"Follow Me"

Introduction

Brief Welcome.

Go ahead and turn with me to Matthew 4:18 as tonight we will be in verses 18-22.

As we begin this new school year, it is always important to refocus on why we exist and what our mission statement is as Westwood students.

It is my hope and desire that by the time each one of you graduate from high school. . . that you will all be faithful followers of Jesus who are actively making disciples in whatever venue God is calling you.

To fulfill this desire, it is my, as well as the other leaders in this ministry’s goal to help you KNOW Christ, GROW in him, and GO make disciples.

This is our mission. . . and you can see it on the board to my right.

This mission emulates Jesus’ mission and the commission he gave to each of his followers before he ascended into heaven.

Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

So, our mission as Christians and students at Westwood is to be disciples of Jesus and then to go and make disciples for Jesus.

Yet. . . this implies the question that we must answer tonight. . . What is a Disciple?

Simply put. . . a disciple of Christ is someone who leaves everything behind and follows Jesus.

As simple as this statement is. . . we often fail at the task of following Jesus faithfully.

The biggest issue we have is we often let our sin get in the way and weigh us down, which prevents us from following Jesus and making disciples.

Yet. . . the wonderful truth that we will see tonight from our text in Matthew 4:18-22 is that through Jesus’ gracious call to follow him. . . we will have the strength to leave our sin behind, and he will make us into disciples who make disciples.

Let’s now read this passage together:

Matthew 4:18-22 “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

In this text, we see Jesus do three things in calling the first disciples. . .

First, He calls the fishermen to follow him.

Second, He promises to conform them to his will.

And last, He commissions them to make disciples.

So, looking at verse 19, Jesus first calls these fisherman to follow him.

1. The Call to Follow (v. 19a, 21b)

Leading up to our story in verses 18-22, the two passages prior tell us of Jesus resisting the temptations of the devil and then beginning his public ministry.

In verse 17, Matthew tells us that Jesus began preaching and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

So. . . to demonstrate what “repentance” looks like, Matthew then tells us the story of how the first disciples left everything behind to follow Jesus.

Now, looking back at our text, we see Jesus walking along the sea and noticing four fisherman. . . Simon Peter and Andrew who were casting their nets into the sea and James and John who were with their father Zebedee on the boat.

At two different instances, Jesus ushers the call to “Follow” or “come after” him.

This call would actually be abnormal in Jesus’ day, for normally disciples chose to become students of a particular rabbi, rather than a teacher calling and selecting his own disciples.

Therefore, in Jesus calling these fisherman we learn that Jesus pursues us and seeks to initiate a relationship with us.

Andrew, Peter, James, or John did not ask Jesus if they could follow him. . . rather, Jesus called them to follow him.

There was nothing special about these men. They had done nothing to make themselves worthy of Jesus calling them.

Therefore this call from Jesus demonstrates the love that God has for sinners.

The call demonstrates the abundant grace of God. . . and it foreshadows the ultimate act of love he would display in Christ dying for us even while we were yet sinners.

Unless Jesus would have initiated the call by his grace, the fishermen would have never followed him.

In the same way, we have done nothing to deserve Jesus calling us to follow him. . . yet, by his grace he has called each of us to follow him and is continuing to extend that invitation tonight to all who would be willing to leave their sin behind.

We must repent of the many times we think we did something to make us worthy for Jesus to call us to himself. . . and instead. . . praise him for showing us grace to love us first and call us to follow him.

But to respond to this call, we must know what it means to “follow” someone. . .

To follow someone in Jesus’ day meant to learn from them, to obey them, to trust them, and to imitate their life and teaching. It meant to become their disciple.

We see a clear definition of what it means to follow Jesus in Mark 8:34 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

"Following Jesus means that we recognize and accept who Jesus is as Lord, leader, and master of our lives. He’s the one who initiates and guides. In turn, we respond to his leadership and direction. Following Jesus means acknowledging that Jesus is in front and we must place ourselves behind him."

So, to be a disciple, we must first KNOW Christ and choose to respond to his call to follow him and allow him to be Lord and Master of our lives.

Have you responded to this call?

2. The Promise to Conform (v. 19)

After Jesus calls his disciples to follow them, next, he promises to conform them to his will.

Notice that Jesus does not say, “follow me and become fishers of men,” but “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Jesus does not command them to become disciple makers but instead promises that he will transform them into disciple makers.

When we choose to follow Jesus, He transforms us by his Spirit, he makes us a new creation, He turns us into an evangelist, and He gives us the strength and ability to make disciples.

This verse demonstrates the power of God and the power of His grace.

So often we feel that we must change ourselves to live for Jesus or to even come to him.

We are afraid to share the gospel, so we must try harder. . . we fall again in temptation so we must try harder. . .

But don’t forget, we are commanded to follow him and once we receive his gracious offer through faith, he promises to conform us to his will. . . he promises to transform us by his Spirit. . . he pledges to turn us into fishers of men!

Guys, we must believe that Jesus really does have the power to change us and make us disciple makers!

By GROWING in our relationship with Jesus, through spending time at His feet, through listening to his word, by speaking to him in prayer, the Holy Spirit will make us a faithful disciple who makes disciples.

But for this transformation to happen we must follow after him. . . we must walk side by side with him. . . for we cannot be conformed to his will if we let our sin weigh us down that would prevent us from following him.

We must repent for the many times we depend on ourselves and our own strength to share the gospel and make disciples and instead. . . leave our sin behind and follow him. . . so that we might grow in our relationship with him and allow him to make us a faithful disciple who makes disciples.

The Commission to Go (v. 19)

The last thing Jesus does in calling these first disciples to follow him is that he commissions them to go and make disciples.

If Peter, Andrew, James, and John follow him, he promises to change them and equip them to fish for people.

Matthew tells us that these men’s previous occupation was that they were fisherman. . . yet now, their occupation will be to fish for people.

The “fishers of men” phrase points back to Jeremiah 16:14-20 where the Lord prophesied through Jeremiah that he would send out “fishers” and “hunters” to call the people of Israel out of exile back to the “north country.”

So, Jesus’ commission to these disciples was a fulfillment of the call God had first given to the Israelites who were following him.

This commission demonstrates what Jesus cares about most. . . bringing as many people as possible into his kingdom.

Jesus could have commissioned the disciples to be religious leaders, to be governors, to be educators. . . but instead he commissions them to be fishers of men.

Our God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. . . and we should seek to have that same desire as well.

But, we can’t miss what Jesus is actually commissioning them to do. . . for we often miss the context of what it would mean to fish for people in Jesus’ day.

For us, when we think of fishing, we picture a relaxing time out on the boat, maybe a cooler with our favorite drinks and snacks. . . sitting in our chair’s idly. . . casting our line and waiting for something to bite.

But this is not what it meant to fish in Jesus’ day. . . instead, The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results.

Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps the infinite value of snatching people from judgment.

Therefore, this task was not easy but very difficult. However, with the promise Jesus just gave, he assured them that he would equip them with everything they needed to be successful.

Jesus does not commission us to an easy life. Disciple making is hard. We will face opposition, rejection, loneliness, persecution, and even death.

However, Jesus will always provide the grace we need to complete the mission he has called us to. . . and he also promises to always be with us as we seek to cast our nets and draw in many fish for him.

The Response (v. 20, 22)

So how will we respond tonight to Jesus’ call to follow him, promise to conform, and commission to go?

How did Peter, Andrew, James, and John respond?

Matthew says in verses 20 and 22 that “immediately, they left everything behind and followed Jesus.”

I want us to notice two specific things that characterized the men’s choice to follow Jesus.

First, their response was immediate.

The use of the word “immediate” implies “at once, with no time intervening or delay.”

They did not hesitate when Jesus called them.

But how could their obedience be so immediate after Jesus simply saying “follow me?”

We learn from the other gospels in Luke and John that this was not the first time Peter, Andrew, James, and John had heard of or encountered Jesus.

John tells us these men were disciples of John the baptist, and they had heard him proclaim that Jesus was the lamb of God who had come to take away the sin of the world.

Luke tells us that before Jesus called these fisherman to follow him, they had heard him teach in Peter’s boat, and they had just seen Jesus perform a miracle in allowing them to catch a large number of fish.

So, knowing that these acts demonstrated that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, when he called them to follow him, they did not hesitate.

Therefore, our response to Jesus should also be immediate. . . without hesitation. . . for like these fisherman, we have the testimony of God’s word that demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah, the lamb of God who has laid down his life for our sin, and the conquering king who has defeated death, resurrected from the grave, and who is not seated at the right hand of the Father.

Don’t delay in responding to Jesus’ call tonight.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Second, their response to follow Jesus involved leaving everything behind.

This phrase in the Greek implies that they were not intending to ever come back and get what they were leaving. . . and they left everything. . . meaning they held nothing back but left it all.

Verse 20 says that Andrew and Peter “left their nets” when they followed Jesus. Their nets symbolized their work, which was their livelihood.

These fisherman were willing to leave everything they knew to follow Jesus into the unknown.

Verse 22 says James and John not only left their nets, but also their boat and their father to follow Jesus.

The mention of a boat implies that James and John had a decent amount of money and enjoyed a middle and upper class status. Yet, they were willing to leave all of their wealth and possessions behind to follow Jesus.

Also, by James and John leaving their Father behind, Matthew was emphasizing that they were leaving their family and their inheritance.

By leaving one’s family, not only would they be forsaking all of their inheritance. . . which would include wealth, cattle, land, and a business. . . but also they would most likely face dishonor in the community for leaving their family behind.

Yet, Peter, Andrew, James, and John did not care what they would lose. . . they did not care what they would be leaving behind. . . because they knew and believed following Jesus was worth it. . . that following the Messiah was greater than all the world could ever offer.

What about you tonight? Do you believe that Jesus is worth leaving everything behind in order to follow him?

What things are you still holding onto that are preventing you from following Jesus?

What sins are weighing you down that are preventing you from walking alongside Jesus?

What desires are controlling you that are blocking you from being conformed to his will?

Call to salvation.

Call to repentance.

Call to ministry.