All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to Mark chapter three. And we'll read verses 13 through
19. This is after the events that
we talked about last week and the week before. And he goeth up into a mountain,
and calleth unto him whom he would. And they came unto him. And he ordained twelve that they
should be with him, that he might send them forth to preach. And also to have power to heal
sickness, and to cast out devils. And Simon, he surnamed Peter. And James, the son of Zebedee,
and John, the brother of James. And he surnamed them Boanerges,
which is Sons of Thunder. And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew,
and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Altheus, and
Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also
betrayed him, and they went into a house. Our lesson this morning is about
a handful of disciples chosen of our God and Savior
to be witnesses of him. to give not only the biography
of our Savior, but to call to memory by the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost certain things, certain events. Scripture said if everything
that our Lord did was written in a book, the world couldn't
hold the books. But the Holy Spirit called to
memory in these men. You try to go back three and
a half years and remember everything that you saw and everything that
happened. You can't even tell me everything that happened between
last week and today. The Holy Spirit inspired these
men and they recalled certain things and certain events and
certain confrontations that our Lord had with the Pharisees and
so on and the teaching of Christ. And they were also called to
record his death and his resurrection. And these men were not only chosen
as witnesses, but they were chosen to be apostles. The apostles is the highest office
in the church. And they were chosen to be apostles
whose writings would soon make up the complete canon of Holy
Scripture. But what I want us to look at
this morning is this. There's seven things concerning
these men and their calling that's common with the calling of all
God's ambassadors. And this we need to look at.
He called them, yes, he called them as apostles. Yes, he called
them as witnesses. But he called them to preach
the gospel. And this is what I want you to
see. Now the first thing I want you to consider is that these
were converted men. God doesn't call unconverted
men to the ministry. Seminaries are full of them.
Men who've been talked in by high-pressure religionists, talked
into joining the seminary and going to school to get some background
as a pastor. But these were converted men.
And the call to preach the gospel is always preceded by the effectual
calling of God from death unto life and from darkness into his
marvelous light and from rebellion to discipleship. These men were
followers of Christ before he called them up on the mountain. And it's by way of regeneration
and conversion that the basic principles of Christ and of grace
are established in the heart. Paul wrote to the Galatians,
when it pleased him who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace, now listen, to reveal his son in me. that I might preach him among
the heathen. That's what it takes. Brother Barnard used to say,
you can't tell what you don't know anymore and you can come
back from some place you haven't been. And this is what goes on
in the world and I've seen it time and time again. Men stand
up and they read books and they utter things that they read in
the book but they're things that they don't know in their own
heart. When God calls a preacher, he's already established those
basic principles of grace and those basic principles of Christ
in his heart. These were converted men. And
then secondly, these men were all chosen of God. There wasn't
one in the bunch who set out to be a preacher of the gospel.
They were perfectly satisfied on their ships, throwing out
the nets. Christ is the one who called
them from their nets. Matthew was perfectly satisfied
to set it to receipt of custom and collect those taxes. He had
a good job, he had security, everybody liked him. At least those that feared him
did. But God called him from that
to himself. And not one in this bunch set
out to be a preacher of the gospel. There wasn't one in that whole
number that schemed and planned and finagled his way into the
ministry. They never had a thought of preaching
the gospel. They didn't know what the gospel
was until Christ called them. And preaching, unlike any other
vocation in the world, rests completely on the purpose, the
power, and direction of God. It's foolishness to put yourself
in the ministry. Nobody that I've ever met, as
long as I've been a preacher of the gospel, nobody I've ever
met that God used in the ministry finagled his way into the ministry. scares them to death even now
when they get up to preach. And same thing with me. I worry
and I wrestle and all of these things. Has God called me or
did I do this? And I'll tell you, what happens
on your way to that calling, you don't want to interfere with.
You leave it alone. Leave it alone. Don't promote
yourself. Anytime I see a young man promoting himself in the
ministry, I draw a big question mark. Something's wrong here. The last thing in the world that
man wants to wrestle with the rest of his life is the fact
that he might have put himself in the ministry. And then just think about this.
Everything concerning the ministry rests on the power of God, don't
it? Doesn't rest on my education. Doesn't rest on my attitude. What's it rest on? It rests in
the power of God. If God the Holy Spirit don't
take what I'm saying and quicken it in your heart, nothing's gonna
happen. We might as well be talking about race cause this morning.
Nothing's gonna happen. It requires the power of God,
the presence of God. And therefore, It calls for to be chosen of
God. Now I know God has a people.
I know he's going to call them through the gospel, but I don't
know who they are. I don't have a clue who they
are. I don't know where they are. And I don't know when it's going
to please God to call them. I just don't know. And here's what the Lord said
over here in Romans chapter 10. He said,
how shall they preach except they be sent? They can show up,
they can put on a show, they can hang their little diploma
on the wall in the study, but they can't preach unless God
sends them. It is the power and presence
of God's spirit that makes the gospel we preach effectual. It's
the providence of God that leads us to his elect or leads his
elect to us. And it is the power of God that
makes the sinner willing. My people shall be willing. 10
or 15 will go out the door, but one will be willing. 10 or 15 will bow up and get mad
and say, that guy's crazy. One of them will say, I think
I'm going to come back and hear him again. I liked what I heard. Something about what he said. And these are not things that
you can impart to a man in a seminary. Therefore, it's necessary for
God to choose his servants and also equipped them. And then
thirdly, I want you to see this. Not only were they chosen of
God, but they were called. They were called. In Romans chapter
one and verse one, Paul tells us he was called to be an apostle. He didn't volunteer for it. He
didn't go to school for it. He had no thought of ever being
an apostle. God called him to be an apostle
and then separated him under the gospel of God. Being an apostle or prophet,
evangelist, or a pastor teacher is a calling. It's a calling. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4.1
to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called. And
that whole chapter has to do with pastors. has to do with
prophets, apostles, evangelists. Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you're called. And preaching is a job. It's
a job. It is a vocation. It requires
study and dedication, but it requires so much more than that. It requires the giving of oneself
to the ministry. You have to give yourself to
it. Not give of things, but give
yourself. Everything, it's all. Like the old guy playing poker,
when he thought he had the win in hand, he said, I'm all in.
He shoves it all in the middle. That's it. God calls you, that's
it. You give yourself. These men really didn't have
a lot to give, but they gave what they had. But more so than
that, they gave themselves. It requires a certain attitude
and spirit. And that in the worst of circumstances. With men that you know are wrong
and they're in your face. You don't rail back. You try
to reason with them, you try to tell them the truth. It requires
a certain attitude and spirit. It requires a calling. And this calling leaves his preacher
shut up to Christ. He shut up to him, he shut up
to the gospel of God's sovereign grace in Christ. John warned the elect lady, have
you ever wondered You know, he wrote that letter in that second
John where he wrote the letter to the elect lady. And one writer
I was reading the other day said the elect lady is a language
that's talking about his church, wherever she is, she's elect. Now this was talking about an
individual, I'm sure. But he said, being inspired by
the Spirit of God to write these things, that application had
to do with his church wherever she was. And he warned her, he said, if
anybody comes unto you and brings not the doctrine of Christ, don't
let them in your house. Don't support them, don't even
bid them Godspeed. He that bids them God's feet
is partaker of their evil deeds. When God calls a preacher, he
makes him willing, willing to sacrifice, willing to suffer,
willing to give all that he has, willing to persevere. When God calls a man, we're talking
about his calling into the ministry, when God calls a man, He has
the message of God and the message has him. He could no more leave that gospel
than he could fly. All right, fourthly, when God
calls a preacher, he brings him into communion with Christ. Mark tells us in verse 14, he
ordained 12, now watch this, that they should be with him. In the book of John, in his opening
statement, he says this about Christ. In the beginning was
the word, now watch this, and the word was with God. And I tell you, that means more
than he was just standing by his side. It means that they
were exactly equal to one another, and that everything that the
one purposed, the other purposed. There was a fellowship between
the Trinity. They were one. They were one. And that's what this is talking
about. It's talking about being brought into communion with Christ. It's expedient for his preachers
to be in constant communion with their Lord, seeing they're his
ambassadors. Wouldn't you think it'd be a
good idea for our ambassador to be in touch and in communion
with our president? in our country, we don't want
him to go off there by himself and live in isolation, we want
him in touch. I love this passage over here
in Acts chapter four. In verse 13 it says, now when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men, Now here's these things, they were
fishermen. They didn't have any formal education. And they stood
up and they preached to the people. And they confounded them Pharisees
with their wisdom. And they perceived that these
were unlearned and ignorant men and they marveled. And they took
knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Boy, that's
what I want. I want it by glory in me, but
the glory in him. And he's the only source of knowledge
we have as to the true character of God. You can't understand
this book apart from Christ. It's a great mystery. He's the word made flesh. He's
God, the scripture said, come into the flesh. Don't have any
other information on God. He's the manifestation of God.
And it pleased the Father for Him to have all preeminence in
all things. So if we're talking about creation,
we're talking about Christ because He's the Creator. Pleased God
for Him to have the preeminence in creation. Providence. Salvation. Please the Father that in him
should all fullness dwell. And it's our communion with him
that unlocks the mysteries of the word of God. It unlocks them.
It's, you know, the old hieroglyphics, the old Egyptian language, it
was a mystery for years and years and years. And then they found
what's called the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone unlocked the
mysteries of that language and through that Rosetta Stone now
they can read those hieroglyphics and know a little bit something
about that civilization. Christ is the Rosetta Stone.
He's the one who unlocks the mysteries. Now we begin to understand
the language of God. Now we begin to understand the
sacrifice, the old animal sacrifices that were laid on the altar.
We understand these things now because Christ is the revelation
of God. In 1 John chapter 1 and verses
1 through 3, John tells them that truly our fellowship is
with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And he said,
I'm saying these things to you that you might come and fellowship
in our fellowship. Is that right? And we preached to that end.
All right, fifthly, these preachers were all consecrated men. They left everything to follow
him. They laid it aside. They didn't
take in consideration all their relatives. their jobs, their security, their
families. They left all to follow him. They were not self-serving men,
they were servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The preacher's
one goal, and I want you to remember this, and if I ever sway from
it, you remind me. The preacher's one goal is to
be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to serve Him. Yes, I want to see sinners converted,
my soul. Anybody knows the Lord wants
to see sinners converted. It wouldn't bother me to see
a whole house full of them converted. I'd love to see them converted.
I've got relatives who don't know God. I'd love to see them
converted. but not at the expense of the
character of God. God must be honored. I want to
serve him in a way that glorifies him. And if everybody goes home, the
one goal in my preaching is to honor his calling. I want to
be faithful to that calling. They were consecrated men. They
were not self-serving men. They were servants. Matthew Henry said, those whose
hearts are enlarged in the work of God can easily bear with inconveniences
to themselves. Paul, I was reading the other
day in the book Acts and talking to Brian about some of the things,
just a little bit, but one, The thing just came to my mind that
they stoned him. And they were convinced that
he was dead. And he could have been. I don't
know. It's no big thing for God to
raise up the dead. But they carried him out of town,
supposing him to be dead. Evidently, his chest wasn't moving.
He wasn't breathing. They took him out. They'd stoned
him. And they didn't stone you with these little gravels out
here. They stoned you with big rocks. They'd stoned him. And there he was, bruised and
bloody and not breathing. And they took him out and they
threw him down. And those who knew him went out
to get him. And he was raised up and went with them. Went to
the next place. You know what Paul called that?
A light affliction. A light affliction. That's what a consecrated man
would call it. Later on, he wrote, whether they
be prophecies, they'll fail. Not everybody's gonna hear the
gospel. Whether they be tongues, they'll
cease. I think about Walter Groover
down there in Mexico. He speaks that Spanish better
than they do. But it's almost getting time
for him to leave this world. and those tongues will cease.
The only thing to be left is that ministry that he worked
at and was a fellow helper with God to establish, and those things
will stay, but his tongue will be silenced. Whether they be
tongues, they're gonna cease. Whether they be knowledge, it'll
vanish away. But listen to what he says. Charity
never faileth. It never faileth. And then lastly, here's the seventh
thing. Those God calls to the ministry
have their commission of God. Paul said, I don't need your
letter of recommendation. That's what he told the Corinthians.
I don't need a letter from anybody recommending me to you or a letter
from you recommending me to somebody else. My commission is of God. And if anything, you are my epistle. You're my letter. Written not with ink, but upon
fleshly tables of the heart, written by the Spirit of God.
These men are sent to preach. They're not sent to build. They're
not sent to promote or protect. They're not sent to lobby. They're
sent to preach. I just don't know what to think
about men who go out and start building schools and hospitals
and trying to raise money for worthy causes and out here all
mixed up into politics and mixed up into this. You weren't called
to do that. You were called to preach. And I tell you, nothing else
gonna turn the world upside down except preaching. That's what
these 12 men did. They preached and turned the
world upside down. If God has commissioned a man,
then his calling doesn't need an affirmation from men. Paul
said when God called him, he didn't go up to Jerusalem. Everybody else did. They wanted
their consent. He didn't. He preached three
years before he ever went up to Jerusalem. Why? God called him, God commissioned
him, God sent him. And if God has commissioned me,
will he not also give me the approval of those With a similar
calling, will he not also arrange his providence to assist me and
work both in my heart and in the hearts of those that I preach
to? Now it's a good thing to desire
the office of a bishop or a pastor, an evangelist. It's a good thing. But it's a useless desire without
the commission of God. And though these things are all
evidenced in their calling. There's only one sure way to
know if you have the commission of God when it comes to pass. You don't have to debate it anymore. Brother Don wrote this in his
book on Mark. He said, God doesn't try to do
things, God does things. You listenin' to a man and he's
talkin' about God's tryin' to save you, God ain't tryin' to
save you. God doesn't try to do anything,
he just does it. He called these 12 and said,
follow me, went up on the mountain. I bet he didn't turn around and
see if they was followin' him. He knew they was followin' him.
Sure they do. We're the ones who turn around
and look. I'm always looking. I wonder if they're hearing what
I'm saying. He didn't look. He already knew. There's one
thing left that I think needs to be said, and that is about
Judas. God called these twelve men up
on the mountain, and it included Judas Iscariot. Now, Brother
Don said this, and I like his statement. Judas didn't just
pop on the scene as some kind of unsuspected surprise to God. He was as much of God's purpose
as Peter and Paul. And when Judas was gone, When
he'd forsaken the Lord, when he sold him out for a few pieces
of silver, no harm had been done. His betrayal of the master and
consequent suicide were simply the means God used to accomplish
his purpose of grace toward his church. He used him to deliver
our Lord to the cross. And he also removed him and made
room for the apostle to the Gentiles, and in God's time, he called
him. Called him out of season, Paul said. Judas was chosen of God, being
a rebel at heart, to betray our Lord into the hands of his enemies
so that he might be put to death and thus accomplish the redemption
of our souls. And as he plunged Pharaoh into
the depths of the sea, so he'll judge this world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained. What can a preacher do in the
light of such massive enemies as there is? Well, these 12 preachers,
the scripture said, turned the world upside down. It don't take
500 preachers. It just takes a handful if God
sends them. If God sends them. And that's
why I labor so much on that point to you. I want that to go home
to your heart. If this man's sin of God, get
behind him. Get behind him. If he's not,
walk away from him. There's no gray area. There's
nothing in between. He either is or he ain't. And
if he is, you wanna get behind him. Pray for him. Pray that
God will give his presence and his spirit to him. All right,
thank you.