John 1:40-41 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.… I. TRUE RELIGION IS THE RESULT OF PERSONAL CONVICTION RESPECTING THE CLAIMS OF JESUS CHRIST. You must possess that religion or you can never impart it. "I will bless thee and thou shalt be a blessing." "He that believeth on Me shall never thirst, and from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The truth of Christ must first be known, and the knowledge of Christ is essentially connected with the love of Christ as the medium and material of that knowledge. We have in the narrative an illustration of the way in which personal religion commences. When directed to Christ, the first disciples were not satisfied with a passing glance, but they looked to Jesus and followed Him. Then commenced their friendship with Christ. There is an immense diversity in the operations of the Spirit. Some are brought at once outer darkness into light. Others by a gradual method: but the results are the same. They are brought to Jesus as the result of inquiry marked by prayer and solicitude. And there is everything in the character and religion of Christ to deserve and challenge inquiry. These things were not done in a corner; everything will bear the light. II. THOSE WHO HAVE BECOME THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST WILL BE ANXIOUSLY CONCERNED TO BRING OTHERS TO HIM. Everything in religion is gloriously expansive. 1. Our object in all our Church operations is not sectarian, but to bring men to Christ. Keep this object before you in your families, neighbourhood, communities. If you aim at anything short of this you will fail to reach even your subordinate object. While, on the other hand, in enlarging our minds to the amplitude and sublimity of this higher object, we shall lay the most enduring basis for the accomplishment of even the minor object. 2. Contemplate your responsibility. You have the great remedy for the world's moral diseases; you dare not keep it to yourselves. 3. Your opportunities. No man was ever disposed to do good who did not find ample opportunities as the member of a family, as a master or a servant, as a Church member. 4. Your encouragement: The command of Christ, the assurance of His presence, the success already secured, and the certainty of final success. (J. Fletcher, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.WEB: One of the two who heard John, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. |
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