Tuesday

Related Verses
John 1:40-49 (41-46)
40 One of the two who heard this from John and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah (which translated means Christ).
42 He led him to Jesus. Looking at him, Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted, Peter).
43 The next day He wanted to go forth into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, Follow Me.
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.
46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good be from Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said concerning him, Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile!
48 Nathanael said to Him, How do You know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.
49 Nathanael answered Him, Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.

Related Reading
Leading People to the Lord
“Andrew…first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah…He led him to Jesus…Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus…Come and see” (John 1:40-42 , 45-46).

The second expression for preaching the gospel is leading people to the Lord. When Andrew met the Lord, he went to his brother Simon and led him to meet the Lord. After Philip met the Lord, he went to Nathanael (probably a neighbor, relative, or close friend) and brought him to see the Lord. These instances show that once a person knows the Lord, he should lead others to the Lord, particularly his relatives and friends. Just as Andrew brought his brother to the Lord and Philip brought his neighbor, relative, or friend to the Lord, we should lead our relatives and friends to the Lord.

In leading people to the Lord, we should pay attention to two matters. First, we must have a burden in order to know whom we should lead to the Lord. Andrew had a burden for his brother, and Philip also had a burden. We should not go to people in a loose way. We must have a definite goal so that we can lead people to the Lord one by one. Second, we must lead people to the Lord so that they can see the Lord directly for themselves. Philip, however, did not introduce the Lord so clearly when he said that the Lord was a Nazarene. This made it more difficult for Nathanael to believe, because he responded, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” (v. 46). Philip wisely did not try to explain. He simply said, “Come and see.” If Philip had said anything more than this, he could have made more mistakes that would have confused Nathanael and caused him to doubt. Then it would have been difficult for Nathanael to believe in Jesus. However, as soon as Philip brought Nathanael to see the Lord directly, Nathanael was able to know the Lord. Often our exhortations for people to believe in the Lord are not very clear or correct. New believers especially have this problem. Therefore, we must be careful not to explain too much, because this can confuse people. We need to learn to bring people to see Jesus. We need to say, “Come and see.” We need to bring them to the Lord to see Him directly. Once people see the Lord, many questions dissipate. People have questions because they have not seen the Lord. Therefore, we should not attempt to answer all their questions. We should simply bring them before the Lord and let the Lord Himself answer their questions. Once a person sees the Lord, all his questions are answered (Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, vol. 3, ch. 28, pp. 502-503).