Our sermon text and New Testament reading this Lord’s Day is Mark chapter one at verses 14 through 20. Listen to God’s word. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.
Passing along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat, mending the nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Let’s pray together. Oh Lord, as your word’s been read and now to be opened in preaching, we pray that you give us reverence and holy attention. Call us afresh by your word to follow Christ gladly and to obey without delay. By your Holy Spirit, illuminate our minds, convict our hearts, strengthen our faith in Christ. Grant that we would not be hearers only, but doers of your word. And we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and God’s people again say, amen. Please be seated. You know, when we open up the gospel of Mark, we’re not reading a slow meandering story. Mark gives us the gospel in motion. Everything happens with urgency, with purpose, and with a sense that God himself is breaking into history.
And here in the passage that’s before us this morning in Mark 1 verses 14 through 20, we’re brought to the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry, his first message and his first disciples. And these verses are not merely an origin story. They are the pattern for the entire Christian life. Before we read of a miracle performed or a parable spoken, before a single controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus declares the arrival of God’s kingdom and he summons ordinary people to follow him. And the way these fishermen respond teaches us what it means to be a disciple today. So many of us think of discipleship as a slow, gentle drift towards Jesus, something that we add on to our existing priorities, but Mark just shatters that illusion.
The king has come, his kingdom has drawn near, and his call interrupts lives, it reorders loyalties, it assigns a mission bigger than anything that these men could have ever imagined. And friends, the same Christ calls us today. He calls the unconverted. to repent and believe. He calls longtime believers to renewed obedience. He calls the hesitant to courageous trust. And he calls the weary to rest in his strength. He calls the whole church to join him in gathering people into his kingdom. And so the passage is not only about what happened then, it is about what Christ is doing Now, so as we step into this passage this morning, Mark wants us to see here, not only what Jesus does, but what Jesus says.
Before Jesus calls a single disciple, he announces the reality that makes discipleship possible. The call to follow Christ is never detached from the message that Christ proclaims. So if we want to understand why these fishermen dropped it all and left to follow him, we must begin where Jesus begins with the proclamation of the gospel of God.
So verses 14 and 15, look at the text again with me. We read, now after John was arrested, Jesus, came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Well, the other gospel accounts tell us about the arrest of John and we’re not going to get into that this morning. You look to the other gospel accounts about that. But when John is arrested, Jesus steps forward and the Voice of the forerunner now fades and the voice of the son is heard.
One ministry closes, another begins, and the great turning point of history has arrived. The king himself now speaks. It’s a divinely appointed moment. Notice he says the time is fulfilled. It’s not ordinary time, it is God’s appointed moment. Long promised, carefully prepared, Every thread of the Old Testament has now come together. The promises to Abraham that all the nations would be blessed. The covenant with David that a king would reign forever. The prophecies of Isaiah that a servant would come to save.
All of these now find their yes in Christ Jesus. History is not drifting. It’s directed and here With the coming of Christ, it reaches its turning point. The waiting is over, the fulfillment has now come. Well, this means God keeps his word. Not one promise of his falls to the ground. What he has spoken, he brings to pass in his perfect timing.
For those who are outside of Christ, this means that you’re not hearing a distant message, but a present call. The day of salvation is not tomorrow, but today. Christ does not invite you to consider him at your convenience. He commands you to repent and to believe now. Don’t say, you know, I’m gonna deal with this later. Later is not promised. The same God who appointed this moment has appointed this moment for you. To delay is not neutrality on your part, it is disobedience to the King and Lord of this universe.
Jesus announces here that the kingdom has drawn near in the person of himself and Christ, the kingdom of God is at hand. You see, the kingdom is not merely a place, but it’s a reign. It is God’s rule breaking into this fallen world to save, to restore, to rule. And here’s the wonder, this kingdom has come near because the king has come near. So where Jesus stands, the kingdom is present. Where he speaks, God’s authority is heard. Where he acts, God’s power is displayed.
And that’s why even Galilee, despised, overlooked, called a land of deep darkness, becomes the place where the light dawns. The kingdom doesn’t begin in palaces, but in unlikely places because it comes by grace and not by human greatness. So the coming of the kingdom means that God has not abandoned this world.
He has entered it. He is drawn near to sinners. Are you weary, believer? Full of trials, tribulations? Look, your trials don’t mean that God’s kingdom is absent. Christ often comes quietly, gently, even hidden beneath suffering. His kingdom is there. You are there. Notice Jesus will meet fishermen at work. He walks dusty roads. He enters ordinary lives. And so He’ll meet you in your weakness, in your grief, in your daily burdens.
Your King is not far off. His reign is not against you, but for you. His rule is not harsh. but saving, so take heart, the kingdom has come near to you in Christ. Now notice, the kingdom of God is at hand, so there’s a required response, repent and believe in the gospel. This is the king’s command, it’s not advice, it’s not a suggestion, it is a summons.
Repentance and faith belong together, they cannot be separated. Repentance is turning from sin, seeing it as God sees it, grieving over it, and turning from it and turning to Christ. Faith is turning to Christ, trusting Him, resting in Him, receiving Him as Savior and Lord as He’s offered to us here in the Gospel. These are two sides of the one act of the soul, leaving sin behind and clinging to Christ.
And it’s not a one-time event only. It is the pattern of the whole Christian life. We repent daily. We believe daily. We turn again and again from sin, and we return again and again to Christ. And for those of us who’ve been in Christ for many years, don’t think repentance is behind us. It is the daily work of grace in our hearts.
And we have to ask ourselves, what sins have I begun to tolerate? What habits have I allowed to return? What nets have I picked up again that Christ once called me to leave? Come again and again and again to him. The door of repentance is never closed to the believer.
And if you’re struggling with sin, let me encourage you, don’t wait until you feel worthy to come. Christ calls you as you are, where you are. He calls fishermen with nets in their hands, not saints with perfect lives. He calls you in the midst of your struggle, not after you get it resolved. Bring your sin to Him. Bring your weakness. Bring your need.
The gospel is not for the cleaned up. but for the needy. So then, this message of Jesus in His fullness, the time has come, the King has arrived, the call’s gone out, turn from your sin, trust in Christ, enter the Kingdom of God. That was the message then. That is the message now.
How will you respond? Well, there’s a danger here. It’s one that’s more subtle than open rejection, and it’s often more deadly. It’s indifference. Jesus doesn’t say, consider the gospel, or reflect on these things when you have time. He says, repent and believe. The command is present, urgent. The moment is now. The stakes are eternal.
Yet many will hear this call and do nothing. They don’t actively oppose Christ. They don’t mock him. They don’t do anything other than just delay. And that is the danger. Indifference harms the heart quietly. It doesn’t feel like rebellion, but it is. It’s a refusal to respond to the king when he speaks. Each time the call of Christ is heard and then set aside, the soul becomes a little less sensitive, a little less willing, a little more settled in its distance from God. Scripture warns us of this very danger in Hebrews 315. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
Notice the word today. The gospel always comes with a present urgency. Do you feel that urgency? Does that affect you as a follower of Christ? Maybe you’re somebody outwardly moral. You’re a regular church attender. You listen week by week. You hit the like button on Facebook every time you see the sermon. posted there, you are in danger because you’re in the place of greatest privilege.
It’s possible to sit near the kingdom and yet never enter it. It is possible to hear the truth so often that it becomes familiar and therefore powerless in your estimation. You may say, well, I agree with these things. You may say, I intend to deal with this, but agreement is not repentance, and intention is not faith. Indifference is not neutrality, it’s quiet resistance. Maybe you’re easily distracted.
In this world, it’s hard not to be. The concerns of life, of work, family, plans, comforts, all these crowd out eternal realities. The kingdom is at hand, yet your mind is elsewhere. And like those in the days of Noah, people are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day judgment comes. Maybe you’ve been kind of keeping Jesus at arm’s length, the distance.
You hear the call of the gospel, you hear the urgency of repent and believe the gospel, and yet you are delaying, you assume there’ll be another opportunity, another moment, another call, but you do not know that. The same Lord who says, come, also says that he will come again. And when he comes, the day of repentance will be over. There’ll be no more. Well, let me put it off till later because later has come. And that’s it.
Don’t let the gospel drift past you. Don’t treat lightly the voice of Christ. Don’t assume that a better time will come. The King is near. The call is clear. The door is open, but it will not always remain so. So therefore, today, while it’s called today, turn from your sin. Today, lay hold of Christ by faith. Today, enter the kingdom that has come near to you. Maybe you have come. Maybe you have entered the kingdom. But hear this warning.
Guard your heart against a quieter form of indifference. It shows itself when repentance grows rare, when prayer becomes routine, when Christ is no longer precious. You let the word of Jesus stir your soul. Return again to him the same urgency that calls sinners to Christ, calls saints to renewed devotion. Let none of us today leave this word unmoved. For to ignore the gospel is not a small matter. It is to ignore the king himself.
Well, if this is the message Jesus proclaims, the arrival of God’s kingdom and then the summons to repentance and faith, how does he demonstrate the authority of that kingdom? Well, Mark shows us next, not only what Jesus says, but what Jesus does. And as the king walks along the shoreline, he begins gathering his people. And the way he calls his first disciples reveals the breathtaking authority and grace of the one who summons us still. Let’s look at verses 16 through 20.
Passing along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea. They were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat, mending their net, or mending the nets. and immediately he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”
Notice this authority that Jesus displays here. He calls, they follow. So he’s shifting from this message of the kingdom to the king himself, walking along the Sea of Galilee. The setting’s an ordinary one, but the authority displayed is anything but ordinary. What Jesus does here is nothing less than the creation of a new people of God. Simon Andrew, what are they doing? They’re casting nets. James and John are mending theirs. These are not religious elites. They’re not trained scholars, not men with influence. They’re small business laborers working the daily grind.
And yet Jesus begins here. The kingdom does not begin in Jerusalem’s temple, but in Galilee’s workplaces. God is always delighted to take ordinary people and to weave them into his story. Abraham from his family, Moses from the wilderness, Elisha from behind his plow.
So, If you feel insignificant or unqualified, the call of Christ doesn’t come to the impressive, but to the willing. He doesn’t ask you first for a copy of your resume. He calls you to himself. Your weakness is not a liability. Christ delights to build his kingdom with ordinary tools. In fact, your ordinariness or weakness It just presents a greater opportunity for him to shine forth his power, his glory. So don’t discount yourself. Don’t rule yourself out.
Notice here Jesus is taking the initiative. The disciples don’t choose him. Jesus didn’t set up a booth. On the shore of Galilee and said now hiring. He calls these men to himself. In Jewish culture, students would attach themselves to rabbis, but Jesus instead calls the disciples. He interrupts their work. He summons them with the authoritative personal command, follow me, as if Jesus would be passing by one of Tracy’s job sites up in Oklahoma, and the laborers are there working their and they’re building of a houses and Jesus comes along and says, come follow me. It’s not a request though, nor is it an invitation. It is a royal summons. The one who proclaims the kingdom exercises the authority of the king.
Maybe believer you’re full of doubt or fear. Remember that your discipleship did not begin with your decision. But with Christ’s. Before you ever saw him. He sought you. Before you ever chose him, he called you before you ever laid hold of him, he laid hold. of you, and this is to be the solid ground of our assurance. Our salvation doesn’t rest on the strength of our faith, but on the strength of the one who calls us. Your grip on Christ may at times feel quite weak, but his grip on you, it’s never uncertain.
Think of these first disciples. They are not searching for a new master. They’re working. They’re occupied with ordinary life. And Jesus came to them. He spoke and His word carried power. Follow me. And they followed. The initiative was His. The authority was His. The success of the call was His. And so it is with you. When doubts arise, am I truly His? Will I endure? What if I fail?
Do not look first to your own heart. Look to Christ. In fact, to paraphrase Robert Miriam of Shane, for every look you take at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. You look to Him. Don’t look to your own heart. Look to Christ. The same voice that called you still sustains you. The same Lord who began the work has not walked off the job site. He has not abandoned you.
So when you feel your weakness, remember, He didn’t choose you because you were strong. When you see your sin, remember, He knew it before He called you. And when you fear falling away, remember, He is able to keep you from stumbling. Because He’s not a reluctant Savior who calls and then withdraws.
He is a faithful Shepherd who calls His sheep by name and keeps them. And what He begins, He completes. He who has begun a good work on you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus, until He returns. Well, that doesn’t make us careless. It makes us confident. We press on, not to secure his love, but because we’re already held by it. So we must take heart. The king who calls us is not only powerful to save, but faithful to keep. Your assurance rests not on your hold on him, but in his unbreakable hold on you.
And notice here what he, says to them, he promises transformation, not mere duty. I will make you become fishers of men. He’s not simply recruiting helpers. He reshapes people. He reorients their vocations, their identities, their purpose. They will no longer catch fish.
They will gather people into the kingdom of God. And the passage we read from Jeremiah speaks of that, of fishers and also hunters as well, going out and searching out of God’s people, but also too, it is a sign of judgment. And so the gospel is going out as a sign of salvation, but also one of judgment to come. Repent and believe the gospel, believe the good news.
But for those who reject it, it is the proclamation of doom. Paul says that the gospel is an aroma of life unto life for those who believe, but it’s also the aroma of death unto death for those who don’t believe. The imagery there is of a Roman victory parade, and they would go ahead of the conquering general, and they would have bowls of incense burning and so the aroma wafting in the victory parade itself, but also at the end there would be the prisoners bound up who were later to be executed. And so for them the whiff of the incense is not of life but of death to them. And so we need to understand here, this gospel going forth is a proclamation of good news to those who believe, but it’s a proclamation of doom to those in rebellion against the living and true God. But here, Jesus is calling them to himself. They’ll no longer catch fish.
They will gather people into the kingdom of God. And so the echoes of this Old Testament imagery of God gathering his people from the nations, Jesus is forming a new Israel around himself, calling disciples into the very mission of God. For those of you who are young in the faith, Christ is not asking you to become something in your own strength. He’s pledging to make you what you cannot make yourself. Men, Christ calls us. And that call creates leaders, men who take spiritual responsibility in their homes, workplaces, and in the congregation. And for us all as a church, our mission flows not from our abilities, but from Christ transforming promise. We look around and we see we’re small potatoes, as it were. We don’t have much. We don’t have much people. We don’t have much talent. We don’t have much money. We don’t have this. We don’t have that.
Brothers, sisters, stop it and start looking to that one who can do all things after the Council of His will. His transforming promise, I will make you fishers of men, is the one who will work mightily He equips before He sends. He superintends the work. He gives grace in the mission. We are here to proclaim the glories of our Lord Jesus Christ to Paris, Texas, and to the uttermost ends of the earth. Amen? Did you say amen? All right. Let’s work on that. This is the promise of God.
How dare we discount Him? How dare we take away from His glory, His reputation, by saying, no, yes, He works all things marvelously. So we’ve seen the message Jesus proclaims and the authority it displays, but a question remains, how should we respond to such a king? If the kingdom has arrived and the king himself calls his people, what does true discipleship look like? So Mark now shows us the response that the king requires and the response that his true disciples will gladly give.
Notice in verse 18, And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat, mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. You know, Mark’s gospel. is known for its urgency.
And nowhere is that urgency more striking than we see here. Jesus speaks, disciples follow, no hesitation, no negotiation, no delay. Their response is a living picture of what true discipleship looks like when the kingdom has come near. Because discipleship requires decisive obedience. Twice. Notice here, Mark uses this word immediately. Simon and Andrew instantly drop their nets. James and John instantly step out of the boat. Why?
Because when the king calls, his voice carries an authority that demands a decision. The message of the kingdom, repent and believe, is now embodied in these men’s actions. They turn from their old lives and they entrust themselves to Christ. As we have said before to the unconverted, Christ is calling you today, not tomorrow. Hesitation is refusal. The kingdom of God is drawn near to you and the king summons you to repent and believe now. Maybe You have believed on Christ, but you’re full of doubts and fears. Look, obedience often begins before you have all the answers. Faith steps forward because Christ commands and Christ goes before you.
Notice Simon and Andrew, they leave their nets, their livelihood. James and John leave their father in the boat. their economic future and family identity here. See, discipleship requires costly obedience. And notice these men are coming from an honor-shame culture, as it’s described. The sons are expected to continue the family trade and secure the family name, and so this is radical. They’re not despising their father. They’re bowing to a greater authority.
Christ rearranges loyalties and priorities and securities. Imagine Zebedee watching his sons walk away. Parents, when Christ calls our children into costly obedience, whether missions or ministry or hard places or difficult decisions, don’t hold them back. They’re following Jesus. Indeed, we all must ask what nets have we allowed back into our hands, old sins, familiar comforts, misplaced priorities.
True discipleship involves letting go of whatever competes with Christ. See, discipleship requires total allegiance. Mark simply says they followed him. And that is the defining description of the Christian life in this gospel. Because their identity is no longer found in fishing or in family business or in social roles, their identity is now defined by following the king and participating in his mission. Jesus gathers a new people to himself and those who follow him join in the great work of gathering others. And so a church that follows Christ becomes a church that joins his mission. The great fisher of souls calls people, his people to be fishers of men. And this is not only the work of preachers and missionaries, but of every believer in every sphere. Are we listening as a church? We’re weak, we’re weary, we’re struggling. Well, Christ didn’t call you because you’re strong. He called you because he is. The one who summons you also sustains you. He has not forgotten his fishermen.
Well, Mark brings us to the shores of Galilee this morning. He’s shown us three great truths. Jesus proclaims the arrival of God’s kingdom. Jesus displays the authority of the king. Jesus requires a response of wholehearted, decisive, costly obedience. And the call of Christ is not vague.
It’s not advisory. It’s not optional. When the King comes, everything changes. Old priorities fade, lesser loyalties fall away, and a new identity takes hold. Christ gathers a new people to himself not the wise, not the influential, but ordinary men and women whom he transforms for his mission and friends, Christ is still calling.
He calls the unconverted, repent and believe the gospel. He calls the hesitant, trust me and take the next step. He calls the long time believer, lay down the nets you’ve picked back up. He calls parents and trust your children to my purposes. He calls the weary, my grace is sufficient for you. He calls the whole congregation, follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.
May we not be hearers only, but followers, people who respond with the same immediacy and wholeheartedness as these first disciples. The king has come. The King has drawn near and his voice still summons his people to joyful obedience. So then, as a church, as individuals, rise and follow him. Let’s pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that in your mercy, the fullness of time has come that you’ve sent your son, the true king, to bring the kingdom near to us. We praise you for the gospel he proclaimed, the authority he displayed, and the grace he extends to sinners like us. Lord Jesus, we hear your call. Follow me.
And by your spirit, grant us repentant hearts and believing hearts. Loosen our grip on whatever keeps us from obedience. Give us courage to leave behind our nets, our sins, our fears, our misplaced priorities, so that nothing would rival our loyalty to you. Make us, O Lord, what you promised to make us, men and women who gather others into your kingdom, a church that bears witness to the reign of Christ, a people whose lives display the power of the gospel. Strengthen the weak among us, comfort the fearful, Draw the unconverted to yourself even now, and conform all of us to the image of the one we follow. We offer ourselves to you anew. We pray that by your grace, we would rise from this place ready to obey, ready to trust, ready to follow wherever you lead. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory now and forever. And God’s people say, amen.