DRAWN TO JESUS—I—John 1:35-51
Attention:
Thirst—draws us to—water
Hunger—draws us to—food
Darkness—draws us to—light
Need:
John recalled the manner by which Jesus’ disciples first became convinced that He was Messiah.
Some will be drawn to follow Jesus as Messiah/Christ.
What draws/attracts disciples to Jesus Christ?
Why are disciples drawn/attracted to Jesus Christ?
Jn. 6:41-45—“The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father & mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus therefore answered & said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; & I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard & learned from the Father comes to Me.”
8 elements of a disciple’s draw/attraction to Christ Jesus.
1—Disciples are drawn to Jesus thru their…
Present DIRECTION(:35-36)
Explanation:(:35-36)Discipleship
:35—“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.”
The events of :35-43 also occurred the day following Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist(JTB).
These events occur the day after John had informed the people of the identity of the Lamb of God(:29).
John was “standing” with 2 of his disciples(followers of John The Baptist).
JTB had disciples.
“Again”—palin—Adverb—1) Anew, again—1a) Renewal or repetition of the action, 1b) Again, anew; 2) Again, i.e. further, moreover; 3) In turn, on the other hand. Strong—probably from the same as 3823 (through the idea of oscillatory repetition); adverbially—Anew, i.e. (of place) Back, of time—Once more, or conjunctionally—Furthermore or on the other hand.
“Next Day”(See :43—“Following day”)—epaurion—Adverb—1) On the morrow, the next day. Strong—Occurring on the succeeding day, i.e. (hmera[day] being implied) To-morrow.
“Stood/Was Standing”—isthmi—1) To cause or make to stand, to place, put, set—1a) To bid to stand by, [set up], 1b) To make firm, fix establish, 1c) To set or place in a balance; 2) To stand—2a) To stand by or near, 2b) To stand. Strong—a prolonged form of a primary staw(of the same meaning, & used for it in certain tenses); To stand(transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively).
“Disciples”(See :37)—mayhthv—1) A learner, pupil, disciple.
:36—“And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” ”
John saw Jesus as He was walking.
John proclaimed, in the presence of at least 2 of his disciples, that Jesus was the singular “Lamb of God.”
What of John’s other disciples? Why did they not take JTB’s statement(s)(:27-34) to heart/seriously? It ‘appears’ that JTB declared Jesus’ identity to these disciples specifically(privately—ECNT) as opposed to others. If so, Why?…He must have seen something in them which caused him to single them out for such a reiteration.
After Jesus was baptized, He evidently remained in the area where John was baptizing.
“Looked upon”—emblepw—1) To turn one's eyes on; 2) Look at; 3) metaph.—To look at with the mind, to consider. Strong—To look on, i.e. relatively—To observe fixedly, or absolutely—To discern clearly.
From—en—a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), & (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. A relation of rest (intermediate between eiv & ek); “In,” at, (up-)on, by, etc.—&—blepw—a primary verb; To look at (literally or figuratively).
“Walked”—peripatew—1) To walk—1a) To make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities, 1b) Hebrew for, to live—1b1) To regulate one's life, 1b2) To conduct one's self, 1b3) To pass one's life. Strong—To tread all around, i.e. Walk at large(especially as proof of ability); figuratively—To live, deport oneself, follow(as a companion or votary).
“Said”(See :38)—legw—1) To say, to speak—1a) Affirm over, maintain, 1b) To teach, 1c) To exhort, advise, to command, direct, 1d) To point out with words, intend, mean, mean to say, 1e) To call by name, to call, name, 1f) To speak out, speak of, mention. Strong—a primary verb; properly—To "lay" forth, i.e. figuratively—Relate(in words [usually of systematic or set discourse; whereas epw & fhmi generally refer to an individual expression or speech respectively; while rew is properly, to break silence merely, & lalew means an extended or random harangue]); by implication—To mean.
“Behold”—ide—Particle—1) Behold, see. Strong—second person singular imperative active of eidw[to see]; used as an interjection to denote surprise; Lo!.
“Lamb”—amnov—1) A lamb. Strong—apparently a primary word; A lamb. Used 4X.
Argumentation:
**Lk. 1:13-17—[of JTB’s heralding ministry]“But the angel said to him[Zacharias], “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; & your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, & you shall call his name John. And you will have joy & gladness, & many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, & shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit & power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ & the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. [Mal. 4:5-6]” ”
**Mat. 6:19-23—“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy & where thieves break in & steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Lk. 11:34-36—“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”
Mk. 8:18-21—“Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
**Rom. 15:14—“Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”
Col. 3:15-17—“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; & be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching & admonishing one another in psalms & hymns & spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Josh. 1:8—“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day & night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, & then you will have good success.”
Ps. 119:59, 60—I thought about my ways, And turned my feet to Your testimonies. I made haste, & did not delay To keep Your commandments.”
**Deut. 4:25-31—“When you beget children & grandchildren & have grown old in the land, & act corruptly & make a carved image in the form of anything, & do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven & earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, & you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood & stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, & you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart & with all your soul. When you are in distress, & all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God & obey His voice(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”
**1Chron. 28:9—[King David to his son, Solomon]“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, & serve Him with a loyal heart & with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts & understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
2Cor. 11:2-4—“For I[Paul] am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!”
1Tim. 5:21—“I charge you before God & the Lord Jesus Christ & the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.
Mat. 6:33—“But seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these things[creature comforts/physicals] shall be added to you.”
**Heb. 12:1-4—“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, & the sin which so easily ensnares us, & let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author & finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, & has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary & discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin."
Illustration:
Receiving proper direction/One time, in Carrabelle, I had asked how to get to a particular person’s house/They told me to go up a certain road & turn right at a specific boat on the corner/Continue down three streets & turn left onto a sand drive & go to the end—voila!/We’re there/DIRECTION
I love the picture of the out-of towners who trusting their GPS unit end up almost driving off into the Grand Canyon/misguided DIRECTION
**After I was saved in Savannah, GA/I visited nearby churches seeking a church that ‘preaches’ the truth/BUT…before that, I had begun reading the Bible on my own/I compared Scripture with what I encountered in the assembly of God’s people/I found a small Southern Baptist church—Burkhalter BC pastored by Bro. Charlie Cooper/I witnessed first-hand how they lived/They encouraged & exhorted me to come to the Christ of God revealed in the Bible/DIRECTION
**What I was raised to believe—I was born in 1958 & grew up during the racial birthpangs of that era/But I was completely oblivious to it all/My parents were Christians & I never knew of racial prejudice on their part or in our home/DIRECTION
**What voices I allow to speak—Friends, Spouses, TV, Music, Religion, Government, etc./DIRECTION
**Our Southern Baptist polity ensures biblical doctrine is prioritized, with its obvious focus on evangelism, & thereby missions both foreign & domestic/DIRECTION(see PRIORITY)
Application:
?Your DIRECTION drawn you to(or away from) Jesus?
?You Drawn to discipleship with Jesus?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Thirst, Hunger, Darkness, etc.
Action:
Disciples are drawn to Jesus thru their…
1. DIRECTION(:35-36)Discipleship
Presented 08/10/2014am to:
FBC CBelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
