Follow Me 2 Of 2

When Jesus was here on earth He stated on one occasion, "...FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men."

It is interesting that the Bible not only records that He told these men to follow Him, but also it records that they were smart enough to obey. Look at Matt. 4:20, it states, "And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

Notice, the Bible says that when he called them to follow Him, THREE THINGS took place:

(1) “And they straightway.”

They did not waste any time. They immediately stopped what they were doing and followed the Lord. But notice something else about these men-

(2) They “left their nets”

Keep in mind that at this point, these men made their living fishing. The tools of their trade were nets.

Illus: What Jesus did then could be likened today to His asking a carpenter who is on his job to follow Him. Once he asks the carpenter to follow Him, immediately he leaves behind his saws, hammers, squares and follows Him.

But look at the third thing they did when He asked them to follow Him.

(3) “And they followed Him.”

The Lord is not here physically today telling men to follow Him the way He once did. However, the Lord today is still asking men and women to follow Him.

HOW DOES HE INSTRUCT MEN TODAY TO FOLLOW HIM? The Word of God shows us TWO ways:

(1) BY THE WORD OF GOD

The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

One of the reasons today that people do not know which direction to go with their life, is because they spend to much time in front of the television set, and not enough time in the Word of God.

If we desire to have the Lord guide us, we must spend time in the Word of God, and expose ourselves to the preaching and teachings of God’s Word.

Illus: All Martin Luther the great reformer knew was Catholicism. But when the Lord was leading him out of Catholicism, he got into the Word of God and God’s Word began to show him that some of the things he had been taught were not in the path God would have him to take.

He later said, "For several years I have read the Bible through twice in 12 months. It is a great and powerful tree, each word of which is a mighty branch. Each of these branches have I well shaken, so desirous was I to know what each one bore and what it would give me. And the shaking of them has never disappointed me."

No wonder the Psalmist said, in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

God has always led men and women in the right direction when they followed the teachings of the Word of God. But there is another way we can be led in the right direction.

(2) BY THE EXAMPLE OF DEDICATED CHRISTIANS

Often someone who has not been saved very long will not know what the Bible teaches. They have to find a dedicated Christian that knows what this Bible teaches and follow them.

We Christians have an awesome responsibility, because there are always young Christians who are watching how we live the Christian life.

This is why God’s Word puts the warning out in Matthew 18:6, we read, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Paul was telling these young Christians in Philippi to FOLLOW HIM. But Paul did not limit that to himself, alone.

The Bible tells us there are two different kinds of people we should mark.

• BAD ROLE MODELS

Look at Romans 16:17, we read, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Paul said that these are trouble makers, and they are not good role models to follow.

But the second kind of people we should mark are -

• GOOD ROLE MODELS

We are not just to mark those that cause division among us, but also those who are good role models to follow.

Notice, in our text he says, "...and mark them which walk so as ye have US for an ensample."

Paul recognized there would be times when he would not be around so they could follow his Christian example, so he said, "...mark them..." which walk after Christ.

How can you know who is following Christ? If you had a young child at home and that child was at the point of death, who would you call on from this congregation to pray for that child?