What kind of people does the Lord call as disciples? [Bible Study 11]
Today's writing is a summary of the sermon by Pastor Paul C. Jong, a servant of God from The New Life Mission.
When you visit The New Life Mission homepage, you can freely download Pastor Paul C. Jong's sermons covering the entire Bible, translated into various languages, in e-book, audio, and bilingual book formats.
Today's scripture reading is from Matthew 4:17-22.
"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."
Jesus said, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
The statement "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" refers to Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus came to this earth as the Son of God and as the Lamb of God, the propitiation. In the year He turned 30, He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, taking upon Himself all the sins of the world.
And three years later, He shed His blood and died on the Cross as the judgment for all the sins of the world that He had taken upon Himself through baptism.
After being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30, Jesus then began to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven to the people.
In Matthew 3:13-17, we see the scene where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, who represents all mankind and is also the last High Priest. He was baptized in the same way as the laying on of hands. The phrase "Then" refers to the year Jesus turned 30, marking the beginning of His public ministry, when He was baptized to take away all the sins of the world.
In the phrase “for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” the pronoun “us” refers to both Jesus and John the Baptist, the last High Priest. By baptizing Jesus, the Lamb of God, in the same manner as the laying on of hands, John transferred all the sins of the world onto Jesus and thereby took away all the sins of the world.
In other words, since Jesus was baptized and took upon Himself all the sins of the world, He said that it is fitting for all who believe in this truth to have their sins removed. In this way, all righteousness of God is fulfilled.
When Jesus was baptized, He was submerged in water and then came up from it.
The Jordan River is known as the river of death, signifying that Jesus, having taken upon Himself all the sins of the world through baptism, would shed His blood and die on the Cross as judgment for those sins.
Coming up from the water represents Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
It means that through His baptism and the shedding of His blood on the Cross, He grants eternal new life to those who believe in Him and are without sin.
Therefore, from this time on Jesus began to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and as testified in Matthew 11:12, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force."
This means that because Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world through baptism by John the Baptist, who represented humanity, those who believe in this truth can enter and possess the kingdom of heaven.
After fulfilling all righteousness through His baptism, Jesus began to preach the gospel of the kingdom in earnest and called His disciples.
In the Scripture, when Jesus saw Peter and Andrew casting their nets into the sea, He called them saying He would make them fishers of men, and Peter and Andrew left their nets and boats behind and followed Him.
And going on further, Jesus saw James and John who were with their father, and when He also said to them, "Follow me", they too left their father and boat behind and followed Jesus.
From a human perspective, one might wonder how they could leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
However, they had already recognized and believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and the Savior who was baptized by John the Baptist and took away all the sins of mankind.
Because Peter, Andrew, James, and John knew and believed that Jesus was the Savior who had come to redeem them, the Lord called them, and they were able to leave everything behind and follow Him with pure hearts.
Most of those whom Jesus chose as His disciples were fishermen and tax collectors. Although they had little worldly education, Jesus chose them as disciples because they purely believed in Him.
Because discipleship is a matter of faith, worldly knowledge or wisdom is not particularly necessary to become a disciple of Jesus.
Paul was a highly educated man, well-versed in the Old Testament. However, it was only after encountering Jesus that his spiritual eyes were opened, and he became the Lord’s disciple and an apostle to the Gentiles.
The qualification to become Jesus' disciple is to be someone who has received salvation through Jesus and received the Holy Spirit through Jesus.
Jesus called such people to be His disciples and made them fishers of men.
But what about those in the world today who call themselves disciples of God?
A true disciple, recognized and called by the Lord, is one who believes that Jesus is God, believes in the work He has done, meets the Lord through the Word of God, and is born again as a holy child of God, having been saved from all the sins of the world.
What about you?
You must meet the Lord through God's Word and find a preacher recognized by the Lord who delivers the Word as it is.
Meet Pastor Paul C. Jong's sermon collection on the entire Bible at The New Life Mission homepage. He is the Lord's servant who believes according to God's Word, has been called by the Lord, and preaches the gospel of salvation as it is written.
Then, you too will become someone who has met the Lord through the Word.
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