The
Soul-Winner
Date:
2 Feb, 2002 AM
PLACE: BBC Blarney
I. Introduction
A. The men that made up the group called the Apostles are great to study
B. Their calling, life, and experiences are what Jesus used to establish the New Testament church 2,000 years ago.
C. They are quite a group – fishermen, tax collectors, married men, and single – all doing one thing – following Jesus
D. An Apostle is different than a disciple – There are no more apostles. Only 12
E. Over the next several weeks, we are going to look at the people that Jesus called to be Apostles – “Sent Ones” – special operations, special forces
F. By doing so, God will be able to keep us focused on OUR life purpose, by learning how God takes ordinary clay, and makes something great out of it!
G. The first apostle we studied was Simon Peter. Today we study Andrew.
II. Background on Andrew
A. Andrew is Peter’s Brother
1. Do you know what that means? He was always known as Peter’s brother. Kind of humbling.
2. How would you like to be Peter's brother? Proud? Oh Yes. How thrilled Andrew must have been to have heard Peter preach the first gospel sermon in Acts 2. But there must also have been some sibling rivalry and playing second best all your life to a person like Peter could be galling. And Andrew lived in Peter's shadow.
3. Leonard Bernstein was once asked what's the hardest instrument in the orchestra to play? His reply: Second fiddle. That's because there is a little self seeking in all of us. One of my children used to say my first, my first. That's kind of like James and John who asked the Lord for the first two places in the Kingdom. They could not have stood it- to be Peter's brother, to be always in second place.
4. Andrew was great, because he took whatever place Christ had for him (Mk 9:33-35)
B. Andrew was a Fisherman
C. Andrew Lived with Peter and his family in the same house
D. Andrew was not in the inner circle (Peter, James and John) – not the most important apostle – but that was ok!
E. Andrew’s name means, Manliness – Here is a real man that God brags on
II. Message
1. When Andrew hears about Jesus, he is already studying under John the Baptist – went out to hear that preacher preach from Isaiah, and Malachi
2. Many of Jesus’ disciples came from being first disciples of John the Baptist
3. They were lovers of the word, and lovers of Bible preaching
1. When Andrew found the Messiah he did a noble thing. His first act was to get his brother Peter. He could have said: At last I've gotten ahead of Peter; let me keep it from him. I don't want him barging in as he always does to take it away from me. But finding the Messiah was too important for that petty attitude. Andrew had the kind of love which casts out envy (1 Corinthians 13). He typifies the attitude of Christ that Paul describes in (Phil 2:3-8)
2. Didn’t just study the Bible
a. Didn’t just come out to meetings
b. Didn’t just pray
c. Wasn’t content with what God was doing in his life (Philp 2:12,13)
d. It is good to read your Bible EVERYDAY – good to enrol in Bible Institute, and be here every Saturday at 5pm – good to be in discipleship every week – that is how we grow
e. But that is not all that Christ wants of us – all that is INTERNAL
f. God wants to balance all that “theory” out with experience!
3. Didn’t just think about himself
a. Getting saved is great
b. Getting the truth is awesome
c. Getting to personally know Jesus Christ, and learning to fully trust Him is unbelieveable
d. But it is most sad when that is as far as we carry our relationship
e. Andrew instantly thought about his brother Peter
f. As we shall see, Andrew had a heart for others
g. Yes, he took care of his soul’s need in following Jesus, but at the same time knew others needed Jesus just as much
4. Didn’t ignore those at home
a. Could have headed for China, or America (Pr 17:24)
b. Could have thought only of the big things he should do for God now that he was a Christian
c. But instead, headed for home
d. Home is where Christ asks us FIRST to work for Him (Lk 8:38,39)
1) Your family may be the hardest people you will ever win to Christ (Mt 6:4)
2) Yet, your family is your proving ground
3) If you could care enough about your parents, and your brothers and sisters, and your husband, and your wife, to patiently win them over to Jesus Christ, you could win anybody!
5. How to Get a Burden for Souls
a. Get a glimpse of Eternity
1) This life is so brief (James 4:14)
2) We have no idea how long we will live
3) Astronomers peer into space and see further and further galaxies, with no end or edge in sight
4) We are not even drops in the ocean
5) Eternity is a very long time
6) People will live forever
a) Either in heaven, with Jesus – eternal life
b) On in hell, with the devil – eternal damnation
7) Get you a pair of binoculars, or a telescope and glimpse just a small portion of the vastness of this universe
8) People one day will have to face the Creator of all that!
9) Most are not ready – Paul says, it is to OUR shame!
b. Get a Good View of Jesus
1) Not a blond haired, blue-eyed Jesus
2) But a Saviour, who loved you when you were unlovely
3) When was the last time you just sat back and pondered about Jesus loving a sinner such as yourself, and dying for YOU?
4) That’s why Paul delighted so much in preaching Jesus Christ
c. Get a move-on
1) Just go ahead, open your mouth, start talking about the Gospel
2) Go ahead and leave Gospel tracts everywhere
3) LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE – no hiding it
4) It is SIN when we hold back!
a) Holding back with the good news about salvation, will not send YOU to hell
b) But holding back will send other people to hell
c) A Christian has the KEYS remember, to unlocking heaven
C. Andrew the Care-Free (1Peter 1:7; Philp 4:6,7)
1. Andrew had a great attitude about life – not careless, but care-free. There is a difference
2. Andrew had two problems presented to him, and in both, shows how a Christian can live care-free instead of so weighted down
3. Problem #1 (Jn 6:5-9) – No Food
a. When presented with the problem of having no food to feed 5,000, Andrew doesn’t give up like Thomas instantly would
b. Andrew opens his eyes, and starts looking around
c. What was he looking for? A way of escape? An excuse about why it can’t be done?
d. No. He quickly gathers what is available around him
1) Again, he looks in his immediate vicinity for something to meet the need
2) He is not looking for the complete answer – he knew THAT would be there
e. Once he had SOMETHING (a small single lunch of 5 bread loaves, and 2 fish), he gives it ALL to Jesus
f. He passed the burden, the care, the stress, the hardship on to Jesus
g. Jesus was pleased
1) Jesus didn’t say, Hey, that is an insult – go out and get more!
2) Jesus didn’t say, Hey, I want steak!
h. This problem was solved simply by
1) Andrew doing what he could
2) And leaving the impossible parts to Jesus
3) Most of you don’t know how to do that yet do you?
4. Problem #2 (Jn 12:20-22) – No Liberty
a. Some Greek speaking Jews wanted to meet Jesus
b. But there were so many obstacles to over come
1) Culture, expectations were different
2) Language was different
3) Prejudices abounded – the Jews didn’t like outsiders
c. Philip doesn’t know what to do, so tells Andrew about the situation
d. Andrew wastes no time, just goes straight to Jesus with the situation
1) Andrew doesn’t care about obstacles – you would waste your time telling about all the differences, and hindrances, and complexities between people and cultures
2) Andrew just cares about bringing everything to Jesus
a) Brought his brother
b) Brother a small lunch
c) Brought a group of Greek speaking Jews
e. How often we should just go to Jesus in prayer, taking everything, and every one with us
f. It will make life so much easier – more care-free, stress-free
III. Conclusion
A. Would to God we had such a way of life like Andrew
B. Would to God that we would settle for playing second fiddle in God’s kingdom
C. Would to God that we were soul-winners
D. Would to God that we Cared only about doing our best, and casting all the rest of our cares upon Him who careth for us!