Nobody even hardly knows the name of that man who day after day went to that shoe store in Boston, Massachusetts, wanted to witness to that shoe clerk, but he was so scared. He knew the young man was ruining his life. This dear Christian gentleman, his name was Mr. Kimball, he was so scared.
Finally, he got up enough courage to talk to that man. How could he possibly have known that that man, through his own efforts, would win over a million people to Jesus Christ in this country? His name was Dwight L.
Moody.
Welcome to a new week of Bible Study on Hope for Today with David Hocking. Imagine this, a few fishermen going about their daily grind. Then in an instant, everything changes.
In the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 35 to 51, these ordinary men come face to face with Jesus, the Son of God, and their lives, their lives are flipped upside down. Day 2 of We Have Found the Messiah is next. And trust me, you don’t want to miss a single moment.
First, here’s something else you don’t want to miss. A free download at davidhocking.org. It’s called Your Quest for God by Hope for Today friend Richard A.
Bennett. And this book takes you on a deep dive into the big questions about God, challenging you to reflect on your spiritual beliefs through a biblical lens. And we have this again, Your Quest for God, available in multiple languages.
Perfect for anyone searching for truth and wisdom about who God is according to God’s Word. And by the way, it ties perfectly into today’s topic. Grab your free copy of Your Quest for God at davidhocking.org.
Turn to the Gospel of John chapter 1 verses 35 to 51. And as promised, here’s David with day 2 of his message called, We Have Found the Messiah.
Thank God for the Andrews of the world, who lead the Peters and the Moody’s and the Spurgeons and others to Christ. And we forget about these folks who kept bringing folks to Jesus. In chapter 6, he finds a little lad with his lunch and he brings him to Jesus.
In chapter 12, some Greeks want to see Jesus and Andrew brings them to Jesus. He’s always bringing people to Jesus. Thank God for all the Andrews in the world.
He was concerned about his brother. He was also certain, by the way, about the identity of Jesus Christ. Verse 41, we have found, not we think it’s him, we found him who is the Messiah.
And then notice that Peter was confronted with the knowledge and the calling of Jesus Christ. And this is one of my favorite verses. I love the story of Peter, and this is one of the good ones.
Watch this carefully. Verse 42, he brought him to Jesus. The next phrase says, now when Jesus looked at him.
Now, it doesn’t say that of any other person. Why is that in the Bible that way about Peter? Jesus looked at him.
Have you ever thought about what that might be? To have the son of God, the savior of the world, the king of Israel, the Messiah himself, to look directly in your eyes. Jesus looked at him.
I like phrases and words in the Bible. I like to compare them, and this is one that I think is there by the Spirit of God to bring to our attention something else. Because over three years later, Peter is going to deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you remember this story? And the Bible says Jesus looked at him, and he went out and wept bitterly. Peter is the kind of guy that you have to sort of just stare at him for a moment.
Jesus knew all about Peter. He looked at him. And he said, You’re Simon, the son of Jonah.
How did he know that, Andrew? I didn’t tell him. He, you are Simon, the son of Jonah.
I know all about you. But we’re going to change your name. Did you think that you were going to be the leader here in the group?
We’re going to change your name. We’re going to call you Cephas in Aramaic or Petros in Greek. Now, I don’t know if you appreciate this folks, but Peter did not want to be a little stone that you could pick up in your hand and throw.
Jesus did not say you’re going to be Petra, which refers to a giant rock, a site of a mountain. He said, you’re just a little stone. I can throw around anywhere I want.
That’s what we’re going to call you. Can you imagine Peter looking at Andrew and saying, now what’s the deal here, I come here and look what are you, what do you mean a little stone you can throw around? Oh yeah, Peter, that’s you.
You remember in Matthew 16, he said, thou art Peter, but upon this rock I will build my church. And there’s a religious group, as you well know, a Catholic tradition that says Peter is the first pope, and Jesus said he’d build a church on him. No, he didn’t.
He said, you’re a little stone, but upon this rock, namely myself, I’ll build my church. Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ our Lord, 1 Corinthians 3, 11. Jesus is the rock, not Peter.
Peter’s just a little stone. Thou art a little stone, Peter, and I can throw you wherever I want, and I’ll use you to open the door to the Gentiles, but listen, Peter, I’ll build the church on myself. I’m the foundation.
I’m the rock. You’re just a little stone. Turn to Luke chapter 5.
I love Peter. He’s such a neat guy. But he had problems.
Boy, did he have problems. Luke 5.
Aren’t you glad the Bible doesn’t say, Jesus chose twelve of the sweetest boys who had ever lived in Israel? Jesus chose very fine gentlemen who were always kind to animals and people and old ladies across the street. Aren’t you glad it tells the truth?
Luke 5, it says, Now so it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God, that he stood by the lake of Gennesaret and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s. He picked out the right guy’s boat and asked him to put out a little from the land, this experienced giant big hunk of a fisherman who told everybody what to do and knew exactly every fishing hole in that lake.
He got in his boat and sat down. Can’t you see Peter smiling? I bet he even, I don’t know, I just know the character of Peter.
I think he looked at the other guy and said, hey, he’s in my boat, hey, my boat. He probably marked an X on the spot, my boat. Now when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, he didn’t say to the other guys, he said it to Simon.
And why? Because he knew Simon’s problem. He said, launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a catch.
There’s not a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee today that will tell you to do that. The good stuff is all along the shore. Jesus said, let’s go out in the middle, throw your nets.
What does he do? Does he know this lake? Come on.
I like what Simon says. Master, we’ve toiled all night and caught nothing.
But, but, nevertheless, at your word, I mean, you’re in charge.
I’m trying to prevent embarrassment here. But at your word, we’ll let down the net. We’ve been here all night, Lord.
There’s nothing here.
No way. But, but, but, at your word.
Now, you’ve got the impact of the text. Verse 6, when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish. And I love this.
Their net was breaking, which really bothers those kind of fishermen. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come over and help them, and they came and filled both the boats, and then God’s funny little joke on them, so their boats start to sink. They got so many fish, it’s unbelievable.
Well, Simon Peter knows exactly what the Lord is doing, and he falls on his knees and says, Here I am, greatest fisherman in the world. No, he didn’t say that at all. Some of us take the blessing of God wrong.
No, he said, depart from me, for I’m a sinful man. You nailed me, Lord. All were astonished, it says, at the catch of fish they took.
So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee. I like this. Partners with Simon.
Wouldn’t you know the two guys that Simon would choose are wild men themselves, called sons of thunder, who are wanting God to bring fire down on anybody that resisted them. I mean, wipe them out, Lord. Let’s just get rid of them and get on with the work.
James and John, who, you know, I should have known, they are going to be partners with Simon, three of a kind. And what does it say? Jesus said, don’t be afraid from now on, you’re going to catch men.
And when they brought their boats to land, they first took all and followed him. Back to John 1. Some of us need to get straightened out on that.
Our careers are in the way. Our goals in life to make money, to be successful, to do something worthwhile, are all needing to be forsaken and to lay them at the feet of Jesus and say, not my will, but time be done. God, I want to do your work in this world.
In the case of Simon Peter, it was the claim of his brother Andrew. The third case I bring to your attention is a guy some commentators say, Mr. Nobody. One commentator calls him stupid.
He can’t put things together. One guy says, he is so ordinary, one wonders why the Lord ever chose him. Hey, I want you to know that God chooses ordinary people, and he does extraordinary things through them.
But here’s Philip, and it’s interesting, this is the only one about whom it says, Jesus found him. Jesus found him. Verse 43, and all he said was, Follow me, and Philip came.
He was from Beseide, where Andrew and Peter were from. That word even means house of fishing. It’s on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee, as the waters come off of Mount Hermon and flow in the Sea of Galilee.
That’s where Beseide was, and it means house of fishing. It was a fishing port, and he was from there, too. But not much is known about Philip.
Turn over to chapter 6. Next time we read about Philip is when Jesus feeds the 5,000 men and women and children the bread. And it says in verse 5, Jesus lifted up his eyes, saw a great multitude, and said to Philip, he chooses people carefully.
He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? Simple question. Philip said, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.
Now some people have said that he’s the accountant of the group. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that at all.
He’s put two and two together, said well, hi, I don’t even see it. Well, it’s impossible. You can’t do this.
Imagine being known, one of the apostles, being known in the Bible. The story that’s in there is can’t be done. Imagine throughout all history what folks will know about you is you said it couldn’t be done.
And the Bible says that Jesus said this to you, verse 6, just to test you. We’re not done with him yet. Turn to chapter 12.
In chapter 12, Philip and Andrew are the only apostles with Greek names. Now Jewish people had Greek names at that time, but they’re the only two apostles with Greek names. So when certain Greeks came to the feast and they wanted to see Jesus, it makes sense that they came to Andrew and Philip.
Verse 21 of chapter 12 of John says, They came to Philip, who was from Beseid of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Well, he came and told Andrew. And there are commentators that just beat Philip over the head.
What a nobody. I mean, couldn’t he have taken him to Jesus? Why did he have to go to Andrew?
He always needs help.
He doesn’t know how to buy bread.
I mean, what’s going on here? Look at chapter 14. Then the night before Jesus goes to the cross, he’s been with Jesus for three years, and Jesus tells him that he’s the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father except to him.
Verse 8, chapter 14. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it’s sufficient for us. I mean, it’ll be, it’s all we’ll need.
Just give us one little heavy-duty demonstration, visible presentation of the Heavenly Father, and that’s all we’ll need. Jesus said, have I been with you so long? And yet, you have not known me, Philip.
He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? He had been with him for three years, but didn’t really understand.
But that day when Jesus found Philip, he said, follow me, and Philip was following him. I don’t know what to make of Philip. I don’t know whether he’s ordinary or not.
All I know is that God loves all people, and God put that in the Bible, I think, to show you that the Lord Jesus gave individual attention to somebody nobody thought much about. Nobody went and got him. Jesus went and got him.
Jesus found Philip and said, follow me. Is there somebody in the audience right now? Nobody’s really approached you, but Jesus would.
He’d walk right up to you. Nobody care about you. You’re not that important or significant.
You can’t even put things together clearly, nor understand them. After three years of exposure, and that’s you. You’re just ordinary.
Isn’t it nice to know that Jesus would come and find you? Nobody’s outside of the love of God.
Nobody.
I’m thankful that there’s a Philip among all those apostles. We don’t read much about him in the Bible, but what we do is very insightful. One last case.
Back to John 1, as a case of Nathaniel. In the case of Andrew and John, it was the conviction of John the Baptist that caused them to follow Jesus. He preached, Behold the Lamb of God, and they went after him.
In the case of Simon Peter, it was the claim of his brother Andrew. We have found a Messiah. In the case of Philip, it was the challenge of Jesus himself.
Follow me, Philip. And he did. By the way, Matthew went the same way.
Jesus walked up to a tax collector’s desk one day and said, Follow me. And he left everything and followed him. There must have been something about Jesus.
We sang the song, There’s Something About Thy Name. In the case of Nathaniel, it was the character of Jesus Christ. Nathaniel is an interesting case.
Some people say his real name is Bartholomew. In the list of the twelve apostles, there’s no Nathaniel. But it does mention sets of brothers, and it lists Philip and Bartholomew.
Bartholomew is not a real name. Bar means son of Tholmi. The son of Tholmi, they believe, his real name is Nathaniel, that they’re one and the same.
We don’t know that. That’s just what people conclude. Because they think that Nathaniel here is supposed to be one of the apostles.
I say to you that that isn’t the point of John at all. John’s trying to show you different kinds of people, and he only picked out a few that Jesus brought to himself. And Nathaniel needs to be in there.
Why? Because he’s the most religious of the bunch. Jesus knew him, and Nathaniel knew immediately.
You see, that made him strong in his confession. He was not only skeptical of Philip’s claim and surprised at the knowledge of Jesus, but he was strong in his confession as a result. Verse 49, Rabbi, you are the son of God.
Not a son, the son. You are the king of Israel. In John 12, we read in verse 13, at the time of the triumphal entry, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel.
He said, you are the king of Israel. He believes with all his heart. And then one of the sweetest things happens.
In verse 50 and 51, he is strengthened in his confession by the words of Jesus to him. Jesus said, you mean because I told you you were under the fig tree that you believe? You’re going to see greater things in these?
Why, assuredly, I say to you, assuredly, that’s what we call an Aramaic double amen. It occurs 25 times in John, and all the English translations play games with it. Sometimes they say, barely, barely, sometimes truly, truly, sometimes most assuredly, sometimes other words are used just to emphasize it.
It’s an Aramaic expression. It’s what we call an Aramaic double, and it’s like Amen. It’s a double Amen.
And what Jesus is saying, this is really it. And it occurs 25 times in John. And he said, this is really it, Nathaniel.
You’re going to see the heavens open, and you’re going to see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Being a dedicated Jew, he knew exactly what Jesus said. Every Jewish person who’s ever studied the law, ever been concerned about the Messiah, knows about Jacob’s dream.
Jacob had the dream in Genesis 28 of a ladder going up to heaven. He saw the Lord God in heaven at the top. On the ladder, angels were ascending and descending.
Notice the order. You would think since angels are in heaven, they would descend first and ascend back up. The text says in Genesis 28, which Jesus quotes verbatim, even the order of the angels, says they are ascending, indicating they are down here ministering as God’s servants.
They will ascend and descend on not the ladder, but the ladder represents me, Nathaniel. I’m the only way to God. You’re going to see heaven open.
You’re going to see greater things. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians chapter 2, I has not seen, neither has ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. My dear friends, we’re going to see more in heaven than we have ever been able to comprehend on earth.
We’re going to be blessed out of our socks, and we won’t even have socks probably. But we are going to be so blessed when we get to heaven. And Jesus said, you’re going to see greater things than this.
Heaven is going to be open. Oh, by the way, I’m the way. I love it.
Imagine to an Israeli who had been studying passages of the Messiah and knew about Jacob’s ladder to say, oh, I’m the ladder. I’m the only way there is. Later in the book, he’ll say, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through me.
Now, that’s David Hocking sharing the truth found only in God’s holy word, the Bible. And you’re listening to Hope for Today. We’ll have more from David in just a moment to close out our time.
Stay right here. First of all, Matt and I want to tell you about a great book by David. We’re featuring it this month.
And Matt, what do we have?
Our feature resource for this month is Principles of Joy. This is our book study of the Apostle Paul and his epistle to the Church of Philippi.
Four principles in the book that take us through the book of Philippians. The first principle, the philosophy of your life must be centered in Jesus Christ.
Amen. Amen.
Now the second principle, the pattern of your life must be conformed to Jesus Christ.
Right. And this asks you, who is Jesus Christ? And what does God want to do in your life?
And do you show appreciation for that? It’s all tied together.
Third principle, the purpose of your life must be changed by Jesus Christ.
And this helps really drive home that question of, how important is your past? We all deal with that, you know? And what are our goals in life?
You know, so you got the future and you got the past, and do you want to change?
Talking about the future.
Amen.
Principle number four, the peace of your life must be controlled by Jesus Christ.
What are your priorities? And what advantage is it to trust in the Lord about those priorities?
Do you have peace? And do you have joy? Folks, this again is our featured offer for the month of September, Principles of Joy, David’s book.
It is a study of Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. We have this for you. Just $15, and you can order in the US by calling 1-800-75-BIBLE.
If you listen in Canada, call the Canadian number because you will get a better price on the shipping for that. 1-888-75-BIBLE. Or, of course, you can order online at davidhocking.org.
Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice.
Principles of Joy. Get a copy of this book. Oh, and I want to remind you that you can also get David’s sermon notes on our current series in the Gospel of John.
The entire package. Just $10. And that sermon notes for each message in the Gospel of John series.
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And here’s David to close out our time with a special prayer.
Father, you know all things. You and your son know the hearts of people. You know all about us even before we meet you.
Before there’s ever a word on our tongue, you know all about it. You know how many people in this audience have never followed Jesus Christ. You know how many people have heard about him, have given token allegiance to him, have even said to their friends that they’re Christians.
But you know how many really are following your son, Jesus Christ. And God, I would pray that by your Holy Spirit, you draw people to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ right now. They would forsake all and follow him.
God, lead us to the Savior. May we see that the whole business of what church is all about, what Christianity is all about, is Jesus Christ our Lord. Thank you, Lord, for what you’re going to do.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen. And, friend, if you’d like to know what Christianity is all about, let us send you a couple of free resources to help you in your journey with Jesus or going to Jesus. The first is a booklet by David called What is Christianity?
And the second is a free Bible study by mail. And both are free to new believers or to you if you don’t yet know Christ, but you want to know more about, again, what it means to be a Christian. Call us at 800-75-Bible.
In Canada, call 888-75-Bible. Bible again by the numbers 24253. Well, next time on the broadcast, we move into John chapter 2 verses 1 through 12, where Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding.
It’s his first miracle and a powerful sign of what’s to come. Don’t miss this extraordinary moment. We’ll explore it.
Next time, right here on Hope for Today.
