The Calling of the apostles

----Give glory to God-----

---Prayer----

Today we are going to examine the calling of the apostles of Jesus.

Studying the life of Jesus reveals to us the deepest treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In the epistle to the Colossians the apostle Paul speaks about how in Christ we find the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Let me remind you of the obvious fact that Jesus was Immanuel - God with us.

As God walked among us and dwelt with us, he was very intentional in what he did.

Jesus prayed every morning and he walked in the Father’s will every day.

Jesus revealed to us who God is and as only God could taking on the form of human flesh.

We began this series in the gospels and life of Jesus and so we will end it.

We will begin in

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.”

Here in Matthew we see Jesus calling the first four apostles as they are in the middle of fishing.

In a similar fashion to how we saw God call Moses while he was tending his flock, here we see Jesus calling apostles “while they are casting a net into the sea”.

Well as I have mentioned before, there is no “just happen” with Jesus. He is doing the will of the Father.

Jesus is very intentional in everything he does.

Jesus is calling the first four apostles out of a group of uneducated, working class people.

Out of these four men, three of them would become Jesus’ inner circle. The three men closest to Jesus.

Peter / James / John

These three men were present with Jesus during special events in Jesus’ life.

They were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:2–3),

They witnessed Jesus raising Jairus’s daughter from the dead (Luke 8:49–56)

They accompanied Him while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36–38).

These three might be considered, His closest friends, His closest disciples.

Peter and John would go on to write many books of our New Testament.

Now I could go on and on about the lack of wordly qualifications these fishermen have to be spiritual leaders.

But I think I have covered that topic fairly well in our discussion last week with Moses.

However, I do think it is worth recognizing that these fishermen will lay the foundation for the teachings of the entire church with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.

So the fact that Jesus’ first pick for his inner circle are fishermen should clue us in on what Jesus prioritizes when he picks leadership.

In addition to these four fishermen there are two other men whom Jesus visits at their place of work and calls them to be apostles by name.

Philip - John 1:43 “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.””

Matthew - Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

How Jesus called his apostles could be broken down into two categories.

The first being that he intentionally went to where they were working and called them out from their daily lives to follow him. \

The second being disciples chosen and called out of the larger group that had began to follow him later in his ministry.

Again I believe this was intentional because sometimes Jesus calls men to follow him from the middle of their daily lives and other times people start to follow Jesus and his teachings before he calls them by name.

Let us examine the Scripture surrounding the second “six”.

Nathanael - John 1:48–49 “Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!””

Thomas / little James / Thaddaeus / Simon the Zealot / Judas

Mark 3:13–14 “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach”

These men came to follow Jesus and then were called out as leaders later.

apostle Paul

Acts 9:3–6“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.””

As we read in Ephesians Jesus gave us the apostles and today we will see what it means for God to give the church one of these leaders.

Ephesians 4:11 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,”

As we have been seeing from Scripture over the past five weeks, It is Jesus Himself that calls and gives specific gifts to the church.

We read in Ephesians how this is even spelled out for us.

Ephesians 4:10–11“He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,”

As I had mentioned there are a few common questions that come up when talking about this.

One that I have noticed people struggle through is the difference between the men Jesus calls and the elders of the church.

There is a lot we could talk about here and I could give an entire sermon series on the different leadership gifts and the two offices of elder and decon.

However, today I simply want to give you a basic understanding of how these are different.

The verse we just read in Ephesians speaks of men that Jesus personally gifts with different gifts and calls to do work in the church.

Perhaps a simple way to think about the gifts of leadership in Ephesians is thinking of how God called Moses last week. God shows up individually in a persons life and gets their attention. God gifts that person with a gift (like Moses was gifted to teach) and that person is compelled by the Spirit of God to obey. Despite any arguments and insecurities that the person may have, God’s gifting and calling are irrevocable.

When we talk about elders, perhaps the first thing we need to recognize is that this is an office in a local church.

It is not a call on a mans life to evangelize for example, rather it is an appointment to a local church.

Therefore the the office of elder is distinct from the gifting of leadership. Let me explain this in more detail.

An elder of the church is someone appointed by men. For example the apostle Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in churches.

Acts 14:23 “And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

This is the primary difference. An elder is a man appointed to oversee and shepherd the flock in the local church, while a gift of leadership is a Christ appointed gift.

Now it is not only possible but also ideal that the men appointed by Christ with leadership gifts at some point find themselves on elder boards in a local church.

For example in 1 Peter 5:1 “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:”

This verse helps us to see that the gift of leadership is distinct from that of being an elder.

The apostle Peter was an elder in a local church, while being called as an apostle was a gift of leadership given by Christ himself.

Being an elder is a man appointed position in a local church to oversee the local flock.