(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

We're going to finish up John chapter 1 this evening. We're going to look at the last part of John chapter 1. The reason I broke it into three pieces is because there's kind of three separate things that I wanted to talk about in John chapter 1, and I didn't want to leave any details behind here. Of course, we looked at who Jesus was in the first part of John chapter 1 in the first sermon. In the second sermon we looked at who John the Baptist was, what he was doing, what he was baptizing. He baptized Jesus. We looked at what he was talking about when he said Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost. We looked at baptism, why John was baptizing, that it wasn't some new thing. It was something that had deep meaning and people knew this. Let's go ahead and do a little bit of a Bible study and then I'll give you the context of the sermon this evening and the application that I want to make. Let's just look through the last few verses of John chapter 1 this evening to kind of set up the stage for what I want to talk about in this evening's sermon. In John chapter 1, we're going to start out in verse number 35. We're going to see the first disciples of Jesus show up in John chapter 1. Look down at verse number 35 where the Bible says, and again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples. Now, notice when it says two of his disciples, it's talking about two of John the Baptist's disciples. It's not talking about two of Jesus' disciples at this point. Look at verse 36. It says, looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, behold the Lamb of God. So that is John the Baptist speaking there. John the Baptist who has these two disciples with him sees Jesus and declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He basically points Jesus out as the Messiah here in verse 36. Verse 37, he's already recognized the deity of Christ as we looked at last week in verses before this. But look at verse number 37. Now we're going to focus on these disciples that are with John the Baptist. The two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus. So here we see this transfer of these two disciples from John the Baptist to Jesus. This is interesting because this was the purpose of John the Baptist. John the Baptist wasn't the Messiah. He wasn't the Son of God. He was just clearing the path. He was just making the way straight, the hearts of the children towards their fathers and the hearts of the fathers towards their children. He was just preparing for Jesus to come. So it makes sense that when Jesus would come that the disciples would follow Jesus. I mean, that's the main show. Jesus is the whole point. So we see these disciples, whoever they are at this point, begin to follow Jesus. Look at verse 38. And then Jesus turned. I mean, they're literally following him. It's not talking about how they left everything and followed him at this point. It's just talking about how they literally started following him. They just literally started following Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye? And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is to be interpreted Master, where dwelleth thou? And he saith unto them, Come and see. And they came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. Now look at verse 40. It says, One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. So right here we see the first mention of Andrew in the book of John. But we see this is the beauty of all the different Gospels is you get a different perspective on what actually happened. Just get a little bit more detail from a little different angle. It's all the same story. It's all the same reality. But you get a little bit different picture of what happened. So Andrew started out as the disciple of John the Baptist. He was following John the Baptist. Now, who was the other disciple? And I'm going to kind of show you tonight that it was probably most likely John, the person that wrote the Gospel of John. Look at verse 41. I'll explain that to you. John the brother of James, who we're about to see here in just a few minutes. Look at verse 41. So Andrew is John the Baptist's disciple. That's what we know so far. And he's with another disciple. And I'm kind of just telling you, you just take it on faith right now, that the other disciple is John, who is James' brother. So you have first four disciples, if you know this, were called were Andrew and Peter and then James and John. Those were the first four disciples. So here we see Andrew was first following John the Baptist. He was with John. And look at verse 41. It says, he first findeth his own brother Simon. So what does Andrew do? The first thing that Andrew does, once he spends some time with Jesus here, he knows who Jesus is, he goes and he runs and he finds his brother Simon, which is Peter. And saith unto him, what does he say? We have found the Messiahs, which is being interpreted the Christ. So he goes to his brother and he says, those are great words to underline in your Bible. Because everyone that gets saved has this moment. And we're going to talk about this in just a few minutes. But everyone that gets saved has this moment where they go on to their friends and their family and they say, we have found the Messiahs. And that's really going to be the focus of tonight's sermon. I don't want to give it away. But let's keep reading. Let's keep reading. Turn to Luke chapter four. See, when you read these accounts in Luke chapter four, and we're going to look at Luke chapter four, Luke chapter five, we're going to look at Mark chapter one. When you read the accounts in Luke and Mark, they already knew Jesus at that point. And we can only know that through the account in the book of John. But look at Luke chapter four, after he gets baptized, and he calls his disciples, and then his ministry begins. Look at Luke chapter four, in verse 38. Luke chapter four, in verse 38. So I'm just trying to show you that Jesus, before he called these disciples to follow him finally, where he was going to go start his ministry, they already knew who he was. Okay, look at verse 38 of Luke chapter four. It says, And he arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. This is Peter. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and he rebuked a fever, and it left her, and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. So, you know, just a side note, so much for Peter being the first pope that was never married. Okay, I mean, you know, the one thing about Catholics is it's very easy to get Catholics off of Catholicism if they believe the Bible. Why? Because they teach such anti-biblical things. I mean, Peter was, how do I know Peter was married? Because Simon's wife's mother was healed by Jesus, his mother-in-law. You don't have a mother-in-law if you're not married. Okay, now go to Luke chapter five. So Jesus, the point is, Jesus was in Peter's house. He knew who Peter was. He had already known Peter. Now look at Luke chapter five and look at verse number two. This is the great miracle we see that Jesus, you know, does for Peter and James and John and Andrew. Look at verse two, and he says, and saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and washing their nets. They weren't fishing. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. So Jesus has him push the ship out into the waterways, and he gives a sermon, and when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes in their net break. And they beckoned unto their partners, don't miss this, which were in the other ship that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down to Jesus' knees, saying, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. He's apologizing for doubting him. But their partners had come in this other ship, for he was astonished, and all that were with him at the draught of all the fishes which they had taken. Look at verse 10. And so also, so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. So when he says he brought his partners in verse number seven, he's talking about James and John in verse number 10. The sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon, and Jesus said unto Simon, fear not, from henceforth, thou shalt catch men. Look at verse number 11. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. Now turn to Mark chapter one. Turn to Mark chapter one. So we see in Luke chapter four that Jesus is in Peter's house with Peter's wife, and he heals Peter's wife's mother. Then we see in Luke chapter five, a little bit later, he does this great miracle where they catch all these fish. And we see James and John come into the picture. They also knew Jesus at this point. Now look at Mark chapter one in verse number 16. Mark chapter one in verse number 16, the Gospel of Mark puts it this way. Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. In verse 17, and Jesus said unto them, come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. So Luke chapter five is in between verse 16 and verse number 17 of Mark chapter one. That's a nice little note to make in your Bible. So Jesus does this. You don't see the fish story in Mark chapter one. In chapter one, you just see Jesus going and just calling them, and they forsook their nets and just followed him. So if you just read Mark chapter one, you would see that Jesus just walks by. He sees these fishermen. He's like, hey, follow me. And they all just drop everything and follow Jesus. And look, they do drop everything and follow Jesus, but he already knew them. He already knew them from John chapter one. They were following John the Baptist. Andrew, at least, and John were following John the Baptist. And Andrew told Simon, when John the Baptist found Jesus, Simon went and met Jesus. At some point, Jesus was in Simon's house. Some point, I'm sure it was within a day or two or just a few days of all this happening together. But then they do this great miracle with the fish. And then at that point, Jesus says, follow me. And they drop everything and followed him in Mark chapter one and verse number 18. And when they had gone a little farther, verse 19 of Mark one, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the ship mending their nets. Why are they mending their nets? Because their nets are all ripped up from all these fish that they caught. And straightway, he called them. And they left their father, Zebedee, in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. You say, what's the point of this little exercise? First of all, the point is like that, just to show you this, reading all the Gospels is important. It gives you the full picture of what happened, of the whole thing. But the point that I really want to make tonight, and the reason I want to just preach a whole sermon on this, is that Andrew, Peter, John, and James were all probably disciples of John the Baptist. And they knew Jesus already, and they all knew each other, is the point I'm trying to get you to understand. They're business partners. James and John and Andrew and Peter were business partners together, two sets of brothers. Now go back to John chapter 1. Now go back to John chapter 1, and look at verse number 42. All that being said, there's even more, because we have two more of Jesus's eventual disciples that come up in John chapter 1. So really John chapter 1 is laying out six, the first six disciples that Jesus called. Look at verse 42 of John 1. And he brought him to Jesus, and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, son of Jonah. Thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. And the day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee and find Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. So this is implying that Andrew and Peter knew Philip, and that's how Jesus knew of Philip, is because of Andrew. Andrew and Peter probably told Jesus about, look this is just me speculating here, but they probably told Jesus about this guy they grew up with, and Bethsaida, and you know he's looking for the messiahs too, and let's go tell Philip about this. So Jesus goes and he finds Philip. Look at verse 45. Philip, and then Philip findeth Nathanael, and said unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, Nazareth the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Nathanael's not really down with it, so he's maybe less spiritual than the other you know five, can there be any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming down to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. So Jesus kind of gives this compliment to Nathanael, and Nathanael sayeth unto him, whence knowest thou me? He's like, how do you know me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when now it's under the fig tree, I saw thee. So Jesus basically tells this kind of this doubting Thomas at the beginning of John chapter one here. He doesn't believe that Jesus that the Messiah could come from Nazareth, and he's kind of making some snide comments, and then Jesus he makes some you know he does a miraculous thing for Nathanael. He tells him where he was before he came there. He says, I know that before Philip even came to you, you were sitting under a tree. This is before satellite imagery and all this kind of stuff. So Jesus just basically miraculously tells Nathanael where he was and what he was doing. In Nathanael it works. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believeth thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. I'll leave the last verse for the end of the sermon, but let's go back to this idea of these disciples. The point I'm trying to make at the introduction here this evening is all six of these guys were either related or they knew each other. Andrew, Peter, James, John, Nathanael, and Philip. All six of them. So what I'm going to preach about tonight is this idea of friends and family. Friends and family when we have found the Messiahs. What does the Bible teach about friends and family? Look, one of the most exciting things in your Christian life is going to be telling friends and family, giving the gospel to friends and family once you have found the Messiahs. Once you've gotten saved, the first people just like these men that you want to go to are your friends and your family. It all starts the same way. Just like these guys. It's just like Andrew went and told, you know, who did he tell first? He works with his brother, he loves his brother, he grew up with his brother, and as soon as he finds Jesus, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, he runs and the first person he tells is his brother. It's all the same way. But I want to show you that tonight there's several outcomes that will come from, you know, telling your friends and your family that we have found the Messiahs. There's several outcomes and the Bible kind of gives us guidance on how to handle all these different outcomes that we will have when we find the Messiahs. When we go and we give the gospel to our friends and family. So this is one of the most exciting things, but it is also one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is going to be friends and family. When you go and tell them that we have found the Messiahs. So what are the outcomes that it could be? The first one is the outcome that you see here in John chapter one. The first outcome is you get saved and, you know, here's a common occurrence, by the way, and if you're like this was me, this was all of us. You get saved and you're so excited that you're saved, you've never gone soul winning, you don't know how to give the gospel, all you did was hear the gospel, believe the gospel, get saved and you kind of go and try to give the gospel to people, but you don't really know what you're doing. You're kind of fumbling around, you know, you're kind of swinging the sword of the word of God around, you're cutting ears off, you're hacking arms off, you don't really know what you're doing with the Bible. That's common, okay? You're like, maybe I should have waited a month before I tried to give the gospel. Everybody has gone through that. Don't feel bad, okay? So, the first thing is, the first outcome though, and look, I know people that have had varying levels of success from very good success, I've never seen a hundred percent success, to almost no success at all with their friends and family, okay? We're going to talk about those two things and how a Christian should handle those things. So, you find the messiahs. We have found the messiahs and you go and you give the gospel to your friends and your family and, you know, you're going to have some Peters and you're going to have some Nathaniels and you're going to have some James out there that are going to just, they're going to, they're going to go with you. They're going to go with you. This is what we want. We want people to say, hey, I'm with you and you want them to go tell their friends and that's how, I mean, that's really how Christianity works right there is we go out, we give the gospel, people get saved, they get in church, they learn how to give the gospel, they get going on this Christian life and they go get other people saved. That's how it is, that's how it's designed for us to be these ambassadors. That's the best outcome that we saw in John chapter one. Turn back to Mark chapter one. Turn back to Mark chapter one. So, yeah, you know, hopefully you get a lot of your friends and a lot of your family saved. That's the ideal situation. But the second situation is this. So that's what we're going to call, you know, they get saved and they go with you, just like Nathaniel, Peter and James. But look at Mark chapter one and verse number 19. The second outcome is this. They don't go with you. They don't go with you. Look at verse 19 of Mark chapter one. The Bible says that when he had gone out a little farther than he saw James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, who also were in the ship, mending their nets and straight way he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after him. It says they went after Jesus and they left their father. They left their dad behind. Look, they left him there. They took off and they left their business. They left everything behind and followed Jesus. And their father didn't go with them. These servants didn't go with them. But I mean, they walked away from their dad here. It doesn't say they never saw him again. Look, it doesn't say he was a bad guy. He just didn't go with them. So that might be the first result that you have is you go out and you give people the gospel, maybe they get saved. But they're just, they're not going to go with you in this Christian life. That is possible. You know, that's Zebedee here. That is James and John's father. It doesn't say, I mean, I'm assuming that he was probably a pretty decent man. I mean, just from James and John and the way the boys turned out. He just didn't go with them. You have to be ready for friends and family that will get saved but they're just not going to serve the Lord with you. They're just not going to do the things that the Bible says. Maybe they don't want to get in church. Maybe they don't want to do these things. Maybe they don't want to, you know, change their life or, you know, follow everything that, you know, they don't want to even know what the Bible says. I mean, they're happy to be saved but they just don't want to do anything about it. That is one possible, that is one thing that you are going to face in this Christian life when you go out and you go forth and you say, I have found the Messiahs. It's people that they may get saved but they're just not going to go with you. Here's the second one. Turn to Luke chapter 12. Here's a, so basically the people that don't go with you are kind of cut into two categories. They don't go with you because they just don't want to serve the Lord. They want to keep their life going in the same direction that it is. They're quite happy and they just don't have that desire to serve God, that character to serve God in their life. Look at Luke chapter 12 and let's look at the second category of these people that aren't going to be with you, right? The best scenario is people, they're going to get saved and they're going to go with you. They're like, where do we need to go to church? What do we need to be doing in this Christian life? We want to learn the Bible, figure out what, you know, this, this Jesus that saved them. What does he want from them in this life? That's the best case scenario. Then there's the people that aren't going to go with you. Maybe they got saved, but they just don't want to serve the Lord with their life. They're just not going to change. They're just not going to do anything about their salvation. Okay. Look at Luke chapter 12. The second category, the people that don't go with you, that you're going to run into in your life is going to be this friends and family that reject the gospel. Where you say, I found the Messiahs and they say, no, we don't believe you. And you try to tell them, look, this is the gospel. This is how you can go to heaven. All you have to do, Jesus Christ is the only way. All you have to do, trust in that. And they don't want it. They reject it. Not only are they not going to go with you, they reject the message in the first place and they're not even saved. This is why Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 that he did not come to bring peace to everyone. Look at Luke chapter 12 in verse number. Look, and this isn't popular, but this needs to be preached more today because this is the problem today. The problem today is this convergence of everything. The problem today is that our diversity is our strength. And they try to, you know, they'll use, you know, race and this fake idea of race to say, oh, diversity, then they'll really do is foist all cultures upon you and say all cultures are equal and all religions are equal. And we're all supposed to be all, look, this is the philosophy of the antichrist of the end times. This is the philosophy of the meld everything together of the one world government, of the one world religion. This is why you're seeing this today. This convergence of everything. Jesus said, no, there needs to be division. I came to bring division. There must be division. Look, we need less coming together and we need more division today. This is the problem. And look, I'm not running for political office here. I'm talking about what the Christian needs to do. I'm talking about us as Bible believing Christians. Division is for us because Jesus said, I came to bring division. And it's for those people, even in our lives, even those people that are closest to us, our friends, our family that have rejected Christ, that have rejected the gospel that Jesus is talking about. And Jesus gives an example of the deepest type of example in Luke chapter 12 and verse number 51. Look what Jesus says. Suppose you that I'm come to give peace on earth. I'm telling you, Christian churches are preaching a false Jesus today. Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth. He says, I tell you nay, but rather division. For from henceforth, there should be five and one house divided. Now he gives this extreme example of a family and a house divided. Three against two, two against three, the father against the son, the son against the father. Can you imagine the mother against his daughter, against the daughter, the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law and the daughter in law against her mother in law. That's some deep division in a, in a, in a close family. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters divided over Jesus. It's interesting. I was kind of bouncing this around with my, my wife and I talk about this a lot, but I was bouncing this around with my wife and my wife had an interesting point last night that husband and wife is not mentioned here. And that's super interesting because why? Because you're not supposed to marry somebody that's unsaved. That's why you're not supposed to marry somebody that's unsaved. And the Bible even gives specifics that if one person would marry somebody that was unsaved or two unsaved people would be married and one would get saved. The Bible gives specific direction that God still wants that marriage to stay together. So we're not talking about dividing marriages here. You know, you should marry, if you're saved, you should definitely marry somebody that's saved. But it's interesting that Jesus isn't saying, I didn't come to divide husband and wife. Okay. But look, it's interesting that Jesus uses this extreme example. Turn to second Corinthians chapter six. So you say, when do I'm going to just give you some, I'm going to give you some philosophies because the Bible doesn't have your specific scenario listed in the Bible probably because everybody has different. I was reminded of this this weekend when I met so many of our brothers and sisters that came from so many different places, different churches. And I was just reminded how many people have gone through serious separation in their Christian life. I was reminded about it and look, it's varying degrees depending on who you talk to. And why? Why is it varying degrees? Mainly because they were in varying situations with their friends and their family once they got saved. Turn to second Corinthians chapter six. So let me just give you some philosophies to follow, some biblical philosophies, some biblical methodologies to follow in your life to decide when you should be divided in your life. Look at second Corinthians chapter six and verse number 14. Obviously, we would all like all of our friends and all of our family to just accept Jesus and follow Jesus with us and just be on the same page with us. There would be no division at all. But look, narrow is the way and straight is the gate. It is never going to be that way. It is never going to be that way in a country where the majority of people are saved. It is never going to be that way even in a city where the majority of people are saved. Because narrow is the way and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Most people are unsaved. So what Jesus is telling us and what the Bible is telling us in these next few passages that we're going to study through here is how to handle that. Look, we know what we're supposed to do. You say this whole city, the majority of people are unsaved. We already know what we're supposed to be doing there to try to fix that. We're doing it. We're going out there. We're preaching the gospel with as many possible people as we can get. We're already doing that. But the Bible gives us some direction on how we are to divide and separate in certain situations. Look at second Corinthians chapter six. Second Corinthians chapter six. Look at verse number 14. The Bible says, So the Bible here is saying, and in the next few verses, the key to this is the first five words or six words here where it says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And then he gives us all these examples of what that would be like. If you're unequally yoked together with unbelievers, that's like righteousness being with unrighteousness. That's like light with darkness. That doesn't make any sense. Look what he says in verse 15. He's like, hey, being unequally yoked with unbelievers is like Jesus hanging out with Satan. I mean, it's pretty extreme, these examples that we're giving. So what does it mean to be unequally yoked? That's really the context of all of this that we're reading. To be unequally yoked means you're together in a situation where, you know, they have control over you, basically. You're unequally yoked, meaning you're tied together with them. You're in a business relationship. A marriage would definitely qualify here. This is used, this is the verse to prove that you should never marry somebody that is unsaved if you're saved. Because you're going to be yoking yourself together with an unbeliever. If you're a believer and they're an unbeliever, that's an unequal yoking, is what the Bible is saying here. So it's just saying, like, don't yoke up with unbelievers. It's like Christ yoking up with Satan. It's like, you know, and then he literally says, he that believeth with an infidel. 16, verse 16. In what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Now this is an interesting one. For here the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. So as you were saved, you know, you've been indwelled by the Holy Spirit. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus is literally saying, your body is the temple of God. I mean, that gives a whole new perspective of where your body should be, does it not? Should your body ever be in a Catholic church, do you think? I mean, should your body be, wouldn't that be the temple of God being amongst idols? I mean, that's just one example. Look at verse 17. And then he gives us the answer. He says, wherefore? He says, because of these things, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter five. So yeah, come out from among them. What does that mean, though? But this is a question. This is a problem that people have. But first of all, I would like to say that separate is not together. Separate is, you know, apart. It is not together. If you separate from people, they will not be happy. You need to just accept that. And you need to start to realize that, you know, once you look, here's another thing. Once you separate from people, if you decide that separation, we're going to, we're going to, I'm going to give you a decision matrix tonight on when you should separate and when you should not separate. But look, if you this, if you separate from people, they're not going to be happy. And you're going to start to think like, you're going to start to realize that a whole lot of people thought they had a lot of control over you in your life. It might shock you, but you know why they think that? Because they did. Because this idea of friends and family, it does have control for us in our lives. So the question is this, like, if somebody's not saved, can I not hang out with them? Can I just not like, if I go to the store, and like the cashier's not saved, do I have to run away screaming? What is, I mean, what is it? It says, what fellowship? You know, it says, the believer with the infidel, don't be unequally yoked. What does that mean? Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. I'm going to give you a philosophy here to follow. I'm going to give you a philosophy to apply your life. And it's a philosophy that Jesus applies to the church. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Because Ephesians chapter 5 says, you know, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. The question is, what are the unfruitful, what are those unfruitful works of darkness? Because the Bible is saying, I shouldn't be in fellowship with those, whatever they are. Alright, well in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul writes to the the Corinthian church, and he gives us some philosophies on what should not be allowed in the church. We're talking about the church here. We're talking about the church that Jesus Christ is the head of. Look at verse number 9 of 1 Corinthians chapter 5. I'm going to give you a philosophy to use in your life and apply to things that, you know, you should separate from or maybe things you don't need to separate from. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse number 9. Paul says, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators. Alright, well that's a pretty direct statement. The whole problem in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 was there was somebody in the church that was in fornication. And he took him to the beginning of the chapter to get him out, to put him out of the church. But he says, don't company with fornicators. Then look at verse number 10. He says, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters, for then must ye needs go out of the world. So that kind of answers our cashier question, right? And look at verse number 11. We'll come back to verse number 10. He says, but now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or idolater or rail or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. So look, we use verse number 11. Verse number 11 is enforced here, meaning these things, these six things in verse number 11, if somebody is called a brother, that means if somebody is in the church that's saved and that is one of these things. Now look, it's any man that is called a brother. So it's not like somebody that comes in here to visit and you find out that, oh, he's living with his girlfriend. We immediately put him in a headlock and drag him out the door. That is not how this goes. But what this does say is if anybody wants to become a member that's coming to this church on a regular basis and they're in fornication, I'll just use this one as an example because it happens. Because fornication is universally accepted in this society that we live in. So this happens. This has happened. People will come in and they want to start coming to the church and they're in fornication, meaning they're living with someone that they are not married to. There's going to be a conversation and some choices that are put forth. And those choices are you can either stop living in fornication, you can either get married, or you can either go to church somewhere else. And we hope obviously that the first two will be one of their choices. We hope obviously that they would say, yes, we are wrong and we didn't know and we want to get married. That happens a lot. That happens a lot in churches like ours. They just didn't know. How would they know, folks? How would they know? Because everybody around them is doing it and it's normal and it's universally accepted. So they wouldn't know. But once they know, those choices will be put forth. And you say, why? That is one unique thing that sets us apart. One unique thing that sets us apart from I'm sure every church in Fresno is that we enforce church discipline. We will listen to what the Bible says on this. And you say, why is that? Well, first of all, because the Bible says, we could just close the book on it right there. That's just what the Bible says. But he gives us the answer in verse number, I don't have my Bible turned to it, but it's in verse number five or verse number six. Look up in 1 Corinthians chapter five, and he basically says that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. And it makes sense. And this is the philosophy that I want you to get tonight is the reason that you can't allow fornication in the church is because I can't get up here and preach against fornication constantly to all these kids. Look, I'm not trying to beat up on people that have done some sin in their past. We're trying to get these kids to be pure and go to their wedding day pure and do things the right way as the Bible says. And you can't do that. If I get up here and say it, then we got fornication everywhere in the church. It makes this church a hypocritical church. It's not going to work. What does it mean? A little leaven leaveneth the whole, it means that fornication is going to spread. That idolatry is going to spread to everybody. And it won't matter what the preacher says, because what you do is way more important than what you say. That's why it's in here and it makes perfect sense. Now, if you take that philosophy and put it on your family, take the philosophy of a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and Jesus Christ, God, the Word of God chooses these six things to separate from the church, I would think it would make sense to apply that to your family. I mean, as a dad, as a husband, you're kind of the pastor of your household, folks. And you have to understand that if you're in voluntary fellowship in your life with all of these sins here, that the idea of a little leaven leavening the whole lump is going to apply to your family. It's not going to do you any good to tell your kids that they shouldn't be drinking, that, you know, a drunkard is against the Bible and we can do Bible studies and you're going to hear preaching on it, you're just going to scream from the pulpit, and then every weekend you're hanging out with friends and family that are a bunch of drunkards. It's not going to work, because what you do is more powerful than what you say. That leaven is going to spread to them, because you know what? They're going to see that, you know, the drunkards and grandpa and uncle Joe or whoever it is, you know, he's a pretty nice guy and he drinks and, you know, you're going to destroy the exceedingly sinful power of the Bible to make these sins pop out. You're just going to go and dull it all down to them and you're going to spread that leaven in your family. That's why this philosophy should be put upon your family. Let me just say this, let me just say this, it's better to draw a thicker line of separation than a thinner one. Even though it might be painful to draw that thicker line of separation, the better you draw lines, here's the irony of it, the better you draw a line, the less you are going to have to separate from your family, your immediate family, in future generations. Think about what I just said. The better you can draw lines of separation now, the better you will ensure that the future generations of your family are all on the same page. That is a huge goal in my life. Look, that should be your goal in your life. And a hard truth is this, a hard truth is this, that the Bible makes no special provisions for not separating from ungodly people like 1 Corinthians 5 is listing because they're related to you. No special provisions. That's why Luke 12.51 is listed out with those extreme examples of father and son and mother and daughter. And once you mature as a Christian, let me just tell you this, once you mature as a Christian, you'll look back on that concept and you will just look back at it as completely idiotic and unbiblical. This concept that because I'm related to people, I must just hang out and just do whatever, be around whatever they're around. It's nowhere in the Bible. That's why the Bible says a brother is born for adversity. Look, I hope they all get saved. And I'm not saying Zebedee's father was probably not a bad guy. I'm not saying that he should be separated from. I'm not saying you're like, oh, you're not saved. Separated. Don't take an ax to everybody. What I'm saying is use 1 Corinthians 5 as a philosophy. And when it, look, folks, when it comes to kids and families and children, you have to get even more extreme because it is much more dangerous. You may think you can make it work in certain situations. You may struggle through awkward situations, but it'll ruin your kids if you're not careful. You can't raise your, when you raise your children with these standards and learning the Bible, you can either build up those standards or you can break them down. And if you're constantly putting them in situations where they're the only ones with these standards, you're going to break down their standards. If you're constantly putting them in situations where everybody else has their standards, you're going to build those standards. That's why this weekend is so powerful. That's why a growing church like this is so powerful, because it builds those standards. You'll degrade them. I mean, just think about it. Think about, you know, wanting your daughter to be, you know, skirts only and then constantly putting her in situations with old friends of yours or whatever where she's the only one dressed appropriately. Like, why would you ever do that to her? You're going to break her down. You're going to break down those standards. Pretty soon she's going to be like, why am I doing this? These people seem nice. What's the deal? They're going to turn against it. You've got to build up those standards. This is Jehoshaphat and Ahab. Jehoshaphat was a great king. He was one of the best kings of Ahab. And then he just, he had affinity with Ahab, this wicked king of Israel. Affinity with Ahab and guess what? Their kids married each other and it ruined generations of Jehoshaphat's family, generations of his family. You have to be careful with this stuff. All it takes to have your children, you know, ruined is for them to marry the wrong person. That's, what a nightmare. And look, I've seen it happen and it is a nightmare for parents. But that's what happens if you're just constantly, what was Jehoshaphat doing? He's just exposing his children to this wicked family, to this wicked dynasty in the north. And his son married the wrong person. He married somebody from that wicked dynasty and it ruined his family for generations. Children's children ruined. So look, use the philosophy of 1 Corinthians 5. Use it with your family. It makes sense. Use that same philosophy that Jesus Christ is using to protect the church in your own family. I hope all your family and friends get saved and we're going to keep trying. Look, they don't reject it. We're going to keep trying to give them the gospel and keep trying to be a blessing to friends and family that we have, but we can't let that attack our Christian life. And that's what 1 Corinthians 5 and that philosophy is all about. And look, separation needs to happen at times, especially with these major things in our society today. You're not going to see too many extortioners. I'm sure somebody's seen it, but you're not going to see too many, you know, idolaters. But like, especially with fornication and drunkenness, these are super common things today that are super accepted today in our society. And look, you can have nice friends and nice family that are into both of those things and it'll spread leaven in your own home. And separation is called for in those cases. So look, it's uncomfortable, but you have to do it. In cases like that, it has to be done. If you love your children and you don't want, and you want from your generation forward to not have to separate from each other, you have to draw these lines back here where they need to be drawn. All right. It's a super important lesson. I mean, we see people just like in John chapter one, we see people in this church. I love seeing it going to their friends and family, getting many of them saved, getting some of them into church. That's awesome. But there's another side of it. And everyone is going to deal with it to some degree or another. I was surprised and I had forgotten how many people that I knew that had to separate from everyone that they used to know. And they did it. And you know what? They were right to do it. And it takes strength and it takes courage to do that. But you know what? The future generations of their family will reap the rewards of that decision that they made. Go back to John chapter one. Go back to John chapter one. Let's look at verse number 51 this evening. And this has nothing to do with the entire sermon, but I just want to address verse number 51. Look at verse number 51. So Nathanael was doubting Jesus. Jesus said, I knew where you were and I knew what you were doing before Philip even came to see you. And now he's just praising him as the son of Jesus believes now that he saw this, now Jesus did this miracle. So he did this small miracle. It's kind of what Jesus is getting at with Nathanael. He did this little tiny miracle for Nathanael. He kind of just told him where he was. And Nathanael was like, wow, you are the son of God. And he's like, man, you have no idea what's coming. Look at verse number 51. And he saith unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, hereafter you shall see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man. So what he's kind of like, the overview of what he's saying here is you haven't seen anything yet. He's telling Nathanael. And of course, we know we've read the gospels. We know all the miracles that Jesus is about to do. And we know that Nathanael hasn't seen anything yet. Jesus is going to heal the sick. He's going to heal the blind. He's going to raise people from the dead. And of course, he's going to die on the cross and go to hell. His soul is going to go to hell for three days and three nights. And he's going to raise himself from the dead. But here's what's interesting. Go to Genesis chapter 28. There's a deeper meaning here. It's a clear reference to Genesis chapter 28. He's kind of explaining Genesis chapter 28 as well. But he's basically, the overview is he's telling Nathanael, you ain't seen nothing yet. But go to Genesis chapter 28. He's definitely pointing out kind of the explanation of what Jacob saw here in his dream. Look at verse number 10 of Genesis 28. And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went towards Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place and carried there all night because the sun was set. And he took the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down on that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac, and the land whereupon thou liest to thee, while I give it to thee, and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the east, to the west, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee, don't miss this, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Now we know, of course, from Galatians that thy seed that he's talking about there is Jesus Christ. He's saying, how is all the world going to be blessed through Jacob, who later has his name changed to Israel? He's going to be blessed, the world is going to be blessed through him because the Messiah is going to come from that line, not because he's of some super special genealogy, because that is who the Messiah is going to come from, Jesus Christ. And that's why the lineage of Jesus is in, you know, Luke 3 and Matthew chapter 1. But Jacob waked out of his sleep and he said, surely the Lord is in its place, and he knew it not. So what Jesus was also saying to Nathaniel as he referenced the angels going up and down from the heaven is he's telling Nathaniel that the Lord is in this place. And that, and look, he's also telling, it's also a great picture of how Jesus is the conduit for, you know, bringing us to heaven. He's the conduit for heaven coming to man, for God coming down to man. You say, was there an actual physical miracle attached to this that Jesus is talking about? Now, I have never heard this preached, but this is just my opinion. I think that it is in the Bible. Turn to Acts chapter 1. I've never, this is just my opinion and it could be wrong, but this is just what I think. Okay. Look at Acts chapter 1 and verse number 4. I also think that this is the last thing that the disciples saw of Jesus. It seems to fit to me. Look at Acts chapter 1 and verse number 4, Acts chapter 1 and verse number 4. So Jesus was basically making it clear. He's basically telling Nathaniel, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm going to do a lot of miracles. And he's also telling Nathaniel, he's making a reference to what Jacob saw. Jacob actually saw a messianic prophecy is what Jesus was saying. And then he's making a reference on how he is this conduit from heaven to the earth for man. Look, there's only one way to get to heaven and that's through Jesus Christ. Makes perfect sense. Now look at Acts chapter 1 and verse number 4. I also believe the disciples actually saw it happen. Look at verse number 4. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which sayeth he have heard of me. Jesus is giving them the last commands before he goes to heaven. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. We also saw this. John the Baptist talked about this in John 1. We talked about it last week. And when they were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? They still think that he's going to become this worldly king, this earthly king at this point. And he sayeth unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things while they be held, you know what that means? While they be held, the disciples. All the disciples are there. Philip, Nathan, or Nathaniel, Andrew, James, John, Peter, they're all there. They're watching this and they be held. That means they're looking. That means they're watching it happen. It says what? He was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and while they looked steadfastly towards heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel. You know who those two men are? They're angels. They're angels. So what do we have? We have Jesus going to heaven here. We have them all watching Jesus go to heaven and we have angels involved in the situation. It sounds pretty close to John chapter 1 in verse number 51 to me. But like I said, I'm not making up new doctrine here. That's just what I think. And guess what it fits to? Because it's literally the last thing that they see of Jesus. It's the last miracle out of everything that they've seen. This is the last one. I bet you, Nathaniel, stand in there at this point being like, ah, that's what he was talking about at the end. And then the angels actually said to them, you men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus which is taken up from heaven so shall come in like manner as you've seen him go into heaven. So Jesus goes to heaven, there's angels present and the disciples all beheld it. I believe that matches exactly John chapter 1 and verse number 51. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.