John chapter 1. We're going through the gospel of John, first service. And we're going to pick up in
verse 43 and 43 through 46, Lord willing. Before we begin, let's
have a word of prayer. Our Father, We are so thankful
this morning that we can be here. Oh, the miracle of your grace.
Lord, you've allowed the candlestick to remain in this place for one
more time. We realize that it is by your
mercy and eternal purpose that you raise up the hearing of your
gospel in any place, but thank you that you've allowed us to
meet together and to hear. Would you bless the word? Bless
it to our understanding and to our comfort. Pray that you'd
bless this service. Pray for Brother Norm as he preaches.
Help us as we listen. Help us to worship. Cause us
to see. by the revelation of Your blessed
Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is in His name we pray,
Amen. In our last study, we beheld
the miracle of God's grace in the Lord giving the privilege and the revelation, the understanding of a man or a woman possessing
a new name. The Lord said in verse 42, He
is talking to Simon. He said, Thou art Simon the son
of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas,
which is by interpretation a stone. Think of that new name that you
possess, you that believe. Not new to Him, new to you. He's
always known you. I've loved you, He said, with
an everlasting love. I turned back to the Song of
Solomon. I just got to looking at some
of those names that believers possess. This is some of the
names that my beloved, my love, my garden. Isn't that precious? You're my garden. Isn't it something
how, you know, when you get up, you have a garden and you, man,
I'm telling you, those vegetables and the fruit, the flowers or
whatever you've got in there. And they're just prospering and
they look, you like them. You know, come on, let's go ahead
and look in the garden. I was down in, I was at Rupert's. I was trying to think where I
was and I'll stay, we were staying with some friends down there
and we went over one morning. He said, let's go look at the
garden. I walked out there and I looked and he said, look, look
at that. Isn't that? That was a beautiful tomatoes
and look at those flowers. Hear the Lord says, my garden,
my spouse. How tender He speaks. Well, today we're going to pick
up here in this next verse, in verse 43. And we pray that the
Spirit of God would bless this Word to our hearts in understanding
Listen, the tenderness of our blessed Savior as He speaks concerning
His people. Verse 43, the day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee,
and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. The day
following, the day after the Lord spoke to Peter. and said,
Your name is now going to be Cephas, the rock. The day after
that, Jesus would go forth into Galilee. He desired. That's what it means.
He determined to. He delighted to go. He would go forth into Galilee. He didn't go Just, you know,
you want to just go somewhere? No. He determined. Why? Because he had some sheep there. Some of his people were there.
He longed to go there. And the Scripture says, he would
go forth and he findeth Philip. He obtained Philip. That's what
it says. He found him. He knew where Philip was. He
always knows where his sheep are. He findeth Philip, and he
saith to him. Look at that, how distinct that
is, Neil. He saith to him. He spoke specifically. And he said, follow me. Accompany me. Be in the same
way with me powerfully and graciously, surely, mercifully. The Lord calls His sheep to Himself,
and they hear, and they follow. I've got God's Word on that.
My sheep, all that the Father gave Him in electing grace before the
foundation of the world. All that God the Father chose
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, tongue, that is His sheep. Now, after He calls them out
of darkness, they are sheep. Now before he calls them out
of darkness, you know what they are? Sheep. Maybe lost sheep, but they've
always been sheep. My sheep. Other sheep I have,
but you're not of this fold. And them I must, I must. He had to go to Galilee. Why? Philip was there. There are always sheep. Sheep
have never been goats. A goat is always a goat. A sheep
is always a sheep. You don't go from being a goat
to a sheep. My sheep, other sheep I have.
The reason you don't believe you're not of my sheep, you're
just my sheep. Hear my voice. They follow me.
Follow me. Andrews, providentially directed. to the Lord by John the Baptist.
Simon was brought to the Lord by Andrew. Now Philip is called
immediately by the Lord. And whatever means the Lord is
pleased to use in calling out His sheep, He calls them. My
sheep hear My voice. And they follow Me. I'm telling
you, when He called, Philip called Him in power. Philip was made
willing. in the day of God's power, His
power. He gave him a new heart. Philip believed Him, followed
Him. The Lord seeks and finds all
that belong to Him. He called Philip, Scripture says,
the day following, because that was the appointed time of Philip's
calling. Paul said in Galatians 115, but
when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace. Commanded. Ordered. That's what
it means. He called me by His grace. Powerfully. Effectually. A general call is
never accepted. General call. Appealing to a
man's own ability, his natural ability as he's born in Adam. You will not come, but my sheep
come. They follow me. They hear my
voice. He calls them in power. Now, Philip, verse 44, was of
Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Now, you know, I read
that when I first read that, I thought, you know, well, Philip
was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Well, what significance is that? Well,
you know that there's no Scripture that is without significance.
All Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable. Profitable. One thing that I found out from
that verse of Scripture, one thing that I found out which
was the thing to find out, is that Almighty God is merciful. Merciful. You say, what do you
mean? Well, Bethsaida, based on the
Lord's Word, was a very rebellious and unappreciative city. The
Lord revealed that. I didn't make that up. Listen
to this scripture, Matthew 11, 21. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! That's where Philip was from.
Philip, Andrew, and Peter, they're all from Bethsaida. Woe unto
thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgment than for you." Bethsaida was a wicked, rebellious, unappreciative
city. He did many works in Bethsaida. That's where He fed 5,000 men
plus the women and children. Bethsaida. That's where He spit
on the ground and took that spittle and anointed a man's eyes with
it and said, Go wash. Bethsaida. That's where He did
it. If the mighty works done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented. I've
told you that before. What an amazing truth. Had I
chosen to send the gospel there, and I didn't, they would have
repented, and I didn't send it because I chose not to send it. You know what you do with a statement
like that? You bow to that. Lord, as you say you are, you
are. Peter and Philip was from Bethsaida,
and Bethsaida was a wicked, wicked city. What was it that obviously made
them so wicked? They didn't believe God. They
didn't bow to Christ. They didn't kiss the sun. In the day of judgment, It's going to be more tolerable for a lot of places in West Virginia
than it's going to be for Fairmont and Katy. It's going to be a
whole lot more tolerable. It's going to be a whole lot
more tolerable for these cities where the gospel was never preached.
It'll be more tolerable for them than it's going to be for Fairmont
and Katy. because God raised up the gospel
in Katy, West Virginia, and sent a faithful preacher. A faithful
preacher that preached here over 50 years. And he was mocked,
and he was ridiculed, and he was laughed at, and he was made
fun of. It's going to be more tolerable.
Men, women that have despised glorious preaching of God's free
grace despised the Christ that our pastor set forth all these
years. By and large, in Bethsaida, all
of those miracles were unheeded. But in the midst of all of that
great rebellion, God Almighty, as far as we know, I know of
three that he called out of that wicked place. Philip, Andrew, and Peter. From that little verse of Scripture,
I know this, God Almighty is merciful. The Lord crossed the path of
Philip, giving unto him life and regenerating power. Philip
honored Christ. Look at verse 45. Philip findeth
Nathanael, and saith unto him, We found him of whom Moses in
the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the
son of Joseph." Moses and all the prophets spoke
of Christ. Who was their subject? The Lord
Jesus Christ. All the types and shadows and
pictures, Him. And Nathanael, though newly acquainted
with the Lord in power and regenerating grace, he did what he could. Appointed. Philip foundeth Nathanael and
said, We found him whom Moses in the law. Philip had been called
by the Lord. I said Nathanael. I meant Philip.
He was called by the Lord, and he went to Nathanael and said,
when somebody is given a heart after Christ, people, those that
the Lord calls out of darkness, they want others to hear Him. I don't want to come and talk
about, you know, health, make you healthy. People want to focus. They want to talk about money.
They want to talk about wealth. They want to talk about prosperity.
Him. Tell me about Him. Philip findeth
Nathanael and said unto him, we found Him. You know, isn't
it amazing when a believer, you're talking to another believer and
you say, you know, talking about Him. You know just exactly who
they are talking about. Him. The Beloved of the Father. Almighty God sending His blessed
Son. In Nathanael, verse 46, said
unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Is it possible that any good
thing out of Nazareth, we found him, Jesus of Nazareth, son of
Joseph." Now, Nathaniel's caution was really from ignorance, yes, but
it was commendable in this. The Scripture says, 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 21, "...prove all things, hold fast that which is good."
You remember the ones in Berea. The Scripture says that they
were more noble than those in Thessalonica because they searched
the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. If somebody tells you something,
if they can't back it up according to the Scriptures, and I'm telling
you, you have no grounds of truthfulness. What saith the Scriptures? Nathaniel
asked him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Let me
show you. Turn over to John 7. Let me just
read a couple of verses of Scripture here as we wind up this first
service. John 7, starting in verse 37. John 7, 37. In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying,
said of a truth, This is the prophet. Others say this is the
Christ. But some say, well, shall Christ
come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David out of the town of Bethlehem
where David was? Look at verse 52, "...they answered
and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look,
for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." So when Nathanael back
in John 1 asked him, can anything good come out of Nazareth, out of Galilee? The Lord's lowly birth. surroundings
was a stumbling block to those that expected a glorious Messiah
that was going to come back and be seated on an earthly throne. They wanted someone that was
going to release them. Bondage of Rome. A suffering out of Nazareth. Wait a minute. We found Jesus
of Nazareth. Wait a minute. He was saying what He was saying
based on what He thought He knew. Come and see. That's what Philip
said. Come see. Sit and listen. In time. Sit and listen. Come and see. In time, all your
questions are going to be answered. The Scriptures are going to deal
with any question that you can come up with. Listen to the Word
of God. Listen to what Christ has to
say. His voice. Can anything good
come? Just listen. Just come listen.
That's what He told him. Don't argue. We encourage men to come and
hear the message of Christ. What kind of confidence can I
have in what you guys are preaching? Come and see. If the Scriptures set forth the
Lord Jesus Christ, and He does, this is the way He is. Come and
see. Come and listen. Hear the Word
of the Lord. If Almighty God reveals Himself
to you, He's going to reveal Himself through the preaching
of the gospel. This is the power of God unto salvation. This is His Word. His Word is
alive. It's quick. This Word, blessed by God's Spirit, is that by which God Almighty
is going to call His sheep. And they hear the same voice. They hear the voice of the shepherd
and they follow Him. That's who He is. That's Him. That's His voice. And I'm telling
you, if they hear the voice of one and they don't set forth
Christ as being God's sovereign Lamb, God Almighty in sovereign
grace, if they elevate man, if they pick up man and man's will
or man's works. Now that's not the voice. That's
not the voice. That's not the voice of the shepherd. The voice that I'm listening
for is the voice of Him that's not in a wheelchair. Had a fellow come to know him
one day, and he said, I'd like to come and hear you preach. The God that I hear preached
everywhere around here is in a wheelchair. He's just sickly. He's trying. I'd like to hear about God that's
not in a wheelchair. Come and see. May the Lord add
His blessing upon His Word to our hearts. He calls us to behold
His Son, for Christ's sake. Amen.