Sinners plunged. May the Lord plunge us. Make us lie
down and sit at His feet. John 1. John 1. This is marvelous. You read it with me. It's marvelous
how the Lord found these disciples, and then they found their brethren,
and they found Christ. We want to look at how the Lord
finds His people, and they follow Him, and what they find when
they come to Him. What they find. The found and
followers and finders of Christ. All of God's people are lost
until they're found. I keep bringing up Brother Barnard
because the Lord used him. Every grace church we know is
an indirect result of Ralph Barnard, like a John the Baptist, sent.
The Lord saved Henry Mahan, my pastor, through Barnard and then
many other men through Henry Mahan and so on and so forth.
And this church is a result of that. Barnard was talking to
a man one time and asked him, Man claimed to be a believer
and he said, how long have you been saved? He said, about all
my life. The martyr said, that's too long.
I said, that's too long. You've got to be lost before
you're found. And you'll know it. You'll know it. And so that way, when you're
found, you'll know who did it. And that's what you'll say. Right? You won't say, I got saved. He
said, the Lord found me. Like that blind man. He's blind.
You know, the only people that know they're blind is the blind.
Those that see. Like that blind man. He said, I don't know much, but
I know this. I once was blind. Now I see. And he did it. Came to me. You've got to be
lost before you're found. You've got to be blind before
you see. You've got to be dead before you live. You've got to
be a leper before you claim. Salvation is up to the Lord,
and all God's people want to know that. They know it. All
of God's people know it, without a doubt. Ezekiel 34, the Lord
said, I will both seek and search and find my sheep. I will. I'll go find them. In
John 10, the Lord tells about Himself. He said, I am the Good
Shepherd. I seek my sheep. I know my sheep. They're all lost. I've got a
dear lady in here. She thinks she's the worst sinner
on earth. And I have to smile every time she says that. That's what all of God's people
think. She said, if I'm a sheep, I'm a black one. Well, I've got
news for you, sister. We're all black sheep when he
finds us. We're all black when he dips us to come out of the
way. He said, I will search and seek
my sheep. I will find them. You know, the
gospel is the power of God and salvation. This is how God finds
lost sinners. This is how God saves sinners.
One way. There's one way. Please God by
the foolishest of preachers. To save them that believe. One
way. The gospel. Not just preaching. It's not
that man's preaching. It's who he preaches. It's the
Word of God that he's preaching, which is Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The Word. The men and I were
talking about how the whole Bible started with man sinning and
God shedding the blood of a lamb. And from then on, it was all
about the blood of the lamb. Blood of the lamb. All the way
through the Old Testament. The Lamb of God. Take away sin. And the Gospels say He's here.
Who, John? The Lamb of God. And then the
epistles and then the revelation. And all through the revelation,
every one of God's people behold the Lamb as it had been slain.
That's Jesus Christ. The Savior of sinners. The only
way. The blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Jesus Christ's
blood. His own precious blood. Nothing
else. Nothing we do, but all of what
Jesus Christ did for His people. That's who we preach, you see.
That's who John preached. In the beginning was the Word.
Who are you talking about? Christ. The Word was made flesh. Why? Made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. How? With His
own precious blood. Man's a filthy sinner. There you go again, preacher. I know it. But that's why Christ
came. It's a faithful saying. If I'm
a faithful preacher, I'll keep saying it. That Christ Jesus
came into this world to save sinners, not good people, and
save good people. He saves sinners to make them
good people, but that's nothing. And when He saves them and makes
them, they don't think they're good people. Then they think
they're the worst. Then they all think, I'm a black sheep. No, you're clean through the
Word, he said. You're washed in the blood. The
Gospel brings that. It's the Gospel. Paul said the
Gospel is the power of God. And God pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching this Gospel, this only Gospel. And he went on to
say, how shall they preach except they be sent? Paul said that. Why? And we keep laboring this
point because the Word does. But why does God use preaching? Why was He pleased to use preaching
to save? Well, number one, just because
He did. And nobody needs to ask one more
question. Right? Because He did. Okay? Secondly,
it humbles the pride of man. Doctors and lawyers and kings
and whoever it may be is going to have to sit at the feet of
a fisherman, of a nobody from nowhere, a man clad in camel's
hair like John the Baptist. They're all going to have to
come. They're going to have to hear him. Surely it's like Naaman.
Surely there's a better place down the road here. It's that man out there by that
Red River preaching, Behold the Lamb. Right here, it sounds like there
was one preacher preaching the truth, doesn't it? It sounds
like there was one fellow in all of Israel at this time preaching
the truth. There was. John. Christ said
so, didn't He? And He faced all those Pharisees
and scribes and they all lost. And every one of them had to
go hear that man down there. They did. Yes. Too narrow. God's Christ said it was narrow,
didn't it? Yes, it's narrow. The broad road
is wide, and there are many in it. The narrow road is few, and
there are few that find it. And you know who finds it? The
ones he finds and puts in the way, the straight and the narrow
way. And as them here, he is a preacher.
Well, there are many other reasons. It'll keep the sheep coming.
If you hear the gospel through a preacher, you'll keep coming
to hear the preacher. Yes, you will. I call the eunuch, you
know, how can I except some man show me? That man was a great
man. He was a great man, the eunuch,
the treasurer of the whole country. He was somebody. But God had
humbled him in such a way, he was reading, I don't understand
this. I sure wish I knew who this was
speaking of. Did he call on the Lord? Lord,
God, whoever you are, please send someone to show me. And
he did. Who was it? Philip. Wasn't it
the Apostle Philip? No, not the Apostle Philip. He
was a deacon. He was a table waiter. He was
a truck driver. He's a cabinet maker, something.
And he sent him all the way out there in the wilderness to preach
to one man. That's proof right there. He's not going to hear
without a preacher. And he's not going to preach
unless he's sent. And God sent Philip all the way out there
in that desert to preach. What did he preach? What did
he preach, Patrick? Christ, Isaiah 53. I'll tell
you who's the writer's speaking of, the Lamb. Because Philip,
you know what Philip heard? The Lamb. Same message. That's the reason and many, many
other reasons. And, you know, these men, these
Andrew and John, they were following John. And that's okay. Scripture says so. I had 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6 passages to read to you, but
I'm doing what I told you all not to do, stay on the first
verse for 15 minutes. But Paul said, follow me, I'm
following Christ. Didn't he? You can follow a man
that's following Christ. These men were John's disciples.
because John was preaching the truth. They weren't following
that man. They weren't worshiping that man. They were baptized
and they repented toward God and they were hearing John preach
and John preached, Behold the Lamb. I've told you my story. My dad
was just my dad all those years until the Lord spoke to me through
him. And when he did, this prodigal son The Lord brought me this
prodigal son who was estranged from his father. The Lord brought
us back together. And that's what Malachi 4, 6
says. He shall turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children and the children to their fathers. He'll
reconcile them. How? One thing is the power of
God. The gospel is the power of God. It brought me and my dad back
together again. And it brought me to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I followed my dad. until
I was sent here. He was my pastor. And when I came here, I wish
I was still back there following him. I wish he was doing this. How many times I thought, I wish
he was doing this, not me. So they left. They were following
John. And they heard him speak, Behold
the Lamb, and it says they followed Jesus. Now again, The Holy Spirit
is writing and all these mentions of Jesus is to define or distinguish
him from the Lord in heaven. The Lord God, the Father in heaven.
Every mention of Jesus is making sure we know he's talking about
the man on earth who's Lord. God manifest in the flesh. Okay?
The Holy Spirit can call him that. But did you notice? Did
you notice? that Andrew and John, it was
John who was the other disciple, because John wouldn't bring his
name up. John was the one following John. He wouldn't even mention
his name. John and Andrew, when they came,
look at it, verse 38, they came, they followed the Lord, and he
said, What seek ye? They said, Master. Master. Where dwellest thou? They've been found. They were
lost, they were found. John and Andrew, they were fishermen. Fishing was their life. Boats
were their life. The net was their life. Their families were
their life. Their career was their life. But God, rich in
mercy, sent the gospel, sent John to preach to them that behold
the Lamb, and the gospel found them lost, found them, and they
dropped everything and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. And they
came to him, and he asked them, what seek you? What are you looking
for? What do you need? What are you
seeking? Seek and you shall find. What
are you seeking? They said, you. you where you dwell. We want to come be with you where
you are. We want to dwell with you. You know what he said? Come and
see. I just can't help but believe
that he smiled. And you know what he's thinking?
I knew you'd come. Because all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. He's waiting on them like that
woman at the well. She's coming. She's coming in due time. She's
coming. That's our hope for our children then. That's our hope
for our lost relatives. If the Lord found, chose them,
He's going to find them. They're going to hear the Gospel.
Might use you to bring them to hear it. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And they're going to hear the
gospel, they're going to believe Christ, and they're going to
come, and they're going to follow Him, and you know what they're
going to find? That's my last point. I've got
to wait a minute. Okay? But they said, He said,
Come and see. Oh, now. Come and see. And they came. So, what I'm trying
to show you is that those that are lost, the Lord must find
them. So we pray, Lord, Lord, please, for ourselves, our children,
and others. Lord, please, they're lost. Find
them. Bring them to hear your voice.
You said, my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. Lord, they're
following the crowd. They're following the world,
just like me. My daughter's vexed with the
devil, just like I was. I know she is, because I was.
Lord, can you help me by saving my daughter? You know what? He's able. He said, call. I said, call. And notice, as I said, they called
Him Master. They called Him Master. John,
verse 41, Simon said, called Him Christ and Messiah. Old Nathaniel, boy, he called
Him everything. King, Son of God, Master, everything. Nathanael summed it all up. You're
everything. You are what you are. You're
the I Am after you saw Him. And they became followers, all
of them. They began to follow Him. And don't be confused in
this call. This is before the Lord called
them into ship. Okay? After John was put in prison
is when the Lord went by, and they had gone back, John and
James and Andrew and Peter, Simon, had gone back to their fishing,
okay, their nets. No, no, they hadn't been called
to preach yet. You hear me? They were still
fishermen. Don't be confused, all right?
Because this is the first time they met Christ. And they went
back to their ships, all right? James is not mentioned here,
right? He's out fishing. But Andrew is the first one our
Lord called, right here. Andrew. And this is good for
the popes. Are you listening? This is good
for Catholics who think Simon Peter was first called, so Peter's
the head of the church. No, he's not. And no, he wasn't. Andrew was. Peter became an outspoken
person, but he was not the head of the church. He's not the rock
on which the church stands. Christ is that rock. Well, anyway,
don't be confused here. It seems a little bit confusing,
but it's not. But they went back to their boats and their fishing
and all that. And then a little later, the Lord came by where
they were and said, OK, follow me. It's time. I will make you
fishers of men. Do you understand? See, this
is how people think God's Word contradicts you. No. It's like
Scott said. We're the confused ones. We don't
study. We just don't know. That's why
you've got to preach it. Study it. Anyway, they became
followers of the Lamb. You know how many times it says
that? Over in the Revelation it said all those people were
followers of the Lamb. And they overcame the world by
the blood of the Lamb. The whole world was against the
Lamb, against His followers, but they overcame the world one
way. The blood of the Lamb. They became followers. So they
heard, they called, He called them. He called them. And they came calling on Him.
This is how you know you've been called. You call on Him. They
came. This is how you know that the
Lord comes to you. It's that you have to come to
Him. We sang that song, Plunged. Sinners plunged. You know, He
has to do that. He has to plunge us. He has to
take us out of the and dip us in his own precious blood. He
has to take us out of the world. He has to find us and he has
to save us and he has to plunge us in the fountain filled with
blood. He has to do that. We don't wash ourselves. He washes
us, doesn't he? Okay? Baptism is a picture of
that. You don't baptize yourself. Somebody
else plunges you. Aren't you glad? You'll see salvations
of the Lord. But I tell you what, Simon Peter, later on when he
heard the third time, the Lord appeared. And he said, I'm going
back to fishing. I don't know what to do. I'm
going fishing. They all said, we'll go with you. And you know, he failed. He failed. He denied the Lord. And then
the Lord revealed Himself again the same way this first time.
Have you caught anything? Nothing. Everything we've done is for
naught. All night in the dark, he said, cast your net on the
right side. They cast it and they saw. And John said, it's the Lord.
And Peter plunged. Plunged himself. He couldn't
get to Christ fast enough. This is how you know He's plunged
you in His blood. And when you hear the Gospel,
when you hear, you can't get to Him fast enough. These men
followed John when they heard Christ the Lamb. They left and
they started following Christ. Master, you're our Master. Where do you dwell? He said,
come see. And they did. Did you think about that? They
spent all night with Him that day and the rest of the night
with the Lord. what they heard, what they saw,
what they experienced in those few hours. They didn't want to leave. You
know they didn't want to leave. They did. Well, they did. They went back. But after a while,
they did not. They did not want to leave. And
that's the way we feel when God blesses us in His house. We see
Christ and we hear His voice and we think, I just don't want
to leave here. I don't want to leave here. One of the two, verse
40, that heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother. In verse 41, so he finds his
own brother Simon. He goes out and finds his brother
Simon. And you know, this is what you'll do. This is what
you'll do if the Lord finds you. You go and tell other people
you've been found. I once was lost, but old John
Newton was a slave trader. Imagine what he lived with after
the Lord saved him, the guilt, the shame. You know, he always
called himself the old African blasphemer because he spent so
much time in Africa, those ships going to get steel people away
from their families. sell human beings. He's white. He thinks he's above them. And
the Lord had to make him think he's blacker than any of those
people in Africa. And you know, he ended up being
a slave himself. A black woman actually was his master. And for that, from day one, the
Lord saved him. He called himself the old African
blasphemer. African blasphemer. And so John
Newton wrote that hymn. Amazing grace. Amazing grace. Amazing grace. Not just grace. Not just a gift. Not just favor. Amazing favor. Amazing that he would choose
man. Grace. that saved a wretch like me. Oh, was I lost. But now I'm found. Oh, I was
so blind. But now I see. It was grace that
taught me, brought me, bought me. Grace. All who were found, they go and
tell other people. How many people have sung that
song by John David? And he goes out and finds his
brother Simon. Well, don't you love Isaiah 65? I love this. It says, the Lord said, Isaiah
65, I am sought of them that ask not for me. He said, I am
found of them that sought me not. And these men were so excited,
they went and told their brethren, we found him. We found him. We found the Messiah,
which is interpreted Christ. We found the Messiah, that woman
at the well. You know, he dropped her water
pot. She went back. I found him. Come see a man. Come see a man.
It is not this the Christ, the Messiah. This is the Christ. And he went back and told Simon,
this is the Christ, the Messiah, the covenant head, the one sent
from God. The Lord, our righteousness,
the Holy One of Israel. He's sent by God. He's come. He's come. And he brought him
to Jesus. In verse 42, when Jesus beheld
him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt
be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone. Let me tell you a few things
you'll find when the Lord finds you and you
begin to follow Him and you come to Him. Here's a few things you'll
find. These men said, where do you dwell? He said, come and
see. And they found where he dwelled.
They found his dwelling place. And that's where they dwelled.
Okay? If God calls you through the
gospel, you know what you'll find? You'll find God's church
where God's people are, where the gospel is, where Christ has
promised to be. You'll find there, and you'll
dwell there. And you'll be glad you're there.
And you'll hear glory. You'll hear God's voice. You'll
have Christ's voice. You'll hear the gospel. And you'll
just say like David, I just want to dwell here all my days. Was
it last Wednesday or I don't know when, everybody was just,
Wednesday, everybody was just hanging around, hanging around.
It's time to go and nobody wanted to leave. That's good, that means
you've been found. And you've found, God put you
in his church, put you where he's found, where the gospel's
found. And if you've found his dwelling place, you don't want
to leave. Let me abide here. Didn't Christ
say, if you abide in me and I in you, abide where I am, abide
in my Word, and my Word abides in you. Abide with me. Fast falls even
time. Hmm. Oh Lord, I want to abide
where you are with your people. That's what you'll find. You'll
find His abode. Psalm 87. I was going to quote
all of that. God loves the gates of Zion more
than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of God. That's where he dwells. That's
where he came. You know what you'll find? The
fatherless will find a father. Some of you may have had four
fathers. You've got a good one now, don't
you? Your father and your mother may forsake you, but the Lord
will take you up. The Lord will take you up. He'll never leave you. He'll
take you all the way to glory, sister. Widows find a husband. Oh, a faithful husband. Divorcees
find a faithful husband. Like that woman at the well,
married five times. Oh, but she's religious. She's lost. And Christ found
her. And you know what she found? A faithful husband who loved
her to the end. and would never let her go. And
if she strayed, like Hosea's gomer, he went and found her
and bought her with his own precious blood. Is this not the greatest
story you've ever heard in your life? If you're a widow, it is. If
you're a divorcee, it is. If you're a fatherless person,
idiot, if you're an orphan, you know what orphans find? Often
back in the old days, orphans, they would take, people would
come into an orphanage and it'd be several children from a family
that lost their parents at the same time. It'd be several children.
And, you know, it was mercy if somebody come and take one of
them. And they'd often take one of those children away from their
siblings. Imagine that. Well, if you're an orphan, you
know what you're going to find? If you've been taken away from,
you're going to find brothers and sisters that you never knew
you had. You're going to find friends
that stick closer to the brother. You're going to find that sister.
You're going to meet your sister and say, I've been... Oh, dear sister. And you know
them pretty quickly. Their language, they got the
same father. The homeless find home. Hungry, find food. Thirsty, find
water. Sinful, find righteousness. The guilty, find complete forgiveness. All manner of sin shall be forgiven.
about Jesus Christ. I told you what a dear sister
said the other day. Well, I know the sister said
the same thing to me. Just made my day, made my week,
made my year. Said, I'm happier than I've ever
been in my life, just sitting here in the Gospel with God's
people, beholding the Lamb. There's nothing better. Nothing. No one. You know what
you'll find? You'll find God's house. You'll
find all these things. You'll find the Christ. That's
what Andrew said to Simon. We've found
the Christ, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Kinsman Redeemer. Ruth went home
to Naomi, where you been gleaning? She says, his name's Boaz. Boaz! I'm coming too. So Naomi came
and Ruth came and they both, you know what Boaz did? He took
them both in. He bought them both. And all
that they had, he gave it back to them. He treated
Naomi like he treated his wife, Ruth. All her days kept by her. Find the Christ, the kin's been
redeemed, or you'll find what you'll find. He called old Simon
came. Here came Simon. And he said,
you're Simon, son of Jonah. You're just the son of a fisherman.
I'm going to make you a rock. I'm going to call you a stone. I used to like that Bob Dylan
song. I hate to bring up his name,
but just so you know where I've been. Places I wish I hadn't
been. Like a rolling stone. And that
was me. And I want to be just like him. Brother, he showed me the rock. Planted my feet on the rock.
No more rolling. Planted. Grounded and settled. You know what you'll find if
he brings you to Christ? You'll be grounded and settled
and rooted and a place to dwell and you'll just be right there.
You won't want to move. You want to stay right there
on Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground. The rest of
this world and everything and everybody in it is sinking sand. A pit of corruption. I want to be a rock. I want to
be a living stone in His church, don't you? Lord, just cement
me in the side of this building. Right? I don't want to go anywhere. I've
been there, done that. Put me in the cleft of the rock. Make my name His. That's what you'll find. If he
brings you to Christ, rock solid. This whole world is going to
be shaken. This whole world is going to
be destroyed. Not one stone left standing on another, but every
one of his people are going to be standing on the chief cornerstone. Jesus Christ. When all else is
gone and destroyed, God's people are going to be standing. Sinners won't stand in the judgment,
but God's people will. Stand in Him complete, dressed
in His righteousness, faultless to stand before the throne. Why? Because He found us. We heard
the Gospel. He brought us to Christ. And
what we found was solid rock. You know what you'll find? You'll find that the Lord knew
you. before you knew him, old Nathaniel. Nathaniel sitting under a fig
tree one time. What's he doing? Napping or smoking? I don't know what he's doing.
He's not hearing John preach. Whatever he's doing, what were
you doing? He's sitting under that fig tree. And who was it
that came down? Phillip finds Nathaniel and says,
hey, come with me. Come down here. We've heard the
Christ here. We found the Christ here. He's
down here. Come with me. Come, Nathaniel.
He said, there ain't nothing good there. Nothing good come
out of Nazareth. It's like people say, who goes
to that place? Where's your church? out on Route
40 across from ABS Auditorium. Where? A mile from the food fair. Oh, I know where the food fair
is. Go there all the time. Well,
it's right up there on the hill. Oh, it's that little brown church.
Yeah, it is. Little tabernacle in the willows.
Come. Found a Christ. Is anything good there? Anybody
any good? No? There's one. And they're all gathered around
him. He's doing one thing. Come. So Nathaniel came. And the Lord said, You're Nathaniel. He said, How do you know me? When did you know me? How did you get to know me? Before Philip found you under
the fig tree, I've set my eye on you for a long time now. I set my eye on you long ago. In fact, long before you were
ever born. Before this world existed, Nathaniel,
I knew you and set my love and my affection on you. I chose
you to bring you to myself. Everything you've gone through
to this point, I brought you through it, and I brought you
to this point to bring you to me. Do I know you? How do I know
you? I have known you, I have foreknown
you, and predestinated you, and now I have called you, and I
want to justify you by my blood on the cross here real soon.
And you're going to see, and I'm going to glorify you. Nathaniel,
I believe he hit his knees. Master, you're the Son of God.
You're the Messiah. You're the King of Israel. He did not say, well, Jesus,
it's good to meet you. The fear of the Lord. And our
Lord, don't you love this, He said, you know what you're going
to find when Christ finds you? When He brings you to Himself?
When you've found out you've been found? When you've found
out you've been known before you knew Him? You know what you're
going to see? Heaven open. Heaven's open. When you see Christ,
when you hear His voice, when you find the truth, the Gospel,
This book will open up. like the windows of heaven, do
you? And you'll see Christ in every bit of it. You'll see Christ
when you wake up in the morning. You'll see the Son of Righteousness
arising with healing in His way. You walk out in the woods, you'll
hear the trees clap their hands to their Redeemer. You'll hear
the birds singing, blessed be the name! You'll go out of that
place, you'll see Him, you'll see the angels of God coming
down from heaven, ascending there. You'll see the way to God. You'll
see the days' number twixt us to bring us to God. He's going
to bring you to God. You'll see the glory of God in
the face, the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
you'll see no glory anywhere else from then on. Oh, Nathaniel. You know, the Lord had to smile
when He said that. Because I saw you in the victory?
You just wait. You know the way we used to say,
you ain't seen nothing yet. You just wait. And oh, the next
three years, are you still with me? You are, you are. I'm amazed. The next three years
of Nathaniel's life was glory. Oh, he had, he was up, James,
John, they were up on the highest mountain and they were plunged
down into the lowest valley in that sea. They were up. They
were full of joy that no man could take from them, they thought.
And then they were full of doubts and fears and worries and sin. Oh, the Lord brought them through
all of that, didn't He? Until finally they saw Him ascend
into glory. And they had to wait and live
by faith like us. But those three years, they lived
a whole lifetime in three years, didn't they? Their life had begun, their true
life. Christ, they now had the Son
and now they had life. And it's a life full of joy and
sorrows. It's a life full of happiness
and laughter and sadness and mourning. But Christ said when
He left them, I'm coming back. I'm coming back. You stay here
and you preach the gospel. You go out and find, like I did,
and bring them to me, and I'll save them. Amen. Okay, Brother John.