Follow the Steps of Our Savior Jesus Christ

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 4:17-22

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - February 13, 2013

(Revised November 26, 2020)

MESSAGE:

*Over the years, I have known maybe 15 or 20 people who got to visit the Holy Land. They all said what a blessing it was to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

*Most of us can only imagine what it would be like to sail on the Sea of Galilee or climb the Mount of Olives. But we can all follow the footsteps of Jesus today! This fact is sure because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the gift of God's Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It's sure because in Hebrews 13:5 Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," and it's sure because in Matthew 18:20 Jesus promised, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

*Even if we never leave Caldwell Parish, we can still follow the steps of our Savior Jesus Christ. Tonight's Scripture shows us how.

1. AND FIRST: WE MUST REPENT.

*We see this truth in vs. 17 where Matthew wrote: "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

*Here God gives us an emphatic call to repent. It's the same call given by John the Baptist back in Matthew 3:2: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It's the same command our Risen Savior gave to most of the churches in Revelation 2 and 3: "Repent!"

*It's the same cry heard down through the ages as men of God called people back to the Lord: "Repent!" -- But what does it mean to repent? It basically means to change your mind, think differently, change your mind for the better.

*Paul Decker tells us that "repentance means that we have a necessary change of mind. Our views change. Our values and goals change. The way we live changes. Repentance means that we turn away from sin and turn to God." (1)

*Gordon MacDonald explained that "repentance is not basically a religious word. It comes from a culture where people were mostly nomads, constantly on the move. And they lived in a world with no maps or street signs. It is easy to get lost walking through the desert. Then you become aware that the countryside is strange. You finally say to yourself, 'I'm going in the wrong direction.'

*That's the first act of repentance, and the second act of repentance is to GO in a different direction. We start going in the right direction." (2)

[1] AND EVERYBODY NEEDS TO MAKE A FIRST TURN.

*Peter Marshall was one of the great preachers of the last century, and he once explained repentance with these words: "Now, if you were walking down the street, and someone came up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder. What would you do? Naturally, you would turn around. Well, that is exactly what happens in the spiritual world.

*A man walks through life with the eternal call of God ringing in his ears, but with no response stirring in his heart. And then suddenly, without any warning, the Holy Spirit taps him on the shoulder. What happens? He turns around. The word 'repentance' means 'turning around.' He repents and believes and is saved." (3)

*Everybody needs to make that first turn. If you haven't already done it, you need to turn away from sin and selfishness, and turn to Jesus Christ.

*He loves you! He died on the cross for you, and He rose again from the dead! If you open your heart to believe in Jesus and receive Him and your Lord and Savior, He will forgive all of your sins and give you eternal life.

*Scott Mathews helped us understand what the Lord did for us. In March of 1997, Scott was a Youth Minister in Carthage, Missouri, and he wanted to help his students understand the love of God.

*The theme for the youth group that month was "The Cross," so they built a 500 pound, 8-foot by 14-foot redwood cross. It took 10 students to move it. Why was it so big? Scott wanted to illustrate how spiritually heavy the Lord's cross was.

*One night at church, when the cross was on the platform, Scott told the students that each of them deserved to experience the cross. But because of His love, God sent His Son to die on the cross for us. Scott needed another way to help the youth understand the cost of the cross, and he thought of Minette.

*That godly, young mother was one of the sponsors. That night, she was on the back row watching her children. Scott asked her to come up. And on the way, she started to give her newborn baby, Hudson to a friend.

*Scott interrupted, "No, Minette. -- We want Hudson." They took the little baby and placed him on the center of the cross, not long enough to scare him or hurt him, of course, but long enough to make the point.

*Scott later said: "Every young person there that night understood the love of God. It weighed 9 pounds, 6 ounces." (4)

*And one time 2,000 years ago God's love really did weigh 9 pounds, 6 ounces. But Jesus grew up, and died on the cross for us. Now the love of God is big enough to take away all of the guilt of all of your sins, if you will turn to the Lord and put your trust in Him.

[2] EVERYONE NEEDS TO MAKE THAT FIRST TURN. BUT WE ALSO NEED TO MAKE FRESH TURNS.

*We need to make fresh turns, turning away from whatever is wrong in our lives. That means turning away from all the bad things we think and do. It also includes turning toward all the good things God wants us to think and do. We all need to make fresh turns.

*Our daughter, Becky has driven to all kinds of faraway places like Houston, Miami, Massachusetts, and more. But back in May 1993, she was just learning how to drive. I remember the first time Becky turned out onto a major road in West Monroe. It made both of us uptight, but we made it!

*Becky would have been happy if she could have stayed on that road forever, but when we got to the second turn, I remember her whining and saying, "Oh, I've got to turn again?!?" Yes. Of course!

*By the way: Our son Eric was in the back seat that day, and when we got home, Eric kissed the ground!

*But: "I've got to turn again?!? When it comes to sin, the answer is always, "Yes." God wants us to turn away from any and every sin in our lives, and that can be a hard thing to do. But the Lord doesn't sugar-coat it. Jesus gives us the straight-up truth: REPENT.

*And why should we repent? The Lord gives a great reason in vs. 17: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." To me, this means that God's Kingdom is so close we can reach out and touch it, if we will only turn to God.

*How can we follow the steps of our Savior? We must have a change of heart about who we are and who Jesus is. We must turn from a life without Jesus to a life where we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior. In other words, we must repent.

2. WE ALSO MUST RESPOND TO GOD'S CALL.

*It's the call of the Lord that we hear in vs. 18-19:

18. Now 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. And He said to them, "Follow Me . . ."

[1] NOTICE THAT THE CALL TO FOLLOW JESUS IS A CALL TO FAITH.

*How can I follow Him if I can't trust Him? Peter, Andrew, James and John all decided to trust Jesus. That was the right decision. And we can trust Him too, because Jesus has been faithful in every way.

*In 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, the Apostle Paul declared: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is FAITHFUL, who also will do it.

*In 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Paul said, "The Lord is FAITHFUL, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one." Then in 2 Timothy 2:13 Paul said, "If we are faithless, He remains FAITHFUL; He cannot deny Himself." And Hebrews 2:17 tells us that Jesus is our "FAITHFUL High Priest."

*That's why 1 John1:8-9 can say this about Christians: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is FAITHFUL and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

*If the Lord never showed His faithfulness any other way, He showed it when He died on the cross for our sins. Jesus was faithful to die even for His enemies! So, Paul said this to believers in Colossians 1:21-22: "You, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight"

*Jesus is always faithful, so we can always trust Him. And we must trust Him.

[2] THE CALL TO FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST IS A CALL TO FAITH. AND IT'S A CALL TO FELLOWSHIP.

*Following Jesus gives us the best fellowship we can ever have. And when we walk with the Lord, He gives us hope and peace in the worst of times.

*Pastor Frank Harrington gave an example from the darkest days of World War II. It's the story of a Dutch Jew. Her name was Etty Hillesum, and she lived in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation in 1942.

*Etty knew that it was just a matter of time until the Nazi SS came after her and her friends. She decided not to go into hiding as others did, even though she knew that the German ring around them was tightening every day.

*Etty kept a journal until the end of her life, and just before she was packed into a cattle car, she threw it to a friend. The journal was lost and forgotten until it was discovered in 1986 and published as a book called "An Interrupted Life."

*At some point while waiting for capture, Etty had been given a Bible, and she began to read it. Through that reading, she came to faith in Jesus Christ. Etty's journal became a running conversation between her and God. She put out her hand and heart to the Lord, and courageously walked with Him through her troubles.

*Listen to just a few lines of what she wrote: "From all sides, our destruction creeps up on us and soon the ring will be closed, and no one will be able to come to our aid. I don't feel that I am in anyone's clutches: I feel safe in God's arms. Once you have begun to walk with God, you need only keep walking with him and all of life becomes one long stroll." (5)

*Etty Hillesum found the indestructible blessing of fellowship with God, and so can we! Tonight the Lord is surely calling us to follow Him, but we have to respond to His call. If we are going to follow the steps of the Savior, we must repent, and we must respond to God's call.

3. WE ALSO MUST BE RECREATED BY GOD.

*This is another part of the Lord's message in vs. 19. Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will MAKE you fishers of men." That word "make" in the original language is "poy-eh-o," and it's where we get our word "poem."

*Jesus is promising here that He will write a new end to our life stories. He will transform us. He will turn us into new creatures. He will even make us into children of God, IF we will follow Him.

*John 1:11-13 explains how this happens. There the Bible says this about Jesus:

11. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the (power or authority or) right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name:

13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

*Here the Bible is talking about believers being spiritually born again into the family of God. A few years ago, I bumped into Trish Barmore and her little boy at Walmart. They are some of our friends from McClendon. And the first thing out of that little boy's mouth was, "I got saved on my birthday!"

*I told him, "That's great. Now you have two birthdays on the same day." And he can always remember when he was born again, because when we believe in Jesus Christ, when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, we receive God's gift of eternal life through a new, spiritual birth.

*This miraculous gift of new life is absolutely essential for salvation, and John 1:13 says believers are "born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

[1] THAT MEANS THE NEW BIRTH IS NOT BY HUMAN DESCENT.

*"It's "not by blood." Our parents may have brought us to church, but they could never bring us into the Kingdom of God. Only God Himself can do that. (6)

[2] THE NEW BIRTH IS NOT BY HUMAN DESCENT. -- AND IT'S NOT BY HUMAN DESIRE.

*It is not by "the will of the flesh." Suppose you wanted to be saved more than anything else in the world. Well, all the want in the world by itself is not enough to save us. And the reason why is because even when we try our best to be good, we still can't measure up. We drop the ball. We trip up. We all fall short of the glory of God.

*You could be the best person in Caldwell Parish, the best person in Louisiana, or the best person in the world. But that's not going to get you into Heaven, because Romans 3:23 tells us that we all fall short.

*George Whitefield proclaimed: "What! Get to heaven on your own strength? Why, you might as well try to climb to the moon on a rope of sand!" When it comes to salvation, no one has ever been good enough! -- No one but Jesus! So, God has to do the saving! (7)

[3] THIS NEW SPIRITUAL BIRTH IS NOT BY HUMAN DESIRE. -- AND IT'S NOT BY HUMAN DESIGN.

*It's not "by the will of man." People can come up with some pretty amazing plans, but no one could have come up with God's plan for the cross. And even if they did, they couldn't have carried it out. Salvation can only come from God, and God alone!

*Only God the Son Jesus Christ could have lived a perfect life and provide the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Only He could have risen again from the dead. And only He could give us the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

*When we believe in Jesus Christ, when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior, we really are born again by God's Holy Spirit. And 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

*If we are going to follow the steps of the Savior, we must repent, we must respond to God's call, we must be recreated by God.

4. AND WE MUST RELY ON GOD FOR THE CATCH.

*When it comes to serving the Lord, this fishing we are to do for Jesus is not so much something we do. It's something that He does through us, when we follow Him. Again in vs. 19 Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

*Jesus promises to make us more than we could ever be on our own, if we will follow Him.

-He promises to make us fruitful for His Kingdom, if we will follow Him.

-He promises that we can do the greatest good for people, if we will follow Him. So when we follow Jesus, the good we accomplish is not us. -- It's Him!

*The Apostle Paul knew this truth. In 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, Paul talked about the work he had done for Jesus, and Paul said, "I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

*When we follow Jesus, the good we accomplish is not us. -- It's Him. And here in Matthew 4, Peter, Andrew, James and John all followed Jesus. The Bible tells us this in vs. 20-22:

20. Then they immediately left their nets and followed Him.

21. 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,

22. and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

*Jesus had promised them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Did Jesus fulfill that promise? Did He make them into fishers of men? We know that He did, and there was an amazing catch!

*In fact, Christians: You and I are part of their catch! Of course, lots of other people helped along the way. And now God wants us to go fishing for lost people who are hopeless without our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

*And there is an urgency to it. "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." In English it doesn't sound all that urgent, but in the original language, it is. Jesus was passionately telling them: "Come follow me! Come now! Come here to me and follow me right now!" This helps us understand why these four Apostles immediately dropped everything and followed Jesus.

*The need was urgent then, and the need is urgent now.

*One day, a man went to the beach near Jacksonville, Florida. The undertow was very strong that day. More than once, the lifeguards jumped down from their towers to rescue swimmers caught in the treacherous surf.

*Finally, the man went to the lifeguard station to thank them for their dedication. When he walked inside, he noticed this sign on the wall in large red letters: "IF IN DOUBT, GO!" And the man said, "Those same words should be written on the walls of every church, and on the heart of every Christian."

"IF IN DOUBT, GO!" Go to your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Tell them about the love of God, and what Jesus has done in your life. Do everything you can to help reach more people with the good news about Jesus Christ. This is a huge part of following our Savior. (8)

*And even if we never leave Caldwell Parish, we can still follow the footsteps of Jesus. May God help us to follow the Lord more closely every day!

(1) SermonCentral sermon "A Dream Come True" by Paul Decker - Matthew 4:12-17 - 2272000

(2) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "REVIVAL" by Gerald Flury - 2 Chronicles 7:14

(3) "Mr. Jones, Meet the Master" by Peter Marshall - p. 30-31

(4) SermonCentral illustration by Scott Mathews, Adventure Christian Church, Rocklin, CA

(5) Lewis B. Smedes, "The Art of Forgiving" - Nashville, TN: "Moorings," a division of The Ballantine Publishing Groups, Random House, 1996 - pp. 112-113 - Source: Peachtree Presbyterian Pulpit - Advent Series: "The Messiah!" - #1 - "The Promised Messiah!" by W. Frank Harrington, Isaiah 40:1-5; 9-11 - Dec. 1, 1996

(6) This section adapted from SermonCentral sermon "The True Light" by Devin Hudson - John 1:6-13

(7) George Whitefield quotation - Source: www.thegracetabernacle.org/quotes

(8) IF IN DOUBT, GO - Adapted from "Dynamic Illustrations" - April, May, June 2000