"lord, Who Is It?"

Illus: An arrogant church lady stood before a class of young children. She was going to teach them the importance of living the Christian life. She said, “Why do people call me a Christian, children?” A little boy said, “It is because they don’t know you!”

But this is not Bible salvation. The Bible says that when a person is saved, they are born-again. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “…If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

It does not mean he/she is perfect after salvation, but a definite change has taken place because of the new birth. It is a drastic change that is obvious to everyone.

Illus: People who are like this remind me of the child who was so ugly that his parents sent his picture to “Ripley’s Believe it or not!”. They sent the picture back to these parents and said, “We don’t believe it!”

When we see the Lord save someone and these drastic changes began to take place, we also have a difficult time believing it.

When the Lord starts to work in peoples lives after salvation, it is ASTOUNDING WHAT WE WILL SEE CHANGE IN THEM.

THE SAME THING HAPPENED IN THE LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

Look at Acts 9:21. We read, “But all that heard him were amazed, and said; IS NOT THIS HE THAT DESTROYED THEM which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?”

But this is what the Bible teaches a person who receives Christ should become - a “New Creature” in Christ Jesus, and the old sinful life is in the past.

Illus: They remind us of a weekly television series called, "The Incredible Hulk." The star was a fellow who wasn't very big, but if he got angry about something, before our very eyes, almost instantly, we could see this little fellow transformed into a huge green giant.

When the Lord saved John, he was MIRACULOUSLY SAVED AND TRANSFORMED into what God wanted Him to be. You could see the changes take place in his life.

Before salvation he had earned the name as one of the SONS OF THUNDER, but after the Lord saved him and transformed him, he earned the name JOHN THE BELOVED!

When the Lord saved him, he had a lot of rough edges that had to be smoothed off before the Lord could use him.

Let us look at the scriptures and see...

I. WHAT HE WAS

There are three rough spots in his life that needed to be smoothed off before the Lord could use him.

A. HE WAS A MAN WITH GREAT AMBITION

WHAT IS "AMBITION"? It has been defined as a strong desire for SUCCESS or POWER.

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT JOHN WAS AMBITIOUS? Because of who he ASSOCIATED WITH.

John associated with the most ambitious disciple - Peter!

Look at John 5:10. "And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were PARTNERS with Simon..."

If you want to know WHAT YOU ARE, look at those you associate with, and you will see yourself. The reason you associate with them is because you are like them.

For example, you do not find:

• HONEST people associating with DISHONEST people

• DISHONEST people associating with HONEST people

It is still true that “Birds of a feather flock together.”

BUT TAKE NOTICE OF THIS: WHEN THE LORD GOT READY TO CHOOSE HIS DISCIPLES, HE CHOSE MEN WHO HAD AMBITION.

You cannot find anywhere in scripture where Jesus chose a lazy person who had no ambition, to follow Him.

Why? Because a lazy person who has no ambition, has built his life around excuses for why he cannot do certain things.

Illus: They remind us of the fellow who had a very important baseball game scheduled for the next day. The man asked for the day off at work. The boss man said, “You were off yesterday for your grandfather’s funeral, why do you have to be off tomorrow?” He said because, “Grandmother is getting married!”

This is why we never see the Lord turning to a lazy person to do anything, because they just sit there.

Illus: Many pastors learn one thing early in their ministry. If they want something done, do not select a person to do something who is not doing anything. Probably the reason that person is not doing anything is because he does not want to do anything. If he selects someone who is doing something, usually he will get the job done, even if he is doing more than his share, because he knows how to work.

A lazy person only does what he/she wants to do, and NO MORE! They have a thousand excuses for why they cannot do certain things.