The Discipleship of All Believers – What is a Disciple? (Week One of Series) 11/02/2003
Mark 1:16-18
Introduction: Have you ever wondered what was different about the disciples? What was expected of them by Jesus as He called them to follow Him? Today, we are going to look at what a disciple is supposed to be.
I. Disciples are called to follow Christ and be fishers of men – Mark 1:16-18
And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
A. Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew to “Follow Him.” What did that involve?
1. To leave behind their livelihood…their job. A career that they had probably been doing since their years as a young teenager. It was quite possibly the family business.
2. To invest their future in Jesus. They were investing their future in someone that they had possibly only heard a small amount about. They did not know where He would lead them.
B. Notice, Jesus called common men doing a common job to be followers of Him.
1. Fishing was a common job along the Sea of Galilee.
2. Hard work casting the net into the sea – common laborers.
3. God is still calling the common person to be followers of Him.
C. Jesus not only called them to “follow Him” but He made them a promise, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
1. Jesus did not say, “I’ll give you a job” but He said “I will make you.”
2. Andrew and Peter knew that they were not equipped to be fishers of men but they were willing to be “made men.”
3. Disciples are willing and available for Jesus to make them the person that He wants them to be.
D. Jesus did not say that He would make them just “anything.” He told them that He would make them “fishers of men.”
1. Disciples have a desire to “fish for men.”
2. When we make our commitment to follow Jesus, we may not have that desire yet, but Jesus said that He would make them to become “fishers of men.”
3. We grow the desire to “fish for men” when we begin to share the heart of God. We develop the heart of God when we begin to live by the words of Matthew 22:37: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
a. Heart: Original Greek = Bowels. Gut reaction, gut wrenching, gut feeling.
Life lived in reaction to Christ’s leadership
b. Soul: Original Greek = Seat of will and purpose (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary). What controls our actions and willingness
c. Mind: Original Greek = The faculty of knowing, understanding, or moral reflection (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary). Our intellect dedicated to the leadership and knowledge of God.
d. When we share the heart of Jesus, it leads us to love the unlovable who need Christ. When we love Jesus with our soul, our willingness and desire is there to be shaped by Him. When we love Jesus with our mind, we will seek to know all that there is to know and understand about Him and this desire will be used by Him to shape our life.
E. Notice the reaction of Simon and Andrew. “They immediately left their nets and followed Him”
1. Disciples are ones who immediately react to the call of God.
2. Notice, they didn’t think about it or measure the cost. They just answered His call to follow Him.
F. Disciples are ones who have answered Jesus’ call to “follow Him” and have a desire to become “fishers of men.”
II. Disciples are called to be a growing person, maturing in Christ – Ephesians 4:13-14
…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
A. Disciples are not spiritual “babies.” They are ones that have grown into a more complete fullness in Jesus.
B. Disciples should not be “blown off” their faith by the storms of life.
C. Disciples should not be “blown off” their foundation of faith every time that some new doctrine appears or when an unkind word is spoken to them.
III. Disciples are Christian leaders called out to lead others in a new way.
A. We are to lead the lost into a new way of life:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. II Corinthians 5:17
B. We are to lead as disciples the new believers into the fullness of life in Christ.
1. We are to partner with new believers as spiritual mentors and accountability partners to lead them to maturity in Christ.
2. Too often, we in the Baptist church, like to win souls to Christ only to drop them after salvation instead of nurturing them into a mature relationship with Jesus. We need disciples that will nurture new believers!
C. We are to lead others in a new way by utilizing our gifting given to us by God!
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12
D. Disciples are to lead by fulfilling Jesus’ style of leadership which was servanthood – John 13:12- 17
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
1. A disciple is not prideful or haughty. A disciple is searching for an opportunity to serve others.
2. A disciple is not looking for position or recognition. A disciple only desiring to serve others and Jesus.
Conclusion: 1. Disciples are called out to “follow Jesus” and to “become fishers of men.”
2. Disciples are called to be a growing person, maturing in Christ.
3. Disciples are called to lead others in a new way.
4. Disciples are called to fulfill the leadership example of Jesus. Leadership by service.
