Turn in your Bibles, please, to Mark chapter 1. And this morning is the second part of a two-part sermon from verses 14 through 20 of Mark chapter 1. Let us read those verses together. Mark 1, verses 14 through 20. 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 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 the nets. And immediately he called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him." I have entitled this two-part sermon from these verses, The Cause of the Kingdom. As we introduced last week, this two-part series, there are two kingdoms, in this world. There is the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of light and life. And there is the kingdom of this present evil world. It is the kingdom of darkness and death. Satan is the prince of the kingdom of darkness and everyone in his kingdom are subject to him. Jesus Christ is the King of the Kingdom of God, the now inaugurated and soon to be consummated Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom. It is the realm in which God rules and reigns in and with his people who willingly and joyfully worship him and serve him. The kingdom of God is spiritual, eternal, and heavenly in nature, and is ruled and governed by God himself, resulting in a realm of of peace, of perfect peace, of justice, of righteousness, of joy, of love, and eternal happiness. This is the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is both a present reality, it is here now, and also a future hope, it is yet to come. God's kingdom was inaugurated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the kingdom awaits its full consummation when he returns in power and in glory. As we just sung, one day he's coming, oh glorious day. So the king of the kingdom is coming again. And if you are a Christian, you are in his kingdom. You are part of his kingdom. It is a kingdom that will win with a king who will reign forever and ever. Now, until that great day of the Lord, there are two calls of the kingdom of God. Calls to enter the kingdom. and to love the king and to serve the king of the kingdom. And the cause of the kingdom of God are found here in our text in Mark chapter 1 verses 14 through 20. After John the Baptist was arrested Jesus, the king of the kingdom, went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. The decisive and appointed time by God is now, Jesus says. So therefore, He says, repent and believe in the gospel. This is the first call of the kingdom to every sinner. This is the call that we considered last week. This morning, I want us to consider the second call of the kingdom of God, found in Mark chapter one, verses 16 through 20. It is the simple yet authoritative call from the king of the kingdom, follow me. Follow me. And it is essential. It is fundamental. to hear Christ call to follow me, to hear it inseparably linked and bound with his first call to repent and believe in the gospel. You see, the two calls of the kingdom are really but one call. In other words, Jesus calls sinners to repent and to believe and to follow Him. Because this is what it means to be a Christian. This is a Christian. One who repents and believes and follows Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be a citizen of God's kingdom. The whole course of a Christian's life is one of repenting. and believing and following Christ. Each one of these verbs, repent and believe and follow is a present active imperative verb. The imperative we know is a command. It's not a suggestion. It is not something for you to consider. It is a command from the king of the kingdom to repent of your sins, to believe in the gospel and to follow him. But so too is the word believe. It is in the present imperative, which means it is currently going on, and it is going on continuously. It is a continuous action. You are to be continually repenting, continually believing, and continually following Christ. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is the call of the kingdom. And I'm afraid that much of what is called evangelical Christianity today has lost or forgotten this essential truth of what it means to be a Christian. There are some today who essentially teach that there are two types of Christians. There are converts and then there are disciples. According to this teaching, converts are those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their savior. And disciples are those who have taken a further step to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord. So according to some, a person can be converted and a Christian, but not be a disciple of Christ. According to some, a person can be called to repent and believe in the gospel, but not to follow Christ. But we must understand, the scriptures make no such distinction. Jesus allows for no such distinction for the citizens of his kingdom. You see, to be a Christian is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to be a disciple of Christ. So this call, follow me, is a call to discipleship. This is exactly what Jesus reminded his disciples in the great commission at the end of Matthew's gospel. In Matthew 28 verse 19, Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Jesus' imperative is not to make converts, but to make disciples. In other words, being a disciple of Christ is not optional for a Christian. If you are a Christian, you are a disciple of Christ. A Christian is not someone who has merely made a profession of faith in Jesus as their savior, but has no change of mind and heart, who has no change in the direction of their life. A Christian is someone whose heart and mind has been transformed by the power of God and surrendered and committed to Jesus as their Lord. True saving faith is the faith that compels us to follow Jesus as his disciples. So our first steps as a young Christian, and every step thereafter, though often small and stumbling steps, are steps following after our Lord and Savior. This is the essential truth that much of evangelical Christianity today has lost or forgotten. And it is tragic. Many have been deceived into thinking that just because they prayed a prayer or signed a card or walked an aisle one day, that they are Christians and are guaranteed eternal life, even though they continue living in their sins and they continue the same course of their life. But Jesus says that being a Christian means that you follow him. Jesus demands that we be his disciples. You see, a Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and a disciple is one who follows him. The early followers of Jesus were first called Christians, as the testimony and witness of the Christian faith came to the city of Antioch during the Apostle Paul's first missionary journey. We can read about that in Acts chapter 11 verse 25. And although it initially was likely a term of derision, The followers of Christ soon embraced the term Christian because it openly and unashamedly identified them with Jesus Christ. But before that title of Christian was widely accepted, the early followers of Jesus were simply called disciples. What then is a disciple? In short, a disciple is a student. A disciple is one who disciplines himself in the teaching and practices of another. The word disciple, as well as the word discipline, comes from a Latin word meaning pupil or learner. So to learn is to be a disciple. It is to discipline yourself. If you want to learn how to play the violin, for example, you must discipline yourself and learn from the best teachers. A disciple then is one who trusts and believes in a teacher and follows that teacher's words and example. Therefore, to be a disciple, is to have an intimate, instructive, and imitative relationship with a teacher. So it is with a disciple of Jesus Christ. A disciple of Jesus Christ trusts and believes him and follows him and learns from him with the ultimate goal to be like him. We want to be like Christ. We follow Christ to be like him, because as his disciples, we belong to him. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ, then, is having an intimate, instructive, and imitative relationship with him. And a disciple of Jesus Christ has certain traits that are commensurate with such a relationship. First, a disciple of Jesus listens to him. No one could say that he is a disciple unless he listens to his teacher. When Jesus speaks in his word, the disciple listens. The disciple hangs on his every word. When Jesus gathered with his disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, in Matthew 17, verse 5, God the Father spoke from heaven with a clear command. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. This is what a disciple of Jesus Christ does. He listens to Jesus. You cannot be a Christian and not listen to Jesus. But secondly, another trait of a disciple of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus learns from him. Listening to Jesus is not enough. A disciple does not listen and then turn away as if the teacher's words have no impact. When Jesus calls his disciples, he calls them to learn as well as to listen. A disciple is a learner. And the words of Christ carry weight with his disciples. And learning from Jesus is a disciple's greatest desire. It is the foundation of all that we believe. A disciple of Christ joyfully receives the words of his Lord. They are his daily bread. And as the psalmist says, he meditates upon them day and night. So a disciple of Jesus Christ listens to him and learns from him. But thirdly, a disciple of Jesus obeys him. No one can truly call himself a disciple of Jesus who does not obey him. The disciple, the one who truly listens and learns from Jesus, will put into practice what he has learned from Jesus. And obeying Jesus is the fruit of true discipleship. Jesus declares in John 14, verse 21 and 23, and again, in John 15, verse 10, that those who love him, evidence their love for him by keeping his commandments. So a true disciple of Jesus Christ listens to him, learns from him, and obeys him. But fourthly, a disciple of Jesus Christ denies himself and endures all suffering and persecution for him. And this point seems to separate the true from the false. Jesus makes this very clear later on here in Mark, in Mark chapter 8. We will consider that more in detail when we get to that. But in Mark chapter 8 verse 31, Jesus began to teach that he must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. And then after dealing with Peter's rebuke of him for saying this, Jesus said in Mark 8, verse 34, listen to Jesus. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Now Jesus said this in light of his own cross that he would soon take up. He said this in the light of his own suffering, even unto death. So here is the truth that Jesus is teaching about his disciples. Christ must be crucified. and his disciples must be too. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died from a bullet in his head from Hitler's henchmen, in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, puts it this way. When Christ calls a man to follow him, he bids him to come and die. And notice here how Jesus defines what sort of death it is. It is denying yourself and taking up your cross. These two admonitions are parallel. They really mean the same thing. In other words, taking up your cross is just a metaphorical way of speaking of self-denial, of self-sacrifice, of suffering, and of self-renunciation. Jesus says in Luke chapter 14, verses 26 and 33, He says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. So therefore, Jesus says, if any of you who does not renounce all that he has, you cannot be my disciple. To come after Jesus or to follow Jesus means to be a disciple of Jesus. You must deny yourself. This is cross bearing. It is forsaking all if necessary. And it is enduring all in any kind of suffering and persecution that may come upon you for following Christ. And perhaps the key word here in Mark 8, verse 34 is not the word cross or not the word deny, but the word me in reference to Jesus. Jesus says, come after me, follow me. As the Heidelberg Catechism asks, Do you belong, body and soul, not to yourself, but to your faithful Savior, Jesus Christ? And if you can answer yes to that question, then you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be a Christian. Being a disciple of Christ is being a Christian. And being a disciple means that you follow Him. Following Christ is believing and trusting in Christ. It is listening to Christ. It is learning from Christ. It is obeying Christ. And it is denying yourself and taking up your cross for the sake of Christ. This is a disciple. This is a Christian. And I say all of this so that we understand what Jesus means when he says, follow me. It means all of that. When he called his first disciples, he spoke this simple command, follow me. And oh, what a huge meaning that is. Here in our text, when he called Simon, Andrew, James, and John, he simply said, follow me. In Mark chapter 14, when he called Levi, he simply said, follow me. And in John 1.43, when he called Philip, he simply said, follow me. This is the call of the kingdom, from the king of that kingdom. It is the call to discipleship, and it is what it means to be a Christian. So I want us today to hear this call of the kingdom. Jesus calls unto you and to me today. Repent and believe in the gospel and follow me. Understanding what Jesus means when he calls, follow me, I want us to consider two points from our text. There are many points that could be drawn out, but I want to focus upon this call of follow me. And two points from our text. What does this call do to your life? And what should your response be to the call follow me? First, Jesus' call to follow him changes the trajectory of your life. Notice the phrase here in verse 16 of Mark chapter one, the phrase, for they were fishermen. The past tense is very revealing. They were fishermen until Jesus called them. When Jesus called them, they were no longer fishermen. Upon Jesus' call to follow him, these four men go from fishers of fish to fishers of men. They go from venturing out into the deep dark waters day and night to catch fish to venturing out into the deep darkness of this world to catch men. The trajectory of their life completely changed. In the Old Testament, the image of fishing for people is used several times by various prophets. Jeremiah uses it in Jeremiah 16, 16. It is found also in Ezekiel 29, verses 4 and 5, and in Amos 4, verse 2, and in Habakkuk 1, verses 14 through 17. And in these passages, The fishing and the catching is always related to God's judgment. Here in Mark, however, Jesus uses the image positively, not for judgment, but for salvation. Jesus' call to follow him enlisted these four men to reach out to people and bring them into God's kingdom like Jesus himself was doing. If we combine both the positive and negative connotations of this phrase, fishers of men, Jesus is telling them that their mission in life is to rescue people from God's judgment. As J.C. Ryle writes, they were to labor to draw people out of darkness into light and from the power of Satan to God. They were to strive to bring people into the net of Christ's kingdom so that they might be saved and not perish everlastingly. So the call to follow me completely changed the trajectory of the lives of these four men. And this is our first point that we must understand. Jesus' call to follow him will change your life. Now, certainly, Jesus' call to follow him doesn't necessarily mean that you will quit your job or you'll abandon your trade to follow him. But it does mean that what was once the priority and passion and consuming pursuit of your life no longer is. Everything changes with Jesus's call to follow him. And also, Jesus's call to follow him does not necessarily mean that he is enlisting you to be into the full-time ministry. It does not necessarily mean that he's enlisting you to be a full-time evangelist or a full-time missionary. But his call to follow him means that you serve him and his kingdom now above everything else. and you learn from him and you strive to be like him. And certainly like him, you will become a fisher of men. The call of the kingdom to follow Jesus Christ will change your life for the better. for the best. You will no longer pursue yourself and your selfish interest and your sinful desires. You will now pursue and be committed to and dedicated to Jesus Christ and his righteousness and to be like him This is what the call of the kingdom does. The secondly, Jesus' call to follow him demands your immediate response. We see that here in our text. For these four men, all it took for them to leave their source of livelihood and their former life And even their own father was Jesus' call to follow me. That is all it took. In Luke's gospel, in Luke chapter five, verse 11, he says that the sons of Zebedee left everything and followed him. And to Christ's call, these four men respond with immediate obedience. Verse 18, and immediately they left their nets and followed him. Verse 20, and immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. The response of these four men embodies the right response to the call of the kingdom. The phrase followed him in verse 18 and in verse 20 is faith-filled. Following is a word that describes the proper response of faith and indeed is practically synonymous with faith. So in total trust and dependence and obedience to Jesus, these four men, right then and there, left their former life to follow Him. They didn't ask questions. They didn't sit down and wonder, well, what does this mean for me and my life now? they immediately left their nets and their boats and even their father to follow Christ. They were called to follow Jesus, and this put an end to the past that they knew, and it opened up a future that they could not comprehend. All they could do was to trust Jesus, to obey his call, and to follow him. You see, Jesus's call to follow him changes the trajectory of your life. And his call to follow him demands your immediate response. Jesus may not be calling you to change professions, or to move from your current vocation into full-time ministry, but our Lord is certainly calling all of us to follow Him above occupation, above wealth, above carnal and material comfort and security, above your own family even. even above your own life. Above everything else, Jesus says, follow me. Being a disciple of Christ is being a Christian. And being a Christian means that you follow Christ. As Jesus said, as we read this morning in our scripture reading, John chapter 10, verse 27, my feet hear my voice and they follow me. As Jesus said in John chapter 12, our responsive reading this morning in verses 25 and 26, whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, Jesus says, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Jesus also said, For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Repent and believe in the gospel and follow Jesus Christ. This is the call of the kingdom. And what a challenge these verses are. Here are the calls of the kingdom from the king of the kingdom. Jesus is the king of the now inaugurated and soon to be consummated kingdom of God. And there is an urgency and an immediacy to the calls of his kingdom. The calls of the kingdom are urgent and your response must be immediate. You don't need to have every question answered. You don't need to make any more excuses. Jesus says the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. So now is the time to repent of your sins, to believe in the gospel and to follow Jesus Christ. Now is the time. Now is the time to renounce yourself and to renounce your sin. Now is the time to bow before the king and come into his kingdom and follow him. So today, this very morning, Jesus is calling to you, repent and believe in the gospel and follow me. Have you heard the call of the kingdom? Do you hear the call of the kingdom now? Perhaps the calls of the kingdom demand an immediacy in your life. Now is the time. Listen to the call of Christ. enter into his kingdom and follow him. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing upon your word. We know that your word is powerful. We know, Father, that you never send it without accomplishing the purpose for which you sent it. So Father, I pray, in your mercy and your grace, your purpose this morning would be to call sinners out of darkness into the marvelous light. Oh, Father, may you open their ears May you give them a renewed heart to repent and to believe in Jesus Christ and to follow him. Father, I also pray that your purpose this morning in your mercy and grace would be to convict your people who perhaps right now are not following Christ. Father, bring repentance. May we forsake ourselves, renounce what we are pursuing now to follow Christ. Father, we pray for your power today among the hearts of your people. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.