[0:00] Well, good morning. It is a real pleasure, I must say, for myself and Lee to be here.
[0:21] I don't think I agreed to a speaking engagement as quickly as I have this one. You know, Cork has been very good to me. As we just spoke about there, NBC has been a real personal joy for me.
[0:36] And I'd like to thank whoever was involved for that. So thank you for the invite. Thank you very much for the invite. I'd also like to take the opportunity just to thank you for your prayers.
[0:48] I know you've been praying for us down at Hurlis. You know our situation down there, so really appreciate that. And your practical help as well. Thank you for lending us Ralph one Sunday.
[0:58] It was great to have Ralph down. We're still suffering from theological indigestion after him. But that's actually a good thing, Ralph. That's a good thing. That's a good thing.
[1:11] Turn with me, please, this morning to Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. We're going to be reading from verse 16 to 20. Mark chapter 1.
[1:22] This is the episode of the four fishermen being called as disciples. So Mark chapter 1. And we're going to read from verse 16 to 20.
[1:36] Mark 1, 16 to 20. And as he, Jesus, walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
[1:51] Then Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther from there, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the boat, mending their nets.
[2:07] And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him. Let's just pray. Our Father, we just thank you for this gathering.
[2:22] Father, we are coming here before your word, under the sound of your word. And I would just ask that it would be your voice and your voice alone that would be heard.
[2:32] We pray that Christ would be exalted, that we would be edified, that you would be glorified by the things that are said here this morning.
[2:44] So Father, we just pray and ask you for your grace and for your spirit just to move upon the preached word. And Father, we ask all this in Christ's name.
[2:56] Amen. Amen. Currently there is a new space race underway. The first space race was between the USSR and the USA, which began when the USSR got their first satellite into orbit, Sputnik.
[3:12] Not sure if you're old enough to remember that. That was 1957. That space race came to an end when the Americans landed on the moon, July 20th, my birthday, 1969.
[3:26] But the second space race is well and truly underway. There are at least two private billionaires, as well as a private company and NASA, trying to get to and colonize Mars.
[3:41] Stuff of science fiction, but it's happening. They want to build their own galactic kingdom, if you will. Now they have the means and they have the know-how, they have the rockets, the plan, but that may not be the most problematic aspect of their interplanetary voyage because you cannot start a colony on another planet without people.
[4:03] In fact, there's very little you can do without people. And so a major factor in their plan is trying to convince individuals to take up the road, to abandon everything that they know and venture out into the stars, a one-way ticket from which there is no coming back.
[4:24] Mars One is the name of one of these particular projects. They put out a call to anybody who wants to go to Mars. And they received over 200,000 applicants to go on a one-way trip to Mars.
[4:41] One way. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? 200,000. But the population of Earth is 7.6 billion people. So that works out at 0.002% of people who are willing to make the move.
[4:54] And they've narrowed that down now to 100 people. So it's 0.00001%. So it's not a case of why so many, but why so few?
[5:05] Well, in order to get them to go, everything that they know and love has to be left behind. And that's not easy. As bad as life is, and I don't care how much debt you've racked up, going to another planet seems pretty extreme.
[5:21] So it needs to be sold to them. They need to want it more than anything else that they currently have. The gravity of one world has to be stronger than the other.
[5:32] The pull of one world has to be stronger than the other. The desire to do this has to be greater than the desire to do that. The desire to leave has to be greater than the desire to stay.
[5:45] One of those little children that I was just telling you about is a little flame-haired lunatic. A little three-year-old boy who locked himself into a car recently with the keys.
[5:56] And, you know, you come along and you wave everything you have in order to persuade him to leave one world into another. And you get your Lego and you get your toys and you get your sweets. Trying to convince him to leave one world.
[6:08] A dangerous world for a safer one. You see it in the business sector as well. They call it headhunting. A company sees an individual that they think would be a valuable asset and they try to woo that person.
[6:22] So they come and they approach that person with everything they have trying to win them over. It never happened to me, but I hear it happens. And so they approach the individual with an offer that they can't refuse.
[6:34] They're offered extra money, time off, better work conditions, company car, dental plan, whatever it takes in order to win them over to their world and to come and to work for them.
[6:45] In our text here this morning, there's a certain similarity with what Jesus is doing here. He is headhunting. Gathering people to come and work for him.
[6:58] To join his firm. To be part of his kingdom. Just for context, earlier in the chapter, verse 15, we read that after his temptation in the wilderness, Christ emerges from the wilderness with a profound message.
[7:15] Verse 15, he says, The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe the good news.
[7:28] The kingdom of God has come. And so Jesus wants to populate that kingdom. To colonize the earth, if you will, with people who have come to faith in him.
[7:38] People who believe the good news. So as Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee, he calls these four men to literally leave one world and go to another.
[7:51] They're to leave a temporal world for an eternal world. A world of darkness for a world of light. A world where they work for themselves for a world where they will work for God.
[8:04] A world from which there is no coming back. The question comes for us. In which of these worlds this morning do you reside?
[8:19] In which of these worlds are you in? You are either a follower of Christ, walking on the sand, following in his very footsteps, or you're still on the boat.
[8:30] You're either a citizen of the kingdom of God, or a citizen of the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of hell. Jesus said, Who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
[8:44] Matthew 12, 30. You are either a follower of Jesus Christ, or not. You're either in the boat, or you're on the beach. Which is it? Now in business, when they headhunt, when they're trying to recruit someone, it's what's called the four Ps.
[9:00] There's the pitch. We want you to come work for us. There's the perk. Here's what we will give you. Extra money, time off. There's the pondering. That time when the individual weighs up.
[9:11] Will or I won't I move? And then there's the pounce. The decision is made. I'll take the job. And we're going to look at the four of these briefly here this morning. Here the pitch is simply two simple words.
[9:26] Follow me. Not the greatest pitch in the world, but let's think about it for a moment. Follow me. What does it mean that Jesus Christ has come into the world and calls men and women and children to follow him?
[9:44] What does that mean? Three quick implications of that statement. Firstly, it means that by nature, naturally, you are not following him. All we, like sheep, have gone astray.
[9:58] There's not one person here who has not fallen short of the glory of God. We do not follow him naturally. You are following something else. And there's many things in the world to follow.
[10:10] Many things vying for your attention. But they all boil down to one thing. If you are not following Christ, then you are following yourself. Your own sinful heart, your own sinful inclinations give you direction.
[10:26] Your own moral compass tells you what way to go. But you need to understand that the compass that we are born with is broken. It's been broken since the Garden of Eden.
[10:37] I'm sure you've all seen that movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean. In that movie, Captain Jack Sparrow has a compass. And it's no ordinary compass. It's broken.
[10:50] It goes after. It doesn't point directly north. It just points towards what the owner of the compass most wants. We have our heading. It's always towards what he most wants.
[11:04] If you're not following Christ, then you have a compass just like that one. One that follows your desires. One that drives you to what you want. But the problem is the heart.
[11:15] The Bible says it's deceitful. Above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Jeremiah 79. That's your heart.
[11:27] Desperately wicked. It will inevitably lead you in the wrong direction. That which you most want will always be that which is sinful.
[11:37] That is why so many are lost in sin. And that is why you need to follow Christ. John 8.12. Jesus said, I am the light of the world.
[11:47] He who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Abided by our own inclinations, we walk in darkness. And so Christ comes and says, follow me.
[12:01] Secondly, if someone says, follow me, what does that tell you about that person? If someone says, follow me, what does that tell you about that person?
[12:11] What would you say of someone who sees you in great difficulty? And they come to you and they say, follow me. Those kids that were trapped in that cave in Thailand.
[12:23] The little soccer team trapped in the darkness of a cold, wet cave. And you can imagine the emotion and the physical trauma that they endured. Can you imagine being in that situation?
[12:36] And then that first diver emerges up out of the water and eventually says, follow me. What does that tell you about the rescuer? What tells you that they care for you?
[12:47] They want to help you, to save you, to lead you to safety. They know what you need. They know where you need to go. They know what you need to do. They know that you're in terrible danger.
[13:00] And perhaps more danger than you even know yourself. Friends, those who are not following Christ are in the greatest danger known to mankind.
[13:13] They are in the danger of eternal darkness. They are in the danger of eternal torment. They are in the danger of eternal hell.
[13:26] That is the reality of those not following Christ. Here this morning, Jesus says, follow me. Because he was sent to save you.
[13:39] And if you're following Jesus, then you know that you're going in the right direction. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Because Christ, with him, you are being led by the one who loves you more than any.
[13:54] And the one who came specifically, the one who came exclusively to save you. He is the only one who can lead you out of a kingdom of darkness and into a kingdom of light.
[14:08] Who else would you want to follow? Which leads us to our third implication of those two words. Follow me. Note that to follow Christ is to follow a person.
[14:19] It's not to follow a religion. I just spoke to a man out in the van outside. He said he has his religion. It's not to follow a religion. It's not to follow a church.
[14:30] It's not to follow a way of life. It's not to follow a society. It's not some abstract, imaginable, wishy-washy, intangible thing. It is to follow a person.
[14:41] It is relational. It is a relationship. It's often practiced within the confines of a church. It is demonstrated and seen by the way you live your life.
[14:53] It's seen in the society around you, perhaps. There's a sure hope, but only because you follow a person. So many people have messed up lives because of their allegiance to churches, the ways of life and societies.
[15:08] But it is a person that needs to be followed. But who? Who is this person? We don't trust people, do we? People hurt us.
[15:19] People mistreat us. Who is the one? Who will not lead me astray? Who won't hurt me? Who won't demand too much from me? Who can help me? Who can actually help me with my greatest burden?
[15:32] Who can help me with my sin? Who? Who can save me from my life of sin? Who can save me from the guilt of my sin? Who can save me from the consequences of my sin?
[15:46] Who? Jesus said, follow me. That's a pitch. It's a pretty good pitch when you think about it.
[15:57] The call of God in the flesh. Jesus is calling you to join him, to leave the world behind, to begin again. With a new heart that no longer goes astray.
[16:08] Begin to weigh up that particular pitch. Now the perk. What are the benefits? The benefits we heard from Mary were beautiful and profound benefits.
[16:19] What's on offer here? What awaits the one who is a follower of Christ? Look at verse 17. Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.
[16:31] We see from verse 16 that Jesus saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea. For they were fishermen. That was their current job description.
[16:42] They were fishermen. A humble occupation. Paul speaking to the Corinthians said, For your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
[16:55] But those of a humble situation. Jesus, we see, he's not out like the business headhunters. He's not looking for the best of the best, but the worst of the worst.
[17:09] Matthew 9.13, For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, he said. Who do we see Jesus evangelizing in the Gospels? Is he looking for kings and queens?
[17:19] No. What do the religious teachers accuse him of? In Luke 7.34, they said, Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes, drunks, the worst of the worst.
[17:36] These are the ones to whom Jesus came and said, Follow me. Are you an ordinary man here this morning? Are you an ordinary woman here this morning?
[17:49] Any kings? Any queens? Jesus calls ordinary people, ordinary jobs, leading ordinary humble lives. Moses was keeping sheep.
[18:00] Gideon was threshing wheat. Elisha was plowing. Maybe you're here this morning and you're thinking to yourself, There's nothing special about me. Well, you know what? You're right.
[18:13] There is nothing special about you in worldly eyes. Nothing at all. But to the eyes of Jesus Christ, who has looked at you since before time began.
[18:29] A day comes when you're walking along a beach or you're on a street or you're sitting in a church and he speaks to you through his word and he says, Follow me. It turns out that there is something special about you in his eyes.
[18:45] 1 Peter 2.9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. You are his own special people. He has chosen you, calls you, wants you to be part of his kingdom, to work in his kingdom, to play a part in the expansion of his kingdom.
[19:04] Not a galactic kingdom, but an eternal kingdom. One that will glorify his holy name. A kingdom with no end. Is that an offer you can refuse?
[19:16] So Jesus comes to these two ordinary men and he says, If you follow me, you will no longer be fishermen, but fishers of men. You will no longer just catch fish, but something much more precious.
[19:30] Your life is about to change. Much more precious. You'll catch men. You will no longer cast a net, but the word of God. You will no longer fill your boat, but the halls of heaven.
[19:42] You will no longer pull fish from the darkness of the water, but men from the darkness of sin. You'll no longer live for yourself, but live for God.
[19:52] Which would you choose? In which world would you rather serve? Would you be able to leave your old life behind?
[20:05] Your old job? And when you think about it, what were these men really been asked to leave behind? Jesus said, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.
[20:15] Do you know what they are actually been asked to leave behind? Everything. Everything. They were fishermen. This was their livelihood.
[20:26] This was the source of their income. And their sustenance, their very lives, depended upon that boat, upon that net, upon their diligence and skill as fishermen, and they have been asked to leave it all behind.
[20:40] Now, I'm not trying to convince anyone to leave your job. You still have to provide, of course, 1 Timothy 5.8. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than non-believers.
[20:53] So this is not about leaving your job and going off to North Korea while your husband or wife picks up the pieces. Even these men will be seen fishing later on. We're not talking about leaving your job.
[21:04] But the challenge here is to consider, what is it in your life that prevents you from following Christ fully and completely?
[21:15] And becoming all that he has. And becoming all that he's called you to be. Fulfilling the purpose for which he's created you and made you. We could speculate about a hundred things.
[21:28] Maybe it's your job. Maybe you work every hour of overtime you can get. Maybe it's your comforts. Maybe you're afraid you'll have to do something if you were to follow Christ fully. Maybe it's your fears. What will people think?
[21:39] What will people think? Maybe it's your hobbies. How much time does Jesus actually want from us? Maybe it's the me time. We don't want it to become him time. Or maybe you're still in the boat.
[21:52] And the only thing keeping you there is because you love your sin. Christian, only God knows if you are spending time or wasting time.
[22:02] Only he knows what we do with our time. But he does know. In verse 16 you'll read, And as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, casting Annette into the sea.
[22:16] Jesus saw what they were doing. Never forget that he can see what you in Caragallion as a church are doing. He can see what we in Thurlis are doing.
[22:26] He can see what you as an individual are doing. And he knows if it's good for your neighbor or not. He knows if it's good for your kids or not. Your wife or not.
[22:37] Your husband or not. The church or not. His kingdom or not. Perhaps just like these men, there's something he would rather you were doing. Perhaps he would have you fishing on streets rather than shores.
[22:51] The perk here is that if we are following Christ, then we are doing something of eternal value. Our actions, if we are following Christ, have eternal consequence.
[23:07] They have an eternal resonance. Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men. So far we've seen the pitch.
[23:17] Follow me, the perk. You'll be fishers of men. Now the pondering. That time when people consider what has been put before them, before they pounce. Look at verse 18.
[23:29] How did these men respond to what had been just said to them? They immediately, or at once, left their nets and followed him.
[23:42] Do you know what's missing here? These men don't seem to spend too much time thinking about what's been offered to them. You don't see them negotiating with Jesus.
[23:55] A fisher of many. What is that? Is that like a five day week? Do we finish early on Friday? You know, I need to go home and talk to my wife. Is there a dental plan with this? You don't see them negotiating with Christ.
[24:08] No. No. They immediately, they at once, left their nets and followed him. Now I don't think that they made this decision off the cuff.
[24:20] This wasn't some spontaneous leap of faith. They didn't just take one look at Jesus and say, oh great. Let's go. If you read the Gospel of John tonight, chapter 1, 35 to 42, you will see that Andrew was already a disciple of John the Baptist.
[24:38] He had already been introduced to Jesus by John. He had already spoken to his brother Simon. He had already introduced Simon to Jesus. They had already spent a whole lot of time pondering the person of Christ.
[24:56] In fact, so have you. The fact that you're here. The fact that you're here this morning.
[25:08] It seems obvious that you've been thinking about the person of Jesus Christ. He has been on your mind to some extent. Maybe only in the last 24 hours.
[25:20] But he's been on your mind and you have been thinking about the person of Jesus Christ. But a day comes, friend, when a decision needs to be made.
[25:31] A day comes when Jesus speaks to you. To your heart. Today is the day of salvation we'll read in Scripture. Today is the day. Follow me, he said today.
[25:43] Haven't you spent enough time pondering the person of Christ? Haven't you spent enough time watching the people of Christ? The man outside in the van said to me that he's been watching you.
[25:55] That you've been very good to him. That you're praying for him. He's been pondering the people of Christ. Haven't you spent enough time juggling your opinions?
[26:07] Wavering about the person of Jesus Christ? Is it time to drop what you're doing? To commit yourself? To follow? To answer that call?
[26:19] To follow me? And you who call yourself a follower. There's many things and many people who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ.
[26:31] You know there's one word here that really bothers me. And I guess I wanted to bother you too. So sorry about that. In verse 17, Jesus said to them, Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.
[26:45] Or in your NIV it says, Follow me and I will send you. Tell me, Christian. Here's a question for us to ask. Has Christ made you a fisher of men?
[26:57] Has he sent you out yet? Or are you still pondering? I said earlier that you're either in the boat or on the beach. But there are some who have got out of the boat.
[27:10] But they're still holding on to it. But they've one foot in the water and one foot on the beach. They haven't quite dropped the net or got out of the boat yet. I'll follow you, Lord. But I just want to bring everything with me.
[27:22] Can I bring my net? It might slope me down, but I need it. Because to be honest, I'm not sure. I'm not sure I fully trust you. Is your Christian walk full of things that you won't let go of?
[27:35] Things that trip you up and entangle you, hold you back. Does that describe you here this morning? Mars won that company I spoke about earlier.
[27:49] They put out that call for everybody to apply if they wanted to go to Mars. And the applications were open to anybody, anybody at all, who was over the age of 18.
[28:01] And on their website, it says this, and I quote, the reason they did that, because the organization believes its greatest need is not to find the smartest or most skilled people, but rather the people most dedicated to the cause.
[28:18] Are you dedicated to the cause of Christ? Or are you still pondering? Are you still pondering the person of Christ? Is he making you?
[28:29] Is he molding you? Is he sending you, even now, to be a fisher of men? Or are we holding onto the boat, staring down at our nets while people all around us drown?
[28:43] Perhaps we need a reminder of what awaits those who are drowning in sin. You know, it's interesting, but in the Old Testament, there's numerous accounts of God fishing.
[28:55] Numerous accounts of God fishing. But it's always in judgment. Jeremiah 16, 16, you'll read this, Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall fish them.
[29:09] Why? Their iniquity is not hidden from my eyes. And first, I will repay double their iniquity and their sin. Ezekiel 38, 4, I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws.
[29:23] Amos 4, 2, Behold, the days shall come upon you when he will take you away with fish hooks. Why? Every time it's for judgment. God talks about sticking hooks in people's mouths, drawing them out for judgment.
[29:39] And that day is coming when friends, family, enemies, strangers, all will stand before God and be judged. But before that, in his grace, in his mercy, and in his love, he is sending men, he is sending women, children even, to cast the net of the gospel, to save people from drowning in the water of sin and the consequences of an eternity lost in darkness.
[30:16] Which one are you this morning? Are you the one drowning in sin? Or are you the one holding a net that can save them?
[30:30] You both have something to do. Will you follow Christ? Will you fish for Christ? What will you do? During the spate of storms earlier in the year, you probably saw the footage.
[30:44] There was a woman up in Dublin. And she went out onto the pier during the storm and she jumped in to go for a swim.
[30:57] And 20 minutes later, there was footage of a guy standing there with one of those life rings. Getting ready to throw it in. Risking his own life. Aiming it at this poor woman.
[31:10] But can you imagine he didn't throw it in? Sort of a race. Can you imagine he didn't throw it in? Madness, you'd say.
[31:21] Madness. If you imagine he stood there thinking about whether he would or not. Pondering. Madness. But can you imagine he did?
[31:34] He runs there. He grabs that ring. He risks his life. He throws it in. And the lady just looks at it. She refuses to take hold of it.
[31:46] Madness. Neither of these people had time to delay. Neither of them had time to ponder too long. Unbeliever, are you ready to take hold of that which can save you?
[31:59] Are you ready to take hold of the person of Christ? Believer, are you ready to cast the net of the gospel? Look, as we close, a final brief point of what these next two men did.
[32:14] The final pounce, if you will. Look at verse 19. Very briefly. When he, Jesus, had gone a little farther from there, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.
[32:27] And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him. You know, I pictured these two men as they sat in the boat, fixing their net.
[32:40] It was all tangled and torn. You know, and it reminded me that life is hard. Things that we need break down all the time. Our very lives can be like that. On the way down, driving down here, Lee described everything wrong with everything in our house.
[32:55] The car broke down last week. The microwave is not working. Dishwasher has been lying idle for six months now. The water softener is going on me. Mechanically, things break down.
[33:05] Physically, we break down. Emotionally, we break down. But spiritually, we're broken. We're just broken. Lives are like that.
[33:16] Tangled and torn. Frustrated. Broken. Wrangled and messed up. But then this person comes one day. This person comes.
[33:26] And his name is Jesus Christ. And he grabs your attention. And he says, follow me. And these two men in this boat, James and John, you can just picture them looking down at their broken nets and then to the person of Jesus Christ.
[33:45] How do you compare the two? What contrast can you give me that would compare the two? Is this dirt versus gold? Doesn't quite cut it.
[33:56] Is this light versus darkness? Slightly closer. What contrast can you give me? Think of that lady drowning. What was her choice?
[34:07] What did she have to weigh up? What was before her? Do you know what it was? It was life or death. It was salvation or damnation.
[34:22] Do you think she looked around her as the waves crashed over her head? Do you think she had second thoughts about grabbing hold of that which could save her? Do you think she thought about waiting for someone else to come along to throw another ring?
[34:36] She didn't like orange. She wanted a red one. Well, she didn't know that guy. I'm going to wait for someone I know to throw this in. That's what's before us today. Life or death.
[34:48] Salvation or damnation. Can you take hold of Him who would save you? There's a hymn we sing in Tarlas. I'm sure you know it here.
[34:58] I was sinking deep in sin. Sinking to rise no more. Overwhelmed by guilt within. Mercy I did implore. Then the master of the sea heard my despairing cry.
[35:13] Christ, my Savior, lifted me. Now safe am I. Do you understand what Jesus has done for you?
[35:23] Do you understand what He needed to do for us, to save us? Do you know what He had to leave behind? Simon and Andrew were told they left their nets.
[35:35] James and John were told they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants. Some are called to make bigger sacrifices, to leave something more precious.
[35:47] But can you think here this morning of someone who also left their father? And they left an innumerable multitude of servants.
[35:58] One who left, as it were, one world for another. One who left every single thing behind, including his very life. Jesus.
[36:10] Christ. Whatever we give up, He has given up infinitely more for you. He came into another world.
[36:23] He was rejected. He was despised. He was nailed to a cross. And the heart that you have that led you into all manner of sin, that single lie would have kept you out of heaven.
[36:37] The lies and the theft and the blasphemy. God, on the cross, treated Jesus as if that was your heart, as if your heart was His heart. God poured down His wrath, His justice.
[36:51] Jesus took the sin upon Himself because a good and holy, just God cannot just ignore it. Christ took the punishment that you deserved.
[37:02] God put the hook in His mouth, the whip on His back, the nails in His hands, the thorns in His head, the spear into His side. Jesus paid your fine full and completely.
[37:15] Jesus Christ made the way for you to enter the kingdom of God, to break free from the pull of sin and the atmosphere of death that surrounds you.
[37:29] He came saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Follow me, He said.
[37:39] Follow me. The response from Simon and Andrew, they left their nets and followed Him. They repented. They believed.
[37:51] The response from James and John in verse 20, they left their father and went after Him. They repented. They believed. They came to a place of full and complete trust in Jesus Christ.
[38:02] To follow Christ. To follow Christ is to repent. It is to turn from your sin. It is to believe, to place your trust in Him and Him alone.
[38:13] Not your goodness. Not your church. Nothing. Only Him. It is to follow Him. How will you respond today to what's been offered, to what's been commanded of you?
[38:27] Will this be the day that you can leave it all behind? Will this be the day that you become a fisher of men? Will this be the day that you finally let go of the boat?
[38:38] Will this be the day that you begin to follow Christ? Will this be the day that you come to Christ as a sinner realizing that He is your only sure hope and you come to Him on your knees sorry for your sin sorry for using His name as a curse word that you come to Him in repentance trusting in what He did on the cross for you.
[39:07] For you. And He gives you that gift of forgiveness. Eternal life. All those things Mary spoke about earlier on. Regeneration. Adoption.
[39:19] To be called a child of God. What a wonderful thing. We've seen the pitch. Follow me. You've seen the perk. You can be a fisher of men and what you do will have eternal consequence.
[39:31] We've seen the pondering. Don't delay. You've seen the pounce. Repent. Turn from your sin. Believe in the person of Christ. Will this be the day that the gravity of one world is stronger than the other?
[39:46] Will you answer the call of God? Leave your nets and follow Him. Father, we thank You for Your Word.
[39:57] Father, we thank You for those two simple words of Christ just to follow Him. To turn our eyes. To turn our minds.
[40:08] To turn our souls at the only one who can save us from a lost eternity. Father, we pray that You would just continue to speak to our hearts as we continue with You this morning.
[40:23] And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Trevor.
[40:39] We're going to sing and increase