Who's Your One? Called by Jesus
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· 75 viewsJesus calls us to be His disciples by becoming fishers of men
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TEXT: Matthew 4:18-22
TOPIC: Who’s Your One? Called by Jesus
Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC
Sunday morning, March 2, 2020
Who’s Your One? Series – (Sermon developed by J.D. Greear)
INTRODUCTION: Let’s play a word game to start this sermon. What comes to mind when I say the word politician? What about a Professional Athlete? Or vegan? What about a millennial? Or Senior Adult?
Odds are you have certain mental associations with each. Now, what comes to mind when you hear the word Christian? Odds are you associate that word with certain characteristics as well. The broader culture also forms impressions of what a Christian is and whether or not they are one.
When I used the word Christian, did you think of a disciple of Jesus Christ? Did you know that the first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves Christians? It was a derogatory term used by people outside of the faith. In Acts 11:26, we see that the first Christians were known as disciples. The word Christian is used three times in the whole Bible; the word disciple is used 281 times. Disciple is a far more accurate and compelling description of what it means to follow Jesus. And, as we will see, the concept of a disciple exposes the fact that many who claim to be Christians are not actually disciples of Jesus. So is it possible to be a true Christian and not be a disciple?
Matthew 4:18–22 (NKJV) 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 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. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
• All Hebrew boys went to Torah school starting at age 5.
• By age 10, all young boys knew the Torah, and the best students went on to study the remainder of the Old Testament. The rest returned home to work in their families’ businesses.
• At about age 17, if a boy wanted to go on and make a career out of religious studies, his next step was to find a rabbi he admired and apply to become one of his disciples (talmidim).
• When he found one, he would go and sit at his feet. That was his request to learn. And the rabbi would examine him with questions and put him through a series of tests to see if he was worthy to be his disciple.
• The rabbis could choose the smartest, most talented boys to be their disciples.
• Another reason the rabbis were so picky is that when they chose a disciple, they were choosing someone whom they believed could become just like them—to not just know what they knew, but to do what they did.
• For several years, these young disciples (talmidim) would follow their rabbis, imitating them in every way. The goal of a disciple was to be like the rabbi.
T/S—When Jesus chose His disciples He broke with this trend.
I. JESUS DOESN’T CHOOSE THE BEST, HE CHOOSES THE WILLING.
As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen.
In Matthew chapter four, Jesus, this new rabbi, chooses Peter and Andrew, who are fishermen. The fact that they are fishermen shows you what? They were part of the B-team. They weren’t the best of the best.
Now think about that. When Jesus chose His squad to build His movement, He chose the B-team! So, of course, they went to follow Him. This rabbi had chosen them—guys without much potential or personal power—to follow Him and to become like Him, to know God like He knew God, to know what He knew, to do what He did and be filled with His power!
John MacArthur: “God 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...”
Jesus chose the B-team because His work in the world wouldn’t come from their abilities for Him, but from what He would do through them.
People with a lot of talent and ability would only get in the way because they would never learn to lean on His power. Jesus taught that His power in the weakest vessel was infinitely greater than the greatest talent without Him.
APP. God wants to use you in your family, at your workplace. Stop making excuses that you are not able. He doesn’t need your ability; He requires only your availability. As we often say, He doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. Have you made yourself available?
T/S—Secondly,
II. HE CHOSE US, NOT WE HIM. “Follow me,” he told them …
As I explained, the normal way this all went down is that if you were among the best of your class, you applied to a rabbi, and if he liked what he saw, he’d choose you back. Now, his selection gave them a great deal of confidence. If they were struggling, they could say, “Ah, but my rabbi believed in me! He chose me.” But Jesus started the process back even further. They didn’t even come to sit at His feet. He came seeking them when they weren’t even looking for Him.
If you are Jesus’ disciple, then it is because He chose you! Isn’t it wonderful to think you are one of the chosen?!
You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
(John 15:16, CSB)
T/S—There is a third very important truth we need to understand about Jesus’ call to us to be His disciple….
III. OUR PRIMARY CALLING IS TO BE WITH HIM. “Follow me,” he told them …
He didn’t tell them where they were going or what assignment He had for them. His primary call is not to do something; it is to become like Him. To become like Him, you have to know Him. To know Him, you have to know His Word.
At this church, we believe the Bible is the word of God. Preaching and teaching the word of God is one of our most important ministries we do here; probably the most important. If you are really serious about being His disciple, you should avail yourself of every opportunity to study God’s word; Sunday School Bible study classes, Sunday morning worship and the preaching of God’s word as well as Sunday evenings. Get His Word inside of you until it dominates all your thinking and all your behavior. Until you think it and talk it and quote it.
T/S—Number four……
IV. TO FOLLOW HIM, WE HAVE TO LEAVE ALL. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Why identify these two things? Because these are usually the two most significant things in our lives:
• Boat: Our careers (the way we take care of ourselves)
• Father: Our most significant relationships
To follow Jesus, He has to take precedence over both. Jesus doesn’t call us to forget or abandon our families, just don’t put them before your love for Him. The same applies to our jobs or careers. But you’ll have moments where you decide which holds greater sway over your life.
T/S—Last of all,
V. HE COMMANDS US TO SPIRITUALLY REPRODUCE. “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
Following Jesus means you subject everything in your life to His lordship. You forsake all that He has forbidden and pursue all that He has prescribed. Just like He was a fisher of men, His followers would become fishers of men. This is an essential part of being a disciple. It’s not something that only a few of us do; it’s something that each of us does. There is no such thing as a non-reproducing Christian.
How do you prove you are a disciple? By bearing fruit. And if you are not bearing fruit, you have reason to question whether you are a disciple at all.
My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. (John 15:8, CSB)
Jesus tells His disciples how to bear fruit in His famous Great Commission:
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 everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, CSB)
In Greek, the words go, baptize and teach are all participles that derive their force from the one controlling verb, make disciples. Which means that everything we do grows out of the call to make disciples. Jesus summarized His ministry, Luke 19, by saying, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” If we are His disciples, that’s how we’ll summarize our lives, too.
In his book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman said:
“When will the church learn this lesson? Preaching to the masses, although necessary, will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Nor can occasional prayer meetings and training classes for Christian workers do this job... Individual women and men are God’s method. God’s plan for discipleship is not something, but someone.”
CONCLUSION: Who’s Your One? calls us to be Jesus’ disciples by identifying our one. Ask God to help you identify one person you can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, bring to faith in Christ this year.
Can you imagine what would it look like if every one of the people here asked God, “God, give me one person I could bring to Jesus?”