Mark wrote of our Lord's coming
onto the scene publicly. He appeared in Galilee and He
came declaring that the time prophesied throughout the Old
Testament. The Old Testament, if you generalize
what the Old Testament says, it says somebody's coming. It
says that from Genesis 3 all the way through to Malachi. Somebody's
coming. And that's what our Lord came
declaring that the time prophesied throughout the Old Testament
about the Christ coming to accomplish God's promised redemption was
at hand. The very heart of the believer's
confidence resides in knowing that Jesus of Nazareth is the
Christ. Now don't you think about what
I just said. There was a man who appeared on the scene. John
the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. Takes away the curse of this
world. Here he is. This is the Lamb. All those Old
Testament lambs was pointing to this Lamb. This is the Lamb.
And that man that he pointed to was Jesus of Nazareth. Born
of a virgin. born of Mary, raised in the household
of Joseph, raised as a carpenter. The very heart of the believer's
confidence is in knowing that this man, Jesus of Nazareth,
is the Christ. And this is what the whole of
the Old Testament is. God's given us prophecies. He's
given us descriptions of this One who would come, telling us
who He is, how He would act, where He would be born, where
He'd be raised, saying what He would do when He'd come into
this world. Peter said to his kinsmen, he said, let all the
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same
Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. The same one, the same one that
you looked at and rejected, the same one that you wouldn't have
any part of, the same one that you questioned and embarrassed
in public, the same one. God hath made him both Lord and
Christ. And if this one called Jesus
is not here to accomplish redemption, then he cannot be the Christ.
If he did not do what the prophets of God said he would do, then
he's not the Christ, and we still look for the Christ. But he did
do it. He did do it, and God bore witness
of it. Daniel spoke of him in chapter
nine of his prophecy, saying that the Christ would come to
finish the transgression and to make an end of sins, and make
reconciliation for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness,
and seal up the vision of prophecy, all the vision of prophecy, all
the visions that God gave to this coming Redeemer. He's going
to fulfill them all when He comes. He'd fulfill all God's promises
and accomplish all the redemptive will of God. And to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ is not just to acknowledge his person,
but to know who he is. Who is this one born of Mary?
This is God come into the flesh. This is the Christ. This is the
Christ. It's not just to acknowledge
his person, but to know who he is and why he came and what he
did and where he is now. In short, it's to believe God's
testimony concerning his son. And the very presence of his
person meant that the kingdom of God was now in the midst of
men. That's what it meant. And if
they would enter in, they must come through faith's door, believing
on him who is Jehovah's servant. Now in Mark chapter one, verse
16. As he walked by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon. And he saw Andrew, his brother.
And here's what they were doing. They wasn't kneeling down praying
on the boat. They wasn't kneeling down seeking
the Lord. They wasn't doing anything. They were casting their nets.
They was fishing just like we did over the weekend. They was
fishing. Their mind was on fishing, their mind was on catching fish. He saw Simon and Andrew's brother
casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus
said unto them, Come ye after me, and I'll make you to become
fishers of men. And straightway they forsook
their nets, and followed him. Now here's my subject this morning.
I want us to look at this verse by verse, and I want you to at
least see in part the effectual calling of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men don't ignore his calling. Now he told his disciples when
he sent them out, he said, he that heareth you, heareth me. It's not hearing me that'll do
you any good, Although God may use me, but it's hearing him. It's hearing me. I heard Henry
Mahan speak one time, but I knew he was God's servant. This was
God speaking through this man. This wasn't just Henry speaking.
This was God speaking through him. And we perceive that, and
here it is. This is the God man, and he speaks
to Peter and Andrew. And straightway they forsook
their nets and followed Him. And this is the first example
of our Lord's effectual calling of His elect under His personal
ministry. Now there's those who would like
to make a distinction between believers and disciples. I don't
know, maybe there is. But I don't see it. I just don't
see it. I find that to be strictly in
the minds of men and not the Word of God. cannot be a believer
and not be a disciple. A disciple, by definition, if
you look it up in the dictionary, is one who subscribes to the
teaching of his master. That's a disciple. He believes
what he teaches. He believes what he says. And isn't that exactly what Paul
told the Thessalonians? He said, I know your election
of God because you've become followers of us and the Lord. You acknowledged what we preached
and found it to be so in the Word of God. So how then could you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and not be his disciple? It's an
impossibility. And discipleship lies in the
effectual calling of God. And this calling, though it uses
physical means, It far exceeds those things in power and by
the presence of the Holy Ghost. It begins with a new birth. Who
can explain that? I've heard preachers talk about
the new birth for 40 years and I've never heard anybody preach
on it who could really justify it or explain it. The new birth
is a mystery. It's a divine act. It's a spiritual act. It's an
act of God in the soul. You're born again. You've been
called out of darkness into his marvelous light. You've been
enabled of God to become partakers with the enlightened saints.
Who did that? God did that. You can't explain
it. You can't find when it happened.
I've heard people say, well, if you don't know you're born
again, you're not born again. That's not true. That's not true. These men didn't know they were
born again, but they knew there was something
about that man they needed to follow him. There was something
in his voice that couldn't be resisted. It begins with a new birth, and
this new birth enables chosen sinners to perceive spiritual
truth and act upon it, even though it runs contrary to how they
were raised. Isn't that something? In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9,
Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah, who said, I have not seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, that is,
mankind, any man. the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, even the deep things of God. He searches the word of God because
he's the author of it. He searches the preaching of
the gospel because he's the power behind it. And he also accompanies
the teaching of the Word. And John said, or this is our
Lord saying this and John writing about it, he said, except you
be born again, you cannot perceive the kingdom of God. And he told
these men that the kingdom of God was at hand. And they perceived
it. The unenlightened have no inheritance
to rejoice in, but Paul gives thanks to the Father who made
us meet. He enabled us to be partakers
of this inheritance. Affectual calling is made affectual
by the power of God. That's what makes it affectual. His will overpowering our will. This whole notion, when you come
to know anything at all about the truth, this whole notion
of free will is just insane. It's just totally insane. Men
have their will overpowering the will of God. Can you even
imagine such a thing? Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. Wasn't my will, it was his will. To them gave he power to become
the sons of men, even to them that believe on his name, who
were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not
of the will of man, but of God. Whose will? God's will. And they
become willing in the day of God's power. Paul said to the Ephesians, he
said, The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and
the knowledge of Him. Who's going to give that to you?
God the Father. How's He going to give it? Through
God the Holy Ghost. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His
calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to us who believe according to the working of his
mighty power which he brought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right
hand in heavenly places. There's a power that comes in
the calling of Christ's disciples that transcends all natural resistance. These men had never known anything,
David, except fishing. That's what their daddy taught
them to do. And here's these men, and there's
two shiploads of them, and they're out here fishing. And he's taught these men this
in hopes that someday they'd take care of him in his old age.
They taught them a craft, and they were out here exercising
that craft. They were doing what their father
taught them how to do. And along comes Christ and says,
follow me. And I don't know how old they
were, but you weren't even considered an adult as a Jew until you were
30 years old. So I know they were at least
30. Because they made their own decisions. And here they are,
and they just get out of the boat. They leave their nets.
Get out of the boat. Follow him. There's a power that comes in
the calling of Christ's disciples that transcends all natural resistance. Our Lord, Mark tells us, saw
Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting their nets into the sea. And he no doubt passed by many
that day with nets and boats. No doubt. He's walking down the
shore of that sea. He passed by many. Many that
were on the shore as well as on the sea. But he saw Simon
and Andrew. How did he see them? Did he just
see them? Because he saw many that day. He saw a lot of men on the bank
and he saw a lot of men in the boats. He saw Simon and Andrew. How
did he see them? Well, he took notice of them.
He took personal interest in them. He paid special attention
to them. Our Lord was not an opportunist.
He didn't view all men the same. He said in John 10 verse 14,
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and have known of mine. He saw Simon and Andrew as he
saw them from all eternity, blessed by the Father. chosen in him,
predestinated in Christ unto the adoption of children, and
accepted in the blood. He saw them. He saw them in love,
and he saw them in mercy, and he saw them in grace. And he saw them not only as they
were, but as they were going to be in him. He saw them. Ain't you glad he saw you? Hmm. And therefore he said unto them,
come ye after me. That is, submitting to me, believing
on me, being taught by me, trusting me. And he said, I'll make you to
become fishers of men. They weren't fishers yet, but
he said, I'll make you to become fishers of men. They were not at that time ready
to preach, but ready to follow. And it's a grave mistake, no
matter how talented a man is, to put a novice in the ministry.
Just watch him for a while. Just watch him for a while. There's
no hurry. God's not in a hurry. He'll teach
that man. And I've experienced this in
my own past, and it was a painful experience both for me and those
that I attempted to pastor. Our calling, you'll notice, is
left in the hands of Him who calls us. He called us. He said, you've not chosen me,
I've chosen you. And I've chosen you out of the
world. And our calling, all the calling
of God's elect, begins with following after Him. You know, the ministry is not
something you can do simply because you want to do it. You need to
let that sink in. Ministry is not something you
do because somebody else wants you to do it. Now Paul said, if a man desires
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good thing, and there's nothing
wrong with desiring it. But it takes more than desire
to have it. It takes God's providence to
bring it to pass. It takes God's calling to enable
you to do it. It takes God's power working
not only in the preacher to speak, but in the hearts of the people
to hear. And Christ called Simon and Andrew. Now watch this, back in Mark
chapter one, verse 18. And straightway they forsook
their nets and followed him. He didn't promise them anything,
did he? I've read all the accounts of
it. He didn't promise them anything. He didn't say, now you follow
me, and I'll put food in your freezer, I'll do this and I'll
do that. He didn't promise them anything. He didn't promise them a bright
future. He didn't lay out all the means and ways needed to
keep them. He didn't even promise them the
next meal. Yet they willingly forsook their
nets and followed him. And they had no idea where he'd
go or how people would treat him. They didn't know if they'd
die as martyrs or live to be examples. They didn't know. They
followed him because they believed him to be the Christ, Jehovah's
servant. And indeed, they would pay a
price for it. Now look at this, verse 19. Here's the next examples
of him being the Christ. When he went a little further, thence he saw James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending
their nets. And straightway he called them,
and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants,
and they went after him. They left their daddy in the
boat. You just try to fix yourself. You're out there on the river,
and this man comes by, standing on the bank, and he says, Walter,
you and Jesse, you follow me. And there's your dad there in
the boat, and you just climb out of the boat. There's some
guys that he paid some money to help him with the fish, and
there they are. There's the old man. He's probably
old now, and they just leave him there with the hired servants.
It's all to him. Here they were nearly grown,
laboring at his side, mending the nets wherewith they made
their living, and they were not seeking after the kingdom of
God. They weren't dreaming about being ministers and apostles.
They were not even wrestling over whether or not that this
man was the promised Messiah. But God effectually intervened
in their lives, and he saw them, and he knew them, and he called
them. And straightway they left their father Zebedee in the boat. Now there are lots of thoughts
and considerations that enter into the hearts of God's elect
that they're calling. But Christ is so great and so
glorious that He transcends all these things. Now here's the
thing. This is either God come into
the flesh or this is the biggest facade
that man's ever put over on man, one or the other. There's no
middle ground. And if this is God coming into
the flesh, what can he provide? And if he's calling you in true
wisdom, knowing all, Knowing what's out in front, knowing
what's back in the back, knowing all things, and He calls for
you and all power's in His hands. What ain't He gonna provide for
you? Christ is so great and glorious
that He transcends all these things. Will He call me and not
see all things that are my responsibility? and provide me with those things,
can I trust him who's perfectly trustworthy? I came down here, this church
could only pay me $300 a week. I'm gonna tell you, you can't
live on $300 a week. But every time I needed something,
God supplied it, every time. And then it come where I needed,
with Kathy, I needed money, I had no insurance, I needed money,
it was in the mail. It's unbelievable. I've never
wanted for anything since I've come down here. He's taken care
of everything. Isn't that something? But I didn't consider that when
I came here. I came here because I felt like
God called me here. And that's it. If he's God, if
he's God, what can't he do? And what you worried about, huh? He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. What could you do about it? Cattle on a thousand hills
belong to me. Everything's mine. Why would
I come to you? Can I trust him who's perfectly
trustworthy to know and supply all my needs? He is able, that's
what the scripture said, to supply all your needs, all your needs. according to Christ Jesus. Now these men didn't just leave
their father in the boat. I want to say something about
that. They left him under their master's care. When they left that boat, they
believed on him. And he'd take care of their father.
He'd take care of the boats and the fish and the servants. They
didn't just simply leave him in a boat. They left their father
also with the hired servants, men and their employee, to care
for him. And they followed our Savior,
verse 21. And they went into Capernaum,
and straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue
and taught. Those who follow after Christ,
being called of Christ, soon discover what it is to preach
the gospel. Now he's gonna make them to become
fissures of men, but they're not fissures yet. They're under
his tutelage. And he goes into this synagogue.
Now synagogue, this was legalism at its purest. This synagogue
was filled with Pharisees, self-righteous men, looked down their nose at
everybody. And he walks into this synagogue,
And there was no trying to win man's admiration, no looking
for any kind of common ground. He immediately preached the gospel. Verse 22, and they were astonished
when they heard this man preach. They were astonished at his doctrine,
for he taught them as one that had authority and not like the
scribe. His ministry was not a ministry
of compromise. White was white and black was
black. Up to up and down, down. Sin was sin. It wasn't a mistake
or a wrong decision. He taught them as one that had
authority, even though he had none given him by the Jews. He
had no titles. He had no papers to recommend
him. Yet he taught them as one who had authority. And he did
so having all the authority of God behind him. Now, let me ask
you something. If I have all the authority of
God behind me, do I need a paper from you? That's pretty much
what Paul told the Corinthians, wasn't it? I don't need any papers
from you. He said, if anything, you're
my papers. You're the work of God at my hand. He taught them as one who had
authority. If we have this authority, we
don't need any papers. We don't need anybody's approval
or commission. If we have God's authority, we
have all that's required. And at Pentecost, Peter said,
This Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs, which he did right in your midst.
And our Lord told him, he said, if you can't believe what I'm
telling you because you don't believe in my person, he said,
you better believe on me because of the works that I do. They
testified me. And God always confirms His disciples
and their callings with supernatural things that no other man can
do. Faith, repentance, prayer, worship, revelation, love, and
so on. This was the Lord's servant,
Jehovah's servant, and He conducted Himself that way. Now if I know,
if I know God called me to preach, then I've got no worries. I don't
have to worry. I don't have to worry whether
you believe or whether you don't. I don't have to worry about whether
you approve of what I say or whether you don't. And I've said
this before, that door, it opens, you can go out or come in, whichever.
And that means the same for me. But if God called me, then God's
behind me, and I represent Him, and I'm gonna do, by the grace
of God, the best I can to do that very thing. And this is
what our Lord was tutoring these one-day apostles to be. That one day they'll hold the
highest office in the church, and His tutorage enabled them
to do it when the time comes. May the Lord help us to understand
these things and submit to them, submit to them, and believe in
them. Thank you.