Title: The Disciples' Determination/ Matthew 4:18-22
Contents
Introduction,
If there was one thing Jesus did first for world evangelization, it was making disciples.
After Jesus ascended to heaven, the most sure fruit of God's work (evangelism) left on the earth was the disciples of Jesus. Wherever they went, no matter how terrible persecution was, they boldly preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and as a result, Christianity has taken root throughout the world today.
Today's text records the first time Jesus called his disciples. In fact, most of them were people who immediately became disciples of Jesus in the field of fishing. It would have been impossible for the fishermen in difficult circumstances to follow the poor Jesus without a big decision.
Now, let's look at how the disciples responded to Jesus' call.
Ⅰ, they were totally obedient.
Galilean fishermen who did not even know who Jesus was at the time must not have been so easy to follow Jesus who was willing to call them.
But the Bible shows that when Jesus commanded, “Follow me,” he immediately obeyed, saying, “They immediately left their nets and followed Jesus” (Matthew 4:22).
Obedience is not hesitating or delaying when receiving a command, just saying “Amen” to the command is obedience.
Abraham was commanded to offer his only son Isaac as a burnt offering when he was 100 years old. The Bible says, “Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took his two servants and his son Isaac, and cut wood for the burnt offering, and took it, and left, and went to the place God had directed him” (Genesis 22:3). You can see that I've been in a hurry since dawn. Also, in the parable of the talents, the one who received the five talents went right away, traded and left five more talents, but the one who received the one talent went and delayed, and buried it in the ground, and was punished for being an evil and lazy servant.
When Jesus commanded, the disciples immediately obeyed and followed. That's why the Bible says, "Obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearing is better than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).
There can be no hesitation in Jesus' commands, only obedience is required. The saints should pray carefully before taking any action, whether it is in accordance with God's will, but if they are convinced that the action is God's will, they should obey it immediately without waiting.
Moreover, if Jesus, who controls everything in life, calls us, we do not need to delay even for a second.
Ⅱ, They forsook everything and followed Jesus.
To follow Jesus, we must remove the obstacles that stand in our way.
Peter and Andrew said, “Immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus” (Matthew 4:20), and James and John wrote, “Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus” (Matthew 4:22). There is.
The fact that the fisherman abandoned the boat means that he gave up everything. Also, James and John left their ships and their fathers and followed Jesus.
The meaning here is to follow our physical parents and not to lose eternal life, but to bring Jesus first to receive the life of salvation and to preach it and lead it to a new life. Therefore, the Bible says, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37), but “another of the disciples said to me, Lord, First, let me go and bury my father. Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their dead, and you shall follow me" (Matthew 8:21-22). He made us realize that we must do the spiritual things before the fleshly things.
Peter, relying on the knowledge of the world and his own experience, labored all night long, but found no fish. Caught.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the most precious thing to you?
Even if it is the most precious thing to you, if it is an obstacle to following Jesus, you must mercilessly throw it away.
To throw away means to throw away the heart that loves something other than Jesus. It means getting rid of addiction. When we cast away this heart and follow Jesus, not only our own salvation but also the salvation of our parents and brothers will be possible. “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
conclusion,
Saints! If we were the Lord's first disciples, how would we have responded to Jesus' call? When a man testified that he was the Son of God and the true Savior and invited him to follow him, would you have believed in him and followed him easily?
It can be said that it is the result of the harmony between the heart of obedience to obey any word of God and the heart of absolute trust to take any sacrifice to follow the Lord.
For all of you, what ships, nets, and blood and blood do you have to give up to follow the Lord? And are you willing to give them up to follow the Lord?