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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew, chapter four. Matthew, chapter four, last week, 
we considered the light or the dawn of the messianic light, 
specifically in verses twelve to seventeen. This morning, we're 
going to take up the arrival of the messianic kingdom. of 
verses eighteen to twenty-five, but I do want to begin reading 
at verse twelve in Matthew chapter four. Now, when Jesus heard that 
John had been put in prison, he departed to Galilee and leaving 
Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea 
in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled, 
which was spoken by Isaiah, the prophet saying. the land of Zebulun, 
the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, 
Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who sat in darkness 
have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region 
in shadow of death, light has dawned. From that time, Jesus 
began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, 
Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into 
the sea, for they were fishermen. Then he said to them, Follow 
me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left 
their nets and followed him. 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. He 
called them, and immediately they left the boat and their 
father and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, 
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom 
and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among 
the people. Then his fame went throughout 
all Syria, and they brought to him all sick people who were 
afflicted with various diseases and torments and those who are 
demon possessed, epileptics and paralytics. And he healed them. 
Great multitudes followed him. from Galilee and from Decapolis, 
Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the 
Scripture that you have given to us. We acknowledge its profitability 
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction 
in righteousness. We pray this morning that you 
would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work, that you would 
send forth your Holy Spirit now to guide us and lead us into 
the truth of what Matthew is writing here. We also pray, our 
God, that you would forgive us for all of our sins and cleanse 
us afresh in the blood of Jesus, your Son. We thank you for him, 
God. how we thank you for His power 
and His ministry. We thank you for the gospel of 
the kingdom and how we praise you for the grace that has made 
us partakers of this. We just ask now that you would 
be glorified in this time together and that you would be well pleased 
to strengthen your people. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. As I said, in verses 12 
to 17 last week, we saw the beginning of our Lord's ministry. The light 
of God's servant had, in fact, gone. The Lord Jesus goes to 
Capernaum. Remember, we see that Matthew's 
purpose in recording this was theological in nature. It sets 
the stage for his fulfillment passage of Isaiah chapter 9, 
verses 1 and 2. In that section, under King Ahaz's 
reign, Judah was in a bad state. And yet God, through Isaiah, 
prophesied that there was coming a time when there would be blessing, 
when Galilee of the Gentiles would enjoy the light of God's 
truth. And then Jesus, according to 
verse 17, says, From that time Jesus began to preach and to 
say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And now 
Christ, having announced the kingdom, demonstrates its arrival. The kingdom comes here initially 
in a in a small sense, to be sure. I mean, we ought to marvel 
at the persons that the Lord Jesus calls to help him in this 
kingdom building activity. We'll see that more as we go 
along. But, as well, it is punctuated by the power of the kingdom in 
the healing of these multitudes. So, this morning, we're going 
to take up the call to discipleship, verses 18 to 22, and then, secondly, 
the healing of the multitudes in verses 23 to 25. And, again, 
the point in this Or, the point that Matthew is 
conveying is that the arrival of the Messianic Kingdom has 
come. Jesus is about teaching and preaching and healing. He 
is about calling sinners to repentance and faith and to entry into the 
great Kingdom of God Most High. Well, let's look at this call, 
first of Peter and Andrew. As we compare Luke's Gospel, 
we'll notice that Peter and Andrew and James and John were partners. They were all engaged in fishing. 
That was their task. That was their work. But here 
initially we see that Jesus calls Peter, Simon, Peter and Andrew, 
these brothers. The setting is Jesus is walking 
by the Sea of Galilee. He sees these two brothers, Simon 
called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the 
sea for they were fishermen. Now, Galilee was pretty much 
a small region. It was about 70 miles by 40 miles. But the Jewish historian Josephus 
tells us that there were 204 villages and cities within the 
region of Galilee. So, just estimating that Jesus 
visited two to three of these villages or cities per day, it 
would have took about three months to do this entire circuit. We need to notice that Jesus 
here initially calls men to assist him in kingdom building. Now, 
we know that he builds his church. We know that he's sovereign. 
We know that he saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto 
God through him. But God or Jesus Christ has purpose 
to use human instruments in a similar fashion to the first Adam. Remember, 
the first Adam was given that dominion mandate to multiply 
and to subdue the Earth. Well, the second Adam uses his 
wife, uses his bride, uses the church to assist him in this 
particular task of dominion, of kingdom building. And so Jesus 
calls these two men. Now, Peter and Andrew were from 
Bethsaida, which was a fishing village northeast of Capernaum. John 144 tells us that. But here they're living in Capernaum 
at this time. We know that from Matthew 8, 
because they go to Peter's mother-in-law, who is living in Capernaum. Or 
it says that they go to Peter's house, and Jesus heals his mother-in-law. So they're located physically 
in Capernaum. And then notice the specific 
call that Jesus issues. Verse 19. Then he said to them, 
follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Great statement, 
isn't it? Uses the very metaphor of fishing 
that these men would be all too aware of. We need to understand 
here, though, something. Jesus has already called these 
men unto salvation. When we compare John's gospel, 
specifically in chapter one, verses thirty five to forty two, 
this reveals to us that these four men had already been converted 
by God or by the Lord Jesus Christ. He'd already called them unto 
salvation. In that initial scene, he calls 
them to follow him in terms of their own salvation, in terms 
of their own conversion. Here he's calling them in an 
official capacity. He's calling them to fish for 
him. He is calling them into a specific 
office. He has saved them by his grace. 
He has revealed to them certain truths about his person. And 
then he issues forth this particular instruction that they follow 
him with a specific task of making them fishers of men. It's very 
interesting, as we read through the gospel accounts, if you consider 
history in that particular time, it was quite common for a disciple 
to pick the rabbi. In other words, you might have 
heard of certain rabbis that taught certain things, much the 
way a student selects a college or a university in these days. 
You get the catalog. Perhaps this rabbi had a nice 
catalog and had glossy pictures, and you were able to see what 
he was good at and what he taught. Well, you pick what thereby you 
would follow. That's not the way Jesus functions 
here. Jesus functions more like his 
father in the Old Testament in the selection of the prophets. Jesus calls these men for a specific 
task. They did not say, hey, Lord, 
make us fishers of men. They were busy, engaged in their 
trade. They're throwing the net into 
the Sea of Galilee. They're pulling it in, getting 
the fish. And Jesus stops them in their tracks and says, follow 
me and I will make you fishers of men. Osborne says Jesus use 
of the fishing metaphor is brilliant. The purpose of fishing is to 
kill the fish and use it for food. We bristle against that 
a little bit, but that's the point, isn't it? You're not catching 
that fish to bring him home and put him in your bathtub so that 
you can bring him in as a pet. You catch him to kill him and 
to eat him. I mean, let's just cut through 
the fog here. When you go to your grocery store, 
somebody caught that fish and killed it so that you could eat 
it. Osborne says, however, in Jesus' new fishing, the prey 
are caught and saved from destruction. In fact, one of the commentators, 
D.A. Carson, looked back to Jeremiah 
16, 16. Prior to the exile, when God's judgment was coming upon 
Judah, God says, I will send fishermen to take them into these 
foreign lands so that they will be subject to that judgment. And what Carson notes is that 
in a in a keen twist of things, Jesus is highlighting the reverse 
of the exile. No longer are fishermen employed 
to bring subjects in for judgment, but rather fishermen are employed 
to bring subjects into salvation. Christ commissions these men 
to be followers with the specific purpose of making them fishers 
of men. Now, notice their specific response. They immediately left their nets 
and followed him. Isn't that beautiful? They immediately 
left their nets and followed him. They said, wait a minute, 
Lord, we have quite a good business here. Wait a minute, Lord, we 
have quite a good trade here. Wait a minute, you just don't 
know what you're asking. No, they immediately left their 
nest and they followed him. This tells us two things. First, 
they left their livelihood. Now, we need to make sure we 
don't misrepresent these men. Jesus didn't pick the most gifted 
man in the world, but he certainly didn't pick the most ungifted 
man either. I mean, fishing was a legitimate 
trade. They made decent money. They 
would have been lower middle class. They weren't impoverished. 
They weren't pig ignorant. They weren't the kind of men 
that they could do nothing else. In fact, Carson comments, Mark's 
remark later on in Mark's gospel that hired men were left with 
zealotry when his sons followed Jesus reminds us that we must 
not exaggerate the ignorance and poverty of Jesus first followers. While they were not trained scribes 
or rabbis, they were not illiterate, stupid or destitute. Indeed, 
Peter's protest in 1927, Peter says, Lord, we've left all kinds 
of stuff for you. What will we receive in return? 
Peter says as much. That implies that many or all 
of the twelve had given much to follow Jesus. You need to 
make sure we understand what's happening here. They left their 
livelihood. They left their money-making. 
They left their ability to provide for families. Peter most certainly 
had a wife. Far from being the celibate first 
pope of Rome, he was a married man. Later on, as I mentioned, 
in Matthew 8, Jesus will heal his mother-in-law. Last time 
I checked, you can't have a mother-in-law unless you have a wife to go 
along with her. He was a married man. So, when 
Jesus says, come, follow me, I will make you fishers of men, 
it cost them their livelihood and it cost them at least for 
a season. It cost them their family relationships. Now, we must suppose that they 
made recurring visits back home. I don't think Jesus said, never 
ever visit your wife again. And later on, after the resurrection, 
it is interesting that these same disciples are doing what 
they're fishing as well that when Jesus needed a boat to traverse 
the Sea of Galilee, there was always one available between 
these four brothers. They had two boats, so it doesn't 
seem as if they got rid of it completely, but they suspended 
their regular and normal activities. for the particular privilege 
of following Jesus in order to become fishers of men. John Gill says this, or that 
is, as soon as he had called them, they left their worldly 
employment and followed him. They gave up themselves to his 
service and became his disciples. They not only left their nets, 
but their fishing boats and fishing trade and all that belonged to 
it, even all their substance and all their relations, friends 
and acquaintance. which shows that a mighty power 
went along with the words and call of Christ and what a ready, 
cheerful and voluntary subjection this fruit produces wherever 
it takes place. Let's think about that for a 
moment. I would argue, brethren, that this is a unique situation. 
God doesn't usually call us first to salvation and then to leave 
everything. He may do so. But for the most 
of us, we're going to be regular, everyday, normal guys, right? In fact, Paul tells the Thessalonians 
that they are to work hard, mind their own business, and do what 
the Lord has called them to do. So for the most of us, it's going 
to be continue on doing what you're doing, but do it as unto 
the Lord. Do it in a very specific and 
Christian manner. Do it in such a way that you 
bring glory to God and you do good to others. But having said 
that, Gil's words are powerful. There needs to be a ready, a 
cheerful and a voluntary subjection that this produces wherever it 
takes place. Does that describe you as a Christian? Does that describe you and the 
means and manner in which you undertake for the Lord? I think 
there's a certain romantic appeal in a passage like this. We say, 
oh, wouldn't it be great to be one of these first disciples? 
Wouldn't it be great to suspend our trade for three years, to 
suspend our family relations? I hope we wouldn't say that. 
But for three years, we could go and be with Jesus. Well, since 
it's not going to be like that, and I've got to have a work-a-day 
life where I'm a regular, routine, nine-to-fiver wife and kids, 
you know what? I just don't have that cheerfulness, 
that ready subjection, and that zeal and desire that would punctuate 
me if I was called to the greater. Let me tell you something, brethren. 
If you don't manifest it in the little thing, you certainly won't 
manifest it in the greater thing. Any fool can say, I'm going to 
go out and die for Jesus, but very few actually live for Jesus 
where God has that. You realize that God has saved 
most of us to be normal, to be routine, to be work a day so 
that we can be salt and light in the environment that the Lord 
has put us. so that we can be faithful, so 
that we can work hard, so that we can, in the language of Ecclesiastes 
9-10, whatever our hand finds to do, do it with our might and 
use that as an opportunity to glorify God and to call sinners 
to repentance and faith. That characterizes and typifies 
the Christian life for most of us. There's a romantic appeal 
here. If I don't get to do this, if 
I don't get to do full-time Christian service, if I don't get to go 
out to the mission field, well, I'm just going to slither along. 
No! You need to grab wherever you're 
at and do everything for the glory of God. You need to live 
for Him. You need to engage in the normal, 
in the routine, in the workaday, in the humdrum, and you need 
to sanctify that as kingdom advancement for the glory of God Most High. 
I remember hearing Pastor John Piper introduce a message on 
either Edwards or Spurgeon, probably both of those men. He said, Before 
I say anything, I want you to know you're not going to be this 
man. You're just not. There is no 
way. Now, God is sovereign. I don't 
think he was denying that. But when we study an Edwards 
or a Spurgeon, these are mountains of men. For the most of us, we're 
not going to make that sort of impact. And that's OK. God is sovereign. God is in control. God has his purposes for raising 
up a Spurgeon, for raising up an Edwards, for doing those particulars. But he as well has his purposes 
for the guy or gal that no one ever really knows about. That 
they live faithfully, that they serve Christ where he has them, 
that they're prayerful, that they shine his light, that they 
hold forth the word of God. You know what, brethren, don't 
look at this passage and say, well, it's either everything 
or nothing. It's either I'm a Simon, Peter 
and Andrew or James and John, and I leave everything to follow 
Jesus, or I'm just going to barely make it in my Christian life. 
No. Now, if God has called you to 
sacrifice livelihood, to sacrifice family, then do it by all means. But again, for the most of us, 
that's not going to be the case. This is a unique point in redemptive 
history that doesn't necessarily mean that we all have to go about 
and do likewise. Don't report to work tomorrow 
and say, I need to be like Peter. I need to be like Andrew. Here's 
my two week resignation. I'm going to go walk around Galilee 
and I'm going to go preach the kingdom of God. Now, if God calls 
you to do that and makes it evident, I believe he'll make it evident 
through the church and by those who know you best. Then, by all 
means, do it. But don't, on the virtue of this 
text, go, you know, honey, I'll see you in three years. There's 
a man who did a study about some of the famous evangelists that 
we admire in the history of the church. I'm sure you're familiar 
with the name George Whitfield. You're familiar with the name 
John Leslie. You know what we're not as equally familiar with 
is that these men were married. These men never spent time with 
their wives. Whatever God blessed them to 
do in terms of preaching the gospel and kingdom building, 
blessed be the Lord God most high. But we don't necessarily 
go thou and do likewise. The same study highlighted Jonathan 
Edwards. He was a faithful pastor and 
a faithful husband and a father. He had a wife, he had several 
children, and he tended to them in the biblically ordained manner. You don't violate an aspect of 
1 Timothy chapter 3 in order to be God's servant. You must obey completely. It's 
a package short of a deal. I qualify this again because 
I think there's a romantic appeal in this. Perhaps not all of us, 
but perhaps some of us have struggled with this. If I'm not going to 
be a Spurgeon, Or I'm not going to be a pioneer missionary. Or 
I'm not going to do this. Or if all God's called me to 
do is to wipe rear ends and to wipe noses and change diapers, 
how does that ever serve the kingdom cause? It does. You might be wiping the rear 
end of the nose of a C.H. Spurgeon, of a Jonathan Edwards. Go wipe those rear ends and noses 
for the glory of God. I know I've shared this before, 
who does Spurgeon attribute his conversion to? Certainly God, 
because Spurgeon was reformed, but it was a stupid preacher. 
A man who had no skill, no training, no nothing. All he could do was 
stand up in the pulpit and quote, look unto me and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. 
Spurgeon said this stupid preacher, all he could do, that's Spurgeon's 
words. So all he could do was recite that text. And then he 
looked on my eyes and he alighted on me. And I felt keenly my sin. And I realized I was unsaved. 
And so by God's grace, I looked and I lived. Well, whoever thought 
that that stupid preacher would be the means under God for the 
salvation of a Spurgeon whom God used powerfully for kingdom 
building? You see, the big things, brethren, 
are made up of Little things, faithfulness, perseverance, stick-to-itiveness, 
plotting, getting up, going to work, doing what you're supposed 
to. Getting up, tending to the children, doing what you're supposed 
to. God looks upon that and is pleased. God sees that and is happy. He sees you in your prayer closet, 
beseeching him for the power and presence of the Spirit on 
the Lord's Day. And I would dare say he probably 
is more joyful about that than some of the preaching that goes 
on. God is good. These men believe These men responded 
immediately. Notice the call of James and 
John. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, 
the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother. Note the kind of 
men that he picks, too. This is somewhat encouraging. 
What do we learn about Peter as we run through the gospel 
accounts? He was what we would call a ready, fire, aim sort 
of a guy, right? You know, the typical thing is 
ready, aim, fire. Not Peter, he ready fired Anne. 
I think that depicts some of us, sort of an impetuousness, 
sort of an unregulated and unchecked zeal at some time. And I'm not 
picking on Peter, I'm just saying, look at the sorts of men that 
he calls. And what happens to Peter and 
James and John? They not only form the nucleus 
of this twelve that would ultimately be installed as the apostolic 
ministry, but it's Peter, James and John that are three closest 
disciples to the Lord. John is the one identified as 
the one whom Jesus loved. But interestingly enough, in 
every situation, Peter's name first. Peter. The man who would deny him, does 
Jesus not know this? I just imagine for a moment, 
you're Jesus, you're announcing the arrival of the kingdom, and 
you're showing that it's here. Well, this Peter's going to deny 
me down the road. I don't want anything to do with 
him. This Peter's going to be an impetuous guy. He's going 
to be a ready-fire aim sort of a man. I don't want anything 
to do with him. Come on, Peter, follow me. I'm 
going to make you a fisher of men. I'm going to sanctify you. I'm going to hedge you in. I'm 
going to care for you. I'm going to love you. I'm even 
going to forgive you. Why? Because Jesus knows he's 
going to die for him and he's going to rise for him. What about 
James and John? What is collectively their moniker? Sons of Thunder. Not a motorcycle 
group. They weren't wearing leather 
jackets with Sons of Thunder emblazoned on it and their big 
hogs. Probably means something similar. 
They were these little meek, passive, milquetoast sorts of 
guys that we might incline to select. And hopefully we wouldn't. 
But. These were the kinds of guys, 
again, I'm not saying that this is right, but having passed through 
Samaria and seeing Jesus rebuff said, or should we like Elijah 
pray to the father so that he'll send fire on this city and destroy 
it? Again, I'm not suggesting that's 
good. I'm just showing you what sorts of men Jesus calls. You see, we have to keep in mind 
that Jesus, if he doesn't pick warped instruments, will pick 
no instruments. God doesn't use the crooked. 
There is nothing available to him. If God doesn't take sinners 
and save them and employ them for his purposes, he's got nothing 
to work with. See, God and the surgeon have 
something very much different. The surgeon can sterilize his 
instruments and then go to work on the patient. There are no 
sterilized instruments in the mass of humanity. Now, God justifies, 
God washes, God sanctifies, God cleanses them and then uses them. But they don't always function 
in a sterile sort of way. It's an amazing thing that he 
picks these men to serve in this capacity. Likewise, Jesus says 
he called them. Notice specifically here in the 
boat was Zebedee, their father, mending their nets. I don't think 
it's an accident that the father is put forth here. What's the 
suggestion? Yes, they're leaving their livelihood. 
Yes, they're leaving their nets. Yes, they're leaving their boats. 
Yes, they're leaving everything that is near and dear to them. 
And they're leaving the father. I mean, I hope that you have 
in your mindset, you probably don't, because You didn't study 
this passage this week, but 2 Kings 19, when Elijah calls Elisha 
to the prophetic ministry. What does Elisha do? He goes 
and he kisses his father and his mother and he follows that 
man. I think that's what we're supposed to appreciate. God the 
Lord, the way he called the prophets in the Old Testament, God the 
Lord is calling the prophets of the apostles in the New Testament 
for a similar purpose to advance the kingdom, to build the kingdom, 
to preach the kingdom, to call sinners to faith and repentance, 
to go about the Father's work in the manner in which he specifies. 
They leave their father and they go on from there. The fact that 
the father is mentioned highlights an important point which will 
occur several times in Matthew's gospel. The priority of following 
Jesus over family ties. Now again, for the most of us, 
God is good and gracious to leave us in our family situations. 
I mean, I don't call any of you children right now, believe the 
gospel and run away from home. to show your devotion to the 
Lord. No, I think staying at home is the way to show your 
devotion to the Lord in terms of the Fifth Commandment and 
the claims of Christ upon you as a young person. But again, 
in a unique redemptive situation, if God does call you to renounce 
family ties and to see as the priority coming to Christ and 
following Christ, they immediately do it. They're not the losers 
in this transaction. I think that's the problem we 
have in reading this. We say, well, look at what it 
costs them. Wow. Look at what they left. 
Wow. Look at what they sacrifice. 
Look at what they got. They got Jesus. Right. They got the son of man, they 
got the Lord of Glory, they got the pearl of great price. They're 
like that pearl merchant that sells everything he has so that 
he can find that pearl of great price and he can show it off. These men are not the losers 
in our passage. These men are the winners. They 
have gained everything. It would be a life of trial. 
It would be a life punctuated with tribulation. There would 
be difficulty. There would be hardship. There 
would be rejection. There would be those things. 
The brethren, they were with Jesus. Is that how we view Jesus? Is 
he worth everything? Would you give up everything 
for Jesus? It's the mark of Christianity. 
Again, God doesn't always call you to do so. But if he did call 
you to do so, what would you do? No, not that, Lord. Gotta 
have that, Lord. There's an instance in the Old 
Testament where God tells Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to take 
the desire of your eyes. It's an important passage of 
Scripture. Who's the desire of his eyes? The latest model on 
the Internet that he clicked on? The next door neighbor? The lady in the synagogue or 
in the temple that would wink at him occasionally? The desire 
of his eyes was his wife. God said, son of man, I'm going 
to take the desire of your eyes and I don't want you to weep 
about it. I don't want you to show pain. I want you to be a 
living testimony for what I'm going to do to Judah. I am going 
to take everything near and dear to them. That's powerful. What does Ezekiel do? Well, I've 
got to resign my ministry. I've got to quit. No longer a 
prophet. I can't deal with that, Lord. No, he did it. That's the 
point. God, most of the times, will 
not call us to such radical sacrifice. But if God does call us to radical 
sacrifice, we ought to be willing to do it. We ought to immediately 
follow him. Remember the recounting in the 
introductory matters, we saw the call of Levi himself, of 
Matthew. What was Matthew doing when Jesus called him to salvation? He's counting his money at the 
tax table. Oh, wait, Lord, got to put this in the safe deposit 
box. Wait, Lord, I got to put this in the safe. Wait, Lord, 
I got to... Now he immediately left the money and followed him. 
So, barring this call to being fishers of men, let's just go 
back, first and foremost, to discipleship. Let's go back, 
first and foremost, to salvation. Have you heard Christ, through 
the gospel, call you to believe? Have you heard a man of God or 
a woman in your home, the mother of your home, or your father, 
or a brother, or a friend, or at sermonaudio.com, or something 
you've read, issue that call to believe on Him, and you will 
be saved. Have you responded? Can you say, 
I know something about this sort of commitment? Can you say that 
I know something of this immediately? I suspect there's some that say, 
well, you know, when I'm good and ready, when I'm done with 
this, when I'm done with that, when I've had my fun, when I've 
enjoyed it, whatever it is I want to do, well, then I'll make my 
peace with God. Be very careful about that sort of mindset. There's 
a man, perhaps you have heard of him. His name is Harold Camping. 
He has predicted that the world will end. this Saturday, May 
21st, for Harold Camping, 2011, the end of the world as we know 
it. Now, Jesus could come back on 
that day, not because Harold Camping said so. Jesus could 
come back today. Jesus could come back on Wednesday. 
Let's just suppose for a moment I'm not a prophet of the son 
of the prophet. I cannot make this pronouncement. I'm speaking 
hypothetical. Let's just know or let's just 
say that you knew Jesus was coming back on Wednesday. How would 
your life change? Well, I get really serious. Well, 
I start reading my Bible. Well, I start praying. You know, 
if you're really in Christ. There shouldn't be that much 
change. I mean, you might do a holy jib 
for the next couple of days. You might be just on fire and 
giddy. But it's not the time to get 
serious, because you, by God's grace, are in him. And by virtue of his grace to 
be in him, you are safe, no matter whether he comes today Wednesday, 
May 21st, 2011, May 21st, 2099, May 21st, 3500. If your life 
would change that much, then I beg you on the authority of 
Scripture to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ right now and be 
saved. That's what you need to be thinking. Luther said, if I knew Jesus 
was returning tomorrow, I'd plant a tree today. I hope that if we knew Jesus 
was coming back on Wednesday, we'd get up and go to work tomorrow, 
just like we're supposed to. Isn't that what God has called 
us to? Isn't that what it's about? Turn 
for just a second to 1 Thessalonians. Actually, we'll wait for a moment. 
We'll go to that in just a moment. But if you have not closed with 
Christ, that means believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You need 
to. You don't know when he's coming. 
You might be a child, you might be a young person, you might 
be a church member, you might be a regular attender, you might 
be an adult, and I'm probably confident that some of you are 
going, here he goes again with this. It's going to pick on me 
now. I'm not picking on you. Paul said, knowing therefore 
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Look at it in that light. There is the terror of the Lord 
for those who are not prophets. There is the terror of the Lord 
for those who have not come. I mean, the reading that Pastor 
Tam read at the end of Luke 19 is terrifying. It's horrific. We would be remiss not to grab 
you by the spiritual lapel and shake you and say, come, come 
to the Savior. In the language of the hymn, 
venture on him, venture holy. Because Harold Camping says so, 
but because Jesus says, come to me, all who are weary and 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke, take 
my burden. The stuff that you're engaged 
in right now will only drag your soul to hell. What Christ has 
is everything. That's why when we read this 
particular passage, we ought not to go, oh, these poor men. 
I sort of painted it in that light. They left their livelihood. 
They left their families, but they gained Christ. What does Paul say in Philippians 
chapter one, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 
He says that I want to continue on in the flesh for you, but 
to depart is far better because I'll be in the presence of God. 
I remember preaching on Philippians 1 many, many years ago, or Philippians 
1 and 2 many years ago and saying, how do you deal with a guy like 
Paul? How do you hurt Paul? What's Paul's kryptonite? How 
do you bring him down? How do you pain him? Paul, we're 
going to kill you. All right. I get to go be with 
Jesus. I don't know if he looked that goofy. He said, Paul, we're 
going to let you live. All right, I get to preach for 
Jesus. Paul, we're going to throw you 
in a prison cell. All right, I'll get to write for Jesus and 
read for Jesus. Is that what he said in 2 Timothy 
4? Bring the books, especially the parchments. The guy's about 
to die. What's he doing? He's studying 
the scriptures. What's he doing? He's writing 
epistles. He's buying up every opportunity for Jesus Christ. 
You can't hurt Paul. You can't stop Paul. You can't 
keep Paul down. And I submit for all of us, those 
believing in Jesus Christ, for us to live is Christ, to die 
is gain. What can man do? If you don't have that, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus. Well, 
that's the call to discipleship. Let's look. Next is this healing 
of the multitudes, verses 23 to 25. It's a beautiful passage 
here. It's a summary passage. If you 
look later in Matthew 9, verse 35, you'll see a similar summary. It says Jesus went about all 
Galilee, and then there's what's called participles, three of 
them. He went about all Galilee teaching 
in their synagogues. He went about all Galilee preaching 
the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. He went about all Galilee 
healing. Those three things punctuated 
and defined the ministry of our Lord Jesus, teaching, preaching 
and healing. That's what he did. Teaching, 
preaching and healing. That's what he was about. Teaching, 
preaching and healing is what Christ did to show and demonstrate 
the arrival of the kingdom. Notice, there's probably not 
a stark difference. Some have said teaching refers 
to the exposition of the Old Testament and the preaching here 
is tasked specifically with the gospel of the kingdom. Smarter 
men than I can try and figure out those particulars. I just 
want to read a quote from John Gill concerning his teaching 
ministry in the synagogues. I think he makes an important 
observation here. He says the places where he taught 
were their synagogues. He did not creep into private 
houses. He wasn't a cult leader. He didn't 
mix up a batch of Kool-Aid and have you move over to South Africa. 
Or Jonestown, I think that's in South Africa. Jones is looking 
at me like, don't associate me, or Howie Jones, don't associate 
me with Jim Jones. That's not Jesus. He goes into 
their synagogues. He says, he did not creep into 
the private houses as the Pharisees then and false apostles afterward 
did. But he appeared openly and declared 
his doctrine in places of public worship. where the Jews met together 
for divine service to pray, read the scriptures, and give a word 
of exhortation to the people. This is an important thing for 
us in another context to remember. Church worship is patterned after 
the synagogue worship, not temple worship. Someday we'll investigate 
that claim more fully, but it's important for us to understand. 
Church worship is modeled more after the synagogue, where it 
was prayers, reading an exposition, and singing. The temple was the 
place of sacrifice. The temple was the place of incense. 
The temple was the place of all of the things, all of the pomp 
and splendor. The Jews only had to go there 
three times a year, depending upon where they lived. So what 
happened is they built many synagogues, places, local assembly places, 
where they could meet together and engage in worship. Whether 
it was proper worship and all that, in terms of their God and 
the object, we'll not get into that. But the church functions 
in a similar vein. He goes on to say, for though 
they had but one temple, which was at Jerusalem, they had many 
synagogues or meeting places all over the land. And that's 
where Jesus went. That's where he taught. That's where he would 
give words of exhortation. That's where he would give that 
authoritative interpretation of various prophecies. He would 
preach the gospel of the kingdom. It's not a beautiful statement. 
He preached the gospel. In fact, in one instance, he 
says, this is the reason I preach. Now, we know, of course, to die 
was right up there, but to define his earthly ministry, it was 
that. That's important. It gives us understanding when 
Paul ends his life by saying to Timothy, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Christianity, first and foremost, is a religion, if you 
will, of propositional revelation. People must hear the truth. They 
must believe the truth in order to be saved. We can have encounter 
groups, we can have focus groups, we can have small groups, we 
can share, we can do whatever, but apart from the declaration 
of God's truth, we're not doing anyone any favors. And then he 
healed. He healed all kinds of disease 
among the people. Notice, it speaks of his increasing 
popularity. Verse 24, then his fame went 
throughout all Syria. I know it says that about Joshua 
in the Old Testament. It says that about King David 
in the Old Testament as well. Here, Jesus is preaching, teaching, 
and healing, and his fame starts to spread throughout all Syria. 
Doesn't mean everybody was saved. But people are listening. People 
are hearing. People are understanding. So they start bringing their 
sick to him. Notice the various types of afflictions that he 
dealt with. They brought to him all sick 
people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments 
and those who were demon possessed. Demon possession. Here we have 
a man who can heal demon possessed people. I must make a confession. Last night I was driving someone. 
I'm thinking about this passage. And I said, God, forgive me. 
That the impressiveness of this text has lost its impact in my 
life. Let me get excited about this 
all over again. These are demon possessed people 
that Jesus cast the demon out from. That's amazing. It speaks next to those who are 
epileptic. It's an interesting word. The 
old King James translates it lunatic. That's actually accurate. The word comes from being moonstruck. That's the etymology of the word 
that is used. They associated fits with the 
effect of the moon. In one instance, in Matthew chapter 
17, there is one described as an epileptic or a moonstruck 
person or a lunatic, and it is in conjunction with a demon. 
But we need to understand and I hope that you have not made 
this mistake. Not all epileptics are demon 
possessed. All right, let's make sure we're aware of that. You see what Jesus is doing. 
And then notice paralytic. See, there's a kind of an old 
funny story about some of these Christian healing services. A 
guy comes with, you know, Coke bottle glasses or prescription 
ashtrays. Big, thick glasses, right? And 
the evangelist says, take off your glasses and read John 3.16. God so loved the world that He 
gave His only begotten Son. You've been healed! You don't 
need to see John 3.16 to read John 3.16, do you? Lots of these 
healings are internal things that are subject to various interpretations. But when a paralytic is wheeled 
in, or when, as we see in Mark 2, that roof is opened up and 
a paralytic is lowered down, and Jesus says, take up your 
bed and walk, you can't fake that. There is no smoke and mirrors 
involved in that instance. So notice the specifics. Then 
his fame went throughout all Syria. Verse 24. They brought 
to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases 
and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics and 
paralytics. Notice what Matthew then says. 
And he healed them. How would you write that? He 
healed them! Exclamation point, exclamation 
point, exclamation point. Underline, underline, underline. 
boldly, boldly, boldly, he healed them. No, Matthew is just a matter 
of fact. He healed them. The arrival of the Messianic 
Kingdom comes through the Messiah. He has the power connected to 
the kingdom. Of course, he heals them. Of course, he can take the demon 
and cast it out. Of course, he can take the moonstruck 
boy and cast out the demon. Of course, he can take the paralytic, 
because he made all things, the world and everything it contains. 
He has the power to say, take up your bed and walk. Matthew 
just matter of factly says, he healed them. He healed them. And then we read of the advancement 
of his kingdom. The great multitudes followed him. That doesn't mean 
everybody was saved. But again, it means that there 
was an interest. There was something going on. 
And then notice the geographical regions. Galilee from Decapolis, 
Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan. What's Matthew saying? North, south, east, west. The 
fame of Christ is going up. The kingdom of Christ is here. 
The Messiah is here in person, and he is healing all of these 
diseases. There's a theological significance 
with reference to this healing. Carson says, The healings of 
various diseases among the people further attest the kingdom's 
presence and advance. It wasn't just trickery, it wasn't 
just to dazzle the multitudes, it was to indicate and to associate 
kingdom power with Christ and his ability to heal the multitudes. Well, in conclusion, a couple 
of observations and then we close. First, I already mentioned this 
briefly, but I wanted to read something by R.T. France concerning these first 
disciples. Don't miss connections. Matthew 4, 17, repent, the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand. That's a revolutionary statement, 
isn't it? Isn't it? The kingdom of heaven 
is at hand. We know that Matthew uses kingdom 
of heaven as the other gospel writers use kingdom of God. The emphasis isn't so much on 
location, but on reign, on power, on the execution of sovereignty. 
You got this in your mind, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
What must happen? The Romans are going to be judged. 
The Jews are going to be blessed. The nations are going to fall 
down before our king. Peter, Andrew, James, John, come 
on, follow me. I want to make you fishers of 
men. Kind of small potatoes for the 
advancement of the kingdom of heaven, isn't it? France says, 
if the announcement of God's kingship in verse 17 might lead 
the reader to expect some dramatic development in world history, 
but. Again, we've read through this 
so many times, we know the end of the story really doesn't affect 
us, but if we were sitting there and we heard Jesus say repent 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, we OK, what's going 
to happen? All right, you better hold on. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's a revolutionary statement. 
He says the character of these first disciples offers a different 
perspective. Four local fishermen do not sound 
like a world-changing task force. Do they? Four local fishermen engaged 
in throwing their nets. The other two were mending their 
nets, which suggests they were getting ready to go back out 
fishing. Four local fishermen that probably 
no one paid any attention to, seems anticlimactic. He goes 
on to say, the parable of the mustard seed will spell out the 
paradoxical character and insignificant beginnings of the kingdom of 
God. It starts off small, doesn't it? When he makes that announcement, 
if you were to hold on and wait, you would have been sorely disappointed. 
But we know that these four men turned into 12 men. The report 
concerning them in the Book of Acts is that these four, or these 
12 men, have turned the world upside down. God isn't constrained 
by our numbers. God doesn't need the biggest 
and the best. Isn't that what we learn in the 
narrative with Gideon? That's too many men. If you get 
the victory, you'll claim it for yourself. Gideon, get rid 
of everybody except for 300. I mean, that must have seemed 
crazy to Gideon. There's no way, Lord, we'll ever 
be able to do that. God doesn't need our weaponry 
to advance his kingdom. He can take four local fishermen 
and send them out into the highways and byways and advance his kingdom 
quite nicely. Thank you very much. He doesn't 
need our ingenuity. He doesn't need our wisdom. He 
doesn't need us to suggest, you know, preaching just doesn't 
work anymore. God, we ought to give place to drama. We ought 
to have holy dance. We ought to do things that the 
peoples around us will enjoy. Preach the word. God uses us, but God doesn't 
need us. And they humble us. It may cause 
us to have a little bit of time on the therapy couch, but that's 
the truth. You take four local fishermen 
from a little place called Capernaum and use them as the nucleus of 
men that he will, in fact, turn the world upside down for. The 
fishing metaphor. I don't want to press this beyond 
what I think is legitimate, but he does use this fishing metaphor. 
I'll make you fishers of men. I looked at old notes from when 
I preached this many, many years ago, and one of those particular 
things I pointed out was skill. That's not one of them I got 
anymore. Think about it, brethren. Is there a lot of skill involved 
in putting a worm on a hook and throwing it out in the water? 
I mean, you might have some good technique and, you know, you 
might have a baseball swing and get a... Come on. It's providence. Wherever that hook falls, there 
could be a ton of fish that never bite it. There could be one fish 
that comes and takes it. So, skill isn't it? I'm sure 
these men were skillful. In fact, a parallel account, 
Luke 5, which some believe predicated or goes right along with this. 
It's the instance where Jesus comes and they're fishing. They 
haven't caught anything all night. Jesus says, cast your net over 
there. What does Peter say? Lord, we're professionals. I 
don't want to pick on Peter here, but the text suggests there's 
a little bit of Rebuff. He doesn't just say, OK, Lord, 
we'll throw the net wherever you say we've been at it all 
night. We've been doing this all night 
long, Lord. I don't know if he said it with 
this kind of disdain, but I believe the text suggests that there 
was some resistance. Because if Jesus said, throw 
your net over here and you just threw your net over there, there's 
no resistance. OK, Lord, since we've been at this all night, 
but nevertheless, will do as you say. I'm sure he's a skillful 
man. They made money. They supported 
families. In the final analysis, it's where 
that net lands under the sovereignty and providence of God. So three 
things in this metaphor that I think do command our attention 
in terms of fishing for men. One is determination, or we might 
call it dedication. You be determined, be dedicated, 
use the means that God has ordained, trusting his blessing upon them. 
Don't twist it, don't manipulate, don't innovate, don't make up 
new means. If God says specifically to preachers, 
preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, 
rebuke, exhort, you do that. You be dedicated, you be determined, 
you be a long haul sort of a guy engaged in this. If God in your 
personal witness calls you, you need to shine his lights in a 
crooked and perverse generation and hold forth the word of truth. 
You're dedicated to that. You're determined to do that. 
You're not going to pay someone ten bucks to come to church. I mean, if you do that, I'm not 
going to say you're a wicked, demonic person. But the twofold 
strategy with reference to personal witnessing is to shine his lights 
in a crooked and perverse generation and hold forth the word of truth. 
You're dedicated, you're determined, you're going to do what God says. 
Another thing, and I've already alluded to this, is perseverance. Right? Anybody ever go out and 
fish and, you know, within a half hour they throw out their thing? 
Oh, we're done. There's no fish out here. There's nothing in 
this lake. There might very well not be. 
You don't know that. You persevere. Some of these 
guys can sit there for eight hours holding a pole. We need 
to learn something from these men. Are we going to persevere 
like that? And we as the church are going 
to give up when it comes to fishing for men? Perseverance. Long haul. Steady. Go forward. Don't stop. Be committed. And the third is patience. Patience. I don't know a fisherman or a 
hunter worth his salt who doesn't have patience. What happens if 
you don't have patience? You get grumpy. You get whiny. 
You get upset. You might even conclude God's 
against me. No man, stick it out. Be patient. What's the Church 
of Christ supposed to do in a world where Jesus hasn't returned to? 
We're to be dedicated, persevering and patient with reference to 
winning souls. We need to prayerfully trust 
that God is in control. We need to understand that he 
gives his spirit. We need to understand those doctrines 
of Calvinism or reformed theology. that is of his own will, he brings 
forth sinners by the word of truth. We don't manipulate, we 
don't tinker with, we simply use the means that God has called 
us to do and we bring him glory. Another thing that I want us 
to see from this passage, again I've touched on this but I want 
to bring it home, the power associated with the kingdom. I mentioned 
the theological significance. Quoted D.A. Carson. These powerful 
healings of Jesus indicated that, in fact, the kingdom of Jesus 
had come and it was advancing. That's good theology, but consider 
the psychology behind this. That's what I was thinking about 
last night. If I had a demoniac son or a demoniac daughter, or 
I happened to be married to Mrs. Demoniac, and I brought her to 
Jesus, and Jesus cast that demon out, praise God! There's some psychological 
blessed stuff going on in this passage. He healed them. You got somebody moonstruck or 
a lunatic, however you want to define that word, or an epileptic 
subject to fit your heart goes out to them. Your heart aches 
for them. You've cried over them. You've 
tried all the medicine. You brought them to Jesus. And 
what has he done? He's healed them. He's got somebody 
who's paralyzed. Somebody who's never walked. 
Somebody who's never thrown a ball with you. Somebody who's in bad, 
bad shape. You hear about this Jesus. You've 
tried all the doctors. You've tried all the snake oil. 
You've tried all the legitimate medicine. You've tried every 
particular means and nothing's worked. Okay, we'll bring him 
to Jesus. What does it say? He healed them. Your loved one 
gets up and gives you a hug with strong arms. Your loved one gets 
up and starts running. What are you going to do? You're 
going to say the kingdom comes with power. The kingdom is glorious. God is good. God is merciful. God has come not only to damn 
his enemies, but to save his people and to bless them beyond 
measure. Brethren, what we have in this 
passage is a picture of a gracious, a glorious, and a merciful Savior 
who came to teach, who came to preach, and who came to heal. He came to heal not only souls, 
but bodies, not only bodies, but souls. He came to bring life 
and that abundantly. And we ought to close our time 
in this passage rejoicing that we have such a savior who is 
such a healer and such a good and sovereign and gracious king. 
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for this 
account. We thank you for our Lord Jesus. God, I pray that 
we would immediately leave whatever it is that holds us from following 
Christ. I pray, Father, for anyone in 
here that has not come to Christ, who has not believed. God, let's 
just get through all the arguments and the excuse-making and pray, 
Father, that your Spirit would break into their hearts and cause 
them to see the glory of Jesus as so much more excellent and 
so much better than anything that this world has to offer. 
And God, give us glad hearts as we witness the power of the 
kingdom, as we witness people being saved, as we witness you 
doing marvelous things in terms of healing people. God, we don't 
look to people as healers. We look to the sovereign God 
who has all power, who has all authority, and who has goodness. And we just pray now that you 
would watch over us. God, cause us to reflect upon 
this message. Cause us to see what you would 
have for each of us. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.