Choosing of the Disciples

Christ’s method of choosing His disciples 2000 years ago still continues into our present time. He calls us out in the same way He called out His Twelve, starting with these four men – Peter and his brother, Andrew, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. He chooses disciples to be authentic and transparent as He has done with millions of disciples around the world who follow Him.

Matthew 4:17: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The Message: in verse 17, the message Christ preached many years ago is the one He continues from John the Baptizer: “to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is a message we too must hear and obey. Charles Swindoll writes: “Those who heard Jesus’ preaching had never heard anything like that in their lives. They had sat through many monotonous lectures by the elders in the synagogues, who tended to pit opinions against opinions and interpretations against interpretations as the men discussed, debated, and dialoged with each other over what the Scripture meant or what that rabbi said. But when Jesus stepped into the synagogue and opened His mouth, His word came with power. He preached “as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (7:29). This difference between the authoritative, powerful preaching of Jesus and the speculative, tedious discussions of the elders reminds me of the wise words of one pastor: “Preaching is the proclamation of certainties, not the suggestion of possibilities.” (Swindoll’s Living Insights, New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-15, p 75) As called disciples many hundreds of years later, we are given the same power and authority that existed with these early disciples of Jesus.  

Matthew 4:18-20: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19’Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.”  As Jesus walked by the sea, His first disciples to follow Him were Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew.

Regarding Simon Peter: William S. McBirnie writes: “Peter was impulsive. He often acted first and thought second. He quickly dropped his net at the invitation of Christ. When Jesus walked across the water, Peter stepped over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Him. . . .Peter’s character was not at first as firm as it might have been. He was the loudest in his avowals of loyalty to Christ the night before Jesus was seized. That night, with all the rest, he forsook Him and cursed His name. Then in another impulsive reversal, after Jesus looked at him, Peter went out and wept bitterly.  Peter was a rare combination of courage and cowardice, of great strength and regrettable instability. . . .He sinned as grievously as Judas. The only difference was that Peter repented and Judas did not.” (The Search for the Twelve Apostles, p 23) The beauty and the mystery of why Jesus would call men like Peter and like us is that He saw in Peter’s life the great potential of going from being like “the shifting sand to becoming like a solid rock.”

Regarding Andrew: William S. McBirnie writes that it was actually Andrew who was the first of the brothers to have met Jesus. He was a follower of Jesus but had not yet been called to become a disciple. But Andrew, as a deeply caring brother and friend, wanted his brother Peter to meet and know the promised one, Jesus the Savior. Andrew models the heart of ‘true evangelism,’ of our caring enough for family and friends and others we meet, to introduce them to Jesus as their Savior and Lord. He continues: “We have often heard Peter referred to as ‘the big fisherman.’ That he was, but so was Andrew. We have often heard the words of Christ to Peter quoted; ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ (Matthew 4:19). But we must remember that these words were spoken to Andrew as well as to Peter. Andrew merited this title even more than Peter. Or to be fair to both, let us say that Peter became the fisherman of men en masse and Andrew was a fisherman for individuals.” (The Search for the Twelve Apostles, p 50) Matthew 4: 21-22: “Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” John was one of the sons of Zebedee, a fisherman of Galilee, and Salome, who was possibly a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He grew up in Galilee and were partners with his brother, James, and Andrew and Peter in the fishing business. Like Andrew, John was a disciple of “John the Baptizer” (John1:34-40). John would later quit the fishing business and became a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Regarding John and James: William McBirnie writes: “He [John] and his brother [James] were called ‘Sons of Thunder’ when they sought to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village whose inhabitants had refused them hospitality. (Mark 3:17) On another occasion, John exhibited his zeal, intolerance, and exclusiveness when he exclaimed, ‘Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group’ (Mark 9:38).” (The Search for the Twelve Apostles, p 79) John would later become one of Jesus’ three closest disciples and companions and would later be called, “the beloved disciple.” John, like these other three men, exemplifies what happens when we fully give our life to Christ. Paul would later preach in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” These men would experience ‘the crucifixion of their old selves with a new heart implant from the very heart of the Savior.”  “The Greek word that we translate ‘disciple’ means ‘learner.’ This is a good definition if you’re thinking about a disciple of some Jewish rabbi or Greek philosopher. But it falls far short of defining what Jesus meant by disciple. Primarily a disciple is one who follows him [Jesus] along the way of the cross. The path to glory for the disciple also leads through suffering and humiliation. We have substituted beliefs about Jesus for commitment to follow him. . . .You can believe certain things about Jesus without it costing you . . . It is much safer to believe in Jesus with the top of the head than to make the dangerous decision to follow him.” (F. Paschall & H. Hobbs, The Teacher’s Bible Commentary, p. 646-647)  Discipleship is “not” our relating to others and talking about Jesus. True, authentic discipleship is our relating to Jesus Christ and then sharing with others what His relationship has meant to our life. Charles Swindoll writes: “When I read about the calling of Andrew, Peter, James and John, I can’t help but remember my own calling into full-time ministry. . . . And like Peter, Andrew, James and John, I wasn’t qualified to do any of it. But God had plans for me I could have never even imagined.” (Swindoll’s Living Insights, New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-15, p. 77-78)  All these men had similar responses when following Jesus. Author Jeff Wells writes: “God loves to use ordinary people. When Jesus chooses the twelve disciples, he begins with four fishermen. Not scholars, not rabbis, not priests. Fishermen!  Peter and Andrew, along with James and John, drop everything and follow Jesus: They follow Jesus immediately. . . . wholeheartedly. . . unreservedly. . . . with glad and full hearts. . . without reservations or conditions. . . . not knowing where he will take them. . . . They follow Jesus no matter the costs of following him.” (The Great Verses, 365 Verses to Learn, to Love, to Live, p 172)

Pastor David Platt writes: “Human history was altered forever by this group of disciples, and it began with four local fishermen. Hardly a world-changing task force! But this is the beauty of God’s design, namely, to take weak and lowly sinners and enable them to do far more than they (or anyone else) could ever imagine, all to the praise of His glorious grace! May He use us and our churches to change our own world today. . . Therefore consider the cost of discipleship. . . . Discipleship is undoubtedly costly, but as you consider the cost of discipleship, I beg you to consider the cost of non-discipleship. What if you choose to reject Jesus, to live for yourself, and to die in your sin? What if you choose to settle for casual, cultural Christianity that never truly encounters Christ?” (Christ-Centered Exposition, Exalting Jesus in Mathew, p. 84, 87)

 

Choosing of the Disciples – Part 2

Wayne E. Ward writes: “The overwhelming significance of the resurrection today lies in this one fact: Jesus Christ is alive and reigning in the midst of his disciples. The resurrection is not just an ancient record in history. . . . when the individual man truly meets the risen Christ in his own inner experience and cries out like the disciples of old, “My Lord, and my God!” . .  . . The Son of David who moved down the dusty roads of Galilee must be met and accepted in our own hearts as the Son of God who gave his life for us all.” (The Teacher’s Bible Commentary p 615-616) Acts 28:31: “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” When God speaks, His Word becomes a never-ending commandment and continues going out – from the beginning of time until this present day. In the Acts 1:8, Jesus gives His power to us – so the acts of the Holy Spirit never end. For disciples of today, God allows us to draw from this same power that empowered the first disciples of Christ to turn the world upside down for Jesus by their simple faith. Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jeff Wells comments: “Jesus commissions each of His disciples, and each one of us, to make disciples. These are our marching orders, our mission, and our mandate. ‘Go!’ More specifically: as you are going. That is, whenever you go, wherever you go, be making disciples.” (The Great Verses, 365 verses to Learn, to Love, to Live, p 200)

The same was true with the calling of King David, an ordinary teenage boy who killed the giant, Goliath, and led the nation of Israel from an insignificant country to successfully taking on enemy countries who tried to destroy them. Through God, we are given the same promises in Acts 1:8 as David had when he took on the enemies of Israel. Though David had a very powerful and simple faith in the One True Living God, he would make some very serious mistakes sidetracking him from being used as the spiritual leader God had intended him to be. But David humbly repented and corrected his ways. In repentance, David writes Psalm 51:3-4: “For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”   David’s pilgrimage from sin to repentance to godly obedience, forms the acronym A.C.T.S.

 Admit: We must admit who we really are; we can’t pretend to be someone people think we are. God can’t use us to make disciples until we are honest before Him. When the prophet Nathan confronted David by holding him accountable for the murder of Uriah after his adultery with Bathsheba (which is what real discipleship is), David took full responsibility in admitting his terrible deeds before God. Until there is a true admission of who we really are, there can be no knowledge of our need for repentance. The men and women God has used to change the world began with a true admission of their sinfulness before God like David did with Nathan. He could have made excuses and even had Nathan killed, but instead, because David had a heart after God, he confessed his sin and asked for God’s grace and cleansing.

Commit: Psalm 63:1: “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.” (NKJV)  After admittance and acceptance of our sinfulness, we then have to go through the process of a “wilderness experience” that David describes in Psalm 63:1. Three principles are found in this deeply intimate Psalm that David writes to God:

  1. God is Personal (Ps. 63:1a) “Oh God, you are my God!” Like David we must come back deeply desiring a personal relationship with our Savior and Lord. David calls out to God knowing and trusting God will hear him because he knew God personally. Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “The unsaved world does not understand true biblical faith, probably because it sees so little faith in action in the church today. The cynical editor H.L. Mencken defined faith as ‘illogical belief in the occurrence of the impossible.’ The world failed to realize that faith is only as good as its object, and the object of faith is God. Faith is not some ‘feeling’ that we manufacture. It is our total response to what God has revealed in His Word.” (A Year in the Word, Pause for Power, p 223)
  1. God is my Priority: (Ps. 63:1b) “Early will I seek You,” David looked for God first thing in the morning before anything else could pull his attention away. He made God his priority. Matthew wrote these same thoughts in Matthew 6:33: “Butseek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
  2. God is my Passion: (Ps. 63:1c) “My soul thirst for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” David calls out to his God with passion and with great desire. God supplies our basic need within man – a need as basic as water. John writes in John 4:13-14: “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again 14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Transmit: Psalm 51:12-13: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.”   Only when these factors are in place – Admitting and Committing – can there be an honest transmitting of our testimony. It was only after David admitted his sinfulness and committed his life to God that he was finally useful for God and others. David, a human disaster who turned back to God, became a blessing to others for God. “As God’s stewards we are called to love those who are different and perhaps marginalized by the world. There is no one who is a waste of our time or resources. When we encounter people we might consider outcasts, we don’t know who will recognize Jesus when we speak or act in his power and in his name. Despite, or perhaps because of her low status, the [Samaritan] woman was open to Jesus’ words. She was curious and willing to go deeper with him, . . . . When we reach out to the rebellious teenager, the funny-looking guy who occupies the next cubicle or the street person who holds out a hand, we don’t know who might be the one who will ‘drink in’ the Good News of the Living Water of Christ and go back and tell others whom he or she has met.” (Sharing the Living Water, NIV Stewardship Study Bible, p 147)

Submit. When we submit to God’s will, it’s not just a feeling of the moment but a sustained continuous surrender to God’s will. Each disciple, including David, must submit daily to God. The enemy tries to confuse and distract us from following Jesus by putting all kinds of obstacles and temptations in our path. Submitting to God is a continuing day by day giving of our hearts back to God’s will and His purpose. It is remaining true to His calling on our life. Robert J. Morgan writes: “He [Satan] tries to trap you in difficulty, to entangle you in trouble, to corner you in impossible situations, to lure you into temptation. . . . Acknowledge Satan’s activity, but don’t be intimidated by him. You can resist him in the power of God and by the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, our Commander in chief enjoins you to such resistance. When threatened by the devil’s schemes, just memorize these verses and claim them at every turn:

  • The people who know their God will be strong and will resist him. (Daniel 11:32 NLT)
  • Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:7-8)
  • Resist him, steadfast in the faith. (1Peter 5:9)
  • Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. (Ephesians 6:13 NLT)

When we rebuff the enemy in the name of Jesus Christ, when we stand our ground, when we resist his wiles and claim the victory of faith, when we shake off discouragement in the name of our Lord, Satan falls from heaven faster than lightning. He is drowned in the Red Sea of the blood of Jesus Christ.” (The Red Sea Rules,10 God-Given Strategies for Difficult Times, p 34-35) Dwight L. Moody concludes, “Real faith is man’s weakness leaning on God’s strength.”

Choosing of the Disciples – Part 3

Foundational in our calling to discipleship is the sowing of the seeds of a relationship with a Living Savior into the lives of others. Jesus was very clear in His command to make disciples in Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (NET) Jesus gave us a simple illustration in sowing these seeds of discipleship. As a boy growing up on a farm, I would sit on the back of my dad’s cultivator and drop seeds into the newly plowed ground. Weeks later after sun and rain and time, we would harvest a crop of vegetables and fruit. This concept is true in our sharing of the gospel as the Lord calls us out into the world to make disciples. Before there is a harvest, there has to be a time of cultivating the soil and planting gospel seeds into the lives of others. But seeds do not always produce fruit the way we plan. From Matthew 13:4-8 Charles Swindoll writes: “In this parable, Jesus named four different types of terrain upon which the sower’s seeds could potentially fall: the road, or footpath (13:4); shallow, rocky soil (13:5-6); thornbushes (13:7); or good, fertile soil (13:8).” (Swindoll’s Living Insights, New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-15, p 271)

Sowing seeds in the first type of Soil v4: “And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.” The busyness of our lives can often prevent God’s Word from taking root in a person’s heart and character. Before there can be a growing season in a disciple’s relationship with Christ, there has to be consistent and regular times of being in God’s presence in personal prayer and Bible study. Winn Collier writes: “Jesus used agricultural imagery to describe how His believers grow in the kingdom of God. . .There is a strong yield, abundant growth – but it only comes when we receive the wisdom of God and then patiently allow the Holy Spirit to produce growth in us. This is how spiritual growth typically works. We may have explosive spurts, but our progress will typically be slow, as we receive God’s wisdom, follow His ways, and watch the Spirit work.” (Our Daily Bread, October, November, December, 2026; from Oct 9) We often may expect maturity after an over-night experience with God but it is only after spending lengthy time in our Lord’s presence that we can grow and reflect His character. David experienced God’s presence often in his life writing in Psalm 17:15, “As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.”  David’s testimony was of his beholding the face of God and transforming David’s life.

 Sowing seeds in the second type of Soil v5-6: “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”   Seeds falling in shallow soil will root [be received] but because they do not go deep into the soil, they wither and die. When there are not deep roots in our faith, we dry up when trials and hardships come. We cannot base our faith and growth in discipleship on emotional feelings or our own understanding but only on our relationship with Christ and His Word. C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity writes: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’  That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to . . . , I have to accept the view that He was and is God!” Writing for a Gideon publication, Pastor Garry O. Parker recalls an exciting day when he was in the sixth grade. . . he received a special gift, a New Testament from some visitors. He writes, “A few months later his mother passed away after a long illness, and the following years were unsettled and difficult. One February night in 1957, Garry was sitting in his room reading his New Testament. He came to 1 John 5:12: ‘The one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life.’ He saw clearly that our eternal future depends on whether we have Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and the message pricked his heart like a needle. ‘In that moment,’ Garry recalled, ‘God awakened my understanding, and I quietly put my trust in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. It was not an overly emotional moment but one of quiet certainty.’” (Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bibe Verses Everyone Should Know By Heart, p 86)

Sowing seeds in the third type of soil v7: “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.” This soil refers to seeds that fall into good soil but there are competing weeds that eventually destroy the growth potential of the seed to bear fruit.  In every culture Satan has subtle and sometimes not so subtle ways to attack our beliefs in Jesus Christ and His Word. Satan studies us and his only desire is to steal, kill and destroy our faith in Christ. John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus desires that we find our full potential growth in our walk with Him so we can bear fruit. Cult experts Ron Carlson and Ed Decker write: “Do not ever make the mistake of considering God and Satan as equal or almost equal. Satan is not equal with God. God alone is sovereign. God alone is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, holy, and righteous. Satan is a finite, created being, a mere fallen angel. . . Satan is a liar.” (Fast Facts on False Teachings, Ron Carlson & Ed Decker, p 244) They continue, “The Presentation of Apologetics isn’t always popular. A cultist isn’t going to be thrilled that you now know things he wishes you never did, and even many of your follow Christians will frown upon your new found zeal to defend the faith. In fact, you may be amazed at the number of well-meaning Christians who find the defense of the faith just too embarrassing and negative for them to even try out. They say, ‘It’s too unloving. God’s sees these people’s hearts. Who are we to judge?’ So they stand by and let a lie become the norm because they will not speak out with a defense for the doctrines and purity of our faith.” (Fast Facts on False Teachings, Ron Carlson & Ed Decker, p 7)

 Sowing seeds in the fourth type of soil v8: “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Charles Swindoll writes: “The good soil, of course, refers to deep, rich soil, not contaminated by weeds, smothered by thorns, trampled by feet, invaded by birds, scorched by heat, or ridden with rocks. For such ideal soil, a crop of grain will grow – sometimes producing as much as thirty-, sixty-, or a hundredfold of what was planted. The ideal is bountiful multiplication.” (Swindoll’s Living Insights, New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-15, p 271) Waylon Moore writes: “Teach and model from Scripture. If you teach a concept, but don’t model it in your life, you nullify what you’re teaching. If you model a principle, but don’t teach it, no one knows why you’re doing it. Get the mentoree ‘in the Book’ quickly. Paul reminded those he invested in of his character: ‘for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you. . . (1 Thes 1:5).” (The Power of a Mentor, Waylon B. Moore, p 19-20) Luke 6:43-44: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit.” Alistair Begg writes: “We must think of fruit in relation to the teacher’s character – and character can’t be tested by measuring eloquence or giftedness. Rather, when Jesus gave instruction concerning the vine and the branches, He implied that fruitfulness equals Christlikeness (John 15:1-8).” (Truth For Life,365 Daily Devotions, Vol 1, p 276) “Seeing this parable as a landscape journey reminds us, as we know from our gardens, that soil doesn’t change overnight. Compost, fertilizer and other amendments must be worked into the beds each season. . . . The course of our faith lives is similar: It’s a journey, a progression of building up a heart for God’s Word.” (NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible, p 1163)

 

Choosing of the Disciples – Part 4

When Christ calls us to follow Him, He wants us, not at a distance, but up close to Him to learn to be “fishermen of men’s souls!” God’s Word gives us many promises as believers who become His disciple makers.

Promise 1. Jesus calls us individually – not just to follow Him but to come beside Him. He wants to personally teach us how to fish for the lost souls of men and women, but we must have personal courage to choose to follow Him. Matthew 4:18-20: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people. 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.” Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Pastor Jeff Wells writes, “Joshua was assuming leadership at the critical moment, just as Israel would cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land. . . .and God empathized. Three times in the first nine verses, God encourages Joshua, “Be strong and courageous” (Josh.1:6; Josh.1:7; Josh.1:9), . . Remember Jesus’s words to you before he returned to heaven: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt.28:20). Remember that God is with you. Right now. Right beside you. Remember!” (The Great Verses, 365 Verses to Learn, to Love, to Live, p 48)

Promise 2. God is our Father who created and adopted us to be His sons and daughters. He empowers us to be fruitful as we follow Christ. Jesus becomes our brother and dearest friend teaching us how to become fishermen of lost souls. We are not following someone who is impersonal but someone who knows and loves us best. John 15: 15-16: ““I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 6 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” Pastor Joby Martin writes, “If you think He’s the old man upstairs and out of touch with life and reality, you’ll sit in judgement over His precepts. If you think He’s just a ritualistic deity, then you’re going to try to jump through a bunch of religious hoops looking for the right combination to appease Him. But when you know Him as Father, everything changes. And Father is not just an illustration that the Bible uses to describe who God is. God is actually our Father. It’s just who He is.” (Stand Firm & Act Like Men, p 179)

Promise 3. Followers of Jesus Christ who become fishers of men’s souls are invited to ask of Him, seek Him, and knock on His door of miracles and wonderful resources. He is the great provider for all of His children’s needs. Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” When men and women go from being followers from a distance to being fishermen of men and women in partnership with the Living Christ, they discover that by “asking, seeking and knocking,” great and amazing resources are promised and given to all of God’s children.

Promise 4. God will always answer the prayers of His children. Always! James 5:17-18: “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” William Barclay writes: “God will never refuse our prayers; and God will never mock our prayers. The Greeks had their stories about the gods who answered men’s prayers, but the answer was an answer with a barb in it, a double-edged gift. . . .There is a lesson here; God will always answer our prayers; but he will answer them in his way, and his way will be the way of perfect wisdom and of perfect love.” (The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. 1, p 271-272) 

Promise 5. God wants to use His children to reach a lost and troubled world. But God’s plan is not to burn us out! It is to strengthen and empower us for a marathon – not just a sprint.  He is in it with us for the long haul and not just for the moment. He wants to lighten our burdens for us and give us peace and rest. Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Brennan Manning comments, “Jesus says: ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11:29). These beautiful words are a portrait of the heart of Christ. So we respond, ‘Jesus, gentle and humble in heart, make my heart like yours.’. . . . We learn humility directly from the Lord Jesus in whatever way he wishes to teach us. . . .It grows through a stripping away of all self-sufficiency. . . .It is accomplished by the hand of God.” (NIV Ragamuffin Bible, Meditations for the Bedraggled, Beat-up & Brokenhearted, p 1101)

Promise 6. Followers of Jesus who become fishers of men’s souls will learn early that they cannot be a “one-man show.’ Fishing requires our full partnership with Christ and with others in the Body of Christ, the Church. Christ joins us together to find both His purpose and vision. Matthew 18:19-20: “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Acts 2:42: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Promise 7. Our power does not come from our own strength, giftedness and determination but comes from the Holy Spirt. It is His gift to us. Acts 1: 8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, wrote, “Before we go to our knees to receive the Baptism of Fire, let me beg of you to see to it that your souls are in harmony with the will and purpose of the Holy Spirit whom you seek. . . . Let there be free communication between you and God. Let all go, and you shall be flooded before you rise from your knees; the world shall feel the power of it, and God shall have all the glory.” (The Bible for Personal Revival, Practicing the Presence of Jesus, p 1169) Before a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s power can come, there has to be a willingness to allow God to move through our lives without any conditions or stipulations and, with deep humility, we must receive from Him.

Promise 8. God’s Word is eternal and everlasting. The follower who wants to be a true fisher of men must never forget the double-edged sword of God’s Word that is to be kept in his heart, in his hands, and on his lips. The world scorns the truth of God’s Word but we must remember Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Isaiah 55:11: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”   We are reminded often that only when God’s Word comes through our actions and speech, will God give us the kind of fruit that He desires from our lives as fishers of men. Jeff Wells writes, “God’s Word is like the rain and snow. They fall. The earth is watered. Plants grow. Life flourishes. The rain and the snow always fulfill their purpose. It is the same for the Word of God. . . . God’s Word will have its way. The Bible is powerful. The Bible is fruitful. The Bible always accomplishes God’s purposes. That is why it is absolutely essential to read it, study it, learn it, memorize it, cite it, and share it. Saturate your soul with God’s Word until it spills over.” (The Great Verses, 365 Verses to Learn, to Love, to Live, p 160) Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” The most comforting and powerful words in all of the Bible are found at the end of the book of Matthew: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” No other promises can be fulfilled without the realization that our God promises His presence in our lives forever and forever.

Choosing of the Disciples – Part 5

We are each given a calling to follow Jesus and disciple men and women. His vision must become ours – that is “to see the vast lostness” of the world and the possibilities of “a great awakening and harvesting” of many lost souls from this world of darkness. 

Matthew 9:35-38: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” David Platt writes, “Our churches ought to be sending bases of laborers for the harvest of souls. No one is to be a spectator. Many believers don’t even consider the possibility that God could call them to proclaim the gospel in another location. Or if they do, they often have a distorted view of what such a call could look like. Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr to the Auca Indians of Peru, lamented the fact that so few were willing to go to the mission field in his own day. He said, ‘Our young men are going into [other] fields because they don’t “feel called” to the mission field. We don’t need a call; we need a kick in the pants.’ (Elliot, Shadow of the Almight,150) As followers of Christ, our lives should be ‘on the table’ before the Lord. Wherever He says to go, we go. None of us is intended simply to coast through life until we get to heaven.” (Christ- Centered Exposition, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, p 134)

Promise 9. Matthew 10:1: “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” A true disciple of Christ will seek to fish for men as Christ did and be willing to follow Christ even into the toughest places and to the most broken of people. We do not go in our own authority but in the power and authority of our Sovereign Lord. He is the One who sends us out to lead others to Himself. Charles Finney (1792-1875), a New York lawyer and revivalist writes: “Suppose a man were to go and preach this doctrine among farmers. . . Let him tell them that God is a Sovereign, and will give them a crop only when it pleases Him, and that for them to plough, and plant, and labor, as if they expected to raise a crop, is very wrong, and that it amounts to taking the work out of the hands of God, that it is an interference with His Sovereignty. . . Suppose the farmers believed such a doctrine? Why, they would starve the world to death. . . .Just such results would follow on the Church being persuaded that promoting religion is somehow so mysteriously a subject of Divine Sovereignty that there is no natural connection between the means and the end. Why, generation after generation has gone to hell, while the Church has been dreaming and waiting for God to save them without the use of the means. It has been the devil’s most successful means of destroying souls. The connection is as clear in religion as it is when the farmer sows his grain.” (The Bible for Personal Revival, Practicing the Presence of Jesus, p 1049)     Disciples must plant seeds! They must sow seeds and, when God brings the harvest, disciples must go out to bring in the harvest!

Promise 10. Matthew 10:2-10: “These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.9’Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.’ ” Jesus calls men out from their ordinary lives – not to be mere spectators but to suit up and get into the game. When Jesus called Matthew, a hated tax collector and a Jew collaborating with the Roman overlords, to be a disciple, the arrogant Pharisees were indignant because he, in their opinion, was not qualified to be a disciple. Matthew was not among the religious elite. In fact, none of the called disciples would have been considered worthy of being a disciple of Christ. But Jesus knew what was in these men’s hearts and called each one of them individually to come after Him. Greg Laurie writes of Matthew: “It must have shocked him deeply to see Jesus Christ striding toward him one day. And then Jesus looked at Matthew. That phrase in the Greek could be translated, ‘He looked right through him.’ . . .then two words changed Matthew’s life. ‘Follow Me!’  And the amazing thing is, he did! Right then and there, with no hesitation. Matthew got up from the table, left his little tax booth, followed Jesus, and never looked back. In his own gospel, I love the fact that Matthew simply wrote that he ‘followed Jesus.’ He didn’t talk about what he gave up or left behind that day. In fact, he probably gave up more financially than any of the other apostles. . . . But he didn’t do that. He saw it as a privilege to follow Jesus, and he left everything behind to do that.” (The Greatest Stories Ever Told, p 369-370) Jesus didn’t call Matthew or any of the other disciples to a lucrative job, but He did promise to give them His authority and power as they went out to reach the lost sheep of Israel proclaiming the gospel message from God.

Promise 11. Matthew 10:11-16: “Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” When we obey the calling of Christ to go out as fishers of men, we can’t be spectators sitting in the stands. He promises that though many will listen, we will still face the same opposition that He received from Satan. In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus walks through each temptation [testing] on the mountain. In the same way, we too will have the same struggles and oppositions that Christ had. Charles Swindoll writes: “At times, the disciples would be tested. Not everybody would turn out to be as they first appeared. Some would prove to be worthy of the presence of the disciples and receive their blessings (10:12-13), but others would prove to be unworthy of the message, perhaps turning against the disciples or feigning fidelity to the cause. Those who rejected the disciples were actually rejecting the message with which they had been entrusted.” (Swindoll’s Living Insights, New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-15, p 190) As we ourselves go out into the world, we should expect opposition as well as acceptance. Some will be ready and others will turn on us. It won’t be easy to follow Christ.  John 6:66 says: “After Jesus said this, many of his followers left him and stopped following him.”  But this did not discourage our Lord and we also should not be discouraged as His followers.

Choosing of the Disciples – Part 6

Jesus continues to speak into the lives of His disciples teaching that it was important that in every area of our lives, we must be perceptive and aware of the world we lived in. We must not blindly follow the points of view of the leaders in our world but must follow “the Word of God” and not the words of men.

Promise 12. Matthew 10:16-20: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Pastor Sam Crouch writes, “As Jesus was sending out His disciples, He gave them a stark warning. He prefaced His warning with the word look, which was a word of emphasis. ‘Pay attention’ was the thought here. They were to take special note of the fact that they were being sent out as sheep among wolves. Sheep are especially vulnerable and defenseless. The picture here was the vulnerability of Jesus’s followers in the unbelieving world to which they were sent. . . .In response to the opposition they would face, the disciples were to be shrewd as well as innocent. In many ancient cultures, the serpent represented qualities of wisdom, caution, and cunning. The followers of Jesus were to be equally alert and wise. The word ‘innocent’ speaks of purity and integrity. Christ followers are to live with pure motives and cautious alertness.” (Explore the Bible, Personal Study Guide, Session 9, Winter 2025-26, p 89.)

Promise 13. Matthew 10:17-23: “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Authentic discipleship comes with a personal calling from our Lord Jesus to walk with Him not only as His followers, but as fishers of men and women. It can be a dangerous calling – but we are called to “complete” the work that He gives us. May we, like Paul, respond with the words from 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Jeff Wells writes: “William Wilberforce exemplified endurance and finishing well. After his conversion to Christianity as a young man, he began a tireless battle in British Parliament to pass legislation to end the slave trade. He proposed bills in 1789, 1791,1792, 1794, 1796, 1798, and 1799. They all failed. But in 1806, nineteen years after he began his battle, a bill was passed in Parliament that prohibited British ships from being used in the slave trade. (The Great Verses, 365 Verses to Learn, to Love, to Live, p 411)

Promise 14. Matthew 10:24-26: “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul [Prince of demons], how much more the members of his household! 26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.” When we decide to move from being a spectator to participating with Christ, we must suit up with the spiritual armor Paul describes in Ephesians 6. If we think fishing for the souls of men and women can be done in our own strength, Paul reminds us of his own personal experience before meeting Christ. We must be ready for deadly combat against God’s enemy. Each part of the armor described was part of the armor Roman soldiers used when facing their enemies face-to-face. Satan will not sit by and allow us to speak the gospel to a lost world without seeking to steal, kill and destroy us. He tried to destroy Christ and he will do the same with us. Brennan Manning writes: “Imposters are preoccupied with acceptance and approval. Because of their suffocating need to please others, they cannot say no with the same confidence with which they say yes. And so, they overextend themselves in people, projects and causes, motivated . . . by the fear of not living up to others’ expectations.” (NIV Ragamuffin Bible, Meditations of the Bedraggled, Beat-up and & Brokenhearted, p 1345) We must be true only to His calling and not to the expectations of others. Warren Wiersbe says, “The danger on the battlefield is that we do not take the enemy seriously and therefore fail to put on all of the armor. By faith, you put on the armor through prayer, which must be done at the beginning of every day. Never underestimate the strategy and strength of the devil.” (With the Word, Chapter-by-Chapter Bible Handbook, p 776-777) There is a song that expresses the challenges of the spiritual war we face by George Duffield: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone; The arm of flesh will fail you, You dare not trust your own. Put on the gospel armor, Each piece put on with prayer; For duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there.”

Promise 15. Mattthew 10:27-31: “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Oswald Chambers says of Matthew 10:27: “At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him. . . .Watch where God puts you in the darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is a time to listen. . . When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.” (My Utmost for His Highest, February 14, The Discipline of Heeding) When we choose to walk with Christ we will have times of darkness; times we don’t understand what He is doing or where He is leading. It can be very difficult and we must have a “trusting faith” to follow the One who proclaims He is the “Light of the World.” The hardest thing is trying to understand “Why am I here?” We may never know! But God will use our experiences as a witness to others when we follow Him even in the dark. We are His proof that even when we do not understand what we are going through, we can trust God. 

Promise 16. Matthew 10: 32-33: “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”   The challenge when speaking up for Christ is dealing with difficult people. CS Lewis says, “We are all fallen creatures and all are very hard to live with.” (God’s Survival Guide, p 104) When we become fishers of men and women, they can often intimidate us into saying nothing instead of speaking God’s truth.

Promise 17. Matthew 10:34-39: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” As fishers of men, we must expect that at times, it may cost us important relationships with family and friends who may reject us along with the gospel message of Christ. But He is with us! Richard Blackaby writes a prayer of commitment: “I am keenly aware that I have only one life to live. It is too precious to squander! The same is true for you. As you go deeper in your walk with Christ, He will transform you to think, feel, and act like Him. He will lay His heart over yours. You will readily discern what matters in life, and what does not. You will find yourself drawn to invest in that which is eternal, and you will grow to distain that which is temporal or carnal.” (The Inspired Leader, p 349}

Ron Wells, www.centrepoint.cc