Witnesses, Seekers, & Skeptics | Sunday, March 24, 2024

Good morning! Welcome. You can have a seat if you're standing. We're so glad that you're here. Thank you to our worship team. I know Christian mentioned that Anthony was planning on being here but had some health issues with their son last night. These guys got the call late last night.

There’s a saying I heard many years ago when I was growing up in the church: "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken." Thank you, Christian, for being ready in season and out of season. Praise the Lord!

I have a group text with a group of guys here in the church, and throughout the week, we send messages to one another. One of the guys in the group text sent a message this last week saying, "I've invited three people from my work to come to church on Easter. You guys need to try and beat that." So, I invited five guys from my workplace to come to Easter and kind of told them that they had to be there. We have these cards, as Garrett mentioned in the announcements, that you can use to invite people to come to church.

This last week, I was out in the Bible Belt talking with some of my friends who pastor churches there. Normally, in that area, if you ask someone if they go to church, the odds are that they do. However, in this area, if you ask someone if they go to church, the odds are actually that they do not. You interact with people on a regular basis at school, at work, and in your neighborhood who are not connected to the church, and that means they may not be connected with God as well. We believe that God has called us to live life in connection with Him and to share that with others.

So, make sure you take some of these cards. We are adding another service next week, so there are not as many seats in this service as there were in the first service, but we still have some seats. Next week, we'll have even more seats, so we want to invite you to invite people to come to church next week.

Today is an important day in the church calendar; it's called Palm Sunday. I never want to take for granted that when we gather together on a Sunday morning, everyone here knows what these things are all about. We have been studying in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament, but we're going to detour away from that today to the New Testament book of John.

If you would take out your Bibles, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand. We're going to be in the Gospel of John this morning. One of the pitfalls that Christians can fall into is assuming that the people we interact with know the stories of Scripture and understand the stories of the Gospel, and that's just not always the case.

It is increasingly true that more and more people in our culture actually don't know the stories of Scripture. Palm Sunday is the celebration of the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem at the beginning of what is mostly called Passion Week or Holy Week, which culminates with the crucifixion on Good Friday. We will be gathering together to commemorate and worship the Lord on Friday at noon here at the church.

The real focus is next Sunday, Resurrection Sunday. Sometimes people call it Easter Sunday; that's commonly what it's referred to. We call it Resurrection Sunday. Palm Sunday was the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem as multitudes of people sang from the Psalms. The Old Testament Psalms were predominantly songs, and they sang from Psalm 118, which says, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." As they waved palm branches and set them down in front of Him as He rode a donkey into Jerusalem, they were proclaiming Him as King and Messiah. They were saying, "Hosanna," which means "save us now, save now; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." That's the focus for Palm Sunday.

It would seem plausible for me to go and talk about Palm Sunday, but I just summed it up for you. So, we're actually going to backtrack, not to the beginning of the end of the story—Palm Sunday is kind of the beginning of the end of the Passion story—but actually to the very beginning.

John's Gospel, chapter 1, is where we're going to be today. If you turn to about the last third of your Bible, you'll see the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John. John is a little bit different. When you look at the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are typically referred to as the Synoptic Gospels. They're called that because they basically give the same synopsis of Jesus's life and ministry. They highlight many of the same stories, many of the same miracles, and the teachings of Christ in those passages, and they follow the basic outline structure.

But John is different, and it is a beautiful story that we find in the Gospel of John. What I want to look at today in this passage in John chapter 1 is three witnesses, some seekers, and a skeptic. In this passage, look at the way that John's Gospel opens in John 1, verse 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word..."

In the beginning was the Logos, the Word. The Logos was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. This is some of the most beautiful writing in literature, and it's not only beautiful writing; for Christians, we recognize that this is divinely inspired scripture.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. This is a powerful passage of scripture. What we're going to see in this text that we will look at this morning are three witnesses, some seekers, and a skeptic. The reason I wanted to take some time to highlight this passage of scripture this morning is as we prepare to celebrate Holy Week and as we have been inviting you to invite people to come to church this week and in the coming weeks.

I wanted to look at this passage of scripture because if you are a believer and follower of Christ, then God has called you. Sometimes, when we hear about the calling of God, we think that God has called missionaries, worship pastors, pastors, preachers, and evangelists, but He hasn't really called me. However, when you begin to open the pages of scripture, you discover that God has called every single one of us who are followers of Him.

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me." He said to them in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts. He said Jerusalem first to them because they were in Jerusalem when He said that. If He were going to say it to us, He would say, "You shall be witnesses unto Me in Escondido, North County, California, and to the uttermost parts."

I want to remind you today, if you're a follower of Jesus, that God has called you to be a witness, to proclaim the praise. The Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 2 that you would proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. That is what He has called us to proclaim: the good news.

In the Gospel of Mark, in Mark chapter 16, Jesus dispatched His disciples. He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Now, you can take that passage very literally and go home and preach to your dog.

Dogs need to hear that message. What Jesus was saying is, "I am commissioning you to go and to declare and proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light." You are to proclaim this good news, this gospel, to every single person that you come in contact with. If you're a follower of Jesus today, you are called to that task. You are called to be a witness.

In this magnificent opening to the Gospel of John, and truly the whole first chapter, especially the first 18 verses, we find what commentators and theologians refer to as the prologue to the Gospel of John. It is a magnificent passage of Scripture. We could spend several weeks just picking apart those first few verses that I read from John 1:1-4, and it would not be a bad thing to do that. In fact, entire books have been written on those opening words and on the opening chapter of the Gospel of John.

"In the beginning was the Word," the Logos. This Logos was not a thing; it is a person. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and nothing was made without Him. In Him, John says, was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Notice this in verse 6: "There was a man sent from God whose name was John." This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all through him might believe. I want to focus today on three witnesses, some seekers, and a skeptic here in John's gospel, as God has called us to be witnesses. Here, we are introduced to a witness whose name was John.

Now, that word "witness" is an interesting word. In the original language, this was originally penned in Greek, and it is the Greek word "martyros." It's where we get our English word "martyr" from. When we hear the word "martyr," we have a certain picture in our minds. In fact, if you've been around Christianity in the church for a long time, perhaps you've come across the book "Fox's Book of Christian Martyrs." In that book, you can read the history of many martyrs, many Christian witnesses who were killed for their witness and their proclamation of the faith.

So, when we hear the word "martyr," we might say, "I'm not sure I want to be that." But really, the basic understanding of this word is a proclaimer, a witness. In the beginning was the Word. The Word came...

Into this world, and before He came, He ordained or called a witness, a man sent from God whose name was John. He came to witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might be saved.

What we discover here in these opening words in John's Gospel is this: from the beginning, God sent witnesses to bear witness to His glory. From the very beginning, God has dispatched individuals to go into the world to bear witness to His glory.

In verse 14 of this opening chapter of John, we read about this Word that we've been introduced to in John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word. In verse 14, we read, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

The good news that has been given to us, what we refer to as the Gospel, is that God, the Word of God, came into this world to show forth His glory, to bring forth His grace and His truth. He called and ordained witnesses to go into the world to declare the good news of this One coming into the world who brings glory, grace, and truth to all people.

Now, in this passage, John the Baptist, whom we are introduced to in verses 6 and 7, was an early witness of the glory of Christ. On Palm Sunday, which we celebrate today, we have some later witnesses of the glory of Christ. As Jesus was coming into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passion Week, there was a multitude of people who said, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." They recognized and acknowledged that Jesus coming into Jerusalem was the One who was coming to save.

But early on, we are introduced to this early witness, John. He is bearing witness to the glory of Christ just as he was supposed to do. But what was it that he proclaims? What is the message that he is bringing?

In John 1:29, we read a little bit of John the Baptist's message. It says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'"

World, what was the message that John, the messenger—I’ll call him—typically referred to as John the Baptist? Indeed, he was that, as we are going to see in the verses we will read. However, more than being a baptizer, he was a witness. The message that he began to proclaim here in John 1:29 was, "Behold!" Multitudes had gathered around John because he was quite a character, a surly character, you might say. The Scriptures describe him as wearing camel's hair with a leather belt and eating locusts and honey. He was a strange guy preaching out in the wilderness, and so multitudes of people started to come and hear this preacher, who was really a prophet calling people to repent and turn to God.

At a certain point in his ministry, he looked at this man, Jesus, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" This is he, in verse 30, of whom I said, "After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me." I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.

It was an interesting thing that John was doing there in the wilderness near the Jordan River. As he preached to people and called them to turn away from their sins and turn to God, he was baptizing people in water. Now, what is baptizing? The word baptized means to immerse in water or to put down in water. He was baptizing people in water as he preached to them. You might wonder, why is he doing this? Well, he tells us here in this passage: "This is why I did this. I did this so that the Messiah might be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water."

John bore witness, in verse 32, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained upon him." I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize—God in heaven—had called, ordained, and sent John to baptize with water. He said to me, "Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.

It seems that John, at some point, had been given a call and a message from God in heaven. God said, "John, I want you to go and preach this Gospel of repentance, this good news of repentance, and you are to baptize people. The reason that you are going to baptize people is because, as you baptize, at some point..."

The Spirit of God is going to descend from heaven like a dove upon an individual that you baptize. Upon that one whom the Spirit descends and remains, that's the one. I could be off on this, and maybe John will correct me when I get to heaven, but I have a feeling that as John was baptizing, he would dunk people underwater. As they would come up, I think John would be looking for the Spirit descending.

At a certain point, the Gospels tell us that Jesus came to John to be baptized. John baptized Him, and as He did, Jesus came up out of the water, and the Spirit descended like a dove upon Jesus. John heard a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." That's why John came to baptize—to reveal Jesus. After he had seen this and after he had heard this word, what did he do? His ministry changed. Now he says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

When John said those words among a multitude of Jewish individuals, they understood what those words meant. Those were Old Testament Torah words from the first five books of the Bible, specifically from the third book, Leviticus. These were Levitical words, and the Book of Leviticus outlined how the people of Israel, the children of Israel, could come close to or approach a perfectly holy God. Even though we are not perfectly holy, we have this major problem called sin. As a result of that, we cannot come into the presence of a holy God.

Therefore, God is saying, "I want to commune with you. I want to be in connection with you." The way that this is going to happen is that you need to offer a sacrifice. You see, this Lamb of God language was sacrificial language. In the Book of Leviticus, it is outlined how the children of Israel could approach a holy God. To do so, they had to offer a lamb as a sacrifice for sin.

John the Baptist is preaching the gospel of repentance, calling people to repent from their sins. He baptizes Jesus, and when Jesus came up out of the water, the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove and remained. He said, "Behold, this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Takes away the sin of the world. This is the Son of God. How did he know that he was the Son of God? What does that even mean? Son of God means that this is the one who has the very nature of God, the Logos who was the Creator, who was at the beginning and before the beginning. That Logos became flesh and dwelt among us. This is what we call the Incarnation. God came and dwelt among us.

John says, "Behold, this is the Lamb of God. This is the Son of God. He has come to take away the sin of the world." This is at the very beginning of Jesus's ministry, before he has preached anything, before he has healed the sick, cast out demons, fed the multitudes, or walked on water. This is before all of that.

What we discover from John's Gospel is this point: from the beginning, Jesus came into the world for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose. You see, what we celebrate this week, specifically on Good Friday, where Jesus was crucified, is the death of Christ on the cross. We need to recognize that this was the purpose from the beginning.

It's not that Jesus came and started preaching as some sort of revolutionary preacher, causing trouble and problems that made people angry, leading to his death. No, he came for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose. He came from the beginning to go to the cross. Good Friday was always the focus; it was always the plan. This means that Good Friday on the cross did not happen to Jesus; he came to make it happen. That's the purpose for which he came.

Now John is testifying to this reality: "Behold the Lamb of God," the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Son of God has come into the world to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. This is the message that the church has preached from the earliest days of the Christian faith. It's outlined in an early creed in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.

The Gospel that Paul declared, and all the others who were with him declared, is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He came for an essential, specific, and sacrificial purpose.

John the witness is declaring this to anybody who will hear: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Now, remember I said in this passage there are three witnesses, some seekers, and a skeptic. So, let's meet some of the seekers.

Look at verse 35, John 1:35. Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. It appears that this crazy, hairy guy with a camel hair suit and a leather belt, eating locusts and honey, was preaching out in the region of Judea. As he was preaching, a multitude gathered around him. But not only a multitude; there were also disciples gathered around him.

What are disciples? They are followers or learners. The day after he said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," he says to two of his followers, his learners who were standing there with him, "Behold the Lamb of God." Sometimes, people need to be told twice. Maybe you're like that. He had already said it: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Son of God." Essentially, John was saying to anybody who would hear, "Follow him. Go after him."

But 24 hours pass, or maybe a little bit more, and he is standing with a couple of his disciples who are still hanging out with John. He says, "Hey, listen. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Effectively, what John is saying is, "You are not going to find what you're looking for from me. You need to follow him."

I think John is an amazing character for so many reasons, but one of the reasons he is amazing is that he understood his role. He understood that, in some ways, he was just a signpost pointing to Jesus, and he did not have a problem with that. He says to these two followers of his, his disciples, and we don't know how long they've been with him, but we would assume they've been with him for a while, "Now it's time for you to no longer hang out with me. Now it's time for you to follow him. Behold the Lamb of God."

Look at verse 37. So the two disciples heard John speak, and they followed Jesus. Would you underline that in your notes?

The Bible that was John's intended goal is such a wonderful thing. He baptizes Jesus, sees the Spirit of God descend upon Him and remain upon Him, and hears the voice say, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then he says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is the Son of God. Follow Him. I've baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

Now he says to his disciples, "Behold the Lamb of God," and they begin to follow Jesus. I love this moment. As they followed Jesus, verse 38 tells us that Jesus turned and, seeing them follow, said to them, "What do you seek?"

Point number three: Jesus came into the world seeking seekers. As we will see as we continue in this passage, not only did Jesus come into the world seeking seekers, but He also sends His followers ultimately to do the same—to seek for seekers.

Be that as it may, John's task as a witness is basically at this point complete. Remember, I told you there are three witnesses: some seekers and a skeptic in this passage. John is highlighted as this witness called and ordained by God. However, as soon as he points his followers to Jesus, his job is done.

This can be hard for us. If we're honest, we like followers. We like people to follow us around; it makes us feel important, needed, and useful. But really, my primary role and John's primary role, the role for which we are most useful and most needed, is to direct people to follow Jesus. The most important, necessary, and useful role that I can fulfill is to point people to Jesus, and John the witness knew and understood this.

So much so that in John's Gospel, chapter 3, a group of people comes to this same witness, John. It seems they were concerned because John had this thriving ministry; multitudes of people were coming to hear him preach. Now, all those people have left and started to follow Jesus. They come to John and ask, "Don't you think this is a problem?" He responds with some of the most profound words in Scripture. I believe it's about verse 30 of John chapter 3.

He must increase, and I must decrease. He had the right perspective; he was a witness to point people to Christ. Once those people began to follow Christ, he said, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

The two disciples followed Jesus, and Jesus, seeing them follow Him, asked them, "What do you seek?" I think that's an important question, but I don't know that we always fully know the answer to that question when we're asked, "What do you seek? What are you looking for?" Do you really know what it is that you are deeply seeking?

Some people seek pleasure. We live in a pleasure-seeking culture, don't we? There are certainly people in our culture who are seeking peace and rest. There are definitely people in our culture who are seeking a fortune or seeking wisdom or knowledge. A 16th-century philosopher, Blaise Pascal, said that all men seek happiness. We live in a culture that is given to the pursuit of happiness, don't we?

But everybody is looking for something, and Jesus came into the world seeking seekers. Jesus knows and understands that ultimately, what every person is looking for and seeking will only truly be found in Him. This is an important truth. If you gather together 100 people and ask them what it is that they are deeply longing for, looking for, or seeking after, you might get a hundred different answers. However, there will be some sort of crisscross, some sort of convergence of things that people are seeking.

Everything that people are ultimately seeking for is only truly found in Christ. Why? The Apostle Paul, in Colossians, said that in Him dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form, and only in Him are we complete. You will never be complete; you will never be satisfied until you find your fullness in Him. In Him dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form.

So, these two disciples of John, or I should say former disciples of John, are now following Jesus. Jesus turns, sees them following Him, and asks them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi," which is...

Translated teacher, where are you staying? Jesus said to them in verse 39, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour, about the end of the day, around 4:00 or so. They were following Jesus, and I assume they were following him at a distance. I love this passage of Scripture; there's something fascinating about it that I can't quite put my finger on.

As they were following, Jesus noticed that he was being followed. It's like he realized, "Oh, there are some people coming after me." He finally turned to them, and I think they were probably startled, like, "Oh wait, maybe we were trying to be secret." He asked them, "What are you looking for?" I assume they might correct me when I get to heaven, but I think they were taken aback by the question. They responded, "Where are you staying?" He said, "Come and see." They came and followed him and spent some time with him.

Now, I want you to remember those words, "Come and see." They will be important later. Remember also that Jesus came into the world seeking seekers. Look at John 1:40. One of the two disciples who had formerly been disciples of John and now followed Jesus was Andrew. Andrew had a brother named Simon Peter. Note this in verse 41: he first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah," which is translated "the Christ." He brought him to Jesus.

Point number four, if you're taking notes: Jesus aims to make his followers into finders of seekers. This is what he wants to do. He wants to turn his followers into finders of seekers. In another place in the Gospels, Jesus will have a conversation with Andrew and Peter again, and he will say to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The same thing he said: "You are following me, and now I want to make you finders of seekers." If you become a follower of Jesus, or if you are a follower of Jesus, you need to recognize that God desires to make you a finder of seekers. That's what he calls us to do.

He wants you and me to be on the lookout for people who are searching for something. They may be looking for God, but there are many things that people seek. We interact with individuals every single day who are deeply desiring and searching for something. Maybe it's hope, maybe it's love, or perhaps they're seeking joy. They could be looking for rest or happiness. People are searching for all kinds of different things in our culture. Every person you meet is a seeker of something, and they will be dissatisfied with anything they find in this world because nothing in this world can truly satisfy.

They sing songs like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." They are seeking love, hope, peace, joy, and rest. We might even say that they are groping in the dark to find something. The Apostle Paul spoke about this in Acts chapter 17. You can turn there if you'd like or just note it down in your notes.

In Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul was in the city of Athens, a great ancient city known for many things, especially its numerous temples and idols that the people worshiped. It was almost as if there was a temple to a different god or goddess on every corner. Each of these deities was worshiped, and people brought devotions to them in hopes of receiving something in return. Some gods were worshiped for pleasure, others for prosperity, and some for the blessing of children. People bowed down to these different gods to gain what they desired.

To cover all the bases, they even had altars to an unknown God, just in case they missed one. Paul met with the people of Athens and said, "I want to talk to you today about the God you worship that you do not yet know." He stated in Acts 17:24, "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands." All these different places where you have altars around the city of Athens, the true God does not dwell in.

Those temples made with hands are not where He is worshiped, nor is He worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything. Since He gives life, breath, and all things, He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the Earth. He has determined their pre-appointment.

People are groping in the dark to find something that will fill their lives and their hearts, but they will never find it in the things of this world. They will only find it in Him. For in Him, we live and move and find our being; our fullness and our purpose are in Him, who is the fullness of God in bodily form. We are only complete in Him.

Paul knew this and preached it to the people in Athens. Andrew went and found his brother Peter, saying, "Peter, we have found Him! We found the one we've been looking for; we found the Messiah." That is translated as "the Anointed One," the Christ.

In this story, we have three witnesses: some seekers and a skeptic. We have already met John, the witness, and now we have been introduced to Andrew, the witness, who went to his brother and said, "We have found Him." Now we are introduced to the third witness.

Look at verse 43 of John chapter 1. The following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip. He said to him, "Follow Me." I think that Philip was the other unnamed disciple we were introduced to back in verse 37, along with Andrew, who were formerly followers of John the Baptist and are now following Jesus.

The first follower, Andrew, became a seeker of seekers. He went out and found his brother Peter, saying, "Listen, we have found the Messiah! You have to come hear this." The next day, Jesus sees Philip and says to him, "Follow Me." In verse 44, we learn that Philip was from Bethsaida, which was a town in the hills.

Just above the Sea of Galilee is the city of Andrew and Peter. They were all from the same town, and they were probably friends and acquaintances. So, what did Philip do? Look at verse 45: Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, "We have found him."

Him who? Him whom Moses and the law and the prophets wrote about: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. John the Baptist was a witness, and he proclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Two of his seekers, Andrew and Philip, heard that and became seekers of other finders. Andrew went and found his brother Peter and said, "We have found him, that is, the Messiah, the Christ. You have to come and meet him." Then Philip goes and finds his friend Nathaniel and says, "We have found him that Moses and the prophets predicted. His name is Jesus. He's from the town of Nazareth; he's the son of Joseph."

Now we are introduced to the skeptic. Nathaniel said in verse 46, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" I love this because every one of us has a Nathaniel in our lives, don't we? All of us have a skeptic in our lives. We might say we have a naysayer. It's that person who stands with you in a group, and you're telling someone a story. You say, "Yeah, I was wearing a green sweater," and Nathaniel says, "No, no, it was an emerald sweater." You respond, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was."

Or you're telling a story, saying, "You know, it happened on a Tuesday afternoon," and Nathaniel speaks up, "No, I think it was a Friday morning." We all know Nathaniel; he's the guy who's always got the hard question, the skeptic in the group.

So the skeptic shows up when Philip comes to him and says, "We have found the one that the prophets predicted. Moses talked about the Messiah; he is Jesus of Nazareth." Nathaniel responds, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nothing of consequence comes from Nazareth. Can anything good come from Escondido? Nothing of consequence comes from Escondido. No major prophet or prophecy has emerged from there.

Predicted anything coming from Nazareth, and Nathaniel understood this. He knew this and asked a very valid and good question: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?"

As followers of God go into the world seeking to find seekers, we can be sure that we will come across some skeptics. In fact, it is sometimes the skeptics who hinder us from doing what God has called us to do and sharing the good news with others. In our minds, we may wonder, "What if I meet a Nathaniel, and they ask me a question I don't know the answer to?"

I grew up as a Christian in the 1990s, during which there were many classes on evangelism and apologetics. In all those classes, we were taught to know the people we would talk with, anticipate their questions, and have answers ready. Apologetics is meant to provide a defense or an answer. While I love apologetics and am pursuing a doctorate in the field, there is a problem with many of those classes: they tend to make Christians afraid to talk with people. There are so many questions, and I don't know all the answers.

Have any of you ever felt fearful that if you share your faith, they might ask a question you don't know the answer to? I certainly have. So, how do you deal with skeptics like Nathaniel?

I love the way Philip dealt with Nathaniel's question. When Nathaniel asked, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip simply replied, "Come and see." Those words have already appeared in the text. Where did he learn that answer? A few days before this, he was following Jesus at a distance. Jesus turned to him and asked, "What are you seeking?" Philip responded, "Teacher, where are you staying?" Jesus replied, "Come and see."

The first thing to consider in Philip's answer to Nathaniel is that a good disciple imitates his master. Jesus said, "Come and see," and when Philip was asked a good question by Nathaniel, he did not have a definitive answer. Instead, he simply invited him to come and see.

See, that is a valid answer to the hard questions. I want to encourage you; you're going to share with people, and they're going to ask tough questions. They're going to ask cosmological questions and dilemmas about evil in the world and all those kinds of hard things. You don't always have to say, "Here's the answer." Sometimes, you just have to say, "Come and see." You don't always need to have an answer. Philip didn't; he just simply said to Nathaniel, "Come and see." This is what we call "come and see" evangelism. It's a very good way to share your faith.

But here's the awesome thing about skeptics like Nathaniel: Point number five, if you're taking notes, is that Jesus loves turning skeptics into saints. That's what He's going to do with Nathaniel. Some of you here this morning are or were skeptics. I'm kind of a natural skeptic, and I think there are probably more than a few skeptical, cynical people here in this room. But Jesus loves to turn skeptics into saints. He's been doing it for thousands of years, and He's actually quite good at it.

Sometimes, the answer to you fearful followers who are seeking, when someone brings up a question that's too hard for you, is simply, "Come and see." Come check it out for yourself. See if maybe it is true that Jesus is the Christ and the Messiah.

Now, I share all this today knowing that it is Palm Sunday because I want to encourage you to fulfill your calling, to fulfill your ministry by doing the work of an evangelist. What is an evangelist but someone who shares the good news? What is the good news? It is that Jesus called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. That's the good news.

If you're a follower of Jesus today and He has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light, know this: There are people in your neighborhood, there are people in your family, and there are people in your workplace or at the school that you go to who are groping in the dark, trying to find satisfaction, delight, and fulfillment. They will never find it in the things of this world; it's only ultimately found in Christ. If He has called you out of that darkness and into His marvelous light, He has called you to...

Share that good news and the glory of that light with other people. You do not have to have every answer to every hard question; all you simply have to do is imitate your Lord and say, "Come and see." It's a valid way to share the good news of Jesus. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father God, thank you for these three witnesses: Andrew, Philip, and John. These seekers became witnesses, and connected to every single person standing in this room today are dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of seekers and skeptics who are groping in the darkness, seeking satisfaction and trying to fill some void in their lives. They will never find it in the things of this culture or this world.

Lord, would you give us, by your Spirit, the enabling power and boldness to share the good news of you, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light? You who have made us a people who previously were not a people, you who have given us mercy, who had not obtained mercy. Lord, would you cause us to be a conduit of that mercy to other people this week and in the coming weeks? There are so many people here in Southern California who desperately need the good news of your gospel of grace.

So God, would you work in and through us, I pray, for we ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen. Let's sing to the Lord.