JESUS’ CALL TO FOLLOW HIM
Mark 1:14-20
In today’s message, I would like us to consider 5 things that we see in Jesus calling His first disciples.
And they are the same elements that we see when Christ calls someone today.
1) The urgency of the calling;
2) An incentive to obey Him;
3) The promptness of their obedience;
4) The type of people called;
5) What they became.
I. The Urgency of the Calling
“Come ye after me!”
A) It was an urgent calling. They had to follow Him immediately...not in a second...not tomorrow or maybe one of these days...It was right now!
B) It was a vocal calling. They could see His eyes, feel the strength of His personality, and His authority that could not be denied.
C) He ordered them to follow Him instead of a creed, a movement, a philosophy or a religion.
He said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.”
D) It was an abrupt call. Jesus didn’t leave room for arguments or discussion.
E) It was a revolutionary call. Never had a man ever tried to order people to follow him without explaining the nature of his movement, etc. beforehand!
II. An Incentive to Obey Him
“I will make you fishers of men.”
A) This was a calling to something that they still didn’t have the necessary requirements yet.
There was a need for preparation...a drastic change in them. And Jesus was the one that would prepare them, change their lives. He said “I will make you...”
B) The act of following and trusting Jesus will result in a drastic change in the life and nature of the one that follows.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold all is made new.”
Also, if you follow Jesus you receive the necessary preparation to do everything that Jesus has called you to do.
III. The Promptness of their obedience
“And right away they left their nets, and followed Him.”
A) Jesus didn’t make any mistake in picking those men. And he doesn’t make any mistake today either.
That’s why you’re here this morning. Because He wants you to be.
B) These men left everything they had and right away they followed Him.
What did you have to leave to follow Him? Or what will you have to leave to follow Him?
It costs to follow Christ. Jesus said that if any man wants to be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me.
Christ said that if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife, children, brother or sister, he cannot be my disciple.
If you are not willing to let Him be number 1 in your life, even greater than your family or friends, than you can’t be his disciple.
Being a Christian isn’t for cowards. You have to be brave because you will suffer for His name sake. Christ told us that he was sending us as sheep in the midst of wolves. He assured us that we would be rejected as He was rejected and hated as He was hated.
But do you know what the prize will be? The Kingdom of Heaven.
C) They were decided men, men of character, bold men, men of action. They were men capable of feeling great love and devotion. Men that were ready to give of themselves for the sake of others. They were the same type of men that Jesus calls today. He’s looking for people that will follow Him immediately.
IV. The Type of men called?
A) They were busy men...not lazy. Satan calls them as long as they’re dis-occupied or dis- interested.
My Great Grandmother used to say, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.”
The Devil wants you to sit in front of the TV or outside cutting the grass on Sunday. He’ll give you an excuse not to be here. God wants you here in the Church.
B) They were simple men...not very well known. They were not very well educated or wise.
C) They weren’t rich...but poor and humble.
D) They weren’t politicians, trained in the art of cheating and deception.
E) They were men of good reputation and they were honest.
They were taught at home and in the temple about the things of God.
V. What they became when Jesus called them?
A) From that moment on they were “called men.”
Men that were called and then followed Jesus.
B) They became separated or set apart men. They left everything to follow Jesus.
They began a new life...in which they were going to meet thousands of people. Yet they were going to be known as men that were different.
C) They became commissioned men.
The Congress if the United States can commission a person as an officer in the armed forces. And it is an important commission...with a lot of responsibility...and merits respect.
But the Great Commission that Jesus gives us is much greater than that. But with the calling of Jesus we become officers in an universal and eternal army. The Army of God with Jesus as our Captain.
D) They became equipped men. They ( as well as all of those who have accepted Him as personal Lord and Savior) were immediately equipped with:
A) The presence of Jesus Himself in them.
B) The presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
C) A knowledge and spiritual wisdom.
D) A new character and a new nature.
E) The greatest responsibility that the world has ever known...that of proclaiming the gospel of Christ in all the world and teach and make disciples of the converts...the believers.
