Apostle James said in his letter, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
Last time I said that to become a disciple one must voluntary decide to follow Jesus based on the facts what the Bible said about Him. Today, I would like to tell everybody that to become a true believer it does not stop there. TRUE DISCIPLES are both listeners and doers of God’s word.
All disciples must…
I. LISTEN MORE TO THE MASTER’S TEACHINGS, 6-7
It is not a one time listening from the Lord that you become a disciple. It is just a beginning of a constant interaction with the Lord. No one can grow in the Lord after his/her first encounter with Jesus. If salvation came to us at first encounter with the Lord, to live as a true disciple is to keep on listening to Jesus. Besides…
A. God is always speaking, Psalm 19:1-4, Hebrews 1:1-3
Jesus came to proclaim God’s word. He started revealing Himself to the Jews with this words, "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)
And in another time he said,
Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)
• A true disciple should not miss anything God is going to say. This is how Peter understood the preaching of the Lord. In the previous chapter and verses we saw Peter listening to the Lord. He even welcomed Him in his house and has seen the power of His word when his mother-in-law is healed. Peter never get tired of listening even at this time that he is already attending to his work by the sea of Galilee (Luke 5:3-4).
Jonah thought he could get rid of God’s voice speaking to Him by getting away from God geographically. To his frustration, God did not stop from letting him what he needs to do in life. God used natures to get Jonah listen more from Him. He used the storm, the big fish, plant and even scorching heat of the sun to let him know that God is sovereign. The point is God is always speaking. You must listen to him more. Jesus almost said it this way; “My sheep knows me and they listen to my voice whenever I speak.”
B. Faith comes from hearing the word of God, Romans 10:17
The more Peter listened to Jesus, the more he trusted His words (verse 4). Peter said, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (5)
The reason why some of us can’t see the power of God through his words is because if not we seldom listen to his teachings, we don’t listen to Jesus at all after we got saved.
We need…
a. To be expectant of God’s voice through the sermons, Bible Studies and personal readings.
b. To have an open ears and readiness for listening.
None of the true disciples grew spiritually or in their faith in Jesus if they did not listen or hear the word of God. Names like C.H. Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, Jonathan Edwards, Charles G. Finney, Proceso Marcelo, and others will not be remembered today if they did not listen more from the Lord. It is still true today; you can never grow in faith without the word of God. Read it, study it, meditate on it, and listen to it whenever it is being spoken.
II. LIVE CONSISTENTLY WITH THE MASTER’S TEACHINGS, 8-11
As we listen more to Jesus’ teaching, the more we see our self and the more we see standing before God. We see our sinfulness. That’s what Peter recognized when he listened and obeyed Jesus’ word. He saw his sinfulness. He saw the space between them, God is holy and he is sinful. His words is “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.” SIN SEPARATES MAN FROM GOD (Romans 3:23 & 6:23), since he met Jesus it seems to him that Jesus is trying to get closer to him. Jesus want him be holy just as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16).
Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” (10). Don’t go away I want you to come closer because…
A. God is taking away your sins, 8
Peter said, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.”
This is exactly what Jesus wanted to happen also in us, to be holy as we get closer to Him and put His words into actions. As we live consistently with His teachings God is taking away from sins.
B. Faith results to Godly living, James 2:14-19
Sooner, Peter and his companions repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus. Then, they leave their boats and follow the Lord in fulfilling their calls, to become fishers of men. I’m sure, they will become like their master. As soon as they realized that they have a new master in Jesus, they new their lives will become new. Their faith will lead them into holy living.
CONCLUSION
It is mandated to all believers to listen to Jesus’ teachings and put them into actions. Christianity is being questioned because many of us have become listeners only—not so much of the teaching of the Master has been put to life. Jesus sent us to make disciple or to catch men, but we’re not even sailing into the sea of people. How can we catch men inside the aquarium? Yes, staying inside the four corners of the church is to stay in the aquarium. Inside are already believers—we can’t count them as new catch anymore. In the context of our passage today, we need to go out sailing and catch men. We need to go beyond listening. It is time to do what the Lord says!
