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As I was preparing for this message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of an experience I had a few years ago in Texas. I was driving to a conference, and like most people, I turned on my GPS to find my way. I drove for maybe 45 minutes to an hour, listening to books and podcasts, not really paying attention. Then suddenly, the GPS said, "You've arrived at your destination"—but I was in a barren place, down some alley with trees and an undeveloped parking lot. I was furious. I'd spent all that time, all that gas, all that money, only to arrive at the wrong place.
But here's what troubled me most: that's tragic when it happens on a drive. It's far more tragic when it happens to a human life. I know what it is to kneel beside hospice beds, watching people realize they've spent 40, 50, sometimes 80 years traveling in the wrong direction. They built businesses, had jobs, were married multiple times, traveled to the Caribbean—but now, at the end, they're jammed up, realizing they've been following the wrong thing. I've even led a man to Christ a week before he died in his 60s, lying in a hospital bed, confessing he'd spent his whole life going in the wrong direction. He barely made it into the kingdom—one week away from being eternally lost.
I want to tell you something I know about every one of you: Everybody in here is following something.
We're following people. We're following voices. We're following books and podcasts. Some of us are following preachers—and some of us have more faith in prophets than in Jesus himself. Some of us are following our own thoughts, our own made-up dreams and visions, our own 4 a.m. revelations. Some of us are following wrong perceptions. Some of us are following our own ideas, our own lusts, our own desires.
But here's my question for you: What are you really following? And here's an even better question: What are you becoming as you're following what you're following?
This life is a journey. It has a beginning and an end. We're all going to leave here the same way—in a casket or a box. On this road, on your three score and ten, if you get 70 years—praise God for more than that—my serious question is: What or who are you following? And what are you becoming as you follow?
Five years down the road, are you a better husband? Five years with Jesus in your bio on Instagram, are you a better wife? Twenty years into the faith you keep professing, are you a better believer now? Who are you really following? The Jesus of culture, or the Jesus of the Word?
Look over your shoulder at the last 5, 10, 20 years. What are you becoming as you are traveling? Are you the same person you were a year ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago? We're all following something. And I'm asking you: What are you becoming as you are traveling?
Matthew records Jesus's opening words in Matthew 4:17: "From that time on, Jesus began to preach saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
From what time on? From the time Jesus came out of his temptation. Courtney unpacked for us how Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tempted. And I want to remind you: We cannot keep tagging the devil's name to every temptation we face. Sometimes it is the Spirit of God that leads you into temptation, giving you an opportunity to prove yourself to the Father.
It was not Satan that led Jesus into the wilderness. It was only Satan that met him there. Jesus was tempted by three things—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And he fought the devil with the Word of God: It is written. It is written. It is written.
I found it fascinating that the devil quoted Psalm 91 to Jesus. He said, "No, Jesus, throw yourself off the temple, for it is written..." The devil knows the Word of God. He might be a better theologian than some of us. And because he knows Scripture, he knows what lies to tell you. He twists the Word of God to lead people in the wrong direction. He does this now through people we love, twisting Scripture to lead people astray.
But notice something crucial: Jesus was tested in private before he had a ministry in public. Some of you American believers think it's: get a word and start a ministry three days later. But it's: tested in private before ministry in public. Jesus himself was tested and proven in private before he went public with his ministry.
Then he came saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus had the same first message as John the Baptist. John was his forerunner—in life, in ministry, in message, and in death. Both preached repentance. But now Jesus arrives saying the same thing: "Time out for all the foolishness. Everybody repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Be considerate of your ways. Turn before it's too late. For now the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Not some slogan we throw on T-shirts—the full force of the throne and rule of God coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. The kingdom of God is here and not yet at the same time. The kingdom we are part of now is spiritual, unseen and intangible—until it hits the heart of a person. And when the kingdom gets into the heart of a man or woman, then we see the expression of the kingdom.
The kingdom is trying to conquer not nations—that will happen at the end. Right now, it is conquering the hearts of men. The greatest territory being conquered is the human heart. When the Lord returns in his second coming, then the kingdom will come in full force, and all the lowercase kingdoms—the United States, Russia, all these earthly powers—will be dominated by the Kingdom of Jesus.
The kingdom is the rule of God, the ways of God, the wisdom of God bearing on the hearts of men. The kingdom teaches husbands how to be real men. It teaches wives how to be wise. It teaches us how to manage our money, our business, our relationships, our time. The kingdom is different from the kingdom you came out of. In the kingdom of the world, people are trampled to advance power. In the kingdom of heaven, humility is the way up. In the kingdom you came from, men rule women with an iron fist. But in the kingdom we've been brought into, we love our wives as Christ loves the church. The kingdom that has come should inform how I think, how I live, how I spend my money, how I do business, how I manage my relationships, how I govern my home, how I post.
Matthew 4:18: "While he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon (then Peter) and Andrew his brother 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.'"
Notice where Jesus called them. He didn't call them from the city of Jerusalem. He didn't call them from Herod's courts. He didn't go into the realms of riches. He went down to the sea. He went to Galilee—a place that was stigmatized, a place where accents gave people away by their socioeconomic status. He went to the bottom of the socioeconomic stratosphere to call his first ambassadors.
And then he calls them and says, "Follow me, for I will make you fishers of men." Look at the detail Matthew includes: "Jesus saw them." Now, physically, Jesus was walking by the sea and his eyes locked on these two brothers in their boat, and he stared at them. But I think Matthew is teaching us something deeper. When Jesus saw them, he didn't just see two brothers in a boat. He saw what they would become. He saw their potential.
When Jesus locks eyes with the person he calls, he doesn't just see them where they are. He sees them for the potential of what they're supposed to be. He sees the drug addict as a future pastor. He sees the stripper as a future world changer. He sees the lost businessman as a kingdom financier. When he sees people in their current state, he does not see them only where they are. He sees them for what he intends for them to be.
From the time he calls you, he's already got a plan for where he wants you to end up. God sees the gates of your metron—the outer limits of everything you're supposed to do and become. He didn't just see a knucklehead from Queens. He saw a man who would be preaching the gospel one day.
Some of you, the Lord sees more in you than you see in yourself. Your mirror lies to you, but the Word of God does not. All the mirrors in your house lie to you. But there is one mirror that will never lie to you: the Word of God. This is the dopest mirror I've ever owned. When I look into this mirror, I don't wipe my eyes—I wipe my heart. I look into this mirror and I see what Jesus is trying to make me. I'm dealing with myself.
When Jesus saw them, he didn't just see two uneducated fishermen. He saw what he intended that they would become. He saw a man from Philly and knew he would be an elder in a church. He saw another girl from Philly and knew she would be a prayer leader in a church.
I wish I had ten people here who were so thankful that Jesus saw you. I'm so thankful that he saw me. When I was in my apartment with a bottle of Hennessy and a shotgun trying to get drunk enough to pull the trigger, Jesus saw me. When I was suicidal and without hope, trying to take my life because I couldn't see past my nose or the day I was in, Jesus saw me. When I could not see the details of my future or what I was going to do, when I couldn't get accepted to law school, Jesus saw me. When I was sitting behind prison bars, locked up, caged like an animal—Jesus saw me. When I was upstate and on Rikers Island, Jesus saw me. When I was in car accidents and should have died, Jesus saw me.
When you were speeding towards damnation, Jesus saw you. When you were a drug addict, he saw you. When you were a stripper, he saw you. When you were a blasphemer, he saw you. When you were shy, he saw you. When you were rapping for the devil, he got your mouth and changed it for the glory of God.
When you were on the back side of a country town and suicidal, he saw you. When you were homeless and roaming the streets, he saw you. When you were in a hospital, near death, jammed up—he saw you. When you didn't even know he existed, Jesus saw you. When you were in another religion, Jesus saw you. There is no other God except Yahweh. When I was Muslim, praying five times a day and not eating pork, Jesus saw me. Wherever you were, Jesus saw you.
"No one comes to the Father except the Lord draws." — John 6:44
We need to stop for a second and remember where we were when Jesus saw us. Every now and then you've got to get a flashback of where you were when he saw you. We've got to stop being arrogant and prideful and self-entitled. You weren't born on the altar. You were born a sinner. And Jesus saw you.
I thank God that he saw me. You all don't even know what kind of man I was or where I was, and Jesus saw me. I thank God for the prayers of my mother, my father, and my grandmother.
The Lord owes you nothing except wrath. It's only by mercy you're in your right mind and saved. You don't deserve to be in the kingdom. That's American gospel. Though God owes you nothing except hell and wrath, Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus: "You were once an object of God's wrath. But Jesus saw you."
If he didn't do another thing in my life, I could be put in a basement in front of the doorway of hell, and I would always be thankful that Jesus saw me and called me into the kingdom.
Watch who he called: fishermen. Men who were already hard workers. Men who knew how to grind. Men who knew what it was to stay up late looking for fish. When he called you, he already knew the virtues that were inside of you that would be necessary for the kingdom. You think you don't have anything to offer. When he called you, he already saw the virtues inside of you that would be necessary for your call inside the kingdom. He makes no mistakes when he calls you.
He called rugged fishermen—men who knew how to work, men who were diligent. He knew all the virtues inside of you, all your administrative gifting, when he called you. That's why you should stop being jealous of other people. There's something in you necessary for the kingdom. Compromise is a robber of joy. I will never be TD Jakes. I'm going to be the first Philip Anthony Mitchell in Jesus's name.
Notice the call. He just says: "Follow me." No context. Where are we going? When are we going to get there? What's going to happen next? After I give my life to Christ, what's going to happen?
He gives no context. Just follow me. It's so nebulous, so nuanced. Just follow me into the unknown of whatever your future is going to be.
And I want you to notice what he puts behind "follow." Not just follow church or follow platforms. Look what he puts behind follow:
"Follow me." Yes. Before church, before books, before podcasts, before your favorite preacher, before all the things you love more—follow me. Get close to me. Learn of me. Understand me. Love me. Follow me. Because the closer you get to him, the more he transforms your heart.
You have some believers who have been following everything except him. You follow this preacher and that preacher, this page and that conference, all these things—but are you following him?
Let me talk to all my people who are hyper-ambitious around your ministry. I feel you. You're gifted. You're anointed. I feel you. But before you are a [whatever your title], he called you to himself first. So why are we doing ministry with no prayer life? Why are we always on social media trying to preach to people with no prayer life? Why are we always trying to give out a word when we don't have intimacy with Jesus?
He said, "Follow me." Before you do anything else, before he did anything with Peter and his brother, he said, "Follow me." Me, me.
You should be nervous to be preaching people down with no intimacy with Jesus. We can't even trust what you're saying has come from the throne room of heaven.
Before you follow your dreams, before you follow your business, before you follow your ministry, before you follow your career, before you follow your path, before you follow your degree—follow him. He called them to himself first.
So you are a dope minister with no prayer life? I don't care that you're gifted on a platform. I want to see what your prayer room looks like. Before you follow your dream, no. Follow your endeavors, no. Follow your vision, no. Not get saved and follow your vision—that comes later. Follow me. Learn of me. Spend time with me. Take walks in the park with me. Slip off your bed in the morning and talk to me. When you're in the shower, sing songs to me. When you're driving in your car, think of me. When you're on the mountaintop, think of me. When you're in the basement, think of me. Before you make major decisions, consult with me. Before you jump into the next relationship, talk to me.
I know him better than you. I know his heart better than you. I know he's tall, dark, and handsome, and his game is dope. But follow me first. You're so delirious over his game, but follow me first. I know you've got your dreams and your visions and your business and your entrepreneurial ventures. I know you've got all the fill-in-the-blanks. But before you do all of that, I called you to me first.
Before you follow your favorite preacher—and I know who your favorite preacher is, he or she—you trust them more than me. You know more about their sermons than the Word. But I need you to follow me first.
These two words—follow me—trouble me in my study. There are no details. Where are we going? How long will it take to get there? How will I know when I've arrived? Oh, you want me to do this by faith? You want me to move to another state? You want me to be a part of 2819? Follow me. You give me no details because he expects us to follow by faith. You get no details except "follow me." That means you hear the call, and the only thing that should respond is faith.
I've followed Jesus through three states, multiple churches, all types of relationships. I'm just following him. No better GPS than that.
And then I love what he says. Here's the promise: "As you follow, I will make you."
Oh my God. There's a promise attached to the follow. So you don't have to do this just scared, afraid, nervous. He says, "As you follow, I will make you."
You know what that implies? That implies a process. You don't get saved on Monday and start a ministry on Wednesday. Follow me, not you—and I will make you. You don't make you. You don't have to keep manipulating any doors. Just follow me and I will make you. That implies a process of becoming.
Watch: If I'm following, I am becoming. The evidence of my transformation is not chronological. Not "I've been saved for 20 years, so am I a different person?" Follow me and I will make you. That implies a process of becoming.
Watch who's actually following—not by their posts, but by how they love. It implies a process of becoming.
"Follow me, and I will make you" identifies the maker, not you—him. This is hard in America. I already know because we are a vision-driven culture. We create vision and then ask Jesus to get on the caboose. We chart our own course and then ask Jesus to bless it. I already know I'm in deep waters now.
He says, "I will make you." That means he is the shaper of your story, your path, and your journey. Follow me and I will make you. It is ambiguous, and the ambiguity of the call of God leaves space for Jesus to determine, without your permission, the duration of your process.
Because it's so ambiguous, he determines how long your process is. "Lord, I think I'm ready." No, you're not. We still got some cleaning to do in this area of your heart. "Lord, why won't my joint explode yet?" You're not ready yet. We still got some unforgiveness there. I got to wash out. There's still some pride there. I got to wash out.
See, it's so ambiguous. He determines without your permission. He determines the duration of the following, the making. He determines the duration. He determines the difficulty of your making. Everybody's trials are not the same. You despise your trials. Those are classrooms, not coffins.
Who am I talking to? Those trials you keep crying over—those are classrooms, not coffins. "Lord, why am I going through this and not her?" Because I'm doing something different in you. "Why do I have to go through that and not them?" Because I'm doing something different in you.
The ambiguity of the call—Jesus, without your permission, determines the duration of your process, the difficulties of your process. He even determines the duties of your process—what you would do different than what somebody else would do.
This next one is where we got trouble. He determines the direction of your process. The direction. He determines that. The duration, the difficulties, the duties, the direction. He determines all of that. Some of you are fighting against something. You're going to lose that battle.
Simon and Andrew are being invited into the greatest thing they've ever known—God in the flesh. Watch. Them being invited into God's plan, his purposes, his preferred future for them. And now they have only two options:
Either stay fishermen—which is a very logical choice. You're comfortable here. You know this well. You know this place well. Or hop off that boat of comfort into the unknown and see what Jesus would do with the rest of your life.
Look at verse 20. How did they respond? Immediately.
Watch this carefully. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. These men were fishermen by trade. This is all they knew. I love that Matthew put two details here: immediately—which means they did not second-guess the call. And they knew about Jesus. John tells us in John chapter one that they had met him before. They knew he was a dope rabbi. But Jesus is breaking all the rules of culture. In those days, rabbis didn't choose people. People chose their rabbis. Jesus is breaking culture. He breaks tradition.
But watch the details of the text. They left their nets. He didn't just say "immediately they followed him." Matthew tells us another detail: they left their nets.
This is all they know as fishermen. They don't know anything else except being fishermen. Matthew wanted to teach us that they left something valuable behind. Discipleship will cost you something. There is no discipleship for free. It will cost you something. They left behind something that was highly valuable to them.
When that call comes—and it's coming for some of you again—you've got to learn to leave some stuff behind. You may have to leave some people behind. You may have to leave some places behind. You may have to leave some pride behind, some plans behind, some dreams behind, some vision behind—but you're going to have to leave something behind. You cannot follow for free. Discipleship costs you something.
Your will. It's going to cost you your personal will. You've got to leave something behind. Some old relationship, some old boo, some old you. You've got to leave something behind. Some of you need to leave your past behind. You keep reminding him of stuff he already forgave you for. You might need to just leave your past behind.
Verse 21: "And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother." This is so dope. Watch this. He sees two people again—two other brothers. James, the son of Zebedee. There are three James mentioned as followers. Let me clear that up for you.
There are three James that followed Jesus. James the Greater—the big boy James. James the Great. Then there was James the Less, the son of Alphaeus. And then there was another James who was the biological brother of Jesus, who was an unbeliever until Jesus was resurrected. It was the unbeliever, the brother of Jesus, who only got saved after he saw his brother raised from the dead. His brother was God in the flesh and did not believe in him until he was raised from the dead. "I knew you when you were little. You're not going to tell me you're the Son of God. I tripped you when we were outside playing in the dirt. You fell down and got cut. I'm not going to believe you're the Son of God." But he was raised from the dead, and that James became a leader in the church and wrote the letter we call James. That's not the James in Jesus's inner circle. This James was in Jesus's inner circle—Peter, James, and John. Three of his closest friends.
I just got to educate my church. The James you read in the New Testament is not this James. It was the unbelieving brother.
Now, let's go back to the text. He saw them. Immediately they leave their nets and their father. Everybody watch me. So their call didn't come in private. The other brothers' call came in private—nobody was there but them. This call comes in public, in front of family.
In a patriarchal society, watch this: it's not normal for sons to leave fathers. It's almost unheard of. Notice they did not consult with Zebedee whether or not they should go. Because sometimes you've got to choose if you're going to follow God or follow men. Follow God or need the approval of men. They did not consult with Zebedee. They broke tradition to follow Jesus.
That sometimes that call will cost you family who don't understand your decision. They don't understand that you're not a part of their religion. They don't understand this Jesus that you're following. You need to keep following until your testimony and your witness anchor them into the kingdom. My family, you don't need your family's approval to follow Jesus. You just need courage. They'll understand. I'm talking to somebody. They're going to understand later.
They're going to mock you now and blaspheme you now and betray you now and talk bad behind your back now. They're going to come back and they're going to bless you later. They're going to come back and bless you later. You don't have to prove anything to them now. Just watch what happens to me as I follow. My haters will become my celebrators. I'm talking to somebody. Don't let your haters stop you. Your haters will become your celebrators. Just follow, just follow.
I did not see them ask Zebedee, "Should we hop out this boat?" The call of the master was greater than the traditional family. I might get in trouble with that one. Your church does this and your church does that, but the call of the master was greater than the tradition of the family. But let me go deeper for some of you who are reckless in your relationships: they did not dishonor Zebedee. They just were bound by the call.
These brothers had a greater price to pay in leaving Zebedee.
Before we finish these last few verses, notice real quick about these men: they were just ordinary men. Ordinary people like you and I. Just ordinary men. That's why you should stop worshiping them like they're gods. Just ordinary men calling down fire from heaven, laying hands on the sick—just ordinary men that followed the person who had all power.
Jesus would call men like them. He'll call rich men, powerful men, outcast men. He called a man named Matthew—a tax collector and an outcast named Matthew. He wrote something that we're still reading 2,000 years later. Jesus saw something in him he didn't see in himself.
You have no idea what's in you until you start following. Some of you are pregnant with stuff you would never imagine God would bring out of you. All kinds of ministries, books, songs. I feel like there's a school on the inside of me. You don't have any idea what's on the inside of you until you really start following—until you surrender.
Verse 23: "And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among them."
Listen to what Jesus did: teaching, preaching, and healing. What was he preaching? The gospel. What was he teaching? The truths about the kingdom. What was he healing? Every disease.
I know what you know: if Jesus was in this room, we would corral him because we all need healing. We need him to touch our minds, our hearts, our bodies. So crowds gathered around him for healing. But I want you to notice the order in which Matthew put the things that Jesus unleashed on humanity.
He put healing at the bottom. Matthew was a skilled writer, inspired by the Spirit. Notice the things Jesus unleashed to help humanity: teaching, preaching, healing. What's at the bottom of the list?
So even if he doesn't touch your body, if you know truth:
"He'll keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him." — Isaiah 26:3
The most important thing to Jesus—we see by his healing that he cares about the wholeness of human beings. We see by his preaching that he cares about the salvation of human beings. But we see by what's at the top of the list what he cares about most: your understanding and your edification.
Not we running for prophecy. Not I must be healed. Not he's my apostle. The thing that Jesus put at the top of the list—you should hunger and crave teaching. Why? Because Jesus knew what's going to happen for the rest of Matthew. This is what will have the greatest impact on humanity. Not healing, not prophecy, not all this other stuff. Just teaching.
Why are we not pounding down doors around the country for that? That's good. I'm a teacher. I wonder if I popped up in Alabama somewhere, would people pound down a stadium to hear me teach? I bet you if I was prophesying, if I was saying everybody's going to be blessed, they'd come. But we're running after all the things that he did not put at the top of the list.
The thing that he knew would have the greatest impact on your life is teaching. If you understand, you will be transformed. You'll stop quoting stuff wrong. Don't say "set free is free indeed." No.
"If you abide in my word, you will know the truth. And then the truth that you know will set you free." — John 8:31-32
I'm praying over you that you will have a great hunger for teaching. Watch that you will actually know how to sit still and not get bored and lean forward to be educated in the Word. The number one weapon Jesus unleashed on humanity—the thing he knew would help human beings the most—is teaching.
Verse 24: "So his fame spread throughout all Syria." They brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains—
Verse 25: "And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."
I can tell you something: I love you all with my whole heart. I know I'm rough around the edges. I know I hurt you from time to time up here. I know I mess up sometimes. Tonight, I'm praying for you all that you will have a hunger for the things that really transform your life. I can't say this enough: the thing that Jesus used most to help human beings was teaching. The more you learn, the more you will be transformed. You should have a hunger for knowledge. That's why in the first-century church, it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrines. They loved teaching.
Especially my Black brothers and sisters, we love entertainment. We love titles and gimmicks and noise and lights and prophecy and all this stuff. I want you to praise God for all that. But I want you to love teaching, the number one thing Jesus used to transform humanity. It's the thing that has been transforming the world for over 2,000 years.
I wonder how you would feel being in a sermon or room where you never shout once. It's just teaching for 40 minutes, an hour or whatever—just learning and teaching. I wonder how quick you'd get bored because I didn't tell you what's going to happen next week or tell you you're going to get a house. I wonder if you can sustain teaching.
These four men—the first four people Jesus called—are Matthew's focus for the rest of the book. Everything that happens after this is discipleship until Matthew 16. They had no idea what was going to happen after this. They were the first four of billions of people around the world who claimed Jesus as Lord and King. They had no idea what was going to happen after. They had no idea when they hopped off those boats what would happen to them. What was on the other side of that step of faith—to follow for real, not just go to church, but to follow for real?
Do you know what happened to these men? Andrew became one of the twelve apostles that Jesus chose. James became one of Jesus's best friends—Peter, James, and John. You know what happened to Peter? He became the pastor of the very first church in history. He was one of Jesus's best friends in his inner circle. He preached the first Christian sermon in history. And on the day he preached, 3,000 souls were saved. He was still fishing, but now he became a fisher of men.
You know what happened to John, who hopped off that boat? He became one of Jesus's inner circles. The one who laid his breast against Jesus. The one in his prideful self—this is the disciple who Jesus loved. The one who took in Jesus's mother after he was resurrected. The one who wrote five letters of the New Testament. The one who was on an island and saw the resurrected, glorified Jesus and got the book of Revelation.
These men had no idea what was on the other side of just following. They would have never known. Just like you, I'm talking to you, my brothers and sisters. I know you do church well. I know you do podcasts well. I know you read books and go to conferences and all these things well—but are you following well?
Do you have any idea what's on the other side of a life that's completely surrendered to Jesus, to just follow him? No matter how old you are or how young you are, the Lord is not done with you yet. Do you have any idea what's on the other side of a committed yes?
I'm talking to people in this room with gray hairs like me. Your time ain't done. You still got chapters ahead of you. You have no idea what the Lord wants to do with your life. And I'm talking to all the millennials and Gen Zs in this church. You're running after all these things, but if you're following the Master, you have no idea what he would do with your life. He knows what's in you. He knows about stuff that's in you that you don't know is in you.
And the only way it's going to come out is not because you can go to conferences or read books or podcasts. It's how well are you following?
There are believers in this room. We go to church, but you're not following well. And there are unbelievers in this room. You're close to the kingdom of God, but you're not following. And you have no idea.
Listen, you have no idea what's on the other side of a committed follow. And I'm telling you, following Jesus is the pathway to the greatest life you will ever live. And following Jesus is the only pathway into eternal life.
There is no safe departure from this life outside of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. There is no safe departure from this life outside the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only parachute when you jump from the plane of death. I don't care what you serve or what you believe in.
You have no idea what's on the other side of a committed follow.
Hey, look right at me. Please look. Look right at me. And we need to stop following Jesus like we follow people on social media. You know, you can follow someone on social media and not be committed to them. You can follow somebody on social media and not know them personally. You can follow somebody on social media and not care about what they care about.
Watch: and if you don't like somebody on social media, you could just hit unfollow. Don't follow Jesus like that. Follow him. Know him. Love him. Pursue him. Talk to him. Sing about him. Get near him. Follow him for real. Give him your uncommented, your unavowed yes. And don't be afraid of what he will do with your life if you just fully surrender.
I'm talking to believers and non-believers in this room. Just surrender. Follow. Follow him for real.
I want to pray for two groups of people in this room.
Every head bowed and every eye closed. Father, I pray for every brother and sister in this room—everyone who already belongs to you. I see all the things they are running after with all of their heart, apart from you. I pray for them even now, right now in this very moment, for a deeper devotion to come upon my brothers and my sisters.
I pray you would give them, Father, a ferocious, unyielding hunger for the presence of Jesus. I pray you fill them with your perfect love, that they would love the Lord more than anything else in this life. Eyes on him. I pray Jesus will be our hero, our strong tower, our desire, our song, our deepest affection, our longing. I pray you would help us not to be afraid of Jesus. I pray he would be exalted in our lives, our posts, our relationships.
I pray you would help us to follow him for real. And that as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, I pray you make us into what you want us to be. Lord, I surrender at a deeper level without fear or manipulation. We surrender. We want you before we want anything else.
And now, Father, I'm talking to every person in this room. Somebody invited you here. You're watching me right now on YouTube. Don't move. You do church, but you have not done relationship. You don't belong to the Father. But you're not here by accident. God brought you here to hear the truth of the gospel—that your life can change in this moment forever.
This is what happened for me in November 2003 over a toilet seat while I was suicidal. Here is the gospel, my brother, my sister. You already know who you are because you've been listening to me confused, but you feel something in your belly. You already know who you are. I'm talking to you.
You and I—we are sinners, and you were born in sin. The scripture says if you die in your sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. I'm talking to you. But the Father, in his love, not wanting you to perish, sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die a sacrificial death for you. And then he gives you a call: Repent. Turn to the Son. Put your faith in him. And I will forgive you of all your sins. I will wipe away your debt. I will make you a son and daughter.
He's talking to you. I want to see who I'm praying for. Nobody can't see you. This is private between you and God and the person with the microphone.
If I'm talking to you, say, "Preacher, that's me. I want to follow Jesus into the purpose and plans he has for me. I want to be a brand new man, a brand new woman. I want to sense the presence of God. I want to know if I died in a car accident on the way home, I would be in heaven and not hell."
If I'm talking to you, on the count of three, throw your hands up. One—Jesus is calling you. Two—he's about to radically transform your life. Three—throw your hands up in the air. Leave it there.
[As hands go up] I see that hand. I see that hand... just start telling God, ask him to forgive you for your sins. Ask him to forgive you for your sins. Yes, he's calling you now. Just tell him you're sorry for all your sins. He's catching those tears. Tell him you're sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender right now. Tell him you surrender.
And now, Father, I pray for all of these brothers and sisters who responded to your sovereign call—you knew they would be in this room before the foundation of the world. I pray, according to Ephesians, you would fill them with your Holy Spirit. That you would draw them to yourself. I pray you would help them and guide them and lead them into a deep and intimate, real relationship with yourself. I pray you would free them from all manner of bondages, addictions.
I pray they will know the joy of being sons and daughters. I thank you, God, for these—that their sins have been separated as far as the east is from the west. And I thank you, you said in your word: when one sinner repents, all of heaven rejoices. So, Father, right now we rejoice for these men and women who have put their faith in you, Lord. We thank you for them, God. We celebrate, God. We celebrate that the devil has just lost these people. We celebrate that the kingdom has been expanded with new brothers and sisters. We celebrate the Lord. We celebrate them. Hallelujah, Jesus.
As I was preparing for this message, the Holy Spirit reminded me of an experience I had a few years ago in Texas. I was driving to a conference, and like most people, I turned on my GPS to find my way. I drove for maybe 45 minutes to an hour, listening to books and podcasts, not really paying attention. Then suddenly, the GPS said, "You've arrived at your destination"—but I was in a barren place, down some alley with trees and an undeveloped parking lot. I was furious. I'd spent all that time, all that gas, all that money, only to arrive at the wrong place.
But here's what troubled me most: that's tragic when it happens on a drive. It's far more tragic when it happens to a human life. I know what it is to kneel beside hospice beds, watching people realize they've spent 40, 50, sometimes 80 years traveling in the wrong direction. They built businesses, had jobs, were married multiple times, traveled to the Caribbean—but now, at the end, they're jammed up, realizing they've been following the wrong thing. I've even led a man to Christ a week before he died in his 60s, lying in a hospital bed, confessing he'd spent his whole life going in the wrong direction. He barely made it into the kingdom—one week away from being eternally lost.
I want to tell you something I know about every one of you: Everybody in here is following something.
We're following people. We're following voices. We're following books and podcasts. Some of us are following preachers—and some of us have more faith in prophets than in Jesus himself. Some of us are following our own thoughts, our own made-up dreams and visions, our own 4 a.m. revelations. Some of us are following wrong perceptions. Some of us are following our own ideas, our own lusts, our own desires.
But here's my question for you: What are you really following? And here's an even better question: What are you becoming as you're following what you're following?
This life is a journey. It has a beginning and an end. We're all going to leave here the same way—in a casket or a box. On this road, on your three score and ten, if you get 70 years—praise God for more than that—my serious question is: What or who are you following? And what are you becoming as you follow?
Five years down the road, are you a better husband? Five years with Jesus in your bio on Instagram, are you a better wife? Twenty years into the faith you keep professing, are you a better believer now? Who are you really following? The Jesus of culture, or the Jesus of the Word?
Look over your shoulder at the last 5, 10, 20 years. What are you becoming as you are traveling? Are you the same person you were a year ago? Five years ago? Ten years ago? We're all following something. And I'm asking you: What are you becoming as you are traveling?
Matthew records Jesus's opening words in Matthew 4:17: "From that time on, Jesus began to preach saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
From what time on? From the time Jesus came out of his temptation. Courtney unpacked for us how Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tempted. And I want to remind you: We cannot keep tagging the devil's name to every temptation we face. Sometimes it is the Spirit of God that leads you into temptation, giving you an opportunity to prove yourself to the Father.
It was not Satan that led Jesus into the wilderness. It was only Satan that met him there. Jesus was tempted by three things—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. And he fought the devil with the Word of God: It is written. It is written. It is written.
I found it fascinating that the devil quoted Psalm 91 to Jesus. He said, "No, Jesus, throw yourself off the temple, for it is written..." The devil knows the Word of God. He might be a better theologian than some of us. And because he knows Scripture, he knows what lies to tell you. He twists the Word of God to lead people in the wrong direction. He does this now through people we love, twisting Scripture to lead people astray.
But notice something crucial: Jesus was tested in private before he had a ministry in public. Some of you American believers think it's: get a word and start a ministry three days later. But it's: tested in private before ministry in public. Jesus himself was tested and proven in private before he went public with his ministry.
Then he came saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus had the same first message as John the Baptist. John was his forerunner—in life, in ministry, in message, and in death. Both preached repentance. But now Jesus arrives saying the same thing: "Time out for all the foolishness. Everybody repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Be considerate of your ways. Turn before it's too late. For now the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Not some slogan we throw on T-shirts—the full force of the throne and rule of God coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom. The kingdom of God is here and not yet at the same time. The kingdom we are part of now is spiritual, unseen and intangible—until it hits the heart of a person. And when the kingdom gets into the heart of a man or woman, then we see the expression of the kingdom.
The kingdom is trying to conquer not nations—that will happen at the end. Right now, it is conquering the hearts of men. The greatest territory being conquered is the human heart. When the Lord returns in his second coming, then the kingdom will come in full force, and all the lowercase kingdoms—the United States, Russia, all these earthly powers—will be dominated by the Kingdom of Jesus.
The kingdom is the rule of God, the ways of God, the wisdom of God bearing on the hearts of men. The kingdom teaches husbands how to be real men. It teaches wives how to be wise. It teaches us how to manage our money, our business, our relationships, our time. The kingdom is different from the kingdom you came out of. In the kingdom of the world, people are trampled to advance power. In the kingdom of heaven, humility is the way up. In the kingdom you came from, men rule women with an iron fist. But in the kingdom we've been brought into, we love our wives as Christ loves the church. The kingdom that has come should inform how I think, how I live, how I spend my money, how I do business, how I manage my relationships, how I govern my home, how I post.
Matthew 4:18: "While he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon (then Peter) and Andrew his brother 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.'"
Notice where Jesus called them. He didn't call them from the city of Jerusalem. He didn't call them from Herod's courts. He didn't go into the realms of riches. He went down to the sea. He went to Galilee—a place that was stigmatized, a place where accents gave people away by their socioeconomic status. He went to the bottom of the socioeconomic stratosphere to call his first ambassadors.
And then he calls them and says, "Follow me, for I will make you fishers of men." Look at the detail Matthew includes: "Jesus saw them." Now, physically, Jesus was walking by the sea and his eyes locked on these two brothers in their boat, and he stared at them. But I think Matthew is teaching us something deeper. When Jesus saw them, he didn't just see two brothers in a boat. He saw what they would become. He saw their potential.
When Jesus locks eyes with the person he calls, he doesn't just see them where they are. He sees them for the potential of what they're supposed to be. He sees the drug addict as a future pastor. He sees the stripper as a future world changer. He sees the lost businessman as a kingdom financier. When he sees people in their current state, he does not see them only where they are. He sees them for what he intends for them to be.
From the time he calls you, he's already got a plan for where he wants you to end up. God sees the gates of your metron—the outer limits of everything you're supposed to do and become. He didn't just see a knucklehead from Queens. He saw a man who would be preaching the gospel one day.
Some of you, the Lord sees more in you than you see in yourself. Your mirror lies to you, but the Word of God does not. All the mirrors in your house lie to you. But there is one mirror that will never lie to you: the Word of God. This is the dopest mirror I've ever owned. When I look into this mirror, I don't wipe my eyes—I wipe my heart. I look into this mirror and I see what Jesus is trying to make me. I'm dealing with myself.
When Jesus saw them, he didn't just see two uneducated fishermen. He saw what he intended that they would become. He saw a man from Philly and knew he would be an elder in a church. He saw another girl from Philly and knew she would be a prayer leader in a church.
I wish I had ten people here who were so thankful that Jesus saw you. I'm so thankful that he saw me. When I was in my apartment with a bottle of Hennessy and a shotgun trying to get drunk enough to pull the trigger, Jesus saw me. When I was suicidal and without hope, trying to take my life because I couldn't see past my nose or the day I was in, Jesus saw me. When I could not see the details of my future or what I was going to do, when I couldn't get accepted to law school, Jesus saw me. When I was sitting behind prison bars, locked up, caged like an animal—Jesus saw me. When I was upstate and on Rikers Island, Jesus saw me. When I was in car accidents and should have died, Jesus saw me.
When you were speeding towards damnation, Jesus saw you. When you were a drug addict, he saw you. When you were a stripper, he saw you. When you were a blasphemer, he saw you. When you were shy, he saw you. When you were rapping for the devil, he got your mouth and changed it for the glory of God.
When you were on the back side of a country town and suicidal, he saw you. When you were homeless and roaming the streets, he saw you. When you were in a hospital, near death, jammed up—he saw you. When you didn't even know he existed, Jesus saw you. When you were in another religion, Jesus saw you. There is no other God except Yahweh. When I was Muslim, praying five times a day and not eating pork, Jesus saw me. Wherever you were, Jesus saw you.
"No one comes to the Father except the Lord draws." — John 6:44
We need to stop for a second and remember where we were when Jesus saw us. Every now and then you've got to get a flashback of where you were when he saw you. We've got to stop being arrogant and prideful and self-entitled. You weren't born on the altar. You were born a sinner. And Jesus saw you.
I thank God that he saw me. You all don't even know what kind of man I was or where I was, and Jesus saw me. I thank God for the prayers of my mother, my father, and my grandmother.
The Lord owes you nothing except wrath. It's only by mercy you're in your right mind and saved. You don't deserve to be in the kingdom. That's American gospel. Though God owes you nothing except hell and wrath, Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus: "You were once an object of God's wrath. But Jesus saw you."
If he didn't do another thing in my life, I could be put in a basement in front of the doorway of hell, and I would always be thankful that Jesus saw me and called me into the kingdom.
Watch who he called: fishermen. Men who were already hard workers. Men who knew how to grind. Men who knew what it was to stay up late looking for fish. When he called you, he already knew the virtues that were inside of you that would be necessary for the kingdom. You think you don't have anything to offer. When he called you, he already saw the virtues inside of you that would be necessary for your call inside the kingdom. He makes no mistakes when he calls you.
He called rugged fishermen—men who knew how to work, men who were diligent. He knew all the virtues inside of you, all your administrative gifting, when he called you. That's why you should stop being jealous of other people. There's something in you necessary for the kingdom. Compromise is a robber of joy. I will never be TD Jakes. I'm going to be the first Philip Anthony Mitchell in Jesus's name.
Notice the call. He just says: "Follow me." No context. Where are we going? When are we going to get there? What's going to happen next? After I give my life to Christ, what's going to happen?
He gives no context. Just follow me. It's so nebulous, so nuanced. Just follow me into the unknown of whatever your future is going to be.
And I want you to notice what he puts behind "follow." Not just follow church or follow platforms. Look what he puts behind follow:
"Follow me." Yes. Before church, before books, before podcasts, before your favorite preacher, before all the things you love more—follow me. Get close to me. Learn of me. Understand me. Love me. Follow me. Because the closer you get to him, the more he transforms your heart.
You have some believers who have been following everything except him. You follow this preacher and that preacher, this page and that conference, all these things—but are you following him?
Let me talk to all my people who are hyper-ambitious around your ministry. I feel you. You're gifted. You're anointed. I feel you. But before you are a [whatever your title], he called you to himself first. So why are we doing ministry with no prayer life? Why are we always on social media trying to preach to people with no prayer life? Why are we always trying to give out a word when we don't have intimacy with Jesus?
He said, "Follow me." Before you do anything else, before he did anything with Peter and his brother, he said, "Follow me." Me, me.
You should be nervous to be preaching people down with no intimacy with Jesus. We can't even trust what you're saying has come from the throne room of heaven.
Before you follow your dreams, before you follow your business, before you follow your ministry, before you follow your career, before you follow your path, before you follow your degree—follow him. He called them to himself first.
So you are a dope minister with no prayer life? I don't care that you're gifted on a platform. I want to see what your prayer room looks like. Before you follow your dream, no. Follow your endeavors, no. Follow your vision, no. Not get saved and follow your vision—that comes later. Follow me. Learn of me. Spend time with me. Take walks in the park with me. Slip off your bed in the morning and talk to me. When you're in the shower, sing songs to me. When you're driving in your car, think of me. When you're on the mountaintop, think of me. When you're in the basement, think of me. Before you make major decisions, consult with me. Before you jump into the next relationship, talk to me.
I know him better than you. I know his heart better than you. I know he's tall, dark, and handsome, and his game is dope. But follow me first. You're so delirious over his game, but follow me first. I know you've got your dreams and your visions and your business and your entrepreneurial ventures. I know you've got all the fill-in-the-blanks. But before you do all of that, I called you to me first.
Before you follow your favorite preacher—and I know who your favorite preacher is, he or she—you trust them more than me. You know more about their sermons than the Word. But I need you to follow me first.
These two words—follow me—trouble me in my study. There are no details. Where are we going? How long will it take to get there? How will I know when I've arrived? Oh, you want me to do this by faith? You want me to move to another state? You want me to be a part of 2819? Follow me. You give me no details because he expects us to follow by faith. You get no details except "follow me." That means you hear the call, and the only thing that should respond is faith.
I've followed Jesus through three states, multiple churches, all types of relationships. I'm just following him. No better GPS than that.
And then I love what he says. Here's the promise: "As you follow, I will make you."
Oh my God. There's a promise attached to the follow. So you don't have to do this just scared, afraid, nervous. He says, "As you follow, I will make you."
You know what that implies? That implies a process. You don't get saved on Monday and start a ministry on Wednesday. Follow me, not you—and I will make you. You don't make you. You don't have to keep manipulating any doors. Just follow me and I will make you. That implies a process of becoming.
Watch: If I'm following, I am becoming. The evidence of my transformation is not chronological. Not "I've been saved for 20 years, so am I a different person?" Follow me and I will make you. That implies a process of becoming.
Watch who's actually following—not by their posts, but by how they love. It implies a process of becoming.
"Follow me, and I will make you" identifies the maker, not you—him. This is hard in America. I already know because we are a vision-driven culture. We create vision and then ask Jesus to get on the caboose. We chart our own course and then ask Jesus to bless it. I already know I'm in deep waters now.
He says, "I will make you." That means he is the shaper of your story, your path, and your journey. Follow me and I will make you. It is ambiguous, and the ambiguity of the call of God leaves space for Jesus to determine, without your permission, the duration of your process.
Because it's so ambiguous, he determines how long your process is. "Lord, I think I'm ready." No, you're not. We still got some cleaning to do in this area of your heart. "Lord, why won't my joint explode yet?" You're not ready yet. We still got some unforgiveness there. I got to wash out. There's still some pride there. I got to wash out.
See, it's so ambiguous. He determines without your permission. He determines the duration of the following, the making. He determines the duration. He determines the difficulty of your making. Everybody's trials are not the same. You despise your trials. Those are classrooms, not coffins.
Who am I talking to? Those trials you keep crying over—those are classrooms, not coffins. "Lord, why am I going through this and not her?" Because I'm doing something different in you. "Why do I have to go through that and not them?" Because I'm doing something different in you.
The ambiguity of the call—Jesus, without your permission, determines the duration of your process, the difficulties of your process. He even determines the duties of your process—what you would do different than what somebody else would do.
This next one is where we got trouble. He determines the direction of your process. The direction. He determines that. The duration, the difficulties, the duties, the direction. He determines all of that. Some of you are fighting against something. You're going to lose that battle.
Simon and Andrew are being invited into the greatest thing they've ever known—God in the flesh. Watch. Them being invited into God's plan, his purposes, his preferred future for them. And now they have only two options:
Either stay fishermen—which is a very logical choice. You're comfortable here. You know this well. You know this place well. Or hop off that boat of comfort into the unknown and see what Jesus would do with the rest of your life.
Look at verse 20. How did they respond? Immediately.
Watch this carefully. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. These men were fishermen by trade. This is all they knew. I love that Matthew put two details here: immediately—which means they did not second-guess the call. And they knew about Jesus. John tells us in John chapter one that they had met him before. They knew he was a dope rabbi. But Jesus is breaking all the rules of culture. In those days, rabbis didn't choose people. People chose their rabbis. Jesus is breaking culture. He breaks tradition.
But watch the details of the text. They left their nets. He didn't just say "immediately they followed him." Matthew tells us another detail: they left their nets.
This is all they know as fishermen. They don't know anything else except being fishermen. Matthew wanted to teach us that they left something valuable behind. Discipleship will cost you something. There is no discipleship for free. It will cost you something. They left behind something that was highly valuable to them.
When that call comes—and it's coming for some of you again—you've got to learn to leave some stuff behind. You may have to leave some people behind. You may have to leave some places behind. You may have to leave some pride behind, some plans behind, some dreams behind, some vision behind—but you're going to have to leave something behind. You cannot follow for free. Discipleship costs you something.
Your will. It's going to cost you your personal will. You've got to leave something behind. Some old relationship, some old boo, some old you. You've got to leave something behind. Some of you need to leave your past behind. You keep reminding him of stuff he already forgave you for. You might need to just leave your past behind.
Verse 21: "And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother." This is so dope. Watch this. He sees two people again—two other brothers. James, the son of Zebedee. There are three James mentioned as followers. Let me clear that up for you.
There are three James that followed Jesus. James the Greater—the big boy James. James the Great. Then there was James the Less, the son of Alphaeus. And then there was another James who was the biological brother of Jesus, who was an unbeliever until Jesus was resurrected. It was the unbeliever, the brother of Jesus, who only got saved after he saw his brother raised from the dead. His brother was God in the flesh and did not believe in him until he was raised from the dead. "I knew you when you were little. You're not going to tell me you're the Son of God. I tripped you when we were outside playing in the dirt. You fell down and got cut. I'm not going to believe you're the Son of God." But he was raised from the dead, and that James became a leader in the church and wrote the letter we call James. That's not the James in Jesus's inner circle. This James was in Jesus's inner circle—Peter, James, and John. Three of his closest friends.
I just got to educate my church. The James you read in the New Testament is not this James. It was the unbelieving brother.
Now, let's go back to the text. He saw them. Immediately they leave their nets and their father. Everybody watch me. So their call didn't come in private. The other brothers' call came in private—nobody was there but them. This call comes in public, in front of family.
In a patriarchal society, watch this: it's not normal for sons to leave fathers. It's almost unheard of. Notice they did not consult with Zebedee whether or not they should go. Because sometimes you've got to choose if you're going to follow God or follow men. Follow God or need the approval of men. They did not consult with Zebedee. They broke tradition to follow Jesus.
That sometimes that call will cost you family who don't understand your decision. They don't understand that you're not a part of their religion. They don't understand this Jesus that you're following. You need to keep following until your testimony and your witness anchor them into the kingdom. My family, you don't need your family's approval to follow Jesus. You just need courage. They'll understand. I'm talking to somebody. They're going to understand later.
They're going to mock you now and blaspheme you now and betray you now and talk bad behind your back now. They're going to come back and they're going to bless you later. They're going to come back and bless you later. You don't have to prove anything to them now. Just watch what happens to me as I follow. My haters will become my celebrators. I'm talking to somebody. Don't let your haters stop you. Your haters will become your celebrators. Just follow, just follow.
I did not see them ask Zebedee, "Should we hop out this boat?" The call of the master was greater than the traditional family. I might get in trouble with that one. Your church does this and your church does that, but the call of the master was greater than the tradition of the family. But let me go deeper for some of you who are reckless in your relationships: they did not dishonor Zebedee. They just were bound by the call.
These brothers had a greater price to pay in leaving Zebedee.
Before we finish these last few verses, notice real quick about these men: they were just ordinary men. Ordinary people like you and I. Just ordinary men. That's why you should stop worshiping them like they're gods. Just ordinary men calling down fire from heaven, laying hands on the sick—just ordinary men that followed the person who had all power.
Jesus would call men like them. He'll call rich men, powerful men, outcast men. He called a man named Matthew—a tax collector and an outcast named Matthew. He wrote something that we're still reading 2,000 years later. Jesus saw something in him he didn't see in himself.
You have no idea what's in you until you start following. Some of you are pregnant with stuff you would never imagine God would bring out of you. All kinds of ministries, books, songs. I feel like there's a school on the inside of me. You don't have any idea what's on the inside of you until you really start following—until you surrender.
Verse 23: "And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among them."
Listen to what Jesus did: teaching, preaching, and healing. What was he preaching? The gospel. What was he teaching? The truths about the kingdom. What was he healing? Every disease.
I know what you know: if Jesus was in this room, we would corral him because we all need healing. We need him to touch our minds, our hearts, our bodies. So crowds gathered around him for healing. But I want you to notice the order in which Matthew put the things that Jesus unleashed on humanity.
He put healing at the bottom. Matthew was a skilled writer, inspired by the Spirit. Notice the things Jesus unleashed to help humanity: teaching, preaching, healing. What's at the bottom of the list?
So even if he doesn't touch your body, if you know truth:
"He'll keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him." — Isaiah 26:3
The most important thing to Jesus—we see by his healing that he cares about the wholeness of human beings. We see by his preaching that he cares about the salvation of human beings. But we see by what's at the top of the list what he cares about most: your understanding and your edification.
Not we running for prophecy. Not I must be healed. Not he's my apostle. The thing that Jesus put at the top of the list—you should hunger and crave teaching. Why? Because Jesus knew what's going to happen for the rest of Matthew. This is what will have the greatest impact on humanity. Not healing, not prophecy, not all this other stuff. Just teaching.
Why are we not pounding down doors around the country for that? That's good. I'm a teacher. I wonder if I popped up in Alabama somewhere, would people pound down a stadium to hear me teach? I bet you if I was prophesying, if I was saying everybody's going to be blessed, they'd come. But we're running after all the things that he did not put at the top of the list.
The thing that he knew would have the greatest impact on your life is teaching. If you understand, you will be transformed. You'll stop quoting stuff wrong. Don't say "set free is free indeed." No.
"If you abide in my word, you will know the truth. And then the truth that you know will set you free." — John 8:31-32
I'm praying over you that you will have a great hunger for teaching. Watch that you will actually know how to sit still and not get bored and lean forward to be educated in the Word. The number one weapon Jesus unleashed on humanity—the thing he knew would help human beings the most—is teaching.
Verse 24: "So his fame spread throughout all Syria." They brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains—
Verse 25: "And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan."
I can tell you something: I love you all with my whole heart. I know I'm rough around the edges. I know I hurt you from time to time up here. I know I mess up sometimes. Tonight, I'm praying for you all that you will have a hunger for the things that really transform your life. I can't say this enough: the thing that Jesus used most to help human beings was teaching. The more you learn, the more you will be transformed. You should have a hunger for knowledge. That's why in the first-century church, it says they devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrines. They loved teaching.
Especially my Black brothers and sisters, we love entertainment. We love titles and gimmicks and noise and lights and prophecy and all this stuff. I want you to praise God for all that. But I want you to love teaching, the number one thing Jesus used to transform humanity. It's the thing that has been transforming the world for over 2,000 years.
I wonder how you would feel being in a sermon or room where you never shout once. It's just teaching for 40 minutes, an hour or whatever—just learning and teaching. I wonder how quick you'd get bored because I didn't tell you what's going to happen next week or tell you you're going to get a house. I wonder if you can sustain teaching.
These four men—the first four people Jesus called—are Matthew's focus for the rest of the book. Everything that happens after this is discipleship until Matthew 16. They had no idea what was going to happen after this. They were the first four of billions of people around the world who claimed Jesus as Lord and King. They had no idea what was going to happen after. They had no idea when they hopped off those boats what would happen to them. What was on the other side of that step of faith—to follow for real, not just go to church, but to follow for real?
Do you know what happened to these men? Andrew became one of the twelve apostles that Jesus chose. James became one of Jesus's best friends—Peter, James, and John. You know what happened to Peter? He became the pastor of the very first church in history. He was one of Jesus's best friends in his inner circle. He preached the first Christian sermon in history. And on the day he preached, 3,000 souls were saved. He was still fishing, but now he became a fisher of men.
You know what happened to John, who hopped off that boat? He became one of Jesus's inner circles. The one who laid his breast against Jesus. The one in his prideful self—this is the disciple who Jesus loved. The one who took in Jesus's mother after he was resurrected. The one who wrote five letters of the New Testament. The one who was on an island and saw the resurrected, glorified Jesus and got the book of Revelation.
These men had no idea what was on the other side of just following. They would have never known. Just like you, I'm talking to you, my brothers and sisters. I know you do church well. I know you do podcasts well. I know you read books and go to conferences and all these things well—but are you following well?
Do you have any idea what's on the other side of a life that's completely surrendered to Jesus, to just follow him? No matter how old you are or how young you are, the Lord is not done with you yet. Do you have any idea what's on the other side of a committed yes?
I'm talking to people in this room with gray hairs like me. Your time ain't done. You still got chapters ahead of you. You have no idea what the Lord wants to do with your life. And I'm talking to all the millennials and Gen Zs in this church. You're running after all these things, but if you're following the Master, you have no idea what he would do with your life. He knows what's in you. He knows about stuff that's in you that you don't know is in you.
And the only way it's going to come out is not because you can go to conferences or read books or podcasts. It's how well are you following?
There are believers in this room. We go to church, but you're not following well. And there are unbelievers in this room. You're close to the kingdom of God, but you're not following. And you have no idea.
Listen, you have no idea what's on the other side of a committed follow. And I'm telling you, following Jesus is the pathway to the greatest life you will ever live. And following Jesus is the only pathway into eternal life.
There is no safe departure from this life outside of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. There is no safe departure from this life outside the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only parachute when you jump from the plane of death. I don't care what you serve or what you believe in.
You have no idea what's on the other side of a committed follow.
Hey, look right at me. Please look. Look right at me. And we need to stop following Jesus like we follow people on social media. You know, you can follow someone on social media and not be committed to them. You can follow somebody on social media and not know them personally. You can follow somebody on social media and not care about what they care about.
Watch: and if you don't like somebody on social media, you could just hit unfollow. Don't follow Jesus like that. Follow him. Know him. Love him. Pursue him. Talk to him. Sing about him. Get near him. Follow him for real. Give him your uncommented, your unavowed yes. And don't be afraid of what he will do with your life if you just fully surrender.
I'm talking to believers and non-believers in this room. Just surrender. Follow. Follow him for real.
I want to pray for two groups of people in this room.
Every head bowed and every eye closed. Father, I pray for every brother and sister in this room—everyone who already belongs to you. I see all the things they are running after with all of their heart, apart from you. I pray for them even now, right now in this very moment, for a deeper devotion to come upon my brothers and my sisters.
I pray you would give them, Father, a ferocious, unyielding hunger for the presence of Jesus. I pray you fill them with your perfect love, that they would love the Lord more than anything else in this life. Eyes on him. I pray Jesus will be our hero, our strong tower, our desire, our song, our deepest affection, our longing. I pray you would help us not to be afraid of Jesus. I pray he would be exalted in our lives, our posts, our relationships.
I pray you would help us to follow him for real. And that as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, I pray you make us into what you want us to be. Lord, I surrender at a deeper level without fear or manipulation. We surrender. We want you before we want anything else.
And now, Father, I'm talking to every person in this room. Somebody invited you here. You're watching me right now on YouTube. Don't move. You do church, but you have not done relationship. You don't belong to the Father. But you're not here by accident. God brought you here to hear the truth of the gospel—that your life can change in this moment forever.
This is what happened for me in November 2003 over a toilet seat while I was suicidal. Here is the gospel, my brother, my sister. You already know who you are because you've been listening to me confused, but you feel something in your belly. You already know who you are. I'm talking to you.
You and I—we are sinners, and you were born in sin. The scripture says if you die in your sin, you're going to be separated from God for all eternity. I'm talking to you. But the Father, in his love, not wanting you to perish, sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die a sacrificial death for you. And then he gives you a call: Repent. Turn to the Son. Put your faith in him. And I will forgive you of all your sins. I will wipe away your debt. I will make you a son and daughter.
He's talking to you. I want to see who I'm praying for. Nobody can't see you. This is private between you and God and the person with the microphone.
If I'm talking to you, say, "Preacher, that's me. I want to follow Jesus into the purpose and plans he has for me. I want to be a brand new man, a brand new woman. I want to sense the presence of God. I want to know if I died in a car accident on the way home, I would be in heaven and not hell."
If I'm talking to you, on the count of three, throw your hands up. One—Jesus is calling you. Two—he's about to radically transform your life. Three—throw your hands up in the air. Leave it there.
[As hands go up] I see that hand. I see that hand... just start telling God, ask him to forgive you for your sins. Ask him to forgive you for your sins. Yes, he's calling you now. Just tell him you're sorry for all your sins. He's catching those tears. Tell him you're sorry for all your sin. Tell him you surrender right now. Tell him you surrender.
And now, Father, I pray for all of these brothers and sisters who responded to your sovereign call—you knew they would be in this room before the foundation of the world. I pray, according to Ephesians, you would fill them with your Holy Spirit. That you would draw them to yourself. I pray you would help them and guide them and lead them into a deep and intimate, real relationship with yourself. I pray you would free them from all manner of bondages, addictions.
I pray they will know the joy of being sons and daughters. I thank you, God, for these—that their sins have been separated as far as the east is from the west. And I thank you, you said in your word: when one sinner repents, all of heaven rejoices. So, Father, right now we rejoice for these men and women who have put their faith in you, Lord. We thank you for them, God. We celebrate, God. We celebrate that the devil has just lost these people. We celebrate that the kingdom has been expanded with new brothers and sisters. We celebrate the Lord. We celebrate them. Hallelujah, Jesus.
