Okay, let's go back to John chapter
1. John 1, 40 to 47. This text is so rich. It is so rich. All of the scriptures
are rich, they're full. But this text is full of so many
things, I thought we could have a month, two months of messages.
And we're not going to do that. But we'll get to some things
hopefully in the future. But there's so many things in these
eight verses, 40 to 47. I want to begin by looking at
some things in each verse. Sometimes, you know, we talk
about Bible study and Sunday school and this and that, and
I've said so many times I've come with a Bible study and a
message and really not known which was which. It's hard to
tell the difference. You know, we want to, we want
every time we stand up to be the gospel, Christ and Him crucified. But with that being said, sometimes
there are some things that are for our learning. And there are
so many things in here that are just amazing. They're just amazing. So I want to look at each verse
and look at some things in it. And then I want to look at all
eight verses as a whole. And we're going to see just how
perfect these scriptures really are. They're absolutely perfect
and amazing. And when we think we've even
scratched the surface on them, we haven't even started. And
one day, the Lord is going to reveal the Scriptures to us,
beginning with Moses. And our hearts are going to burn
within us, and we're going to say, after all this time, the
half was not told to me. These Scriptures are amazing.
Verse 40 says, One of the two which heard John
speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. Andrew
was one of the two from verse 37. It says, And the two disciples
heard him, that's John the Baptist, speak, and they followed Jesus. One of those two was Andrew. The other one is commonly believed
to be John the Apostle. There's John the Baptist and
John the Apostle. John the Baptist didn't write
the book of John. John the Apostle wrote this book. And the reason it's believed
that it's John is because John never wanted to give his own
name, ever. John the Baptist, they asked
him, who are you? What's your name? And he said,
I'm just a voice. Well, the Apostle John did the
same thing. He always referred to himself
as the one whom Jesus loved. He wouldn't say his own name.
So verse 40 says, One of the two which heard John speak and
followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth
his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah's,
which is being interpreted, the Christ. So the first person that
he ran to was his own brother, those of his own household, his
loved ones. And he said, we found the truth. Brother, I found the truth. Some of you have had that experience. We found the Messiah. We've actually
seen the Christ. High and lifted up is how we've
seen Him. And we're done playing church. You know that feeling, don't
you? We're done playing church. We found Him. Those of you who have seen, you've
run to your own households pleading with Him. We've seen the truth. Look at this. With some, it was
gladly received. Some have received it. Some have
come. With others, we hold out hope. But Andrew and John, they
knew, they said, they came running saying, we found the Messiah.
They knew they hadn't found the Messiah. The Messiah found them. Anybody who the Messiah finds,
they know, I didn't find Him, He found me. And we know that too. If there's
any hope for our family and our loved ones and our friends, the
Messiah has to find them. He has to find them. But we compel
them to come. We compel them. Come and see. That's what they kept saying.
Come and see. Come and see. You must come and see. You must
come and hear. You've got to see this. This
is life and death. Come and see. Verse 42 says, And He brought him to Jesus,
And when Jesus beheld him, he said, thou art Simon, the son
of Jonah. Simon didn't walk up to him and
say, my name is Simon. Simon came to the Lord and the
Lord looked at him and said, you're Simon and your dad's name
is Jonah. And what he immediately said
to that man is, I know everything about you. I know everything
about you. I know your thoughts. I know
your actions. I know your heart. He knows everything
and He sees everything and we can't hide from Him. It's the
first thing He reveals to people. I know everything about you. Verse 42 says, And He brought
him to Jesus And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon,
the son of Jonah, thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by
interpretation, a stone. What he said was, I'm changing
your name. This is a grown man. His whole
life, he's been Simon. That's been my name my whole
life. It's always been that way. Well, he says, immediately, I'm
changing your name. Something's about to change with
you. I know everything about you, and I'm about to change
you. That's not the first time that
he's done that. He told a man named Abram, who
was 75 years old, and he was an idolater. He worshipped idols.
He said, I'm changing your name. You're now going to be called
Abraham. You're going to be the father
of the faithful. You're going to be the father of many nations. He told Sarai, I'm changing your
name. You're now going to be called
Sarah, because you're a princess with God. That's what Sarah means. And a mother of the nations.
But here's my favorite one. He told a sorry man named Jacob,
I'm changing your name. I'm changing your name to Israel. You're a prince with God. Peter, Simon, was a very unstable
person. He was a very ungrounded person. He would fly off the hat. We've
got a lot of Scriptures that show him just get mad. He'd just
lose his temper. He couldn't stand still and wait. He must have had ADD. As soon
as they crucified our Lord and buried Him, it wasn't no time.
And he said, I'm going back to fishing. I'm going fishing. I'm
not going to sit around here. Forget it. He passionately said, Lord, I
will die for you. And then he totally denied the
Lord to a little girl. Scared to death. That sounds like me and you,
doesn't it? Really. That sounds just like
us, doesn't it? But here's what the Lord told him. I know all
about you, Simon, but I'm going to make you a stone. He said, I'm changing your name
to Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. You're going to be grounded
in the truth. You're going to be settled in
the Word. And no matter how weak and unstable you are, I'm going
to give you a firm foundation. I'm going to cause you to stand
on Me, the rock, a stone. Verse 43 says, The day following,
Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip. Now in verse
45, Philip's going to say, We found him. But again, it says right here,
He found Philip. The day following, Jesus would
go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow
me. That's it. Two words. No explanations. No please. No, would you check
your schedule and if you don't have anything going, can I talk
to you for a minute? Follow me. The power in His command. All power. None can resist his
command. Nobody can. He didn't say, if
you'll let me. Thanks be to God, it's absolutely
irresistible. I'm so thankful for that. I would
resist it. I would. But he called me and
he said, follow me. And I had no choice. There's
a song that says, Oh, happy day. You know that song? Oh, happy
day. The first line is, O happy day that fixed my choice on thee
my Savior and my God. I had no choice. Verse 44 says,
Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Now I first read that and thought, why was it important to say where
Philip, Andrew, and Peter were from? Why was it important to
say their town? They didn't give everybody's
town. It's almost like it was just stuck in there. You could
read verses 43 and 45 without it. 43 says, The day following,
Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith
unto him, Follow me. Verse 45, Philip findeth Nathanael,
and said unto him, We found him of whom Moses in the law and
the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Every word in this scripture is written on purpose. You're
going to love this. Every word in this scripture
is written on purpose. Verse 44 says, Now Philip was
of Bethsaida. That's the amazing part. I'm
about to tell you why. Philip was of Bethsaida, the
city of Andrew and Peter. They were all three from Bethsaida. Now, the Lord mentions three
cities in these eight verses. Verse 43, He says, Galilee, which
is actually a region. Verse 44, He says, Bethsaida. And verse 45, He says, Nazareth. Okay? Nazareth was in Galilee,
the region of Galilee. There was a city inside Galilee
called Nazareth. Galilee was the heathen circle. That was Galilee, the heathen
circle. Nazareth was a rough place. It was a bad place. It wasn't
good at all. The Pharisees said about our
Lord, He's a Galilean. That was a slap in the face.
That was a reproach. He's a Galilean. You're going
to listen to Him? Bethsaida was a fishing town
on the Sea of Galilee. It was full of dirty, rotten
sailors. Peter and Andrew Okay? Bethsaida means a fishing house. It means a hunter. It means lying
in wait to catch. It was a mean and wicked place
and that's what you had to be to survive there. Everybody's attitude there was,
I'm going to get you. You better watch your back. I'm
going to get you. That's who Philip, Andrew, and
Peter were. That's who Jesus Christ saved.
Isn't that amazing? This was a bad place to be. These
men were the worst of the worst. It would be just like the Lord
saying, come on, we're going to Harlem. We're going to Compton. Come with me, I'm taking you
to downtown Mexico City. That's where my disciples are
coming from. Isn't that amazing? Now, if that's the case, what
does that say about you and me? If the Lord saved us, we must
have been the worst of the worst. Well, I've never been like that.
Don't lump me into that category. I've never been like that. Well,
am I proud of that? That's the first thing the Lord
hates. Pride. It's the worst thing of all.
Verse 45 says, Philip findeth Nathanael, and
said unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Are you serious? You found him in Nazareth? Listen
to what John Gill had to say about this. The whole country
of Galilee was had in contempt with the Jews, but Nazareth was
so mean a place that it seems it was even despised by its neighbors,
by the Galileans themselves. All of Galilee was awful, but
even Galilee said, Nazareth? Isn't that interesting? Our Lord
came to us where we are. He came all the way to us. All the way to the slime pit.
All the way to the cesspool. He went all the way to the heart.
We're not stepping foot in Beverly Hills. We're going down. When He reached down His hand
for me, He reached way down. all the way down for me. Verse
46 says, And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing
come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and
see. You've got to come see. You have
got to come see. Quit saying you'll come and then
you never come. You have got to come see. Taste
and see. The Lord is good. He's good. Turn over to John 7. John chapter
7. And look at verse 40. It says, Many of the people,
therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth, this
is the prophet. Others said, This is the Christ.
But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the
Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out
of the town of Bethlehem where David was? Our Lord was born in Bethlehem. Which means the house of bread. Bethlehem, the house of bread.
He's the bread. He's the living bread. The manna
sent down from God. The bread of heaven. But the
angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, it says in Luke 1, unto a city
of Galilee named Nazareth. That's where the angel came to
Mary. She lived in Nazareth. That's where He came and said,
that holy thing is going to be conceived in you, put there by
the Holy Ghost. The bread of heaven has come,
and He's come for the worst of the worst. That's the point. Our text, John 1, verse 46, Philip
said to Nathaniel, Come and see, verse 47, Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to Him, and saith of him, now Nathanael didn't speak to
our Lord yet. Our Lord said this before Nathanael
got to Him, as He was walking to Him, Behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile. Think about that. That man's
a sinner, right? And the Lord looks at that man
and says, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. The amazing statement of the
Gospel. We talk about the Gospel. That's
the amazing statement of the Gospel. Behold, an Israelite
indeed. An Israelite is one who comes
from Israel. Israel is Jacob. The Lord told Jacob, I'm going
to change your name to Israel. Behold, there's a descendant
of Jacob. That right there is a son of
Jacob. That's the seed of Jacob. There's
the blood of Jacob right there. In whom is no guile. Isn't that something? Guile is
this. Here's what it means. To decoy. It means to trick. I thought
about a duck hunter. He puts out his decoys, and he
gets in his blind, and he waits. That's guile. It's to decoy and
trick. Do you know what Jacob's name
means? Trickster. Trickster. Behold, there's a
trickster. And there's no guile in him.
Jacob's name means trickster, supplanter, sinner. Behold. Our Lord is saying there's a
true Son of Jacob and there's no sin in Him. That's the amazing
statement of the Gospel. That's the whole reason we assemble,
is to hear how we sinners can have no sin in us. Now here's the question. Here's
the question of the Gospel. How can this be? This is why
everybody's arguing over religion. How can this be? All right, now
let's look at all eight verses as a whole, and the Scripture
will give us our answer. Now here's what I want to look
at. Notice, this is something that just stood out to me, it
just caught my eye. The Scriptures are perfect, they're
just perfect. Let's look at verse 40 and let's
skim down, and I want you to look at everybody's name, okay?
Verse 40, the first name that is mentioned is John. One of the two which heard John.
Okay, John. The second name is Andrew. And
then it says Simon Peter's brother, describing Andrew. And in verse
41, the next name is Simon. And then it goes on to say Messiah. And then it gives the interpretation
of that, the Christ. And then verse 42, it says the
name Jesus. And then he repeats the name
Simon and then says the name Jonah. And then he says the name
Cephas. And he gives the interpretation
of Cephas. Verse 43, he says the name Philip. And in verse
45, he says the name Nathanael. And then he brings up the name
Moses. And then he says, earthly father
figure's name, Mary's husband, Joseph. Okay, those are the names
that are given in this text. Now, what that is, is that's
every name I just mentioned to you. Every name and its definition.
And then we're going to see how can this be by these names and
their definitions. John means favored by Jehovah. Andrew means a man, the face
of a man. Simon means to hear. Messiah
means the Christ, the anointed. Jesus means Savior. Jonah means
a dove. Cephas means the rock, the stone. Philip means a dear friend. Nathanael
means to give, to make a Christian. Moses means drawn out. And Joseph
means let him add. He will continue it. Now what's
happening here in our text, as our Lord went along, He was calling
these men. Philip, follow me. He came to
Andrew. Andrew went and told Peter, brought
him to the Lord. He's calling these men. He's
converting these men. His apostles. And their names
and these definitions are going to tell us how this call of conversion
takes place. If you were called, and if I
was called, they're going to tell us how we were called, why
we were called, and what we've been called to. Okay? So here it is. If you've been
called, number one, it's because you're favored by Jehovah. That's
the whole reason. You're favored by Jehovah. It
was His choice. It's His will. He calls whom
He will. He'll have mercy on whom He'll
have mercy. If you were called, it's only
because you were favored by Jehovah. If you were called, number two,
you've been called to come to a place, you've been called,
and I have to say this, you've been called to a pastor, a pastor
has been called to you, and he's just an ordinary man. He's just
a man. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe, right? He's called you
to come hear a man. An earthen vessel. Turn with me over to Romans chapter
10. Romans 10, look at verse 1. Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Now look at verse 9. If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed." We must believe. We must. The Scripture says we
must believe. Verse 12 says, For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We must
call. That thief on the cross was saved
moments before he died. And right before he died, he
said, Lord, would you remember me? We must call. The third thing, if you have
been called, you've been called to hear. Think about that. You have been
called to hear. That's now our purpose and our
calling for the rest of our lives. You know what your purpose is
for the rest of your life? Come hear the gospel. Isn't it? It's mine too. For the rest of
my life, I have one calling and one purpose, hear the gospel. And I've been called to declare,
to preach the gospel. But anything you do outside of
that is insignificant. It really is. Anything else you
accomplish in this life is insignificant compared to hearing the gospel. That's it. It says right here
in Romans 10 verse 14, How then shall they call on Him in whom
they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Look at verse 17, So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. If you've been called, you've
been called to hear. Alright, now if you've been called, you've
been called to hear, the question is what, number four, Christ. We're here to hear Christ. We're here to hear about Christ,
and we're here to hear from Christ. We're not here to hear about
church order. We're not here to hear about
the women's fundraising committee. We don't come for any other reason
than to hear Christ. That's it. Hear about Him, hear
from Him. Who is He? Number five. He's
the God-man. Jesus. He's the Savior. Well, what's He like? Number
six, He's a dove. He has the eyes of doves' eyes.
He's the fairest of ten thousand. He's the bright and morning star. He's gentle like a lamb. He's
meek and He's kind. But make no mistake about it.
Look at number seven. He's the rock. He's a stone. He's the chief cornerstone. He's the rock of a fence. For
the sake of time, I'm going to not have you turn, but I want
you to just listen to this. I'm going to read to you Matthew
21. This is verses 42 to 44. It says,
Jesus said unto them, Did you never read in the Scriptures
the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become
the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing and
it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. Now listen to this. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone, whosoever shall cast themselves on this
stone shall be broken. And that's a good thing. But
on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Make no mistake about it. He is love. He is kind. He is mercy, but he's a stone. He's the rock. Well, whoever
does fall on this stone, whoever casts himself or herself on this
stone, number eight, is going to find a dear friend. What a
friend we have. What a friend we have. The Lord
God said, Abraham is my friend. I love Abraham. That man is my friend. I hope
the Lord says that about me. I want to be his friend. I want
him to be my friend. He said, greater love hath no
man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend. Well,
whoever he has laid down his life for, look at verse 9, has
been made a Christian. Whoever he died for has been
given the gift of adoption. Number 10, you were just drawn
out. Number 11, He added you. You didn't add yourself. He will continue it. Salvations
of the Lord. Isn't that amazing? All that
is, is the definitions of the names in the text. Scripture is so perfect. Everything He wrote is so, so
perfect. And by God's mercy and grace,
we'll spend the rest of our lives trying to just see whatever He'll
reveal to us in this Word. Whoever He's done this for, it
can be said of that person, an Israelite indeed, in whom is
no guile, no sin. Stand together with me.