"Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Him." (John 1:35-37) "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me." (Verse 43) That the disciples first mentioned did not follow the Lord without being called, is seen from the account in Matthew's Gospel. There we read: "And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him." (Matt. 4:18-20) The first thing to be considered is that this call of Jesus is to us as well as to those of whom we read in this narrative. To all who labour, and are heavy laden, the Saviour says, "Come unto Me." "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev. 22:17) We are apt to lose the most of the blessing that we should receive from the narrative of the calling of the first disciples of Jesus, because we allow the story of what they became to drive from our minds the knowledge of what they were when they were called. We imagine that Jesus called them because of some special goodness in them, which drew Him to them, and so think that they were specially favoured above other men. Thus it is taken for granted that such ordinary mortals as we are could never be called by the Lord as they were called. Let us therefore see if we can find out anything about the nature of these men who were so honoured by the Lord as to be called to follow Him.
There were twelve of them, but of only a few have we any particulars. We know that Peter and Andrew and James and John were fishers. Fishing is not the most refined and gentle occupation in the world, and we are given glimpses of the character of James and John, which show that they were not very gentle by nature. They, as well as Peter, were ready to fight anyone who offered them or their Master insult.
When Peter was brought into the place where his life seemed to be endangered through his acquaintances with Christ, his fears gained the mastery of him, and he denied his Lord. Not only so, but he did it with curses and swearing. Now we cannot suppose that Peter was in the habit at that time of using profane language; but we well know that men who have never in their lives been accustomed to use such language, do not break forth into profane expletives on any occasion, no matter how much they are taken unawares. But a man who in former days has been in the habit of swearing, but who through association with Christ has abstained from it for some time, may very easily relapse into the old way when sudden temptation assaults him while away from the Lord. Indeed, no mailer how long a man has been master of an evil habit, the moment he loses his connection with the Lord, that moment he begins to sink back into the old slough. So the fact that when Peter was frightened into denying Christ, he did it with cursing and swearing, shows that in the old days before he knew the Lord, he had been a rough, profane fisherman; full of generous impulses, and what the world would call "good hearted," but the very opposite of the Christian gentleman that he became when filled with the Spirit of God.
Judas as another of the men whom Jesus called. He was the one who betrayed the Lord, selling Him for thirty pieces of silver. His besetting sin was covetousness. When the funds of the little company of disciples were placed in his keeping, he became a thief. Yet we must not forget that he was called by the Lord to be an apostle, and as one of the twelve was sent out with "power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness," and was given the commission, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils." (Matt. 10:1-8) Even up to the very moment when he delivered the Lord into the hands of the mob, there was no one but the Lord Himself who could distinguish any particular difference between him and the other disciples. He was outwardly as correct in his deportment as they; and there is nothing to indicate that in the beginning his nature was any worse than theirs. Indeed, from what the Bible teaches of the nature of all men, we know that when the disciples were called, Judas was as promising a subject as any of them.
What made the difference at the last?--Simply this, that the eleven yielded themselves to the influence of the Lord, and were drawn out of their old lives, and transformed by His Spirit, while Judas, however much he may have been attracted at the first, clung to his own way, stubbornly resisting the transforming power of the Lord, and so became more and more hardened. Judas shows what any man may come to if he resists the Spirit, while Peter, James, and John, together with many others, reveal to us what the grace of God can do for anyone who submits to it.
It is no disparagement of the apostles to say that by nature they were no better than any other men. They all, including Judas, had faculties which, when trained and developed by the Lord, would make them most powerful workers in His service, but which, left untrained, would make them equally strong to do evil. It is to the everlasting praise of the glory of the grace of the Lord Jesus, that such men, taken from such surroundings as they were taken, could develop into such giants in spiritual stature, and such able ministers of the Holy Spirit.
The lesson to be learned from the call of these disciples is one of hope, and courage, and trust. We are to remember that they were men "of like passions" with us, neither better nor worse by nature than we are. They may have had some more marked characteristics than we have, which would make them capable of occupying a larger sphere than we are designed for, but in that respect they did not differ from us more than many of our unbelieving fellow-men do at the present time; for there is no doubt that there are very many men in the world, who have greater natural ability than the majority of those who have given themselves to the Lord's service. We are to learn that what a man is by nature is not by any means the measure of what he may be by grace. Just to the extent that we, in our thought of what the most of the twelve became, lose sight of what they were when they were called, do we lose the benefit or the sacred narrative. It was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Since they were but sample specimens of all mankind, and God is no respecter of persons, we see in their call the call of all men. It rests with us, by humble acceptance of the will of God, to make our calling and election sure.
Object of the Call Jesus said to the first disciples just what He says to all, "Follow Me." Now let us see why they were called. We have seen that when called they were sinners. Jesus did not call them for what they were, but for what they might become under His training. Did He therefore say, "Follow Me, and I will save you from your sins?"--That was implied in the call, but that is not what He said. What He said was, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." And that is just what His call means to every one of us. Personal salvation is included in the call, as a matter of course; for no one can give to others that which he has not himself; but that fact that Jesus calls us to Him in order that we may be saved is emphasized and made more sure by the fact that He calls us to make us saviours of others.
There are so many among professed followers of the Lord Jesus who are even after years of Christian profession often troubled with doubts as to their acceptance with God. They wish they knew that they were accepted of Christ. What wonder, then, that we find so many seekers after God who are appalled at the sense of their own unworthiness, and who hesitate to make a start to serve the Lord, fearing that He will not accept such sinners as they are. Now all these fears would be swept away if these persons could but be brought to see the fullness of the meaning of the call of the Lord Jesus. It does not stop with the individual who is called. God calls us, in order that through us He may reach somebody else. "Let him that heareth say, Come." So when anybody says, "It doesn't seem as though the Lord could save so great a sinner as I am," you may always say in reply, "My dear brother, or sister, the Lord has called you for the sole purpose of making you a saviour of some other poor sinner; the saving of you is incidental to that object. It is but a light thing for Him to save you; the great thing is that He will make you a means of salvation." Let us now read one or two texts which make this even more clear. The first is (2 Cor. 5:17-20). We quote the margin of the Revision, and omit the word "you" from verse 20, which, as indicated by being placed in italics, is no part of the text. "If any man [person] is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. But all things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation: to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having placed in us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were intreating by us; we beseech on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God."
In reading this do not forget that the ones who have the word of reconciliation placed in them are the ones who are reconciled. Whoever therefore is in Christ, and therefore a new creature, has in him the word of reconciliation, and so is an ambassador for Christ, to carry on the ministry of reconciliation. By each one who accepts the Lord Jesus, God beseeches sinners even as He did by Him. If you have never seen this in the text, read it until you can see it, for it is there.
Now we will read (Isa. 49:6-9): "It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the ends of the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves."
There can be no question but that these words apply primarily to Christ; but He is "the Son of man," and came to earth in man's stead in order that we might be ambassadors in His stead. That these words refer to men whom the Lord calls, equally with Christ, may be seen by comparing (verse 6) with (Acts 13:46, 47), where we read that Paul and Barnabas said, "We turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." The apostles applied the words to themselves as naturally as though they themselves had been named in the prophecy. This shows that whatever work was given to the Lord to do in this earth, is given to everyone who will accept His call.
How wonderfully comforting is this scripture! To whom does the Lord say that He will make him His salvation? "To him whom man despiseth." It is true that Jesus was despised and rejected of men; but He was despised solely on our account, because He bore our reproach. He put Himself absolutely in the sinner's place. Yet despised as He was, as one forsaken of the Lord for his sins, He was the salvation of God, showing that everyone who is despised for sins that he himself has done is also chosen to be the salvation of God.
What a blessed sound is the call of the Lord! How it removes every shade of doubt and fear. No longer, when we rightly hear it, is there any room for doubt if the Lord can save us. The call of the Lord reaches far beyond that, saying to us as it finds us in the degradation of sin, "Son, go work today in My vineyard." "Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children."
--December 29, 1898