Called to Jesus

But now that you're standing, I'm going to invite

you to join me in the word of the Lord, a book

of Mark, chapter 13, book of Mark, chapter 13,

Mark 13 · chapter mention Mark 13 · chapter mention

as I begin a series this this month called called

called and someone say called called. And as

we are in a time of consecration, prayer and

fasting, I believe there are some things that

God wants to speak to us as church. And today.

We're gonna begin here, and I'm gonna begin with

Mark chapter three and verse 13. It says, and

he went up on the mountain and called to him

those whom he himself wanted. And they came to

him. Then he appointed 12 that they might be

with him and that he might send them out to preach

and to have power. to heal sicknesses and to

cast out demons but notice in verse 13 and he

went up to the mountain and called to him he

called to him those that he wanted amen today

with god's help i want to preach on the thought

called to jesus called to jesus why don't we

pray one more time father we love you today we

thank you for your blessings we thank you god

for your presence that abides in this place and

we thank you god for all that you are doing but

now lord we're asking to that that you would

speak to our lives we're praying god that this

word would penetrate the hearts of all who are

here today and listening god we're we're believing

god that you're going to confirm this word god

with signs and wonders and that you're going

to continue to work in the lives of your church

god this is your church these are your people

lord and we know that you have called us for

such a time as this and i pray god that my lips

would be anointed today to deliver this message

in jesus name we pray someone say amen Man, you

can be seated in the presence of the Lord. What

does it mean to be called? When we hear that

word, call or calling, we tend to picture someone

in ministry, perhaps a preacher or a missionary,

a song leader or song writer. Someone doing something

for God when we hear that word calling. But I

want to establish a fact in our minds, our spirits

today that to be called or our calling is much

more than just what we do. Amen? But it's who

we are. Your first... and highest calling as

an apostolic believer is to Jesus Christ himself.

That is your primary calling in life, is to Jesus

himself. Amen. We see this clearly in Mark chapter

Mark 3 · chapter mention

3 when Jesus calls his disciples. He wasn't just

forming a team. It wasn't just building and assembling

himself a coalition of people. He was laying

out a pattern for discipleship and relationship.

He was showing us what it means to be called.

Up until this moment in our text, Jesus had been

preaching healing. Performing miracles. You can

read on your own in Mark chapters 1 and 2. His

Mark 1 · chapter mention

ministry had already began. He was already in

full swing doing what God or what he had come

to do. So he was about his father's business

already. And so Jesus himself was the total and

complete package. He didn't necessarily need

anybody. to do what he was doing. But because

of the nature of his ministry, his popularity

was rising. Crowds were growing larger and larger.

He was the talk of the town. And everyone, it

seemed, wanted a piece of the action. Who is

this stranger from Galilee walking through our

city streets? raising the dead and opening up

blinded eyes and causing the deaf and mute to

speak and hear. Who is this man? And so news

of Jesus began to spread as folks began to hear

about what he was doing. And because of the rising

popularity of what he was doing, all sorts of

people were coming out. They were coming out

of the woodwork, coming out from near and far.

to catch a glimpse, to maybe even follow along

with Jesus, perhaps ride his coattails, be among

those that are part of the fan club. Maybe I

could be the president of the fan club. Maybe

I can rub shoulders with Jesus, you know, and

walk on a red carpet somewhere and be treated

like Jesus. you know, whatever perceptions they

had in their minds about what it might be like

to be a part of his entourage. So Jesus is going

about it. It became very clear that among the

crowd, that not everyone there would have what

it takes. And so he wasn't just looking for fans.

He was looking for followers, not for crowds,

but for committed disciples. And so he selected

12 men. To follow him. But just before he called

these 12 men, these disciples, notice in verse

13 it says that he went up a mountain. And I

could preach on this one point. I could just

preach on this alone. But there was something

about before Jesus brought together his disciples,

he went up a mountain. He went up to a place

that was higher. He went up to a place that was

further from where they were. He could have called

them from anywhere. Jesus could have met them

really on their level, called them from the valley,

called them from the marketplace, called them

from the city corner. He could have called them

from anywhere, but instead, Jesus moves to a

high place. away from the noise, away from the

people, away from the crowd, away from the fans,

away from all those looky -loos. Have you ever

heard that term? You know, those are just kind

of window shopping what Jesus is doing, and he

goes to a high place. He says, because if I'm

going to raise up... and make myself known among

a select group of people, then I've got to, number

one, separate them from the crowds. I've got

to separate them from the masses. I've got to

distinguish for myself a group of people who

are going to be committed to me, going to be

committed to knowing me. And so he goes up a

mountain. And you see, when God calls you, he

will always pull you out from the crowd. Amen,

somebody. Up to a higher place, to a higher standard,

to a higher level. And what I mean by higher,

I don't mean perched up. on a pedestal so everyone

can see you, I mean to a place of higher service,

to a place of higher consecration. And so you

see the pattern in Scripture whenever God wants

to do something profound and reveal himself in

a mighty way to one of his servants, usually

he will call him up to the mountain. Hello, Abraham.

Come up to Mount Moriah where I can show you

that I have provided a worthy sacrifice. Hello.

Moses, come up to the Mount Zion. There's Mount

Sinai where I can reveal myself to you in the

glory cloud. Hello, Elijah, come up to Mount

Horeb so that I can do a work and show you things

that no other man can see. I've come to announce

to you today that if you desire to know God in

a greater way and you desire intimacy with Christ

in a greater way, you're not going to be able

to do it from the safe confines of where you

are right now. You're not going to be able to

do it doing what you've always done. You're not

going to be able to do it within your safe parameter.

You're not going to be able to do it within and

among the crowds and among the masses. But if

you desire to know Jesus like he wants you to

know him, if you desire more of his glory and

more of his power, then you've got to make up

in your mind today that if he says, come up to

this mountain, then I've got to put my hiking

boots on and be willing to climb to wherever

Jesus is. calling of, can I preach like I feel

today? The calling of Jesus is never downward.

It's always upward. It's always upward. And this

is the reason why Paul said, I press toward the

goal for the prize of the upward call of God

in Christ Jesus. Why don't we clap our hands

and give God some praise today. Hallelujah. There's

always a call. And this is where Jesus begins

to assemble this group of men who perhaps found

themselves at a very odd place knowing that they

did not have the pedigree, the background to

be among those called to such a holy calling,

called to know and to be around the Messiah.

God in flesh, but yet we see some powerful truths

about this upward call that God is calling every

one of us today to himself. First thing I want

to inject into your spirit today is that Jesus,

Jesus Christ wants you. Someone say, he wants

me. Let's all say that again. He wants me. The

word says he called to him those that he himself

wanted. There is something very profound, deeply

healing, deeply affirming about this fact. Just

let that sink in for a moment. Let it sink into

your spirit, your heart right now. You see...

What I want to point out and explain just momentarily

is that there are levels of acceptance. And I'll

use human relationships to explain this because

it's going to help us better appreciate what

God is doing in our lives. But there are levels,

there are different levels of acceptance we experience

in relationship. People are in your life. We

all have people in our lives. And they're in

your life based. on three basic reasons. Either

because of tolerance, need, or want. Maybe this

for you is a oversimplification or generalization,

but I don't have time to get into all the weeds.

So this is a simple way of understanding the

levels of acceptance in our life. All right.

Someone say tolerance. Tolerance is the lowest

level of acceptance. The lowest level of connection

is tolerance. You know what that is? That is

that there are folks in your life, don't start

looking around the church, hallelujah, that are

in your life, there are folks for reasons beyond

your control. In other words, there's absolutely

nothing, like, For example, if you work and you

have a place of work, you've got a coworker,

hallelujah, and more than likely you have to

work with, get along, whether you like it or

not. Why? Because perhaps your job depends on

it. And you're kind of stuck with that person.

That's tolerance. Doesn't mean you're going to

go hang out and go play golf after work. It doesn't

mean you're going to invite them over. for this

or that. You just, you tolerate them. And perhaps

they have behavior that you don't like, behavior

that rubs you the wrong way. You tolerate those

people. It's not a need thing. It's not a want

thing. You just simply have to tolerate. I can

give you other examples, amen, but I don't want

to step on anybody's shoes today in that level.

But after tolerance, then there is need. Someone

say need. There's need. And so this is like a

step above tolerance. Because you depend on that

person being in your life for some reason. They

provide emotional support, maybe financial help,

physical assistance. So there's some kind of

need. There's a void that is filled by that person

being in your life. Sometimes it's mutual. They

have something you need, and you have something

they need. And so... Everyone's happy because

you both need something. Amen? And so that can

be a very beneficial thing when you have a need

and I need you in my life. I need or you need

me. You know, it's a need that you fulfill in

my life. But the highest level of acceptance

is want. Someone say want. To be wanted. Means

that someone chooses you not because they have

to, not because they benefit from it in some

reason, but because they choose you for you.

Not for what you can do, not for what you have,

not for who you know, not for anything that you

bring to the table, anything that you offer.

You are accepted completely and totally based

on you. That's it. If you bring nothing, if you

do nothing, if you just are, they still want

you there. Want is the purest form of being chosen

because it's not dependent upon what you have

to offer or there being a need. Why am I explaining

this? Because when Jesus was calling these men

unto himself, it wasn't because he taught. God

doesn't have to tolerate anything. Amen, somebody.

I said, God doesn't have to tolerate anything,

anyone. Hallelujah. He didn't tolerate Lucifer.

Come on now, somebody. He didn't tolerate Lucifer.

He kicked the boy out when he started acting

up. Amen. Hallelujah. He doesn't need anything.

He doesn't need you, need me. He doesn't need,

because he is God all by himself. He is the all

-sufficient one, the all -knowing one, the all

-powerful one. God doesn't tolerate and he doesn't

need, which means the only reason why you're

here today and I'm here today and the disciples

were there today is because God wants us. Somebody

ought to give him praise today. God, I said you

ought to give him praise today. God calls you

because he wants you. He wants me. That means

I don't have to perform for him. It doesn't mean

I won't sacrifice. It doesn't mean I'm not going

to do things out of generosity, out of love.

Absolutely. But not because I want God to accept

me or love me. No. While we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. And so he loves you for you.

And so the disciples, when Jesus called them,

they were not the cream of the religious crop.

They were not scribes. They were not Pharisees.

They were not teachers of the law. In fact, they

were just ordinary men. They were fishermen.

They were tradesmen. One was a tax collector.

Another, a political activist or zealot. They

came from all walks of life, but mostly just

everyday average men. They didn't show up on

anybody's. radar. They weren't voted most likely

to succeed. They weren't popular among people,

but Jesus saw something in them like he sees

in you and I today. He saw something in them

that society had overlooked and society had rejected.

He saw something in them that was wonderful.

He saw potential in them, and he saw a group

of men that would come to him ready to know him.

ready to follow him. Jesus is not doing a background

check on you today, my friend. He's not rummaging

through your past today. He's not looking in

your file today to see if you're qualified and

if you're worthy. No, the blood of Jesus already

tells us how much he loves us, and he wants you

for you. I came to tell somebody today, stop

living your life like God is tolerating you,

like you're barely accepted by God. No, you are.

loved and you are wanted and I thank God. that

he loves me that way. And so these men had nothing

to offer him. You're not here by accident. You're

not an afterthought. God wanted you here. Somebody

say amen. And that ought to heal whatever insecurity

you've been living with, whatever inferiority

complex has been rattling your mind. That ought

to dispel and cancel every lie that the devil

has spoken about your worth and your value. That

ought to shatter those things to know that I

am. I'm loved and accepted in the beloved. Hallelujah.

That God loves me and that God wants me. And

to know that God wants you here today. God's

not like, oh, God, here they come again. No,

he wants you. He wants you. And not only does

he want you, but secondly, Jesus calls us unto

himself. My Lord. He said that they might be

with him. With him. That they might be with him.

I'll say it again. Your highest calling in life,

hallelujah, is not what you do. It's not to preach,

not to heal, not to travel, not to build. Your

highest calling is to know Jesus. Somebody say

amen today. Hallelujah. It's to know Jesus. But

sadly, this is what many folks miss. They confuse

their role with their relationship with Jesus.

Oh, hallelujah. They believe that their worth

in God is based off what they do and based off

what they can provide for God. But the first

thing you need to know is that God wants you.

Not for what you have to offer, but he wants

you unto himself. Can I tell you that your number

one ministry is to minister to the Lord? Amen.

It's to minister to Jesus. To minister to him

is your number one ministry. I didn't say it

was your only ministry. I said it's your number

one ministry. It's the primary, high most, chief

most reason. for being where you are today, is

to know him. You know, I begin to think about

the relationship that I have with me and my kids,

and I thought about when they were really little,

how I would ask them to help me do some chores,

some things around the house. Sometimes I would

ask them to come on out and, you know, help me

wash the car. Any parent ever done that? Amen.

Come out and help me wash the car. And they would

come out and, And as we were washing the car,

I knew that by asking them to come help me wash

the car, it was going to take me twice as long

to wash the car. You know why? Because they weren't

really helping me. They were more in my way.

They wanted me to squirt them with the hose.

They wanted to play. And then I would have to

stop and explain, you know, this is how you scrub

that area. And so everything took longer. But

can I tell you that my primary goal was not to

have the cleanest car on the block. My primary

goal as a father was what could I use as a means

to bring me closer to my child. They see it as

we're just helping dad and we're working and

we're helping him and we're scrubbing over here.

But I don't see it like that. What I see is quality

time. All I see is that, yeah, it's taking us

longer to get the job done. Yeah, it's taking

us more to do what we're doing. And at the end,

I'm going to probably see a few spots that we

missed on the car. It doesn't look the way it

would look if I had done it myself. But in the

end, what I wanted was them. And as I began to

think about that, it reminded me of the way that

God works in our own lives. You see, God doesn't

need our help. God can save the world, and he

can do it all by himself. He doesn't need our

help for anything. So even when we have been

enlisted, recruited, called to do something for

God, understand that God is not calling us to

do that because he needs our help to do anything.

God invites us into a process of serving, doing,

accomplishing so that we might know him better,

not so that we might become a wonder among people.

God brings us into the fold. That's why we become,

when the Bible says, joint heirs and co -laborers

with Christ. You think we're really helping God

do it? God doesn't need us. In fact, like washing

the car, we make the process more complicated.

We make things, if God wants, he can do a better

job all by himself. It gets complicated involving

you in the process of discipling somebody. It

gets messy. involving us with the affairs of

this life and the ministry and everything else

he's called us to do. But God is not calling

us because he needs us to accomplish things.

He is calling us because he wants us to know

him. God doesn't need your help. He wants your

heart. You say, well, what am I here for? Well,

stay with us in this series and you'll see there

are other things that God is calling us for.

But primarily we are called to him. Every one

of you is talented in some way. Every one of

you. And we're not saying, and God's not saying

that your talents are not useful. But God didn't

call you because of your talent. Amen, somebody.

He didn't call you because of your gift. He didn't

call you because of what you can offer him. He

called you because he wants you to know him.

And he wants to be known, hallelujah, by you.

You can do all those things, cast out devils,

raise the dead, heal the sick, do all those things,

and still arrive at heaven's gate and him say.

I never knew. He's not going to ask you, how

many people did you heal? How many revivals did

you preach? How many songs did you sing? It's,

do you know me? Somebody say amen today. How

many of you want to know him? I said, how many

of you want to know him? This was Paul's greatest

desire. Let me just be a few more moments here.

This was Paul's greatest desire. The Apostle

Paul, what a man. responsible for writing over

half of the New Testament, a preacher of preachers,

a scholar of scholars, a brilliant mind, not

just in theology, but in many aspects of life,

an intellectual. This man was, whew. If you want

to talk about top of the class, cream of the

crop, this was him. Studied under the right men.

But I want you to look at the words. He said,

so. Let's read this scripture together, amen?

You can follow on the screen, but if you have

your Bible, you can turn to that page right now,

but we're gonna be looking at Philippians chapter

three and verse four, and we're gonna be doing

some Bible reading. Is that all right? Amen.

Look at what he says here, starting in verse

four. He said, if anyone else thinks that he

may have confidence in the flesh, meaning, the

carnal or the physical man, the material, the

intellectual. I, more so, circumcised on the

eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe

of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Can I put

this in modern -day language? From the right

church? A Christian of Christians. You don't

like that? Here's another one. An apostolic of

apostolics. As the people say, they're apostolic,

but I'm like, I'm really apostolic. Okay. He's

saying, I was really apostolic. All right. Concerning

the law, a Pharisee. I didn't just obey the law.

I taught the law. I enforced the law. concerning

zeal, passion. Man, I was persecuting the church.

I was so zealous about my way of thinking and

the course that I was on. When the church began,

I came against it with everything that I had.

That's how zealous I was concerning my faith,

my view. I persecuted concerning the righteousness

which is in the law. In other words, the upkeeping

of the law, blameless. Wow. I don't know if Paul

is bragging. It almost sounds like he is, right?

I think he's just being transparent. He's saying,

look, if you want to look for a model believer,

I hate to say it, but I'm in. I'm blameless.

I'm blameless. In other words, I have followed

the doctrine. I have crossed every I. I have

dotted, or excuse me, I have dotted every I,

crossed every T. I have perfected it. Blameless.

Wow. Okay, so he is laying out for us his resume,

his background, qualifications. Let's keep reading.

Verse 7. But what things were gained to me, these

I have counted. Everyone say loss. For Christ.

Yet, indeed, I also count all things loss. Everyone

say loss. For the excellence of the knowledge

of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered

the loss, he says it again, of all things and

count them as rubbish. As trash. That I might

gain Christ. He said, I had all of these things.

Go back to the other slide. I had it all. I was

of the stock. I was blameless, and I was a Hebrew

of here. I was an apostolic of apostolic. I had

it going for me. I was at the top, and, you know,

nobody perfected it like I did. But he said,

but I counted all that's lost because you can

have all of that stuff. You can have all of those

things and still not know him. You can perfect

the outward. You can perfect the law and even

be a teacher of it and still not know him. Don't

talk to me about your pedigree, your background,

and how long you've been perfect. He said, I...

Counted in all a loss. Why? Because the one thing

that I wanted is I wanted to know Christ. And

I have suffered all things. Let's continue to

read. I feel the Holy Ghost. And verse 9. And

be found in him, not having my own righteousness,

which is from the law, but that which is through

faith in Christ. God's looking not at how perfect

I am, but he's looking at my faith, the sincerity

of my faith, which, hallelujah, which is. from

the law, but which is through faith in Christ,

the righteousness which is from God by faith.

Watch verse 10. That I may know him and the power

of his resurrection and in the fellowship of

his suffering, being conformed to his death.

Paul said, you can do everything else right,

but if you don't know him, friend, you've got

it wrong. You can know the song. You can know

the routine. You can be an expert. Hallelujah.

You could have those things down pat. We're not

saying that it's bad to go on to perfection and

to work on those things. Hallelujah. We're called

to these things. Just hang out in this series.

We'll get to some of that stuff. But don't miss

the main thing. The main thing. is that all those

things could be right, but if I don't really

know him, if I don't really know him, why do

you, you see, people tend to, in the parable

of the prodigal son, they tend to misunderstand

his older brother in the story. He gets kind

of lost in the story because all the attention

is on the celebration. the receptance of the

father and his wayward son and so that's beautiful

but in the background there is an older brother

and you know the older brother's problem he was

of the house but he wasn't really in the house

he was he was in proximity physically close to

his father but he wasn't spiritually close to

him he was in oh hallelujah he was in but he

wasn't of And so when his brother came back,

he had a fit. He said, excuse me, why are you

throwing this guy a party? I've been here the

whole time. Just throw me a party. I've been

doing everything I'm supposed to do. I didn't

get into that trouble. I've been a good son here.

And he had been. In the story, his heart gets

exposed. How so? Because instead of participating

in the rejoicing of his brother's life, he sat

back and he criticized it all. Criticized it

all. Why? You say, well, because he was jealous.

No, it wasn't because he was jealous. He was

jealous. He was envious of it. He wanted it to

be him. No, that's not what it was. It's because

he didn't know his father. If he knew his father,

he would have been the one putting up balloons

in the fellowship hall. Hello, it's getting quiet

here. If he knew his father, he would have been

the one, hallelujah, cutting the cake. If he

knew his father, he would have been the one.

sacrificing the fatted calf and saying, Dad,

whatever we can do to help because I know what

this means to you. I'm close to your heart enough

to know that this is all part of it as well.

It's not just about you and me. It's about your

heart and everything that you're doing among

your people. Can I ask you today, do you really

know him? Close your eyes. I have more in my

notes, but the Holy Ghost is going to stop me

right here. Do you really know him today? Do

you really know him? I feel conviction in the

house of God today. Don't tell me he said, Paul

didn't say, he didn't say that I may serve him.

No! He didn't say that I may do great things

in his name. No! That my name will be on a plaque

on a wall somewhere. No. He said that I may know

him. Oh, God. That I may know him. That's what

I want. I want him. I want intimacy. I want to

be in his arms. I want to be wrapped up in his

arms. I want intimacy with him. Hallelujah. I

want to know his heart. I want to be like the

beloved disciple. I want to lean on the bosom

of Jesus. I want to be like the woman who washed

his feet with her tears and dried them with her

hair and not one of the others that are criticizing

the whole thing. No, I want to be in the middle

of it. I want to know him. I want to know his

forgiveness. I want to know his mercy. I want

to know his grace. I want to know his holiness.

I want to know his glory. Oh, I want to be like

Moses. He said, show me your glory. God, show

me your face. Oh, God, is anybody here today

who's willing to say, God, show me your face.

Show me your glory. I feel the Holy Ghost in

this place right now. Who is he? He's the bread

of life. Who is he? He's the living water. Who

is he? He's the Word made flesh. He's the light

of the world. He's the door of doors. He's the

good shepherd. He's the true vine, the Lamb of

God, the Lion from the tribe of Judah. The rock

of ages. The prince of peace. The chief cornerstone.

The alpha and omega. The beginning and the end.

The first and the last. The king of kings. And

the Lord of lords.