The Twelve Series

Mar 3:13-19 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

• The calling of the twelve, eleven good and one, well…..

• This is not going to be a Judas Iscariot beat-up session.

• That will come later.

• What I want to focus on today is the calling of the disciples, as Jesus has also called you…. And me….

• These guys were following Him around watching Him teach, preach, heal, expel demons.

• Suddenly He said, “Hey guys, come with me. Let’s talk….”

I. They were called by Jesus.

• These went up the mountain to be WITH Jesus.

• They came TO Jesus.

• They were called to live FOR Jesus.

• The prepositions are all small, but they make a world of difference.

• With, to and for. Two letters, three letters and four letters.

• Today, you are called to be With Jesus.

• Sometimes we can walk all day without any consideration of Jesus.

• Suddenly, something goes completely wrong in our lives and we ask, “Why”.

• We are called upon to be strong because of our reputation, and it exhausts us. We run out of strength.

• Sometimes we are so accustomed to living our lives without walking WITH Jesus, we have convinced ourselves that this is normal. That it is expected.

• We have sanctified our self-living, living out of our of our own strength, and we think that is the normal Christian life.

• When we hear of Christ walking WITH someone else in a real way, or more real to us, we think they are imagining a better relationship than we have, or they have their theology messed up.

• But really, stop a minute. Please take a journey with me for a minute.

• I want you to remember when you asked Christ to be your Savior.

• Something wonderful happened in your life.

• It touched you deeply and shook every area your life.

• It affected your viewpoint of everything. Things looked different, even the most familiar things.

• For a while, maybe days, weeks, months, years, you knew that Jesus was right there.

• You walked with Him. He walked with you.

• But slowly, that presence began to fade.

• Sometimes, during revivals, good services, a strong song, it sparked up again.

• However, on Mondays, now it’s life as normal.

• Is that how you want life? Is that what you expected from Christianity?

• Is Christianity that much of a disappointment?

• I am not talking about feelings or emotions. I am talking about Christ’s presence in your daily life.

• You have already figured out that feelings cannot sustain you.

• You see, at salvation, you were right there by Jesus. You were with Him and He was with you.

• But now, He may seem far away. But HE never moved. It is us who walk away from Him.

• The Christian life can be the Abundant life. But it must be a life walked with Him.

• Secondly, They came TO Jesus.

• So, what if Jesus seems far when He once seemed near?

• It is simple. Jesus is calling you TO Him.

• He is calling you away from the life that ignores Him.

• The life that ignores Him has become dependent on other things.

• So, it is a life that walks away from dependence on other things and walks ever closer to God.

• Only when you return TO Jesus can you really life FOR Him.

• He said, I have things I want you to do, but you cannot do them dependent on the other things.

• You cannot do things FOR Jesus that count until you are WITH Him, moving ever closer TO Him.

• He can only use you if you are dependent UPON Him.

• Then we get the list of the disciples.

II. They were Qualified by Jesus.

• Consider the qualifications of Moses, educated in the Pharoah’s house, by the top scientists and educators of the land.

• And there is Paul (Saul of Tarsus), who had the greatest education available in his day.