>>Bill: I like the story of the
young woman who wanted to go to
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college, but her heart sank when
she read the question on the
application blank that
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asked, "Are you a leader?"
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Being both honest and
conscientious, she wrote, "No,"
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and returned the application,
expecting the worst.
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To her surprise, she received
this letter from the college:
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"Dear Applicant: A study of the
application forms reveals that
this year our college
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will have 1,452 new leaders.
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We are accepting you because we
feel it is imperative that they
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have at least one follower."
00:00:42.83\00:00:45.63
ANNOUNCER: It has
stood the test of time.
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God's book: the Bible,
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still relevant in
today's complex world.
00:01:05.16\00:01:08.60
It Is Written,
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sharing the messages
of hope around the world.
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In business today if somebody
was coming along and saying -I
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want twelve people to help build
a company there would be a
string of qualifications a
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mile long and they would have
figured out exactly the kind of
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person they wanted and
get twelve just like that.
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Not the Lord, He picked twelve
unqualified people who were so
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diverse it's incredible.
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And they all had problems.
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And they all had sins.
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Even the best of them.
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It's just a list
of the unqualified.
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Now Jesus never intended to go
through the work of proclaiming
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the Kingdom alone.
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That's why when He began His
ministry He began it not only by
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preaching and teaching but by
training men with Him at the
same time He began His
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ministry.
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He was training them all the
while so that when He left
they'd carry it on.
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And these are the ones He chose,
they are the ambassadors of the
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King. What kind of people are
qualified for the Lord's work?
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What kind of
people does Jesus use?
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Well, He uses, we learned,
dynamic, strong, bold leaders
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like Peter, who take charge, who
initiate, who plan, who
strategize, who confront, who
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rebuke, who command people
to Christ and who frankly often
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talk a better game than they
play, and often act too hastily.
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But are usually eager to
be forgiven and restored.
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And, our Lord uses humble,
gentle, inconspicuous, quiet
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souls like Andrew, who seek no
prominence, never preach to
crowds, but quietly bring
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individuals to Christ.
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And then He uses zealous,
passionate, uncompromising, task
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oriented, insensitive, ambitious
dynamos like James, who wind up
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getting killed
because nobody can handle him.
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They see only a job to do
and they'll die getting it done.
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And He also uses sensitive,
loving, believing, intimate,
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truth seekers like John, who
speak in love and attract men to
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Christ. Let's
look at Matthew 10:3,
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Let's look, first
of all, at Philip.
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This is not to be confused with
Philip the deacon in Acts 6 who
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later became an evangelist,
this is Philip the disciple.
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His name is a Greek name.
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Now all twelve were Jews so he
must have had a Jewish name but
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we don't know his Jewish name.
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For some reason he goes always
by his Greek name, and by the
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way, his Greek name
means lover of horses.
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This is kind of interesting
because when the Greeks later on
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want to see Jesus they go to
Philip maybe they felt
comfortable because his
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name was the Greek name.
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Now for a while he was a fellow
townsman at Bethsaida, and you
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remember that Bethsaida up in
Galilee was the town where Peter
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and Andrew came from, so
Philip knew Peter and Andrew.
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He had perhaps grown up knowing
them, perhaps was a close friend
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of theirs. Since they were all
God-fearing Jews, Peter, Andrew,
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Philip and Nathanael or
Bartholomew, we'll get to him
later, they probably all knew
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each other.
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He may well have
been a fisherman.
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He appears later on with Andrew
and with Peter and with James
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and with John
in John 21 fishing.
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The three gospels say nothing
about him, just his name,
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nothing else. But John's
gospel mentions him four times.
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Let's look together at
John 1:43 and let's meet Philip.
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And let's ask the question again
- What kind of people can God
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use? The 'next day' that means
the day following Peter and
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Andrew having an encounter with
Christ, the day following the
time when John the Baptist
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pointed to Christ and said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God," and
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Peter and Andrew followed Him.
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Now that is the first
direct call of a disciple.
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Peter and Andrew had already
met Christ but they had sort of
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found Him, they
had sort of come along.
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John the Baptist had pointed
to Him and they sort of followed
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Jesus along and got a
chance to meet Him and so forth.
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But Philip is the first
individual to whom the Lord
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expressly said - Follow Me.
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He walked up and found
him and said Follow Me.
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But may I hasten to add that
Philip also had a seeking heart.
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God doesn't find
people against their will.
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He had a seeking heart and
if you look at John 1:45 it says
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Philip then went to find
Nathanael, or Bartholomew same
person, and said to him,
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Now from the Lord's viewpoint
He found Philip, from Philip's
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viewpoint he Now from the Lord's
viewpoint He found Philip, from
Philip's viewpoint he
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found the Lord.
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And isn't that the
way your testimony goes?
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The sovereign side is that
God found you, the human side is
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that you found Christ.
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And in order for it to happen
both of you had to be seeking.
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"The Son of man has come into
the world to seek and save that
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which is lost, if you seek with
Me with all your heart you shall
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surely -what? - find Me."
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God seeks that true
heart that seeks Him.
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Jesus just came right
up and said - Follow Me.
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Philip's eyes and ears
were open, his heart was open.
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And when he heard the divine
voice say - Follow Me, he ran to
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tell Nathanael that he had
found Him, the Messiah was here.
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And you can imagine the
excitement and the thrill and
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the joy and the ecstasy.
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In fact, he even wanted to bring
Nathanel, at the end of verse
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46, he says - Come and see.
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Find out for yourself!
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Now what do we
learn about Philip?
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First thing we learn about him
is he was seeking the Messiah.
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He was a God-fearing Jew.
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He was religious and
he had an honest heart.
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We also learn that his response
when being found was to find
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somebody else. And I'm convinced
that the greatest source for
evangelism is friendship.
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I think friendship provides
the most fertile soil for
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evangelism. Don't you?
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Because there's
already a relationship of love.
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And into that relationship
of love you can introduce the
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reality of Christ. Invariably
when somebody becomes a
Christian their first reaction
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in the warmth and the joy of
that new found life is to find a
friend and tell that
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person what has happened.
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And by the way, if you've lost
that then that's only a sad
commentary on one of
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two things, one you don't have
any unchristian friends or two
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you don't care anymore.
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Both are tragic.
00:10:06.93\00:10:08.43
But Philip
immediately went to Nathanel.
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The immediate response to
salvation is evangelism, find
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somebody else and
tell them the good news.
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Now let's look at John 6 and
see the next passage about him.
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And I think this
really cracks open Philip.
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Jesus has already made wine at
the marriage feast at Cana so He
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has demonstrated
His supernatural power.
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That for sure has happened.
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And there may have been other
miracles and mighty deeds that
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he had seen. But we come to
chapter 6 and a big crowd has
gathered at the north end
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of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus
has been teaching them all day
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and healing them all
day of all their diseases.
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And it's been a tremendous day
but it's coming to the evening
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now and the crowd is hungry and
there were 5,000 men which means
there were probably at
00:11:02.20\00:11:05.83
least 5,000 women and 20,000
kids, so it's a big crowd.
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And they're all there
and you go to John 6:5
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Philip, how are we
going to get bread.
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Why did He single Philip out?
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You know what I believe?
00:11:34.96\00:11:37.06
I believe Philip was
in charge of the food.
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Somebody had to be
in charge of the food.
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We know Judas was
in charge of the money.
00:11:42.13\00:11:45.73
And somebody had to
be in charge of the food.
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They had to eat as they
traveled around and ministered.
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And it seems to me that was
Philip's area and so the Lord
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says to him - Now, Philip, how
are we going to get the bread to
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feed these folks?
Why did He ask him that?
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Verse 6
00:12:04.06\00:12:05.33
He knew He was going to feed
them miraculously and create in
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His own hand bread and
fish but He was testing Philip.
00:12:19.36\00:12:24.90
Now, Philip, you've seen Me make
wine at the marriage supper, now
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we don't have any food for this
multitude, how are we going to
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get some food?
You know what he said?
00:12:31.93\00:12:35.10
Verse 7:
00:12:35.10\00:12:36.40
He gives Him an instant
answer which, you know what that
00:12:46.20\00:12:52.83
proves? That's another thing
that proves to me that he was in
charge of the food, he
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had already analyzed it.
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I've got it figured
out - it cannot be done.
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You know what you
learn about Philip?
00:13:02.03\00:13:04.80
It never entered into his mind
that the Lord was supernatural.
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It utterly eluded him
that Christ could do a creative
00:13:08.76\00:13:14.06
miracle. The supernatural
resources of Jesus Christ
totally escaped his thinking.
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He just
calculated the whole deal.
00:13:17.86\00:13:19.83
You know what he is?
00:13:19.83\00:13:21.43
He is analytical.
00:13:21.43\00:13:23.03
He is pragmatic.
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I'm sure he would sit in a board
meeting today with a calculator
00:13:25.16\00:13:27.00
punch it. Can't do it.
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We don't have the money.
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It cannot be done.
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He had too much
arithmetic to be adventurous.
00:13:30.93\00:13:35.23
He was so stuck on facts
and figures he missed faith all
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together. One writer said, "The
supreme essential of a great
leader is a sense of
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the possible."
00:13:48.90\00:13:50.43
Philip had a
sense of the impossible.
00:13:50.43\00:13:55.86
He didn't know that God said:
"That with Him all things are
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-what? - possible."
00:14:02.76\00:14:04.93
Christ was trying to teach
him about faith and he wasn't
00:14:04.93\00:14:08.86
learning the lesson.
00:14:08.86\00:14:10.96
You know what he
should have said?
00:14:10.96\00:14:13.63
Lord, You made wine at Cana,
You fed Your children in the
00:14:13.63\00:14:17.56
wilderness with
manna, do what You want.
00:14:17.56\00:14:20.66
You've got this
crowd here, You feed them.
00:14:20.66\00:14:22.70
You know something?
00:14:22.70\00:14:25.53
He had been healing all day long
Philip had watched demonstration
00:14:25.53\00:14:28.56
of supernatural power.
00:14:28.56\00:14:32.10
The Lord had overcome all
diseases possible in that
multitude and Philip says
00:14:32.10\00:14:35.50
- It can't be done.
00:14:35.50\00:14:38.40
Boy, that is thick-headedness.
00:14:38.40\00:14:42.26
Philip was a materialist.
00:14:42.26\00:14:44.03
He was a man of
practical common sense.
00:14:44.03\00:14:45.33
He had measurements.
00:14:45.33\00:14:47.70
He was methodical, mechanical,
he had very little understanding
00:14:47.70\00:14:50.16
of the supernatural.
00:14:50.16\00:14:52.56
He was a facts and figures guy,
always going by what appeared on
00:14:52.56\00:14:58.00
the human level.
00:14:58.00\00:14:59.90
Now let's see if he has any
improvement in six chapters.
00:14:59.90\00:15:04.03
Go to John 12:20.
00:15:04.03\00:15:06.66
They were God-fearing Greeks,
come for the Passover, and they
00:15:15.36\00:15:20.40
had come because they had been
devotees of Judaism and they
heard about Christ.
00:15:20.40\00:15:26.90
"And they came to Philip,"
because he was the Greek
connection, he had a Greek
00:15:26.90\00:15:31.76
name probably that's
the reason they came to him.
00:15:31.76\00:15:35.03
"And they desired him saying,
Sir, we would see Jesus."
00:15:35.03\00:15:39.43
Well, Philip may have been
approachable, he may have been a
00:15:39.43\00:15:47.36
warm-hearted fellow, but
he didn't take them to Jesus.
00:15:47.36\00:15:50.56
He said, in affect, - Now you
guys wait here, I don't know if
00:15:50.56\00:15:55.03
this can happen,
I've got to go check.
00:15:55.03\00:15:57.06
So he goes and tells Andrew.
00:15:57.06\00:16:00.40
And together they go to Jesus.
00:16:00.40\00:16:03.86
You know what we
learn about Philip?
00:16:03.86\00:16:06.46
He was not decisive.
00:16:06.46\00:16:07.96
He was not forceful.
00:16:07.96\00:16:10.10
Peter would have grabbed those
Gentiles and dragged them into
00:16:10.10\00:16:14.10
the presence of Jesus and said,
- Lord, look at these guys, they
00:16:14.10\00:16:16.70
want to see you. But not Philip,
he had to check it out with
00:16:16.70\00:16:18.53
somebody else. Well,
what was bothering him?
00:16:18.53\00:16:21.36
He was still living in chapter
10 of Matthew when the Lord had
00:16:21.36\00:16:25.86
said, "I am come but for
the lost sheep of the house of
00:16:25.86\00:16:29.06
Israel." So he's saying -These
are Gentiles, it's not in the
minutes to bring the
00:16:29.06\00:16:32.86
Gentiles.
00:16:32.86\00:16:35.03
I don't think the constitution
allows it, I am not sure that is
00:16:35.03\00:16:37.60
in the bylaws.
00:16:37.60\00:16:39.53
Isn't it wonderful that the
Lord uses those kind of people?
00:16:39.53\00:16:45.30
Aren't you thrilled?
00:16:45.30\00:16:46.96
I am.
00:16:46.96\00:16:48.20
He is no genius.
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.00
He didn't get lesson one - Jesus
is God - three years he didn't
00:16:51.00\00:16:54.13
get it. He needs to be
in remedial class, basic has
00:16:54.13\00:16:59.40
alluded him. He is so
skeptical, so unconvinced.
00:16:59.40\00:17:03.43
Here is a man of limited
ability, here is a man of
inadequate faith, here is
00:17:03.43\00:17:06.50
a man of imperfect
understanding, here is a man who
00:17:06.50\00:17:09.93
fools around with
numbers instead of meditating.
00:17:09.93\00:17:13.00
Here is a man who is stuck on
the level of rules and codes and
00:17:13.00\00:17:17.50
stuff instead of seeing God.
00:17:17.50\00:17:21.30
And someday he's going to
inherit gloriously in the
Kingdom, beyond what he
00:17:21.30\00:17:26.93
would ever have dreamed,
a pessimistic, reluctant,
00:17:26.93\00:17:32.16
insecure, unsure,
analytical, skeptical man.
00:17:32.16\00:17:35.30
Saw facts and figures and missed
the big picture of power and
00:17:35.30\00:17:39.26
grace. His faith was limited by
money, circumstances and proof.
00:17:39.26\00:17:45.80
You know what tradition
tells us about this dear fellow?
00:17:45.80\00:17:49.26
He got his act together and he
wound up dying as a martyr for a
00:17:49.26\00:17:54.53
Christ he wouldn't deny.
00:17:54.53\00:17:58.90
They stripped him naked,
according to tradition, they
hung him by his feet
00:17:58.90\00:18:03.03
upside down and they pierced
great holes in his ankles and
00:18:03.03\00:18:06.80
his thighs so that the blood
would pour out and slowly he
00:18:06.80\00:18:13.50
would die. And he said he only
had one request and that is that
when he was dead they
00:18:13.50\00:18:19.06
not wrap his body in linen
like his Lord because he wasn't
00:18:19.06\00:18:24.33
worthy of that. Aren't you
glad God uses the slow, and the
00:18:24.33\00:18:28.56
faithless and the
analytical skeptics?
00:18:28.56\00:18:32.30
Because some of us find
ourselves there, don't we?
00:18:32.30\00:18:38.66
One more fellow for this
morning, and he's only
introduced to us in one
00:18:38.66\00:18:44.80
passage and then we just
lose him the rest of the time.
00:18:44.80\00:18:48.90
His name is Bartholomew in
Matthew 10, but that was his
00:18:48.90\00:18:52.26
last name. His
first name was Nathanael.
00:18:52.26\00:18:54.10
Bartholomew.
00:18:54.10\00:18:56.26
He came from Cana of Galilee,
again from a little village in
00:18:56.26\00:19:02.20
Galilee. He was brought to Jesus
by Philip so he was acquainted
00:19:02.20\00:19:07.13
with the rest of the gang.
00:19:07.13\00:19:09.30
Only one passage in the Bible
tells us about him and it's John
00:19:09.30\00:19:11.73
1. Let's go back.
00:19:11.73\00:19:14.86
Verse 43, I think you're
going to find him fascinating.
00:19:14.86\00:19:20.66
It says in verse 43 that
00:19:20.66\00:19:22.90
What does that tell us?
00:19:43.93\00:19:46.50
It tells us that Nathanael would
have know Messianic prophecy and
00:19:46.50\00:19:52.16
studied it, he was a studier of
the Scripture, a searcher for
truth, a seeker for God.
00:19:52.16\00:19:55.56
But verse 46 tells
us he had a sin too.
00:19:55.56\00:20:02.73
He had a weakness.
00:20:02.73\00:20:03.36
Nathanael showed prejudice.
00:20:12.90\00:20:16.06
You say - Boy, if there's one
thing you don't want among the
00:20:16.06\00:20:19.13
twelve it's a
guy with prejudice.
00:20:19.13\00:20:21.20
He was a good fellow,
thoughtful, biblical, looking
00:20:21.20\00:20:24.66
for the Messiah,
quiet, meditative guy full of
00:20:24.66\00:20:29.86
prejudice. Well, Philip offered
him a solution at the end of
verse 46, he says - Come
00:20:29.86\00:20:34.33
and see.
00:20:34.33\00:20:37.53
Now we're going to find
out how deep his prejudice is.
00:20:37.53\00:20:42.50
If he's got the kind of
prejudice that can be overcome
00:20:42.50\00:20:46.00
he's going to
respond, and he did respond.
00:20:46.00\00:20:48.50
Verse 47,
00:20:48.50\00:20:49.56
What a wonderful, lovely
introduction, wouldn't it be a
00:21:00.80\00:21:05.50
wonderful thing if the Lord
walked up to you and said - Ah,
a true Christian who is without
00:21:05.50\00:21:10.56
hypocrisy?
00:21:10.56\00:21:13.46
Nathanael responds, verse 48
00:21:13.46\00:21:14.63
Jesus is saying to him - I
saw you, I saw you seeking.
00:21:28.03\00:21:30.10
Well, that's enough for him.
00:21:30.10\00:21:33.66
Nathanael verse 49:
00:21:33.66\00:21:35.36
You want to know something?
00:21:43.73\00:21:47.46
Three years later Philip wasn't
sure about that, whether He was
00:21:47.46\00:21:52.46
God. Nathanael
knew it immediately.
00:21:52.46\00:21:56.03
He saw deity in His presence.
00:21:56.03\00:22:00.33
So, we meet Nathanael
Bartholomew, the seeker of
truth, prejudice but not
00:22:00.33\00:22:03.80
bound by it, honest, open, a man
of prayer, a man of meditation,
00:22:03.80\00:22:12.36
a man who made a complete
surrender to Christ, a man with
a keen mind and a heart of
00:22:12.36\00:22:17.60
faith. He saw.
00:22:17.60\00:22:19.00
He understood.
00:22:19.00\00:22:22.03
The Lord can use any raw
material that's available, and
He's in the business
00:22:22.03\00:22:26.56
of making the most
out of the unqualified.
00:22:26.56\00:22:30.56
Can I ask you this in closing?
00:22:30.56\00:22:34.20
Do you qualify
among the unqualified?
00:22:34.20\00:22:38.93
Because if you do the
Lord wants to use you.
00:22:38.93\00:22:43.93
Let us pray.
00:25:34.00\00:25:36.16
Father, we thank You that the
ability that You want from us is
00:25:36.16\00:25:40.80
availability. Thank You that You
can take the unqualified and do
the transforming of
00:25:40.80\00:25:45.20
their lives.
00:25:45.20\00:25:46.70
I know my own weaknesses.
00:25:46.70\00:25:49.06
All of us do.. .
00:25:49.06\00:25:50.70
our sins, our failings.
00:25:50.70\00:25:52.00
And yet You use us.
00:25:52.00\00:25:54.73
We thank You that we are the
company of the unqualified who
00:25:54.73\00:25:59.06
have been transformed to useful
vessels fit for the Master's
00:25:59.06\00:26:04.60
use. May the truth that we
have learned today linger in our
00:26:04.60\00:26:09.06
hearts and make us better than
we were had we not heard it.
00:26:09.06\00:26:12.36
For Your glory,
in Christ's name.
00:26:12.36\00:26:17.50
Amen.
00:26:17.50\00:26:18.83
>>Dave: God can take a very
common person and transform them
00:26:22.36\00:26:24.76
into a very uncommon apostle.
00:26:24.76\00:26:27.76
The only qualification God needs
is availability - and that means
00:26:27.76\00:26:31.53
he can use anyone of us if
we make ourselves available.
00:26:31.53\00:26:35.03
Pastor Bill has written a book
"All the King's men", it
includes all of the
00:26:35.03\00:26:39.76
messages in this series, we
would love to send it to you,
00:26:39.76\00:26:43.23
here is the information
you need to get your free copy.
00:26:43.23\00:26:45.20
>>Bill: I want to thank you
again for joining us this week.
00:27:34.66\00:27:37.53
I hope your enjoying this series
on the life of the disciples.
00:27:37.53\00:27:40.10
Like I have said before, this
is one of my favorite series.
00:27:40.10\00:27:43.43
We are going to make this series
available to you on DVD with a
00:27:43.43\00:27:47.33
wonderful study
guide and a book.
00:27:47.33\00:27:51.56
You can go on our website and
pre-order that for a donation of
00:27:51.56\00:27:56.20
$50. Those $50 will be used to
keep this ministry on the air.
00:27:56.20\00:27:59.20
While on the web site visit our
archive program section - all of
00:27:59.20\00:28:04.13
our programs are there.
00:28:04.13\00:28:06.56
You can find out where the It Is
Written team may be appearing,
00:28:06.56\00:28:09.56
you can even make a donation
online if you feel so impressed
00:28:09.56\00:28:13.46
to do so. You can visit our
youtube channel
youtube.com/IIWCanada, you
00:28:13.46\00:28:17.46
can also follow us on twitter.
00:28:17.46\00:28:21.80
Well, we pray that we will have
the privilege of being together
00:28:21.80\00:28:24.10
again next week.
00:28:24.10\00:28:26.43
Until then remember, it is
written, man shall not live by
00:28:26.43\00:28:31.53
bread alone but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of
00:28:31.53\00:28:35.63
God. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
00:28:36.56\00:28:37.20