John 1:38-43: "I'm following Jesus, what next?"

As Jesus adds disciples to His ministry, we see how this works out in their lives. "How do we get to know Jesus?" and "What is the best way for unsaved people to hear about Him?" After expositing the text, Pastor Dave answers these questions. Tune in to hear all about it!

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https://www.amazon.com/Sailing-Seven-Cs-David-Spaugh/dp/B08WTZZPF5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U4OR0NB6PHZR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1vYyXsdmiNEUI6oulPpp9l_

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org”

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello everyone and welcome back to Crosstown, my hometown. I am David Spa, and I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. We are so grateful that we have a God who justifies us, not on the basis of our own works, not our own deserts, but in accordance with his great grace. If God were to give me what I deserved, I would spend eternity in hell, but he gives us salvation through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith, because he is gracious. I'm glad you're with me today to study the scriptures and to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. At least that's my intent to help you in that direction. Here at Crosstown, we exposit the scriptures, we teach theology, throw in some cultural analysis, we do some apologetics, all with the intent of bringing you closer to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And most of all, we want to glorify God and His Son in doing so. May the Holy Spirit of God bless you with God's peace and joy as we meet together here at Crosstown today. Whether you're a settled resident of Crosstown or just passing through, I hope you enjoyed today's installment of this podcast. Again, just to remind you, I hope that if you're listening, you would send me a text every once in a while just to let me know what you think about Crosstown. Go to the link which says send a text and get that off to me, and I'll be sure to read it. You find that on the page where this podcast is found. Or if you would like to send me an email, you can email me at CrosstownMHT. That is, of course, Crosstown, my hometown, crosstownmht at gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you because any encouraging word, any constructive criticism, any acknowledgement that you enjoy this podcast will be an encouragement to me. And if you have a prayer request and you'd like to send that to me, please do so by sending me that in an email. If you do send me an email, I can't guarantee that I'll get back to you, but I'll be uh vigilant and do my best to encourage you in return. A shout out today to Robert Walter, who ministers with Chosen People Ministries out of Brooklyn, New York. Chosen People Ministries is a great ministry to support, as its primary mission is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jewish people. Chosen People Ministries is made up primarily of Messianic Jews who proclaim Jesus Christ as their Messiah. And it is a worthy ministry. Robert is a personal friend and a faithful servant of the Lord. And I know that he and the rest of those serving at Chosen People Ministries would also welcome your prayers. Anyway, Robert, if you're listening, may the Lord bless you and keep you as you continue to fight the good fight of faith at Chosen People Ministries. Along those lines, if you're curious about Chosen People Ministries and would like to learn more about them, please check out their website at chosenpeople.com. By the way, I'd like to point out that when I mention people's names or advertise ministries, I get no remuneration for that. I just want to do that because I love these ministries. I don't get paid in any way, shape, or form. I just want to draw attention to those people and the ministries that I appreciate and support myself. Anyway, if you have been with us over the past several weeks, you know that we've been going through the Gospel of John. And over the next couple of weeks, I hope to finish up chapter one. So far, we've noted the Lagos, the pre-existent second person of the Godhead, who came to earth and took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. We noted the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry, and last week we noted how two of John's disciples left him to follow Jesus. We also made a few practical applications from this text. First of all, we noted that it is absolutely imperative in the church that we focus on Jesus Christ and make him the center of our purpose as a body. The second application we made is how important it is that we follow Jesus Christ in radical discipleship, where our lives are lost in His, where we are committed to His teaching, devoted to His purposes, and surrendered to His will, even if it costs us family, friends, or even our lives. And the third application we made was we should not bemoan small beginnings. God oftentimes starts out with small things, obscure people, and obscure circumstances, whether it's Abraham or Moses or David or Jesus Himself. We see that God can use what appears to the world to be humble or apparently irrelevant sets of circumstances or irrelevant people. If God can change the world through an insignificant shepherd boy like David, or bring salvation to the world through a baby born in a manger, then any service we render to the Lord when done faithfully out of devotion to God is certainly not irrelevant. Let's continue on along that vein and note how Jesus' ministry begins to take shape in these small beginnings in John chapter 1. Our text for today is John 1, verses 38 through 51. Though I'm going to read the entire text today, I'm not going to cover it all, but hope to finish it up in next week's podcast. So hear the word of the Lord, as it is found in John chapter 1, verses 38 through 51. And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which translated means teacher, where are you staying? 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 him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which translated means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John, you shall be called Cephas, which is translated Peter. The next day he purposed to go into Galilee, and he found Philip, and Jesus said to him, Follow me. Now Philip was from Bethseda of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. Nathaniel said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathaniel answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. As we noted in verses thirty-five through thirty-seven last podcast, two of John the Baptist's disciples followed Jesus at John's directive. And verse thirty-eight picks up right where we left off last time. And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to him, What do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which translated means teacher, where are you staying? This is an interesting conversation. These two disciples are following Jesus, and when Jesus asks them, What are you seeking? they ask him, Where are you staying? Jesus often asks questions in the Gospels, but why these two weren't more direct, we don't know. We'd expect that they would have said, Because of John's guidance, we want to be your disciples. Instead they ask where he's living or making his headquarters or where he's lodging for the night. Perhaps the reason they did not ask directly to be Jesus' disciples was because they thought that it would be a little bit too forward to come forward with that kind of a question right off the bat. Notice as well, they call Jesus Rabbi. Rabbi literally means my great one, and it was used to refer to teachers, which is how John explains it. He says the word rabbi means teacher. Now, note in your translation of the Bible, there's probably a little parenthetical statement where John translates the word rabbi with the word teacher. Now we find this also in verse 41, where John translates the word Messiah with the word Christ. Also in verse 42, he translates Cephas into the word Peter. Now why does he do this? Bible scholars agree that Jesus and his disciples spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, which, like Hebrew, is a Semitic language and closely related to Hebrew. However, the Gospels were written in Greek. At various times throughout John, you'll see where he records a Hebrew or Aramaic word but then translates it into Greek. He's doing this for the sake of any Greek-speaking Jews or Gentile Greeks who were not familiar with Hebrew or Aramaic. Obviously, a Hebrew-speaking Jew would not need to see the Hebrew word rabbi or Messiah translated because he would know what those words meant. Now, why John took this extra step, I don't know. Since he wrote all of this in Greek, he simply could have used the Greek word and not bothered with Hebrew or Aramaic terms, but he did use the Hebrew and Aramaic terms, so it makes perfect sense that he would then translate for those who did not understand those words. Anyway, look at verse 39. 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. Now we're not told exactly where Jesus was staying, but that was the question they asked, and Jesus invites them to join him, and they spend the day with him, beginning at about the tenth hour, which is right around 4 PM. Now look at verses 40 and 41. One of the two who heard G who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which translated means Christ. One of the two who followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. Interestingly, here in verse 40, John refers to Andrew's brother as Simon Peter, though Jesus doesn't give him the name Peter until verse 42. Of course, this makes perfect sense if we understand John's gospel was written long after these events took place, and when John's gospel circulated, Simon would have already been well known as Peter in Jewish circles and in other Christian circles as well. But if one of the two followed Jesus was Andrew, who was the other disciple? Now the debate goes back and forth, but there are those who maintain it was the disciple John, the author of this gospel, not to be confused with John the Baptist. As we mentioned last week, it was, I think anyway, John the disciple, though we can't be absolutely certain. But a couple of considerations point in that direction. First, John the Apostle never mentions himself by name in this gospel, and since he names everyone else in this text, it makes sense that he's remaining anonymous. And also throughout the Gospels, Peter, John, and Andrew are often closely identified together. Since Peter and Andrew are both mentioned in this text, it's possible that the third one is John. Now, these are not unassailable arguments. Several of the apostles are not mentioned by name in this entire gospel, so we probably should not be dogmatic as to who this second disciple is. Still, if we assume that the disciple John wrote the Gospel, and a good case can be made that he did, then it is no wonder that he remains anonymous here just as he does in the rest of the Gospel of John. Regardless of who the second disciple is, we are told the first thing Andrew did was to go get Simon and tell him that they had found the Messiah, the Christ. Now, the term Messiah or Christ means anointed, and it was used to describe the kings, the priests, and the prophets in the Old Testament. When God commissioned such an official for his office, we would often see that he was anointed with oil. The term Messiah or Christ then came to be a technical term for the expected Savior who would establish his kingdom and bring salvation not only to Israel but to the world. Jesus, of course, fulfilled all three of these anointed or messianic roles. Jesus is a prophet because he made God known to us and revealed God's will. Jesus is also a priest because he intercedes to God on behalf of lay people and will eventually at the end of his earthly ministry provide the once-for-all sacrifice for sin. And Jesus is king because he is the one God promised would sit upon the throne of David forever, as prophesied in 2 Samuel chapter 7 and also Psalm number 2. Now, given this early stage of Jesus' ministry, Andrew probably did not fully grasp how Jesus was the Messiah in the fullest sense, but certainly he's on the right track. Now let's look at verse 42. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John, you shall be called Cephas, which is translated Peter. In verse 41, we're told the first thing Andrew did was find his brother Simon. And here we see that he brings him to Jesus, where we see the origin of Simon's name change. Now Cephas is Aramaic and the word Peter is the Greek translation. This nickname, as it were, means rock or stone. Now we're not told why Jesus gave Simon this new name so early in his ministry, though we can conjecture as to why. Perhaps Jesus gave him this name anticipating Peter's confession made later on, just before the transfiguration. And of course we remember that Jesus said on that occasion, You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. However, Peter's confession is not recorded in John, so based on what John includes in his gospel, the reader would not be expected to make that connection. On the other hand, the reader would be able to make that connection if he were familiar with the story of Peter, which many people, Christian or otherwise, would have been where John's gospel circulated. We've already noted that. Perhaps Jesus gave Simon this name in anticipation of the leadership role he performed in the early church, or perhaps John is recording this event just to give us the historical context behind Simon's new name, just as a point of historical interest. Regardless of why Jesus made this name change or why John recorded it here, we can note in passing an application we mentioned last week, namely, big things may begin in small ways. Andrew and Simon are ordinary fishermen, but particularly with Peter, they will change the world. Verse 43. The next day he purposed to go into Galilee and he found Philip, and Jesus said to him, Follow me. Now this verse is a little bit ambiguous. It's difficult to know who he is who was purposed to go to Galilee. Was it Jesus or Andrew? At first blush, the one who purposed to go to Galilee appears to be Jesus. However, look at a couple of different aspects of this text that might help clarify this a little bit. Everyone else in this text is either sent to Jesus or brought to Jesus by someone else. John the Baptist sends Andrew and the unnamed disciple. Andrew goes and gets Peter. A little later on in verse 45, Philip goes and gets Nathanael. So it fits the pattern better if Andrew is the one who purposed to go to Galilee and he's the one who gets Philip. Furthermore, if he in the first clause is Jesus, it seems strange to name Jesus in the second clause. If Jesus is the one who purposed to go to Galilee, it would be more natural to say this. The next day Jesus purposed to go into Galilee and he found Philip and he said to him, Follow me. But it's not worded that way, so it appears that it refers probably to Andrew going and getting this man Philip. And one more thing we should consider is verse forty-one. In verse forty one we note that the first thing Andrew did was to get Peter. Well, if getting Peter was the first thing Andrew did, what's the second or what's the next thing Andrew did? It seems very natural to assume that he first got his brother Peter, then Andrew went and got Philip. So I think these contextual considerations point to Andrew as the he in verse 43. He purposed to go to Galilee and when he got there he got Philip. Well let's stop right here and ask, how can we apply this to our lives? We've gone through this text in some detail as we looked at these six verses, but it's not enough just to understand the meaning of the text. It's important that we put these things into practice in our own lives. So the first thing I want us to note today is we get to know Jesus by hanging out with him. We get to know Jesus by hanging out with him. It's a truism to say that relationships between people grow through fellowship and interaction. Husbands and wives and friends grow in their relationship over time because we relate to one another and we spend time with one another and we talk with one another, and we otherwise fellowship as friend to friend, husband to wife, parents to children, or whatever. This is true of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course, we know that Jesus already knows everything about us, as we'll note when we get to this character Nathaniel next week. But for us to get to know Jesus, we need to approach him in consistent prayer and Bible study. It's also helpful to read good books by godly men and women who can teach us more about Jesus, that we might appreciate him more and draw nearer to him in our love and in our affection. There's a repeated expression in Scripture to describe people's relationships with God. Perhaps you're familiar with the concept of walking. We are told in Scripture, for example, that we are to walk with God. And that simply means we associate with Him, we draw near to Him, and we grow in Him as friend to friend. Noah and Enoch are prime examples back in the book of Genesis, people who walked with God. We are also told in Scripture that Abraham walked before God. Abraham being God's representative on earth as God's devoted servant, we see him walking before God in obedience. And we're also told in the book of 1 John chapter 2 that we are to walk as Jesus walked, in other words, live in a way that reflects Jesus' character. We are also told that we are to walk by the Spirit, or we are to walk in the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5, that is, according to the Holy Spirit's power and direction, we are to walk with God. All of these perhaps mean somewhat different things, reflecting subtle nuances in our relationship to the Lord, but all of them remind us that we are to have a living, breathing, active relationship with God. So reflect on our text for a few moments. Andrew and John, assuming the second disciple that went to Jesus is John, they leave John the Baptist and spend the day with Jesus. In verse 41, Andrew tells Peter that we have found the Christ. Apparently, after spending just a short time with Jesus, Andrew boldly and confidently proclaims, We have found the Messiah, the promised one, the fulfillment of all of our hopes. Then to get ahead of ourselves a little bit, we look at verse 44 and beyond. Philip meets Jesus, then Nathaniel, and all understand through these brief encounters that Jesus is the King, the Son of God. Now, as I have said on other occasions over the past couple of weeks, these disciples are limited in what they understand, and John's gospel will reveal how little they did understand and how they grew in this understanding of Jesus as time progressed. And so it is with us. Getting to know God, getting to know Jesus, the God man, takes time and a heartfelt desire to know him, and pursuing him is our greatest joy and treasure. We find this thought all throughout the scriptures. In Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24, we read these words. Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness righteousness on earth. For I delight in these things, declares the Lord. Psalm forty two, one says, As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalm sixty-three, one, O God. You are my God, I shall seek you earnestly, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Perhaps the most famous biblical expression of someone seeking to know God is Paul's words in Philippians chapter 3, verses 7 through 14. This is sort of lengthy, but I think it's important for us to understand this. But whatever things were gained to me, the Apostle Paul says, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. No matter what successes, no matter what pedigree, no matter what things I might claim to fame or be claims to fame in my life, I repudiate those things. I count them as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, not being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the sack of the resurrection of the dead, not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Now, friends, this is a mouthful. And there is one part of this that may be a little bit confusing. Paul says he hopes to attain to the resurrection of the dead. Certainly, Paul did not doubt his salvation, and he certainly looked forward to the day of resurrection of the righteous when Jesus returns. But in the context, he's saying something other than his literal physical resurrection from the dead. When he says he wants to attain to the resurrection of the dead, he's referring to his spiritual growth in this life. In other words, he's saying, I am going to continually strive towards being like Jesus Christ so that I can attain to that state of perfection and holiness which I will have at the resurrection. Now I think this interpretation is clearly what the Apostle Paul is saying here. If we look at the very next verse, he says, Not that I have already attained it. In other words, I haven't yet attained to the resurrection of the dead. Well, clearly he's not referring to the day of physical resurrection from the dead at the end of time, because obviously he hasn't died yet. And obviously the resurrection hasn't taken place yet. He's saying I'm striving to know God because I want a perfect relationship with him in a perfect holiness and complete sanctification now in this life. I haven't attained to that, but that's what I'm aiming for. To put it another way, I want to have the kind of relationship with Jesus Christ now that I will have in my perfect state at the resurrection. And though I can't attain to that now, that's my goal. At any rate, the point of this text is very clear. Paul repudiates any righteousness that comes through the flesh. Paul turns his back on earthly ambitions, earthly goals, earthly status. His main desire, his main ambition is to know Jesus Christ. He is driven to know Jesus and grow closer to him. And beloved, I hope that's your ambition. And the only way to know him, the key to knowing him and becoming closer to him is to meet Jesus each day and spend time with him. Now we know the secret things are for the Lord, but we don't know everything about God and never will. But the more we know God, the more we will be able to look at the world through God's eyes. The more you know him, the more you will be able to understand the events of our lives and know why God does what he does, taking comfort in his care and his mercy. The more we know God and the closer we draw to him, the more we will trust him when things don't go our way. The more we know God, the more we will be conscious of our own sin and more appreciative of his grace and mercy. The more we know God, the more we will see this world and its treasures as fleeting and shallow and look forward to the kingdom where we will see our Savior face to face. The more we get to know him, the more we will think about him and commune with him throughout the day. The more we get to know him, the more we will weigh our actions and decisions in light of his word. The deeper the relationship we have with our Lord, the less we will become ruffled when the trials and vicissitudes of life rock our boat. The more we know God, the more we will rejoice in the blessings of life, no matter how small, the more we know God and the closer we draw to him, the more we are going to want to please him, like all children want to please their Father. The closer we draw to God, the more we will rejoice in holiness, selflessness, and seek to bear fruit for him. As we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to 2 Peter 3 18, where that verse is found, we will want to spend time in his word, we will want to spend time in prayer, we will want to worship with the people of God. But getting to know God takes time. But to reiterate, it won't happen unless we, like Paul and the psalmist, desire to know him and count everything else as loss to gain that knowledge of God. Not simply knowledge of Bible verses and theological concepts, but knowledge of God as friend to friend. Yes, it takes time and it takes effort, but it is worth it. Now, one other application we can make from this text, and that is this you are the best witness when it comes to reaching others for Christ. You know, I like to eat out. My wife and I eat out occasionally. Sometimes we'll eat fast food, sometimes we'll eat a nice sit-down restaurant. But when you go to a restaurant, you may go for several reasons. But when it comes to going to a restaurant for the first time, think about it. Did you go to that restaurant because of the advertisements on television? Did you go to that restaurant because you saw a billboard? Did you go to that restaurant because you saw it advertised in the new newspaper? Probably not. Chances are you went to a restaurant because a friend took you there, or a friend told you about it. Now I realize that's not always true. Sometimes when you're traveling and you're hungry, you may pull into a small town and eat at a restaurant for no other reason, but that you saw it and it and it's the only one available, or perhaps you got a coupon in the mail and you thought, well, why not? I might as well go try this place since I got a five-dollar coupon or I got one sandwich, you buy one, you get another one free. I might as well try the place. But by and large, in my experience, I go to a restaurant because a friend or a loved one talked it up and remarked about how good it was. Friends, that's true of Jesus Christ. Look again through this text and notice how Andrew gets Peter, Andrew gets Philip, then a few verses later, Philip gets Nathaniel. People come to Jesus because of word of mouth. People come to Jesus because there's because others tell them about him. Of course, there are many ways a person can hear about Jesus. A person can hear about Jesus on the radio, a television program, through a gospel tract, or inadvertently pick up a magazine on an airplane. I have heard numerous stories from men who minister with the Gideons about people who went to hotel rooms intending to commit suicide, but picked up a Gideon Bible and were saved because they read about Jesus. Obviously, these are all good ways for people to hear about Jesus, but by and large, the most important witness is you. Rosaria Butterfield is a woman who came out of a particularly bad situation. She was a lesbian feminist who hated Christianity, and she was converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, and she went from being a zealous lesbian, anti-Christian, anti-patriarch women's studies professor to a born-again disciple of Jesus Christ. How? What brought about her conversion? From an article she wrote for Christianity today, she explains how she was doing research to debunk the religious right. At one point in 1997, she wrote an article for the local newspaper attacking Christianity in general and promise keepers in particular. Then, according to her, this happened. The article, the one that she wrote, generated many rejoinders, so many that I kept a Xerox box on each side of my desk, one for hate mail and one for fan mail. But one letter I received defied my filing system. It was from the pastor of the Syracuse Reformed Presbyterian Church. It was a kind and inquiring letter. Ken Smith encouraged me to explore the kind of questions I admire. How did you arrive at your interpretations? How do you know that you are right? Do you believe in God? Ken didn't argue with my article. Rather, he asked me to defend the presuppositions that undergirded it. I didn't know how to respond to it, so I threw it away. Later that night, I fished it out of the recycling bin and put it back on my desk, where it stared at me for a week, confronting me with the worldview divide that demanded a response. As a postmodern intellectual, I operated from a historical materialist worldview, but Christianity is a supernatural worldview. Ken's letter punctured the integrity of my research project without him knowing it. With the letter, Ken initiated two years of bringing the church to me, a heathen. Oh, I had seen my share of Bible verses on placards at gay pride marches, that Christians who mocked me on Gay Pride Day were happy that I and everyone I loved were going to hell was clear as blue sky. That is not what Ken did. He did not mock. He engaged. So when his letter invited me to get together for dinner, I accepted. My motives at the time were straightforward. Surely this will be good for my research. Something else happened. Ken and his wife, Floy, and I became friends. They entered my world. They met my friends. We did book exchanges. We talked openly about sexuality and politics. They did not act as if such conversations were polluting them. They did not treat me like a blank slate. When we ate together, Ken prayed in a way I had never heard before. His prayers were intimate, vulnerable. He repented of his sin in front of me. He thanked God for all things. Ken's God was holy and firm, yet full of mercy. And because Ken and Floyd did not invite me to church, I knew it was safe to be friends. In short, through her, through their loving, kind, and gentle witness, Ken and Floyd brought Rosaria to a place of repentance. And then she continues in her article. Then one ordinary day I came to Jesus, open-handed and naked. In this war of worldviews, Ken was there. Floy was there. The church that had been praying for me for years was there. Jesus triumphed, and I was a broken mess. Conversion was a train wreck. I did not want to lose everything that I loved, but the voice of God sang a sanguine love song in the rubble of my world. I weakly believed that if Jesus could conquer death, he could make right my world. I drank tentatively at first, then passionately of the solace of the Holy Spirit. I rested in private peace, then community, and today in the shelter of a covenant family. You see, friends, it wasn't books or TV programs or gospel tracks or other types of media that brought Rosaria Butterfield to the Lord. It was the solid, committing, loving, selfless witness of two Christians who faithfully lived and proclaimed the gospel to her. The Holy Spirit convicted Rosaria Butterfield of sin, opening her eyes to Jesus because two friends told her about him. And this it is why and this is why it is so important that we maintain a loving, sound, personal Christian witness. We cannot be good witnesses for Jesus if we remain aloof from the world, regardless of how consistent our Christian life, and no matter how many books we give to the unconverted. Nor can we win people by being angry, impatient browbeaters who rant about sin, who see people as targets for the gospel, like headhunters looking for trophies. We must be like Jesus. In Matthew chapter 9, verse 32, Jesus is on a preaching tour, and we read, seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. And this is the way it's always been in the spread of the gospel. The best and truest way to win people for Christ is for friends on a personal level, in a loving manner, in a patient manner, in a merciful and kind manner to tell them about salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that friend is you. Well, that's as far as I want to go today on Crosstown. We'll finish up John chapter 1, verses 38 through 51 next time. But in the meantime, my prayer for you all is the prayer of the Apostle Paul, the one that he wrote to the Philippians in Philippians chapter 1, verses 9 through 11, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Don't forget, I'd love to hear from you. So shoot me a text or email when you get a chance, and I'm sure I would enjoy that very much. Till we meet again here at the props now. I am famous with the word blessing.