ARE YOU AVAILABLE? 1/14/01 EP
The Devil fishes for men with lures and hooks, but Jesus wanted to train men to fish for men.
Matthew 4:18 through Matthew 4:22
18And 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. 19Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21Going 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, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
1] THE DISCIPLES ARE CALLED
A) Hey, I’m talking to you!
Luke 5
(1) He calls any and every person
(2) Many commentaries said this is a description of who Jesus calls, motivated, family oriented, etc.
(3) He makes us new, who He wants us to be, gives us the ability
B) They were not skilled leaders or teachers, were not wealthy or famous, the most significant thing about them was their insignificance.
Their greatness was not in their ability, but in their availability!
(1) Most of us feel like Moses did, “Lord, I am slow of speech”
(2) When did Jesus say “can you?” It’s “will you?”
(3) Jesus never asked the disciples to draw people into nets, He said be fishers of men.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;…
C) They were not the religious leaders
(1) If you introduce me to your friend, and I tell them they need Jesus, they hear, “You need some of my religion” but if you tell them they need Jesus, they might hear, “I know something that you need”
2] THE COMMAND – “FOLLOW ME”
A) Not a request or offer
B) Requires a decision
C) Was not a one time effort
(1) The act of God saving us is once for all
(2) The effort to follow ongoing
D) “Follow Me” closely -
(1) Watch, listen,
(2) Walk and do as He does, to be like Him
(3) Are you available to follow in a new direction, or are you so wrapped up, that you’d have to schedule Jesus in?
E) “Follow Me” only –
(1) There is not much question of whether we will follow, but only of who we will follow.
(a) The World – it’s passing away
(b) Our heart – it’s deceitful and desperately wicked
(c) Modern ideas – there’s nothing new under the sun.
(d) Gut feeling - pizza
F) “Follow Me” wholeheartedly -
(1) Jesus deserves and demands selfless, sacrificial and passionate following
(2) So, you’re a Christian, a follower of Jesus, are you serious about it?
(3) Are you a hold out, or sold out?
When Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with small force of 700 men, he purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. His men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. With no means of retreat, there was only one direction to move, forward into the Mexican interior to meet whatever might come their way.
What’s Jesus going to have to burn in your life?
G) “Follow Me” no matter what! –
(1) The destination was unknown – The outcome, not fully understood –
(2) Like Abram
Genesis 12:1-:3
1Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(3) Was God’s promise fulfilled the way Abram expected?
(a) Did Abram expect it to be 400 yrs.
(b) Did he expect Egyptian taskmasters?
(4) Will you follow no matter what?
3] THE PURPOSE –TO BE “FISHERS OF MEN”
A) A new direction & purpose -Higher stakes –
(1) to go after the “big one”
(2) For our sake, and theirs
B) To be like Him
(1) To care for the lost, and seek to draw them.
Matthew 10:24 - 25
24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master…”`
“To seek and save the lost”
C) Why me?
(1) The fish of a life time on 5lb. test line
(2) Why would God choose to use people like us? Not because it was the most logical way!
(3) Why not use television, or some great monument like the pyramids?
(4) To work in us as well as thru us.
4] THE RESPONSE
A) Immediate
(1) They left the mending undone
(2) What nets must you leave?
B) Some say “No”
C) Some say “maybe”
Matthew 8:19 –22 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Will you have criteria and qualifications for following Him?
Will you have delays to follow Him?
Luke 9:61 through Luke 9:62
61And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Will you have hesitations for following Him?
D) Some say “Yes” but then do nothing
E) Many say “Oh, Yes!” but do very little, follow at a distance, go to slow to keep up.
Matthew 26:57-58
57And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.
F) Be prepared to be associated with Jesus no matter the cost
5] THE COST
A) You must be sold out! But are you a hold out?
B) To follow Him, they left families
C) Jobs
D) Possessions
E) It cost them their lives as they knew them, they were never the same, nor was the world.
Matthew 19:27 -30
27Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
28So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
1. Wilbur Reese writes with biting sarcasm:
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
But just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want the warmth of the womb not a new birth.
I want about a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.
I’d like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Matthew 10:37-40
Matthew 10:39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
Are you wholeheartedly, passionately sold out to Jesus? How can people tell you follow him?
