Andrew: Peter’s Brother

turn your Bibles to John chap 1 John chapter 1 we're going to continue our series on the dirty dozen and as we go through the series we're talking about the 12 different Apostles and what we can learn from their lives and so we've called him the dirty dozen because we using a dozen eggs as the illustration for that and uh you can put that on the screen there there we go and and this reminds us of each of them and if you remember uh just a a little bit ago the other week I preed talk to you about uh Jesus favorite three uh there was a group of them that he chose specifically uh he took them in special occasions he took them with him when he went to raise a young man from the dead he young

girl from the dead he took him with him up to the Mount of of transfiguration he took them with him when he had special prayer and they seemed to be Jesus favor James John and Peter and so we talked about them uh the other week and then uh but really there's there's another favorite or at least he's a kind of a secondary favorite and that is Andrew so you got the three + one the favors plus one and he was off to the side there a little bit and he was uh and uh Peter's brother and so he came along I I think he kind of tagged along because he had to go with his brother you know how that is and so we're going to talk today about Andrew the disciple and he's our our lesson today if you look at

John chap 1 and beginning with verse number 35 and down through verse number 42 it says again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples and looking Upon Jesus as he walk he saith Behold the Lamb of God and the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them what seek ye they said unto him Rabbi which is say be interpret Master which dwells where dwells thou he sayth to him come and see they came and saw where he dwelt and Abode with him that day for was about the 10th hour one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew Simon Peter Simon Peter's brother now we believe the other one was John and

he didn't mention himself specifically was John and Andrew but one of the two follow was Andrew Simon Peter's brother he first find his own brother Simon and saith unto him we have found the Messiahs which is being interpreted the Christ and he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him he said Thou Art Simon the son of Jo Jonas thou shall be called sephus which is by interp Ching a stone so we see here that Andrew was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus and uh even before his brother Peter who kind of uh later on took over and became the leader of the group and so Andrew and Simon were brothers the Bible says in Psalms 133 verse number one it says behold how good and how pleasant

it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity now that doesn't always happen and even in the Bible it didn't always always happen you have a number of examples where Brothers didn't get along in the Bible for example Cain and Abel the very first Brothers uh we all know that uh Cain killed Abel in Genesis 4:9 the Lord said unto Cain where is Abel thy brother and he said I know not am I My Brother's Keeper and the very first set of Brothers they had conflict and uh it was deadly conflict and Cain said what respon why am I responsible for my brother and then you have Jacob and Esau in Hebrews 12 and: 14-1 17 it saysf follow peace with all men and Holiness without without which no man shall see

the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled lest there be any be one more so lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his Birthright for you know how that afterwards when he would have inherited blessings he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears and so with Cain and Abel they they were fighting you know you ever fight with your brothers some of you in this room you ever had a real knock down drag out fight with a brother uh and then Jacob and Esau uh they were in kind of a competition with

their parents to see who's going to get the blessing or not and and Esau uh he lost the blessing and became depressed because of it and he was very bitter with his brother You' ever been bitter with a brother or sister and and then you have another example and that's Joseph and his brothers uh you remember the story there Genesis 378 and his brother said unto him shalt thou indeed Reign Over Us or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us and they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words because Joseph had a dream that he was going to rule over his brothers they they hated him for that because he was the youngest brother and they said how do you think you're going to rule over

the rest of us and uh in fact they took him and they were going to kill him but instead they sold him into slavery and uh maybe you would have liked to sold your brother into slavery I'm not sure on that but uh uh they didn't get along and it's not just Boys by the way it's not just brothers it can be sisters too uh Mary and Martha had some conflict in Luke chapter 10 and verses 40-42 turn over there real quick keep a marker in John uh but Luke chapter 10 and beginning with verse number 40 it says but Martha was cumbered about much with much serving and came to him and said Lord does that now care that my sister had left me to serve alone bid her therefore that she help me and Jesus answered

said un her Martha Martha thou are careful and troubled about many things and uh one thing is needful and Mary had chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her and and so Martha was upset because it seemed like she had to do all the chores and Mary got away with maybe Mary was the younger child you know how the younger children seemed to always get away with everything and and and she was upset about that and and and they had a conflict over it and and often we will have conflicts as brothers and sisters we will have problems with each other and not only as uh blood brothers and sisters but it can even happen within the church as well and God says it is good for Brethren to

dwell together in unity and uh and and so we need to reconcile in Matthew chap 5 and veres 23 and 24 it says therefore if thou bring thy gift to The Altar and there remers that thy brother hath a against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift perhaps you've got a a physical brother or sister that you're aranged from and and God would challenge you to go back and restore that relationship or or maybe it's a spiritual brother or sister that has hurt you and and and and and done something and you need to forgive them for that or to ask their forgiveness in Mark 11: 25- 26 it says when you stand praying

forgive if you have ought against any that your father also which is in heaven May forgive you your trespasses but if you do not forgive neither will your father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses as a pastor I know from experience that in this room there are people that have someone that you need to forgive and there are people that have someone that you need to ask forgiveness of uh it may be your brother your literal brother or sister it may be the the the child the the brother or sister you grew up with that that you've been estranged from and you need to work on restoring that relationship and working that out it may be a a spiritual brother or sister maybe even somebody here in

the church and God says listen it is good for Brethren to dwell together in unity and God says listen when you have ought against your brother or your brother have ought against you you can't use this excuse well it's their problem they come talk to me God says whether it's your problem or whether it's their problem go get it resolved go get it worked out and whenever you have a problem with your brother you need to resolve that problem and fix it but you know our brother can be anybody uh that God puts in our lives we have many spiritual Brothers as well in Romans chap 12 and verse 10 10 it says be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another uh we

need to love one another as brethren we need to to treat each other with with respect and with love and and I'm thankful for my spiritual Brethren I'm I'm not real close with my brothers and sisters I grew up with they're back in the mainland and and uh I'm not as close with them I I we had one of my sisters coming here for a vacation but it didn't work out and I miss that miss that opportunity but you know what I've got brothers and sisters right here in this room I I've got family Ohana right here that I can fellowship with that I can share my life with that that can be a blessing and God has given us so many brothers and sisters in fact look at 1 John chapter 3 if you want to turn over

there 1 John chapter 3 one of the evidences of being saved of being a Christian is that brotherly relationship we have with one another in 1 John chapter 3 and verse number 14 1 John chapter 3 and verse number 14 it says we know that we have passed from death un to life because we love the Brethren he that loveth not his Brethren brother abideth in death one of the evidences of being saved one of the evidences of being a Christian is that it changes our relationship with the people around us and that evidences our our love for one another look at chapter 4 and veres 20- 21 1 John CH 4 and: 20- 21 if a man say I love God and hates his brother he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother

whom he has seen how can he love God whom Heath not seen and this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also and so it's the evidence of our relationship in John 13:34-35 it says a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one towards another and and and and God wants us to have a a a brotherly love to to care for one another in our physical families but also in our spiritual families and I'm so thankful for the the brotherly relationships and the sisterly relationships I have in the Lord and many of those relationships mean

more to me than even my own uh physical family because they're the ones that are right here in my life and and being a blessing encouragement to me and and an Evidence of Salvation is when you love the Brethren and want to be around them so I wonder today are are you my brother in Christ are you my sister am I your brother in Christ uh go over to Matthew 12 Matthew chap 12 and look at verses 48- 1550 Matthew chap 12 and beginning with verse number 48 Matthew 12 and beginning with verse number 48 the Bible says but he answered and said unto him that told him who is my mother and who are my brethren and he stretched forth his hand toward disciples said behold my Mo mother and my brethren but

whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven the same as my brother and sister and mother so are you my brother in Christ are you my sister in Christ if you do the will of the father then you're my brother and sister and I'm your brother uh what so what is the will of the father in second Peter chapter 3 and: 9 it says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but as longsuffering to us word not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance God's will is that you would come to repentance that you would come to Salvation that you would come to Jesus Christ as your savior because that's how you become a a a brother a joint

Heir with Jesus Christ and that's how you become my brother or my sister when you're born again into God's family and if you want to be a brother or sister you need to you need to receive Jesus Christ is your savior in John chap 1 and verse number 12 it says but as many as received him to them gave you the power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name and when you receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior when you put your faith in trust in him and him alone you become a child of God you become my brother and sister in the Lord and we have a family relationship because of that you know you can be a member of this church and not mean by brother in Christ because

it's not church membership is going to make you a a child of God it is being coming being born again into God's family it is receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and putting your faith and trust in him and and and you need to you need to become a brother of Christ you need to become a Son of God by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal savior so I wonder have you done that today and if you have not received Christ as your personal savior then it starts with that salvation it starts with putting your faith and trust in him in Romans chap 10 and veres 9 and 10 it says that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and Shall Believe in thine heart that God has raised the

dead Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth on the righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation in Romans 10:13 it says for whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and you need to call upon him and ask him to be your savior and ask him to become your ask God to become your father and to be born again into his family and when you're born again into God's family you become a a brother of Christ you see when Andrew Found Jesus the first thing he did is I said I want my brother to find him too and he went and sought out his brother in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verses 9 and 10 it says but but his touching brotherly love you need not

that I write unto you for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another and indeed you do it toward all the Brethren which are in all Macedonia but we beseech you Brethren that you increase more and more you see no matter how well we do in this area of loving one another we can do better and you can always do better in your relationship one with another within your family but also within your spiritual family as well and and God has always challenging us sometimes uh family is sometimes the hardest ones to get along with uh but yet they're the most important ones to get along with and so I do encourage you if you've got uh physical brothers and sisters uh to to build that relationship

with them maybe it's gotten you drifted apart maybe you had uh some kind of a problem or or some kind of hurt has happened and and you wanted to work your best to restore that relationship but just as important is to build your relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ as well uh to love one another and that's what I I believe that Andrew teaches by what we see his life is that the first thing he did when he got saved he says my brother needs to find Jesus and and and that's the attitude that we ought to have of loving one another now go back to John chapter 1 and look at verse number 40 John chapter 1 verse number 40 it says one of the two which heard John speak and followed

him was Andrew Simon Peter's brother so Andrew was Simon Peter's brother in fact out of the 12 times that Andrew is mentioned in the Bible is six of those that's how he's listed six times he's lists Andrew Peter's brother Andrew Peter's brother how many of you had an older brother or sister when you were growing up raise your hand all right were you like me a lot of times being known instead of by your own name by your brother or sister's name when when I went to school uh every time I go to a new classroom the teacher would say oh you're Danny's brother you're Danny's brother I don't think they knew my name for half of the year I was always Danny's brother my brother Dany was bigger than me

my brother Dany was more athletic than me my brother Danny was smarter than me uh my brother Danny was better looking than me uh all all those things now uh and and and and going to going to school everybody knew Danny and everybody knew me oh you're Danny's brother that's the way I went to school my whole High School junior high and high school years it it was frustrating to be known only as Danny's brother and that's kind of where where Andrew was at he was Peter's brother and uh Peter kind of took first place and Andrew kind of took second place look over Mark chapter 9 Mark chapter 9 and verses 33-35 Mark chapter 9 beginning with verse number 33 Mark 9:33 and he came to capernium and

being in the house he asked them what was it that you were disputing among yourselves the the on the way that what they were is they argued who's going to be the greatest in the Kingdom who is going to be at the right hand of Christ and uh verse 34 but they held their peace for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest they were kind of embarrassed to tell them and then verse 35 Jesus of course knew what they were talking about he sat down and called the 12 and sayth any man desire to be first the same shall be last of all and servant of all you see we need to realize that sometimes we're not called of God to be first and sometimes we're called of God to be

second and I I I think that may have been a little hard for Andrew because he was always kind of second to Peter because Peter had this outgoing boisterous personality and Peter was kind of a take charge kind of a guy and and even among the disciples uh Jesus would all often uh deal with Peter first above all the other disciples and and so he was known as oh you're Andrew Peter's brother and sometimes it's hard when you have to take second place but God says listen the first shall be last and the last shall be first it's not about me being in first place it's not even about me being known but it's about me serving the lord and that's the kind of person Andrew was he never seemed to resent it

he never seemed to get upset about it he just understood this is where I'm at I'm and I'm Peter's brother and uh that didn't bother him and he just kept serving the lord and we need to remind ourselves that we don't have to be in first place we don't have to be the ones that are always noticed in order to serve God you know look what look what Andrew started Peter in Acts chap 2: 41 the Bible says then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto about 3,000 Souls now Peter stood up to preach and after he preached 3,000 people got saved but who led Peter to the Lord Andrew if Andrew hadn't brought Peter to Lord then those 3,000 would have gotten

saved see Andrew may not be this great preacher gets up gets up and leads thousands to the Lord but God used him to bring 3,000 to the Lord by bringing his brothers to the Lord some of you may have heard of a a man named DL Moody it was the year 1858 DL Moody was a great evangelist and and led thousands to the Lord had meetings all over the world and 1858 in the city of Boston a man named Edward Kimble was a young Sunday school teacher who made it a habit of personally uh to give each student his class an opportunity to accept Christ as their savior he was concerned about one of his students who worked in the Sho store one day Kimble visited the young man at the store where he found him in

the back stocking shelves and led him to Christ that student was DL Moody who eventually left the shoe business to become one of the greatest evangelist of all times if you go back and read his biography back in the 1800s he was leading thousands to the Lord all over the world not only that through DL Moody Freddy Meyer evangelist Freddy Meyer got saved who also LED thousands Lord evangelist Jay Wilbur happen got saved who also LED thousands to the Lord Billy Sunday also LED thousands to the Lord morai ham Billy Graham all of these were results of DL Moody's Ministry and that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Bill Edward Campbell and folks sometimes we think well I'm not the big

preacher and I'm not the one that's going around leading all these people to the Lord and preaching great messages but Andrew was just Peter's brother but if Andrew hadn't brought Peter to the Lord none of the rest of this would happen let me challenge you with a couple things right now number one is this have you thanked the person who led you to Christ have you done that recently when's the last time you wrote him a letter or made a phone call or sent a text or an email just said thank you for bringing me to Christ because Andrew brought his brother to Jesus second Timothy 1: 5 and 6 Paul said when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee which dwelt first in thy

grandmother Lois and thy mother Unice and I persuading thee also wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on my hands maybe it was a Godly mother or father or maybe it was a Godly grandparent I hear that quite often or maybe it was a a pastor you grew up with or maybe it was a Sunday school teacher that taught Sunday school class year after year after year or maybe it was a friend who invited you to church or shared their testimony but you know what don't forget to take time to thank them for bringing you to Jesus I hope Peter thanked Andrew for coming to find him and to bring him to Jesus we ought to thank those who God uses to

bring us to him now remember it is our job to teach others also in Matthew 28:18-20 it says and Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and earth go ye therefore and teach All Nations baptize them name of the father and the Son and the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I Am With You Always even on the end of the world our job is to go out Reach people for Christ teach them disciple them and then then go out again and again and again you see we need to understand the power of addition but more importantly power of multication in Acts chap 2: 41 it says then they that gladly received his word were baptized

and the same day they were added at about 3,000 Souls if you were an outstandingly gifted evangelist with an international reputation and if under God you could win 1,000 people to Christ every night night of the year how long do you think it would take you to reach the whole world for Christ now that's ignoring the population growth that's just with the population we have right now how long would it take to reach the whole world for Christ if you won a thousand people every night to Jesus it would take 10,000 years 10,000 years but if you are a true disciple of Christ and if you under God were to win one person to Christ this year and disciple them and the next year the two of you each win

one person to Christ and disciple them and the next year the four of you win one person to Christ and disciple them and continue that process we would reach the entire world in 32 years folks we sometimes sit back and say well I'm not a great evangelist or pre preacher like Peter but God didn't just use Peter he used Peter's brother Andrew and he can use you to reach people for Christ in John 1:42 he brought Peter to Jesus in John chapter 1 and verse 46 there was two other disciples there there was Phillip and he wanted to reach his best best friend Nathaniel and went and said come come come let me let me show you the Messiah and Nathaniel said can any good thing come out of Nazareth and in

verse 46 Nathaniel said unto him can there any good thing come out of Nazareth and Philip sayith to them come and see a lot of times people say Pastor I I don't know if I have all the answers to people's questions and and I don't know if I can I I can always tell them exactly what they they ask me about folks I've often said this and I'll say it again if you know enough to be saved you know enough to tell someone else how to be saved share your testimony this is what I did now it's good to share Bible verses and illustrations and we're going to be studying that this Bible study wed this Wednesday night we're going to be talking about how to lead somebody to Christ and talking about the Bible

verses use and the illustrations use and all the rest of that but the point is if you know enough to get saved you know enough to know how to get saved tell somebody how to get saved but you know even if you're not sure to answer all questions here's what you can say come and see come to my church come and I I'll let you meet my pasture come and I've got some people that'll help you understand that and come and see and that's just what Andrew did Andrew we don't know a lot about him we know he was Peter's brother he know is Peter's little brother we know he brought Peter to the Lord but he also in John chapter 6 he brought a little lad to Jesus turn over there would you John chapter 6 and

look at verse number five John chapter 6 and starting with verse number five it says when Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him he saith unto Philip when shall we buy bread that these may eat and this he said to prove him for he himself knew not what he would do and Philip answered 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little one of the disciples Andrew Simon Peter brother say to him there's a lad here which ha five barley Loaves and two small fishes but what are they among so many and so here's Peter bringing this little lad to Jesus with that lunch that we know that fed 5,000 you know I often when I read about

that I often wonder was was he the only only one that brought a lunch that day was the only one willing to share was he even willing to share did Peter just kind of put him on a spot and said hey he's got food and and then here's the other question how did Andrew find him what do you what what did he think when Andrew told Jesus he had his lunch one of the things I've I've learned about as I studied on Andrew one of the things I think I've learned about him is Andrew is this kind of guy that that was out in the crowd when he came anywhere to a church function some kind of spiritual activity he didn't just come and sit down he was out talking to everybody he would be greeting the visitors and

making them feel welcome he'd be talking to the other people and say how you doing and he was just kind of that personable F that was out there just to to to make connections with people and so that's why he knew about this little lad because at some point he had met that lad and said oh you brought your lunch with you can I have a bite you know just kind of friendly little batter there and boy we need a lot more people like that we need people that every Sunday they don't sit down because they're too busy going around talking to people greeting people seeing how you're doing just making people feel welcome at home and that's the kind of guy that Peter was uh Andrew was he was just kind of

guy that just cared about people he cared about his brother he cared about this little lad then go over to John 12 about the only other time we see him here is John CH 12 and veres 20- 22 and there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast and they came therefore to Phillips which was of BEDA of Galilee and desired him saying sir we would see Jesus Philip come and tth Andrew and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus Jesus now on this one I I I wonder why Philip didn't just take him to Jesus I wonder why he went and got P Andrew and said Andrew I want you to meet these guys and then took him to Jesus with Andrew maybe Philip was a little bit more shy and not as outgoing

maybe he wasn't comfortable talking to people you know again I I found that some people people are just not as outgoing as others and they're a little less comfortable and trying to make conversation you know what I found find the people who are people say well Pastor I don't know about having people over my house because uh you know I I'm just not real outgoing and good with that so what do you do you find the people in the church that are talkers you find the people in the church that that will keep the conversation going if you have people over your house you want the conversation to keep going invite Lorraine cuz she will talk and so will Glenda you can have them over every time and you

you don't have to say a word the rest of the time you're there if you want talkers get Miranda she's a good talker she'll keep that conversation going and there's others in the church as well and perhaps that's the way Philip was he says I don't know what to do with these guys and he went to Andrew because he knew Andrew cared about people and then Andrew and he brought him to Jesus sers we would see Jesus let me ask you a question do people see Jesus in your life in Matthew Chapter 5 in verse 16 it says let your light shine so shine before men that they may say your good see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven do people come to you and say I want to see Jesus because

they see Jesus in your life this week I had somebody come to me and say Pastor I want you to tell me how to be saved he said I asked you because I knew you could tell me and that's what people need they need to see Jesus in you so then you can bring them to Jesus like Andrew did have you ever had anyone ask you to show them Jesus in your your entire Christian life has anyone ever walked up to you and said would you show me Jesus if not I would challenge you why not do they not see Jesus in me do they not see peace in my life do they not see the the love of God in my life do they not see the the the strength of God the power of God in my life you need to be the kind of person that people

would come to you and say I wanted to see Jesus and I know you know him Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 3:15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that ask your reason of the hope that's in you with meekness and fear be ready to tell people about Jesus now don't wait for them to come to you because some people you need to go to them and bring them to Jesus like Andrew went to his brother Peter and said I want to bring you to Jesus but also live your life in such a way that the people you work with the people you live by the people that are your family and friends when they see the need in their life and say I need Jesus they're going to

think of you and they're going to call or write or come and ask you I need to see Jesus would you show him to me so Andrew just Peter's little brother that tagong kid you know what I'm talking about Mom said that we have to take him with us that was Andrew and Andrew didn't lead thousands to the Lord and he didn't do great miracles for God that we know of but the impact that he had was amazing and what kind of impact can you have in your life