I. Introduction
A. "So, what's the matter?" asked one woman of her friend over coffee. "I thought you just got back from a nice relaxing fishing trip with your husband." "Oh, everything went wrong," the second woman answered. "First, he said I talked so loud I would scare the fish. Then he said I was using the wrong bait; and then that I was reeling in too soon. "All that might have been all right; but to make matters worse, I ended up catching the most fish!"
B. What kind of person does Christ call?
1. Our passage, this morning, shows that Christ calls ordinary people who will simply make themselves available to Him.
2. Look at where Jesus called His first disciples.
3. They were not in a religious or learning center or a learning center.
4. Neither were they in a position of authority or power
a. They didn’t have wealth or financial security.
b. They were out in the work-a-day world.
c. This is not to de-emphasize the importance of religion or of learning, but it does teach at least two things.
(1) First, position and power, wealth and security, religion and learning can hurt and keep a person away from God.
(a) Such things can make a person so self-confident and assured that he becomes useless to God.
(b) God is unable to work His power through him.
(c) The man's own abilities and energy block God's gifts and power from flowing through him.
(2) Second, God can use and call anyone who is really available
(a) Whether religious or otherwise
(b) Whether educated or other wise
(c) Whether ordinary or extraordinary
(d) The main ingredient is to be available and willing to respond to God’s call
C. Our passage is outlined like this
1. The first men called (v.18-20).
a. They were brothers who worked together
b. They were industrious workers
c. They were called to follow Jesus
d. They were called to another work
e. They were responsive
2. The second men called (v.21-22)
a. They were obedient sons working with their father,
b. They seemed to be a closely knit family
c. They were industrious
d. They were simply called
e. They were responsive
f. They left their livelihood and family
(1) Let us begin by turning to Matthew 4:18 - 20
II. Body
A. The first twp men called
Matthew 4:18-20 (NKJV)
And 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} Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." {20} They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
1. We know they were Andrew and Simon
a. These two men had some traits that show what kind of person is called by Christ
b. First, Andrew and Simon were brothers who worked together
(1) The fact that they were working together says at least three things.
(a) They had good parents who had taught them to love and care for one another
(b) They came from a closely knit family, a family that worked together
(c) They followed and obeyed the teaching of their parents and maintained a brotherly spirit throughout life.
i) Turn to John 1:40-41
(2) It was Andrew who first learned of the Christ and the first person Andrew thought of was his brother Simon
John 1:40-41 (NKJV)
One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. {41} He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).
c. The disciples' brotherly and cooperative spirit shows us a few things
(1) First, The need for a brotherly spirit, the kind of spirit Christ desires of His followers.
(a) Turn to John 15:12
(2) Second, The kind of kingdom Christ is building is a kingdom of followers with a brotherly spirit
John 15:12 (NKJV)
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
(3) Third, The need for reaching families for Christ, brothers and sisters reaching each other.
(a) Turn to Proverbs 22:6
(4) Fourth, The need for parents to train up their children in the way they should go
Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
(a) The Lord knows what it is to love a child who wanders from their earliest training
(b) This is a promise, a promise from God to faithful parents
i) Lets turn to Luke 15:17
ii) When the child grows into an adult, there will, very often, come a time when that child strays
iii) God’s promise is not that the child will not stray
iv) God’s promise is like that which was attributed to the Prodical Son
Luke 15:17 (NKJV)
"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
d. Lets pause a moment and consider this one thought, there is one essential for serving Christ that must be stressed among God's people
(1) Cooperation, a nature and willingness to serve together
(a) Lets turn to Acts 11:25 - 26
(2) Barnabas is a good example of the cooperative attitude
Acts 11:25-26 (NKJV)
Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. {26} And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
(a) Barnabas was sent to Antioch and he brought Paul to minister to the saints there in Antioch until they, Barnabas and Paul, began their missionary service together.
2. These two men, Andrew and Simon, called by Christ were industrious workers.
a. We should note that Peter and Andrew were busy at work when Christ called them
b. This is a second essential for serving Christ that must be stressed
(1) Energy
(2) Industry
(3) A willingness to work and to work hard
(4) When Christ calls a person, the person is working, not sitting. God does not choose the lazy and inactive, but the energetic and industrious.
(5) Too many believers are sitting and are inactive.
(6) Therefore, they miss out on the higher calling of God.
3. The men called by Christ were called to follow Him and they were to immediately follow Him
a. The point is this, the disciple is called to follow Christ personally, to attach himself to Christ before he does anything else
b. Personal discipleship, that is, personal attachment, is essential
c. A person must first learn Christ before he can serve Christ.
d. You know that the Lord's call is to a personal relationship, to become attached to Him
4. The men called by Christ were called to another work
a. This was a call to a different kind of employment
(1) They were fishermen
(2) But Christ called them to become messengers
(3) It was a drastic, traumatic change.
b. Lets examine several things
(1) The call to a personal relationship had already been issued. John tells us this in John 1:35-42
(2) We are called to a personal relationship must always be stressed before service
John 1:35-42 (NKJV)
Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. {36} And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" {37} The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. {38} Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?" {39} He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). {40} One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. {41} He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ). {42} And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).
(a) Cephas is the Hebrew and Peter is the Greek both meaning a stone
(b) This call, the call to be “fishers of men," was a call to service
(c) It was a call to care for men, to help and minister to them
(d) No greater call can come to a person, for helping another human being is the greatest act in all of life
(e) Imagine a person who gives himself to nothing but ministering and helping people
(f) What greater call is there?
(3) Andrew’s and Peter’s call was to immediate and total detachment from all else and to immediate attachment to Jesus and His mission
c. The Lord's call has two aspects:
(1) To follow Him, the Messiah
(a) Before doing anything else, a disciple must first learn Christ
(2) To become a fisher of men
d. Christ adapts a person's call to the knowledge and experience of the person
(1) These fishermen were called "to fish for men."
(2) This fact stirs some confidence and prevents some apprehension and fear in accepting the call of Christ
(3) It means that Christ always considers a person's knowledge and experience when He calls him
(4) This also enables a person to serve more efficiently and effectively, to accomplish much more for God.
5. The men called by Christ were responsive.
a. They responded immediately.
(1) The call of God is critical and demands a decision
(2) The call of Christ demands an immediate response
(3) A person is to get up now, not tomorrow
b. It is explicit.
(1) It demands a positive response, immediately
(2) How tragic that many are called, but few are chosen
(a) Let us now turn to Matthew 4:21 - 22
B. There were tow other men called at that time as well, James and John, identified in Scripture as the son’s of Zebedee
Matthew 4:21-22 (KJV)
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. {22} And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
1. In James and John we see a few traits, traits that also show what kind of person is called by Christ
a. First they were obedient sons working with their father
b. They were from a closely knit family, and a closely knit family has an important influence upon the lives of its children
c. The point is that obedience is essential, both as a child and as a servant
2. James and John were industrious and frugal
a. Note how they were mending their nets, making use of what they had instead of running out to secure new nets
b. The point is that God does not care for wastefulness
c. The person God calls is frugal and thrifty, not wasteful
3. James and John were simply called
a. There was nothing dramatic or spectacular about their call
b. A dramatic experience was not necessary to reach them.
c. Makes you think, some receive very simple calls
d. But they are as equally called as those who receive more dramatic and spectacular calls
e. God's call matches the nature and needs of a person
f. God's call considers a person's emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual needs
g. Some need more emotional calls than others. Some need more rational calls.
4. James and John were responsive
a. They left their livelihood and family
b. Think about this,
(1) Some are called to leave more.
(2) Some leave not only businesses,
(a) But fathers and mothers
(b) In some cases this involves persecution and even the threat of death.
i) Turn to Mark 10:28
c. God's call may involve a drastic change
(1) It may involve both a change of life and a change of one's primary profession
Mark 10:28 (NKJV)
Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."
(2) Think about these four men
(a) They changed from being commercial fishermen to evangelists
(3) Then there was the man named Levi, a tax collector, and he became Matthew a disciple
(4) My father-in-law worked in a peanut butter factory but afterward he, along with his wife, became missionaries in congo
III. Challenge
A. Before Christ what kind of person were you?
1. Part of a close knit family or a loner
2. Hard working or slacker
3. Obedient to authority or rebellious
4. I could go on and on
B. After Christ what kind of person have you become
