The Call of Discipleship

Today we are going to be starting a new series entitled “Lessons in Discipleship”. And while it is a new series, we won’t be starting a new book. I want us to stay anchored in the Gospel of Mark because this book is all about discipleship, and this is what we, the church, need training in. I am extremely passionate when it comes to discipleship training because this is where the magic happens. When believers receive good solid Bible teaching, they begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as they grow they eventually bear fruit. You see, as believers grow their lives are transformed, and they tap into the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my mission for our fellowship. I want to create mature Christian disciples that impact the world around them, and bring others to Christ.

This is this most effective way to evangelize the world around us. It is by creating disciples in the church that go out and evangelize their families, their coworkers, and their friends. Think about this for second. Who is going to have a greater impact on our local community, one pastor evangelizing for 30 minutes once a week, or 200 well trained disciples taking what they’ve learned in church to the jobs, to their homes, and to their community? The answer is obvious. The 200 well trained disciples will have an exponentially greater impact on the world than one pastor will. This is the model that Jesus used with His disciples. He spent the majority of His time training 12 men, and then He sent them into the world. Then the disciples did the same thing, and I know they did we same thing, but that is what Jesus commanded them to do. Let’s look quickly, at the great commission in Matthew’s Gospel.

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Now I’m confident we’ve all heard these verses preached and taught for years, but let me show you something you never hear about these verses. These are discipleship verses. What is the first thing the Lord tells His disciples to do in verse 19? He says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations. Well, what does it mean to make disciples? Thankfully, the Lord explains what He means. Now look at the first step in disciple making. He says, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Well, guess what? We only baptize believers. These verses helping believers on the pathway of discipleship. Right. I mean look what the Lord says next, “teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you”. Well, how long does it take to teach a believer to observe all the the things that Christ commanded”? The answer is a lifetime and then some. You see, these verses are about creating mature disciples. We start by baptizing them, and then we teach them the Bible over the course of their lives. Here is my point. These verses aren’t about evangelism, they are about making spiritually mature disciples.

Now, the next question is where does the evangelism come into play? This is what mature disciples do. They are evangelizing people at their jobs, in their homes, and out in the community. Let me ask the question again. Who is going to have a greater impact on our local community, one pastor evangelizing for 30 minutes once a week, or 200 well trained disciples taking what they’ve learned in church to their jobs, to their homes, and to local shops and businesses?

Now I will certainly do my part to evangelize people that come to our services. I want to ensure that if there are unbelievers in the audience that we always present Jesus’ offer of eternal life. I always want to make sure that we evangelize unbelievers that walk through these doors. But I also know that the Great Commission involves much more than evangelism. The great commission is about disciple making. For this reason, I want to ensure that believers are growing in the Lord so that every member of this body of Christ is presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here is the major takeaway. When a church is healthy and doing its job, all of us are taking Jesus out into the world. All of us are evangelizing in different situations and conversations. Let me put it this way, when believers are being feed the word and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Savior, it will come out in their behavior and people will notice. And when people notice a genuine change in your life, and they see the joy and peace that you have. They will want it, and that will open the door to have gospel conversations with them. Simply put, we can’t rely on the pastor and church staff to do all the evangelizing. That is not the Biblical model. The Biblical model is creating disciples so that each one can take the gospel of Jesus to the world around them. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy.

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Do you see the model? Paul discipled Timothy, and now He tells Timothy to create more disciples, who will in turn teach others. The point is that a healthy church is full of well trained disciples who are all carrying the Gospel message to the world. That is the Biblical model. In any event, this is why I’m so passionate about making disciples. It is the disciples that carry the gospel into the world. So, if you ever wonder why I’m spend so much time talking about discipleship and growing in Christ, this is why. It is the life long process of disciple making that fulfills the great commission.

And this is what we did this morning. We started two people on the pathway of discipleship, and over the course of their lives they will have all kinds of different opportunities to share Jesus out in the world. Using Mike as an example. I have watched Mike catch fire for the Lord, and commit to the pathway of discipleship. Now Mike as He grows in Christ will have the opportunity to share what he receives in Church, and the more He studies the more His thoughts will be consumed by Christ, and the more likely he is to share Christ with His coworkers, and even the bad people he arrests. So, as soon as Mike pries his attack dog off of a perpetrator’s forearm. Then He can tell them about Jesus. No, but seriously. The more Mike grows the greater impact he will have on his coworkers, his family, and his friends. Now multiply that happening in the lives of every single person in this room. How many lives are touched by all of us sharing Jesus. Who knows. Like a said, its exponential.

OK, let’s get into today’s lesson.

When we started Mark’s Gospel in our last series, we picked up in the middle section of the Gospel which records Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, and then of course we briefly studied the cross and the resurrection. But now that Easter is over, I want to hit the rewind button. I want us to go back to the beginning of the journey. I want us to see how it all began. I want us to see Jesus coming to the nation of Israel and offering them the Kingdom. I want us to study the calling of the disciples, and I want us to understand that Mark’s emphasis throughout the entire book is discipleship. Lastly, I want us to understand that my desire is for this body of believers to be well trained disciples that carry Jesus into the world around them. I want you to answer the call of discipleship, and I want us all to live our lives on mission, every single one of us. This is a team effort. We are the body of Christ, and if this group catches fire for the Lord, and begins operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, then God will accomplish things through us we never dreamed possible. That is the mission, and I hope ya’ll are as excited as I am to move forward as a united body of believers serving the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let’s go ahead and get into our text for this morning. Turn with me to Mark 1:16-20. And as you are finding your place, if you are able, please stand as we honor the reading of God’s word.

Mark 1:16–18 NKJV

16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

Mark 1:19–20 NKJV

19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Let me start today by asking you a question? Do you think this is the disciples first encounter with the Lord? Do you think that Jesus just walked up to these men and they immediately dropped their nets and left everything not knowing who Jesus was? I think if you asked most Christians today they would say yes. These disciples heard the call of Jesus and something about what was said, and the way He said it made them drop everything and follow Him. I’m also sure that many people believe this was the moment that the disciples got saved. Well, today I want to prove to you that this was not the case. Today I want to prove to you that not only did these disciples know Jesus at this point, but these men were already saved. These men had already believed in Jesus for eternal life and confessed their belief that He was the Messiah.

Now to prove this I need to point you to a couple of verses that are going to help us establish the timeline of Jesus’ ministry. Look with me at verse 14 for a second.

Mark 1:14 NKJV

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

Notice what Mark records in the first part of this verse. He says, “Now after John was put in prison”. This is important, and you need to remember this. Jesus calls His disciples into service after John was put in prison.

Now I need to show you a verse from John’s Gospel. Look what John says in chapter 3.

John 3:24 NKJV

24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.

OK, here is what I need you to understand. We know for sure that everything that we read in John up to 3:24 happened before John was thrown into prison. And since we know that Jesus called His disciples to follow Him after John was thrown into prison, this means that John records details that happen before the disciples drop the nets and leave everything behind. In others words, John records Jesus’earliest encounters with His disciples. Now we don’t have time today to read all of the verses on this subject, but let’s look at a few of them. Let’s begin at John chapter 1 verse 35

John 1:35–37 NKJV

35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

Look at verse 35. It says, John stood with two of his disciples. That is John the Baptist, and notice he is not in prison. Now the two disciples that he is standing with are Andrew and John (the author of the Gospel). And notice verse 37 says, “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus”. Here is the take away. John and Andrew were disciples of John the Baptist before they were Jesus’ disciples. Let’s read on.

So, Jesus sees John and Andrew following him, and He says.

John 1:38–39 NKJV

38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

Now this is amazing. Look what is says, “They (John and Andrew) came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day...” Boy, how I would love to know what they discussed during that visit, but I think one thing is clear, Jesus was evangelizing these men. He was revealing that He was the Messiah, the One who gives eternal life to whoever believes in Him. And I have good reason for believing this, which become clear as we read the next couple of verses. So after spending the day with Jesus, Andrew goes and gets his brother Simon. Let’s skip down to verse 41.

John 1:41–42 NKJV

41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

Look Andrew is already confessing Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah. So, we need to understand that the disciples have already been with Jesus before He calls them away from their fishing nets. These men know that Jesus is the Messiah, and they have believed in Him for eternal life. In the next chapter at the wedding of Cana listen to what John records after the disciples see Jesus turn water into wine.

John 2:11 NKJV

11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

This leaves no doubt, the disciples have confessed Jesus as the Christ and John records that “His disciples believed in Him”. All of this happens before the disciples are called to follow Jesus full time. In short, the disciples become believers before they drop their nets and leave everything.

I am making a big deal out of this for a reason. I want us to understand that faith alone is what saves a person. We are born-again the moment we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Here is the point, the call of discipleship is different from the Lord’s offer of eternal life. As we talk about all the time, the Lord Jesus Christ gives eternal life freely to all who believe in Him for that life. Period. There are no strings attached. The Lord Jesus Christ completed all the work needed to remove the sin barrier between God and man. Now He freely gives eternal life to whosoever believes in Him for that life.

So let me summarize my first point before we move on. I’m going to say this a couple of different ways.

The call of discipleship is a call into the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. It involves work, commitment, perseverance, and suffering.

When we answer the call of discipleship we are joining the Lord’s army and committing to become a solider of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is vastly different from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Eternal life is a gift, it is completely free.

This is what I want us to realize as we study our passage from Mark chapter 1 this morning. These men, Andrew, Peter, James, and John, are answering the call of discipleship. They are committing to a lifetime of service to their Master; these men knew Jesus, they believed in Jesus, and now they want to follow Jesus as their Lord. Legacy this what I want for this church. I want us all as believers to answer the call. I want us to answer the call of discipleship, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ whenever it may take us, good or bad.

Let’s get back to Mark and look at the call of Andrew and Peter.

Mark 1:16–18 NKJV

16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

As we get into the details of these verses, I want to point out a couple of things that most people read right past. Notice what Jesus says in verse 17, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men”. Were these men immediately fishers of men the moment they dropped their nets and followed Jesus? No, they weren’t. You see, from the very beginning Jesus is already teaching them that discipleship is a process. These four men have much to learn from the Lord Jesus Christ. These men are going to make many mistakes on the road of discipleship, as will we. This is why it is so important that we waste no more time in our lives. We have much to learn from the Master. We have spiritual skills and gifts that need to be practiced and developed. For the disciples becoming fishers of men was a process, and the same is true for us. Let me make this a plain as I can. Legacy it is time to get busy. It is time for this church to answer the call of discipleship and become fishers of men. We must start today, because the Lord’s return is approaching, and we have much to learn.

Here is another detail that we tend to overlook when we read these verses. When Jesus calls these men away from their nets He uses language that they will understand. He says, I will make you become fishers of men. Now these men understood the how much work was involved in fishing. Fishing was a labor intensive profession. Luke gives us some insight into what earning a living was like fishing the sea of Galilee.

Luke 5:5 NKJV

5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

Notice Peter says, “we have toiled all night”. I’m sure this was a fairly regular occurrence. These fisherman would spend all night casting their nets, and these nets were large and would have weights that would have to be dragged up with each catch of fish. Here is the point. When Jesus says, I’m going to make you become fishers of men, they would have understood that He was speaking of a task that would involve intense labor. In other words, these men were being called into something that would demand labor, hard work, and perseverance. You see, the Lord’s call of discipleship requires all of these things. The question for us is will we answer? Will we give all for the One who gave all for us?

Now as we move on to the calling of James and John, we are going to see that there is a cost of discipleship. Let’s read verses 19-20.

Mark 1:19–20 NKJV

19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Here we see James and John mending their nets. This meant they were working to get ready for the next day of fishing, and it would involve cleaning, mending, and folding these large nets. All of this would take hours of intense labor (Yates, pg. 51). But there is something else I want to point out in these verses. Notice what James and John leave behind. It verse 20 it says, “and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Let’s talk about the servants first. This doesn’t seem to be just a couple of brothers in a fishing boat trying to earn a living. In other words, this was no small operation; it was a fishing business with hired servants. Also, we find out in John’s Gospel that John was personally known by the high priest in Jerusalem (18:5). All of these clues point to a family that was fairly well off. Now, here is what amazes me. These men leave it all behind. That leave behind a lucrative business, and they leave behind their family. Now, we know these men were already born-again, but to just drop everything to follow the Lord is awe inspiring. These men turned their backs on the world to answer the call of their master. Just amazing.

Let me repeat this again, everlasting life is a free gift, but discipleship is costly. Eternal life is given a gift, it is absolutely free, but discipleship requires much from us. It requires dropping anything in our lives that is keeping us from serving the Lord. But oh it will be so worth it in eternity when we hear well done good and faithful servant. In fact, let me read you a verse from Matthew.

Matthew 25:21 NKJV

21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

You see everything we are working toward in our Christian lives has eternal value. What we do with this life will result in eternal rewards and the privilege of ruling with Christ in His coming kingdom. But to rule with Christ in the Kingdom to come, we must answer the call of discipleship, and faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

What this means for us...

First, let me say this. I don’t think the Lord is calling all of us to leave our jobs and families behind. We need to understand that these men had a special calling placed on their lives. They were going to be the Apostles who laid the foundation of the church. So, don’t walk out of here thinking that you can’t serve God in a mighty way unless you leave you job. In fact, when you are on the pathway of discipleship your place of work will most likely be your biggest mission field. But also know this, discipleship requires sacrifice on our part. It requires hard work, and it requires that we put down whatever is taking our focus of the Master. You see, the pathway of discipleship requires a devoted heart, and it requires an undivided heart. Please do not think that you can strive after the things of the world and have success on the pathway of discipleship. You cannot seek the things of the world and remain faithful to the Lord. Jesus makes it as plain as day, “no one can serve to masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” That my brothers and sisters is the Gospel truth. I know because I tried it. It will never work. Let me leave you with a question to reflect on this week. Who is your master? Who are you serving? Is it the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you serving your flesh by seeking after the pleasures of the world?

All of us need to understand that this world is passing away and everything in it is temporary. Do not let the world distract you. Do not let it lead you away from the Lord of all glory. You see, committing to follow the Lord is a choice that we have to make. Discipleship is a decision that rests in our hands. The Lord calls every believer to follow Him. He is calling each one of us to serve Him, and He rewards His faithful servants. The choice is yours child of God. The choice is yours. Will you be like Andrew, Peter, James, and John? Or will you continue to do life your way? The Lord is calling you to follow Him.

Will You Answer His Call?

Let’s pray.