Identifying The Competitors For Belief-2

IDENTIFYING The COMPETITORS For BELIEF-II—John 1:19-28

Attention:

Shopkeeper's Competition

The shopkeeper was dismayed when a brand-new business much like his own opened up next door & erected a huge sign which read BEST DEALS.

He was horrified when another competitor opened up on his right, & announced its arrival with an even larger sign, reading LOWEST PRICES.

The shopkeeper was panicked, until he got an idea. He put the biggest sign of all over his own shop. It read ...MAIN ENTRANCE.

Some may have the BEST DEALS, others may have the LOWEST PRICES, BUT the shopkeeper was not panicked because he owned the MAIN ENTRANCE!

There are many competitors for our business.

Likewise, there are many competitors for your belief.

Need:

Identifying God’s servant(s)

John was approached by others regarding his spiritual niche.

*We must identify/concern ourselves with/ the spiritual niche of those vying for our belief.

How can/are we to identify the niche of those vying for belief?

9 considerations/keys/objectives/principles for identifying/categorizing those vying/competing for belief.

We’ve previously discovered that...

Identifying competitors for your belief employs...

1. TRUSTWORTHY INFORMANTs(:19)

2—Identifying competitors for your belief employs...

QUALIFYING QUESTIONs(:19b)

Explanation:(:19b)Leading

:19—“Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests & Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?””

What makes our Questions capable of Qualifying?...

Comparing their “Who are you?” to John’s response assumes—“Who are you” in relation to the Christ?...‘Are you the Christ?’(:20)

A simple answer helps us to categorize any further questions needed(see point #5).

Qualifying Questions help us narrow down information by comparison with our current belief system. To bring us to the point where we will weigh one with the other, making pertinent faith decisions.

“Ask”—erwtaw—1) To question; 2) To ask—2a) To request, entreat, beg, beseech. Erwtaw denotes the form of the request. “Aitew signifies to ask for something to be given, not done, giving prominence to the thing asked for rather than the person, & hence is rarely used in exhortation. Erwtaw, on the other hand, is to request a person to do (rarely to give) something; referring more directly to the person, it is naturally used in exhortation, etc.'” Strong—To interrogate; by implication--To request.

“Who”—tiv—Pronoun—1) Who, which, what. Strong—an interrogative pronoun, Who, which or what(in direct or indirect questions).

Argumentation:

Mat. 16:5-19—“Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed & beware of the leaven of the Pharisees & the Sadducees.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? “Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand & how many baskets you took up? “Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand & how many large baskets you took up? “How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?--but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees & Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees & Sadducees. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, & others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered & said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered & said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh & blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, & on this rock I will build My church, & the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, & whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, & whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.””

Mk. 7:1-13—“Then the Pharisees & some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees & all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received & hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, & couches. Then the Pharisees & scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” He answered & said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men--the washing of pitchers & cups, & many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father & your mother’; &, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ “But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”--’ (that is, a gift to God), “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.””