Follow the Leader
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Introduction
Introduction
The passage of Scripture that falls between Matthew 5:1 and 8:1 is known as the Sermon on the Mount.
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
It is significant that this message was delivered to the crowds that had begun to follow Jesus and that once he had completed this message, the crowds followed him down from the mountain.
But the more significant thing is that crowds continue to follow Jesus Christ after two thousand years have rolled by.
By the grace of God, we have been chosen to be among the crowds that follow him and listen to him.
What is the secret of this magnetism of the Teacher who spoke these remarkable words?
What is it that causes this fellowship of the crowds after two thousand years?
Why is it that you and I continue to follow him?
We follow Jesus because of who he is.
We follow Jesus because of who he is.
Famous celebrities attract a crowd wherever they go.
To enjoy any privacy at all, they must conceal their identity and their presence.
Jesus Christ was and is the God-man, the eternal God clothed in a human body.
He is the Messiah promised by the prophets, the One for whom Israel had been waiting. God revealed this truth to Peter, and Peter verbalized the conviction of his heart by declaring:
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus was more than just a good man and a great teacher.
He is God in human flesh. Because of who he is, we continue to follow him.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
To follow anyone else is foolish.
14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
We follow Jesus because of what he did.
We follow Jesus because of what he did.
We follow Jesus Christ because of what he did during his earthly life.
He ministered to the sick, comforted the grieving, gave hope to the discouraged, and fed the hungry.
But his greatest greatest achievements were on a cross and in a tomb.
On the cross, he took our place, demonstrating the height and depth and breadth of his love for unworthy sinners.
He paid our sin debt by dying as a substitute for each of us.
In the tomb, our Lord conquered death and the grave.
He demonstrated that death will have no final victory over those who trust him.
By conquering death and the grave, Jesus became a living Savior, able to save unto the uttermost those who come to God by him.
Because of what Jesus did, we continue to follow him two thousand years later.
15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
We follow Jesus because of what he can do.
We follow Jesus because of what he can do.
We follow Jesus
1: because he is able to forgive our sins and make us clean and acceptable to the Father God,
2: because he can give the gift of eternal life and cause us to love the things that are lovable in God’s eyes,
3: because he gives us a new quality of life, because he gives us victory over the evil within us and the evil that threatens us from without,
4: because he is able to help us be productive and victorious as we live the abundant life he provides.
5: We follow him because it is through him that we can achieve our highest possible manhood and womanhood.
3 The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.
We follow Jesus because we need him.
We follow Jesus because we need him.
Children need their parents.
A husband needs his wife.
A wife needs her husband.
We need our friends.
We need certain professionals who can provide us with services in times of need.
All of us are in need of others.
More than anyone else in all of existence, Jesus Christ is the One we need. Thus we follow him. With selfish motives and with the best of interests, we follow him because it pays to serve him.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
We follow Jesus because others need him.
We follow Jesus because others need him.
People have many needs.
They need such things as food, clothing, shelter, education, jobs, medical care, and insurance.
But humankind’s greatest need is for a right relationship with God that comes through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can meet their greatest need when we help them receive the forgiveness of sin and the gift of new life that comes only through Jesus Christ.
Andrew brings people to god
41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
W
hat about the paralized man whos friends lowered him through the roof to Jesus?
17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.
18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,
19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.
20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Even Paul said
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
In my life i need Jesus and old man called Uncle Pat led me to salvation. He was noty a preacher or evangeliost or held any position. we just happened to sit next to him in church.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The crowds followed Jesus during his earthly ministry, and they have continued to follow him down through the centuries.
You and I can rejoice over the privilege of being among the crowds that follow him.
If you have not yet begun to follow him, right now would be a good time to forsake the way of life that ends in disappointment and come to him who alone can give you life and hope and peace and joy.
Become a true follower of Jesus Christ because of who he is, what he has done, and what he can do in your life.