On Earth, As It Is In Heaven
Who's Your One • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsJesus calls His first disciples to follow Him and to be fishers of men. This lays the foundation for what it means for the church today to truly be disciples of Jesus.
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Introduction
Introduction
What comes to mind - “Christian”?
Bernie Sanders supporter; Trump supporter; Vegan; Millennial; Boomer; OU Fan; OSU Fan; Thunder Fan; NASCAR; Star Wars Fan?
Back to Christian. Or, Are you a Christian?
Yes. What do you mean? Yes, but… No, but… Yes, but I’m not like...
The first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves “Christians.” Antioch in .
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
“Disciples.” - contains some level of clarity to that word.
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Why did these guys react to Jesus in this way?
Hebrew Boys went to Torah School at age 5
At age 10 was the first separation
At age 17 was the next separation
To continue, you would sit at the feet of a rabbi
The rabbis could be extremely picky!
The goal of a disciple was to be like the rabbi - smeka (authority by ordination of two and miracles)
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
Matthew 2
So, as soon as He calls these disciples He goes around doing miracles (Matthew 4:23-25).
“May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”
“May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
And
Right prior to this, John the Baptist points Him out and God declares Jesus as His Son.
So, as soon as He calls these disciples He goes around doing miracles ().
Everyone who came into contact with Him knew there was something special about Jesus.
He could have chosen any disciples that He wanted, yet who did He choose?
Those who had already been cut from the team, those that weren’t good enough, weren’t wanted.
Jesus doesn’t choose the best, he chooses the willing.
These guys were fishing. It’s because they had already been cut along the way. They weren’t the best!
“In choosing His disciples, Jesus skipped all the wise of the day! The great scholars were in Egypt; the great library was in Alexandria; the great philosophers were in Athens; the powerful were in Rome. He passed over Herodotus, the historian and Socrates, the great thinker, and Julius Caesar. He chose men so ordinary it was comical. No Rabbis, no teachers, no religious experts...”
John MacArthur
- John MacArthur
He chose some fishermen, an IRS agent, and a reformed terrorist.
Why would Jesus not choose the best? Because the most talented and powerful and intelligent would rely upon their own power and not the power of Jesus, and so be limited. Jesus taught that His power in the weakest of vessels was more valuable than the greatest talent without Him.
Jesus said that the greatest prophet to ever live was John the Baptist:
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Whoever is the least in this room, if you are in Christ, you are greater than John the Baptist.
Because the source is not created by you, it originates from the indwelling Holy Spirit.
God chose us, not we Him.
The normal way, working your way up in the Torah school, and then going to a rabbi, answering questions. Chose you back.
Here we have this renowned rabbi going to these men and choosing them. Imagine the confidence!
Think about maybe being an OU student and Lincoln Riley walks up to you and says “You’ve got real talent, come play for me.” What would that do to your confidence?
The confidence that this should give us in our marriages, as parents, as students, as witnesses, leaders, employees.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
God has a plan for you - for you to grow and live a life that advances the Kingdom of God.
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
Our primary calling is to be with Him.
“Follow me...” Where? How? Why?
His primary calling wasn’t to “do” but to simply be with Him.
To have this kind of faith to follow, you must know Him.
This time spent with Jesus allowed them to learn by experience who Jesus is.
And, similar for us, we need to just be with Jesus, to know Him, to be like Him.
To do this, we want to get into His Word! Large group gatherings, small groups, Bible Studies.
This allows for the Scriptures to get into your heart and mind and conform your attitudes and actions to Jesus.
To follow Him, we have to leave all.
“Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Him.”
Why did Matthew identify these two thing?
Boat - represented their identity (often in what we do, career or some other source of value)
Father - represented their most significant relationships
For most people, this level of loss will not occur, but it can. And for others around the world it does.
But, there may be moments where you have to choose what will ultimately have sway over your life.
Student, if God calls you to full-time ministry, being faithful to pursue preparation and turning your plans over to Him.
Or being called to the mission field, as God does of people of all ages.
Or just realizing your calling at your school, your work place, in your family. Being ‘that person’ who shares.
As we follow Jesus, we put everything under His control.
He commands us to spiritually reproduce.
The main idea here is that we need to be disciples of Jesus. He says this:
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Bear fruit! Not just the fruit of the Spirit…but to produce new believers.
Matthew 28:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Make Disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching.
Not just the calling on the church, but even more so the call on individual believers.
A trend towards big-event evangelism. Bringing in a hired gun evangelist. Pack-a-pew nights.
This took the responsibility off of the believers. And I think overall the church has suffered because of it.
We need to return the calling back onto the individuals.
Conclusion
Who’s Your One?
As we are still early 2020, I’d ask you to commit to reaching one person.
Build Community
Meet Physical Needs
Share Spiritual Truth
But, doing it all on our own only leads to failure and frustration.
It begins with praying for the Holy Spirit to work on them:
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