WWUTT 793 What Are You Seeking?

When John the Baptist's followers began following Jesus, Jesus asked them what are you seeking?

It's a very important question and it's one that all of us should ask, even we who are followers of Jesus, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of the Gospel of John, Chapter 1.

And today's reading will be verses 35 -42. The Apostle wrote,

The next day 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? And 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.

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. And Jesus looked at him and said, You are

Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.

And then Jesus goes on to call Philip and Nathaniel, and I may get to that passage here in just a little bit.

We'll see how quickly we go through this. We're picking up the pace a little bit now as we have moved from the deep theology that John opened the gospel with to some more narrative events here.

And over the last couple of days, Monday and Tuesday, we've considered the witness and testimony of John the

Baptist. Here we've got one last statement from John the Baptist in verse 35. We have

John the Baptist come back in the story again in chapter three very briefly, and then we never see him again in the gospel of John.

So we have these few brief glimpses of John the Baptist and the testimony about Christ that he shares.

And really what we've had him say already in this first chapter is enough. He talks about what he saw there at Jesus baptism with the

Holy Spirit descending and the voice of the father saying, This is my beloved son. We have heard

John the Baptist say of himself that he is the fulfillment of what

Isaiah prophesied. He's talked about what God himself told John the

Baptist. Here is what you will see, and here is how you will know who the Messiah is. So the testimony and witness that we have from John the

Baptist has been enough. What we get in the next two occasions. So John the

Baptist here in verse 35, well, the testimony that he shares in verse 36, which we've already heard him say once.

And then what he comes back into the story and does in chapter three, both of these next two occasions concern his disciples and his disciples following Jesus.

And that term disciple simply means learner. It is somebody who is learning from the teacher.

John the Baptist disciples were learning from him, for he pointed to Christ.

And then having pointed to Christ, they left John the Baptist and began following Jesus because that was the point of John the

Baptist ministry to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. Now, we also know that there were some other disciples of John the

Baptist who did not get to know Christ. So they had heard John the

Baptist preach. They were baptized by John, but then they were not in probably around the area of the

Jordan long enough to actually see Christ, whom John the Baptist was pointing to.

Or maybe see the miracles or maybe know about Christ's death and resurrection. Maybe they weren't there that long because they ended up going back to Ephesus.

That was probably where they were from. They were in Jerusalem for some sort of feast or festival. And then they had gone back to Ephesus because the apostle

Paul finds them there. We read about this in Acts 19, and he says to them, into what baptism were you baptized?

And they said into John's baptism. He asked them if they had the Holy Spirit, and they said, we didn't even know there was a

Holy Spirit. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.

That is Jesus. And then Paul shared with them about Christ. But until they heard

Paul share the gospel with them, they didn't know it. So they had heard the things that John the

Baptist had preached, but not the fulfillment of that preaching who was Christ. This was also the case with Apollo.

So in the in the chapter right before that, in Acts chapter 18, Apollos was a man who knew the

Jewish scriptures, and he spoke very fluently. And he had an incredible speaking voice because people were just attracted to the way that he spoke his gift of oration.

But he did not know the gospel. And so it was Priscilla and Akilah who took

Apollos aside and explained to him that Jesus was the fulfillment of everything that John the

Baptist preached about and also the reason for why he was baptizing people. In Acts 18, 25, it says of Apollos that he had been instructed in the way of the

Lord and being fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he only knew the baptism of John.

So we didn't know about Christ's death and resurrection. There are times when

I have said this about Apollos and I have said he didn't actually know the gospel and what Priscilla and Akilah shared with him.

Priscia and Priscilla are the same name, if in case I've used that interchangeably. But anyway, what

Priscilla and Akilah shared with him was the gospel. He didn't know it before that. And some have argued with me on that and said, no,

Apollos didn't know the gospel. He just didn't know enough. So they shared with him more about it.

If he only knew the baptism of John, he did not know the gospel for he did not know.

Apollos did not know about Christ's death and resurrection from the grave. Even the disciples who saw that didn't understand it until Jesus explained it to them.

And then their eyes were open to understand it. So Apollos, who wasn't even there, could not have had this knowledge that was even greater than what the disciples had.

So it wasn't until Akilah and Priscilla shared with Apollos the gospel, then he became a

Christian. He spoke wisely about the things concerning Christ and what

John the Baptist taught. But he did not yet know about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That is that's essential doctrine there. Then he heard it. And then he was truly a believer and a disciple and follower of Jesus.

So we have these disciples of John the Baptist, some of whom did not get to see

Christ, went back to Ephesus or they went wherever Apollos went. And it was later when they heard the gospel presented to them that they understood what

John the Baptist taught and what he was proclaiming in the desert, what the baptism that he did was supposed to signify and all of this kind of thing.

So here we see some of John the Baptist disciples who end up leaving John and following Jesus, which is what's supposed to happen.

One of those persons is Andrew, who then brings his brother, Simon Peter, to come and follow

Jesus. So back in verse 35 here, the next day again, so we had it's kind of like we're repeating what we had just read in verse 29.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, who was John saying this to? It's likely that he was saying this to the

Pharisees or to the messengers of the Pharisees that came and asked John the Baptist who he was.

That's that's what we have in the context. Who are you? And John answered them, I baptize with water.

But among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal

I am not worthy to untie. Then the next day. So the messengers are still there.

They're still listening to John the Baptist because they're going to go back to the Pharisees to report to the Pharisees what

John said to the questions that they asked him, but also what it was that he was teaching. So they're they're kind of studying him to report back to the

Pharisees. So the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, behold, the

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said after me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me.

So he's further explaining the answer that he gave to the messengers the day before.

But then another day goes by. And that's what we're at on verse thirty five. 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. So now he's saying it, directing his disciples to understand this testimony, this declaration.

Behold, the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him say this and they follow

Jesus. So again, disciple simply means learner. And they were learning from John the

Baptist who is pointing to Christ. That's who he literally was pointing at when

Jesus came walking by. So now the disciples turn and they start following Jesus.

And Jesus turned and saw them following and he said to them, what are you seeking?

And this is really a deep and probing question. And it's a significant question.

And I think it's a question that each one of us should even ask ourselves.

Why are you a Christian? What are you seeking? This is especially a relevant question to those who have grown up in Christianity.

Your parents were Christians. They took you to church. You grew up in it. You were baptized probably at a really young age.

And it's just something that you've been doing your entire life. Have you ever actually asked what you're seeking?

Have you ever actually asked what this is all about and why you believe this?

Have you explored those deep probing questions about who Jesus is and why you're following him?

Do you understand that you are a sinner who needs a savior? You know, praise

God that you grew up in a family that introduced you to Jesus Christ. That's wonderful.

And that is by the providence of God. It's not just the luck of the draw.

It's because God has so blessed you that you would be put in such a position to not have to go so far before you found

Christ. And at the right time, when God brought you to an understanding of Jesus Christ, it was after you had to go through less struggle in this world in order to find him than a lot of other people do.

You know, sometimes we'll go to a church and we'll hear somebody stand up with some sort of testimony.

And they'll talk about how, you know, my life was a mess. I had been on my third marriage.

I was a drug addict. I was thinking about killing myself and taking my own life. And then someone preached the gospel to me.

And I'm brand new. I'm no longer addicted to substances. I'm no longer living for myself.

I've died to myself and I'm alive in Christ. And you hear a testimony like that and you go, man,

I want a testimony like that. No, you don't. No, you don't. Don't say things like that.

Praise the Lord that you didn't have to go through such difficult trials in life before you came to rock bottom and realized that you needed a savior.

God brought you to that realization without as much struggle much earlier in life than some other people might come to that realization.

So praise the Lord for that. God brought me to that understanding at a very young age.

Unfortunately, my own siblings, I have brothers and sisters who have not yet come to that understanding and they were raised by the same parents

I was raised by. And yet they have decided to take a much more difficult path and live life their own way, blaspheming

God and declaring their own glory, rebelling against him and trying to come up with their own truth, their own sense of morality apart from God, which is nothing but self -righteousness.

And I'm watching them just virtually destroy their lives. It breaks my heart.

Don't be that person who thinks that you need to go through some seriously heavy stuff before you can actually know

God. It is by the providence of God that anyone comes to know God through his son,

Jesus Christ. Praise God that you know him now and that you were able to know him at an early age.

Maybe you're the kind of person who has gone through a lot of difficult stuff before you came to know

Christ. Praise him all the more. There's a song from Stephen Curtis Chapman that I just love.

It's called Remember Your Chains. And one of the verses in that song, he did this song back in the 90s sometime.

Heaven in the Real World was the name of the CD. But anyway, in the song, Stephen Curtis Chapman sings, there's no one more thankful to sit at the table than the one who best remembers from his pain.

So those who have gone through really deep, difficult trials and hard life and tough experiences before they came to know

Christ probably know him in a deeper and more intimate way and a more grateful and thankful way than someone who is introduced to Christ at a young and early age.

So thank the Lord for grace that has been shown to you in greater measure, that you might praise him and glorify him for the salvation that you have in Jesus Christ.

All of us have been given a certain measure of grace. Paul talks about that in Romans 12, 3.

The grace that God has shown you is different than the grace that God has shown even a brother or sister that you have or another relative or somebody else that you go to church with.

Everyone has experienced that grace in a different way. We're all the same in the sense that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift.

But we're all different in the sense that all of us have sinned in different ways and have walked different paths and have come to a knowledge of God in different circumstances so that we have different measures of grace that God has bestowed upon each person who has received grace.

This just makes the thankfulness and praise that we give to God unique to ourselves.

In Revelation 2 .17, this is actually a verse I've been asked about a few times. I've been meaning to do a what video on it.

Maybe it'll be my next one. I don't know. Anyway, in Revelation 2 .17, we read, to the one who conquers,

I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Now, oftentimes this verse is interpreted to mean that we're going to get a new name in heaven.

The apostle Paul talks about us getting a new body. In Philippians chapter three, we'll have brand new bodies.

First Corinthians 15, he also talks about this. What is perishable is gone, and we have been given a body that is imperishable.

So maybe when we get a new body, we also get a new name, as Revelation 2 .17 seems to be implying.

That's not the understanding of this verse. When it says, I will give him a new name written on a stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

What this is saying is only you know the grace of God that was given specifically to you that led to repentance, the forgiveness of sins, the promise of adoption, of becoming a fellow heir of Jesus Christ, of being transferred from a kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, from being the child of the devil that you were to the child of God.

Only you know the grace that God gave you for that transformation to happen.

And you know it, and no one else knows. And no one else shares your experience, for they've all had their own experiences.

When you get to heaven, this will become all the more apparent to you than it is now.

You will know that you don't deserve to be there, and you know why you don't deserve to be there, exactly why.

And yet you know what Christ has done for you to make you worthy to stand in the presence of God the

Father and fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forever in eternity.

There is a grace that we have been given that is unique to you.

Praise God for that, and know the reason why you needed a

Savior. You know the sins that you have committed against God. You know that what you are deserving of is the wrath of God.

Everyone is. Everyone is deserving of God's wrath. He could judge us all right now, and he would still be holy and just.

But what he has given us instead is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the sacrifice of his

Son, Jesus Christ, and atonement by his blood. And so praise

God for the gift of his Son and the forgiveness of sins that you have received.

Walk humbly with your God. So Jesus asks these disciples, what are you seeking?

And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? And he said to them, come and you will see.

You know the interesting thing about that. So verse 39, they came and went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.

I've searched like five or six different commentaries on the Gospel of John. It's probably been more than that.

More than a half dozen commentaries, and none of those commentaries explains what that means in verse 39 when he says, come and see and they go to where he was.

I want to know where he was, but none of the commentaries say that what they saw when they came.

I mean, the John's Gospel, of course, doesn't tell us. So I didn't know if it came from Matthew, Mark or Luke somewhere, and I just missed it.

But anyway, we don't know what they saw when they came to where he was staying. Every note that I find on verse 39 just explains what the 10th hour is.

It's four o 'clock in the afternoon or early evening. If you're one of those persons that says everything after three o 'clock is evening.

So anyway, that's all I'm able to find there on verse 39. One of the two who heard John speak and follow

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. That's what Christ means. By the way, he is the Messiah. Christ is not his last name.

Jesus Christ is Jesus, the Messiah. 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. And we'll pick up next week right there with Jesus calling the rest of his disciples, according to what we read there in John chapter one.

I thought we would get all the way through John one this week. Not quite. But I hope you are enjoying this study of this wonderful gospel.

Let us pray. Our great God and Savior, we thank you for the salvation that we have been given in Christ our

Lord. We thank you for the grace that you have shown us, that you've showed to us, the favor that we don't deserve.

And yet we have been rescued from sin and transferred to glory through Jesus Christ.

And we have come to an understanding of who Christ is, our sin and our need for holiness, and that Christ has given us this because of your grace.

It is by your grace that we've even come to know this. And so we thank you for your goodness and your kindness and your mercy that you show to us every day.

Help us to not withhold this gospel, but that we would take it to others who need to hear it, that they likewise would turn from sin and worship

Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.