FISHING FOR MEN

Background

See John 1:35-42...

How could the Lord use these lowly and uneducated fishermen to impact the whole world? God delights in using the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, and what is low and despised to accomplish His purposes. He does that so we can’t take credit for the amazing things that God does through us! That way, He alone gets the glory!

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Follow Me

Luke 9:23 “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 6:40 “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

To follow Jesus is to do the things He did. We walk the way He walked, we speak the way He spoke, we treat others the way He treated them, we act the way He acted, we love the things He loves, we hate the things He hates, we have the same priorities that He has.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

May we be able to say what Paul said.

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

We can only follow Christ after we have come to Him in repentant faith to receive the forgiveness of our sins. We must be born again!

I Will Make You Fishers of Men

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The Lord Jesus begins to give us holy desires and affections. We long for Christ to be worshipped and glorified like He so richly deserves. And only people who have been born again can worship and glorify Him in spirit and truth. We see people all around us who are lost and on their way to hell, and He gives us compassion and concern for them. And the only way they can be rescued is by the power of the Gospel. We want people to have the same joy in Christ that we have. We know the only way they can have that joy is if they have Christ. So the Lord uses all of these truths and more to make us become fishers of men. He gives us a love and passion for the Word of God. And like Jeremiah, He makes His word like a fire in our bones and we can’t keep silent!

Luke 6:45 “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.”

Daniel 12:3 “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Romans 10:14–15 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””

Where would we be if someone had not shared the Gospel with us? God has uniquely called and equipped each one of us. And He has placed us where we are for a purpose. He has connected us with the people in our lives for a purpose. We can say the same thing that was said of Esther. Perhaps we were put here for such a time as this!

May we be like the early church. They shared the Gospel wherever they went. If they got persecuted and ran out of one town, they just went to the next one and shared it there. May we be like Peter and John, when they said they couldn’t help but speak of what they had seen and heard. And when they were beaten for sharing the Gospel, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.

1 Peter 2:9–10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

They Left the Boat and Followed Him

Discuss the Progress of Peter’s Faithfulness

Luke 5:10–11 “and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.”

Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Acts 17:6 “And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,”

Acts 19:10 “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”

John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.”