Chapter 1. The title of this message, The Call. The Call. All four Gospels record the calling of the disciples. Matthew and Mark are pretty much the same. They were pretty much word-for-word close to being the same. Here we have all four Gospels recording the call of the disciples and each account emphasizes different details as they were moved by the Holy Spirit but they wrote according to their knowledge, their experience and what they saw, what they experienced, which shows the authenticity of this event.

THEY DID NOT GET TOGETHER AND MAKE THIS UP. THEY DIDN'T DO THAT LAW, WE KNOW THAT. Now in Mark chapter 1 verse 16-20 we see a call to service. When I read these verses I had to step back because I felt like I had an incomplete picture. because I know that the Lord doesn't call anyone to service until he calls them to salvation first.

So I went in search, I went in search of the picture, the message, and how to put this together. And as I did, I began to see, I began to see the full picture of what happened here in Mark. You see, we see the call to SERVICE here in Mark, but before there can be a call to SERVICE, there MUST be a call to SALVATION.

Must be. A call to FAITH and REPENTANCE. And only after THAT, then comes the call to FOLLOW ME, to SERVE ME. Now when we consider all four Gospels TOGETHER, WE SEE A FULLER PICTURE OF GOD'S CALL OF HIS DISCIPLES AND HOW IT REALLY HAPPENS. WE SEE THE PROGRESS OF IT, THE PROGRESSION OF IT. NOW THERE ARE FOUR STAGES IN THIS CALL. I'M GOING TO HANDLE IT IN FOUR STAGES.

FIRST, THE ENCOUNTER. SECOND, AN INTEREST. THIRD, A REVELATION. Fourth, a commitment. That's how I want to handle it. Now, first the encounter. Now to see this we have to turn over to John chapter 1. It was an interesting study for me, I'm glad that the Lord impressed on my heart to search this out.

In John chapter 1 verse 35 through 40, Again the next day after Jesus stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, that is John the Baptist saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? And he said unto them, Come and see, come and see. And they came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, it was his brother. Andrew, Peter's brother, is introduced here.

Now the other disciple, whose name is not given, I have no doubt it's John. John never gave his name in the gospel he wrote, and I have no doubt it's John. John the Baptist points to Christ and he declares, Behold the Lamb of God! NOW THE DAY BEFORE THAT HE SAID, BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, AND HE BAPTIZED HIM.

AND ANDREW AND JOHN, THEY HAD SAW THAT AND THEY HAD HEARD JOHN PREACH AND THEY BELIEVED JOHN. BUT WHEN THE SECOND DAY CAME AND JOHN SAID, BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD, ANDREW AND JOHN, THEY LEAVE JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THEY GO FOLLOW the Lord Jesus Christ. This shows the divine order, first the messenger, then the message, then the meeting with the Lord Himself, then faith, then commitment. And you'll see this as we go. These two believed the preaching of John. No doubt John baptized them. He baptized them. But then they encountered the one He preached.

You hear me preach, you hear me preach, and if the Lord is pleased to save someone, you will eventually encounter the one I preach. You will encounter Him, He'll cross your path, just like He did the Apostle Paul. Now, they believed John, and then an interest was created. there in in verses 39 through 42 there's an interest created you see in verse 37 look and the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus then Jesus turned and he saw and he saw saw them following and said to them what seek you what are you seeking well he knew HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE SEEKING, BUT HE WAS GOING TO BRING IT OUT OF THEM, JUST LIKE THAT WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD.

HE SAID, WHO TOUCHED ME? HE KNEW WHO TOUCHED HIM, BUT HE WAS GOING TO MAKE HER CONFESS WHAT HE DID FOR HER, AND SHE CONFESSED BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE HOW SHE TOUCHED HIM, AND SHE WAS MADE WHOLE. AND HE SAID TO HER DAUGHTER, GO IN PEACE. And he says to them, what seek ye?

And they said to him, Rabbi, Master, where do you dwell? Where do you live? You know, the scripture says a son of man hath no place to lay his head. Some think he's probably living in a cave, I don't know. He may have been staying with someone, but more than likely he was probably living in a cave. And he said to them, and he creates this interest, come and see, follow me and see, come and see. And so they spend time with him and they listen to him.

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine sitting at his feet and listening to the God of heaven and earth speak to you? And he spoke to them. He they listened to him and they learned from him they learned from him and Andrew was so moved by this he was so convinced that this is the Christ this is the Messiah he's so moved by this meeting that he finds his brother Simon Some of you've done that. When you heard the gospel, you just wanted people to hear it. You wanted your brothers, especially family, especially the ones you love, they're on your heart first. That goes without saying. And you want them to come and hear.

I found the Messiah, the one the scriptures speak of, the Old Testament speaks of, He's here. I bet you, He probably didn't just walk in and say, Simon, We found the Messiah. He walked in excited because they'd been looking for him for a long time, thousands of years and he's here and Andrew's convinced he's here and so he goes find Simon and he brings him to Christ. Here's a real good evidence of how to witness Come, hear a man that told me everything I ever did.

That's what the woman at the well said. It's this, it's nothing more than one sinner speaking to another sinner where to find HEALING, where to find SALVATION, MERCY. It's just one sinner speaking to another sinner. That's what's going on right now. I'm just a sinner speaking to a bunch of sinners. telling you of Christ.

And the Lord, when the Lord met him, when Peter came, he said, he said, uh, Simon, your name's not going to be Simon any longer. I mean, he immediately just changed his name. Your name's going to be Cephas, Peter or Stone, Petro. Not Petra. Petra is the rock. Petro is a piece of the rock. You're a piece of the rock. We're all members of Christ. We're all members of that rock, aren't we? But Christ is the rock. At this stage there is a real interest created, but not yet full commitment. Not yet. There's some things that have got to go on here yet before there's full commitment. You see, they've met the Lord. They have met the Lord Jesus Christ and they believe Him. They believe on Him. They believe Him to be the Messiah. That's what they believe. They believe Him. But they've not yet been called to leave everything and follow Him. The Lord has a little more in store for them before He does this.

We have the ENCOUNTER, we have the INTEREST created, and now we have a REVELATION. Turn over to Luke Chapter 5. Now it's going to get interesting. Now we have a revelation. If God saves a sinner, there's going to be a revelation. You're not going to just believe facts. It goes beyond facts. There's a revelation of a person, and that person becomes very, very, very real to you. Jesus Christ is your LORD! Not your buddy, He's your LORD! He's your MASTER! They called him MASTER! More out of respect at that time, but they're about to really understand what MASTER means. Because he's going to take over the boat. He's going to take it over.

Now let me read these first 11 verses. And it came to pass, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret. AND SAW TWO SHIPS STANDING BY THE LAKE, BUT THE FISHERMEN WERE GONE OUT OF THEM, AND WERE WASHING THEIR NETS. AND HE ENTERED INTO ONE OF THE SHIPS, WHICH WAS SIMON'S. YOU SEE, ALL OF THIS IS AROUND THE SAME TIMELINE. AND HE ENTERED INTO ONE OF THE SHIPS, WHICH WAS SIMON'S, AND PRAYED HIM THAT HE WOULD THRUST OUT A LITTLE FROM THE LAND. AND HE SAT DOWN AND TAUGHT THE PEOPLE OUT OF THE SHIP.

This is, this person is God. He is in a boat, he's offshore, and the whole crowd can hear him speak. He sits down, he's not standing up yelling. He'll not lift up his voice in the street. But he can sit down, without a microphone system, and every person in that crowd, however big that multitude was, could hear him plainly. That's because he's God. He's able to speak in the whole world here if he wants to, if it's his will.

Now, he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP, AND LET DOWN YOUR NETS FOR A DROUGHT. AND SIMON ANSWERING SAID UNTO HIM, MASTER, WE HAVE TOILED ALL NIGHT, AND HAVE TAKEN NOTHING. NEVERTHELESS, AT THY WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NET. AND WHEN THEY HAD THIS DONE, THEY ENCLOSED A GREAT MULTITUDE OF FISHES, AND THEIR NET BREAKED.

And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him at the drought OF THE FISHES WHICH THEY HAD TAKEN, AND SO WAS ALSO JAMES AND JOHN, SEE THEY'RE THERE, WHICH WERE PARTNERS WITH SIMON. AND JESUS SAID UNTO SIMON, FEAR NOT, FROM HENCEFORTH I SHALL CATCH MEN. AND WHEN THEY HAD BROUGHT THEIR SHIPS TO LAND, THEY FORSOOK ALL AND FOLLOWED HIM.

Now, here we have We see a deeper work, heart work. Now we're getting to see into what's going on in the heart, in Peter's heart. And the others, they were astonished too. The disciples returned to their normal lives. They are fishing again. And in verse two and three, Christ enters the boat, demonstrating that everything, everything we have belongs to Him. He did not ask Peter if he could use his boat. Peter and they were out of the boat, washing their nets. And the Lord goes over and gets in the boat. And evidently they came over and got in the boat also. But everything we have is the Lord's, it's the Lord's. It's not ours. It's on loan to us. It's on loan to us. And if He wants to, He'll take it. Whether it be a house, a job, or a family member, He'll take it. It's all His.

And our Lord enters the boat, and He teaches the people from their boat. And they hear Him teach again. They hear grace poured from His lips, truth poured from His lips, and they got to sit there again in the boat beside of Him listening to Him again. But now comes the revelation and a trial of faith.

He said in verse 4, after he taught the people, you see in verse 3, he entered into the ship and he went out a little bit and he sat down and he taught the people out of the boat. But now in verse 4, when he had left speaking, there's always an end to speaking. He said to Simon, he said, LAUNCH OUT! LAUNCH OUT INTO THE DEEP! and let down your nets.

God's preachers do business in great waters. In Psalm 107 verse 23 and 24, THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS, THAT DO BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS, THESE SEE THE WORKS OF THE LORD AND HIS WONDERS IN THE DEEP. And they are about to see something. They don't know it yet, but they're about to see something.

More than just a bunch of fish in a net. Now Peter responds, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Caught nothing. Nevertheless, AT THY WORD I WILL LET DOWN THE NET. This is a trial of faith. They heard Him, they believed Him, and now their faith is going to be tried. Will they trust His Word or their experience? We've toiled all night and we've caught nothing. What are they going to do? Are they going to trust Him? or they're going to trust their experience.

Well, Peter said, Lord, it's your word. Nevertheless, we didn't catch anything, but we're going to do what you said. We're going to do what you said. And what they also received here is a revelation of who this one is they called Master. They called him Master. Now, they're really about to see who the Master is.

THEY HAD ALREADY EXPERIENCED HUMAN FAILURE! THEY EXPERIENCED HUMAN FAILURE! Peter said, WE'VE TOILED ALL NIGHT! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! I'M TELLING YOU, IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! When God saves a sinner, that sinner has to EXPERIENCE ABSOLUTE FAILURE IN THEMSELVES. TOTAL FAILURE IN YOURSELF. Before God USES a man, He TEACHES that man HIS INSUFFICIENCY. He does. God did not use Paul until He broke him. He changed his name from Saul to Paul. changed Peter's name, changed Jacob's name, Sarah's name, Abraham's name. 2 Corinthians 2, 15-16, For we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish, to the one we are the saver of death unto death. and to the other the saver of life and delight."

Who is sufficient for these things? Only a fool or a man called of God would stand here. It's one of the two. He's either a fool or a man that's called of God to preach. But something else I noticed here, God doesn't call lazy men. Go through the Scriptures. What was Elijah doing when Elijah came? He was plowing with 12, I think it was 12 yoke of oxen. Everyone whom God has called, especially to serve, has been busy. And it really struck me, this struck me, is how the Lord trains His servants long before they know Him. He made them fishermen. How many times did they toil all night? and caught nothing. How many times were they disappointed?

Because the ministry they're going to enter is going to cause a lot of disappointments. They're going to be rejected a lot. They're going to be hated. They're used to toiling in disappointment. That just struck me. The Lord trains His servants long before they know Him. They were used to disappointment. They'd already had some training in it. But when the catch comes, it's overwhelming.

You see, those fish are his fish. Those fish are his fish. And they toiled all night and caught nothing because he didn't let them. He didn't let them. He made their nets empty because he's got a lesson to teach them. He's got a revelation to give them. So when the catch comes, it's overwhelming. The nets cannot contain it.

But most of all, they know, they know without a shadow of a doubt, they had nothing to do with it. They said, we toiled all night. We've caught nothing. And now here they have caught so many that the ships are about to sink. And they know 100% they had nothing to do with those fish in that net. I have nothing to do with saving a sinner myself.

That's God's business. That's God's business. HE WILL SAVE AS MANY AS HE CAN WISELY SAVE, AND HE WILL SAVE ALL HE HAS PURPOSE TO SAVE, RIGHT TONIGHT. EVERYONE IS HERE TONIGHT WHOM THE LORD PURPOSED TO BE HERE. AND HERE'S A TRUTH WE MUST LEARN, AND HERE'S A VITAL TRUTH, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE GOING TO STAND IN A PULPIT. AND ESPECIALLY IF ANY YOUNG MAN HAS ANY INCLINE IN PREACHING. GOD'S GOING TO TEACH YOU THIS. I HAD TO LEARN THIS. WITHOUT ME, YOU CAN DO NOTHING. You can't preach. I've never seen a man yet that can preach, but I have seen some men whom God is unable to preach. A seminary will not make a preacher. God will make a preacher.

He'll send him on the backside of a desert for 40 years before he uses him. I was 60 years old before he sent me here. Now I'd pastored about eight years before I came here, You know, when I was a young man, I'm just going to give you my experience here just a little bit. But when I heard the gospel, I wanted to preach the gospel. I wanted to. And I started preaching here and there. And then I had wrestled with this thing of being called. Am I called? Am I not? Am I called? Am I not?

I wrestled with that for years. And finally one day I just decided, I mean I was just so confident, I'll just fill pulpits when, you know, as the Lord calls me to do that. And I went into business. I had no, no more desire to go try to preach somewhere or be a pastor or anything.

Now some people have said, and I've heard it said, if you could be satisfied doing anything else, do it. If God has, where God has you at right now, you better be satisfied. There's a problem if you're not. I was satisfied with the way it was going. I was totally satisfied.

And then the Lord put me in the ministry. I no more wanted to be in the ministry. And the Lord put me in the ministry. I learned I couldn't preach. I couldn't do this. And if God calls a young man and if He puts him in a ministry, He's going to strip him and He's going to make him know, you can't do it. You cannot do it. You can toil all night and catch nothing. Without Me, you can do nothing, John 15.

Paul said, One waters, I'm going to paraphrase. One water is one plant, but God gives the increase. And Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 4, 7, he said, We have this treasure, this gospel treasure in earthen vessels, that the power may be of the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us and not of men. I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO BLOW OUT A CANDLE! ALL POWER BELONGS TO HIM! ALL POWER!

Then now we have this REVELATION which the Lord has given them. And this REVELATION that the Lord GAVE to them led to a TRANSFORMATION. Peter now truly sees Jesus Christ to be more than a man, more than a prophet. Truly this is the Son of God. He's the one who confessed that thou art to Christ, the Son of the Living God. He truly sees Christ. Now he's going to see more and learn more, but he sees Christ now. and in seeing Christ, HE SEES HIMSELF.

You NEVER EVER SEE WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU ARE, UNTIL YOU SEE HIM. Verse 8, Peter falls at Jesus' knees and says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O LORD. He says I don't need to be in your presence, I'm too sinful to be in your presence. I'm too wicked and sinful to be in your presence. Here's the turning point, here's the turning point.

No one sees themselves rightly until they see the glory of Jesus Christ. UNTIL THEY SEE WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS, THAT EVEN THE WIND AND THE SEA OBEY HIM. NEVER A MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN. He's no ordinary man. He's God. AND NO ONE IS READY TO SERVE UNTIL THEY ARE HUMBLED AND SAVED.

That's first. That issue, I'm telling you, THAT ISSUE HAS GOT TO BE SETTLED FIRST. THIS MATTER OF SIN, THIS MATTER OF SALVATION BETWEEN ME AND THE LORD. THERE COULD BE NO DOUBT. THERE COULD BE NO DOUBT. LORD, I AM A SINNER AND YOU ARE THE ONLY HOPE I GOT. GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME, THE SINNER, THAT'S NOT JUST A RELIGIOUS STATEMENT, THAT'S A HEARTFELT CRY OF SOMEONE WHOM GOD SAVES. THEY'VE GOT TO BE BROKEN AND HUMBLED AND SAVED. SAVED!

You know, I've got to go back because my experiences, I see it so much here. When I first went there and I was in the preacher school for two years, I was struggling more with whether God would even save me or not. I was so distraught for two or three years and the Lord gave me some peace. He that comes to me I will not cast out. Then I asked Henry to baptize me and Vicky did too. But you got to be lost and then the Lord saved you. And now he can use you. Now you're broken. Now he can ride the wild ass's colt. You're broke. You're broke to ride. You're broke to ride. God brings a man to the end of himself before he'll ever use that man.

Now Peter, he's ready, but we know the story of his life, don't we? Denies the Lord. Brethren, I tell you what, we're saved by grace all the way home. All right, now the last point, COMMITMENT. Commitment. CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP. Now, go back to Mark chapter 1.

Christ walks by the boats, He calls them ships, and He says to them, and I'll make you fishers of men." Now we have seen what they've experienced. Two of them heard John the Baptist, believed him, followed Christ, went and got his brother Peter, Simon Peter, and brought him and then there's John and James and they hear the Lord and they hear Him PREACHING! And now, you see, they went back to fishing.

It's like I went back to work. I went back to work. I got in business in 25 years. I went back to work. They went back to fishing. And now the Lord walks by them and He says, follow Me and I'll make you fishers of men. Now it made sense. After I looked at all that, then I could see how He brought them to salvation, they heard the gospel, they heard Him, they believed on Him, and now He's calling them to service. This is no longer curiosity or just interest. This is all-out commitment. All-out commitment. They forsook their nets, their livelihood. Unless you've done that, you don't know what that is. But they forsook their livelihood, walked off from it.

Henry told me, without getting too much into it, but I preached one time, and he came to me and he said, I don't mean to rebuke you publicly, and I know the collar had the dray out of my face when he said that. And he said, I don't remember the message now that I was preaching, but something I'd said in the message. HE SAID YOU GO OUT THERE, YOU LOCK THE DOORS ON THAT BUSINESS, AND YOU'RE IN THE MINISTRY. WELL I DIDN'T DO IT. I WISH I HAD, BECAUSE I REALLY TOOK A BEATING OVER THAT. AND THE LORD PUT ME OUT OF BUSINESS. HE PUT ME OUT OF BUSINESS TO BE HERE. They forsook their nets, their livelihood. You never worry about money. A pastor should never worry about it. The Lord will provide, period. The Lord will provide.

James and John left their father. You've got to leave your family. And then they immediately followed him. This is a response. This is a response of faith. Faith without works is dead. They immediately got out of the boat and followed Him. This is the call to service, but only after the call to salvation. Following Christ requires TOTAL SURRENDER, TOTAL COMMITMENT. It requires it. There is no playing around. has TOTAL COMMITMENT, TOTAL SURRENDER.

Many refuse to follow Christ because there is SOMETHING or SOMEONE they don't want to give up. Maybe a young girl, young man dating somebody, and they know if they follow Christ that that relationship will come to an end, and they hold back. There ain't nobody in the world worth going to hell over. nobody. It may be a choice sin they don't want to give up. Whatever it is, there are many reasons people will not follow Christ.

If He reveals Himself to you, if He breaks you and puts you in the dust, you'll let everything go. You'll let it go. not everyone must now listen here they had to leave their boats their families their livelihood not everyone has to do most people don't have to do that none of you had to do that You and I are plants here, me and Jane. But you all haven't had to give up anything financially. You haven't had to leave your homes. But I'll say this, you must leave all in heart and allegiance and follow Christ.

Henry said this once, he said, that young man who came to Christ, he said, sell all you have and give it to the poor and come follow me. You know he probably wouldn't have had to do that, but he had to be willing to do it Most of God's people are saved in a community like this and they stay You stay in the community and you live and die when you raised But then there's those whom God calls like me He moves them out. You've got it. You've got to go You got this is a call to service This is a call to service, you leave your livelihood, you leave your family, and you just follow the Lord. You follow Him.

Our Lord said this one time, He made this very clear. There was a young man, well I'm not going to call him a young man, but he was a man, and he said he wanted to follow the Lord, and he said, but let me go and bury my father. You know what the Lord said?

Let the dead bury the dead. You come and follow me. And I think the dead ought to bury the dead. I think if somebody doesn't believe the gospel and they haven't been having anything to do with the gospel, why call the preacher in? Really, it's over with. It's over. You don't need to call me in on it. You really don't want to hear what I have to say. Like an old black preacher said one time, he said, I hope he ain't where I think he is. I wouldn't do it. It's like somebody has never had anything to do with the gospel. And then I get a phone call, will you do this funeral? I'm like, seriously? Y'all just get together and just meet, talk, and then go bury Him.

Really, that's what they ought to do. That's not being cold. That's exactly what they ought to do. In closing, the call of God follows a very clear progression. First, there is the encounter. That's meeting the Lord, meeting Christ. Then there's an interest. you're drawn to Him, you have an interest in Him. Then there's a REVELATION, you see who He is, and then you see who you are, then you see your need of Him. Then there's a COMMITMENT, you forsake all and you follow the Lord. In heart, you follow Him, in your heart, you follow Him. See, this is a call here, it's not casual, it's not partial, but an all-out commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the call.