Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 8 Study # 2
May 7, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: Philip's understanding of "Jesus" was that He was the One of whom Moses wrote and of whom the prophets wrote, and He was Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Introduction: We have been looking into Author-John's presentation of "The Word of The God". We have seen that he made Witness-John's testimonies regarding Jesus the foundation of "faith in Jesus". And, last week we saw that he moved from John's "words of witness" to the particular actions of Jesus. In this latest "on the next day" paragraph, we are told that Jesus, planning to go to Galilee, "found Philip" and said to him, "Follow Me".
In our study last week we saw that "Follow Me" is a deliberate "disciple-making" command, but that it had two kinds of meaning: the first was the "physical-following" meaning in which those who were to go with Jesus to the places where He would go would rearrange their lives so that they could go with Him wherever He went; and the second was the "teaching-following" meaning in which those who did not follow Him around were considered "followers" if they accepted His teachings. Thus, if a person "followed" Jesus in the physical sense, he was considered a "disciple" whether he understood or believed Jesus' words, or not; and, if a person "followed" Jesus in the inner reality of accepting His teachings, he was considered a "disciple" whether he physically "followed" Him, or not. This is not a small distinction, as we saw in John 6 where we are told that some "disciples" ceased to "follow" Him because they refused to accept something He taught. Additionally, we have Jesus saying, in John 8:31, that one is not a "true disciple" unless he/she "continues in His word".
Now, this morning we are going to look into one of the reasons that there were "disciples" whose "discipleship" ceased at some point, and that there were other "disciples" who did not allow the words of Jesus to "offend" them to the point where they were no longer interested in Him or His message.
- I. J. Baron Payne Counted 191 Prophecies In The Old Testament that directly referred to Christ.
- II. An Example From John 1:1-51.
- A. His identity as The Word of God including His own deity.
- B. The Creator of everything created.
- C. The Light-Providing-Life.
- D. The Rejected Enlightener Of Every Man.
- E. The Giver Of The "Child of God" identity to every person who "received Him" and were "birthed by Him".
- F. The Incarnated Glory of God.
- G. The Only Begotten God.
- H. The Infinitely Existing One.
- I. The Lord.
- J. The Lamb of God Who Lifts Away the Sin of the world.
- K. The One Who baptizes with the Spirit.
- L. The Son of God.
- M. The Teacher.
- N. The Messiah/Christ.
- O. Jesus.
- P. Him of Whom Moses and The Prophets wrote.
- Q. Son of Joseph.
- R. The King of Israel.
- III. An Example From Moses: Genesis 3:15 compared with Galatians 4:4
- IV. An Example From Isaiah 53:7 compared with Acts 8:32.
- V. An Example From Acts 19:2 compared with John 1:33.
- VI. Philip's Testimony To Nathanael.
- A. Tied Jesus to Nazareth.
- B. Tied Jesus to Joseph as a "son".
- VII. From These Facts We Can See That We Have A Powerful Need For Continuing Discipleship.
