Title: “The King’s Ministry: Calling Disciples” Script: Mt. 4:12-18
Type: Series Where: GNBC 1-18-26
Intro: Discipleship is predicated upon an active relationship with Jesus Christ. Relation to Christ activates and empowers the whole of life when men/women choose to act. Without action though, nothing happens. It is kind of like when we were kids, getting into my grandpa’s car in the side yard and turning the steering wheel…not going anywhere! A car will continue to just sit there if one never turns on the ignition and puts the car into gear, pushing on the accelerator and driving. If you get into the car and sit there, nothing happens! Sure, when you are a kid, someone gets into the car and drives you around. That might the equivalent of relying on someone else’s discipleship. But being a passenger doesn’t make you a driver. Nor does being passive make you a disciple. We need to be active in our growth as Christians.
Prop: Examining Mt. 4:12ff we’ll notice 3 important principles in Xst’s Calling Disciples.
BG: 1. In today’s passage see the call of brothers Andrew and Peter. Actually, if you harmonize the Gospels you realize there were 3 “calls” of these men. This is the 2nd at the Sea of Galilee, and Mark/Luke record the 3rd call. Most likely all took place during same week. 2. At the end of His public ministry Jesus had nothing tangible to leave as a monument to His work…nothing that is but a relatively small band of men whom He had poured His life and love into…the disciples. Jesus’ ministry focus is people and so should our focus be.
Prop: Let’s examine Mt. 4:12ff to notice 3 important principles in Xst’s Calling Disciples.
I. What Does it Mean to be Jesus’ “Disciple”?
A. What is the Meaning of the Word “Disciple”?
1. The word “disciple” literally means learner.
a. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, it denotes “one who follows another’s teaching” (from manthano, "to learn," from a root math--, indicating thought accompanied by endeavor), in contrast to didaskalos, "a teacher;" hence it denotes "one who follows one's teaching," as the "disciples" of John, Mat 9:14; of the Pharisees, Mat 22:16; of Moses, Jhn 9:28; it is used of the "disciples" of Jesus. Most rabbis would have had disciples. Commonplace. Jesus not unique in this at that time. This word for disciple was also applied in a wide sense, of Jews who became His adherents, Jhn 6:66; Luk 6:17, some even secretly so, Jhn 19:38. I suppose we could include Nicodemus and others in this classification.
b. Illust: This fall on flight to Chicago to connect to go to Europe. On very brief flight met a man from Houston who was seated next to me. In about 10 minutes we were shocked to learn that the man had been a student of my Uncle Bill, who was a leading US sensei’s in a particular form of Okinawan martial arts. Then the man said, “Wait! I’ve met you before!” You preached Bill Arch’s funeral! (19 years ago!). The man told me traveled from Texas to Michigan to attend Bill’s funeral because “Your uncle taught me so much more than martial arts.” Whatever the field may be, a disciple learns from his master.
2. The word “disciple” not only meant learner, but also adherent.
a. A "disciple" was not only a pupil, but an adherent; hence they are spoken of as imitators of their teacher; (Jn 8:31; 15:8.). Illust: Modern “deconstructionists” in Christian faith. “I love Jesus, but I don’t agree with His teaching on x,y,z.” That is not an option for a disciple. Illust: It’s kind of like so many of our politicians who say things like: “I am Catholic, but I am pro-choice.” You are one or the other, you are not both! Or, “Privately, I believe x, but publicly I support y.” Are you schizophrenic?
b. There is an implied meaning in “disciple” of being an “imitator”. When Jesus told the brothers here, or the brothers James and John to “Follow me!” (v.19) it meant more that simply get out to your boats at this moment, and walk with me until my next stop! No! There was a goal being implied in this calling…to become like Christ. (Illust: WWJD bracelets 15-20 yrs ago revival of Charles Sheldon book.)
B. What is the Goal in Becoming Jesus’ Disciple?
1. Jesus Stated His Goal for Andrew and Peter v. 19
a. “I will make you fishers of men.” Now look at the context. What were the two brothers doing when Christ calls them here? Fishing! (v.18) “casting their nets”. Just as these men had made a career out of going after fish, Jesus is stating that they will no being going after men! In Mt. 28:19 – Great Commission, after 3 years of intensive discipleship, Jesus tells His disciples…Now, turn it loose on the whole world!
b. Obviously, Jesus was talking to these men in application to their profession. When Jesus called Matthew/Levi, He did not say that He would make him “a fisher of men.” Now, all Christians are, in a general sense to be “fishers of men”, BUT, God wants to use each individual with his/her inherent or God given talents and interest to affect and influence His Kingdom! Fishermen yes, But also teachers, accountants, police, truckers, farmers, homeschooling mothers, hospital workers, athletes. The world is HIS platform.
2. The Goal is for the Disciple to Be Like his/her teacher.
a. Lk. 6:40, Jesus said that those who are fully trained will be like their teacher.
b. As Christians, we do not hear much taught or preached about growing in the likeness of Christ or being conformed to His image—although we hear a lot about God’s love and goodness. We must ask ourselves, what does it mean to grow in the likeness of Christ? Is it possible to be like Christ in today’s society? Why should we strive to be like Christ in His love and suffering for others? In Paul’s writing to the church in Rome, he makes a clear statement regarding the believer’s predestination to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). God desires that believers grow in the likeness of His Son. Illust: George Barna, research analyst and author of Maximum Faith concludes, “Most Americans who confess their sins to God and ask Christ to be their savior . . . lives almost indistinguishably from unrepentant sinners, and their lives bear little, if any, fruit for the kingdom of God.” (Robert Sterling, 9-11-23)
C. Applic: Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Has he called you? Are you learning from Christ? Are you adhering to the doctrine of Christ? Are you attempting to imitate Christ?
II. How Does One Become Jesus’ “Disciple”?
A. Jesus Calls us: “Follow Me!”
1. Jesus Calls Individuals to be His disciples.
a. This command Jesus gave to his future disciples (v. 19, Mt. 9:9). Think about it, for the next three years these men would traverse the length and breadth of Palestine, listening to what Jesus said and taught, observing what He did, and applying it all, sometimes more and sometimes less successfully into their lives.
b. Illust: May I tell you dear one, there are a lot of voices shouting: “Follow me!” in the world today. Extremism. Capitalism. Socialism/Communism. Racism. Globalism, Feminism. Nihilism. Humanism. Pragmatism. Ageism. Sexism. Secularism. All of these ideologies and identities are calling for your and my attention and identity. But there is ONE voice the Christian to whom the Christian must listen! It is the voice of Christ, and He still calls us to “FOLLOW ME!”
2. To Be His Disciple One Is Required to:
a. Memberships have requirements. Illust: I have a friend who is a member at one of the premier Golf Clubs in all of the UK. This club has a pretty rigorous application and interview. Must be proposed or sponsored by existing members. Must demonstrate an ability. Waiting list. Substantial joining fee. Yearly dues. Limited tee times. And yet, in the golfing community it is a significant honor to be a member of this club.
b. Jesus chose ordinary individuals. Yet every individual that Jesus selects and equips He empowers to have extraordinary opportunity and potential IF we follow Him, spend time with Him, and seek to carry on His work in and thru our lives.
c. Jesus didn’t just “willy-nilly” pick His disciples. Just as my friend’s Golf club has an intense selection process, Jesus put a lot of time into these men. Jesus didn’t hastily rush out and grab the first individuals who showed some interest in His message. Their selection was a momentous decision with far-reaching consequences of that ministry that has continued to this very day. Luke 6:12-13 tells us that Jesus spent the previous night in prayer before He went out that morning to select His disciples.
B. Jesus Challenged His Disciples to “Abide in My Word.” (Jn. 8:31)
1. All Disciples of Christ are to Prioritize His Word in Our Lives.
a. By learning and observing and applying what Christ taught they would become His disciples. Discipleship isn’t simply a matter or being “taught” it is also a matter of being “caught”. And I suppose if I want to continue the alliteration, it is also a matter of doing what I “ought”, Again, at the end of His ministry, before His ascension, Jesus stated in Mt. 28:20, that future disciples would be taught “to observe all things that I have commanded you.”
b. The logical progression includes faith and repentance, but it moves on to the believer in Christ being baptized as a public identification with Christ. It includes my keeping the requirements of Christ as a citizen in His Kingdom. I learn by being in Christ’s Word, and I also learn from others who are also in Christ’s Word. The community and Kingdom of Christ, the Church, is NOT optional to the Christian. Jn. 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples”
2. Everyone who comes to Christ comes as an individual.
a. Each person Christ called was an individual. Remember that. They were individuals. They were not all alike. They were not 12 photocopies of one another. There were not 12 wooden soldiers carved from the same diagram. They were not 12 cardboard replicas cut from the same pattern. They were not 12 plastic statues taken from the same mold. Simon the Zealot hated the Romans who occupied his beloved Palestine while Matthew was a tax gatherer who was complicit with the Roman occupation. 11 of the men were from Galilee, whereas Judas was from the South. And so it is today. Other Christians don’t have to look just like you or me. They don’t even have to have our exact same convictions, temperament or interests, but they MUST have Christ’s!
b. One thing I have noticed in my nearly 6 decades on this planet: “God loves variety! Scenery, topography, plants, animals, and PEOPLE! The work of Christ is a many splendored thing, and there are times when God uses the man who is rough and ready and there are times He uses the philosophical theorist and vice versa. God loves variety. In nature you find the oak, elm, maple, spruce, and you also find the cactus, and magnolia and the sunflower. At the zoo we see the giraffe and hippo and gazelle, as well as the boa and eagle and hummingbird. Its important we abandon our proneness to conformity and follow the example of Christ.” (Eims, p.30)
C. Applic: Are you a disciple of Christ? Are you abiding in His Word?
III. What does it Cost to Become Jesus’ “Disciple”?
A. It Costs You and Me Nothing!
1. God’s grace is absolutely free and He willingly gives us His divine, unmerited favor in Christ Jesus! Let's get one thing straight. When we speak of grace, we are not talking of human goodness, and we are not talking of noble-mindedness. We are referring to God's basis of redemption for sinners. As sinners we deserve death; God offers us life. We are separated; He offers us reconciliation. We are under judgment; He provides us freedom. We are prodigals living in swine land; He brings us home. All for free. And the basis of God's redemptive initiative and operation is grace. When Paul says "The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men" (Titus 2:11),* he is not referring to any ethereal or abstract “energy”, but to the dynamic, concrete, historic event of Jesus Christ more specifically, the act of Christ on the cross. God chose to deal with the problem of sin through the cross, and because of that sovereign choice, forgiveness and freedom from sin are possible only through the cross. Grace is God's sovereign initiative and activity for the salvation of sinners who through faith accept that provision solely in the Person of Christ.
2. But to speak of grace as free does not mean that it is not costly. It is free only so far as the recipient is concerned. To the Provider, the price was enormous. The cost is inestimable. God's choice of dealing with sin through the manifestation of His grace cost the life of His Son. Who can estimate the value of that act of divine love? Gethsemane and the cross, the dreadful wrath of God against sin witnessed there, show not only divine abhorrence of sin but also the divine cost to effect the plan of salvation. When Paul speaks of "God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself (2 Cor. 5:18), He is putting the Father and the Son together in the act of salvation, and shows that Both paid a great price for making divine-human reconciliation possible.
B. Discipleship Costs You and Me Everything!
1. Every Person must Willingly Count the Cost to Enter Discipleship Training with our Lord.
a. To whatever degree, we see in the Gospels that the disciples left their families and business to follow Christ’s itinerant calling (Mt. 4:20-22). When the Rich Young Ruler apparently rejects Christ’s call, and Jesus statement about the divine nature of one’s coming to faith, Peter replies: “Behold, we have left everything to follow you, what then will there be for us?” We shouldn’t make light of what Peter is saying here. With complete transparency and honesty, he is declaring his complete and total commitment to Christ’s call in his life. “We have left everything!”
b. We modern day Christians need to be reminded that Christ comes before family (Mt. 10:37). He comes at the price of hardship and suffering (Mt. 10:38). Simply put, we are to forsake all to follow Him (Lk. 14:33). Illust: Does your boyfriend or girlfriend prioritize Christ of lower importance than you? Christ bids you to follow Him!
2. Have you and I counted the Cost in Following Christ?
a. Illust: Early in my Christian life I read D. Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship. Now, although I wouldn’t agree with everything he taught, he did say with crystal clarity: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Only in Lk. 14:28 did Jesus tell disciples to “count the cost”. In between the second and 3rd warning in that passage our Savior gives two illustrations so as to hammer the point home: one about building and one about going to war. The question those illustrations ask are: “Do I have enough?” and “Am I strong enough?”
b. Illust: Back in I Ki. 19 God had Elijah choose Elisha to help him carry on after he was gone. Elijah didn’t find Elisha in the school of the prophets meditating, but rather he found him in the fields working! Elijah didn’t beg Elisha to follow him, nor did he use his prophetic office to pressure him. Every individual must count the cost and enter into discipleship willingly. It did, however, cost Elisha something to follow Elijah. Evil Queen Jezebel was on a rampage. Anyone associated with the prophet of God was fair game for her murderous machinations. Had Elisha consulted flesh and blood he would have received counsel to stay with his oxen in the fields. It was certainly more lucrative as well as safer! But Elisha was compelled to answer God’s call, and counting the cost he made the break! He sacrificed his means of livelihood oxen, and in a final act of commitment and consecration, he left all to serve Elijah. Everyone who wants to one day lead must first serve. And those who want to train men must first be trained. As you read the story of Elijah and Elisha, never once does Elijah have to urge his “disciple” to continue in his work. In fact, on three occasions he asks his student to reevaluate their relationship and leave if he wanted to. Elisha refused the opportunity to quit and he made the choice to stay by his master’s side. You know why Elisha’s decision stuck? Because he had counted the cost and determined to stay no matter what.
c. Applic: Jesus clearly said that we are to “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt. 6:33). Are you seeking Christ and His interests or are you seeking your own. A disciple seeks his/her master’s interests. Count the cost.
