Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Following or we're all following someone or something, perhaps the trends of society. Following what your company tells you? Listening to different voices, following your own desires, your own ego, your own ideas, your own agenda. Jesus is calling us to follow Him.
Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Although many people claim to follow Jesus, Far too many are just following rules and tradition. True faith is far more than empty actions or a code of conduct. As we'll see today, Christ is calling us to action, to a life-changing journey to follow Him. Learn what that means for you as we join Pastor John Monroe for his message titled.
Following Jesus. In our current study, we're looking at various experiences in John's Gospel. where Jesus encountered various individuals. What is the response? What is their verdict?
What is yours? Isn't it incredible? that Jesus who is God incarnate invites us to know him. and to follow him. This is different from simply being aware of who Jesus is.
Today we're going to see Jesus call his disciples Ordinary people, just like you and me. I want you to hear the personal invitation of Jesus to you. Come. Unto me What does that mean, and why would Jesus invite us to follow him? And what does this look like in our lives?
One thing we do know When we encounter Jesus, we are never the same again. In our study of John's Gospel, the Fourth Gospel. We've been learning that the most important encounter in our lives is when we encounter Jesus. When we meet Jesus, as we've been singing, we are never the same again. Jesus never leaves us exactly where we are.
And when we encounter Jesus, will begin to become his disciples. We hear this word disciple. Discipleship is one of these church words that we throw around. But what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus. There are three key words in the passage we are going to read in a minute.
Three key words which I want you to remember The words are these come, Follow. Yeah. Come Follow See Jesus invites you to come Jesus invites you to follow. And Jesus certainly invites you. To see.
Are you ready to come to Jesus? Are you ready to follow Jesus. Are you ready for your eyes to be opened so that you will see Jesus and all of the wonders of His grace? Are you ready to begin? this amazing adventure of faith.
First, we will learn that Jesus invites you. to come. Open your Bibles with me, please, to John chapter 1. That's the fourth. Gospel.
And we're going to read first of all verses thirty-five through thirty nine, where we will learn that Jesus invites you To come. John 1 then. Verse thirty five, I'm reading from the New American Standard. version. The next day, John, as John Baptist, Was standing with two of his disciples.
And he looked upon Jesus as he walked and said, Behold, the The Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard them speak. and they follow Jesus. And Jesus turned and beheld them following, and said to them, What do you seek? And they said to him, Rabbi, which translated means teacher.
Where are you staying? He said to them, Come and you will see. They came therefore and saw where he was staying. And they stayed with him that day. for it was about the tenth Our Jesus invites you to come.
In particular, Jesus invites these two disciples to come, two of the Disciples of John the Baptist are following John, and one day they see John the Baptist. Pointing to Jesus as he walked. And saying, as they'd heard him before, as we considered last week, behold the Lamb of God. And these two disciples then follow Jesus. They leave John the Baptist and begin to follow Jesus.
And as These two disciples, John and Andrew, we believe, as they Come to follow Jesus, Jesus asks them this question. He turns and says to them, What are you seeking? What do you want? A good question. In fact, that penetrating question contains the first words, first recorded words, of Jesus in this Gospel.
Why are you here? What are you seeking? What are you after? What do you want in following me? And hearing their answer, he then says, Come.
And see. and they come. And they see, and they have a personal encounter with Jesus and stay with him, and their lives are never ever the same again. Lake. Responded to this wonderful invitation.
to come. And the amazing truth of the Gospel is that Jesus continues to invite people to come. Today, he invites you to come. One of the most compelling Words ever spoken by Jesus is this one word. Come.
Come. He knew the disciples, he knew they were sinful men. He knew they were going to struggle spiritually. He knew they were all going to forsake him eventually. Yet he didn't say to them, go away.
Get your act together, and when you've got your act together, then come and we'll talk. No, the invitation is come. And over and over again throughout the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we hear from the lips of Jesus this wonderful word: come. Come unto me, to the blind, to the leper. to the lame.
to the tax gatherer. to the sinners, to the prostitutes, the children. Over and over again, Jesus says, Come. Come. And he says to you today, come on.
Come. If we got what we deserved, Jesus would say, Go away, I know you. I know what you're up to, I know what's in your heart, go away. But he doesn't do that. This word comes suggests, doesn't it?
a personal an intimate encounter With Jesus. The invitation is to come to me, to come to Jesus. It's not just as it were to sit in a school and learn about Jesus from someone else. The invitation and how wonderful it is is to have a personal relationship with Jesus, the Christian faith. Is Coming to Jesus and being transformed.
And the life of discipleship begins, it doesn't end, but it begins When we hear Jesus say to us, Come To me. I said last week that is the greatest day of your life. When you come for the first time to the Saviour. Do you hear that personal call to you today, sitting up there in the Balcony. Here for the first time at church.
Do you personally hear the call. Come. Come John, come Mary, come Bob. Come, Susie. Come.
To me. Have you personally responded? The man sang. Have you answered his call? These disciples heard the call of Jesus and came.
And the question is What are you wanting? What are you seeking? What answer would you give? Why are you here at church this morning? Why would you want to have anything to do with Jesus?
What are you seeking? What are you after? Why are you coming to Jesus? Are you ready to come? John Wesley had always considered himself a Christian.
Until the day His ship became the object of one of the most terrible Atlantic storms, and fear took hold of his heart. And he noticed that the only people on board that were not afraid were a small band of missionaries, Moravian missionaries. And when the storm was all over, he asked one of them. Were you not afraid? Pastor Devine has given us a couple of examples of people And from this congregation who are facing extremely difficult health situations.
And they were not afraid. The question is Wesley wanted to know. Why were these people not afraid in the storm? Afraid? said the man.
Why should I be afraid? I know Christ. And then gazing upon Wesley, the Moravian missionary, asked Wesley, this personal question. Do you know Christ? Here is a man who had been raised in the church.
Here is a man who was a preacher. But the penetrating question comes, do you know Christ? And Wesley Rice said for the first time in his life He realized that he did not know Jesus Christ. And that great man that was going to found what we call Methodism. The Wesley, John Wesley, learned that day that second hand religion.
will not do in the storms of life. It won't help you on the storm of the Atlantic. It won't help you in a storm in your health. It won't help you in a storm in your personal life. The question is, do you know personally Jesus Christ?
Do you? Is your Christianity First hand, or second hand. All of us know about it second hand or third hand, we hear it. If you're like me, from your parents, as you're growing up in a Christian home, You hear about it from Sunday school teachers and pastors and preachers, from friends. You hear about Jesus.
And of course, we do have to hear it, but if it only remains in the intellect. And never touches the heart, it means that we do not personally know Christ. Do you know him? I know you know about him. But have you heard his call?
Personally, come. And you've come. To Jesus, I know you go to church. I like people going to church. I'm a pastor.
You need to come more often. I agree with that. You need to bring your friends and your enemies. We need to fill the sanctuary. That is true.
But coming to church is not the question. Being a member of the church is not the question. Baptism and the Lord's Supper and the ordinances are very, very important, but the question is much more basic. You may be very religious. You may be a great church attender.
You may have a great spiritual heritage. And praise God for all of these things, but do you know Christ? That's the question. It's been well said. That God doesn't have any grandchildren.
and we have people who grow up in a place like Charlotte where so many people go to church. And they know about Christ. But many, I fear, do not know him. in their hearts. Jesus still says Will you come?
Will you come? He invites you to come. Secondly, Jesus invites you not only to come, but Jesus today is inviting you to follow. Let's read from verse 40. One of the two who heard John speak.
and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah. which translated means Christ. He brought them to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon.
the son of John, you shall be called Cephas, which translated means Peter. The next day, He purposed to go forth into Galilee and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, Follow me.
Now, Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew, and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel 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. Nathaniel said to him, Can any good thing Come out of Nazareth. Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said, of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no Guile.
Jesus invites you to come. Jesus invites you to follow. A disciple is a follower of Jesus. Verse thirty seven, the two disciples followed Jesus. Verse 38, Jesus saw them following.
Verse 40, one of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew. Verse forty three Follow me. Jesus is saying to Philip, follow me. Being a disciple then involves. Following Jesus.
Following a hip. It's not enough just to have one meeting with Jesus. I'm afraid many of us like the concept, and rightly so, of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And last week, as we heard the wonderful truth that Jesus is the one who can take away my sin, we say how wonderful I acknowledge I'm sinful. How wonderful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
And we come to him for forgiveness of sins, but I fear many people think that's the beginning and end of the Christian life. It's now. Jesus not only invites you to come To the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is inviting you today to follow him. to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
How can we come to Jesus as it were? And say, Thank you, Lamb of God, for taking away my sin, and then go back to a sinful lifestyle. How can we say we've had a meaningful encounter with Jesus and remained un Changed. No, Jesus says. Follow Me.
He didn't say where he was going to lead them. He simply said, follow me. You say, well, before I follow Jesus, I would like to know where he's going to take me. He might upset me. He might lead me far away from my family and my friends.
I'm not sure if I want to follow Jesus. This is why the Christian faith is a life of faith. It's trusting Jesus. It's committing our lives. Our possessions our future surrendering Everything we have, surrendering everything to Jesus and following Him.
That's what Jesus said. If you want to. To be my disciple, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. And Luke in his gospel says, and you're to do that daily. Are you doing that?
These two examples of our one brother, one sister at Calvary that that Phil Devine gave us examples about this week. They were obviously following Jesus. Close to Jesus, hearing his voice. Being sensitive to a situation, here is a man who receives devastating news about his medical condition and in the bed next to him, separated by a curtain, as a man screaming in pain and very, very unhappy. And here is a follower of Jesus Christ who's so close to Jesus that he hears the Spirit of Jesus saying now.
Just say something to this man. That's following Jesus, isn't it? In the storms of life. Hearing his voice. Not having Jesus away there that I can shout to in an emergency, but close to Jesus.
this week Be honest. This week, have you followed Jesus? Have you been close? To Jesus. Are you going through life?
On your own. Following, overall, following someone or something, perhaps the trends of society. Following what your company tells you? Listening to different voices and adjusting life to them. Following your own desires, your own ego, your own ideas, your own agenda, Jesus is calling us to follow Him.
Now, what kind of people follow Jesus? Aren't you glad that the disciples were very different characters? They were not all the same. God isn't interested in clones. Cults deal with clones where everyone looks alike and thinks alike and dresses alike.
But Jesus deals with ordinary people Of all kinds, and the first one who follows Jesus is Andrew. The first of the disciples who followed Jesus, we read as we've just read. Andrew's the kind of individual who's normally in the background. never seeks the spotlights, unlike his brother Peter, Andrew isn't a strong, forceful personality type. He lives in Peter's shadow.
He lives in the background, and many of you know what it is to live in the shadow of someone, perhaps of a parent, a successful parent, or a successful brother, or sister, or a boss, or a spouse. You know what it is to live in the background in the shadows. When I was going through school, I. Lived at least to some extent in the shadow of my older brother, George. He's a year and a half older than me.
Six of us in the family, I'm the second oldest. George is the oldest. And two grades ahead of me in school. And so at the beginning of the school year is I'd go into a new class and the teacher would ask us our names when I said I was John Monroe. The teacher would then say, Are you George's brother.
And when I said I was, The teacher would always have a big smile. Say welcome. How wonderful. It was wonderful having George. In class, My brother was not only very bright, he was more compliant than his younger brother.
tended to obey parents and school teachers. tended only to speak when he had something to say, one of these kind, unlike his younger brother. And I remember one teacher saying to me, you know, When your brother did Latin, he had the highest score that we've ever had in the history of the school with the Cambridge University exams. And he said, I'm confident that you're going to do ev even better. I said, you've got to be kidding.
You know, you've got the wrong person here. It can be tough, isn't it, to live in someone's shadow.
Sometimes that produces resentment or rivalry or even bitterness, but there is no hint in the Gospel. That although Andrew is obviously in the shadow of his brother Peter, that Andrew hasn't any resentment against his brother, far from it. Because the first thing that Andrew does When he meets Jesus, what does he do? He brings His brother to Jesus. Verse forty one.
This man, Andrew, is so excited about following Jesus that he wants everyone to follow Jesus, and the first person. He introduces to Jesus. As Peter. And we know in the Gospels that Andrew loves bringing people to Jesus. Here are five thousand people hungry.
coming to hear Jesus and there's no food. Who is the disciple who brings the little boy who's five loaves and two fish to Jesus? Who is the disciple? Not Peter. No, it's Andrew.
Who is the disciples when Greeks come in John chapter 12 and say, We want to see Jesus? Who is it that tells them about Jesus? Andrew, over and over again, Andrew brings people to Jesus. We never read of him preaching to a big large crowd We never hear of him giving strong leadership. keeps in the shadow a humble follower of Jesus.
That's why we have him as our patron saint in Scotland. Android. Andrew is the kind of individual who is outstanding. outstanding at one on one relationships. You know these people, don't ask them to speak to a crowd.
But they see in a big crowd they see an individual. They value An individual. They can relate To an individual they love. individuals. And this is, I believe, still one of the most effective means of evangelism.
One person bringing another person to Jesus. Isn't that right? Perhaps A brother. A wife, a husband. a friend.
brought you to Jesus. It's the best thing we could do to anyone, isn't it? is to introduce them to Jesus. And I found in my ministry the most unlikely people. are like Andrew.
Bringing people to Jesus. In one of the previous churches where I served, we had within one of the hospitals. a mini revival Many nurses came to Christ, medical personnel, their families, their husbands, their wives. Brothers and sisters, Do you know how it all began? began by a lady in her church, her name was Mary.
the most unassuming, One of the most nervous Yeah. woman I've ever met. Her name was Mary. She was very nervous when she spoke to me. Very shy, very easily embarrassed.
And yet God used her. And I met with her and I said, Mary, how dare you? How is it that God used you so much? He said, I really don't know. I said, well, tell me.
She said, well, years I've been praying. Displaying the love of Christ. And there's This nurse and that nurse would begin to speak to her. to ask her about Jesus. She pointed them.
To the Saviour. And soon many people came. Yeah. The Christ Mary was And Andrew. This is the verdict with Pastor Jean Monroe.
and the beginning of a message titled Following Jesus. This message is part of our series on encountering Jesus. John will be back in just a minute with his closing remarks. When life gets tough and we find ourselves navigating difficult situations, we can sometimes be tempted to lean on ourselves or the plans and resources of this world rather than following Jesus. But as we were reminded to day, Our strength and provision are found in God alone.
and we should see things differently. To help encourage and equip you to have a God centered perspective no matter the circumstances, John has written a wonderful personal guide book called Trusting God in Tough Times. We'd love to send you a copy, completely free, as our gift to you. To receive a copy of Trusting God in Tough Times. Just go to our website at theverdict.org.
There, you'll also want to sign up for John's monthly email to receive exclusive updates and a first look at everything coming up here at The Verdict. Here at The Verdict, our work is to share the truth of God's Word and the good news of Jesus Christ with as many listeners as we can. And you can support this gospel work today with a financial gift of any amount. To give right now, visit theverdict.org. And as we close, we want to remind you that you can always revisit these programs and find more content from John by subscribing to the Verdict Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
or just visit our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. And now, here. Here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Do you hear Jesus calling you? Have you heard this voice? What's your verdict? What's your response?
I ask that you be like these early disciples and humbly follow Jesus. They were not following a cause or a creed, but they were following the person of Jesus. There is something supernaturally compelling about Jesus and these disciples are forever changed. What about you? Join me next time as we continue to look at the disciples and understand what it means to follow Jesus in this radical, life-transforming experience.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
