Immediately

Mark chapter 1, we are walking with Jesus through the gospel of Mark and you're going to pick up your pace and walk fast because I want you to keep up and mark moves at a rapid pace.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

He covers a lot of ground.

He told us nothing about the birth of Christ.

The gospel of Luke tells us most of those details that we have.

He does not speak of the prophecy of Christ.

The gospel of Luke again tells us most of that.

He speaks nothing about the childhood visit to the temple.

You know who tells us that?

Luke.

Luke tells us that.

Mark begins by telling us about the man who baptized Jesus and then telling us of his baptism and of his temptation in the desert.

And I call his time in the desert his seminary experience.

And the reason why I call it that is because of my own experience.

My seminary experience was a time of a way to focus on God's plan and God's preparation for me for ministry.

It worked out that way for me.

Education happens a lot of different ways these days.

But in those days, we had no internet.

And so I got in my Honda Civic, packed everything I had and drove 600 miles from my mom and daddy.

And got to New Orleans.

And about three weeks in went, why Lord?

Why?

Why?

Because he pulled me away for a time to plan and prepare to learn.

Six months in, gave me the opportunity to pastor and learn what that process means.

Or begin to learn.

I'm still learning.

So I call it Jesus' seminary experience because before he started his ministry, he went into the desert.

And faced in those temptations a lot of the things that people would throw at him after that.

And he was, he had a plan.

He had prep.

And he went forward with what God's plan was for his life.

But when he leaves the desert, Jesus ministers in Judea and in Galilee and in Jerusalem.

For somewhere between six months and a year.

And none of that is covered in Mark.

As a matter of fact, the only gospel that we have that covers that is John chapter 2 through John chapter 4.

John 2 · chapter mention John 4 · chapter mention

That's where you find Jesus going to the wedding at Cana.

Turning the water into wine.

He goes into Jerusalem.

He meets Nicodemus at night.

He meets the Samaritan woman at the well.

All of that happens.

John records it.

No one else records it in Scripture.

And so that up to a year is considered the year of obscurity for Christ.

Because we know little about it except for a few conversations along the way.

Our knowledge is just not as complete about that.

We do know that during that period, after Jesus' baptism,

that John, the one that baptized him, was arrested.

Sometimes six months to a year after the baptism of Jesus,

John is arrested and he will lose his life in prison.

And now Christ begins his ministry.

And begins calling his disciples to follow him.

And I want you to notice a trend or look for a trend in our passage this morning.

It's in Mark chapter 1, beginning in verse 14, it says this.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

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 alongside 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'll make you become fishers of men.

And going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother,

who were in their boats, mending their nets.

And immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat

with the hired servants and followed him.

He says in the beginning of this passage that he is proclaiming the gospel of God.

The euangelion, it's the Greek term, the euangelion of God.

And the reason why I bring that up is because that term became kind of popular with Caesar Augustus

about himself.

It's the euangelion of Caesar Augustus.

He liked to talk about the good news of himself.

And so Mark, about that same time frame, is trying to clarify, I'm not talking about Caesar here.

I'm talking about the real gospel, the real good news, the real euangelion, and that is God.

It's about God.

And so he establishes the difference in that by saying that he came proclaiming the gospel of God.

Now what is the gospel?

Well, the gospel is the proclamation and the demonstration of the good news that Christ has come to save us from our sins

both now and for eternity and that if we'll repent of our sins and we'll trust Christ as our Savior

and live for him from this day forward, for his honor and his glory, we'll spend eternity with him.

Everything will change instantly when you follow Christ immediately.

And that's the gospel, the real gospel.

Luke tells us more.

Mark's very succinct.

He just says that Christ said the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

But listen to how Luke describes that scene.

It's in Luke chapter 4 verse 16.

Luke 4:16

It says this,

And Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day,

and he stood up to read.

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

For he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And he rolled up the scroll, and he gave it back to the attendant, and he sat down.

And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

And he began to say to them,

Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

And all spoke well of him,

and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.

And they said,

Is not this Joseph's son?

I want you to get this scene.

It's fabulous.

Jesus went to his home synagogue.

They knew him.

And he takes up the scroll,

and he reads Isaiah.

I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, I believe.

But Isaiah,

there's two prophets that really stand out.

One of them is Elijah.

Elijah's kind of the prophet of prophets of sorts.

But there's things written about Elijah, but Elijah didn't write them.

But Isaiah wrote extensively.

His prophecies are extensive.

And it is not only the largest book of prophecy that we have in Scripture,

but it is the most popular.

It was in the first century,

and it's well known today.

But they really thought a lot of Isaiah.

And so for him to speak of Isaiah,

and to read from Isaiah,

he's got everybody's attention.

He reads Isaiah,

and then he says,

I am fulfilling this Scripture now.

And he drops the mic.

I mean, it's that kind of moment, folks.

It is.

And they were amazed.

And they were affirmative.

And they were blown away.

And they were thinking,

this is our hometown boy.

Listen to him.

That's Joseph's son.

And then he started talking some more.

And by the time Jesus got done speaking in the synagogue,

they wanted to kill him.

But he kept ministering to them and around them.

All Mark says about that is that Christ said,

the time is fulfilled.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

Listen, he's very succinct.

If Mark was preaching today,

you'd get out early.

But he's not.

He then passed by the sea.

And he calls Simon and Andrew.

Now, what Mark does not speak of

is the ministry and the teaching

that Christ did over the months

that are not covered.

And the reality is,

in John 1,

it tells us that Simon Peter

and his brother Andrew

spent a day with Jesus

before he walked by the lake that day.

And so they knew him.

And they knew he was the Messiah.

They were familiar with him.

And then one day,

while they were busy doing their jobs,

he walked by.

And when he walked by them,

as well as James and John,

the sons of Zebedee,

when he walked by,

those four men's response

are a great example for us

to know how to respond

when Jesus walks by,

when Jesus speaks to us.

And I want you to get that today.

When Jesus walks by,

respond immediately.

Immediately.

I'm always struck by the immediacy

of their response.

Both Simon Peter and his brother Andrew

dropped what they were doing

and followed Jesus immediately.

Now, there's a difference

in delayed obedience

and immediate obedience.

If you leave here today

and you are driving toward a traffic light

and it turns yellow

and you intend to obey,

but you delay,

you're going to do one of two things.

One is you're going to goose it,

all right,

and hope you beat the red one

and you probably won't.

Or either you're going to stop too late

and you're going to stop

in the middle of the intersection,

okay?

I'll confess,

I've done both,

all right?

But the reality is

delayed obedience

is the same as disobedience

because that's not what they intended

when they put a red light there.

If my children were told

to make up their beds

when they were growing up

and four hours later

their beds were not made,

that's not delayed obedience.

That's disobedience.

And the reality is

when God convicts us

about doing what we're doing

and we continue to do that,

even if it's just for a little while longer,

that's not delayed obedience.

That's disobedience.

That's disobedience.

It's disobedience

and it does not honor God.

When God tells us

to act

and we wait a while on it,

that's disobedience.

And the reality is

when you read God's Word,

and I read God's Word

every morning,

usually chapters

of God's Word,

and I'm looking

for one verse.

God, give me one verse today

where you speak volumes to me.

Help that to be inspiring

for other people as well,

but Lord, more importantly,

speak to me

through that.

Show me

what you'd have me to know.

And

God gives me a verse.

I keep digging

until I find it,

but

very seldom

do the lights cut on

and

my heart palpitate

and

I just feel like

that my whole day

has been changed

because

He's revealed something

to me I've never seen.

And I pray daily

and I ask God

to give me direction

and guidance

and I ask it for my family

and I ask it for this church

and I

pray over the matters

that are dealing

with,

you're dealing with

in your life

that you bother to share

and

very seldom

is there something

that just seems

earth-shattering

that I've got to get up

and go do

immediately.

But it happens.

It happens.

And there's times

when God gives me

a passage of Scripture

it just burns

in my heart

as if before

the foundations

of the earth

and before I was

ever thought of

by anybody else

except God

that God had established

that I would read

that verse that day

for what was going on

in my life

at that time.

And when you have

one of those

type moments

you need to pay

attention to it.

when God speaks

to your circumstances

not generally

but specifically

you need to respond

immediately.

And when Jesus

looked at them

and said

come follow me

they went.

they responded

immediately.

Second thing

is they put

Christ first.

And that's what

we must do

is put Christ first.

It is easy

to put something

else before Christ.

It is natural

for us to do that.

It's human nature

for us to do that

but beyond that

we're born into sin

and even if we

wasn't born into sin

we were sinners.

We'd have messed up

if we weren't born

into sin

but we are born

into sin

so we're better

at messing up.

So now we've got

a nature about us

as well as a sin

nature about us

that is contrary

to what God

would have us to do.

It is natural

for us

to put God

second in our life.

We can come up

with all kinds

of reason

to put Christ off

instead of

put him first.

And they could have too.

They had stuff

in their lives as well.

They were busy

as a matter of fact.

At the time

he came by

they had businesses

and they had assets

in that business.

And Simon and Andrew

left their nets.

James and John

had a family business.

I think it was called

Zebedee and Sons

Fish Supply.

They had people

working under them

in their boat

which means they had

a decent sized boat

as well.

They had it going on.

And they left it

and they went

with the Lord.

Most Christ followers

don't have to give up

their job.

And there's evidence

that these men

continued fishing as well.

But if so

they never let that

get in the way

of their service

to the Lord.

And the reality is

some people

don't want to make

any changes

in their lifestyle.

I mean God

I want to be obedient

but I don't want you

I don't want to change

a thing.

I've got my plans

and I don't care

to change them.

Let me tell you

something.

You follow Christ

it'll change your plans.

He'll disrupt

your circumstances.

He'll change your plans.

Don't wait

to be obedient

because you want

to get things

in your life

straight first.

I've got news

for you.

You're never

going to get

everything straight.

It's life.

You're not going

to do it.

And if you're

putting off

being obedient

to God

until you get

all your ducks

in a row

your ducks

will waddle

away

on a random

basis

and you'll never

get it straight.

When God

reveals to us

the moment

that he does

we must

immediately

follow Christ.

Thankfully

he takes us

as we are

and he makes us

and molds us

to be

what he wants

us to be.

Listen

these men

could have blamed

it on their family

as well.

They could have.

That happens often.

I mean it does.

Either spiritual

decisions are

based upon family

or they're

blamed upon family.

It happens

so very often.

But I want to

be clear about

something.

It is not

your spouse's

fault

that you're not

living for the

Lord.

It's not.

Yes they

influence you

no doubt

about that

but it's not

their fault

if you're not

living for the

Lord.

and

it's not

your kids

difficulties

that have

kept you

from being

everything

that God

wants you

to be.

There's only

so much

you can do

to direct

somebody else's

life

and God

entrusts you

with a number

of years

to do your

best to do

that.

But I got

news for you.

It's not

your kids

difficulties

that keep

you from

being everything

that God

would have

you to be.

And don't

blame it

on a poor

example

from a

parent.

If you

are grown

and choose

to live

in sin

it's not

your parents

fault.

It's not.

Listen

and I

realize

I was

blessed

by godly

parents

got godly

parents

and I

realize

I have

a step

up

because of

that.

I get

that.

But if

you were

raised

with

sorry

examples

do not

follow

in that

legacy.

Don't

do it.

Start a

new

legacy.

Start

something

new.

The next

generation

is at

stake

folks.

Christ

enables

us

to be

different.

And if

you're in

your 20s

or in

your 30s

and you're

still more

concerned

about what

your mom

thinks about

your life

direction

than what

God thinks

about your

life direction

you're aiming

in the wrong

direction.

You need to

follow what

the Lord

would have

for you

to do.

Zebedee

was left

in the

boat

with his

servants

by his

sons.

Did he

agree with

James and

John's

direction?

I don't

know.

There's

evidence

they didn't

ask him.

They just

went with

what God

wanted.

Folks

go with

God.

He'll

take care

of your

family.

He may

help you

reach your

family for

Christ.

They could

have said

Jesus I

can't go

I'm worried

about my

family.

But they

didn't.

Jesus I

can't go

I'm worried

about my

business.

They

didn't.

They stood

on their

own two

spiritual

feet and

they served

the Lord

and I'm

going to

tell you

God

honors such

as that.

Put

Christ

first.

Third

thing you

need to

know is

this.

Don't

expect all

the details.

You're

not going

to get

them.

You're

not.

These

men didn't

get all

the details.

You know

what they

got?

Follow

me and

I'll

make you

fishers

of men.

That's

what they

got.

They

knew they

were

surrendering

to the

Lord.

But they

didn't know

what that

would entail

but they

went.

And they

were

fishermen.

They

knew how

to fish.

They

didn't know

how to

gather

crowds

together.

They

didn't

know how

to preach.

They

didn't

really know

how to

share.

They

didn't

know how

to lead.

They

didn't

know how

to heal.

They

didn't

know how

to feed

masses of

folks.

They

had never

done that.

They

knew nothing

about that.

They

knew how

to fish.

But they

were willing

to surrender

to the

Lord and

to a

relationship

in which

he would

show them

how to

minister.

How did

he do

that?

I want

you to

get this.

He

showed

them

through

what

they

knew

best,

fishing.

He

met

them

where

they

are.

Even

in this

passage he

tells them

I will

make you

fishers

of men.

You may

not know

what he

meant by

that.

They

knew what

he meant

by that.

He

would

teach

them

how to

catch

people

for the

cause

and the

kingdom

of

Christ.

He

would

teach

them

what

they

needed

to

know.

He

would

teach

them

how

to

have

faith.

Where

did

he

teach

them

how

to

have

faith?

On

the

lake.

On

the

same

lake

that

they

worked

on.

He

taught

them

there

in

the

midst

of

the

storm.

He

met

them

where

they

were

and

taught

them

what

they

needed

to

know.

When

he

fed

the

5,000

and

their

families

in

Mark

6,

they

didn't

get

it.

What

did

he

do?

He

came

to

them

in

the

midst

of

a

storm

on

the

water

and

taught

them

not

to

be

afraid.

He

taught

them

about

the

power

of

his

presence

through

a

storm.

Where

did

he

teach

them

that?

In

a

boat

in

their

territory.

!

What

they

knew

when

he

had

a

crowd

he

taught

them

how

to

speak.

When

he

sent

them

out

he

taught

them

how

to

go

out

when

they

had

other

questions

he

taught

them

through

everyday

examples

and

when

they

still

didn't

get

it

when

they

were

wondering

among

themselves

and

asking

questions

among

themselves

he

either

heard

them

or

discerned

it

in

his

heart

or

both

he

responded

!

They

didn't

wait

for

all

those

details

before

they

surrendered

and

let me

tell you

something

we

don't

need

to

either

we

don't

need

to

wait

until

we

get

all

the

details

of

what

it

means

to

serve

the

Lord

in

that

capacity

because

we're

not

going

to

get

all

those

details

we're

going

to

take

it

day

by

day

by

day

we

just

have

to

trust

him

and

the

good

news

is

he's

more

worthy

to

be

trusted

than

anybody

you've

ever

met

you

can

trust

him

he

loves

you

cares

for

you

wants

the

best

for

you

wants

to

use

you

mightily

he's

worth

it

trust

him

but

don't

expect

all

the

details

now

as

a

guy

who

can

ruin

a

vacation

by

mapping

it

out

to

such

details

that

takes

some

wrapping

your

head

around

for

me

but

the

reality

is

I

didn't

know

the

hairpin

turns

that

I

went

through

a

couple

of

months

ago

and

I

don't

know

what

they

are

next

I

have

no

idea

and

you

don't

either

so

what

do

we

do

a

breath

at

a

time

a

minute

at

a

time

a

day

at

a

time

we

just

trust

the

Lord

we

respond

to

him

immediately

we

follow

his plan

for our

lives

and we

we

trust

him

don't

expect

all the

details

and if

we'll do

that

we will

be used

mightily

say we're

used

mightily

I love

Acts

Acts 4:13

chapter

4

verse

13

God

is using

Peter

and John

mightily

and they

stand before

the council

of the

elite

and they're

filled with

the spirit

of God

and they

speak boldly

and they

speak clearly

and they're

standing before

the Sanhedrin

and they're

standing before

the high

priest

and they're

standing before

Caiaphas

I mean

listen

these are

fellows

who are

trained

in the

law

and know

the letter

of the

law

and what I

mean by that

is religious

law

they knew

the Torah

the first

five books

of the

Bible

they knew

it like

the back

of their

hand

they were

steeped

in it

they were

proud of

themselves

in a lot

of ways

and Christ

goes after

them in

his ministry

but I don't

want you to

discount how

dedicated

these men

were

to what

they knew

of the

Word of

God

I mean

they

they knew

it

well

they were

the road

scholars

of the

day

they were

the

PhDs

in

Bible

and

fishermen

stood up

in front

of them

and said

in Acts

Acts 4:12

4 verse

12

and there

is salvation

in no one

else

for there

is no

other name

under heaven

given among

men

by which

we must

be saved

and I

want you

to listen

to the

aristocrats

respond to

that

it says

in verse

13

now when

they saw

the boldness

of Peter

and John

and perceived

that they

were uneducated

common men

they were

astonished

and they

recognized

they had

been with

Jesus

what in the

world are we

waiting on

God speaks

to our hearts

and lives

about a matter

in our lives

that we need

to deal

with

we need

to respond

immediately

whatever that

concern is

they drop

theirs

we need

to drop

ours

and leave

it behind

and follow

Christ

immediately

and the

difference

their decision

for Christ

made in

their lives

was absolutely

tremendous

it makes a

difference in

our lives

how God

used them

quite honestly

they found

meaning

they found

purpose

they made

a difference

listen

they are

legends

for Christ

why

because

Jesus

walked by

and they

just said

okay

and dropped

whatever they

had

and trusted

him

with the

next move

they

selflessly

surrendered

their lives

to God

immediately

and they

followed him

what in the

world are we

waiting on

what's holding

us back

if you're here

this morning

and there's

never been a

time when

you've

surrendered

your life

to the

Lord Jesus

I didn't

ask you

if you've

joined a

church

I didn't

ask you

if you've

been baptized

I didn't

ask you

if you

raised your

hand when

nobody was

looking or

you repeated

a prayer

after somebody

I ask you

if there's

never been

a time

in your

life

when you've

submitted

your life

to Christ

and said

from this

day forward

to the

dear Lord

I don't

want what

I want

I want

what you

want

I want

you to

save me

take away

my sins

I want

you to

know

today's

the day

of salvation

and I

believe

that if

you feel

any inkling

of that

it did

not come

from you

because

scripture

says

that we're

dead in

our

transgressions

and sins

the reality

is that

he has

sparked

that within

us

and all

we must

do

is exactly

what they

did on

the side

of that

lake

and that

is respond

immediately

to what

he'd have

for us

to do

and trust

him

we're

going to

stand and

we're going

to sing

in just a

moment

if you've

never

given your

heart and

life

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

the

wisest

decision

you'll

ever

make

maybe

the

quickest

decision

you'll

ever

make

the

most

life

changing

decision

you'll

ever

make

is to

come

give

your

life

to

Christ

and I'd

love to

guide

you

in

obedience

is

disobedience

obey

Christ

in that

matter

maybe

you're

here

and God's

drawing

you to

First Baptist

Church

and you

know

that's

what God

would have

you to

do

follow

the

Lord

in that

but listen

for the

rest of

us

is there

something

in your

life

that God's

been making

fully aware

to you

you need

to deal

with

and he's

knocked on

your heart's

door

or he's

he shook

your

conscience

again

maybe

again

there's a

stronghold

in your

life

that you

need to

lay down

before the

Lord

and say

from

this day

forward

I want

to respond

to you

immediately

to put

you

first

me

second

everybody

else

behind

you

first

do what

you'd have

me to do

I don't

have to

know all

the details

I don't

have to

know how

it's all

going to

work out

I'm just

going to

trust you

God

I give

you who

I am

and ask

you to

change

my life

help

me to

be

obedient

every

step

of the

way

delayed

obedience

is

disobedience

do

what

God's

telling

you

to

do

heavenly

father

I love

you

and I

thank you

for your

love

for us

and I

ask

right now

dear

God

that

you'll

lead

us

to a

point

of

obedience

with boldness

as can

only come

from you

in Jesus

precious

name

amen