In Matthew's Gospel in several
places we read the account of how Jesus came unto those who
would become his disciples and met them where they were and
said unto them follow me and they immediately left what they
were doing and followed him. In chapter 4 from verse 12 we
read this now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into
prison he departed into Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came
and dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the seacoast in the borders
of Zebulun and Nephalem that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Esaias the prophet saying the land of Zebulun and
the land of Nephalem by the way the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee
of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light
and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light
is sprung up. From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren,
Simon Corpita and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the
sea, for they were fishers. And he sayeth unto them, follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway
left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence
he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.
And he called them, and they immediately left the ship and
their father and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of
disease among the people. And his fame went throughout
all Syria. And they brought unto him all
sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments,
and those which were possessed with devils, and those which
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy, and he healed
them. And there followed him great
multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from
Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. And then in chapter 9 of Matthew's
gospel we read of Matthew where in verse 9 we read and as Jesus
passed forth from thence he saw a man named Matthew sitting at
the receipt of custom and he saith unto him follow me and
he arose and followed him. Follow me. Matthew arose and
followed him. What does Christ say here and
to each of those whom he called? He says very simply, follow me. He does not say as many would
think or interpret, follow my example. follow my teaching or
follow my instruction but he says very simply here follow
me. There may be a place for following
Christ's teaching his example and his instruction of course
but the call here in these verses is to follow me And first and
foremost, that is what Christ calls and that is what these
disciples did. They followed Him. They stood
up from what they were doing, they left what they were doing
and they followed Him. They went where He was. They
listened to Him. They followed Him whithersoever
He went. they left all that they were
doing and they followed him and if he should come unto us
in his gospel and say unto us follow me first and foremost
that is what it is to follow him to go where Christ is to
look for where Christ is to follow by faith to listen for his voice,
to hear him preached, to go where Christ is, to follow him, to
go where his gospel is preached. As he says in John 10 of his
sheep, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow
me. They hear his voice, they hear
his preaching, and he knows them, and they follow him. In his gospel,
he comes by his spirit, and he calls out to his sheep, follow
me. And immediately, they leave what
they're doing, and they follow him. suddenly his word, his gospel,
the preaching of Christ becomes of paramount importance. They
must know him, they must hear him, they follow him to where
he is, where he preaches, where he's known. There are many in
so-called churches up and down this land around this world who
will speak of following Christ. They will say that they are followers
of Jesus. But are they? They claim to be
following his example. They claim to be imitating him.
They claim to be wanting to live a Christ-like life. But are they following Him? Are
they seeking this Christ that called these disciples? Are they
listening for His voice? Are they seeking where He's preached? Are they gathered under the sound
of His gospel? Where they go, where they worship,
is Christ there? Is He preached? Are they following
Him? There are those here in Exeter
and the surrounding area, here in Devon, many in churches, so-called
followers of Jesus. But are they? Are they here with
us today? Have they come to hear Him preached? Are they following Him? Jesus saw a man named Matthew
sitting at the receipt of custom and he saith unto him, follow
me. And he arose and followed him. These whom Jesus called followed
immediately. He arose and followed him. In chapter four we read, Peter and Andrew they straightway
left their nets and followed him and James and John the sons
of Zebedee when called they immediately left the ship and their father
and followed him there was no hesitation There was no excuse. There was no, well, let us consider
this. There was no finding out and
seeking out who this Jesus was and whether they could trust
him. There was no research. There was no delay. They heard his voice. And so
powerful and affectable was his call that they immediately left
what they were doing. and followed him. This is in
contrast to those we read of in Luke 9 who made their excuses. We read in the latter part of
Luke 9. It came to pass that as they went in the way a certain
man said unto him, Lord I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
have not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow
me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the
dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of
God. And another also said, Lord,
I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which
are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man
having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the
kingdom of God. Peter and Andrew, James and John,
Matthew, when Christ came their way and said, follow me to them,
immediately followed. Has he come your way in his gospel? Has the spirit of God spoken
to your soul? Has Christ by his spirit come
your way and said, follow me? Are you following him? Or are
you following man? And religion of man, perhaps,
and the teachings of men? and the teachings of men concerning
this Jesus or concerning their idea of who this Jesus is and
what he would have you do. But you're not following him. These disciples followed Jesus
whithersoever he went. We read there in the latter part
of Matthew 4 that after calling them, Jesus went about all Galilee
teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of
disease among the people. Peter, Andrew, James and John
followed and heard Jesus preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And
they saw him healing all manner of sickness and all manner of
disease among the people. They followed. They heard his
voice. They heard his gospel. They saw
the effects of that gospel. They saw the effects of that
gospel upon the hearers. They saw the effects of that
gospel upon the sick, upon the diseased, upon sinners. They
saw sinners healed of their sin. They saw the lost, the wretched
found. They saw the dead brought to
life. And later, as they followed Jesus,
they saw the opposition. They saw the rejection of Christ. They saw how he was questioned
and despised by the religious, by the scribes and the Pharisees.
They saw how he was mocked and derided. They saw how those arose
up that would seek to put him to death, to stone him to death. They saw how he was hounded,
how he was chased out of the towns. They saw how he had, as he said
later when we read, no place to lay his head, the son of man
has no place to lay his head. They went about following him
and saw that he was not welcome in this world. He was not welcome
in the hearts of sinners. He was despised and rejected
of men. He was despised and rejected
by his own. He came unto his own, the Jews,
and the Jews received him not. He came unto the religious whom
he'd given the scriptures to, whom he'd given the priesthood
to, whom he'd given the sacrifices, the temple to. He'd given them
all these things that pointed unto him and he came unto them
and they rejected him, they despised him, they cast him out. And the
disciples followed and saw. They saw. And the rejection of Christ came
upon them. As followers of Him, they felt
the same rejection, the same hatred that came upon Him. They saw Christ persecuted and
they felt the persecution come upon them. And yet, they followed
him. In the end, they saw how man
rejected him, persecuted him, and ultimately put him to death.
And they followed. They followed him wherever he
went. There was that day when Christ took Peter and the other
disciples up into a mount. And when he was transfigured
before them, and the Father spake from heaven concerning him, this
is my beloved son, they went up into a mount with Christ and
saw his glory. They saw his glory. Has Christ
come unto you and said, follow me, and led you up a mount, led
you up to see his glory, led you up to see him as God's son
in a high place, in that meeting place of heaven and earth? Has
he led you up and said, this is my beloved son, hear him? This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased, as He led you there. We must be led by
the Gospel upwards, up towards heaven, up in the mount, up in
the mount of righteousness, up to see Christ glorified as God's
Son come down from on high. to meet us where heaven meets
earth. We must be brought up in the
gospel. The spirit must lead us to see
him in his glory. Follow me. Follow me out of this
world, up the mount into heaven. Follow me. John 8 we read, Then spake Jesus
again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. Yes, just before Jesus called
Peter and Andrew, James and John we read that he was there by
the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles where the people
which sat in darkness saw great light and to them which sat in
the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that
time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. He came into the darkness of
this world. He came to where you and I sit
in the darkness. The light of God came down from
on high into this dark world. And Christ came unto his own
and shone the light into their hearts. and said, follow me. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And he will
lead his own, his sheep, up that mount to see his glory. And then
he will lead them through his own pathway. These disciples
went up that mount. They went about hearing Christ
preaching the gospel of the kingdom. They went about seeing Him heal
the sick. They went about seeing the Saviour
rejected, despised and persecuted. And ultimately, they followed
Him to the cross. where Christ was rejected by
all, nailed upon a tree and crucified. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. If we follow him, will follow
him whithersoever he goeth. And Christ, rejected and persecuted
by all, was made to bear his own cross and carry it to that
place where he would then be nailed to it and lifted up and
crucified, where he would die as the just for the unjust, where
he would take upon himself the sins of his people, the sins
of the sheep, where he would bear their every transgression,
where he would be made sin in their place, and where he would
be judged under the outpouring of God's wrath against sin, in
order that he might deliver his people from sin. in order that
He might make them to be the righteousness of God in Him,
in order that He might wash them in His own blood, in order that
He might forgive them of their every transgression, in order
that He might deliver them from the power of sin and the judgment
of God, in order that He might deliver them from the law and
the penalty of the law, in order that He might deliver them from
death, in order that He might bring them into righteousness,
into life, into light, into eternity, in order that he might save them
from all that was against them, in order that he might bring
them up the mountain to God's glory. He took them to the cross. And if any man will come after
him, he will deny himself and take up his cross and follow
him. what does it mean to deny self? this is not about denying
ourselves things this is not about stripping ourselves of
the pleasures or the ease of our life this is about denying
our self recognizing that we are nothing recognizing that
there is no good in self whatsoever Recognising that we are wretched,
vile and guilty before a holy God. Recognising that in us there
dwells no good thing, in our flesh there is no good thing.
Recognising that we are helpless and lost before a holy God. Recognising
that that which we are needs to be crucified, we must deny
ourself and take up a cross to crucify ourselves upon, to be
slain upon the cross. Christ was nailed upon a cross
but he was nailed not for his own sin. but for the sin of his
people not for his own transgressions but for the transgressions of
his people he was crucified because of their sins and they were crucified
spiritually in him as paul wrote i am crucified with christ nevertheless
i live yet not i but christ live within me And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. Yes, Paul, in seeing
Christ dying in his place, saw himself crucified with Christ,
he denied himself, he said, I'm dead, I'm nothing, I'm vile.
I deserve to be crucified. And he saw himself crucified
with Christ. He took up his cross as it were. He saw himself nailed to that
cross. And he saw himself dead in Christ. Dead upon that cross. And then
he saw himself risen in Christ. Alive the other side of the grave. Risen with Christ in glory. Have
you been brought there when Christ has said follow me? Has he brought
you there? There's no following Christ except
you're brought there experimentally to say I'm nothing. nothing but a vile wretched sinner
to deny yourself to say there's no good in me there's no reason
for God to save me I've done no good everything I've done
damns me everything I've done curses me and slays me and condemns
me I should be left to die I deserve nothing but hell have you denied self? And have you seen yourself crucified
with Christ? There is no salvation except
we're brought through the cross in Christ. But if we are, if
like Paul we're brought that way, we will follow Christ to
the cross and to the grave. Follow me to the grave. We must be laid in the grave. Our old man must be crucified. We must die that we might live
again. Paul having seen this, having
seen it by faith, having been brought to know the reality of
his salvation in Christ, was led by the Spirit of God in Romans
six to write this what shall we say then shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound god forbid how shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein know you not that so
many of us as were baptized into jesus christ were baptized into
his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life,
for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more, death have no more dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Has Paul followed Christ to the
grave? Have you been brought there? Do you see your old man, the
old you, destroyed, laid in the grave, taken out of sight, buried? Have you died with Christ? If
you have, you will follow him into newness of life. For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. For if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him. We should walk
in newness of life. Oh, praise God. that when Christ
died, he didn't remain in the grave. The world rejected him. The world cried out of him, crucify
him, crucify him. They nailed his hands and his
feet to the cross. They lifted him up and derided
and mocked and scorned and watched him suffer and die. You did the same. I did the same. In our sin, we rejected Him.
In our unbelief, we would not bow before Him. We cast Him out. Our sins nailed Him to that cross.
We saw Him there in the darkness. We derided Him. But in the darkness,
God laid upon His own Son the sins of His elect, and He judged
them. And he poured out his wrath upon
him, and he took every sin away. And having taken them away, having
been laid in the grave, having cried out, it is finished, he
rose in power, he rose in glory. And every sheep for whom he died,
every wretched sinner who followed him by faith to the cross and
to the grave, followed him out. When the stone was rolled away,
when early on the morning of the third day, when early in
the morning of the first day of the week, when the Sabbath
was over, Christ arose and all his people arose in him. They
rose from the grave in newness of life, in righteousness, washed
in his blood, without one sin to their name, every sin having
been taken away, blotted out, judged, forgiven. There is therefore now no condemnation,
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession from us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? There's now no condemnation.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's let? It is God
that justifieth. If God before us Who can be against
us? Have you followed him there?
Have you followed him through the cross, through the grave,
into newness of life? Have you followed him as he ascended
under his father? Christ having done all the work,
ascended into glory to prepare a place for his people where
they should follow him and dwell with him. Every child of God
that's brought this way is brought by faith to sit with him in glory
and to hear on earth him preaching his gospel from glory. Even when we were dead in sins,
God have quickened us together with Christ by grace ye are saved
and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Have you followed him there?
Has God quickened you together with Christ by grace? Has he raised you up together
with him and has he made you sit down together with Christ
in heavenly places? Everyone whom Christ comes to
in his gospel, like Peter and Andrew and James and John and
Matthew, like Paul, like every lost sinner that's brought to
hear his voice in the gospel, when he says, follow me, they
follow him into glory. Jesus said unto them verily I
say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration
when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Oh what a hope there is for the
believer. This is not just a place where
they will go when their life comes to an end, when time is
no more and they enter into eternity. But this is where we are now,
if God brings us to faith. If Christ comes our way in his
gospel and says, follow me, from the day that he puts faith in
the heart, from the day he quickens us unto life, from the day he
pronounces forgiveness of sins upon us, from the day he washes
us in his blood, from the day we come to know him by faith,
we are sat there in glory with him. follow me you may say how may I follow
him if I hear his gospel and I hear
his cry and he comes and says follow me how may I follow him? not by works not simply by making
a profession not simply by reading the Bible or going to a meeting
or attending or doing this or doing that or being kind to others
not by works there were many under whom he came, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, who had their religion, who had their
works, who kept the law outwardly like Saul did before Christ met
him on the Damascus road. He thought he served God, he
thought he was a follower of God, he thought he was saved
as it were, and yet he did not know Christ. All his religion
was works, it was outward. But there was that day when Christ
spake unto him, and faith entered his heart, and he believed. We follow Christ by faith. Has God given you faith to follow? Has he come unto you and said,
follow me? Has he given you faith? In Hebrews 12 we read, Let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider
him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Look in unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of faith. How do we follow him? By faith,
and faith alone. We look unto him who lived and
walked by faith before us. He was the author and finisher
of faith. He went through His lifetime
by faith. He lived by faith. When all the
world around Him despised Him and hated Him, when the religious
would put Him to death, He looked unto God, unto His Father and
trusted and waited upon Him. He lived every moment of His
life by faith. He trusted. He went to the cross
by faith. He was nailed to the cross. Trust
in God. He went into the darkness of
the cross. When the earth went into darkness
for three hours, when the sins of his people were laid upon
him, when he was made sin and when the father poured out his
wrath upon him, when he cried out, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Through it he believed. He never
denied. He called out unto his God. He
was his God throughout. He believed that God would deliver
him. He trusted that all for whom
he died would be saved. He waited upon his God, he waited
in those hours, hour after hour after hour, as the wrath poured
down upon him, as the fires of God enveloped him, he waited
by faith. And in the end, his faith was
rewarded. It is finished, he cried. And
laid in the grave, he arose victorious. And everyone for whom he suffered
rose with him. He saw the satisfaction of his
soul. He waited by faith. And all his
people are brought there to see him, to suffer with him, to rise
with him, and to rest in him by faith. You'll know none of
this if all you have is a decision, if all you have is your will,
if all you have is your good works, your religion, if everything
you've got is outward and may appear good before men but you
know there's nothing there. You know when you look in your
heart it's cold and all you've got is a formal outward religion. You'll know it's empty and barren
and you need something more. You need faith. You need Christ. You need him. Follow me. Follow me. His disciples followed
him to the end they were there when he was betrayed they were
there when he was crucified they found him when he was risen
again he came unto them they saw him ascend they followed
him in their lifetime listening for his voice preaching his gospel,
waiting on the Lord, walking by faith, and in the end, they
ascended to be with him. He loved his own, and he loved
them to the end, and he keeps his own unto their end. Are you following him? Are you
following him to the end? When Christ went about preaching
the gospel, we read in Matthew 4 of his great fame at the beginning
and of how many followed him. But as we read through the gospels,
we read of how many later deserted him. Oh, people followed him
when they saw him healing the sick. People will follow a Jesus
that gives them earthly gain. People will follow a Jesus when
it seems to be answering a carnal need. But as soon as following
Jesus starts to hurt, as soon as it separates you from this
world, as soon as the opposition and the persecution comes, as
soon as his message starts to convict us of what we are, and
we begin to see that we are nothing, And we begin to see that this
thing of salvation does not depend upon us. That there's no glory
unto us. Then we become offended. People
will follow a Jesus whom they choose to accept and who accepts
them because of the good that they've done. But when they see
that there is no good in themselves, and that salvation is entirely
by grace, not of law. Entirely by the electing grace
of God, that God chooses whom He will save, that He does all
the work and He brings all the glory unto His Son. Then people
become offended. What of you? There were many
offended at Christ's words who left Him. They were offended,
they went away. They did not want to follow a
saviour that brought them no glory. So in the end Christ asked the
twelve, will you also go away? From that time many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. To whom else shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. Has Christ come your way and
said, follow me? Has his gospel brought you to
nothing? Are you in the end tempted to
walk no more with him? Or like Peter, has his call reached
the depths of your heart? When he said unto you, follow
me, has that call been so powerful and effectual that you immediately
followed him, that by faith you left all as it were, and followed
him, that you listen for his voice, that you long to know
him, that you're hungry and thirsty for righteousness. You want to
know Christ. You must have Christ. You must
know him. He's all to you. He's your all
and in all. You must have Christ, else you
die. If he says unto you, will you
also go away? It's your answer like Peter's.
Lord, to whom shall I go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, without you I die. There's nothing else, there's
nothing else but Christ. We believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God. I must have
Christ or else I die. Is that you? Who are you following? Who are you following? What are
you following? Oh may Christ pass our way today,
in his gospel, in power, in effectual power, and say unto us, follow
me. And by his spirit, give us life. give us faith to look unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of faith, to give up all, to immediately
rise up and follow him. Oh, may he say in power, to you
and I, follow me.