Christian reality-check: The first two apostle-evangelists —Andrew and Philip

How do you know you are called? How sure are you of your vision and calling? I am led to read how the first disciple of Jesus discovered this “how” factor. And it varies. There are two different scenario described in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

1. John records how two disciples of John the Baptist became Jesus’ first disciples. (1:35-42) The two heard John declare that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and decided to follow Jesus to see where He lives. Jesus replied, “Come and see.” They went with Him to where He was staying and remained with Him the rest of the day. There is no mention why they wanted to know where Jesus was staying. But what followed that going and staying with Jesus is significant. There were two of them together but only one is mentioned by name, Andrew, the brother of Peter. Andrew went on and told Peter they have found the Messiah (Christ)! (the Bible did not record what happened to the other disciple of John the Baptist. Did he continue to follow Jesus? He is not among the twelve chosen to be apostles by Jesus later. Andrew and Peter became apostles. The unnamed disciple seemed to have missed it.
2. In a second scenario Jesus took the initiative to go to Galilee to look for disciples. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.”  And Philip became Jesus’ disciple. After that Philip went and looked for Nathanael and told him that they have found the person Moses and the prophets wrote about, namely Jesus! Both Philip and Nathanael became apostles. (1:43-49)

Let’s look at the similarities of the two apostles (Andrew and Philip):

1. Both Andrew and Philip are well prepared, full of expectancy and are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.
2. They bring people to Jesus. (Andrew: John 1:41-42, 6:8-9, 12:20-26)
3. They both say, “we have found the Messiah.”
4. It means that they have been searching, enquiring and looking out for the arrival of the Messiah. When Jesus appears, they recall what they have learned about the Messiah, and are fully convinced and respond to His calling immediately.
5. They show their faith in action by going to tell someone what they have found and believed. They became eager witnesses for Him naturally.

In summary, they first learned about what Moses and the prophets wrote about the Messiah, and expected Him to really come. When Jesus came and they heard about Him, they believed and responded when He called them. They declared to their close relative and friend, “We have found the Messiah—Jesus is the One!”

The Holy Spirit through John has given great significance to the calling of Andrew and Philip who in turn became the first two evangelists among the disciples. It is also significant to note that both Peter and Nathanael were at first reluctant to follow Jesus! They had to be persuaded. On the other hand, Andrew and Philip were already ready when Jesus showed up! 

Knowing and searching come before encountering and calling. When the calling comes they already know.  

Journey to See God: Seeing God intimately

God reveals Himself in His way

Life is more interesting, never dull when one lives in the Spirit and walks by the Spirit, just as the apostles had experienced during the time of the early churches (as in the book of Acts). Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, one cannot possibly understand the Bible, the watchman has thus discovered.
The Bible is all about God. The Holy Spirit has come to show us how to see God. Reading John 7 and 8 has revealed new truth to the watchman. The truth is just there, all over the pages as he sees through the eyes of his spirit.
________________________Here is his brief note on 10-14-2012:
The Bible is all about God, revealing Himself to man, not the other way round. God takes initiative: set time, ‘when’, ‘whom he sent’, ‘for what purpose’. But man looks at ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who is who’ all in the physical.
How does Jesus describes His focused intimate relationship, interactions and identification with God? (Just read the following list. The words ‘He’, ‘His’, ‘Him’ are used to denote God.)
‘He sent’, ‘He knows’, “in His time’, “His will’, ‘He teaches’, ‘comes from Him’, ‘His truth’, ‘learn from Him’, ‘return to Him’, ‘He speaks the truth’, ‘seek to honor Him’, ‘with Him’, ‘know who He is’, ‘belong to Him’, ‘from above’ (where God is), ‘not of the world below’ (where man is), ‘heard from Him’, ‘completely truthful’, ‘always do what please Him’, ‘do nothing on one’s own’, ‘say only what ones hears from Him’, ‘sent by Him’, ‘set sinners free’ (do His work), ‘saw what He did’, ‘tell the truth’, ‘come from God’,'consistent with God’s character’, ‘belong to God’, ‘listen gladly to the words of God’, ‘honor God’, ‘no demon in Him’, ‘no wish to glorify self’, ‘obey His teaching’, ‘know God’ and ‘obey Him’, ‘know Him and His Son’, know He is ‘I AM’.
______________________Relevant excerpts from “Spiritual Intimacy  & Communion” (from “Demands of Love” book by Susan Tang)
“The early Christians did not pick up spirits as easily as we do now because they were serious Christians who had a strong river of Spirit-life running inside them. They believed in spiritual communion and intimacy with God and spent time in serious prayer daily. They were people who knew how to drink long and deep at the Living Fountain. That was why they had no problems with demons..”
“Ministry today is dangerous because the emphasis is all on the outward _ the size of the church, the numbers, the performance, the buildings. Satan will be happy to give us these (and he can) provided he can keep us away from “The Drink”.”
http://www.station-of-life.org/demands-love.htm

SPIRITUAL INTIMACY (book by Susan Tang) 
MORE EXCERPTS: Psalm 143: 11
Quicken me O Lord, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.
The word, ‘quicken’ actually means ‘to make alive.’ Many people, even Christians, lose their will to live because they cannot take the m and the pressure. When David lost the will to carry on, he screamed out to God many times, “O God, make me live!” He would not give way to suicide because he knew life came from God and it was not right for him to end it himself.
There is such power in intimacy with God. Even when David lost the will to live, he realized he could still carry on living when he allowed God to impact into him the purpose of living – to live for Him! Through intimacy with God, David knew he had a destiny to fulfill, and this gave him the strength to carry on. Yes, we can definitely derive meaning and strength to live on when we know intimacy with Father God.

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“The common Christian today knows everything from prophecy to anointing, from home cells to music, from miracles to visitations, from missions to running errands etc. but they simply cannot enter into intimacy with the Lord or prevail in His presence. Seeking His face is just too much for them.” [Read More]

spiritual intimacy & communion with God