Following Christ
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Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
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 and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
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 and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.
The gospels shows us Jesus
His kingship
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
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 and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
his rule
his love
his power
his mission
The gospels also show us how to follow Jesus (disciples)
This morning we are going to be look at and we are going to focus on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
At Exodus
Two of the main goals set before us as a church is to be a healthy church, and to be a mature church.
Healthy
Spiritual health,
walk with God,
singles - are you
marriage,
how do we handle conflict and pain,
families -
singles,
financial
leadership
Mature
Growing in our love for Christ
Growing in our love for each other
Growing in our love for the Scriptures
Learn from mistakes
Humble yet bold leaders
Faithful followers
And God has called us to something that when taken seriously and applied biblically to our lives will assure both a health and maturity in our lives and in our church.
And that is discipleship.
I could say, for us to be a healthy and mature church we must be about discipleship - and that would be true
As a church we must take discipleship seriously. And at five months old we have
established community groups where discipleship happens
We have the woman’s prayer table that happens monthly where woman come together and talk and pray together - this is also a form of discipleship
We have been had one mens night and are working on ramping that up to happen once a month as well.
We are launching Exodus Institutes in August where we will have classes where you will be able to dig deeper into God’s word, and theology, and history, so that we might be formed more into the image of Christ
As a church we want to be about discipleship as it will produce health and maturity.
However, as a church we will only succeed in discipleship as long as each of you take your call to discipleship seriously.
As a church we will never shy away from proclaiming the fact that every Christian, every partner, every man, woman, and child, must be involved in discipleship.
This is not only necessary for individual and corporate health and maturity
Matthew 28:18
But it is also an imperative given to us by Jesus himself - He has commanded us to be involved in discipleship
Jesus in the great commission says,
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He declares that he is king, that he has all authority on heaven and earth!
And his first command after this declaration is,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”
This not a call for programs or events at a church, this is a call to the Church, the people of God, all of us!
This is the call on the life of Exodus Church and this is the call to me as a pastor, and this is the call to you as single woman or man, to you as a mother or father, to you a child or as a wife or husband.
This is command for each of us and all of us. Therefore, we must follow our king and obey his commands and be involved in making disciples
And for some of you it is you who needs to be made a disciple -
You are young in your faith
You haven’t been taught how to read the bible
You haven’t had anyone keeping you accountable or pointing you back to Jesus and his word
You haven’t been shown how to observe all that Jesus has commanded you
If that is you, come talk to me after service, and lets begin this process!
For others of you, you need to be the ones who are both being taught and teaching others.
For others of you, you need to be the ones who are both being taught and teaching others.
For some of you, you need to take the years of learning and growing you have received and pour it into the many young believers in the church.
My prayer is that the people of Exodus Church will be so committed to Christ, so confident in who he is and what he has called us to that there will not be a single individual, from the youngest baby in the back to the oldest person in the room that is not actively involved in discipleship.
To learn, to be taught the scriptures and the rhythms of grace is so important
To learn, to be taught the scriptures and the rhythms of grace is so important
And I pray that nothing will keep you from pursuing that which Christ has called you
You see we have a great example of what discipleship means in our passage this morning.
For the first time in Marks gospel to be a disciple to be following Christ, learning from Christ, being identified with Christ, pledging allegiance to Christ really means something.
So as we begin I want to lay out three characteristics of a disciple.
Disciples pledge their allegiance to Jesus
Disciples follow Jesus
Disciples proclaim Jesus
Disciples Pledge Their Allegiance to Jesus
Disciples Pledge Their Allegiance to Jesus
Up to this point the disciple’s have been the Jesus’ posse, his sidekicks, they have been the focus of a lot of attention and a lot of praise!
I would imagine that they have even begun to have a bit of confidence in Jesus as he has out done the pharisees in theological debates and battles of wit.
Yet now things are getting real - The religious leaders and authorities are no longer playing this game. They want Jesus dead.
We saw this in 3:6 last week how the Pharisee’s went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
In our first verse this morning 3:7 we see that,
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
M
At first glans we see that this as not much more than a transitional verse leading us into the next section.
However the fact that Jesus “withdrew” with his disciples to the sea gives us some context
This word for “withdrew” is the same word used when Marry and Joseph had to escape from Herod when Jesus was a baby
Its also the same word used in
And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
Paul was jealous of David’s fame and in a fit of rage and demonic influence tried to kill David by throwing a spear at him, but David fled (or “withdrew”) and escaped that night.
So when Jesus and his disciples withdrew it was not that the service ended n the synagogue and they decided to move on, it wasn’t a casual stroll to the sea.
Rather they fled for their lives because the authorities were planning on killing him.
So now being a disciple means something that it didn't mean before.
To be a disciple was to now be in the crosshairs of the authorities and potentially be put to death with Jesus.
Yet they stayed with him, they pledged their allegiance to him.
The disciples realized now more than ever that to follow Jesus is not a casual pursuit.
It is not like following someone on Facebook or twitter or Instagram.
To follow Jesus is not a casual pursuit. It is not like following someone on Facebook or twitter or Instagram.
To follow Jesus is to pledge allegiance to him, even when its difficult.
To follow Jesus is to commit yourself to Jesus, even when its not popular, even when it means personal, social, or financial trouble.
To follow Jesus means you follow him no matter the circumstances, no matter the direction, no matter the cost.
To follow Jesus means that we constantly fail at following Jesus, yet, it also mean that when we do fail we repent and embrace the grace of his forgiveness, we get up and continue to follow him.
And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Jesus talks about what the cost of discipleship is in Luke 9:23-25
1 Sam
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
Following Jesus is truly a paradox in so many ways
luke 9:23-
To follow Jesus is to die
to follow Jesus is to have life abundantly
To follow Jesus is to suffer
to follow Jesus is to experience the greatest joy
To follow Jesus is to possibly lose relationships
to follow Jesus is to be knitted together with a body of Christ where you are a part of true community
To be a disciple is a lifelong commitment, it is to pledge yourself and your family and all you do to Christ
It is a dying to yourself
I like what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his book The Cost of Discipleship
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
So we see that the disciples continue to follow Jesus no matter what the circumstances, even potential death.
We also start to see distinction and a forming of the disciples in contrast to the crowds who follow Jesus.
Look with me at 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
Mark 3:7-
Here we see the crowd mentioned three times
This crowd wanted to get to Jesus because they heard about all that he was doing
This crowd was full of people who wanted to see Jesus heal them or a loved one
They were impressed with Jesus, they wanted to see him perform another healing or exorcism
They were great fans!
There are a lot of fans of Jesus
Jesus is a great role model, he his a great marketing tool, he is a great morel guide, he is a great person in history
The church Wichita are full of fans
They love Christian music
They love church culture
they love the community
They love the inspiration they receive from sermons
We have lots of fans of Jesus all around us
Yet, disciples are followers of Christ, not fans.
Disciples Follow Jesus
Disciples Follow Jesus
To be fan is to follow Christ because of what he does for you - and if he no longer meets your personal expectations then you find someone or something else to be a fan of
His kingship
This happens so often in the church
his rule
people get board of Jesus
his love
the promises they believed haven’t materialized so they move on to the next thing
This is what the prosperity gospel thrives on - making fans
If you give money Jesus will....
Pay off your debt
bring healing to your sickness
give you promotion in your job
he will fill your tank with gas
he will provide you with a better spouse
he will bless you in every way you can imagine
And when this does not happen, people walk away from Jesus in the same way they walk away from their favorite band after making an album they don’t like.
All these people here who are nearly crushing Jesus because they want something from him, will in about 13 chapters either want nothing to do with him or will be shouting with the mob “crucify him”
because to be a fan is to follow Christ because of what he does for you.
To be a disciple is to follow Christ for who he is
his power
his mission
You follow Jesus because he is king!
The gospels also show us how to follow Jesus (disciples)
You follow Jesus because he is the creator of all things
You follow Jesus because he is the only one worthy of following
Disciples follow Jesus not only because we like Jesus, but because we love Jesus
Disciples follow Jesus not only because want him, but because we need him
To be a disciple is to give up everything for the sake of the Jesus, for the sake of the gospel
And what I mean by “give up” is not that you quit your job, or stop enjoying the hobbies you have, or to think that to be a disciple is to live like a monk in solitude — that is not at all what i’m saying
To give up everything is to bring everything in your life throne room of God and lay it down at his feet.
To follow Christ is to have a life that is not your own, but belongs to Christ
And here is the awesome thing!
Everything that is submitted to our God who is full of glory, will then begin to take on that glory
You see, to follow Christ is far more satisfying and fulfilling than to be a fan of Christ
When you follow Christ and bring everything to him in full submission, everything changes
You’re marriage will be glorified
you’re relationships will be glorified
Your work will be glorified
Your hobbies will be glorified
Your parenting will be glorified
Why? Because God glorifies everything that is his.
Disciples are not fans but followers of Jesus
be encouraged by this - God wants to bring glory to your life. To follow Christ is to receive glory
Paul encourages the church in Thessalonica with this same truth:
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Disciples are not fans but followers of Jesus
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
There are a lot of fan of Jesus in our day
To be a disciple is to be a follow, not a fan
As we continue to look at the characteristics of a disciples we see that A disciple is more than a confessor of Jesus, a disciple is a proclaimer of Jesus
A disciple is more than a confessor of Jesus a disciple is a proclaimer of Jesus
Disciples Proclaim Jesus
Disciples Proclaim Jesus
Look with me at 3:11
And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
Mark 3:
Here we have demons taking possession human beings coming into the presence of Jesus
The reason we often see demon possessed people running toward Jesus and bowing before him is because the demons recognize true authority. The recognize that if they have any chance of sticking around they have to ask the king.
So here we see marking saying whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him (as one would fall down before the king) and cry out, “you are the Son of God”
The demons would confess Christ for who he truly is - yet the demons are now disciples.
To be a disciple is more than to just confess Christ.
Again, this is a huge temptation for us
We live in a time and place where if someone confesses Jesus they believe they have right relationship with him.
We see professional athletes, and music stars and movie stars confess Christ at award shows
To confess Christ means nothing - the demons confess Christ
Jesus calls his disciples to proclaim Christ, to Harold Christ, to preach Christ.
Look with me at 3:13-15
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 and have authority to cast out demons.
Jesus calls to himself those whom he desired and he at this point appoints the 12 apostles
The demons confess that Jesus is the “son of God”
He appoints his disciples to preach and have authority to cast out demons.
A disciple serves Jesus
He appoints the disciples to be heralds of the gospel - to proclaim the truth of the gospel.
Part of proclaiming Christ is to proclaim him with authority!
We have been given this same task, we are to proclaim Christ with all authority in every Sphere of our lives.
You see, to be a proclaimer of the king is much different then to be a confessor of the king.
Paul refers to this Aspect of discipleship when he calls us Ambassadors of Christ
We bring the message of the king into
our families
our jobs
our schools
relationships
We are ambassadors and proclaimers of the gospel
in the public square
in politics
in entertainment
in unreached people groups in the jungles of Venezuela or In the slums of India
There is not one square inch of this earth that we are not to proclaim the gospel of Christ
When Jesus said that all authority in heaven and earth was given to him, and to go make disciples of all the nations — he meant it!
So what is it that we are to proclaim?
There are many right answers to this question
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus
The Kingdom of God now being present
That the king sits on his throne and is calling for our allegiance
This is all true, but i think the text gives us a powerful picture of what we are to preach when we step back and look at it from the 30k foot level.
Jesus here calls the twelve apostles and Mark names them for us
We could spend time looking at each apostle and provide a biographical sketch
We could talk about the covenantal significance of Peters name being changed from Simon to Peter
We could talk about Judas who is to betray Jesus and hand him over to the authorities.
These are each individual pieces of the mosaic, but if we step back and look at this passage as a whole in light of biblical history what we will find is that Jesus is creating a whole new world.
What are they proclaiming? a whole new world!
Disciples Proclaim a New World
Disciples Proclaim a New World
You see, the Jewish world has gone through many different iterations
They had priests
They had kings
They had prophets
They were in exile
They were free
They were again enslaved
There was a lot of back and forth and ups and down for God’s people
Yet one thing stayed consistent - They were God’s covenant people
Their God was the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
You see in Jacob wrestled with God and asked God to bless him - part of this blessing was a name change
His name was no longer Jacob, but Israel
And Jacob had 12 sons
And those 12 sons were the beginning of the nation of Israel
The 12 sons represented the 12 tribes of Israel
The 12 tribes ended up defining the people of God.
Some of the tribes were disobedient, some were faithful
But all the way up to the time of Christ the people of God were represented by the 12 tribes of Israel
Now Jesus has come and he is recreating the history of Israel in himself
He is the new Jacob and he is now appointing 12 apostles who are to be the foundation for the church. For the people of God.
He is ushering in a whole new world, where you no longer have to be identified with the 12 tribes of Israel to be in covenant with God.
Now you must identify with the Christ through the teaching of the apostles to be in covenant with God.
The rites of the old covenant are passing away
The old religious world is starting to crumble
The old wineskins are bursting
So Jesus is instituting new wineskins, a new foundation, a new covenant!
He is instituting a new people of God
Its not that old is in opposition to the new, rather the new has fulfilled the old
Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law he came to fulfill it
Jesus didn’t come to abolish the people of God, he came to recreate the people of God.
In we see a vision of the lamb of God with the 144,000 - they were the ones who have been redeemed from the earth who were sealed with the name of God
These 144,000 were those who
pledged allegiance to Christ
They were the ones who followed Christ
They were the ones who proclaimed Christ
take the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles 12x12=144 x1000!
The 144,000 represent all the covenant people from Genesis all the way through until end of time
If you are a disciple of Christ, you are considered in this number this morning.
And may we live as disciples who:
Follow Christ
Proclaim christ
And pledge Allegiance to Christ!