Saturday, March 14,
2015, 7:19 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Follow Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 1:35-51 (ESV).
Behold the Lamb!
The
next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at
Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples
heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them
following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him,
“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come
and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed
with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
Who led John’s two disciples to Jesus? Did John? Or, was it
Jesus? Now I realize that this story precedes Jesus’ death and resurrection, so
we are not talking here of people who believed in Jesus and were transformed
(born anew) and indwelt with the Holy Spirit, as we are now, yet all people who
have been saved of their sins and have been given the hope of heaven have done
so through faith in God. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as
righteousness. The people of old were saved by faith, not by works. They
believed God and their actions revealed that their faith was genuine, as do
ours today (See: Heb. 11). Yet, I want to take this story of people following
Jesus and translate it into terms of post-Jesus’ death and resurrection, and
the salvation we now have through him. And, in this case, I want to look at
what it means to lead someone to Jesus.
In evangelical circles here in America, oftentimes you will
hear people talk about leading someone to Christ. What they mean is that they
presented the gospel of salvation to the individual, and the person made a
decision to believe in Jesus, whether superficially or in reality (sincerely).
What they mean is that they “closed the deal” with the person, i.e. they were
there when the person prayed a prayer to receive Christ. And, thus they
discount anyone else who has had any kind of input into the person’s life in
also leading that person to Christ, via words spoken, prayers prayed, or
actions taken to show Jesus to others. Yet, you will hear pastors and others brag
on how many people they have led to Christ as though it is some star in their
crown, and they will ask you how many people you have led to Christ, and if you
have not “closed the deal” with someone, they don’t count it.
So, John said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Two disciples heard
him say this, and they followed Jesus. Did John pray the prayer with them? No!
Did he tell them, in this instance, that they should follow Jesus, and did he
ask them if they wanted to believe in Jesus? No! He merely declared out loud
that Jesus is the Lamb of God, they heard him, and they followed Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 3 we read about people being followers of
men, because they were looking at what these people did, and they were raising
one above the other. Paul made it clear that there are those who plant and
those who water, but it is God who makes the plants grow. Amen! We are nothing
but servants. One of us may declare who Jesus is, and may publicly share the
gospel, but we may not be physically present with people when they believe in
Jesus, and we may not be the ones to “pray the prayer” with them, but we are
just as instrumental in “leading” people to Christ as those who “close the
deal,” and perhaps more so, in some cases, because I believe many of these
“conversions” are not genuine because what is being taught is not the true
gospel of salvation, but a diluted version.
He Brought Him to
Jesus
One
of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found
the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him
and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which
means Peter).
The first thing Andrew did, once he found Jesus, and had
followed him, was to find his brother and to tell him that he had found the
Lord (the Messiah/the Christ). Awesome! He brought him to Jesus. He was
physically present in the process of Peter also finding the Lord. Yet, Peter is
still the one who had to make the decision to receive Christ as his Lord and to
follow him, and it was the Spirit of God who truly is the one who drew him to
Jesus, not a human being. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, but Andrew is not
the one who changed Peter’s heart to where Peter also became a believer in
Jesus Christ. God did!
The point of this is that we are each given different tasks
(responsibilities) in the body of Christ. We should all be sharing Christ with
people, as Andrew did with his brother, and we are all to make disciples of
Christ of people of all nations, teaching them to obey Christ, i.e. we are not
just to lead them to Christ and abandon them, if at all possible. But, we are
to have a part in the nurturing, encouragement, teaching and spiritual growth
of new believers and even seasoned believers in Christ (See: Eph. 4). Yet, some
of us will plant, and others will water, but it is God who gives the increase,
i.e. only the Spirit of God has the power to move a person’s heart to believe
in Jesus and then to transform that person’s life to make him or her a new
creature in Christ Jesus. All of us are just servants, and our job is just to
do what God assigns us to do, but we must realize that it is God who changes
hearts and that we are no better than others if we just happen to be privileged
enough to witness these heart changes in a person. We need to keep this in
perspective (See: 1 Co. 3).
Follow Me
The
next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him,
“Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the
Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to
him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to
him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when
you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you
are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I
said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see
greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on
the Son of Man.”
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? Well,
Jesus said his sheep know him, they listen to him, and they follow him (See
John 10). To follow means to obey and to respect (honor) him. In James it says
we are not to be hearers of the Word only, but we are to be doers of the Word.
John 3:36 says: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does
not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Jesus
said that whoever obeys (keeps) his word will never see death (Jn. 8:51). He said,
“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we
will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn. 14:23-24). In I John we
read: “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.” “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.” And, “This is love
for God: to obey his commands.”
To follow is to obey.
Jesus also said that if anyone would come after him, he must
deny his self-life, die daily to sin and self, and follow (obey) him (See: Lu.
9:23-25). He said that if we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and
self we will lose them for eternity, but if we die with Christ to our old lives
of sin we will gain eternal life. Paul and the other apostles taught the same
truth. Paul said the way we come to know Christ is by forsaking our former
lives of sin, being changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and by
putting on our new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24). Paul also taught that the
grace which brings salvation teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait
for Christ’s return (See: Tit. 2:11-14). He also taught that Jesus Christ died,
not just to free us from eternity in hell, and not just to give us the hope of
heaven, and not just to deliver us out of bondage of sin, but he died so we
would no longer live for ourselves but for Him.
Following Jesus Christ means surrender of our wills to the
will of the Father in heaven. Following Christ means we submit to God’s plans,
purposes and will for our lives, and we cooperate fully with God’s work of
grace in saving us and in making us to be like Jesus. It means we spend time
listening to Jesus, and then we do what he tells us to do. It means Jesus knows
us and we know him intimately. It also means we share Jesus Christ with others.
I love how this story shows us the progression of one person leading someone to
Jesus and that person then leading someone, etc. Followers produce other
followers. Followers participate in God’s kingdom work, and thus they get to
witness God’s miracles of grace in people’s lives. Followers hold to the
teachings of Christ and of the apostles, and they share that teaching with
others so others can also come to know Christ and become his followers, too. As
followers, we are married to Christ, our desire is for him, and we want to hear
him, do what he says, and live lives pleasing to him, because we love him.
Follow
Him / An Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based
off Luke 9:22-25
Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a cross.
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself and follow.
He must take up his cross daily;
Die to sin and self each day.
Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His Son.
If you want to save your old life;
Keep on sinning, follow your ways,
You will lose your life forever;
Hope of heaven gone away.
Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s Son.
Nonetheless, if you die to self;
Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,
You will live with God in heaven,
And forever praise His name!
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