WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:06.500 Our passage this morning will be Mark chapter 1 and we're looking at verses 16 through 20. 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:12.000 ! Let me pray again before we open God's word together. 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:22.100 ! Our Father, we are thankful for your many mercies to us. 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:29.020 It's not lost on us that as we sit and stand in this place that you are a God who has spoken 00:00:29.020 --> 00:00:34.939 into the darkness of this world and that you have shown great light. 00:00:36.179 --> 00:00:41.140 We're thankful for the light of revelation. We are thankful for the revelation of your Son. 00:00:42.120 --> 00:00:46.900 We are thankful for the way that your Son reveals you, the Father in heaven, to us. 00:00:46.899 --> 00:00:52.960 We pray that as this word is read and as it is preached, that it would not return void, 00:00:53.479 --> 00:01:00.579 but accomplish your purposes in our hearts and in our very souls for your glory and for your praise. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:03.700 And we pray all of this in the strong name of Christ. Amen. 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:12.319 We read Mark chapter 1, verses 16 through 20. This is a holy and errant, sufficient word of God. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:21.319 Passing along the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, 00:01:22.139 --> 00:01:23.219 for they were fishermen. 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:30.419 And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:36.019 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:42.759 And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, 00:01:43.619 --> 00:01:45.500 who were in their boat, mending the nets. 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:48.619 And immediately he called them. 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:56.439 And they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.699 Though the grass withers and the flower fades, the word of God is forever. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:03.179 Thanks be to God. Amen. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:06.800 Three points this morning. 00:02:07.320 --> 00:02:11.400 The first is this, is that Jesus calls. 00:02:12.040 --> 00:02:13.120 Jesus calls. 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:17.879 This passage begins, as Mark says, alongside the Sea of Galilee. 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:21.159 The Sea of Galilee will go by different names in the scriptures. 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:26.340 You will sometimes hear it called the Lake Gennesaret, or the Sea of Tiberias, 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:29.200 or here the Sea of Galilee. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:35.579 It was a lake that was teeming with fish at this time, especially during this age. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:44.000 There was quite a fishing industry that had developed along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:49.899 And it is there that Jesus sees Simon and Andrew, his brother, verse 16. 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:55.599 And then verse 19, going on a little farther, is what Mark tells us. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:01.239 He sees James and John and, quote, each of them he called them. 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:03.280 Verse 17. 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:05.459 And the call was this. 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:08.099 Follow me. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:11.620 Two very simple words. 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:13.340 Follow. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:14.959 An imperative. 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:16.060 A command. 00:03:16.659 --> 00:03:17.000 Follow. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:18.419 And then the subject. 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:19.659 Me. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:24.780 His call to these men was not to an idea. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:27.060 Not to a thing. 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:28.039 Not to a cause. 00:03:28.180 --> 00:03:28.939 Not to a morality. 00:03:29.099 --> 00:03:31.039 Not even to an institution or a degree. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:32.360 Or a program. 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:36.120 The object of their calling was his person. 00:03:37.379 --> 00:03:39.659 He said, follow me. 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:44.740 You've heard this a lot, being good church people. 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:50.539 So, this might not strike you as strange that this was the command that Jesus gave. 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:51.819 You've heard it so often. 00:03:51.939 --> 00:03:53.400 I did it with the children this morning. 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:54.539 And they knew this verse. 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:56.500 You've heard it a lot. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.240 But this would have been strange at this time. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.560 Rabbis didn't do this. 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.159 They didn't say that you were to follow them. 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:12.020 They did not make themselves the object of your following. 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:14.020 In fact, it would have been seen as haughty. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:15.039 And proud. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:17.719 Would have even been seen as blasphemous. 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:18.839 Deuteronomy 13. 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:19.839 4. 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:23.219 You shall walk after the Lord your God. 00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:25.060 And fear him. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.300 And keep his commandments. 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:27.899 And obey his voice. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:29.680 And you shall serve him. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.819 And hold fast to him. 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:35.800 And yet this call that Jesus issues is to himself. 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:40.920 He issues the call to Andrew, to Peter, to James, and to John. 00:04:42.460 --> 00:04:48.840 They were to yield in this text to something that we have rightfully heard over and over. 00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:54.560 Because though it was their particular call, it's applicable to all disciples of Jesus. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.980 He says this often, right? 00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:59.240 Just in different words. 00:04:59.339 --> 00:04:59.759 He will say, 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:07.759 If anyone would be my disciple, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.459 And he says in those famous verses there in Matthew 11. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:14.219 He will say, 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:20.300 Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:05:21.579 --> 00:05:28.599 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:31.500 It's follow me. 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:36.939 As Ralph Davis said, Dale Ralph Davis said once, he said, 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:45.639 Jesus, quote, attracts us by his character, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and by his promise, and you will find rest. 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:53.420 And it seems that these four men had listened to Jesus and seen Jesus before this day. 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:58.259 And what they had seen and what they had heard allured them to Jesus. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.140 And so they yielded to Christ, not reluctantly. 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:07.900 There was a happy yielding to him when he said, follow me. 00:06:09.520 --> 00:06:11.720 Now, how do you know that, Jason? 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.639 Well, I know it because that's always the case. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:26.979 When Jesus calls, and we truly see him, and we truly hear him, we don't come reluctantly. 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:31.659 We don't come with him dragging our heels. 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:35.000 We come willingly. 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:41.079 Think of how the Apostle Paul speaks of himself, Romans 1.1. 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.740 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. 00:06:44.859 --> 00:06:45.819 He's not grousing. 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:47.379 He's not complaining. 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:52.599 He's delighting in the fact that he is a servant, a slave of Christ. 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:53.919 Galatians 2.20 00:06:53.919 --> 00:06:57.719 I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 00:06:58.479 --> 00:06:59.639 Philippians 1.21 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:02.620 For me to live is Christ. 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:05.360 He says to the Corinthians in verse Corinthians 6.19 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:08.699 You are not your own, for you were bought with the Christ. 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:15.180 When you follow Christ, you do so because you've encountered Christ. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:23.120 And when you've encountered Christ, you follow Christ willingly because you've encountered the beauty of Christ. 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:30.120 Once you've truly seen Christ, you want Christ. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.959 And it changes everything. 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:36.399 Everything. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:36.500 Everything. 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:50.839 A number of years ago, when my daughter, who is turning 20 this year, when she was probably eight or nine years old, she was really into astronomy. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.060 And there was going to be this once in a lifetime event. 00:07:55.259 --> 00:07:56.500 Or so she told me. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:59.899 It was going to be a full lunar eclipse. 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:06.000 And so literally for months, probably every single day. 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.519 This is not exaggeration. 00:08:07.679 --> 00:08:08.919 This is what we talked about. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.639 And she would bring it up. 00:08:11.719 --> 00:08:12.399 And we had it. 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:14.039 She had it plotted out on the calendar. 00:08:14.159 --> 00:08:15.319 That day it was circled. 00:08:15.599 --> 00:08:17.439 It was on her calendar in her bedroom. 00:08:17.539 --> 00:08:23.839 And we got a countdown for months about how many days until this full lunar eclipse was going to occur. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:33.220 And so this full lunar eclipse, the night before it was going to happen, it was going to happen that night. 00:08:33.339 --> 00:08:42.339 And so that afternoon, she made me promise, Daddy, you will wake me up at this time because we had to do it when it was at its zenith. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.439 You had to get the full lunar eclipse. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:53.000 And to borrow one of your words, this was in the wee hours of the morning. 00:08:54.880 --> 00:09:00.080 And so the afternoon, that evening, she laid everything out. 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:02.260 She had her binoculars out. 00:09:02.420 --> 00:09:04.640 She had a pad of paper out. 00:09:04.740 --> 00:09:09.640 She had all kinds of colored pens out because she was going to sketch what she saw. 00:09:09.640 --> 00:09:15.220 And she hung her jacket upon the banister of the stairs because we live in Michigan. 00:09:15.780 --> 00:09:21.280 And so she was going to come down and she could just grab it and grab the binoculars and grab the pad of paper and grab the colored pens. 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:26.480 And we could run out the door and we could see this full lunar eclipse in all of its glory. 00:09:27.560 --> 00:09:30.040 Daddy, please remember to wake me up. 00:09:30.520 --> 00:09:31.520 Set two alarms. 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:37.460 So that very early morning hour came. 00:09:38.680 --> 00:09:42.840 And I went upstairs and I woke her up and she leapt out of bed. 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:44.360 She ran down the stairs. 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:48.180 She grabbed her coat, put it on, grabbed her binoculars, put it around her neck. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:49.680 She grabbed her pens, grabbed her paper. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.720 And I am chasing her outside because she is moving so fast. 00:09:53.800 --> 00:09:55.039 And we stand there on the driveway. 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:57.060 And I'll never forget it. 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:00.340 She looked up at the moon. 00:10:01.580 --> 00:10:03.180 And she looked at me. 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.120 And she looked back up at the moon. 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:13.259 And she looked back up at the moon. 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:17.340 And then she looked at me and she said, 00:10:17.860 --> 00:10:21.980 Daddy, this didn't change my life one bit. 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:36.500 But when you see Christ, when you truly see Christ, it changes everything. 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:42.120 All of life is now oriented to Christ. 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:45.800 He says, follow me. 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:52.959 These four men, they heard the call to follow me. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:54.479 And they did immediately. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:57.859 Mark says that Jesus came. 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:01.799 Then upon Simon and Andrew, as they were casting their nets into the sea, 00:11:01.939 --> 00:11:03.599 they've thrown it in. 00:11:03.819 --> 00:11:05.419 And Jesus said, follow me. 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:09.000 And Mark says, immediately they left their nets. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.440 You're meant to understand that they left their nets in the ocean. 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:17.279 He said, but that makes no sense. 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.059 This is their livelihood. 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:25.039 Someone could come and steal those nets. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.820 Those nets, they could drift away in the sea. 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:35.240 It makes sense in the world's eyes to follow Christ. 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:40.419 Surely it doesn't always make sense to follow him immediately. 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:42.220 But he says, follow me. 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:46.820 Some of you in this room, 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:50.879 even this morning, I would guess at IPC Ealing, 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.799 some of you have not yet followed him. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.080 But you're hearing the call this morning. 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:03.399 Maybe you're starting to do the calculations. 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.399 And you're saying, ah, but to follow Jesus, 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:07.360 it would cost this. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:10.360 It would cost that. 00:12:10.459 --> 00:12:12.059 And it doesn't make sense here. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:13.539 It doesn't make sense there. 00:12:16.579 --> 00:12:19.419 Again, it doesn't always make worldly sense. 00:12:21.579 --> 00:12:25.959 The sons of Zebedee are described in verse 19 as, quote, 00:12:26.079 --> 00:12:26.679 mending. 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:31.199 And Mark says, their nets out in the boat. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.900 They were preparing them for the fishing they were to do. 00:12:35.040 --> 00:12:39.700 These were bigger nets than the ones that Andrew and that Simon Peter had. 00:12:39.780 --> 00:12:45.540 Nets that required a boat with more than one person to help drag in that boat. 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:49.540 So much so that we're told in the text that they had laborers. 00:12:49.620 --> 00:12:50.860 They had servants. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.480 They had workers as part of their business. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.639 This was no small enterprise that John and James were part of. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:06.420 Maybe the sign above the stall, their stall in the Sea of Galilee. 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:10.600 Maybe it read Zebedee and Sons Incorporated. 00:13:11.980 --> 00:13:13.500 It's a big operation. 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:18.480 And yet, we're told that having seen Christ and heard his call, 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.240 they, quote, left their nets. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:21.680 They left their business. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:22.799 They left their father. 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:24.320 And they followed Jesus. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.659 They left everything. 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:28.659 Why? 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.899 To gain everything. 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:39.240 When he calls, we yield. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.340 There's nothing wrong with nets. 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:46.019 There's nothing wrong with businesses. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.799 There's surely nothing wrong with fathers. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:52.599 But nothing is to hold us back from Christ. 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:54.639 It costs to follow Jesus. 00:13:56.779 --> 00:13:58.839 Maybe you have to give up your nets. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:02.219 Maybe you don't have to give up your nets. 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:04.659 But you have to be willing to give up your nets. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:07.919 Anything for Jesus. 00:14:10.979 --> 00:14:12.219 He calls. 00:14:14.219 --> 00:14:18.120 Second, Jesus calls common men and common women. 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:25.179 You notice he did not choose the prominent or the powerful or the prestigious. 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:27.379 This tends to be his way. 00:14:27.599 --> 00:14:29.559 Jacob was the second of the sons. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.859 David was a little ruddy boy, shepherd boy. 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:34.899 This is what he does. 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:39.779 He calls Simon and Peter and John and James, their mere fishermen. 00:14:39.779 --> 00:14:39.919 Amen. 00:14:43.419 --> 00:14:50.839 I often think of Isaac Watts' famous hymn, How Sweet and Awful is a Place, which we will often sing. 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:52.939 He said, 00:14:52.940 --> 00:15:00.520 For while our hearts and all our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cry with thankful tongues, 00:15:00.680 --> 00:15:02.100 Lord, why was I a guest? 00:15:02.160 --> 00:15:06.900 Or that next line, which I have trouble singing without my eyes filling with tears. 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:14.000 Why was I made to hear thy voice and enter Wilder's room, 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:21.600 when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:30.279 Why would you choose little old me? 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:30.300 Why would you choose little old me? 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:39.259 Every disciple of Christ has that thought regularly. 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:43.580 If you're sitting here this morning, you say, 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:45.539 Well, I don't have the gifts. 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:46.759 I don't have the talents. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.580 I'm not good enough. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.259 I don't desire enough. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.259 I don't... 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:53.600 It's not what he calls. 00:15:55.819 --> 00:15:56.960 He calls sinners. 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:01.059 He calls the poor in spirit. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.980 He calls common men and common women to himself. 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:08.740 You just come. 00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:12.560 It's fascinating. 00:16:12.800 --> 00:16:19.399 In Acts 4, when Peter and John, these common men, are dragged before the Jerusalem Religious Council, 00:16:19.539 --> 00:16:21.519 Luke says the response was, 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:29.600 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.360 they were astonished. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.120 And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:39.180 And that's his way. 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:44.960 He calls common men and common women. 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:49.440 But you'll notice that what people recognized about them is that they had been with Jesus. 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:52.920 That's the calling. 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:55.879 Which leads to our final point. 00:16:57.079 --> 00:17:01.539 He calls common men and common women to an uncommon mission. 00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:09.019 He calls common men and common women and he calls them to an uncommon mission. 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:19.180 When we are called to Jesus, if you are called to Jesus, you're not just called to Jesus, you're called to the mission of Jesus. 00:17:19.180 --> 00:17:26.620 Jesus said, I came into the world to seek and to save the lost. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.420 That's his mission. 00:17:29.840 --> 00:17:34.580 And when you are called to him, you're called to his mission. 00:17:34.580 --> 00:17:39.860 He says to his disciples, come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.519 This is their mission. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:44.160 When we're called to Christ, we're called to the mission of Christ. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:48.660 He calls common men and women to an uncommon mission. 00:17:49.040 --> 00:17:50.800 They are to be fishers of men. 00:17:52.820 --> 00:17:56.720 And it isn't simply just a cute little turn of phrase by the Lord Jesus. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.019 You say, oh, isn't that cute? 00:17:58.420 --> 00:17:59.040 They're fishermen. 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.160 He says, I'll call you to be fishers of men. 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:02.880 That's not what he's doing in the text. 00:18:04.820 --> 00:18:08.340 Rather, the context for this passage makes it starkly clear. 00:18:08.339 --> 00:18:15.899 The context is that the kingdom of God has broken into the world and the person of the king coming into the world, Jesus. 00:18:16.179 --> 00:18:21.199 So you look back up to verses 14 and 15, which Pastor Paul read this morning. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:27.059 The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:18:28.879 --> 00:18:31.919 Fishers of men has an Old Testament history. 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:36.319 And it's God who is often the fishers of men. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:41.159 And the scene in which God is the fishers of men is often a scene of judgment. 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.899 So Ezekiel 29, verses 1 through 6. 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:54.439 God speaks of Egypt and he says he will put hooks in their jaws and cast them into the wilderness with all the fish of their streams. 00:18:54.599 --> 00:19:01.960 And then he closes by saying, quote, then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. 00:19:02.919 --> 00:19:05.859 In Ezekiel 38, verse 4, prophecy against enemies. 00:19:05.859 --> 00:19:11.740 God says this, and I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws. 00:19:12.659 --> 00:19:14.119 And I will bring you out. 00:19:14.179 --> 00:19:15.539 And then we're told of judgment. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:20.259 And it closes with this, quote, then they will know that I am the Lord. 00:19:20.439 --> 00:19:22.899 Or in Habakkuk 1, 14 through 17. 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:25.539 All mankind is referred to as fish. 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:28.979 And what follows is the famous Habakkuk 2, 14. 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:35.059 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:36.900 God is the fisherman. 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:40.539 The scene is judgment. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:48.299 And the end is so all might know that he indeed is the Lord. 00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:53.839 And Mark 1 is making it clear that judgment is on the horizon. 00:19:55.639 --> 00:19:57.919 The kingdom of God has arrived. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.659 It's broken into the world. 00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:07.700 Because the king has come into the world. 00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:15.180 And when the kingdom of God has broken into the world, judgment is just over the hill. 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.340 It's on the horizon. 00:20:20.340 --> 00:20:22.740 And sinners are going to be judged. 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:31.120 But here's the other part of it. 00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:40.660 The king who comes in judgment is also the Savior who saves. 00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:46.859 And that's why Mark begins, verse 15, 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.220 Repent and believe. 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:51.200 Judgment is coming. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.100 So the gospel is being preached. 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:55.700 So that souls are brought into safety. 00:20:55.900 --> 00:20:58.319 Out of the sea of darkness. 00:20:58.620 --> 00:21:00.259 Into the kingdom of light. 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:06.160 And he's taking these common men and these common women. 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:10.140 And he's setting them out about this mission. 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:17.640 I will make you fishers of men. 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:22.320 The time is short. 00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:30.120 In part, that's why the call by Jesus is responded to with such immediacy in this text. 00:21:31.300 --> 00:21:32.800 The time is short. 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:38.100 If you've been called to Christ, 00:21:39.100 --> 00:21:41.100 you've been called to the mission of Christ. 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:44.439 A few applications. 00:21:44.439 --> 00:21:45.079 First, 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.779 would you count it not as a weight, 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:52.740 not as a burden, 00:21:53.359 --> 00:22:00.679 but as a responsibility and a privilege that you get to participate in the mission of Christ? 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:05.420 I want you to think about this. 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:08.060 Is that there are very few things 00:22:08.060 --> 00:22:12.779 that will survive for all of eternity. 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.500 There's so many things that you and I will busy ourselves about. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:23.740 So many things that we will invest our time and our energy and our person in. 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:26.740 And they don't last. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.680 You do realize, right, 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:34.519 that there is one name that lasts forever and ever. 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:38.920 And that's the name of Jesus. 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:43.500 And you get to labor for that name. 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:49.400 You know the name Great Britain doesn't last forever. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:58.200 You know the name of your fraternity or your fellowship or your business doesn't last forever. 00:23:00.620 --> 00:23:02.340 The name of Jesus does. 00:23:04.560 --> 00:23:06.500 And you get to labor for that. 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:08.800 Unto His glory. 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:11.980 It's a distinct privilege. 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:15.039 Second, 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:19.100 our time to labor for this is short. 00:23:20.620 --> 00:23:22.519 So get busy. 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:25.940 Get busy about the work. 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:30.920 You don't know how many days you have left. 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:36.380 You only have so many days 00:23:36.380 --> 00:23:38.820 to store treasures and glory. 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:39.940 Only so many. 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:43.240 You only have so many hours. 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:43.519 hours. 00:23:44.059 --> 00:23:48.120 If I gave you today and I said, 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:53.119 this is how many hours and minutes you have left in your life here on earth. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:54.859 You'd start going, 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:55.299 oh man, 00:23:55.299 --> 00:23:56.679 I'm using those. 00:23:58.679 --> 00:24:01.539 You only have so many hours and minutes. 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:02.539 Andrew and Peter and John and James didn't know. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:10.159 Andrew and Peter and John and James didn't know. 00:24:12.639 --> 00:24:17.000 James and Andrew and Peter only have a couple of years. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:18.000 That's all they got. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.880 That's all they got. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:29.519 Third, be willing to follow wherever Jesus leads. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:34.460 Be willing to follow wherever Jesus leads. 00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:38.360 The imperative is very simple. 00:24:38.360 --> 00:24:38.920 Follow. 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:41.120 Where do I follow? 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:41.840 Follow. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:43.519 Where are we going? 00:24:43.600 --> 00:24:44.079 Follow. 00:24:45.600 --> 00:24:48.059 You follow wherever he leads you. 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:55.720 And there are people scattered throughout this world that have never heard the name Jesus. 00:24:55.720 --> 00:25:05.220 There are unreached language groups scattered throughout the world that have never heard the name Jesus. 00:25:11.360 --> 00:25:16.259 For the church to go out, it requires that some Christians go out. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:20.779 Andrew and Peter and James and John, they won't stray far. 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:24.960 The call to discipleship doesn't mean for most that we're going to go to the ends of the earth, 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.039 but we should be willing. 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:34.640 I remember a seminary professor telling me in jest one day, 25 years ago, he said, 00:25:35.460 --> 00:25:38.019 Jason, I always pray to the Lord, please send me to Alaska, 00:25:38.120 --> 00:25:40.299 because that's the one place on earth I don't want to go. 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:44.740 But he was jesting in that, look, you have to be willing to go anywhere. 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:49.160 He calls, you go. 00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:53.200 He says, follow me there, you go. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.440 You say, well, I'm pretty settled in life. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:59.500 So was John, so was James, so was Andrew, so was Peter. 00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:00.400 But I have a family. 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:02.000 So did John, so did James. 00:26:02.080 --> 00:26:04.539 We find out later that Peter had a wife. 00:26:04.660 --> 00:26:06.279 I have a business and a home. 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.900 So did John, so did James. 00:26:10.100 --> 00:26:12.400 As a disciple, I'm not my own. 00:26:12.620 --> 00:26:16.100 Follow me doesn't just end at conversion. 00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:24.439 It's a lifelong pursuit where you and I are simply following him wherever he leads. 00:26:25.379 --> 00:26:27.619 And now, it may not lead beyond healing. 00:26:29.539 --> 00:26:30.559 Understand that. 00:26:30.919 --> 00:26:34.779 But wherever you are, you're called to Christ's mission. 00:26:34.899 --> 00:26:37.480 If you've been called to Christ, you've been called to the mission of Christ. 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:40.539 So you seek to labor where you're at. 00:26:40.620 --> 00:26:46.319 And you seek to support those that are going out from you and to other parts of the world. 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:54.680 So I want to encourage you, challenge you to aim higher. 00:26:54.680 --> 00:27:05.340 Father, mothers, would you be so bold as to raise your children to understand that their life is not their own? 00:27:07.560 --> 00:27:15.640 Fathers, would you maybe even pray and speak to your children about maybe them being called to the mission field? 00:27:15.640 --> 00:27:26.240 What if instead of being an anomaly that one of our covenant children was a missionary within this generation, 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:29.460 it became a regular occurrence for IPC Ealing? 00:27:31.100 --> 00:27:42.860 What if just 5% of all of the children in the IPC congregations went to the foreign mission field? 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:46.199 What would be the impact? 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:53.679 I was recently reading about Princeton Seminary during its faithful Orthodox days, 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:59.199 and at its peak, one in every three graduates of the seminary went to the foreign mission field. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.979 This is in the early days of what you call the colonies. 00:28:05.199 --> 00:28:09.419 There was a mission field there, and yet one in three was going to the ends of the earth. 00:28:11.819 --> 00:28:12.259 Why? 00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:16.259 Because they wanted to follow wherever Jesus was leading. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:18.299 And that didn't just happen. 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:23.220 How is it that one in three graduates went to the ends of the earth? 00:28:24.140 --> 00:28:26.059 It's because they developed that culture. 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:28.660 They prayed about it. 00:28:29.059 --> 00:28:30.379 They fostered it. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:31.680 They developed it. 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:33.400 It was part of their conversations. 00:28:34.019 --> 00:28:35.420 It was part of their culture. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:40.759 We are going to live on mission for Jesus. 00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:46.619 We have been called to Jesus, so we're going to participate in the work of Jesus. 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:50.479 It's part of who they were. 00:28:52.959 --> 00:28:59.139 We want to develop in our local churches a sense of we are on mission together for the name of Christ together, 00:28:59.139 --> 00:29:05.239 to see perishing souls reeled in from the darkness and brought into the light. 00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:09.240 Let's close with this. 00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:09.819 Let's close with this. 00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:15.620 One of the most amazing things at the church I serve is something I have absolutely nothing to do with. 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:27.559 We are on the edge of a university that has 55,000 students, and most of them are residential students. 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:40.000 And a couple of years ago, some of our older women in the congregation in their 70s, early 80s, 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:47.460 decided that they were afraid of evangelism, and they were afraid of college students. 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:50.240 And so they challenged one another. 00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:53.960 They said, let's get busy about Christ's work. 00:29:55.480 --> 00:30:02.340 So every week, these 70 and 80-year-old women go on the campus of Michigan State University. 00:30:02.539 --> 00:30:03.539 They set up a table. 00:30:04.360 --> 00:30:07.920 They put a sign on the front of the table that says, would you like prayer? 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.580 And they put fresh-baked cookies on the table. 00:30:12.580 --> 00:30:14.120 And they offer a hug. 00:30:14.259 --> 00:30:17.220 And who doesn't want a prayer and cookies and a hug from Grandma? 00:30:19.580 --> 00:30:20.960 And they share the gospel. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:28.160 Now what's wonderful is the people they're sharing the gospel with. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:31.800 But you know what's just as wonderful? 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:36.960 Is the way they impact my life. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.460 And the life of other people in our church. 00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:46.720 They're helping to create the culture and the atmosphere and challenging us. 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:49.840 That we've got to be busy. 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:55.840 That even in the twilight of life, we're going to be busy about evangelism. 00:30:59.580 --> 00:31:01.880 IPC Ealing, you're here for a reason. 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:03.940 You've been put together for a reason. 00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:07.400 You're here with purpose. 00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:11.840 And that's to follow Christ. 00:31:13.340 --> 00:31:16.620 And if you're following Christ, you're busy about the mission of Christ. 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:20.039 Let's pray together. 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:20.619 Let's pray together. 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 00:31:20.619 --> 00:31:20.619 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