Rules of the Road

January 18, 2015         Notes Not Edited: Grammar Nerds Beware!

Rules of the Road

John 1:43-51

SIS— Following the simple instructions in the Bible on our journey of life will lead to unparalleled joy and adventure.

Life is full of rules.  Most of these rules make sense and help up live a civil, safe existence in the world.  Take for example the “rules of the road” for driving in America.  We drive on the “right side” of the road.  This is a very important rule that keeps us safe while we zoom along at 55 to 65 miles per hour in opposite directions!  A good rule.  There are many rules such as that which keep us safe.  Some rules of the road, however, don’t make much sense or leave one scratching one’s head. 

SLIDE SHOW—CRAZY ROAD SIGNS

Take this sign, for example.  OK, it says 45 M.P.H.  Nothing crazy about that.  The additional small sign says, “Good Luck.”  Considering the main “multi-directional sign” above, “Good Luck” seems quite appropriate.

I appreciate government signs that warn us of danger.  It’s good to know Uncle Sam is looking out for us.  But, in the case of this warning sign, it seems a person just can’t win:  “Touching Wires Causes Instant Death--$200 Fine.”

I know all of you have been on a long trip and you looked forward to finding a lodging place to rest for the night.  Ah! There it is:  “Lodging Next Right.”  It’s that additional sign below that might make you think twice:  “State Prison.”

Now, I have actually seen this next sign with my own eyes.  Many times my Mom and Dad would drive us to the Pittsburgh International Airport to catch our flight home after a nice vacation.  This sign reminds you that you want to be careful not to miss the turn to the Airport because the next stop is the “Moon.”

One last road sign before we begin our “road trip” this morning.  It seems that some government employee in the “sign-making shop” may need a little more training.

Some government employee needs a little more training it seems.  This sign gives a bit too much information if you ask me:   “Secret Bunker: 180 yds Ahead.” Well, seems the cat’s out of the bag now.  (Actually it’s a decommissioned Cold War bunker that is now a tourist attraction).

Life is full of “rules.”  Some are more helpful than others.  Some are just silly.  Other rules, especially in religion, are devastating to one’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.  When it comes to experiencing true happiness, the fewer the rules the better.  Someone has said, “Following Jesus is a journey filled with strange and exciting opportunities . . . we must defy the man-imposed rules that keep us from experiencing abundant life.”

Today, I want to share with you three “rules” of discipleship that will place you on a road to experiencing unparalleled adventure.  Let’s read our text that gives us these three simple rules.

JOHN 1:43-51

As our story opens Jesus is on the road with His disciples.  Jesus is departing from the place of His baptism by John, likely near the Dead Sea in Southern Palestine, and trekking toward His home turf of Galilee some 65 to 70 miles (three to four day journey) in the north.  He has already picked up two disciples to join Him in His mission:  Simon Peter and Andrew, his brother.  In our text today Jesus will add two more disciples, Philip and Nathanael.  As we join Jesus and these four disciples on this “road trip,” three important “rules for discipleship” surface.  These rules demonstrate the basic foundations for living a life of devotion and service to Jesus Christ.  Following the simple instructions in the Bible on our journey of life will lead to unparalleled joy and adventure.  Now, keep in mind we are not talking about “rules to get us into heaven,” which is religion, but rules to get heaven’s principles into us, which is holiness.

Rule # 1:  CONNECT (“Follow me,”) v. 43

⁴³ The next day He decided to leave for Galilee.

Jesus found Philip and told him, “Follow Me!”

Every journey begins with a decision.  Our texts says that Jesus, “decided to leave for Galilee.”  The interesting fact about that word translated, “decided,” in the original language is that it is not really that interesting.  It is a common verb expressed in the “indicative mood.”  Mood is one of the aspects of a verb that contributes to its range of meaning.  A verb describing a simple, ordinary act in the real world would be in the “indicative” mood, as “He decided.”  A word describing a hypothetic act, like a wish, would be in the “subjunctive” mood. 

Now, let’s look at the words Jesus spoke to Philip.  “Follow Me.”  The Holy Spirit inspired John to change the mood of the verb, “follow.”  It is not an simple, ordinary act nor a “wish,” but it is a command.  The word translated, “follow,” is in the imperative mood.  Sometimes this mood is called the mood of a “polite request,” but that is misleading.  The matter is not “optional” in the eyes of Jesus.  It is imperative, meaning necessary or vital.  For example when my father would say to me as a boy, “Clean your room.”  It may have grammatically been a “polite request” but in Dad’s mind it was a “command.”  It was NOT optional.  Knowing that the belt around Dad’s waist served another purpose besides holding up his pants, I knew to “clean my room.”

The first and most important rule of discipleship is to “Connect” to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  “Follow Me” indicates a complete and total surrender to Jesus Christ.  He is the Leader.  We are His followers.

Everybody follows somebody or some thing, be it a person or an idea.  Every person at the point they reach what theologians call the, “age of accountability,” must make a choice for or against God.  This “choice” will determine many things in a person’s life, the most important of which is where that person will spend eternity when he or she dies—and we will all die.  Everyone comes to that crossroads of crisis at some point.  That crisis may be as earlier as perhaps ages 5 to 7.  Nobody knows for sure but the individual person. 

There is no option to “not choose.”  A non-choice is a choice to reject the grace of God as demonstrated through the life and death of Jesus Christ.  As someone very brilliantly stated the matter:  “When you come to a fork in the road—take it!”  You must choose who you will follow.  But, make no mistake about it, even the choice you make to follow Christ is a matter of God’s initiative (grace) and not man’s.  Look again at verse 43:  “Jesus found Philip.” God is ever the “Seeker,” or “Initiator” in the matter of our salvation.  Grace is a “free, undeserved” gift.  We either accept it or reject it.  We either “Follow Jesus” into eternal bliss, or we go our own way into eternal damnation.  Jesus is Lord and “commands” us to follow Him. When we do, we become His responsibility and His “power” protects us and flows through us.  When we say, “Yes, I will follow you,” we get connected to God through Christ.

Now, let me take that “connection” one step further.  Look at vs. 45:

Philip found [aorist tense] Nathanael  ^u and told him, “We have found [perfect tense] the One Moses wrote about in the Law (and so did the prophets ): Jesus the son of Joseph,  from Nazareth!”

Philip had joined Peter and Andrew in surrendering to Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives.  That’s the “we” in the next clause.  Then Philip, now a believer, “finds” Nathanael and says, “we have found the Messiah.”  The word “found” is used twice. The first time when Philip was doing the “finding” of Nathanael it is a regular (aorist) past tense.  When Philip speaks of his life after “following” Jesus, the word “found” is used in the perfect tense.  This is very important because the perfect tense in Greek describes a past action or event that has continuing affect indefinitely.  In other words, once God calls to our heart in grace, and we respond to Him in humility, we are “CONNECTED” to Him for all eternity.  Nothing can change our eternal relationship with Jesus Christ.

However, we can “disconnect” ourselves through disobedience like disconnecting a power cord from the wall outlet through disobedience, but we can never stop being a child of Almighty God once we put our faith in Him.

So, RULE #1:  Follow Jesus and continue to follow Him in obedience.

Rule #2:  INSPECT (“Come and See”), v. 46

⁴⁶ “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.

Just like the words, “Follow Me,” the words “Come and See” are imperatives.  Again, it is a necessary action, an imperative action.  If we want to be effective disciples of Jesus Christ in a world that grows darker by the day, we must continually investigate the Truth of God’s Word.  We must “see it for ourselves.”

Nathanael had some doubts.  There are no direct prophesies relating to Jesus “coming from Nazareth.”  There are veiled allusions that might apply like the word, “branch,” in Isaiah 11:1.  The words, Nazareth and branch share the same root in Hebrew.  For whatever reason Nathanael was not convinced that Philip and the others had “found” the Messiah.  He needed convincing.  What some might have seen as a stumbling block, Philip saw as an opportunity.  The antidote for doubt is “investigation.”  Philip was convinced that if Nathanael were to “investigate the facts” of the matter, he would come to the same conclusion—Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God come in human flesh.

Many Christians fear engaging in conversation with non-believers because they, themselves, are not “sure” of the facts.  Ignorance breeds fearful silence in the life of a believer.  Every journey requires that we continually gather new information.  I mean, isn’t that the purpose of a road-trip in the first place?  We cannot hope to gain much if we travel the road of life wearing a blind-fold.  Do you know what they call someone travelling who is wearing a blind-fold?  A HOSTAGE!  The facts of faith help us see more clearly and allow us to help others see more clearly.

Rule #2 is:  Inspect.  “Come” refers to a personal quest and “See” refers to a passionate “inspection.”  The word for see (eidon) means more than to simply perceive with the eyes.  The word also means, “to have a feeling” about something you see.  Inspection of the facts about Jesus Christ will have an emotional component.  The word for “see” also can mean to “take a special note” in regard to something. 

Matthew 9:2 uses the word in this way, “So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.  ² Just then some men  brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”  ⁴ But perceiving their thoughts,  Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?

Jesus “saw” their faith.  Faith is a principle so it is not referring to “physically” seeing faith, but perceiving they had faith by their actions.  Also, the word translated, “perceiving,” their thoughts is the same root word.

To “inspect” literally means to “look into with earnest.”  We must continually search God’s Word with earnestness and passion. 

More and more people are becoming what religious researchers call the, “Nones.”  These are people who respond to the question, “What is your religious affiliation” with the answer, “None.”  Currently, the number of “Nones” stands at about 20% and rising.  The number of outspoken atheists—atheistic activists—continues to climb.  The Internet allows atheists to spread lies about Christianity easily and profusely—and they do.  One Christian writer has made this observation, “Churches are not properly equipping their members to combat the lies being spread about Christianity.”  I would agree, but add, that most Christians are not willing to do the “hard study” that it takes to answer attacks against the faith.

What about Islam, for example?  Is it a “religion of peace?”  The media, along with our past president and present office holder, say it it is.  How do we account for the violence coming out of the Middle East?  Or, is abortion murder?  Not according to the law.  What is the Christian answer?  Is the cosmos thousands of years old, or billions like so many believe?  What is the Christian answer?  Did God create the universe out of nothing in six days, or did He use evolution as the means to bring life to our planet?  Is Christianity responsible for many wars and millions of deaths as secularists teach?  What is the Christian answer? 

Rule of the Road # 2 in the journey of the Christian is, “Inspect.”  Disciples must constantly be learning the Word of God to give reasonable answers to people of the World.  Peter exhorts us to:

^{1Pet. 3:15} Honor  the Messiah  as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason 

for the hope that is in you.

Rule #3:  Expect (“You shall see greater things!”), 47-51

Before Philip had found Nathanael, Nathanael had been sitting under a fig tree.  When Nathanael met Jesus, Jesus told him, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree” (v. 48).

To that, Nathanael responded in what seems to be a rapturous moment of overwhelming insight, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel” (v49).  The event to which Jesus makes reference could not have been some mundane moment in which Nathanael was simply biding time.  Nathanael knew exactly what moment Jesus was speaking about.  Remember the word for “I saw,” (eidon) means much more than simply seeing, or even knowing.  It can reference also a “time of special note.”  Was Nathanael praying to God?  Was he perhaps asking God about the Messiah?  Look at what Jesus says about Nathanael even before they meet physically:

⁴⁷ Here is a true Israelite, in whom nothing is false.

Nathanael was not a Jew by nationality, only.  Nor was he a Jew by religion only.  He was a genuine Israelite longing to see the promises of God unfold in His lifetime.  The supernatural insight of Jesus overwhelmed Nathanael’s heart and washed away any doubt as to the true identity of Jesus.  Look at the Lord’s response to Nathanael’s newfound faith:

⁵⁰ Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” ⁵¹ Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God  ascending and descending  on the Son of Man.”

Nathanael’s life was captivated by the supernatural revelation of Jesus—it was a miracle, pure and simple.  How many of us would long to be the recipient of such a miracle?  Would such a miracle not cause us to live distinctively Christian lives, passionately pursuing the work of the Kingdom?  Just one miracle would do it wouldn’t it.  Well, the answer is, “no it wouldn’t.”  Miracles don’t make disciples, faith does.  We don’t need more miracles—we only need more faith.

Several times in the course of three years Jesus would rebuke the disciples saying something like, “O ye of little faith” (Mt. 8:26)” or some similar admonishment.  Over the course of the disciples “road trip” from the Lord’s baptism to His cross, the disciples had seen numerous miracles—the blind received sight, the lame walked, the demon-possessed were delivered, the sea was calmed, the multitudes fed, and even the dead raised.  Yet, where were the disciples as the Lord hung upon the cross?  All but John fled in fear.  No, miracles do not make disciples—faith makes disciples.

And yet, even having said that, the Lord clearly points out that His faithful followers can anticipate seeing things that we can not even imagine.  Greater things.  “Heaven open, and angels of God descending on the Son of Man” (v51).  I don’t really know what that means, but it sure sounds fantastic!

Rule #3:  Expect.  The faithful follower of Jesus Christ should expect to see God work miracle after miracle as we, His followers, carry the Light of the gospel into a dark world.  If we are following the rules of the road on our journey of life it will lead to unparalleled joy and adventure.

Nathanael was mesmerized by the miraculous, prophetic word of knowledge that Jesus shared about Him.  I can imagine, that had Jesus spoken in our vernacular His words would have been, “You ain’t seen nothing, yet!

I believe we as God’s church need to “dream again.”  I don’t think we “expect” enough from God.  I believe that if we can “conceive it—God can achieve.”  But if our concepts are small, our achievements will be small, also.  Everybody needs a dream.  Everybody needs to anticipate something miraculous happening just down the road.

A couple nights ago as my head hit the pillow, a wave of anxiety came over me.  I literally felt like someone had punched me in the gut and knocked the air out of me.  I am a lot like a toddler.  I fight sleep.  I hate to let go of the day and grip tight long into the night.  This night my anxiety over giving up on the day overwhelmed me.  I sat up on the side of my bed.  I turned on my light.  I wrote this in my notebook that I keep on the nightstand:  “The worst mistake we can make in life is to let it become nothing more than a tedious cycle of days and nights—waking and sleeping.  We need a dream to drive us toward the great things God has awaiting those who love Him.” 

I think it was the great pioneer missionary, William Carey, who said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” Carey left England for India in the late 1700’s.  Carey also wins admiration for his sheer physical stamina. The expected lifespan of an Englishman in rural India in the late 1700s was six months. Yet in spite of the humid, unsanitary conditions Carey lived in (especially during his first six years), he survived malaria, dysentery, cholera—not to mention tigers and cobras. Carey was an iron man.  During those first six agonizing, bitter years, Carey produced not a single convert. What kept him going—his expectation that he would see “greater things from God.”  He was driven by a dream.

There are many rules of the road in this life.  There are three foundational rules for disciples on a road trip with Jesus:  Connect.  Inspect.  And, Expect.  A decision, a duty, and a dream.  Some of you may have taken a detour in life that has led you away from the Lord.  Some of you may have broken down on the side of the road to pleasures.  Regardless of where you went off the road or why you went of the road, you need to get back on again and follow the “Rules of the Road for Disciples.”  There are probably better sources for a preacher to quote in this regard than Willy Nelson, but not many as memorable.  Willy didn’t always follow the “rules of the road,” but he does inspire a dream.  Here’s the words—you supply the twang of his old guitar:

On the road again

Just can't wait to get on the road again

The life I love is makin' music with my friends

And I can't wait to get on the road again

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