be maybe you're here today and you're a Christian and you're not as steady as you once were you're not as faithful as you once were repent of that sin listen the Lord works in you right work out your salvation with fear and trembling because you know it's the Lord that works in you both to do into will according to his good pleasure get to following the Lord repent of your sin obey the Lord abide in him let him produce fruit through you follow Christ if you're here today those names don't apply and you are the sluggard you are indifferent you're the sinner maybe there's a sin that characterizes you you're a drunkard you're a fornicator you're a liar you're a cheat you're a thief Jesus Christ says Bible teaches you can clear your name of that wickedness by turning from it becoming a new creation in Christ putting your faith in him being forgiven he'll give you a new name he'll give you a new character forgive you of all your sin cleanse you forgive you there's great mercy in the Lord he is rich in mercy abounding in grace Proverbs 22 verse 1 says a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches loving favor rather than silver and gold on a side note Bible teaches there's no distinction between disciple and Christian you're saved you're a disciple and so you can't begin to think that I'm a Christian today because of some profession I made some experience I had and one day I'll commit to the Lord and become a disciple you're not a disciple you're not a Christian every genuine disciple is a genuine Christian every genuine Christian is a genuine disciple follow the Lord disciples here and they follow they seek hard after the Lord and they see all that the Lord has for them they put their faith in Christ alone to save them they believe and they bear witness will you follow him today let's pray father in heaven thank you for this time together thank you for the blessed joy of studying your word together thank you Lord for the blessed privilege of being called disciples of Christ Lord may we hear but not merely hear may we hear and do for your glory for our eternal good Lord preserve us by your spirit persevere us by your power and we might be saved for your glory God in Jesus name