“ANDREW – A QUIET MAN”
SELECTED SCRIPTURES

I. Introduction
The Apostle Paul preached the gospel and planted the first church in the Greek city of Corinth on his second missionary journey in the year 50 A.D. By that time Corinth had become the primary center of immorality in an already immoral region.

It was there that the Temple of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, catered to all forms of sexual perversion. Such was the “religion” of the Corinthians. The temple employed more than 1,000 priestesses who were there to assist in “worship.” The fact is that they were nothing more than religious prostitutes. In fact, Corinth had developed such a repu-tation that the Greek language actually had a word for it. To “korinthiazomai,” that is, to act like a Corinthian, meant “to practice fornication.”

You can imagine the difficulties the fledgling church would have in such a place. You can imagine the pressures placed on those who believed the gospel and received Christ. So it isn’t surprising that five or six years after the Corinthian church was founded, some serious problems had arisen and were infecting the body of Christ.

Paul deals with those problems in what we now know as 1 Corinthians. His letter isn’t about doctrine. It’s about the Corinthian’s behavior. The church was, to put it bluntly, a mess. For example, it was plagued with issues of sexual immorality. That’s no surprise given the background of the people. Their culture equated religion with illicit sex. So it’s no surprise that they misunderstood marriage and divorce. But there was more. They dragged each other into the secular courts. They abused the Lord’s Supper. They failed to recognize that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to edify the body, not promote the individual. Furthermore, they had no idea of what true Christian love was really about.

But the first problem Paul dealt with in Corinth was the issue of factions within the church. The Corinthian believers were aligning themselves with their favorite teachers. There was “pastor worship” where there should only have been “Christ worship.”
*1 Corinthians 1:10-13
10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I am of Apollos,” and “I (am) of Cephas (Aramaic for Peter),” and “I (am) of Christ.”
13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Later Paul says that such attitudes on the part of believers illustrate spiritual immaturity.
*1 Corinthians 3:1-7
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.
2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

As we begin our study of the twelve apostles I want to use Paul’s admonition to the church at Corinth as an example of the problems and troubles that will inevitably come upon Christians who look solely to theologians, pastors, teachers, or to anyone other than Christ for their spiritual sustenance and growth.

Let there be no mistake. The apostles were great men of God, but they were mere men. They were sinners just like us. So we are not to venerate or worship them. Neither are we to pray to them or through them. Then why should we study the lives of the apostles? The answer is that they have much to teach us. We can learn from their examples as we see both their virtues and their faults. There is as much to learn from their weaknesses and failures as there is from their strengths and victories.
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II. Text
Consider what Jesus initially found in the twelve men He chose. He found the same things in them He finds in us when He saves us. When He called them the apostles had little or no spiritual understanding, humility, faith, commitment, or power. Just as the Holy Spirit builds those things in us after we are saved, Jesus had to build those things in the twelve. We can identify with the apostles’ shortcomings. Here are just five of them.

1. The Apostles’ Lack of Spiritual Understanding –
In the beginning these twelve men understood very little of what Jesus said. They were blind to spiritual truth. When Jesus would ask them if they understood what He said, they would often reply, “Yes,” but they seldom understood at all.

It’s been said that if you are aware of what you don’t know, you’re a “conscious incom-petent.” For example, I know that I don’t know anything about differential calculus. So, when it comes to differential calculus, I am fully conscious of the fact I am incompetent.
The apostles, on the other hand, weren’t even aware of what they didn’t know. In regard to spiritual matters each one of them was what might be called an “unconscious incompe-tent.” In that, they were just like us when we came to saving faith. In Peter’s case that was never more obvious than when he actually scolded Jesus for speaking of His pending suffering and death.
Matthew 16:21-23
21 From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
22 And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
23 But (Jesus) turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

We need to be very clear here. In v. 23 Jesus is not saying that Peter is Satan. He is saying that such talk – anything that would keep Jesus from going to the cross – is satanic in its origin. We need to always remember that God sent His Son to earth for the express purpose of dying for our sins. The night before Jesus went to the cross He prayed…
John 12:27
27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

Had Peter been right, had Jesus not died, every one of us would still be lost, and no one would be more pleased than Satan. Do you see the awesome truth here? If the apostles could have somehow “saved” Jesus from His pending suffering, and kept Him from going to the cross, we would have no Savior. That’s why Peter’s words were satanic.

But Peter wasn’t the only one who lacked understanding. All twelve were equally blind to spiritual things.
*Luke 18:31-34
31 And (Jesus) took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.
32 “For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mis-treated and spit upon,
33 and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”
34 And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Those are just two of many examples of the apostles’ failure to grasp Jesus’ real purpose for coming to earth. They didn’t understand the most important spiritual things.
How did Jesus deal with their lack of understanding? He taught them. He was always “taking them to school,” as it were. Jesus even taught the apostles between the time of His resurrection and His ascension to heaven.
Acts 1:2-3
2 …until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
3 To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many con-vincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Isn’t that exactly what you and I need? This is the very reason why LIGHTHOUSE BIBLE CHURCH was established – to teach God’s Word in order that we may do His revealed will. What’s the lesson for us? The lesson is that we are to become mature in Christ.
*Ephesians 4:14-15
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ…

But the apostles didn’t understand. You might think a lack of understanding would tend to produce humility. But it didn’t.

2. The Apostles’ Lack of Humility –
Humility was another area where the twelve fell woefully short. In fact, on more than one occasion they expressed concern over which of them would be the greatest. Here is one of those occasions.
*Matthew 20:20-24
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Salome) came to (Jesus) with her sons (James and John), bowing down, and making a request of Him.
21 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and one on Your left.”
22 But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.”
23 He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been pre-pared by My Father.”
24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers.

Of course they were indignant. They wanted their own seats of honor. Jesus had to teach them that those who are proud and want to be first will ultimately be last.
However, those who humble themselves will be exalted. How did Jesus deal with this lack of humility? He showed them His own humility by comparing Himself to a servant.
*Matthew 20:26-28
26 “…whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Are you and I trying to serve each other or are we looking for ways to be served? The apostles had a problem with pride. But what about us? The lesson is clear, isn’t it?

3. The Apostles’ Lack of Faith –
Faith in someone else is not a top priority if you are prideful and focused on yourself. The apostles not only struggled with humility but with a wavering and weak faith. They just had a hard time believing what Jesus was telling them. In Matthew alone Jesus called them “men of little faith” no less than four times. And when He calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee He expressed it in even stronger terms.
Mark 4:40
40 “…How is it that you have no faith?”

I know that some of you are blessed with an unshakable faith that God will do exactly what He says He will do. I also know that there are some of you who struggle with that. This is yet another area where we are like the apostles. Or should I say, they are like us?

At the end of the Gospel of Mark Jesus strongly rebukes the apostles for their lack of faith even after others had told them that Jesus was alive, that He had been resurrected.
Mark 16:14
14 And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hard-ness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Jesus finally overcame their lack of faith by the miracles and wonders He performed between His resurrection and His ascension to heaven. Acts 1:3 says, “…He also pre-sented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”

4. The Apostles’ Lack of Commitment –
Commitment and courage often go together. If you are truly committed to someone you are far more likely to be courageous and fight for them than if you are not. The apostles talked a good game of commitment to Jesus.
Matthew 26:33, 35
33 (Peter said)…“Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
35 (Peter said)…“Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

But that very night their commitment was so weak they couldn’t even stay awake to pray with Jesus. And when the “chips were down,” when the soldiers came for Him before dawn, their courage simply vanished and they fled. What did Jesus do to remedy the situation? He prayed for them.
Luke 22:31-32
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.
32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, (will) strengthen your brothers.”

In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in the Gospel of John, He prays for the apostles’ protect-tion from Satan and his power.
John 17:15 (Jesus praying to His Father)
15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”

Just as Jesus prayed for them, He is interceding for us before His Father right now.

5. The Apostles’ Lack of Power –
Finally, because of their lack of spiritual understanding, humility, faith, and commitment, they had virtually no power at all. Here’s one example. When the apostles tried to cast a demon out of a boy they could not it. So the boy’s father brought him to Jesus.
*Matthew 17:16-20a
16 “…I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”
17 And Jesus answered and said (to the twelve), “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20a And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith…”

Jesus dealt with the problem of power later. For the apostles He did so after His resurrec-tion when He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). For the church He did so when it was born on the day of Pentecost (“Firstfruits”).
Acts 1:8; 2:4
8 “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…”
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…

For us He does so the moment He saves us and fills us with His Spirit.
The point is this. Whether it’s the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus or any one of us, until Jesus “breathes on us,” until we are saved and become filled with His Spirit, we are just like the twelve apostles. We have no understanding, we are prideful, we suffer from a lack of faith, and we are without true and lasting commitment to Christ or even to each other. And all of that together explains our lack of spiritual power.

Yet these are the kinds of men Jesus chose to carry on His work and lay the foundation for the church. Why would He choose such men, such spiritual misfits and weaklings? Who else was there? He was choosing twelve sinners. He would turn them into godly and powerful men whom He would make ready to serve Him, but He was starting with flawed raw material. Isn’t that all Jesus has to work with when He saves us?

He chose us for the same reason He chose the apostles. We were weak and ready to be made into His image. Just as Jesus did with the apostles, He would instruct us in wis-dom, humble us, grow our faith, teach us commitment to Him and our brethren, and empower us with His Spirit.

Well, that brings us to the beginning of our look at each one of the men Jesus chose. We’ve heard about the twelve’s shortcomings. But they were not without a variety of virtues. Just as they each had distinct personalities, so too did they each have some fine qualities about them. We’ll start with a look at Andrew.

Andrew was Peter’s brother. The two of them, together with James and John, formed Jesus’ inner circle of the twelve apostles. All four were fishermen from the village of Bethsaida on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Whenever the twelve are listed, whether it’s in the gospels or in the Book of Acts, these four are always named first.

When we first hear of Andrew he is with John. Both of them had been attracted to the ministry of John the Baptist and were following him. When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as God’s Messiah, Andrew and John immediately left the Baptist and began to follow Jesus. Look again at what Brock read for us to open the service.
*John 1:36-37
36 (…John) looked upon Jesus as He walked and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
37 And the two disciples (Andrew and John) heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Andrew’s name means “courage” or “manly.” While humility was not a virtue in great supply among the twelve as a whole, Andrew probably displayed more of that quality than any of the other eleven. Two things about Andrew stand out and tell us what kind of a man he was.

First, he couldn’t wait to follow Jesus. Can you say that about yourself? Can I? Second, he couldn’t wait to introduce others to the Lord. Can you say that about yourself? Can I?
Andrew modeled both of those things for us. What great lessons!

Andrew’s character is readily seen in four instances from John’s gospel. We’ve already seen the first. When John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, Andrew immediately left John to follow after Jesus. It should be noted that Andrew was not being disloyal to John. The latter had already made it clear that he was not the Messiah and that Jesus was the One to be followed. So Andrew didn’t wait. He left John and followed Jesus.

The very next thing Andrew did was tell someone. That someone was his brother Simon Peter, who would come to saving faith and ultimately become the leader of the apostles.
*John 1:41-42a
41 He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
42a He brought him to Jesus…

Isn’t that good? Are you like Andrew? If we knew nothing else about Andrew, we know these two things; he couldn’t wait to follow after Jesus, and he wanted to tell those he loved about the Lord. But the fact is that we know a little more about Andrew.
*John 6:8-9 (at the feeding of the five thousand)
8 One of (Jesus’) disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”

Andrew demonstrates his faith in Jesus in two ways here. First, a few verses earlier, Philip had said they couldn’t feed the people because they didn’t have sufficient funds. But Andrew brought Jesus what little he could find. Now I don’t believe that Andrew had any idea of exactly what Jesus was going to do, but he had faith that Jesus would do something.

While Philip, pessimistically, said nothing could be done, Andrew, optimistically, said Jesus can do something. In faith and, I might add, in character, Andrew brought some-one to Jesus. The result was a great miracle. Is it any less a great miracle when you introduce someone to Jesus and He saves them? In the case of the five thousand, Jesus turned little into much. In the case of a saved soul, Jesus turns death into life.

The next time we see Andrew he is doing what he has done before. He’s bringing some-one to Jesus.
*John 12:20-22
20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to wor-ship at the feast;
21 these therefore came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and they told Jesus.
By that time, Philip knew what to do when he was asked about Jesus. Talk to Andrew!

Andrew is a wonderful role model for us. He is an example of quiet power, if you will. He is not out front boldly leading the apostles. He is working in the background with humility and great faith. He knows Jesus can do anything. So he wants to bring people to Him because he also knows that Jesus will receive anyone who will come to Him. After all, didn’t He receive Andrew’s brother, Simon Peter? Didn’t he do great things with a young boy’s loaves and fishes? And even though Andrew knew that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, he didn’t hesitate to bring a group of Gentiles to Him in John 12:22.

That is the kind of man Andrew was – quiet, optimistic, and full of faith in Jesus Christ. He was willing to take second place, and to work in the shadows, as long as he could glorify his Lord. Oh, how the church needs men and women like Andrew! What we’ve seen today is really all we know about him. But maybe that’s enough. He’s a role model for anyone who will serve Jesus. Follow the Lord and bring people to Him!

Andrew’s legacy lives in the church today, but his life after Pentecost is only known to us through secular history. It is believed he took the gospel north into what is modern day Russia. Eusebius, the ancient historian, says that sometime after that Andrew led the wife of a provincial Roman governor to Christ. The woman refused to recant her faith, so the governor had Andrew arrested and crucified on an X-shaped cross in southern Greece. The account says that he hung on the cross for two days before he died, and as long as he was able to speak, he pleaded with those who passed by to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
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III. Conclusion
This morning we’ve seen how weak the men whom Jesus chose to be His apostles really were. We have been reminded that we are weak as well. But our encouragement comes from the fact that, like Andrew and the rest of the apostles, Jesus turns weakness into strength, failures into victories, and the lost and dying into the saved and living. He can do great and marvelous things with whatever you and I bring to Him.

And in Andrew, we have also seen the Lord take a quiet and humble man and use him to accomplish eternal blessings in the lives of those he touched. In this life he was never the prominent figure and leader of men that his brother Peter was. That just wasn’t his personality. But he was the one who introduced Peter to Jesus.

If you are a quiet, “behind-the-scenes” kind of Christian, don’t ever think the Lord can’t use you to accomplish His purposes. Just look to Andrew and be encouraged. Then follow Jesus and introduce someone to Him!
*2 Corinthians 12:9
9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ~ Pray ~