I Am a Christ Follower
Matthew 4:17-22
Three dimensions to His call on our lives:
1. Jesus calls us to repent. v.17
? Ultimately repentance is an admission, an acceptance of what Jesus says about us: that our hearts are prideful, filthy, depraved, and yes, even wicked and deserving of God’s judgment. We are fatally flawed and broken and we cannot save ourselves, right ourselves, renovate ourselves, fix ourselves—so we must admit this and call out to Jesus to save us.
2. Jesus calls us to follow vv.18-20 ?
follow: imitate; obey; take the same path
3. Jesus calls us to abandon. vv.21-22?
Abandon=forsake; a careless disregard. ?
baptize (baptizo): to dunk, immerse, drown.
For the past 24 years, when someone wanted to join Rush Creek, we asked them to go through a membership course. In recent years we’ve called it Elements. We’ve done away with Elements. We’re going to start a new process January 1st. But during the month of September, and the month of September only, we’re going to allow you to join any of these 4 Sundays. We’re also changing the terminology. Instead of calling ourselves members, we’re going to begin to call ourselves partners. Membership kinda has the idea of a country club: come when you want, pay your dues, enjoy the benefits, but no real involvement. We like partnership: Partners own the vision; partners work together to achieve the mission. Partners have buy-in. The New Testament uses the term in Philippians 1:5 where Paul rejoices because of their “partnership in the gospel.”
This series will examine the four characteristics of what we believe it means to be a partner at Rush Creek. And right off the top we tackle the most important, basic, indispensable characteristic, and that is to be a Christ-follower. ? Turn to Matthew 4:17-22 Now let me be quick to say that I don’t believe everyone here is actually, factually a Christ-follower. You may be religious, you may be seeking a relationship with Christ; you may be here a lot of Sundays, but you’re not really a Christ-follower. It’s no accident you’re here today. This will be the day of salvation for you. At the end of the message today, you’ll have a chance to declare your faith in Jesus Christ as your boss and redeemer, and if you choose, to become a partner of Rush Creek.? So let’s dig in. Matthew 4:17-22 (on screen)?From this passage we find at least Three dimensions to His call on our lives:
1. Jesus calls us to repent. v.17 (on screen)
As Jesus went preaching, He called people to repentance. We talked about this last week: Repent(metanoia): change of mind; i.e., change of direction. Repentance is not feeling sorry for what you did. Repentance is not feeling guilty for what you did. Repentance is not an emotion. Repentance a decision. It is the decision that you are going to turn from the path you are on, pursuing what you desire, and turn to Jesus and pursue what He demands.? Ultimately repentance is an admission, an acceptance of what Jesus says about us: that our hearts are prideful, filthy, depraved, and yes, even wicked and deserving of God’s judgment. We are fatally flawed and broken and we cannot save ourselves, right ourselves, renovate ourselves, fix ourselves—so we must admit this and call out to Jesus to save us. That is repentance. And that is what Jesus came preaching. As long as you resist this admission, you are not near to the kingdom of heaven as Jesus said, you are far from the kingdom of heaven.
2. Jesus calls us to follow vv.18-20 (on screen)? Jesus’ call was clear: follow Me. To follow: imitate; obey; take the same path. This goes hand in hand with repentance. You stop following your own path and take the path of Jesus. This means so many things: to adopt the same moral code as Jesus, to walk in humility like Jesus, to love people like Jesus.? But in the text, Jesus isolates one activity that typifies His followers. What is it? To be fishers of men. What does that mean to be a fisher of men? It means to be involved in gospel living; to be involved in the mission of Jesus to share the gospel; to be a witness for Jesus where we live, work and play.? I dare say, if you claim to be a follower of Jesus but are not leading people to faith in Jesus then you might be kidding yourself about being a follower of Jesus.
3. Jesus calls us to abandon. vv.21-22 (on screen)? What did Peter and Andrew do when Jesus called them to follow Him? They abandoned their nets. What did James and John do when Jesus called them to follow Him? They left their boats.
That word abandon is an interesting word. Abandon=forsake; a careless disregard. ? Elizabeth Eliott, whose husband was killed while trying to take the gospel to cannibal tribe in Ecuador, said: “I have one desire now – to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” Elisabeth Elliot. Oswald Chambers, who wrote My Utmost for His Highest defined it as “totally unrestrained and willing to risk everything.” Oswald Chambers
You getting the picture? When James, John, Peter, & Andrew left their nets and boats, it’s not like they never fished again. But it no longer was the focus of their lives. Following Jesus eclipsed EVERYTHING else in their lives.? Check your heart this morning. Is anything in your heart more important than following Jesus? Your appetites for money, for comfort, for security, for popularity, for possessions, for love, for companionship, even for your spouse and family? Until you abandon all for Jesus, you have no part in Jesus.
Jesus calls us to repent. Jesus calls us to follow Him. Jesus calls us to abandon it all for Him. Are you willing to do that this morning? If so, I’m going to give you the chance to decide once and for all to be a follower of Jesus.
In the New Testament, when someone repented and decided to become a follower of Jesus, they were baptized. The word baptized (baptize): to dunk, immerse, drown. And it was always an outward testimony of what happened on the inside. (motions) Jesus died on the cross for my sin, He was buried in a tomb, then He rose again proving that He was more powerful than death and sin. When a person is baptized, they are saying, “I die to myself, I want to be immersed in Jesus, and I want to follow Him with all my heart, mind, and strength. ? If you would like to become a follower of Jesus and be baptized, in a just a moment I’m going to ask you to get up out of your chair and head to this door. We’ll have folks back there to take some information with you, answer questions you might have, and get you ready for baptism. We have shorts and tshirts and towels for you so you can change back into your clothes after you’re baptized. I know, sounds crazy, right? But that’s how they did it in the NT: somebody repented & became a follower of Jesus, they’d say, “Where’s some water? Let’s go!”
Now some of us were baptized when we were younger or before we had genuinely repented and placed our faith in Christ alone. That baptism is not biblical. Search the scriptures and see if I’m not telling the truth. Baptism was ALWAYS upon someone’s decision to repent and follow Jesus. ? There are many here who need to get their baptism on the right side of their salvation. You were sprinkled, you were christened, you were even immersed at a youth camp, but you have come to faith in Christ since then. You need to get baptized this morning. You need to get your baptism on the right side of your salvation.? So we’re going to begin singing; we already have a few that are ready to get baptized now, and we’ll keep baptizing as long as you come.? Pray. Sing.
