Lessons from the First Disciples

I'm asking this, how many of you realize that we actually just sang a prayer?

! Let me follow that up with another question.

! How many of you have an idea of who will answer our prayer?

! Now, I'm asking a theological question in reference to the triune God.

Do you follow that?

I mean, in general, it's a little bit like Sunday school.

You could say God, and you could strike it right.

I'd have to give you points for that.

But more specifically, who of the triune Godhead is responsible for answering that particular prayer?

Help me out here.

The Holy Spirit.

That's right.

Holy Spirit.

And by the way, if the Lord tarries and I live long enough and you're here long enough,

we will eventually get to John chapter 14, 15, and 16,

John 14 · chapter mention

and we are going to find the most extensive instruction on the ministry of the Holy Spirit there.

That's just going to be, it's going to be wonderful.

It's going to be as good as Ephesians.

Maybe even better because it's next.

You know how I am about books, right?

The one I'm preaching in at the moment has got to be the best book there is.

And I suppose that comes from the process of praying and studying through the week.

And so often as I am coming to the conclusion of that process.

And for some of you, you may know that generally on Thursday I have the text written, finished, the text part.

And Connie then puts together the things that go on the overhead.

And then from Thursday till Sunday about this time is a time that is bathed in prayer.

You know, I want the help of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word.

And I rely on your prayers as well.

And one of the things is that when I finish up Thursday, I am just full.

I mean, it's like I am ready.

If I could preach Thursday afternoon, it would probably be best for me.

Because I carry around this, oh, man, I want to bring it.

But, you know, it's like, oh, okay.

This is Friday.

And Judith, my bride of 44 years, has advised me on many occasions that I'm not allowed to preach to her ahead of time.

And I said, I was talking with another brother in the Lord.

And he was talking to me about what he does as he preaches his sermon to his wife several times in advance.

I said, God bless you.

I wish.

So you get to hear it hot the first time.

Here it is.

I want you, as we kind of get our hearts into this passage, to put your finger, first of all, on John 1, verse 35.

John 1:35

That's where we're going to be.

We're going to take time together going over all of this passage from 35 to 52.

But in order to kind of have the global view, because it helps us keep things together,

I want to remind you why John wrote the book.

How many of you know why John wrote the book?

It tells us over in John chapter 20, it says, in essence, that these things are written,

John 20 · chapter mention

the pieces that have been put together are written, so that you might know who Jesus is,

that he is the Son of God, and that knowing you can believe in him.

And so here we are, as we kind of get into the process of understanding this book,

we remind ourselves, for one, that John wrote this to inform us of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God,

and that knowing this, we can believe on him and have eternal life.

Well, let me do something here that is not going to give you an excuse to leave the service early,

but I do want you to kind of have some abbreviated ideas of what the book is about.

So someone comes up to you and says, the book by Dostoevsky on war and peace, what's it about?

Do you know what you could actually say?

It's about war and peace.

Now, that's a gross abbreviation of a book about 800 pages.

So when we get to the book of John, we want to understand, what's this book about?

I've got to tell you, it's about worship and witness.

Worship and witness.

Think about that.

Worship and witness.

The two pieces go together.

Another way of putting it would be edification and evangelism.

Now, there's a similarity, isn't it?

Worship, witness, edification, evangelism.

And as we look this morning at this extended passage,

we are going to see how these pieces actually come together.

And so I would put it this way.

When the heart of the believer is caught up with the glory and the supremacy of Christ,

they don't have to be coached.

They don't have to be coerced.

They don't have to be manipulated.

They talk about what's inside, and they talk about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so I want you to have that fixed in your mind and kind of lock in on that

because what we're going to find in this extended passage is, first of all,

we're going to find that seeing Jesus clearly shrinks and satisfies.

Shrinks and satisfies.

Second thing we're going to see is that seeing Jesus clearly leads to sharing.

It just follows as the night, the day.

The two go together.

So let's talk, first of all, about seeing Jesus clearly shrinks and satisfies.

You pick up there in verse 35, and the next day, again,

John was standing with two of his disciples,

and he looked at Jesus as he walked by, and he said,

Behold, the Lamb of God.

I know that an entire week has passed since the last time we looked at the,

in fact, two weeks since we looked at John 1, verse 19 through 28.

John 1:19–28

But what we saw when we, three weeks now, I guess,

but when we looked at that passage, one of the things we saw is that,

for one, we're all witnesses.

Do you understand that?

We're all witnesses.

Now, some of us may choose to be bad witnesses.

I'll never forget.

At one point, I was on the phone with an individual dealing with a problem

that I was having with insurance.

Anybody ever here have problems with insurance?

I mean, you know, it was just a little thing, you know, like,

and I'd been on the phone.

I mean, I have a record in the computer of how many times I'd called this person,

and, you know, I was like,

How many of you like listening to music ad nauseum?

Oh, they're playing my song, you know.

And so I remember when I finally got to a human voice being a little snarky,

you know, I was like, I wanted to let them know

that I was a little disappointed with the service I was getting,

and my pastor's shepherd's heart was really kind of right there with it,

and I kind of went off on a tear.

And this woman, unusually, I don't think she was being recorded,

she stopped me and says,

You got an attitude.

Me? Attitude?

And I had to say,

I am ashamed,

and thank you for correcting me.

I want you to know that the guy you're talking to is a pastor.

And I have never met you,

but I ought to know better.

And I have every reason not to be this way,

and I ask you to forgive me.

Hmm?

You see,

we're going to be good witnesses sometimes,

and we're going to be bad witnesses,

but let's face the fact we're all witnesses.

And furthermore,

one of the things that we do see

as we look at that passage in John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

is that a biblical witness is not self-focused.

And that's what I mean when I speak about shrinking.

You know, if you look at the passage,

you'll find here that

John the Baptist was very, very clear about who he was.

And we're going to see that in three different instances

as we work our way through this passage.

First, let's recognize that John the Baptist,

a man who God sent to be his chosen forerunner,

one of a kind,

the only one,

sent by God directly in front of Jesus.

And as we work our way through

the testimony of John the Baptist,

the thing we're going to find is that

here was a man who had no self-focus or ambition.

His humility,

I want you to understand,

was not something that was put on.

How many of you know what I mean

by kind of put on humility?

Oh, that was a wonderful special.

Oh, no, it was nothing.

You know, I mean,

it's like, yeah, right.

I mean, you just can't wait for me

to say another sentence.

You know, you're right.

I guess when I stop and think about it again,

that was a real dud.

I hope you don't sing that again.

You know, that kind of thing.

You know, we find that John was just,

his heart was humble.

And we read later on in the text

as we work our way through the book of John

that there came a time

when John the Baptist's disciples

began following, guess who?

That guy that he baptized.

And remember, his disciples

are kind of worried about this,

and they come to John,

and they say,

hey, John, I don't know

if you're paying attention,

but the crowd is dwindling.

And on that basis,

what John says,

he says,

he must increase

and I must decrease.

Now, listen to me.

John speaks in the Greek

in an imperative.

Do you know what imperative is?

It has to happen.

How many of you understand

that gravity is an imperative?

I mean, if I stepped off from here,

whether I had all kinds of faith

about my ability to walk on air,

guess what would happen?

It's about 14, 16 inches.

Gravity is an imperative.

It would take over and do its job.

And so here is John the Baptist saying,

it's an absolute fact

that he must increase

and I must decrease.

It has to happen.

John understood that.

And he saw the work of God

in that fact

and he was satisfied with it.

And so as you look at this passage,

here's one of the things

I want you to understand.

You can't make much of Jesus

and yourself at the same time.

And so here we see John's lack of self-focus.

There in verse 35,

the next day again,

John was standing with two of his disciples,

you know, kind of the buds

just talking together

and along comes Jesus,

just walking by.

There's no indication that Jesus said,

hey, John, thanks for baptizing me.

Man, that was awesome.

And by the way,

John, do you remember

when the Holy Spirit came down on me

and let you know who I am?

You know, it was like,

John just, there he is,

saw Jesus.

And out of his heart,

because of his understanding

of who Jesus was and is,

he said this,

behold the Lamb of God.

Just a profoundly significant

theological statement

about the fact

that God sent his son

to be the savior of the world

and that his ministry

of saving us from sin

meant that he had to die

in my place

and your place.

And as a result of that,

throughout all eternity,

when we get to heaven

and we enjoy eternal bliss,

we will remember Jesus

as the Lamb

who was slain

before the foundation

of the world.

I want you to imagine

just for a moment, though,

that here is John

and he says,

behold the Lamb of God.

And the next thing we find there,

he looked at Jesus

at verse 36,

he looked at,

behold the Lamb,

and then verse 37,

the disciples,

the two disciples

heard him say this

and what did they do?

They followed Jesus.

We know that numbers

are important,

aren't they?

how many employees

do you have?

How much did that cost?

How many come to the church?

How many watched the game?

Truth of the matter is,

as I was thinking about this,

when I happened,

I didn't watch the game,

I just kind of googled

what the score was

and one of the things

I actually paid attention to

was how big was the crowd

at the Maryland OSU game?

It was something like 52,000,

I thought,

peanuts.

I mean,

small stuff.

When we have a game here,

we have 108,000.

Am I right, Joe?

Gary?

Give or take,

you know,

who's counting?

We're about numbers.

And so,

we don't know

what John was thinking

when he saw

these two disciples

that he cared about

walking off.

But if our carnal spirits

were involved

in any of the thinking

that he may have had,

guess what he was thinking?

Man,

I poured my heart

into these two guys.

They've been following me

and there they go.

We've been there.

Someone sings a special.

Or someone teaches a lesson.

Or someone shares a victory.

And as soon as the conversation

plays out,

we find ourselves thinking,

hey,

I sang that song before.

Don't you remember

the lesson I taught

two weeks ago?

How many of you understand

what I'm talking about?

That wicked,

perverse,

I mean,

you know,

it's like,

where did that thought

come from?

Hell,

you know,

and our own wicked heart.

But you know,

here is John.

And he exclaims

ecstatically,

with emotion and affection,

behold,

look,

it's the Lamb.

And as a result

of his

clear

testimony,

he has two

that follow.

you look at the passage,

and it says,

they followed Jesus.

Jesus turned

and saw them following

and said to them,

what are you seeking?

What's up?

By the way,

how many of you realize

that questions

are one of the ways

to really find out

what's in people's hearts?

Okay?

Questions are

supremely important.

And so,

here are the two disciples.

Hey,

what's up?

What are you thinking?

And I love the fact

that they invite themselves

to Jesus' home.

Now,

that's an indication

to me

that they really

wanted

something from Jesus.

This wasn't just

a passing fancy.

Their heart

had been convicted

by the Spirit of God

that Jesus

is the one

they needed.

Remember later

in John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

where Jesus

preaches that

thunder and brimstone

kind of sermon

where at the beginning

he has a big crowd

and when it's all gone,

who's left?

Does anybody remember?

Just the disciples.

And Jesus turns to them

and says,

are you guys packing up

and leaving too?

And what did Peter say?

Who remembers?

Where are we going?

You got the words.

You're the one.

Evidently,

these two disciples

were persuaded

of the supremacy

of Christ

and they said,

no,

we want to spend

time with you.

And he said,

come,

come on,

come with me.

And as you look

at this passage,

there are a couple things

that I want you to mark.

For one,

in verse 37

it says,

they followed him.

We're going to get back

to that.

I want you to put your finger

on verse 40

because I want to tell you

that I've already started

preparing the message

for this.

Verse 40.

We're a long way,

Lord willing,

we're a long way

from John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

But in verse 40

it says,

one of the two.

Now,

does anybody know offhand

who one is?

This is important.

It's actually

the apostle John.

And in the gospel

that he wrote,

he never names himself.

He only refers to himself,

I think,

three or four times

by this title.

One whom Jesus loved.

Now,

would the Holy Spirit

endorse

someone being arrogant

and proud

about the fact

that they had been

loved by Christ?

And what is the answer

from reasonable Christians?

The answer is,

not in your life.

Now,

could John have said

something ungodly?

That's true.

But we'd have somewhere

kind of rebuttal

in relationship to that.

We're going to come

to this issue

of what John meant

when he said,

one whom Jesus loved.

But I want you to recognize

that as we work our way

through the text now,

one of the things

that I want you to see here

is that a clear view

of Jesus

changes life's directions.

It changes life's directions.

We are going to see

in this passage,

verse 35 on,

we're going to see

for one thing

that as these two disciples

heard John speak

definitively,

I mean,

clearly,

convictingly,

this is the Lamb of God.

This is the Messiah.

This is the Savior

of the world.

What happened

is that

they changed their direction.

We read that Philip left

whatever he was doing

to follow.

And I want you to recognize

that it wasn't because

of coercion

or pressure.

It wasn't because

there was a certain

benefit package

that came with

following Jesus

in the immediate present,

better health insurance,

you know,

that kind of thing.

I want you to understand

when you really

get down to it

that apart from

John the Apostle,

who they believe

died as an exile,

every,

except for Judas,

every other disciple

was executed

for their faith.

It was their view

of Christ

that led to a change

of direction.

So as you sit out here,

one of the questions

to ask yourself

practically is,

is your life's direction

different

because you've seen

Jesus clearly.

Now stop just for a minute.

When we think about

life's direction,

we have a tendency

of getting caught up

in the mundane

and the things

that have no

eternal significance.

Let me explain

what I mean by that.

I mean tomorrow morning,

given time,

whatever,

most of you here

are going to either

go to school

or go to work.

Right?

That's not

your life's

real direction.

That's just how

God has employed you

to have a spiritual

and lasting impact

in the lives

of other people

who desperately

need Christ.

I want you to

understand something else

as we look at the passage

in broad terms.

A clear view of Jesus

changes life's purpose.

That's part of what

I'm reflecting on here.

Some went from

being fishermen

to being fishers of men.

One went from

being a doctor

to being a disciple.

Another went from

being a tax collector

to a disciple.

Ask any person

that has been swept away

by the gospel

about what their life

is all about.

Let me say that again

slowly because I think

we have to understand this.

Ask any person

whose life has been

swept away

by the beauty

of the gospel,

what's your life about?

Here's what they won't say.

It's about my retirement.

It's about my motor home.

It's about how much

my investments

are making

so I can be

a pretty self-indulgent

fool.

Tell a story

on myself.

Three, four years ago,

well, that's two years ago

actually,

that I began thinking

to myself,

when I retire,

I think I'm going

to get a small plot

of land,

about ten acres,

and I'm going to raise

chickens and cows.

house.

This is true.

In fact,

my bride

even entertained me

so much,

hi Judith,

that we began

driving around

looking at properties.

I remember actually

thinking to myself,

you know what?

If you have

those ten acres

or twelve acres

or whatever,

the next thing

you have to have

is a mower.

And then,

this is just Tim

kind of speculating

in his mind

and he thought,

you know what?

If you're going

to keep it mowed

so you can kind of

sit there and look at it

and like short grass,

you know,

you're going to spend

four, five,

maybe six hours

mowing the sucker

every week

when it rains,

you know,

and then,

you know something

about cows

and chickens

and goats?

You have to feed them.

I remember actually

doing the math

and I was convicted.

I was convicted.

God rescued me

from being a miserable,

despicable sinner

to spend the rest

of my life

pointing to Jesus,

not at the back end

of chickens and cows.

And when you talk

to people

who have been swept away

by the glory of Christ,

you hear about it.

So,

as you look at this

radical change here,

we find in John the Baptist

for one,

and then we find

in the two disciples

there in verse 37

and again in verse 40,

one of the things

that we understand

is that these individuals

were willing

to lay it all aside

so that they could have

a sweeter

and more significant

relationship

with the Lord Jesus.

Does that mark

your life?

Think with me

just for a moment

of a companion passage

in relationship

to this

and turn over

in your Bible

to Philippians chapter 3

Philippians 3:7–9

verse 7 through 9.

Let me kind of

start earlier

in verse 4.

Though I myself

have reason for confidence

in the flesh also,

if anyone else

thinks he has reason

for confidence

in the flesh,

I have more.

Verse 5.

I was making

$500,000 a year

as a speaker

on a tour

and I had property

in Florida

and I also had property

just not in the passage

but just understand

the passage.

Here is John the,

is Paul saying,

I had it all.

property in the Rockies,

property in the

Smoky Mountains,

vacation home

in Florida,

you know,

and I had it all.

Everybody thought

I was the real thing

and then,

guess what?

Verse 8.

Indeed,

I count everything

as lost

because of the

surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus

my Lord.

all that

has become

junk

in my thinking

in comparison

to the glory

and the satisfaction

of knowing Christ.

Where is that

in your thinking?

He says,

I count it all rubbish

that I may gain Christ

and be found

in him

not having

mine own righteousness

that comes from the law

but that which

comes through

faith in Christ

the righteousness

from God

that depends

on Christ.

Let's see

something second.

Seeing Jesus

clearly

leads

to sharing.

We should know

by now

that John the Baptist

saw Jesus

clearly

and we understand

that the reason

he saw him

clearly

was because

of the work

of the Holy Spirit.

How many of you

recognize that?

Remember what John said?

I had no idea

who he was going

to be

except for the fact

that I had been

told by divine

utterance

that the one

that the Holy Spirit

came down

and stayed on

that's the Messiah.

And then he met

Jesus

and saw that happen.

That's him.

That's him.

And so here is

John the Baptist

who

had a clear picture

of Jesus

and as a result

the thing

that we find

about John

working our way

through the passage

is that

his joy

and his satisfaction

was in pointing

others to Christ.

And some

saw Jesus

through John's testimony

and were affected.

How do we know that?

Well what we find

here in the passage

as we allude

to verse 37

and then again

to 40

was that what

happened is

as a result

of the testimony

of John the Baptist

there were two

that were drawn

off to become

the disciples

of Christ.

And so I want

you to recognize

that seeing

Jesus clearly

by the work

of the Spirit

of God

ends up

calling individuals

away from

where they are

and their goals

and ambitions

of life

and changing

them dramatically

to make them

focused on

the Lord Jesus

and following

that

you end up

with a sequence

that we shouldn't

miss.

Look at

the passage

again.

It says

there in verse

40

one of the two

who heard

John speak

and followed

Jesus

was Andrew

Simon Peter's

brother.

He first

found

when did

he do it?

When did

he find

his brother?

Immediately.

We find

the same

thing play

out

if you will

in verse

43 and 45

kind of skip

ahead a little

bit.

The next day

Jesus decided

to go to

Galilee

he found

Philip

and said

to him

follow me

and Philip

was from

Bethsaida

the city

of Andrew

and Peter

Philip

found

Nathanael

what really

prompts

gospel

witnessing?

I want to

say this

carefully.

What really

prompts

gospel

witnessing?

I want to

say it

this way

an abiding

joy in

forgiven

sin and

a personal

relationship

with Christ.

That's what

does it.

Secondly

I would add

this a desire

to share

what's

supremely

satisfying

as I was

driving to

church this

morning.

I was

thinking about

my back

surgery

some 15

20 years

ago.

I forget

when it

was but

I remember

being

gurnied

into surgery

with numbness

down my

leg and

constant pain

and after

I woke

up

and all

those other

things were

out of my

body I

remember

kind of

moving my

leg to

find out

so how's

the pain?

It wasn't

there.

I became

a lifetime

debtor to

Dr.

Bay.

Anybody

that comes

to me

and says

I'm

having

back

pain

go see

Dr.

Bay.

It's

just

natural.

You

follow

that?

The

stunning

truth

about the

history of

gospel

witnessing

around the

world

is that the

vast majority

of people

that have

been drawn

to Christ

have had

no

professional

training

no

preparation

other than

being

recipients of

the grace

of God

in their

lives.

I want

you to look

at a couple

things in

relationships.

I've got to

prove my

point with

the Bible.

Would you

agree with

that?

Let's go

to Acts

Acts 8:1

chapter 8

verse 1.

Keep your

finger because

we're coming

back to

John but

Acts chapter

Acts 8:1

8 verse

1.

And Saul

approved of

his execution

and there

arose on that

day a great

persecution

against the

church in

Jerusalem and

they were all

scattered throughout

the regions of

Judea and

Samaria except

the apostles.

The professionals

stayed home.

Who went

everywhere else?

Just the

common

disciples.

The people

whose lives

had been

radically

changed by

the ministry

of the gospel

and knew the

complete forgiveness

for all sins

through the

finished work

of the Lord

Jesus.

And you know

what?

They couldn't

help but talk

about what was

good in their

lives.

I want you

to see the

way this all

played out.

We kind of

cut ahead to

Acts chapter

Acts 17:6

17 verse

6.

Here's

Paul.

Paul and

Silas actually

in Thessalonica

I believe it

is.

And people

end up being

pretty upset

by having

these preachers

here in town.

But a very

interesting little

statement is made

in verse 6.

And what they

could not find,

Paul and Silas,

they'd been

hidden by

other believers,

they cry out

to the city

authorities and

say, listen,

these men who

have turned the

world upside

down have

come here

also.

Stop and

think for me

just for a

minute.

Do you think

it was just

Paul and

Silas really

that were

used by God

to turn the

world upside

down?

Not in

your life.

We know

of names

like D.L.

Moody.

Most of us

don't know

that Kincaid

was the

guy who

actually

witnessed

to a

young shoe

salesman

and sharing

the gospel

led to a

transformed

life.

We know

Billy Graham,

but the

vast majority

of people

who have

really been

transformed by

the gospel

and are

transforming

the lives

of others

with the

testimony

of Christ

are unnamed.

So let me

ask you a

question.

How is your

witness?

Is that a

fair question?

How is your

witness?

If I were

to honestly

ask other

people at

work,

and we're

talking about

work,

politics?

What are

the things

that you

are passionate

about and

that you

have complete

confidence in?

Oh,

politics.

There's a

Greek word for

it.

It's called

meganoito.

No more

of that.

It's like,

I am convinced

that God

does not

wear a label

that says

vote for me,

Republican or

Democrat.

that.

Here's another

thing.

God is not

that primarily

concerned that

his children

become evangelists

for the

things they're

selling,

or evangelists

for their

child's

t-ball team,

or whatever

else.

The thing

that I should

be known

of,

listen,

the thing

that I should

be known

for,

particularly in

the unbelieving

circles that

I end up

on occasion

around,

is that I

am,

first of all,

a testimony

by my

behavior to

the grace

of Christ.

And secondly,

that when God

gives me an

opportunity,

I'm excited

to talk about

the one who

forgave all

my sins.

Is that

where it's

at with

you?

So,

first question

I would ask

in relationship

to this

business of

how you're

witness is

that,

well,

do you

really know

him?

I mean,

I'm convinced

one of the

things that

happens is

people grow

up in a

church,

they learn

the vocabulary

of the

church,

they could

even be

baptized.

I have

baptized more

people more

than once

than I care

to think

about.

how many

of you

caught that?

Nothing wrong

with baptism,

but I want you

to understand

that baptism

doesn't save

you.

Baptism is

an outward

sign of what

God's done

in your heart

and salvation.

So,

I want you

to understand

if you're

sitting here

and you,

I have

never

witnessed

other than

about my

kids,

you know,

whatever,

or my dog

or whatever,

okay,

if it's not

in your

heart,

you may not

be a person

who has

enjoyed

the blessing

of complete

forgiveness.

You're not

a repentant

individual

who's been

drawn to

realize

the abiding

grace

of God

in salvation.

And,

you know,

the woman

at the well,

no coaching,

off she went

to town.

The demoniac

just needed

a little push,

remember that?

He said,

Jesus,

I don't want

to go back

to town.

Everybody

remembers

what a skunk

I was.

He said,

go back

and show

them.

You're

changed.

The truth

of the matter

is that

some of you

don't know

Christ,

and that's

the reason

for the lack

of affection

and passion.

Number two,

there are some

of you here

that have lost

your first love.

How many of you

know that love

needs to be nurtured?

It just doesn't

kind of stay there?

Some of you

have had the enemy

of your soul

trap you with

a secret sin,

and you're

bound up

with bitterness

and sullenness.

Can I tell you

something?

You can't have

a bad attitude

and be a good

witness.

Can everybody

smile at that

one?

That can't be

applied to anybody

here that I know,

but you can't

say it so we

understand it.

You can't be a

person with a bad

attitude and be a

good witness.

And all God's

people said,

well, that wasn't

bad.

Okay.

I want to say

this.

Believers who

are not

passionate about

the Lamb have

something that is

hindering their

joy and their

witness.

And so when that

is the fact, you

who know Christ can

do one of two

things in the face

of the Spirit's

work this morning

which is tapping

on your shoulder

and saying,

this needs to be

changed.

Two choices.

You can go ahead

and just tempt God

with your stubborn

spirit.

Anybody ever tried

that before besides

me?

You don't mean to

say bring it on,

but when you say

no to God, when He

is speaking to you

about having a

contrite spirit in

the face of the

convicting work of

the Spirit, and you

just say yeah, He

just says, I'm

there, and He'll

help you.

Or, and here's

what Tim Kenoyer

has to do on a

periodic basis,

because me and

attitudes are

something God has

to help me with.

You understand

that?

I'm an attitude

inventor.

I just pop.

Where did that

come from?

You can confess the

need that you have

in your lack of awe

and love for the

Lord Jesus Christ.

You can go ahead and

say it.

By the way, does He

not know this?

No, He knows.

But He likes for you

to have the humility

to say, I don't feel

anything.

I don't have any

affections for you.

And it's not your

problem, but I need

your help.

Now, which of the

two is more

intelligent?

Help me here.

One or two?

One of the things I

read in a book by,

forget the name,

John Krodz.

He said, being foolish

is a career choice.

There are some of you

in this service this

morning that are

consciously and

deliberately saying

no to God about

the shallowness of

your affection and

the lack of joy in

the Holy Spirit and

the complete absence

of just that natural

bubbling of saying,

come and see,

the one who has

forgiven all of my

sins.

And I would plead

with you this

morning.

Do not tempt

the Lord.

Humble yourself

because as Charles

Spurgeon rightly

says, we have two

choices, either

humble ourself or

let Him humble

us.

being foolish is a

career choice.

Let's pray.

Father, this morning

as our hearts

consider the text

and we see what

you did in John

the Baptist's life

and we see what

you did in the

lives of these men

that you called to

become disciples,

we don't want to

waste our lives in

pettiness and

smallness.

We want to have the

humility to confess

the hardness of our

heart.

and we know

our thinking is

wrong and we need

the Spirit to make

a difference.

We don't want to be

foolish

and thumb our

nose at the

Holy One of

Israel.

And so it is my

prayer that this

morning your Spirit

would get a hold of

the hearts of all

of your people.

that our view of

Christ would be the

thing that dominates,

brings about

transformation to

the glory of our

Savior.

And we ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.