TOPIC: COME, FOLLOW ME.

Jesus said, “Come, follow me.  I will send you out to fish for people.”

Jesus approached these men with an invitation to become His disciples.  After being with Him, He would make them His disciples.

Mark 1:16-20 NLT 16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

Matt 10:6-7 (KJV)6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mark 16:15-16(KJV)15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

John 4:35-36(NLT)35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!

We have read the word of God so much that the commands of Christ have become too simple for us on a daily basis.

Matt 19:21(NLT)21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Jesus told the men whom He met at their workplaces and some who were being prepared by John the Baptist, “come, follow me.”

Matt 10:37-39(NLT)37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

That means we are not worthy to use His name and receive all His benefits if we are not willing to follow Him where ever He goes.

Take up your cross, your burdens, and excuses, including denying yourself and your own daily needs, in other to keep step with Him.

“Come, follow me” is the burden/challenge of our Christian  life

Matt 16:24-28(NLT)24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

It takes revelation and vision to follow Jesus.  As long as we are in the flesh, we will find it difficult to follow Him. Luke 14:16-27(TLB)16 Jesus replied with this illustration: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When all was ready, he sent his servant around to notify the guests that it was time for them to arrive. 18 But they all began making excuses. One said he had just bought a field and wanted to inspect it, and asked to be excused. 19 Another said he had just bought five pair of oxen and wanted to try them out. 20 Another had just been married and for that reason couldn’t come. 21 “The servant returned and reported to his master what they had said. His master was angry and told him to go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and to invite the beggars, crippled, lame, and blind. 22 But even then, there was still room. 23 “‘Well, then,’ said his master, ‘go out into the country lanes and out behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them.'” 25 Great crowds were following him. He turned around and addressed them as follows: 26 “Anyone who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters-yes, more than his own life-otherwise he cannot be my disciple. 27 And no one can be my disciple who does not carry his own cross and follow me.

We have not really pursued and gotten why we are here.

Even in preparation to follow Jesus, they were told not to carry an extra coat, bread, money etc.  Is Jesus unreasonable with the reality of the present life?  No, all these simply mean Jesus wants to be the number one focus, the concentration of our everyday lives.

Life in Christ is mysterious.

Luke 9:1-3(NIV) When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey — no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.

Thank God for your programs.  Jesus is seeking  His number one position in your heart.

The Ephesian church lost their first love in following God.

Rev 2:1-5(TLB)Write a letter to the leader of the church at Ephesus and tell him this:”I write to inform you of a message from him who walks among the churches and holds their leaders in his right hand.”He says to you: 2 I know how many good things you are doing. I have watched your hard work and your patience; I know you don’t tolerate sin among your members, and you have carefully examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but aren’t. You have found out how they lie. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4 “Yet there is one thing wrong; you don’t love me as at first! 5 Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.

Whatever  you do, if Jesus is not the priority and there is no impartation of power and anointing, you are far from it.

Acts 4:13(KJV)13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

In “come, follow me” lies your eternal reward.

Matt 19:27-29(KJV)27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

If they had not followed, the gospel would not have continued.  They became carriers of power and anointing.

Jesus is duplicated by means of following.

Acts 4:1-15(NLT)While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. 5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. 15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. 16 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.