"THE CALL OF FOLLOWING JESUS"

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Matthew 4:18–22 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

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Matthew 4:18–19 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people.””

>>>The first two disciples Jesus comes across are Peter and Andrew. Jesus caught them in the middle of their work (come back later).

>>>Jesus simply tells them “Follow Me”.

*The word “follow” means “come after” (be like).

*It acts as both a command and an invitation. It warrants a response.

*FOLLOW= “COME AFTER” (BE LIKE)

>>>Jesus tells the disciples to come be like Him.

*Being like Jesus would give Peter and Andrew a new purpose in their lives. They would be fishers of men.

>>>Jesus walks by today and calls us to follow Him. This call is an invitation to be like Him-to live as He lived.

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Matthew 4:20 “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

>>>Peter and Andrew’s response was to leave their nets and follow Him.

*The word “followed” was “go after” (be like). They responded to Jesus in the way He called them-to go after Him and be like Him.

*The same word for “followed” is also used to simply mean “to travel”. This was the sense always used when referring to the crowd.

*Their living was being fishermen. To give up their nets showed that they gave up their occupation/way of living to follow Jesus.

PETER AND ANDREW: LEFT THEIR WAY OF LIVING

>>>To follow Jesus means to leave our way of living to live in the way Jesus wants us to.

*Leaving jobs/ relationships/ desires/ ambitions/ thoughts/ speech/ actions.

*Following Jesus results in a new way of living-a new purpose.

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Matthew 4:21–22 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

>>>Jesus continued walking a little further and saw James and his brother John and called them to follow Him.

>>>When He found them, they were repairing their nets (broken from Luke’s account?).

>>>This is very similar to Peter and Andrew. Though they were not in the middle of actually working, they were repairing their nets.

>>>There is another important detail added to the call of James/John: their father Zebedee.

*They were with their father and working with him.

*When Jesus called them, they left their father.

JAMES AND JOHN: LEFT THEIR FAMILY

>>>While all the disciples left their families to follow Jesus (Peter was married), this account clearly shows it happening.

>>>Following Jesus must become more important than even our own family.

Luke 14:26 ““If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

>>>While this does not mean a literal hate, it does show that following Jesus should be was is first above everything and everyone else in our lives.

>>>Is following Jesus worth more than the people closest to you?

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Matthew 4:20 “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”

Matthew 4:22 “Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”

>>>Twice the word “immediately” is used to describe the disciples response to Jesus. It was just that they followed Him, they immediately followed Him.

*Luke’s account shows some more interaction, but even then the response to drop everything immediately and follow Jesus.

ALL DISCIPLES: LEFT IMMEDIATELY

Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”

>>>Matthew instantly left everything and followed Jesus like everyone else.

>>>(Illust.) Taking students home after school.

>>>Went to get the preschooler: “I’m here for__________.”

>>>She was coloring, looked up at me, and immediately closed her marker, got her stuff, and came with me.

>>>This is the faith-filled response to Jesus when He tells us to follow Him.

>>>We don’t need to think about it. We simply need to do it.

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FOLLOW JESUS NOW!

Matthew 4:18 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.”

Matthew 4:21 “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.”

>>>Jesus kept walking. Yes, there was a time to stop to talk to Peter, but Jesus kept moving.

>>>There was an immediate response, because it was an immediate opportunity.

>>>The call to follow Jesus is NOW! Jesus is continuing to pass by, and one day He will pass by for the last time.

*Jesus pursues. He does not chase. Jesus may continue to pass by calling you to follow Him. But should you continue to refuse it, He will move on to the next person.

>>>Think of the life these four men had when they immediately left their way of living, left their family, left immediately, and followed Jesus.

*You cannot follow Jesus outside of how He calls you to follow Him.

*NOW is the time to follow Jesus.