LUKE 6:12-16 THE PEOPLE JESUS CHOOSES2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 6:12-16 The People Jesus Chooses

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. Well, this morning, as we look at verses 12 through 16, we're talking about the people that Jesus chooses.

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We see here 12 men that are chosen by Jesus and we learn from this portion the kinds of people that Jesus chooses. Now if you want to get a little bit of insight and look at the parallel passages for what we're looking at today, you can check out Matthew chapter 10 and Mark chapter 3 and I encourage you to check those out later on and see a little bit of different perspectives as they share the same account as well. But what we have here is...

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Jesus calling or choosing certain men to be known as apostles. And as we look at these 12 disciples or 12 apostles...

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It's an interesting as well as encouraging study. It's amazing to see as we look at these men how Jesus was able to use... Well, how would you describe these guys? Maybe misfits is an appropriate word. I mean, they're not the best of the best. They're not some elite squad of guys.

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They're kind of a bunch of troublemakers or they're in trouble, one or the other. And yet Jesus uses them to transform the world. And it's these guys who, well, you and I today are reaping the benefits of their ministry still 2,000 years later. They turned the world upside down or right side up, depending on your perspective. They did a tremendous work of God today.

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as Jesus ascended to the Father. And it's amazing to think back and look at these guys who are the ones that Jesus chose to accomplish that work. And as we look at these guys, I want to challenge you throughout the study this morning to really consider something. And that is this. If you are not blown away about how God uses you or allows you to be part of the work of His kingdom,

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Then there is something wrong. If you don't marvel. If it doesn't amaze you. The way that God allows you to participate in the work of ministry. The way that God allows you to share the gospel. Or to meet needs. Or to be involved in something that God is doing. If you're not amazed and blown away about how God uses you in those things.

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Something is wrong. And I would encourage you that you need to re-evaluate your Christian life. And we can see that clearly from these disciples that Jesus will now call apostles. Well, we see in verse 12 that, first of all, Jesus spends all night in prayer. He's seeking the Lord. He's seeking God's will. He's making sure these are the right guys. Making sure these are the ones that God has chosen.

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And then when it's day, after he's been praying all night, he calls his disciples together. Now the disciples that he calls together was not just the 12, but it was a large group of disciples. We don't know how many, maybe 100, maybe 200, maybe more, maybe less. We don't know for sure, but he calls his disciples together. And as they're all grouped together, he starts picking them out. He chooses 12 of them.

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And he calls them apostles. It says there in verse 13, he chose 12 whom he also named apostles. Now this word apostle is an interesting word. For us today, it carries a lot more weight and meaning than it did back in those days. I mean, we've got, you know, 2,000 years of history and tradition that we've kind of built into this word apostle. But the word apostle simply means someone who is sent, right?

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It means someone who's sent with a message. And we can see this practically lived out if you look at the other portions. Mark chapter 3, for example, Jesus calls these men apostles and then immediately after that, he's sending them into the surrounding towns to go preach the message of the kingdom of God. And so they're the ones who are sent and then immediately he's sending them out.

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And then of course we know in Matthew chapter 28 with the Great Commission that he sends them out not just to the surrounding cities but to the uttermost parts of the earth. And so the basic meaning of this word is really what they were called to do and that was that they were called to be sent out. To be sent forth with a message from God.

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Mark chapter 3 verse 14 gives us a little bit of insight on what their calling was, what he was choosing them for. It says, then he appointed 12 that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach. So there's two basic things that he was calling them to. The first was that they would be with him and then the second was that they would be sent out to preach. And what's so amazing about that as we study these men together today is that they were

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is that these two things are identical to what God has called us to. This is what Jesus desires from us as well. He desires us, first of all, to be with him, but then also, secondly, to share his message with the world around us. That's what God has called each of us to.

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And so he calls them, he names them, he chooses them to be apostles. And although there was a special role for them in the foundation of the church, at the base of it, they were men who were called to be with Jesus and to be sent out with the message, which is the same that you and I are called to as well. And these 12 men, these disciples or apostles, changed their world. They did so not because they were so awesome. They did so not because of their caliber of faith.

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you know, who they are, who they were, what they grew up in. But there's two basic things that they did that I want to encourage you to do as well. First of all, we've seen already, they forsook all to follow Jesus. We saw that in chapter 5 several times. They forsook everything. They put everything else aside. They made Jesus first and foremost in their lives. And so he chose them to be with him.

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And then secondly, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. As Jesus sends them out to preach, they're filled with the Holy Spirit to be empowered, to be effective, to deliver the message that He has given to them. And those are the same things that I want to encourage you with today and challenge you with. If you are not blown away about how God uses you for His work, for the work of ministry,

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Then there's something wrong and I would suggest to you that whatever is wrong is one of those two things. Either you have not forsaken all to follow Jesus, that He's not first and foremost in your life and you need to reevaluate where He is in your priorities. Or secondly, you're not filled with the Holy Spirit. I need you to be filled afresh and anew. You need to be baptized in the Spirit, to be empowered to do the work that He's done.

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set before you. It's one of those two things. That's the bottom line. And if you're not blown away, if you're not amazed at how God is working in your life and through your life, it's one of those two things. Are you forsaking all to follow Jesus? And are you being filled with the Holy Spirit?

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Well, as we look at these 12 guys, there's four things I'd like to highlight for you about the people that Jesus chooses. And from their example, we can learn the kinds of people that Jesus chooses. First of all, we see that Jesus chooses all types of people.

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Jesus chooses all types of people. I'm just going to run through the list again and just give a little bit of background on who these guys were. Some we don't know much about and some we're very familiar with. But first we have Simon, who's also known as Peter.

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as well as Andrew, who is Peter's brother, and then James and John, who were also brothers. These four men that we see here at the top of the list, they were all fishermen and they were joined together in a business venture. They were doing business together there on the Sea of Galilee.

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And what they would do is they would go out all night. They would fish all night. Then they would come in in the morning and sell it in the marketplace, split the profits. And by doing so, they would provide for their family and be able to support themselves. And so they were working together. They knew each other. And they were fishermen there on the Sea of Galilee. Then you have Philip, who we don't know a lot about. He's mentioned a couple times.

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But not much information is given about him. We also have Bartholomew, who's known as Nathaniel as well in other places. He's another one we don't know a whole lot about. We know that Jesus said that he was an Israelite in whom was no guile. And so he was not deceitful. He was seeking the Lord. He was honest and simple.

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In a good way simple. And so there is this guy Nathanael or Bartholomew. Then we have Matthew. We learned about Matthew in chapter 5 of Luke. He was a tax collector. Which of course was not a popular position. Because he was.

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by the Romans to collect money from the Jewish people. And they were allowed to pretty much, you know, collect whatever they wanted. And it was enforced by law. And so he was seen as a traitor by the Jewish people. He was despised. He was hated by the Jews. And yet that's who he was. He was a tax collector. And all his friends, as we saw in that portion in chapter 5, were also tax collectors and sinners and people of bad reputation.

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We also have Thomas here. We don't know a ton about Thomas, but we do see him mentioned a few times throughout the Gospels. We know him best from his questions. He pipes up and asks questions when nobody else does. Or he's the one, of course you know, doubting Thomas, where he's demanding proof. I have to see Jesus personally. I have to put my finger in his nail prints in order to believe that he's resurrected from the dead.

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We also have James, the son of Alphaeus. We don't know a lot about him except for another portion of scripture he's referred to as James the Less. So maybe he was kind of a short guy, small guy. I don't know, maybe like Richard's size. I'm not sure. But he wasn't, you know, real impressive. They called him Little James or James the Less. Then you have Simon who is referred to as the Zealot.

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Now zealots, we don't know a lot about this particular guy Simon, but we do know a lot about zealots because they were a very group, a very extreme group. They were extreme nationalists. They hated the Romans.

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And so they were known to carry daggers under their cloaks so that whenever they had a chance, they'd kind of taken vows that, hey, if there's an opportunity, if you can get away with killing a Roman, then you got to be ready at all times. And so they would have a knife under their jacket so that if there was an opportunity, nobody's looking.

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You know, get rid of that guy. And that's kind of the group that he was a part of. And so Simon the Zealot was part of this group. He was of that, you know, that mentality. And yet Jesus chose him. It's pretty interesting.

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And then you have Judas, the son of James. We don't know very much about him, but then we also have Judas Iscariot, who we know him because he became the traitor. He betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders. And so here's this group of guys, and just at a quick glance at them, you can see that, well, they don't all have the same occupation.

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They don't all have the same type of personality or character. They don't all come from the same background. They're very different in a lot of respects. I like what Wiersbe has to say about these guys. He says, it is encouraging to see what Jesus was able to do with such a diversified group of unlikely candidates for Christian service. And he goes on to say, there is still hope for us.

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And that's what we learn here as we look at these 12 guys. There's still hope for us. There's still hope. If God is able to work in these guys and transform the world through these 12 apostles, He is able to work in each and every one of us and to do something amazing and wonderful and powerful for His glory. Do you think that

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who's, you know, one of the kind of the more well-known of the apostles. We know a lot about him. There's a lot of different accounts of things that he did and said. Do you think that he attained that? That he, you know, was successful in that because of his personality? Is that why Peter was successful as an apostle? Is that why he's so well-known? Is that why God used him? Because he had this awesome personality? No.

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I would suggest to you that that is not the case at all. In fact, I would submit to you as an example, there is probably not a better example of opposite personalities than Pastor Tom, who founded the church, and myself. Him and I, we're completely different.

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Maybe you haven't noticed, just in case you haven't. I'll let you know. Okay, we're completely different. I mean, Pastor Tom's amazing. He's just anointed, he's gifted, but his personality is, well, he's got this boldness, this outgoingness. He's, you know, always coming alongside and encouraging and even sometimes persuading. I mean, he's just able to just push you into things that...

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God wants you to be involved in. And he's just able to build you up. He's just really gifted by the Lord in that way. I'm not in the same way gifted by the Lord. I have a completely different personality. I'm not outgoing.

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I'm actually introverted and it may not seem like it while I'm up here but just let me tell you I'm up here out of obedience to the Lord this is what God's told me to do and so I do it this isn't like you know it just comes naturally I just like to stand in front of people and ramble that I would rather be off by myself just don't talk to me leave me alone

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You can maybe ask me questions and I'll answer nicely, but I'm just not like, hey, I can't wait to go meet someone new and go talk to somebody and stand up in front of everybody. That is just not, it's so contrary to my personality. If you were gonna be like enlisting someone to pastor a church,

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You wouldn't look at me. You would look at somebody else who's outgoing, who has that similar type of personality. But I'm not like that. I'm opposite. I'm mostly a geek. I'm very quirky. In fact, there was a couple who came by the church once

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On Friday. And we were putting the chairs back together after the ladies tea on Thursday night. So we had to put the chairs back. And the couple stopped by. And they started to giggle a little bit. They started to laugh at me a little bit. Which is okay. I know I'm quirky. And that's fine. But...

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They started to giggle and laugh because they saw that I actually have a diagram that I have of where all of the chairs in the church are supposed to be and the measurements between the chairs and the walls and the chairs and each other and the chairs and the stage and the chairs in the back. I mean, I have all this detail and they're just laughing like,

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Who has a chart, a diagram of chairs and measurements? And that's me, okay? I'm weird. I know. It's okay. I'm quirky. I have lots of those types of things. And it's just, I'm completely different. We're two totally different people. And that's just an illustration that, listen, God does not only use one kind of person.

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If we all had to have Tom's personality to be used by God, we'd be in trouble. And so then all of us who are not like that, we would like be trying to like fit ourselves into that mold and we'd just be miserable. But listen, God hasn't called you to be like Peter or like Tom or like he's called you and he's created you to be you.

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And you have a certain personality. You have certain characteristics about you. It's part of who he's created you to be. And he wants to use that for his glory. And so it's not that Peter was successful because of his great personality. It's just that he was fulfilling the role that God had given to him and created him to do. In the same way, I want to challenge you to fulfill the role that God has given to you. And that is to allow him to

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To use you, your personality, who he's created you to be. And sometimes it means, you know, in obedience, you don't do what's natural to you, but it's just about doing what God has set before you. You could think about it in the idea or the instance of, you know, your workplace. Where do you work? What is it that you do? What is it that you are employed or paid to do?

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What if God wanted to get a message to your workplace? Who could he send? Is there anybody available? Is there anybody who would go? Is there anybody who would deliver that message? What if God wanted to deliver a message to your workplace? You see, I'm suggesting to you that you, well, you're called to be an apostle in that sense. But there's a message that God has given for the workplace where you are.

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Or for the school that you attend. Or for the home that you live in. Or for the neighborhood, the community that you're involved in. God's given you a message. And if He wants to reach that workplace, that community, that home. How could He do it? By sending a messenger. One who is sent. By sending you. So often though, we sit ourselves on the sideline. We kind of take ourselves out of the running. We make ourselves kind of unavailable sometimes.

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And we don't look for opportunities or we don't take opportunities that God gives us. Because of whatever reason we're thinking of. Now we're talking here about God using all types of people. Sometimes we pull ourselves out of the running and say, hey, I can't be involved in that. I can't pray for that person or share that scripture or do that because I'm not like Pastor Tom. I'm not like Jesse. I'm not like George. I'm not like these guys. I'm just, that's not...

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That's not who I am. I don't have that same personality. But even as we look at these 12 disciples, we can see they transformed the world. And yet, they all didn't have the same personality. Don't disqualify yourself or think that you're disqualified because, well, you just don't have that same type of personality or you don't like public speaking or something like that. Don't sit yourself on the sidelines. Engage in the work.

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Because God uses all kinds of people. Again, if you're not blown away by the work that God allows you to be part of, if it doesn't amaze you that, man, I can't believe God would choose to use me. If it doesn't blow you away, the things that are happening in your life and through your life, something's wrong, something's missing.

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And if something is missing, it's one of two things. Either you're not forsaking all to follow Jesus. He doesn't occupy that place of passion, that foremost place in your life. Or, secondly, you're not being filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to do the work that God has called you to. It's one of those two things. It's not about your personality. It's not about the type of person you are. Because Jesus chooses all types of people. Well, the second thing we find in this list is

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is that Jesus chooses flawed people. He chooses flawed people. Think about it. Did any of the apostles make mistakes? I'm sure you can think of a couple, right? The disciples, the apostles, they messed up. Even after Jesus chose them to be apostles, they made mistakes. Many times we count ourselves out. We sit ourselves on the sideline because, well, I mess up.

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I make mistakes. I'm flawed. I'm not perfect. We've talked about this before. Listen, God would use perfect people if he could find any, but he's stuck with us. So he uses us. He chooses us. He chooses flawed people. Let me give you an example. Would you flip over a couple chapters to Luke chapter 9? In Luke chapter 9, Jesus is passing through a village in Samaria.

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He's on his way to Jerusalem and as he's passing through, he starts to share a little bit, but the people are not very receptive. And so Luke chapter 9 verse 53, it says, but they, that is the Samaritan village, it says, they did not receive him because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

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And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did? But he returned and rebuked them and said, You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. Picture this. Jesus is there. He's walking through a town. He starts to share. The people are like, Eh, we don't want to listen. We don't care about you. And James and John, something kind of clicks in there. Oh man, it really irks them. They get upset. They get upset.

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Alright Jesus, let's get them. Let's call down fire from heaven like Elijah did and just wipe them out. These guys are kind of hot-headed. They got a little bit of a temper issue. They got offended and they're like, let's just do away with them. Let's get rid of them. And Jesus rebukes them. Why? Because they're flawed. He says, look, you don't know what manner of spirit you're of. I didn't come to destroy people. That comes later. First I come to offer life, to bring salvation.

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And they misunderstood. They didn't know. They were hot-headed. And so they wanted to call down fire from heaven. Do you ever get that way? Where you kind of just lose it? Something just kind of clicks and you're like, let's just wipe them all out. Let's just get rid of them all. Who cares about these people? No confessions right now, okay? Jesus called them in another portion. He refers to James and John, the sons of thunder.

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And it's often speculated it's probably because of this type of issue that they were just, they were thunderous, man. It was just like, yeah, let's rock and roll. Let's get rid of these guys. Let's do this. But Jesus had to rebuke them. They're flawed.

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Well, of course, we know Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, but that wasn't his only flaw. In John chapter 12, it talks about an incident that happened where he was upset. He was offended because this costly ointment was being put on Jesus' feet. And he's saying, hey, it could have been sold and given to the poor.

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But then he gives us insight. He said that not because he cared about the poor, but because he's the one who held the money box and he would help himself to what was put in there. So he thought, hey, if that extra money was in the money box, I could have a couple extra cheeseburgers, maybe a pizza, you know, have some good time. And so he was upset because he was a thief and he would rob from the ministry by stealing out of the money box.

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There's many other examples we could look at. Of course, Peter, very well known for his mistakes. He rebuked the Lord when the Lord was talking about his crucifixion. He cut off a servant's ear when Jesus was being arrested in the garden. And that's kind of two flaws, actually, in one instance. Because, first of all, it's the issue that he, you know, disobeyed the Lord. He pulled out his sword. He's chopping off ears. That's the first flaw. But the second flaw is...

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I'm sure he wasn't aiming for an ear, right? And so he's not even very successful as a swordsman. So he's flawed. He's messed up. He makes mistakes. Of course, we know him as well for denying the Lord. Another portion, the disciples are rebuked by the Lord because they're keeping the kids back. They're like, hey, send the kids away. Jesus doesn't have time for them. Again, they've misunderstood. They've misrepresented the Lord.

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Throughout the ministry, Jesus had to rebuke and correct the disciples about another issue. They had an ongoing argument and debate that would come up over and over again. And that was, which one of us is the greatest? Well, I think I'm the greatest. I'm pretty sure you're not the greatest because you're messed up and you've got this issue. But I'm the greatest because look at what I did. And they would always have this discussion and debate and Jesus would have to jump in and correct them for their pride and for their selfish ambition.

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And so the point is, we could go on and on, but the point is they're flawed. They're messed up. And this is after Jesus chose them to be apostles. Now, some might suggest, well, but it's not, I mean, it's happening, this stuff is happening before they receive the Holy Spirit. And so they receive the Holy Spirit and then things change. And that is true.

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But they were still flawed. Because you remember in Galatians chapter 2, where Peter is now beginning to act, well, he's acting in hypocrisy and Paul has to rebuke him to his face. Because now the other Jews have showed up and now he's practicing hypocrisy and leading other people astray. And so even though he was an apostle, even though he was filled with the Spirit, he made mistakes. He messed up. He was flawed.

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As I mentioned a moment ago, Jesus predicted or he told Peter that he would deny the Lord. He says, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But he tells Peter, I've prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And then he says, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. Jesus wasn't surprised when Peter denied the Lord. He knew it would take place. He told him it would happen. And he said, when you've returned.

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Again, sometimes we put ourselves on the sideline because I messed up. I blew it. Maybe there's a big thing where I denied the Lord. I failed the Lord. And so we sit ourselves out. You know, we come in, we sit in the chair, we leave, but we never engage at church. Or we see needs, we see opportunities at work, but we don't engage because, well, I have this issue. I have this past. I have this thing. I messed up. I'm flawed.

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But Jesus told Peter, when you've returned to me, strengthen the brethren. You see the issue there? He said, when you've returned to me. And again, if you are not blown away by the way that God allows you to be part of the work of his kingdom, something is wrong and it's one of two things. Either you've not forsaken all to follow him, and that was Peter's issue. And so Jesus said, when you've returned to me,

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When you're forsaking all to follow me once again, he says, then strengthen the brethren. So when you correct that issue, then get back to work and strengthen the brethren and engage in the work that I've called you to. And so if you're not marveling at the work that God's doing in you and through you, you need to forsake all to follow Jesus. And then secondly, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Well, the third thing we see as we look at these 12 guys is that Jesus chooses common people. Jesus chooses common people. David Guzik puts it this way. He says,

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He says, look, the only thing these guys really had in common, aside from Jesus, of course, is none of them were powerful people, influential people, coming from some high status. Jesus did not go to the schools of the day. He didn't go to, you know, the rabbinical schools or the Pharisees. He didn't go to the religious leaders. He didn't go to what the world would consider the best of the best.

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He didn't go there and then choose 12 apostles. He picked 12 common people. They were not privileged. They didn't have some high status. You know, sometimes God uses smart people or educated or wealthy or powerful people. And I think the apostle Paul is a good example of that. But it's kind of a rare exception. In fact, would you jump with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 1?

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Just to hear a couple words from the Apostle Paul on this subject of being common and yet called by God or chosen by Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1 verses 26-29

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And here the Apostle Paul is talking to the Corinthian church. Okay, so he's talking to a church and he says, hey guys, I want you to look around and think about something. Look at the people next to you and think about this. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26, it says, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. What does he say?

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Not many are wise. Look around. You can look at the people around you and you can probably agree there's not many that are wise. Not many that are mighty. Not many that are noble. Any nobility here? Any royal bloodlines? Any, you know, successors to the presidential throne? Any nobility here? No, not many noble are called. Not many mighty. Not many wise according to the flesh.

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that's a rarity sometimes it happens we look on it you know like celebrities and big name people and those who are in the spotlight and we think man if only you know god would save them or they would come to the lord and then they could be used by god so mightily but paul's explaining here god works the opposite way he doesn't pick the big influential people and then use them to work powerfully because then they get the glory

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What he does instead, verse 27, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world, the things which are despised, God has chosen. And the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. God says, look, I want to get all the glory because he deserves all the glory. So he says,

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I'm not going to use many who are mighty or noble or wise. Instead, here's who I choose. The foolish, the small, the weak, the base, the things that are despised, those who are despised, I choose them. And through them, I will do great things. You see, the point here is, God is able and desires to do great things in your life and through your life because not many mighty and wise people

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and noble are called. He uses regular people, and he empowers regular people to do extraordinary things. He does magnificent work so that he gets all the glory. Peter, for example, was not known for his wisdom. You know, before he encountered Jesus, nobody lined up, you know, at Peter's door to hear what he thought about an issue. We have the letters, 1st and 2nd Peter in our New Testament, but if Peter had written a letter before that,

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Well, I don't know. We don't even know if he was able to write a letter before that, if he could read and write. But if he had written a letter before that, nobody would have cared. We wouldn't have lined up to listen to it. Oh, I can't wait to get a copy of Peter's letter. Like, who cares? Nobody would have cared. The world would not have noticed. Because he's just a regular fisherman. Just a regular guy. But God used him. God chose him, empowered him,

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And through him did an incredible and mighty work. Not many wise. Not many noble. Not many mighty. In Acts chapter 4 verse 13 it tells us about the Sanhedrin who are putting on trial Peter and John. And the Sanhedrin were educated. They were the cream of the crop. They were the best of the best. The elite religious leaders of the day.

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And it says as they're investigating this miracle that took place and they interrogate Peter and John, it says that they're amazed because they perceive that they were uneducated and untrained men. And it causes them to marvel. They can't figure it out. These guys are not educated. They're not trained.

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But it says, then they realized that they'd been with Jesus. And so you see, they were educated and trained, but it wasn't through the world system. It wasn't through the best schools. It was through their relationship with Jesus. Jesus chooses common people. He calls us to enter into relationship with Him. And through our relationship with Him, He trains us. He changes us. He equips us. And He prepares us to engage in His work.

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And if you're not blown away at the work that's going on in your life and through your life, you need to go back and consider, are you forsaking all to follow Jesus? Are you engaging in that relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Are you being trained by Him because you're spending time with Him continually, day by day, throughout the day? Or secondly, are you not being filled with the Holy Spirit? It's one of those two issues.

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But God wants to work in your life. He wants to work through your life. And Jesus chooses common people. So it's not that you should just sit yourself on the sidelines because, well, like Richard always tells me, I'm not you, Jerry. I like to pick on Richard. He says, I'm not you, Jerry. I can't do that. I can't be involved in that. I can't do that. I used to say that to Tom. And I'm sure other people will say that to Richard later on. I'm not you. I'm not like you. That's okay.

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You don't have to be like Tom or like Peter or like anybody else. You don't have to be of noble birth. You don't have to be educated in some way or have some formal training. You have to have a relationship with Jesus to forsake all, to follow Him. And you have to be filled with the Spirit. That's the requirements. And if those two things are in place, listen, you're going to be amazed. Not only you, but people around you. They're going to marvel and they're going to realize you've been with Jesus.

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That's the way that God works. Jesus chooses common people, regular people like you and me to change the world and to transform lives. Well, finally, the fourth thing we see as we look at these 12 guys is that Jesus chooses unknown people. A lot of these disciples we really don't know anything about.

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Philip, for example, we see him mentioned a couple times in the Gospels. He's mentioned here, mentioned there, but we don't know about his background. We don't know about his occupation. He's also known, he brought Nathaniel or Bartholomew to Jesus. And we know Jesus addressed him there. But that's about all we know about him as well. We don't really read about him in other places. He's not prominent or it doesn't, you know,

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It doesn't declare what he did in the Gospels or in the book of Acts. We don't know that much about him from the Bible. James, the son of Alphaeus, again, he's known as James the Less. That's about all we know about him. We don't know much more. Judas, the son of James, we don't know much about him either. There's these guys who are part of the 12 apostles. Now, we know that they were effective. We know that they went forth and they brought the message to the world that Jesus gave to them.

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And we can look at church history and some of the records there and see some of the evidence of where these guys went and the work that took place. But for the most part, they're just unknown. They were unknown before Jesus chose them and still some of them, even after they're called apostles, we just don't know much about them. You know, some people are always the center of attention.

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Right? They're right in the middle of the action. They're right in the middle getting all the attention. Probably Peter was one of those guys. And Jesus chose Peter, but he didn't only choose Peter. You see, you don't have to be one of those famous people, one of those known people. You don't have to be one of those like, oh yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, Jesus would be using that. Yeah, of course, he's going to be involved in that work. Oh yeah, of course.

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You don't have to be popular in the church or in the world or anywhere, even in your family. You don't have to be popular. You don't have to be, you know, some type of star or celebrity. Jesus chooses people who are unknown. Nobody else even realizes what's going on or who you are. You know, I'm convinced more and more. As I continue on in ministry, I see it. It's very clear. Real ministry takes place one-on-one. The majority of ministry takes place one-on-one.

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That is between you, the body of Christ, and whoever God brings you in contact with. I know our society and kind of our culture, our mentality often is reverse. And so we think of, you know, Greg Laurie. We think of Billy Graham. We think of, you know, pastors and leaders and those who are on the stage. And oh, the influence and the messages and the teachings. And oh, you know, the counseling and all that. I know that that's what our minds are trained to think. But don't be confused. Don't be deceived.

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The majority of God's work takes place between all the members of the body of Christ and each other and the world around you. That's where the majority takes place. Not saying that the stage and this, you know, part, what I'm involved in right now, not saying that it's not important. It's part of God's work. But it is not where the majority of God's work is. You know, we think of situations like light the night.

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You know, and it's very easy. Like, hey, I can just hang out in the parking lot with a flashlight and, you know, just direct cars. And, you know, the gospel is being shared from the stage. Someone's up there. They're sharing their testimony. They're sharing the gospel. And so great, the gospel message is going out. But although we have the stage and although we have that presentation, let me suggest to you, I'm convinced that's not where the majority of the work of God is happening.

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It's happening one-on-one with all the rest of the people who are engaging with the community that God brings. Think about Jesus' ministry. Of course, Jesus taught publicly. But you know what? Many of the well-known accounts, many of our favorite accounts, many of the solid doctrinal accounts that we need, like, you must be born again. That was a personal conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

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That wasn't a public declaration. That wasn't a big teaching. Yeah, there was the Sermon on the Mount and we'll see the Sermon on the Plain next week in Luke chapter 6. And there was those public addresses and they're part of the ministry. But the majority of God's work doesn't take place through that. It takes place with all of us as individuals connecting with other people in our lives.

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The conversations that happen, the prayers that take place, the scriptures that are shared, the love of Christ that is demonstrated. That's where the real work is happening. And so again, I encourage you, you need to be part of the light of the night. Because sure, we can put someone on the stage and they can share the gospel and God will use that. But the majority of the work will be as each of us engage with the people that God brings and connect with them. God uses unknown people. It's kind of behind the scenes. There's not much limelight there.

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Everybody's not looking at you when you're sharing one-on-one. When you're ministering to someone personally, it's not a public thing. But that's the kind of work that Jesus chooses. That's the kind of people that Jesus chooses. Those who will love others and not just care about the spotlight. D.L. Moody was a great evangelist and was used by God to bring great revival in the late 1800s. But before D.L. Moody was saved, he was attending a church called

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And the Bible study leader of the church, you probably don't know his name. It was Edward Kimball. Edward Kimball led D.L. Moody to the Lord. But he's an unknown guy.

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He engaged in something. He tells the story of when it took place. And as he describes the story, he's like wrestling with the Lord. Like, I don't know if I can, you know, share the gospel with this guy. Lord, what do you want me to say? He's wrestling with, I don't know if I should. And he's kind of like pacing back and forth. D.L. Moody at the time worked at a shoe store. And he talks about how he walked by the store and he's like wrestling. And finally he just decides, I just got to go in and get it over with.

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And then the way he describes it is interesting. He says that, you know, he found Dio Moody in the store. He says, I simply told him of Christ's love for him and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all there was. Yet it seemed like the young man was just ready for the light that broke upon him. And there in the back of the store in Boston, he gave himself and his life to Christ. He said, I thought it was a weak attempt at sharing the gospel. But God had been preparing his heart and the Holy Spirit used that

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All I told him about was the love of Christ and how God wants his love in return. And then he got saved. Well, then of course, D.L. Moody goes on and God does a great work through him. But the point is, Jesus uses those unknown people, those backroom conversations, those sideline things. He uses us in those ways to change lives, to be part of his work. So wherever you go, don't sit yourself on the sidelines. There at the bank or as you're getting your dry cleaning done or

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Picking up the kids somewhere or whatever. Don't put yourself on the sideline. Make yourself available. Because Jesus chooses unknown people. You don't have to be famous. You don't have to be popular. You don't have to be well known. Jesus chooses you. He gives you opportunity. And again, if you're not blown away, if it doesn't amaze you, if it doesn't knock your socks off, the way that God allows you to be part of His work, something's wrong. You need to reevaluate. And it's wrong in one of two areas.

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Forsaking all to follow Jesus or being filled with the Spirit. Something is lacking in one of those areas. And so as we finish up this morning, I want to challenge you. The disciples changed their world when they did those two things. Jesus chooses all kinds of people. Don't sit yourself on the sidelines and take yourself out of ministry or being unavailable to God. But forsake all to follow Jesus. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and then be amazed.

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at the work God will do in you as well as through you. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we consider these 12 apostles, Lord, they weren't mighty, they weren't noble, they weren't wise, they were regular people who made mistakes, but they were so much like us. And so God, it gives us hope. It gives us encouragement. Lord, it also gives us accountability and responsibility. Lord, there's really no excuse for us.

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We need to be engaged in your work and transforming our world in your strength. And so God, I pray that you would help each person here, each person listening to this, Lord, to forsake all and to follow you just like the disciples did. Lord, I pray that you would highlight in our hearts whatever things are distracting us from you or holding us back, whatever things are taking your place, that place of

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primary passion in our hearts and lives. Lord, show us what it is and help us, God, to forsake it, to cast it aside, and to put you first, to seek you first, to pursue you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And God, as we do, I pray that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Lord, the requirement that you gave for being filled with the Spirit was just that we ask. And so, God, we ask, fill us, baptize us, anoint us with your Holy Spirit.

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That we might be witnesses to you. That we might be part of your work. Lord, that you might be glorified through us. And God, I pray that you would help us to not sit ourselves on the sidelines, but to look for opportunities, to take steps of faith, to open up the conversation, to cross the street, to open the door. Whatever way you speak to us, whatever opportunities you give, help us, God, to engage. And by your Spirit.

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Work miracles, change lives, glorify your name, and bring people to salvation in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.