So today we’re
actually taking a step back and looking at a passage we sort of skipped over from
before reading week and that’s Matthew 4:18-25.
Now as you’ve probably already realized, there is no way we’re going to
finish the Gospel of Matthew before the end of the year so I thought I’d rather
go back and make sure we really do the best we can with the first couple of
chapters which brings us to this passage today. So, three weeks ago we looked
at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and how he used scripture to
resist Satan. Then, two weeks ago, we
looked at the start of Jesus’ ministry starting with the Sermon on the Mount
and the Beatitudes. But we glossed over
a very important transition that Jesus made and that’s what I want to look into
today. So if you’ll open your Bibles
with me I’m starting from verse 18:
18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea,
for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to
them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And
going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and
John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets,
and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the
boat and their father and followed him.
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing
every disease and every affliction among the people.24 So
his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the
sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those
oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed
them. 25 And great crowds followed him from
Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond
the Jordan.
So where we left off
last time, Jesus just completed this epic battle against Satan and at the end
it says that the angels came and were ministering to him. A few weeks ago we talked about the
hypostatic union and how Jesus is fully God and yet fully man and I think this
last part is really evident here. And
shortly afterwards, it says that Jesus hears that his cousin, John the Baptist
had been arrested and it says that Jesus withdrew into Galilee. It is there that he calls his first disciples
2 sets of brothers: Simon Peter and Andrew, and the two sons of Zebedee John
and James. Now I’ll come back to the
details of this process a bit later but notice how Jesus assembles his
disciples first before he begins the bulk of his ministry. I want to focus today primarily on the order
that Jesus chooses to follow and suggest that this be the model for CCF
becoming a more gospel centered community.
Notice Jesus first takes time in Galilee and we’re not too sure exactly
what he did there but what he did preach was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. (verse 17)”. Then, after
solidifying his relationship with God, he calls out his disciples, his little
posse if you will: a group of followers and more importantly friends that Jesus
will live intimately with. It is only at
that point, that Jesus goes out to start teaching on the big scale, and as
Matthew describes: “healing every disease and every affliction among the
people.” And he gradually extends the
area of his influence from Galilee and Jerusalem to Judea and beyond the
Jordan.
Now there are three
distinct phases that Jesus goes through and that we are called to go through as
well. Now I’m sure many of you have
heard the analogy about the three axes of Godly relationships: first there is
the vertical axis between you and God, then the horizontal axis between you and
other believers whether in a church or in a fellowship, then there is the axis
in the third dimension which is between you and people outside of the Christ
family. And I’m not sure if any of you
have noticed that this coincides very intentionally with the CCF vision
statement which is to cherish and bring glory to King through our worship,
fellowship and evangelism. But the
problem with all of these analogies is that we start to think that these are
all independent of each other and this split has made it difficult to
transition between the steps and in general has made it very unnatural. So today, I want to propose a new triad with
an added twist that I hope will help you guys refocus on why we exist as a
fellowship. And to make it as simple and
as natural as possible, I have boiled it down to three words: eat, pray,
love. But before we go on, a couple of
disclaimers: a) it was my sister that came up with the name, b) it has nothing
to do with the book by Gilbert and c) I haven’t even read the book (but I did
watch the movie, Julia Roberts…). And to
prove all of this, I’m going to change the order because I think they have it
mixed up and I’ll call it pray, eat, love.
And the emphasis I’m going to put here is on how do we do these things
as a Gospel-centered community. I mean,
have you ever wondered why CCF places such a strong emphasis on prayer meetings
where we get together and pray as a group?
Or how about frosh dinners and times where we just chill together? I guess the question I want to answer is why
as a Christ-centered community are we called to pray together, eat together and
love together?
The first reason as we
see in our passage is that Jesus did it.
But as I was preparing for this sermon, Jesus did some things a bit
differently. While there are many
instances of Jesus praying with his disciples before breaking bread and
whatever, but there are also instances where Jesus brings his disciples to a
place, leaves them there and goes off to pray alone. Now this does show us that prayer is
ultimately a personal conversation with God and you should take time, every
day, to go off, into the stillness, away from distractions and just pray to God
and listen. You know I’ve seen some
people think this way and I’ve been guilty of it many times myself: I’ve just
come back from 3rd year PM at like 11pm and I know I have to wake up
again at 6am the next morning to pray again and so somehow, my sleep deprived
mind thinks it’s ok to not pray before going to sleep. But prayer is so, so important and the reason
why Jesus often prays alone but why we need to pray as a group is because Jesus
is the Son of God. John 10:15 records
Jesus saying “even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father”. Jesus and God were perfectly in tune. We struggle with that sometimes and that’s
why we need each other: to encourage one another, to pray for one another when
we lack faith. Jesus’ prayers were so
intense that he sweat blood at Gethsemane and until we can pray at that level,
we need to pray in groups to better encourage one another. In the same way, Jesus also knew his
disciples intimately well and essentially lived life with them. Again, going back to John 10 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and
My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep.” And talking
about ministry, Jesus performed some amazing miracles and people flocked to
him. Realistically, we need to go out into our communities and love other
people in that way. Now I’m not saying
that I don’t believe the Holy Spirit can’t work these things out even within
CCF. But what many leaders within CCF
have realized is that Jesus did all these things because he was Jesus. We are not Jesus, our job is to point people
to Jesus. And the only way we can do that is if the
Gospel message is rooted so deeply within the fellowship that it resonates in
everything we do. More than that, what
I’m proposing tonight is that if people are truly convicted by the Gospel
message, the only natural response is to come together and live life together.
I think the main reason why we are called to
pray together, eat together and love together is that this was and should still
be today, a natural reaction to who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Look at the brothers in this passage, you
know going about their own business and suddenly they see Jesus. Luke records the story of Jesus commanding
Simon Peter and Andrew to cast their nets even though they had been fishing all
day long. But knowing who Jesus was they
cast their nets and reeled in a huge catch, so big that their nets were
breaking at the seams. And then Jesus
commands them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And I love the fishermen’s reaction because
you look at verse 20: “Immediately they left their nets and followed him”. Now, I don’t know about you guys but if I
were in that boat I’d be like what? Fishers of men, what does that even
mean? But more importantly, I would
definitely have some hesitations just getting up and going because of my
identity. Look back at the end of verse
18 and it says for they were fishermen.
That is who they were. That was
all they knew how to do, that was what they did to make a living, that was
their identity. Now I ask all of you,
what is your identity right now? If
Jesus told you to leave everything right now, all your books, all your studies
(some of you are going yes, yes get me out of here). But think about it, would you really do
it? More than that, Jesus calls us to
sacrifice even more than that, John and James had to leave their father. Again, I ask you, are you prepared to do
that? Now here’s the real kicker… As a
fellowship, what is it really that we’re trying to do? We’re trying to follow Jesus! We should be doing exactly what these
fishermen did! Looking at the amazing
examples of faith that we see here, we can’t help but ask ourselves how
convicted are we really about the Gospel when we skip PM to study some more, or
when we can’t even take 1 hour out of our weeks to meet up with someone and
check up on them as an accountability partner.
And I’m not pointing fingers or as my pastor back at home would say
every time I point a finger there are three pointing back at me. But, as with all convictions, there’s hope,
and instead of focusing on where we’ve failed, we need to continue preaching
the Gospel to ourselves and be encouraged in faith and in hope.
I remember sharing
with the fellowship last year at the committee Q&A session about the Acts 2
church and how it was my prayer that we’d someday become like them. Every time I look to this passage I always
wonder how it is possible for a group of people to even be that close. Flipping there right now, Acts 2:42 “42 And they devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[e] came upon every
soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through
the apostles.” Boom, right there, praying together, eating
together and loving together. Anyway, moving on “44 And all who believed were together and had all
things in common. 45 And they were selling
their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any
had need. 46 And day by day, attending the
temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received
their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with
all the people. And the Lord added to their
number day by day those who were being saved”. You know, an excuse that I have always been
giving myself is that as CCF gets bigger, it will be harder and harder to do
these things. But the Acts 2 church was
not a small one. Verse 41 says that
there were at least 3000. And you read
this and you ask yourself, how is it possible that they had all things in
common, and whatever other possessions they had they sold it and distributed the
proceeds to all? Why? Because of the
Gospel! These guys just witnessed
Christ’s death and resurrection and were given the command to go and make
disciples of all nations. They didn’t
care about their stuff, or their possessions they left it all. And the next very natural response is to find
someone else who is doing the same thing so they can help each other. But go back and look at this passage and what
I love about this is that all these things are within reach and certainly
doable for CCF. And in fact, we do a lot
of these things already: devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching = DG,
prayer meetings etc. But let’s not
forget why we do these things. It’s not
out of obligation, or out of being able to boast about it afterwards, but it
should all be out of love.
The last passage I
want to bring up tonight is Hebrews 10:19-25 and for those of you in my DG, I’m
sorry that from here it’s going to be repeat
because I tested this section out on you guys last night but I did make
some changes so don’t phase out just yet.
Anyway, Hebrews 10:19-25 reads: 19 Therefore,
brothers,[a] since we have
confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and
living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that
is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast
the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised
is faithful. 24 And let us consider
how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to
meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as
you see the Day drawing near.” Again, we have the idea that a
Gospel-centered community is a direct response to Christ’s death and
resurrection. Reading from verses 19-21,
we read that Jesus’ death on the cross allowed for two things to happen. First, we have been granted direct access
allowing for a direct relationship with God.
There is a reference to the curtain in the temple that was torn from top
to bottom when Jesus uttered his last words “It is finished”. The blood of Christ has not only given us the
ability but as it says in 19 the “confidence” to enter the holy places because
he absorbed all of God’s wrath. He was
the propitiation for our sins so that we can be called children of God. The second thing that the Cross has done for
us is in 21: we have a great priest over the house of God. This cross-references to Hebrews 4:15-16
which says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with
our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet
without sin. Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help in time of need.” Jesus was tempted
as we just studied a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that this is
crucial. He was tempted and is therefore
able to sympathize with us and he is now seated at the right hand of God and is
pleading for us every day. We now have
the confidence to approach the throne of grace because when God looks down at
us, He doesn’t see the sinner, the broken people that we are, He sees the
perfection of His Son and he is pleased in that. How beautiful is that! But as we read on in Hebrews 10, we also see
that this message demands a response.
Verse 22 calls us
to draw near to God in full assurance of faith because our hearts are sprinkled
clean from an evil conscience and there is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus. And James 4:8 says “draw
near to God and He will draw near to you”.
So how do we do this? I think the
most powerful tool and the most beautiful gift we have is prayer. We need to pray with assurance and with
confidence, not because we think that we deserve anything from God, but because
we have faith that He will answer according to His sovereign plan. Later on in James we are reminded that the
prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. This is why we pray in groups, it is so that
we can help each other increase in faith, faith that our prayers are heard and
that they will be answered
Verse 23 commands
us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. The way I see it, faith is a very “now”
thing, you know. We pray in faith, we
are saved by faith. But hope looks to
the future. Our walks with God and with
each other don’t end upon conversion.
Instead, we need to remember that Christ will return a second time, and
as Hebrews 9:28 puts it “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins
of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who
are eagerly waiting for him.” This hope ought to affect the way we live. We need to constantly remind each other of
this hope and live life together in order to prepare ourselves for Christ’s
return. And it doesn’t have to be
anything big because we are not the source of hope; we are just reminders of
it. It’s often the little things that
serve as the best reminders of what is to come: a random text during the day,
catching up over a cup of coffee every once in a while. This is what the fellowship of believers is
for.
And finally, verses 24-25 commands us to consider how to stir up one
another to love and good works. I don’t
know if you were able to pick up on it but there is the ever present triad of
faith, hope and love in these past 4 verses.
And for those of you who went to retreat, or even if you didn’t go to
retreat, you’ll know that the greatest of these is love. All we have to do is to get this last one
right (learning to love one another the way Christ loves us), then the other
two, praying and eating, will fall into place.
But this love needs to extend beyond the family of believers. This passage also talks about stirring up one
another to good works. And this is where
I would really like to see CCF grow in.
Friends, we’d be selfish to keep this love to ourselves, we need to
share it with others and this takes the form of outreach and other good works. Again, I hope you see by now that we do these
things not because we have to like oh it says here to do good works. But instead, if we are truly convicted by the
Gospel message and we understand what true love is, all these things we do are
just natural reactions. If it’s not
natural, it won’t happen. So I’m not
asking you to leave these doors, go sell all your stuff and live in each
other’s homes. No, start with learning
to love a small group of people. I
started this sermon by saying how a lot of what Jesus did within his community
is only possible because He is the Son of God.
But there is one thing that I think is transferrable to us right
now. I think that while there is a need
for each one of us to become more pro-active in serving for one another and
learning to live life with one another, there is a limit to how many people we
can do this with: 12. And again, that’s
quite a large number and Jesus did it but start with 6, maybe 3 or maybe even just
1. Pick out those people, and make a
conscientious effort to pray for them every day, to meet up to eat with them every
once in a while and to stir them up to love and good works. Now this is not to say that you can just
forget about the 50 other people in the fellowship. No don’t forget about them. But if you take the time and effort to invest
in a couple of people and slowly become more proactive about how to serve
others in the fellowship, I know we’ll start to see some changes in the way we
interact with each other and at least it’s a step in the right direction.
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