The First Disciples
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
As introductory we wish to speak on the wonderful privileges which belong to saints, called into comradeship with God.
Where is the man or the woman who quietly considers the great honor of contact, or union, with the noble of earth? Association with royalty, with world leaders, with the ultra rich, is considered by most men a high privilege. What then is our association with Deity, with the Creator of the Heavens and the earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords!
Let us pen a few of the Scriptures which assert somewhat of our deeper relationships with God.
1. A Scripture in John 14:23 : "My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him."
There it is in plain words: "We will come unto him." "We will make Our abode with him." What? And shall God the Father and God the Son dwell with us poor worms of the dust? Even so, if we love Him and keep His commandments.
Another Scripture tells of His coming in and supping with us, and we with Him.
2. A Scripture in 1 Corinthians 3:16 : "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" What incomparable joy! What a hallowed and holy Guest! Yet such a One comes to dwell within us; He comes to take up His abode with us; He comes to enter into the very recesses of our being.
What this means to saints cannot be explained lightly. It is a privilege and a joy of which the world knows nothing, for the world receiveth Him not, and knoweth Him not. However, we know Him. for He is both with us, and in us.
The Spirit indwelling makes real to us the indwelling of the Father and the Son; for He makes of the things which are Theirs and shows them unto us. He speaks of the things of Christ. He glorifies Him. He makes Him wonderful! Yea, He teaches us of God and His glory, and of Christ and His beauty.
The Spirit comes to dwell in us that He may reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; He comes to bring to our remembrance all things that the Father and the Son hath spoken unto us; He comes as the Spirit of truth to testify of Christ, to guide us into all truth, and to tell us the things to come.
3. A Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:9 : This Scripture reads thus: "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." The word "fellowship" suggests partnership. It is a fellowship in business relationships. It is partnership in a great task. In other words, God hath not sent us out alone; He has gone out together with us.
We are promised that His presence will go with us. Thus we have One at our side, a Partner in our business, who is clothed with all power, and who possesses all things.
Are we afraid to trade, with such a One hard by? Nay, for we can do all things through Him who strengtheneth us.
What, then, is the admonition of First Corinthians? The Epistle opens with our being called into partnership with Christ; it closes in chapter 15 with a call to us to attend to our business. Here are the closing words: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
4. A verse in Galatians 5:16 : " This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Thus we observe that the believer has within Him, not alone the key to victorious service, but also the key to victorious living.
The call of God, however, is not merely to recognize the Spirit as an Indweller, but to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit within is glorious, but the Spirit infilling is all glorious. The one promises much, but the other promises more.
We have now considered a few of those sacred privileges which belong to saints who know God and fellowship with Him.
I. A GREAT LIGHT IN A DARK PLACE (Matthew 4:13-16)
1. Christ leaving Nazareth. Nazareth had been the city of Christ's boyhood and youth. There He had labored as a carpenter, and the son of a carpenter. There He had made yokes for the oxen, and the Father was well pleased with Him in those days of His isolation and toil. He had turned out no shoddy work; He had the rather proved Himself faithful in the menial tasks of life.
2. Christ entering His new and larger ministry. Christ had come from Nazareth to the Jordan to be baptized of John. He had come to put on, as it were, the regimentals of His Divine office. He had come to fulfill all righteousness; and to be acclaimed by the Father as His well beloved Son.
Nazareth could hold Him no longer. His mission was to the whole nation of Israel. He was not to be circumscribed by one locality.
3. Christ a Light amid the shadows. How the words ring out: "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."
Yes, Christ was the Light of the world; a Light shining in a dark place; but the darkness comprehended it not. He was the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Thus it was that the Scripture was fulfilled which said: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9:2). Not that alone, but the very land of Zebulun, and the very land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations, was the prophesied land where the light was to spring up (Isaiah 9:1).
II. THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF OUR LORD'S LIFE (Matthew 4:17-18)
1. Jesus began to preach. These words of the heading are, perhaps, commonplace. Suppose Jesus did begin to preach have not thousands of others preached? Yes, that is just it. He lived as others lived; He traveled the general round, did the trivial task, walked in the common way.
He preached, and yet, how He must have preached! He did what thousands of others did, yet He did it differently. None other ever preached as did He. None even spake as He spake. His very words were spirit, and they were life. His words carried a depth and a height that none others carried. He preached with an authority that others knew not; He was different.
2. Jesus walked by the seaside. Thousands of men had walked by the seaside, and still they walk. Here again there was a similarity, yet a difference. That sea meant more to Him than to any other man. He knew its secrets as none other knew them. He could have named its fish, told out its secrets, forecast its future, as none other could have done.
3. Jesus saw two brethren. Yes, we too saw fishermen casting their nets, and others washing them, and putting them on the shore to dry. But we never saw in the fishermen of our time what He saw in them in the year 30. He saw Simon Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea. Was there anything in the way they cast it that made Jesus of Nazareth pause and speak to them, and command them to follow Him? We think not. Did their uncouth clothing, their rugged faces, their rough hands, have an appeal beyond those of other men? We know not.
Not that, but something else stayed the Master as He saw them. He saw what no other man would ever have seen. It was something deeper than clothes and faces and hands. He saw not what they were, but what He could make them. He saw them not now, but yonder in eternity. He saw and read deep into their characters, their future, their eternity.
III. THE FAR-FLUNG VISION OF THE LORD JESUS (Matthew 4:19)
1. Christ saw Peter and Andrew as fishers of men. He looked as we suggested a moment ago into the distant vista concerning the two men casting in their nets for fish. He valued them in the light of their ability to fish for a nobler variety of fish, even for men.
Thus does Christ dignify and glorify our calling. He did not altogether change the business pursuits of the two fishermen; He merely transferred their gift to a higher realm of service. Instead of catching fish, they were henceforth to catch men. Instead of fishing in the sea of Galilee, they were from henceforth to fish in the greater sea of the peoples.
2. Christ saw more than what He said. He also saw these two humble fishermen sitting on thrones at His side, judging, with other ten, the twelve tribes of Israel.
3. Christ saw still more more than He ever told the two during their earth-life. He saw what was told to John the beloved disciple long after the two had gone their way. He saw something which was revealed upon the last pages of the Bible: "And the wall of the City had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb."
How wonderful are the walls of the City that lies foursquare! How great and high, made of precious stones that will radiate the glory of God as the light of God falls upon them! Yet, how much greater still is the memorialization of the men who followed with Him in the way.
IV. WHAT OTHER TWO JESUS SAW (Matthew 4:21)
1. He saw other two.
(1) One of the two was called John, whom Jesus called (and was known commonly as) "a son of thunder." Christ saw him, saw his thunder, uncontrolled, rolicking, laughing, leaping, flashing; saw him saved, taught in the school of Christ; saw him leaning on His breast, in trusting, confident affection; saw him aged, worn, and torn in many a hard-fought conflict as he waged the battle for truth. Christ saw him writing in words filled with tenderest solicitude, and saying "My little children." He saw him an exile on the Isle of Patmos, a fellow sufferer for His Name.
(2) The other was called James, Christ saw James, John's brother. He saw one who stands before us as a blessed picture of what men of lesser weight, and lesser gifts, may become- He saw him a servant who would not vacillate nor be carried about with every wind of doctrine, and the cunning craftiness of men whereby they He in wait to deceive. He saw him as one who would stand with Him to the end.
2. He saw other two mending their nets. They were not idlers, lounging, doing nothing. They were mending their nets, preparing to continue their fishing business.
This, all of it, carries with it much truth. Christ calls men diligent in business to serve and follow Him. "Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings." Satan may find something always for idle hands to do; God, however, is looking for men who are mending their nets, busy men, serving their generation.
3. He saw these two, and the other Peter and Andrew, joined in one comradeship. To us this means much. Think of the church of today. It is composed of men and women of every walk of life and of all classes and colors, and yet it is welded together into one body, where Christ is the Head, and all we be brethren.
Paul the scholar, and Peter the fisherman; Philemon the wealthy, and Onesimus, the slave; yet all are one in Christ. There is no brotherhood, no fraternity, no unity, and no brotherly love like unto that in Christ Jesus.
V. THE SECRET OF SOUL-WINNING (Matthew 4:19)
1. Who would not be fishers of men? Certainly everyone who has been saved would like to save others. There is, hidden away in every regenerate heart, a desire to make disciples. There is that inner urge, particularly in those just saved. Yet, there is oftentimes much shrinking because of a seeming or a real inability to know how to point men to Christ. We wish we could fish for souls, but how can we? We would like to win men, but is it our calling, or, is it possible for us to do?
2. May all be fishers of men? Is the call to fish men given to only the Twelve, or to some other favored few, or may we too enter that task with assurance that we are called? Just a moment's thought will suffice to convince any believer that he, and all other saints, are called to fish for men. To whom did Christ say, "Preach the Gospel to every creature"? To whom came the command, "Go ye into all the world"? Has God said, "Ye shall be witnesses"? Is not the command, "Go work to day in My vineyard" for all? Does "Ye are the light of the world" not include you and me? Yes, all are called to this task.
3. How then may we successfully fish? The language is plain and positive and it needs no interpretation. Christ said, simply, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Are there not many aids to soul-winning? There are. Are there not many rules of wise and successful approach to the unsaved? There are. Are there not possible instructions that would help young Christians in winning souls? There are.
However, all these things are but secondary. The main thing is, "Follow me," and, "I will make."
(1) "Follow Me." What does this mean? It means an obedient heart and life. It means separation unto Christ, "A stranger will they not follow." It means an open ear to Christ's matchless teachings a sitting at His feet.
(2) "I will make." He turns out soul-winners of all those who follow Him in the way.
VI. PROMPT AND UNQUESTIONING OBEDIENCE (Matthew 4:20; Matthew 4:22)
1. The promptness with which obedience should be rendered. Of Peter and Andrew it is written, "And they straightway * * followed Him." Of James and John it is written, "And they immediately * * followed Him,"
There was no bickering as to wages. There was no questioning as to what it might mean. There was no hesitancy, counting the cost. They four simply followed Him.
Obedience delayed makes the heart sick. How often it may be truly said, "While I was tarrying here and there, He was gone." Obedience that lingers, hesitates, defers, loses all its luster, all its glory.
To obey is better than sacrifice, and obedience far outweighs the fat of rams. Yet a halfhearted, grumbling, contentious obedience borders on disobedience. Do it now, is a good motto for all would be followers of Christ.
2. The necessary implications of obedience. Mark the words: of Peter and Andrew it is written, "They straightway left their nets, and followed Him." Of James and John it is written, "They immediately left the ship and their father, and followed Him."
Certainly a new life cannot be entered except by the coming out of the old life. Obedience always involves leaving things. Yes, there is much of "getting" in following Christ, but there is also much of "forgetting." We give up, and then we take in. We leave, and then we follow.
Did not Christ say to a would-be follower, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head"? He also said, "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God." Christ added, to another, "No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."
Yes, if we would follow Him, we must leave all else behind.
VII. THE BLESSINGS THAT ACCRUE TO FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST (Matthew 4:23-25)
1. There was the blessing of hearing His words. They followed Jesus, and He "went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues." All this accrued to Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John. Was it not a great benefaction to sit at His feet and hear His words? To these four, it meant passing from the lives of fishermen to the best college on earth.
How delightful are the words of Matthew 5:1-2 : "He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: and He * * taught them, saying." We too may sit at His feet. We too may hear His words.
2. There was the beholding of the miracles which He wrought. He healed all manner of sickness and diseases, and they were there. They were with Him to behold His power, and to breathe in the glory of His works. They saw Him raise the daughter of Jairus. They saw the water turned to wine; they saw the hungry fed; they saw Lazarus come forth.
They were there when Christ rebuked the waves of Galilee and there was a great calm. They stood by as the man of Gadara was healed, and as Mary Magdalene was delivered from the demons which vexed her.
Did all this mean nothing to those men who left all and followed with Him? Hark, for even now we hear them saying, "Of a truth Thou art the Son of God."
3. There was the ever-increasing fame that came to the Lord. That fame came also to those who followed with Him. They were His disciples. They were associated with Him in all His great renown. They left ignorance, to receive knowledge; they left weakness, to obtain strength; they left oblivion, to obtain honor and glory.
The Lord shared everything with those who followed Him. His greatness was theirs; His honor was theirs. If you add, so were His sorrows and His Cross theirs. Yes, that is true, for He said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Perhaps someone wanted us to present this truth, the truth of the present suffering for His sake. We will let those who refuse to go with Him do that. We prefer, just now, to remind you that the suffering and the ignominy are but passing for a moment. We would rather count it all joy to suffer that we may reign. To follow with Jesus may, for the hour, seem hard; but in eternity it will be glorious beyond all we have ever known or heard. Yes, all His renown, all His glory, all His riches, will be ours and ours forevermore.
AN ILLUSTRATION
The call to the Twelve and to us was and is, "Follow thou Me."
"An interesting sight was once seen in Liverpool harbor during a very fierce gale. A pilot boat sailed up the river with the signal, 'Follow me' at her masthead, and following her were eight or nine vessels of all sorts and sizes. As it was too rough to board the ships in the channel, this plan was adopted. Every vessel got safely in. All the helmsman had to do was to keep his eye on the pilot boat, and steer straight in the course she indicated. All the sinner has to do is to heed the 'Come unto Me' (Matthew 11:28) and the 'Follow Me' (Luke 9:59) of the Saviour.