Following Jesus

Introduction

Continuing our sereies in te book of Mark.

Last week we saw that humility is a choice we make and pride is a choice fall into.

We better understood the source of servanthood and how choosing to serve is the humble choice Jesus made in rescuing sinners like you and I.

This week we are going to look at what it means to follow Jesus by looking at what His disciples did when they first started following HIm.

We are going to see the basics of following Jesus. Meaning anyone and everyone can do the things we are going to be looking at today.

This is the foundation that following Jesus is built on and then as you grow your role changes but the foundation remains the same.

When you think of following Jesus what does that look like to you? Serving? Doing good works?

After being baptize by John, Jesus began his ministry.

He starts by calling men to his side to walk with Him. He is living out the great commission that He gave for followers of Jesus to live out. He is discipling men to do what He is doing when he isn’t around.

Let’s look at the calling of the disciples according to Mark

Mark 1:16-20 “16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.”

Mark 1:16-20

Exegete:

Ok, we’ve got a few people being mentioned here that I’d like for us to take note of.

First is Simon, you most likely know him as Peter. Then his brother Andrew. Now what we don’t see here in Mark is that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. John has been arressted at this point and it seems as though Andrew has went back to doing what he knows, fishing with his brother.

He would have, at a minimum, been familiar with Jesus.

Theen the next two we have are James and John, the sons of zebedee. These two would become part of Jesus’ inner circle. He would dub them the sons of Thunder in Mark 3.

This is the apostle James, not the write of the book of James. He was the first apostle to be killed for his faith and John, his brother, is the author of the gospel, the books that bare his name, and the book of revelation. He was the last to die.

At this point however none of them are special. They are fishermen.

yet when Jesus came by and said “follow me and I”ll make you fishers of men” They got up and followed.

Why? How?

Well, first Jesus was known at this point as a teacher. In Luke 5:5 we see this same story and Peter calls him “Master or Teacher”

During this time period it wasn’t uncommon for teacher to have disciples. However, the common practice was for the prospective student to ask the teacher if they would take them on.

For a teacher to come to a person and ask them would have been considered a high honor.

Illustration:

Let’s say you are a person that wants to learn how to play basketball? If Michael Jordan or Lebron James, or Steph Curry came to you and said “Follow me and I will make you a swisher of 3’s” What would you say?

If Beethoven came and said “I’ll teach you piano”

Charles Spurgeon or Tony Evans, said I’ll teach you to preach

John Macrthur or Cary Schmidt said I’ll teach you how to study the Bible

Any of those I’d jump on the opportunity.

Why? Because of how great I am at 3’s? How well I play the piano? My rpeaching ability? My bible study ability?

Nope.

Why, Why am I going to say yes to those people to teach me their craft?

Becuase of who they are

Apply:

When the disciples decided to follow Jesus, they did so based on who He is not who they are.

Some of you may be out here today and thinking “I can’t follow Jesus. I’m an awful person. I curse, I drink, I yell, and I hate being kind to others.” Maybe your on drugs, maybe your abusing perscription meds, maybe your addicted to images and videos you find online of immoral acts.

Can I tell you something? You don’t have to stop any of that to follow Jesus.

You don’t have to stop any of that to be saved or start a relationship with Jesus.

There is one caveat to a relationship with Jesus. There is one stipulation to being connected to God through the Son, and that is faith in Jesus ddeath buriaal and resurrection.

Then you know what happens? As you follow Jesus, He will work in your heart as you yield to Him and you’ll see all that other stuff change.

The desires of your heaart will change becuase God will give you new desires.

If that’s you, your setting there saying “Pastor, that doesn’t make sense. I don’t believe it.” Listen, you don’t have to believe that, you have to believe in Jesus. Abide in Him and His Word will abide in you and then you will produce much fruit. Fruits of repentance and fruits of righteousness. Not becuase of who you are but becuase of who He is and what He does in and through you.

Whether you are just beginning to follow Jesus or you have been following Jesus for a long time, the truth of thee matter is the same

I. You follow Jesus based on who He is not who you are

What does that look like though?

Let’s see what the disciples did here in the beginning as they followed Jesus

Mark 1:21-34

Mark 1:21–34 KJV 1900

21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. 29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

Exegete:

Jesus took them straight to church… After his teching there wa a posessed person that came up and acknowledged Jesus for who He is.

Even the demons know Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus cast the demon out and everyone is now recognizing what the demons already knew.

Now he’s going viral like he just posted a reel to tiktok. His fame spread by word of mouth all across the land.

After church they went to Peters house where his mother in law was sick. This is how we know Peter isn’t too bad of a guy. He brought Jesus oveer to heal her when he could have just left her alone.

She was healaed and noticed she didn’t hve a reecovery time. I’ve noticed when I get sick, I don’t recover as quick as I used to. My kids, they recover while they are sick still and they are good.

Jesus healed this woman of age that had an ailment and she immeddiateely got up to serve.

As the sun went down, they have now brought all of the city to Peters house to be healed. So he healed them.

Now that’s evereything Jesus did…what were the disciples doing at this point?

Nothing....sort of.

Illustrate:

Have you ever been apart of a group project?

Most of the time in a group project you have one person that just doesn’t pull their weight. everyone has to pick uip the slack.

In rare occasions there is one stand out person who can do all the work and everyone relies on them.

That’s the siutation we are in.

The projecet is not just the evangelism of the world, it’s also our sancvtificcation. We may be apart of the project, but we really don’t have much to contribute.

Apply:

We are to be faithful followers not project leads.

What would it have been like if the Apostles told Jesus,. Hey “I’d like to do that. Let me try.”

I’d like to heeal the blind and the lame. I’d like to heal the sick. And I ‘d like to do it now.

What wouldl we think of them? Crazy right?

Really stepping out of their role and job descriptionn huh?

God had that plan for them.

Matthew 10:1 “1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

Matthew 10:1

A lot of times wee want the end result so bad we try to skip paast the process. It’s in the process we grow in our faith, we grow in the relationship with God and it’s in the process we find our faith tried and tested. It’s thrrought he process our faith is proven.

We have a part in the group project, but we don’t get to decide the part, we don’t decide when wee get promotedd if you will, and we certainitly don’t decide the how.

We are to do one thing whe it comes to following Jesus, pursue Him. He provides all that we need, not always what we want, when we pursue Him. Our job is to follow faithfully while He does His work.

When we find ourselves trying to lead, take over, change the timeline, or the method, we put ourselves in a position that doesn’t belong to us.

Just as the disciples were not supposed to heal people at this time, you may find yourself in a place where your not supposed to heeal people. Now, I hope you get my metaphor there.

Are you waiting for Jesus to finish a work in you? If your a follower of Jesus you shoild be. Ddon’t rush it. rest in Him and the process.

II. Don’t pursue Jesus for the end, pursue Him for who He is

If you follow Jesus becuase of what He can do for you; eternal life, healing, abundant life,etc. your following Jesus for the wrong reasons.

The disciples followed beccause of who He is, they did nothing becuase of who He is..

They really lived out

Isaiah 40:31 KJV 1900

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

They did what they were called to do, follow Jesus.

Then Jesus continued to set the example for them

Mark 1:35-38 “35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”

Mark 1:35-38

Exegete:

Jesus went off on His own and spent time with the father in prayer.

This was a routine that Jesus had in His life.

why though? Why did Jesus have to do this?

In His humanity He would get tired and need replenishing. He connected to the Father through prayer, just as we do. he would spend time with Him and through this He would gain the power, in a human sense, to do what He needed to do.

As a reminder, Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. He never got rid of either part of Him.

I’m basing this statement off of what takes place later in their journey in matthew 17. In matthew 17 the discciples try to expel a demon and can’t.

Matthew 17:19–21 KJV 1900

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Matthew 17:19-21

Illustrate:

The most simpleest way to illustrate this is by telling you

If the lamp isn’t plugged into the outlet, it has no power. If the circuit isn’t flippedd on, there is no power. If the building isn’t connected to teh power grid their is now power.

However, when the building is connected to the power grid, and the circuit is turned on, and the plug is in the outlet, thenn the lamp has power and is ablet o accomplish it’s purpose.

Are you sitting here today wondering why your life is the way it is? Are you sitting here today and wondering “Why isn’t God working in my heart? In my life?”

I’m not telling you you’ll be healed and your money proiblems will go away. But I amt elling you that you can’t see god work in an through you unless your connected to the power.

Apply:

Are you connecting to God through prayer and fasting? Fasting is one of the more foreign spiritual disciplines to our culture. prayer is right there next to it.

Tony Evans said “Prayer is the fuel that provides the spiritual spark for our lives.”

Without that fuel, there is no spark. Without that spark there is no light.

Without that light we have no purpose.

Your purpose in this life is to exhibit the power of God through love, mercy, giving, and grace. You can’t do that without power, you can’t have power without prayer.

Following Jesus becuase of who He is and pursuing Him for who He is, means there must be an active prayer life. An active walk witht he Lord.

Let’s get down to it ya’ll…how’s your prayer life?

Aree you a branch disconnnected from the vine? Are you a lamp not pliuggedd into the wall?

Are you a powerless follower of Jesus because your not pursuing Him, your pursuing what he can do for you?

III. Time in prayer means time in power

You want to see change in your world? Pray for it. You want to see change iny our community? Pray for it. You want to see change in your family? Pray for it.

And don’t just “Dear God do this, Jesus name Amen.”

That’s not prayer that’s a wish. That’s talking to a Genie not your God.

John 17 is Jesus’ prayer. Go read it. Read the prayers of the Old Testament, theres a link in the worship guide to most if not all of them.

https://www.truthaccordingtoscripture.com/documents/prayers/prayers-old-testament.php#.Y_o1O-zMI-Q <<<<Need this in the worship Guide

Men and women, pouring their heart out to their Heavenly father. Pursuing Him with passion becuase of who He is.

Note what James wrote about prayer

James 5:16 KJV 1900

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

Effectual, fervant prayer.

Not the lazy prayers of someone on the way out the door putting a check in the box.

Effectual, fervant prayers…of a righteous man.

do you pray for something once and expct it to happen? Do you rub the magic lamp of rpayer and get upset with God doesn’t respond how you want.

Jesus went to the father Regulaurly during His time ont hsi earth. Following Jesus means spending time with Him and pursuing Him passionately through pryaer.

How’s your prayer life?

Time of Response