Mar 3:13-19 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
• The calling of the twelve, eleven good and one, well…..
• This is not going to be a Judas Iscariot beat-up session.
• That will come later.
• What I want to focus on today is the calling of the disciples, as Jesus has also called you…. And me….
• These guys were following Him around watching Him teach, preach, heal, expel demons.
• Suddenly He said, “Hey guys, come with me. Let’s talk….”
I. They were called by Jesus.
• These went up the mountain to be WITH Jesus.
• They came TO Jesus.
• They were called to live FOR Jesus.
• The prepositions are all small, but they make a world of difference.
• With, to and for. Two letters, three letters and four letters.
• Today, you are called to be With Jesus.
• Sometimes we can walk all day without any consideration of Jesus.
• Suddenly, something goes completely wrong in our lives and we ask, “Why”.
• We are called upon to be strong because of our reputation, and it exhausts us. We run out of strength.
• Sometimes we are so accustomed to living our lives without walking WITH Jesus, we have convinced ourselves that this is normal. That it is expected.
• We have sanctified our self-living, living out of our of our own strength, and we think that is the normal Christian life.
• When we hear of Christ walking WITH someone else in a real way, or more real to us, we think they are imagining a better relationship than we have, or they have their theology messed up.
• But really, stop a minute. Please take a journey with me for a minute.
• I want you to remember when you asked Christ to be your Savior.
• Something wonderful happened in your life.
• It touched you deeply and shook every area your life.
• It affected your viewpoint of everything. Things looked different, even the most familiar things.
• For a while, maybe days, weeks, months, years, you knew that Jesus was right there.
• You walked with Him. He walked with you.
• But slowly, that presence began to fade.
• Sometimes, during revivals, good services, a strong song, it sparked up again.
• However, on Mondays, now it’s life as normal.
• Is that how you want life? Is that what you expected from Christianity?
• Is Christianity that much of a disappointment?
• I am not talking about feelings or emotions. I am talking about Christ’s presence in your daily life.
• You have already figured out that feelings cannot sustain you.
• You see, at salvation, you were right there by Jesus. You were with Him and He was with you.
• But now, He may seem far away. But HE never moved. It is us who walk away from Him.
• The Christian life can be the Abundant life. But it must be a life walked with Him.
• Secondly, They came TO Jesus.
• So, what if Jesus seems far when He once seemed near?
• It is simple. Jesus is calling you TO Him.
• He is calling you away from the life that ignores Him.
• The life that ignores Him has become dependent on other things.
• So, it is a life that walks away from dependence on other things and walks ever closer to God.
• Only when you return TO Jesus can you really life FOR Him.
• He said, I have things I want you to do, but you cannot do them dependent on the other things.
• You cannot do things FOR Jesus that count until you are WITH Him, moving ever closer TO Him.
• He can only use you if you are dependent UPON Him.
• Then we get the list of the disciples.
II. They were Qualified by Jesus.
• Consider the qualifications of Moses, educated in the Pharoah’s house, by the top scientists and educators of the land.
• And there is Paul (Saul of Tarsus), who had the greatest education available in his day.
• When God called these guys, He located the best.
• When you consider this, you naturally wonder what kind of super-stars Jesus would choose as His first leaders for His bride.
• Let’s look at them.
• Jesus called one reactionary, one revolutionary rebel, two with anger-management issues, at least one was a zealot, one was easily confused, one had a sarcastic tongue, one was a tax collector, one a doubter, one was one thing on the inside but totally different on the inside, and the rest, at best a bunch of no-bodies.
• Act 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they understood that they were with Jesus.
• Never use your flaws, shortcomings and weaknesses as disqualifications for serving the Lord today.
• In reality Jesus called a rag-tag batch of bad-news bears as His top 12.
• I am certain, when he was telling them what He wanted them to be able to accomplish, they were thinking, “I am not seeing it. Not me.”
• I am sure that there were days in the next three years when they were certain He made a mistake.
• How do I know? I have those days. Many of them.
• Even in their last week before Jesus was crucified, they were thinking, “this is not what I signed up for.”
• “This is not what I expected. And I am certainly not what Jesus expected.”
• If you are there, WONDERFUL. That means you are almost there.
• If you are one who says, “OK, God, I am ready, willing and able”, I really worry about you
• You may do what looks like good, but it will not last.
• And It will create damage in other areas because it WILL NOT be Christ living through you.
• Only when we come to the end of ourselves can we step aside and allow Christ to live through us.
• That is the journey Jesus was calling the disciples to.
• This is the journey that Jesus is calling you to, also.
III. They were caught by Jesus.
• Consider Simon the Zealot and Matthew, sometimes called Levi. Matthew was very pro-government as a tax collector, and Simon the Zealot was militantly anti-government.
• Yet, these two political extremes found common ground in Jesus.
• Did Jesus choose political enemies to prove a point? I think so.
• No matter your past, there is room here for you.
• No matter your position, there is room here for you to be loved and be useful for Jesus.
• How do you get to the point where Jesus is using you?
• Look at the bait Jesus used to catch them.
• “…that he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”
• ENTERESTING. I could hear Jesus tell them, “Hey, did you see how I healed the sick, cast out demons and preached the Word from God? That is what I want you to do.”
• The hook was baited, and they bit.
• “Yeah, I want to do those things for God. I want to make a difference. I want to have power to help the hurting, hey, raise the dead if God will allow. What a trip that would be. Count me in.”
• But then they entered into the training program, and the focus was a little different than expected.
• “Hey Jesus, how did you do that trick about turning water into wine?”
• The same thing happened in Acts 8.
• Act 8:17-24 Then they (Peter and the boys) laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon (the Sorcerer) saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." (in other words, I want to learn to do that trick) .20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." 24 And Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me."
• This Simon the Sorcerer, after believing in Jesus, wanted to do something for Him.
• He wanted it so bad, he was willing to pay for it.
• Look why it wouldn’t work. 21b “…for your heart is not right before God.”
• Jesus didn’t open a magic shop or magician’s siminar. He has something entirely different in mind.
• He told them how they would do His work.
• Joh 15:1-5 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
• You see, it is not about doing first, but about being.
• In abiding in Christ, we have access to His power to do His work.
• That is what it took the disciples 3 years to learn.
• That is why they began to find victory and healing IMMEDIATELY after their greatest crisis of faith, because it wasn’t their strength, their qualification, but their relationship with Christ.
• That is what Zechariah told them would happen.
• Zec 4:6 Then he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.
• You may be where I have been so many times; discouraged, defeated, frustrated.
• Hey, if so, you are almost where you need to be.
• You are almost to the end of yourself and ready to let Jesus be your strength.
• If you have never received Christ, there is not better day than today.
• If you need an alter to put down your self-sufficiency, there is not a better one today.
• If you need someone to pray with you, come up and pray. We have prayer warriors who will join you.
• If you want someone to partner with you through the trial of your life, we have people here who have stopped living in their own strength so Christ can flow through them to help you.
• You may be thinking, I will take care of this later. But that is a step away today, it is tantamount to a step away from God.
• The strength will fade faster than it came.
• There will be no courage to find victory tomorrow. You see, today is the day of salvation.
• Do not rob yourself by allowing Satan to win today, right now, as we sing.
