(John 1:39)
�He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.�
Our text verse today is a study in the most effective method of evangelism. Simple, garden variety, everyday politeness. We can preach with the style and grace of Moody; but, if we have not simple politeness others will revile our Lord. We can learn the doctrines of the Bible in all their fullness and power; but, unless we are polite to others they will not listen to our ramblings. We can be filled with a holy fervor for souls; but, unless we treat others with respect the Holy Spirit will be utterly unable to bless our quest for sinners.
Jesus offered these two men the hospitality of His own home.
Notice, first, that the Savior spoke. �He saith unto them��
Jesus spoke directly to these two men. We can preach all day about the differing views of eschatological theology and their ramifications upon the historical world view of the Christian of today. In doing so we may be giving sound Biblical teaching. But, we are giving that teaching to a sleeping man in the pew. More likely, a sleeping man who has no interest in filling a pew.
The man who is lost in his sins has little interest in discussing the four-fold mystery of the incarnation. The Gospel story that Jesus Christ died in time so that we might live in eternity is the message that he needs to hear.
We do not need to show off our theological knowledge. We do need to show our Savior to men and women who need the salvation He offers.
Jesus spoke directly to these men of their immediate need. That gained Him an audience.
We don�t need to preach to throngs of thousands of persons to be used of God. But, we do need to speak to those with whom we are in contact. A passion for souls is not displayed in a desire that I be ready to travel thousands of miles to speak to some nebulous group of people. A passion for souls is when I am concerned about the eternal abode of Jim, or Jill, my next door neighbor, the person I work with down at the shop! When our passion is so opened that I spent time in prayer for people I know - by name, that is when we are ready to be used of God.
It is easy to claim to want to talk to �somebody.� It is necessary that we be ready to witness to �some� body that we will actually see! It is at this point that we are ready to speak as did Jesus. Jesus spoke to them Divinely.
Jesus spoke Divinely because He is Divine. He is the Son of God even as He is the Son of man. Jesus speaking to a person was an instance of God speaking to a person.
But, we are capable of doing the same thing when we speak to them the Words of God from the Word of God.
Jesus spoke Divinely when He walked among men because He displayed the life of the Divine in His Own body. He lived without sin. He lived with Divine compassion for the multitudes. More importantly, He lived with Divine compassion for individuals.
Again, we are capable of this when we live a life which has been changed, and filled, by the Spirit of God. We can live so as to show others the power of God in the life of man.
Jesus spoke Divinely when He submitted His will to that of the Father. In the Garden we see of picture of Jesus very apprehensive of the coming cross. That is a precious thing to me. Jesus didn�t view the cross as a simple walk through the tulips; He knew the horrors that awaited. But, in the midst of this, He said, �Your will, Father. I�ll do it!�
It�s not hard for us to walk in the sunshine of good times and easy tasks. We show our commitment to God, and to man!, when we are willing to walk in the rains and storms of life as God directs our paths. When the going gets tough, we mustn�t worry about our toughness. We have the comforting thought that Jesus is by our side to empower and uphold us in the trials of temptation and adversity.
Jesus let nothing stop Him from speaking destiny to these men.
The ultimate destiny of mankind is either an eternal day of bliss with the Savior, or a endless night of torment in the eternal pits of Hell.
My granddaughter�s cat went into a room where the cat shouldn�t have gone. The cat got stuck in a position where it couldn�t get out. We searched for it for several hours. We couldn�t find it. Then, when we were ready to give up the search, we heard a small �meow.� We found the cat trapped. Shandi�s mother and I dug her cat out of the place where it was trapped. We set it free.
That is the message we have for mankind. Mankind is trapped in a place for which they were not created. Man was created to have a fellowship with God. The fact of sin, and the lure of unrighteousness, have trapped mankind in a place from which they cannot escape to the side of the Savior. Our duty is to call them, not by ourselves but with the assistance of the Spirit via the medium of prayer, to cry out to the Savior. They need to find that destiny of freedom in Christ.
To this end the Savior shows the men. ��Come and see��
The cat could have fought to free himself; but, he would have only gotten deeper into the danger into which he had fallen. The cat needed the right path to find his freedom. The right path for the cat was into the hands of Shandi�s mother.
The right path for humanity is in the nail scarred hands of the Savior.
Along with the right path, the Savior offers a righteous path.
Cats are not extremely intelligent animals. Not a half an hour after we had rescued this little cat, he wanted to go back to the place from which we had rescued him. What the cat needed was a new path to explore.
That is exactly what Jesus offers. He offers a righteous path where men have previously followed a sinful path.
One of the oldest vaudeville jokes is the one where a woman will tell a group of men, �Walk this way.� She then begins to lead them, with exaggeratedly swaying hips, to the door where they are to go. The men mimic her walk.
That is, however, what we need to do in regards to Jesus. We need to mimic His walk on this earth. He offers us a new way to live. He offers us a walk in fellowship with God. He offers us the opportunity to forsake the muddy path of sin as we walk on the golden-paved road of righteousness.
Even more important than the fact that Jesus offers a righteous path, He also offers a required path.
Christianity is an exclusionary religion. One must either approach God through the Lord Jesus Christ, or one can not approach God. Some will argue that this is narrow. It is. But, it is also correct. God has offered us a means of salvation. We either accept, or reject, His Word.
When I was in high school and college I was required to take what were called �core courses.� These were not courses, often, in which I had any interest. Still, I was required to pass these course or I could not graduate. If we can understand this on the natural plane of human education, why is it so hard to accept this same concept on the part of the God Who has gone to such great lengths to offer us salvation the He sent His very Son to die on the Cross of Calvary?
You will notice, also, that the Savior serves. ��They came and saw where he dwelt��
Jesus shared with them His passion.
By passion I mean the things most dear. One of my nieces� has begun to sell cosmetics through the �home party� system. I won�t mention which of these companies she represents. But, she is hoping for a distinctively colored new car.
She will be a good salesperson for this company because she is, herself, sold on the product. She thinks it is the best on the market. I don�t know about that. It�s been a long time since I�ve used any makeup! But, she is convinced. No doubt about it!
Some things just grab our attention. When he was younger, my wife and I wanted our son to join the Cub Scouts. I had been in them and had enjoyed them. I was sure that Ethan would, also. But, the night we took him to the meeting to join he nearly cried his eyes out. We finally relented. I took him out to the car and said, �Ethan. Just try the Cub Scouts. You will like them.� He answered, �I don�t want to be a Cub Scout. I want to be a Cardinal Scout.�
You baseball fans will understand the above story.
We can get excited about, passionate about, our sports teams. We need a passion for the souls of men. Even more than this we need a passion to follow Christ. He will lead us to souls. He is the fisher of men and wants us to launch our boats out into the sea of humanity with the bate of the Gospel message so that men can be brought into the boat of salvation.
It�s true that the fish don�t breathe well out of the water. It is a new, and different, situation for them. But, when we talk of humanity we must realize that they are spiritually drowning in the sea of sinfulness. They need that new situation of the fresh air of the salvation offered by Jesus Christ.
Jesus was even willing to share His place with these two men in our text verse. He offered them a place to sleep for the night in the very home in which He dwelt.
We have a place of salvation in Jesus Christ. That place will not get any smaller, it will not get crowded, it will not become overfilled, if we share that salvation with others. The fact is that the salvation will get even sweeter as we share Jesus with others. The joy will increase as the family grows.
Most importantly, Jesus also shared His Person. He was willing to commune with these men. That is what we desire as well! We need to commune with the Savior. As we do this we will more securely feel His love within us. As we feel this love, we will grow closer to Him. As we grow closer to Him we will begin to share His interests. His interests are that the souls of man be called to His side.
We need to share Him with others.
My daughter gave me some candy this evening. It is a marshmallow based candy. My grandson loves marshmallows. Now, I am a fat old man. I like sweet things - maybe just a little too much. (More likely, a whole lot too much!) But, I am resisting a serious temptation to eat this candy. Why? My grandson loves marshmallows even more than I do. I want to hold off and give them to him tomorrow.
What does this say? It says that I love my grandson more than I love marshmallows.
When our love is settled on the Person of Jesus Christ we will love Him more than anything else. When we love Him more than anything else we will have a love for lost humanity. We will want to share the pleasure of His presence and salvation with others.
We can note that the Savior also stabilizes. ��and abode with him that day��
Linda and I used to take in transient men. We set aside part of our home as a place for wayfaring men to rest. We weren�t an agency. We didn�t consider ourselves as running a mission. We just helped those few that we could. We gave them a chance to rest from their travels.
Most didn�t stay very long. Some did. But all got a warm place to sleep, a warm meal, and a chance to feel that they were part of a family for a few days. Our purpose was to show the love of Christ in the actions of Christians.
Jesus gave more than rest. He gave rebirth.
My daughter has a big bird. I believe it is a parrot. I was over at her house this afternoon. The bird was talking. I said, �Bird, I bet when you were very young that everyone said you were a �good egg.��
O. K., terrible joke.
The bird was a bird even while it was in the egg. When it hatched out it became more of bird than it was before. That is what humanity needs. We do not stop being human when we become Christian; we become more human than before. At the rebirth we can become all that we were created to become.
Through the rebirth, Jesus offered a regeneration to humanity.
We have a rose bush just outside our door. I used to pick roses off this bush for Linda. They always seem to grow back. That is a form of regeneration.
Humankind was created to have a fellowship with God. In the fall this capacity for fellowship with God was discarded by man. It was no longer part of our personal makeup. The �hole� was there were the flower had been removed. This is the cause of much of the restlessness among people today. There is something missing and most do not even understand what it is that is gone.
Jesus offers a regeneration of that flower. Through His sacrifice at Calvary, we are given the opportunity to again feel the full flower of our personhood as we are once again given the capacity to have fellowship with the God Who created us.
In this regeneration, the Savior also sustains. ��for it was about the tenth hour.�
It was getting late so Jesus said, �Stay the night.�
Folks, every single minute of every single hour of every single day it is getting later for our time on this earth. I am old. I don�t feel it, at least not in my mind. I still think that I can go out and do all the things that I did back �in the day.�
Well, I can�t. �The day� is far spent. The night is fast approaching when, if Jesus tarries, I will take that stroll through the Valley of the Shadow. It is going to happen. I know that when the time comes I will have a friend with me as I make that last walk. Jesus will be there alongside with me.
A new day is ready for all who trust in Christ.
A terrible night is fast approaching those who have not experienced this salvation.
The truth is that Jesus gives a new direction. We were walking on a path toward destruction. With Him we are walking on a path to reconstruction of that life which God created for us to live in harmony and happiness. There are good things God offers His children here on this earth, in this life.
But, it is also important that God offers us the truth that the day will dawn that will find us on the celestial shores of our Heavenly home.
This is because Jesus offers a new destiny.
I told my grandchildren the story of Jack and the Beanstalk this morning. We always end those stories with, �And, they all lived happily ever after.� Well, we lie. Those people in the fairy tales might have lived happily the rest of their lives; but, they didn�t live happily ever after. Some time, long before ever after, comes the end of our earthly lives.
What then?
The only way to ensure happiness �ever after� is through the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. Is your �ever after� secure in Him? Do you know, beyond any doubt, that He has a mansion prepared for you in the Heavenly realms?
Why not make the decision right now to ensure your future. Accept Jesus as your Savior.
He calls you now!